KEY POINTS:
The Warriors have settled on 20 of their top 25 players for next season and expect to have the bulk of the squad finalised in the next three weeks.
Six of this season's top 25 are coming off contract with Tony Martin, Todd Byrne and George Gatis likely to be released. The club are in talks with Epalahame Lauaki and Logan Swann while Louis Anderson will join his brother Vinnie at UK Super League outfit Warrington next season.
Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah said they are looking at their options in the back row and are chasing a hooker. They showed interest in Parramatta's PJ Marsh and Souths' Stuart Webb.
Marsh twice turned down offers to return to Auckland and isn't likely to join. Webb has played only four games for the Bunnies in 2007 but was under Ivan Cleary when he was in charge of the Roosters reserve grade side. Gatis could be seen as the fallback option.
It all means there could be three vacancies at the club but they might choose to upgrade some of their development players like Scott Jones, Malo Solomona and Russell Packer to fulltime contracts.
Usually at this time of year, the annual bunfight for players is about to get into full swing.
But the scrapping of the June 30 anti-tampering deadline, which means clubs can now approach players at any time, has created a different environment. Players are being signed up throughout the year, some as early as February, which has meant it's all been a bit orderly for those who love the rush of transfer speculation.
Although Broncos centre Brent Tate is the only addition to the squad for 2008 so far, the Warriors have actually been quite active.
They have already re-signed five of the present squad this year, starting with Jerome Ropati in February and then Steve Price, Nathan Fien, Michael Witt and Lance Hohaia.
Clubs are being more proactive in signing up or retaining crucial players and the most talented juniors before they expose themselves to bidding wars with other NRL clubs or the big bucks of the UK Super League.
They started with Manu Vatuvei and Simon Mannering in April 2006 even though the pair had time to run on their deals.
They offered them new and improved deals but at a time before they became top-line players and, therefore, were more affordable.
The Warriors also didn't want to get into a similar situation to Brisbane's, in which close to half of their first-grade squad come off contract this season.
Reports out of Australia yesterday suggested Petero Civoniceva is the latest on his way out of the Broncos, with the club unable to match rival bids for the Kangaroos prop. The defending champions have already lost Tate and Shaun Berrigan for 2008 and Dane Carlaw and Brad Thorn are expected join the throng heading for the exit door.
The Warriors don't want more than a third of their squad coming off contract in any one year.
"We were conscious of losing a lot of players, especially the Kiwi-born players. You can't wait until they're off contract," Scurrah said.
While this brings stability there are risks inherent in any contract.
The jury is still out on Witt, for instance, who initially signed a one-year deal. This was quickly extended, perhaps prematurely, for another two years when the Warriors had secured three wins in their first five games.
There are also question marks about halfback Grant Rovelli, who was re-signed in May 2006 until the end of 2010. The club are hopeful he will turn things around, considering he was the club's Young Player of the Year and a finalist in the Dally M Young Player of the Year award in 2006.
Aidan Kirk also hasn't seen any first-team action in 2007.
"Whether you sign people for short or long contracts, there are no guarantees," Scurrah said. "It's a risk all round. It's a risk for a player to say they want to be here for, say, four years and then things don't pan out the way they expected.
"Most contracts would be renewed for an extra two years unless a player was at the end of their career. Clubs that sign short contracts run the risk of finding it hard to manage the [salary] cap because the more players coming off contract, the higher their expectations are going to be."
The Warriors also need to sign an under-20 squad to compete in the Australian competition next year.
