1995 Auckland Warriors season

The Auckland Warriors 1995 season was the Auckland Warriors inaugural first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's Australian Rugby League competition. The coach of the team was John Monie while Dean Bell was the club's captain.

Milestones

10 March - Round One: The Warriors play their inaugural game against the Brisbane Broncos. A crowd of 29,220 watch the Warriors go down 25-22 to the Broncos, after leading them throughout the game.
16 March - Round Three: The Warriors are docked two competition points for using an extra interchange player in a win over the Western Suburbs Magpies. They would ultimately miss out on the finals by two points. The fifth interchange player was sent on as a blood bin replacement, with the coaching staff not realising this was against the rules.^[1]
23 April - Round Seven: Stacey Jones makes his debut for the Warriors, scoring six points in a win over Parramatta.
4 June - Round Eleven: The final two members of the squad, Frano Botica and Denis Betts, make their debuts for the Warriors after completing the English season for Wigan.
October: 18 players from the club participated in the World Cup: Denis Betts, Andy Platt (England), Richie Blackmore, Syd Eru, Sean Hoppe, Stacey Jones, Stephen Kearney, Gene Ngamu, Hitro Okesene (New Zealand), Duane Mann (Tonga), Willie Poching, Tea Ropati, Se'e Solomona, Willie Swann, Tony Tatupu, Tony Tuimavave, Joe Vagana and Nigel Vagana (Western Samoa). In addition, Frank Endacott coached New Zealand.

Jersey & Sponsors

The Warriors inaugural jersey was produced by Canterbury of New Zealand. The Jersey was blue with a Green, Red and White "V". In part, the colours were based on the traditional Auckland colours of Blue and White. The main sponsor was DB Bitter, with Ansett Australia as the sleeve sponsor. Asics, Coca-Cola and Mitsubishi also had sponsorship deals.

Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1995, and it remained the only Home Ground the club used in the competition until they played a match at Eden Park in 2011.

Pre-Season

Three pre-season matches were played before the World Sevens and another three were played after the World Sevens.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Attendance	Report
18 January	Match 1	Canterbury	Addington Showgrounds, Christchurch	Win	26 - 12	12,811	^[2]
January	Match 2	Central Districts	Palmerston North Showgrounds, Palmerston North	Win	36 - 16		^[3]
January	Match 3	Auckland	Carlaw Park, Auckland	Win	46 - 20		^[3]
February	Match 4	Northland	Kaikohe	Win	66 - 6		^[3]
14 February	Match 5	Canberra Raiders	Carlaw Park, Auckland	Win	23 - 16	16,000	^[3]
25 February	Match 6	Western Reds	West Wyong	Loss	28 - 40		^[3]

World Sevens

The Warriors participated in the 1995 Rugby League World Sevens, losing in the Trophy Quarterfinals.

Squad: Phil Blake (c), Sean Hoppe, Manoa Thompson, Tea Ropati, Whetu Taewa, Gene Ngamu, Syd Eru, Stephen Kearney, Tony Tatupu, Des Maea.^[4]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals
3 February	Round 1	Canberra Raiders	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Win	22 - 4	Blake (2), Hoppe, Ngamu	Ngamu (3)
3 February	Round 2	New Zealand 'A'	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Loss	10 - 26	Eru, Ropati	Ngamu (1)
5 February	Trophy Quarterfinals	Sydney Tigers	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Loss	12 - 16	Ngamu (2)	Ngamu (2)

Tooheys Challenge Cup

Team: Phil Blake (c), Sean Hoppe, Dean Bell, Manoa Thompson, Whetu Taewa, Martin Moana, Gene Ngamu, Gavin Hill, Duane Mann, Hitro Okesene, Stephen Kearney, Tony Tatupu, Tony Tuimavave. Bench: Tea Ropati, Se'e Solomona, Mike Dorreen, Jason Mackie.^[5]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
19 February	Round 1	North Sydney Bears	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney	Loss	14 - 12	Taewa, Ngamu	Hill (1), Ngamu (1)	8211

