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	Chanel Harris-Tavita	✔	✔
13	Sam Healey	✔	✔	✔
14	Edward Kosi	✔
15	Jacob Laban	✔	✔
16	Ali Leiataua	✔	✔	✔
17	Freddy Lussick	✔	✔
18	Te Maire Martin	✔
19	Luke Metcalf	✔	✔
20	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	✔
21	Marata Niukore	✔	✔
22	Adam Pompey	✔
23	Taine Tuaupiki	✔	✔
24	Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	✔	✔
25	Demitric Vaimauga	✔	✔	✔	✔
26	Dylan Walker	✔
27	Dallin Watene-Zelezniak	✔	✔	✔
S1	Kayliss Faitialofa	S
S2	Kalani Going	S
S3	Luke Hanson	S
S4	Sio Kali	S
S5	Patrick Moimoi	S
S6	Tanner Stowers-Smith	S
-	Kahu Capper	T	T
-	Jett Cleary	T	S	S
-	Eddie Ieremia-Toeava	T
-	Motu Pasikala	T

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

Confirmed Top 30 2025: 27/30
Confirmed Supplementary 2025: 6/6
Unconfirmed Top 30 2025: 27/30
Unconfirmed Supplementary 2025: 6/6

Confirmed Top 30 2026: 22/30
Confirmed Supplementary 2026: 1/6

2026 Gains: Nil
2026 Losses: Nil

Off Contract: Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Edward Kosi, Te Maire Martin, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Adam Pompey, Dylan Walker

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This thread is solely for Warriors recruitment and retention discussion. Any posts not related to the above will be deleted.

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[Fonzie]

Based on reports that we released Zyon Maiu’u to free up a roster spot to potentially sign another back I feel those rumours were false.

Not sure about that - we have two less middle forwards in the squad today than we did at Christmas

I think they will add one middle and one OB

 

[ajofbrisbane]

So, how would everyone feel if the $$$ they have freed up in the cap was going to be used on Payne Hass

 

[Nakiproud]

Haha over the moon!!!

 

[Damo]

So, how would everyone feel if the $$$ they have freed up in the cap was going to used on Payne Hass

Dreams are free I guess.

 

[Completion Rate]

Can we just get a long rangy back from sevens already

Cody Vai

 

[JaggedJ]

What happened to this thread going into overdrive?

Feels like we've barely got out of park.

Need some more Dylan Brown news because the previous 20 pages of that was just exhilarating.

 

[sballer7]

What happened to this thread going into overdrive?

Feels like we've barely got out of park.

Need some more Dylan Brown news because the previous 20 pages of that was just exhilarating.

We are circling back to Payne Haas first...DB will have to wait

 

[Canadian_Warriors_Fan]

We are circling back to Payne Haas first...DB will have to wait

Nope Rene Ranger

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

I feel our recruitments should be elite or else we use our young talent.

Sipley is a marginal at best improvement over what we have but blocks existing young talent.

Brown of Hass are irreplaceable improvements and what we should be hoping for to round out the squad.

 

[france]

What happened to this thread going into overdrive?

Feels like we've barely got out of park.

Need some more Dylan Brown news because the previous 20 pages of that was just exhilarating.

lol..seems like we have'nt even got to the park

 

[Warriorshopeful]

Kind of funny we released Volkman while we ended up extending Lussick when we only signed Lussick to get Volkman haha.

 

[Tonbridge(aka Swanley)]

We need a halfback or a fast winger. RTS is too old, and our half options are bog standard.

We have enough forwards.

 

[Blain]

We need a halfback or a fast winger. RTS is too old, and our half options are bog standard.

We have enough forwards.

So you want to put RTS in reserve grade? I'm really hoping Kali shows his talents in the trial to be an injury option this season. I agree on the forwards, it feels like we have enough even after losing 2. But all it takes is a couple injuries and we're pretty fucked, and that's what they'll be looking at. I don't want a plodder like Ryan Sutton or Corey Waddell signed who will just block Demitric Vaimauga's game time. The thing is no one signs for the Warriors to play reserve grade, so we either have to sign starters or guys looking for a sniff at first grade.

