For the second year in a row, New Zealand Warriors started their season with an underwhelming performance after spending the whole summer training harder and smarter than ever before.

New Zealand Warriors start their 2025 NRL season vs Canberra Raiders in a distant land and in the two seasons of the two Andys era, results in the first game have set the tone for how that season unfolds.

Despite losing a couple games in the 2024 Pacific Championships, Aotearoa Kiwis have built out a strong pool of players who have international rugby league experience and have more than enough depth to cover any eligibility quirks.

There are a few notable Kiwi-NRL selections to check in with as pre-season winds down such as Te Hurinui Twidle getting a crack in the halves for Parramatta Eels and former New Zealand Schools rugby union player Tevita Naufahu sticking around the Dolphins squad.

New Zealand Warriors have played two pre-season games with a 12-12 draw vs Cronulla Sharks and a 36-10 win vs Melbourne Storm, offering plenty of funky wrinkles to digest before the NRL season starts.

Plenty more NRL Pre-Season Challenge games are being played over the next few days and this means more Kiwi-NRL deep cuts like Elijah Salesa-Leaumoana, Esom Ioka, Nazareth Taua, Eddie Ieremia-Toeava and the return of Taniela Otukolo.

NRL Pre-Season Challenge starts this weekend along with trials for Broncos and Dolphins, as well as Under 19 footy in Queensland where there is an impressive group of youngsters from Aotearoa named in both the men's and women's teams for Burleigh.

Nothing tickles New Zealand Warriors anxiety like a young player departing for Australia and just before the first Pre-Season Challenge game vs Cronulla Sharks, Zyon Maiu'u has departed to join Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Under 19 SG Ball/Tasha Gale Cup footy kicks off this weekend and while New Zealand Warriors have an SG Ball game vs Manly Sea Eagles in Sydney, there are a bunch of young men and women from Aotearoa named for Australian teams.

New Zealand Warriors have announced their Under 19 SG Ball squad for 2025 and there are a few key notes to highlight ahead of the New South Wales Rugby League junior representative season starting soon.

Having started their NRLW squad building with some of Aotearoa's best rugby league players, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have gone deeper to scout more wahine from New Zealand and this includes a development pipeline that has already integrated young talent into their system.

New Zealand Warriors have a full 'Supplementary List' as well as 12 lads who were reported as being on 'Train/Trial' contracts which means that there are roughly 50 players on contracted duty at Mt Smart this summer.

Tohu Harris has retired and New Zealand Warriors continue to plow forwards under the guidance of the two Andys (McFadden and Webster).

The Kiwi-NRL Summer Guide finishes with Cronulla Sharks, St George Illawara Dragons, Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm to check in with lads from Aotearoa who are hunting more NRL footy in 2025

The third wave of New Zealand Warriors women signings has flowed down the river with Michaela Blyde, Tysha Ikenasio, Payton Takimoana, Kalyn Takitimu-Cook, Makayla Eli, Emily Curtain, Felila Kia, Lavinia Kitai, Lydia Turua-Quedley, Kaiyah Atai, Maarire Puketapu and Danii Gray locked in for the women Warriors return to NRLW.

The Kiwi-NRL Summer Guide wanders around around Sydney to cover the emerging talent from Aotearoa with Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels and Penrith Panthers.

New Zealand Warriors will enter their third NRL season with Andrew Webster as coach and Andrew McFadden leading the recruitment/development department, which has seen a strong pipeline of young talent established and two different seasons of NRL footy on the field.

The Kiwi-NRL Summer Guide moves into New South Wales to cover Newcastle Knights, Manly Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.

This Kiwi-NRL guide rolls through the Queensland NRL teams with fringe/development nuggets about North Queensland Cowboys, Redcliffe Dolphins, Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans

There is more clarity around the New Zealand Warriors wider NRL mix as kiwis roll into summer, although there are still murky waters in these estuaries that provide just as much intrigue.

Pacific Championships rugby league has ended with New Zealand Kiwis defeating Papua New Guinea to stay in the top tier and Kiwi Ferns losing to Australia in their final.

