A young New Zealand Warriors forward has reportedly rejected a move to four-time premiership winners the Penrith Panthers, which will see him remain in New Zealand.

A former captain of the Warriors’ Under-19s SG Ball Cup team, Kayliss Fatialofa has attracted a ton of interest in recent months since making the jump up to reserve-grade at the backend of last year.

Playing in every NSW Cup match this season and not missing a single minute in the last 16 weeks, the young back-rower has scored 12 tries, made 12 line-breaks and 574 tackles and averaged 90 running metres per game.

Yet to make his first-grade debut, The Daily Telegraph reports that Fatialofa agreed to join the Penrith Panthers from next season before he backflipped on them and eventually rejected the deal during the 10-day cooling-off period.

Opting to remain in New Zealand, he has since signed a new and improved offer from the Warriors, where he will look to become the next young forward to make his debut following the likes of Leka Halasima, Tanner Stowers-Smith and Demitric Vaimauga.