![\"Reece](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/reece-walsh-of-the-broncos-lies-injured-during-the-round-24-XTTCXTGG3RHGJMZXKGRKPJCDSA.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Warriors face the task of fighting for a NRL top-two spot without their first choices at fullback and halfback after Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was handed a two-game ban for the hip-drop tackle that injured Reece Walsh.<\/p>\n
With his team already reeling from the third serious injury sustained by one of their halfbacks this year, fullback Nicoll-Klokstad was handed a grade-three dangerous contact charge on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The charge is the harshest that can be handed down by the match review committee for a hip-drop tackle without referring the player straight to the judiciary.<\/p>\n
The committee chose to do that previously this year, when St George Illawarra lock Ryan Couchman was suspended for four games for the tackle that ruptured J’maine Hopgood’s ACL.<\/p>\n
Walsh underwent scans on Sunday afternoon, and is now expected to miss eight weeks with a high-grade syndesmosis injury that now threatens his World Cup.<\/p>\n
Nicoll-Klokstad will be free to face Manly in the final round of the regular season if he enters a guilty plea, while he would miss that game if he fought the charge and lost.<\/p>\n
While Nicoll-Klokstad is free to play in the finals, his suspension looms as a threat to the Warriors’ top-two chances.<\/p>\n
The Auckland-based club are third on the ladder with three rounds to play, but only behind second-placed Penrith on for-and-against.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Reece Walsh of the Broncos lies injured during the round 24 NRL match between Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp Stadium. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n
A top-two finish would offer a massive advantage come finals, with the prospect of not leaving New Zealand until grand final week if they win through.<\/p>\n
Taine Tuaupiki has played 15 games at fullback this year for the Warriors, with Nicoll-Klokstad having been sidelined by a neck injury before spending time in the outside backs.<\/p>\n
While Tuaupiki is expected to slot into fullback against South Sydney next week, the Warriors have bigger questions around their halves.<\/p>\n
Metcalf is set to join fellow halves Te Maire Martin and Tanah Boyd on the sidelines for the run home, after he limped from the field with a right hamstring injury after taking a kick at goal on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Martin is due to return from his own hamstring injury just before finals, after he became the man to replace Tanah Boyd when he ruptured his ACL in May.<\/p>\n
Metcalf had then impressed when given the chance last week, but his hopes of guiding the Warriors to a premiership before moving to the Dragons appear sunk after this latest blow.<\/p>\n
In the short term the Warriors could turn to Luke Hanson for his second NRL game next week, or throw Jett Cleary an NRL debut against South Sydney.<\/p>\n
Cleary has recently sought a release out of the club, keen for a move back to Penrith next year for his father Ivan’s last year in charge of the Panthers.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere North Queensland second-rower Heilum Luki has avoided a ban for a high tackle against Parramatta, instead able to accept a $3000 fine.<\/p>\n
The Warriors also have two players facing fines, with forwards Tanner Stowers-Smith and Jacob Laban earning the ire of the match review committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Warriors face the task of fighting for a NRL top-two spot without their first choices at fullback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,577,40,38,41,39,3006],"class_list":["post-571166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-nrl","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-warriors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571166","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=571166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}