The Penrith Panthers have suffered a stunning recruitment blow, with a boom youngster from the Warriors reportedly backflipping on a decision to sign with the four-time premiers. News Corp is reporting that 20-year-old back-rower Kayliss Fatialofa has decided to remain at the Warriors despite initially agreeing to join the Panthers.
The report states that Fatialofa had decided he was switching to the Panthers, but used the new 10-day cooling-off period to backflip. The Warriors upped their offer and managed to convince the boom back-rower to stay put in New Zealand.
The NRL introduced a new rule last off-season that players have 10 days to change their minds once agreeing to join a new club. The ‘cooling off’ period was introduced to safeguard players and clubs should circumstances change after signing.
Fatialofa is highly-rated at the Warriors and captained the club’s SG Ball Cup team at Under-19 level. He’s yet to make his first-grade debut but has been included in the NRL team’s 22-player squad a number of times in recent weeks.
The 20-year-old has played every game for the Warriors’ NSW Cup team this year amid their historic winning streak. He’s played every minute of every game for the last 16 weeks, scoring 12 tries, making 574 tackles and averaging 90 running metres per game.
He’s set to join Leka Halasima, Demitric Vaimauga and Jacob Laban in an exciting crop of young forwards coming through for the Warriors. But his decision to backflip on the Panthers comes as a bitter blow for the four-time champions, who are prioritising youth and replenishing their pathways systems.
Blow for Panthers amid flurry of recent moves
Ivan Cleary’s side have allowed a number of older players to look for new clubs in recent weeks, including Brad Schneider, Daine Laurie and Mavrik Geyer. They’ve signed promising playmaker Keahn Skipps from the Raiders, and the 19-year-old will serve as Nathan Cleary’s understudy for the next few years.
On Thursday, the Dolphins announced they’d signed Schneider for 2026. The 24-year-old has served as a capable back-up to Cleary over the last two seasons, and was an unused player on the bench in last year’s grand final win over the Storm.
“He gives us another great option in an important position as we continue to build our roster for the future,” Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader said. Schneider will likely fill the same back-up role behind Isaiya Katoa and Kodi Nikorima at the Dolphins.
He’s played 27 games for Penrith since joining in 2024. He helped Hulk KR make the Challenge Cup final and a Super League semi-final before that, and played 12 games for Canberra between 2021 and 2023.
It also emerged this week that Laurie won’t be offered a new contract for 2026, leaving the back-up fullback on the hunt for a new club. But Luke Garner is staying put in 2026 after reports stated he’d been free to find a new club one year early.
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