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

September 18, 2026 — 9:52am

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They 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.

They’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.

Something 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-Klokstad

Originally, 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.”

Warriors 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?”

A schoolboy 1st XV rugby star in Auckland, Pompey was........

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