2002 New Zealand Warriors season

2002 New Zealand Warriors season
NRL Rank1st
2002 recordWins: 17; draws: 0; losses: 7
Points scoredFor: 688; against: 454
Team information
CEOMick Watson
CoachDaniel Anderson
Assistant coachTony Kemp
Captains
StadiumEricsson Stadium
Avg. attendance16,529
Top scorers
TriesClinton Toopi (18)
GoalsIvan Cleary (105)
PointsIvan Cleary (242)
← 2001 2003 →

The New Zealand Warriors 2002 season was the New Zealand Warriors 8th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Daniel Anderson while Stacey Jones was the club captain. The club finished the year as minor premiers and made the grand final for the first time, however they were defeated 30–8 by the Sydney Roosters.

Milestones

  • 14 April – Round 5: The Warriors have a then record win (68–10) over the Northern Eagles.
  • 14 April – Round 5: Stacey Jones played in his 150th first grade match for the club, the first person to reach the milestone.
  • 14 April – Round 5: Ivan Cleary scores 28 points in a match (1 try, 12 goals), equaling the club's point scoring record set by Gene Ngamu in 1996.
  • 23 June – Round 15: Henry Fa'afili played in his 50th match for the club.
  • 18 August – Round 23: Clinton Toopi played in his 50th match for the club.
  • 1 September – Round 25: Jerry Seuseu played in his 100th match for the club.
  • 6 September – Round 26: Ivan Cleary played in his 50th match for the club.
  • The Warriors claim the NRL minor premiership for the first time. The Warriors received A$100,000 prize money for finishing the regular season as minor premiers.[1]
  • Daniel Anderson is named Dally M Coach of the Year and Ali Lauitiiti Dally M Second Rower of the Year.
  • 15 September: – The Warriors host their first finals match, beating Canberra 36–20 at a sold-out Ericsson Stadium.

Jersey and sponsors

The Warriors had a New Jersey in 2002, completely moving away from the blue and white that had been the club's colours. The 2001 jersey was retained as an away strip.

Fixtures

See also: List of New Zealand Warriors results

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2002, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Pre-season trials

Date Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
17 February Cronulla Sharks Jade Stadium, Christchurch Draw 30–30 [1]
24 February South Sydney Rabbitohs Carlaw Park, Auckland Win 24–20 Guttenbeil, Campion, Villasanti, Faumuina Cleary (4) 14,000 [2]
9 March West Auckland Cowboys Waitakere Stadium, Auckland Win 66–24 [3][4]

Regular season

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
Round 1 Bye
24 March Round 2 Sydney Roosters Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 21–14 Lauiti'iti (2), Carlaw, Meli Cleary (2), Jones (FG) 14,378 [5]
1 April Round 3 Newcastle Knights Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 14–32 Jones, Meli, Webb Cleary (1) 13,456 [6]
6 April Round 4 North Queensland Cowboys Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville Win 50–20 Jones (2), Carlaw, Cleary, Faumuina, Hohaia, Tookey, Toopi Cleary (8), Jones (1) 9,657 [7]
14 April Round 5 Northern Eagles Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 68–10 Jones (3), Faumuina (2), Toopi (2), Cleary, Hohaia, Seuseu, Webb Cleary (12) 12,563 [8]
20 April Round 6 Canterbury Bulldogs Westpac Stadium, Wellington Loss 20–28 Cleary, Koopu, Toopi Cleary (4) 24,251 [9]
27 April Round 7 Melbourne Storm Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 20–10 Fa'afili, Guttenbeil, Meli, Toopi Cleary (2) 11,404 [10]
5 May Round 8 Wests Tigers Campbelltown Sports Ground, Sydney Win 36–14 Tookey (2), Carlaw, Hohaia, Koopu, Tony Cleary (6) 13,658 [11]
12 May Round 9 South Sydney Rabbitohs Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 25–18 Toopi (2), Campion, Guttenbeil Cleary (4), Marsh (FG) 14,765 [12]
17 May Round 10 Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle Win 34–12 Toopi (2), Cleary, Hohaia, Tony, Webb Cleary (5) 16,361 [13]
25 May Round 11 Melbourne Storm Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne Win 28–12 Guttenbeil, Hohaia, Murphy, Tony Cleary (6) 8,873 [14]
2 June Round 12 Cronulla Sharks Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 42–20 Guttenbeil (2), Hohaia, Koopu, Toopi, Villasanti, Webb Cleary (7) 17,050 [15]
9 June Round 13 North Queensland Cowboys Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 34–6 Lauiti'iti (2), Fa'afili, Hohaia, Marsh, Toopi Cleary (4), Jones (1) 14,616 [16]
15 June Round 14 South Sydney Rabbitohs Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Win 46–10 Fa'afili (2), Cleary, Lauiti'iti, Marsh, Morgan, Murphy, Tookey Cleary (7) 8,658 [17]
23 June Round 15 St. George Illawarra Dragons Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 22–32 Carlaw, Fa'afili, Lauiti'iti, Toopi, Webb Jones (1) 15,303 [18]
30 June Round 16 Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium, Brisbane Win 26–16 Webb (2), Fa'afili, Morgan, Toopi Cleary (2), Jones (1) 24,907 [19]
7 July Round 17 Cronulla Sharks Toyota Park, Sydney Loss 24–36 Tony (2), Carlaw, Seuseu Cleary (4) 15,196 [20]
Round 18 Bye
21 July Round 19 Parramatta Eels Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 26–10 Webb, Lauiti'iti, Murphy, Villasanti Cleary (5) 15,563 [21]
27 July Round 20 Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium, Canberra Loss 30–38 Toopi (2), V.Anderson, Lauiti'iti, Webb Cleary (5) 8,702 [22]
4 August Round 21 Penrith Panthers CUA Stadium, Sydney Win 38–24 Swann (2), Carlaw, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Seuseu, Toopi Cleary (5) 10,723 [23]
10 August Round 22 Canterbury Bulldogs Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 22–14 Cleary, Koopu, Meli, Myles Cleary (3) 21,570 [24]
18 August Round 23 Brisbane Broncos Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 18–4 Cleary (2), Meli Cleary (3) 22,125 [25]
25 August Round 24 Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Loss 0–44 18,186 [26]
1 September Round 25 Northern Eagles Brookvale Oval, Sydney Loss 16–18 Guttenbeil, Murphy, Tookey Jones (2) 7,529 [27]
6 September Round 26 Wests Tigers Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 28–12 Koopu (2), Villasanti (2), Toopi Hohaia (4) 16,284 [28]

