New Zealand Warriors - 2001
Rebranded with a new owner, coach and administration, the Warriors belatedly fulfilled their promise in the 2001 NRL season.
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Parramatta born-and-bred Mick Watson’s friendship with Daniel Anderson effectively provided the Warriors with a new coach and CEO.
Matthew Ridge was using prominent Sydney-based Kellogg’s executive Mick Watson as a sounding board for sponsorship and marketing as the Eric Watson-owned regime attempted to rebuild the Warriors from the ground up. When Ridge and Mick Watson’s conversations veered towards football, the former Eels lower-grader threw his mate’s name into the coaching mix.
The 33-year-old Anderson was building a reputation as a hard-nosed operator with excellent technical knowledge, having steered the Eels to a First Division title in 1999 and serving as an assistant to NRL coach Brian Smith.
“Matthew was looking at Bob Fulton, Mal Meninga – names of that ilk that were recruitment specialists,” Mick Watson says. “My perspective was that it was a little bit old-fashioned … they had a good farm here in New Zealand and they’d missed the point, which was they should be looking at a development coach.”
Mick Watson flew to Auckland with Anderson to present to Ridge and Eric Watson; Anderson was handed the coaching reins – and Mick Watson was unexpectedly offered the CEO position.
Veteran Kiwi Test centre Richie Blackmore returned to the club, while the hastily-assembled Warriors brains trust signed up talented forwards Justin Morgan and Richard Villasanti, experienced utility Nathan Wood, diminutive wing speedster Justin Murphy and well-travelled Auckland prop Jason Temu from NRL rivals. But Kevin Campion was the jewel in their recruitment crown.
Journeyman Campion had found his niche in Brisbane, playing a key role in the Broncos’ 1998 and 2000 grand final successes before salary cap pressures forced him out of the club. He had signed with Warrington for 2001 but playing for Ireland at the UK-hosted World Cup – and the prospect of moving his young son, who was experiencing health issues, to the freezing north of England – prompted a change of heart. Broncos coach Wayne Bennett helped facilitate a deal with the Warriors. “I could feel something special in the team,” Campion says. “When I first got there it was the Warriors of old – we just had to control our talent and not expose it at every minute of the game.”
Campion, who was installed as co-captain with Stacey Jones for 2001, embarked on a two-season, 44-game stint in Auckland that is still universally revered by Warriors fans. An enforcer with skill, he spilt gallons of blood and had countless stitches administered in the name of the Warriors’ cause – courage that had an immense impact on his young teammates. “Kevin Campion had a huge influence on me in the early years, knowing where he’d come from and how much I loved the Broncos and his mindset, which was similar to mine: Hard work beats talent,” Monty Betham reveals.
Meanwhile, 25-Test Kiwi Tony Kemp, who had dipped his toes in the coaching caper during his last season as a player at Wakefield Trinity, came on board as Anderson’s assistant. “We started with a fresh coat of paint and didn’t inherit any baggage,” Kemp says. “We had a clear vision of where we wanted to go. Me and ‘Ando’ were the same age and had similar philosophies, and we worked in tandem.”
Gains: Kevin Campion (Brisbane), Justin Morgan (Canberra), Justin Murphy (Canterbury), Richard Villasanti (Wests Tigers), Nathan Wood (Sydney Roosters), Richie Blackmore (Leeds), Jason Temu (Newcastle)
Losses: Robert Mears (Leeds), Joe Vagana (Bradford), John Simon (Wests Tigers), Nigel Vagana (Canterbury), Paul Whatuira (Melbourne), Henry Perenara (North Queensland), Odell Manuel (Canberra), Scott Pethybridge (Northern Eagles), Terry Hermansson (retired), Tony Tuimavave (retired), Scott Coxon, Matthew Spence, Ben Lythe, David Mulhall, Talite Liava’a, Jason Bell (released)
Sporting a predominantly black jersey to complement their new name, New Zealand Warriors lost their first NRL match 24-8 to Canberra at Ericsson Stadium. A 24-16 win over the Northern Eagles in Gosford in Round 2 was cancelled out by a dismal 29-10 defeat to a Wests Tigers side inspired by Warriors discard John Simon. The first signs of a Penrose revolution came in the form of a 34-6 thrashing of St George Illawarra in Round 4, with Motu Tony scoring a try with his second touch and laying on another with his third in a sizzling debut off the bench. A stirring comeback before eventually going down to hotshots Parramatta 30-24 as Anderson squared off for the first time against former mentor Brian Smith – who proclaimed, “I can safely say (the Warriors) are a team of some resolve and talent” – set the tone for arguably the most significant win in the club’s existence to that point.
