2003 New Zealand Warriors season
The 2003 New Zealand Warriors season was the 9th in the club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2003 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in 6th place. The Warriors then came within one game of the grand final, losing to eventual premiers the Penrith Panthers. The coach of the team was Daniel Anderson while Monty Betham was the club captain.
Milestones
Jersey & Sponsors
|
|
The Warriors launched a new jersey design in 2003, finally removing completely the blue and white colours the owners had inherited when the purchased the company.[3] |
Fixtures
The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2003, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.
Pre-season
The Warriors played a pre-season trial match against the Penrith Panthers in Invercargill on 28 February. 15,000 fans attended the match, which was sold out.[4]
Regular Season
Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
16 March | Round 1 | Newcastle Knights | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 26-36 | Hohaia (2), Carlaw, Fa'afili, Meli | Jones (3) | 16,291 | |
23 March | Round 2 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 24-20 | Hohaia (2), Fa'afili, Guttenbeil, Meli | Marsh (2) | 16,229 | |
29 March | Round 3 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | Win | 20-16 | Toopi (2), Fa'afili, Swann | Marsh (2) | 14,273 | |
6 April | Round 4 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 38-16 | Fa'afili (2), Hohaia (2), Meli (2), Seuseu, Tony | Marsh (2), Hohaia (1) | 13,614 | |
13 April | Round 5 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium, Brisbane | Win | 32-12 | Meli (2), Faumuina, Marsh, Swann, Tuimavave | Marsh (3), Tuimavave (1) | 18,959 | |
21 April | Round 6 | North Queensland Cowboys | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 30-24 | Fa'afili, Jones, Marsh, Meli, Tony, Toopi | Marshs (3) | 19,722 | |
27 April | Round 7 | Penrith Panthers | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 14-28 | Fa'afili, Koopu, Tony | Jones (1) | 15,732 | |
2 May | Round 8 | Bulldogs | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | Loss | 12-18 | Meli, Toopi | Webb (2) | 21,989 | |
10 May | Round 9 | Parramatta Eels | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 18-16 | Meli (2), Marsh, Swann | Webb (1) | 15,397 | |
| Round 10 | Bye | | | | | | | |
23 May | Round 11 | Canberra Raiders | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | Loss | 10-18 | Fa'afili | Webb (1) | 13,130 | |
31 May | Round 12 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 12-34 | Betham, Tony | Jones (2) | 20,280 | |
7 June | Round 13 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 23-6 | Faumuina, Jones, Meli, Mellars | Jones (3 & FG) | 16,172 | |
14 June | Round 14 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 26-28 | V.Anderson, Betham, Faumuina, Meli, Webb | Jones (2), Webb (1) | 8,076 | |
22 June | Round 15 | Canberra Raiders | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 26-18 | Swann (2), Tony, Toopi, Villasanti | Jones (3) | 18,375 | |
29 June | Round 16 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 31-30 (a.e.t) | Jones, Meli, Tony, Toopi, Webb | Jones (5 & FG) | 9,109 | |
5 July | Round 17 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | Loss | 10-30 | Swann (2) | Jones (1) | 16,028 | |
12 July | Round 18 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20-12 | V.Anderson, Latu, Webb | Jones (4) | 15,528 | |
19 July | Round 19 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Toyota Park, Sydney | Win | 31-24 | Toopi (2), Murphy, Villasanti, Webb | Jones (5 & FG) | 13,565 | |
| Round 20 | Bye | | | | | | | |
2 August | Round 21 | Melbourne Storm | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 12-14 | V.Anderson, Toopi | Hohaia (2) | 15,207 | |
10 August | Round 22 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Oki Jubilee Stadium, Sydney | Win | 30-20 | Carlaw, Hohaia, Lauiti'iti, Leuluai, Villasanti, Webb | Hohaia (3) | 12,595 | |
15 August | Round 23 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | Loss | 20-36 | Toopi (2), Meli, Villasanti | Hohaia (2) | 17,198 | |
24 August | Round 24 | Brisbane Broncos | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 22-14 | V.Anderson, Faumuina, Latu, Meli | Webb (3) | 19,439 | |
31 August | Round 25 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 26-24 | Meli (2), Toopi, Villasanti | Webb (5) | 18,726 | |
6 September | Round 26 | Wests Tigers | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 32-16 | Toopi (3), V.Anderson (2), Meli | Webb (4) | 20,392 | |
Final Series
Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
13 September | Qualifying Final | Bulldogs | Showgrounds, Sydney | Win | 48 - 22 | Meli (5), Webb (2), Faumuina, Tony | Webb (5), Faumuina (1) | 18,312 | |
20 September | Preliminary Final | Canberra Raiders | Aussie Stadium, Sydney | Win | 17 - 16 | Fa'afili, Swann, Toopi | Webb (2), Jones (FG) | 31,616 | |
28 September | Preliminary Final | Penrith Panthers | Telstra Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 20 - 28 | Swann, Toopi, Villasanti, Webb | Webb (2) | 43,174 | |
Ladder
Squad
Twenty eight players were used by the Warriors in 2003, including five players who made their first grade debuts.
