New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe One New Zealand Warriors have acceded to a request from Luke Metcalf\u2019s management to engage with other NRL clubs regarding his playing future from 2027 and beyond,\u201d the club said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not make any further comment on this matter until a further update is provided by Luke and or his management,\u201d said One New Zealand Warriors CEO Cameron George.<\/p>\n
Gun playmaker Metcalf is being tipped to leave the club at season\u2019s end with his role at the Warriors up in the air.<\/p>\n
Due to Tanah Boyd being super impressive at halfback this season in Metcalf\u2019s absence, leading the Warriors to second on the ladder, Code Sports reports that Metcalf has now requested permission from the club to explore his options for next season and will hit the open market.<\/p>\n
It is understood that the Warriors will give him the green light to do so.<\/p>\n
This comes as he has failed to crack the starting team in recent weeks and has instead been named on the six-man bench in favour of Boyd.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, Boyd\u2019s form has been rewarded with a contract extension, indicating the Warriors want to push forward with Boyd at halfback.<\/p>\n
Metcalf\u2019s preference is to wear the No. 7 and reports emerged last week he was hoping to meet with the club to determine where he stood – which he has now done.<\/p>\n
The Daily Telegraph\u2019s Dean Ritchie broke that story last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t anything confrontational. It wasn\u2019t we want a release it was more, where do you see Luke Metcalf in the club\u2019s plans and where do they see Metcalf playing,\u201d Ritchie explained on NRL360.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey aren\u2019t talking walkout yet. The Warriors seem to think he could play six but I don\u2019t think if you ask Luke Metcalf on the quiet if he wants to play six, he doesn\u2019t, he wants to play seven.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuke thinks of himself as a seven and an elite seven. I\u2019m not saying his nose is out of joint but I am saying someone has taken his spot and he wants to find out what his future is at the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
Metcalf signed a rich extension with the club last year, recommitting until the end of 2028.<\/p>\n
Given that new deal doesn\u2019t start until next season, NRL360 host Braith Anasta finds the timing of Metcalf\u2019s request for a meeting \u201codd\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard the rustlings and rumours that his manager isn\u2019t happy,\u201d Anasta said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIs this a bit premature? Chanel Harris-Tavita isn\u2019t going to be there. Why can\u2019t Metcalf play six? <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand this. I think he and Tanah Boyd can make a good (halves) combination. Surely the Warriors want this?\u201d<\/p>\n
That led Brent Read to drop a stunning prediction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019ll be there next year. Because he wants to play halfback and he\u2019s not going to be the halfback there,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems as though he\u2019s not overly happy playing six if you read the tea leaves. <\/p>\n
\u201cBy the sounds of it, he wants to play seven. It would not surprise me (if he left). <\/p>\n
\u201cIn an ideal world, they play in the halves together but it seems as though he wants to play halfback. If that\u2019s the case, he\u2019s not going to play halfback because Tanah Boyd.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Metcalf does signal he wants to leave the Warriors, there will be no shortage of clubs interested in his services with several halves-needy teams around the league.<\/p>\n
Originally published as New Zealand Warriors\u2019 frosty response as Luke Metcalf seeks exit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Warriors have released a statement on the future of dropped playmaker Luke Metcalf who is free to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-667793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667793","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=667793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}