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	Morgan Harper	✔
13	Chanel Harris-Tavita	✔	✔
14	Sam Healey	✔	✔	✔
15	Edward Kosi	✔
16	Jacob Laban	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
17	Ali Leiataua	✔	✔	✔
18	Freddy Lussick	✔	✔
19	Te Maire Martin	✔
20	Luke Metcalf	✔	✔
21	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	✔	✔	✔
22	Marata Niukore	✔	✔
23	Adam Pompey	✔	✔	✔
24	Tanner Stowers-Smith	✔	✔	✔
25	Taine Tuaupiki	✔	✔
26	Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	✔	✔
27	Demitric Vaimauga	✔	✔	✔	✔
28	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
-	Jett Cleary	T	S	S
-	Morgan Gannon	-	✔	✔	✔
-	Jye Linnane	-	✔	✔	✔
-	Motu Pasikala	T	?	?

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

Confirmed Top 30 2025: 28/30
Confirmed Supplementary 2025: 6/6

Confirmed Top 30 2026: 26/30
Confirmed Supplementary 2026: 1/6

2026 Gains: Jye Linnane (Newcastle Knights), Morgan Gannon (Leeds Rhinos)
2026 Losses: Nil

Off Contract: Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Morgan Harper, Edward Kosi, Te Maire Martin
Can negotiate with others clubs from 01/11/25 (final year) : Rocco Berry, Tanah Boyd, Kurt Capewell, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Freddy Lussick, Luke Metcalf, Marata Niukore, Taine Tuaupiki, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

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[Blain]

I don't ever remember our youth being coveted by other teams before. Heading into unchartered territory here. Hope we keep Crosby away from Manly.

Don't worry too much mate, forums don't sign players last time I checked.

 

[Noitall]

Don't worry too much mate, forums don't sign players last time I checked.

Tajhay keeping an eye on it anyway. He’s warned them

 

[Kav1]

how good would TMM and Moses go?
not much fishing in the Parramatta River though

Or pig hunting in the surrounding bush?

 

[sup42]

Or pig hunting in the surrounding bush?

Plenty in the local night clubs.

Gee I still have a hope for retaining Te Maire. He strikes me as someone who would be good to keep at the club post retirement too. He has a calming way about him. And he would be an authority as an assistant coach of our NSW cup side "watch this tape....see me...in your Jersey....look at my lip...no drop..."

 

[Christchurch_Warrior]

Or pig hunting in the surrounding bush?

Plenty around the bars so he would be OK

 

[hornbybrown]

Plenty around the bars so he would be OK

The cops hang round the bars?

 

[Falcon]

These guys managers should be telling them ‘ chill’ you are still young, don’t be in a hurry. I’m going to get you an upgrade from the club but don’t be in an hurry to move. You are in the best place to continue developing your game. You will get the chance to play first grade.
If clubs are looking at them now, there will be more when they negotiate a new deal and a bumper pay rise.

I’ll watch with interest if either sign only a one / two year extension coinciding with the new clubs entering the comp in the coming years and a player signing Lollie scramble that’s bound to ensue.

I wonder how many guys in the coming months with a year remaining on their deals at the club get a shoulder tap to tell them we love having you here and we look forward to having you in the squad next year …. But, we won’t be in a position to offer an extension so if you can get a longer deal elsewhere we will understand wholeheartedly and you can leave with our blessing.

 

[Get them onside ref!]

These guys managers should be telling them ‘ chill’ you are still young, don’t be in a hurry. I’m going to get you an upgrade from the club but don’t be in an hurry to move. You are in the best place to continue developing your game. You will get the chance to play first grade.
If clubs are looking at them now, there will be more when they negotiate a new deal and a bumper pay rise.

I’ll watch with interest if either sign only a one / two year extension coinciding with the new clubs entering the comp in the coming years and a player signing Lollie scramble that’s bound to ensue.

I wonder how many guys in the coming months with a year remaining on their deals at the club get a shoulder tap to tell them we love having you here and we look forward to having you in the squad next year …. But, we won’t be in a position to offer an extension so if you can get a longer deal elsewhere we will understand wholeheartedly and you can leave with our blessing.