 

[WarriorsForever]

Rumour: According to the Warriorholic, we are potentially set to sign a ‘senior’ outside back as there are growing concerns over Berry’s injury, with another potential injury to Adam Pompey.

 

[The Warrior Waka]

Rumour: According to the Warriorholic, we are potentially set to sign a ‘senior’ outside back as there are growing concerns over Berry’s injury, with another potential injury to Adam Pompey.

Damn! ....Oh well, Welcome to the Wahs - senior back Joey Manu.

Ps, Why not? Someone said Payne Haas was coming too! Lol

 

[Christchurch_Warrior]

Damn! ....Oh well, Welcome to the Wahs - senior back Joey Manu.

Ps, Why not? Someone said Payne Haas was coming too! Lol

We would more likely get Konrad Hurrell lol

 

[The Warrior Waka]

Rumour: According to the Warriorholic, we are potentially set to sign a ‘senior’ outside back as there are growing concerns over Berry’s injury, with another potential injury to Adam Pompey.

So a possible reshuffle for Fridays game? MTG to the wing and Rts to centre? Not looking good if so.

 

[WarriorsForever]

Damn! ....Oh well, Welcome to the Wahs - senior back Joey Manu.

Ps, Why not? Someone said Payne Haas was coming too! Lol

Staggs?

 

[The Warrior Waka]

We would more likely get Konrad Hurrell lol

Brent Naden or a Braden Burms are the senior centres available? Has Kotoni Staggs been re-signed by the Bronx yet?

 

[sup42]

Episode #33 - We're Ready. || Andrew Webster

Head Coach Andrew Webster goes one-on-one for the first episode of OneTake in 2025. Webby talks in depth about the learnings, losses and gains from the 2024 season; captaincy and halves selection + gives us an insight into Las Vegas and the 2025 season ahead. Like and subscribe now so you'll...

www.warriors.kiwi

Great interview with webby, talks a lot about the new recruits

Should be in the sack the coach thread (that is not a criticism or reprimand, rather I am saying it is an important insight into Webster).

In short he has decided the mental side of the Warriors club is their biggest weakness and those of us who have hung in their for what is now approaching a human life time have known the mental part of Rugby league is where NZ players fall short.

I do not want to digress here too much by going off on a tangent but when it comes to the mental aspects of the game, some fans have mistakenly blamed that on race and culture. None of that is true, the problem arises from the lack of Mental training in the undergrades in this country and that is largely a result of RL being held back in the shadow of the Ünion fascist control over which game school children are encouraged to play in other words like it or not Mugby fans the League sport has been held down under the Jack Boots of the Mugby school boy Reich.

Fact.

Ergo when league players reach the Warriors they have come from shitty grounds like Prince Edward park and Ngati Otara park.

In fact if you look at the birth of the Warriors, the premier Rugby league ground in NZ the hallowed turf of Carlaw park was not good enough to be an NRL ground.

Yet fans do not get that the raw material in this country are gonna have mental related deficits in their preparedness for a competition like the NRL.

So yeah I have zero time for people talking about the Elephant in the Room like Bruce used to which was code for too many Islanders. Sorry for being brutally frank here but that is my trade mark on this forum, calling spades spades and speaking ugly language to ugly ideas head on.

Quite simply it baffles me there is a sack Webster thread at all. He is the most insightful voice we have heard since Mathew Elliot who blamed the DNA of the Warriors (code for the owner sucks and all the owners before them could not give a shit, ergo the whole club is rotten).

Anywho Webster is quite right the Warriors need a mental approach, it is not rocket surgery, anyone who knows anything realizes the Warriors are known across the entire NRL as the confidence side of the competition ergo the lack thereof sums up their decades of failure.

As we saw last year, player picks (the main reason twits want to sack Webster for not picking their fanboi picks) mean nothing, the B team did better than the A team.