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	The Greatest of All-Time	✔	✔
5	Kurt Capewell	✔	✔
6	Erin Clark	✔	✔	✔
7	Wayde Egan	✔	✔	✔
8	James Fisher-Harris	✔	✔	✔	✔
9	Jackson Ford	✔
10	Leka Halasima	✔	✔	✔
11	Tohu Harris	✔
12	Chanel Harris-Tavita	✔	M
13	Sam Healey	✔	✔	✔
14	Edward Kosi	✔
15	Jacob Laban	✔	✔
16	Ali Leiataua	✔
17	Freddy Lussick	✔	✔
18	Zyon Maiu’u	✔	✔
19	Te Maire Martin	✔
20	Luke Metcalf	✔	✔
21	Marcelo Montoya	✔
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	✔
D1	Kalani Going	D
D2	Tanner Stowers-Smith	D
T1	Jett Cleary	T	D	D

C = Club option, M = Mutual option, P = Player option, D = Development contract, T = Train & Trial contract

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

Confirmed Top 30 2026: 14/30
Confirmed Development 2026: 1/6

2026 Gains: Nil
2026 Losses: Nil

Off Contract: Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Jackson Ford, Tohu Harris, Ed Kosi, Ali Leiataua, Te Maire Martin, Marcelo Montoya, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Adam Pompey, Taine Tuaupiki, Dylan Walker, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Kalani Going (D), Tanner Stowers-Smith (D), Chanel Harris-Tavita (M), Demitric Vaimauga (C)

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[Canonball]

Josh Jacomb from Taranaki.
Get in before the ABs do

Jeez, from my very very limited research on this guy I actually agree!... runs to the line and distributes like a good league-y from what I seen, and can kick goals

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

This may freak you out but as I read that post I recalled reading it earlier (I read nearly every post on the site). I didn't take your post seriously at the time as I felt like Pompey could be that guy. But he proved inconsistent. And who would have known he was going to get injured too after being an iron man in 2023
Our Stats

Player	Games	Goals	Attempts	Percent
Johnson	16​	29​	38​	76%​
Pompey	14​	24​	31​	77%​
CHT	17​	11​	18​	61%​
Metcalf	7​	9​	12​	75%​
Tuapiki	8​	3​	3​	100%​

The problems got diabolical once we were down to our 3rd selected kicker.
How do you fix this?
Even if we pick TT to play full back next year....who is our back up and 3rd string going to be?

I am sorry for giving your Nostradameus like post short shrift when I read it last year. Will be on the look out for your future posts.
What my solution is - Taine to play full back and kick. Pompey as first back up. If Both of them can't kick then we find one of our NSW cup backs who can and let them play wing in 1st Grade. I don't trust Luke Metcalf to be in the kicking mixer.

This is the stats of kickers from 2022 (easiest stat I found):


Based on that, Tuaupiki, Metcalf and Pompey are adequate for next year.

There’s probably 3-4 kickers in the whole league kicking 80%+ and the difference between them and a 75% kicker might be 3-4 kicks in a season. (About 60 conversion attempts at 5% variance). Of those 3-4 extra misses very few times will they be in close scoreline games so won’t decide results…

I think the big issue was CHT choking at crucial moments and the fact we had so many close games, some by a missed kick! I don’t believe kicking is as big an issue as our defence with 3 adequate options.

 

[OtautahiEast]

We

Volkman lead the NSW Cup for most goals kicked in 2023. Didn't say what his percentage was.
If we can't land a unicorn half I say we snap up Ronald.

Yup snap up Ronny, or Puru from Newtown he's decent with 82.6% over 27 games i think he did all the kicking.
Oh and 2 one point field goals

 

[roguei]

Dunno if it was already resolved. But i remember old mate saying somthing about his misses seeing weeby & crew waiting at the airport for someone. Although not unusual as mate is from NZ and it's his off season. But Mr Thompson just posted a story on insta from napier for his clothing brand... If not linked to that, it at the very least looks like he is now linked to a NZ bussiness. To which im not sure he was a part of originally?

