New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[Gobsmacked]

The number of schoolboy rugby stars in the Warriors’ pathways system has skyrocketed in the past 12 months as the NRL continues to threaten the rival code across the ditch. See the full list of cross-code talents.
Fatima Kdouh
Fatima Kdouh
@FatimaKdouh_
2 min read
November 26, 2025 - 5:00AM
News Sport Network
The Warriors’ pathways system is stacked with schoolboy rugby talent.
The Warriors’ pathways system is stacked with schoolboy rugby talent.
The number of schoolboy rugby stars in the New Zealand Warriors’ pathways system has skyrocketed by over 50 per cent in just 12 months, as a record influx of cross-code talent join the NRL club.
This masthead can reveal the Warriors’ NRL pathways boasts 40 First XV rugby schoolboys players across Harold Matthews Cup (under-17s), SG Ball (under-19s) and Jersey Flegg (under-21s).
The list of rugby schoolboys players is the largest in the Warriors’ 31-year history, surpassing last year’s record of 26 players in the club’s development pathways.
Last year, the Warriors only had five cross-code talents in the Harold Matthews program.
But on the back of consecutive Harold Matthews title wins, the number of rugby players in under-17s has surged to 20 schoolboys stars.
Of those 20 players, eight were part of the Warriors’ second-straight Harold Matthews premiership win in 2025.
From the current cohort of cross-code stars, 11 players are part of rugby programs at the prestigious Kelston Boys’ High School, which has dominated Auckland’s 1A First XV rugby competition over the past five years.


The Warriors have emerged as a genuine threat to rugby union pathways, as more schoolboy players defect into the club’s development system.
Warriors general manager of recruitment and pathways Andrew McFadden said the club’s structured pathways - which aren’t as defined in rugby - are becoming increasingly attractive to emerging talent in the 15-man game.
“I think they’re seeing an opportunity in a clear pathway,” McFadden said.
“If you’re performing and you’re showing a lot of talent, we will prioritise you.
“I think the growth in numbers is an organic one.
SCROLL TO SEE EVERY FIRST XV SCHOOLBOYS STAR IN THE WARRIORS’ SYSTEM
“That’s where a lot of the best athletes are playing, they’re playing First XV rugby.
“That’s the premier age group competition at school, that’s something they all aspire to, is to play First XV and we know that.
“So we just have to get out there and have a look at these competitions, these games, because we’re looking for the best athletes with the best potential, regardless of the code.”
But the threat to rugby union pathways in New Zealand isn’t just coming from the Warriors, with most NRL clubs now having a presence, through satellite academies, across the ditch.
This masthead revealed NZ Rugby is using a ‘loyalty agreement’ to garner a commitment to the code from schoolboys players in a bid to ward off the threat from rugby league.
NZ Rugby's Loyalty Agreement and the battle for the best talent against the NRL
“It is very competitive. There used to be half a dozen NRL clubs that are over here,” McFadden said.
“I think every club is over here now. All it just means is that we’ve got to be really smart about how we operate and what we provide.
“We prioritise our backyard. We want to develop kids in New Zealand and we have done a really good job to build up our reputation over time, so that kids actually want to stay here, want to play for the Warriors.
“But it is very competitive, with the Super Rugby and now with all the NRL clubs.
“It’s pretty ruthless.”

So when that 40 first xv becomes 80 with the introduction of NZ 2, will that be a massive blow?
Or is it when the lack of talent is evident in the All blacks? And they rank 5th or 6th?

 

[Matua]

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/new-zealand-pathways-battle-super-rugby-nrl-bosses-clash-as-code-war-for-junior-talent-erupts/news-story/af7a58ece89986a477b306cbe1022218?amp

