NZ Warriors 2025 Round 1 Review: Warriors’ Vegas Nightmare as Raiders Deliver Brutal Defeat

With the preseason officially behind us, the NRL is back, and Round 1 saw the Warriors start their campaign over in the big lights of Las Vegas against the Raiders.

The Warriors were out of sync from the start, as the Raiders took control early and dominated their way to a convincing 30-8 victory.

What Went Down

Canberra wasted no time asserting their dominance, with Sebastian Kris opening the scoring in the fifth minute. Charging towards the line, he fended off multiple defenders before stretching out to plant the ball down.

The Warriors struggled to find any rhythm, with the Raiders' aggressive line speed and punishing defence forcing costly errors. Tom Starling then burst out of the ruck into open space, setting up a slick backline move that saw Xavier Savage cross in the 26th minute for a 10-0 lead.

The Warriors finally had a chance inside Canberra's red zone, but a misplaced Luke Metcalf pass was pounced on by Savage, who sprinted 80 metres untouched to bag his second try in the 31st minute. Suddenly, the Raiders were up 16-0.

The Warriors hit back in the 35th minute when Luke Capewell finished off a well-executed left-edge attack, but a missed conversion left them trailing 16-4 at halftime.

Needing a fast start to the second half, the Warriors found themselves under more pressure instead. A towering bomb from Jamal Fogarty led to a Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad error, and Kris was there to scoop up the loose ball for his second try just four minutes in.

By the 55th minute, the game was slipping away. Matthew Timoko powered through a tiring Warriors defence to score untouched, with Fogarty's conversion pushing the lead to 28-4.

A Joseph Tapine sin-bin in the 65th minute gave the Warriors a glimmer of hope, and they eventually capitalised when Roger Tuivasa-Sheck muscled his way over in the 71st minute, carrying multiple defenders to score in the corner. But any thoughts of a comeback were short-lived, as a Fogarty penalty goal in the 75th minute sealed Canberra's 30-8 victory.

My Thoughts

Well, that wasn't the performance I was expecting. I expected this match to be a tight contest, with the Warriors' pack giving them the edge and ultimately the victory. However, I was way off the mark. The Raiders controlled this match from start to finish, with a barrage of offloads with the ball in hand and a massive defensive effort, shutting down most of the Warriors' attack. It was a hard watch and shows that there is plenty of work to be done for the squad.

Overall, the Warriors looked slow and appeared to lack direction. The changes to the starting 13 did not work, and the use of the interchange left plenty to be desired, but I will discuss that more below. They showed glimpses of their potential but struggled without the forwards' platform. It's a long way to travel and lose; however, it provided a suitable lesson on what needs to be improved in the week and a half before round two. 

My biggest concern with the side currently is its general lack of speed. They looked to be running at half pace compared to the Raiders; if that theme continues for the rest of the year, the Warriors will be in trouble.

I know there is a lot of noise from the fan base about selections and who needs to be dropped however I think there is no need to throw the baby out with the bath water just yet, in this new era of the Warriors perhaps some consistency in the game day 17 would be more beneficial to the teams overall success, but if the team shows no signs of improvement in the next few rounds then Webster may need to rethink his plans.

It wasn't the best start to the season, and there wasnt much to smile about, which brings me to my positives.

Match Positives

Full credit to the fans who travelled to the States for this match. From everything I've seen online, it looked like a blast, and it isn't cheap, so it's a great commitment for those who made the journey. Unfortunately, the team didn't respond in the way we all expected, which may make for a dreary flight home. However, seeing all those Warriors jerseys in the crowd was incredible.

Hopefully, this performance was precisely what the doctor ordered to kick the side in the pants and wake them up, as plenty of the issues can be worked on and fixed. Perhaps the occasion got to them, but that may be my optimism coming out. I want to see this team succeed; the only way is up from here.

However, I did have concerns, which brings me to my negatives from the game.

Match Negatives

The forwards were just outright bullied in this match, only three forwards managed to crack 100 metres (Erin Clark 130m, James Fisher-Harris 117m and Jackson Ford 103m). With the pack unable to get the Warriors marching up the field the halves did not have the platform to put the backs into scoring situations, I think some of that maybe down to the rotations but in essence The Warrior's pack we're just overpowered and will need to get that sorted before the next game, how they do that I am not sure yet but if they don't sort this then we're in for a long season.

The Raiders' second-phase football just murdered the Warriors' defence. They ended the match with 17 offloads, leaving the Warriors' defensive line in tatters. It's schoolboy stuff, but you must wrap the ballcarriers' arms and eliminate that offload game. Add to that the lack of speed. The Warriors will be in trouble whenever a team has the freedom to offload at this level. Communication and trust will be key, as well as improving the defence and shutting down the second phase.

Lastly, Webster's use of his bench, I have long been vocal about Webster's struggles with his rotation and had hoped it would be one of the things he worked on in the offseason, however, we appear to be seeing the same head scratching changes. The late change to the starting 13 did not work and ultimately messed up all the future interchange uses. If Jackson Ford is going to be in the 17, he needs to either be starting second row or on the bench, Mitch Barnett needs to go back to prop, and Erin Clark starting at lock. Then you can bring Dylan Walker on for Clark when some of the forwards are beginning to fatigue. Also, if you are going to have Demitric Vaimauga and Leka Halasima on the bench, you need to bring them on earlier instead of throwing them on when the game is out of reach, with the forwards getting bullied in this match either of these young players may have helped turn the tide at the end of the first half.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the Match goes to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

There you weren't many options so I went with one of the only players that looked dangerous, he led the side with running metres (191m) and was the only back that had a line break, he almost scored in the first half and probably should have to be fair but made up for it with a try and the second. He did have a few errors but looked more comfortable on the wing compared to being in the centre last year. They found lots of opportunities to inject themselves into the match, but the Raiders' defense was just too good, with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak out for some time, RTS will be the Warriors' most dangerous attacking player and the team will need to get them into scoring situations more often.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve is Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

This one was hard to pick as several players could have gotten the nod here, but I have gone with the fullback, and I'm not sure what it was. Still, CNK just looked a bit uncomfortable out there, after being penalised when he jumped the catch a kick, he started to stay on the ground to diffuse the kicks which unfortunately led to a Raiders try that essentially sealedVictoryctory. He also seemed quieter with the ball in hand and offered very little on attack, perhaps it was nerves under the big lights, but he will need a big round two to stop the move RTS to full back chatter.

Next Round Thoughts and Prediction

Round 2 sees the Warriors return to New Zealand, where they will host the Sea Eagles who have yet to complete their Round 1 match because it is a split round.

Regarding the team, I would pick the same side. The only change I would make right now is dropping Jackson Ford and bringing in Bunty Afoa since Webster still seems hesitant about giving Vaimauga and Halasima more minutes and Afoa could help the pack build momentum.

Manly are a dangerous side at the best of times, and they have all the big guns available at the time of writing. They will also have Jazz Tevaga, who will be looking to put on a big performance against his former club. If the Warriors can work on the issues they had in Vegas, they have a chance at getting the win here, however, it would be by a tight margin. Unfortunately, I just don't see it happening, and I think the Sea Eagles will win here by 12, but I hope I'm wrong.

So, that was a deflating Round 1, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Who was your player of the day?

Would you make any changes to the 17?

Does this performance change your expectations for this season?

What is your score prediction against the Sea Eagles?