St Thomas' No 8 Seth Tauamiti has joined the Warriors on a three-year contract. The two would also become housemates at Warriors House - a home away from home for the club's most promising junior players.
St Thomas' connection with the NRL club doesn't end there. Warriors South Island talent scout Andrew Auimatagi is a teacher and coach at the school.
Although Elia has signed with the Warriors, due to an under-18 rule in the NRL, he could potentially pull the pin if a more desirable offer comes up.
"Playing any kind of professional rugby is a dream. It could still go either way depending on what's going to be best for me," said Elia.
NRL player agent and former Kiwis coach Frank Endacott says it's no surprise that NRL clubs are targeting Christchurch union players.
"The Canberra Raiders actually rang me last night suggesting that they're coming across and they'll be looking at rugby union players," said Endacott.
Both codes have their pros and cons at the developmental level straight out of secondary school. However, it's understood the Warriors have been able to offer more of an immediately beneficial package money-wise than the Crusaders.
"It seems like, in rugby league, they reward you first and then you train hard. With rugby (union), you have to train hard and then you'll get the reward," said Elia.
After cracking St Thomas' first XV as a year 9, he has progressed in leaps and bounds. At the weekend, Elia was part of the Crusaders Junior Knights team which lost 10-25 to the Hurricanes under-18 team.
He also has from strong family links to union. His three older brothers all played for St Thomas' first XV. His brother Elia Elia has since gone on to play for Manu Samoa and English club Harlequins.
Last year, Elia got his first taste of rugby league when he played for St Thomas at the national secondary schools tournament in Auckland.
"That was my first ever game of league. I was just a fill-in because they were short of numbers," said Elia.
Once he was there, it didn't take long for the scouts to take notice.
"I played pretty well up there and from that tournament I got two offers, one from the Warriors and one from the Cowboys," said Elia.
From there, he signed the deal with the Warriors. However, the Crusaders Academy are also after his talents and are hopeful he may decide to stick with the 15-man code.
It's believed the deadline for Elia to make a final decision is before the New Zealand Secondary Schools rugby squad is selected later in the year.
As it stands, Elia says he is leaning in the direction of the Warriors. However, if he does so, he says the option of returning to union in the future isn't off the cards.
The Warriors also recently secured the services of another local youngster. Linwood Keas player Graeme Patu-Vaega'au will join the Warriors in November.
The money factor:
The gap in pay scale between the top NRL and Super Rugby stars isn't massive. However, earlier this year Kieran Read was reported to come the first All Black to secure a $1 million a year contract. In the NRL there are nearly half a dozen players believed to be earning in excess of that figure.
Top paid NRL players:
Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles) - $1.3 million, Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys) - $1.2 million, Billy Slater (Storm) - $1.2 million, Jarryd Hayne (Titans) - $1.2 million, Cameron Smith (Storm) - $1.1 million.
- star.kiwi
