2007 New Zealand Warriors season

The New Zealand Warriors 2007 season was the New Zealand Warriors 13th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Ivan Cleary while Steve Price was the club's captain.

Milestones

• 25 March - Round 2: Evarn Tuimavave made his 50th appearance for the club.
• 8 April - Round 4: Logan Swann became the third player to play 150 first grade games for the Warriors.^[1]
• 5 May - Round 8: Nathan Fien made his 50th appearance for the club.
• 20 May - Round 10: Ruben Wiki made his 50th appearance for the club.
• 3 June - Round 12: Tony Martin made his 50th appearance for the club.
• 7 July - Round 17: Manu Vatuvei and Steve Price made their 50th appearances for the club.
• 26 August - Round 24: Wairangi Koopu made his 150th appearance for the club and Epalahame Lauaki made his 50th appearance for the club.
• 16 September - Semi Final: Micheal Luck and Simon Mannering made their 50th appearances for the club.

Jersey & Sponsors

The Warriors did not change their home jersey from 2006, sticking with the predominantly Black & White design supplied by Puma AG. The away jersey also remained unchanged, being mainly Grey with Black details.

Fixtures

The Warriors used Mt Smart Stadium as their home ground in 2007, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Trial Matches

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
February 18	Trial 1	Auckland Lions	Mt Smart Stadium No 2, Auckland	Win	64 - 4	Hohaia (3), Byrne 2, Martin, Lawrie, Vuna, Witt, Gatis, Packer, Crockett	Witt (5), Martin (3)	5,000	[2]
February 24	Trial 2	North Queensland Cowboys	Leprechaun Park, Mackay	Loss	14 - 32	Vatuvei, McKinnon, Lauaki	Martin (1)	8,000	[2]
March 3	Trial 3	Bulldogs	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland	Win	36 - 6	Vatuvei, Crockett, Swann, Fien, McKinnon, Byrne	Martin (6)	15,122	[2]

Regular Season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
March 17	Round 1	Parramatta Eels	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	34 - 18	Crockett (2), Hohaia, Mannering, McKinnon, Price	Martin (5)	13,587
March 25	Round 2	Brisbane Broncos	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	24 - 14	Crockett (2), Price, Witt	Martin (4)	16,738
April 1	Round 3	Melbourne Storm	Olympic Park, Melbourne	Loss	12 - 30	Rapira, Vatuvei	Martin (2)	12,874
April 8	Round 4	Manly Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval, Sydney	Loss	10 - 13	Mannering, Martin	Martin (1)	16,358
April 15	Round 5	North Queensland Cowboys	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	34 - 14	Byrne, Fien, Price, Rovelli, Vatuvei, Witt	Martin (5)	11,260
	Round 6	Bye			-
April 29	Round 7	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Telstra Stadium, Sydney	Win	18 - 16	Byrne, McKinnon, Rovelli	Martin (3)	13,044
May 5	Round 8	Cronulla Sharks	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	20 - 22	Anderson, Rapira, Witt	Martin (4)	13,587
May 12	Round 9	Newcastle Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle	Loss	18 - 24	Fien, Ropati, Wiki	Hohaia (3)	15,107
May 20	Round 10	Wests Tigers	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	26 - 30	Ah Van, Hohaia, Mannering, Ropati, Vatuvei	Martin (3)	10,282
May 28	Round 11	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney	Loss	6 - 30	Swann	Martin (1)	11,160
June 3	Round 12	Bulldogs	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	20 - 40	Ah Van, Mannering, Ropati, Swann	Martin (2)	10,041
June 10	Round 13	Melbourne Storm	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	2 - 4		Martin (1)	6,209
June 16	Round 14	Cronulla Sharks	Toyota Park, Sydney	Win	12 - 2	Vatuvei, Witt	Witt (2)	4,202
June 22	Round 15	Penrith Panthers	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	54 - 14	McKinnon (2), Witt (2), Anderson, Gatis, Koopu, Lauaki, Vatuvei	Witt (6), Martin (3)	9,978
June 30	Round 16	Gold Coast Titans	Gold Coast Stadium, Gold Coast	Win	22 - 6	Gatis, McKinnon, Rapira	Witt (5)	17,608
July 7	Round 17	North Queensland Cowboys	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville	Loss	12 - 18	Ah Van, Vatuvei	Witt (2)	19,648
July 15	Round 18	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	44 - 16	Mannering (2), Crockett, Gatis, McKinnon, Ropati, Tuimavave	Witt (8)	10,037
July 22	Round 19	Wests Tigers	Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney	Win	28 - 16	Rovelli (2), Koopu, Luck, Ropati	Witt (4)	14,012
July 28	Round 20	Newcastle Knights	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	52 - 10	McKinnon (2), Ropati (2), Rovelli (2), Koopu, Price, Vatuvei	Witt (8)	11,301
August 5	Round 21	Sydney Roosters	SFS, Sydney	Draw (G.P.)	31 - 31	Lauaki (2), McKinnon, Ropati, Vatuvei	Witt (5 & FG)	15,124
August 11	Round 22	Gold Coast Titans	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	30 - 6	Rovelli (3), Ropati (2)	Witt (5)	20,609
August 18	Round 23	Canberra Raiders	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	Loss	24 - 26	Crockett, Fien, Lauaki, Vatuvei	Witt (4)	8,134
August 26	Round 24	Manly Sea Eagles	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	36 - 14	Koopu (2), Gatis, Lauaki, Mannering, Vatuvei	Witt (6)	25,070
September 1	Round 25	Penrith Panthers	CUA Stadium, Sydney	Win	24 - 20	Byrne (2), Rapira, Rovelli	Witt (4)	14,473

