Two weeks into the 2026 NRL season, and the Warriors have done something genuinely rare in the club's history.

Their two and zero record to start the season, with a 42-18 demolition of the Sydney Roosters, backed up by a 40-6 thumping of the Canberra Raiders, is the second time since 2009 the Auckland club have won their first two matches. 

That historical footnote alone should arrest any instinct to wave this away as a small-sample-size aberration.

The last time they won their first two games was back in 2018. Could it be their year?

The scoreline is not deceiving

82 points across two games. 11 tries to 4.

Before Round 3 kicked off, the Warriors were sitting second on the ladder behind only Melbourne Storm, with a points differential of +58, ahead of Penrith Panthers (+46) and every other team chasing a top-four spot. 

The quality of opposition matters here.

The Roosters, armed with Daly Cherry-Evans and Sam Walker in the halves and James Tedesco at fullback, are seen as a team with a chance to make a run for a premiership.

The Raiders were last year's minor premiers.

Against the Roosters, the 42-18 result represented the most points the Warriors have ever scored in their first match of the season.

They were able to hold one of the best attacking teams from last season to a single try.

So how did the Warriors execute this masterclass?

Tanah Boyd's confidence is through the roof

Tanah Boyd was supposed to be filling in for Luke Metcalf, and in these two games, he has continued to stake his claim for a full-time role in the halves with two outstanding performances.

In the first two games of the season, Boyd has produced incredible stat lines.

Against the Roosters: one try, two try assists, two line break assists, tackle breaks, 7/9 conversions, 59 touches of the footy and had 12 kicks for 354 metres.

Against the Raiders: one try, one tackle break, two try assists, 5/8 conversions, 73 touches of the footy and had 23 kicks for 797 metres. 

Boyd's ability to execute a precision kicking game and create space for his outside backs is filtering positively through the entire team's attacking numbers. 

In the Warriors' first game of the season, they scored all four of their tries in the first half on their left edge.

Boyd showed his ability to spy gaps and work on his deception with the ball in his hands, which has been a massive improvement in his game.

The most noticeable improvement in his running game was against the Roosters, beating DCE one-on-one before scoring, holding up the inside defence just enough and dummies with a rapid run to the try-line. 

Head coach Andrew Webster has emphasised that the work done on the right edge sets the conditions for the left edge exploitation, drawing defenders wide before shifting the attack back.

In round two against Canberra, the halfback was able to pull off a well-taken 40-20 kick, and then at the end of the next set, put a grubber along the ground toward the goal area.

Erin Clark overran his chase but flicked up the ball with his heels, and Boyd gathered to score.

Boyd collected six Dally M points in each game, showing how he has put two strong games together. 

The forward pack creates the platform

None of the flashy stuff works without the platform, and the platform is being built on Jackson Ford's back.

Ford put in a massive effort in both games, leading the Warriors in tackles and run metres in round one, then ran for 154 metres against the Raiders and was finally subbed off with five minutes remaining.

He made 28 tackles against the Roosters, and the combination of his carry metres and defensive work sets the ruck speed that gives Boyd time to execute. 

Leka Halasima went the full 80 minutes and scored two tries against the Raiders, with a last-minute change before the game as Kurt Capewell had an injury during warm-up. 

Webster praised Halasima's tacking and defence, as well as his effort areas last weekend, and combining those aspects of his game with his ability to score on contact, generate go-forward, and play 80 minutes when required allows the Warriors to have a bench player capable of starting, which is gold in a six-man bench world.

Wayde Egan and Samuel Healey offer intriguing aspects to the Warriors' structure.

Egan is used as a middle-of-the-field attacking instrument, being a running threat that intends to force the defence to honour the ruck play, whether that's to squeeze the line or hold it up for the dummy-half run, giving CHT and Boyd the half-second they need to get their edge attack exploiting weak defenders.

Healey comes onto the field for Egan to maintain ruck speed and tempo so the attacking shape doesn't drop when Egan rests.

Boyd's relationship with Egan is symbiotic in a way: Boyd creates space by threatening the defence with his running game, and Egan creates space by threatening to run from dummy half.

The Warriors' pace allows them to designate the running game to two players from the middle third of their set-up, which means the defence will have difficulty in being able to have a calculated stop to their tactics. 

Opposition are then put in a position they don't want to be in: to wait and then react.

Threading the needle

The element that ties the left-edge system together is Harris-Tevita's ability to offload in the tackle.

Capewell scored in round one by running a clean line off Harris-Tevita's offload to run in virtually untouched. 

This is a significant and much-needed addition to their game, and Webster, after the Raiders game, credited Ali Leiataua's interception.

Webster and the Warriors do their homework, and they know the offload threat would create opportunities where a player is in the right position to benefit.

The recurring shape the Warriors have designed is built around Erin Clark or a forward with the ball in their hands and drawing in their opposition's interior defence, with Boyd or Taine Tuaupiki getting the ball out wide, and having the outside backs executing finishes for points. 

The ball gets into four pairs of hands before the finish.

That's a pre-designed wide shift that interconnects their unorthodox side-to-side cadence, inviting success on their left and opening up their right edge when they need to shift back.

The verdict

82 points. Two wins.

A halfback operating at a performance above expectations, especially without the Warriors' two best players in Luke Metcalf and forward Mitch Barnett, tactically adjusting and adding while using the foundations already established, is the best sign for a unit that has dealt well with adversity.

Although it's only round three, the process can be trusted for the Warriors to get back to the top four like they did last year before Metcalf's injury.

The Warriors' performance data is optimistic, and their fans should be feeling positive about what's to come as their team bring back their two best players.