Investing in a multi-layered development strategy has delivered healthy first-year dividends for the One New Zealand Warriors.
With five teams on deck for the first time in club history and a sixth arriving next year with the return to the NRLW competition, the Warriors have now opened their doors to opportunities previously unavailable and even unimaginable.
The shining light in year one of the pathways revamp was the debut success in the Harold Matthews Cup (under-17) premiership when the Warriors confounded all judges and pundits by taking out the grand final in April.
That gave 31 players the experience of being involved in an elite pathways competition and showing all young local hopefuls they can now achieve their dreams without leaving home.
In total 131 players wore the One New Zealand Warriors’ colours in the NRL, the New South Wales Cup, the Jersey Flegg Cup, the SG Ball Cup and the Harold Matthews Cup but the real success is measured in the detail.
Critically, of those 131 players, almost 50 lined up for two of the club’s teams, and three in six cases. That’s what development looks like.
Harold Matthews players are ineligible to play above their grade in the same season but from SG Ball (under-19) onwards the pathways open up. And didn’t they.
So much so, 22 of the 28 players who started the season in the club’s SG Ball squad in February-March-April were elevated to play alongside more experienced footballers in the 24-round under-21 Jersey Flegg competition.
Even more impressively six of them – all 18 at the start of the year – went on to play at New South Wales Cup level in fullback-winger Motu Pasikala, winger-centre Sio Kali, hooker Jaydee Auloa, second rower Kayliss Fatialofa, prop Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea and centre Nganatatafu Vake.
Prop-second rower Eddie Ieremia (19) was again still eligible for SG Ball but bypassed that grade as well as the Jersey Flegg Cup, spending the entire season in the New South Wales Cup where he appeared in all 25 games.
Five players who still met the age criteria for the lower grades had either made their NRL debuts last year or would do in 2024 so they continued their development at a higher level (Ali Leiataua, Demitric Vaimauga, Jacob Laban, Zyon Maiu’u and Leka Halasima). Likewise prop Tanner Stowers-Smith (19 at the start of the year), who was a New South Wales Cup mainstay for a second straight season, other than one Jersey Flegg Cup appearance.
Of the 51 players used during the Jersey Flegg campaign, 12 in all played up in the New South Wales Cup at some point while, of the 42 players used across the NSW Cup season, 18 also played for the NRL side.
It’s instructive to break down the seasons for the six players who had exposure at SG Ball, Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup levels (Kali’s season was limited by a period out injured):
Jaydee Auloa
SG Ball Cup: 8 appearances
Jersey Flegg Cup: 10 appearances
NSW Cup: 8 appearances
Kayliss Fatialofa
SG Ball Cup: 7 appearances
Jersey Flegg Cup: 12 appearances
NSW Cup: 8 appearances
Sio Kali
SG Ball Cup: 3 appearances
Jersey Flegg Cup: 4 appearances
NSW Cup: 8 appearances
Motu Pasikala
SG Ball Cup: 8 appearances
Jersey Flegg Cup: 5 appearances
NSW Cup: 13 appearances
Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea
SG Ball Cup: 8 appearances
Jersey Flegg Cup: 18 appearances
NSW Cup: 3 appearances
Nganatatafu Vake
SG Ball Cup: 8 appearances
Jersey Flegg Cup: 14 appearances
NSW Cup: 2 appearances
Breakdown of player development
Players who appeared in the NRL and NSW Cup (18):
Bunty Afoa
Tom Ale
Moala Graham-Taufa
Leka Halasima
Chanel Harris-Tavita
Edward Kosi
Jacob Laban
Ali Leiataua
Freddy Lussick
Zyon Maiu’u
Te Maire Martin
Luke Metcalf
Marcelo Montoya
Adam Pompey
Paul Roache
Jazz Tevaga
Taine Tuaupiki
Demitric Vaimauga
Players who appeared in the NSW Cup, Jersey Flegg Cup and SG Ball Cup (6):
Jaydee Auloa
Kayliss Fatialofa
Sio Kali
Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea
Motu Pasikala
Nganatatafu Vake
Players who appeared in NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup (6):
Toby Crosby
Harry Durbin
Luke Hanson
Caleb Laiman
Tanner Stowers-Smith
Makaia Tafua
Players who appeared in the Jersey Flegg Cup and SG Ball Cup (16):
Alvin Chong-Nee
Tallan Egan
Jeriko Filipi-Talisau
Augustino Filipo
Malachi Filipo
Mikaele Ilaiu
Andrew Nansen
Kalani Peyroux-Donaldson
Lyrakai Posimani
Jason Salalilo
Junior Sikuvea
Raphael Sio
Jesse Soric
Francis Tuimauga
Hiraki Waitai-Haenga
Maui Winitana-Patelesio
