Recruitment Warriors 2026/2027 Recruitment & Retention

Warriors 2026/2027 Recruitment and Retention Discussion​

Player	2026​	2027​	2028​	2029​	2030​
Mitchell Barnett	✔​	✔​
Rocco Berry	✔​
Tanah Boyd	✔​
Kurt Capewell	✔​
Erin Clark	✔​	✔​
Wayde Egan	✔​	✔​
Kayliss Fatialofa	✔​	✔​
James Fisher-Harris	✔​	✔​	✔​
Jackson Ford	✔​	✔​
Morgan Gannon	✔​	✔​	✔​
Leka Halasima	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​
Chanel Harris-Tavita	✔​
Sam Healey	✔​	✔​
Eddie Ieremia-Toeava	✔​	✔​
Alofiana Khan-Pereira	✔​	✔​	✔​
Jacob Laban	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​
Ali Leiataua	✔​	✔​
Jye Linnane	✔​	✔​	✔​
Freddy Lussick	✔​
Te Maire Martin	✔​
Haizyn Mellars	✔​	✔​	✔​
Luke Metcalf	✔​	✔​	✔​
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	✔​	✔​
Marata Niukore	✔​
Adam Pompey	✔​	✔​
Tanner Stowers-Smith	✔​	✔​	✔​
Taine Tuaupiki	✔​
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	✔​
Demitric Vaimauga	✔​	✔​	✔​
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak	✔​	✔​
Jett Cleary	S​	U​
Sio Kali	U​
Braelan Marsh	U​	U​	U​
Motu Pasikala	U​	U​

✔ = Signed to Top 30, C = Club option, M = Mutual Option, P = Player option, S = Signed to supplementary list, U = Unclear

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

2027 Top 30: 21/30
2027 Supplementary: 0/6

2027 Gains: Nil
2027 Losses: Nil

Off contract and free to sign elsewhere for 2027: Rocco Berry, Tanah Boyd, Kurt Capewell, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Freddy Lussick, Te Maire Martin, Marata Niukore, Taine Tuaupiki, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
Will be off contract and free to sign elsewhere for 2028 from November 1st, 2026: Mitchell Barnett, Erin Clark, Jett Cleary, Wayde Egan, Kayliss Fatialofa, Jackson Ford, Sam Healey, Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, Ali Leiataua, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Motu Pasikala, Adam Pompey, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak

 

[Tookey 2.0]

The fact that Blaize Talagi is being selected over him give you idea how he's viewed in the game imo.

Any decent starting half with CHT experience would back themselves to get picked over Talagi who, while clearly talented, hasn't done jack shit in the league.

I would like to respectfully disagree, sir.

My view is that rugba leeg is a team game, where each piece of the puzzle needs to compliment the other parts in order to complete the whole picture.

CHT is never going to be an elite half, and will never be the go to guy, especially when the main play maker goes down.
Imo he did his job extremely well this year, and if that was the level of half that you get from him, he's providing a more than solid piece of the puzzle. Top defence, a decent kicking game and enough attacking output to warrant his position at 6. I think statistically he was one of the top 5/8ths this year.

If he plays like that moving forward, I think it's going to be hard to displace him, or he will potentially get a gig somewhere else as a starting 6.

While I'm really excited at our halves coming through, if they want CHTs spot they need to earn it and play better than him, which is going to be some feat as CHT was great this year.

For what it's worth, I also think he'd be great utility and see that as where he'll end up, but his pairing with Metcalf last year had them both playing out of our skin.

I think if we had a crystal ball and we could see that CHT playing all of 2026 at half, having 20+ try assists and solid defence again, Webby would take that over the potential of our young guns currently, at least for 2026

 

[Noitall]

I would like to respectfully disagree, sir.

My view is that rugba leeg is a team game, where each piece of the puzzle needs to compliment the other parts in order to complete the whole picture.

CHT is never going to be an elite half, and will never be the go to guy, especially when the main play maker goes down.
Imo he did his job extremely well this year, and if that was the level of half that you get from him, he's providing a more than solid piece of the puzzle. Top defence, a decent kicking game and enough attacking output to warrant his position at 6. I think statistically he was one of the top 5/8ths this year.

