Signing secrets of the Wahs: From $1200 deals to rival rejects and bargain buys

September 18, 2026 — 11:52amThey have come from all over. So many of them have come home to New Zealand.They have come from $1200-a-week train-and-trial chances. They have come out of the Kiwi bush, with a grin and a dirty great pig on their back. They’ve ditched a backpack, or shelved the grubby play that threatened to rub them out of the game.How the Warriors were recruited: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, James Fisher-Harris, Te Maire Martin.Stephen KiprillisThey’ve taken a second or third chance offered by the Warriors, who have taken a few chances themselves. Like the rising young star who “didn’t know which way he was running,” but they backed him anyway. Recruitment manager Andrew McFadden makes clear – he and Andrew Webster haven’t assembled this roster themselves.Predecessor Peter O’Sullivan, the architect of Newcastle’s rebuild, signed his share. Junior pathways staff and talent scouts Grant Pocklington, Tony Iro and Athens Henare play a critical role too.So, ahead of Sunday’s sudden-death showdown with the Knights, these are the signing stories, bargain buys and rival rejects of the Warriors.1. Taine TuaupikiTaine Tuaupiki scored all 16 of the Warriors points against the Dolphins last week.Getty ImagesSomething of a late-blooming livewire, Tuaupiki was 23 when he signed a $1200-a-week train-and-trial Warriors deal after carving up the Queensland Cup for Burleigh Bears. Suggestions of a move to Super League emerged from the UK this week, but the Warriors have him signed until the end of 2028 and Tuaupiki is making a compelling bid to be their regular No.1.McFadden: “I can’t take any credit for Taine but I do know he was one of Webby’s very first signings and an absolute priority for the coach as soon as he got here. He started his first off-season on that train-and-trial deal and by the start of that [2023] season you knew he was someone with a very bright future.”2. Charnze Nicoll-KlokstadOriginally, a Warrior for his first two NRL seasons before McFadden pitched him to the Raiders in 2019 as one of the bargain signings of their grand final run, Nicoll-Klokstad returned home in 2023 on compassionate grounds when Reece Walsh travelled in the opposite direction back to Brisbane.McFadden: “I’ve had such a long history with Charnze, I signed him at the Warriors [in 2015] and Canberra, and when I came back to the club he was already here. You couldn’t find a better club person or family man, and that was really why he came home.”Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: A Warrior once more.Getty Images3. Ali LeiatauaWarriors blood runs through these veins. Leiataua is the nephew of club icon Ali Lauitiiti and his sister Onjeurlina played in the Warriors inaugural 2018 and 2019 NRLW sides. Leiataua has been in the Kiwi club’s development systems since he was 14.McFadden: “Ali was one of the few local kids who was able to get over to Australia during the pandemic and play with Redcliffe when we had the feeder club arrangement with them, and you can see how that’s helped his development. He’s come through our academy program and he’s had a fantastic past 12 months hasn’t he?”4. Adam PompeyA schoolboy 1st XV rugby star in Auckland, Pompey was picked up by the Roosters before being lured back to make his Warriors debut in 2019. He’s been a regular backline plug-in man since, playing 136 games at wing and centre.McFadden: “[Pompey] is just an awesome member of our squad, a very durable player and the type every club needs. I’d say he’s one of our longest serving players now, he’s certainly been here longer than me, he’s seen plenty in his time.”5. Alofiana Khan-PereiraOne of the signings of the season. The Titans are chipping in a portion of his salary given he was on about $500,000 on the Gold Coast. He’s scored 16 tries in 18 games for the Warriors and made their left wing his own.McFadden: “We needed some speed and energy in our backline and met with Lofi and his manager in Auckland for dinner – myself, Webby and [CEO] Cameron George. It was a little bit of right place, right time, but we couldn’t be happier with how Lofi has fit in.”6. Chanel Harris-TavitaOne of the best young halves New Zealand has produced in years, Harris-Tavita