Recruitment Warriors 2024/2025 Recruitment & Retention

Warriors 2024/2025 Recruitment & Retention Discussion
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-​	Player​	2024​	2025​	2026​	2027​	2028​
1	Bunty Afoa	✔	✔
2	Tom Ale	✔	✔
3	Mitchell Barnett	✔	✔
4	The Greatest of All-Time	✔	✔	✔
5	Kurt Capewell	✔	✔	✔
6	Wayde Egan	✔	✔
7	Addin Fonua-Blake	✔
8	Jackson Ford	✔	✔
9	Tohu Harris	✔	✔
10	Chanel Harris-Tavita	✔	✔	M
11	Shaun Johnson	✔
12	Edward Kosi	✔	✔
13	Jacob Laban	✔	✔	✔
14	Ali Leiataua	✔	✔
15	Freddy Lussick	✔	✔	✔
16	Zyon Maiu’u	✔	✔	✔
17	Te Maire Martin	✔	✔
18	Luke Metcalf	✔	✔	✔
19	Marcelo Montoya	✔	✔
20	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	✔	✔
21	Marata Niukore	✔	✔	✔
22	Adam Pompey	✔	✔
23	Demitric Sifakula	✔	✔	T
24	Jazz Tevaga	✔
25	Taine Tuaupiki	✔	✔
26	Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	✔	✔	✔
27	Dylan Walker	✔	✔
28	Dallin Watene-Zelezniak	✔	✔
D1	Ben Farr	D
D2	Etuane Fukofuka	D
D3	Leka Halasima	D	D	✔
D4	Patrick Moimoi	D
D5	Tanner Stowers-Smith	D
-	James Fisher-Harris	-	✔	✔	✔	✔

key: T = Team option, M = Mutual option, P = Player option, D = Development contract

Confirmed Top 30 2024: 28/30
Confirmed Development 2024: 5/6

Confirmed Top 30 2025: 26/30
Confirmed Development 2025: 1/6

2025 Gains: James Fisher-Harris (Panthers), Jett Cleary (Panthers)
2025 Losses: Addin Fonua-Blake (Sharks)
2025 Off Contract: Shaun Johnson, Jazz Tevaga

 

[Noitall]

• YESTERDAY AT 6:33 PM
• 
  
• #210,863

AusTigers​

Active member​

Work with klemmers neighbour. Apparently our his house up for rent. Make anything of that as you wish

 

[WahsUltras]

Some of the news in recent days will probably impact recruitment and retention plans for a few teams:

Ezra Mam $750k until 2029 - massive win for Broncs imo, will likely be paying unders for most of that contract.

The Dogs have ruled out signing the May brothers. I thought thats where they'll end up. I'm still not opposed to us having a look at them...

500k at the dogs or 300k at the chooks along with a 4 bedder house at Bondi, a new range in the garage and a 50ft riviera parked at the marina. I know what I would take. Uncle Nick strikes again.

 

[Noitall]

500k at the dogs or 300k at the chooks along with a 4 bedder house at Bondi, a new range in the garage and a 50ft riviera parked at the marina. I know what I would take. Uncle Nick strikes again.

With Joseph Manu potentially heading to union, I wonder if roosters would make a play for Taylan May as his centre replacement? Still wouldn’t be surprised to see Terrell May go to panthers either.

 

[CWC]

Ezra Mam at $750K for the next 5 years is insane lol, did he not just score 3 tries in the grand final before they messed it up?

Is Volkman his agent?

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Tom Ale 183cm, 109kg
Spencer Leniu 183cm, 110kg

I don’t think size is an issue. Spencer is one of the best impact forwards in the game.

Ale has impressed me when he’s played. Quick leg speed, he’s got some mongrel about him too. He’s 24 and has been heavily impacted in his development with covid disruptions. He was entering first grade right when the pandemic hit.

I back webby to turn him into our version of Leniu. It will take a bit of time but he’s only 24, props really hit form in their late 20s eg AFB

I hope Ale can kick on from what he did last year. If not he's gonnnnneeeeee!

