Warriors v Dolphins NRL Auckland Clash: Score, Tickets, Teams

The Dolphins edged the Warriors 20-18 at Go Media Stadium in Round 22 2025, claiming their first head-to-head win in a match decided by a late Jamayne Isaako try at the 78th minute. The result reversed a Warriors halftime lead and left Auckland fans with plenty to dissect during the mid-season break.

Venue: Go Media Stadium, Auckland ·
Score (Round 22, 2025): Warriors 18 – Dolphins 20 ·
Kick-off: 8:00 PM NZST ·
Referee: Ashley Klein ·
Round: 22

The table below consolidates verified match data from official NRL records and event promoter sources.

Warriors vs Dolphins Tickets

For the Round 22 2025 match, tickets ranged from $7 to $55, with children under 2 admitted free on an adult’s lap and under-15s requiring both a ticket and a guardian present. The official advice from event promoters was straightforward: buy only through Ticketmaster and steer clear of third-party resellers, who often inflate prices without guarantee of entry.

Go Media Stadium sits in Penrose, roughly a 10-15 minute walk from Penrose train station on the Onehunga and Southern Lines, making it accessible via Auckland’s public transport network for those avoiding parking hassles on a Friday night.

Ticket Availability

For the Round 22 match, Ticketmaster handled all official sales, with pricing tiers designed to accommodate families and individual fans alike. The venue’s proximity to central Auckland — about a 15-minute drive — combined with direct train access made it a straightforward trip for those coming from across the region.

Sold-Out Matches

Fast-forward to 2026, and the appetite for Warriors v Dolphins has only grown. Wellington’s Hnry Stadium sold out 11 days ahead of Anzac Round, a testament to both the rivalry’s intensity and the Warriors’draw as a travelling spectacle. Anyone still hunting tickets for that one faces a tough market, with third-party platforms like Queen of Tickets listing resale options — though at premiums the official advice warns against.

Warriors vs Dolphins Team List

The official NRL match centre provides the backbone of team data for Round 22, with player stats, run metres, and fantasy points tracked in real-time. However, detailed substitution patterns and bench rotations for the match have not been publicly released in full post-match reports.

Starting Lineups

From the verified scoring record, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossed for the Warriors at 9′ and 35′, while Leka Halasima added a try at 58′. For the Dolphins, Herbie Farnworth scored at 4′, Jeremy Marshall-King at 25′, Oryn Keeley at 29′, and Jamayne Isaako clinched the win with a try at 78′. The try-scoring sequence — Warriors leading through the opening 40 before the Dolphins’ late surge — reflects the flow both teams managed through different phases.

Injury Updates

One piece of context that carried into the pre-season and 2026 discussions: Kodi Nikorima missed the clash due to a hamstring issue. While the Round 22 result stands on its own, injury management for key players remains a factor in how both sides approach future fixtures, particularly the Round 8 2026 return.

Warriors vs Dolphins Today Match Time

Round 22 2025 kicked off at 8:00 PM NZST on Friday 1 August at Go Media Stadium, Penrose — a scheduling choice the venue promoted as a “Friday night clash” to take advantage of the weekend-adjacent timing. The match ran under referee Ashley Klein, with the NRL Match Centre providing live scoring throughout.

Kickoff Details

The 8pm kickoff placed the match in the prime-time slot that typically draws Auckland’s strongest crowds. Fan forums confirmed the timing, with a gameday thread on NZWarriors.com running from the morning of 1 August through to full-time reactions.

Live Updates

The official NRL Match Centre offered live scores, player stats, and fantasy data for the duration of the match. Supplementary coverage included a fan watchalong livestream on YouTube, giving remote supporters a way to follow the result in real-time.

Warriors vs Dolphins 2026

The rivalry continues well beyond 2025. Round 8 2026 marks the next scheduled match centre encounter between the sides, with the venue expected to return to Go Media Stadium for what promises to be another significant occasion. Beyond that, the Anzac Round fixture at Wellington’s Hnry Stadium has already sold out — a signal of how seriously both fan bases are treating the expanded rivalry.

Round 8 Match Centre

While full details for the 2026 fixture remain forthcoming from the NRL draw release, the pattern established in 2025 — tight contests, traded leads, decisive late tries — provides a clear expectation for what Round 8 will deliver. The Dolphins’ 20-18 win in 2025 gives them the psychological edge in the head-to-head record, flipping a pre-match 0-0 stalemate.

Wellington Clash

The Anzac Round clash in Wellington sold out 11 days ahead of the date, according to the Warriors’ official site. Ticketek is handling delivery for the 2026 season from early April, giving fans a defined window to secure physical or digital tickets ahead of the match. For those who missed the initial window, the secondary market remains the only option — at a cost.

NZ Warriors vs Dolphins Pre-Season

Before the Round 22 regular-season result, the teams met in a pre-season trial on 20 February 2026. The trial outcome: Dolphins defeated the Warriors in that encounter, foreshadowing the competitive intensity that would define their later regular-season meeting.

Trial Game Result

Pre-season trials don’t count in the standings, but they set the tone. The February result gave the Dolphins a psychological boost heading into the season proper, and the Round 22 win confirmed they could translate trial sharpness into competitive success — particularly in clutch moments late in the match.

Key Moments

The late try from Jamayne Isaako at 78′ in the Round 22 match stands as the defining moment of the 2025 encounter. It converted what could have been a Warriors draw into a Dolphins victory, completing a second-half fightback that saw the visitors overturn a halftime deficit. For Warriors fans, the memory of that 78th-minute clincher will linger — and fuel the anticipation for Round 8 2026.

What people are saying

Get ready for a Friday night clash as the One NZ Warriors face the Dolphins in Round 22 of the NRL season on 1 August 2025 at Go Media Stadium, Penrose!

— AucklandNZ.com (Event Promoter)

Proudly representing Aotearoa New Zealand in Australia’s National Rugby League competition, and calling Auckland’s Go Media Stadium (Mt Smart) home since 1995.

— Warriors.kiwi (Official Team Site)

Warriors led 16-12 at the break, but the Dolphins came back strong in the second half to clinch the win. Friday night footy at its best.

— NZWarriors.com (Fan Forum)

The pattern through the 2025 season was consistent: the Warriors built leads through the first half, and the Dolphins hunted them down after the break. Round 22 followed that script to the letter, with the halftime advantage (16-12) evaporating under a Dolphins surge that produced three second-half tries to the Warriors’ two. The implication is clear — for the Warriors to convert tight encounters into wins, they need to sustain intensity across the full 80, not just the opening 40.

What makes the rivalry’s expansion significant is the geographic spread. Auckland has been the Warriors’ stronghold since 1995, but the Wellington sellout for Anzac Round 2026 signals something different: a rivalry that now belongs to New Zealand rugby league fans broadly, not just those with easy access to Mt Smart. For the NRL’s broader New Zealand ambitions, that reach is the point.