“Treat him with respect”.
That’s Warriors coach Andrew Webster’s message to the club’s fans towards wantaway halfback Luke Metcalf.
Metcalf, 27, rocked the club and the NRL by requesting permission to negotiate with other clubs, after reports the halfback sees his path to first-grade football blocked by Tanah Boyd.
It has since been confirmed by the Warriors that Metcalf will leave for the St George Illawarra Dragons at the end of 2026.
Boyd, 25, is reported to have re-signed with the Warriors through to the end of 2029, after taking advantage of Metcalf’s early-season absence and seized the No 7 jersey as his own.
If reports are to be believed, Metcalf wants to play halfback and halfback only, after making his comeback at five-eighth, before picking up a hamstring injury.
Speaking before the Warriors depart for Brisbane to face the Broncos as part of the NRL’s Magic Round, Webster outlined that Metcalf’s situation was unchanged.
Despite being fully fit, he will not play against the Broncos this week, nor in reserve grade, and will be allowed time to finalise his future without distraction.
But in the age of social media, fans wanting to make their feelings known to Metcalf – and in some cases his family – are, rightly or wrongly, able to do so.
And with the potential that even if Metcalf remains in Auckland for the rest of the year and even if he does sign somewhere else for 2027, Webster didn’t hesitate in reminding fans to understand the halfback’s situation.
“Why would you disrespect someone like that?” Webster asked. “Luke has done a lot of good things for this club.
“They don’t know everything, we don’t know what Luke has gone through when he goes home at night.
“Warriors fans are awesome. There’s always going to be, at every club, one or two idiots, maybe some more, who get it wrong.
“But treat him with respect. We still care about him here, we’ve got a lot of time for him.
“I just hope all the fans do the same.”
Perhaps frustratingly for fans, Metcalf only re-committed to the Warriors at the end of last year. As he approached NRL free agency, Metcalf signed a two-year extension to stay at Mt Smart, in a move that made him, the Herald understands, the highest-paid player at the club.
However, the desire to be a starting halfback far outweighs the money the Warriors have put on the table.
While taking into account Metcalf’s situation, and with Boyd’s extension still to be officially confirmed by the club, the Warriors are in a delicate situation with their halves.
Both Chanel Harris-Tavita and Te Maire Martin are also off-contract at the end of this year, and are free to openly negotiate with rivals.
Earlier this month, it was reported Harris-Tavita, the Warriors’ starting five-eighth, was in talks with the North Queensland Cowboys, even if no deal appears to have been reached.
As far as Webster is concerned, though, there is no reason to panic, as contract talks remain ongoing.
“I think we’ve got a really good history of communicating between coach and player when we want to keep people.
“I’m really happy with the way these conversations are going. It doesn’t change anything for mine, we were already down that track talking with those players.
“In rugby league, you can never be sure everything is going to work out, as you can see now. But what you can be sure of is we’re going to have honest and open conversations with each other.
“Those things are tracking really well, but it doesn’t mean it’s a done deal.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.