As the business end of the season approaches, teams will already be looking to shore up their rosters for 2024 and beyond and the New Zealand Warriors are doing that with the retentions of Wayde Egan and Ali Leiataua.
Both Egan and Leiataua will remain with the Warriors until the end of the 2025 season.
Egan, who was already signed on until the end of 2025, has signed a further one-year extension and he drew nothing but praise from coach Andrew Webster.
“Wayde is a hugely influential player for us,” said Webster.
“He is a real leader while his ability and decision making on the field is critical to the way we perform.”
With Egan now hitting his straps as a first-grader, Leiataua is at the other end of the spectrum as a rookie but the duo are both valuable to the Warriors side in their own way.
“Wayde and Ali come from different ends of the scale in terms of experience but both play key roles in our plans for the future,” said general manager recruitment, pathways and development Andrew McFadden.
“Wayde provides so much to the team and the squad with his ability and leadership while Ali lived up to expectations with his NRL debut against the Raiders.”
Leiataua has come through the pathways at the Warriors and although he will forge his own NRL destiny, the young rookie is the nephew of Warriors great Ali Lauitiiti.
“In Ali, we see a centre of special quality and he emphasised that with his debut when he did a brilliant job marking Jarrod Croker on what was such a big night in Canberra,” said Webster.
