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Why the Nathan Cleary to Warriors rumour refuses to go away
Sport Nation • August 18th, 2026 5:21 pm
Master playmaker Nathan Cleary | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Nathan Cleary to the Warriors? The rumour refuses to disappear.
Just weeks after Andrew Webster shut down any suggestion the club was talking to Cleary, Dean 'Bulldog' Ritchie has poured a little more fuel on the fire.
Webster said the Warriors had no contact with Cleary or his management and that any discussions before November 1 would not be legal.
Speaking with Sport Nation’s Millsy & Guy, Ritchie stressed nothing formal is happening and Cleary is still more likely to remain at Penrith.
But he said the links between the 28-year-old and the Warriors are getting harder to ignore.
“I’m not saying he will go there,” Ritchie said.
“I’m just saying, there’s a lot of mail around over here in Sydney that the link is getting stronger and stronger between Cleary and the Warriors.”
And if the four-time premiership-winning halfback did decide Auckland was his next challenge, Ritchie believes the Warriors would find a way to make it happen.
“If Nathan wants to come, he plays wherever he likes, and the rest of them just fall in around him.”
Cleary has already won everything at Penrith and could be tempted by a fresh challenge, a lifestyle change and the chance to help deliver the Warriors their first NRL premiership.
“It would be, without doubt, one of the greatest signings, I think, in New Zealand sport,” Ritchie said.
He also backed the Warriors as genuine contenders this season, saying a top-two finish could give them two home finals and unleash the full force of Auckland’s fanbase.
“They can certainly win it, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
Ritchie also discussed the push for Christchurch to become home to a second New Zealand NRL team and why a Warriors-South Island rivalry could be “a mini State of Origin”.
Listen to the full interview below:
