Black Ferns Sevens star Michaela Blyde has been secured by the NZ Warriors in a major code-swap coup for the club’s return to the NRLW next year.
The Taranaki-raised speedster will join the Warriors Wahine on a one-year deal, bringing with her an exceptional list of team and individual success on the world stage.
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Among her achievements, the 28-year-old was the back-to-back World Rugby Sevens women’s player of the year in 2017 and 2018, was in the gold medal-winning Blacks Ferns squad at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games and won Commonwealth Games gold in 2018.
Blyde was also in the Rugby World Cup Sevens winning team in 2018 and has helped the
Black Ferns to six Women's World Sevens Series triumphs since 2013. She has scored almost 250 tries in more than 200 sevens tournaments.
“This is so exciting, a real landmark day for the club and for the game, attracting a player of
Michaela’s exceptional calibre to move from rugby union to join our NRLW squad,” said Warriors CEO Cameron George.
“It says so much about the excitement the NRLW and rugby league generally is generating
on the New Zealand sporting landscape.”
Wariors NRLW head coach Ronald Griffiths is thrilled to have Blyde on board.
“Michaela is an elite athlete who has succeeded through a steely focus and an unwavering
determination. She’s a wonderful acquisition for our programme,” he said.
“Her career has been underpinned by hard work while her attitude and blistering speed will
hold her in good stead to transition successfully into the NRLW.
“It was evident from when we first connected that Michaela was excited by this opportunity.
We are equally as excited about her signing.”
Blyde completed signing formalities late on Monday, paving the way for her code switch to
rugby league.
“A lot of excitement has been going through my mind,” she said.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day for the last few months. To sign with the Warriors was
a little bit of a surprise for me to be honest but nonetheless I’m extremely grateful for the
opportunity the Warriors are offering me.
“I’m excited to be a part of something that’s growing super, super quickly and you’d be silly
not to want to be involved in it.
“The Warriors are a team I grew up watching on TV. My family are rugby but when we knew
the Warriors were playing on TV, we’d change the channel to watch them and support them.”
First drafted into the Black Ferns Sevens team as a 17-year-old in 2013, Blyde followed
her mother Cherry, who played for the Black Ferns in 1992.