New Zealand Warriors forward Bayley Sironen signs for Super League club

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS forward Bayley Sironen has made a move to Super League.

The New Zealand Warriors second row, 26, has signed a two-year deal with Catalans Dragons.

Sironen said: “I am very excited to be coming to such a competitive club, I was really impressed with what Steve had to say and the way he spoke when meeting the coach and I have heard such good things from people who have represented the club in the past. I’m looking forward to hopefully bringing more success to the Dragons and can’t wait to move over and get to work.”

The forward started his career in New South Wales Cup with Wests Tigers reserve team before making his professional debut with the team in NRL in August 2017.

After 2 NRL appearances with Wests Tigers, he moved to South Sydney Rabbitohs. With limited opportunities in the Rabbitohs’ squad where he played five games in his first two NRL seasons with the club, he established himself as a frontline player for the Rabbitohs in 2020 appearing in 19 games to lift his career tally to 24.

In 2021, he joined the New Zealand Warriors and quickly became a key player of the Warriors’ squad. With 56 NRL appearances, he reached the NRL semi-finals.

A versatile player, able to play as a second row, lock or five-eighth. Bayley Sironen is set to discover the Super League with Catalans Dragons after 80 appearances in 6 NRL seasons.

Steve McNamara said: “Bayley is a young ambitious player with lots of NRL experience who will be a great addition to our squad. He is a player that players love to play alongside and coaches love to coach. He will primarily come as a 2nd row but his versatility will also give us many options.”

The Warriors aim to build on their momentum of the 2023 NRL season, on the field and off it.

The Auckland-based club had one of its best seasons ever this year, reaching the Preliminary Final and selling out most of their games at Mt Smart Stadium.

After the Warriors’ two appearances in grand finals, 2003 and 2011, the club went backwards in subsequent years, each time failing to build on their success.

Although the Warriors fell one step short of making it to the grand final this year, CEO Cameron George is adamant that the club can continue to head in the right direction and come back bigger and better in 2024.

“We had a three-hour footy meeting with myself, Andrew Webster and Andrew McFadden (general manager recruitment, development and pathways) on Monday.”

George said negotiations will start soon on a contract extension for Webster, whose current deal runs out at the end of the 2025 season.

“I spoke briefly with Mark Robinson (owner) and Webby about it the other day,” George said.

“We’ll sit down in the next couple of weeks and have those discussions, once the dust has settled on this year.

“We’ve got a pretty busy week or two ahead of us. We’ll get through that, but we all know where stand on this.”

Player reviews started last week, while plans continue for the club to field teams in the Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21) and Harold Matthews Cup (under-17) competitions next year alongside the existing NRL, NSW Cup (reserve grade) and SG Ball Cup (under-19) squads.

An announcement is also expected soon on who will replace Justin Morgan as one of Webster’s assistant coaches.