The end of the 2021 season will mark the second straight year since the New Zealand Warriors were last based out of their home in Auckland.
It’s been a remarkable sacrifice by the club’s players, staff and extended families, as their readiness to be based in Australia has effectively kept the competition afloat.
While the Warriors have done incredibly well to stay competitive in Australia, New Zealand rugby league fans have been completely starved of games on home soil.
It’s looking increasingly likely that the Warriors will be able to head back to Auckland next year, and I think they should be rewarded by not having to leave the country in 2022, except for Brisbane’s Magic Round and away finals if they are to qualify.
Not only would it help revive the game across the Tasman, but I think it wouldn’t hurt sides in Australia as I hold the belief that we may have too many home games already.
The Commission should hand each team nine or 10 home games in 2022, instead of the 12 they receive now.
We already have eight teams that give a home game to Magic Round, and a raft of NSW based clubs have willingly shifted a home game this year with great success to rural towns.
With no Queensland based teams yet to commit to rural games in their state, It shouldn’t be too hard to convince them to hand an additional game to New Zealand.
For mine, it’s a simple supply and demand theory with home games. The scarcer they make home games; the more club’s will be able to boost importance and attendance numbers when they have them.
Not only will it not hurt other club’s when looking at it from that lens, but I think it could be a great test for the NRL and their expansion plans in New Zealand.
Sure, the Warriors should have their 11 games at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, but their other 12 games should be split between Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington.
That way, the game’s decision makers can see what region has the biggest thirst for a future franchise.
New Zealand rugby league fans and the Warriors franchise should be rewarded for their immense sacrifice. It will be time for the NRL to pay their dues to them in the 2022 season.