The Warriors women have opened their 2026 NRLW season with a statement, running in seven tries to beat the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 32-10 in front of their own crowd at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on Sunday afternoon.
It was the kind of start a side with premiership ambitions needed. The Warriors took about half an hour to settle, but once they found their rhythm they were ruthless, scoring three tries in the space of three sets immediately after the break to turn a tight contest into a rout.
Centre Emmanita Paki and winger Lavinia Tauhalaliku both bagged doubles, and there were further tries to new recruit Gayle Broughton, Tysha Ikenasio and halfback Patricia Maliepo, whose four-pointer in the 55th minute put the result beyond doubt. The Warriors led 10-0 at the break through early tries to Broughton and Paki, then piled on the points down a productive left edge in the second spell.
The win was not entirely without blemish. Debutant prop Mya Hill-Moana spent 10 minutes in the sin bin after a hip-drop tackle on Bulldogs captain Tayla Preston close to the goal-line, an incident the match officials will have looked at closely given how tightly that tackle type is now policed. The Bulldogs managed to convert some of that period of pressure into their only real reward of the afternoon, but the Warriors’ defence held firm for the rest of the contest.
This is the second season back for the One New Zealand Warriors women, who returned to the competition last year after spending four seasons on the sidelines following the disruption of the Covid pandemic. Where last year was about re-establishing themselves, this year the expectation from inside and outside the club is that they can genuinely contend.
Much of that confidence rests with head coach Ron Griffiths, a two-time NRLW-winning coach who guided the Newcastle Knights to back-to-back titles before crossing the Tasman. Griffiths has been open about the standard he is chasing. Speaking to Sport Nation ahead of the season, he said the club is “30 percent better than what we were last year and that’s right across the programme”.
“We were strong last year without being great at moments, but we believe there’s no reason we can’t go from good to great if we keep applying ourselves,” Griffiths said. He added that the Warriors now have “a squad this season that is competitive, and no doubt has the potential to be there on the final day”.
The recruitment over the off-season backs up the talk. The Warriors lured Broughton, a recently crowned NRLW premiership winner and dual New Zealand international, from the Brisbane Broncos on a two-year deal, and she started Sunday’s game at five-eighth. They also added Broncos pair Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala and Mele Hufanga, along with sevens gold medallist Stacey Waaka and fellow rugby convert Jasmin Huriwai. Maliepo, one of the standouts of last year’s campaign, was re-signed and steered the side around the park from halfback on Sunday.
Not everyone was available. Waaka, one of the marquee cross-code signings, has had her debut delayed after a concussion, with the club taking a cautious approach before throwing her into the top grade. On the evidence of the opening round, the Warriors have enough depth to manage without her for now.
The result lifted the Warriors to third on the NRLW ladder after the first round, sitting behind reigning champions the Brisbane Broncos and last season’s minor premiers the Sydney Roosters only on points difference. In a competition that has expanded and tightened in recent years, banking four competition points and a healthy for-and-against tally in week one is exactly the platform Griffiths would have wanted.
There is a wider story here too. With the men’s Warriors having sold out all 11 of their home games for 2026 and sitting well placed on the NRL ladder, the club is enjoying a period of momentum on both sides of the draw. The question being asked in Auckland now is a genuinely open one, and one that would have seemed fanciful a couple of years ago, which of the two Warriors sides gets closest to silverware this season. On Sunday’s showing, the women intend to be part of that conversation.
The Warriors women are back on the road next round, with plenty to build on and a coach who has made it clear that a good start is only worth something if the side keeps improving from here. You can read more on the match at RNZ and in the build-up coverage from the NZ Herald.
Did you watch the Warriors women get their season under way, and do you think they can go one better than the men this year? Let us know your thoughts 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 π
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