After leading the Maori All Stars to victory over the Indigenous All Stars last weekend, Zach Dockar-Clay has reflected on the annual event and revealed where he will be playing for the 2025 season.
A member of the 2023 NSW Cup Team of the Year and close to earning his international debut for New Zealand at the 2024 Pacific Championships, Dockar-Clay has remained uncontracted since the end of last season.
Appearing in six first-grade matches for the Sydney Roosters in 2024, reports linked the two-time Maori All Stars, playmaker, to a move to the Super League and a return back to the Roosters.
Speaking to Zero Tackle after representing the Maori All Stars last weekend, Dockar-Clay confirmed he will return to the Sydney Roosters for the 2025 NRL season after turning down offers from several teams in the Super League competition.
"It's one of those where you're just hoping that you get called," Dockar-Clay told Zero Tackle.
"You're honestly just holding onto your phone and this week comes around and you're thinking, please, please (call me).
"I had a couple of offers overseas and I think at the time it probably wasn't the right time to go over there but it was pretty close.
"These days, there's a lot of young kids coming through and obviously turning 30 this year. I'm starting to get a little older at the moment, but I still love it and am still keen to keep going.
"I love the Roosters and it's a good club and get along with the boys really well which is good. It didn't take too much to stay back there and go back and play."
(C) is tackled during the international match between New Zealand Kiwis A and Mate Ma'a Tonga Aat Eden Park on October 21, 2023 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)
Beginning his journey at the Parramatta Eels, Dockar-Clay would find himself at the Penrith Panthers for two seasons in 2016 and 2017 and would later captain their NSW Cup team whilst playing alongside the likes of Nathan Cleary, James Fisher-Harris, and Moses Leota.
Moving over to play in the Super League competition for Hull KR in 2017, he spent the following four years plying his trade in the NSW Cup.
When he was about to call quits on his career and thought about only playing part-time, Dockar-Clay was picked up by the Canterbury Bulldogs for the 2022 NRL season and appeared in 14 appearances before once again thinking about retirement.
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Slowly entering the 30-year-old age bracket, he earned a Top 30 roster spot with the Sydney Roosters for the 2024 season. More recently, he represented the Maori All Stars in the halves alongside Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
"It's definitely a week that I always put down in the calendar that I love to make," he added on playing for the Maori All Stars.
"I've got to take every opportunity I can and then having Jahrome [Hughes] not being available, I got an opportunity to step in and play.
"Every time I get that opportunity, I've loved it and for us Maori guys it's an achievement that's better than any other jersey that you could wear.
"It was a massive week. We had a lot of cultural leaders come in and it's hard to reconnect with the culture, so it's always good that you feel you're cut for the year and really connect with that culture."
