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Important SN update for SouthlandCan the Warriors make the top four without Luke Metcalf?
Sam Kosack • June 29th, 2025 8:00 pm
The New Zealand Warriors’ chances at a top four finish have taken a major hit after a suspected ACL injury to star halfback Luke Metcalf.
Metcalf has been a revelation for the Warriors in his first season at halfback in the NRL, helping his side to sit fourth after seventeen rounds of the competition.
Though not yet official, should Metcalf's injury be confirmed as an ACL injury, it would be season-ending for the Warriors' half.
In 2019, he suffered an ACL injury in the same knee, bringing extra concern over the results of scans.
Metcalf was leading the Dally Ms when voting went behind closed doors in Round 12 and is widely considered to be a frontrunner for the award.
SEN’s Justin Horo thinks a run to the top four will now be very hard for the Warriors without Metcalf.
“I feel for Metcalf… they were having a cracking season,” Horo said on NRL Crunch Time.
“Metcalf was in a race with James Tedesco only. It was a two-horse race for the Dally Ms in my opinion. Teddy's home now.
“It's going to be really tough…. I think it's going to be hard for them to maintain the top 4 position because of the team that's chasing them as well.
“It's the Brisbane Broncos, they're coming.
“They got them in that game. That was a four-point swing and they are the most likely.”
Warriors’ coach Andrew Webster didn’t want to elaborate on the severity of Metcalf’s injury in yesterday’s press-conference, but confirmed Metcalf would not be playing in the match against the Wests Tigers in a fortnight.
Horo also pointed to the loss of co-captain Mitch Barnett, who also tore an ACL against the Rabbitohs in Round 13, and the injury to fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad also against the Broncos, as other contributing factors to why a top four run will be difficult.
“It's not those two isolated incidents that happened in this game,” Horo added.
“Mitch Barnett went down 3 or 4 weeks ago…I know they've got James Fisher Harris, but he's been the mainstay for them for 3 years under Andrew Webster.
“And Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, I've been a huge fan of him for a long time.
“I think he's super underrated, and he has been cleaning up everything for them… and they still managed to have three or four try savers in that game as well… that was extraordinary.”
