The New Zealand Warriors are on the verge of announcing two significant re-signings that will solidify their halfback strategy for the years ahead.
With Luke Metcalf set to leave for the St George Illawarra Dragons after receiving an end-of-year release, the responsibility now falls on Chanel Harris-Tavita, Te Maire Martin, Jett Cleary, and Luke Hanson to steer the club's future.
Given that Hanson is already associated with the Gold Coast Titans and Harris-Tavita is in partnership with Martin on the list of players whose contracts are up, there exists a pressing need for the Warriors to secure new agreements swiftly.
This urgency heightened recently when reports indicated that the North Queensland Cowboys had their sights set on Harris-Tavita; however, they opted to re-sign Jake Clifford, who will continue to join Tom Dearden in the halves for the foreseeable future.
Coach Andrew Webster has reiterated the Warriors' desire to keep Harris-Tavita within the squad, and club CEO Cameron George further asserted on Sport Nation Radio in New Zealand that he would remain with the team for the time being.
In additional positive news, George confirmed that talks with Martin and his representation regarding future arrangements are progressing well, with promising developments expected soon.
"We've been having those discussions over the last week or so," George stated.
"I'm hoping that we'll have very good news in the next few days or this week," he added during his interview on Sport Nation.
Meanwhile, Metcalf, expected to fill in for the injured Tanah Boyd in the upcoming rounds, has not been chosen and is still working his way back from injury, having also been excluded from the NSW Cup lineup.