New Zealand Warriors play against Storm in Melbourne on Sunday while the NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup teams are playing in Auckland against their Newtown/Sharks on Saturday. The Under 19 SG Ball Cup season is over and NZW didn't make the finals of that competition, but they are in the Under 17 Harold Matthews Cup finals for the second season in a row.

That means that the first two years of NZW in Harold Matthews Cup have produced two finals campaigns and the championship last year. The full U21 team hasn't been offered at the time of publishing this yarn but there is one notable move from the U19 team now that their season is finished with Kahu Capper named in the centres for the U21s.

The NSW Cup team named this week includes William Fakatoumafi again after he made a surprise appearance in the win over Western Suburbs before the bye. During the bye round, Fakatoumafi lined up for Otahuhu as Fox Memorial qualifying started in Auckland and he is named at centre in NSW Cup.

The other funky selection for NSW Cup this round is middle forward Jason Salalilo. The Papanui junior from Christchurch played SG Ball last season and had a Jersey Flegg appearance before starting this year in the U21 team.

Salalilo joins Tanner Stowers-Smith (Halswell) as players from Christchurch who are named in NSW Cup this round, while Linwood junior Makaia Tafua is another youngster from Christchurch who has played dummy half in NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg this season. While NZW have strong links to St Thomas of Canterbury College, they are most evident in the junior ranks and Salalilo's promotion to NSW Cup makes him the best STOCC player currently in the NZW system.

The NRL Warriors have Adam Pompey on the wing after he has done a fantastic job covering centre and wing this season. Pompey's versatility along with Kurt Capewell and a bunch more NZW was part of this deep dive which covered some important pockets of winning footy for Warriors this season.

Bunty Afoa is also on the bench for the second consecutive game. While Afoa appeared to have fallen out of favour with coach Andrew Webster, he has flexed his mana by rolling through consistent footy in NSW Cup over the past two seasons and Afoa has impacted winning in reserve grade.

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After a couple trial appearances, Afoa settled back into the NSW Cup flow to start this season before adding oomph off the bench vs Tigers. Across these three levels of footy, Afoa hasn't lost a game this year and he has averaged at least 10m/run in four of the six games...

Pre-Season

vs Sharks: 8 runs - 93m @ 11.6m/run, 1 tackle break, 30 tackles @ 96.7% (draw)
vs Storm: 8 runs - 77m @ 9.6m/run, 1 tackle break, 22 tackles @ 95.6% (win)

NSW Cup

vs Raiders: 44mins, 7 runs - 57m @ 8.1m/run, 1 tackle break, 15 tackles @ 83.3% (win)
vs Sea Eagles: 52mins, 7 runs - 93m @ 13.2m/run, 29 tackles @ 87.8% (win)
vs Roosters: 48mins, 14 runs - 158m @ 11.2m/run, 1 tackle break, 22 tackles @ 88% (win)

NRL

vs Tigers: 11 runs - 114m @ 10.3m/run, 2 tackle breaks, 15 tackles @ 93.7% (win)

Here's some more Afoa basics during the two Andys era

2023: 21 games | 29.6mins | 58.8m | 97.7% tackling | 62% wins
2024: 9 games | 25.6mins | 51.1m | 95.3% tackling | 56% wins
2025: 1 game | 26mins | 114m | 100% tackling | 100% wins

The two starting hookers in this game are Wayde Egan and Harry Grant, who lead the NRL for dummy half runs per game. Egan almost averages twice as many metres per game as Grant and has slightly better tackling efficiency, while offering a similar number of offloads...

Dummy Half Runs

Wayde Egan: 1st - 8 per game (NZW: 2nd - 11.3)

Harry Grant: 2nd - 6.3 per game (Storm: 8th - 8)

This season

Wayde Egan: 1 try, 3 offloads, 92m/game, 92.9% tackling,
Harry Grant: 1 try, 1 try assist, 4 offloads, 57m/game, 90.6% tackling, 32.4 kick metres/game

During the two Andys era, NZW have lost all three games against Storm and have conceded at least 30 points each game...

At Storm: 22-30
At Storm: 26-30
Vs Storm: 24-38

They have also scored 20+ points against Storm though and with a faster, more direct style this year it will be interesting to see how NZW match up against their opposition. NZW are still first for set completion after their bye round as well as being first for post contact metres and run metres per game. They are also the least penalised team in the NRL...

NZ Warriors Stat Profile (per games)

Set Completion: 1st - 84.6%
Support: 10th
Line Engaged: 14th
Linebreaks: 16th
Post Contact Metres: 1st
Tackle Breaks: 7th
Decoys: 2nd
Run Metres: 1st
Kick Return Metres: 10th
Dummy Half Runs: 2nd
Offloads: 13th
Tackles: 9th
Missed Tackles: 8th
Kick Metres: 8th
Penalties Conceded: 17th

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Peace and love.