Normally, the big idea to boost New Zealand rugby league is a second team alongside the Warriors.

Cameron George, the Warriors CEO, has been a big advocate for that idea to never happen.

For Brad Fittler, who once helmed the NSW Blues, agrees with the sentiment, not convinced another lone Warriors franchise would move the needle.

The vision is grander, a standalone competition nested beneath the Warriors, one built to harvest the extraordinary talent pool the country continues to produce. 

"I think what we need to do is get a competition over there,” Fittler told The Daily Telegraph in an interview.

"Establish a competition, so we have more players – playing at a higher standard.”

In Fittler's eyes, the raw material is already there. Not just to sustain a competition, but to transform it into a factory line for New Zealand's next generation of superstars and an expanded gateway for international talent.

The Warriors themselves have wasted no time making their mark in 2026, winning their first two games of the season shorthanded.

The void of Luke Metcalf and Mitch Barnett has cracked the door open for some of their most exciting talent, in players like Leka Halasima, Ali Leiataua, and Demitric Vaimauga.

"It's great that they are doing good,” Fittler said.

"We're talking about a whole new squad of players really.

"Like Halasima and Vaimauga, Leiataua all these type of blokes, and their kids in their twenties.

“They could be there for the next 10 years.”

Fittler is empathetic that New Zealand's talent pipeline has never flowed more freely, and he sees the floodgates only opening wider.

"Add onto that all of the players from over here that will want to go over and play,” Fittler continued.

"It's obvious, just their genetics, they're just built for rugby league.

"They're just so strong and fit and fast. And their fitness, that's really come of late.

"They've adapted. They've always been considered good athletes, but now, they're thinkers.”

What might sound like wishful thinking may actually have legs.

Fittler confirmed the concept has already been explored in serious circles, and with New Zealand confirmed to host its maiden State of Origin fixture next year, the stage could be perfectly set for a watershed moment in the game's expansion.