New Zealand Warriors started the 2026 NRL season with an impressive win vs Sydney Roosters at Mt Smart and showed promising signs of growth under coach Andrew Webster. NZW lost their last two season openers and that included a home loss vs Sharks in 2024, while Roosters have had the edge over NZW during the two Andys era.

After losing three games in a row vs Roosters, NZW have now had back to back wins vs Roosters. Both wins have been at Mt Smart early in the season and they won't play again during the regular season this year...

Warriors vs Roosters in two Andys era (2-3)

2023 in Sydney: 12-20 loss
2023 in Auckland: 0-14 loss
2024 in Sydney: 18-38 loss
2025 in Auckland: 14-6 win

The NZW team selected was as expected. Taine Tuaupiki and Morgan Gannon were the leftovers on the bench who didn't get game time, while all three young forwards on the bench rolled through 25+ minutes. Tanner Stowers-Smith took his impressive preseason mahi into round one and churned through 40mins as the busiest player on the bench.

Demitric Vaimauga offered a glimpse at his role this season as the second tier distribution point behind Erin Clark. Clark led all forwards with 12 passes and Vaimauga was second with four passes, also offering the same number of dummies as Clark with three. Vaimauga only had nine touches and almost had as many passes as his six runs, with context offered by Stowers-Smith having no passes.

Every player expect for Stowers-Smith and Leka Halasima had at least two passes, which along with increased offloading compared to last season, gave this team a fresh vibe. James Fisher-Harris led the offloading with five on top of his heavy duty running/tackling work and NZW had 16 offloads in total, after averaging 7.7 per game last year.

Not only did NZW move the ball quickly and accurately, players were always in position to offer a receiving option. This involves a splash of razzle dazzle instincts, especially in the Roger Tuivasa-Sheck/Chanel Harris-Tavita combination on the left edge, as well as preparation and organisation for players to push up in support in their attacking structure.

The fastest players at Mt Smart weren't involved in this win but NZW looked faster. Whether it was Tanah Boyd's zip that helped him burst through the line and engage defenders before passing out the back, vibrant footwork from Adam Pompey and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad or Wayde Egan picking apart the ruck defence; everything felt a bit quicker than last season.

Egan isn't fast but his craft around the ruck was again on show, having made a big jump in his dummy half running last season. 2025 was Egan's first season over 52m/game with 60m/game and he hit that mark vs Roosters with 68m all coming at dummy half. Along with Egan, the spine were all close to their best footy and that flows back to some of the best NZW footy last season.

Egan and Nicoll-Klokstad are the barometers. If they are among the best players for NZW, the team will usually win. The best halves stuff from last season featured balance and while much of the attention for lazy folk goes to the halfback, Harris-Tavita continues to showcase his class as a play-maker on the left edge.

Last season was the first for Harris-Tavita with 5+ tries (8) and 10+ try assists (18). He started this season with two tries and a try assist, while also doing his share of the kicking duties. Both halves had at least five runs and 50+ metres vs Roosters which is notable because of their different running styles or intentions.

Boyd had the most dummy passes for NZW with nine and Harris-Tavita had two. Both scored a try with a linebreak and had at least a try assist each, offering one of the comprehensive halves performances offered by NZW during the two Andys era. Add in how 10 of the 17 players used had at least two dummy passes and this must have been part of the plan, which is nifty when packaged with more crisp passing and offloads.

Jackson Ford was again deployed in the mahi-man role playing 70 minutes. It's a similar situation with Jacob Laban as he played 46 minutes and laid the foundations for Halasima to enter the arena.

Samuel Healey's impact was easy to see in his 19 minutes. Healey had 3 runs - 32m @ 10.6m/run which was boosted by a linebreak, as well as having an offload. Both dummy halves had an offload and that reinforces the plan to move the footy, plus both hookers are capable of offloading despite not being powerful runners.

The main bummer was Ali Leiataua's defence vs Billy Smith on the right edge. It was a tough match up for Leiataua compared to Adam Pompey lining up against Fetalaiga Pauga on the other edge for example and while Leiataua made Smith look like prime Joey Manu, don't forget that right edge defence was the weakest link last season and that involved a wide range of players.

NZW also only conceded three tries and their defence was pretty good overall, especially against the power of Roosters and their funky halves combination. It seemed like NZW were always going to score a try when they went down the Roosters end of the field and despite some lapses, there was a feeling that NZW could stop Roosters scoring, even when defending for long periods deep in their territory.

That was as good as round one wins get for NZW. They out-classed a team many would have viewed as favourites and continue to show that this team does not revolve around one individual. More importantly, there were new wrinkles to their footy and those additions are perfect for NRL footy in 2026. Onwards and upwards.

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Peace and love.