1997 Auckland Warriors season

1997 Auckland Warriors
League 7th SL
1997 record 7-0-11
Points for 332
Points against 406
Team information
CEO Bill MacGowan
Coach John Monie
Frank Endacott
Captain Matthew Ridge
Ground Ericsson Stadium
Average attendance 15,442
Top scorers
Tries Sean Hoppe (11)
Goals Marc Ellis (25)
Points Marc Ellis (71)
 < 1996 1998 > 

The Auckland Warriors 1997 season was the Auckland Warriors 3rd first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's Super League. The coach of the team was John Monie until he was replaced by Frank Endacott after Round 9 while Matthew Ridge was the club's captain.

Contents

Milestones

Jersey & Sponsors

The Warriors adopted a new jersey in 1997 that matched the Super League style used by the other nine teams in the competition. The jerseys were made by Nike, Inc.

Fixtures

See also: List of New Zealand Warriors results

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1997, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Regular Season

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
March 1 Round 1 Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium, Brisbane Loss 2 - 14 Ridge (1) 42,361
March 8 Round 2 Hunter Mariners Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 18 - 14 Hoppe (2), Eru Ridge (3) 20,300
March 17 Round 3 Cronulla Sharks Shark Park, Sydney Loss 8 - 34 Betts Ridge (2) 16,860
March 21 Round 4 Adelaide Rams Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 12 - 16 Jones, Tuimavave Ellis (2) 13,000
March 29 Round 5 Penrith Panthers Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 16 - 14 Betts, Hoppe, T.Ropati Ellis (1), Ridge (1) 19,400
April 7 Round 6 Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium, Canberra Win 31 - 24 Henare, Hoppe, Jones, Kearnery, I.Ropati Ellis (5 + FG) 15,061
April 12 Round 7 Hunter Mariners Topper Stadium, Newcastle Loss 10 - 18 Hoppe, I.Ropati Ellis (1) 7,719
April 19 Round 8 Canterbury Bulldogs Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 24 - 38 Eru, Jones, I.Ropati, T.Ropati Ellis (4) 17,000
April 27 Round 9 North Queensland Cowboys Stockland Stadium, Townsville Loss 22 - 30 Endacott, Hoppe, T.Ropati Ellis (5) 12,464
May 4 Round 10 Brisbane Broncos Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 18 - 34 Hoppe (2), T.Ropati Ellis (3) 16,471
May 26 Round 11 Canberra Raiders Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 10 - 20 Ellis, Ridge Ellis (1) 15,100
June 1 Round 12 Western Reds WACA Ground, Perth Loss 12 - 24 Eru, Hoppe Ngamu (2) 10,203
June 6 WCC 1 St Helens RLFC Knowsley Road, St Helens Win 42 - 14 Hoppe (2), A.Swann (2), Jones, Kearney,
T.Ropati		 Ridge (7) 8,911
June 14 WCC 2 Bradford Bulls Odsal Stadium, Bradford Win 20 - 16 Jones, Ridge, Staladi Ridge (4) 13,133
June 23 WCC 3 Warrington Wolves Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington Win 56 - 28 T.Ropati (4), A.Swann (2), Kearney, Ngamu,
Ridge, Vagana		 Ridge (8) 4,428
June 29 Round 13 Penrith Panthers Penrith Stadium, Sydney Loss 22 - 26 Eru (2), Jones, Staladi Ngamu (3) 4,446
July 6 Round 14 Cronulla Sharks Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 11 - 8 Ellis Ridge (3), Jones (FG) 12,568
July 11 Round 15 Adelaide Rams Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Win 18 - 8 Oudenryn, T.Ropati Ellis (3) 13,278
July 18 WCC 4 Bradford Bulls Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 64 - 14 T.Ropati (3), Hoppe (2), Betts, Ellis, Eru,
Ngamu, Oudenryn		 Ngamu (12) 12,500
July 25 WCC 5 St Helens RLFC Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 70 - 6 Ngamu (3), Eru (2), Hoppe (2), Oudenryn (2),
Betts, Ellis, Jones		 Ridge (11) 18,354
August 3 WCC 6 Warrington Wolves Lancaster Park, Christchurch Win 16 - 4 Eru, Jones, Kearney Ridge (2) 5,500
August 11 Round 16 Canterbury Bulldogs Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney Loss 18 - 40 Hoppe, Oudenryn, A.Swann Ridge (3) 5,126
August 16 Round 17 Western Reds Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 30 - 22 Ridge (2), Betts, Jones, Kearney Ridge (5) 13,142
August 24 Round 18 North Queensland Cowboys Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 50 - 22 Ellis (3), Jones (2), Bailey, Hoppe,
Oudenryn, A.Swann		 Ngamu (7) 12,000

