NRL: Warriors on target for largest home crowd outside Eden Park, against Dolphins in Wellington
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Stadium management is lobbying for the Warriors’ Anzac Day fixture to have a permanent home in Wellington as it braces for the third-largest home crowd in the NRL club’s 31-year history on Saturday night.
Hnry Stadium chief executive Warrick Dent told The Post he was confident the official attendance would top 34,000 for the Warriors v Dolphins match after announcing a sellout 11 days before kickoff.
Just over 36% of those tickets (which equates to around 13,000) were sold outside the Wellington region, Dent said.
Capacity is 34,500 but the final crowd figure depends on how many regular corporate box holders turn up, and if general ticketholders do not attend for whatever reason.
A 34,000-plus attendance would place it behind two Eden Park matches: 38,405 against Parramatta Eels in 2011 and 37,502 against Manly Sea Eagles the following year.
The highest Warriors attendance at their regular Mt Smart Stadium home was 32,174 against Illawarra Steelers in their inaugural year, 1995, before its capacity was reduced.
For Dent, the sporting public and Wellington’s hospitality industry, it will be a wondrous sight for the stadium to be jam-packed for something other than an All Blacks test.
France and the Springboks both attracted sellouts of around 34,000 last year, and the previous time the ‘full house’ sign went up at a sporting fixture was for the Wellington Phoenix A-League semifinal against Melbourne Victory in 2024 - an official attendance of 31,535.
The table-topping Hurricanes, who not too long ago would target 20,000-plus as a benchmark for a Kiwi Super Rugby derby, drew 13,574 to their last home match against the Blues.
When the Warriors announced last July they would play in Wellington for the first time since March 2023, Dent and club chief executive Cameron George both predicted a sellout.
Bear in mind their last visit - a win over the Newcastle Knights in coach Andrew Webster’s first match at the helm - drew just 16,676. Just once in 11 previous Warriors NRL appearances in Wellington has the crowd topped 30,000, against the Bulldogs in 2013.
“For Wellington it’s the scarcity. It was the opening round of 2023 when the Warriors were last here and since then they’ve had an amazing amount of success both on and off the field,” Dent said.
“The uniqueness of the Anzac Day fixture - that’s a very important day for New Zealanders and people have really got on board with that. I know the NRL promote that very heavily.
“The Warriors are on a roll… and not having them here for three years, what we’re finding is these one-off events are still really popular and are selling well.”
The Warriors - who sit second on the NRL ladder - are cemented as Kiwi sport’s biggest crowd pullers and routinely sell out Mt Smart to its capacity of around 24,000.
Both teams land in Wellington on Thursday and the Warriors have scheduled a community day with the Kapiti Bears in Paraparaumu that afternoon. On Friday there are school visits and public appearances in the city, plus a signing session for members at their captain’s run at the stadium.
Pre-match for the 8.05pm kickoff (to fit in with the three NRL Saturday fixtures) is the “full Anzac experience” with the New Zealand Defence Force and the playing of the Last Post. MetService predicts a fine, clear Saturday with a 16C maximum.
This will be Wellington’s first Warriors Anzac game after Auckland in 2024 and Christchurch last year, and Dent hopes it can become permanent.
“We’re having positive discussions with the Warriors. They have obligations to Auckland and their home fans. There’s options with both ourselves and Christchurch. We think a game in Wellington each year makes sense in terms of the Warriors shoring up that support across the country.
“We like Anzac Day, we think it’s worked really well here, and real synergies with what happens with the National War Memorial in the morning. There’s an opportunity there and we’re working to see how we can make it an annual fixture.”
Warriors highest home crowds in New Zealand
38,405 v Parramatta Eels, Eden Park, Auckland, March 12 2011
37,502 v Manly Sea Eagles, Eden Park, March 4 2012
32,740 v Sydney Roosters, Eden Park, March 16 2013
32,174 v Illawarra Steelers, Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, April 16 1995
30,112 v Canterbury Bulldogs, Wellington Stadium, May 11 2013
30,112 v Manly Sea Eagles, Mt Smart Stadium, April 7 1995
* Source: Warriors and David Middleton, NRL statistician