NZW Ultimate Team (UT) is a fantasy management game built into nzwarriors.com that lets you run your own NRL franchise using historical Warriors players from the MPT player database.

You build a squad through auctions, trades and waivers, set tactics each round, manage chemistry and player events, and compete on a 26-round ladder ending with finals. The whole season simulates here on the site — you don't play the matches, you build the team and call the shots.

From My Franchise → Edit, scroll to the Co-manager section and enter the username of any active forum member. Save and they're instantly granted submission rights for your franchise.

To remove a co-manager, return to the same page, clear the field and save. Only the owner can manage the co-manager — co-managers cannot invite or remove other co-managers themselves.

If both the owner and co-manager submit a game plan for the same round, the most recent submission wins.

What's the difference between an owner and a co-manager?

Owner — full control of the franchise. Sets game plans, makes trades, runs training, manages branding, etc.

Co-manager — a second user the owner has invited. Co-managers can submit game plans and respond to player events on the owner's behalf, but cannot rename the franchise, change branding, or remove the owner.

Co-managers are great for owners who travel, work shifts, or just want a backup so games never get auto-simmed without input.

How do I add a co-manager?

Go to My Franchise → Settings → Co-manager and enter the username of any active forum member. They'll get an invite and once they accept, they have submission rights for your team.

You can remove a co-manager at any time from the same page.

The dashboard activity feed shows the latest 25 things happening across the league, sorted by most recent first. Each entry has an icon and colour to help you scan:

• • Player events — injuries, off-field issues, breakout form, etc. Negative events show in red, positive in green.
• • Press conferences and mind games — including who held them and the tone
• • Trades — both completed swaps and pending trade rumours (rumours hide the players involved until accepted)
• • Auction wins — signings from auction rounds
• • Guest legend stints — new guest legends entering the league
• • Judiciary results — charges that have been resolved
• • Game results — final scores from completed fixtures

The feed also occasionally surfaces fabricated rumours — flavour text about brewing trades or auction targets that adds atmosphere when real activity is quiet. Rumours are stable within a day so you don't see the same headline ten times.

What do the sidebar badges and dots mean?

The Ultimate Team sidebar shows visual indicators next to nav items that need your attention:

• Red dot on Game Plan — you haven't submitted a game plan for the upcoming round, or your current plan is invalid (e.g. captain unavailable). Click in and fix it before kickoff.
• Gold dot on Training — you have unused training capacity for the current round. You only get one training submission per round, so don't leave it on the table.
• Gold dot on Press Conference — press conference opportunity available this round.
• Number badge on Trades — pending trade proposals waiting on your accept/reject/counter decision.
• Number badge on Waivers — waiver bids open or players waiting for you to claim them.
• Number badge on Judiciary — charged players awaiting your plea decision before the deadline.
• Red "LIVE" badge on Auction — an auction round is currently open for bidding.

The badges only appear for franchise owners. They're your at-a-glance reminder that something is sitting in your inbox — if there's no badge, you're all caught up.

Where do my notifications come from and can I turn them off?

Ultimate Team uses XenForo's built-in alert system to notify you of important events. Alerts appear in the standard XF notification bell at the top of every forum page (the bell icon next to your username) and in your account's alerts inbox.

Things you get notified about:

• Franchise approval (when an admin approves your application)
• Game results (your match has simulated)
• Auction wins (you won a player at auction)
• Trade proposals, acceptances, rejections, and counters
• Waiver outcomes (won, outbid, cleared)
• Player events (especially response-required ones)
• Player injuries (minor, major, season-ending)
• Judiciary charges against your players
• Guest legend stints (available, won, expiring, expired)
• FAQ submissions answered (if you submitted a question to the Help Centre)

Opting out: You can disable specific alert types in your XenForo account preferences (Account → Preferences → Alert Preferences). Most categories above can be turned off individually if you find them too noisy — though disabling game-result and judiciary alerts is risky because you may miss critical actions.

Alerts are NOT emailed by default — they're in-product only unless you've enabled email forwarding in your account settings.

