2026 R2 Fri - Warriors 40-6 Canberra @ Go Media

[League Unlimited News]

NRL 2026 - Round 2
Warriors v Canberra Raiders
Go Media Stadium, Penrose / Aotearoa

Friday 13 March 2026
Kickoff 6:00pm AEDT / 8:00pm NZDT
Live on Fox League, Kayo Sports, Sky Sport NZ

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Ali Leiataua 4. Adam Pompey 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Tanah Boyd 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Wayde Egan 10. Jackson Ford 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jacob Laban 13. Erin Clark 14. Samuel Healey 15. Demitric Vaimauga 16. Leka Halasima 17. Tanner Stowers-Smith 18. Taine Tuaupiki 20. Morgan Gannon 21. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 22. Marata Niukore 23. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava

Changes from last week:

In: Alofiana Khan-Pereira (bench), Marata Niukore (bench), Eddie Ieremia-Toeava (reserve)

1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Savelio Tamale 3. Simi Sasagi 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Ethan Sanders 8. Morgan Smithies 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Noah Martin 13. Corey Horsburgh 14. Jayden Brailey 15. Zac Hosking 16. Ata Mariota 17. Matthew Timoko 18. Daine Laurie 19. Joseph Roddy 20. Owen Pattie 21. Jed Stuart 22. Chevy Stewart

Changes from last week:

Out: Josh Papalii (front row)
In: Matthew Timoko (bench), Owen Pattie (bench), Jed Stuart (bench), Chevy Stewart (reserve)
Changes: Morgan Smithies (bench to front row)

Referee: Peter Gough
Sideline Officials: Nick Pelgrave, Jon Stone
Video Referee: Liam Kennedy

HEAD TO HEAD - 1995 - 2025​

	TOTAL	WARRIORS	CANBERRA	DRAWN
ALL MATCHES	54	25	29	0
GO MEDIA	22	13	9	0

LAST FIVE MEETINGS​

YEAR	ROUND	RESULT	VENUE	CROWD
2023	Round 21	WARRIORS 21-20	Go Media	19112
2024	Round 3	WARRIORS 18-10	Apollo	17249
2024	Round 20	CANBERRA 20-18	GIO	8509
2025	Round 1	CANBERRA 30-8	Allegiant	45209
2025	Round 12	CANBERRA 16-10	Go Media	26512

BIGGEST WINS​

YEAR	ROUND	RESULT	VENUE	CROWD
2000	Round 5	CANBERRA 56-12	Bruce	8170
2014	Round 9	WARRIORS 54-12	Eden Park	18165

NEXT FOUR MATCHES​

	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6
WARRIORS	NEWCASTLE (A)	WESTS TIGERS (H)	CRONULLA (A)	MELBOURNE (A)
CANBERRA	CANTERBURY (H)	CRONULLA (H)	NEWCASTLE (A)	SOUTH SYDNEY (A)

FORM LINE​

	Round 1
WARRIORS	SYDNEY	W 42-18
CANBERRA	MANLY	W 29-28

STATE OF PLAY: 2026 SEASON​

	POSITION	PLAYED	BYES	W-L-D	FOR	AGAINST
WARRIORS	4th	1	0	1-0-0	42	18
CANBERRA	7th	1	0	1-0-0	29	28

 

[Saxon]

Warriors by 4. Sticky to be inconsolable and blame the ref.

 

[BadnMean]

Warriors by 4. Sticky to be inconsolable and blame the ref.

You're a bit obsessed by RIckster- didn't you pipe up about RIcky having a go at the refs after round 1 when his presser he actually says his team were...

“We made it hard on our game there,I don’t mind the interpretations. If we’re doing the wrong thing at the ruck, I’m fine with giving a six-again or a penalty or whatnot. As long as that happens for 80 minutes."

Is that really whining about the refs? Does "we" direct responsibility toward his teams discipline or the ref? I know pronouns are somewhat fluid these days but we still means us right?

 

[Diesel]

Match of the round

 

[BadnMean]

Last year the clash in NZ was some of the most intense footy you'll ever see outside finals. There'll be a bit of feeling in this one again.

Last year Tapine just put the team on his back and took on the whole Warriors pack himself. Without Papa he'll need some help this time. Smithies is a hard nut and will be up for it. I'd love to see Mariota show some mongrel- he's pretty efficient but rarely grabs a game and goes after it.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Tanah Boyd wont play like a first grader two weeks in a row. Raiders by 10.

 

[Valheru]

We made it extremely easy for the warriors last week.

Raiders will get in a grind, them by 8

 

[Someone2]

Raiders by 8

 

[Warrimoo3]

Back in the day there was a stat that I ended up going back to time and time again. I called it the “defensive mindset index”. DMI for short. And most players would usually buy into it.

It’s pretty straightforward really. Missed tackles divided by total tackles and expressed as a percentage. The lower the better. The target was below 10%.

In round one the Warriors scored 18.7% , the worst of any team. In contrast the Raiders scored bang on 10%. In comparison the best 4 scores were the Bulldogs 6.7% , Saints 6.8%, Panthers 7.2% and the Sharks 7.5%.

