Up the Wahs: How Warriors are doing the impossible in New Zealand

June 22, 2026 — 1:30pm

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Rugby league’s debut at the new covered stadium in Christchurch was a sparkler, the Warriors’ game against the Cowboys selling out faster than any fixture in the Kiwi franchise’s existence.

The Warriors’ crowds are already up by a reported 62 per cent on pre-Covid levels.

Next year, they make another audacious claim on rugby union territory with an Anzac Round match at Eden Park.

It used to be impossible to imagine league challenging union in New Zealand, but having conclusively won the battle of the rugby codes in Australia, the NRL’s ambitions are stretching east and west.

The collapse of the Moana Pasifika Super Rugby franchise and the introduction of the PNG Chiefs will, the NRL hopes, turn the entire South Pacific into a rugby league nursery. And who’s to say that this isn’t a game of momentum?

A Christchurch-based team is tipped to be the NRL’s 20th. Looking west, the Perth Bears are aiming to harvest South African talent,........

© WA Today