y league’s growing footprint across New Zealand was highlight by two NRL teams’ junior talent raid on the country’s most powerful Super Rugby club. These are the incredible numbers that have NZRU on tenterhooks.
Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge has warned rising rugby union talent in New Zealand of being treated as commodities by other codes, like the NRL, as the Warriors expand their footprint across the Ditch.
The battle for the best emerging cross-code talent has intensified in both Australia, and across the Tasman, in recent years.
NRL clubs are more active than ever in identifying potential prospects in New Zealand at the schoolboys level.
St George Illawarra pulled off a huge coup, recruiting 16-year-old Rokko Walker, a First XV player from renowned All Blacks producing school Auckland Grammar.
Only last month, teen prospects Saumaki Saumaki and Harry Inch defected from the Super Rugby powerhouse, the Crusaders, to link with NRL clubs.
Blockbusting back Saumaki was snapped up by South Sydney, while playmaker Inch agreed to join the Warriors.
Inch was one of New Zealand’s most recognised junior rugby talents, and his defection in particular, came as a shock to even the country’s 15-man pundits.
But Mansbridge has a warning for other teen rugby talents that might be considering treading a similar path to Inch and Walker.
“I can completely understand if I’m a kid, I can see a rugby league name in front of me, I’m probably going to get enticed by that,” Mansbridge said.
“(But) ninety per cent of our athletes become professionals.
“Many athletes leave our New Zealand shores, they get chewed up in an NRL system and spat out the other end.”
In the wake of the raid on two top talents from the Crusaders academy, Mansbridge came out swinging and labelled NRL clubs lazy on the development front.
“We’re not here to produce rugby robots,” Mansbridge said.
“We won’t treat young people, men or women, as commodities. Now, do I think some sports and codes and clubs do?
“I think they do. I think they do treat their humans as commodities.
“Do I think the NRL is lazy?
“I think they are opportunistic, and have seen an opportunity to get on the back of some excellent development systems in New Zealand.”
It’s a charge Warriors CEO Cameron George re

have hundreds of kids in our system that get the opportunity to live out their dreams,” George said.
“It’s a ridiculous statement to make.
“We don’t stockpile players like Super Rugby because we have structured pathways in the NRL, where players at every level are actually playing and representing their clubs and giving themselves every chance to be successful.”
And on the account of being lazy?
“We’re definitely not lazy, we’re much the opposite and the NRL has been extremely proactive for many years,” George said.
“Our competition is expanding into Papua New Guinea and Perth, ultimately, there’ll be an extra team in New Zealand.
“You’re not a lazy organisation or sport, when you can expand far and wide like that and fill the grandstands.
“That takes a lot, a lot of work.”
PATHWAYS BATTLE GROUND
Rugby pathways in New Zealand have been under scrutiny recently, compounded after the Australian under-18s side trounced the country’s prestigious secondary schools team in October.
Pundits across the ditch have labelled rugby pathways as ‘convoluted’ with no clear path from the schools level into Super Rugby.
In contrast, all 17 NRL clubs field a full suite of junior representative pathways – beginning from Harold Matthews (under-17s), SG Ball (Under-19s), Jersey Flegg (under-21s), reserve grade and into the NRL system.
Even Rugby Australia has moved to install a more streamlined professional pathway, to mirror NRL clubs, with Super Rugby clubs now competing in an under-16s competition alongside its under-19s program.
In New Zealand, most schoolboy players will move into the provincial system to continue their development rather than be directly contracted to a Super Rugby club – unlike in the NRL.
Clubs like the Crusaders will identify talent, around 30 players per year, into their academy but they will play for a local rugby club and for provincial sides Canterbury or Tasman – if they are selected in under-18s and under-20s representative teams.
Mansbridge believes the current rugby pathway into Super Rugby does not need to be re-engineered.
“We don’t want to artificially create a pathway if that doesn’t enhance the pathway that they currently have,” he said.
“When they leave school, in the Crusaders case, the talent ID’d, we bring them into the Crusaders academy.
“Now they’ll be associated with a community club, and that community club (and) that will be the first jersey that they wear.

they’ll train in the Crusaders academy.
“They’ll learn the Crusaders way, but they will also be attached to a local club where, and that’s the first place where they usually go but under our tutelage.”
This year, NZ Rugby scrapped the under-20s Super Rugby competition, which will be replaced by a Super Rugby development competition. On top of the 38-man rosters, franchises will be able to add 12 players on a full-time training basis to a ‘wider training group’, who will play in the new competition.
MONEY TALKS
The minimum wage in the NRL is $140,000 – which is double what Super Rugby has to offer at $75,000.
In addition to top-30 rosters in the NRL, clubs have a supplementary list where rising players in the pathways system can also earn up to $80,000 per season.
For example, a 17-year-old can join the supplementary list, and train with the NRL squad if they are turning 18 by October 31 the next year.
While junior representative players in the squads like Harold Matthews Cup can earn a maximum $20,000 per season.
In New Zealand, a player on a provincial contract can earn a maximum of $50,000 (NZD) $43,000 (AUS) while for younger talents, a provincial development contract is worth anywhere between $1 - $5000.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Leaked NZ Rugby document blocking schoolboys from NRL
But with the NRL negotiating its broadcast deal, which is worth around $2 billion, another increase in the minimum wage for aspiring rugby players is on the cards.
Mansbridge concedes that at a ‘dollars and cents’ level it is becoming harder for Super Rugby clubs to compete for the best talent, but insists his code is selling an entirely different dream.
“When the athlete gets a contract in front of them … if it’s just straight dollars and cents, you know, it’s probably going to be harder,” Mansbridge said.
“But if we’re having a conversation about the whole thing, we think that’s where we need to compete.
“You know, you can finish your career as an All Black and be a doctor?
“We do everything we can to make sure they’re studying, learning a trade, learning how to run a business, learning how to be a better human. We spend a lot of time on those other things.”

