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	Jett Cleary	✔	S	S
9	Wayde Egan	✔	✔	✔
10	James Fisher-Harris	✔	✔	✔	✔
11	Jackson Ford	✔	✔	✔
12	Leka Halasima	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
13	Morgan Harper	✔
14	Chanel Harris-Tavita	✔	✔
15	Sam Healey	✔	✔	✔
16	Edward Kosi	✔
17	Jacob Laban	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
18	Ali Leiataua	✔	✔	✔
19	Jye Linnane	✔	✔	✔	✔
20	Freddy Lussick	✔	✔
21	Te Maire Martin	✔	✔
22	Luke Metcalf	✔	✔
23	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	✔	✔	✔
24	Marata Niukore	✔	✔
25	Adam Pompey	✔	✔	✔
26	Tanner Stowers-Smith	✔	✔	✔
27	Taine Tuaupiki	✔	✔
28	Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	✔	✔
29	Demitric Vaimauga	✔	✔	✔	✔
30	Dallin Watene-Zelezniak	✔	✔	✔
S1	Kayliss Fatialofa	S	✔	✔
S2	Kalani Going	S
S3	Luke Hanson	S
S4	Eddie Ieremia-Toeava	S	✔	✔
S5	Sio Kali	S
S6	Patrick Moimoi	S
-	Kahu Capper	T	T
-	Morgan Gannon	-	✔	✔	✔
-	Haizyn Mellars	✔	✔	✔
-	Motu Pasikala	T	?	?

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

Top 30 2026: 29/30
Supplementary 2026: 1/6

2026 Gains: Morgan Gannon (Leeds Rhinos), Haizyn Mellars (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
2026 Losses: Edward Kosi (South Sydney Rabbitohs)

Off Contract: Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Morgan Harper
Can negotiate with other clubs from Nov 1, 2025 (Entering final year) : Rocco Berry, Tanah Boyd, Kurt Capewell, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Freddy Lussick, Te Maire Martin, Luke Metcalf, Marata Niukore, Taine Tuaupiki, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

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[Old Sid]

If the Warriors make an offer that factors in injury potential then they will also wait and time that offer to the middle of next year to see how he recovers, if he does, from his ACL. Will he still be able to run at pace? My "man" Gerard Beale never had the same pace or side step after his significant shattered leg recovery. Metcalf is all about speed. He scores tries rather than creating tries for others, That is a gross simplification but it holds in most cases. If he can't have X factor speed after his recovery then he is finished as a force in the NRL. The Warriors will be aware of that and will wait ten to twelve games after he recovers to see how he pulls up before calibrating an offer.
HOWEVER, other clubs will swoop on November 1 and offer him $1m. Guaranteed they do. He is not going to wait another 8 months for the warriors to form a view.

We either offer him $1M and make no deductions for his injury potential or let him walk. Those are the options. There is no middle ground. And I say based on offering $1M being untenable for such an injury prone player. Let him walk,

You present a strong argument Wrighty. I believe our owner is very $ savvy and likely thinking the same way. Ie Metcalf needs to prove he’s worth the big dollars. Moderate to start and back yourself to come good. If/when you do, you’ll be handsomely rewarded.

 

[Warriors55]

There are a lot of "If's" in there. CHT is our 6 and will be until injured.

This season I think CHT will be our 6 until injured sure and I am fine with that.

But if we are thinking of keeping CHT at 6 over one of Metcalf/Cleary long-term, that would be seriously concerning. I can't see that happening unless Metcalf left.

And you don't keep Jett out of first grade for another 2 years unless you want to see him leave.

Other clubs are like vultures. They will be watching closely how our halves situation develops and they will pounce if we make a mistake.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

If the Warriors make an offer that factors in injury potential then they will also wait and time that offer to the middle of next year to see how he recovers, if he does, from his ACL. Will he still be able to run at pace? My "man" Gerard Beale never had the same pace or side step after his significant shattered leg recovery. Metcalf is all about speed. He scores tries rather than creating tries for others, That is a gross simplification but it holds in most cases. If he can't have X factor speed after his recovery then he is finished as a force in the NRL. The Warriors will be aware of that and will wait ten to twelve games after he recovers to see how he pulls up before calibrating an offer.
HOWEVER, other clubs will swoop on November 1 and offer him $1m. Guaranteed they do. He is not going to wait another 8 months for the warriors to form a view.

We either offer him $1M and make no deductions for his injury potential or let him walk. Those are the options. There is no middle ground. And I say based on offering $1M being untenable for such an injury prone player. Let him walk,

I think there is another option.

We offer a good but realistic value and other teams offer more and we let him choose.

This is the Storm way. Offer intangibles - coach, security, premiership potentioal, etc. but less money.

If he’s money hungry, let him walk. Wrong attitude anyway. If he stays for less, then that’s someone we really want!

 

[skinnydippng]

This season I think CHT will be our 6 until injured sure and I am fine with that.