New Zealand Warriors have returned to training at Mt Smart and along with a few Pacific Championship wrinkles, they popped up with the surprise signing of Tanah Boyd from Titans.

The annual check in with Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals is slightly different this year as there was no Under 21 Hastings Deering Colts competition in Queensland.

Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns are in the Pacific Championship final where they will play against Australia on Sunday and the Kiwis have a crucial game against Papua New Guinea to keep their spot in the upper echelon of the Pacific Championships.

New Zealand Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns put on an admirable show in Christchurch but weren't good enough to get a win against Australia.

New Zealand Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns play against Australia in Christchurch on Sunday, with both teams coming off wins over the Aussies in their last outings.

The New Zealand Kiwi Ferns defeated Australia in their last outing and while there are a few tweaks to the squad named this year, they are all improvements to showcase the excellence of women's rugby league in Aotearoa.

The New Zealand Kiwis squad has been named to defend their Pacific Championships crown with a combination of a hearty core, clear development channels and the regular dose of funky eligibility wins for Aotearoa.

All four teams in the NRL/NRLW Grand Finals have at least two players from or representing Aotearoa and that delivers lots of enticing wrinkles relating to New Zealand rugby league.

New Zealand Warriors enter the kiwi summer with three important trends framing their recruitment and development.

Clearly, this season was one challenge too much for the Wellington Phoenix. In hindsight, there’s no reason to think a team that lost half of its starting line-up, and then struggled with injuries on top of that, should have any hope whatsoever of reclaiming a semi-finals berth

Empoli Football Club had failed to win any of their previous 11 Serie A matches, dropping into the relegation zone as a consequence, when they lined up for a Coppa Italia clash with heavyweights Juventus

After going seven months without any fixtures following the Paris Olympics, a two-match tour of Costa Rica felt very much like the start of a fresh chapter for the Football Ferns

It took a long time for Finn Surman to finally debut for Portland Timbers. He joined them midseason and they allowed him as much room as possible to settle into his surroundings before finally chucking him onto the pitch

For the third time out of three, Auckland FC emerged from the NZ Derby with three points... but this win was not like the others. This win was a dismantling

The latest step in the Auckland FC rollout occurred last week when the club confirmed its inaugural Men’s Reserves squad. This team will be a direct link to the local domestic scene, competing in the Northern and National Leagues of Aotearoa

Nottingham Forest would have expected to breeze past League One’s Exeter City in their FA Cup fourth round tie. If they’re smart they might have even spoken to new recruit Tyler Bindon beforehand, he could have given them a few tips

The headlines from Empoli’s match against AC Milan would have been very different if Liberato Cacace had seen red for his early stop on Kyle Walker’s shins.

Chris Wood didn’t exactly get the celebration game he would have hoped for after his triumphant contract extension last week… but this week he more than made up for that anomaly

It’s been six long months since the Football Ferns last took the pitch. Six months in which a couple of players have retired, some have gotten injured, plenty have had club transfers, and a bunch more have put themselves into the big selection pot

Auckland FC took a risk with how they put this squad together by banking on the quality of players in Aotearoa’s domestic stuff. They only used three local spots on Australians and one of them is currently injured while another has barely even played

There had been links to AC Milan, there had been links to Saudi Arabia, there had been links to Major League Soccer... but those were all mere bargaining as Chris Wood and his agent haggled over an inevitable new deal with Nottingham Forest

The quickest and most accessible path to the pros for a young kiwi footballer these days is the Wellington Phoenix Academy. It’s been steadily brewing for a few years and we’ve now reached the point where every national age grade side, male and female, is saturated with WeeNixers

Chris Wood scored 14 goals last season with Nottm Forest and also in 2019-20 with Burnley so this is the third time he’s reached this mark. It’s also the sixth season in which he’s passed double-figures.

Every year the aim has been finals footy for the Wellington Phoenix women. For the first couple years, that turned out to be an unrealistic target and they ended up with a couple of wooden spoons instead. But in year three the dream wasn’t so far-fetched

Libby Cacace had played 103 league games in Europe prior to this season, split between Belgium and Italy, and from all that he’d mustered zero goals and three assists. Happily, goal contributions have not been a problem for him in the 2024-25 campaign.

