Source: Radio New Zealand
Mitch Barnett celebrates a Warriors win with young forwards Demitric Vaimauga and Tanner Stowers-Smith. NRL Photos/Photosport
Young NZ Warriors forward Jacob Laban recalls the day grizzled veteran Mitch Barnett drew a line in the sand for the Auckland club still chasing its first NRL crown.
“I felt like Barney, from the start, when he first came over, he set the expectation,” Laban told RNZ. “I still remember him, I think it was 2023, walking off the field and saying how he was disappointed in how everybody’s fitness was.”
Barnett had already logged 128 first-grade games for Canberra Raiders and Newcastle Knights, when he arrived at Mt Smart, so he had a fair idea of the standards required from the Aussie league competition.
“Everyone was making bad ‘Broncos’ times, stuff like that,” Laban continued. “He said he wanted the club to be in a better place before he leaves.
“Fast forward to now and everyone’s fit so far, and he’s put massive effort into that.”
In fact, coach Andrew Webster has singled out his players’ off-season fitness regime for special praise, as they prepare for the coming 2026 season.
“Over the Christmas break, they made a pact to each other that they would go away and enjoy the break, but come back fit and hit their targets,” Webster said. “This is the first time I’ve seen every single player do so and I’m really impressed with that.”
This week, the club announced Barnett, 31, would cut short his stay, leaving at the end of the season for personal reasons – his child’s medical needs – with a year still on his contract.
“I had to put my family first and they [the club] know the detail of the situation,” Barnett said. “They have been very supportive of it, but it hasn’t made the decision any easier.”
The clock on his time at the Warriors is now ticking loudly and those around him are taking stock of how their co-captain has impacted their lives.
Warriors forward Jacob Laban celebrates a try for the Warriors. Photosport
When Barnett first signed in 2022, he was serving a six-game suspension for raising an elbow on an opponent in a tackle and may not have seemed an ideal addition to an ill-disciplined team already lurching through its worst-ever campaign.
In his first season, he helped them to within a game of the NRL grand final – the furthest he had progressed in his career – and while subsequent bids have fallen short, on a personal note, the front-rower has earned representative honours with New South Wales and Australia during his tenure on this side of the ditch.
Regardless of how his final season here pans out, Barnett – along with fellow veterans James Fisher-Harris and Kurt Capewell – will have already left his mark through the incredibly talented forwards the Warriors now have on their roster.
Capewell’s future with the Warriors is also uncertain, with his current contract ending this season.
Over the past couple of years, they have helped develop players like Laban, Leka Halasima, Demitric Vaimauga, Tanner Stowers-Smith and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, who have shown their abilities in first grade and earned long-term contracts with the club.
“He’s been huge,” front-rower Tanner Stowers-Smith, 21, told RNZ of Barnett. “He’s one of the players I model my game on, just being tough as and doing all the dirty stuff that some people don’t want to do all the time – he’s always someone you can rely on.
“He’s personally helped me a lot with learnings and not just me, but the other young boys in the team. He’s so knowledgeable and he shares all he knows – all the tricks around the game and ways you can get through stuff.
“He’s got a lot of tricks in his book – he’s a real master of the dark arts.”
When Barnett’s 2025 season ended prematurely with ruptured knee ligaments, Stowers-Smith was one to seize the opportunity that presented itself, debuting against the Dolphins in May, logging 13 appearances and signing a contract extension through 2028.
Tanner Stowers-Smith takes stock during the pre-season trial against Manly Sea Eagles. Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz
In two pre-season trials, he has shown his readiness to step up to the next level, leading his team in running metres and tackles against Manly Sea Eagles.
While some may seek a like-for-like replacement for Barnett on the open market, ultimately, his successor may already wear a Warriors jersey.
“It’s pretty crazy to think where I was 12 months ago,” Stowers-Smith said. “I never thought about how far I could go in a year’s time, but the team’s done a lot of work and the boys have helped me along, so I’m definitely feeling a lot more confident.
“I base my game around effort areas and working hard, but I want to bring a bit more attacking flair, which comes down to my confidence and backing my ability with the ball.
“Maybe getting my hands on the ball a bit more, which I’ve been doing in the pre-season, has helped me a lot.”
Stowers-Smith hacked 10 seconds off his 1.2km Bronco time over the summer, which also helped.
Like Barnett, Laban’s 2025 season also ended early, when he was the victim of a hipdrop tackle from Dolphins veteran Felise Kaufusi that fractured his leg.
He narrowly lost a race against time to return for the reserves’ NSW Cup championship run, but has also reported back for duty in good nick, taking 15 seconds off his Bronco and scoring a try for the Māori against Indigenous in their pre-season All Stars clash.
“I felt like I was finding my groove into first grade, getting a bit more experience behind me, but unfortunately it was cut short,” Laban, 21, said.
“I didn’t go into much of a dark place, but I felt like I missed out on a lot in terms of the boys rocking up to games and me seeing them out there.
“It just sucked – I felt left out, but my mental health was pretty good and I just pushed through it.”
Seeing his mentor going through a similar process with his knee no doubt helped that mindset.
Barnett now faces a final examination – four days of testing in Sydney – before confirming his comeback to play in the early rounds.
Mitch Barnett’s 2025 season ends with a knee injury against South Sydney Rabbitohs. Anthony Kourembanas/NRL Photos
The Warriors open their schedule with home games against Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders, and Barnett’s next outing will mark his 50th for the club.
Perhaps when disappointed fans see him run out onto Go Media Stadium with his family for that milestone, they will better understand why he’s leaving.
His teammates are already determined to send him out a winner.
“If that doesn’t give you any more motivation to win a premiership, I don’t know what will,” Laban insisted.
“He’s done so much for the club, and he’s helped myself and definitely other players, we sort of owe it to him.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
