Recruitment Warriors 2026/2027 Recruitment & Retention

Warriors 2026/2027 Recruitment and Retention Discussion​

Player	2026​	2027​	2028​	2029​	2030​
Grant Anderson	-​	✔​	✔​	✔​
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	✔​	✔​	✔​
Te Maire Martin	✔​
Haizyn Mellars	✔​	✔​	✔​
Luke Metcalf	✔​	✔​	✔​
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	✔​	✔​
Marata Niukore	✔​
Adam Pompey	✔​	✔​
Tanner Stowers-Smith	✔​	✔​	✔​
Taine Tuaupiki	✔​	✔​	✔​
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	✔​
Demitric Vaimauga	✔​	✔​	✔​
William Warbrick	-​	✔​	✔​	✔​
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak	✔​	M​
Connor Bowden	U​	U​	✔​
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: 29/30
2026 Supplementary: 2/6

2027 Top 30: 22/30
2027 Supplementary: 0/6

2027 Gains: Grant Anderson (Brisbane Broncos), William Warbrick (Melbourne Storm)
2027 Losses: Mitchell Barnett (Brisbane Broncos), Marata Niukore (Newcastle Knights), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Wakefield Trinity)

Off contract and free to sign elsewhere for 2027: Rocco Berry, Tanah Boyd, Kurt Capewell, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Te Maire Martin
Will be off contract and free to sign elsewhere for 2028 from November 1st, 2026: 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

 

[Defence]

If any desirable broncos were keen to come over they would've put their hands up by now- probably time to move on.
I wonder if the club would've done things differently if they had their time again? felt like they put the horse before the cart agreeing to a release and then asking for compensation after the fact.

 

[CWC]

I think the whole Barnett thing has been a balls up the way we have handled it. I also think that Cameron George should come out now and say "We are committed to giving Barnett the release that he has requested on compassionate grounds, however any talk of him being confirmed with a club is premature until we have been compensated with a player that meets our standards. We look forward to resolving this matter and securing an outcome to benefit all parties."

I know there is no way we can force him to stay, but we do hold the cards - he can't go to Brisbane unless we give him approval. We should not do that unless we get something we want. In saying that we don't know for sure Antonio even wants to play here.

At worst Arthurs come here now and they get Barney next year, or they offer Riki and George says no cuz the forum hates him

 

[rugged]

Who cares about forcing a player swap.

I personally think we should have just taken the cash and told the fans that next year our magic round game would be an away one, meaning Barney's farewell got us and the club an extra home game.

But it was time for us to draw a line under the compassionate releases, we all know we need to do them, but it doesn't mean we need to do them for nothing

 

[watcher]

Lucky that Xerri is on his way then!

No wankers thanks

 

[rugged]

f any desirable broncos were keen to come over they would've put their hands up by now-

True, though if the losses keep stacking up, that unhealthy broncos culture will start to rise its head again. No harm in letting the broncos sweat for a while!

 

[JustLikeStartingOver]

If we aren’t willing to force him to stay then we don’t hold any cards, either they be the hard-ass and deny his release unless a good player is offered, or they let him go where he wants to go.

And they aren’t going to do that to a hardworking and popular player like Barnett.

 

[The Warrior Waka]

If the Bronx don't give us Verhoeven. We pay dwz under the table to legally change his name to Mitch Barnett.
And they get him next year.

Take that ya cunts.

 

[rugged]

If we aren’t willing to force him to stay then we don’t hold any cards, either they be the hard-ass and deny his release unless a good player is offered, or they let him go where he wants to go.

Time is our friend - happy to release him once we have the right signature - I reckon a wee rumor that it could fall through and the Broncos would be under huge pressure to seal the deal, They are desperate for some good news and the ego round that place wouldn't allow them to publicly miss out

 

[Warriorsfan92]

David Riccio on SEN is saying the Wahs told Rog to look for a payday to see what you’re worth and we’ll try to match it

Why on earth would they do that? It’s no benefit at all to the warriors.

