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Live sport on SN this weekend‘We’re not fit enough’: Broughton delivers NRLW Warriors reality check
Savannah Lendich Jonkers • September 4th, 2026 9:38 am
Gayle Broughton | Photo: NRL Photos/Photosport
Warriors NRLW five-eighth Gayle Broughton has delivered a brutal assessment of the club’s season, admitting the side is not fit enough to compete with the competition’s top teams.
The Warriors have won four of nine matches this season, including a record 66-8 defeat to the Roosters and last week’s loss to the Dragons, where they conceded twice in the final three minutes.
“From a leader's point of view, I think the game that we're trying to play, I don't think as a team or as a club we're fit enough to be honest,” she told Sport Nation’s Scotty & Izzy.
“It's hard to say it, but the harsh reality of if you to play top level rugby league with some of these big teams, man, at the end of the day it comes down to fitness because I think on paper we've got the talent, we've got the skill.”
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The Warriors play the bottom-placed Sharks this weekend, with Broughton acknowledging the side must improve quickly to keep its finals hopes alive before facing her former club, the reigning premiers Brisbane Broncos, in the final regular-season round next week.
“I know as a team we're connected but I think in those really tough times where it matters most, I think that's where the disconnection is coming.
“Footy does come down to who can repeat that high level of footy consistently and I think that's just where we're missing the mark at the moment."
And as much as she hated to admit it, she declared: “we're not fit enough to stay with these big teams.”
With the Warriors finals hopes hanging on a thread, they cannot afford another slip-up against the Sharks.
“We've got a big opportunity against the Sharks, obviously they're quite similar, they haven't had the season that they wanted to have, I can imagine.
“I think for a little bit we probably underestimated the Dragons, obviously them being at the bottom of the table, so that was our wrongdoing as a team, and we can't take this opportunity lightly this weekend.”
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Listen to the full interview below:
