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Although not shown off, it looks like everyone was back at training for the final week before the christmas break.

From the release on the Warriors website:

"He [EIT] follows Demitric Vaimauga (22), Ali Leiataua (22), Jacob Laban (21), Leka Halasima (20) and Tanner Stowers-Smith (21) with yet-to-debut second rower Kayliss Fatialofa (20) also joining the top 30 squad from 2026."

Seems like Fatialofa is in the top 30 for next year.

just fyi the details of the extension Jason Salalilo signed earlier this year, confirmed supplementary list in 2026 and top 30 in 2027 & 2028

It's gona feel good to have him back in the team. Also cool to see the warriors media staff making videos for the player's private socials.

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSZgMwyEQDZ/

Everyone talks about AKP’s speed meaning tries, and yes, that’ll happen. But Webby might use him a bit differently early on.
If he plays on the Right, his main job could be kick chase. With his speed, he can be brutal chasing kicks, forcing errors and pinning teams inside their own 20. That actually fits our game plan perfectly.
Webster’s system is all about pressure and field position. AKP doesn’t need to score heaps of tries straight away to be effective, if he’s winning the chase and keeping teams stuck deep, he’s doing his job.
The tries will come later. For now, he can be a weapon just by doing the hard stuff well.

Will be interesting to see if he gets to start this year.

It’s not just about scoring tries. RTS work out the back is top 3 in the game imo.

He’s 8th for post contact meters in the comp

He’s 5th for run meters

He’s a yardage winger, that can finish very well. His leadership, and chat from his edge is supreme too. Not many tries scored down his edge this year.

AKP is nipping at the heels of first grade, but it’s not RTS spot, it’s dallins. If RTS wants to stay, it’s an absolute no brainer he’s retained.

Not to mention, albeit dubious, he won our player of the year..

Personally i think RTS played really well on the wing last year and actually got better as the year went on. His value has dropped though. It may be one of the rare instances where with him being settled and happy the team may get him for slight unders.
From all reports he's an amazing guy to have in the squad and there is real value to that. Players like RTS and JFH justify a a percentage of their value in what they do off the field. Stats alone wont back this up

Blain said:

Well the media say $500k for a winger is at the top range, I think he's a level below that. Would expect $300-$400kish. I don't think he's a money first type of guy. He got signed originally as a centre.

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According to the NRL top 100 paid list earlier this year, he was the highest paid winger in the NRL by a fair margin. Even if he did sign on for another year, it would be interesting to see how the salary cap auditors would accept a 40-50% drop from his current salary. He is not going to get any younger. I would rather we position for some younger players in the backline. That current back 3 of CNK, DWZ, RTS is amongst if not the old back 3 in the NRL. How webby transitions from those 3 to inject some youth/experience is going to be interesting to watch how it unfolds.

John Nick said:

Don't know where you get your info from mate but for me it's been appreciated during the year. Have a good one

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Thanks John Nick. Just things I come across and not always on the mark but I find the player market interesting and just post for anyone else sharing that interest

Reading some of the comments on social media accusing the Warriors staff of not knowing what they're doing when we lose players like Te Paeroa Wi Neera, does my head in.
I hadn't even heard of him until that article. How are they going to react when we lose one of our genuine prospects that ideally we want to keep - because it's going to happen.
The following 19 young players are some of our current best prospects and on their current trajectory will all be ready for the NRL in seasons 2026, 2027 or 2028. At which time, by 2028, they'll all be aged between 20 and 24.
Joseph Ratcliffe, Jeremiah Lemana, Caelys Putoko, Sio Kali, Connor Bowden, Jack Thompson, Jett Cleary, Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea, Makaia Tafua, Jason Salalilo, Bishop Neal, Paea Sikuvea, Lennox Tuiloma, Harry Inch, Tepatasi Laumalili, Emosi Rovosai, Kahu Capper, Luke Hanson, Braelan Marsh - and anyone else i couldn't think of.
We already have JFH, Halasima, Laban, Linnane, Vaimauga, Gannon, AKP, Mellars, Metcalf and TSS signed until at least 2028 - so that's 10 of the 30 places taken (most of which are still young), and I don't see us having a total clean out of all of the other 19 players to make way for all of the development players, so we're going to lose some of them.
Of the remaining guys, this is the year their contracts end and the age they'll be in 2028:
Contracts end at end of 2026:
Berry: Will be 27 in 2028, Boyd: 27, Capewell: 35, CHT: 29, Niukore: 32, Tuaupiki: 29, RTS: 35, TMM: 32
Contracts end in 2027:
Barnett: Will be 34 in 2028, Clark: 30, Egan: 31, Ford: 30, Healey: 26, Leiataua: 25, CNK: 33, Pompey: 30, DWZ: 32, EIT: 24, Fatialofa: 23
If guys like Egan, Berry and Leiataua can get past their injury issues, I can see us retain around 7 or 8 of those players beyond 2028.
Meaning there's going to be some star prospects who we have to let go.