Two Sarpreet Singh goals, both stemming from making those good supporting runs into the penalty area. The first was a bit fortunate with the ball ricocheting off his face but hey he was in the right spot at the right time, what can you say?

This was already Tyler Bindon’s favourite time of the year but he probably loves it even more after scoring a bicycle kick winning goal for Reading against Mansfield Town

The last few weeks have been rough for the Wellington Phoenix blokes, beginning with the derby defeat away to Auckland FC. You don’t often need to pay attention to what the Aussie commentators say about the kiwi clubs but…

We just had one of the most open, competitive, and unpredictable Men’s National League seasons we’ve ever witnessed and would you believe it the damn thing ended with Auckland City as champions

After another thrilling season of National League football... the expected outcome prevailed for Auckland United to complete their quadruple and make it through the entire calendar year undefeated

A couple of weeks ago, CJ Bott and Liberato Cacace were each nominated for the FIFA Best Awards. Cacace followed that honour up by scoring his first goal for Empoli. Then, a few days later, CJ Bott did the same thing for Leicester City

It’s been a long time since Liberato Cacace last scored a goal at club level. He did score an important one for the All Whites in 2022 when he bagged the winner in the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament semi-final against Tahiti

There was scrap, there was niggle, and there were flashes of high-quality A-League football for all to see. Nothing silly, just good competitive fun. The appetite was there and the meal has been served accordingly.

It has been a slow and steady build for Sarpreet Singh since he joined União de Leiria. They had to make sure he was at 100% fitness before letting him loose, meaning Singh had only got a couple of substitute appearances prior to the last international break

The Men’s Grand Final didn’t have the same clearly defined champ and challenger dynamic as the Women’s one did. For starters, the defending champs were Wellington Olympic and they didn’t even come close to qualifying this time

The stage was set at North Harbour Stadium, with Auckland United one game away from an absolutely unprecedented achievement. Not only were they on the brink of a quadruple but they were also ninety minutes (maybe more) away from going through the entire calendar year undefeated

Kate Taylor has always had the ability to score goals. She scored in each of her three seasons with the Wellington Phoenix and already has a couple of goals for the Football Ferns

The Men’s NL had four teams still with hopes of qualifying for the final as week nine began and none of them were playing each other so almost all of the games had ramifications. The WNL did not have such consequences

Right around the same time that the Cashmere-Birkenhead game reached it’s midpoint, this one was kicking off. Last year’s champions Wellington Olympic were at their Martin Luckie Park home trying to finish the season on a high

Let us talk about the New Zealand Breakers, who recently wrapped up their latest NBL campaign. It was a season that began with scepticism based on a roster full of project players and the rookie foreign head coach hired to whip them into shape.

It has been a mission of patience tracking the revival of Steven Adams and his NBA career. Finally recovered from his long term knee injury and looking resplendent in red for the Houston Rockets... progress has been slow

There were plenty of reasons to discount the New Zealand Breakers heading into NBL25. Yet they were 2-0 when they flew to the USA and then they returned and they kept winning.

The moment is near. Steven Adams is on the verge of making his NBA return after 21 long and boring months without his basketballing presence.

It may have snuck under the radar but the Tall Ferns were in Mexico last week playing some games. They had a Pre-Qualifying Tournament for the next FIBA World Cup. Very similar to the format they went through with Olympic Qualifiers earlier in the year...

Last season the Breakers gave fewer minutes to NZers than ever before (a record that they’re going to crush again in NBL25) and yet it was still the most prosperous season we’ve ever witnessed for kiwi players in that league.

These are glorious times for basketball in Aotearoa. Already established as the fastest growing sport in the country, we recently saw the New Zealand team finish fourth at the FIBA Men’s U17 World Championships, with Oscar Goodman crowned as part of the tournament’s All Star Five…

A record was broken last Thursday afternoon when, at the 2024 NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards selected Alexandre Sarr with the second overall pick. Sarr just so happened to have spent the past season with the Perth Wildcats as part of the Australian NBL’s Next Star programme

As we traversed what was already shaping up to be a concerning offseason, the feeling was that the Breakers would be alright as long as Head Coach Mody Maor was around. But now he’s leaving.

