Storm v Warriors
Kickoff: 4pm Sunday, 13 April
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
Questions about rumoured player movements are probably the last thing any coach wants to field in the days leading up to his team's biggest game of the season so far.
Count NZ Warriors boss Andrew Webster among those peeved, as he tries to focus on snapping a 16-game NRL losing streak against Melbourne Storm this week.
"It's just the beast of professional sport, really," he shrugged.
The final whistle had barely blown on their victory over Wests Tigers two weeks ago, when word leaked that fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and half Te Maire Martin - both off contract next season - were looking offshore, probably the English Super League.
That news was particularly poignant, given Nicoll-Klokstad had just drawn the late high-tackle penalty - as many Tigers fans cried flop - which half Luke Metcalf converted for the win.
Te Maire Martin and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad at Warriors training. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
With the bye week, those rumours had a fortnight to percolate without anyone publicly addressing them.
Confronted with those questions, Webster insisted he did not know what Nicoll-Klokstad or Martin had planned for next season, and dismissed any notion of them exiting early.
"On the players that are off contract, we think they have a big part to play in our club," he said.
"We don't want them to be wearing a jersey elsewhere, but we've got to keep talking through that. We don't have trade windows, but I'm sure people negotiate outside trade windows in other sports.
"For me, they're off contract on 1 November and, as soon as that deadline finishes, clubs are quick to act and start negotiating with players, and chasing them. They're the rules - it is a bit frustrating, but everyone knows the rules."
Both Nicoll-Klokstad and Martin have rekindled their careers at the Warriors in recent seasons.
Stuck in a logjam for playing time, the former left the club in 2019 and proved himself at Canberra Raiders, before returning to claim the No.1 jersey under Webster in 2023.
In March, he celebrated 50 games for the Warriors and didn't seem in any hurry to move on.
"It's been a journey," he told RNZ, after starring in his milestone fixture.
"I remember playing my first game, looking at the 300-game Warriors board and seeing Simon [Mannering].
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and family celebrate his 50th game for the Warriors. Photo: Brett Phibbs/Photosport
"I wanted to be that guy, but that changed. I went to the Raiders and thought I'd spent the rest of my career there, and now I'm back home."
Webster has been steadfastly loyal to Nicoll-Klokstad, despite the presence of Dally M Medal winner Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and dashing up-and-comer Taine Tuaupiki, who could both comfortably fill the fullback spot.
Martin's career path has been even more circuitous, as he spent time at the Penrith Panthers and North Queensland Cowboys - including a start in the 2017 NRL Grand Final - before a brain bleed sent him into early retirement at age 24.
After a spell on the sidelines, he returned to Waikato club play, before making a comeback for Brisbane Broncos and then crossing the Tasman again to the Warriors.
He was currently mired in reserve grade, but playing well, and could get a chance back in first grade, if injury strikes.
That said, new arrival Tannah Boyd already seems to have edged past Martin into the No.18 jersey against the Storm.
Knights star Kalyn Ponga has been linked with a move to the Warriors. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The tough reality is no club can afford to keep all its talent indefinitely and if the Warriors cannot get these deals done, they have ready replacements for both on the depth chart.
Balance that with whispers linking Kiwi-bred Newcastle Knights superstar Kalyn Ponga to the club and these movements become a little easier to understand.
Another reportedly on the Warriors' radar is English second-rower Morgan Gannon, currently playing for Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.
"I always laugh when someone comes up with the most unbelievably wrong rumour about a player coming to our club," Webster chuckled.
"I've received a lot of phone calls about players rumoured to be coming here, but my comment is we don't talk about recruitment, until it happens.
When it does, we like to let everyone know and celebrate."
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