New in v1.6

The dashboard now also shows:

• Betting odds on upcoming fixture cards and your next match spotlight — updated dynamically based on team selections
• Pre-Match Preview links on your spotlight game and fixture cards
• Rumour headlines in the activity feed with amber RUMOUR badges
• Weather forecasts for upcoming fixtures with links to the pre-match preview
• All activity feed items now link to the relevant page ("Read more", "View franchise", "Press room", etc.)

Pre-season trial games are real fixtures simulated in the same engine as regular-season matches, but they have no impact on the regular season ladder — they're labelled "Trial 1, Trial 2..." on the Draw page rather than "Round X".

What they're for:

• Testing combinations of starting 13 + bench before games matter
• Trying out a new captain or kicker assignment under live conditions
• Watching the 2D viewer to see whether your tactics work in practice
• Getting an early read on which auction signings actually fit your system

What they affect:

• Stats (form, morale, fitness, fatigue) ARE updated — they behave like normal games
• Injuries CAN happen and DO carry into the regular season — rest your stars in trials if you can
• Player events can trigger as normal

What they don't affect:

• Ladder points (no win/draw/loss bonus)
• Career game counters for awards (these only count regular season + finals)

Treat trials as risk-free experimentation — but only with your depth, not your stars.

What happens between seasons?

When a season ends with the Grand Final, the league enters its off-season period. Admins then set up the next season, which moves through Setup → Auction → Pre-season again.

What carries over to the next season:

• Your franchise (name, branding, logo, badge, colours)
• Reputation and fan base accumulated over the previous season
• Co-manager assignment
• Historical season records, awards, and final ladder positions (visible on the Season History page)
• Player bonds — shared games count from previous seasons keep building bond strength chemistry

What does NOT carry over:

• Your previous roster — players go back into the auction pool. You start each season with an empty squad and rebuild from the auction.
• Salary cap usage — you start the new season with a full cap.
• Previous season form, morale, fitness — these reset to neutral starting values.
• Active suspensions and injuries from the previous season — cleared.
• Pending trades, waivers, or guest stints — resolved or cancelled at season end.

This means each season is a fresh competitive reset on the field, but your franchise identity, history, and accumulated bonds persist.

What happens on a bye round?

If your franchise has a bye in a given round (no fixture scheduled because of an odd number of teams), you skip the match but still earn 2 ladder points as if you had won.

On a bye week:

• No game plan is needed for that round.
• Your players don't accumulate fatigue (no game played).
• Form, morale, and fitness still drift naturally between rounds.
• Training is still available — use the bye to refresh fitness or boost morale on a key player.
• Player events can still trigger normally.
• Trades, waivers, auctions, and judiciary decisions all proceed as usual.

Byes are a chance to recover and tinker without the cost of a fixture — treat them like a built-in rest week.

If something looks broken, unfair, or just plain weird, the best place to report it is the Ultimate Team forum thread on nzwarriors.com. Include:

1. What you were doing when you saw the issue (e.g. "I was setting my game plan for round 14")
2. What you expected to happen
3. What actually happened
4. The exact time if it relates to a sim, trade, or auction outcome (so admins can find it in the logs)
5. A screenshot if possible — especially for visual glitches

For urgent issues during a live auction or trade window, ping the admins directly on the forum or via PM. For general "I think this is bugged" reports, the forum thread is fine and other owners may have hit the same thing.

The News page (sidebar → News) is a curated feed of round-by-round narrative content for the active season. It's the place to catch up on the league's storylines.

What appears in the news feed:

• Round previews and recaps written by the narrative engine
• Trade announcements (significant moves)
• Injury reports and judiciary outcomes
• Player milestone achievements (career games, tries, points)
• Form spikes and slumps for marquee players
• Mind game and press conference highlights
• Awards announcements (Player of the Round, Team of the Round)

Unlike the dashboard activity feed (which shows raw events), the news feed is shaped into narrative stories with context and commentary. Use it to follow rivalries, get a sense of the competition's momentum, and discover storylines you might have missed.

