New Zealand Warriors had their fourth NRL win in a row vs Dragons and after another NSW Cup win, the NRL and NSW Cup teams have a combined record of 15-3 this season. The NSW Cup Warriors had a 46-30 win vs Raiders in Australia and they haven't lost a game in Australia this season, which frames the NRL team's mahi on their Aussie tour.

NZ Warriors in NRL & NSW Cup: 15-3
NRL: 7-2
Home: 5-0
Away: 2-2
NSW Cup: 8-1
Home: 5-1
Away: 3-0

NZW have won the first two games of this Aussie tour and three of their four wins in a row have been by four points or less. The win by any means theme continued against Dragons as NZW didn't play their best footy but like wins over Broncos, Knights and Cowboys; they got the job done with hearty wins.

Jackson Ford and Bunty Afoa departed the game vs Dragons due to injury. A key factor in the gritty wins this season has been the ability to absorb mid-game changes and without two middle forwards for most of the second half, NZW rallied behind admirable leadership and youngters stepping up to fill the void.

Mitchell Barnett churned out 64 minutes which was the most he has played this season. Clark's 65mins wasn't a season high but there is a clear line between him playing less than 50mins in the first five games and then 60+ minutes in the four wins without James Fisher-Harris.

Leka Halasima played 80mins for the second game in a row. Demitric Vaimauga played 39mins which is the most of this four-game winning streak and they were joined by the sneaky mahi of Jacob Laban who had 27mins. Laban entered the game in the 54th minute and played the rest of the game, mainly at right edge as Marata Niukore slotted into the middle.

Te Maire Martin played 19mins with his game time split between middle forward and hooker. Stretching back to pre-season footy, Martin has played fullback, halves, middle forward and hooker. This is a notable theme throughout all NZW footy as versatility and willingness to play whatever role the team needs lead to opportunities.

Samuel Healey did that in his debut with minutes spent playing middle forward and hooker. This flows into the NSW Cup win where Healey, Freddy Lussick and Makaia Tafua played 50+ minutes each. All three are primarily hookers but they also do middle forward mahi without fuss and this is especially funky for Tafua, who is one of the Under 21 lads stepping up to reserve grade where he covers hooker and small forward.

To support The Niche Cache you can join the Patreon whanau or donate through Buy Me A Coffee. A little goes a long way to fund our mahi. Chur

No player sums up the versatility and leadership wrinkle like Kurt Capewell though. Statistics provide a basic overview of what's happening but all stats have holes that can be dissected and Capewell ain't no statistical wizard. Whether it's his 9 runs - 68m @ 7.5m/run, 15 tackles @ 71.4% or how Capewell has missed at least five tackles in six of his nine games this season, one glance at his stats suggest that Capewell hinders NZW or can be easily shuffled out of the team.

Capewell has been highly influential though. He has been the main joker who helps NZW absorb mid-game departures as he moved from edge forward to centre in a bunch of games this season, as well as starting at centre in two of the last four wins. Capewell tends to miss tackles because he is so desperate to make contact and that contact often leads to him slowing down the runner while other lads finish the tackle.

His leadership has been on par with Barnett during this recent stretch of wins with Capewell keeping NZW on track throughout phases of adversity. Capewell came across the field to take tough runs when the team was buggered late in the game vs Dragons and made a monster tackle in the last few minutes, as well as rushing from the middle of the field to the right edge on the final play. Watch how many blue jerseys are bursting back to cover the edge defence…

Here are some other stats and details…

Mahi Men vs Dragons

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 26 runs - 212m @ 8.1m/run, 7 tackle breaks, 2 offloads, 13 tackles @ 100%
Wayde Egan: 73mins, 7 runs - 79m @ 11.2m/run, 50 tackles @ 94.3%
Mitchell Barnett: 64mins, 20 runs - 186m @ 9.3m/run, 3 tackle breaks, 1 offload, 47 tackles @ 92.1%
Erin Clark: 65mins, 18 runs - 177m @ 9.8m/run, 1 tackle break, 1 offload, 52 tackles @ 92.8%

Halves Balance vs Dragons

Luke Metcalf: 5 runs, 53 touches, 33 passes, 4 dummies, 17 kicks,
Chanel Harris-Taita: 6 runs, 35 touches, 21 passes, 4 dummies, 8 kicks

Young Forwards vs Dragons & Overview

Leka Halasima: 80mins, 11 runs - 120m @ 10.9m/run, 1 tackle break, 32 tackles @ 88.8%
Demitric Vaimauga: 39mins, 9 runs - 108m @ 12m/run, 1 linebreak, 2 tackle breaks, 29 tackles @ 96.6%
Jacob Laban: 27mins, 5 runs - 38m @ 7.6m/run, 19 tackles @ 95%

Leka Halasima

Minutes this season: 26, 19, 30, 30, 36, 69, 39, 80, 80
2024: 4 games, 1 linebreak, 1 offload, 58m/game, 84.7% tackling
2025: 9 games: 3 tries, 2 linebreaks, 4 offloads, 95m/game, 94.5% tackling

Demitric Vaimauga

Minutes this season: 13, 17, 18, 29, 41, 34, 27, 32, 39
2023: 3 games, 1 offload, 28m/game, 90.9% tackling
2024: 4 games, 1 try, 2 linebreaks, 53m/game, 93.1% tackling
2025: 9 games, 1 linebreak, 4 offloads, 69m/game, 95.9% tackling

Jacob Laban

Minutes this season: 27, 37, 27
2024: 7 games, 5 offloads, 36m/game, 92.1% tackling
2025: 3 games, 2 offloads, 31m/game, 96.7% tackling

NSW Cup last four wins

40-12 vs Dragons
30-18 vs Knights
56-14 vs Bears
46-30 vs Raiders

Under 21s in NSW Cup vs Raiders

Luke Hanson: 80mins, 11 runs - 81m @ 7.3m/run, 4 try assists, 2 tackle breaks, 14 tackles @ 100%
Tanner Stowers-Smith: 38mins, 10 runs - 95m @ 9.5m/run, 1 tackle break, 16 tackles @ 94.1%
Kayliss Fatialofa: 80mins, 7 runs - 96m @ 13.7m/run, 3 tries, 1 try assist, 9 tackle breaks, 24 tackles @ 88.8%
Jason Salalilo: 36mins, 7 runs - 74m @ 10.5m/run, 17 tackles @ 94.4%
Toby Crosby: 27mins, 7 runs - 75m @ 10.7m/run, 2 tackle breaks, 10 tackles @ 83.3%
Makaia Tafua: 50mins, 4 runs - 27m @ 6.7m/run, 1 tackle break, 26 tackles @ 92.8%

Smash an ad. Every Monday and Friday we fire off an email newsletter so if you love New Zealand sports then sign up.

Peace and love.