New Zealand Warriors Canterbury Celebrations & Aussie Tour Begins vs Cowboys
After getting the job done vs Newcastle Knights in Christchurch, New Zealand Warriors begin their three game tour of Australia this Saturday against North Queensland Cowboys. NZW had a loss vs Raiders in their first game and then rolled through their footy process to seal wins late in games vs Sea Eagles, Roosters and Tigers.
Then came a loss vs Storm and an injury to James Fisher-Harris. NZW have had wins without Fisher-Harris against Broncos and Knights, in which they were the better team but continued to invite the opponent into the contest. These were 'by any means' wins that NZW had a habit of losing in previous eras and as they were both home games in two different islands of Aotearoa, they were important in strengthening the connection to the rugby league community.
Now the season wiggles into the Aussie tour phase where NZW play Cowboys, Dragons and Dolphins. Games against Cowboys and Dolphins will both be at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, with this weekend's encountery being part of Magic Round. Winning in Australia is vital to making finals footy for NZW and this is on display in their mahi over the the ditch during the two Andys era.
NRL in Australia
2023: 8-4
2024: 3-9
2025: 1-1
The best thing about NZW under the two Andys is how the layers below NRL form foundations for a successful organisation. The NSW Cup Warriors are currently first in reserve grade and this is their third season in a row being a top-four team. That requires strong performances in Australia which is just as important as the NRL tier because this is where emerging players learn NRL-like travel routines and patterns.
NSW Cup in Australia
2023: 7-4 (3rd)
2024: 6-6 (4th)
2025: 3-1 (1st)
This is less impressive for the Under 21 Jersey Flegg Cup and Under 19 SG Ball Cup teams, but it's balanced by the abundance of young talent playing in a consistently awesome NSW Cup team. It's also balanced by an Under 17 Harold Matthews Cup team that has made the grand final for the second year in a row, after winning the competition in their first season last year.
To make these grand finals, NZW have gone 5-0 in finals games across both seasons and all finals footy in these grades is played in Sydney. The NZW U17 team has not lost a finals game in Australia.
Harold Matthews Cup in Australia
2024: 1-2
Finals in Sydney
30-10 win vs Eels
12-10 win vs Bulldogs
34-6 win vs Magpies
2025: 4-0
Finals in Sydney
20-4 win vs Roosters
28-8 win vs Rabbitohs
The final will be played on Saturday against Knights.
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Te Maire Martin comes on to the bench for the NRL game vs Cowboys and replaces Jacob Laban who is out injured. Marata Niukore is named to start at prop with Leka Halasima starting at edge forward after this late change was made prior to the Knights game. This could result in Halasima playing 80 minutes or Niukore, maybe even Demitric Vaimauga, plugging a hole at edge forward.
Here are some team stats where there is a notable difference between NZW and Cowboys...
Set Completion
Warriors: 1st - 82%
Cowboys: 10 - 78%
Supports
Warriors: 11th - 355
Cowboys: 17th - 223
Line Engaged
Warriors: 16th - 82
Cowboys: 9th - 132
Linebreaks
Warriors: 16th - 26
Cowboys: 9th - 38
Post Contact Metres
Warriors: 7th - 4,183
Cowboys: 16th - 3,733
Decoys
Warriors: 9th - 344
Cowboys: 5th - 390
Kick Return Metres
Warriors: 17th - 817
Cowboys: 8th - 1,245
Offloads
Warriors: 14th - 61
Cowboys: 16th - 49
Kick Metres
Warriors: 12th - 4,099
Cowboys: 15th - 3,687
Penalties Conceded
Warriors: 17th - 29
Cowboys: 10th - 43
NZW have five played in the top-50 for post contact metres and Cowboys have one...
Post Contact Metres
Jackson Ford: 17th - 432
Erin Clark: 26th - 389
Mitchell Barnett: 28th - 381
Murray Taulagi: 31st - 368
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 44th - 347
NZW have one player in the top-50 for errors and Cowboys have three...
Errors
Murray Taulagi: 14th - 12
Luke Metcalf: 33rd - 9
Scott Drinkwater: 43rd - 8
Robert Derby: 44th - 8
Wayde Egan and Reece Robson are two of the busiest dummy half runners in the NRL. While they have a similar total number of dummy half runs, Egan averages almost 50 more running metres per game than Robson...
Dummy Half Runs
Wayde Egan: 2nd - 39 | 82m/game
Reece Robson: 4th - 34 | 55m/game
The NSW Cup Warriors play against North Sydney Bears in Sydney on Sunday. The backline is super settled and Luke Hanson is again selected in the halves alongside Tanah Boyd for an all-Aussie halves combo. The only tweak in the forward pack is Makaia Tafua coming on to the bench where he will probably cover Samuel Healey at hooker but Tafua can also play as a small forward, with Healey staying on the field.
Coming off the Christchurch celebration, Tafua's return to NSW Cup gives the reserve grade team three players from Canterbury with Tanner Stowers-Smith and Jason Salalilo rolling through the middle. Tafua is a Linwood junior, Stowers-Smith is a Halswell junior and Salalilo is a Papanui junior so three different Christchurch clubs are represented.
The U17 team named for the grand final has Dougal Grant (Aoraki) and Bishop Neal (Hornby) as the edge forwards. Kenny Lafituanai (Sydenham) is named on the bench, while Christiano Elia (Riccarton) and Calieb Fidow (Celebration) are in the wider squad.
That means that five different Canterbury Rugby League clubs are represented in the Harold Matthews Cup grand final squad. Add in three different Canterbury clubs represented in the NSW Cup team and there are eight players from eight different clubs across these two teams this weekend.
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Peace and love.