NRLW: Warriors fall short in Magic Round after opening bag of tricks late
The Titans held on in Wagga Wagga after a three-try flurry from the Warriors.
The Warriors have suffered their second loss of the 2026 NRLW season in Round 5, edged out 18-16 by Gold Coast in the Wagga Wagga-hosted Magic Round after setting up a grandstand finish with a thrilling late surge.
In what was largely a frustrating watch for Warriors fans, the Titans built an 18-0 lead with 10 minutes of the second half gone.
Ivana Losesio scored just three minutes in from a deft Lauren Brown grubber, before Evania Isa’ako stormed over for an alarmingly soft try in the 16th minute.
The Warriors never really threatened to get on the scoreboard during the first half, struggling to create space or opportunities for superstar club debutant Mele Hufanga on the left edge, while the right-side offence was plagued by sloppy execution and poor option-taking.
Gold Coast winger Indie Bostock’s try in the 44th minute put the Warriors at the foot of a daunting mountain, but they started the climb when halfback Gayle Broughton turned former Broncos teammate Hufanga under. The powerhouse centre beat a couple of tackles and dived in with 17 minutes left — and the momentum shifted dramatically.
Celebrating her 20th birthday, forward Ivana Lautiiti muscled over under the posts soon afterwards to cut the deficit to six points.
At the end of the ensuing set, winger Stacey Waaka bagged a freakish try in the corner when she soared to take a Broughton bomb. Patricia Maliepo’s conversion attempt to level the scores fell just short, but the Warriors were running downhill.
Hufanga, who finished with six tackle-breaks among 12 runs for 128 metres in her return from injury, made multiple skittling charges to set up a couple of late chances.
But inexplicably, the Warriors ignored strike weapons Broughton, Hufanga and Waaka inside the red zone, their last couple of cracks at the line ending with unimaginative fifth-tackle crash plays on the right edge.
The comeback was highly encouraging but masked an overall disappointing, clunky performance.
Besides flashes of brilliance from Hufanga and Waaka, positives came in the form of another immense dipslay from lock Kaylah Atai, who topped the run metres (142 metres on 20 carries) and tackle (40) counts, and the powerful running of prop Harata Butler (11 runs for 99 metres). Some of Apii Nicholls’ kick-defusing was top-shelf, while starting front-rower Matanoia Fetalaiga also topped 100 metres.
Out with concussion, Jasmin Huriwai’s calm and class around the ruck was missed.
The Warriors will remain in the top five at the end of the round, but the loss put some pressure on Ron Griffiths’ side ahead of a tough match-up next Saturday night against Newcastle Knights in Hamilton.
NRLW — ROUND 5: Gold Coast Titans 18 defeated Warriors 16 (Mele Hufanga, Ivana Lauatiiti, Stacey Waaka tries; Patricia Maliepo 2 goals) at Geohex Park, Wagga Wagga.