We took every season's final ladder and every Warriors game, regular season and finals, from the data behind NRL.com's ladder and draw, which starts in 1998, and added the three earlier seasons from the published ladders of the 1995 and 1996 Australian Rugby League and the 1997 Super League.
New Zealand Warriors history: where they finished every season
The Auckland Warriors, renamed the New Zealand Warriors in 2001, have finished in the top four four times: first in 2002, fourth in 2007 and 2023, and second in 2026. They have never finished last. Their lowest finishes were 15th of 20 in 1998 and 15th of 16 in 2022.
- Finals seasons (11): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2023, 2025 and 2026.
- Longest waits: six seasons twice, from 1995 to 2000 and from 2012 to 2017.
- Near misses: in 1995 the club was stripped of two competition points for exceeding the replacement limit, and its 26 points would otherwise have been enough for eighth. In 2006 a four-point salary cap penalty left the Warriors tenth on 24 points with a +89 differential, and in 2014 they missed eighth on differential, +80 to the Brisbane Broncos' +93.
In 1997, the Super League year, the Warriors were seventh of ten with only the top five reaching the finals. Our NRL top-eight article shows how many points the line has taken in each season since 1999.
| Season | Competition | Finish | Record | Points diff. | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | NRL | 2nd of 17 | 18-6 | +310 | 0-2, Lost in week 2 |
| 2025 | NRL | 6th of 17 | 14-10 | +21 | 0-1, Lost in week 1 |
| 2024 | NRL | 13th of 17 | 9-1-14 | -62 | - |
| 2023 | NRL | 4th of 17 | 16-8 | +124 | 1-2, Lost preliminary final |
| 2022 | NRL | 15th of 16 | 6-18 | -292 | - |
| 2021 | NRL | 12th of 16 | 8-16 | -171 | - |
| 2020 | NRL | 10th of 16 | 8-12 | -115 | - |
| 2019 | NRL | 13th of 16 | 9-1-14 | -141 | - |
| 2018 | NRL | 8th of 16 | 15-9 | +25 | 0-1, Lost in week 1 |
| 2017 | NRL | 13th of 16 | 7-17 | -131 | - |
| 2016 | NRL | 10th of 16 | 10-14 | -88 | - |
| 2015 | NRL | 13th of 16 | 9-15 | -143 | - |
| 2014 | NRL | 9th of 16 | 12-12 | +80 | - |
| 2013 | NRL | 11th of 16 | 11-13 | -59 | - |
| 2012 | NRL | 14th of 16 | 8-16 | -112 | - |
| 2011 | NRL | 6th of 16 | 14-10 | +111 | 2-2, Lost grand final |
| 2010 | NRL | 5th of 16 | 14-10 | +53 | 0-1, Lost in week 1 |
| 2009 | NRL | 14th of 16 | 7-2-15 | -188 | - |
| 2008 | NRL | 8th of 16 | 13-11 | -65 | 2-1, Lost preliminary final |
| 2007 | NRL | 4th of 16 | 13-1-10 | +159 | 0-2, Lost in week 2 |
| 2006 | NRL | 10th of 15 | 12-12 | +89 | - |
| 2005 | NRL | 11th of 15 | 10-14 | -13 | - |
| 2004 | NRL | 14th of 15 | 6-18 | -266 | - |
| 2003 | NRL | 6th of 15 | 15-9 | +35 | 2-1, Lost preliminary final |
| 2002 | NRL | 1st of 15 | 17-7 | +234 | 2-1, Lost grand final |
| 2001 | NRL | 8th of 14 | 12-2-12 | +9 | 0-1, Lost in week 1 |
| 2000 | NRL | 13th of 14 | 8-2-16 | -236 | - |
| 1999 | NRL | 11th of 17 | 10-14 | +40 | - |
| 1998 | NRL | 15th of 20 | 9-15 | -101 | - |
| 1997 | Super League | 7th of 10 | 7-11 | -74 | - |
| 1996 | ARL | 11th of 20 | 10-11 + forfeit win | -15 | - |
| 1995 | ARL | 10th of 20 | 13-9 | +51 | - |
Warriors finals record: 9 wins, 15 losses
In 11 finals series the Warriors have won 9 games and lost 15. Four series ended after one game, in 2001, 2010, 2018 and 2025. They have reached five preliminary finals and won two, in 2002 and 2011, the two years they reached the grand final.
- At Mt Smart: 3 wins and 3 losses. Wins over the Raiders in 2002, the Roosters in 2008 and the Knights in 2023; losses to the Eels in 2007, Penrith in 2025 and the Dolphins in 2026.
- Elsewhere in New Zealand: one final, the 2026 semi-final at Eden Park, lost 12-10.
- In Australia: 6 wins and 11 losses, including both grand finals.