No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
24 | Jones, StaceyStacey Jones | NZL ! | HB | 23 April 1995 | 22 | 3 | 29 | 4 | 74 |
33 | Guttenbeil, AwenAwen Guttenbeil | NZL ! / | SR | 14 April 1996 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
42 | Swann, LoganLogan Swann | NZL ! | SR | 1 March 1997 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
50 | Seu Seu, JerryJerry Seu Seu | NZL ! / | PR | 16 August 1997 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
55 | Lauitiiti, AliAli Lauitiiti | NZL ! / | SR | 19 April 1998 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
61 | Betham, MontyMonty Betham | NZL ! / | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
64 | Koopu, WairangiWairangi Koopu | NZL ! | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
65 | Meli, FrancisFrancis Meli | NZL ! / | WG | 2 May 1999 | 27 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 92 |
66 | Toopi, ClintonClinton Toopi | NZL ! | CE | 2 May 1999 | 22 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
76 | Tookey, MarkMark Tookey | AUS ! | PR | 6 February 2000 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
81 | Fa'afili, HenryHenry Fa'afili | NZL ! / | WG | 26 March 2000 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
87 | Villasanti, RichardRichard Villasanti | AUS ! / | PR | 18 February 2001 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
90 | Tony, MotuMotu Tony | NZL ! / | UH | 9 March 2001 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
92 | Murphy, JustinJustin Murphy | FRA ! | WG | 7 April 2001 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
93 | Paleaaesina, IafetaIafeta Paleaaesina | NZL ! / | PR | 1 June 2001 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
95 | Carlaw, JohnJohn Carlaw | AUS ! | CE | 24 March 2002 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
96 | Marsh, PJPJ Marsh | AUS ! | HB / HK | 24 March 2002 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 36 |
97 | Webb, BrentBrent Webb | NZL ! | FB | 1 April 2002 | 21 | 8 | 26 | 0 | 84 |
98 | Faumuina, SioneSione Faumuina | NZL ! | CE / LK | 1 April 2002 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
99 | Hohaia, LanceLance Hohaia | NZL ! | UB | 6 April 2002 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 44 |
100 | Anderson, VinnieVinnie Anderson | NZL ! / | CE | 7 July 2002 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
102 | Tuimavave, EvarnEvarn Tuimavave | NZL ! | PR | 1 September 2002 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
103 | Temata, KarlKarl Temata | COK ! | PR / SR | 6 September 2002 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
104 | Robinson, MarkMark Robinson | NZL ! | HK | 2 May 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
105 | Leuluai, ThomasThomas Leuluai | NZL ! | HB | 2 May 2003 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
106 | Mellars, VinceVince Mellars | NZL ! | CE | 7 June 2003 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
107 | Latu, TevitaTevita Latu | NZL ! / | HK | 7 June 2003 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
108 | Ropati, JeromeJerome Ropati | NZL ! | CE / FE | 31 August 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Staff
Coaching Staff
Transfers
Gains
Losses
Other Teams
Players not required by the Warriors were released to play in the 2003 Bartercard Cup. This included Motu Tony and Jerome Ropati at the Marist Richmond Brothers, Mark Robinson at the North Harbour Tigers and Richard Villasanti at the Canterbury Bulls.
Awards
Francis Meli won the Player of the Year award.[5]
References
External links
|
---|
| | | The Club | |
---|
| Home grounds | |
---|
| Important figures | |
---|
| League | |
---|
| Seasons (18) | |
---|
| Other competitions | |
---|
|