Special Interest

The Warriors’ spirited 2025 season came to an end via a gallant 24-8 elimination final loss to four-time defending premiers Penrith in Auckland. After holding the Panthers to a 6-2 halftime scoreline and trailing just 12-8 with 15 minutes to go, the Warriors conceding a back-breaking try against the run of play and another runaway four-pointer as they started to chase the scoreboard. The Warriors admirably hung in the contest despite enjoying just 44 percent possession and uncharacteristically losing the run metres count 1,748 to 1,394. The post-contact metres tally was just 624 to 523 in the Panthers’ favour, however,…

In what was essentially a dead-rubber, the Warriors finished the 2025 NRL regular season with a sloppy 27-26 loss to Manly at 4 Pines Park. The finals-bound Warriors scored the fastest try in NRL history – James Fisher-Harris dotting down after just nine seconds after the Sea Eagles flubbed the kick-off – but that’s about as good as it got for the visitors. Manly scored three tries in the next 15 minutes and led 26-10 with half an hour to play but made hard work of closing out the win in an ugly contest featuring 30 errors. The Warriors had…

The Warriors’ top-four hopes received a mortal wound in the penultimate round, edged 26-22 by out-of-contention Parramatta Eels in Auckland on Friday night. Concentration lapses in defence proved costly as the Eels built 20-4 and 26-16 leads. The Warriors came home with a wet sail – scoring three of the last four tries – but were denied a late match-winner by a controversial Bunker no try reversal. The bare statistics reveal that it was a game the Warriors should never have let get to that point: they had 54 percent possession, led the all run metres (2,046 to 1,673), post-contact…

The Warriors kept their top-four quest on track and overcame a frustrating bogey in a comfortable 32-18 victory over last-placed Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium in Round 25. After a dreadful start saw them concede a try in the fourth minute, the Warriors kept their line intact for the next 70 minutes – crossing five times themselves in the interim – to seal just their second win in eight matches against the lowly Titans. The Warriors dominated possession (54 percent) and, accordingly, all run metres (1,737 to 1,372), post-contact metres (620 to 509) and average set distance (41.36…

Gritty, scrappy, ugly, lucky…whatever adjective you use to describe the Warriors’ 14-10 win over a concussion-hit St George Illawarra side in Auckland last Friday, it can’t detract from the value of two competition points. The Warriors were in early trouble as the Dragons raced to a 10-0 lead after 20 minutes, but the visitors lost three middle forwards to failed HIAs inside half an hour. Chanel Harris belatedly put the Warriors on the board before halftime and a pair of Adam Pompey tries got them over the line in a tense thriller. Enjoying a near-even share of possession, the Warriors…

Beset by injuries and bogged down by the slippery Sydney conditions, the Warriors were overrun 32-14 by heavyweights Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday. The Bulldogs always looked in control after building a 20-2 halftime lead, with a two-tries-apiece second half barely enough to get Warriors’ fans heartrates above resting on a gloomy night. The Warriors had just 44 percent possession and were restricted to a season-low 974 running metres, while they failed to make a line-break and broke just 14 tackles. The Bulldogs made six line-breaks and 44 tackle-breaks. An average set distance of just 26.35 metres (the Bulldogs posted just…

The patched-up Warriors had their hearts broken 20-18 by the Dolphins in a potentially damaging result to their top-four hopes, conceding a last-minute try at Mount Smart Stadium. Missing top-liners Wayde Egan, Chanel Harris-Tavita, James Fisher-Harris and Demetric Vaimauga on top of long-term injured group Mitch Barnett, Luke Metcalf, Rocco Berry and Ali Leiataua, the Warriors were on course for a famous rearguard win after clawing from 16-6 down to cling to a two-point lead until the dying seconds. Statistically, the Warriors laid a platform for victory. The hosts enjoyed 52 percent possession, completed at 83 percent to the Dolphins’…

The Warriors are reeling after a crucial 24-16 home loss to the bottom-placed Gold Coast Titans, blowing a gift-wrapped opportunity to pull five points clear in fourth spot. In a throwback to 2024, the Warriors gave up a double-digit lead for the first time this season – getting out to a 10-0 scoreline after eight minutes before getting overrun by a Titans outfit that beat the hosts at their own game. The battling Titans enjoyed 54 percent possession on the back of an elite 90 percent completion rate (40/44), consequently winning run metres (1,876 to 1,709) and post-contact metres (659…