A few months ago, the Tall Ferns set out to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. They did not make it. So can the Tall Blacks end the drought instead?

Gotta love a bit of Aotearoa’s National Basketball League. It’s a rapidly growing competition that regularly attracts most of the country’s best players whilst also attracting a decent level of import and still finding room to boost up the next generation

In a topsy-turvy, up-and-down season... the Breakers finished about where they should have: right in the middle. They made the play-ins but not the playoffs, winning one knockout game but losing the other

The Tall Ferns will not be going to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. A narrow defeat against Puerto Rico in their qualifying tournament made sure of that, as a very inexperienced and injury-ravaged Aotearoa side fell agonisingly short of their goal

The news came through at 12:41pm on Friday in the same way that all NBA news comes through: via a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski.

It’s been a long time since Aotearoa last had a basketballing presence at the Olympics. You’ve got to go all the way back to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing for the last appearance.

It’s just not the same without Steven Adams. Even since he first got injured diving for a loose ball late in a game back in January, the NBA has been missing its heartbeat

There is a possibility, something we need to at least consider, that perhaps maybe potentially we might have given the New Zealand Breakers too much credit. When they turned everything around so suddenly last season it was natural to feel as though…

After several years of mediocrity, some pandemic-influenced and some not, the Breakers surged back into Australian National Basketball League prominence last season under the inspirational guidance of new head coach Mody Maor

There’s one thing you can never doubt about any Tall Blacks team: no matter who’s got that black singlet on, they’re going to bring the passion, the commitment, the mana that has become a prerequisite for this team

There hasn’t been a kiwi in the NFL since Paul Lasike’s short but memorable stint and as the 2023 season edges close to its kickoff there isn’t going to be one this year either. But there is a bloke who comes close.

The Tall Blacks always bring a certain level of mana with them no matter who’s reppin’ the jersey. There’s going to be passion and cohesion and defensive grit. Regardless. That’s just how this team operates

The Tall Ferns hit up this Asia Cup with a clear target in mind: a top four finish. Make the semi-finals of this tournament for the first ever time, see if they can’t win a medal while they’re at it, and most importantly stay in the hunt for Olympic qualification

It was a season like none other for Aotearoa’s finest basketballing export. For half of it he was an unstoppable rebounding machine even by his own high standards. Then he got injured.

The FIBA Women’s Asia Cup is taking place in Sydney, Australia next week and the Tall Ferns have a task ahead of them. Winning this thing may not be realistic but that’s fine, the real task is getting into the top four

New Zealanders are steadily infiltrating the Australian NBL and folks are slowly starting to notice… although those on this side of the Tasman Sea understand that this is not a new trend

The Memphis Grizzlies came to an inglorious conclusion as they were bounced in the first round by a seventh seed. Steven Adams didn’t play a single game after the month of January and that whole situation has been kept annoyingly murky

The whole Next Star journey has been a strange one for the Breakers but as their latest foreign prospect officially declares for the NBA Draft it seems as though they’ve finally figured it out

Breakers recruitment this season was top notch and for once they’ve actually got the structure, the success, and the coach to be able to do something they have not yet done since the change in ownership: retain an import signing.

They said it’d be 3-5 weeks before Steven Adams could return from his knee strain. The All Star break fell at roughly the four week mark but he wasn’t quite ready to go at the end of it. The fifth week also went by. Then a sixth and then a seventh.

Canterbury has gone back to back with Ford Trophy championships and have won three of the last five one-day competitions in Aotearoa after defeating Auckland in the final.

Otago has sparked up an Hallyburton Johnstone Shield dynasty after winning this season's final vs Auckland to make it three HBJ Shield championships in the last four seasons.

Joseph Parker was supposed to be fighting for a world title. His scheduled bout with Daniel Dubois would have put DD’s IBF heavyweight championship belt on the line, a chance for Parker to become a two-time champion

The summer of international cricket isn't over yet as New Zealand's White Ferns have an ODI and T20I series vs Sri Lanka coming up, with the T20I portion forming a double-header extravaganza alongside Blackcaps vs Pakistan.

