Andrew Johns has tipped the New Zealand Warriors to make the NRL top four for the first time in more than a decade, declaring that coach Andrew Webster has turned the Auckland club into a genuine premiership contender on the back of a defensive renaissance and the most balanced roster in the Warriors' golden-era memory.
Speaking on Nine's Immortal Behaviour ahead of Round 7, the Knights Immortal was forthright about why he has joined the growing chorus inside the Australian rugby league media that the Warriors are 2026's real team to beat.
"For mine, they're a top four team," Johns said. "Origin, they won't lose. They may lose Mitch Barnett — that's probably the only one. They won't lose players during Origin. Luke Metcalf, he'll be back in a few weeks. He needs time with his ACL, but come the end of the year, he'll be flying. Look out."
The Warriors' 22-nil shutout of defending premiers Melbourne in the first half at Mt Smart dragged even the most sceptical pundits into the conversation. Johns pointed to the final tackle as the emotional snapshot of the team's new identity.
"I saw — when Roger put Will Warbrick over — he put his body on the line, threw his head at him," Johns said. "But then the reaction of everyone, they celebrate their defence. We haven't seen that from the Warriors in the past."
The former Knights champion credited Webster and GM of football Dean Bell's recruitment strategy for the shift.
"Andrew Webster has done a great job, and also the recruitment. They've recruited so well — the balance of their team. They got real hard workers and Jackson Ford alongside these power dynamic athletes like Leka Halasima. They've got their pathway right. These young players coming through — Tekiala Halasima — there's a couple more, these local juniors who are just incredible athletes. And then you got these men in the middle. Fisher-Harris, Barnett. Great mix."
Asked whether the Warriors have the defensive steel to outlast Penrith in a finals series, Johns did not hesitate.
"Yeah, 100 percent. Also, Sua'ali'i — sorry — Sarada, he worked at Penrith. Andrew Webster worked at Penrith for a long time. He's held in high regard out there. So they know the ins and outs of their attack, Penrith, their strengths and weaknesses of each player. They know their defensive patterns."
Johns was equally bullish on style, praising the Warriors' game-management under Webster.
"They play a style of footy — high completion rate, hard work. They don't burn themselves, the Warriors. So top four for me."
The case is not free of asterisks. The Warriors have conceded more points than any team currently inside the top eight, and Johns acknowledged injuries to Jeremiah Nanai and the Origin-period absences of Mitchell Barnett and potentially Halasima will test their squad depth.
But the former half also framed the Warriors' rise as a cultural watershed for the game in New Zealand.
"Last year the support around the Warriors — full house, every sold out every game. Rugby league's in New Zealand," Johns said. "That's why I think they need another team."
His memory of the Warriors' early-2000s heyday — the Stacey Jones, Ali Lauiti'iti, Clinton Toopi era — was deliberate.
"This is a golden era for the Warriors, you know. As I said, top four. They're going to give themselves every opportunity."
For Warriors fans who have watched the club wilt at the back end of too many seasons, Johns' prediction carries weight. He correctly tipped the Tigers as finalists weeks before any other NRL pundit, and his roster-by-roster reasoning on the Warriors — balance of spine, alignment between coach and scouts, defensive intensity — reads like the template for every recent NRL premier.
The Warriors play the Panthers later in the round, and Johns believes they can take Penrith apart. If Webster's side backs up their Melbourne statement with a scalp over the three-time defending champions, the conversation stops being about whether the Warriors are a top-four team, and becomes about whether they are the team to beat.