But if we are thinking of keeping CHT at 6 over one of Metcalf/Cleary long-term, that would be seriously concerning. I can't see that happening unless Metcalf left.

And you don't keep Jett out of first grade for another 2 years unless you want to see him leave.

Other clubs are like vultures. They will be watching closely how our halves situation develops and they will pounce if we make a mistake.

i'm biased here but I don't trust that Cleary or Metcalf will want to stick around long term as many others have said, think we'd be silly to let CHT go - aside from really coming into his own this year with all the try assists, he seems to be a great hype-man, getting around the boys, putting shots on to amp the team up and tough as nails (I'll never forget him playing 40 mins with the ruptured ball in that godawful training run by the storm)

At the very least he can cover a few positions and be a good bench utility, but he's still the 6 as far as I'm concerned.. not sure if any other clubs have expressed interest

 

[Warriors55]

i'm biased here but I don't trust that Cleary or Metcalf will want to stick around long term as many others have said, think we'd be silly to let CHT go - aside from really coming into his own this year with all the try assists, he seems to be a great hype-man, getting around the boys, putting shots on to amp the team up and tough as nails (I'll never forget him playing 40 mins with the ruptured ball in that godawful training run by the storm)

At the very least he can cover a few positions and be a good bench utility, but he's still the 6 as far as I'm concerned.. not sure if any other clubs have expressed interest

100% would like to see CHT stay in the squad long-term and as the 6 for the rest of this season.

It is going to be hard to keep both Cleary and Metcalf. Although Cleary says he wants to stay here and find his own path it won't surprise me if he goes to Penrith at some point. And with Metcalf being injury prone he is susceptible to taking a massive offer from a rival club to make money while he can.

In saying that, we have to try to keep them both. It is so rare for us to have two elite halves at the same time. Jett is going to be an elite half and the way Metcalf played this year, he was heading that way. Will be interesting to see if he keeps his pace and that is my only concern with him (as I have mentioned previously).

We can't let this opportunity pass us by. And you don't always get the opportunity to see how a player comes back from injury. Another club is most likely going to offer him big money to leave before then. We know how good he can be when fit. Sometimes you have to take a risk on those players and I hope that Webby feels the same.

 

[kos]

Could Metcalf play fullback?
Cnk is running to Father Time
Enables us to utilise Boyd Cht Jet Tmm etc in the 6/7 spots

 

[Noitall]

Could Metcalf play fullback?
Cnk is running to Father Time
Enables us to utilise Boyd Cht Jet Tmm etc in the 6/7 spots

That’s what I’ve been considering too. Is the kicking putting added pressure on his legs where he seems to have all his issues? His support play is unreal and I think he played fullback coming through at one time or another? Hanson is another name not being discussed that seems to be coming along nicely

 

[Wrighty]

I think there is another option.

We offer a good but realistic value and other teams offer more and we let him choose.

This is the Storm way. Offer intangibles - coach, security, premiership potentioal, etc. but less money.

If he’s money hungry, let him walk. Wrong attitude anyway. If he stays for less, then that’s someone we really want!

I on board with this approach. Good thinking there Wizards. But it would have to be a really short extension like 1 year and a mutual option for the second.

How much for?

If the Perth Bear's of this world are planning to offer him $1M - then how much do we offer using your strategy. With all his injuries he is only worth about $600K to us at this stage. Do we low ball an offer like that or do we make it a cool $800K to compete a little bit with Perth? And in which case why not just stump up the full $1M and be done with it?

To Worriers55 point it is important to note we are talking about 2027 and not 2026. Luke will happily or unhappily be here no matter what in 2026.

It is important to think about the half landscape context for 2027

Martin is signed through 2026 only and even if we resign him for 2027 I feel his days are done as a starting half. He is now a utility for the rest of his career.
Tannah Boyd is signed for 2025 and 2026 and I really don't see us signing him for 2027.

Our 2027 Halves if we resigned Luke would be

1) Metcalf
2) Jett Cleary
3) CHT Presently unsigned for 2026. I assume we will resign him.
4) Other Halves who are currently prospects Linnane etc
* TMM if resigned won't be officially part of our halves depth by 2027 - he will be a general Mr Fix it bench player

If we don't sign Metcalf then we would be light and would need to re-sign Boyd. I don't have any points to make out of that other than to say those are some contextual factors for 2027 McFadden and Mohawk will be thinking about.

 

[Wrighty]

Could Metcalf play fullback?
Cnk is running to Father Time
Enables us to utilise Boyd Cht Jet Tmm etc in the 6/7 spots

Do you see him doing any kick return hit ups? I personally think he would be too fraglle.

