Chiefs 2026

[Yeetyaah]

Props
Sione Ahio
George Dyer
Ollie Norris
Reuben O'Neill
Jared Proffit
Aidan Ross Benet Kumeroa?

Hookers
Brodie McAlister
Bradley Slater Taine Kolose?
Samisoni Taukei'aho

Locks
Naitoa Ah Kuoi
Josh Lord
Fiti Sa
Manaaki Selby-Rickit Dylan Eti?
Jimmy Tupou Jayden Sa?
Tupou Vaa'i

Loose forwards
Kaylum Boshier (off contract)
Jahrome Brown
Samipeni Finau
Luke Jacobson (c)
Simon Parker
Wallace Sititi
Malachi Wrampling-Alec

Halfbacks
Cortez Ratima
Xavier Roe
Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (off contract)

First fives
Josh Jacomb
Damian McKenzie
Kaleb Trask Tepaea Cook-Savage

Midfielders
Anton Lienert-Brown (sabbatical) Gibson Popoali'i?
Rameka Poihipi Lalakai Foketi (rumoured but not confirmed)
Daniel Rona
Quinn Tupaea
Gideon Wrampling Kyle Brown?

Outside backs
Leroy Carter
Liam Coombes-Fabling (off contract) Isaac Hutchinson
Etene Nanai-Seturo
Emoni Narawa
Shaun Stevenson Kyren Taumoefolau

Strike through is confirmed leaving.
Confirmed signings in italic

Let me know of any mistakes or extra rumours/signings to post.

[cliff]

@Yeetyaah i think foketi was confirmed , in that group i would be happy to get rid of coombes fabling replace him with vaenuku, tahuriorangi should replaced with sinton, replace boshier with a real openside am not so sure about kolose he seems to struggle with his lineout throwing

[Yeetyaah]

@cliff said in Chiefs 2026:

i think foketi was confirmed

Not officially from the Chiefs as of yet

[Bovidae]

By my count nine players are confirmed to be leaving so far, with some others who could also be replaced. More turnover of the squad than in recent years.

[Yeetyaah]

Wonder if Tyrone Thompson will return to union

[cliff]

@Yeetyaah there was also the isaac hutchinson rumuor perhaps to replace coombes fabling

[zedsdeadbaby]

Manasa Mataele has signed with the Drua.

[Yeetyaah]

@cliff true will chuck that one in

[cgrant]

Vakasiuola is more ready for SR then Eti IMO.

[Bovidae]

With only three NDC contracts available now, it will be interesting to see who they are. Jack Wiseman would have to be one. Some other possibilities are Bradley Tocker, David Lewai, Taniela Maisiri, or some of the NZS reps (e.g., Ollie Guerin, Jamie Viljoen, Hunter Weaver).

I would think that a player like Micah Fale, who had a 2025 NDC contract, will be with the wider squad.

[ploughboy]

@cgrant said in Chiefs 2026:

Vakasiuola is more ready for SR then Eti IMO.

vakasiuola is more physically ready nut eti might end up better if he can gain the kgs. cant see how we can keep both

[Yeetyaah]

Cook-Savage signing confirmed.

[Bovidae]

The Chiefs still need to announce a new forwards coach.

[Bovidae]

This confirms it is a 2-yr contract. The SR teams should provide this basic information.

[Nepia]

@Bovidae said in Chiefs 2026:

The SR teams should provide this basic information.

This was the kind of stuff I thought the new independent boss of Super was going to implement when the role was announced with fanfare a couple of years back. It seems no better centralised than back when the countries were doing their own thing.

[frugby]

@Nepia As a general rule teams have gotten better at announcing contract lengths, and I think fan engagement is in a much better spot than it was five years ago, but there is still a long way to go.

[Nepia]

@frugby said in Chiefs 2026:

@Nepia As a general rule teams have gotten better at announcing contract lengths, and I think fan engagement is in a much better spot than it was five years ago, but there is still a long way to go.

I've got a friend who does social media marketing, they could hire her part time and she'd cover that long way to go in a very short time - she would nag the fuck out of people until they provided her the info.

[Bovidae]

All teams have a list of their squads with player bios on their websites. Including the contract length should be mandatory along with age, PU etc. Using the Chiefs as an example, some players have had contracts renewed in recent years but there has been no media release.

[zedsdeadbaby]

The Chiefs went through I heard 4 media managers last season (Feb-Jun) alone. Take from that what you will but I assume it means they aren’t paid well, the workload is immense and the built in knowledge of this is how we do things doesn’t exist

[Yeetyaah]

@zedsdeadbaby said in Chiefs 2026:

The Chiefs went through I heard 4 media managers last season

That doesn't sound right. Pretty sure Kyra Alexander does the media and she's been there a while.

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