Back to the drawing board. After the dizzying heights of 2023, the Warriors have been forced to watch the NRL finals from the couch.
A 13th-placed finish with nine wins from 24 games is not the return the club, pundits and the fan base anticipated after Andrew Webster’s first campaign at the helm. Injuries to key personnel plagued performance, while their inability to close out tight contests proved costly. Three of their matches went to golden point extra time this season, they lost two and drew with Manly.
The Warriors enter the 2025 season without club legend Shaun Johnson (retired), elite prop Addin Fonua-Blake (Cronulla) and heart-on-the-sleeve fan favourite Jazz Tevaga (released). They’ve landed the prized catch of three-time premiership-winning prop James Fisher-Harris from Penrith, and most recently Erin Clark after spending time with the Canberra Raiders and Gold Coast Titans.
On the back of more stability and success through the club’s pathway programme post-Covid – the club has rewarded exciting prospects Leka Halasima and Motu Pasikala with spots in their top 30 roster for 2025. Warriors general manager of recruitment and pathways Andrew McFadden recently told a club members forum there’s only one spot to fill for next year, but as we’ve come to learn, things can turn in an instant in rugby league and a contract in the NRL is never without wriggle room. With that in mind, let’s look at some players who could make an immediate impact at the Warriors as they bid to return to the finals in 2025 and beyond.
This time last year the Warriors had five halves at the club. That number now sits at three after Ronald Volkman’s exit in preseason and Shaun Johnson’s retirement – Te Maire Martin, Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita. Martin looks odds on to be given the keys to drive the team after flashes of his ball-playing ability in their three-match winning run against the Panthers, Dolphins and Raiders. Questions remain though about his tactical and territorial kicking, along with his capacity to take over with a game on the line. Martin is yet to kick a field goal 93 games into his NRL career, he deferred to Harris-Tavita during losses to the Bulldogs and Dolphins.
A genuine game manager would balance the halves options for Webster. Players off contract at the end of 2025 can begin negotiating with rival clubs from November 1 of this year – and if there is agreement on both sides then early releases can materialise. The Warriors should at least be checking in on the status of discarded South Sydney playmaker Lachlan Ilias. The 24-year-old – who broke his leg in an ugly incident in reserve grade against the Warriors – has been permitted by the Rabbitohs to look elsewhere. The Lebanon international held his own in first grade when the Rabbitohs made the finals in both 2022 and 2023 before he was sensationally axed just two games into the 2024 season. Provided he’s fit, Ilias could be a perfect foil alongside Luke Metcalf at five-eighth.
There’s been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about a 100-metre race between the game’s flyers on grand final day. As names like Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Josh Addo-Carr, Alofi Khan-Pereira, Jason Saab and Dominic Young were thrown around as potential starters, it reinforced the view the Warriors lack an out-and-out speed merchant on the flanks. The club has been well served by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Marcelo Montoya over the past two seasons, and while they also play an important role with tough carries out of yardage, a game-breaker out wide would add another dimension to the Warriors attack.
It wouldn’t come cheap, but Ronaldo Mulitalo would be an instant hit. Off contract at the end of next season, the 24-year-old has become one of the most prolific try scorers in the competition with 80 tries across 106 appearances for Cronulla. He’s Auckland-born and has shown how much representing the Kiwis meant to him during their Pacific Championship triumph over Australia last year. His competitive spirit and unwillingness to take a backward step would see him quickly become a Mt Smart favourite.
Run your eyes over the eight teams in the NRL finals and almost all of them have a weapon on the edge. Eliesa Katoa (Storm), Viliame Kikau (Bulldogs), Jeremiah Nanai (Cowboys) and Haumole Olakau’atu (Sea Eagles) are such assets for their respective sides with an ability to bend the defensive line, offload, and commit defenders as a decoy runner.
In Jacob Laban (20) and Halasima (18) the Warriors have some homegrown back-rowers who could, in time, reach that level. Kurt Capewell and Jackson Ford get through a mountain of work but don’t have the x-factor. The Warriors turned to Marata Niukore and Mitch Barnett on the edge at times this season but in an ideal world, both are more effective through the middle.
Depending on the club’s salary cap situation, and whether they opt to go all-in on this group or heed patience developing the next generation, there’s another Kiwi at Cronulla coming off contract the Warriors could consider enticing home. Briton Nikora has established himself as one of the best hole-running back-rowers in the competition. The 26-year-old broke on to the scene in 2019 outside Johnson at the Sharks and has built a reputation for his strong carries against the grain along with some bone-rattling tackles. He’s played with Luke Metcalf too, so there’s some familiarity there.
The prop position is far from an area of weakness for the Warriors but as we saw this season Andrew Webster struggled to find the desired impact in his interchange options. With the arrival of James Fisher-Harris, alongside Mitch Barnett and Dylan Walker, they have a high-calibre starting middle that any club would be pleased with. Not to mention captain Tohu Harris who when fully fit is right up there with the best of the ball-playing locks in the NRL. There are rumblings though of salary cap upheaval at Newcastle – with Kiwis prop Leo Thompson reportedly rattled by the club’s clean out of senior players. Should the 24-year-old consider testing the open market, sometimes the right play is just to go out and get the best player available. The Gisborne product is on an upward trajectory with his minutes and metres increasing year on year. Playing alongside and learning from Fisher-Harris could be a compelling pitch.
Nick Bewley is a breakfast sports reader for Newstalk ZB in Canterbury and a commentator on Gold Sport. His dream is to see the Warriors win a maiden NRL Premiership in his lifetime.
The top gong comes after what has clearly been the best year of his career to date.