Will Warbrick has gone through three sporting codes to get to the biggest game of his career

Will Warbrick can’t help but smile at the “full circle” journey that began with a rugby league tryout in New Zealand as a teenager.

He played AFL before landing in Melbourne with the NRL contract he first had his eyes on all those years ago.

A diversion to rugby union, where he became an Olympian in Tokyo in the Covid-impacted Games, was another element of the stunning sporting journey for the 26-year-old Kiwi, who declared he wasn’t “daunted” by the big stage of Sunday’s NRL grand final.

Warbrick is a significant success story for Storm recruiters who took an incredible athlete, taught him rugby league, while leaning on the AFL skills that enhance his aerial capabilities, and turned him into a scoring force.

As he prepares for the showdown with Penrith, Warbrick is telling himself it’s “just another game” while reflecting on where he has come from and all the skills he has learnt from coaches in three codes to get him to the biggest game of his still fledgling NRL career.

“It was funny, I was actually playing a representative rugby league tournament in New Zealand. It was my only season of rugby league,” he said this week.

“I went to a tournament, and there’s a few scouts there on behalf of NRL teams, and none of them came to me.

“But this AFL New Zealand representative came up to me and said, ‘Do you want to give AFL a try in New Zealand?’ I didn’t know about it at the time, and thought, why not?

“Spent a season playing AFL up in Auckland, and I actually enjoyed it. It was a fun sport and enjoyable sport, and it’s also challenging learning the rules and the game and the skills required to play.

“I actually had a game here, I think, for New Zealand under 18s, we were in Melbourne. We had a game against a club here, and that’s my first time in Melbourne.

“And now it’s that sort of like a full-circle moment. I’m back here now, and I’m playing rugby league full-time, so it’s been a funny journey.”

Aerial prowess and his willingness to compete is Warbrick’s self-described strength, having helped net him a team-high 17 tries this season, just one ahead of his fellow leaping winger Xavier Coates.

Warbrick has honed not only his catching skills with the help of both Coates and an AFL assistant coach from Collingwood but his mindset when it comes to launching at balls “in my zone”.

It’s among the rugby league advancements that have come as Warbrick has, by his own admission “learned the game a bit more” since his Storm and NRL debut in round 1, 2023.

Warbrick has crammed a lot into his 48 games since then and is armed with a growing confidence to make a big impact when it matters most.

“I’ve probably grown and gained confidence, and I’ve probably learned the game a bit more, and I feel like I’m slowly starting to understand things a bit better,” he said of his road to the grand final.

“And when I’m on the field, I can sort of see things unfolding, if that makes sense. And as the more games I played, I sort of started to understand my strengths and where I can apply it in the game.

“So I’ m not daunted (by the grand final). think I’m probably more excited for what it is. And I can’t really compare this week to Olympics or whatnot.

“I think this week will be a whole new experience, and I’m looking forward to that.”