The Warriors may have fallen short of a finals berth in their first season back in the NRLW, but the return of the New Zealand team has been a massive success on every other count.
Not only have the Warriors regularly played before big crowds as part of double-headers with the club's NRL team at Go Media Stadium, they also bettered the previous stand-alone NRLW attendance record on three occasions.
With a standalone record 7,195 crowd at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton for the Warriors last home match against the Broncos, Round 10 was the most attended round in NRLW history (44.3k).
“That was probably one of our biggest crowds, and it was really nice to hear them and see them behind us, pushing us, so that it really lifted us in that game,” Warriors captain Apii Nicholls said.
The Warriors other two home matches at FMG Stadium Waikato drew crowds of 5,968 for the Round 7 clash with the Raider and 5,712 in Round 8 against the Sharks.
At some stage this NRLW team, and what they are building over there, will turn into a juggernaut.
Warriors coach Ron Griffiths
In addition, viewership for NRLW matches in New Zealand has increased by 16% this season, driven by strong support for the Warriors.
“New Zealand Warriors are so important to rugby league and to the ljmpta.competition and the NRLW competition," NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.
"Having the Warriors NRLW team back has bought a lot because there is such an important pathway for us in New Zealand.
“New Zealanders are unbelievable athletes and New Zealand women growing up and seeing it is possible to play in the NRLW is pretty exciting.
"We have seen an increase of registrations at junior level, we have seen an increase in fan engagement in New Zealand, and of course having the Warriors in both competitions is so good for the sport of rugby league."
After a five-year hiatus, the Kiwi club returned to the NRLW competition this season and finished their campaign in style with a record 44-6 win against Wests Tigers last Sunday at Campbelltown.
The Warriors won four matches and lost seven while blooding a wealth of new talent, including star five-eighth Patricia Maliepo and winger Payton Takimoana, who was the NRLW's second leading tryscorer (15 tries) behind Brisbane's Tamika Upton (18).
Marvellous Maliepo guides the Warriors to a win
"If you look before Round 1, 75% of our players hadn’t played NRLW in the last 12 months. That’s a huge amount of players," Warriors coach Ron Griffiths said.
"We had players that came out of Auckland Rugby League and have played every game of NRLW this year. We’re talking about players like Ivana Lauitiiti, Ash Matapo, Kaiyah Atai, Maarire Puketapu.
"They hadn’t played NRLW, they’ve never done an NRLW preseason, and they've chewed through really tough periods this year, so you can imagine them 12 months on, they’ve had an impact on the game and what that's going to do for our team."
A tough run with injuries saw plenty of young talent elevated to the NRLW side, and Griffiths was excited when talking about the potential of the team.
"We've had some adversity and what it has shown us is how close we actually are, but adversity also has the ability to show what sort of character a team has got," he said.
"It probably reinforces that at some stage this NRLW team, and what they are building over there, will turn into a juggernaut."
