{"id":630899,"date":"2026-10-15T01:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T01:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630899\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T01:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T01:30:13","slug":"nrl-rival-to-target-unwanted-warriors-dummy-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630899\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL rival to target unwanted Warriors dummy half"},"content":{"rendered":"

The St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a> are ready to make a play for unwanted New Zealand Warriors<\/a> dummy-half Samuel Healey<\/a> after receiving permission to explore his options.<\/p>\n

Three days ago, it was reported that the Warriors will prioritise veteran dummy-half Wayde Egan<\/a> for a contract extension and have told Healey they couldn’t sign him for 2028.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old was already a free agent as his contract expires at the end of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

According to News Corp, the dummy-half is expected to receive interest from the Dragons from November 1.<\/p>\n

Healey has been at the Warriors since the 2024 season, arriving from the Cronulla Sharks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Dragons lost Damien Cook<\/a>, who signed with the Castleford Tigers<\/a> in the Super League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jacob Liddle<\/a> is signed until the end of 2028, making Healey a promising backup hooker at the Red V.<\/p>\n

Connor Watson<\/a>, who could play a mix of dummy-half and lock at the Dragons next season, will be heading to the PNG Chiefs<\/a> in 2028.<\/p>\n

Healey has played 29 games with the Warriors since making his debut in 2025.<\/p>\n

The son of Sharks great Mitch Healey, Samuel was a highly regarded dummy-half at the Cronulla Sharks<\/a>, working his way through the club’s pathways in the Harold Matthews and SG Ball sides.<\/p>\n

Healey would make his way to NSW Cup<\/a>, playing 38 games for the Newtown Jets across 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Sam was part of the 2024 premiership side that beat the North Sydney Bears 28-24 in the NSW Cup<\/a> Grand Final before moving to the Warriors ahead of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

Known for his craftiness around the ruck, Healey is expected to receive interest from rival clubs.<\/p>\n

The Dragons are also planning to make a move for Dolphins<\/a> centre Jack Bostock<\/a>, originally an Illawarra Steelers junior.<\/p>\n

Bostock is available from November 1 and is expected to explore his options after playing in the series decider for the NSW Blues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When the centre featured in any lineup, for the Dolphins<\/a> or the Blues<\/a>, he lost one game this season to the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, missing out on a Grand Final appearance.<\/p>\n

After the Dragons saw Shane Flanagan<\/a> resign as coach, the club has signed Dean Young<\/a> to replace him.<\/p>\n

The club has done an incredible job with their roster overhaul, signing Keaon Koloamatangi<\/a>, Scott Drinkwater<\/a>, Luke Metcalf<\/a>, Phillip Sami<\/a>, Connor Watson<\/a> and Kodi Nikorima<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This free agency period, the Dragons have more flexibility, with Clint Gutherson<\/a> and Valentine Holmes’ futures uncertain due to their age and struggling form.<\/p>\n

Although the Dragons are the first team reported to be eager for Healey’s services, rival clubs are expected to join the Dragons in competing for his signature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The St George Illawarra Dragons are ready to make a play for unwanted New Zealand Warriors dummy-half Samuel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-630899","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\/630899","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=630899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}