1999 Auckland Warriors season

The Auckland Warriors 1999 season was the Auckland Warriors 5th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Mark Graham while Matthew Ridge was the club's captain.

1999 Auckland Warriors season
NRL Rank11th
1999 recordWins: 10; draws: 0; losses: 14
Points scoredFor: 538; against: 498
Team information
CEOTrevor McKewen
CoachMark Graham
Captains
StadiumEricsson Stadium
Avg. attendance11,135
Top scorers
TriesStacey Jones (15)
GoalsMatthew Ridge (34)
PointsMatthew Ridge (80)
← 19982000 →

Milestones

  • 13 March – Round 2: Tony Tatupu plays his 50th match for the club.
  • 21 March – Round 3: Brady Malam plays his 50th match for the club.
  • 16 May – Round 11: Tony Tuimavave plays his 50th match for the club.
  • 30 May – Round 13: Logan Swann plays his 50th match for the club.
  • 21 August – Round 25: Stacey Jones becomes the first player to appear in 100 first-grade games for the club.

Jersey & Sponsors

For 1999 the Warriors again used a similar style of jersey, produced by Nike, Inc., with Vodafone the shirt sponsor and Bartercard as sleeve sponsor.

Sale to Tainui

Between the 1998 and 1999 seasons the Auckland Rugby League sold the Auckland Warriors to a consortium that included majority investor the Tainui tribe as well as Graham Lowe and Malcolm Boyle. The new owners cleaned out the management and coaching structures and also straightened the tongue on the Warriors logo, as a curved tongue is believed to be cursed in Māori culture.

The consortium paid $2 million in cash, $1.5 million in deferred settlement over three years and an annual development grant of $250,000. The Auckland Rugby League was forced to write off the deferred settlement in 2000 when the Auckland Warriors folded and the assets were purchased by the New Zealand Warriors.[1]

Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1999, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Country Carnival

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
12 FebruaryTrial 1 Melbourne StormLang Park, BrisbaneWin16-14Oudenryn (2), RidgeRidge (1)2,500[1]
20 FebruaryTrial 2 Brisbane BroncosToowoombaLoss10-22Manuel, JonesRidge (1)7,146[2]

Regular season

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
8 MarchRound 1 Sydney RoostersSydney Football Stadium, SydneyWin26-16Ridge (2), Galuvao, JonesRidge (5)10,124[3]
13 MarchRound 2 North Sydney BearsEricsson Stadium, AucklandLost18-22Galuvao, Jones, SwannRidge (3)20,268[4]
21 MarchRound 3 Manly Sea EaglesBrookvale OvalWin36-10Death, Henare, Jones, Manuel, Swann,
J.Vagana, N.Vagana
Jones (3),
Ngamu (1)
7,077[5]
28 MarchRound 4 Sydney RoostersEricsson Stadium, AucklandLost14-28Manuel, N.VaganaRidge (3)17,492[6]
3 AprilRound 5 Balmain TigersLeichhardt Oval, SydneyLost8-17JonesRidge (2)7,460[7]
9 AprilRound 6 Melbourne StormEricsson Stadium, Auckland10-3810-38Lauitiiti, OudenrynJones (1)10,343[8]
18 AprilRound 7 North Queensland CowboysEricsson Stadium, AucklandLost0-248,954[9]
Round 8Bye
2 MayRound 9 South Sydney RabbitohsEricsson Stadium, AucklandLost8-12BeverleyDoherty (1),
Jones (1)
7,241[10]
8 MayRound 10 Parramatta EelsParramatta Stadium, SydneyLost6-28KoopuRidge (1)13,087[11]
16 MayRound 11 Canberra RaidersEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin32-30Galuvao, Lauiti'iti, Manuel, Mears, J.VaganaRidge (6)9,423[12]
23 MayRound 12 Canterbury BulldogsTelstra Stadium, SydneyLost28-24Lauiti'iti (2), Endacott, JonesDoherty (4)9,062[13]
30 MayRound 13 Parramatta EelsEricsson Stadium, AucklandLost18-25Jones, SwannDoherty (5)8,940[14]
Round 14Bye
12 JuneRound 15 Penrith PanthersCUA Stadium, SydneyLost20-34N.Vagana (2), MearsDoherty (4)7,097[15]
19 JuneRound 16 Canterbury BulldogsEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin30-10N.Vagana (2), Hoppe, Jones, Manuel,
J.Vagana
Simon (3)9,500[16]
26 JuneRound 17 Balmain TigersEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin22-4Swann, Manuel, Seuseu, N.VaganaSimon (1)8,506[17]
4 JulyRound 18 Canberra RaidersCanberra Stadium, CanberraLost22-46Hoppe, Manuel, Mears, N.VaganaSimon (3)10,155[18]
10 JulyRound 19 Brisbane BroncosANZ Stadium, BrisbaneLost16-24Death, Lauiti'iti, NelsonSimon (2)14,941[19]
16 JulyRound 20 Cronulla SharksEricsson Stadium, AucklandLost20-22Jones, Oudenryn, MearsSimon (4)8,000[20]
25 JulyRound 21 South Sydney RabbitohsSydney Football Stadium, SydneyWin20-16Jones, Manuel, Swann, TuimavaveRidge (2)7,364[21]
1 AugustRound 22 Melbourne StormOlympic Park Stadium, MelbourneLost14-16Lewis, TuimavaveSimon (2),
Ridge (1)
13,435[22]
6 AugustRound 23 St. George Illawarra DragonsEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin32-18Beverley, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Manuel, Meli,
N.Vagana
Simon (4)9,564[23]
14 AugustRound 24 North Queensland CowboysDairy Farmers Stadium, TownsvilleWin40-14Oudenryn (3), Jones, Swann, J.Vagana,
N.Vagana
Ridge (4),
Simon (2)
13,832[24]
21 AugustRound 25 Newcastle KnightsEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin42-0Death (2), Lauiti'iti, Oudenryn, Ridge, Simon, N.VaganaRidge (7)15,385[25]
29 AugustRound 26 Western Suburbs MagpiesCampbelltown Sports Ground, SydneyWin60-16Jones (4), Beverley (2), Oudenryn (2),
Manuel, Meli, J.Vagana, N.Vagana
Simon (5),
Swann (1)
7,793[26]