RUGBY LEAGUE’S GROWING FOOTPRINT
As well as a full complement of junior representative sides, the Warriors now also have a footprint all over New Zealand.
The club also runs 13 talent identification academies across the north and south islands.
Warriors general manager of pathways and recruitment Andrew McFadden said the club is working tirelessly to connect aspiring players – from both codes – to the Warriors jumper.
“Our connections across the country now are from top to bottom. We feel like we do capture the country over here,” McFadden said.
“They might come in at 14 and go into those academies that allow kids to train and get professional development physically.
New Zealand Warriors have teams across all NRL competitions. Photo: Warren Gannon Photography
New Zealand Warriors have teams across all NRL competitions. Photo: Warren Gannon Photography
“We think that really connects them to the Warriors jumper.”
The success of the Warriors’ pathways, which includes back-to-back Harold Matthews title wins, a NSW Cup and NRL State Cup title in 2025, is helping grow rugby league’s footprint in the rugby-mad nation.
A record high 45,000 New Zealanders are now registered to play rugby league, which is a 29 per cent year on year increase in 2025.
While registrations for boys aged between 13-17 years is up 41 per cent in 2025.
With the addition of Perth Bears (2027), PNG Chiefs (2028) and a second New Zealand team slated for as soon as 2030, competition for talent a

Isn't this about the third time this article has been posted? Or is it just the same article that has been mixed and matched multiple times?

Maybe I got it wrong and you're the writer, not Gob, and you're trying to get more clicks.

 

[Gobsmacked]

I was close to getting your age, I just got the 1 and 4 around the wrong way.

I think one of the first issues is that you thought people weren't into league in NZ, when as I've (and others) repeatedly said, lots of NZers are into both, that's why in the last few years broadcast viewership for both sports has being going up.

I wouldn't move to NZ for rent reasons, it's really not that much cheaper, and the salaries are generally less. That's the main reason I'm in Oz (and the warmer weather as I hate the cold). Move for the lifestyle though, especially if you like the cold and the wind (if Wellington is you destination).


Well not really, you guys dismiss any data that doesn't fit the narrative, like Super Rugby is dying, when it's actually on an upswing in NZ with the largest audience for a final in a decade, add to that the All Blacks getting huge viewership in a somewhat terrible year.

So like I said in an earlier post we seem to be in an era where all boats are rising with the tides. Which for me, as someone without a side in the forever war, is a great thing. Hell, I even want our A-League sides to do well and I can't stand soccer.

Articles about so and so schoolboys have chosen league over rugby can get picked apart with a minimum of googling so they just annoy me which is why I'm always ready to jump in when they're posted. It's just click bait masquerading as journalism. But for the odd ones that actually do switch, like Inch and his teammate from Nelson Boys that's great if they feel league suits them better or they prefer league. As I've said repeatedly during the U20s era there were huge numbers of young NZers going to NRL clubs so it's not like it's a new thing. I was doing contract work for Te Puni Kokiri (Ministry of Maori Development) on Polynesian migration so I interviewed lots of those players at the time, sadly most of the players I met with didn't make it to first grade.


Yeah, and as I've repeatedly said I'm trying to calm your expectations, hence why I posted that 1992 article when I found it. Hype for league is cyclical in NZ, at least historically, your arguments were being made back then.

NRL massively popped in NZ in the early 90s when it was the only live broadcast game in town (we used to get one rugby game a week on TV and all the NRL games).

