The Covid-19 pandemic hit many hard – a time of loss in so many ways and to the National Rugby League – it meant chaos.
If it was not for the New Zealand Warriors relocating in a bubble in Queensland – the NRL would have stopped and closed shop.
For many years prior, the sleeping giant across the ditch struggled to fulfill their prophecy.
The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of rugby league.
But it wasn’t their fault.
Depending on their mood, on any given weekend in Auckland, the Warriors could devour and spit out any visiting side they wanted.
The Warriors we knew in Auckland, have rarely been able to do the same on a consistent basis on their away trips in Australia.
Something in that bubble during COVID unleashed a new mentality in the Warriors. Playing footy and having to sit on a plane back to Australia every second week wasn’t the end of the world, anymore.
They found ways to win.
After 17 rounds of the 2025 season, the Warriors are sitting inside the top four.
Only three times in their existence, have they finished in the final four at the completion of the premiership season.
The have a chance to create history.
Forget the fact they’ve lost their big prop Mitch Barnett.
Next man up.
Their flying playmaker Luke Metcalf is out for the season after suffering an ACL injury in their loss to the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
The Warriors also lost Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad for four weeks during the clash in Brisbane.
“Going into round one, we’ve got four elite halfbacks,” Warriors coach Andrew Webster said post-match.
“We have Tanah Boyd, Te Maire Martin, Chanel [Harris-Tavita], Luke Metcalf.
“So, we’ve got a lot to choose from there.
“But if Charnze is out, we’ve got Taine Tuaupiki, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, we’ve got lots of options.”
No excuses from coach.
Next man up.
And this is why.
For all those years, where the Warriors or the fans, have felt angry or frustrated at the draw or the fact their team must travel so much and so often – 2025 and their run home has set them up for their best chance yet to win their maiden premiership.
Yes, and that means, without Barnett and Metcalf.
The NRL did them no favours when they returned home after COVID.
In 2023, the Warriors finished the regular season in 4th place.
Webster’s Warriors, however, did not fear travelling.
The Warriors had never looked so comfortable in their own skins away from Mount Smart Stadium with an 8-4 record.
The ghosts of the Warriors came back to bite them.
In the final round of the season, they got done by the Dolphins in Brisbane – 34-30.
Got smashed by the Penrith Panthers in a qualifying final in Sydney, then went back to Auckland and flogged the Knights before finishing their season in Brisbane and a 42-12 drubbing at the hands of the Broncos.
In 2007, they lost four of their first five away games.
Even in 2002, in their incredible run which claimed them the minor premiership, another pattern appeared but it was the same result as the campaign went on.
Up until the State of Origin period, the Warriors went 7-0 away from home.
Couldn’t be beaten.
In the final third of the season, despite still claiming the minor premiership, the Warriors went 1-4.
Their first road trip loss came to Cronulla, 36-24, at Shark Park, in round 17.
Then they dropped another one to Canberra.
Both those sides finished in the bottom of the 8 and played finals footy.
Somewhere in there, the Warriors scraped home against the Panthers at Penrith Park in a high-scoring game.
Then came a 44-0 flogging to the Roosters at the Sydney Football Stadium and a shock loss to the Northern Eagles, 18-16.
But 2025 could be different for the Wahs.
Obviously, they need to keep winning at home.
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The loss to the under-strength Panthers two weeks ago could have raised some eyebrows.
Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.
Last weekend, they almost jagged one against the resurgent Broncos on a Sunday afternoon in Brisbane.
Facts are facts.
The fact is, the Warriors are 5-2 at home and still 5-3 away.
Injuries?
Every club gets them.
For everything Andrew Webster and the Warriors have achieved, with or without Barnett and Metcalf, the Warriors have never been better set up.
This is the kicker.
The Warriors have earned the respect of the rugby league world for becoming a powerhouse away from home.
They’ve been through everything.
Decades of struggle and travel.
COVID.
They now sit 4th, and they look at their draw for the remainder of 2025.
After a bye this weekend, the Warriors play five of nine games in Auckland.
The Warriors host Wests Tigers, Titans, Dolphins, Dragons and Eels at home.
Next Wah up.
