2017 New Zealand Warriors season

The 2017 New Zealand Warriors season was the 23rd season in the club's history. Coached by Stephen Kearney and captained by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the Warriors competed in the National Rugby League's 2017 Telstra Premiership. They also competed in the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines tournament.

2017 New Zealand Warriors season
Team information
CEOJim Doyle
CoachStephen Kearney
Assistant coachAndrew McFadden
Stacey Jones
Steve McNamara
Captain
StadiumMount Smart Stadium
Top scorers
TriesDavid Fusitua (12)
GoalsShaun Johnson (45)
PointsShaun Johnson (108)
← 2016 2018 →

Milestones

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Jersey and sponsors

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In 2017 the Warriors jerseys will again be made by Canterbury of New Zealand.

 

Fixtures

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Pre-season training

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Pre-season training began on 1 November, with the exception of players involved in the 2016 Four Nations tournament.[24][25]

Auckland Nines

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The Warriors lost all three of their matches at the Nines.

The squad for the Nines was Ryan Hoffman, Junior Pauga, Matt Allwood, Blake Ayshford, Ata Hingano, Sam Cook, Shaun Johnson, Ruben Wiki (c), Mason Lino, Bunty Afoa, James Gavet, Tuimoala Lolohea, Jazz Tevaga, Ofahiki Ogden, Lewis Soosemea, Toafofoa Sipley, Isaiah Papalii, and James Bell.[26] Solomone Kata was originally named, but withdrew due to a virus and was replaced by Cook.[27]

Piha Pool
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
  Parramatta Eels 3 3 0 0 66 23 +43 6
  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 3 2 0 1 50 48 +2 4
  St George Illawarra Dragons 3 1 0 2 45 65 −20 2
  New Zealand Warriors 3 0 0 3 21 46 −25 0
Source: [citation needed]
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
4 February Game 4 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Eden Park, Auckland Loss 11–15 Cook, Ayshford Hingano 22,000 [28][29]
4 February Game 12 Parramatta Eels Eden Park, Auckland Loss 0–11 22,000 [30]
5 February Game 20 St. George Illawarra Dragons Eden Park, Auckland Loss 10–14 Hingano, Lolohea Hingano 22,000 [31]

Pre-season matches

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The Warriors played two trial matches, against the Melbourne Storm and the Gold Coast Titans.[32] The match against the Titans was in Palmerston North, it was the first time the Warriors played in Palmerston North since 1995.[33]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
11 February Trial 1 Melbourne Storm Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast Loss 18–30 Lolohea, Aofa, Tuivasa-Sheck Lino (2), Hingano 10,169 [34][35]
19 February Trial 2 Gold Coast Titans Central Energy Trust Arena, Palmerston North Win 26–6 Papalii, Lolohea, Fusitu'a, Gavet, Mannering Johnson (3) [36][37]