WARRIORS’ 25 GREATEST GAMES – ROUND 6, 2001: WARRIORS 13 DEFEATED BRISBANE BRONCOS 12 AT ERICSSON STADIUM The rejuvenated New Zealand Warriors made a monumental breakthrough by snaring a maiden win in their 10th clash with NRL superpower Brisbane in an Ericsson Stadium thriller. The home side led 10-0 after 21 minutes through tries to Henry Fa’afili and Logan Swann, before the defending premiers clawed back to level the scores with 20 minutes remaining. Earlier incarnations of the Warriors would have crumbled in the latter stages, but Stacey Jones sealed a euphoric victory by snapping a 17-metre field goal in the 72nd minute. Amid a magnificent team effort, 21-year-old Clinton Toopi – thrown into fullback after Ivan Cleary succumbed to food poisoning – starred in just his ninth NRL game. The breakthrough result kick-started a golden three-season period in the Warriors’ rivalry with ‘big brother’ Brisbane.
“One thing that was evident was the Kiwi players weren’t taught the basic, essential skills that would make them better with their natural talent,” Kemp says. “That’s what we focused on in those early days, giving them some core basics to get them through a game and allow the flamboyancy to take over when the time was right.”
Andrew Johns reeled the Warriors back in from cloud nine with a 29-point haul in Newcastle’s 45-24 win in Round 7, but another landmark performance was just around the corner.
WARRIORS’ 25 GREATEST GAMES – ROUND 8, 2001: WARRIORS 24 DREW WITH BULLDOGS 24 AT WESTPAC STADIUM The Bulldogs’ decision to take their home clash with the Warriors to Wellington paid huge dividends, with 27,724 fans packing out the new Westpac Stadium in the first premiership match staged in the New Zealand capital. But the ‘away’ team – who were missing senior stars Ivan Cleary and Kevin Campion – stole the show with one of the all-time great late comebacks. The high-flying Bulldogs seemed certain to bank two competition points at 24-8 ahead with less than six minutes left. But a superb chip-and-regather from Warriors five-eighth Nathan Wood produced a try for Henry Fa’afili and Francis Meli powered 45 metres to score after latching onto a Stacey Jones grubber in the set following the restart. Prop Justin Morgan then busted the line three plays after the next kick-off and offloaded brilliantly on halfway for fullback Clinton Toopi, who outsprinted the Bulldogs’ cover for the equaliser. As jubilation swirled around ‘The Cake Tin’, Jones – who had nailed four goals from as many attempts – inexplicably hooked the relatively simple conversion attempt to consign an extraordinary match to a 24-all draw.
The Wellington barnburner also featured a memorable dust-up, with Bulldogs veteran Steve Reardon – clearly unaware of Monty Betham’s pugilistic prowess – on the receiving end of a ferocious flurry of punches. A somewhat sheepish Betham, whose father, Monty senior, was a professional boxer and uncle, Richard, won a bronze medal for Western Samoa at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, subsequently topped Rugby League Week’s Players’ Poll’s ‘Who would you least like to pick a fight with?’ category.
Stacey Jones sums up the New Zealand Warriors’ charmed early run: “We had an unknown coach come in, we had a handful of senior players, half a dozen local players, a whole heap of youngsters. The pressure was off. Credit to the staff – Daniel Anderson, what he brought was not a breath of fresh air so much, but a new way of football. We thrived on that.”
Anderson’s contract was extended until the end of 2004, with a host of in-form youngsters stitched up long-term soon afterwards. The Warriors’ momentum continued with a 10-try, 52-8 pounding of Penrith and an exhilarating 42-30 away victory at the Sydney Roosters’ expense. Eric Watson rewarded the players with a special win bonus after the latter success. But poor back-to-back losses to Melbourne (40-20) and last-placed North Queensland (35-18) provided a dose of reality at the halfway mark of the season.
