The New Zealand Warriors have launched negotiations with halfback Tanah Boyd over his future.
One of the game's most in-form players, Boyd is likely to keep Luke Metcalf out of the Warriors' side in the coming weeks unless his performances dip dramatically.
That in itself is an incredible statement given Metcalf, prior to his knee injury last year was the game's best player in the Warriors' number seven and led the Dally M Medal by the length of the straight.
While Boyd struggled a little at the end of 2025, there have been no such issues in 2026 and he is in stunning form, to the point he is now being discussed as a back-up option if Queensland have injuries or major form dips in the halves.
Boyd, whose value will skyrocket with new teams entering the competition, is understood to have commenced talks over a multi-year extension in Auckland per News Corp.
That would start, as per official data, next year, however, the report suggests he is off-contract at the end of 2027 - Zero Tackle have reached out to the Warriors to confirm the status of his current deal.
Either way, the Warriors are keen to keep Boyd out of the claws of either the Perth Bears or PNG Chiefs, with both of those sides on the hunt for halves.
The Bears have signed Tyran Wishart and Toby Sexton for their inaugural season, while the PNG Chiefs have already signed Jarome Luai for 2028, exercising a loophole in contract rules to talk to the halfback before November 1.
Boyd would be an ideal candidate for both of those clubs, and potentially other strugglers at the wrong end of the ladder, including the St George Illawarra Dragons.
While Boyd never hit his potential on the Gold Coast, it was always enormous, and as he begins to realise that in Auckland, a new contract there would leave significant questions over the club's future.
Luke Metcalf played two games at five-eighth between injuries this year, but his previous comments on SEN Radio about wanting to be a halfback looked the part, with a clunky Warriors' outfit losing both of those games.
They have otherwise been close to faultless, and sit in second place on the NRL ladder after nine weeks, only behind the Penrith Panthers.
There are also questions around the futures of Te Maire Martin and Chanel Harris-Tavita, who are both off-contract at the end of 2026.
The later has already been linked with the North Queensland Cowboys, although Todd Payten has made it clear he wants to keep the half in his squad.
