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Live sport on SN this weekendWarriors NSW Cup’s three most anticipated players
Sport Nation • August 22nd, 2026 7:00 am
NSW Warriors Head Coach David Tangata-Toa | Photo: Joshua Devenie/Photosport
The Warriors’ NSW Cup side has undergone a significant rebuild this season, losing 16 players from last year’s premiership-winning squad while also supplying the NRL team during an injury-hit campaign.
Coach David Tangata-Toa joined Sport Nation Afternoons to discuss the young group tasked with defending the club’s title and pushing for another finals appearance.
“We've probably we lost a fair few from the team last year and had to blood a lot of young kids this year and at the start of the year, we were probably a little bit inconsistent, but they've sort of gotten better each week and we're sort of right in the hunt to hopefully play finals footy," he told host Mark Stafford.
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Several members of last year’s championship side have since moved on after earning opportunities and improved contracts elsewhere.
“The majority of the players that are at different clubs now have got better opportunities, so you see it a lot when you have success in the New South Wales Cup that other teams obviously pick you apart a little bit.
“We wanted to keep some of the guys but unfortunately, they just got better deals and they took those up.”
But it has only left question marks over players who fans know little about.
Luke Hanson
The 22-year-old halfback was born in Sydney and will join the Gold Coast Titans in 2026, but remains an important part of the Warriors’ push this season.
“Luke's a young kid that's come through Jersey Flegg and then was part of our New South Wales Cup winning team last year.”
Hanson has already shown he can handle the intensity of first-grade football, making his NRL debut against Newcastle earlier this year, and will line up in the NRL teams No. 6 jersey against the Rabbitohs on Saturday.
“Super competitor, really tough defender for a halfback and super fit so he's going to compete really hard.”
“We're really confident, we've already won an NRL game with him against Newcastle early in the year so we're really happy that he gets another opportunity because he's been playing some really good footy in the New South Wales Cup.”
Luke Hanson | Photo: David Neilson/Photosport
Jye Linnane
The 21-year-old who was born in Newcastle, has emerged as one of the form players in the competition after a delayed start to the season.
“He's been out of the game for a while, and he's just finding his feet again. Obviously a new system that he's come into and I don't think he played his first game until round nine.”
“So missed a fair bit of the pre-season being in the rehab group so we just thought coming into a new system, that we’d ease him into it and he's done a terrific job.”
Linnane has wasted little time making an impact since returning, scoring four tries in his past two matches.
“Like at centre, he’s probably the form centre of the competition. I think he's scored back-to-back tries the last two weeks, so he's scored four tries in two weeks and he's really coming along nicely.”
“Good kid, trains hard, really excited about what lies in front of him.”
Jye Linnane | Photo: Brent Phibbs/Photosport
Harry Inch
The 20-year-old Nelson-born recruit has taken a different path into rugby league, having arrived at the Warriors as a pure rugby union player.
“He's a great kid, Harry. He's probably a little bit different to some of the other union boys that have come over. A lot of our young recruits who have come from union still have some sort of rugby league background.
“They might have played it when they were younger for a couple of years and then went to a private school or something like that where Harry's never played a game of rugby league, hadn't really watched rugby league before either.”
But Inch was “pure union.”
The Warriors always expected Inch’s development to take time, but his progress throughout the season has impressed the coaching staff.
Harry Inch | Photo: Joshua Devenie/Photosport
“We always knew Harry's journey was going to be a slow burn but from where he started at the start of the year to where he’s at now, he's improved so much.”
“I'm not going to say he's going to make it, but his work ethic and his willingness to improve, that's not going to be the reason why Harry Inch doesn't make it in rugby league.”
He is still learning the fundamentals of the game while playing at NSW Cup level, but has progressed quicker than expected.
“He's going really well, he's probably where we expected him to be or a little bit advanced, but he's a quick learner. He's a great kid, he's a good trainer, yeah he's just got to keep sort of learning the game and it's a hard one because he's learning it on the run.”
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The Warriors had been tracking Inch for some time before finally securing his signature.
“Our recruitment staff, Andrew McFadden, tried to sign him the previous year and couldn't get it across the line and then we went back to the well again and eventually signed him.”
“So he's someone that the club definitely believe can play NRL and we were really happy when we got his signature.”
At the end of 2026, Kayliss Fatialofa will join the Manly Sea Eagles after failing to make his Warriors debut before round 15, as stipulated in his contract.
Jett Cleary is also expected to return to the Penrith Panthers for a final opportunity to be coached by his father, Ivan after the Warriors announced his early release this week.
