WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

As pundits gazed into their 2020 NRL crystal balls, the Warriors featured in more wooden spoon predictions than Top 8 forecasts after the previous season’s substantial regression.

The club repeatedly came up empty in bids to bolster its roster, with reported approaches to the likes of David Fifita, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Sitili Tupouniua, and eventual recruits Matt Lodge and Kurt Capewell each rebuffed.

Penrith’s back-up hooker Wayde Egan was the Warriors’ only significant pick-up for the new campaign, replacing unwanted veteran Issac Luke. Blayke Ayshford hung up the boots, while fellow fringe players Ligi Sao and Chris Satae took up Super League deals. Long-serving Wallabies conditioner Craig Twentyman arrived as Head of Performance with Alex Corvo – lauded for his role the Warriors’ 2018 upswing – leaving Auckland.

In an otherwise muted off-season, a video published on the club’s website depicted CEO Cameron George delivering a stirring, expletive-laden call to arms to the playing group about proving the doomsayers wrong.

But the season ahead – and indeed the ensuing three-year period – would be anything but nondescript for the Warriors, who were destined to become the NRL’s unwitting face of a global health crisis that dramatically impacted every facet of sport and society around the world.

Gains: Wayde Egan (Penrith), Jamayne Taunoa-Brown (Norths Devils)

Losses: Blayke Aysford (retired), Issac Luke (St George Illawarra), Ligi Sao (Hull FC), Chris Satae (Hull FC)

Heavyweights and surrogate hosts of the NRL Auckland Nines’ 2014-17 lifespan, the Warriors sent an inexperienced and low-profile squad, led by 21-year-old Isaiah Papali’i, to the revived pre-season tournament in Perth. They were sent packing in pool play via losses to Newcastle (34-0) and Sydney Roosters (14-8). The Warriors missed the final of the four-team NRLW tournament, edging out the Roosters before going down convincingly to the Dragons and Broncos. Adam Blair captained a Māori All Stars side also featuring Kodi Nikorima to a 30-16 win over Indigenous All Stars on the Gold Coast a week later.

One of the more insipid Warriors opening-round performances – a 20-0 road loss to the Knights, with second-rower Eliesa Katoa’s strong debut a rare positive – unfolded in the shadow of the rapidly-evolving COVID-19 situation in Australasia.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced travel restrictions and a 14-day self-isolation mandate on the same Saturday afternoon, forcing the Warriors to make the hurried decision to remain in Newcastle following the match. The Australian government followed suit the next day, scuppering the NRL’s plan to jet players’ families across the Tasman.

FAST FACT: The Warriors created history as the first team to make a successful Captain’s Challenge in a premiership match. During the Round 1 defeat to Newcastle, skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck challenged a knock-on decision against his team. The replay showed a Knights player had touched the ball first and the call was reversed.

The Warriors’ Round 2 match against Canberra, slated to be part of a novel Eden Park double-header alongside a Blues-Brumbies Super Rugby clash, was relocated to Gold Coast’s Cbus Super Stadium while the team prepared in Kingscliff on the NSW North Coast. Played in an empty stadium on Saturday afternoon with crowd restrictions in place, the Raiders cruised to a 20-6 win against Stephen Kearney’s stranded outfit.

The previous day, Warriors players had reaffirmed their commitment to remain in Australia amid the uncertainty. But governments in NSW and Queensland shut down all but essential services and closed the border separating the states on the following Monday, leaving the NRL with no option but to halt the competition indefinitely. The team returned home to their families with the future of the 2020 season up in the air.

On April 9, the NRL revealed a targeted restart date of May 28 for their restructured 20-round schedule. Though the announcement was dubbed anywhere from overambitious to irresponsible in some quarters, the NRL and its Project Apollo taskforce ultimately pulled off a minor miracle to relaunch on time and become one of the world’s first major sporting competitions to resume.

