Three weeks after making his NRL debut with the New Zealand Warriors, young gun Tanner Stowers-Smith has signed a long-term contract extension with the club.
Initially off-contract at the end of this season, Stowers-Smith has agreed to a new three-year deal with the Warriors, keeping him at the club until at least the end of the 2028 NRL season.
This comes after the club retained some of their best young players in Ali Leiataua, Demitric Vaimauga, Jacob Laban and Leka Halasimaย over the past few months.
An incredibly talented forward, he is a former captain of the club's SG Ball Cup team and has made 103 running metres, 35 tackles and one tackle break and his two first-grade matches with the club against The Dolphins and Cronulla Sharks.
โTanner's development has been fantastic," said coach Andrew Webster.
โHis debut against the Dolphins was so impressive for such a young forward. He is taking everything in, learning from our leaders like Mitch (Mitchell Barnett) and Fish (James Fisher-Harris) and doing all he can to become a better player.
โIt shows how well our development system is working that we have Tanner and this group of players coming through at the same time while knowing there are more behind them.โ
In addition to his two first-grade showings, the Halswell Hornets junior has made 45 appearances in the NSW Cup over the past three seasons.
The great-grandson of Canterbury'sย legendary former Kiwi captain Pat Smith, he is averaging 115 metres and 23 tackles in reserve-grade this season.
โTanner has such a big part to play in our future,โ New Zealand Warriors general manager recruitment, pathways and development Andrew McFadden added.
โHe has been outstanding coming through our system out of Christchurch and thoroughly deserves this upgrade.โ
