Stats the spirit: Running the Round 16 numbers 📊📉
Standout efforts at dummy-half, up front and from the back-three dominate this week's stats breakdown, while a major milestone awaits a fan favourite on Saturday.
Cowboys become Warriors’ bunnies
Egan on fire
TSS steps up
CNK on a wing and a prayer
Taine’s lucky breaks
DWZ tons up
The Warriors arrested a two-game slide via an entertaining, at-times patchy 38-20 victory over North Queensland Cowboys under the roof at the spectacular One New Zealand Stadium in ÅŒtautahi Christchurch.
A four-try haul from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad gave the Warriors a 20-10 lead inside 50 minutes, before Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Adam Pompey and Taine Tuaupiki crossed at regular intervals to keep the Cowboys at arm’s length.
The Warriors’ hogged possession at 56 percent, completed at 80 percent (37/46) to the Cowboys’ 78 percent (29/37), and steamrolled the visitors with 1,940 metres to 1,440 (including 607 post-contact metres to 406) and an average set distance of 42.19 metres to 38.93.
That dominance also translated to a 6-1 set restart advantage against the backpedalling Cowboys, while the Warriors finished with 10 line-breaks to six.
It’s only the fourth time the Warriors have racked up 10 wins in a season inside 14 games. The club has sat in the top two positions on the ladder at the end of a round just 29 times in their history – the 2026 season now accounts for 13 of those weeks.
Warriors power home for historic victory in ÅŒtautahi's new whare
The Warriors arrested a two-game slide and marked One New Zealand Stadium’s NRL debut with a 38-20 defeat of North Queensland Cowboys.
Don’t have a Cowboy, man
The Warriors have taken a stranglehold on their rivalry with their fellow 1995 entrants, winning five straight against the Cowboys – and 10 of the teams’ last 13 encounters.
It’s the Warriors’ longest active streak against any current club, with three-match runs against Newcastle and St George Illawarra next on the list.
Wayde to measure
Earning a rare 9 in the Kingz Container Crew player ratings, Wayde Egan terrorised the Cowboys out of dummy-half with 126 metres, a line-break and two try assists.
After six consecutive games making less than 50 run metres, Egan has reignited that part of his game — running for 66 metres against the Sharks before Sunday’s season-high effort.
Egan’s eight try assists in 2026 are second in the NRL among hookers, after Cronulla’s Blayke Brailey (10), and are already an equal-career-high for a season. The NSW Origin hopeful has also made five line-breaks altogether this year.
TWL Rd 16: Kingz Container Crew Warriors Player Ratings
The Warriors’ key-position players stand out in this week’s Kingz Container Crew player ratings, but there were impressive individual performers across the park in their 38-20 win over the Cowboys.
