Half a million ballots uncounted - Luxon may need NZ First, 30% drop in literacy support via Reading Recovery in last 3 years and owners are being urged to have a pet plan as Guy Fawkes rolls around. Video / NZ Herald / AP / Getty
In a shock development, Warriors’ Dally M prop of the year Addin Fonua-Blake has reportedly requested a release from his contract to look for a new home in 2024.
The 27-year-old has requested the release on compassionate grounds and seeks a return to Sydney to closer to his parents.
Warriorschief executive Cameron George said the club was “considering” the request.
Fonua-Blake had extended his deal in 2022 that would have kept him with the Warriors until the end of the 2026 season.
The news comes just weeks after Fonua-Blake was named as in the NRL’s Dally M team of the year at prop and will leave the Warriors with a sizeable hole in their pack larger than his 123kg frame.
Across 26 appearances for the Warriors in 2023, the Tongan representative scored nine tries with 4453 running metres - 1670 of those coming post-contact.
Addin Fonua-Blake celebrates during the NZ Warriors' defeat of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. Photo / Photosport
Averaging 14 hit ups and game and racking up 73 tackle busts across the season Fonua-Blake’s career-best year laid the platform for the Warriors’ run to a preliminary final.
He was signed from the Sea Eagles in 2020 after telling the Manly club he wanted to move away from Sydney, so the turnaround presents a tough picture for the Warriors after just three seasons.