The New Zealand Government granted the Warriors a travel exemption to return to Australia. On May 3, a charter flight took 48 players and staff away from their families and into the relative unknown – to Tamworth, in northeastern NSW, where the team quarantined for two weeks. In a show of solidarity, the other 15 NRL coaches agreed not to resume training until the Warriors could start training themselves in their secure ‘bubble’. After clearing quarantine requirements, the squad relocated to a base in Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast.

Praise and gratitude for the Warriors’ sacrifice and commitment poured out from every section of the game – but optimism for the team’s prospects of being competitive were low, given the scale of the challenges confronting them. Season-ending injuries to front-rowers Leeson Ah Mau and Bunty Afoa had provided yet another setback, though fringe Raiders forward Jack Murchie was granted a release to join the Warriors. But a remarkable performance in the NRL’s restart round indicated the Warriors were not the inevitable — if sympathetic — wooden spooners many assumed they would be.

WARRIORS’ GREATEST GAMES – ROUND 3, 2020: WARRIORS 18 DEFEATED ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 0 AT CENTRAL COAST STADIUM, GOSFORD The Warriors emerged from more than two months of uncertainty and hardships imposed on them by the global pandemic to shut out St George Illawarra 18-0 at their surrogate (and empty) home ground in Gosford. Rookie forwards Jamayne Taunoa-Brown and Eliesa Katoa scored first-half tries, before five-eighth Kodi Nikorima crossed to seal an emotional victory in the second stanza. But the most extraordinary aspect of the win was the Warriors’ incredible control, completing 46 of 48 sets – an unprecedented 96 percent completion rate – and remaining error-free until the 75th minute. Indefatigable lock Tohu Harris was immense with 211 metres and 48 tackles, while fellow senior leaders Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Adam Blair were also integral to one of 2020’s most unlikely results.

The Warriors followed up their stunning display against the Dragons with a 26-0 loss to rising force Penrith and a 37-26 defeat of North Queensland, with centre Peta Hiku grabbing a hat-trick in the latter.

But a dismal 40-12 thrashing from Souths a week later had unexpectedly dramatic consequences. The Warriors’ brass announced coach Kearney’s brutal sacking the next day.

By hook or by ‘Mooks’

The decision to axe Kearney blindsided fans, experts and the Warriors players alike – the NZRL Legend of League’s leadership was credited with holding the group together during the shutdown period and the team’s arduous road back to playing. Two wins and two losses since resuming hardly seemed grounds to axe a coach who still had more than two and a half seasons to run on his contract. “It’s been a huge shock and we’re still pretty upset by the news,” Tohu Harris told NRL.com. “I’m feeling for ‘Mooks’ and his family now. I feel personally that it wasn’t deserved.”

Chairman Rob Croot and CEO Cameron George explained the controversial decision was based on dissatisfaction with performances over the previous 12 months and a need to make a definitive call to assist with the club’s 2021 recruitment. They also insisted it would be unfair to wait until the team returned to New Zealand to sack Kearney when his fate was already sealed behind the scenes. The justifications largely struggled to pass the ‘pub test’, while assistant coach Todd Payten was installed as interim coach.

An experienced forward in Wests Tigers’ 2005 premiership triumph, Payten coached the Tigers to an NYC title in 2012, was an assistant to Paul Green as the Cowboys surged to NRL grand final success in 2015 and took over from former Canberra teammate Andrew McFadden as Kearney’s right-hand man in 2019. But it was an inauspicious first assignment in charge for the 41-year-old as the Warriors crashed 50-6 to Melbourne in a match relocated to Sydney due to spiking COVID-19 cases in Victoria (the Storm would also spend the rest of the season based interstate). “When things go against us we aren’t tough enough to dig ourselves out of it,” Payten said post-match, refusing to blame recent upheavals. “I question whether — across the park — we had players that were willing to put their bodies on the line.”

