From famine to feast for Warriors fans

The NRL has identified next year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup stadium blackout as a window for Australia-based teams to take home games to New Zealand, a reward for the Warriors’ sacrifice to keep the competition alive.

Just days before the Warriors play their first home game in almost three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, sources familiar with the situation have told the Sydney Morning Herald a push to have the Warriors play more home games in New Zealand in 2023 is gathering momentum.

Central to the move is the NRL’s willingness to help teams displaced by football’s World Cup take a match to New Zealand – which will co-host the Women’s World Cup.

Fifa will have exclusive use of Accor Stadium, Sydney Football Stadium, Suncorp Stadium and AAMI Park for up to nine weeks between June and August next year.

It’s set to cause chaos with the NRL scheduling. The Roosters, Rabbitohs, Bulldogs, Broncos, Storm and the competition’s newest franchise, the Dolphins, will be without their traditional homes at different stages during the World Cup.

While deals are yet to be finalised, the Warriors have been made aware of the opportunity to bring rival teams to New Zealand during the period in which Fifa will take over Australia’s biggest sporting venues.

The NRL is already considering scheduling extra home games for affected teams at the start of the season and slating their bye during the same period.

But the big beneficiaries could be Warriors fans, who have already snapped up all the tickets for their struggling side’s clash against the Wests Tigers at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.

It will be the first time the Warriors have played a home game since August 2019.

The gratitude for the club is not lost on the wider rugby league community, with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo flying to Auckland on the weekend for the Warriors’ homecoming.

‘‘We simply wouldn’t have been able to play the premiership in 2020, 2021 or 2022 had we not had the Warriors being based in Australia because the borders have been closed,’’ Abdo said.