Regular season

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Home matches were played at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, with the exception of one game at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton. The Warriors also played an away game at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.[38][39]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
5 March Round 1 Newcastle Knights Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 26–22 Fusitu'a (3), Kata, Hoffman Johnson (2),
Luke (1)
13,712 [40]
10 March Round 2 Melbourne Storm Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 10–26 Lolohea, Johnson Johnson (1) 9,811 [41]
17 March Round 3 Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin[42] Loss 12–24 Thompson, Johnson Johnson (2) 10,523 [43][44]
26 March Round 4 St George Illawarra Dragons UOW Jubilee Oval, Sydney Loss 12–26 Luke, Maumalo Johnson (2) 11,608 [45]
2 April Round 5 Gold Coast Titans Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 28–22 Johnson, Fusitua, Tuivasa-Sheck,
Foran, Hoffman
Johnson (4) 10,263[46] [47]
9 April Round 6 Parramatta Eels Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 22–10 Thompson (2), Mannering, Maumalo Johnson (3) 13,526 [48]
15 April Round 7 Canberra Raiders GIO Stadium, Canberra Loss 8–20 Hoffman Johnson (2) 13,996 [49]
25 April Round 8 Melbourne Storm AAMI Park, Melbourne Loss 14–20 Fusitua (2) Johnson (3) 22,153 [50]
30 April Round 9 Sydney Roosters Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 14–13 Gavet, Fusitua Johnson (3) 13,126 [51]
13 May Round 10 Penrith Panthers Pepper Stadium, Sydney Loss 28–36 Nicoll-Klokstad (2), Foran, Hoffman, Fusitua Johnson (4) 11,588 [52]
19 May Round 11 St George Illawarra Dragons Waikato Stadium, Hamilton Loss 14–30 Nicoll-Klokstad (2), Matulino Johnson (1) 11,108 [18]
27 May Round 12 Brisbane Broncos Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 28–10 Ayshford, Johnson, Tuivasa-Sheck,
Maumalo, Gavet
Johnson (4) 13,826 [53]
2 June Round 13 Parramatta Eels ANZ Stadium, Sydney Loss 24–32 Mannering, Maumalo, Hoffman, Tuivasa-Sheck Johnson (4) 9,489 [54]
10 June Round 14 Gold Coast Titans Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast Win 34–12 Ayshford (2), Hoffman, Maumalo,
Tuivasa-Sheck, Hingano
Luke (4),
Hoffman (1)
14,067[55] [56]
Round 15 Bye
23 June Round 16 Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 21–14 Maumalo, Ayshford, Tuivasa-Sheck Johnson (4 & FG) 13,476 [57]
1 July Round 17 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles nib Stadium, Perth Loss 22–26 Nicoll-Klokstad (2), Thompson, Tuivasa-Sheck Johnson (3) 6,258 [58]
Round 18 Bye
14 July Round 19 Penrith Panthers Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 22–34 Kata (2), Mannering, Thompson Johnson (2)
Luke (1)
13,076 [59]
22 July Round 20 North Queensland Cowboys 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville Loss 12–24 Afoa, Mannering Luke (2) 16,080 [60]
28 July Round 21 Cronulla Sutherland Sharks Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 12–26 Kata, Thompson Luke (2) 9,771 [61]
5 August Round 22 Newcastle Knights Hunter Stadium, Newcastle Loss 10–26 Fusitua, Roache Luke (1) 11,824 [62]
13 August Round 23 Canberra Raiders Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 16–36 Fusitu'a, Tuivasa-Sheck, Papali'i Lino (2) 10,182 [63]
18 August Round 24 South Sydney Rabbitohs ANZ Stadium, Sydney Loss 18–36 Tuivasa-Sheck (2), Mannering Luke (3) 6,213 [64]
27 August Round 25 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 22–21
(G.P.)
Fusitu'a (2), Ayshford, Maumalo Luke (1),
Johnson (1 & FG)
9,167 [65]
3 September Round 26 Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Loss 16–28 Kata, Tuivasa-Sheck, Nicoll-Klokstad Luke (2) 10,231 [66]

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   Melbourne Storm (P) 24 20 0 4 2 633 336 +297 44
2   Sydney Roosters 24 17 0 7 2 500 428 +72 38
3   Brisbane Broncos 24 16 0 8 2 597 433 +164 36
4   Parramatta Eels 24 16 0 8 2 496 457 +39 36
5   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 15 0 9 2 476 407 +69 34
6   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 14 0 10 2 552 512 +40 32
7   Penrith Panthers 24 13 0 11 2 504 459 +45 30
8   North Queensland Cowboys 24 13 0 11 2 467 443 +24 30
9   St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 12 0 12 2 533 450 +83 28
10   Canberra Raiders 24 11 0 13 2 558 497 +61 26
11   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 10 0 14 2 360 455 −95 24
12   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 9 0 15 2 464 564 −100 22
13   New Zealand Warriors 24 7 0 17 2 444 575 −131 18
14   Wests Tigers 24 7 0 17 2 413 571 −158 18
15   Gold Coast Titans 24 7 0 17 2 448 638 −190 18
16   Newcastle Knights 24 5 0 19 2 428 648 −220 14

