Bulldogs captain Steve Price has ended days of speculation after announcing he would join the New Zealand Warriors on Monday afternoon.

Price, the veteran of 16 State of Origins for Queensland and four tests for Australia, signed a deal to bring the prop to Ericsson Stadium for the next three NRL seasons - believed to be worth around $1.2 million over the three seasons.

It is the second major signing for the struggling Warriors within the last week after the club collected the prize signature of Canberra and Kiwi enforcer Ruben Wiki on Friday.

Warriors chief executive Mick Watson explained to Doug Golightly during his Saturday morning show on Radio Sport that after the horrible start to the the year, he sat down with the senior players at the Warriors and tried to look at ways they could capitalise on their success during the 2002 and 2003 seasons and what could be done to improve their current situation.

"The two names mentioned were Ruben Wiki and Steve Price," Watson said.

Having now picked up both players on massive three-year deals, the club can now concentrate on getting the best they can out of what is left in the 2004 season and begin to build around Wiki and Price for next season and beyond.

Price was first approached by the Warriors a couple of weeks ago and the 30-year-old's wife Jo made a trip across to Auckland 10 days ago to have a look around.

Watson met with Price in Sydney on Friday morning and was expecting a decision by the end of Friday but given the importance of his family in this decision, Price asked for the weekend to think it over.

It was a tell-tale sign that he would move across the Tasman when he failed to comment on his future following the Bulldogs 25-18 win over the Melbourne Storm on Sunday afternoon and he finally made public his decision early on Monday afternoon.

The Warriors have managed to add Wiki, Price and North Queensland Cowboys halfback Nathan Fien to their playing roster for next season as well as extending the contracts of Francis Meli, Lance Hohaia and Brent Webb.

To make room under the salary cap, the Warriors have released Ali Lauiti'iti (Leeds), Mark Tookey (Castleford), Danny Sullivan, Paul Dezolt, Henry Fa'afili (Warrington), Vince Mellars (Sharks) and Matt Jobson, whilst Jerry Seuseu (Wigan) and Justin Murphy will finish their current contracts with the club this season before moving on in 2005.