Otago cruised through two wins over Central Districts and their nine wins with one loss in HBJ Shield this season puts them straight into the final as favourites.

Canterbury's win over Auckland sent them straight into the Ford Trophy final, leaving Auckland to play Central Districts in the elimination final on Friday.

A win for Canterbury and loss for Auckland saw Canterbury take the top spot in Ford Trophy, with both teams chillin' on six wins.

After taking an emerging squad to Sri Lanka late last year, Aotearoa's Blackcaps have won five of their last six ODIs with three consecutive wins in the ODI Tri-Series vs Pakistan and South Africa.

Auckland went back to back with Ford Trophy wins after defeating Northern Districts, while Central Districts stopped the Canterbury streak by winning in Rangiora and Otago grabbed a win against Wellington at the Basin Reserve.

Ford Trophy cricket is back with Canterbury and Auckland leading the competition as the only teams with five wins.

Wellington Blaze and Central Stags are Super Smash champions.

As Super Smash finals are played on Sunday, let's take a moment to digest the best of the rest which includes Blackcaps/White Ferns context and notable youngsters for both competitions

Wellington hosted two game days at the Basin Reserve to start the week with Blaze winning both their games vs Auckland and Canterbury, while Firebirds lost to those teams on the men's side.

As always there are lots of funky youngsters knocking around in Super Smash and 'The Best Youngsters, Part 2' is here to offer a few key thoughts about Matt Boyle, Auckland's young core, Amelia Kerr, Eden Carson and more.

Northern Districts were having none of Otago's road trip excellence with two wins for the Brave in Dunedin, then Central Districts held down it down in Napier with two wins over Canterbury.

The Champions Trophy is back and it comes at an intriguing time for New Zealand cricket as the Blackcaps have transitioned towards a younger, fresher group.

Otago Sparks and Volts are the hottest Super Smash teams right now, while Jess Kerr is the most dominant women's player and Michael Bracewell is whacking boundaries.

Otago brushed aside Central Districts in both games in Palmerston North and Northern Districts did the double against Auckland in Hamilton in the last two Super Smash game days.

Central Districts Stags are the best men's team in Super Smash right now, while that honour is shared between Wellington Blaze and Otago Sparks in the women's competition.

The Super Smash rolls along with Canterbury's Matt Boyle sitting as the best youngster across both competitions, although White Ferns spinners Eden Carson and Fran Jonas would be in contention if they weren't international cricketers already.

Central Districts split their Super Smash game day vs Northern Districts in Nelson with a win in the men's game and a loss in the women's game.

Auckland defeated Canterbury in both of their crazy Super Smash game day and Wellington handled their business against Central Districts.

New Zealand has gone 3-2 in T20Is against Sri Lanka over the past few months and now the away/home double up with Sri Lanka heads into ODI mode.

Northern Brave men and Wellington Blaze started their Super Smash campaigns with wins, which for the Blaze usually means more Amelia Kerr excellence.

The Super Smash festivities in Alexandra have finished with Otago Sparks going 2-1 and Volts going 1-1 as they had a game washed out.

Super Smash cricket is underway in Aotearoa with rain rubbing out most of the first game day between Northern Districts and Auckland, then Canterbury women and Otago men grabbed wins in Alexandra.

Outside of their T20 World Cup success, New Zealand's White Ferns went 3-21 this year across both formats and the Rose Bowl series loss offered a familiar feeling for kiwi cricket fans.

The Blackcaps T20 squad named to play Sri Lanka in three games starting this Saturday features Aotearoa's best young talent and it's the perfect opportunity to roll out a fresh T20 group after New Zealand struggled to hit their potential in T20Is this year.

The Blackcaps year of Test cricket has wrapped up and they finish 2024 with a 6-6 record, which holds steady at 7-7 in the World Test Championship where New Zealand is currently fourth.

No one should be expecting Aotearoa's White Ferns to win the ODI series vs Australia in Wellington but they have the opportunity to shake up women's cricket once again and move into a fresh phase full of confidence.