New Zealand Warriors have the same 5-2 start to the NRL season as they did last year but they are scoring more points and have made significant improvements in a bunch of other hot pockets. All of which has happened with 24 different players being used in the first seven games of the season, meanwhile the NSW Cup team and Jersey Flegg Cup teams have had winning starts to their seasons as well.

The NRL Warriors started the season with three wins before dipping away from their best footy in losses to Tigers and Sharks. That delivered a key juncture at Mt Smart to see how they responded to adversity and it was amplified by a lack of response during the losses. Since then NZW have had two wins which saw them return to their point-scoring and completion rate grooves.

When NZW have completion rates over 80%, they win. The only games they have dropped below that mark were the two losses and they were also the only games in which NZW have scored less than 25 points so far this season. NZW have scored less than 20 points in just one game this season and the only games in which they have conceded 30+ points were the two losses.

Last season's winning start featured a points differential of -4 after seven games and that has flipped of +84 after seven games this season, while keeping the same 5-2 record. There are also clear improvements in a bunch of stats (all per games)...

Points

2025: 21
2026: 31.7

Tries

2025: 3.7
2026: 5.4

Linebreaks

2025: 3.9
2026: 5.1

Tackle breaks

2025: 30.4
2026: 33.4

Offloads

2025: 7.7
2026: 8.6

Dummy half runs

2025: 8.4
2026: 10.3

Supports

2025: 50.5
2026: 65.3

Completions

2025: 81.4%
2026: 83.6%

Penalties conceded

2025: 5
2026: 3.9

The buzz last season was all about Luke Metcalf and yet NZW are a far more vibrant team so far this season. Tanah Boyd is having a career-best season and this offers an intriguing comparison between these two halves in each season. Here are the per game basics for 2025 Luke Metcalf and 2026 Tanah Boyd...

2025 Luke Metcalf

67% wins
47.4 receipts
7.8 points
0.53 tries
0.6 try assists
71m
377.7 kick metres
0.6 forced droppies
88.4% tackling

2026 Tanah Boyd

71% wins
63 receipts
10.8 points
0.42 tries
1.2 try assists
69m
550.7 kick metres
0.57 forced droppies
85.2% tackling

Chanel Harris-Tavita has not lost a game as a starting half this season and he has adjusted to playing alongside Boyd more often. Harris-Tavita has less receipts, run metres and kicking metres than last season, but he is averaging more points per game while playing his winning role. Here are the per game basics for Chanel Harris-Tavita in 2025 and 2026...

2025

58% wins
47 receipts
1.33 points
0.33 tries
0.75 try assists
61m
200.9 kick metres
0.16 forced droppies
88.9% tackling

2026

100% wins
26 receipts
3 points
0.75 tries
0.5 try assists
33m
120.3 kick metres
0.25 forced droppies
87% tackling

The fact that Metcalf was a Dally M contender last year makes Boyd's mahi even more interesting. Neither are the Dally M contenders right now though with Jackson Ford currently leading the charts and the four other players with 15+ Dally M points are all halves/fullbacks.

The Dally M focus is lovely but overlooks the team-wide contributions that help an NRL team win. Harris-Tavita was in a career-best zone playing alongside Metcalf last season but had no such spotlight for example. This season Ford is serving up incredible stats that deserve the recognition he is getting, but James Fisher-Harris and Mitchell Barnett play key roles as forward pack leaders and Erin Clark is the distribution hub in the middle who also churns through metres.

NZW success does not depend on one player and it hasn't since the two Andys era started. Various players departed, many of whom folks thought would be major losses and NZW kept winning. This is evident in the 2026 season as a wide range of players have been used and different combinations have been deployed across the wins.

Taine Tuaupiki and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad have shared fullback duties. Nicoll-Klokstad, Adam Pompey, Ali Leiataua and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck have played centre so far this season. Barnett and Kurt Capewell didn't play in the win vs Storm and returned to contribute to the win vs Titans, as part of a group who have played edge forward this season along with Ford, Leka Halasima, Jacob Laban and Marata Niukore.

The local juniors have flowed into more NRL footy this season which is especially impressive when they are on the field together. Leiataua is 5-0 as a starting centre this season, Vaimauga is a regular bench player, Halasima and Laban are usually selected ahead of Niukore and Tanner Stowers-Smith had a patch where he was one of the best NZW players as a fast forward.

Eddie Ieremia-Toeava is the only local junior who has already made his debut and hasn't played yet this season. His ability to play middle and edge will lead to game time this year, especially with Morgan Gannon suffering a few concussions already. In the local junior category, Makaia Tafua (Linwood) is a dummy half on the rise behind Sam Healey, Kayliss Fatialofa (Otara) is the next edge forward behind Ieremia-Toeava/Gannon and Jason Salalilo (Papanui) has potential to cover middle forward in the NRL this season.

