Breaking Down How New Zealand Warriors Have Started The 2026 NRLW Season
New Zealand Warriors are 3-1 to start their NRLW season and two of their wins have been in Australia, leading into Magic Round where Warriors will take on Titans in Wagga Wagga. Titans have the same record as Warriors and that makes them the best team that Warriors have played so far. Warriors have had wins against Eels and Cowboys who are both 0-4, while the other win was against Bulldogs who are in the group of four teams who are 2-2.
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It's been a chaotic start to the season with phases of excellent Warriors footy accompanied by notable lapses. The lapses are most evident in defence as Warriors usually offer big spaces behind the ruck for opponents to pounce on and this is woven together with discipline issues as Warriors try to slow down the ruck speed.
A gift and a curse for Warriors is the size of their forwards, specifically a ruthless group of middle forwards who have led Warriors to the most post contact metres per game in NRLW this season. The injection of Harata Butler and Ivana Lauitiiti off the bench has provided tremendous impact, along with the mahi of others like Annetta Nu'uausala and Metanoia Fetalaiga who have rotated through starting roles.
This also means that the Warriors forward pack is a bit slower and can quickly fatigue, allowing faster forwards and eager outside backs to find space through the middle. Kaiyah Atai played her first game of the season vs Eels and while the Eels' speed was an issue for Warriors, Atai's presence at lock gave them more mobility and a decent passing option.
The team named to play Titans has Maarire Puketapu named at prop and this could suggest a further tweak to the forward pack. Puketapu and Atai have both played edge forward for Warriors before and this should give the middle forward rotation more balance between size and mobility.
Puketapu and Atai don't need to play edge forward because Shakira Baker continues to excel in rugby league. Baker is one of the best edge forwards in NRLW right now and Christabelle Onesemo-Tuilaepa has played on the other edge for the most of the season. Onesemo-Tuilaepa was one of the most surprising additions to the Warriors squad and it was only announced officially around round one, making her involvements through the first four games extra impressive.
Onesemo-Tuilaepa moved from Samoa to Auckland as a teenager, having already represented Samoa in rugby union alongside her twin sister Demielle as a 14-year-old. They played both codes in Aotearoa and Christabelle has played 40+ minutes in her first four NRLW games as a 21-year-old. She had two full games (70mins) in there as well and the scouting of Warriors, especially for young wahine who have gone from local footy in Aotearoa to NRLW, has been awesome under coach Ronald Griffiths.
Last year players like Ivana Lauitiiti and Ashlee Matapo played notable roles as teenagers stepping up from local footy. Then there are the players who moved higher levels of rugby union and Ocean Tierney is a mix of both, having already played Farah Palmer Cup before zoning in on rugby league where she earned a promotion to Warriors.
Tierney's done well on the wing in her first three games of NRLW, scoring three tries and eating up all the kicks sent her way. Jasmin Huriwai left Australia to chase an opportunity with Warriors and she has played a significant role as a dummy half who can also cover small forward duties. While many look to the high profile rugby union signings as the indicator of how Warriors are tracking, the way they have scouted and developed others into NRLW players is a better example of what's cooking at Mt Smart.
There has been plenty of movement in the halves already this season. Gayle Broughton and Patricia Maliepo seemed like the best halves combo, but Broughton missed a couple of games and Maliepo has now switched to hooker. Emmanita Paki continues to offer immense value to Warriors after being one of the most important players last season and she has snapped up her opportunity in the halves, combing natural footy skills and maturity that goes beyond her 23-years of age.
Maliepo's running and kicking gives Warriors a fresh twist at hooker. Huriwai and Capri Paekau have shared those duties, now Huriwai is missing the Titans game so Maliepo is named to start at dummy half with Paekau on the bench. Meanwhile, Apii Nicholls is locked in at fullback and she is in a career-best zone during her seventh season of NRLW.
Nicholls already has four try assists in the first four games of the season and that's tied with her four try assists in the 2023 and 2024 seasons while at Raiders. She is also averaging 3.2 tackle breaks per game, 116m per game and her 84.4% tackling is the highest of her career. Most of which stems from more touches of the footy as she was on 25.9 receipts per game last year and has increased to 34 receipts per game this year.
This should be the first game of the season with a full strength outside back group. Mele Hufanga hasn't played yet this season and she is named at centre. Tysha Ikenasio has been so good at centre that she stays in that role, bumping Stacey Waaka to the wing along with Payton Takimoana who has scored 16 tries in 13 NRLW games.
Lavinia Tauhalaliku and Tierney have done well in their games on the wing, while Waaka has played centre in two of her three games. This season Waaka has two tries, four try assists, 14 tackle breaks and two offloads. She doesn't have a linebreak yet after six in her season with Broncos but Waaka didn't have any try assists in 2024.
As the NRLW team was in Sydney last week for their game vs Eels, a couple squad members lined up for Rabbitohs in NSW Women's Premiership. Warriors and Rabbitohs have a partnership to allow for Warriors wahine to play reserve grade (along with premier women's footy in Auckland), as well as offering a connection to NRLW for Rabbitohs.
Young Aussie half Natalia Hickling came off the bench for Rabbitohs last week and 17-year-old phenom Asha Taumoepeau-Williams scored a try at centre. Keep an eye out for Taumoepeau-Williams moving forward as she dominated U17 Lisa Fiaola Cup while only 15-years-old with Bulldogs, then she played Farah Palmer Cup last year for Auckland.
Warriors per game stat profile
Set completion: 8th - 74.2%
Points: 4th - 26
Tries: 4th - 5.5
Try assists: 3rd - 4.3
Linebreaks: 6th - 5.3
Run metres: 5th - 1,365.8
Kick return metres: 5th - 132.7
Post contact metres: 1st - 565.3
Tackle breaks: 2nd - 34.5
Dummy half runs: 3rd - 11.5
Offloads: 2nd - 9.8
Missed tackles: 4th - 31.3
Kick metres: 9th - 321.6
Errors: 8th - 9.8
Penalties conceded: 3rd - 7.8
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