Aotearoa Warriors made another tweak to their roster by releasing Ronald Volkman to join Dragons. This move does not have a significant impact on Warriors and also offers an enticing comparison to a Dragons team who would envy the quality and depth of the Warriors roster. Volkman's departure is all about opportunity and while there wasn't much opportunity with Warriors, Volkman will be eager to pounce on any starting halves opportunities for Dragons.

Dragons once had a talented trio of young players in Tyrell Sloan, Jayden Sullivan and Talatau Amone. Dragons couldn't give Sullivan enough game time to keep him so he departed to Tigers and Amone is a criminal who just lost his contract. Two of this trio are halves and Volkman joins Northland's Paul Turner as a half who could partner Ben Hunt, although both will be competing with experienced utilities such as Jack Bird and Kyle Flanagan.

Volkman was fourth in the NZ Warriors halves rankings, some would even have Volkman behind Chanel Harris-Tavita depending on how well he's training this summer. Now Volkman is competing for starting role with Dragons and this deal made sense for both parties, offering a reminder that NRL contracts don't mean anything when both parties can agree on an outcome.

Aotearoa Warriors Diary has Te Maire Martin as the best partner for Shaun Johnson. Martin does not have the speed of Luke Metcalf but he is a better all-round player, with strong defence and distribution. This will be a fascinating season for Martin as he has scope to brew into an halves leader and coud be a long-term option to replace Johnson. Martin is not only best equipped to partner Johnson, he is the best in-house option to replace Johnson.

Harris-Tavita has utility value and this is intriguing considering the sneaky mana of Freddy Lussick. Lussick is a tough bugger who has been learning his craft with Wayde Egan and both rely more on subtle skill rather than power or speed. Last season coach Andrew Webster deployed Lussick as a small forward for small bursts like Dylan Walker as an indicator of how Lussick is viewed by Warriors staff.

For two halves positions, one starting dummy half and one dummy half/small forward there are four spots up for grabs. Regardless of what combination you view as being the best, Warriors have seven capable starters for these roles; Johnson, Martin, Metcalf, Harris-Tavita, Egan, Walker, Lussick.

That does not include Kalani Going or Paul Roache who can cover these roles. We'll have to wait and see how trial/NSW Cup team lists look to suss out the status of these two.

As this Kiwi-NRL Junior Halves breakdown highlights, NZ Warriors had Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo, Phranklyn Mano-Le-Mamea and William Piliu as their primary play-makers in SG Ball this year. All three finished the year playing other positions (not halves) against men and performed strongly in other positions, which could forecast their future value for NZ Warriors.

Another factor in assessing those three as halves is the signing of Luke Hanson from Panthers and Jesse Soric who went to Keebra Park High School. Both are halves from Australia and the two Andys (McFadden included) have identified specific skillsets to recruit from Australia, which includes middle forward Tom Summer who is a tough, ball-playing middle also from Keebra Park.

Don't worry about NZ Warriors and local junior talent as they have excellent local juniors at every level, which will only increase with two more junior teams in 2024. NZ Warriors are also flexing their power in having no problems recruiting from Australia and while every NRL team hunts schoolboy talent, NZ Warriors have picked up two youngsters from Keebra Park and one from Panthers. Perhaps more will pop up as squads are announced, along with more clarity about Aotearoa juniors recruited by NZ Warriors.

The most notable bloke in this discussion is Hanson, who has played in all Panthers junior teams since at least 2019. Panthers are known for having the best junior system in the NRL and in that system, Hanson played 10+ games for Under 19 SG Ball and Under 21 Jersey Flegg this year. Hanson spent most of his U21 game time in the halves (#6) but also featured at fullback and as a bench utility.

Where Hanson pops up early next season will be informative about how the two Andys view his talent. Hanson could feature in NRL trials when players outside the top-20 are given game time and/or then slot straight into NSW Cup. Alternatively, Hanson could require a wee bit more development which will mean he is not in the trials and starts in U21s. Hanson was already playing U21s while U19 eligible as a half, so NSW Cup seems more likely than U21s.

NZ Warriors would only release Volkman if they had enough depth and rising junior talent to cover his departure. Warriors have four other halves options for NRL next season and at least one of these lads will be in NSW Cup, where Warriors also have Ben Farr and Hanson, perhaps even lads like Cowley-Lupo and Mano-Le-Mamea.

In their current state, Warriors have no need for player swaps as they appear to have enough salary cap space to splash in free agency and this is enhanced by ample junior talent (from Aotearoa and Australia) that is far cheaper than those departing. Trusting Aotearoa Warriors has always been dangerous but ownership is investing more than any other owners and the two Andys are steadily earning trust of Warriors fans.

• Fullback: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Taine Tuaupiki

• Wingers: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Marcelo Montoya, Edward Kosi, Ali Leiataua

• Centres: Rocco Berry, Adam Pompey, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

• Halves: Shaun Johnson, Te Maire Martin, Luke Metcalf, Chanel Harris-Tavita

• Middles: Tohu Harris, Addin Fonua-Blake, Mitch Barnett, Dylan Walker, Marata Niukore, Jazz Tevaga, Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Zyon Maiu'u, Kalani Going

• Edges: Jackson Ford, Kurt Capwell, Demitric Sifakula, Jacob Laban

• Hookers: Wayde Egan, Freddie Lussick, (Paul Roache)

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