1996 Auckland Warriors season

The Auckland Warriors 1996 season was the Auckland Warriors 2nd season in first-grade. The club competed in Australasia's Australian Rugby League competition. The coach of the team was John Monie while Greg Alexander was the club's captain.

1996 Auckland Warriors season
ARL Rank11th
1996 recordWins: 10; draws: 0; losses: 11
Points scoredFor: 412; against: 427
Team information
CEOIan Robson
CoachJohn Monie
Captains
StadiumEricsson Stadium
Avg. attendance20,126
Top scorers
TriesJohn Kirwan (10)
GoalsGene Ngamu (50)
PointsGene Ngamu (120)
← 1995 1997 →

Milestones

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Jersey & Sponsors

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The Warriors retained the same jersey design as in 1995. The official jersey supplier were Lenco. The Jersey was blue with a Green, Red and White "V". Only one jersey was used for both home and away games. The main sponsor was DB Bitter. Asics, Coca-Cola and Mitsubishi also had sponsorship deals.

Super League

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As the Auckland Warriors had, along with seven other clubs, signed with News Limited they did not originally intend to compete in the Australian Rugby League's Optus Cup in 1996. Instead Super League was scheduled to start on 1 March 1996.

Legal proceedings had been ongoing between the ARL and News Ltd since 1995 and on 23 February 1996 Justice James Burchett ruled the new Super League competition to be illegal. As a result, the eight Super League clubs were obliged to compete in the Optus Cup in 1996. However the competition, which was originally planned to kick off on 1 March was delayed and commenced on 22 March.

As a result of the court action the Warriors were not invited to participate in the ARL's 1996 Rugby League World Sevens but many of their players instead took part in Super League's 1996 World Nines, which were won by New Zealand.

All Super League clubs apart from the Warriors forfeited Round One of the Optus Cup. The Warriors board instead directed reserve grade coach Frank Endacott to organise two teams of un-affiliated players to fly to Brisbane. Endacott did so, assembling teams largely made up of the Otahuhu Leopards and Ellerslie Eagles senior sides, and the Warriors first and reserve grade sides were awarded a win each via forfeit as Brisbane refused to play.[1]

Auckland Warriors players were again ineligible for the New South Wales and Queensland State of Origin sides and the Australian Kangaroos due to the Warriors Super League stance.

In October 1996 New Limited won an appeal and Super League was allowed to go ahead in 1997.

Fixtures

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The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1996, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Trial Matches

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
February Match 1   Cronulla Sharks Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 24 - 38

Regular season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
Round 1   Brisbane Broncos Win*
31 March Round 2   Illawarra Steelers Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 18 - 10 T.Ropati (2), Blackmore Alexander (2), Hill (1) 17,246
4 April Round 3   Western Suburbs Magpies Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney Loss 8 - 22 J.Vagana Alexander (1), Hill (1) 10,088
1 April Round 4   North Sydney Bears Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 12 - 8 Jones Hill (2), Alexander (1),
Ellis (1)
22,500
7 April Round 5   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval, Sydney Loss 10 - 22 Blake, Ngamu Ngamu (1) 18,588
16 April Round 6   Illawarra Steelers Steelers Stadium, Wollongong Win 30 - 20 Alexander, Blake, Ellis, Jones, Tatupu Ngamu (3), Hill (2) 8,055
23 April Round 7   Parramatta Eels Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 28 - 4 Kirwan (2), Alexander, Hoppe, Horo Ngamu (3), Hill (1) 23,432
30 April Round 8   Sydney City Roosters SFS, Sydney Loss 16 - 28 Blackmore, Hoppe, T.Ropati Ngamu (1), Hill (1) 13,471
7 May Round 9   Newcastle Knights Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 18 - 22 Kirwan (2), Betts Ngamu (1), Ellis (1) 17,000
14 May Round 10   Cronulla Sharks Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 24 - 28 Hoppe, Kearney, Kirwan, Ngamu Ngamu (4) 22,810
4 June Round 11   Sydney Tigers Lancaster Park, Christchurch Loss 22 - 34 Blackmore, Ellis, Kirwan, T.Ropati Ngamu (2), Ellis (1) 10,000
18 June Round 12   Penrith Panthers Penrith Park, Sydney Win 26 - 16 Ellis (2), Hoppe, Horo, Kirwan Ngamu (3) 6,981
25 June Round 13   Western Suburbs Magpies Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 32 - 16 Jones (2), Alexander, Eru, Hoppe, Kirwan Ngamu (4) 17,500
1 July Round 14   South Sydney Rabbitohs Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 24 - 10 Eru (2), Jones, Kirwan Ngamu (4) 20,000
9 July Round 15   Gold Coast Chargers Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast Win 28 - 14 Ellis, Henare, Horo, Kearney, Swann Ngamu (4) 11,870
16 July Round 16   Western Reds WACA Ground, Perth Loss 12 - 32 Ellis, Swann Ngamu (2) 12,760
23 July Round 17   South Queensland Crushers Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 16 - 12 Blackmore, Swann Ngamu (3), Ellis (1) 17,000
29 July Round 18   North Queensland Cowboys Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 52 - 6 Ngamu (3), Betts, Blake, Hoppe, Horo,
Jones, Kirwan
Ngamu (8) 14,600
6 August Round 19   St George Dragons Kogarah Oval, Sydney Loss 6 - 35 Guttenbeil Ngamu (1) 14,256
11 August Round 20   Canterbury Bulldogs Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 18 - 12 Betts, Blackmore, Ropati Ngamu (3) 23,300
18 August Round 21   Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium, Canberra Loss 6 - 30 Blackmore Ngamu (1) 14,528
27 August Round 22   Brisbane Broncos Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 6 - 38 Hoppe Ngamu (1) 26,000

*Brisbane forfeited Round One. The Warriors had sent a team to Brisbane consisting of players un-signed to Super League.