There was no shortage of backbone in the Warriors’ follow-up performance, however, rallying to beat the embattled Broncos 26-16 despite the suspension absence of Tuivasa-Sheck and the loss of Nikorima four minutes in. Blair comforting tearful fellow Kiwi and former Broncos teammate Alex Glenn at fulltime was an indelible memory of the match. But a narrow defeat to the Titans and a 46-10 rout at the hands of the Sharks, as a gleeful Shaun Johnson toyed with his ex-clubmates, left the Warriors sitting in the bottom four at the halfway point of the season. Ken Maumalo, who was superb against the Broncos, David Fusitu’a, Agnatius Paasi and top-grade newcomer King Vuniyayawa opted to return to Auckland for compassionate reasons, seemingly leaving the jettisoned Warriors in further disarray.

Hang on, help is on its way

The Warriors received dispensations from the NRL to draft in loan players from rival clubs. With the NSW Cup and Queensland Cup competitions cancelled, the arrangement was mutually beneficial, providing fringe first-graders with an opportunity to get back on the field. Auckland-born Roosters forward Poasa Fa’amausili was with the Warriors from the restart and played four games, while Penrith firebrand Jack Hetherington (before copping a four-game high-tackle suspension), and a pair of Parramatta players, prop Daniel Alvaro and winger George Jennings, all provided outstanding service in six-match relief stints. The quartet carved out a small but cherished niche in the club’s history, while they all secured contracts with new clubs on the strength of their excellent short-notice contributions for the Warriors.

A gallant 18-10 loss in an ill-tempered clash with the Roosters proved a turning point. Captivating back-to-back wins in Sydney over Wests Tigers (26-20) and Manly (26-22) further illustrated a newfound resolve. Veteran playmaker Blake Green exited to join Newcastle after the Tigers clash, but Chanel Harris-Tavita stepped into the No.7 jersey for the first time in 2020 and was the best player on the field against the Sea Eagles.

But there was a more significant off-field development in between those two victories. Payten, with his stocks soaring, rejected the Warriors’ offer to take on the head coach role fulltime — bizarrely revealing the decision to the rugby league world live on Fox Sports panel show NRL360. “I told the club that I’m going to turn it down, it just wasn’t the right opportunity for my family and myself at this time,” he said. “It was not an easy decision, something I agonised over for a few days but in the end it was the first time I put my family first in a decision.” Payten, whose wife’s cancer treatment factored heavily into the decision, was confirmed as the Cowboys’ 2021 coach a few weeks later, replacing the sacked Green.

Just three days after Payten’s rebuff was made public, Cameron George announced ex-St George Illawarra, Huddersfield and Newcastle mentor Nathan Brown would take over as Warriors head coach at the end of the year on a three-season deal — to a predominantly underwhelmed response from the fanbase. Brown had spent time with the Warriors’ coaching staff in the off-season, but the rapid nature of the appointment set off alarm bells and his unsuccessful 2016-19 tenure at Newcastle hardly inspired confidence. The affable Brown’s impending arrival was accompanied with the equally big news that Phil Gould was coming on board as a club-wide consultant.

Meanwhile, Payten remained focused on the task of keeping the Warriors in the hunt for an unlikely finals berth. After another gutsy loss – 18-12 to runaway competition leaders the Panthers after trailing 16-0 at halftime – preceded consecutive wins over the Bulldogs and the in-form Knights, which catapulted the Warriors to outright ninth with four rounds remaining.

Tamworth its weight in gold

The Warriors had performed an emotional haka for the Tamworth locals before departing the town in May, while their jerseys were embroidered with ‘2340’ – Tamworth’s postcode – throughout the 2020 season as an ongoing tribute to the community’s role in the club’s campaign. Honouring their quarantine hosts once more, the Warriors took their Round 16 clash with Newcastle to Tamworth – and produced their most dominant performance of an unimaginably disrupted season. The Warriors put on a second-half clinic at Scully Park in powering to a 36-6 victory over the finals-bound Knights, with man of the match Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and winger Adam Pompey, who was aided by the silky skills of centre Peta Hiku, scoring brilliant doubles.