Gannon fits the theme of excellent recruitment as a deep cut from England. Alofiana Khan-Pereira's selection on the wing with Tuivasa-Sheck at centre has refreshed the NRL team and is another example of NZW highlighting a need (speed) then getting busy in the player market. Haizyn Mellars joined NZW over the summer and he is benefitting from regular NSW Cup footy which will soon see him add to the NRL depth on the wing.

Luke Hanson played his role as a starting half in the win vs Knights and he leads a cluster of halves that offer depth unseen at Mt Smart before. Along with Metcalf, Te Maire Martin and Jye Linnane have been out injured to start the season. Jett Cleary continues to roll through consistent NSW Cup footy and despite all the hype around Cleary, NZW have 19-year-old Jack Thompson who they recruited from Australia last year who is already helping the NSW Cup team win games.

Harry Inch looks comfortable in rugby league having played most of the U21 games so far along with Wellington's Maui Winitana-Patelesio. Inch seems to be out injured at the moment and Tyson Hansen is named in the halves, as one of the most impressive juniors in the NZW system. Rotorua's Hansen started this season in U19s and slid into the U21s as a middle forward, as part of a wave of juniors moving up the grades.

Joseph Ratcliffe, Gordon Afoa, Bishop Neal, Connor Bowden and Amasio Tiatia also played U19s to start the year before moving up to U21s. Jeremiah Lemana didn't play U19s and started his season in U21s, before making his NSW Cup debut at 17-years-old. Lemana wasn't the only 17-year-old to play reserve grade though as Tiatia played one game at dummy half and Neal has become a regular in NSW Cup.

Lemana started two games at centre and scored two tries. He played alongside Caelys Putoko who is thriving as a NSW Cup centre, which has led to Sio Kali and Motu Pasikala playing more U21s this year than NSW Cup. Along with wingers Brandon Norris and Harry Tauafiafi-Iutoi, all these players have clear NRL potential and will be boosted by competition for selection - although that is not unique for NZW and is similar for most positions.

Neal has scored at least two tries in U19s, U21s and NSW Cup this year. Here's his mahi as a 17-year-old in NSW Cup...

vs Knights: 80mins, 1 try
vs Magpies: 57mins, 2 tries, 2 offloads
vs Jets: 55mins, 1 linebreak, 3 offloads
vs Storm: 49mins
vs Sea Eagles: 48mins, 1 try, 1 try assist, 1 offload

It's not just the NRL recruitment that deserves a salute for NZW as they picked up Cooper Page-Wilson from Queensland Cup and he has settled as a leader for the NSW Cup team at middle forward. Page-Wilson is bigger than most NZW forwards in the NRL/NSW Cup group and has more experience having played multiple Queensland Cup seasons as well as NRL preseason footy with Broncos and Storm.

Page-Wilson adds value to the NSW Cup team and also has potential to command an NRL opportunity. He could be the next player who comes to Mt Smart at the reserve grade level and develops into a reliable NRL player. The two Andys have made a habit of developing this type of recruit, yet that blends in with their ability to recruit excellent young Aussie halves and a never-ending supply of juniors from around Aotearoa.

Along with the young Aussie halves and Page-Wilson, Norris comes from the Northern Territory and he was joined by Braelen Marsh who moved from Redcliffe over the summer. Marsh has been a regular at dummy half for the U21s and has a similar style to the Aussie hookers in Egan and Healey as an exciting attacking threat around the ruck.

Marsh has played three games of NSW Cup as well, with 20+ minutes in all three. He has tackle breaks in all three games, plus a try and another linebreak. Marsh is a tough wee chap as well with 53 tackles @ 94.7% at the reserve grade level. The hooker role offers a nice snapshot of NZW recruitment and development because Healey and Marsh were recruited to provide attacking flair.

Tafua and Tiatia, along with Jacob Auloa who is getting plenty of NSW Cup game time this season, are all ruthlessly physical. They started playing NSW Cup as teenagers and have also played as small forwards in the NZW system because they thrive with the physicality required to do those jobs.

The main bummer in 2026 is a combined record of 3-13 in the U19 and U17 grades. That's amplified by NZW being back to back U17 Harold Matthews Cup champions in their first two seasons, then falling to 15th this season. The SG Ball Cup team finished 13th this year but they usually struggle to crack finals and the U19 team always produces players who thrive when moving up to U21s in the same year.

It's hard to be too down on those junior results when three 17-year-olds have played NSW Cup already this year, along with all the other fantastic things happening at Mt Smart. NZW still draw the biggest crowds in Aotearoa sport and upcoming games in Wellington and Christchurch will reinforce how NZW are one of the best sports oranisations in New Zealand.

Support our rugby league coverage by joining the Patreon whanau or donate through Buy Me A Coffee. A little goes a long way to fund our mahi. Smash an ad.

Peace and love.