Go east: Kiwi league fans to benefit from NRL being locked out of grounds

The NRL has identified next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup stadium blackout as a window for Australia-based teams to take home games to New Zealand, a reward for the Warriors’ sacrifice to keep the competition alive.

Just days before the Warriors play their first home game in almost three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sources familiar with the situation have told the Herald a push to have the Warriors play more home games in New Zealand in 2023 is gathering momentum.

Central to the move is the NRL’s willingness to help teams displaced by soccer’s World Cup take a match to New Zealand.

FIFA will have exclusive use of Accor Stadium, Sydney Football Stadium, Suncorp Stadium and AAMI Park for up to nine weeks between June and August next year.

It’s set to cause chaos with the NRL scheduling. The Roosters, Rabbitohs, Bulldogs, Broncos, Storm and the competition’s newest franchise, the Dolphins, will be without their traditional homes at different stages during the World Cup.

While deals are yet to be finalised, the Warriors have been made aware of the opportunity to bring rival teams to New Zealand during the period in which FIFA will take over Australia’s biggest sporting venues.

Josh Curran arrives at Mt Smart Stadium during the week before the Warriors’ homecoming.Credit:Getty

The NRL is already considering scheduling extra home games for affected teams at the start of the season and slating their bye during the same period.

But the big beneficiaries could be Warriors fans, who have already snapped up all the tickets for their struggling side’s clash against the Wests Tigers at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.

It will be the first time the Warriors have played a home game since August 2019. Jazz Tevaga, Adam Pompey and Chanel Harris-Tavita are the only players still with the Warriors who played in that game.

Interim coach Stacey Jones is trying to drag the team out of the NRL cellar, and the Warriors face the prospect of being last if they can’t beat the Tigers, and the Titans upset the Knights in Newcastle, in round 16.

But the gratitude for the club is not lost on the wider rugby league community, with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo flying to Auckland on the weekend for the Warriors’ homecoming.

“We simply wouldn’t have been able to play the premiership in 2020, 2021 or 2022 had we not had the Warriors being based in Australia because the borders have been closed,” Abdo said.

“The club has been through a lot, but when it came to trying to find a way through and getting them back in Australia in 2020, or finding a permanent location in 2021 or the first half of 2022, everybody jumped in and approached it with a positive attitude.

“I commend and congratulate the Warriors for being proactive and being 100 per cent committed to the premiership because they’ve found a way through. They’ve won the respect of stakeholders in the game, the other clubs, and of course fans, because we’ve seen them play out of Australia for two-and-a-half seasons and still be competitive.

“It’s a tremendous effort by the club. Now is the time we can all get behind them and excited for a homecoming, and this is a brilliant way to welcome them back in front of a sea of Warriors fans.”

Mt Smart was also sold out for the official return of top flight rugby league to New Zealand when the Kiwis beat Tonga last Saturday.

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