By Will Toogood

Left, right and centre are united under one banner going into Election 2023 - and it isn’t over the cost of living crisis, free dental care or getting kids off vaping.

It’s the Wahs, properly known as the One NZ Warriors.

“Up the Wahs” can be heard exchanged in office corridors, scrolled past on social media or even just yelled by complete strangers. If you haven’t yet heard the new calling cry, it can only be assumed you work from home in a job that doesn’t involve an internet connection.

Not to be confused, or used in conjunction with, “Lets gone Warriors” - which has been to the go-to for fans until “Up the Wahs” rose to prominance.

In a season that has surprised even the “Here since 1995″ fans, the Warriors embark on their first finals campaign since 2018 on September 9 against Penrith - but another campaign is already well underway.

Election campaigns are politicians’ quest to prove they’re the best people to run the country - and what better way to do that than jumping on a podcast in a bid to appear as relatable as possible to those whose votes you seek?

Appearing on The Morning Shift’s podcast, Green Party candidate Chlöe Swarbrick, Labour’s Chris Hipkins and National’s Christopher Luxon played a game of “Relatable or Rehatable” - where questions were submitted by listeners for the hosts to quiz the trio on.

Among those such as “Do you store your bread in the cupboard or the fridge?” and “Which brand of mayonnaise do you buy?” the politicians were asked “Lets gone Warriors or Up the Wahs?”

Swarbrick and Hipkins wasted no time in declaring they were “Up the Wahs” people. Luxon, who has appeared post-match at a Warriors home game and was invited to do a coin toss for the Round 20 game against the Sharks, needed some clarity around the question.

“What are we saying? You can see I’m not familiar with the lingo.”

The Morning Shift hosts cleared it up for Luxon, informing him that the origins of “Let’s gone Warriors” are just as confusing as those of the more contemporary “Up the Wahs”.

In response to the question, Luxon, in true political fashion, coined his own phrase - “Let’s go on Warriors”.

Does that mean we have a third horse in the race for catchphrase supremacy? It seems unlikely.

Luxon has since alleviated any concerns as to his dedication - posting to Facebook in support of the team a photo from the Warriors Awards and mentioning his admiration for coach Andrew Webster.

Election campaigning and newly minted slogans aside - we may have managed to get Chris Hipkins and Chris Luxon to agree on something - the Herald’s Beehive Diaries has been able to secure a rare commitment from leaders of the two main political parties.

Hipkins was asked whether, provided the Warriors qualified for the Grand Final on October 1, he would commit to appearing in a video with Luxon together saying “Up the Wahs”.

“Why not,” he responded.

Luxon, not to be outdone, has confirmed to Beehive Diaries he is also open to the idea.

“It’s going to be a busy few weeks for both of us, but if we can make it work – absolutely.”

In an increasingly divided political landscape, the Warriors are doing the impossible.