With just four games remaining in the 2023 NRL regular season, the New Zealand Warriors look poised for an unprecedented top four finish.
After spending two years away from home and picking up rival clubs’ unwanted players to build a first-grade team, the Warriors have recovered and turned themselves into a genuine premiership contender.
Key to this turnaround has been a hardworking and tight-knit forward pack, led by a resurgent Wayde Egan in 2023.
Egan’s career-best season has caught the eyes of SEN’s Bryan Fletcher who compared parts of his game to an NRL legend.
“They (the forward pack) don’t get enough credit, Wayde Egan doesn’t get enough credit,” Fletcher said on SEN 1170 The Run Home.
“I want to ask Cameron Smith if (Egan) reminds him of himself, I’ve never seen a player play as close to Cameron (with) the way he engages the markers.
“He’s not quite there yet but he’s phenomenal, it’s that timing, that knack of just getting the ball out at the right time knowing which short side to go to and he seems very calm.”
SEN’s Joel Caine backed up Fletcher’s sentiment but labelled his play close to the line as one of the best in the competition.
“I’ll tell you where he’s really good at and you’ve got to be on your toes, if they get tackled a metre short of the goal line, (firstly) he loves going for a ‘sneako’ himself, (secondly) he so often hits that lead runner right at the line,” Caine added.
“Whether it’s Tohu Harris, Addin Fonua-Blake or Mitch Barnett flat at the line, he goes bang.”
Egan will wear the number nine jersey for the Warriors in this weekend’s clash against the Wests Tigers as they aim to secure a finish in the top four.