{"id":561940,"date":"2026-08-07T16:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T16:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/561940\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T16:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T16:20:09","slug":"nrl-2026-andrew-webster-wont-confirm-if-luke-metcalf-will-continue-playing-halfback-te-maire-martin-injury-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/561940\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Andrew Webster won\u2019t confirm if Luke Metcalf will continue playing halfback, Te Maire Martin injury update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Warriors coach Andrew Webster refused to get drawn into any sort of a halves selection headache after the recalled Luke Metcalf made a statement on Friday night.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/nrl?extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkleague-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-nrl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Metcalf started at halfback for the first time in 405 days, replacing the injured Te Maire Martin after he pulled up with a hamstring issue at training earlier in the week. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The soon-to-be Dragons recruit made the most of his call-up, scoring two tries and having a hand in another while kicking for 562 metres in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-warriors-vs-penrith-panthers-live-scores-updates-luke-metcalf-return-nathan-cleary-supercoach-highlights\/news-story\/6217daabc751380cac4c190c025e96fb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">a 28-12 win over the ladder-leading Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Webster didn\u2019t have a definitive answer on when Martin could return when asked in his post-game press conference on Friday, but conceded it could be up to a month on the sidelines. <\/p>\n<p>That positions Martin to potentially be fit just in time for the finals, which leaves Webster with a big selection headache should Metcalf build on the man-of-the-match performance against Penrith.<\/p>\n<p>Webster, however, didn\u2019t give anything away on whether Martin will get his spot back when healthy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got no opinion on that at all. I just thought he (Metcalf) was good and I want to celebrate Luke,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe deserves praise tonight. But yeah, I\u2019m not thinking future, certainly on game day, and it\u2019s too many twists and turns to worry about that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Webster revealed that Martin injured his hamstring on the last rep in attack at training on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was late and unfortunate for Te Maire, but Luke \u2014 particularly the last five or six weeks \u2014 he\u2019s strung some really good footy together,\u201d the Warriors coach added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt training our defence has been getting to defend Luke, which has been awesome. But just rapt with all our halves, from Tanah Boyd to Chanel to Te Maire to Luke. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got some real quality ones and even Jett Cleary and Luke Hansen in our reserve grade. We get to face really good stuff at training each week and you pick any of them with confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-how-andrew-webster-transformed-the-warriors-roster-luke-metcalf-new-zealand-expansion\/news-story\/e93b6e04b8c5d46002a727007a732f49\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">The brutal pre-season reality check and \u2018eye-opening\u2019 act that transformed Warriors<\/a><\/p>\n<p>W<\/p>\n<p>Metcalf flies through for the Wahs | 00:27<\/p>\n<p>ebster said the club targeted that kind of depth \u201cfor a reason\u201d and that extends beyond the halves, with the rampaging performance from Leka Halasima in the centres being a perfect example.<\/p>\n<p>Halasima replaced veteran centre Adam Pompey, having spent the majority of the season in the second row.<\/p>\n<p>Webster confirmed Halasima will be in the centres again for next week\u2019s game against the Broncos, but reiterated that no-one owns the jersey regardless of the position they play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the great players pick themselves each week,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not worried about selection headaches for certain people. Leka certainly will be in the centres next week, but it\u2019s up for grabs for anyone that wants it. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe boys compete that hard, and anyone that\u2019s not in the team right now, they can take it. But if Leka plays like that, he\u2019s not going anywhere. He deserves his spot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a fair bit we&#8217;ll learn from&#8221; | 05:58<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s win lifted the Warriors within two points of the Panthers, who have a tough run home and are now suddenly dealing with a growing injury toll.<\/p>\n<p>It sets the club up for a tilt at the minor premiership and otherwise has the Warriors well-positioned for a much-needed top-two finish and home final.<\/p>\n<p>The Panthers threatened a miraculous comeback late in the game but outside of that 10-minute period and \u201cthe second worst forward pass\u201d Webster has ever seen, it was largely drama-free viewing for the Warriors coach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought we played really good for 70 minutes. It was a 10-minute period where I think we lost our way a little bit,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the proudest bit tonight was we dropped the ball, we didn\u2019t get it back for probably three sets on our line, we forced an error and got it back off the back of the second worst forward pass I\u2019ve seen in rugby league. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was really proud of the boys that dug in there. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a period there where they were just throwing fearless footy, and we weren\u2019t real well connected. We were trying to solve it ourselves. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I thought we were real aggressive, we went after them and were clear and didn\u2019t take a backwards step.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warriors coach Andrew Webster refused to get drawn into any sort of a halves selection headache after the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-561940","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\/561940","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=561940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}