New Zealand Warriors 2025 Mid-Season Youngster Report
New Zealand Warriors youngsters have been a staple of their strong start to the 2025 NRL season and with a bye this weekend, now is the perfect time to take stock of how it's all going. Keep in mind that there is a pipeline full of exciting young talent that was broken down in the 10 Best Emerging Youngsters yarn and after publishing that, NZW had NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup wins vs Eels with all those youngsters below the NRL level.
Taine Tuaupiki slid back to NSW Cup in the win over Eels and while his best position is fullback, Tuaupiki showed versatility by plugging a hole on the wing in the NRL. Tuaupiki did his job so well that Dallin Watene-Zelezniak wasn't actually missed in that role and there has been no major difference in the team's performance since the return of the senior winger.
While it's too much of a hot take to suggest that Tuaupiki was better on the wing than Watene-Zelezniak, the fact that Tuaupiki even came close to his Waikato homie as a winger shows Tuaupiki's development during the two Andys era. Versatility is a key factor in getting NRL game time and now that Tuaupiki has emerged as a reliable option on the wing, he is probably ranked ahead of Edward Kosi in that position.
Tuaupiki did play fullback in the win vs Broncos. Here's how that looked...
23 runs - 172m @ 7.5m/run, 1 linebreak, 1 try assist, 5 tackle breaks, 1 kick - 16m, 3 tackles @ 100%
One key observation about Tuaupiki's development is how he has a far bigger role at fullback in NSW Cup. Tuaupiki slots in as a leader for the best NSW Cup team over the last three years with lots of play-making touches and more kicking than he does in NRL, usually doing more halves mahi than an emerging play-maker like Luke Hanson.
Ali Leiataua and Rocco Berry should be the starting centres for the NRL team, but they haven't quite settled into consistent grooves this season. That's mainly due to injuries which is a bummer but it's better than a drastic drop in form and NZW have ample outside back depth to absorb their absences.
Adam Pompey (54) has played more games during the two Andys era than Berry (32) and Leiataua (15) combined. Some of those games for Pompey were on the wing but this highlights how the Tuakau trooper is more reliable than Berry and Leiataua, while there is also a case to be made that NZW are a better team with Pompey and Kurt Capewell as the starting centres.
That flows into the young forwards who cover Capewell's move to centre and coach Andrew Webster is still most likely to have Capewell at edge forward in a top-17 situation. Leiataua and Berry could be best served by building their minutes and form in NSW Cup as they have both been shuffled straight into the NRL team when available, which has hindered their mahi.
The most important observation in this bracket is the depth that has covered the absences of Leiataua and Berry. Outside back depth was apparently the biggest concern heading into the season and yet NZW are cruising along without their two best young outside backs.
Samuel Healey is the latest example of excellent NZW scouting and recruitment. He was not the starting hooker for Newtown Jets in the Sharks system and then he played 47mins as the starting hooker in a big NRL win vs Sharks. Healey got to that point through excellent mahi in reserve grade where he slotted into a winning team and made them better.
Here's Healey's three seasons of NSW Cup..
2023: 12 games - 50% wins, 5 tries, 4 try assists, 9 offloads, 58m/game, 10.4 kick metres/game, 94.9% tackling
2024: 26 games - 65% wins, 8 tries, 4 try assists, 22 offloads, 56m/game, 17.2 kick metres/game, 94.2% tackling
2025: 10 games - 90% wins, 2 tries, 3 try assists, 17 offloads, 96m/game, 28 kick metres/game, 96.3% tackling
Much of that stems from Healey playing far more minutes for NZW. He has played 60+ minutes in nine of his 10 games and had 58mins in the only game he dropped below that mark. Healey has played 70+ minutes in three of those games and he has tackle breaks in every game, offloads in eight games and linebreaks in five games.
Demitric Vaimauga has settled into a bench role where he plays through the middle and the Otahuhu junior has played in all 13 games, same with Mangere East junior Leka Halasima. Vaimauga played less than 20mins in the first three games of the season and after that he strung together six consecutive games of 20+ minutes, followed by two games below 20mins and rising well above that mark in his last two outings.
Vaimauga has played 30+ minutes in five of his 13 games this season and gives NZW a funky presence through the middle. Funky because he's a powerful runner capable of denting the line with straight up runs and Vaimauga also has a herky-jerky running ability where his footwork and balance enables him to bounce around between defenders.
