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​
Luke Hanson	S​
Motu Pasikala	S​	U​
Caelys-Paul Putoko	S​
Jason Salalilo	S​	U​	U​
Makaia Taufa	S​	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: 6/6

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

 

[Makasene]

Latest from Dave Riccio who had all the Warbrick mail.

- Both club and Boyd want a deal done, believes it will happen.
- No mention of CHT

He then also speculates that Metcalf would be a key target of the Bears for next year if it came to that.

 

[Beastmode]

Pop quiz

Rocco Berry is 24 years old

Luke Metcalf is 27 years old

Who has played more NRL games????? Guess.


ROCCO BERRY!!!


All the hype around Luke is a myth.

Luke has only played 43 NRL games compared to Roccos 52! Crazy given how injury prone Rocco is and his age compared to Luke

 

[WAH MAN]

Pop quiz

Rocco Berry is 24 years old

Luke Metcalf is 27 years old

Who has played more NRL games????? Guess.


ROCCO BERRY!!!


All the hype around Luke is a myth

Quality v quantity. Who wins?

 

[Beastmode]

Quality v quantity. Who wins?

It’s a cripples fight

Neither can stay on the field long enough to make a unanimous decision

 

[WAH MAN]

It’s a cripples fight

Neither can stay on the field long enough to make a unanimous decision

Unfortunately

 

[Cces]

Luke has only played 43 NRL games compared to Roccos 52! Crazy given how injury prone Rocco is and his age compared to Luke

To give some context, Berry debuted 13 Rounds before Metcalf so they're about even in terms of reliability once they cracked the NRL

 

[CWC]

Luke Metcalf’s future with the Warriors in question? | Scotty & Izzy

sportnation.nz

 

[Beastmode]

To give some context, Berry debuted 13 Rounds before Metcalf so they're about even in terms of reliability once they cracked the NRL

except one is 3 years older than the other

 

[Cces]

except one is 3 years older than the other

There's barely 2 years age difference between the two, but it doesn't alter the fact that both are equally as unreliable selections

 

[Brightman]

He's played 64 out of our last 73 if I've calculated it correctly. Rested in Round 27 2023, and has had non HIA related injuries too so he's available more regularly than people give him credit for

Stats don't tell the whole story though, when Wayde gets a head knock it plays big havoc on the performance of the team hence why we must carry a hooker on the bench.
TMM was vital to Webby's bench last season, this season is different in that we have to consider reintegrating LM into a high performing team whose halves are firing, TMM has been unavailable so Healy has had some opportunities like the last game and it's likely now that Egan has picked up a head knock the chances of more get greater.
Webby does like versatility, Maybe Healy will play cup and THC will be viewed as cover for 9 with LM coming off the bench at 6 if the need occurs..

 

[FormerlyJamesW]

Metcalf would be next man up. That's all.

They are not a one-for-one swap. We saw this last year.

I'd expect a fairly big dip in performance. I'd be happy to be wrong on this.

And before people get all sensitive about it, I'm not having a crack at Metcalf or his abilities with the ball.

 

[Brightman]

I have been in a cave for 24 hours away from media and when I saw 14 unread pages I thought there must be something big going on.
I just wasted an hour of my life.

Probably spent quality time with the misses, serves you right!!

 

[sup42]

Probably should have happened when he origanally came back from the ACL.

I don't understand Webby's reasoning that we needed him on the bench in case somebody went down? the bloke's been out for 10 months, came back for two losses and did a hammy, we're sitting 2nd on the ladder with a bye in hand, was he really that crucial?

From my pov, we are talking about one game here.

There are several reasons why Webster decided to do this. The most obvious is that he is gun shy about Luke's health, even with the medics all clear, so he hedged his bets with the ideal being that Luke didn't run out at all and got an extra two weeks recoup.

Webster may have used that bench inclusion as a way to give Metcalf some encouragement, keep his spirits up, by having him around the NRL squad, and a theoretical run on chance, rather than 'you're now a NSW cup player'.

Webster may well have wanted Luke Metcalf spending all of what little physical ressilience he has training 100% of his mid week with the NRL side (which then would be unfair on the NSW cup side to send him down without any trainnig there).

Webster might have simply wanted to remind his incumbent players that they have an NRL marquee signing sitting on the bench breathing down their necks.

But to my original point. In theory you can fairly argue against Luke Metcalf getting no game time because of this decision, but we have to remember that this was a decision made (to the best of our current information) with a singular NRL game in mind.

If this story is true, at best you would say Metcalf's lot are extremely impatient and significantly entitled. I can't see a world where throwing the toys after one single game is not an overreaction.

 

[watcher]

LM would be a big loss, no doubt. However, Boyd is going well, he is ticking all the boxes, on form he doesnt deserve to be dropped. Metcalf is a young family man. As an Aussie he can get the PNG tax free money. He did us a solid last year by commiting early. With our present Halves depth I would be receptive to a release that will free up a good chunk of Cap space.

As to CHT, I dont think it is fully appreciated his value as a strong defender in the Halves. Also although not an elite kicker he is left footed which is an advantage. He has good ball skills, AKPs first try as an example. I would resign him.

TMM is another. It seems with his hunting and fishing business his preference would be to stay, he is a good Half and strong defensively, plus his versatility will be useful.

ROccos future will depend on how he returns and for how long imo.

 

[Ref]

Probably spent quality time with the misses, serves you right!!

Her window is between, after the last game finishes on a Sunday and Team List Tuesday.

 

[Playdaball]

The best thing for Rugby league woulkd be if Metcalf ended up at the Perth Bears for 2027. They could gaurantee him the 7 position and give then one decent marque player.
However , if he stays here ... all good.

 

[Brightman]

The best thing for Rugby league woulkd be if Metcalf ended up at the Perth Bears for 2027. They could gaurantee him the 7 position and give then one decent marque player.
However , if he stays here ... all good.

No, the best thing for Rugby League is the Warriors winning the Grand Final this year and the Kiwis winning the World Cup.

 

[Makasene]

They are not a one-for-one swap. We saw this last year.

I'd expect a fairly big dip in performance. I'd be happy to be wrong on this.

And before people get all sensitive about it, I'm not having a crack at Metcalf or his abilities with the ball.

Someone posted a stat sheet of metcalf last year and Tanah this year.

Both produced their numbers off a full preseason in position.

Playing cup and coming in is not the same.

 

[Noitall]

View: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14fkzwtVqhp/?mibextid=wwXIfr


Thought this was an interesting video about a week ago regarding TMM and how Webster encapsulates TMM’s team first attitude

 

[Emerald]

Luke Metcalf’s future with the Warriors in question? | Scotty & Izzy

sportnation.nz

Is there any new information or inside information in this? If so…….? Thanks.