Ups and downs for Warriors in All Stars draw

Tries, injuries, unexpected ball-playing – it was certainly an eventful All Stars encounter for the seven Warriors involved.

The Māori All Stars and Indigenous All Stars played out an entertaining, typically physical 16-all draw in Hamilton on Sunday. The deadlock was the second in the concept’s history; the teams drew 10-all in Townsville in 2021.

For Warriors fans, it was also an opportunity to see seven key members of the 2026 NRL campaign for the first time – just a day after the club’s disappointing trial outing against Manly in Napier.

The match had barely got underway when three Warriors combined to open the scoring. Playing in unfamiliar jersey numbers, Māori lock James Fisher-Harris linked with five-eighth Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who offloaded for second-rower Jacob Laban to steam over for an All Stars try for the second straight year.

Fisher-Harris’ busy ball-playing was a prominent feature of the Māori All Stars’ performance, passing 21 times along with five offloads. Only dummy-half duo Zach Dockar-Clay (who switched to halfback during the first half) and Trent Toelau passed the ball more.