 

[CWC]

Dunno if it was already resolved. But i remember old mate saying somthing about his misses seeing weeby & crew waiting at the airport for someone. Although not unusual as mate is from NZ and it's his off season. But Mr Thompson just posted a story on insta from napier for his clothing brand... If not linked to that, it at the very least looks like he is now linked to a NZ bussiness. To which im not sure he was a part of originally?

“Ration those nappies”

 

[CWC]

This may freak you out but as I read that post I recalled reading it earlier (I read nearly every post on the site). I didn't take your post seriously at the time as I felt like Pompey could be that guy. But he proved inconsistent. And who would have known he was going to get injured too after being an iron man in 2023
Our Stats

Player	Games	Goals	Attempts	Percent
Johnson	16​	29​	38​	76%​
Pompey	14​	24​	31​	77%​
CHT	17​	11​	18​	61%​
Metcalf	7​	9​	12​	75%​
Tuapiki	8​	3​	3​	100%​

The problems got diabolical once we were down to our 3rd selected kicker.
How do you fix this?
Even if we pick TT to play full back next year....who is our back up and 3rd string going to be?

I am sorry for giving your Nostradameus like post short shrift when I read it last year. Will be on the look out for your future posts.
What my solution is - Taine to play full back and kick. Pompey as first back up. If Both of them can't kick then we find one of our NSW cup backs who can and let them play wing in 1st Grade. I don't trust Luke Metcalf to be in the kicking mixer.

Obviously the MVP with 100% record including the clutch try and winner against the 3x premiers. Give him the tee and train his field goal kicks under stress.

I was critical of Pompey (always floating the hoping for it to wobble between the post but never sharp and controlled), but the next game where he got injured he was kicking like an ace and gliding those kicks in like a pro, and he has kicked clutch goals before although choked in the semi vs Broncos too, he’d be my No.2 option to keep training him (get Halligan in?) and Metcalf can kick from sideline too and my instinct is he has potential for field goals the way he took it upon himself and was not far off while off balanced in the final game against the Sharks

We won’t know who will come out on top but at least we have options and competition, the other issue tho is who takes charge if TMM is injured, we need to sign someone, doesn’t have to be old and expired, even those young halfbacks for Sharks, Storm, Roosters, Panthers etc did very well filling in for their main men this yr

 

[Makasene]

I'd prefer JFH to come in and tell Webby mate you are gonna bust all of us if you don't adopt the minutes to keep players fresh for the long season, give the 4th bench player some minutes and have everyone play 50-60min instead of 65-75min until they're worn out

This sort of speaks to how big a loss Siro really was.

It is too defensive to pick specialist Hooker cover - and that is what it is, just cover. There has been no evident substitution strategy with having two hookers, just there in case the other goes down.

In the likes of Healey and Clarke I guess you can go more versatility again.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Consider this: Ali vs Pompey.

If we include Pompey for his kicking we get say 3 extra conversions over a season vs a stock kicker (6 points advantage over a season).

But Ali scores an average of a try or try assist per game (5 in 6 games) vs Pompey’s messily 3 in 14 games. Ali 126m vs Pompey’s 86m. Both identical 89% tackling efficiency.

So Pompey gets you a few extra kicks/ points a season. Ali gets you an extra try and makes those around them better (run m) every game!

Pompey might win you a game a season in a close one. Ali has you winning so the games not even close.

I think this points to picking your best team and then choosing whoever can kick well and training them up to reach their peak.

 

[watcher]

Which of our goal kickers is a starter, that is Metcalf. The others are not automatic starters personally I would have Tuaupiki at FB. If Metcalf injure TT to 6. Pompey is also a better player than modt realise.

 

[Inruin]

I feel like I'm in a Bluey McLennan twilight zone moment. We just need to find a way to score more points..... If we score more points than the opposition we win.....

Our defence is what fucked us 9/10 this season and everyone seems to be talking about finding a goal kicker.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

I feel like I'm in a Bluey McLennan twilight zone moment. We just need to find a way to score more points..... If we score more points than the opposition we win.....

Our defence is what fucked us 9/10 this season and everyone seems to be talking about finding a goal kicker.

