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New Zealand delights in Warriors’ NRL success after years of rugby league neglect
The flipside to the love fest around the team’s run to the finals is why it took so long for the game to realise its enormous potential in Aotearoa.
It’s the feel-good story of 2023. After years of finals droughts and a Covid-induced exile, the New Zealand Warriors are back. The team that finished 15th on the ladder last year is now just 80 minutes from playing in their third grand final.
For their long-suffering fans, it must feel like the world’s turned upside down. The Warriors’ 40-10 thumping of the Newcastle Knights in front of a heaving home crowd at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday was their first home win in finals football since 2007.
Shaun Johnson inspires as Warriors surge past Knights into NRL preliminary final
As impressive as it is, the team’s success has been dwarfed by the massive public response. “Up the Wahs” has been read into the record in Aotearoa New Zealand’s parliament six times in the last month. Friday’s edition of the New Zealand Herald gave Shaun Johnson the Obama treatment. Pubs and restaurants in Auckland are extending their trading hours. And after being banned last year, Roger Shoey-Vasa Sheck is back.