 

[rugged]

Why on earth would they do that? It’s no benefit at all to the warriors.

It's a kind way of telling him to go and test the market.

 

[RobRoyMcCoy]

Looks like the Broncos have blocked a swap for Verhoeven and there is now talk about Anderson.

Warriors’ new No.1 target in Broncos’ Barnett swap deal; Sydney clubs circling RTS — Transfer Whispers

Warriors’ new No.1 target in Broncos’ Barnett swap deal; Sydney clubs circling RTS

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[RobRoyMcCoy]

I just watched Anderson's highlights on Youtube. In them, he plays left wing, right wing, left centre and right centre. His versatility is an obvious boon.

He is a good finisher, a decent size and his pace seems adequate. Not express.

 

[CWC]

1 thing I'll say, they should have gotten the teams to offer the scalps first before letting Barney sign anything, this is the wrong way around, although we do still have the power to burn the provisional agreement and make them look like clowns

 

[juju]

1 thing I'll say, they should have gotten the teams to offer the scalps first before letting Barney sign anything, this is the wrong way around, although we do still have the power to burn the provisional agreement and make them look like clowns

It's not out national psyche to be ruthless as new zealanders is it (even though cam george is an aussie)

We seem to get walked on.

 

[Noitall]

Why on earth would they do that? It’s no benefit at all to the warriors.

Perhaps his manager is asking for more than the club believes he’s worth?

 

[CWC]

wasn't Metcalf getting offers around other clubs to gauge his worth last year, or I remembered the wrong player?

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Give us Karapani back! If we get Anderson, that's the end of Rocco Webster.

 

[Ref]

I thought the whole compensation deal Cam George was talking about was specifically if Mitch wanted to go during the 2026 season, so anything from next year would just be part of normal recruitment rather than 'player swap' anyway.

The fact we've started so well without him (pending forwards injury crisis or a total reversal of on-field performance) I suppose is giving us some leeway to not make any rash decisions for this year specifically.

This has been my take the whole way.
I think must of this forum, most Warriors supporters and journos have totally misinterpreted the deal.
We are letting him go regardless for 2027.
Might have released him this year if we got a like for like replacement or super promising up and comer.
I’d say he is happy to stay for 2026.
Does he even want to leave this year.
This could be his last real premiership opportunity.

 

[JaggedJ]

Im not sure if you've seen what's available for next year, but theres no much to get excited about thays off contract, and even less that would commit to moving across to NZ.

Sooo...if you've got a wee bit of leverage...which we seem to have for once, I think it would be great if we used this.

Brisbane have precedent too - they gave up that young talented half to secure Pezet last year, so I think if we hold strong theres a good chance we get this young outside back were looking for. They seem open to swapping potential talent for what they need right now. They've just lost Haas so Barney is quite key for them currently...id stick at it til we get something we want!

Most teams never let their good players hit the open market.

There’s already not much available.

What's not available today becomes available tomorrow. Happens all the time.

I'd much rather have the salary cap there ready to go than take whatever fringe player the Broncos don't really want.

If we think we're getting anything from the Broncos that they're not happy to offload we're kidding ourselves.

 

[Noitall]

What's not available today becomes available tomorrow. Happens all the time.

I'd much rather have the salary cap there ready to go than take whatever fringe player the Broncos don't really want.

If we think we're getting anything from the Broncos that they're not happy to offload we're kidding ourselves.

Broncos obviously liked what they saw to recruit Anderson from storm, I can’t imagine that it would have been depth and wouldn’t be surprised if storm would have kept him. Was actually impressed with him there. I get the feeling Warriors are saying we’ll take Anderson who you just recruited, or the up and coming centre not quite ready. Broncos could of course say no to both, a barrier could be that the player wants to relocate. Whether they get a player or not, good on the club for stating their intentions