Reminiscent of their controversial visit to Parramatta’s home ground in 2019, the Warriors were valiant in a 24-18 loss to the high-flying Eels underpinned by horrendous officiating. The Warriors had trailed 16-0 after Jazz Tevaga was farcically sent to the sin-bin but clawed back before halftime thanks to two mind-blowing tries finished off by Harris-Tavita in the space of two minutes. Their finals bid officially ended a week later via a tough 22-14 defeat to the Johnson-captained Sharks — a result that had an extra sting in the tail as boom forward Toby Rudolf, who earlier in the season back-flipped on a contract to join the Warriors, scored the late match-sealer.

Taking the foot off the pedal would have been understandable, but the Warriors maintained their doggedness until the end. They were run down 26-14 by the fifth-placed Raiders in a testy encounter in the penultimate round, then coasted to a 40-28 win over also-rans the Sea Eagles despite missing the inspirational, industrious Tuivasa-Sheck with a hamstring injury. With Hiku filling in at fullback, makeshift centre pairing Adam Keighran and Hayze Perham scored five tries between them in what would be both players’ last game for the club.

A season of heart-wrenching, heart-warming and goodwill-inducing moments finished in apt fashion courtesy of a haka for the retiring Adam Blair, the polarising 51-Test Kiwi who had played the last 65 of his 331 NRL games – the most ever by a non-Australian at the time – for the Warriors.

Warriors wahine roll with the punches

Former Kiwi Slade Griffin was slated to coach the Warriors women’s team in 2020, but travel restrictions and mandatory isolation requirements forced a complete overhaul of the club’s participation in the third edition of the NRLW premiership. Captain and Kiwi Ferns stalwart Georgia Hale was just one of five survivors from the Warriors’ 2019 NRLW foray to relocate across the Tasman for the October competition, along with Madison Bartlett, Kanyon Paul, Crystal Tamarua and Hilda Peters. Ex-Jillaroos coach Brad Donald took over a squad bolstered by Australian Test players Karina Brown, Kirra Dibb, Shontelle Stowers and Tazmin Rapana, and 2016 Olympics Rugby Sevens gold medallists Ellia Green and Evania Pelite. The Warriors fought hard in losses to eventual grand finalists the Broncos (28-14) and Roosters (22-14), before overwhelming the Dragons (22-10) in what would be the club’s last NRLW outing until 2025.

Harris was a clear-cut winner of the Simon Mannering Medal, while he was named in the Dally M Team of the Year after finishing equal-13th in the overall Player of the Year count. Tuivasa-Sheck’s stoic leadership on and off the field was recognised with the Dally M Captain of the Year gong (as well as the Warriors’ Club Person of the Year and Vodafone People’s Choice awards), while he was the anchor of what seemed a settled spine alongside Nikorima, Harris-Tavita and promising hooker Egan. Hiku’s class regularly shone through, and Pompey, who had been blooded in five NRL games in late-2019, and rookie forwards Katoa and Taunoa-Brown made big strides.

The 10th-placed Warriors could very easily have scraped into the finals. But their level of overachievement — given the team’s circumstances, early-season form, personnel and change of coach — was already beyond extraordinary. They won five of their last eight games; the three losses were by eight points or less. Fans’ positivity, reinforced by the recent announcement of quality recruits Addin Fonua-Blake and Euan Aitken, perhaps could only have been higher if interim coach extraordinaire Payten was staying on-board.

But as the Warriors returned to New Zealand and their families, any notions of a return to any sort of normality for season 2021 had evaporated by the end of the year. The New Zealand government declined the Warriors’ application for players to travel freely between the countries and in early-December the club confirmed the team would relocate to Australia for the start of the season. The Warriors’ gruelling COVID odyssey would continue for another two years.

