Leka Halasima had an incredible end-of-season and two finals performances in an unexpected stint at centres due to injuries, and Warriors CEO Cameron George has revealed the club's plans for the 21-year-old in 2027.
The move at the end of the season had been building for some time, as Halasima was making a name for himself in the second row.
In round 3 this season, he was given the centre position because of the club's backline injury toll.
It wasn't new to him, having debuted in the forwards in 2024 before making a mid-game shift to the backline.
Halasima finished 2025 as the first forward in club history to be the Warriors' top tryscorer in a season, and the club has him locked down on a deal until the end of the 2029 season, making him one of their longest-contracted players.
This season, his finals campaign was hampered by injury, as he hurt his hamstring during the warm-up before the qualifying final against the Dolphins.
He returned to play the Newcastle Knights in the semi-final, starting on the left edge, and the 21-year-old was dominant in the loss, with 2 tries, 3 linebreaks, 20 runs for 189 Run Metres, 47 post-contact metres, 9 tackle breaks, and 16 tackles made with zero misses.
Speaking to Scott and Stevenson and Israell Dragg from Sports Nation, George revealed the reasoning behind their recruitment strategy for the upcoming season and 2028.
"Where we got light this year [was] predominantly through injuries was the outside back space, and if you have a look at who we've recruited this year, we've got Will Warbrick, Grant Anderson coming in, so you've got a significant amount of depth there," the Warriors CEO said on the Scotty & Izzy Podcast.
"There's a number of kids coming through, so that's strengthened us up in the outside backs."
George also spoke about Warbrick and Sam McIntyre arriving in New Zealand recently and what it means to have brought them over while keeping their young talent.
He also revealed Leka Halasima's likely role next season.
"Sam McIntyre has arrived over the weekend, so [I] caught up with him and Will today, so they're going to add a significant amount of value to our squad without getting in the way of our young kids coming through, and that's really important.
"Leka, we've seen enough from him to probably say that Webby's [Andrew Webster] probably going to land him in the centres.
"He's got the ability to be an elite centre naturally, and dare I say, without speaking on behalf of Webby, but it's pretty obvious it's a position he can excel at, and it allows us to have some more youth coming through in the middle and on the edge."
George also hinted that the club will probably have to make tough decisions in this upcoming recruitment period, as Kurt Capewell, Kahu Capper, Wayde Egan, Samuel Healey, Ali Leiataua, Te Maire Martin, and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad are off-contract at the end of the 2027 season.
