The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and New Zealand Warriors have today agreed to a player trade with Shaun Lane to join the Auckland based side and Raymond Faitala-Mariner set to make the move to Belmore.
Lane made his debut for the club in Round 14 of last season and has played 12 games for the club at NRL level.
Faitala-Mariner joins the club after a break out year in 2015 where he debuted in Round 8 for the Warriors, before going on to play 12 matches in the top grade, including one this season.
The player swap is effective immediately with Faitala-Mariner joining the club on a contract through until the end of 2019.
In addition, the club has signed back rower Lamar Liolevave from the Wests Tigers, for the remainder of 2016 and 2017.
Raymond Faitala-Mariner
Date of Birth: 26-07-1993
Height: 186cm
Weight: 105kg
Position: Second Row
Rep. Honours: Junior Kiwis (2013)
Junior Clubs: Otahuhu Leopards
FG Debut: Warriors v Gold Coast, Mount Smart Stadium, 25/04/2015 (Round 10)
Club Debut: Warriors v Gold Coast, Mount Smart Stadium, 25/04/2015 (Round 10)
Educated at Edgewater College, the highly promising back rower made his NYC debut as an 18-year-old in 2012 and went on to make six appearances. He made rapid progress the following year, establishing himself as a wide-running second rower.
Faitala-Mariner strung together three exceptional performances in 2013 in which he scored a try in each game and averaged 112 metres and 29 tackles. Form such as this saw him promoted into the NSW Cup squad with the Vulcans later in 2013 before ultimately being upgraded to a one-year fulltime contract with the NRL squad.
After appearing in NRL trials in the preseason and also representing the club at the inaugural NRL Nines, Faitala-Mariner started the 2014 season with the club's New South Wales Cup side.
He again had exposure in NRL trial in 2015 and started the season with the NSW Cup side once again. His form was impressive, culminating in him becoming Warrior No 200 when he made his NRL debut for the club against Gold Coast on April 25. He later returned on the bench and also had starting appearances when Ryan Hoffman was unavailable.
