General Warriors Preseason 2026

[Dannevegas]

I don't get the Robson obsession and why he is such a lock for Origin

I don’t get the Egan obsession

 

[Lance155]

He is a robust defender and rarely gets knocked out amongst the big boys.

Pretty basic attributes for a creative playmaking position

 

[Boston Boy]

Pretty basic attributes for a creative playmaking position

Yeah, I prefer Wade when he is at his peak but creativity is no good when you are targeted and knocked out.

 

[Cces]

Pretty basic attributes for a creative playmaking position

Kevin Campion, Dean Young & Mick Crocker have all played #9 in SOO. Playmaking from the position isn't much of a prerequisite in that arena

 

[CWC]

View attachment 15480


Egan ranked 5th going into 2026

Billy Walters should be right up there not Ben Hunt, premiership winner now too

 

[CWC]

New Zealand Warriors selection questions for 2026: Fullback, veterans and rookies

The Warriors could be building towards a premiership push.

www.zerotackle.com

Interesting pairing they’ve got in the halves to start the season, CHT at 7 paired with TMM

Wow did this guy use chatgpt

and CHT probably replaces TMM next year on less coin and back ups 6 and 9 (69)

 

[Lance155]

Kevin Campion, Dean Young & Mick Crocker have all played #9 in SOO. Playmaking from the position isn't much of a prerequisite in that arena

Fair point

 

[WAH MAN]

Kevin Campion, Dean Young & Mick Crocker have all played #9 in SOO. Playmaking from the position isn't much of a prerequisite in that arena

It isn't when you have Lockyer's, Fittlers, Thurston's and the like to receive your part time #9 passes.

Egan to Metcalf or SJ improves him.

Egan to Boyd and CHT?

 

[WAH MAN]

I don’t get the Egan obsession

He's our best. Then Healey. Then maybe Erin Clarke or maybe not. Then the younger cohort.

Who do you prefer from who we have to choose from?

 

[tajhay]

Has there been much discussion on the makeup of the Warriors 6 man bench which is to be introduced this year? Only 4 can be interchanged but gives a bit of leeway on who to carry on there. Could mean that TMM and Healey could be both on the bench for the games.

 

[WAH MAN]

Has there been much discussion on the makeup of the Warriors 6 man bench which is to be introduced this year? Only 4 can be interchanged but gives a bit of leeway on who to carry on there. Could mean that TMM and Healey could be both on the bench for the games.

Outside backs become less dumb bench decisions as well as the in case so and so gets injured issue. You could always name some of the kids on the bench with no intention of playing them. Anyway at least we have the conversation open.

 

[CWC]

Extra bench? Wow, that’s 18+19th an basically

Best to cover injuries, so best to have a back and forward?

I’d give it to TMM and EIT (Fats?). Traditional bench of Healey/Demi/Ford/Gannon (Webby might pick Leka and Marata starting)

Roger or Charnze to cover FB whoever starts, Pompey plug wing, so EIT or Fats can specialize a bit of centre cover instead of Leka or Cape moving. They cover pack too.

TMM can be redundant if no disastrous half injuries happen

Tho Webby might go for TMM/Demi/Leka/Ford and Gannon+Taine

 

[Blain]

Has there been much discussion on the makeup of the Warriors 6 man bench which is to be introduced this year? Only 4 can be interchanged but gives a bit of leeway on who to carry on there. Could mean that TMM and Healey could be both on the bench for the games.

Yeah hasn't been signed off yet, but plenty of talk. Many are saying having 2 guys not playing every week will weaken the reserve grade comps and hold back development, while affecting the value of utility players. NRL love to push shit through despite negative feedback..

I don't mind it, but 6 is too many. Surely 5 on the bench and 4 play is the logical step? Because there already is an 18th man anyway, and you would still want players to cover a couple positions for coverage. A standard 5 man bench of 3 forwards, a hooker and back makes sense to me, without changing too much.

Even 18th man getting activated after an HIA would be a better step. The use of them is so tiny they are almost a waste of time.

 

[Jaffa J]

Even 18th man getting activated after an HIA would be a better step. The use of them is so tiny they are almost a waste of time.

I agree with this fully

 

[Brightman]

Has there been much discussion on the makeup of the Warriors 6 man bench which is to be introduced this year? Only 4 can be interchanged but gives a bit of leeway on who to carry on there. Could mean that TMM and Healey could be both on the bench for the games.

Have the new rules been confirmed? I saw the clubs were rejecting them a week ago.

I like the 6 man options 4 subs rule, as you say it could mean Healey and TMM can be utilised on the run to influence a game or simply hedge to provide injury cover without compromising a forward dominated bench..

 

[Tokyo Warrior]

I think the common sense approach would be to loosen the rules around the use of the 18th man. The jump to a six man bench is too extreme and effectively eliminates the utility from the game.

 

[Inruin]

I think the common sense approach would be to loosen the rules around the use of the 18th man. The jump to a six man bench is too extreme and effectively eliminates the utility from the game.

Are you advocating for the 18th man to be activated when one player is ruled out for HIA instead of two? Or have a five man bench and you can use any four of them and the fifth remains an HIA substitute?

 

[Damo]

I think five man bench is more feasible, and increased use of 18th man for HIAs.
The amount of times teams are overwhelmingly negatively affected by losing an outside back would necessitate the need for the fifth man, however only able to play four over the 80 minutes.

 

[Brightman]

I think the common sense approach would be to loosen the rules around the use of the 18th man. The jump to a six man bench is too extreme and effectively eliminates the utility from the game.

But you are only allowed to play 4 of the 6 bench selections so how is that extreme and how does that eliminate utility?
The coach still has to choose which 4 players to utilise whilst the game is live and the unpredictable nature of injury or HIA could happen in the 1st minute or the 79th.
The coach could be cunning and try to out-fox his opposite with a certain 6 man bench and that may give his team an advantage, fair play. But that could also blow up in his face too..

 

[Damo]

But you are only allowed to play 4 of the 6 bench selections so how is that extreme and how does that eliminate utility?

It's an extra person taken out of reserve grade every week. I'd say that is the main criticism of the 6 man bench