New Zealand Warriors 2019 NRL season draw revealed

Warriors' captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was a major attacking threat from fullbackin the 2018 season. Photo / Photosport

Four games in New Zealand in the first six weeks and "home" games against St George-Illawarra in Brisbane and Cronulla-Sutherland in Wellington are features of the Warriors' 2019 NRL draw revealed on Thursday.

As well as having a rare first-round home game at Mount Smart Stadium, the club has two other matches in Auckland and one in Christchurch in the opening six rounds.

Coming off their first taste of finals football in seven years, the Warriors start their landmark 25th season against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Saturday, March 16 (5.00pm kick-off).

They have another 5.00pm Saturday kick-off for their away clash against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in round three at Christchurch's AMI Stadium on March 30 while they're back at home in round four for their first taste of Friday night football when they take on the Gold Coast Titans on April 5 (8.00pm kick-off).

After a fifth-round road trip to Gosford to play South Sydney, the Warriors are at home against the North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday, April 20 (7.30pm kick-off).

It has been confirmed that the club's scheduled home game against St George Illawarra will be one of the eight matches on the bill for the first NRL Brisbane Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium in May.

The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks will be the Warriors' opponents for their other home game played outside Auckland at Wellington's Westpac Stadium in round 18 on Friday, July 19 (8.00pm kick-off).

Visiting Mount Smart Stadium during the season will be four of 2018's other top eight clubs (Melbourne, South Sydney, Penrith and Brisbane) while there will be four Friday night home games against the Titans, Raiders, Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs.

Of the other six games at Mount Smart, four are Saturday fixtures and two are Sunday matches.

A breakdown of the 24 regular season matches shows the Warriors have 12 Saturday games, seven on Friday night, four on Sunday and one on Thursday night (the annual Anzac Day encounter with the Melbourne Storm).

In other features, the Warriors won't travel to Perth this season after a run of seven successive appearances there since 2012 and they won't have to make the trek to Townsville to face the Cowboys.

Of 2018's top eight teams, the Warriors face the premiership-winning Sydney Roosters (away) and the Dragons only once. The other teams they don't play home and away are the Bulldogs (in Auckland), Wests Tigers (away at Campbelltown Stadium), the Cowboys (in Auckland) and the Parramatta Eels (away).

The Warriors' first five matches of the season are against sides which failed to make the finals in 2019 but they have consecutive games against top eight teams the Dragons, Panthers, Broncos and Storm in May through to early June.

Warriors - 2019 NRL draw
(NB: local kick-off times listed)
1 Sat March 16 5.00pm Bulldogs Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
2 Sun March 24 6.10pm Tigers Campbelltown Stadium Sydney
3 Sat March 30 5.00pmSea Eagles AMI Stadium Christchurch
4 Fri April 5 8.00pm Titans Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
5 Sat April 13 3.00pm Rabbitohs Central Coast Stadium Gosford
6 Sat April 20 7.30pm Cowboys Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
7 Thu April 25 7.50pm Storm AAMI Park Melbourne
8 Sun May 5 4.00pm Knights Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
9 Sat May 11 3.30pm Dragons Suncorp Stadium Brisbane
10 Fri May 17 6.00pm Panthers Panthers Stadium Sydney
11 Sat May 25 7.30pm Broncos Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
12 Bye
13 Sat June 8 5.00pm Storm Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
14 Fri June 14 6.00pmTitans Cbus Super Stadium Robina
15 Sun June 30 4.00pm Panthers Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
16 Sat July 6 7.35pm Knights McDonald Jones Stadium Newcastle
17 Sat July 13 5.30pm Broncos Suncorp Stadium Brisbane
18 Fri July 19 8.00pm Sharks Westpac Stadium Wellington
19 Sat July 27 3.00pm Eels Venue to be confirmed
20 Fri August 2 8.00pm Raiders Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
21 Fri August 9 8.00pm Sea Eagles Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
22 Sun August 18 2.00pm Roosters Venue to be confirmed
23 Sat August 24 3.00pm Sharks Shark Park Sydney
24 Fri August 30 8.00pm Rabbitohs Mount Smart Stadium Auckland
25 Sat Sept 7 3.00pm Raiders GIO Stadium Canberra