When your a young un
And money comes across table
Very easy decision
Unless close fam ties keep u here
It was only a few years ago
No one wanted to play for Wahs
Brandon Smith
Joey Manu
And others
We flavour of the month at mo
But we gotta keep beating top 4 sides
To get taken seriously

 

[sup42]

The flavor of the thread in the last few pages has turned to concern about retaining two genuinely exciting prospects in Kaylis and Toby.

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, lets remind ourselves the club has locked up ALL of its NRL ready most exciting future stars in the last twenty four to forty eight hours or so.

Which leaves Kaylis and Toby, neither of whom are NRL ready.

So McFadden has got this right in terms of the order of sequence.

Had we signed Kaylis or Toby already, who are not NRL ready, ahead of Tanner, Jacob, Dimitric etc then it would have sent the wrong message to our NRL ready guys.

What I am saying is, every thing in it's time in within the right order. And external forces like scouts from other clubs know this, they try to put pressure on their competition by pressuring the other clubs salary caps and approaching precisely the likes of Kaylis and Toby during the signing rounds when those types of kids are still waiting for a deal.

This is exactly what we did to the Broncos with Reece Walsh, who the Broncos had big wraps on, but the Broncos did not want to break the chain, the order of NRL readiness, to allow Walsh to leap frog the order.

But as we know, Walsh took a short term way out, a cash grab and a short cut to being an NRL starter, only to go back to the Broncos and say hey.....I proved my worth I want to come home.

And given our ladder position, and our very bright future, I think the Warriors (not unlike the Broncos on Walsh) are entirely entitled to let a Kaylis or Toby finish their education elsewhere, while reminding them 'we wanted you, we had a pathway mapped out, go with our blessing, phone the mother ship when you get home sick. we will pay you full NRL contracts to come home, the same contracts we budgeted for before you left to get more money sooner, no foul....you are Warriors, we discovered you....welcome home.

 

[kos]

The flavor of the thread in the last few pages has turned to concern about retaining two genuinely exciting prospects in Kaylis and Toby.

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, lets remind ourselves the club has locked up ALL of its NRL ready most exciting future stars in the last twenty four to forty eight hours or so.

Which leaves Kaylis and Toby, neither of whom are NRL ready.

So McFadden has got this right in terms of the order of sequence.

Had we signed Kaylis or Toby already, who are not NRL ready, ahead of Tanner, Jacob, Dimitric etc then it would have sent the wrong message to our NRL ready guys.

What I am saying is, every thing in it's time in within the right order. And external forces like scouts from other clubs know this, they try to put pressure on their competition by pressuring the other clubs salary caps and approaching precisely the likes of Kaylis and Toby during the signing rounds when those types of kids are still waiting for a deal.

This is exactly what we did to the Broncos with Reece Walsh, who the Broncos had big wraps on, but the Broncos did not want to break the chain, the order of NRL readiness, to allow Walsh to leap frog the order.

But as we know, Walsh took a short term way out, a cash grab and a short cut to being an NRL starter, only to go back to the Broncos and say hey.....I proved my worth I want to come home.

And given our ladder position, and our very bright future, I think the Warriors (not unlike the Broncos on Walsh) are entirely entitled to let a Kaylis or Toby finish their education elsewhere, while reminding them 'we wanted you, we had a pathway mapped out, go with our blessing, phone the mother ship when you get home sick. we will pay you full NRL contracts to come home, the same contracts we budgeted for before you left to get more money sooner, no foul....you are Warriors, we discovered you....welcome home.

Dave
it sounds like you are working at Maurice Rd.
Can you confirm you are an adviser to Cappy?

 

[PhilsySH35]

Kayliss to the centres is probably why they have let MGT leave. EIT can also cover centre & back-row, so he’s also a bench option. One of the issues for Laban is that he only plays in the backrow so doesn’t have the versatility of Kayliss or EIT.

agree, kayliss a phenom.

 

[Kav1]

This is the problem with signing Capewell through to the end of 26 why would you want to stick around if you are young 2nd rower.

Capewell might just help us win a premiership either this year or the next.

 

[Jaffa J]

Can we release MGT now and sign Cobbo effective immediately

 

[Ref]

I’d buy Ennor

 

[The Warrior Waka]

Capewell might just help us win a premiership either this year or the next.

Hopefully this year! We have a habit of burning out our OG's! Lol. He might not last much longer the way hes been going a hundy for us every game.