Warriors coach Andrew Webster has tempered any talk of a rugby league return for former All Blacks midfielder Ngani Laumape.
Laumape, 31, began his career in rugby league in 2013 and made 30 appearances for the Warriors in three seasons after coming through the club’s juniors programme.
In 2016, he successfully switched codes to play for Manawatū and the Hurricanes, which led to an All Blacks debut in 2017 against the British and Irish Lions.
But in 2022, Laumape signed a contract with French side Stade Francais on a deal reported to have been worth $1 million per season only to switch to Japan’s Rugby League One after just one season.
That overseas move ended any chances of Laumape representing the All Blacks while based abroad.
However, with Japan currently in its off-season, Laumape has returned home to New Zealand and visited his former NRL side as they prepared for last week’s victory over the Wests Tigers. And in a post to the Warriors’ social media accounts on Monday, Laumape made it clear he’s willing to return.
“I came back and watched [the] captain’s run and it definitely lit a little fire to finish off what I started,” he was quoted as saying. “So we’ll never know what will happen.
“Hopefully my agent can get some stuff sorted. I’d like to come back.
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