 

[Wrighty]

Tom Ale 183cm, 109kg
Spencer Leniu 183cm, 110kg

I don’t think size is an issue. Spencer is one of the best impact forwards in the game.

Ale has impressed me when he’s played. Quick leg speed, he’s got some mongrel about him too. He’s 24 and has been heavily impacted in his development with covid disruptions. He was entering first grade right when the pandemic hit.

I back webby to turn him into our version of Leniu. It will take a bit of time but he’s only 24, props really hit form in their late 20s eg AFB

Aussie message boards and forums are a lot different than ours. The Aussie fans love a conspiracy theory. I have seen many of them say that Penrith gets a favourable ten metres compared to the other teams in the comp. Probably that is just whinging that they can't beat Penrith. Nonetheless I have read that so often from so many different Australian posters that it has influenced me to wonder about that tin foil hat theory. Anyway the point of my post is let's see if Leniu can be equally as effective for Le Rooster this year before using him as a yardstick for our players.

 

[Wrighty]

Aussie fans often joke about the calls the Warriors get.

Along the lines of "Coz Warriors" or "the only mob that get cheated worse than us".

Some on here refuse to acknowledge we get a tough time from the officials, some moral high ground argument. Well goody for them, maybe the Aussie Jesus will resurrect them in his thongs.

We get a lot of sympathy from the neutrals. It is the reason they quickly adopt the Warriors as a second team, they know we never get special treatment.

My experience of watching the NRL is that in the early days of the Warriors, there was a blatant bias, we were the foreigners and frankly inferior, never to be allowed to win against the darling sides.

Some of the Aussie refs would scowl when we scored, and grin when the opposition scored.

There was an incident in a game Ali Lauitiiti was punched in the face. The Ref sent him off, because the Ref did not see what happened, so had to choose someone, and picked on Ali....who had a bloody nose.

I have written about this many times, because it is significant in the history of the Warriors and Australian Refs.

Basically the Ref was caught out laughing about his error.....he did not know his mic was on.

That Ref was dropped and phased out of the comp and the the Warriors threatened legal action behind closed doors (according to two reputable NRL figures).

After that the blatant bias ended. And we got what we have today, unconscious bias.

To be fair to the Refs, this unconscious bias is complicated when it comes to the Warriors imo.

They will objectively Ref the Warriors when they are playing well and winning more than they lose, the Refs do this to all teams (apart from the pets, more on that in a bit). When we have a year like last year, or 2018 the Refs start to let us win our share of fifty fifties.

Only problem is when we play the pet teams we get a hard time from the Refs, as does everyone outside the elite two sides in the comp any given season.

And if you do not understand unconscious bias folks then you have not been watching the Storm Raping us on ANZAC day for a life time while being Ref fkd.

I agree with your examples of unconscious bias and the dynamics of it
It doesn't bother me though as I saw in 2018 once we got on a roll we got our fair share of decisions in our favour. So I view reffing as being in our control. And that it is predictable. Just win anyway and take the ref out of the game for the first ten rounds each season until you have a winning record. You may have missed this interview Sup42 but Shaun said, and I think it was Shaun I am not sure now, him or a prominent Warrior probably Shaun, but it was last year, said "One of our key tactics in 2023 was to take the ref out of the games". That means they knew they were getting shafted by the refs and they discussed how to win anyway. Other teams can hold us down in the tacke for 3 seconds. We jump off after two seconds because we know the ref won't be as lenient on us. It took us 27 years to figure this out for some reason until Webster came along and accepted the truth from the players in pre season discussions and actually listened to their complaints and came up with strategies to counter it rather than like past coaches telling them they were imagining it or there was nothing we could do.
We can win with unconscious bias and I dispute it is Warriors specific. I watch a lot of Bulldogs and Tigers and celler dweller matches and those teams got shafted like you wouldn't have believed last year. Things happened to them that would start a war on this forum if they happened to us. Their fans just accepted it because they know when you have a loser team the ref will enjoy making you lose by an extra 30 or 40 points.