shocked rugby league when he quit at the end of 2022 to go travelling. He backpacked from Brazil to Thailand, Europe to North America and with a coconut in hand in Samoa, realised the Warriors scrum base was really where he wanted to be.McFadden: “When Webby and I got back to the club in late-2022, Chanel was the first person we rang. We said ‘mate, when you’re done travelling, if you want to come back and play footy, we’ll find you the success you deserve’. We had both seen him play as a standout kid in some unsuccessful Warriors under-age sides, but we knew Chanel could deliver in the NRL.”7. Te Maire MartinAnother prodigious Kiwi half, Martin was told he’d never play again after a 2019 brain bleed that had him spend a gap year pig-hunting and bush bashing around his native Taharoa on New Zealand’s west coast. He returned to the NRL with Brisbane before finding his way home to the Warriors in 2023.Warriors playmaker Te Maire is a keen hunter.InstagramMcFadden: “Te Maire is just one of the best stories you’ll find, he’s making the most of his second chance in footy and he’s got a real love for everything he does because of it. He’s knocked back bigger contracts and more money elsewhere to stay with us, and that says it all.”8. James Fisher HarrisAddin Fonua-Blake went one way to be closer to his family in Australia. James Fisher-Harris came back the other. The latter’s million-dollar a year move took all of 72 hours to finalise as Penrith agreed with their star front-rower, he deserved to go home, and the Warriors had their pack leader.McFadden: “Perfect timing. Can’t say anything more than that really with Fish. And what he’s added culturally to our club from a leadership perspective, you’d like to think he’ll be one of the biggest signings in our history when we look back in 10 years time.”James Fisher-Harris’s Maori connections were a significant factor in his return to New Zealand.Steven Siewert9. Wayde EganPicked up from Penrith when Ivan Cleary signed Api Koroisau in 2019, Egan is part of the furniture in Auckland. So much so he’s being pitched into New Zealand World Cup squads on five-year residency grounds – though the Warriors COVID-19-enforced exile in Australia makes that situation murky for one of the game’s craftiest hookers.McFadden: “I don’t know if he’s underrated any more Wayde, he might have been once externally. But certainly not by us … we know what he brings, he’s so clever and so important to our play.”10. Mitch BarnettHis 2022 signing from the Knights – while serving a six-week suspension for elbowing – raised eyebrows, especially given then-Warriors coach Nathan Brown kicked off negotiations just days after Barnett had flattened Penrith’s Chris Smith. Barnett himself described it as a “thug act”. But Brown’s decision has proven one of the club’s best, turning an enforcer into a NSW Origin leader.McFadden: “Barney’s another wonderful story – how he’s honed that ferocious competitor and toned down the looseness in his game to have the impact he does on and off the field. He’s like Fish, his legacy at the Warriors will last long after he leaves the club.”Loose cannon to leader: Mitch Barnett’s evolution has been plain to see at the Warriors.Getty Images11. Kurt CapewellBrisbane’s first grand final salary cap crunch delivered the evergreen Capewell across the ditch in 2024. The Warriors offered him a three-year deal the Broncos couldn’t and haven’t looked back. One of Charleville’s finest will go around again on a new deal next year.McFadden: “Kurt’s someone I don’t think gets the credit he deserves for his contribution to the club. Everywhere he’s been – he’s won premierships at Cronulla and Penrith and played a grand final at Brisbane – he’s had success and he demands that from everyone else.”12. Jacob LabanOne of the game’s best young second-rowers has bleached his hair so his mum can spot him easily on the field. And he grew up hating rugby union so much he would cry when taken to training in the 15-man game. What’s not to love? The Warriors certainly think so, they’ve re-signed him until the end of 2029.McFadden: “We have what we call rookie jobs for our young players – making coffees, cleaning up etc – and they’ll do that for two years. Inevitably, guys will grumble about it. I’ve never once heard it from Jacob, that