‘Campo’ the Origin-al Warrior
Kevin Campion’s understated quality was somewhat lost in a superstar-studded Broncos line-up, but coach Wayne Bennett certainly knew the industrious, ball-playing hardman’s value during his three years at the club. When Bennett took back the reins of the embattled Queensland State of Origin side in 2001, 10 debutants were named in his squad for the series opener – including the 29-year-old Campion, who became the Warriors’ first Origin representative. “It was a special moment getting chosen for Queensland and I really felt like I deserved my position in the team,” Campion says. “The stint at the Warriors didn’t start too well, but I got to learn what the players were about – you’ve got to learn what makes players tick – so it took me a while to [adjust] playing-wise. But to be the first to get selected from the Warriors made it even more special.” He started in the unfamiliar hooker role in the first two games and came off the bench in the decider as the Maroons pulled off a memorable triumph.
Wins against the Raiders and Eagles lifted the Warriors to sixth – their highest ladder position after Round 3 of a season since 1996. The Warriors produced their second record-breaking comeback in less than two months against the Eagles, scoring four tries in the last 18 minutes to erase an 18-point deficit and win 34-30. But with mainstays Jones, Swann, Betham, Villasanti, Jason Death, Jerry Seuseu and Francis Meli all missing games, the season threatened to go to waste with four losses in their next five outings.
A stirring 29-18 upset of the competition-leading Eels after trailing 12-2 was negated by a 48-12 shellacking handed out by the Broncos (in which Anthony Seuseu made his only NRL appearance alongside older brother Jerry, and Logan Swann became the third Warrior to reach the 100-game milestone) seven days later. The lead changed hands five times in a 37-30 loss to the Knights, whose barnstorming winger Adam MacDougall scored four tries, while the Warriors’ 19-year-old powerhouse Iafeta Palea’aesina’s rookie campaign ended abruptly courtesy of a ruptured spleen.
Tyros earn Kiwi spurs
The Warriors boasted just four Kiwi internationals in their ranks at the start of 2001. But Francis Meli, Motu Tony, Jerry Seuseu, Clinton Toopi, Henry Fa’afili and Monty Betham all received debut call-ups for the mid-season Test against France. Stacey Jones and Ali Lauitiiti also featured in the Gary Freeman-coached Kiwis’ 36-0 victory at Ericsson Stadium. All except Tony – who had played just eight NRL games before being pitched in against the French tourists at fullback – and Fa’afili were retained for the 28-10 loss to Australia a month later, with Logan Swann rejoining his clubmates in the Test team.
A five-game unbeaten run sealed the 2001 Warriors’ place in club folklore. Jones was at his effervescent best as they rumbled to a 34-8 win over the Bulldogs in Auckland, with 115-kg prop Mark Tookey – in just his second week back from a lengthy injury layoff – displaying remarkable agility to score a memorable try. Jones and Tony cut the Panthers to ribbons in Round 22 to help the Warriors turned a 14-point deficit midway through the second half into a 48-32 victory. The fourth-placed Sharks copped a 30-0 beating at Ericsson Stadium, while Campion’s defensive resolve epitomised a gutsy 14-8 defeat of the Roosters. A historic finals berth was confirmed via a 24-all draw with the Storm (who needed a win to keep their Top 8 hopes alive) at Olympic Park in the penultimate round, hanging on grimly and surviving a last-minute conversion attempt from the hosts after earlier leading by 18 points.
It was a watershed moment – a tangible marker signifying the club had moved past the hardships of the Auckland Warriors era. A 24,568-strong crowd (the biggest at Ericsson Stadium since 1996) came out to salute the band of history-makers in their last assignment of the regular season against the lowly Cowboys. But what shaped as an elongated victory lap fragmented into disaster: Campion (hamstring) and Betham (broken leg) suffered serious injuries, while the Warriors sunk to a 30-18 loss that cost them a sixth-place finish. Having added a new dimension to the side at hooker, there was a bitter irony in Betham’s setback: “Daniel said to me, ‘we’re going to rest you this week, is that cool?’ I said, ‘You’re not going to rest me, it’s a sell-out crowd and I want to play’.”
