Warriors centre Brent Tate is confident he can recapture the form which saw him earn Queensland and Australian jumpers when he returns after 11 months on the sidelines.

While the 27-year-old admits it could take him a while to find his groove, Tate said he was looking forward to getting back on the paddock in the club's final NRL pre-season match against Manly in Auckland on Saturday night.

His last outing was in March last year against Brisbane, when he suffered a serious knee injury .

A disrupted pre-season because of a quad strain kept him from running until a fortnight ago, but Tate said there was nothing stopping him from reaching his best again.

"I definitely feel I can get back to that, but it's small steps," Tate said.

"I'm not expecting in the trial this weekend or in round one to be the player I was before because physically I'm not where I was to be that.

"It's going to take a while and it's about putting small blocks in place and building on that."

The knee injury was the second Tate suffered in less than two years.

In 2007, he was cut down by similar anterior cruciate ligament damage to his other knee while on State of Origin duty.

Tate was happy with how his recovery had gone after he limped off against the Broncos.

Knowing from the start that he would be out for a lengthy period meant he could take his time to get right.

He said the main thing he was lacking was fitness, "just because I haven't had the time running around the paddock".

"We're worked really hard, but there's no substitute for running," he said.

While Tate will take the field against the Sea Eagles at North Harbour Stadium, new skipper Simon Mannering, former captain Steve Price and hooker Ian Henderson will again be on the sidelines because of injury.

Price and Henderson are not expected to return for the round one clash with Gold Coast Titans on March 14, but Mannering should recover from a hamstring injury in time to make the trip across the Tasman.

"The biggest danger is probably reinjuring it so we're going on the cautious route there," coach Ivan Cleary said of his new skipper.

While impressed with how the side had performed in his absence, Mannering warned against reading too much into trial wins over the Sydney Roosters and North Queensland.

"I guess it's a bit of a good thing but to be honest it doesn't really count too much," Mannering said of the unbeaten start.

"Last year we did that and started pretty good but didn't end too well.

"I think it does give the team a bit of confidence going into the start of the year but you don't get any points for it."

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