As part of tremendous depth at New Zealand Warriors, there is an exciting selection of players available who are on the rise through the Mt Smarts system. While most of this team is yet to play NRL, there are a couple players who played sneaky roles in the NRL team last season but will slide outside the top-17 as others return from injury and no new recruits have been named because this team is designed to showcase the flourishing talent that already knows the halls of Mt Smart well.

Selection also steers away from players with uncertain status over the summer. Some will stay with NZW but aren’t in the wider NRL summer training group so we don’t know their status, others will appear out of nowhere at the U21 and NSW Cup level. Leave space for others to pop out and command your attention.

Alofiana Khan-Pereira and Morgan Gannon are new recruits who will be chasing NRL footy early this season. Haizyn Mellars is in a lower tier and is part of a competitive group of outside backs who will flood into the NSW Cup team. Other recruits like Harry Inch and Braelen Marsh are juniors to watch out for at the U21 level, with plenty more Warriors depth stuff covered in the yarns below...

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The two players with NRL experience in the Emerging Warriors are Tanner Stowers-Smith and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava. Both made their debuts last year with Stowers-Smith (30.4mins/game) debuting as a 21-year-old and Ieremia-Toeava (34.6mins/game) debuting at 20-years-old. They both averaged 30+ minutes in their first dose of NRL footy and have played 40+ games of NSW Cup for a team that has been top-four in three consecutive seasons.

The flow of NZW depth means that Stowers-Smith and Ieremia-Toeava are likely to start this season in NSW Cup where they will enjoy notable development opportunities as they will be leaders of the reserve grade team. Their status as NSW Cup leaders chasing more NRL game time, along with the presence of Gannon means there probably won't be an NRL debut for other young forwards this season.

Emerging Warriors

Fullback: Caelys Putoko
Wing: Brandon Norris, Motu Pasikala
Centre: Sio Kali, Nganatatafu Vake
Half: Luke Hanson, Jett Cleary
Middle: Tanner Stowers-Smith, Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, Jason Salalilo
Edge: Kayliss Fatialofa, Bishop Neal
Hooker: Makaia Tafua
Bench: Jacob Auloa, Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea, Lennox Tuiloma, Paea Sikuvea
Squad: Joseph Ratcliffe, Kahu Capper, Connor Bowden, Jack Thompson, Gordon Afoa

Cook Island international Caelys Putoko can cover all backline positions but he's selected at fullback for the Emerging Warriors. This is part of a funky pipeline of fullbacks at Mt Smart as Joseph Ratcliffe was promoted from Under 19s to U21s last year and Jeremiah Lemana is part of the NRL summer training group after winning the U17 championship last year.

Ratcliffe was the fullback in the 2024 U17 championship, so both fullbacks who started in the Harold Matthews Cup Grand Finals are moving and grooving through the pipeline. While it's notable that Lemana is part of the wider NRL group this summer, Ratcliffe quietly crept up the grades and their progression is matched by Putoko who played U21, NSW Cup and international footy last year.

Nothern Territory Aussie Brandon Norris and Motu Pasikala are on the wings, with Sio Kali and Nganatatafu Vake selected at centre. All four played U21s last year with Kali only dabbling in that level because he was busy scoring 12 tries in 12 games for the best NSW Cup team. Most of that came with Kali playing on the wing but his instincts and intuition forecast better at centre, especially with the power of Vake and the effortless speed of Norris and Pasikala on the flanks.

The halves combo is easy with Luke Hanson the next best halves prospect behind the four proven NRL performers and Jett Cleary continuing his development. Hanson has played 37 games of NSW Cup while still eligible for U21s and Cleary has played 13 at this level. Hanson was the starting half through the finals push and Cleary was graced with a few minutes off the bench when games were already decided.

NZW have two halves who have already gathered NSW Cup experience (for an excellent team) while being U21s. Don't overlook similar indicators of talent for Jack Thompson and another new recruit in Jye Linnane, both of whom came to Mt Smart from the Newcastle region.

Thompson helped NZW win the 2024 U17 championship and missed the U19 season to start 2025 but went on to play 15 games of U21 footy for NZW last year. Linnane played U21 footy for Knights as a 17-year-old in 2023 and was on the fringe of the Knights NRL squad as a 19-year-old last year, with injuries holding his progress back. Add Inch into this mix and his pedigree in rugby union, for a bunch of deep cut halves who appear to be just as talented as those in the higher tiers.

Jason Salalilo and Makaia Tafua join their Christchurch uso Stowers-Smith in the forward pack. Salalilo started last year in U21s but once he got a whiff of NSW Cup footy, he stayed at that level and was the most notable youngster who kept getting selected in their finals run.

Jacob Auloa is on the bench as a hooker with Tafua starting. Both have played plenty of NSW Cup while still being U21 eligible and their toughness can never be doubted as they have handled the physicality of NSW Cup footy with ease. Add in Samuel Healey above these two and Marsh below them for lots of competitive depth in the dummy half role, as well as a glimpse of the small forward role that NZW are developing.

Other small forwards include Lennox Tuiloma, Paea Sikuvea and Albert Balchin. Tuiloma and Sikuvea are in the Emerging Warriors team, while Balchin is basically a new recruit after he left Bulldogs to stay in Auckland with NZW. Balchin deserves a mention to highlight how Andrew McFadden is building depth in specific roles and the small forward role is important because of the speed/skill required for NRL forwards.

Tuiloma was the 2024 HMC Grand Final MVP and will be one of the funkiest NZW juniors to track this year after missing all of 2025 due to injury. Sikuvea may have benefitted from Tuiloma's absence as he was one of the best young forwards across U19 and U21 last season, sharing the same speed and rugged physicality that makes these small forwards so enticing for NZW.

Middle forward Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea is on the bench and he will be chasing consistent NSW Cup footy this season. Along with Salalilo, these two were just as good as any other middle forward who departed Mt Smart this summer and they are primed to elevate to young leader roles when the opportunities pop up.

On the edges are Kayliss Fatialofa and Bishop Neal. Fatialofa could get an NRL debut next season but there are still lots of players and versatile lads like Ieremia-Toeava ahead of him that will probably see Fatialofa zone in on dominating NSW Cup consistently. Neal made it back to back HMC Grand Final MVP awards for Christchurch juniors with his dominant performances last year and while he needs to move through the grades, his talent and mana are undeniable.

Ratcliffe and Thompson have already been mentioned, while other squadies are Kahu Capper, Connor Bowden and Gordon Afoa. Capper played U19 and U21s last year while slotting into a major NZW theme of positional versatility as he covered wing, centre and edge forward.

Capper will be pushing for NSW Cup footy at some stage next season and based on how active he was last season, he could be selected ahead of Vake in the Emerging Warriors starting team. Bowden is another versatile outside back who has been promoted through the system to be part of the summer training group after a good U19 campaign early last year.

The quality of the NZW system is evident in the pedigree and indicators of players in this squad bracket. Ratcliffe, Capper and Thompson all played lots of U21s while still eligible for U19 last season for example. Afoa is the most undercover junior to watch out for though as he was part of the 2024 U17 championship and then did the U19/U21 double while still at school last year.

Afoa made his U21 debut as a 17-year-old and played more U21 games (5) than he did for the U19 team (3). All of which happened while he was part of the St Paul's College rugby league team alongside Balchin and they were both selected in the 2025 NZRL Secondary Schools Tournament Team, that also had Lemana at fullback.

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