If he plays like that moving forward, I think it's going to be hard to displace him, or he will potentially get a gig somewhere else as a starting 6.

While I'm really excited at our halves coming through, if they want CHTs spot they need to earn it and play better than him, which is going to be some feat as CHT was great this year.

For what it's worth, I also think he'd be great utility and see that as where he'll end up, but his pairing with Metcalf last year had them both playing out of our skin.

I think if we had a crystal ball and we could see that CHT playing all of 2026 at half, having 20+ try assists and solid defence again, Webby would take that over the potential of our young guns currently, at least for 2026

If we go into the season with Metcalf missing 10 or so games, do you think Boyd and CHT has what it takes to set our season up?

 

[Tookey 2.0]

If we go into the season with Metcalf missing 10 or so games, do you think Boyd and CHT has what it takes to set our season up?

Not really to be honest.

I think it all depends on the draw, if we have an okay draw and are able to come out of that with 5 or 6 wins I think we'll be sweet, but if it's a tough draw id be quite worried about sitting at 2-8 or something, which is pretty hard for Metcalf to come in and help us win about 13 of those last 15 games or so.

As I was saying before, I think getting the right team is a bit like a puzzle, you need to match the right pieces together and I don't think Tanah and CHTs games match that well, especially with CNK at the back.
In that little puzzle I think CNK would be the biggest issue, and think Taine, Roger, or even one of the younger guys would likely compliment CHT and Tanah's game. We need someone who can offer more attack, as opposed to consistently high meters from the back

 

[Noitall]

Not really to be honest.

I think it all depends on the draw, if we have an okay draw and are able to come out of that with 5 or 6 wins I think we'll be sweet, but if it's a tough draw id be quite worried about sitting at 2-8 or something, which is pretty hard for Metcalf to come in and help us win about 13 of those last 15 games or so.

As I was saying before, I think getting the right team is a bit like a puzzle, you need to match the right pieces together and I don't think Tanah and CHTs games match that well, especially with CNK at the back.
In that little puzzle I think CNK would be the biggest issue, and think Taine, Roger, or even one of the younger guys would likely compliment CHT and Tanah's game. We need someone who can offer more attack, as opposed to consistently high meters from the back

The last couple of weeks and now, it feels like there could be a lot of movement in the offseason, especially with a couple of new teams looking to fill rosters. Lot of players going to market for 2027

 

[Ever Hopeful]

I thought CHT was really good this year.

The one area I thought he was falling a little short in was his ability to break the line. He ran the ball a lot more this season, and I thought he was really good at choosing to do so at the right times. He'd gun for a half-gap and I'd push forward to the edge of the seat, and then he'd be chopped down in a crucial tackle. It happened again and again, he just couldn't seem to break through the tackle with that extra yard of pace.

It is a hard one because I think he distributes well, kicks well, and tackles well. He is committed on the field. His running game might be a strength if we build a more elusive set of backs around him to afford him that extra yard of space.

Personally, I think he'd be a good buy for a few teams. I hope we keep him, but then again we don't know what the alternative is if we don't.

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

I thought CHT was really good this year.

The one area I thought he was falling a little short in was his ability to break the line. He ran the ball a lot more this season, and I thought he was really good at choosing to do so at the right times. He'd gun for a half-gap and I'd push forward to the edge of the seat, and then he'd be chopped down in a crucial tackle. It happened again and again, he just couldn't seem to break through the tackle with that extra yard of pace.

It is a hard one because I think he distributes well, kicks well, and tackles well. He is committed on the field. His running game might be a strength if we build a more elusive set of backs around him to afford him that extra yard of space.

Personally, I think he'd be a good buy for a few teams. I hope we keep him, but then again we don't know what the alternative is if we don't.

I thought it was his best ever season, thats why I dont see him getting much better, and he is hopeless if he has to lead this team around.

I dont know why he cant play lock?

 

[Warriorsfan92]

I thought it was his best ever season, thats why I dont see him getting much better, and he is hopeless if he has to lead this team around.

I dont know why he cant play lock?

Probably because the dally m lock of the year is playing for us lol