~Navigator~ said:

From night shifts to NSW Cup star: Makaia Tafua’s full-time rugby league gamble pays off

The Warriors hooker has traded draining overnight water-main shifts for a relentless rugby league pursuit, with the club backing the 21-year-old as one of its strongest young prospects.

pmn.co.nz

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Articles like that are interesting. We see how they perform on the field and pick out issues. You don't know what else is going on that could affect someones performance.

The lower grades where guys trying to supplement their footy income with a job that is likely getting them worn out as well. Night shifts wouldn't be great preperation for being an athlete.

Gould told a story earlier in the year about one player people said wouldn't make it coming through the ranks as he was often late to training. He asked has anyone talked to him? He sat down with the player and found out he was working his backside off and having to do a big commute across town for training. Gould got him a job closer to Penrith or maybe at the club. Think he may have had the guys new boss comment how great a worker he was. The player, Moses Leota.

I've been at a few NSW Cup games and would often hear the friends/family cheering for Tafua. Since then I've tried to watch him a bit more. He's had less big runs since then but he's developing well. A season or two back his passing looked to be struggling, that may have been due to being tired from work now reading that.

He's had a few seasons getting NSW Cup game time. A lot better development than we'd have in years gone by. He was named a few times in 21 before getting removed later in the week. He could be in line for a debut next season.

Remember when everyone was moaning about letting the Kepu twins and Zyon go. Something tells me McFadden knows what he’s doing.
Now he’s let Ale, Bunty and Crosby go. Crosby looks an amazing athlete. But we will have to wait and see if he turns into a first grader.
We’ve got some great young kids coming thru. Just got to give it time. I’m so glad they didn’t waste time and money on NAS. I’d rather they invested on these young kids.

As we head into the offseason and the upcoming Christmas/New Year break, things will naturally slow down around here. Many of us are taking a well deserved break to recharge and spend time with loved ones (who might have felt a little neglected during the season!).

There’s still some activity happening, including offseason games and an upcoming event that wrighty is organizing for the tragics. You’ll also notice some new 2026 threads popping up and older ones being closed or wound down. Overall, Warriors news will be pretty scarce during this downtime as everyone enjoys their break.

For a bit of fun, we’ve created something special inspired by Spotify Wrapped—NZWarriors.com Wrapped! Each active user will get a personalised summary of their year on the forums to reminisce and wrap up 2025. Keep an eye on your alerts soon for yours. Here’s an example:
. The number of slides presented will depend on your individual activity.for the year.

Wishing you all a fantastic holiday season—stay safe, enjoy the break, and we’ll see you back here ready for an exciting 2026!

Warriorshopeful said:

I see the Harold Matts rookie of the year resigned for 3 years;

View attachment 15112

Looks like a gritty player from some of his highlights, seems to enjoy the contact.

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I was at his former primary school yesterday with a bunch of kids & mentioned his name to encourage them to make the most of their opportunities. Definitely not one of the very best kids I've taught in terms of natural ability but was highly coachable, enthusiastic & I think has benefitted greatly from trying lots of different codes (Boxing & Ice Hockey amongst others).
I must've meet him when he was 7 years old & he'd proudly wear a Manly Sea Eagles backpack

Noitall said:

Rabbitohs poach promising teen Kiwi forward from Warriors

His size and stature have made him a standout among his peers.

www.zerotackle.com

Young Te Paeroa Wi Neera is off to the rabbits. Bulldogs were interested too and we were keen to hold onto him according to this

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What a bullshit comment from ZT:


Couldn't be further from the truth IMO, it seems from the outside that we are keeping the ones we want.

I texted in a question to Cam George on Sport Nation this morning.
How many spots are available in the top 30, and are EIT / Fatialofa on the top 30 (as those are 2 that there's confusion over) ?

He confirmed we have 28 players.
Then when asked about EIT/Fatialofa he said ahhh I think they're in the development space.

So, probably one of them is the 28th player and one is on a development deal, i don't know?

But definitely 28

Good interview if you have time.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0gIFJ8mPNtTEaxTWFw3AOu?si=DWLDbmWMTlKkXpRoWRilCw

Just goes to show how strong our club has become, all this talk of which new recruits or juniors will make the top side on the back of the top side making the finals with many debutants and young guns filling in along the way for key senior players now returning from injury whilst the NSW cup team sweeping all aside took the trophies and Harald Mats doin the business back to back..

Loving the new standards the club is forging!!

John Nick said:

Yes I would imagine that Webby and cappy have done their homework and he must have a good work ethic

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Richie Agar gave Gannon his debut and was his head coach for 2 seasons at Leeds, I’d say he’s knows him pretty well.