NRLW: NZ Warriors v North Queensland Cowboys
Kickoff 5.15pm, Saturday, 18 July
Go Media Stadium, Auckland
NZ Warriors captain Apii Nicholls has promised her team’s self-destruction against Canberra Raiders last week won’t be repeated this season.
Two games into their 2026 NRLW campaign, the wāhine find themselves having to regroup from a horror 42-16 defeat to the ‘Green Machine’, with a mounting injury toll that had players shuffled all around the park to cover for fallen teammates.
A backline that numbered 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 on Tuesday looked more like 4-2-12-3-20-1-7 by kickoff and one of those missing was five-eighth Gayle Broughton, who had engineered their season-opening win over Canterbury Bulldogs seven days before.
Nicholls, a specialist fullback, was moved to the halves, where she had trained occasionally. Centre Emmanita Paki went to the back and second-rower Shakira Baker switched to centre.
Development player Ocean Tierney was forced into a debut on the wing and responded with a try double that greatly enhanced her standing within the squad.
“I was excited with the new change, and excited to get out there and give it my best,” Nicholls insisted. “Obviously, it wasn’t the game I wanted, especially my first time in that position, but I’d done the reps at training and I was excited.
“The game just turned out to be one where we had to defend the majority of it. It’s OK, it was a learning for all of us and, going forward, we’ll just keep trying to be better.”
Game stats paint a grim picture of the encounter, as the Raiders jumped out to an 18-0 lead and never let up.
The Warriors completed barely half as many sets as their opponents, repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot with missed tackles (44), errors (13) and penalties (10). They also spent 10 minutes shorthanded, when second-rower Maarire Puketapu was sin-binned for a hipdrop tackle.
Without Broughton, who has quickly become the loudest voice in the team, the load fell squarely on Nicholls to marshal her troops.
“It was frustrating and, during the game, when you’re fatigued and constantly defending, and things aren’t going your way, I was just trying to get everyone into the game,” she reflected.
“The message I was sharing out there was just to keep it simple and get the players to understand the job we needed to do in that moment, but we just couldn’t execute.”
After returning to Auckland, the players weren’t scheduled to train again until Wednesday, but called their own meeting on Tuesday to address concerns from the defeat.
“We had a players meeting,” Nicholls said. “The players came together yesterday and briefly went over that performance.
“We understood that wasn’t who we are, that’s not our standards, and everyone took accountability for their own role and their own performance.
“I think, going forward, we all agreed we were all in, we will continue to stay connected and we’ll bounce back from this.
“Sometimes we don’t always have the best games and I think that was the worst of the worst. We all agreed that wasn’t who we are, we’re better than that and we’ll keep working hard to never have a performance like that again.
Warriors captain Apii Nicholls was moved from fullback to the halves against Canberra.
NRL Photos/Photosport
“There are still a few changes to come, and we will just adapt and trust our system, trust what is given to us and trust each other.”
Coach Ron Griffiths, who won back-to-back NRLW crowns with Newcastle Knights, has a few more bodies to throw at North Queensland Cowboys this weekend, with wing Lavinia Tauhalaliku returning from concussion, second-rower Kaiyah Atai from a broken finger and front-rower Mya Hill-Moana from suspension, but the casualty list is still long.
Only 19 from his 31-strong squad are available for selection this week, leaving little margin for further injury.
“Earlier in my coaching career, I’ve learnt that things are often out of my control and not to worry about them, just work it out on the run,” he said.
“Further to that, if you’re standing up the front of the room and letting things bother you, and the players can see that, they probably feel it too.
“Regardless of who’s out on the field that day, there’s an understanding that, when you play in our team, there’s a certain thread about who we are. When you walk in the room as a coach and there’s a scenario where there’s limited players to choose from, it shouldn’t matter.”
Even before the loss, Griffiths was concerned about ill discipline against the Bulldogs and that theme reared its head again against the Raiders, providing plenty of room for improvement.
“As a collective, we’ve spoken to the team about how we played on the weekend and it certainly was uncharacteristic of a Warriors performance,” he said.
With a full week to work out the kinks, there can be no excuses against the winless Cowboys, as a curtainraiser to the first-grade men at soldout Go Media Stadium.
“As staff or players, if we’re trying to win a game on captain’s run, it’s very tough,” Griffiths said. “You can’t build continuity or cohesion in an hour session.”
Sevens superstar Stacey Waaka made her club debut against the Raiders on the wing, with second-rower Baker – another recent rugby convert – inside her.
“Defensively, they were unsure how to defend alongside each other,” Griffiths said. “Later, we moved her to the centres and we could see a bit of improvement, but again, she was just unsure.”
With Tierney’s emergence and Tauhalalika’s return, Waaka will stay in the centres this week.
Second-rower Maarire Puketapu was sin-binned for a hipdrop tackle against Canberra.
Jordan Mirchevski/NRL Photos
After recruiting well over the summer, the Warriors seemed poised to take the next step in their development, reaching the playoffs and perhaps even contending for a spot in the final. The injuries and the early setback against Canberra have tempered those expectations.
“In a season of 11 round games, every game is crucial, every game is critical,” Griffiths said.
“It is disappointing, but from another perspective, it’s an opportunity… for our players to shine and show, through a bit of adversity, that they’re a connected team that will keep turning up for each other, work hard and get some good results.”