After playing his way back into the NRL side with a string of impressive showings in reserve grade, Saturday night’s clash against the Raiders shapes as a critical point in the career of off-contract Warriors half Daejarn Asi.
The 21-year-old joined the club in April for the remainder of the season after falling down at the pecking order at the Cowboys, but now faces an uncertain future with Shaun Johnson, Ronald Volkman and incoming Cronulla youngster Luke Metcalf the playmakers already on the Warriors’ books for 2023.
After impressing enough to earn four-straight starts in the NRL squad between rounds 8-11, Asi now gets another shot following a two-month exile in which he helped lead the club’s feeder side the Redcliffe Dolphins to a five-match unbeaten streak in Queensland’s Hostplus Cup.
Interim coach Stacey Jones said that strong form in the lower grades has given Asi the edge over rookie Volkman for the trip to GIO Stadium in Canberra.
“Daejarn is just playing a bit better than what Ronald is,” Jones said.
His defence is very sound, kicking game very good and he’s running the ball into the line.
Stacey Jones
“He’s improved his game from when he first came into the NRL with us. He deserves an opportunity.
“Daejarn has trained really well, but probably the more pleasing thing is how he has performed for Redcliffe the last month or so.
“I told him he needed to work on a couple of things to get himself back in the picture to play NRL and he’s gone back and worked on that.”
Daejarn delight
While he remains unsure what next year holds, Asi is enjoying his time at the Warriors and having the chance to reconnect with his Māori heritage after he moved to Australia at the age of 10.
“It’s always interesting to learn more about yourself and being part of the Warriors, I got presented my pounamu (greenstone) before making my club debut, which is something you don’t get at any other club,” Asi told pan66.com.
“Being able to experience it to its fullest is awesome.”
After originally entering negotiations with the Warriors with a deal for next year in mind, Asi jumped at the chance to join them immediately this season.
“I was off contract already, so we were looking around for where was best, and it was sort of put to the side and I was told [by the Warriors] to play my best footy and see how it went,” Asi said.
“Then they had a few injuries and the Warriors said they wanted me to come now.
“It happened over the span of a few days and I was moving on the fourth day.
Asi keeps Warriors hopes alive
“I was living with my partner, so it was a bit of a shock, we’d only just moved in together a couple of months before, so it was a tough conversation.
“But it was something I believe needed to happen.
“Now I just want to give it a crack, give it my best, and we will see what happens from there.”