Warriors to splash cash for players
There might still be three weeks left, but the Warriors’ hopes of playing finals football are more or less done. So time to look ahead. The club’s brass is already making moves planning for the 2020 season and beyond, and has been plotting for some time.
It’s shaping as one of the more important off-seasons in the club’s 25-year history and, of the 30-strong playing group, just three will be departing the club at season’s end.
Ligi Sao is off to the UK Super League, Blake Ayshford is set to retire after more than 170 first-grade appearances and then there’s Issac Luke.
Though no official word has come, it’s understood the Warriors have no interest in keeping the veteran on for another season.
So 27 of this squad will be returning to Mt Smart next season with three new pieces yet to be added.
Warriors chief executive Cameron George said it was a good sign to have three vacant spots heading into next year, adding what a huge difference three ‘‘quality players’’ can make to a side.
‘‘We want the right players first and foremost, we’re not interested in bringing in guys who don’t fit or who won’t work with what we’re trying to do,’’ George told Stuff.
‘‘But three players, if you get the right guys at the right price, can be huge to any club and I’m confident we’re in a good position as a club overall and have the right people in the right places.’’
The club is in need of a hooker, a centre, and a middle forward. The latter appearing to be at the top of George and Stephen Kearney’s priority list.
After already missing on the Broncos pair of Matt Lodge and Tevita Pangai Jr, the Warriors have reportedly turned their attention to boom back-rower David Fifita.
Fifita is contracted through 2020, so the Warriors will have to wait until November 1 to begin any formal negotiations.
In the meantime, Brisbane young-gun Patrick Mago, once compared to Jason Taumalolo, remains a free agent and could be a welcomed addition to a relatively small Warriors pack.
In terms of hooker options, with injures to both Nate Roache and Karl Lawton, the Warriors are still chasing Manly and Fijian dummy-half Apisai Koroisau.
Stuff understands the club is confident of landing the 26-year-old on a multi-year deal.
Then there’s the need for a strike centre and it will be the toughest spot of the three to fill given no big names are set to hit the open market.
There are options such as Canberra’s Jordan Rapana, who is still without a contract for 2020, though that signing would force a reshuffle, potentially moving someone such as David Fusitu’a into right centre.
Regardless, the Warriors have to make moves to address all three areas and they must be the right ones.
George believes he has in Peter O’Sullivan and Brian Smith the right people to make it happen, but the pressure is certainly on all three men to deliver.