Squad

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No. Name Position Warriors Debut App T G FG Pts
115 Manu Vatuvei WG 23 May 2004 1 0 0 0 0
125 Simon Mannering SR 26 June 2005 22 5 0 0 20
142 Ben Matulino PR 14 June 2008 16 1 0 0 4
146 Jacob Lillyman PR 14 March 2009 21 0 0 0 0
168 Shaun Johnson HB 4 June 2011 18 4 45 2 108
183 Charlie Gubb PR 7 July 2013 11 0 0 0 0
189 David Fusitua WG 15 March 2014 24 12 0 0 48
192 Tuimoala Lolohea HB 27 July 2014 4 1 0 0 4
193 Solomone Kata CE 7 March 2015 19 5 0 0 20
194 Bodene Thompson SR 7 March 2015 19 6 0 0 24
195 Ryan Hoffman SR 7 March 2015 19 6 1 0 26
196 Sam Lisone PR 7 March 2015 23 0 0 0 0
197 Albert Vete PR 7 March 2015 8 0 0 0 0
199 Matt Allwood CE 29 March 2015 0 0 0 0 0
201 Ken Maumalo WG 16 May 2015 23 7 0 0 28
202 Mason Lino HB 24 August 2015 6 0 2 0 4
203 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck FB 5 March 2016 23 10 0 0 40
204 Blake Ayshford CE 5 March 2016 21 5 0 0 20
206 Issac Luke HK 5 March 2016 23 1 17 0 38
207 Nathaniel Roache HK 5 March 2016 9 1 0 0 4
208 James Gavet PR 5 March 2016 13 2 0 0 8
209 Jazz Tevaga HK 20 March 2016 4 0 0 0 0
210 Ligi Sao LK 16 April 2016 11 0 0 0 0
212 Toafofoa Sipley PR 1 May 2016 0 0 0 0 0
213 Bunty Afoa PR 2 July 2016 17 1 0 0 4
214 Ata Hingano FE 20 August 2016 13 1 0 0 4
215 Isaiah Papalii PR 5 March 2017 5 1 0 0 4
216 Erin Clark HK 10 March 2017 1 0 0 0 0
217 Kieran Foran FE 2 April 2017 17 2 0 0 8
218 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad WG 30 April 2017 7 7 0 0 28
219 Chris Satae PR 22 July 2017 3 0 0 0 0
220 James Bell SR 28 July 2017 2 0 0 0 0
Zac Santo UB 0 0 0 0 0

Staff

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Transfers

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Other teams

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As in 2016, the Warriors entered a team into the Intrust Super Premiership NSW and the Junior Warriors competed in the Holden Cup.

Intrust Super Premiership NSW squad

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The Warriors finished the season second and played the third placed Penrith Panthers in week one of the finals.[87] After losing to eventual winners Penrith they defeated Newcastle 30–6 before losing to the Wyong Roos in a preliminary final to end the season.

Bureta Faraimo, Mason Lino and Toafofoa Sipley were named in the 2017 Intrust Super Premiership NSW Team of the Year.[88]

Finals

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Holden Cup squad

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The Holden Cup team finished in last place, with only three wins during the season.[89] This was the final year of the Holden Cup.

Awards

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Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck won the club's NRL player of the year award while Simon Mannering won the people's choice award.[90]

Mason Lino was the club's Intrust Super Premiership NSW player of the year while Chanel Harris-Tavita was the NYC player of the year.

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad won the clubman of the year while Sam Cook was the Intrust Super Premiership NSW team man of the year and Kenese Kenese was the NYC clubman of the year.

Bunty Afoa won the NRL rookie of the year and Tyler Slade was the NYC rookie of the year.[91]

References

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  2. ^ "Stephen Kearney backs David Kidwell to take over Kiwis coaching duties". tvnz. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
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