Coach Griffiths has high hopes for Warriors women on eve of second season in NRLW
Warriors second-rower Kaiyah Atai appeared in all 11 games of her NRLW debut season.
Photo: David Neilson/Photosport
NZ Warriors coach Ron Griffiths will have an early indication of how high to set expectations for the club’s second season back in the NRLW.
Next month, the Warriors women will make a little more history for their programme when they contest the first rugby league game at Christchurch’s new Te Kaha stadium – a pre-season encounter against Brisbane Broncos.
Like their male counterparts, the Broncos captured a 2025 championship, finishing second on the competition table, before toppling titleholders Sydney Roosters 22-18 in the final.
Over the eight-year history of the league, Brisbane have won four titles, making them the yardstick by which other teams measure themselves.
The new-look Warriors will take that opportunity before anyone else this year, after losing 26-6 in the regular season last year.
“We wanted to grab them straight up,” Griffiths said. “That’s a good match for us and them.
“Last year it didn’t work out but this year we need to play some footy. It’s important to know where we’re at.”
Twelve months ago, Griffiths took charge of an extremely raw group of mainly club players and rugby code-hoppers as the Auckland club returned to the Aussie women’s league stage after a five-year Covid hiatus.
Their goals were modest – establish the foundations of a team culture and a style of play that would leave opponents sore for days afterwards.
Despite a 4-7 record that left them three points outside the playoffs, that mission was largely accomplished, with teenage rookie Ivana Lauitiiti winning Dally M Tackle of the Year for her big hit on Wests Tigers centre Emily Bass.
“I reckon every team we played last year would have walked away knowing there were moments that were really uncomfortable for them,” reflected Griffiths, who crossed the Tasman after guiding Newcastle Knights to back-to-back NRLW crowns.
“They know that’s what they’ll get again this year. We’ll make it tough for them, and now we’ve got experienced players to keep us in those moments and help get us through the other side.”
This year those players new to the code – such as former Black Ferns Sevens exponents Tysha Ikenasio and Shakira Baker – or unfamiliar with the demands of semi-professional sport will have more muscle memory to draw on.
“The majority of them … Ashlee Matapo played eight games last season as a development player,” Griffith said.
“Tysha Ikenasio, Shak Baker … last year we were teaching them about the game. They were experienced but their experience was about being in elite systems or environments.
Rugby star Stacey Waaka has already dipped her toe into the NRLW with Brisbane Broncos.
Photo: Russell Freeman/Getty Images
“Now we don’t have to teach them about the game, we can add layers to them.
“One thing we’ve seen is the way they interact on the field. They’re starting to pick moments up and make changes on the run rather than us having to coach everything.
“They can work it out amongst themselves and, from that perspective, we are way more advanced than last year.”
Second-rower Kaiyah Atai, 24, began the 2025 season with no NRLW experience but ended her first campaign a Warriors Women Players’ Player of the Year, playing all 11 games – the full 70 minutes in all but one – and led her team in tackles (248).
Three weeks into pre-season training, Atai has noticed a big difference.
“Last year had a lot of learnings for me,” she said. “I think I’ve now got a taste of what it’s like to be at that level, and how to prepare to be a good team and win games.
“I’ll take a lot of that into this season. Last year we were really building but this year we want to win a premiership.
“It’s got us all excited. It’s very different this year because we all know our jobs – everyone’s come up another level.”
As well as the continued development of his rookies, Griffiths has recruited well over the summer, bringing half Gayle Broughton, front-rower Annetta Nu’uausala and centre Mele Hufunga across from the Broncos, while also luring rugby star Stacey Waaka back to the 13-a-side game.
Waaka, 30, began the 2024 NRLW season with Brisbane, scoring six tries in six games, before a broken leg curtailed her stay. She was still named in the Dally M Women’s Team of the Year and Broncos Rookie of the Year.
“In terms of a shopping list, I believe we have the skills required,” Griffiths said. “We’ve got the players we believe will hold us in good stead.
“Above all else, most of the games we played – or all of them – we were competitive, but that little bit of experience to close games out and stay in the moment, that’s what we really struggled with.
“That’s what we didn’t have but we think we’ve got that.
“We certainly still lack experience but the experience we’ve brought – a half, a middle and a back – have won at the highest level, so that’s really important.”
The programme has progressed off the field too. In their first year back, Warriors management – Griffiths included – had little appreciation of the international travel logistics required within a limited window of player availability.
The wΔhine also entered their comeback season with no warm-up games, walking straight into a first-round buzzsaw against the defending champion Roosters and stumbling 30-6.
Warriors women celebrate their first NRLW win of 2025 against Parramatta Eels.
Photo: Brett Phibbs/www.photosport.nz
Not this time.
“I thought the way the players returned was really important,” Griffiths said. “Most of them came in [last season] and didn’t know what fit was.
“They didn’t know what it meant to play at that level so we spent quite a bit of time talking about what sort of condition they needed to be in.”
With those improvements come expectations and, while those were fairly low in 2025, Griffiths can sense something special brewing among his players.
“I think we’ve got a squad that will be really competitive and a squad that could end up there on the final day. But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before we start talking like that,” he said.
“Certainly, all indications are early that they understand what it takes to be there on the final day and they’re working extremely hard towards that.
“We’re really good at alleviating any pressure or what’s perceived as pressure. I have no doubt the players – in particular the senior players – have a really high expectation of where they want to be this year.
“That’s something they have to drive.”
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