The New Zealand Warriors, founded in 1995 as the Auckland Warriors, are the NRL's sole team from outside Australia, based in Auckland. Coached by Andrew Webster and led by Tohu Harris, they're affectionately known as the Wahs and play at Go Media Stadium Mt Smart in Penrose. The club was the first from outside Australia to join the NRL in 1995 and later competed in the Super League in 1997 before rejoining the NRL in 1998. Renamed the New Zealand Warriors in 2001, they've reached two grand finals (2002, 2011), claimed one minor premiership (2002), and made eight finals appearances but are yet to win a premiership as of 2023.

Rugby league in New Zealand historically centered around Auckland since the establishment of the New Zealand Rugby League in 1909. Auckland dominated the national team, with many players later recruited to play professionally in Australia or England.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Auckland's representative side posed strong challenges to touring teams. They entered the ARL Amco Cup in 1978, making the semi-finals in their debut year but lost to the overall winners, Eastern Suburbs. In 1987, an Auckland team touring Great Britain secured victories against clubs like Leeds and Wigan.

In 1992, spurred by Mount Albert's strong rugby league influence, talks began about Auckland entering the NSWRL. With promising turnouts for NSWRL matches in Auckland, the decision was made for an Auckland-based club, the Auckland Warriors, to join the Australian Rugby League in 1995. The team's original colors were blue, white, red, and green, symbolizing Auckland's sporting heritage and their initial sponsor, DB Bitter, with a logo designed by Francis Allan of Colenso.