Two families with strong ties to touch in New Zealand will be well represented when the Vodafone Warriors’ touch teams tap off their inaugural season in the NRL Touch Premiership in early May.

Touch New Zealand today unveiled the Warriors’ men’s and women’s squads ahead of their season-opening games against the Sydney Roosters at Mt Smart Stadium on May 5.

A host of players from the Touch Blacks teams have been confirmed, including the Stone brothers, Maurice and Shaquille, and the McIntyre brother and sister duo, Ariia and Tiaan. 

Both families have a proud playing and coaching history with the sport, with their parents also having represented New Zealand in touch during their playing years. 

Maurice Stone Jnr, the older of the two brothers, said the inclusion of two Warriors touch teams in the NRL Touch Premiership was an historical moment for the sport. 

“This is a huge thing for our sport, being involved in something like the NRL and having the association with the Warriors is exciting and personally a huge honour for me,” he said.

“I feel privileged to be given this opportunity to play in the Warriors’ inaugural year and have the chance to win a premiership ring.”

Also included in the women’s squad is Black Ferns Sevens development player Isla Norman-Bell, who recently returned from matches against the Japanese national sevens team in Okinawa, Japan. 

Norman-Bell was a recipient of a 2018 Tania Dalton Foundation Scholarship.

Vodafone Warriors CEO Cameron George is excited about the quality of the squads named and said he hoped the addition of two Warriors touch teams would introduce a whole new audience to the sport. 

“This is a huge moment for the Vodafone Warriors, Touch New Zealand and the sport itself,” he said.

“Touch is such an entertaining sport and we are certainly looking forward to cheering on our men’s and women’s teams when they play at Mt Smart Stadium this year.

“Game days just got a whole lot more exciting.”

The NRL Touch Premiership is set to tap off on April 6 when the Parramatta Eels take on the North Queensland Cowboys in Sydney.

The Warriors teams will then take the field for the first time just under a month later at Mt Smart Stadium for matches against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday, May 5 before the Vodafone Warriors square off with the Newcastle Knights in their round eight NRL fixture.

2019 Warriors Men’s Touch Team

Michael Cavanagh

Mita Graham

Ifor Jones

Pokaiaua Kurukaanga

Sean Law

Tiaan McIntyre

Danyon Morgan-Puterangi

Awa Morris

Mase Parsons

Ashton Robinson

Carlos Savage

Matthew Sinclair

Reihana Soutar-Finch

Maurice Stone

Shaquille Stone

Rahul Das (Head Coach)

2019 Warriors Women’s Touch Team

Tay-a Antonievic

Savarna Asafo-Tavita

Charlotte Davis

Nicole Drummond

Princess Elliot

Jaymie Kolose

Hayley Lee

Jessica Mahar

Isla Norman-Bell

Victoria Pone

Phoebe Steele

Meg Sycamore

Ariia Tainui-McIntyre

Codie Taute

Dayna Turnbull

Leana Fox (Head Coach)

Article added: Wednesday 27 March 2019