Rugby League Zone looks back at 30 seasons of the Auckland/New Zealand Warriors.
The Auckland Warriors’ Tough Start (1995 to 2000)
The Auckland Warriors were accepted into the NSWRL premiership as the first international club on the 18th of May, 1992. They quickly announced their colours (blue and white with red and green), a sponsor (DB Bitter), a coach (John Monie), captain (Dean Bell) and CEO (Ian Robson).
There were some issues, including the use of Mount Smart Stadium instead of Carlaw Park. And the curved tongue on the emblem was believed by Māori people to be a curse and a sign of weakness.
They took to the field for the first time on Friday the 10th of March 1995, hosting the Brisbane Broncos at Mount Smart Stadium. 29,220 excited fans watched on as the Warriors jumped to a 16-10 half time lead after Phil Blake scored their first try, before they were eventually run down 25-22.
Two weeks later they broke through for their maiden win, 46-12 over Western Suburbs, but the win was soured when they had the two competition points stripped for fielding five bench players.
It took until round 7 for them to claim their first win in Australia, 40-4 against Parramatta. A six-game winning run in the second half of the season saw them sit sixth with a finals berth in their debut season looking likely, only to lose three of their final four to miss the finals on for-and-against.
While the club enjoyed a mostly positive season on-field, it was off-field where things took a turn. The Super League War broke out in April and the Warriors signed with the rebel league in order to secure additional funding and resources.
The distraction of Super League didn’t help as the club experienced another late fade-out to miss the finals in 1996, before only avoiding the wooden spoon in a disastrous Super League season in 1997 courtesy of a final round victory over North Queensland. They were undefeated (6-0) in the 1997 World Club Championship pool stage, beat Bradford 62-14 in the quarter-final, but lost to Brisbane 22-16 in the semi-final.
Poor seasons followed in 1998 and 1999, finishing in the bottom half of the ladder in both years and left people questioning their value as the competition was rationalised for the 2000 season. The club was sold by the Auckland Rugby League to Rugby League People Ltd during the 1998 season, but things continued to go wrong.
Another bad season followed in 2000 as the Warriors narrowly dodged the wooden spoon, and the club was officially wound up at the end of the season, with key assets being purchased by businessman Eric Watson.
Becoming the New Zealand Warriors and Making a Grand Final (2001 to 2003)
The club was rebranded as the New Zealand Warriors, adopting the national sporting colours of black and silver (while retaining a dash of blue and red), and redesigning the logo to straighten the tongue. They were known as the “New Zealand Warriors” for the 2001 season and just the “Warriors” from 2002 onwards.
Little was expected of the Warriors under new coach Daniel Anderson in 2001; however, they surprised all by going on a run late in the season to finish eighth and qualify for the club’s maiden finals series. Although they were beaten by Parramatta in the qualifying final, they had proven that they were a club on the way up.
2002 saw further improvement from the Warriors, who won the club’s first minor premiership and subsequently hosted the first finals match played outside Australia, winning 36-20 over Canberra. After beating the Sharks 16-10 in the preliminary final, hopes were high that they could bring home their maiden premiership against the Sydney Roosters in the grand final. Although they trailed 6-2 at half time, they took the lead soon after through a scintillating Stacey Jones try. The turning point came with just over 20 minutes remaining when Richard Villasanti struck Brad Fittler in the head, firing the Roosters forwards up and seeing them end the Warriors’ fairytale 30-8.
Hopes were high they could one better in 2003, however they didn’t quite get going the way they did in 2002, sliding back to sixth. They reached the preliminary final after thrashing the Bulldogs 48-22 of the back of a club (and finals) record five tries by Francis Meli and defeating the Raiders 17-16 in a thriller – but ran out of puff against a Penrith side that would go on to win the premiership a week later.
The Rebuilding Years (2004 to 2010)
Things fell away for the Warriors in 2004, collapsing to second-last and only avoiding the wooden spoon on for-and-against. Daniel Anderson departed as coach and was replaced by Tony Kemp. Steve Price and Ruben Wiki were signed to provide some starch to the forwards for 2005. They climbed to 11th, but sacked Kemp as coach, and replaced him with Ivan Cleary. Watson also departed as CEO, while club legend Jones (the last foundation player) moved to Catalans. A salary cap breach saw the club fined $430,000 and stripped of four competition points for the 2006 season, which proved costly when they finished 10th, four points outside the top eight, despite a club record 66-0 win over South Sydney mid-season.
2007 saw a return to finals, finishing fourth, however back-to-back losses saw them eliminated in week two. They fell to eighth in 2008 before creating history as the first eighth-placed team to defeat the minor premiers when Michael Witt’s late try saw them beat Melbourne 18-15 at Olympic Park. They overcame the Roosters at home the following week before their run was ended by Manly in the preliminary finals.
