William Warbrick (born 6 March 1998) is a New Zealand professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. Warbrick is a triple international footballer, having represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in three football codes: Rugby League,

Rugby Sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

and

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

Early life

Warbrick was born and raised in Kawerau, New Zealand, of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

(Ngāi Tai) descent. As a junior, he participated in athletics and also played soccer. He was educated at

Rotorua Boys' High School Rotorua Boys' High School (RBHS) is a state school educating boys from Year 9 to Year 13. It is situated just outside the Rotorua CBD at the intersection of Old Taupo Road and Pukuatua Street in Rotorua, New Zealand. The school is governed by ...

and excelled in athletics, rugby union and league. Warbrick played junior rugby league for

Ngongotaha Chiefs The Ngongotaha Chiefs are a New Zealand rugby league club. They are from Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty. In 2000 and 2001 they competed in the Bartercard Cup but now they compete in the Bay of Plenty Rugby League competition. Notable players Over ...

in the

Bay of Plenty Rugby League Bay of Plenty Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Following the restructuring of the New Zealand Rugby League they are part of the Upper Central Zone ...

Career

Australian rules football

Warbrick began playing Australian rules football as a junior in 2016 on the recommendation of his junior rugby league coach. He was a member of the Western Crows in the

AFL New Zealand AFL New Zealand is the governing body of Australian rules football in New Zealand. AFL New Zealand regulates the regional competitions and runs a national draft to its 4 team AFL New Zealand Premiership national league. AFL New Zealand curren ...

premiership where he won the Rising Star award and developed as a strong marking forward/midfielder. He was later selected for the

New Zealand national Australian rules football team The New Zealand national Australian rules football team (; nicknamed the Falcons (); previously the Hawks (), is the national men's team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand. The International Cup team is selected from strict ...

, firstly at Under 18 level, then toured Melbourne with the open age side that played against the AFL National Academy in April 2016. Following his impressive showings with the national side, Warbrick was tested at the AFL New Zealand Combine where he posted a combine record 90cm Standing Vertical Jump, with above average results in the 20 metre sprint and agility with 2.94 and 8.12 respectively and a

beep test The multi-stage fitness test (MSFT), also known as the beep test, bleep test, PACER test (progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run), or the 20m shuttle run test, is a running test used to estimate an athlete's aerobic capacity ( VO2 max). ...

score of 12.5 but was not signed to an AFL club. Warbrick has been quoted as saying that he had aspired to follow the professional

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

pathway that was in place for New Zealanders to the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

.‘Always a dream’: How the AFL almost won over a rising Storm star
by Roy Ward 9 March 2023 However felt he lacked confidence in the accuracy of his kicking which could hamper a potential career in the sport for which it is a key skill. Prior to joining New Zealand's Rugby Sevens team, he was approached by the

with a contract offer, which put an end to his AFL aspirations.

Rugby sevens

Warbrick made his debut for the

New Zealand national rugby sevens team The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record 14 World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team played for ...

in 2019. In 2021, he won a silver medal at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Professional Rugby league

On 4 November 2021, Warbrick signed with the Melbourne Storm on a two-year contract. He spent the majority of the 2022 season playing for Melbourne's affiliate club

Sunshine Coast Falcons The Sunshine Coast Falcons are a rugby league football team based on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. They compete in the Queensland Cup and their home ground is Sunshine Coast Stadium. The Falcons are currently affiliated with the NRL team Melbo ...

, scoring ten tries from 14 appearances in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. In round 1 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

, Warbrick made his NRL and

debut against the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

. He had his Storm debut jersey (cap 225) presented to him by his sister. Warbrick played a total of 25 games for Melbourne in the 2023 NRL season and scored 17 tries as Melbourne finished third on the table. In the semi-final against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

, he scored a try with two minutes remaining to win the game for Melbourne. The following week, Warbrick played in the clubs preliminary final loss against Penrith. Warbrick played a total of 24 matches for Melbourne in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

as the club were runaway minor premiers. Warbrick played in Melbourne's

2024 NRL Grand Final The 2024 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2024 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Melbourne Storm and the Penrith Panthers on Sunday 6 October at Accor Stadium in Syd ...

loss against Penrith.

NRL statistics

References

External links

Melbourne Storm profile

QRL profile

All Blacks profile

New Zealand Rugby League profile
1998 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Melbourne Storm players New Zealand international rugby sevens players New Zealand male rugby sevens players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Olympic rugby sevens players for New Zealand Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand People educated at Rotorua Boys' High School People from Kawerau Rugby league players from the Bay of Plenty Region Rugby league wingers Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from the Bay of Plenty Region {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1990s-stub