{"id":290446,"date":"2025-11-17T13:19:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T13:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/290446\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T13:19:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T13:19:13","slug":"nrl-2026-new-zealand-warriors-predicted-team-list-latest-squad-news-for-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/290446\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: New Zealand Warriors predicted team list, latest squad news for Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand were looking good near the top of the ladder for much of the season until two key injuries knocked them off kilter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, Mitch Barnett suffered and ACL injury shortly after the State of Origin opener before Luke Metcalf joined him in the casualty ward with a serious knee injury of his own.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warriors<\/a> battled on, but ultimately the key losses proved too hard to overcome as they slipped out of the top-four and were eliminated at the first hirdle by Penrith.<\/p>\n

Andrew Webster will be confident of improving upon this showing in 2026 though if he manages to get his stars all back on the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Every major contract decision for each NRL club in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

New Zealand Warriors\u00a0predicted team list for Round 1<\/p>\n

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak\u00a0
3.\u00a0Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
4. Rocco Berry\u00a0
5.\u00a0Alofiana Khan-Pereira
6. Chanel Harris-Tavita\u00a0
7. Tanah Boyd\u00a0
8. James Fisher-Harris
9. Wayde Egan
10. Mitch Barnett\u00a0
11. Leka Halasima
12. Kurt Capewell
13. Erin Clark\u00a0<\/p>\n

14. Te Maire Martin\u00a0
15. Marata Niukore
16.\u00a0Jackson Ford\u00a0
17.\u00a0Demitric Vaimauga<\/p>\n

Warriors latest team news ahead of Round 1<\/p>\n

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is likely to start at fullback, with Taine Tuaupiki serving as his deputy once again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and\u00a0Roger Tuivasa-Sheck\u00a0could line up on the wings, although will face pressure from new recruit\u00a0Alofiana Khan-Pereira.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Haizyn Mellars\u00a0will also be looking to force his way into the mix following his arrival from South Sydney.\u00a0Edward Kosi and Moala Graham-Taufa went the other way to the Rabbitohs<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Rocco Berry was plagued by injuries last season, but will start in the centres if he is fit.\u00a0Adam Pompey will likely take the other vacant spot after establishing himself in the side during\u00a0Ali Leiataua’s injury setbacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, if Webster wants to find a place in the side for AKP, he could shift RTS into the centres. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke Metcalf was enjoying a dream run at halfback before disaster struck in Round 17 as he suffered an ACL injury. He is no certainty to be back in time for the opening round. If he is unavailable,\u00a0Tanah Boyd could get the nod.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chanel Harris-Tavita was rated above Te Maire Martin last season and made the five-eighth position his own. The playmaker is set to retain the No.6 jersey in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James Fisher-Harris will start up front, although Mitch Barnett will be racing the clock to make Round 1 as he recovers from an ACL rupture he suffered after the State of Origin opener.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Barnett fails to make the side, Jackson Ford will likely start in the engine room, with service out of dummy-half provided by Wayde Egan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leka Halasima enjoyed a breakout rookie campaign and the boom backrower will be pushing for a starting spot ahead of Marata Niukore on an edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kurt Capewell returned to the Origin arena after solid form for the Warriors and will slot into the backrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Erin Clark filled in the sizeable shoes of the retired Tohu Harris at lock last season and he will be handed the No.13 jersey. However, competition will come from English recruit,\u00a0Morgan Gannon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jacob Laban and Demitric Vaimauga\u00a0established themselves as regular members in the 17 and will be fighting to feature off the bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tanner Stowers-Smith and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava will also be in the mix, while Sam Healey will provide quality back up for Egan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bunty Afoa and Tom Ale have exited the club, with the Warriors taking a hit to their forward stocks as a result.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand were looking good near the top of the ladder for much of the season until two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-290446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}