Sevens gold medallist Stacey Waaka is set to pull on the NZ Warriors jersey for the first time this weekend, with the 30 year old named to make her club debut against the Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium in Canberra on Sunday afternoon.
Waaka comes into the side on the wing for round two of the NRLW season, and her arrival gives the Warriors one of the most decorated athletes in the country. She won Olympic gold with the Black Ferns Sevens at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 and backed that up with a second gold in Paris in 2024. She has also been part of two winning 15 a side World Cup campaigns, in 2017 and 2021, which makes her one of the few New Zealanders to have collected silverware across three versions of the game.
She missed the Warriors opener because she was still tied up with international sevens duty and then picked up a concussion in the world series finale in Bordeaux at the start of June. The Warriors did not need her in that first match, running out to an impressive 32-10 win over the Canterbury Bulldogs, but a shoulder injury to prolific tryscorer Payton Takimoana has opened the door earlier than expected.
Takimoana, who lit up the competition in 2025, faces more than a month on the sideline, and coach Ron Griffiths told RNZ that the situation had accelerated Waaka’s introduction. “We’ve got a few injuries out of the weekend, so there’s a fair chance she’ll play,” Griffiths said. “We’re a little bit skinny and we’re down to our last one.”
Rugby league is still relatively new territory for Waaka, even at this level. She first tried the code in 2024 when she joined the Brisbane Broncos, having never played it before, and she took to it quickly. She scored six tries in six appearances before a broken leg ended her season, yet she still did enough to be named in the Dally M Women’s Team of the Year and to be crowned the Broncos NRLW Rookie of the Year.
Coming home to play for the only New Zealand based team in the competition was always the pull. “I couldn’t say no, this was a no-brainer,” Waaka told RNZ when she signed. “The Warriors, the only team here in New Zealand, would be an absolute dream.”
She was also quick to credit the Broncos for the way they eased her into a foreign sport. “They were quite good about me coming in as an absolute no-one, never played league in my life, and they never tried to put pressure on me,” she said. The wing, she reckons, was the kindest place to start. “I would say I’m a fast learner, but for me, playing wing was probably an easier transition than some of the other positions with more structure.”
Griffiths sees value in her that goes beyond what she does with the ball. “I think she brings a sense of leadership in how she prepares,” he said. He was also honest about what a name like Waaka does for a young franchise still building its profile. “The other thing they bring, in New Zealand, is a bit of notoriety, which is always good.” When it came to recruiting her, though, he said the conversation was never really about the football. “When I spoke with them, it was never about the rugby league. It was always about wanting the opportunity to come home and be around their families, and representing their whanau in their hometown.”
Teammate Gayle Broughton, another sevens international who has switched between the codes, has backed Waaka to make an immediate impact while feeling for the injured Takimoana. The two sevens stars know each other’s games well, and Broughton pointed to Waaka’s proven ability to execute under pressure in both formats.
Waaka is not the only change for the trip across the Tasman. The Warriors welcome back 2025 Rookie of the Year Ivana Lauitiiti, who returns from suspension, while lock Laishon Albert-Jones is sidelined with a calf injury and front rower Mya Hill-Moana is suspended after a hip drop tackle. Griffiths is reshuffling his pack while trying to keep the momentum from the opening week rolling.
For the Warriors, getting Waaka onto the field is a statement in itself. The club has made a habit of drawing New Zealand’s best women home rather than watching them build careers with Australian sides, and landing an athlete of her standing signals real intent behind the NRLW programme. For Waaka, it is a chance to finish what the injuries in Brisbane cut short, this time in front of home crowds and in the colours she grew up watching.
The match against Canberra kicks off at 2pm New Zealand time on Sunday. A strong showing from the returning stars would keep the Warriors near the top of the early standings and give the club’s women’s side more of the attention it has been quietly earning.
Are you following the Warriors women this season, and do you want to see more of New Zealand’s sevens stars crossing to league? Let us know in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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