WARRIORS - 2020 NRL PREMIERSHIP SCORES

RD 1 (A) – Knights 20 d Warriors 0 at McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle

RD 2 (H) – Raiders 20 d Warriors 6 (Nikorima penalty try; Harris-Tavita goal) at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast

RD 3 (H) – Warriors 18 (Taunoa-Brown, Katoa, Nikorima tries; Nikorima 3 goals) d Dragons 0 at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

RD 4 (A) – Panthers 26 defeated Warriors 0 at Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney

RD 5 (H) – Warriors 37 (Hiku 3, Herbert, Katoa, Pompey, Lawton tries; Nikorima 4 goals; Nikorima field goal) defeated Cowboys 26 at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

RD 6 (A) – Rabbitohs 40 defeated Warriors 12 (Fusitu’a, Paasi tries; Nikorima 2 goals) at CommBank Stadium, Sydney

RD 7 (A) – Storm 50 defeated Warriors 6 (Herbert try; Harris-Tavita goal) at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney

RD 8 (H) – Warriors 26 (Maumalo 2, Paasi, Egan, Papali’i tries; Harris-Tavita 3 goals) defeated Broncos 16 at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

RD 9 (A) – Titans 16 defeated Warriors 12 (Tuivasa-Sheck, Maumalo tries; Harris-Tavita 2 goals) at Cbus Super Stadium

RD 10 (H) – Sharks 46 defeated Warriors 10 (Maumalo, Egan tries; Tuivasa-Sheck goal) at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

RD 11 (H) – Roosters 18 defeated Warriors 10 (Maumalo, Katoa tries; Pompey goal) at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

RD 12 (A) – Warriors 26 (Hiku 2, Lawton, Harris tries; Nikorima 5 goals) defeated Tigers 20 at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

RD 13 (A) – Warriors 26 (Herbert 2, Katoa, Jennings, Hiku tries; Nikorima, Harris-Tavita, Herbert goals) defeated Sea Eagles 22 at 4 Pines Park, Sydney

RD 14 (H) – Panthers 18 defeated Warriors 12 (Tuivasa-Sheck, Herbert tries; Herbert 2 goals) at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

RD 15 (A) – Warriors 20 (Murchie 2, Pompey, Tuivasa-Sheck tries; Nikorima 2 goals) defeated Bulldogs 14 at Accor Stadium, Sydney

RD 16 (H) – Warriors 36 (Pompey 2, Tuivasa-Sheck 2, Jennings, Tevaga tries; Harris-Tavita 6 goals) defeated Knights 6 at Scully Park, Tamworth

RD 17 (H) – Eels 24 defeated Warriors 18 (Harris-Tavita 2, Perham tries; Harris-Tavita 3 goals) at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

RD 18 (A) – Sharks 22 defeated Warriors 14 (Murchie, Pompey tries; Harris-Tavita 3 goals) at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney

RD 19 (A) – Raiders 26 defeated Warriors 14 (Hiku 2 tries; Harris-Tavita 3 goals) at GIO Stadium, Canberra

RD 20 (H) – Warriors 40 (Keighran 3, Katoa 2, Herbert 2, Nikorima tries; Harris-Tavita 4 goals) defeated Sea Eagles 28 at Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

Won 8, Lost 12 – Points For: 343 Points Against: 458 – Ladder Position: 10th (of 16)

WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

The Auckland Warriors’ average crowds in 1995-96 were second only to Brisbane’s, before attendances dwindled. Crowd averages from 2011-14 were boosted by taking home games to Eden Park and Wellington, but the club’s 2018 figures – the third-best in Warriors history at the time – were achieved playing solely at Mount Smart Stadium.

The Warriors’ ‘Up the Wahs’ era from 2023 onwards routinely attracted sellout crowds (including an unprecedented cleansweep of ‘Full House’ signs in 2024) and staggering season averages.

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The Warriors were entitled to enjoy their most under-the-radar off-season in years, basking in the glow of the club’s long-awaited return to the NRL finals and plethora of positive off-field developments.

But comments from CEO Cameron George to NZ Herald in late-October sent speculation around the future of Shaun Johnson, who was in Britain with the Kiwis at the time, into overdrive. The superstar halfback was under contract for 2019, but George confirmed the club would not be rushing to extend Johnson and added pointedly, “We’re not going to be scared to make big calls on any player”, apparently giving the 28-year-old the Warriors’ blessing to test his value on the open market.