Finals debutants beaten black and blue-and-gold
The eighth-placed Warriors headed into their maiden post-season match minus two key forwards and ran into white-hot minor premiers Parramatta Eels, who unleashed a 56-12 qualifying final annihilation. The Warriors clung to life at 12-6 down with nine minutes of the first half left, but the Eels took a stranglehold on the contest with two more tries before halftime. The rampant blue-and-golds piled on five second-half tries to set a new premiership record for the most points by one team in a finals match. The absence of tough middle defenders Kevin Campion and Monty Betham was palpable as the Warriors missed 64 tackles and gave up 12 line-breaks. In the faintest of silver linings, the club received a first-hand look at its prized 2002 signing, brilliant Eels back-up half PJ Marsh.
The Warriors had attained respectability but were still miles off elite status. Chalking up regular-season wins over each of their fellow finalists except premiers the Knights was tempered by a less-than-flattering record against also-ran teams – they lost twice to bottom-three strugglers the Tigers and Cowboys – and the reality that they were the first club to make the finals despite having won less than half of their games.
But Anderson, a Coach of the Year contender, was lauded for his role in the turnaround and the much-needed transformation in the Warriors’ mindset. “The New Zealand forwards [allowed us to] play a very aggressive, very intimidating game,” Mick Watson says. “Daniel is an intimidating guy and he had intimidating views on how to play the game. We were a defensive team.”
Jones finished third in the Dally M Medal and Rugby League Week Player of the Year standings. So nearly lost to the club at the end of 2000, the co-captain took his game to a new level with a stable, high-performing line-up around him – particularly after livewire utility Motu Tony, the club’s Rookie of the Year, cemented the five-eighth role. By the end of the season Jones was widely regarded as second only to Andrew Johns among the game’s halfback match-winners. Campion’s leadership, toughness and work-rate – he was sixth in the NRL for tackles made – were equally instrumental to the Warriors’ success. Despite intermittent injury absences, Cleary’s calming influence and reliable play at fullback (and occasionally centre and five-eighth) provided excellent balance in a backline oozing flair, while he set a new club record with 173 points.
Breakout seasons abounded throughout the squad. Playing most of the year in the front-row, Lauitiiti made a staggering 17 line-breaks, was second in the NRL for offloads and led the Warriors’ hit-up count. Fa’afili was the only Warrior to play every game and topped the club’s tryscoring charts with 14 – as well as introducing the cornrow hairstyle to rugby league. Toopi (who also racked up a team-high 18 line-breaks) and Meli both scored 11 tries in their first full season of first grade. A fringe player at the Tigers, 21-year-old Villasanti provided outstanding impact as a permanent member of the Warriors’ bench. Awen Guttenbeil, restricted to just 34 games in five seasons, shook his injury curse to feature in all but one game. Young back-rower Wairangi Koopu came back from a broken jaw to play in the Warriors’ last 15 games – regularly slotting in at centre and starting at lock for Campion in the finals loss. Mark Tookey returned from a four-month layoff after dislocating his kneecap, coming off the pine in the last seven games to provide a sneak preview of his career-best 2002 season.
But few players in the competition improved as noticeably as rugged prop Jerry Seuseu, who took out the club’s Player of the Year award. “He’s definitely learnt off Daniel (Anderson) and I think his aggression in defence and the way he’s stepping at the line are the main differences,” Death said of the 27-year-old’s form upswing.
Death, having fallen behind Betham and Campion in the starting line-up pecking order, was released to join readmitted South Sydney in 2002. The signing of PJ Marsh, utility-back Brent Webb – the Queensland Cup’s top try-scorer in 2001 with Wests Panthers – and teenaged Waikato playmaker Lance Hohaia prompted the Warriors to farewell valuable and versatile performers Wood and Cliff Beverley. Joe Galuvao, unused in ’01, joined Penrith, while Temu and the injury-hampered Blackmore slipped into retirement.
An off-season without the usual recriminations, boardroom dust-ups and sifting through the wreckage of another underachieving campaign was a welcome relief for the players and Warriors fans. The new administration and football department had performed a near-miracle in just 10 months – and they were just getting warmed up.