sums him up. And now he’s the guy with peroxide hair.”Blonds have more fun: Warriors gun Jacob Laban.Getty Images13. Erin ClarkThe reigning Dally M lock of the year is on track to win the award again after being brought home from the Titans in late-2024 on a bargain deal. The Warriors knew they had a ball-playing 13 to replace the retiring Tohu Harris, even if no one else did. Arguably the best signing of the Webster era, Clark has been upgraded since and tied down until the end of 2029.McFadden: “I’ve known Erin a long time, since he debuted at the Warriors [in 2017], then went to Canberra and took time off before going to the Titans and basically starting from scratch again. When we signed him in 2024, he was desperate to come home and I can’t lie, we were ecstatic, we knew exactly what we were getting as a player and a person.”14. Sam HealeyThe son of former Sharks No.7 Mitch Healey, Sam has made the bench hooker gig his own after being lured to NZ by the prospect of game-time and security of a three-year deal in late 2024.McFadden: “Sam wasn’t getting much of a run at Cronulla given Blayke Brailey doesn’t miss a minute and his added size this year has given him real impact off our bench.”15. Tanner Stowers-SmithThe great-grandson of Kiwis legend Pat Smith (38-time New Zealand Test skipper), Stowers-Smith trialled with Parramatta and spent two years with Canterbury before being picked up by the Warriors scouts in Christchurch.McFadden: “Tanner came to us from rugby and struggled that first year to adapt, which isn’t that uncommon. But he’s caught up since through pure hard work and deserves everything he gets.”16. Demitric VaimaugaDemitric Vaimauga is one of the club’s best young forwards.Getty ImagesIn the Warriors system since the age of 15 and his promise was acknowledged in his last contract – a lucrative four-year deal that matched Fisher-Harris as the longest deal on the club’s books at the time.McFadden: “Fearless player and someone we see and want at the club for a long, long time. He’s another of the young guys who was able to get to Redcliffe during COVID-19 and play footy, which was worth its weight in gold.”17. Eddie Ieremia-ToeavaScouted out of sevens rugby and regarded as the Warriors fittest player – to the point teammates have nicknamed him “Goggins” after acclaimed ex-Navy SEAL David Goggins. His training prowess turned his development deal into a four-year extension last season.McFadden: “Every year, our scouts are allowed one ‘joker’ they can play – a player they can say, ‘just have a look at him, give him a chance’. Our junior recruitment coach Athens played his joker with Eddie. I watched him. The kid had no idea what he was doing, which way he was running, but he didn’t stop all game. And he hasn’t stopped since.”18. Jett ClearyThe youngest Cleary joined the Warriors in 2024 at father Ivan’s suggestion to experience life outside the Sydney bubble. He’ll return to Penrith next year for his old man’s final season as an NRL coach.Jett Cleary with his father Ivan, brother Nathan and family after his Warriors debut.Getty ImagesMcFadden: “Ivan was the one who reached out and initiated that and it all went from there. As soon as we met Jett we were impressed by him as a young man and as a player, he’s got a very bright future. We’re sad to be losing him, but we understand why completely.”22. Leka HalasimaTalent defined, Halasima briefly dabbled in rugby as a teen, and had elite school scholarships dangled in front of him accordingly, but he never looked beyond league and the Warriors. Tied down until 2029.McFadden: “It’s hard to believe now, but when Leka joined the NRL squad in 2023 we actually kicked him back down to SG Ball because he wasn’t up to standard. He missed training a few times, just had to work on his professionalism, little things. Safe to say he’s done that now.”23. Dallin Watene-ZelezniakThe veteran flyer with the best hair in rugby league was picked up from Canterbury in 2021, with the Bulldogs paying an eye-watering $400,000 of DWZ’s wage back then to ease their salary cap woes.McFadden: “One of our best recruits you’d have to say, both on and off the field as a performer, club man and fan favourite. The way he battled on the last time he played with a busted scapula says it all about Dal.”From our partners