The One New Zealand Warriors may have fallen short of a finals berth in their first season back in the NRLW but their return has been a massive success on every other count.
Not only did they played before big crowds in doubleheaders with the club's NRL team at Go Media Stadium, but they also bettered the previous standalone NRLW attendance record on three occasions.
With the Warriors attracting a record standalone crowd of 7195 for their last home match against the Broncos at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton, round 10 was the most attended regular season weekend in NRLW history (a total of 44,300 including matches played as curtain-raisers to NRL games).
“That was 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 of the match against the Broncos in Hamilton.
NRLW Highlights: Emphatic win to finish season
"At some stage this NRLW team, and what they are building, will turn into a juggernaut," said One New Zealand Warriors head coach Ron Griffiths.
The Warriors' other two home matches at FMG Stadium Waikato drew crowds of 5968 for the round seven clash with the Raiders and 5712 in round eight against the Sharks.
In addition, viewership for NRLW matches in New Zealand has increased by 16% this season, driven by strong support for the Warriors.
Match: Wests Tigers v Warriors
Round 11 -
home Team
Wests Tigers
12th Position
away Team
Warriors
8th Position
Venue: Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney
“The New Zealand Warriors are so important to rugby league and to the NRL competition and the NRLW competition," said NRL CEO Andrew Abdo.
"Having the Warriors back in the NRLW has brought 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 in 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 the campaign in style with a record 44-6 win against Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Sports Stadium last Sunday.
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 try scorer (15 tries) behind Brisbane's Tamika Upton (18).
"If you look before round one 75% of our players hadn’t played in the NRLW in the last 12 months. That’s a huge amount of players," said Griffiths.
"We had players who came out of the 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, which excites Griffiths 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, will turn into a juggernaut."