One month later, the inevitable was confirmed: the Warriors had released their long-time talisman. “Yesterday (head coach) Stephen Kearney, (recruitment manager) Peter O’Sullivan and I met with Shaun and his manager Peter Brown,” George said in a scathing statement. “During the meeting Shaun clearly demonstrated to us that he didn’t want to be at the club in 2019. On the basis of what Shaun told us, we are not going to compromise our culture on and off the field with people who do not wish to represent our club, members and fans in the way we expect.”

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

The Warriors’ 68-10 obliteration of the hapless Northern Eagles in 2002 bettered their previous biggest winning margin by 16 points and remains the club’s highest score in a match. But the 66-0 rout of South Sydney four years later set a new winning margin mark – and is the biggest victory by an away team in premiership history.

At the other end of the scale, the Warriors’ dreadful 62-6 loss to Penrith in 2013 broke a 13-year-old record for their biggest losing margin and was also the club’s highest score conceded. A 70-10 defeat in Melbourne in 2022 overtook both marks and a horrific 66-6 beatdown on the Gold Coast in 2024 equalled the losing margin record.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Fans and critics had apparently run out of patience with the Warriors. Regarded as the NRL’s perennial sleeping giant and a finals threat each pre-season, the sense of anticipation from the diehard supporter base was eerily muted. Memberships were also down by around 30 percent.

Meanwhile, pundits burned too often by the Warriors’ penchant for flattering to deceive deserted the team. Just one of the 12 experts polled by Big League had the Warriors making the 2018 finals, while five picked the club to collect a maiden wooden spoon. The sole analyst willing to back the Warriors to make the Top 8? Sir Peter Leitch. As well as a welter of last-place predictions from various media outlets, Stephen Kearney was the trendy tip to be the first NRL coach sacked in 2018.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

The Warriors’ rivalries with Brisbane and Melbourne stand out as the most memorable and important for most fans, enjoying disproportionate success against the heavyweights during certain periods.

Storied rivalries with the Roosters, Raiders, Sharks, Panthers and Tigers have been enhanced by epic finals encounters, but competition with every club has added significantly to the Warriors’ narrative.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

The Warriors announced the signing of troubled superstar Kieran Foran in September 2016, but it took until February for the NRL to officially register the contract due to concerns over his readiness to return to football.

The career of the former Manly playmaker, who starred in the Sea Eagles’ 2011 grand final victory against the Warriors, unravelled after joining Parramatta in 2016. Installed as Eels skipper, the extent of Foran’s array of personal off-field issues became public fodder. He then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and was released by his new club in July.

Despite apprehension over Foran’s fitness and state of mind, the acquisition of the tough 21-Test pivot was roundly regarded as a coup for the Warriors. Uniting with Shaun Johnson, Issac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck gave the club the Kiwis’ entire first-choice spine (though the quartet had only played one Test together in their preferred positions) under former national team mentor Stephen Kearney.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Just 10 Warriors have been sent off in a first-grade match, with eight of those occurring in their first six seasons.

Ali Lauitiiti is the only player to have been given an early shower more than once, sent off three times for high tackles in 1999-2000. Wade McKinnon was the most recent player to be sent off, only to be cleared of any wrongdoing after being marched for dropping his knees into an opponent in a 2007 fixture.

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The Warriors’ calamitous finish to 2015 brought the club’s culture – that intangible and difficult-to-define quality so crucial to modern-day sports organisations – under intense scrutiny. The acquisition of proven winners Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Issac Luke was designed to alleviate the Warriors’ supposed culture shortfall off the paddock, as well as dramatically improving their chances on it.

Wily 33-year-old halfback Jeff Robson was recruited to take the playmaking pressure off Shaun Johnson, while Blake Ayshford and ex-Warriors NYC products Ligi Sao and James Gavet were depth additions following a stack of off-season departures. Former Warriors prop Justin Morgan returned to the club on Andrew McFadden’s coaching staff.

The Warriors faithful breathed a collective sigh of relief as Johnson made a successful return from injury in the Auckland Nines. The talisman rescued his side with a spectacular last-gasp solo try in their must-win pool game against Brisbane and steered the Warriors to the final, where Parramatta carved out a 22-4 victory. Johnson and Tuimoala Lolohea were named in the Team of the Tournament.