Unconscious bias is real but controllable and we need to rinse and repeat what we learned and activated last year.

 

[watcher]

I think the bias comes from the Refs find it better to penalize the Warriors than risk getting offside with the Sydney press.

 

[Noitall]

Christian Tuipulotu to dragons immediately.

 

[Wrighty]

Christian Tuipulotu to dragons immediately.

Further Frees up Lomax if they wish to dish him off
According to The Daily Telegraph's Rich 100 list published recently, Lomax is on an estimated $700,000 per year at the Dragons in 2023.

 

[Noitall]

Further Frees up Lomax if they wish to dish him off
According to The Daily Telegraph's Rich 100 list published recently, Lomax is on an estimated $700,000 per year at the Dragons in 2023.

That’s true, hadn’t thought of that.

 

[Worried2Death]

That’s true, hadn’t thought of that.

More importantly, If he goes to the Tigers do they need to unload a prop? Like Klemmer for example.

 

[Noitall]

More importantly, If he goes to the Tigers do they need to unload a prop? Like Klemmer for example.

Been pondering this, does Robinson still have the contempt against Issac moses and won’t pick up his players? Or does he trust McFadden and Webster’s judgment? There’s a Barnett link from the knights, Barnett also rents his house out in Newcastle. I’d pick up his contract with tigers contributing $200-$300k a season. Signed until 2025 with a mutual option in 2026. Would be someone with a good work ethic to instill into the young guys. I could get on board with a Klemmer, BHU front row pairing. Tigers will be looking to lock up Utoikamanu.

 

[Boats n Hoes]

I agree with your examples of unconscious bias and the dynamics of it
It doesn't bother me though as I saw in 2018 once we got on a roll we got our fair share of decisions in our favour. So I view reffing as being in our control. And that it is predictable. Just win anyway and take the ref out of the game for the first ten rounds each season until you have a winning record. You may have missed this interview Sup42 but Shaun said, and I think it was Shaun I am not sure now, him or a prominent Warrior probably Shaun, but it was last year, said "One of our key tactics in 2023 was to take the ref out of the games". That means they knew they were getting shafted by the refs and they discussed how to win anyway. Other teams can hold us down in the tacke for 3 seconds. We jump off after two seconds because we know the ref won't be as lenient on us. It took us 27 years to figure this out for some reason until Webster came along and accepted the truth from the players in pre season discussions and actually listened to their complaints and came up with strategies to counter it rather than like past coaches telling them they were imagining it or there was nothing we could do.
We can win with unconscious bias and I dispute it is Warriors specific. I watch a lot of Bulldogs and Tigers and celler dweller matches and those teams got shafted like you wouldn't have believed last year. Things happened to them that would start a war on this forum if they happened to us. Their fans just accepted it because they know when you have a loser team the ref will enjoy making you lose by an extra 30 or 40 points.

Unconscious bias is real but controllable and we need to rinse and repeat what we learned and activated last year.

Great post Wrighty.

100% we get shafted on calls, no doubt....and absolutely call it out when it happens.

But what i find this leads to (especially on gameday threads) is then every decision against us (right call or not) is us getting shafted which just becomes tiresome imo. I find it annoying cause it seems to distract people from making accurate reads or over emotional responses on games or players.

When we lose games or dont perform well im a poster who likes to analyze why this has happened, wether it referee driven or team/player driven.......majority of the time its the latter ive found.

 

[Worried2Death]

Been pondering this, does Robinson still have the contempt against Issac moses and won’t pick up his players? Or does he trust McFadden and Webster’s judgment? There’s a Barnett link from the knights, Barnett also rents his house out in Newcastle. I’d pick up his contract with tigers contributing $200-$300k a season. Signed until 2025 with a mutual option in 2026. Would be someone with a good work ethic to instill into the young guys. I could get on board with a Klemmer, BHU front row pairing. Tigers will be looking to lock up Utoikamanu.

Moses is a spanner but we need another seasoned prop to plug the gap, our young boys can't be expected to compete weekly against vets when they haven't even debuted yet surely, old Klem for 2 years might be ideal to show them the way.