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS - 2001 NRL PREMIERSHIP SCORES
RD 1 (H) – Raiders 24 d Warriors 8 (Fa’afili try; Cleary 2 goals)
RD 2 (A) – Warriors 24 (Meli, Jones, Beverley, Guttenbeil tries; Cleary 4 goals) d Eagles 16
RD 3 (A) – Tigers 29 d Warriors 10 (Meli, Koopu tries; Cleary goal)
RD 4 (H) – Warriors 34 (Toopi, Cleary, Campion, Betham, Tony tries; Cleary 7 goals) d Dragons 6
RD 5 (A) – Eels 30 d Warriors 24 (Swann, Meli, Betham, Morgan tries; Cleary 3, Jones goals)
RD 6 (H) – Warriors 13 (Fa’afili, Swann tries; Jones 2 goals; Jones field goal) d Broncos 12
RD 7 (A) – Knights 45 d Warriors 24 (Toopi 2, Fa’afili, Meli, Wood tries; Cleary 2 goals)
RD 8 (A) – Warriors 24 (Toopi, Fa’afili, Meli, Murphy tries; Jones 4 goals) drew with Bulldogs 24
RD 9 (H) – Warriors 52 (Murphy 2, Toopi 2, Meli 2, Swann 2, Fa’afili, Blackmore tries; Cleary 6 goals) d Panthers 8
RD 10 (A) – Sharks 26 d Warriors 16 (Swann, Villasanti, Lauitiiti tries; Cleary 2 goals)
RD 11 (A) – Warriors 42 (J. Seuseu 2, Tony, Fa’afili, Toopi, Meli, Jones tries; Cleary 7 goals) d Roosters 30
RD 12 (H) – Storm 40 d Warriors 20 (Tony 2, Betham tries; Cleary 4 goals)
RD 13 (A) – Cowboys 35 d Warriors 18 (Blackmore, Fa’afili, Swann tries; Cleary 3 goals)
RD 14 (A) – Warriors 22 (Tony, Jones, Death, Swann tries; Cleary 3 goals) d Raiders 10
RD 15 (H) – Warriors 34 (Cleary, Fa’afili, Toopi, Death, Betham, Campion tries; Cleary 5 goals) d Eagles 30
RD 16 (H) – Tigers 21 d Warriors 16 (Fa’afili 2, Jones tries; Cleary 2 goals)
RD 17 (A) – Dragons 38 d Warriors 18 (Tony, Jones, Guttenbeil tries; Cleary 3 goals)
RD 18 (H) – Warriors 29 (Cleary, Jones Palea’aesina, Hape tries; Cleary 6 goals; Cleary field goal) d Eels 18
RD 19 (A) – Broncos 48 d Warriors 12 (Fa’afili, Tookey tries; Cleary 2 goals)
RD 20 (H) – Knights 37 d Warriors 30 (Tony 2, Toopi, Meli, Palea’aesina tries; Jones 3, Cleary 2 goals)
RD 21 (H) – Warriors 34 (Fa’afili, Murphy, Jones, Betham, Swann, Tookey tries; Jones 5 goals) d Bulldogs 8
RD 22 (A) – Warriors 48 (Meli 2, Jones 2, Fa’afili, Toopi, Lauitiiti, Swann tries; Cleary 8 goals) d Panthers 32
RD 23 (H) – Warriors 30 (Koopu, Toopi, Myles, Swann , Villasanti tries; Cleary 5 goals) d Sharks 0
RD 24 (H) – Warriors 14 (Hape, Jones tries; Jones 2, Cleary goals) d Roosters 8
RD 25 (A) – Warriors 24 (Hape 2, Myles, Fa’afili tries; Jones 4 goals) drew with Storm 24
RD 26 (H) – Cowboys 30 d Warriors 18 (Koopu, Tony, Lauitiiti tries; Jones 3 goals)
QUALIFYING FINAL (A) – Eels 56 d Warriors 12 (Tony, Koopu tries; Cleary 2 goals)
Won 12, Lost 13, Drew 2 – Points For: 650 Points Against: 685 – Ladder Position: 8th (of 15)
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