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Join our Fantasy SRP league'I was born into it': Mellars embraces Warriors legacy in pre-season opener
Sport Nation • February 13th, 2026 11:50 am
Haizyn Mellars | Photo: Photosport
Years of hard work will take their next step of fruition this weekend for Haizyn Mellars, when the Warriors rookie runs out for the side's opening pre-season clash with the Manly Sea Eagles.
Mellars has been selected as part of the run-on team, partnering on the wing alongside fellow newcomer Motu Pasikala at Napier's McLean Park on Saturday.
Son of former Warriors midfielder Vince Mellars, the Queensland-raised 21-year-old joined the club having forged his junior pathways in Brisbane before moving to Sydney, where he thrived with the Wynnum Eagles.
And despite the warnings from his old man, he admits the homecoming has been equally warm and brutal, as he got stuck into the Warriors' notorious pre-season rituals.
"I'll tell you right now, that Bethells Beach was something else," Mellars told Sport Nation.
"The old man just gave me a warning, he said 'mate, you just be ready to rock up there and get it done, because you're going to be hurting after'.
"But it was good man. I was happy to get it done with the boys."
Gifted elite athletic genes from both his dad and his mum, there was never much doubt which direction Mellars would take with his life.
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Alongside his ex-NRL dad - who also spent a stint with the Crusaders and several season in the UK Super League - his mum Charmain Mellars (nee Purcell) is a former Tall Ferns basketballer, representing New Zealand at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and winning Commonwealth Games silver in Melbourne in 2006.
"I was born into it. My family just loves sport," Mellars said. "We travelled a lot, which is probably a big factor for me. Moving across the world.
"Having my dad playing footy when I was younger, he was my hero growing up and I was always inspired by him, and then I got to look at my mum and she was doing the same thing in her respect.
"I was meant to play sport, you know, wherever that was or whatever that was."
Dad Vince will be making the journey across the ditch this weekend to see his son don the jersey he once wore himself, and the significance of the occasion isn't lost on the youngster.
"I think about this all the time, before I go to sleep.
"Being able to fulfil that dream, and also be able to look at my dad and show him that I've come this far and that I can honour him and make him proud and my family proud.
"It'll be a really special moment."
Listen to the full interview below:
