'I'd be in tears': Warriors fans dreaming big in quest for maiden NRL premiership

New Zealand Warriors fans are buying tickets for October’s NRL grand final in Sydney, despite not knowing whether their team will be there.

NRL figures released this week show Warriors fans and New Zealanders are backing the club’s chances of reaching the October 4 decider at Accor Stadium. Warriors fans account for 24% of tickets sold to date – comfortably ahead of Penrith Panthers supporters on 13% and Brisbane Broncos fans on 10%.

New Zealanders make up 20% of ticket sales, behind only New South Wales on 42% and Queensland on 24%.

The Herald has contacted the NRL to find out how those figures compare with previous years.

It is a gamble, but the Warriors fans the Herald spoke to are treating it as a chance worth taking.

For them, there is a growing belief this could finally be the year the Warriors end their 15-year wait for another appearance in the premiership decider.

Graeme Lee (from left), Emma Harper and Sir Peter Leitch at the 2016 Warriors season awards. Photo / Photosport

Emma Harper, voted Warriors Member of the Year in 2016, and her husband debated the trip for weeks before booking flights and accommodation in late June and buying tickets when they went on sale in early July.

Harper missed the chance to be there when the Warriors last reached the grand final in 2011 and was determined not to make the same mistake twice.

“They were obviously near the top of the table for quite a few weeks and we kept thinking about it and then putting it off,” Harper said.

“By the end of June, I thought I better start booking because, as it looked more likely, hotel prices were going to go up.

“But I wasn’t going to miss out on this one again. We thought let’s get in early because if they get there, it’s been 15 long years and we’re definitely going to this one.”

Shane Drought decided to commit after the Warriors’ loss to the Penrith Panthers in May. Despite the outcome, he was convinced they had enough to go all the way.

He bought tickets, flights and accommodation for himself, his wife and their three children.

“We were already sitting pretty and I got the vibe that we’d get a little bit of revenge on them later on in the season,” Drought said.

“That was for me the moment where I was like, I’m liking where this season’s going. I was getting a bit nervous for a while after that Bulldogs game, it put a bit of doubt [in my mind], but now we’re looking very pretty.”

Daniel Wharakura, host of the Warriors Anonymous podcast, said his belief came after the Warriors won their opening four games.

By mid-season, with the team near the top of the ladder and playing well, the Wellington fan bought tickets for himself, friends and his father-in-law.

“Midway through the season, we were positioned reasonably well and the team was playing well,” Wharakura, from Wellington, said.

“It’s just a different feeling this year.

“The boys I do a podcast with call this the golden era. Winning a comp would be the cherry on top, but week in, week out, it’s a pleasure to watch them do their thing.”

Matt McEwen, a Warriors tragic from Palmerston North, said that if the Warriors were to make another grand final, he would not miss it for anything.

“I’ve always said to myself if the Warriors make it, I will be there to see them lift it and I think probably before the [mid-season] losses I was pretty confident we’d have a good shot to go there,” McEwen said.

Despite living outside Auckland, Wharakura and McEwen try to attend at least three or four games a season.

Matt McEwen and his wife at the New Zealand Warriors-Cronulla Sharks game.

The cost of attending the grand final

McEwen and Drought were both in attendance when the Warriors last played in a grand final, losing 24-10 to the Manly Sea Eagles in 2011.

It was still a special day for the club: the Auckland Vulcans played in the reserves final and the Warriors Under-20s won their grand final against the North Queensland Cowboys.

McEwen and Wharakura were also confident in 2023, buying tickets before the Warriors fell one game short. They were able to resell their seats.

The same could happen again, although McEwen may still go if the Warriors miss out, because his wife supports the Cronulla Sharks. They will also be in Queensland seeing family before the grand final, making it an easier trip across state lines instead of flying over from New Zealand.

But by getting in early, the Warriors fans have potentially saved themselves hundreds – and in some cases thousands – of dollars compared with booking a trip now.

The fans spoken to have spent about $2000 to $3500 each, depending on ticket type, flights and length of stay. For those yet to secure grand final tickets, general admission seats remain available.

The cheapest ticket currently available is $203, while the most expensive is $384, with VIP packages reaching as much as $920.