And I have cautioned about thinking that support for the Warriors can only go up, as history tells us it's liable to crash, which was what made 2024 so surprising in that in a terrible year they didn't lose support. But to us day 1 Warriors fans we've seen the 1995/96 hype and then the dark ages until the early 2000s, then the dark ages again until the late 2000s, and then the 2010s which were beyond awful.

"Hype for league is cyclical in NZ, at least historically,"
My point to you is that we're in a very solid trajectory to break that cycle if it hasn't already been broken and nothing historically is relevant in today's social media landscape.
" Up the Wahs" was " trending" and went" viral "
We are not in 92..

A second team in NZ will literally double up the assault that the NRL is inflicting on NZ RU.

 

[Pippen94]

Maybe he’s taking another break. @Pippen94

Have they announced team 20 already?!

 

[Gobsmacked]

Have they announced team 20 already?!

Why?

 

[Pippen94]

Why?

Maybe wait till they announce winning expansion bid before declaring team 20 will be in NZ?!

 

[Gobsmacked]

Maybe wait till they announce winning expansion bid before declaring team 20 will be in NZ?!

Little flustered mate?
You were the one who doesn't want to wait and constantly declare it's Brisbane 3..

Maybe you should hang out with Perth red and have a contradiction party?

 

[Growthegame]

Have they announced team 20 already?!

A typing contraction.

 

[Matua]

"Hype for league is cyclical in NZ, at least historically,"
My point to you is that we're in a very solid trajectory to break that cycle if it hasn't already been broken and nothing historically is relevant in today's social media landscape.
" Up the Wahs" was " trending" and went" viral "
We are not in 92..

A second team in NZ will literally double up the assault that the NRL is inflicting on NZ RU.

Like I said, they need to go now to capitalise, rather than take the risk that "viral" is going to continue to however long it is before NZ2 even kicks a ball in anger.

So when that 40 first xv becomes 80 with the introduction of NZ 2, will that be a massive blow?
Or is it when the lack of talent is evident in the All blacks? And they rank 5th or 6th?

Like I've been saying, don't take those articles as gospel, that's not 40 new league players, or 40 players poached from rugby, the majority are league players going to rugby schools, because the schools are majority rugby schools. The only school Fatima mentions is Kelston which always has a high number of league boys attending and they've won the NZ schools league championship multiple times (they've only won the top 4 in rugby once in the last 20 years). It's one of the bigger league schools in the country.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Like I said, they need to go now to capitalise, rather than take the risk that "viral" is going to continue to however long it is before NZ2 even kicks a ball in anger.


Like I've been saying, don't take those articles as gospel, that's not 40 new league players, or 40 players poached from rugby, the majority are league players going to rugby schools, because the schools are majority rugby schools. The only school Fatima mentions is Kelston which always has a high number of league boys attending and they've won the NZ schools league championship multiple times (they've only won the top 4 in rugby once in the last 20 years). It's one of the bigger league schools in the country.

I've been advocating for NZ2 to be next cab off the rank for some time now and I agree!
They could have been in next year! Certainly ahead of Perth and PNG but there's greater forces at play, Perth was rushed through probably to boost the Australian TV deal and the NRL didn't want to leave 600 million on the table for PNG.

We now have the Warriors playing annually in Christchurch, ANZAC day game in Wellington
Origin is in NZ in 2027 which is also the year magic round in Brisbane is last contracted, I think it'll go to Auckland! We now have an NRL official in charge in NZ now, the Kiwi team building nicely.

So if you add it all up, it's pretty obvious that the NRL are building up NZ and it's probable that the interest for NRL has not peaked yet and by 2030 when NZ 2 hit the runway, it'll be unstoppable.
I have faith in the process.
Perhaps by 2030 they be able to get some more investment out of NZ government.

All that aside, the Warriors could have a good run with injuries and they might still be trending upward's ( I think Webster needs to evolve though)
And a fit Kiwi team might beat Australia in next year's WC.

It's all building nicely and there's nothing about this surge that correlates with history.

 

[Wb1234]

Isn't this about the third time this article has been posted? Or is it just the same article that has been mixed and matched multiple times?

Maybe I got it wrong and you're the writer, not Gob, and you're trying to get more clicks.

Yeh I tried to delete it after reading the text

Been posted under various different headlines which makes it sound like a new one

Fatima is killing it lol

 

[Gobsmacked]

Yeh I tried to delete it after reading the text

Been posted under various different headlines which makes it sound like a new one

Fatima is killing it lol

Yes! I am!!
I mean..ahh nevermind...

