Recruitment Warriors 2025/2026 Recruitment & Retention

Warriors 2025/2026 Recruitment & Retention Discussion​

-	Player	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029
1	Bunty Afoa	✔
2	Tom Ale	✔
3	Mitchell Barnett	✔	✔	✔
4	Rocco Berry	✔	✔
5	Tanah Boyd	✔	✔
6	Kurt Capewell	✔	✔
7	Erin Clark	✔	✔	✔
8	Wayde Egan	✔	✔	✔
9	James Fisher-Harris	✔	✔	✔	✔
10	Jackson Ford	✔	✔	✔
11	Leka Halasima	✔	✔	✔
12	Tohu Harris	✔
13	Chanel Harris-Tavita	✔	✔
14	Sam Healey	✔	✔	✔
15	Edward Kosi	✔
16	Jacob Laban	✔	✔
17	Ali Leiataua	✔	✔	✔
18	Freddy Lussick	✔	✔
19	Zyon Maiu’u	✔	✔
20	Te Maire Martin	✔
21	Luke Metcalf	✔	✔
22	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	✔
23	Marata Niukore	✔	✔
24	Motu Pasikala	✔	✔	✔
25	Adam Pompey	✔
26	Taine Tuaupiki	✔	✔
27	Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	✔	✔
28	Demitric Vaimauga	✔	C
29	Dylan Walker	✔
30	Dallin Watene-Zelezniak	✔	✔	✔
S1	Kalani Going	S
S2	Tanner Stowers-Smith	S
T1	Jett Cleary	T	S	S

C = Club option, M = Mutual option, P = Player option, S = Supplementary contract (Formerly, Development), T = Train & Trial contract

Confirmed Top 30 2025: 30/30
Confirmed Supplementary 2025: 2/6
Unconfirmed Top 30 2025: 30/30
Unconfirmed Supplementary 2025: 3/6 (Luke Hanson, per Zero Tackle)

Confirmed Top 30 2026: 21/30
Confirmed Supplementary 2026: 1/6

2026 Gains: Nil
2026 Losses: Nil

Off Contract: Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Tohu Harris, Edward Kosi, Te Maire Martin, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Adam Pompey, Dylan Walker, Kalani Going (S), Tanner Stowers-Smith (S), Demitric Vaimauga (C)

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[Leon Black]

My mother once said I'm the handsomest man in the world except for Cam McInnes

And Blake Ferguson?

 

[Leon Black]

I'd take Adrian Lams boy over Tanah Boyd.

I’d take Adrian Lam

 

[Leon Black]

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBxCAJNT6--/

Temu Dylan Brown

 

[Zarjaz]

Yeah don't mind the signing as depth cover. Given the state of the halves in 24 where we ended the season STILL none the wiser of who is taking control next season, I see this as a good depth signing, and hopefully we get to see who gels best in pre-season. Feels like our halves spots are wide open and the competition is on.

 

[3rdstriker]

I like the Tanah boyd signing a good signing, not a great one.
Get a pre season to work out all the plumbing and see where the pecking order is, but the way injuries affected us this year with such a long season the positives outweigh the negatives.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Love it. When you look at the out and out 7s available, and would realistically come to NZ, he’s right up there. We needed a half with SJ leaving, we needed a goal kicker, we needed an organising half & we’ve got one. He’s not a world beater but neither was Maloney when he came over. Nathan Fien wasn’t a star.

Whilst we’d love a superstar 7, so does every other club & we just can’t compete, being over the ditch. This is a calculated gamble on a player with nrl experience, will hardly break the bank & carrys little to no downside, as there’s no one in the pipeline that he’s blocking.

We needed to temper our expectations, there’s very few quality 7s even available on the market. I think our recruitment have nailed this one.

Facts and unlike Ben Hunt, theres a chance Boyd starts playing his best footy in the next few years.

 

[~Navigator~]

Gold Coast Titans release Tanah Boyd, signs with new NRL team https://www.zerotackle.com/gold-coast-titans-release-tanah-boyd-signs-with-new-nrl-team-216484/

 

[Canonball]

Facts and unlike Ben Hunt, theres a chance Boyd starts playing his best footy in the next few years.