Ladder

PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks2418062586332+25440
2 Parramatta Eels2417072500294+20638
3 Melbourne Storm (P)2416082639392+24736
4 Sydney City Roosters2416082592377+21536
5 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs2415182520462+5835
6 St. George Illawarra Dragons2415092588416+17234
7 Newcastle Knights2414192575484+9133
8 Brisbane Broncos2413292510368+14232
9 Canberra Raiders24131102618439+17931
10 Penrith Panthers24111122492428+6427
11 Auckland Warriors24100142538498+4024
12 South Sydney Rabbitohs24100142349556-20724
13 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles2491142454623-16923
14 North Sydney Bears2480162490642-15220
15 Balmain Tigers2480162345636-29120
16 North Queensland Cowboys2441192398588-19013
17 Western Suburbs Magpies2430212285944-65910

Squad

Thirty two players were used by the Warriors in 1999, including eight players making their first grade debuts.

No.NameNationalityPositionWarriors DebutAppTGFGPts
3Sean Hoppe WG10 March 1995132008
6Gene Ngamu FE10 March 199560102
12Tony Tatupu SR10 March 1995210000
13Tony Tuimavave PR / LK10 March 1995162008
18Joe Vagana / PR18 March 19952450020
19Syd Eru HK28 March 199520000
24Stacey Jones HB23 April 199524155070
32Nigel Vagana / CE4 April 199621120048
33Awen Guttenbeil / SR14 April 199630000
37Brady Malam PR23 June 199680000
38Bryan Henare SR23 July 199671004
40Matthew Ridge FB1 March 199710334080
42Logan Swann SR1 March 19972471030
44Shane Endacott FE29 March 1997171004
47Lee Oudenryn WG6 July 19971780032
50Jerry Seu Seu / PR16 August 1997161004
55Ali Lauitiiti / SR19 April 19982070028
56Joe Galuvao / FB / CE2 May 19981330012
58Odell Manuel WG8 March 19992490036
59Jason Death HK / LK8 March 19991840016
60Terry Hermansson PR8 March 1999240000
61Monty Betham HK / LK8 March 199930000
62Cliff Beverley FE21 March 19991640016
63Peter Lewis CE3 April 1999111004
64Wairangi Koopu CE / SR9 April 199961004
65Francis Meli / WG2 May 199932008
66Clinton Toopi CE2 May 199920000
67Carl Doherty FB2 May 19995014028
68Robert Mears HK16 May 19991540016
69John Simon FE12 June 199912126056
70Boycie Nelson CE19 June 199951004
71Talite Liava'a PR4 July 199920000

Staff

  • Chief executive officer: Trevor McKewen
  • Football manager: Hugh McGahan

Coaching Staff

Transfers

Gains

PlayerPrevious ClubLengthNotes
Jason DeathNorth Queensland Cowboys
Terry HermanssonSouths
Boycie NelsonWidnes Vikings

Mid-Season Gains

PlayerPrevious ClubLengthNotes
Robert MearsCanterbury BulldogsDebut Rd 11
John SimonParramatta EelsDebut Rd 15
Talite Liava'aBalmain TigersDebut Rd 18

Losses

PlayerClubNotes
Stephen KearneyMelbourne Storm
Tea RopatiRetired
Marc EllisNorth Harbour Rugby Union
Anthony SwannNorth Sydney Bears
Paul StaladiNorthland Rugby Union
Aaron WhittakerCanterbury Rugby League
Kevin IroSt Helens R.F.C.
Quentin PongiaSydney Roosters
Tyran SmithCanberra Raiders
Zane ClarkeCessnock
Frank WateneWakefield Trinity Wildcats

Mid-Season Losses

PlayerFuture Club
Gene NgamuHuddersfield-Sheffield
Sean HoppeSt Helens R.F.C.

Other Teams

During the 1999 season players not selected for first grade competed in the NZRL's National Provincial competition.[3] The Warriors also sent four players a week to play for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Brisbane Souths.[4][5]

Awards

Jason Death won the club's Player of the Year award.[6]

References