Optimism was high heading into the 2009 season: however, the year began in tragedy when young back rower Sonny Fai drowned at Bethells Beach after saving his brother and cousins from a rip. Between Fai’s death and a heavy injury toll, their season never got going and they plummeted to 14th. 2010 saw a return to form as the club finished fifth, however defeat to the Gold Coast and results going against them ended their season after week one of the finals. There was more good news for the club’s Under 20’s, winning their maiden premiership in the competition 42-28 over South Sydney.
A Second Grand Final and Another Rebuild (2011 to 2019)
The Warriors again qualified for the finals in 2011 after finishing sixth, before losing their opening final against Brisbane 40-10. They survived after results favoured them and went on a run, coming from behind against Wests Tigers before stunning Melbourne in the preliminary final to reach the grand final against Manly. Despite putting up a stern fight they went down 24-10 in Cleary’s final game as coach. In further signs that the future should be bright, both their NSW Cup and Under 20’s sides reached the grand final, with the latter claiming their second premiership in a row in golden point.
Despite the optimism, things slowly fell apart for the Warriors in the following years.
They collapsed to 14th in 2012 after losing their final eight games, a trend which was repeated multiple times in the next five seasons.
A run of late season collapses saw them just miss the finals in 2013, 2014 and 2016, while they fell to the bottom four in 2015 and 2017, going through three coaches before signing Stephen Kearney for 2017. The club also made a number of high-profile player signings, headlined by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Issac Luke.
Things finally started to trend upwards when they won their first five games in 2018, before another late season collapse saw them finish eighth, where they were eliminated by Penrith in the opening week of the finals.
2019 proved to be another disappointment, finishing 13th, but further problems were just around the corner. The Warriors celebrated their 25th anniversary in the ARL/Super League/NRL by returning to the Auckland colours and the mid-90s jersey design, which they’ve kept (with some variations) ever since.
Covid Dramas and the Rise of the “Wahs” (2020 to 2024)
To say the Warriors were the hardest hit club by the Covid-19 pandemic would be an understatement.
For two-and-a-half-seasons, they became the NRL’s nomads, playing home games on the Central Coast and Redcliffe as border closures kept the squad away from their homes and families for seasons on end. Players had to be loaned from other clubs on short-term mid-season contracts and the club’s return home was repeatedly pushed back.
While there were some highlights, including an emotional 18-0 win against St George Illawarra in the first game after the competition resumed in 2020, there were plenty of lowlights, including the unceremonious sacking of Kearney as coach barely a month after relocating to Australia, caretaker Todd Payten announcing on live television that he wouldn’t take over on a full-time basis, and a number of massive losses, headlined by a club record 70-10 loss to Melbourne in 2022.
Even their eventual return home in the 2022 season was somewhat soured when coach Nathan Brown and multiple players announced their intention to depart the club to remain in Australia.
On-field, things didn’t go much better, finishing second last, though their return to Mount Smart Stadium after nearly three years ended in a 22-2 victory over Wests Tigers and drew a sold-out crowd of 26,009.
2023 represented a new beginning for the Warriors. They had a new coach in Andrew Webster and a huge uptick in support, selling out every home game for the first time. The increase in fan support birthed a new catchphrase, “up the Wahs” and carried the club to their first top four finish in 16 years, where they eventually reached the preliminary final before being eliminated by Brisbane.
Another disappointing year followed in 2024 as they fell to 13th, but they bounced back in 2025, despite season-ending injuries to key players Luke Metcalf and Mitch Barnett, to finish sixth, where they will host four-time premiers Penrith in an elimination final.
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS CLUB LEGENDS
Stacey Jones
261 games, 77 tries, 674 points.
A foundation Warrior, Jones (AKA ‘The Little General’) remains a favourite of many Warriors fans, having led them with aplomb. His brilliant individual try in the 2002 Grand Final remains a fan-favourite moment and is still featured on highlight reels to this day.
Embed from Getty ImagesShaun Johnson
224 games, 79 tries, 1,213 points.
Johnson burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old in 2011 with silky hands and brilliant footwork to guide the team to the grand final. His departure for Cronulla upset many fans, but he returned home in 2022 and produced arguably the best form of his career in 2023 when the club returned to the finals.
Embed from Getty ImagesSimon Mannering
301 games, 63 tries, 252 points.
As the only person to play 300 first grade games for the club, Mannering stands high on the pedestal of Warriors greats. Tough and reliable, the centre-turned-back rower also captained the club on a record 136 occasions.
Embed from Getty ImagesRoger Tuivasa-Sheck
147 games, 47 tries, 190 points.
The signing of Tuivasa-Sheck was a major coup for the club in 2015 and he hasn’t disappointed, claiming a Dally M Medal in 2018, Golden Boot in 2019, and Captain of the Year when he kept the side together in 2020.
Embed from Getty ImagesManu Vatuvei
226 games, 152 tries, 608 points.
One of rugby league’s true characters, cult hero Vatuvei was ahead of his time. The giant winger with the big smile made history in 2015 when he became the first person in premiership history to score 10 tries in 10 consecutive seasons.
Embed from Getty Images