Signed on potential then? On reflection I don't hate it, there will be upside with him, I don't think there is any doubt about that - sort of coming in to that post 50 match experience zone and looking at his age group highlights there is some talent there that we haven't seen in 1st grade yet ... let's go, competition for the spots

 

[Fizurg]

He wasn’t that bad in 2023. He provides serviceable cover to halves and hooker and is a solid option for 14.
If we had two good halfs locked in he would be an awesome signing. But when he’s likely to start it says more about the squad than it does about Boyd.

 

[MM51]

I think I saw warriors say Boyd joins fellow halves CHT, TMM and Metcalf

 

[BrisbaneWarrior]

Walker leaves end of ‘25, CHT to 14, does TMM sign an NRL contract in 2026? We have Boyd and LM with a potential Jett and/or D.Brown in 26.

 

[Playdaball]

TMM will end up at a QLD club in 2026.

 

[Old Sid]

Seems to me that TB will be starting (based on his kicking game alone: long, short and set play penalties, conversions etc) and the other 3 (CHT, LM and TMM) are fighting for the 2nd spot.

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

Seems to me that TB will be starting (based on his kicking game alone: long, short and set play penalties, conversions etc) and the other 3 (CHT, LM and TMM) are fighting for the 2nd spot.

Nah if he’s fit then Metcalf locked in for a halves spot.

 

[Inruin]

Seems to me that TB will be starting (based on his kicking game alone: long, short and set play penalties, conversions etc) and the other 3 (CHT, LM and TMM) are fighting for the 2nd spot.

If that is the case, which wouldn't surprise me, AW is going for the no frills, follow the plan robotically, risk adverse approach which failed miserably this year.

Titans have speed in their outside backs and a very good second row to create with. Boyd had probably his best season in 2023 playing 21 games for two tries and eight assists - 10 try involvements and 8 wins. Unless he has some hidden ball playing magic we are going to struggle to score points without some spark coming from somewhere. We will need TT, Ali Leiataua and Metcalf to play every game and hope Egan gets back to his creative best.

For context, this season for us SJ had 16 games with 5 tries and 15 try assists. TMM at halfback this year had 8 games with 3 tries and 14 try assists - combined 24 games 8 tries and 29 try assists

 

[JaggedJ]

Writing on the wall for TMM

3 halves contracted until 2026, and he ain't one of them. That 4th half spot often is used for a prospect you're trying to develop and the only half we have signed beyond 2026 at the moment is Jett.

If a big signing lands on our laps then great, but I don't think you can really plan for that with any certainty.

This makes me very curious about CNK now as we haven't heard anything.

 

[John Nick]

Nah if he’s fit then Metcalf locked in for a halves spot.

I don't think anyone should be locked in for 25 yet.
Preseason and trials should be the decider.
As long as he is back to full fitness LM is my preference but they all need to prove themselves

 

[WahsaurusRex]

None of those eggs should be guaranteed any spot, least of all Tanah lol

He declared the starting spine in the 2022 portion of preseason heading into 2023; Metcalf getting injured as Te Maire came back saved him from getting questioned there

Then he spoke his way into a hole declaring our 2024 fullback only a couple of months into the 2023 season.

While I can respect and appreciate the honesty and conviction he has, if he does it again he has dead set got a humiliation kink or something, he doesn't need to say who is starting where until the Tuesday before Round 1

 

[John Nick]

None of those eggs should be guaranteed any spot, least of all Tanah lol

He declared the starting spine in the 2022 portion of preseason heading into 2023; Metcalf getting injured as Te Maire came back saved him from getting questioned there

Then he spoke his way into a hole declaring our 2024 fullback only a couple of months into the 2023 season.

While I can respect and appreciate the honesty and conviction he has, if he does it again he has dead set got a humiliation kink or something, he doesn't need to say who is starting where until the Tuesday before Round 1

Exactly. No one should be locked into anything until the last few days before round one.
This bs of so and so is going to be our 6 or 7 or 1 or whatever is crazy.
Training and trials should be the determining factor

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

I don't think anyone should be locked in for 25 yet.
Preseason and trials should be the decider.
As long as he is back to full fitness LM is my preference but they all need to prove themselves

Of course, however assuming he plays to his potential then he’s as close to a lock as we have in the halves.