Regular Season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
10 March	Round 1	Brisbane Broncos	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Loss	22 - 25	Blake, Hoppe, Ropati, Tatupu	Ngamu (3)	29,220
18 March	Round 2	Illawarra Steelers	Steelers Stadium, Wollongong	Loss	28 - 40	Blake (2), Hoppe (2), Ropati	Ngamu (4)	12,127
26 March	Round 3	Western Suburbs Magpies	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Win*	46 - 12	Blake (4), Alexander, Kearney, Ngamu, Ropati	Ngamu (7)	21,446
1 April	Round 4	North Sydney Bears	North Sydney Oval, Sydney	Loss	10 - 48	Blake (2)	Ngamu (1)	14,683
7 April	Round 5	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Loss	14 - 26	Hoppe (2), Moana	Ngamu (1)	30,112
16 April	Round 6	Illawarra Steelers	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Loss	22 - 25	Hoppe (2), Ropati, Alexander, Bell, Mann, Taewa	Ngamu (5)	29,474
23 April	Round 7	Parramatta Eels	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	Win	40 - 4	Blake, Hoppe, Jones, Mann, Ngamu, Ropati, Tatupu	Ngamu (4), Alexander (1), Jones (1)	10,426
30 April	Round 8	Sydney City Roosters	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Win	26 - 22	Bell (2), Mann, Ropati, Tatupu	Ngamu (3)	29,048
7 May	Round 9	Newcastle Knights	Marathon Stadium, Newcastle	Loss	6 - 48	Blake, Hoppe, Ropati, Tatupu	Ngamu (3)	29,220
14 May	Round 10	Cronulla Sharks	Caltex Field, Sydney	Win	23 - 18	Hoppe, Dorreen, Kirwan, Okesene	Ngamu (1), Jones (FG)	10,142
4 June	Round 11	Sydney Tigers	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Win	36 - 12	Hoppe (2), Betts (2) Jones, Ropati	Botica (6)	28,713
18 June	Round 12	Penrith Panthers	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Loss	16 - 34	Blackmore (2), Okesene, Ropati		24,723
25 June	Round 13	Western Suburbs Magpies	Campbelltown SG, Sydney	Win	16 - 12	Jones, Tuimavave, Tatupu	Jones (2)	10,700
1 July	Round 14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	SFS, Sydney	Win	38 - 20	Eru (2), Alexander, Betts, Botica, Edwards, Tatupu	Botica (5)	6,954
9 July	Round 15	Gold Coast Seagulls	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Win	44 - 16	Ropati (3), Alexander, Botica, Dorreen, Hoppe, Kirwan	Botica (6)	20,493
16 July	Round 16	Western Reds	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Win	34 - 10	Alexander, Betts, Eru, Hoppe, Jones, Ropati	Jones (3), Botica (2)	19,244
23 July	Round 17	South Queensland Crushers	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Win	22 - 10	Hoppe (2), Blake, Blackmore	Jones (3)	28,928
29 July	Round 18	North Queensland Cowboys	Stockland Stadium, Townsville	Win	28 - 10	Alexander (2), Betts, Blackmore, Hoppe, Kirwan	Ngamu (2)	23,521
6 August	Round 19	St George Dragons	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Loss	14 - 47	Blackmore, Hoppe, Jones	Alexander (1)	28,973
11 August	Round 20	Sydney Bulldogs	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney	Win	29 - 8	Blake (2), Alexander, Kearney, Poaching	Alexander (2), Hill (1), Ngamu (1), Jones (FG)	10,416
18 August	Round 21	Canberra Raiders	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland	Loss	8 - 15	Hoppe	Ngamu (2)	29,500
27 August	Round 22	Brisbane Broncos	ANZ Stadium, Brisbane	Loss	6 - 44	Ngamu	Ngamu (1)	54,645