Finals

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
September 7	Qualifying Final	Parramatta Eels	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	10 - 12	Byrne, Witt	Witt (1)	28,745
September 16	Semi Final	North Queensland Cowboys	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville	Loss	12 - 49	Crockett, Martin	Witt (2)	21,847

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne	24	21	0	3	1	627	277	+350	44
2	Manly	24	18	0	6	1	597	377	+220	38
3	North Queensland	24	15	0	9	1	547	618	-71	32
4	New Zealand	24	13	1	10	1	593	434	+159	29
5	Parramatta	24	13	0	11	1	573	481	+92	28
6	Canterbury	24	12	0	12	1	575	528	+47	26
7	South Sydney	24	12	0	12	1	408	399	+9	26
8	Brisbane	24	11	0	13	1	511	476	+35	24
9	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	1	541	561	-20	24
10	Roosters	24	10	1	13	1	445	610	-165	23
11	Cronulla	24	10	0	14	1	463	403	+60	22
12	Gold Coast	24	10	0	14	1	409	559	-150	22
13	St. George Illawarra	24	9	0	15	1	431	509	-78	20
14	Canberra	24	9	0	15	1	522	650	-128	20
15	Newcastle	24	9	0	15	1	418	708	-290	20
16	Penrith	24	8	0	16	1	539	607	-68	18

Squad

Twenty three players were used by the club in 2007. Four players made their debuts for the club, although only one (Corey Lawrie) made his National Rugby League debut. In addition Aidan Kirk was in the squad but did not play a game due to injury.

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Warriors Debut	App	T	G	FG	Pts
42	Swann, LoganLogan Swann	NZL !	SR	March 1, 1997	25	2	0	0	8
64	Koopu, WairangiWairangi Koopu	NZL !	CE / SR	April 9, 1999	17	5	0	0	20
99	Hohaia, LanceLance Hohaia	NZL !	UB	April 6, 2002	10	2	3	0	14
102	Tuimavave, EvarnEvarn Tuimavave	NZL !	PR	September 1, 2002	25	1	0	0	4
108	Ropati, JeromeJerome Ropati	NZL !	CE / FE	August 31, 2003	12	10	0	0	40
109	Martin, TonyTony Martin	AUS !	CE	March 14, 2004	13	2	34	0	76
110	Lauaki, EpalahameEpalahame Lauaki	NZL ! /	SR	March 14, 2004	24	5	0	0	20
112	Anderson, LouisLouis Anderson	NZL !	LK	March 28, 2004	10	2	0	0	8
115	Vatuvei, ManuManu Vatuvei	NZL !	WG	May 23, 2004	23	10	0	0	40
121	Price, SteveSteve Price	AUS !	PR	March 13, 2005	23	4	0	0	16
122	Byrne, ToddTodd Byrne	AUS !	WG	March 13, 2005	12	5	0	0	20
123	Wiki, RubenRuben Wiki	NZL !	PR	March 13, 2005	22	1	0	0	4
124	Fien, NathanNathan Fien	NZL !	HK	March 13, 2005	26	3	0	0	12
125	Mannering, SimonSimon Mannering	NZL !	CE	June 26, 2005	26	7	0	0	28
126	Luck, MichealMicheal Luck	AUS !	SR	March 12, 2006	26	1	0	0	4
127	Rovelli, GrantGrant Rovelli	AUS ! / ITA !	HB	March 12, 2006	23	10	0	0	40
128	Gatis, GeorgeGeorge Gatis	AUS ! / GRE !	HK	March 25, 2006	22	4	0	0	16
129	Ah Van, PatrickPatrick Ah Van	NZL !	WG	April 9, 2006	12	3	0	0	12
131	Rapira, SamSam Rapira	NZL !	PR	May 20, 2006	26	4	0	0	16
132	McKinnon, WadeWade McKinnon	AUS !	FB	March 17, 2007	22	9	0	0	36
133	Crockett, MichaelMichael Crockett	AUS !	WG	March 17, 2007	14	7	0	0	28
134	Witt, MichaelMichael Witt	AUS !	FE	March 17, 2007	25	7	62	1	153
135	Lawrie, CoreyCorey Lawrie	NZL !	LK	April 15, 2007	4	0	0	0	0

Staff

• Chief Executive Officer: Wayne Scurrah

NRL Staff

• Head Coach: Ivan Cleary
• Assistant Coach: John Ackland

• Welfare and Development Coach: Tony Iro
• In August 2007 Dean Bell was appointed the club's Development Manager with the intention that he would manage the Toyota Cup side from 2008.
• Trainer: Craig Walker^[3]

Transfers

Gains

Losses

Mid-Season Losses

Other Teams

See also: List of Auckland Lions results & List of Auckland Lions players

Auckland Lions Premier League players during at match against St George Illawarra

Senior players who were not required for the first team played with the Auckland Lions in the NSWRL Premier League. Graeme Norton coached the side which finished in tenth spot (out of thirteen), just two wins outside of the top eight.

The Auckland Lions featured many players who were yet to make their first grade debuts for the Warriors, such as Leeson Ah Mau, Sonny Fai, Isaac John, Aidan Kirk, Kevin Locke, Russell Packer and Malo Solomona.^[4]

Awards

Steve Price won the Player of the Year award.^[5]

References

External links

• Warriors official site
• NRL 2007 - Warriors rugbyleagueproject.org