'Our Dean Bell moment': Homecoming a jump-off point for women's game
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While a starring role as the modern-day equivalent to Warrior No.1 Dean Bell wasn't something Apii Nicholls ever saw in her life plan, coach Ron Griffiths says the slow walk his skipper led down the famed tunnel at Go Media Stadium last Sunday will forever occupy a special place in club history.
Although the occasion lacked the pomp and circumstance that accompanied the inaugural men's game back in 1995 – in which Bell and his men changed the course of rugby league in their country forevermore – the re-birth of the Warriors' women's team, following an almost five-year absence from the NRLW, felt very much like the start of something significant.
The Making of the Warriors
The female game, Warriors brand and profile of the players involved has changed dramatically since their last involvement in 2020, and this time around everything felt bigger and better.
Having 10,660, very vocal, fans in through the gates before or during the NRLW game played a big part in that, and the punters well and truly got what they came for as the Wahs shut out Parramatta 14-0 to claim their first win of the season.
"We spoke for our seven-week pre-season about our Dean Bell moment and what that would look like," Griffiths said.
"The players get to keep that with them forever.
That moment will be etched in their minds forever; it'll go down in history. Special times at the Warriors.
Ron Griffiths
Having an NRLW club that represents the country once again is significant, not to mention having one that features household names like Nicholls and cross-code superstar Michaela Brake, who scored her first ever try as a rugby league player in the win over the Eels.
Denys Marra, whose daughter JK is a superfan of the women's team and was one of their ball girls for the homecoming match, said the adage that you have to "see it to be it" rings true for young female fans.
"As the team was confirmed to return and the profile started to lift, you were hearing young girls saying, 'I want to be a Warrior or an NRLW player'," he said.
"They're excited by it and to have a team to cheer for, which has players they can relate to and meet."
That point wasn't lost on Brake, who was the second-to-last Warrior to return to the sheds after full-time, having done a slow lap around Go Media Stadium mingling with fans.
Warriors v Eels – Round 2, 2025
"I had one girl say to me that she wanted to be a Warrior in 10 years' time. Hearing that, man, it's so cool that they have role models there right in front of them, on TV, and here at Go Media Stadium," she said.
"It's such an honour to have that responsibility, it's important we are the role models those girls look up to.
"Now we are back, we need to stamp our mark on history and make sure those young girls and boys are aware of who we are and what we can do, so they aspire to be us one day.
"That five second interaction can be life changing for those kids."