World Club Challenge Finals

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
October 3 Qualifying Final Bradford Bulls Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 62 - 14 Hoppe (2), Ridge (2), Ellis, Eru, Jones, Malam,
Ngamu, A.Swann, L.Swann		 Ridge (9) 12,063
October 10 Semi Final Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium, Brisbane Loss 16 - 22 Oudenryn (2), Endacott Ridge (2) 9,686

Ladder

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Brisbane 18 14 1 3 481 283 +198 29
2 Cronulla 18 12 0 6 403 230 +173 24
3 Canberra 18 11 0 7 436 337 +99 22
4 Canterbury 18 10 0 8 453 447 +6 20
5 Penrith 18 9 0 9 431 462 -31 18
6 Hunter 18 7 0 11 350 363 -13 14
7 Auckland 18 7 0 11 332 406 -74 14
8 Perth 18 7 0 11 321 456 -135 14
9 Adelaide 18 6 1 11 303 402 -99 13
10 North Queensland 18 5 2 11 328 452 -124 12

WCC Australasia Pool A

Club Played Won Lost Drawn For Against Diff. Points
Brisbane Broncos 6 6 0 0 270 52 218 12
Auckland Warriors 6 6 0 0 268 82 186 12
Cronulla Sharks 6 6 0 0 230 54 176 12
Penrith Panthers 6 6 0 0 256 120 136 12
Canberra Raiders 6 5 1 0 302 108 194 10
Canterbury Bulldogs 6 4 2 0 218 121 97 8

Squad

See also: List of New Zealand Warriors players

The Warriors used 29 players in 1997, including four players making their first grade debuts.

No. Name Nationality Position Warriors Debut App T G FG Pts
2 Blake, PhilPhil Blake FB / HK March 10, 1995 2 0 0 0 0
3 Hoppe, SeanSean Hoppe† WG March 10, 1995 18 11 0 0 44
6 Ngamu, GeneGene Ngamu† FE March 10, 1995 17 0 12 0 24
10 Okesene, HitroHitro Okesene PR / HK March 10, 1995 1 0 0 0 0
11 Kearney, StephenStephen Kearney† SR March 10, 1995 17 2 0 0 8
13 Tuimavave, TonyTony Tuimavave† / PR / LK March 10, 1995 7 1 0 0 4
15 Ropati, TeaTea Ropati† / CE / FE March 10, 1995 16 5 0 0 20
18 Vagana, JoeJoe Vagana† / PR March 18, 1995 17 0 0 0 0
19 Eru, SydSyd Eru† HK March 28, 1995 18 5 0 0 20
24 Jones, StaceyStacey Jones† HB April 23, 1995 18 7 0 1 29
28 Betts, DenisDenis Betts† SR June 4, 1995 14 3 0 0 12
29 Ellis, MarcMarc Ellis† FB / WG March 31, 1996 16 5 25 1 71
30 Horo, MarkMark Horo† PR / SR March 31, 1996 15 0 0 0 0
33 Guttenbeil, AwenAwen Guttenbeil† / SR April 14, 1996 4 0 0 0 0
35 Ropati, IvaIva Ropati CE April 19, 1996 5 3 0 0 12
36 Swann, AnthonyAnthony Swann† / CE June 23, 1996 18 2 0 0 8
37 Malam, BradyBrady Malam† PR June 23, 1996 15 0 0 0 0
38 Henare, BryanBryan Henare SR July 23, 1996 11 1 0 0 4
40 Ridge, MatthewMatthew Ridge† FB March 1, 1997 9 3 18 0 48
41 Young, GrantGrant Young PR March 1, 1997 9 0 0 0 0
42 Swann, LoganLogan Swann† SR March 1, 1997 13 0 0 0 0
43 Buckingham, SteveSteve Buckingham FE March 17, 1997 2 0 0 0 0
44 Endacott, ShaneShane Endacott† FE March 29, 1997 8 1 0 0 4
45 Staladi, PaulPaul Staladi† WG April 27, 1997 4 1 0 0 4
46 Noovao, MetiMeti Noovao CE / LK June 1, 1997 1 0 0 0 0
47 Oudenryn, LeeLee Oudenryn† WG July 6, 1997 5 4 0 0 16
48 Whittaker, AaronAaron Whittaker HB June 29, 1997 1 0 0 0 0
49 Bailey, DavidDavid Bailey CE August 11, 1997 3 1 0 0 4
50 Seu Seu, JerryJerry Seu Seu / PR August 16, 1997 1 0 0 0 0