The NRL traditionally holds back an allocation for members of the competing NRL and NRLW clubs, released on the Monday before the grand final. Any remaining tickets are then offered to the public as the league looks to fill the 83,000-capacity Accor Stadium.

For fans yet to book, grand final-week travel costs can quickly add up. As of Wednesday, the cheapest Air New Zealand flight checked by the Herald for grand final week was $362, departing on that Monday, September 28, or the Tuesday, September 29.

Fares rose later in the week, reaching $977 on the Thursday and $1157 on the Friday or the Saturday, while game-day flights started at $527.

Accommodation also varied widely: cheaper options in the wider Sydney area were under $500 for a Wednesday-to-Monday stay, but were generally backpacker rooms or shared houses, while private-bathroom options were usually above $1000.

Daniel Wharakura (left) with his father-in-law.

Fans trying not to get carried away
Despite their optimism, Warriors fans are trying not to get carried away, with plenty still to play out before the final.

If the Warriors are to make the grand final, they would likely need to go through the Panthers and Sydney Roosters, which is a tough ask for any team.

Harper, who is having her wedding vows renewed at Mt Smart next week, admits it will be a nervy few weeks coming up.

“Knowing we’ve made the finals is great, but it’ll be pretty nerve-racking once the playoff stages start,” she said.

“Being Warriors fans, we never get our hopes up too high, but I think this year there seems to be a lot more positive thinking around it, which is great.”

Drought says he is just as nervous.

“I was saying to someone the other day that we could be in the grand final, up by 20 points with 10 minutes remaining and I would still be nervous,” he said.

“It’s why I refuse to say this is our year. I just don’t want to say it. There’s a running joke in our house that not much will make me cry, but if the Wahs actually took out a grand final, that would be it. I’d be in tears.”

If the Warriors do manage to go all the way, Wharakura knows exactly where the occasion would rank.

“Being a day-one fan from ’95, there have been some dark days, but this is the stuff you dream of,” Wharakura said.

“Outside my family, it would go down as one of the best days of my life.”

McEwen is hopeful the Warriors can end their drought this year and that it doesn’t take over 50 years, like it did for his wife’s team to finally lift the trophy back in 2016.

“I’ve always said I just want to see them win it once in my lifetime, that would be enough for me,” he said.

“We’ve been setting the benchmark right from the start, alongside Penrith and the Roosters. I’m really hopeful that they’ll make top two because I think two home finals would really seal it.”

Andrew Webster watching the NRL State Championship grand final. Photo / Photosport

‘I felt guilty’: Webster feels fan pressure

Warriors coach Andrew Webster was blown away with the number of tickets purchased by Warriors fans for the grand final.

He was in attendance at last year’s decider, watching their New South Wales Cup team win the State Championship against the Burleigh Bears.

Webster said the Warriors fans who were there began begging him to get the Warriors to the grand final, and he admits to feeling some pressure from that, but overall he praised their enthusiasm.

“Every Warriors fan was into me: ‘Come on Webby, we need to be in there next year – we bought our tickets ages ago’,” the coach said. “I felt guilty, to be honest.

“I’m proud of them and proud they think we have an opportunity to get there. I also think they probably just love rugby league. It’s a great weekend at the grand final and win, lose or draw, they want to be there.

“They’d certainly rather us there and I think there’d be an element of those fans that are optimistic too. But we’ve got a long way to go until we start putting that at the front of our minds.”

Shane Drought (back right) and his family with Warriors playmaker Chanel Harris-Tavita (back left).

Warriors on track to make history in grand-final push

With three rounds remaining, the Warriors have secured a finals spot and are pushing for a top-two finish.

It is the first time since 2010-11 they have made the finals in back-to-back seasons, and a grand-final appearance would be their third since entering the competition in 1995, after losses in 2002 and 2011.

They are also chasing their best regular season result, sitting on 15 wins with three games remaining. Their benchmark is 17 wins, set in 2002.

This will be the Warriors’ third finals appearance in four years under Webster, making him the club’s second-most successful coach by finals campaigns. Ivan Cleary led the side to four finals series in six seasons.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.