{"id":494653,"date":"2026-06-25T09:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/494653\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T09:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:53:09","slug":"warriors-set-to-pounce-on-tigers-outcast-before-june-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/494653\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors set to pounce on Tigers outcast before June 30"},"content":{"rendered":"

With their outside backs resembling a casualty ward, the New Zealand Warriors<\/a> are racing to plug a significant hole before the June 30 transfer deadline.<\/p>\n

CODE Sports has reported the Warriors are closing in on a short-term rental of Luke Laulilii<\/a>, with the signing expected to be finalised before Tuesday’s mid-season cut-off.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Campbelltown product would spend the next three months across the Tasman providing desperately needed depth to a backline decimated with injury.<\/p>\n

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck<\/a> is ruled out for the season with an ACL injury, a cruel end to what was set to be his farewell NRL<\/a> campaign before heading to Wakefield Trinity<\/a> in Super League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That blow was compounded by injuries to Rocco Berry<\/a> (hamstring) and Alofiana Khan-Pereira<\/a> (leg), leaving the Warriors dangerously short out wide at a time when they are genuine premiership contenders.<\/p>\n

Laulilii, meanwhile, finds himself in a curious position at Concord.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Perth Bears<\/a> signed the youngster on a two-year deal commencing after the end of this season, making him one of the new club’s confirmed backline signings.<\/p>\n

Adding a family dimension to the story, his older brother Kit Laulilii<\/a> also committed to the Bears, meaning the brothers will line up together in Perth’s inaugural season.<\/p>\n

This season, Laulilii has scored 10 tries in 11 combined NRL<\/a> and NSW Cup<\/a> appearances.<\/p>\n

Established outside back talents in Jeral Skelton<\/a> and Sunia Turuva<\/a>, the highest in pecking order, as well as Laulilii’s decision to sign with the Bears, have left him without consistent NRL<\/a> appearances.<\/p>\n

In eight NRL<\/a> appearances this season, Laulilii has averaged 175 running metres per game, made 28 tackle breaks, and scored six tries.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With their outside backs resembling a casualty ward, the New Zealand Warriors are racing to plug a significant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-494653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}