Easter eggs: A Warriors history 🐰

Every Warriors-related stat and standout performance from three decades of Easter footy.

Unlike Anzac Day or Round 1, the Warriors’ Easter history hasn’t been chronicled – until now.

The “moveable feast” is, as everyone knows, on a different date every year (the first Sunday after the first full moon – the Paschal Full Moon – that occurs on or after the vernal equinox, to be exact). But with standing Good Friday (Bulldogs v Rabbitohs) and Easter Monday (Eels v Tigers) NRL fixtures, the four-day, chocolate-coated weekend has its only unique feel for fans of any club.

The Warriors’ Easter narrative is – like most aspects of the team’s wider three-decade existence – something of a rollercoaster. They’ve been crucified by their supporters some years, come back from the dead in others.

The Warriors have played every Easter since their 1995 premiership entry with the exception of 2020, when the NRL was on hold amid the COVID-19 pandemic – and a few stats paint a worrying picture ahead of this Sunday’s vital showdown at Cronulla.

· The Warriors have a 13-17 record in Easter weekend matches.

· The Warriors won six of their first nine matches at Easter, but they lost 14 of their next 19 – bookended by four-match losing streaks from 2004-07 and 2019-22.

· The Warriors have won their last their two Easter weekend games, outlasting Newcastle (20-12) in 2024 and Brisbane in golden (20-18) last season.

· Home-ground advantage is massively pronounced in the Warriors’ Easter history: they 11-5 at Mount Smart Stadium but have a dismal 2-12 record on the road.

· Sunday is the most common day over Easter for the Warriors to play (12 matches). They have a 3-9 record on Easter Sunday, going 3-3 at home and losing all six away games.

· It’s a similar story on Easter Saturday – the Warriors are 2-2 at home and 1-4 on the road.

· Easter Monday is the Warriors’ most fruitful day of the long weekend, winning all five home matches that day and splitting their two away fixtures.

· The Warriors have played one Maundy Thursday match (yes, that’s the name of the day before Good Friday), a 22-8 loss to the Magpies in 1996, and one Good Friday encounter, a 16-12 win over the Storm in 1998.

· The Knights are the Warriors’ most common Easter opponents, squaring off six times. The Knights have won four of those clashes.

· The Warriors have proved Easter bunnies for the Raiders – losing all three matches – and are 0-2 against the Sea Eagles. They are 1-2 against the Roosters and lost lone Easter encounters to the Magpies, Balmain Tigers and Dragons.

· The Warriors have winning Easter records against the Panthers (2-0), Storm (2-1), Steelers (1-0), Sharks (1-0), Eels (1-0) and Broncos (1-0). Their four match Easter rivalry with fellow ’95 entrants the Cowboys is square at two wins apiece.

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WARRIORS’ TOP 10 EASTER PERFORMANCES

10. 2003 – Warriors 30 defeated Cowboys 24 at Ericsson Stadium

A hot early-2003 streak concluded for the Warriors in Round 6 courtesy of a 30-24 victory over a building Cowboys outfit – a fifth straight win for Daniel Anderson’s side. The Warriors led the seesawing Easter Monday clash 16-12 at halftime before kicking away to 30-12 and holding off the fast-finishing visitors. Hooker PJ Marsh starred by setting up two tries and scoring one himself.