*The Warriors were stripped the 2 competition points from winning this game due to exceeding the replacement limit.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Manly	22	20	0	2	687	248	+439	40
2	Canberra	22	20	0	2	634	255	+379	40
3	Brisbane	22	17	0	5	600	364	+236	34
4	Cronulla	22	16	0	6	516	287	+229	32
5	Newcastle	22	15	0	7	549	396	+153	30
6	Sydney Bulldogs	22	14	0	8	468	352	+116	28
7	St. George	22	13	0	9	583	382	+201	26
8	North Sydney	22	11	2	9	542	331	+211	24
9	Sydney City	22	12	0	10	466	406	+60	24
10	Auckland	22	13	0	9	544	493	+51	24*
11	Western Reds	22	11	0	11	361	549	-188	22
12	Illawarra	22	10	1	11	519	431	+88	21
13	Western Suburbs	22	10	0	12	459	534	-75	20
14	Penrith	22	9	0	13	481	484	-3	18
15	Sydney Tigers	22	7	0	15	309	591	-282	14
16	South Queensland	22	6	1	15	303	502	-199	13
17	Gold Coast	22	4	1	17	350	628	-278	9
18	South Sydney	22	4	1	17	319	686	-367	9
19	Parramatta	22	3	0	19	310	690	-380	6
20	North Queensland	22	2	0	20	269	660	-391	4

*Auckland Warriors were stripped of 2 competition points due to exceeding the replacement limit in one game.

Squad

Twenty Eight players were used by the club in 1995.

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Warriors Debut	App	T	G	FG	Pts
1	Bell, DeanDean Bell	NZL !	CE / LK	10 March	19	3	0	0	12
2	Blake, PhilPhil Blake	AUS !	FB / HK	10 March	17	14	0	0	56
3	Hoppe, SeanSean Hoppe	NZL !	WG	10 March	22	19	0	0	76
4	Thompson, ManoaManoa Thompson	FJI !	CE	10 March	7	0	0	0	0
5	Taewa, WhetuWhetu Taewa	NZL !	CE	10 March	11	1	0	0	4
6	Ngamu, GeneGene Ngamu	NZL !	FE	10 March	21	3	36	0	84
7	Alexander, GregGreg Alexander	AUS !	FB / HB	10 March	21	8	4	0	40
8	Hill, GavinGavin Hill	NZL !	PR	10 March	7	0	1	0	2
9	Mann, DuaneDuane Mann	NZL ! /	HK	10 March	13	3	0	0	12
10	Okesene, HitroHitro Okesene	NZL !	PR / HK	10 March	17	2	0	0	8
11	Kearney, StephenStephen Kearney	NZL !	SR	10 March	20	2	0	0	8
12	Tatupu, TonyTony Tatupu	NZL ! /	SR	10 March	16	5	0	0	20
13	Tuimavave, TonyTony Tuimavave	NZL ! /	PR / LK	10 March	21	1	0	0	4
14	Solomona, Se'eSe'e Solomona	NZL ! /	PR	10 March	9	0	0	0	0
15	Ropati, TeaTea Ropati	NZL ! /	CE / FE	10 March	21	12	0	0	48
16	Mackie, JasonJason Mackie	NZL !	LK	10 March	5	0	0	0	0
17	Moana, MartinMartin Moana	NZL !	LK / FE	10 March	6	1	0	0	4
18	Vagana, JoeJoe Vagana	NZL ! /	PR	18 March	8	0	0	0	0
19	Eru, SydSyd Eru	NZL !	HK	28 March	15	3	0	0	12
20	Poching, WillieWillie Poching	NZL ! /	SR	28 March	2	1	0	0	4
21	Edwards, LoganLogan Edwards	NZL !	SR / LK	7 April	15	1	0	0	4
22	Kirwan, JohnJohn Kirwan	NZL !	WG	16 April	16	3	0	0	12
23	Platt, AndyAndy Platt	ENG !	PR	23 April	14	0	0	0	0
24	Jones, StaceyStacey Jones	NZL !	HB	23 April	14	5	9	2	40
25	Dorreen, MikeMike Dorreen	NZL !	CE	7 May	4	2	0	0	8
26	Blackmore, RichieRichie Blackmore	NZL !	CE	14 May	10	5	0	0	20
27	Botica, FranoFrano Botica	NZL !	WG	4 June	5	2	19	0	46
28	Betts, DenisDenis Betts	ENG !	SR	4 June	11	5	0	0	20

Staff

Chairman: Peter McLeod
Chief Executive Officer: Ian Robson
Football Manager: Laurie Stubbing

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: John Monie
Reserve Grade Coach: Frank Endacott
Coaching & Development Manager: Bob Hall
U16 Grade Coach & Development Officer: John Ackland
U16 Grade Co-coach: Brian McClennan^[6]

Other Teams

The Warriors participated in the ARL's Reserve grade competition that mirrored the senior draw. The Reserve grade side made the top eight, finishing eighth, but lost to Penrith 8-14 in the Quarterfinals.^[7]

In the Club Championship the Warriors finished seventh overall.

