New Zealand Warriors Made The NSW Cup Finals For The Fourth Year In A Row
New Zealand Warriors are locked in to play NRL finals for the third season of the two Andys era and it's the first time they will play finals in back to back years in the four years with coach Andrew Webster in charge. Only two other coaches have led Warriors to back to back finals appearances with Daniel Anderson steering them to finals in three consecutive years and Ivan Cleary made the finals in consecutive years twice.
Coach Webster is already tied with Anderson on three seasons of finals footy and one season behind Cleary. They are the only coaches who have led Warriors to more than one season of finals footy and yet Webster, along with recruitment/development guru Andrew McFadden have also created a system that has seen their NSW Cup team stay in finals footy for all four seasons of the two Andys era.
Warriors did the NSW Cup and State Championship double last year which was lovely, although the reserve grade set up isn't designed to focus solely on winning trophies. The balance of winning enough to stay in finals while also developing players who are ready to perform at the NRL level is more impressive than the headline act of winning competitions, which is especially notable this season as Warriors bid farewell to a hearty crop of servants last summer and showed nifty recruitment as well as an elite development pipeline to refresh their NSW Cup team.
The players who departed the Warriors' reserve grade group last summer had been together for a few years, creating stability for the local juniors to prepare themselves for NRL footy. Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Kalani Going, Edward Kosi, Moala Graham-Taufa and Setu Tu all played in the finals campaign last year before leaving Mt Smart, while others like Toby Crosby and Patrick Moimoi also departed having played NSW Cup last year.
Not only did Warriors lose mature reserve graders, but there was also an elevation for most of the local juniors who are shining in the NRL this season. Ali Leiataua, Jacob Laban, Demitric Vaimauga, Leka Halasima, Tanner Stowers-Smith and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava all progressed through NSW Cup over three seasons to find more consistent NRL roles this year. Taine Tuaupiki and Samuel Healey have also climbed beyond NSW Cup to show that they deserve to be viewed as NRL players, having arrived at Mt Smart as reserve graders.
This was forecasted last summer and expectations weren't too high for the NSW Cup group this season, knowing that a new wave of young talent would take over the reserve grade team. Even the most hardcore Warriors folk weren't thinking that three players would debut in NSW Cup as 17-year-olds and that there would be even more players who started in the Under 19 SG Ball Cup team this year who would play plenty of NSW Cup, let alone even more youngsters who surprised with how comfy they have been in NSW Cup.
Warriors did add some experience to their NSW Cup group though, late in the summer and mid-season. Cooper Page-Wilson moved from Sunshine Coast Falcons in Queensland Cup to play his first game in round two and that was also the first time that Cassius Tia popped up in a Warriors team list for the first time.
Warriors didn't seem to do much recruiting for Tia as he returned to Auckland from Bulldogs for personal reasons. While there is plenty of buzz about Tia's talent and he was an exciting addition to the Warriors system, the priority for Tia this year seemed to be grounding himself in his hometown and playing for his local club Mt Albert. Tia played three games early in the season and is named in the squad for this week, so it's not like Warriors recruited him hard and rushed him through a season of NSW Cup.
They did go out and add Riley Price to join Page-Wilson as middle forwards in their mid-20s who have plenty of reserve grade experience. Price has not lost a game since joining Warriors as he had a win vs Titans in his first NRL game for Warriors and had six wins in a row for the NSW Cup team, before a draw last week vs Knights.
Another mid-season shift was the injection of Jye Linnane at centre, having joined Warriors last summer as a half from Knights. Linnane played his first game in round 11 and he has dominated NSW Cup with 14 tries and nine wins in his 13 games. As a high pedigree junior in Newcastle, Linnane had shown his talent but no one expected him to perform at this level in the centre position and this was covered in the most surprising Warriors juniors yarn from a few months ago.
Kayliss Fatialofa has rolled through another full season of NSW Cup and is approaching a point where he is too good for this level, if he hasn't hit that mark already. Stuck behind plenty of edge forwards at Mt Smart, Fatialofa has made the best move for his career in shifting to Sea Eagles next season. Despite not having a clear path to NRL footy this year and signing with Sea Eagles mid-season, Fatialofa has shown his love for Warriors in maintaining his elite NSW Cup mahi.
Haizyn Mellars has been a consistent presence on the wing in his first season with Warriors and Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea has stated his case as one of the next up middle forwards with consistent mahi this season. Jacob Auloa is another excellent young talent who is cooking in the Erin Clark small forward forward role, churning out big minutes and rugged mahi. Along with Makaia Tafua, Luke Hanson and Jett Cleary, these players have become cornerstones of the NSW Cup group despite being U21s or fresh out of U21s.
At this stage it is worth highlighting the players who may not have a path to NRL footy laid out ahead of them, but give their all to the organisation. Geronimo Doyle has been a loyal servant for Warriors and despite being overtaken by the young forwards, Marata Niukore has shown his love for Mt Smart with his performances. Page-Wilson and Daeon Amituanai are other examples of players who have NRL ambitions and are comfortable doing their job in reserve grade.
The most impressive thing about the NSW Cup team this year though is how young talent has been developed through the system. This is most evident in the way that some of the most hyped Warriors juniors played little or no footy during the recent six game winning streak, while those teams still had a bunch of U21s and U19s.
