Warriors sign West Tigers winger Luke Laulilii on four month contract

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

The Warriors have signed 20-year-old Wests Tigers winger Luke Laulilii on a short-term, four-month contract just before the NRL’s June 30 transfer deadline.

Laulilii helped break the Warriors unbeaten run in round four with a 32-14 Tigers win, and his first game for his new club could be against the Tigers on July 10.

The out-of-favour winger will only remain in Auckland for the rest of the season before joining expansion club, the Perth Bears on a two-year contract.

Luke Laulilii has already beaten the Warriors this season; now he joins them.

In the final hours before the NRL’s June 30 transfer deadline, the Warriors have grabbed the out-of-favour West Tigers winger on a four-month contract.

Ironically, one of Laulilii’s standout games this season came at Go Media Stadium when Benji Marshall’s Tigers broke the home side’s unbeaten run in round four with a 32-14 victory.

Weirdly, his next match could well be against the Tigers. The Warriors have the bye this week in round 18, but take on Laulilii’s old club in Sydney on Friday, July 10.

Prominently a winger, Laulilii does have some versatility value, having played centre and fullback in the lower grades.

The 20-year-old has already inked a two-year contract with expansion club the Perth Bears for the 2027-28 seasons, so will depart Auckland at the end of the season.

However, after falling out of favour and not taking the field for the Tigers since round 11, Laulilii could find NRL action quickly at the Warriors, who are down on numbers in the outside backs.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is out for the season with a ruptured ACL, which has brought a premature end to his playing time at the club and there is still no timeline for the return of left winger Alofi'ana Khan-Pereira, who is sidelined with a leg injury.

Injury-plagued centre Rocco Berry is listed to be available in round 19 following a hamstring complaint suffered in Christchurch. Still, he has not played NRL yet this year, turning out in just three New South Wales Cup games on the comeback from a serious shoulder injury.

Left winger and off-season signing Haizyn Mellars is yet to make his NRL debut and only returned from his own hamstring injury in the New South Wales Cup last week.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak did not feature on the club’s injury report on Tuesday, but he did limp off with a hamstring injury of his own in last Saturday’s 26-24 defeat to the Dolphins.

In his eight first-grade outings this season, Laulilii has averaged an impressive 175 metres a game while making a total of 28 tackle breaks.

In that round four match against the Warriors, Laulilii ran for 166 metres from 19 runs, produced a line break, a try assist and six tackle breaks.

However, 2027 Warriors recruit William Warbrick was able to expose Laulilii in the air during the Storm’s round 10 victory over the Tigers and he lands at the Warriors with a tackle efficiency of just 78%.

Andrew McFadden, general manager recruitment, pathways and development at the Warriors, said Laulilii would be a great addition to the squad for the remainder of the season.

“He’ll provide plenty of value and boost our depth in the outside backs.”