NRL: Poor 2009 makes Warriors' talent hunt tough

Finding a star replacement of Steve Price's calibre is the club's top priority. Photo / Greg Bowker

If you've been holding your breath waiting for a big name Warriors signing, now might be a good time to exhale.

Recruitment manager Dean Bell has been working on two fronts since last season's campaign spluttered to an end, hunting for an experienced first-grade outside back while also lining up a marquee replacement for Steve Price for next year and beyond.

So far Bell's best efforts have yielded little. While he is optimistic the first box can still be ticked when salary cap pressures bite or a player becomes frozen out of a side in the opening weeks of the season, the hunt for a star of Price's calibre is proving more problematic.

Having breezed through last week's salary cap audit - and with Price's wage to come off the books next season - the Warriors are in the curious position of having money to spend but no-one suitable to spend it on.

Last year's poor season hasn't exactly helped in the battle to convince top players a switch across the ditch would be a good career move, Bell conceded.

"I suppose it is a bit of a Catch 22," Bell said. "We have got to get our stuff on the field right and actually make us an attractive option for the best players to come to.

"The more successful we are as a team and a club is going to make the job easier."

The club has been linked with a number of players, the most prominent being Parramatta stars Feleti Mateo and Kristnan Inu, but so far little has come from those approaches.

Bell is also finding that many top players have little reason to move and many simply don't come on to the market. And of those who do show some interest in the Warriors, many are just using the negotiations to up their price with Australian clubs.

That is not something that bothers Bell, who is happy to adopt a "be in it to win it" approach.

"If they say they are interested in joining the Warriors you have got to take them on that," he said.

But fans hoping for a big name splash to help ease the pain of last season will have to wait a bit longer.

Bell has previously indicated a first-rate prop to replace Price would be the club's prime target but, given the tough ask of selling Auckland as a destination, the club would take a quality player in any position and shuffle its other resources to suit.

"Whether position-wise you need them or not, they are few and far between these special players.

"And maybe that is what we are missing at the moment, that little bit of flair, players who can unlock really tight defences. So I suppose we'll always be on the lookout like every other club," Bell said.

A season-ending injury suffered to promising NYC centre Elijah Taylor will have sharpened Bell's focus in the search for a quality outside back.

Taylor, who ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in training last Thursday, had been slated to serve as a back-up to first choice centres Brent Tate and Jerome Ropati.

With Joel Moon, Simon Mannering, Patrick Ah Van, Siuatonga Likiliki and Bill Tupou all able to cover centre, it's hardly a crisis situation. But Bell had already identified centre and wing as the main area of weakness heading into this season.

The Warriors are hopeful the salary cap audit will shake a suitable player free but, failing that, they are prepared to wait to see what happens once the season gets under way.

"We are not desperate," Bell said.

"It is just a case of you look at your perfect model going into a season and we have been pretty honest in saying that centre/wing position is somewhere we need to try and strengthen a little bit."

Coach Ivan Cleary pronounced himself happy with Saturday's trial win over the Roosters in Rotorua, although there is some concern over the knee injury suffered by hooker Ian Henderson.

The Australian was to undergo a full assessment of the injury today but he has already been slated as doubtful for the season-opening trip to the Gold Coast.

Henderson's main contender for the job, Aaron Heremaia, scored two tries in the 28-6 win over the Roosters.

The team is due to fly out tomorrow for a second trial against the Cowboys in Cairns on Saturday.