Team List NZ Warriors v Newcastle Knights - [Round 3, 2026]

[Noitall]

View: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18SVG2NuXg/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

[Noitall]

64K views · 4.2K reactions | Set to become 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 #𝟐𝟗𝟓 @_luke_hanson 💙💚❤️ | One NZ Warriors

Set to become 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 #𝟐𝟗𝟓 @_luke_hanson 💙💚❤️

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Good luck to Luke Hanson on debut

 

[WAH MAN]

let’s all just remember Luke only turned 22 last month

Big occasion for the kid

He looks like a Tannah prototype

Hope big brother Tannah and the pack looks after him

If he's ready he'll be right.

 

[WAH MAN]

The pressure is squarely on us. Knights at home have nothing to lose - lost two best players and if they beat us it will be a massive feather in their cap.

Remember last year when we almost bottled it and Leka had the try from the end of the earth after the buzzer?

McDonald Jones stadium is a hard place to play and their fans will pack it out.

If we truly are contenders, we go up there and systematically dismantle them in a ruthless, efficient way. Basically tackle them into submission and let them play from their 10m line all day.

We have plenty of points in us but discipline and controlled aggression through the middle will get us home.

Barney coming back is huge - especially as his family is close. With him on the bench, the middle phase of the game becomes crucial and where we run away as their bench is lacking firepower.

I’d take a 28-10 win here. Clinical ruthless dominant.

Newy will be up for this. They remember what Leka did just as much as we do. They have a ledger to square. We better be up for this. I'm picking an arm wrestle in which we break away from them in the last quarter. I think we are a better team than last year. We'll see.

 

[RobRoyMcCoy]

Do we think Barnet will play? I know he is cleared to play but he is named out side the 19. I can't imagine they would name him and he not play. If he does and he is 80-100% as effective as he was before the injury, then our forward pack becomes even more lethal.

What do you all think?

 

[sydneywarrior92]

Do we think Barnet will play? I know he is cleared to play but he is named out side the 19. I can't imagine they would name him and he not play. If he does and he is 80-100% as effective as he was before the injury, then our forward pack becomes even more lethal.

What do you all think?

if he were to play, isn't this what we would do? Ease him in through the bench rather than start him straight away after so long out? The real question is who does he come in for on gameday.

 

[tajhay]

Do we think Barnet will play? I know he is cleared to play but he is named out side the 19. I can't imagine they would name him and he not play. If he does and he is 80-100% as effective as he was before the injury, then our forward pack becomes even more lethal.

What do you all think?

Him being named outside the initial 6 bench players (14-20) indicates that he still has to pass some tests ie captain run. It will be interesting to see which players get cut 24 hours from kickoff.

Webby on most occassions sticks to the order of the players named on bench.

 

[WAH MAN]

Fletcher Sharpe is the best player at the Knights, better than Ponga and Brown.
Fletcher Hunt looks pretty decent.
Smith and Crossland more than serviceable.
Decent centres and wings.
Just relentlessly wear them down in the middle and Barnett will add to that.

Is Sharpe the one who was injured in Vegas?

 

[Canadian_Warriors_Fan]

Is Sharpe the one who was injured in Vegas?

yep

 

[sydneywarrior92]

Is Sharpe the one who was injured in Vegas?

mcl. It takes a while to come back fully from such an injury as we saw with Walsh last year. Get Leka to run at him all game.

 

[WAH MAN]

Him being named outside the initial 6 bench players (14-20) indicates that he still has to pass some tests ie captain run. It will be interesting to see which players get cut 24 hours from kickoff.

Webby on most occassions sticks to the order of the players named on bench.

I'm a bit cool on Barney now because I'm not sure he'll be up to speed with the fitness and agility our current game play requires. I'm not saying it about his immediate return but wondering if his style is a mirror of what happened to the Raiders and I think Cowboys. Which is in my opinion that they were too big and too heavy for the speed of the game. It's feeling a bit small ball now.