Staff

Coaching Staff

Transfers

Gains

Player Previous Club Length Notes
Ridge, MatthewMatthew Ridge Manly Sea Eagles Had initially signed and trained with the side in 1996, until the Super League season was postponed.
Young, GrantGrant Young South Queensland Crushers
Endacott, ShaneShane Endacott Canterbury Country Cardinals
Oudenryn, LeeLee Oudenryn Gold Coast Seagulls

Losses

Player Club Notes
Lester, AaronAaron Lester Whitehaven
Murray, DocDoc Murray Wigan Warriors
Vagana, NigelNigel Vagana Warrington Wolves
Carter, MarkMark Carter Auckland Rugby Football Union
Platt, AndyAndy Platt Salford City Reds
Kirwan, JohnJohn Kirwan NEC Green Rockets
Tatupu, TonyTony Tatupu Warrington Wolves
Hill, GavinGavin Hill Retired
Alexander, GregGreg Alexander Penrith Panthers
Blackmore, RichieRichie Blackmore Leeds Rhinos

Awards

Stacey Jones won the clubs Player of the Year award.[2]

Other Teams

The Warriors fielded teams in both Super League's reserve grade and the Under-19 competition (The Mal Meninga Cup). The Reserve Grade side finished fourth and then beat Cronulla, Perth and North Queensland to make the Grand Final while the Under 19's finished the regular season as minor premiers, beating Penrith to make the Grand Final. Ultimately however both sides lost their respective Grand Finals, with the reserve grade going down 12-40 and the Under-19's losing 12-27.

Grand Final Teams

Reserve Grade: Glen Coughlan, Iva Ropati, David Bailey, Joe Galuvao, Paul Staladi, Meti Noovao, Aaron Whittaker, Hitro Okesene, Steve Buckingham, Grant Young, Tony Tuimavave, Jerry Seu Seu, Bryan Henare. Bench: Ben Fahey, Frank Watene, Paul Rauhihi, Ricky Henry. Coach: Gary Kemble.

Under-19: Junior Lemafa, Odell Manuel, Tai Savea, Peter Lewis, Mark Fakahua, Monty Betham, Anthony Clyde, David Solomona, Lee Wetherill, Pewhairangi Jones, Kylie Leuluai, Filimone Lolohea, Ali Lauitiiti. Bench: Steve Murray, Scott Dewhurst, Fale Falemoe, Jonathan Smith. Coach: John Ackland.

References

  1. ^ a b Frank Endacott with John Coffey Being Frank:The Frank Endacott Story. Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett, 2002. ISBN 1-86958-922-X.
  2. ^ John Coffey Jones honoured as `Player of the Year' The Press, 29 August 1997

External links