NZ Warriors to host Australasia's largest ANZAC Day ceremony

The NRL's Warriors will host the largest contingent of New Zealand Defence Force personnel commemorating ANZAC Day this Thursday, as they play a home game on 25th April for the first time in nine years.

A 180-strong group made up of New Zealand Army, Navy and Air Force personnel will take part in the pre-match ceremony, which will be performed to a capacity crowd at Auckland's Go Media Stadium before the Warriors play the Gold Coast Titans.

The size of that contingent will be larger than any other ANZAC Day ceremony of that type held this year, with additional staff also manning exhibitions around the stadium that will include armed vehicles and naval vessels, and the match ball to be delivered via an Air Force helicopter.

Advising that the thought and planning behind the event reflects how important it is for the club to be hosting an ANZAC Day game for just the second time,

Warriors Chief Executive Cameron George told NRL media "it means so much to us, it means so much to our country.

"It's really special that we can recognise ANZAC Day and share that experience with our players, and we take it very seriously, the privilege that we have.

"We don't look at this as a commercial opportunity, we look at this as what we believe is right for our country. It's right for the sport in New Zealand.

Since 2009 the Warriors have played the Storm in Melbourne on ANZAC Day every year with the exception of 2015, when the New Zealand side hosted the Titans to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Landings, and 2020 when games weren't played in April due to the pandemic.

The Warriors will wear a special jersey on the day which honours the servicemen and servicewomen who have fought for New Zealand and Australia.

For the New Zealand Defence Force, the event is an opportunity to commemorate and to educate those in attendance about the role they play in modern times.

Lieutenant Colonel Tony Sumner, the New Zealand Defence Force's Director of Public Affairs, noted "we are wrapping things around it to make it more of an occasion for people at the stadium, so we'll have armed vehicles and navy vessels, with personnel from both those services there to talk to people about the assets.

"As soon as we got presented with this opportunity by the Warriors we looked at it to see exactly what sort of resource we could put towards it, and it soon became obvious this was going to be quite a significant event in terms of uniformed personnel in attendance."

Before the match between the Warriors and Titans, a curtain-raiser between the women's New Zealand Defence Force and New Zealand Police teams will be played.

Image: NRL crowds at Auckland's Go Media Stadium. Credit: Photosport.