Having said that. I dig Barney and what he's done for us. Happy to be proved wrong.

 

[WAH MAN]

mcl. It takes a while to come back fully from such an injury as we saw with Walsh last year. Get Leka to run at him all game.

Absolutely. Leka and Ford are marked men right now. And still they are pumping.

 

[Victor_Radley's_Scrotum]

Knights by how many lads?

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Knights by how many lads?

-20

 

[3rdstriker]

Knights by how many lads?

13+ as usual

 

[sydneywarrior92]

sick of hearing the Aussie media constantly shifting the goalposts on us. First they doubted we could beat premiership contenders in the Roosters and Raiders. Now they are saying that we can't win away from home: despite the fact we had a winning record away from home last year. Need to comprehensively roll the Knights here to shut that talking pt up.

 

[Hitro]

sick of hearing the Aussie media constantly shifting the goalposts on us. First they doubted we could beat premiership contenders in the Roosters and Raiders. Now they are saying that we can't win away from home: despite the fact we had a winning record away from home last year. Need to comprehensively roll the Knights here to shut that talking pt up.

one of the best things about when we win our maiden premiership will be the discomfort some of the Aussie media will have with it

 

[sydneywarrior92]

one of the best things about when we win our maiden premiership will be the discomfort some of the Aussie media will have with it

they will never change their low opinion of us, even if we end up braining the rest of this season. So I'm not surprised, it's just a bit annoying. I still remember in 2002 when we were the minor premiers, the bookies had us at like 4.00 outsiders in the prelim against Cronulla.

 

[Popdukes]

sick of hearing the Aussie media constantly shifting the goalposts on us. First they doubted we could beat premiership contenders in the Roosters and Raiders. Now they are saying that we can't win away from home: despite the fact we had a winning record away from home last year. Need to comprehensively roll the Knights here to shut that talking pt up.

We as long suffering Warriors fans, do the same to be fair….one minute Im thinking this is our year and the next the PTSD kicks in, I had us dropping one of those games before I was even thinking about Newcastle, we ended up wiping the floor with both, now we have Newcastle away, no Brown & Ponga (huge outs for them, bigger than Metcalf & CHT) and they will want to return the favour when Leka came up with probably the best back rower try ever to snatch the game, we were very poor v them and didn’t deserve the win. Watching is v Canberra & Roosters it’s very apparent we are a significantly different team than last year. I’m not even sweating CHT being unavailable. I usually tip us in a Janfin special but I’m going all out 13+….tight competition for the first 20+ and maybe lead slightly at the break before we pick them apart and roll them…. I think this will be another big win (I can’t believe I’m saying that) and one more game for the Aussie media start getting used to the idea we’re a legitimately potent team

Wahs by 28+

 

[sydneywarrior92]

We as long suffering Warriors fans, do the same to be fair….one minute Im thinking this is our year and the next the PTSD kicks in, I had us dropping one of those games before I was even thinking about Newcastle, we ended up wiping the floor with both, now we have Newcastle away, no Brown & Ponga (huge outs for them, bigger than Metcalf & CHT) and they will want to return the favour when Leka came up with probably the best back rower try ever to snatch the game, we were very poor v them and didn’t deserve the win. Watching is v Canberra & Roosters it’s very apparent we are a significantly different team than last year. I’m not even sweating CHT being unavailable. I usually tip us in a Janfin special but I’m going all out 13+….tight competition for the first 20+ and maybe lead slightly at the break before we pick them apart and roll them…. I think this will be another big win (I can’t believe I’m saying that) and one more game for the Aussie media start getting used to the idea we’re a legitimately potent team

Wahs by 28+

if we can bash the Raiders and Roosters packs into submission, there's no reason we can't do the same to the Knights. We have the clear edge in the middle, both starting and on the bench. They may have better outside backs than us but so did the chooks. It doesn't matter if they never enter our red zone. Which the chooks barely did till it was too late.