 

[marlins2.0]

Whilst I certainly advocate for a second NRL team here in NZ, I do think you all need to do a bit more reading up on the sporting landscape here.

Like I said, they need to go now to capitalise, rather than take the risk that "viral" is going to continue to however long it is before NZ2 even kicks a ball in anger.


Like I've been saying, don't take those articles as gospel, that's not 40 new league players, or 40 players poached from rugby, the majority are league players going to rugby schools, because the schools are majority rugby schools. The only school Fatima mentions is Kelston which always has a high number of league boys attending and they've won the NZ schools league championship multiple times (they've only won the top 4 in rugby once in the last 20 years). It's one of the bigger league schools in the country.

And even at Kelston, Union takes top spot. Any player playing first xv ( and possibly seconds) won't be able to play midweek first xiii.

They win the national competition because that tournament happens at the end of the Union season so all participating schools release their players.

Be interesting to see how many of Kelston's national team play for New Lynn through the year...the answer is very few of any. Might not be many Glenora or Two Atatu players either (stronger West Auckland clubs).

 

[Matiunz]

So when that 40 first xv becomes 80 with the introduction of NZ 2, will that be a massive blow?
Or is it when the lack of talent is evident in the All blacks? And they rank 5th or 6th?

Depends on what your measuring stick is I guess, 30 odd schools with 30man squads =900 players annually Cycling through the top 1st XV systems- even if league does double the current 40 it’s still less than 10% at what point is it a massive blow?
People bemoaning the ABs ‘lack of talent’ already but they remain 2nd in the world rankings. There’s been cycles where we have had an embarrassment of riches in playing stocks and if some of that cycles to our local league stocks then great

 

[Matua]

Yes! I am!!
I mean..ahh nevermind...

 

[Wb1234]

Depends on what your measuring stick is I guess, 30 odd schools with 30man squads =900 players annually Cycling through the top 1st XV systems- even if league does double the current 40 it’s still less than 10% at what point is it a massive blow?
People bemoaning the ABs ‘lack of talent’ already but they remain 2nd in the world rankings. There’s been cycles where we have had an embarrassment of riches in playing stocks and if some of that cycles to our local league stocks then great

The person bemoaning the lack of talent for the all blacks is the crusaders guy

Plus these loyalty agreements really smack of fear

Let players pick freely

 

[Matua]

The person bemoaning the lack of talent for the all blacks is the crusaders guy

Plus these loyalty agreements really smack of fear

Let players pick freely

He's a dingbat who cares about the Crusaders more than the ABs. He's just butthurt because he lost two players (who IMHO wouldn't have been superstars anyway).

The loyalty agreements have been around for years and as we established months or years ago in this thread league has them as well.

We really need an index of subjects for this thread we can just refer to when we go over the same stuff every 6 to 12 months.

 

[Matiunz]

He's a dingbat who cares about the Crusaders more than the ABs. He's just butthurt because he lost two players (who IMHO wouldn't have been superstars anyway).

The loyalty agreements have been around for years and as we established months or years ago in this thread league has them as well.

We really need an index of subjects for this thread we can just refer to when we go over the same stuff every 6 to 12 months.

Yeah it’s ironic that it’s Crusaders bitching about poaching when they pioneered picking players outside of their catchment and were beneficiaries of a favoured system

 

[marlins2.0]

It's the typical shit they always resort to.

When I was at highschool the Rugby hierarchy came in when we put together a league team and blocked players from players, blocked a boots sponsorship we had sorted because it "clashed" with the first xv's jersey sponsor at the time, told under 15s players they wouldn't get to trial for the firsts the next year. Wouldn't release hostel kids from "duties" on a Wednesday when games were etc.

Why would we expect any better from the top?

 

[Matua]

It's the typical shit they always resort to.

When I was at highschool the Rugby hierarchy came in when we put together a league team and blocked players from players, blocked a boots sponsorship we had sorted because it "clashed" with the first xv's jersey sponsor at the time, told under 15s players they wouldn't get to trial for the firsts the next year. Wouldn't release hostel kids from "duties" on a Wednesday when games were etc.

Why would we expect any better from the top?

Which school, and how long ago? Didn't happen down my way (maybe in the 80s). Must be an Auckland thing.

Super 8 tried to put a league comp together a while back but couldn't get enough teams. They might have a better chance now. Best way to do it would be to have it a couple of weeks out from the national comp as then they'd be primed for that.