New Zealand Warriors have their first NRL game of the season in Australia on Sunday night when the play Wests Tigers in Sydney. The win over Roosters last weekend was covered in depth here and Rocco Berry now comes into the team to play Tigers, named at centre with Adam Pompey sliding out to the wing.

This highlights an important aspect of the NZW squad as they have a bunch of players who can cover multiple positions without much of a dip in mahi. When Roger Tuivasa-Sheck departed with his injury against Roosters he was replaced by Mitchell Barnett who shifted to left centre, bumping Kurt Capewell and Pompey out one spot wider.

While NZW have a clear plan to patiently grind with their opposition and then finish strong, it's also noteworthy that NZW scored two tries to win the game after Tuivasa-Sheck left the field. NZW were able to ride the loss of Tuivasa-Sheck without fuss thanks to their versatility and were good enough to seal the win without someone who many view as one of the most important players for NZW.

The left edge shuffle happened mid-game and there will be plenty of plans in place to abosrb injuries during a game. Now they enter the game against Tigers with Pompey starting on the wing and Berry at centre, which most importantly keeps Capewell in his edge forward spot. Berry is 23-years-old and Ali Leiataua is 22-years-old, providing an exciting young centre combo that many NRL teams would love to have.

Leiataua has found an NRL groove while Berry has started the season in NSW Cup. He only had half a game first up and then rolled out two full games with strong contributions to a winning reserve grade team.

Rocco Berry in NSW Cup

vs Raiders: 41mins, 6 runs - 38m @ 6.3m/run, 6 tackles @ 85.7%
vs Sea Eagles: 80mins, 8 runs - 103m @ 12.8m/run, 1 linebreak, 3 linebreak assists, 2 tackle breaks, 2 offloads, 11 tackles @ 68.7%
vs Roosters: 80mins, 1 try, 9 runs - 141m @ 15.6m/run, 2 tackle breaks, 14 tackles @ 82.3%

NZW have only played Tigers twice in the two Andys era and both games were in Aotearoa. NZW won both games but Tigers have improved for the 2025 season and this offers an intriguing checkpoint for NZW as they try to maintain their winning streak. The first issue is winning in Australia as NZW went 3-9 across the ditch last year which was a notable drop from their 8-4 record away from home in 2023.

The most important insight about NZW right now is how they are first in set completion, post contact metres and dummy half runs. Add in having the second fewest penalties conceded per game game and NZW are rampaging against all the old stereotypes about Warriors footy.

Having the best completion rate and being one of two teams conceding less than four penalties a game provides NZW with competitive foundations. They make the most of the sets they have and are disciplined which should fill NZW fans with pride. These foundations work well with a basic kicking plan that is primarily about turning the ball over down the opponent's end of the field and then smashing them.

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Credit to Tigers because they aren't far off NZW in set completions, post contact metres and dummy half runs. Tigers have the second best completion rate, they are fourth for post contact metres and fifth for dummy half runs. There is a big difference in penalties conceded though as Tigers have conceded the most penalties per game in the NRL, twice as many as NZW.

Set Completion

NZ Warriors: 1st - 84.9%
Tigers: 2nd - 82.5%

Post Contact Metres

NZ Warriors: 1st - 629.7
Tigers: 4th - 600.6

Dummy Half Runs

NZ Warriors: 1st - 11.3
Tigers: 5th - 8

Penalties Conceded

NZ Warriors: 16th - 3.7
Tigers: 1st - 8

Even though Tigers are one of five teams who average at least 8 dummy half runs per game, Wayde Egan averages almost twice as many dummy half runs as Apisai Koroisau. Egan leads the entire NRL for dummy half runs with 8.7 per game and Koroisau is second on 4.5. This puts into context how busy Egan has been around the ruck this season along with him averaging 105m/game, having never averaged more than 51m/game in his seven seasons prior.

Here are the best NZW players in a few key stats so far this season...

Post Contact Metres

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 60.5
Jackson Ford: 60.4
Erin Clark: 58.5

Run Metres

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 192.4
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: 166.1
Erin Clark: 149.7

Tackle Breaks

Taine Tuaupiki: 5.3
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 4.7
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: 4

Offloads

Adam Pompey: 1

Tackles

Wayde Egan: 46.7
James Fisher-Harris: 37.7
Jackson Ford: 34.7

Missed Tackles

Kurt Capewell: 5.7
Luke Metcalf: 3.3
Chanel Harris-Tavita: 3

The NSW Cup Warriors also played in Sydney on Sunday, up against Western Suburbs. Sio Kali and Daeon Amituanai are selected for their first NSW Cup games of the season with Kali named at centre and Amituanai on the wing. The presence of Kali means that three of the four centres named in NRL/NSW Cup for NZW are 23-years-old or younger.

Add in the young forwards who have contributed to a NSW Cup team that is 3-0 and in their third season of winning footy: Jacob Laban (20yrs), Eddie Ieremia-Toeava (20yrs), Tanner Stowers-Smith (21yrs), Toby Crosby (21yrs), Kayliss Fatialofa (20yrs).

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Peace and love.