Win by 1,000 cuts.

Defend better, attack better, kick more goals, less injuries, tweak the bench and refine the game plan.

Lots of micro improvements needed everywhere adding up to a winning performance!

But yea, solid defence helps

 

[Inruin]

Win by 1,000 cuts.

Defend better, attack better, kick more goals, less injuries, tweak the bench and refine the game plan.

Lots of micro improvements needed everywhere adding up to a winning performance!

Defence isn't going to be a micro improvement though!

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Defence isn't going to be a micro improvement though!

Each player making 1 more tackle per game? Choosing who’s slightly faster/ more mobile/ explosive? Get 1% more strength in the gym? 1% more cardio? Combinations reinforced with settled team mates?

I’m of the camp anyway that you improve the player and both the defence and attack improve.

 

[Makasene]

Consider this: Ali vs Pompey.

If we include Pompey for his kicking we get say 3 extra conversions over a season vs a stock kicker (6 points advantage over a season).

But Ali scores an average of a try or try assist per game (5 in 6 games) vs Pompey’s messily 3 in 14 games. Ali 126m vs Pompey’s 86m. Both identical 89% tackling efficiency.

So Pompey gets you a few extra kicks/ points a season. Ali gets you an extra try and makes those around them better (run m) every game!

Pompey might win you a game a season in a close one. Ali has you winning so the games not even close.

I think this points to picking your best team and then choosing whoever can kick well and training them up to reach their peak.

There's not a team in the comp that wouldn't want to call on Pompey when a starter goes down.

 

[Noitall]

There's not a team in the comp that wouldn't want to call on Pompey when a starter goes down.

He’s on the titans radar from what I’ve seen

 

[snake77]

After missing the finals we all see areas of the roster that need strengthening. Either for depth or it is a weakness.

But do we realistically expect any more signings?

Webster a few weeks ago said they had a few players signed that they still need to announce. Since then Clark and Healey have been announced. A few could mean just those two or only one more.

 

[Wrighty]

Consider this: Ali vs Pompey.

If we include Pompey for his kicking we get say 3 extra conversions over a season vs a stock kicker (6 points advantage over a season).

But Ali scores an average of a try or try assist per game (5 in 6 games) vs Pompey’s messily 3 in 14 games. Ali 126m vs Pompey’s 86m. Both identical 89% tackling efficiency.

So Pompey gets you a few extra kicks/ points a season. Ali gets you an extra try and makes those around them better (run m) every game!

Pompey might win you a game a season in a close one. Ali has you winning so the games not even close.

I think this points to picking your best team and then choosing whoever can kick well and training them up to reach their peak.

I am diametrically opposed to the view of pick the best 13 and train up a kicker
One of your 13 can be wiggled in mainly because he is a kicker
Your maths is a bit arbitrary
The guy who we train up may not kick at 75% what happens if he only kicks at 70% or 71%
And what happens if a decent kicker had kicked at 82%
That’s 6 or 7 more kicks per season

More importantly even accepting your 75 percent vs 80 percent construct the guy with 5 more points will be clutch when It really matters while the 5 points less guy inconsistent and maybe unreliable in a play off game.

Tannah Boyd kicked at 83 percent on your chart. Just saying

 

[watcher]

My 10c worth is we need another Half and another Winger. As for D I think a lot of it is attitude. That is, the attitude to understand and execute the D pattern. Our Wings for instance often rush in and leave the outside space unprotected. That is caused by the inside players not covering hard enough from the inside. In giving them stick it must be recognised that the team had consistent selection over a number of games. Probably the only area that happened was Prop.

 

[Wrighty]

Defence isn't going to be a micro improvement though!

What were your numbers 24 points against per match ?
Had we only conceded 20 points against titans that awful blowout match instead of 66 then we would havre averaged a more respectable 22.2 points against instead of 24

 

[John Nick]

Win by 1,000 cuts.

Defend better, attack better, kick more goals, less injuries, tweak the bench and refine the game plan.

Lots of micro improvements needed everywhere adding up to a winning performance!

But yea, solid defence helps

Attitude & determination fixes 99% of our problems