NRL

A Canterbury field goal to clutch a 27-26 NRL win over New Zealand throws a speed bump in front of the Warriors' NRL finals ambitions.

Melbourne lost three key players mid-match to injury including skipper Cameron Smith but have rallied for a courageous 20-4 Friday night NRL win over Parramatta.

The former Australian rugby league player John Hopoate has been banned from any involvement in rugby league for 10 years for a fight in a Manly A-Grade match last month.

The Warriors have named an unchanged team for a clash against the Bulldogs on Sunday which can solidify the Auckland club's place in the NRL top eight.

It's unusual for a 24-point drubbing to be described as "awesome" but you wouldn't argue with Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck about anything at the moment.

Seven years of waiting for NRL finals action is almost over for the Warriors after they shunted aside Newcastle 20-4 in Auckland.

Women's Warriors coach Luisa Avaiki says Kiwi Fern players who chose to play for Australian NRL clubs left with her blessing.

Neil Henry is leading the charge to form the NRL's first coaches association in a bid to help the league's mentors in their high-pressure role.

Sacked Penrith coach Anthony Griffin has hit back at Phil Gould in an explosive interview addressing his shock sacking from the Panthers month out from the NRL finals.

Penrith have sacked coach Anthony Griffin just four weeks out from the NRL finals, despite the club being in the NRL premiership hunt.

The Warriors have spent the season breaking new ground across the Tasman and must now just get the job done at home to end their seven-year NRL finals hiatus.

The Warriors have inched to within sight of NRL top-eight safety after they held out a second-half comeback to beat St George Illawarra 18-12 at WIN Stadium.

Gerard Beale believes Warriors coach Stephen Kearney hit the bullseye when he called his players soft following their latest heavy NRL loss.

Adam Blair concedes he's playing too close to the edge and has vowed to shed a dirty player tag by toning down his tackle technique.

The NRL has made a shock decision to include pre-war stars Dally Messenger, Dave Brown and Frank Burge alongside latter day giants Mal Meninga and Norm Provan as new Immortals.

Experienced forwards Adam Blair, Issac Luke and Tohu Harris have returned to boost the Warriors for Saturday's NRL game against St George Illawarra in Wollongong.

The New Zealand Warriors have missed a chance to nail down an NRL finals spot as Gold Coast ran away 36-12 winners at home.

The New Zealand Warriors' charge to a breakthrough NRL finals appearance has hit a snag with senior pair Issac Luke and Tohu Harris to remain on the sidelines.

Tohu Harris is named to start and fellow back rower Leivaha Pulu is on the extended bench for the Warriors' 20th-round NRL encounter with the Gold Coast Titans