# New Zealand Warriors Women

The New Zealand Warriors Women are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that will re-enter the National Rugby League Women's (NRLW) premiership for the 2025 season. The Warriors women’s team are to be coached by Ronald Griffiths. As with their men’s team, the Warriors women are based at Mount Smart Stadium in the Auckland suburb of Penrose. The Warriors women’s team previously competed in the NRLW for three seasons: 2018, 2019, and 2020.

## History

In December 2017, the New Zealand Warriors expressed their interest in applying for a licence to participate in the inaugural NRL Women's Premiership. In March 2018, they were awarded one of four licences for the league's inaugural season, to commence in September of the same year. Luisa Avaiki was named the coach of the side.
The team competed in, and finished 3rd place in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the latter of which included the first ever standalone NRLW match held at Mount Smart Stadium.
The team was impacted in 2020 by travel restrictions imposed to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Five New Zealand based players from the previous season elected to go through three weeks of quarantine isolation on arrival in Australia to prepare for the 2020 NRLW season. The remainder of the Warriors squad consisted of Australian based players. The team was coached by Jillaroos coach, Brad Donald. The side came in third place (from four) for the third consecutive year.
In June 2021, CEO Cameron George announced the team would not compete in the 2021 competition but plan to re-enter the competition in 2022. This did not eventuate, however, with the NRL announcing NRLW expansion to 10 teams for the 2023 season that did not include the Warriors. In August 2022, during a Members-Only meeting with CEO Cameron George, Owner Mark Robinson, Coach Stacey Jones, and Captain Tohu Harris. It was announced their intention to re-enter the competition for the 2025 season. On March 28 2024, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo announced the Warriors would rejoin the NRLW, along with a Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs team, in an expanded 12-team competition from 2025.

## Players
### 2025 squad

From 10 September 2024 the New Zealand Warriors began to announce player signings for the 2025 NRLW season.
| Player | Position(s) | Announcement Date | 2024 Club |
| Apii Nicholls | Fullback | 10 Sep 2024 | Canberra Raiders |
| Mya Hill-Moana | Prop | 12 Sep 2024 | Sydney Roosters |
| Capri Paekau | Hooker | 12 Sep 2024 | Taniwharau |
| Harata Butler | Prop | 12 Sep 2024 | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Laishon Albert-Jones | Second-row, Lock | 16 Sep 2024 | Newcastle Knights |
| Matekino Gray | Prop | 18 Sep 2024 | Gold Coast Titans |
| Emmanita Paki | Centre, Wing | 18 Sep 2024 | Central Qld Capras |
| Lavinia Tauhalaliku | Wing, Centre | 18 Sep 2024 | North Queensland Cowboys |

## Coaches

On 1 July 2024, the club announced the appointment of Ronald Griffiths as head coach of their NRLW team, for their return to the competition in 2025. Griffiths was appointed on a three-year deal.
| Coach | Season Span | M | W | D | L | For | Agst | Win % | Share % |
| Luisa Avaiki | 2018–2019 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 56 | 104 | 50.00% | 35.00% |
| Brad Donald | 2020 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 60 | 33.33% | 44.44% |
Table last updated: 3 August 2024.

## Seasons

| Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Finals | Nines | Ref |
| Season | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Finals | Nines | Ref |
| 2018 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 58 | 2 | 3rd | — | — | |
| 2019 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 46 | 4 | 3rd | — | — | |
| 2020 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 60 | 0 | 3rd | — | 4th | |

## Club records
### Head-to-head records

| Opponent | First Meeting | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Win % | Share |
| Roosters | 8 Sep 2018 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 38 | 66.67% | 50.00% |
| Dragons | 15 Sep 2018 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 58 | 33.33% | 35.56% |
| Broncos | 21 Sep 2018 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 68 | 33.33% | 33.33% |
| Totals | 8 Sep 2018 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 104 | 164 | 44.44% | 38.81% |
Notes
* Share % is the percentage of points For over the sum of points For and Against.
* Clubs listed in the order than the Dragons Women first played them.
* Last updated: 3 August 2024

### Player records

Lists and tables last updated: 3 August 2024.
Most Games for the Warriors
* Georgia Hale – 9, Hilda Peters – 9, Crystal Tamarua – 7, Onjeurlina Leiataua – 6, Apii Nicholls – 6, Krystal Rota – 6.
Most Tries for the Warriors
* Evania Pelite – 3.
Most Points or the Warriors (10+)
| Player | M | T | G | FG | Points |
| Apii Nicholls | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Evania Pelite | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Kirra Dibb | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
Most Points in a Season (14+)
| Player | Season | M | T | G | FG | Points |
| Evania Pelite | 2020 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Kirra Dibb | 2020 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 |

### Margins and streaks

Biggest winning margins
| Margin | Score | Opponent | Venue | Date |
| 12 | 22—10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Sydney Olympic Stadium | 17 Oct 2020 |
Biggest losing margins
| Margin | Score | Opponent | Venue | Date |
| 22 | 10—32 | Brisbane Broncos | Melbourne Rectangular Stadium | 21 Sep 2018 |
| 22 | 4—26 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Mount Smart Stadium | 22 Sep 2019 |
Most consecutive wins
* 1 — (wins on 8 September 2018 (R1), 14 September 2019 (R1), 28 September 2019 (R3), and 17 October 2020 (R3)).
Most consecutive losses
* 2 — (15 September 2018 — 21 September 2018)
* 2 — (3 October 2020 — 10 October 2020)