The Warriors will host six possible debutants when they take on the Canterbury Bulldogs in their NRLW season opener in Hamilton on Sunday.
Coach Ron Griffiths has brought in three players from the Brisbane side that won last year's championship: Gayle Broughton, Mele Hufanga and Netta Nuuausala. Sevens international Stacey Waaka has also joined the club.
Broughton will line up at five-eighth in the opening match, while Waaka has been placed on the extended reserves after arriving this month. Hufanga will be absent for the opening four games due to a hamstring injury.
Nuuausala was part of the Warriors inaugural 2018 women's team and returns after periods at Brisbane and Newcastle Knights. Front-rower Mya Hill-Moana will take the field for her first NRLW match after being unavailable last season due to maternity leave.
Former Australian rugby international Jasmin Muriwai and second-rower Belle Onesemo-Tuilaepa are on the interchange, with teenage halfback Natalia Hickling among the reserves.
The Warriors will be without several key players. Kaiyah Atai, who won the 2025 Players' Player of the Year award, will be out for 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb. Outside back Tyra Wetere is recovering from knee surgery, while 2025 Rookie of the Year Ivana Lauitiiti will miss the opener due to a one-game suspension from last year's Pacific Championship.
The Warriors returned to the competition last season after a four-year Covid-related absence and finished 4-7, narrowly missing the playoffs. Griffiths worked with a largely inexperienced squad drawn from local club competitions and rugby union. The team posted a club record 34-6 win against the Bulldogs in Sydney last August, before defeating Wests Tigers 44-6 in their final match of 2025.