That's evident in having a tackle break in 10 consecutive games, as well as winning the collision to get offloads out. Vaimauga has offloads in six games with eight in total, after his first two seasons produced a combined one offload. The most notable development in Vaimauga's mahi is his passing which when combined with his dynamic runs, means that defenders must stay in front of him to respect his carry and that leaves space a bit wider for the receiver of a Vaimauga pass to take advantage of.
This is crucial in Vaimauga playing more minutes because NZW maintain a distribution hub in their middle forward zone when Vaimauga is on the field. Erin Clark does most of that mahi and the James Fisher-Harris/Mitchell Barnett duo usually have a pass or two as well. Barnett is now out injured and NZW still have a passing presence thanks to Vaimauga
Halasima has played six games coming off the bench and seven games as a starting edge forward. His role doesn't change much though as he plays edge forward when coming off the bench and after playing middle, edge forward and then centre in his NRL debut, Halasima has continued to shine in playing on both edges this season.
Whether starting games at edge forward and centre or moving positions mid-game, Capewell's versatility is amplified because Halasima can cover a variety of roles as well. It doesn't start with Halasima and he isn't the most important versatility piece, but Halasima fits snug into this multi-position system and along with four games playing 80mins, this is the most undercover aspect of his freaky talent.
That freaky talent has seen Halasima have tackle breaks in every game this season regardless of his game time or position. Halasima played less than 40mins in his first five games of the season and has since played 40+ minutes in seven of the next eight games. With a bunch of highlights that whip up trendy buzz, the most important thing about Halasima this season is his consistent effort in executing small details.
Halasima has made 30+ tackles in his four games playing 80mins, making 35+ tackles in three of those games. While making far more tackles with more minutes played, Halasima has gone fro 84.7% tackling last season to 94.1% tackling this season. Halasima is simply doing his job in a winning team and his x-factor allows him to take advantage when the opportunity is presented.
Jacob Laban has also excelled in doing his role, even if he has been overtaken by Halasima as the next best option for a starting edge forward. The win vs Sharks featured Halasima and Laban as the two starting edge forwards for the first 50mins before Laban was subbed off, which along with 38mins from Vaimauga shows how effective these young forwards are.
That was Laban's first game as a starter this season and his five games off the bench before that had four games below 30mins, one game of 37mins. Aside from a ruthless performance in the first half vs Sharks that helped lay foundations for the second half dismantling, the most important observation here is how Laban was cooking towards his return to NRL in NSW Cup.
Laban played four games of reserve grade to start the season with at least two tackle breaks in all four and at least four tackle breaks in three games, as well as offloads in three of those games. Laban played 80mins in all four games which helped him hit the 30+ tackle and 100+ metre mark in every game. All of which is aligned with his development for an excellent NSW Cup team...
2023: 17 games - 59% wins, 5 tries, 4 linebreaks, 3 offloads, 74m/game, 88.5% tackling
2024: 15 games - 60% wins, 8 tries, linebreaks, 2 offloads, 107m/game, 92.5% tackling
2025: 4 games - 75% wins, 2 tries, 1 linebreak, 4 offloads, 139m/game, 92.4% tackling
Laban is from Wellington and he is joined by Christchurch's Tanner Stowers-Smith as the best youngsters from south of Lake Taupo. Stowers-Smith has only played two games and he has already shown the gritty mahi that saw him rise into the NSW Cup team while still eligible for U19s and the Halswell junior's progression through reserve grade is aligned with that of Laban...
2023: 13 games - 46% wins, 1 try, 75m/game, 87.4% tackling
2024: 23 games - 52% wins, 1 try, 1 offload, 88m/game, 89.8% tackling
2025: 9 games - 89% wins, 4 tries, 6 offloads, 115m/game, 91.9% tackling
Stowers-Smith is most similar to Fisher-Harris in his style of middle forward mahi and his work ethic should ensure the same skill development already seen in all NZW players under coach Webster. That's already on display in Stowers-Smith average 1.6 tackle breaks per game during the 2023 NSW Cup season, followed by 1.9 last year and 2.2 this year to go with an explosion of offloads this season.
Stowers-Smith isn't as dynamic as the other young forwards but he is finding ways to be effective as hard-mahi middle forward. Along with his gritty style, Stowers-Smith's mobility is a strength of his which most importantly enables him to consistently cover defensive space. Well many were confused by the decision to release Zyon Maiu'u to Bulldogs, the leader of the Christchurch wave at Mt Smart has already done more in the NRL than Maiu'u and is likely to get a few more bench appearances this season.
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