Since 1995, the Warriors have been hunting a premiership. Is this the year the Provan-Summons Trophy finally heads to New Zealand?

WHEN the Auckland Warriors, as they were then known, ran onto Mount Smart Stadium for the first time in 1995, rival clubs on the other side of the Tasman held more than a hint of apprehension.

“Won’t this new Kiwi club from across the ditch quickly compile a Test-calibre playing roster? And when they do, who stands a chance of stopping them?”

Kiwi internationals Stephen Kearney, Sean Hoppe, Richie Blackmore and Gene Ngamu flocked home. Premiership-winning Aussies Greg Alexander and Phil Blake added star power. Wigan duo John Monie and Dean Bell — serial winners in cherry and white — became coach and captain.

More than three decades later, any fears of an unstoppable New Zealand juggernaut have proved unfounded. Now in their 32nd season, the Warriors are yet to taste the ultimate success.

There’s no doubt their expansion project has still been an unmitigated success. The Warriors boast a large and loyal following in rugby union-mad New Zealand. Just try to find an empty seat at Mount Smart, or in Wellington or Christchurch when they take a game on the road.

And on the park, they’ve certainly had their moments, like Grand Final appearances in 2002 and 2011.

But could this be the year the Warriors fulfil their promise and take that next step to premiership glory?

Andrew Webster’s men could hardly have made a better start to 2026.

Heading into their Round 10 bye, the New Zealanders are entrenched in the top four with seven wins and just two losses.

Crucially for a team forced to travel so far for away games, they’ve nabbed three wins from their four trips to Australia, losing only to Cronulla.

After a Magic Round clash with Brisbane on their own turf, a visit to Kogarah to face lowly St George Illawarra and a daunting date with the table-topping Penrith in Parramatta will test their away form ahead of another week off in Round 14.

It’s all set up for a serious crack at September, after reinventing themselves under Webster since his appointment in 2023.

Webster was a relative unknown — the only current NRL coach who never played at the top level, besides Kristian Woolf — when he inherited a dressing room still reeling from the trauma of the pandemic.

The Warriors were tormented by border closures, lockdowns and confinement in hubs, churning through four coaches between the outbreak of Covid-19 and the arrival of Webster.

The former Tigers and Panthers assistant guided his new club into the top four in 2024, falling in a preliminary final to the Broncos.

After an inconsistent 2024, the Warriors returned to the play-offs last year, but suffered the misfortune of running into Penrith in an elimination final.

They would have finished in the top four again if not for a late-season fade-out, losing five of their last seven home-and-away matches.

The key, again, was their form on foreign soil. In 2025, the Warriors won eight of their 12 games in Australia — a far cry from past iterations that looked like a different side in Auckland than they did across the ditch.

This year, they snapped a 10-game losing streak against Melbourne at AAMI Park, scored just their second win at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium and triumphed in Newcastle for the second straight campaign.

Dusting off the passport no longer carries the same fear it once did.

So what’s going right for the Warriors, both at home and away? Nearly every corner of the team sheet.

It’s impossible to start anywhere other than Jackson Ford in the front row.

For much of his career, the St George Illawarra product had a reputation as a serviceable if not spectacular big man.

This year, Ford is the most unlikely leader of the Dally M Medal race, racking up massive numbers week after week.

Alongside ex-Panther James Fisher-Harris — now in his second year in Auckland after winning premierships for fun at Penrith — he forms clearly the NRL’s premier prop combination.

Adding starch and experience to the pack are Kurt Capewell, Marata Niukore, Erin Clark and Mitch Barnett, who missed the second half of last season with an ACL injury.

And bringing the excitement is a crop of dynamic young forwards headlined by Leka ‘the Wrecker’ Halasima, as well as Demitric Vaimauga, Jacob Laban and Tanner Stowers-Smith.

Any half in the competition would love to play behind that pack, and Tanah Boyd is certainly making the most of it.

The ex-Titan took his chance when Luke Metcalf went down with an ACL last year — and now Metcalf is fit again, Webster has a tricky job to squeeze Boyd, Metcalf and stand-off Chanel Harris-Tavita into the same line-up.

And the selection headaches don’t end there.

Taine Tuaupiki and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad are duelling for the fullback spot, having both impressed in the number one jumper when given the opportunity.

Veteran Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has shifted to centre to find unwanted Titan Alofiana Khan-Pereira a home on the wing — and the prolific flanker has tallied doubles in the three matches he’s played after his club debut.

Former Leeds second-rower Morgan Gannon copped a head injury just five minutes into his NRL debut and took six weeks to recover, but promises plenty once he acclimatises.

This is a well-rounded squad with a balance of youth and experience, marquee names and role players, established leaders and players desperate to prove themselves.

Webster is preparing to lose a few familiar faces in 2027, with an experienced trio heading for the door.

Former skipper Tuivasa-Sheck — whose glittering career began at the Roosters and included a two-year stint in the 15-man code — will join Wakefield Trinity.

In the forward pack, Australian international Barnett has signed with the Brisbane Broncos, while Kiwi and Cook Islands representative Niukore goes to the Newcastle Knights.

It’s not even close to now-or-never territory, but the Aucklanders do look cherry ripe to have a serious tilt in 2026.

More than 30 years after their arrival sent shockwaves through the Australian competition, perhaps this is the year New Zealand finally drag the silverware across the Tasman.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 521 (June 2026)