Final series

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
15 September Qualifying Final Canberra Raiders Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 36–20 Carlaw, Fa'afili, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Meli, Tookey Cleary (6) 25,800 [29]
Semi Final Bye
29 September Preliminary Final Cronulla Sharks Telstra Stadium, Sydney Win 16–10 Carlaw, Tony, Toopi Cleary (2) 45,702 [30]

Grand Final

Main article: 2002 NRL Grand Final
Sydney Position New Zealand
Luke Phillips FB Ivan Cleary
Brett Mullins WG Justin Murphy
Shannon Hegarty CE John Carlaw
Justin Hodges CE Clinton Toopi
Anthony Minichiello WG Francis Meli
Brad Fittler (C) FE Motu Tony
Craig Wing HB Stacey Jones (C)
Jason Cayless PR Jerry Seu Seu
Simon Bonetti HK PJ Marsh
Peter Cusack PR Mark Tookey
Adrian Morley SR Ali Lauiti'iti
Craig Fitzgibbon SR Awen Guttenbeil
Luke Ricketson LK Kevin Campion
Chris Flannery Bench Lance Hohaia
Bryan Fletcher Bench Logan Swann
Michael Crocker Bench Wairangi Koopu
Andrew Lomu Bench Richard Villasanti
Ricky Stuart Coach Daniel Anderson

First Half

In the 23rd minute, Sydney opened the scoring with a try to Shannon Hegarty with Craig Fitzgibbon converting taking Sydney to a 6–0 lead. Not long after, Ivan Cleary got New Zealand on the board with a penalty goal making the score 6–2, which remained that scoreline until halftime.

Second Half

In the 46th minute, New Zealand took the lead for the first time through a Stacey Jones try and an Ivan Cleary conversion taking the scoreline to 8–6. Approaching the 60th minute, Sydney regained the lead with Craig Wing scoring the try and Craig Fitgibbon converting another to make the score 12–8 after a spectacular 40/20 kick from Sydney captain Brad Fittler. In the last 15 minutes Craig Fitzgibbon, Chris Flannery and Bryan Fletcher scored tries for Sydney with Craig Fizgibbon converting all three to take Sydney to a 30–8 win. By winning the grand final the Roosters also received A$400,000 in prize money.

30

Sydney Roosters

Tries Hegarty, Wing, Fitzgibbon, Flannery, Fletcher
Goals Fitzgibbon 5/5
Field Goals
8 New Zealand home jersey 2001.svg

New Zealand Warriors

Tries Jones
Goals Cleary 2/2
Field Goals

Clive Churchill Medal: Craig Fitzgibbon

When They Scored

23rd Minute: Sydney 6–0 (Hegarty try; Fitzgibbon goal)
29th Minute: Sydney 6–2 (Cleary goal)
46th Minute: New Zealand 8–6 (Jones try; Cleary goal)
58th Minute: Sydney 12–8 (Wing try; Fitzgibbon goal)
65th Minute: Sydney 18–8 (Fitzgibbon try; Fitzgibbon goal)
71st Minute: Sydney 24–8 (Flannery try; Fitzgibbon goal)
75th Minute: Sydney 30–8 (Fletcher try; Fitzgibbon goal)