Jason Salalilo played in the NSW Cup and State Championship wins last year, after starting the year in U21s. He has spent most of this season injured and played just five minutes in the win vs Magpies that sparked up the winning streak. Bishop Neal and Jeremiah Leamana are two of the players who debuted as 17-year-olds and neither of them played during the winning streak.
Christian Sikuvea had settled into a consistent groove in the first half of the season, playing big minutes as a versatile forward while still eligible for U21s. He hasn't played in the winning streak and while Sio Kali seems to have plateaued this year, he's still a freaky outside back who has been among the most talented local juniors in recent years. Kali hasn't played much NSW Cup this year and hasn't featured during the winning streak.
This created space for other local juniors to take their opportunities. Jack Thompson made his NSW Cup debut earlier in the season as a half and along with Linnane, the two Aussies from the wider Newcastle region are primed to take over from the Penrith duo of Hanson and Cleary. Thompson skipped U19s to play U21s last year and played his first game of NSW Cup in the halves two years after playing U17s for Warriors.
Amasio Tiatia made his debut at 17-years-old as a hooker and despite being one of the younger players in the NSW Cup group, he has the same Christchurch physicality and craft as his Linwood uso Tafua. Neal is an athletic freak and Lemana covered the backline positions, but Tiatia has looked at ease playing through the middle which is crazy for his age.
Other players who started in U19s this year and have played NSW Cup are Tyson Hansen, Joseph Ratcliffe, Connor Bowden and Gordon Afoa. Bowden had a few games playing big minutes at edge forward, Ratcliffe has played fullback in place of Doyle, Afoa had a brief stint as a middle forward and Hansen has covered multiple positions as a utility. Hansen's played 10 games already and he was one of the U19s who played a hefty role in the winning streak.
The NSW Cup team usually has a bunch of players from the U21 team, as well as players who are U21s but only playing NSW Cup. Big boppers Tepatasi Laumalili and Emosi Ravosai have featured in NSW Cup this season, plus hooker Braelan Marsh has had a few games along with Tiatia. In the backs Caelys Putoko had a few games at centre, Motu Pasikala's offered depth and Harry Tauafiafi-Iutoi has plugged holes on the wing.
For all the exciting juniors who have snapped up opportunities, Maui Winitana-Patelesio is the most intriguing as he lacks the buzz of the youngsters named above. He worked through the Warriors system starting in U19s and spent most of this year in U21s, where he was watching younger players cruise past him to play NSW Cup. The utility from Wellington played his first NSW Cup game in round 21 and played in four wins then the draw last week as a hooker, half and small forward.
Winitana-Patelesio played 51 minutes coming off the bench in his first game and had two more games on the bench, usually covering dummy half or small forward. Then he started two consecutive games in the halves and while there may be same late tweaks to the NSW Cup team this weekend, Winitana-Patelesio has been named to start at hooker. With Healey and Tafua in the NRL team, it seems likely that Winitana-Patelesio will be locked in for some dummy half mahi vs Jets.
Warriors have plenty of halves in the system. Hanson, Cleary, Thompson and Luke Metcalf have matched the halves rotation of the NRL team in NSW Cup this year. Harry Inch was a high profile recruit and partnered Thompson in the halves for most of the U21 season, before he shifted to middle forward late in the season. This opened up space for Noah Jensen and another surprising junior Ashton Ulaula-Ieremia to finish the U21 season in the halves as local juniors.
Warriors also have plenty of hookers in the system. Tafua has played 80 minutes at hooker for most of the NSW Cup season and Auloa has covered dummy half when required. While Tiatia and Marsh have offered back up for reserve grade as well as playing U21s when available. Despite such depth in his two favoured positions, Winitana-Patelesio stayed patient and pounced on his opportunity in NSW Cup to the point where he is winning as a starting player in multiple positions.
While accounting for any late changes to the NSW Cup team for their finals game in Sydney vs Jets on Saturday, the shift from last year's group is easy to see in the team list from the NSW Cup Grand Final to the team named this week...
2025
Backs: Taine Tuaupiki, Setu Tu, Ali Leiataua, Moala Graham-Taufa, Edward Kosi, Luke Hanson, Tanah Boyd
Forwards: Bunty Afoa, Sam Healey, Tanner Stowers-Smith, Kayliss Fatialofa, Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, Kalani Going
Bench: Jason Salalilo, Tom Ale, Jett Cleary, Freddie Lussick - Geronimo Dolye
2026
Backs: Geronimo Doyle, Joseph Ratcliffe, Daeon Amituanai, Jye Linnane, Haizyn Mellars, Luke Hanson, Jack Thompson
Forwards: Riley Price, Maui Winitana-Patelesio, Cooper Page-Wilson, Tyson Hansen, Marata Niukore, Jacob Auloa
Bench: Amasio Tiatia, Cassius Tia, Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea, Motu Pasikala - Dezman Laban, Bishop Neal
There isn't much crossover between those two teams, even if someone like Cleary is a late addition to the NSW Cup team to play Jets. Many of the best local juniors aren't named for this game either and the list of players not named who have been mentioned in this yarn is just as impressive as the team named.
This captures how Warriors have combined wise recruitment with development of local juniors to refresh their NSW Cup group, while sustaining another season making finals. Warriors appear to do a good job of supporting genuine reserve graders as well and this is an indicator of how strong the organisation is because Warriors are getting the best out of players who may not have NRL upside, yet they are crucial in brewing a winning culture throughout the system.
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