 

[Inruin]

Moses is a spanner but we need another seasoned prop to plug the gap, our young boys can't be expected to compete weekly against vets when they haven't even debuted yet surely, old Klem for 2 years might be ideal to show them the way.

Not a fan of Klemmer. Just something about him that doesn't quite gel for me. Maybe it's influenced by playing in a shit tigers team. Not sure. Also not sure he would even consider coming here to be honest.

 

[Worried2Death]

Not a fan of Klemmer. Just something about him that doesn't quite gel for me. Maybe it's influenced by playing in a shit tigers team. Not sure. Also not sure he would even consider coming here to be honest.

Yeah just dreaming, he could about as helpful as Kane Evans but not as entertaining.

 

[Noitall]

Not a fan of Klemmer. Just something about him that doesn't quite gel for me. Maybe it's influenced by playing in a shit tigers team. Not sure. Also not sure he would even consider coming here to be honest.

Must admit I feel similar, but a guy that gets better each year defensively and tackled at 98% last year and averaged 139m a game from from 24 last season, I’d take. Agree though, unlikely he’d come our way. Still hasn’t won a title in his career though and if we’re still pressing, he could maybe have his arm twisted?

 

[Vancent]

Aussie fans often joke about the calls the Warriors get.

Along the lines of "Coz Warriors" or "the only mob that get cheated worse than us".

Some on here refuse to acknowledge we get a tough time from the officials, some moral high ground argument. Well goody for them, maybe the Aussie Jesus will resurrect them in his thongs.

We get a lot of sympathy from the neutrals. It is the reason they quickly adopt the Warriors as a second team, they know we never get special treatment.

My experience of watching the NRL is that in the early days of the Warriors, there was a blatant bias, we were the foreigners and frankly inferior, never to be allowed to win against the darling sides.

Some of the Aussie refs would scowl when we scored, and grin when the opposition scored.

There was an incident in a game Ali Lauitiiti was punched in the face. The Ref sent him off, because the Ref did not see what happened, so had to choose someone, and picked on Ali....who had a bloody nose.

I have written about this many times, because it is significant in the history of the Warriors and Australian Refs.

Basically the Ref was caught out laughing about his error.....he did not know his mic was on.

That Ref was dropped and phased out of the comp and the the Warriors threatened legal action behind closed doors (according to two reputable NRL figures).

After that the blatant bias ended. And we got what we have today, unconscious bias.

To be fair to the Refs, this unconscious bias is complicated when it comes to the Warriors imo.

They will objectively Ref the Warriors when they are playing well and winning more than they lose, the Refs do this to all teams (apart from the pets, more on that in a bit). When we have a year like last year, or 2018 the Refs start to let us win our share of fifty fifties.

Only problem is when we play the pet teams we get a hard time from the Refs, as does everyone outside the elite two sides in the comp any given season.

And if you do not understand unconscious bias folks then you have not been watching the Storm Raping us on ANZAC day for a life time while being Ref fkd.

And if you were not around to see the Ali Ref gate send off, then you only have to look at the CEO of our sponsor putting the Refs on notice and how the NRL cleaned its act up.

The shit is real.

Aahhh Ref MJ.

Met him years later in a professional work space - my office, I was introduced to him, he had joined the institution as part of the Financial Advisory arm.

I recognised him immediately given my still simmering anger at that very game (sent off around 2mins in).

He stuck out his hand to which I simply turned and walked away.

Not my finest moment, professionally or personally - but it was instinctive and I can’t take it back now.

Nor would I.

#fymj

 

[Worried2Death]

Must admit I feel similar, but a guy that gets better each year defensively and tackled at 98% last year and averaged 139m a game from from 24 last season, I’d take. Agree though, unlikely he’d come our way. Still hasn’t won a title in his career though and if we’re still pressing, he could maybe have his arm twisted?

Cam might be twisting it right now, come and stay in Barney's spare room for a couple of years, pick up a historic premiership and a Klem statue at Mt Smart, how could he turn down that pitch?