Simon Mannering dropped a mid-February bombshell

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

After the torrent of All Blacks and high-profile rugby union players switching codes to rugby league in the early-1990s, it seemed only natural the fledgling Warriors would have a few former ‘rah rahs’ in their ranks. The club’s first-ever signing, Gavin Hill, was a long-serving provincial forward and New Zealand Maori rep before becoming a Kiwi international from Canterbury-Bankstown in 1992.

The recruitment of All Blacks John Kirwan, Marc Ellis and Mark Carter was derided as a publicity stunt and produced mixed on-field results (though Kirwan was the club’s top try-scorer in 1996 and Ellis became a dual international), but all were commended for what they added off the paddock. The injury-hit stints of dual international superboots Frano Botica and Matthew Ridge at the Warriors fell well short of expectations.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Seemingly well-placed after an admirable revival under Andrew McFadden’s coaching, the Warriors still carried a familiar millstone into 2015 – and the inconsistent label was only branded deeper and more painfully onto the club’s backside during another season of searing highs and depressing lows.

But more vigorous roster changes raised early-season optimism. Enigmatic ball-player Feleti Mateo’s best games had become increasingly less frequent and he was joined out the exit door by fellow back-rower Jayson Bukuya, who returned to Cronulla after an underwhelming one-year stint in Auckland. They were replaced by industrious, experienced duo Ryan Hoffman and Bodene Thompson to ease the workload burden on Simon Mannering and provide greater reliability and mobility to the pack.

The 31-year-old Hoffman – a five-time grand finalist with Melbourne and an incumbent NSW and Australia rep – was also expected to bring much-needed professionalism and a winner’s mentality to Penrose.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Kevin Campion became the Warriors’ first State of Origin representative in 2001, playing four straight matches for Queensland before being replaced by clubmate PJ Marsh, the club’s only other Origin debutant until 2024.

Steve Price, Brent Tate, Jacob Lillyman, Ryan Hoffman – the Warriors’ sole New South Wales rep for their first 29 seasons – and Kurt Capewell were experienced Origin players before being lured to Auckland. Richard Villasanti and sole Blues debutant Mitch Barnett are the only players to earn a maiden Test call-up for Australia from the Warriors.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

After two consecutive off-seasons of upheaval as the club welcomed in new head coaches and staff, the Warriors approached 2014 confident a settled build-up ahead of Matthew Elliott’s second season in charge would yield the anticipated results on the paddock. But it also meant the excuses had dried up. The resilience and mental toughness the team showed during their stunning mid-2013 charge would be required across the whole campaign – and a strong start was essential.

Dressed to the Nines

They may not have won the tournament, but the Warriors lived up to the hype as the surrogate host and most talked about team at the inaugural NRL Auckland Nines at Eden Park. The Warriors were upset in the semis by eventual champs the Cowboys (who they beat in pool play) but brought the packed house down with their sizzling attacking play across the mid-February weekend. Captain Shaun Johnson – the unofficial ‘face’ of the Nines – was the top point-scorer and a standout Most Valuable Player recipient. He was joined in the Team of the Tournament by Suaia Matagi, while British import Sam Tomkins enjoyed an impressive first hit-out in Warriors colours.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

The Warriors have produced 75 New Zealand internationals since 1995. Sydney Roosters (28), Canterbury (25), Melbourne (21) and Penrith (17) are the next-most frequent homes for Kiwis players. Impressively, 48 of the Warriors’ New Zealand reps made their international debut from the club.

The Auckland Warriors’ line-up for their maiden premiership match in ’95 contained a staggering 12 New Zealand internationals, though Dean Bell, Whetu Taewa, Gavin Hill, Duane Mann, Se’e Solomona and Jason Mackie did not don the black-and-white jersey while at the club.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Matthew Elliott was certainly unlike any other Warriors coach before him. Drawing upon learnings from the Dalai Lama, Richard Branson and the sphere of quantum physics, the former St George back-rower was not afraid to think outside the traditional NRL box. He was ahead of the curve – in rugby league, at least – in introducing meditation, visualisation and mindfulness during his stint at Penrith.

