The Warriors had their first look inside the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Built in 2020, the venue holds 65,000 fans and is the third most expensive stadium in history.
In their 30th year, the Warriors haven’t had a seasonopener like this since their inaugural game, the sold-out epic against Brisbane in March 1995.
There have been some big occasions, like the 2012 grand final rematch against Manly at Eden Park, or the 2018 trip to Western Australia to face South Sydney, one of the first matches in Perth’s new stadium.
But nothing like this. The clash with Canberra will open the NRL season – a rare honour for Auckland – and be staged in front of one of the biggest television audiences in the club’s history.
It will be broadcast on Channel 9 across Australia and will also be played on the Fox Sports free to air channel here. The significance of that can’t be underestimated. Both Las Vegas matches last year were on cable television in the United States, as are the other three matches in 2025.
But the Warriors game will be beamed into 125 million American households, so if they attract even a tiny fraction of that, it will be a boon. It’s not quite Warriors to the world but it’s as close as we are going to get.
It also feels different. It’s only one game – across a 24-round NRL season – but the prolonged build-up and surreal location has built anticipation levels to a new high.
Warriors second-rower Jackson Ford joins the three other team representatives at the Grand Canyon ahead of NRL Las Vegas. Photo / Michael Burgess
It should be a massive crowd – surely a record for a Warriors regular season game - with organisers confident of getting close to 50,000, for the quadruple header, with the Super League clash between Wigan and Warrington, the women’s match between Australia and England and Cronulla taking on four-time premiers Penrith.
Local interest seems mixed. There is a healthy core of interest in oval ball codes, shown by the success of the Las Vegas Sevens between 2010 and 2019. But it’s also a city that’s hard to crack, with so much happening at any given time, from concerts to sport to other live entertainment.
However, the invasion of league fans – especially the Warriors and Wigan contingents - have helped to spread the word. Warriors jerseys and T-shirts can be spotted all along the Las Vegas strip, with more fans still arriving. Their presence was felt at a fan event, as they outnumbered the cumulative attendance from the three Australian clubs.
Managing the build-up hasn’t been easy for the Warriors. They chose to come straight to Las Vegas – a sound decision – based on advice from the participating teams last season. Back then the Broncos, Rabbitohs and Roosters all came to the Nevada playground later in the week – after spending time in Los Angeles – but it compromised their build-up, as players were dazzled by the Vegas factor.
The Warriors team had free time on Saturday and Sunday – including a big night out – before settling into their routine from Monday. Coach Andrew Webster insisted there would be no curfew and has stuck to that, with the senior leadership group setting internal standards.
But Vegas can be a draining place, from the sensory overload to the dry desert air. There have been endless promotional activities, while a fan-signing session on Thursday stretched on for almost an hour, before another red carpet event on Fremont St later that evening. And the Warriors' hotel is a massive maze, with the largest complex of its kind in the city.
Training grounds have been less than ideal, either cut up or bone dry, with no goalposts available to kickers and there has been a lot of time spent in buses and vans. That was all signposted before the trip but it has added to the challenge.
The Warriors are put through their paces in Las Vegas. Photo / Getty Images
But there is also massive excitement within the group, as the players are ready for the experience of a lifetime. There will be quirks, as the field at Allegiant Stadium will be shorter (94.5m compared to 100m) and narrower (63m compared to 68m) than a standard league pitch, although both coach Andrew Webster and assistant Richard Agars downplayed the significant of the different dimensions.
But it’s a fabulous setting, within one of the most famous venues in North America and the Warriors want to make the most of this rare opportunity.
“We need to embrace it, it’s a big occasion,” said Mitch Barnett, when asked the message he had passed on to his teammates, especially the younger ones. “Don’t let the occasion beat you up, that sort of thing. Get confidence out of our training and you know you’re made for it. We just want to win and that is all our focus – how we get the two points.”
Michael Burgess travelled to Las Vegas courtesy of Air New Zealand
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.