Rumours

The Last Tackle news feed generates rumours based on real in-game events. They appear with an amber RUMOUR badge. Types include:

• Trade whispers — triggered when a player is listed on the trade block
• Unhappy player reports — triggered when a player has itchy feet
• Coaching pressure — triggered after 3+ consecutive losses
• Star performer buzz — triggered after a dominant individual round
• Injury replacement speculation — triggered after major injuries
• Value concerns — triggered when an expensive player underperforms at their current club

All rumours are based on actual game data — if the news says a team is in freefall, check the ladder. Rumour text varies each time so the same situation won't always read the same way.

Odds movements also appear in the feed when betting odds shift significantly between rounds, with an explanation of what caused the change.

Visit the Ultimate Team dashboard and click Create Franchise. Pick a name, location, jersey colours and badge, then submit. An admin reviews your application and approves you — once approved you'll get an alert and can start setting up your squad.

You can only own one franchise at a time. If you're a co-manager on someone else's franchise, you can still own your own.

Here's your typical weekly routine as a franchise owner:

1. Check your dashboard (Monday-Tuesday)

Log in and check the action hub at the top of your dashboard. It shows everything that needs your attention — pending game plan, training due, judiciary charges, incoming trades, player events. The badge count tells you how many actions are outstanding.

2. Set your game plan (before Wednesday 6pm NZST)

This is the only mandatory action. Go to Draw → Set Game Plan (or click the action hub link). Pick your starting 13 and 4 interchange, choose your captain, goal kicker, and tactical settings (attack style, defence intensity, kicking strategy, bench rotation). If you don't submit by lockout, an auto-generated plan runs with your lowest-rated available players — you don't want that.

3. Submit training

Choose a training focus (attack, defence, fitness, kicking, etc.) and intensity. Higher intensity = bigger gains but increased injury risk. Training boosts apply to the next game.

4. Respond to events

Player events pop up randomly — contract disputes, form slumps, off-field incidents. Each has a deadline and response options. Ignoring them usually makes things worse.

5. Check the market

Review incoming trade offers, check the waiver wire for released players, bid on guest legend stints if available. Use the trade fairness score to evaluate deals.

6. Hold a press conference (optional)

Write a presser to boost morale, play mind games with opponents, or comment on the round. Aggressive pressers can backfire but the payoff is worth it when they land.

7. Watch the sim (Wednesday 6pm)

Games simulate at the scheduled time. Watch the play-by-play viewer, check the coach review, see if any records were broken. Review your Power Rankings movement and check the news feed for rumours.

8. Review and plan ahead

After results, check the pre-match preview for next week's opponent. Start thinking about your lineup — who's injured, who's suspended, who's in form?

Time commitment: 10-15 minutes per week minimum (just the game plan). 30-60 minutes if you're active with trades, training, pressers, and analysis. You can check in daily or once a week — both work.

A season runs through five phases:

1. Setup — admins configure the league
2. Auction — franchises bid on players to assemble their starting squads
3. Pre-season — trial games to test combinations, no ladder points
4. Regular season — usually 26 rounds, points on the line every game
5. Finals — the top X teams play a knockout series ending in the Grand Final. The number of finals teams is configured per season by the admin (commonly 8, but can be smaller or larger depending on the league size).

Each round simulates on a fixed schedule (typically once per real-world day or two). The Help Centre and dashboard always show what round and phase the active season is in.

The UT sidebar has badges next to any nav item that needs your attention:

• • red dot on Game Plan — you haven't submitted for the next round
• • gold dot on Training — you have unused training capacity this round
• Number badge on Trades / Waivers / Judiciary — pending items waiting on your decision

The dashboard activity feed also shows the latest events affecting your franchise.

Additional Actions (v1.6)

The action hub now also tracks:

• Pending trades — incoming offers waiting for your response
• Player events — contract disputes, form changes, or incidents needing a decision
• Auction outbids — when someone has outbid you on a player

The badge count in the hero header shows how many total actions are pending. All zero = "Nothing pending" and the hub hides itself.