 

[kos]

It’s in the back of the mind - his fragility
I don’t know - I could see him scoring some length of the field tries a la Larry Corowa
But we could have four attacking threats
Cnk great in defence and catching and hit ups doesn’t offer so much on attack
Boyd I think could be trained to over come his mental fragility could be a better than is currently

 

[Wrighty]

It’s in the back of the mind - his fragility
I don’t know - I could see him scoring some length of the field tries a la Larry Corowa
But we could have four attacking threats
Cnk great in defence and catching and hit ups doesn’t offer so much on attack
Boyd I think could be trained to over come his mental fragility could be a better than is currently

Some of our movements in the red zone last night were snuffed out as soon as CNK touched the ball. CNK is signed through 2026 and 2027. I say Webster will keep him as our premier full back through those years. Rightly or Wrongly. And we look for a fullback signing next November for the 2028 year.

Yes if it weren't for his fragility Luke is better suited to full back than halfback.

 

[Dannevegas]

Jye Linnane will be a good shot to be starting 58.
Is there any noise of this Metcalf rumour, or just dragons fans dreaming?

 

[Wrighty]

I personally think we should settle for having moderately priced halves but stack our pack.
Tino is approachable November 1 for the 2027 season. I would go all chips in on him. I think he is amazing. Whether his shoulder charge was illegal or not he led from the front last night for his team and laid a shot on our captain and 4 time premiership winner James Fisher Harris in the opening statement of the game and then 2 minutes later scored the opening try. Whatever price it takes to get him I would pay.

 

[Dannevegas]

I personally think we should settle for having moderately priced halves but stack our pack.
Tino is approachable November 1 for the 2027 season. I would go all chips in on him. I think he is amazing. Whether his shoulder charge was illegal or not he led from the front last night for his team and laid a shot on our captain and 4 time premiership winner James Fisher Harris in the opening statement of the game and then 2 minutes later scored the opening try. Whatever price it takes to get him I would pay.

You want to win a comp or not? Moderately priced halves is what we got right now in CHT and Boyd and they aren’t winning us a comp even if we had Tino and Cam Murray

 

[Wrighty]

You want to win a comp or not? Moderately priced halves is what we got right now in CHT and Boyd and they aren’t winning us a comp even if we had Tino and Cam Murray

I think if we had Barnett healthy we could win the whole comp this year with Boyd and CHT

And I think even without Barnett that we are a smokey in the playoffs. Some of the Aussie pundits think we are the real deal and are calling us "the battlers". No team in the playoffs will be happy to match up against us. We are a gnarly little team AND we have been playing play off football all year while other teams like Broncos having been playing run and gun.

I respect your view though and it is a fair one.

This 2025 Warriors is better than the 2023 Warriors even though 2023 had Shaun Johnson in career best form.

 

[Dannevegas]

I think if we had Barnett healthy we could win the whole comp this year with Boyd and CHT

And I think even without Barnett that we are a smokey in the playoffs. Some of the Aussie pundits think we are the real deal and are calling us "the battlers". No team in the playoffs will be happy to match up against us. We are a gnarly little team AND we have been playing play off football all year while other teams like Broncos having been playing run and gun.

I respect your view though and it is a fair one.

This 2025 Warriors is better than the 2023 Warriors even though 2023 had Shaun Johnson in career best form.

Id like to believe that but at this point our defence is no where near good enough to make up for our lack of attack. Hopefully we peak come finals time with maybe some new X factor in the backs to launch that.

 

[Warriors55]

I personally think we should settle for having moderately priced halves but stack our pack.
Tino is approachable November 1 for the 2027 season. I would go all chips in on him. I think he is amazing. Whether his shoulder charge was illegal or not he led from the front last night for his team and laid a shot on our captain and 4 time premiership winner James Fisher Harris in the opening statement of the game and then 2 minutes later scored the opening try. Whatever price it takes to get him I would pay.

With all due respect Wrighty (and I do have a lot of respect for you) this is exactly the opposite way we should be thinking. You do not win a comp with 2 average halves no matter how great your pack is. Webby will know that.

 

[Noitall]

Jye Linnane will be a good shot to be starting 58.
Is there any noise of this Metcalf rumour, or just dragons fans dreaming?

• Yesterday at 7:04 PM

• 
  
• #46,926

November 1 Luke Metcalf will be offered 4 year deal and back to Sydney to sign with Dragons.
Link up with good mate Atkinson played lower grades together with sharks .

This is the post mentioning it. Rabbits was just a stab in the dark, but could them and eels being interested and a lure of heading back to Sydney come November 1

 

[Warriors55]

Tino is obviously a heck of a player though Wrighty.

The only way we are going to win a premiership this year is if Tanah is actually not an average half and turns out to be an elite half. Fingers crossed.

 

[Dannevegas]

• Yesterday at 7:04 PM
• 
  
• #46,926

November 1 Luke Metcalf will be offered 4 year deal and back to Sydney to sign with Dragons.
Link up with good mate Atkinson played lower grades together with sharks .

This is the post mentioning it. Rabbits was just a stab in the dark, but could them and eels being interested and a lure of heading back to Sydney come November 1

Fuck there’s probably a good chance he’s played his last game for us then. Where’s all the young kiwi halves at