I must say I like coach Webster’s honesty in the pressers. I can see why the players buy into his methods. Looking at the tape of the Warriors v Roosters there was a bit to like about the Warriors’ display but a lot not to like. When they weren’t dropping the ball, giving away penalties and conceding set restarts the Roosters were carving up the Warriors. A couple of times they just waltzed through the porous right edge of the defence.

Which brings me to my next point as to what coach Ricky “Stick” Stuart needs to tweak for this match. In the first half of the Raiders v Manly , the Raiders left edge attack was totally ineffective with only Hudson Young running his usual outside in line. He was missing his ”partner in crime” Ethan Strange. Let me explain.

Ethan Strange’s strength and point of difference for the Raiders is his right edge running game. If he plays there the Raiders have up to to five , yes five options when they swing the ball left: Sanders drifting right and 1: passing to HY running against the grain ; 2 passing to Strange running against the grain; 3 passing out the back to Kris; 4 rolling the ball through to any number of chasers ;5 show and go :

A hit up to the right with the sole intention of getting a quick ptb should be on the agenda followed by a quick shift to the left. Or just shift the ball 1 or 2 passes to the right before switching it to the left.

If strange is positioned on the left in attack it’s the Raiders by 16. If he’s not then it‘s the Raiders by 2 .

Tries to Hudson Young , Strange Weekes,Tamale and Savage. 1st and anytime try scorer Hudson Young.

 

[gerg]

From what i understand Sanders has always played on the left and Strange has always played on the right. Strange shifted to the left only because Fogarty was a right side player, because of his kicking. This shift for Strange will take a bit of adjustment.

I thought Sanders engaged the line quite well last week but his timing with Hudson-Young was a little off, with Hudson-Young catching the pass behind him or as he was being tackled. The timing will come.

 

[BadnMean]

From what i understand Sanders has always played on the left and Strange has always played on the right. Strange shifted to the left only because Fogarty was a right side player, because of his kicking. This shift for Strange will take a bit of adjustment.

I thought Sanders engaged the line quite well last week but his timing with Hudson-Young was a little off, with Hudson-Young catching the pass behind him or as he was being tackled. The timing will come.

Yeah the timing can take a dozen games honestly. I liked that Sanders showed a few kinds of flat balls- he threw a few but one was a double pump, one was a fake out the back movement but with an early release etc.

I'm not too worried about it. Sanders and Martin had a good combo and Huddo is too good not to figure each other out after a while.

 

[Warrimoo3]

Back in the day there was a stat that I ended up going back to time and time again. I called it the “defensive mindset index”. DMI for short. And most players would usually buy into it.

It’s pretty straightforward really. Missed tackles divided by total tackles and expressed as a percentage. The lower the better. The target was below 10%.

In round one the Warriors scored 18.7% , the worst of any team. In contrast the Raiders scored bang on 10%. In comparison the best 4 scores were the Bulldogs 6.7% , Saints 6.8%, Panthers 7.2% and the Sharks 7.5%.

I must say I like coach Webster’s honesty in the pressers. I can see why the players buy into his methods. Looking at the tape of the Warriors v Roosters there was a bit to like about the Warriors’ display but a lot not to like. When they weren’t dropping the ball, giving away penalties and conceding set restarts the Roosters were carving up the Warriors. A couple of times they just waltzed through the porous right edge of the defence.

Which brings me to my next point as to what coach Ricky “Stick” Stuart needs to tweak for this match. In the first half of the Raiders v Manly , the Raiders left edge attack was totally ineffective with only Hudson Young running his usual outside in line. He was missing his ”partner in crime” Ethan Strange. Let me explain.

Ethan Strange’s strength and point of difference for the Raiders is his right edge running game. If he plays there the Raiders have up to to five , yes five options when they swing the ball left: Sanders drifting right and 1: passing to HY running against the grain ; 2 passing to Strange running against the grain; 3 passing out the back to Kris; 4 rolling the ball through to any number of chasers ;5 show and go :

A hit up to the right with the sole intention of getting a quick ptb should be on the agenda followed by a quick shift to the left. Or just shift the ball 1 or 2 passes to the right before switching it to the left.

If strange is positioned on the left in attack it’s the Raiders by 16. If he’s not then it‘s the Raiders by 2 .

Tries to Hudson Young , Strange Weekes,Tamale and Savage. 1st and anytime try scorer Hudson Young.

Correction .The first sentence of the 6th paragraph should read “left edge running game “

 

[BadnMean]

Correction .The first sentence of the 6th paragraph should read “left edge running game “

Righto. I think strange will continue to be mostly right but also often 2nd receiver. sanders has shown he can run and will be mostly left but also sometimes first receiver... not locked in.

Weekes usually pops up on the right which leaves a credible cover for a double halves long or FB play on the short side... exactly what belcher used to run with ricky in the 90s,

 

[This Year?]

Up the wahs or up the bras?
Hard choice as I like them both.

 

[Bazal]

My hopes for wackiness are quite high

 

[Leber]

Capewell injures himself in warmup.
So it begins….

 

[mongoose]

My hopes for wackiness are quite high

nothings going to be as wacky as last night

 

[Bazal]

nothings going to be as wacky as last night

Nah that was just shit, mostly. It lacked whimsy

The Raiders have a magic touch when it comes to wacky, and the Wahs have their moments too.

 

[Wb1234]

Up da wahs

 

[mongoose]

is that jake duke calling this game? f**king jesus....