New Zealand Warriors 2025 NRL season scouting report: Best 17, every player’s contract status, rookie watch
Can the Warriors bounce back to the form that captivated a nation in 2023? Or will they struggle without favourite son Shaun Johnson? DAVID RICCIO breaks down their best 17, issues facing the club, rookies to watch and more.
The honeymoon period is well and truly over for Warriors coach Andrew Webster, whose first-season glow turned into a sickly green the further last season went in 2024.
And while they now face a rebuild without favourite son Shaun Johnson, they will be led by inspirational New Zealand captain and four-time premiership-winner James Fisher-Harris.
David Riccio investigates how the Warriors plan to bounce back in a bid to keep their hungry Wahs fanbase on the up or risk them heading back down.
Free agency wrap and rating
Impossible to fault the extraordinary signing of James Fisher-Harris from Penrith. The champion prop is an acquisition that is the envy of the NRL.
Depth signings of Erin Clark and Tanah Boyd could prove invaluable throughout the course of the season.
Warriors fans shouldn’t expect any NRL out of Jett Cleary in 2025. That won’t be the case for Sam Healey, the son of former Sharks star Mitch Healey, who has joined the Warriors as an attacking dummy-half.
RATING: B
Coach status & safety rating
Andrew Webster isn’t going anywhere soon with the developing head coach contracted until the end of 2028.
That isn’t to say there isn’t pressure on the coach after the Warriors disappointed in 2024, following such a sensational 2023 season.
Finishing 13th in 2024, Webster needs a response from his team in 2025, particularly given a roster that features representative stars and established NRL footballers including James Fisher-Harris, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Tohu Harris, Mitch Barnett, Kurt Capewell and Wayde Egan.
RATING: B
Likely debutant
Unable to breakthrough to the NRL at the Sharks with Blayke Brailey and Jayden Berrell in front of him, Samuel Healey signed with the Warriors to fulfil his NRL dream.
The back-up to Wayde Egan is primed to earn his first grade debut in 2025. The 21-year-old has come through the grades with the Sharks, establishing himself in the New South Wales Cup with 36 games for feeder club Newtown since last season.
In his 24 NSW Cup appearances in 2024, Healey scored eight tries and averaged 56 metres and 23 tackles a game with 60 tackle breaks, four try assists, four line break assists and 21 off loads.
Who takes the next step
Luke Metcalf is renowned for his outstanding running game with his blistering pace a major feature of his game.
But what few fans know is that Metcalf began his career as an organising halfback, who can kick and isn’t afraid to order his team around the park.
In the post-Shaun Johnson era, Metcalf only needs to stay injury-free and string back-to-back games to prove he’s capable of running the Warriors in the halves.
The three burning issues
SO LONG SJ
How will the Warriors handle life without the experienced presence of retired playmaker Shaun Johnson? Given Johnson struggled in his final year in the NRL, the belief from inside the Warriors camp is that the team will embrace a new style of play with a new-look halves pairing of either Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita or Te Maire Martin.
FISH FOR AFB
Viewed by fans as one champion prop out and one champion prop in, the departure of Addin Fonua-Blake to the Sharks and arrival of James Fisher-Harris from Penrith runs a lot deeper than that. In contrast to AFB’s big engine to play long minutes and destruction close to the tryline, JFH’s greatest asset is his willingness to make the toughest carries, when getting out of his team’s end of the field. How the Warriors learn to play differently with JFH is critical.
MORE FROM ROGER
The return to the NRL from rugby union last season of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck showed enough glimpses of brilliance to believe that the champion ballrunner will increase in confidence in 2025. The key for the Warriors is avoiding the shuffle of positions he was forced to endure between fullback, wing and centre last season, which impacted his comeback season.
Crystal ball
With so much talent and experience across their entire squad, anything less than a top-eight finish will be disappointing.
2025 odds
Winners: $41
Minor premiership: $34
Top 4: $6.50
Top 8: $2.50
Most losses: $15
*Odds courtesy TAB
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