Ladder

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Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   Manly-Warringah 22 18 0 4 549 191 +358 36
2   Brisbane 21 17 0 4 607 263 +344 34
3   North Sydney 22 15 2 5 598 325 +273 32
4   Sydney City 22 15 1 6 521 321 +200 31
5   Cronulla-Sutherland 21 14 2 5 399 268 +131 30
6   Canberra 21 13 1 7 538 384 +154 27
7   St. George 21 12 1 8 443 360 +83 27
8   Western Suburbs 22 12 1 9 394 434 −40 25
9   Newcastle 21 10 1 10 416 388 +28 23
10   Canterbury 21 11 0 10 375 378 −3 22
11   Auckland 21 10 0 11 412 427 −15 22
12   Balmain 22 11 0 11 319 459 −140 22
13   Parramatta 21 9 1 11 404 415 −11 21
14   Illawarra 22 8 0 14 403 444 −41 16
15   Penrith 21 7 1 13 363 464 −101 15
16   Western Reds 21 6 1 14 313 420 −107 13
17   North Queensland 21 6 0 15 288 643 −355 12
18   Gold Coast 22 5 1 16 359 521 −162 11
19   South Sydney 22 5 1 16 314 634 −320 11
20   South Queensland 21 3 0 18 220 496 −276 8

Squad

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The Warriors used twenty eight players in 1996, including nine who made their first grade debuts.

No. Name Nationality Position Warriors Debut App T G FG Pts
2 Phil Blake   FB / HK 10 March 1995 18 3 0 0 12
3 Sean Hoppe   WG 10 March 1995 20 7 0 0 28
6 Gene Ngamu   FE 10 March 1995 20 5 50 0 120
7 Greg Alexander   FB / FE / HB 10 March 1995 16 3 4 0 20
8 Gavin Hill   PR 10 March 1995 7 0 8 0 16
10 Hitro Okesene   PR / HK 10 March 1995 4 0 0 0 0
11 Stephen Kearney   SR 10 March 1995 21 2 0 0 8
12 Tony Tatupu   /   SR 10 March 1995 11 1 0 0 4
13 Tony Tuimavave   /   PR / LK 10 March 1995 5 0 0 0 0
15 Tea Ropati   /   CE / FE 10 March 1995 20 5 0 0 20
18 Joe Vagana   /   PR 18 March 1995 20 1 0 0 4
19 Syd Eru   HK 28 March 1995 11 3 0 0 12
22 John Kirwan   WG 16 April 1995 19 10 0 0 40
23 Andy Platt   PR 23 April 1995 21 0 0 0 0
24 Stacey Jones   HB 23 April 1995 21 6 0 0 24
26 Richie Blackmore   CE 14 May 1995 17 6 0 0 24
28 Denis Betts   SR 4 June 1995 17 3 0 0 12
29 Marc Ellis   FB / WG 31 March 1996 18 6 4 0 32
30 Mark Horo   PR / SR 31 March 1996 21 4 0 0 16
31 Mark Carter   SR 31 March 1996 8 0 0 0 0
32 Nigel Vagana   /   CE 4 April 1996 1 0 0 0 0
33 Awen Guttenbeil   /   SR 14 April 1996 14 1 0 0 4
34 Doc Murray   FB 19 April 1996 1 0 0 0 0
35 Iva Ropati   CE 19 April 1996 2 0 0 0 0
36 Anthony Swann   /   CE 23 June 1996 9 3 0 0 12
37 Brady Malam   PR 23 June 1996 8 0 0 0 0
38 Bryan Henare   SR 23 July 1996 3 1 0 0 4
39 Aaron Lester   HK 28 July 1996 3 0 0 0 0

Staff

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

Coaching Staff

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Transfers

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Gains

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Player Previous Club Notes
Marc Ellis Otago Rugby Football Union
Mark Horo Western Suburbs Magpies
Mark Carter Auckland Rugby Football Union
Awen Guttenbeil Manly Sea Eagles
Iva Ropati Parramatta Eels

Losses

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Player Club Notes
Dean Bell Retired
Manoa Thompson Released
Whetu Taewa North Queensland Cowboys
Duane Mann Released
Se'e Solomona North Queensland Cowboys
Jason Mackie Released
Martin Moana Halifax Blue Sox
Willie Poching North Queensland Cowboys
Logan Edwards Released
Mike Dorreen Sydney Tigers
Frano Botica Llanelli RFC

Other Teams

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The Warriors participated in the ARL's Reserve grade competition that mirrored the senior draw. The Reserve grade side again made the finals, finishing third. Unlike in 1995, the Warriors did not field a Colts side in the Lion Red Cup.

In the Club Championship the Warriors finished fifth overall.

In the Reserve Grade Finals the Warriors first bet Sydney City 19–18 in the Quarterfinals. In the Semifinals they defeated Brisbane 18-12 to make the Grand Final. However, in the Grand Final the Warriors went down 14-12 to the Cronulla Sharks, the second year in a row that a Warriors team had lost a Grand Final.[2][3] The cost of the finals campaign to the club was estimated at between $70,000 and $75,000.[4]

Awards

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Stephen Kearney won the club's Player of the Year award.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Frank Endacott with John Coffey Being Frank:The Frank Endacott Story. Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett, 2002. ISBN 1-86958-922-X. p.78
  2. ^ Australian Competitions 1996 Archived 1 September 2005 at the Wayback Machine The Vault
  3. ^ Doc detects pain [dead link] Sunday Star-Times, 29 September 1996
  4. ^ Warriors reserve success comes at big price Sunday Star Times, 29 September 1996
  5. ^ New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.50
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