Nor could the eccentric Elliott be accused of dishing up cookie-cutter responses to a Kiwi league media more accustomed to the likes of poker-faced Ivan Cleary. The veteran coach talked a strong game, about instilling passion and character back into the Warriors.

History unanimously regards Elliott’s season and a bit in charge at the Warriors as an abject failure – but the club undeniably played some its best-ever football under his direction in 2013…and some of its worst.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Simon Mannering was named the Warriors’ Player of the Year a staggering five times in his 15-season career, eventually having the award renamed in his honour. Steve Price, Ben Matulino and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck – who created history by winning three straight and later added a fourth – are the only other multiple Player of the Year recipients.

The Warriors were largely overlooked at the Dally M Awards, until Tuivasa-Sheck’s historic Dally M Medal win as the premiership’s best and fairest player in 2018. Stacey Jones finished seventh or higher in the Dally M Medal count three times, with Shaun Johnson (second in 2023), Tuivasa-Sheck (equal-fifth in 2019 and sixth in 2021), Addin Fonua-Blake (eighth in 2023), Isaac Luke (equal-eighth in 2018), Brent Webb (ninth in 2006), Price (equal-ninth in 2007) and Kevin Locke (equal-11th in 2011) the Warriors’ next best performers.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Despite widespread dismay at Ivan Cleary’s departure, Brian ‘Bluey’ McClennan was a popular hire. The former Auckland provincial five-eighth was revered for his role as coach of the Kiwis’ historic 2005 Tri Nations triumph and their near miss in the 2006 final. Back-to-back Super League titles with Leeds in 2008-09 only cemented his reputation as an NRL coach-in-waiting. A humble, affable yet forthright personality in the Frank Endacott mould.

On the surface, it was a dream gig – taking over a premiership-calibre roster that had become established as a genuine NRL powerhouse courtesy of four finals appearances in five years. But it would be an ill-fated stint for McClennan, who failed to see out a difficult season thanks to a trigger-happy administration.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Hailing from a famous Auckland rugby league family, Tea and Iva Ropati became the first set of brothers to play for the Warriors. All seven of Iva’s top-grade games for the club were alongside Warriors stalwart and fellow Kiwi international Tea. Long-serving prop Jerry Seuseu accompanied younger brother Anthony in the latter’s only NRL game in 2001. Versatile brothers Vinnie and Louis Anderson played a record 14 games together when their Warriors stints overlapped in 2004; they later reunited at Warrington.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

The Warriors countered a sizeable exiting group with a quartet of astute signings for 2011. Freakishly-skilled Parramatta duo Feleti Mateo and Krisnan Inu seemed a natural fit for their new club’s trademark adlib attacking style. Former Brisbane star Shaun Berrigan – a Test centre, Origin half and Clive Churchill Medal-winning hooker – returned to the NRL from England. Back-rower Steve Rapira reunited with brother Sam after two years in Townsville.

Six of Rugby League Week’s eight experts predicted another finals appearance for the Warriors – including Mark Geyer, who tipped them to be crowned premiers.

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WARRIORS 1995-2025 BOOK CHAPTER MENU

Stacey Jones was the first 18-year-old to turn out in first grade for the club, setting a youngest Warrior record that stood until Ali Lauiti’iti’s 1998 debut. Thomas Leuluai became the Warriors’ first 17-year-old first-grader in 2003. Powerhouse winger Cooper Vuna shattered Leuluai’s record when he came off the bench against Parramatta in 2004.

There has only been one younger premiership debutant since 1993, while Vuna was one of five 17- or 18-year-olds to debut for the Warriors during 2003-04. Back-rower Isaiah Papali’i became the Warriors’ youngest NRL player in more than a decade in 2017 with only two 18-year-olds earning their first-grade spurs since.

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