Warriors Colts

North Harbour	Position	Auckland Colts
Quinten Dane	FB	Nigel Vagana
Auvae Tapuai	WG	Paul Staladi
Paki Tuimavave	CE	Stuart Lester
Jason Kaulima	CE	Anthony Swann
Steve Barry	WG	Tacofe Kalauta
Aleki Maea	FE	Meti Noovao (C)
Latham Tawhai	HB	Willie Swann
Donald Stewart (C)	PR	Dallas Mead
Sean Wilson	HK	Aaron Lester
Darren Kohlhase	PR	David Fatialofa
Mike Setefano	SR	Bryan Henare
Keniti Asiata	SR	Frank Watene
Jason Palmada	LK	Logan Swann
Frank Fuimaono	Bench	Charlie Kennedy
Cory Jamieson	Bench	Des Maea
Lafaelle Filipo	Bench	Druce Nilsen
Brent Snooks	Bench	Steve Buckingham
Graeme Norton	Coach	John Ackland

Team	Halftime	Total
North Harbour Sea Eagles	2	28
Auckland Warriors Colts	15	21

Tries (North Harbour)	1: F. Fuimaono, S. Wilson, P. Tuimavave, J. Palmada
Tries (Auckland Colts)	1: N.Vagana, B.Henare, M.Noovao, W.Swann
Goals (North Harbour)	6: Q.Dane
Goals (Auckland Colts)	1: S.Buckingham, M.Noovao
Field Goals Goals (Auckland Colts)	1: M.Noovao
Date	16 September
Referee	Dennis Hale
Venue	Ericsson Stadium
Broadcast	TVNZ

Awards

Tea Ropati won the clubs Player of the Year award.^[9]

Super League

References

↑ ARL 1995 - Game 3 rugbyleagueproject.org
↑ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1995. p.218
1 2 3 4 5 Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1995. p.130
↑ Squads Sevens details The Vault
↑ Sydney Challenge Cup details The Vault
↑ Deane, Steve (18 June 2011). "Candidates line up for Cleary's job". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
↑ Australian Competitions 1995 The Vault
↑ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1995. p.75-84
↑ New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.50

External links

Warriors official site
1995 Warriors Season rugbyleagueproject.org
Becht, Richard. A New Breed Rising: The Warriors Winfield Cup Challenge. Auckland, HarperCollins, 1994. ISBN 1-86950-154-3

New Zealand Warriors

Est. 1995 in Auckland, New Zealand

The Club	History Records Players Honours Coaches Representatives Results

Home grounds	Mt Smart Stadium

Important figures	Peter "The Mad Butcher" Leitch Stacey Jones Ivan Cleary Manu Vatuvei

League	ARL SL NRL

Seasons (18)	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Other competitions	National Youth Competition NRL Auckland Nines NSW Cup

1995 in rugby league

« 1994

1996 »

International Rugby League

British Rugby League

Competitions	RFL Championship Challenge Cup Regal Trophy

By club	Bradford Northern Castleford RLFC Doncaster RLFC Featherstone Rovers Halifax RLFC Hull FC Leeds RLFC Oldham FC Salford RLC Sheffield Eagles St Helens Wakefield Trinity RLC Warrington RLFC Widnes RLFC Wigan RLFC Workington Town

Australian Rugby League

Competitions	State of Origin ARL season Grand Final BRL Premiership

By club	Auckland Warriors Balmain Tigers Brisbane Broncos Canberra Raiders Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Illawarra Steelers Gold Coast Seagulls Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Newcastle Knights North Queensland Cowboys North Sydney Bears Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers Sydney Bulldogs Sydney Roosters St. George Dragons South Sydney Rabbitohs South Queensland Crushers Western Suburbs Magpies Western Reds

Other Domestic competitions

New Zealand

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