The New Zealand Warriors recruitment spree for the 2021 NRL season continues with the signing of forward Bayley Sironen.
The rampaging back rower joins the Warriors after an outstanding 2020 campaign for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, joining the Auckland club on a three-year contract.
After starting his career with the West Tigers in 2017, Sironen moved to the Rabbitohs in 2019, where he established himself as a frontline player in this year's semi-final run, playing 19 games.
The 23-year-old is the son of the legendary Paul Sironen and younger brother of Manly Warringah’s Curtis Sironen.
The signing of Sironen adds more depth and steel to an already stacked forward pack, with Warriors recruitment manager Peter O’Sullivan saying the new recruit will add something different to their pack.
"We have had our eyes on Bayley for some time but we didn’t have the positions available at the time," O’Sullivan says.
"Fortunately he became available now.
"[Coach] Nathan Brown was keen to add a point of difference to our squad to balance our key signings and Bayley will bring that.
"He comes from one of the game’s greatest families and will add some invaluable footy IQ to our squad."
O’Sullivan says the Warriors were grateful to South Sydney CEO Blake Solly, head coach Wayne Bennett and football manager Mark Ellison for their handling of Sironen’s release.
"I was really keen to add an edge/middle forward to our roster for 2021 and Bayley fits the bill,” says new coach Brown.
"He was able to fill in at five-eighth and centre as well as the back row in 2020, so he adds the versatility, skill and defensive capabilities that we were looking for.
"His addition puts pressure on all our forwards for positions and adds invaluable depth of quality in our back row."
He becomes the seventh new addition to the Warriors’ 2021 squad following the signings of Ben Murdoch-Masila, Kane Evans, Euan Aitken, Addin Fonua-Blake, Sean O’Sullivan and Marcelo Montoya.
