Moving on from 30-year SJ era

Across the NZ Warriors' 30 seasons and 730 games, their initials have dominated the landscape, linking them with the club in perpetuity.

No other player among the 289 who have worn the jersey has the same initials, nor can any of them match what they brought individually and collectively to the club.

But on Sunday, far away from home in Las Vegas, the Warriors step into a brave new world, one where they will no longer rely on a halfback known universally and simply as SJ.

Luke Metcalf takes possession of the most celebrated jersey number in the Warriors' history when the club launches the 2025 NRL season against Canberra at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

As the Warriors enter their 31st season just over a week short of the 30th anniversary of their first game on March 10, 1995, it serves as a time to pause to reflect on what came before.

Almost poignantly the SJ age was one which started in game #7 for the Warriors when an 18-year-old Stacey Jones - two days short of his 19th birthday - made his first-grade debut against Parramatta on May 5, 1995; and it officially ended in game #730 (seven strikes again) some 10,711 days - or 29 years, 3 months and 26 days - later when a 33-year-old Shaun Johnson played his 226th and final game for the club against Cronulla Sutherland on August 31, 2024.