The 2023 run is the most recent deep one. After finishing fourth, the Warriors lost 32-6 to Penrith, beat the Newcastle Knights 40-10 at home and lost the preliminary final 42-12 to Brisbane.
The 2002 and 2011 Warriors grand finals
The 2002 team are the only Warriors side to finish first. They were minor premiers at 17-7, beat the Raiders 36-20 at Mt Smart, had the second week off and beat the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16-10 in the preliminary final in Sydney. The Roosters won the grand final 30-8 at Stadium Australia.
In 2011 the Warriors finished sixth at 14-10 and played every final in Australia. They lost 40-10 to Brisbane in week 1, survived 22-20 against the Wests Tigers in Sydney, and won the preliminary final 20-12 against the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne. Manly beat them 24-10 in the grand final, also at Stadium Australia.
Warriors home record at Go Media Stadium (Mt Smart)
Mt Smart Stadium in Penrose, Auckland, has been branded Go Media Stadium since May 2023. From 1998 to 2026 the Warriors went 168-2-125 there in the regular season, a 57 percent win rate. Away from home they went 127-7-214, 38 percent.
That 20-point gap looks like a fortress, but it is close to normal for the NRL. Counting every game in which a club was listed as the home side, wherever it was played, and leaving out 2020 and 2021, the Warriors won 56 percent at home and 38 percent away, an 18-point edge. That is sixth of the 16 clubs with at least 100 home games in that span, close to the Storm, the Raiders and the Parramatta Eels, at 19, and above the average of 15. Manly have the largest gap, 21 points, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs the smallest, 8.
The weak part of the Warriors' record is on the road: only the Gold Coast Titans and the Wests Tigers have a lower away win rate over the same seasons. Home games at other New Zealand grounds were 8-10 overall but 5-1 since 2023, in Wellington, Christchurch and Napier.
The COVID seasons: 2020 and 2021 away from Auckland
The Warriors did not play a single game in New Zealand in 2020 or 2021. Their "home" games were in New South Wales and Queensland: eight of ten at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford in 2020, and seven of twelve there in 2021. They finished 10th at 8-12 in the 20-round 2020 season and 12th at 8-16 in 2021.
In 2022 they played six of their first eight home games at Redcliffe, north of Brisbane. They came back to Mt Smart in round 16 on 3 July 2022 and beat the Wests Tigers 22-2. The club counted 1038 days since its previous game there, a 31-10 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 30 August 2019, and our data has 59 Warriors games in between. They finished 2022 15th.
The Warriors' 2026 season: second on points differential
The 2026 Warriors went 18-6, the most wins in club history (the 2002 side won 17), scored 728 points, the most in the league, and finished with a +310 differential, also a club best. Penrith also went 18-6 for 42 points, and the ladder went to them on differential, +336 to +310. The Warriors were 10-2 at home: 7-2 at Go Media Stadium and 3-0 in Wellington, Christchurch and Brisbane.
- Qualifying final: lost 26-16 to the Dolphins at Go Media Stadium on Saturday, 12 September, at 6:05pm NZST.
- Semi-final: lost 12-10 to the Knights at Eden Park on Sunday, 20 September, at 6:05pm NZST, in front of 48,511.
- After them: Newcastle went on to the grand final on Sunday, 4 October (9:30pm NZDT), and lost 19-18 to the Roosters.
The second-place finish was the club's best since 2002, and the two straight losses made 2026 the second time a top-four Warriors team went out in week 2, after 2007. Our NRL ladder has the final 2026 table, the NRL draw will carry the 2027 games when they are published, and the NRL ladder predictor lets you tip the season or replay 2026 from any round. The Warriors have also drawn five golden point games, more than any club.
New Zealand Warriors history: frequently asked questions
Have the New Zealand Warriors ever won an NRL premiership? No. They lost the 2002 grand final 30-8 to the Sydney Roosters and the 2011 grand final 24-10 to Manly.
How many times have the Warriors made the NRL finals? Eleven times in 32 seasons since 1995, most recently in 2025 and 2026. Their finals record is 9 wins and 15 losses.
What is the Warriors' best season? By ladder position, 2002, when they were minor premiers and reached the grand final. By wins, 2026, when they went 18-6 and finished second on points differential.
What is the Warriors' home ground? Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, branded Go Media Stadium. They have won 57 percent of their regular-season games there since 1998.
How this was built: every Warriors game from 1998 to 2026 (696 in the regular season and 24 finals) and every end-of-season ladder, from the public data behind NRL.com's draw and ladder, downloaded in October 2026; the game-by-game results add up to the official ladder record in every season. The 1995 to 1997 seasons come from the published ARL and Super League ladders on Wikipedia, and every position was checked against Wikipedia's list of Warriors seasons (which has 2003 as fifth; both ladders show sixth, behind the Storm on differential). Venues are as NRL.com records them. Club home and away rates use every regular-season game from 1998 to 2026 except 2020 and 2021. The 2026 season is complete.