NRL: Tough draw for Warriors in 2018

Senior Sports Journalist·NZ Herald·

19 Oct, 2017 12:42 AM3 mins to read

Warriors fans will have their first home match against Gold Coast on St Patrick's Day next year. Photo / photosport.nz

The 2018 Warriors' draw is out - and is significantly different to previous years.

The Auckland team have only one home match on a Sunday, start the season with three of their first four matches in Australia and have a particularly difficult run during the State of Origin period.

At first glance, it also looks to be a slightly tougher draw, as they face two games against most of the big guns, including the Storm, Cowboys, Broncos, Roosters and Panthers.

The season kicks off against South Sydney in Perth on Saturday, March 10 and winds up with the Warriors hosting back-to-back Friday night games against Penrith on August 24 and Canberra on August 31.

The first home match is against Gold Coast on St Patrick's Day (Saturday, March 17).

A feature of the draw is the mid-season sequence of six consecutive matches against top eight sides starting with Manly in Christchurch on Saturday, June 9, North Queensland in Townsville on June 15, Cronulla at Mount Smart Stadium on June 29, away to Penrith (July 6) and Brisbane (July 15) and Melbourne in Auckland on July 22.

The sequence is broken up by the stand-alone weekend for Origin II set down for Sunday, June 24.

Of the 12 home games, six are against 2017 top eight clubs, six are on Saturdays, five on Friday nights and one on a Sunday.

Overall the Warriors have 11 Saturday games, eight on Friday nights, four on Sundays and one on a Wednesday (Anzac Day against Melbourne).

This is the first draw of the post-Anzac Test era.

With no representative weekend in May, the NRL has created a stand-alone weekend for Origin II in late June while the Warriors will also have a bye in round 13 coinciding with Queen's Birthday weekend in New Zealand (June 2-4).

They're away to the Sydney Roosters on March 31 over the Easter holiday period (March 30-April 2) and are at home to the same opponents on May 12, the day before Mother's Day.

The clubs the Warriors face once in 2018 are Cronulla (home), Newcastle (home), Wests Tigers (home), Manly (away), Parramatta (away) and Canterbury-Bankstown (away). They are home and away to the other nine clubs.

WARRIORS - 2018 NRL DRAW

Saturday, March 10: 4.00pm: Rabbitohs (nib Stadium, Perth)

Saturday, March 17: 5.00pm: Titans (Mount Smart Stadium,
Auckland)

Saturday, March 24: 3.00pm: Raiders (GIO Stadium, Canberra)

Saturday, March 31: 5.30pm: Roosters (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)

Saturday, April 7: 7.30pm: Cowboys (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)

Saturday, April 14: 5.00pm: Broncos (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)

Friday, April 20: 8.00pm: Dragons (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)

Wednesday, April 25: 7.00pm: Storm (AAMI Park, Melbourne)

Saturday, May 5: 7.30pm: Wests Tigers (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)

Saturday, May 12: 5.00pm: Roosters (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)

Friday, May 18: 6.00pm: Eels (ANZ Stadium, Sydney)