Ladder

2002 NRL season
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 New Zealand Warriors 24 17 0 7 2 688 454 +234 38
2 Newcastle Knights 24 17 0 7 2 724 498 +226 38
3 Brisbane Broncos 24 16 1 7 2 672 425 +247 37
4 Sydney Roosters (P) 24 15 1 8 2 621 405 +216 35
5 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 15 0 9 2 653 597 +56 34
6 Parramatta Eels 24 10 2 12 2 531 440 +91 26
7 St George Illawarra Dragons 24 9 3 12 2 632 546 +86 25
8 Canberra Raiders 24 10 1 13 2 471 641 -170 25
9 Northern Eagles 24 10 0 14 2 503 740 -237 24
10 Melbourne Storm 24 9 1 14 2 556 586 -30 23
11 North Queensland Cowboys 24 8 0 16 2 496 803 -307 20
12 Penrith Panthers 24 7 0 17 2 546 654 -108 18
13 Wests Tigers 24 7 0 17 2 498 642 -144 18
14 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 5 0 19 2 385 817 -432 14
15 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 20 1 3 2 707 435 +272 81

1 The Bulldogs were deducted 37 premiership points due to gross salary cap breaches.

Squad

See also: List of New Zealand Warriors players

Twenty-nine players were used by the Warriors in 2002, including six players who made their first grade debuts.

No. Name Nationality Position Warriors Debut App T G FG Pts
24 Stacey Jones New Zealand HB 23 April 1995 24 9 6 1 49
33 Awen Guttenbeil New Zealand / Tonga SR 14 April 1996 23 6 0 0 24
42 Logan Swann New Zealand SR 1 March 1997 17 2 0 0 8
50 Jerry Seu Seu New Zealand / Samoa PR 16 August 1997 23 3 0 0 12
55 Ali Lauitiiti New Zealand / Samoa SR 19 April 1998 25 10 0 0 40
61 Monty Betham New Zealand / Samoa HK / LK 8 March 1999 2 0 0 0 0
64 Wairangi Koopu New Zealand CE / SR 9 April 1999 22 6 0 0 24
65 Francis Meli New Zealand / Samoa WG 2 May 1999 16 6 0 0 24
66 Clinton Toopi New Zealand CE 2 May 1999 26 18 0 0 72
73 Ivan Cleary Australia FB / CE 6 February 2000 26 8 105 0 242
76 Mark Tookey Australia PR 6 February 2000 24 6 0 0 24
77 David Myles Australia CE 14 February 2000 3 1 0 0 4
80 Shontayne Hape New Zealand CE 18 March 2000 1 0 0 0 0
81 Henry Fa'afili New Zealand / Samoa WG 26 March 2000 17 7 0 0 28
86 Kevin Campion Australia / Ireland LK 18 February 2001 21 1 0 0 4
87 Richard Villasanti Australia / Tonga PR 18 February 2001 20 4 0 0 16
88 Justin Morgan Wales PR 25 February 2001 17 2 0 0 8
90 Motu Tony New Zealand / Samoa UH 9 March 2001 18 6 0 0 24
92 Justin Murphy France WG 7 April 2001 18 4 0 0 16
93 Iafeta Paleaaesina New Zealand / Samoa PR 1 June 2001 11 0 0 0 0
95 John Carlaw Australia CE 24 March 2002 25 8 0 0 32
96 PJ Marsh Australia HB / HK 24 March 2002 24 2 0 1 9
97 Brent Webb New Zealand FB 1 April 2002 17 9 0 0 36
98 Sione Faumuina New Zealand CE / LK 1 April 2002 8 3 0 0 12
99 Lance Hohaia New Zealand UB 6 April 2002 20 7 4 0 36
100 Vinnie Anderson New Zealand / Tonga CE 7 July 2002 6 1 0 0 4
101 Jeremiah Pai New Zealand FE / LK 21 July 2002 2 0 0 0 0
102 Evarn Tuimavave New Zealand PR 1 September 2002 2 0 0 0 0
103 Karl Temata Cook Islands PR / SR 6 September 2002 1 0 0 0 0

Staff

Coaching staff

Transfers

Gains

Player Previous Club Length Notes
John Carlaw Wests Tigers
PJ Marsh Parramatta Eels
Brent Webb Wests Panthers
Sione Faumuina Canberra Raiders

Losses

Player Club Notes
Richie Blackmore Retired
Jason Death South Sydney Rabbitohs
Cliff Beverley Barrow Raiders
Jonathan Smith
Nathan Wood Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Jason Temu Retired

Other teams

Players not required by the Warriors were released to play in the 2002 Bartercard Cup. This included Iafeta Paleaaesina and Karl Temata for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders, Sione Faumuina for the Glenora Bears, Evarn Tuimavave for the Marist-Richmond Brothers, Vinnie Anderson for the Mount Albert Lions, Jeremiah Pai for the Otahuhu Leopards, Logan Swann for the Eastern Tornadoes and Henry Fa'afili and Lance Hohaia for the Manurewa Marlins.

Awards

Ali Lauiti'iti won the club's Player of the Year award.[3]

References

  1. ^ NZPA (5 October 2002). "Sorry guys, the cheque's not in the mail". The New Zealand Herald. APN Holdings NZ Limited. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  2. ^ Mann named to head foundation New Zealand Herald, 19 March 2003
  3. ^ New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.50