The 1995 Auckland Warriors season was the inaugural season of the newly-formed club. Competing the 1995 Australian Rugby League premiership, they were coached by John Monie and captained by Dean Bell. The Warriors' home ground for their first season was Ericsson Stadium. They finished their first premiership regular season 10th (out of 20), so failed to make the finals.

Milestones 10 March - Round One: The Warriors play their inaugural game against the Brisbane Broncos. A crowd of 29,220 watch the Warriors go down 25-22 to the Broncos, after leading them throughout the game. 16 March - Round Three: The Warriors are docked two competition points for using an extra interchange player in a win over the Western Suburbs Magpies. They would ultimately miss out on the finals by two points. The fifth interchange player was sent on as a blood bin replacement, with the coaching staff not realising this was against the rules.ARL 1995 - Game 3 rugbyleagueproject.org A total of 110,252 attended the first four matches at Ericsson Stadium, an average of 27,563. 23 April - Round Seven: Stacey Jones makes his debut for the Warriors, scoring six points in a win over Parramatta. 4 June - Round Eleven: The final two members of the squad, Frano Botica and Denis Betts, make their debuts for the Warriors after completing the English season for Wigan. October: 18 players from the club participated in the World Cup: Denis Betts, Andy Platt (England), Richie Blackmore, Syd Eru, Sean Hoppe, Stacey Jones, Stephen Kearney, Gene Ngamu, Hitro Okesene (New Zealand), Duane Mann (Tonga), Willie Poching, Tea Ropati, Se'e Solomona, Willie Swann, Tony Tatupu, Tony Tuimavave, Joe Vagana and Nigel Vagana (Western Samoa). In addition, Frank Endacott coached New Zealand.

Jersey and sponsors The Warriors inaugural jersey was produced by Canterbury of New Zealand. The Jersey was blue with a Green, Red and White "V". In part, the colours were based on the traditional Auckland colours of Blue and White. The main sponsor was DB Bitter, with Ansett Australia as the sleeve sponsor. Asics, Coca-Cola and Mitsubishi also had sponsorship deals.

Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1995, and it remained the only Home Ground the club used in the competition until they played a match at Eden Park in 2011.

Pre-season Three pre-season matches were played before the World Sevens and another three were played after the World Sevens. Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report18 JanuaryMatch 1 CanterburyAddington Showgrounds, Christchurch Win 26 - 12 12,811Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1995. p.218 JanuaryMatch 2 Central DistrictsPalmerston North Showgrounds, Palmerston North Win 36 - 16 Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1995. p.130JanuaryMatch 3 AucklandCarlaw Park, Auckland Win 46 - 20 FebruaryMatch 4 NorthlandKaikohe Win 66 - 6 14 FebruaryMatch 5 Canberra RaidersCarlaw Park, Auckland Win 23 - 16 16,000 25 FebruaryMatch 6 Western RedsWest Wyong Loss 28 - 40

World Sevens The Warriors participated in the 1995 Rugby League World Sevens, losing in the Trophy Quarterfinals.

Squad: Phil Blake (c), Sean Hoppe, Manoa Thompson, Tea Ropati, Whetu Taewa, Gene Ngamu, Syd Eru, Stephen Kearney, Tony Tatupu, Des Maea.Squads Sevens details The Vault

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report3 FebruaryRound 1 Canberra RaidersSuncorp Stadium, Brisbane Win 22 - 4Blake (2), Hoppe, Ngamu Ngamu (3) 3 FebruaryRound 2 New Zealand 'A'Suncorp Stadium, BrisbaneLoss 10 - 26Eru, RopatiNgamu (1) 5 FebruaryTrophyQuarterfinals Sydney TigersSydney Football Stadium, Sydney Loss 12 - 16Ngamu (2) Ngamu (2)

Tooheys Challenge Cup Team: Phil Blake (c), Sean Hoppe, Dean Bell, Manoa Thompson, Whetu Taewa, Martin Moana, Gene Ngamu, Gavin Hill, Duane Mann, Hitro Okesene, Stephen Kearney, Tony Tatupu, Tony Tuimavave. Bench: Tea Ropati, Se'e Solomona, Mike Dorreen, Jason Mackie.Sydney Challenge Cup details The Vault

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report19 FebruaryRound 1 North Sydney BearsParramatta Stadium, Sydney Loss 14 - 12Taewa, Ngamu Hill (1), Ngamu (1)8211

Regular season Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report10 MarchRound 1 Brisbane BroncosEricsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 22 - 25Blake, Hoppe, Ropati, Tatupu Ngamu (3) 29,22018 MarchRound 2 Illawarra SteelersSteelers Stadium, Wollongong Loss 28 - 40Blake (2), Hoppe (2), RopatiNgamu (4) 12,12726 MarchRound 3 Western Suburbs MagpiesEricsson Stadium, Auckland Win* 46 - 12Blake (4), Alexander, Kearney, Ngamu, Ropati Ngamu (7) 21,4461 AprilRound 4 North Sydney BearsNorth Sydney Oval, Sydney Loss 10 - 48Blake (2)Ngamu (1) 14,6837 AprilRound 5 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesEricsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 14 - 26Hoppe (2), MoanaNgamu (1) 30,11216 AprilRound 6 Illawarra SteelersEricsson Stadium, Auckland Win 38 - 12Hoppe (2), Ropati, Alexander, Bell, Mann, Taewa Ngamu (5) 29,47423 AprilRound 7 Parramatta EelsParramatta Stadium, Sydney Win 40 - 4Blake, Hoppe, Jones, Mann, Ngamu, Ropati, Tatupu Ngamu (4),Alexander (1), Jones (1) 10,42630 AprilRound 8 Sydney City RoostersEricsson Stadium, Auckland Win 26 - 22Bell (2), Mann, Ropati, Tatupu Ngamu (3) 29,0487 MayRound 9 Newcastle KnightsMarathon Stadium, Newcastle Loss 6 - 48Blake, Hoppe, Ropati, Tatupu Ngamu (3) 29,22014 MayRound 10 Cronulla SharksCaltex Field, Sydney Win 23 - 18Hoppe, Dorreen, Kirwan, Okesene Ngamu (1), Jones (FG) 10,1424 JuneRound 11 Sydney TigersEricsson Stadium, Auckland Win 36 - 12Hoppe (2), Betts (2) Jones, RopatiBotica (6)28,71318 JuneRound 12 Penrith PanthersEricsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 16 - 34Blackmore (2), Okesene, Ropati24,72325 JuneRound 13 Western Suburbs MagpiesCampbelltown SG, Sydney Win 16 - 12Jones, Tuimavave, Tatupu Jones (2) 10,7001 JulyRound 14 South Sydney RabbitohsSFS, Sydney Win 38 - 20Eru (2), Alexander, Betts, Botica, Edwards, Tatupu Botica (5) 6,9549 JulyRound 15 Gold Coast SeagullsEricsson Stadium, Auckland Win 44 - 16Ropati (3), Alexander, Botica, Dorreen, Hoppe, Kirwan Botica (6) 20,49316 JulyRound 16 Western RedsEricsson Stadium, Auckland Win 34 - 10Alexander, Betts, Eru, Hoppe, Jones, RopatiJones (3), Botica (2) 19,24423 JulyRound 17 South Queensland CrushersSuncorp Stadium, Brisbane Win 22 - 10Hoppe (2), Blake, Blackmore Jones (3) 28,92829 JulyRound 18 North Queensland CowboysStockland Stadium, Townsville Win 28 - 10Alexander (2), Betts, Blackmore, Hoppe, Kirwan Ngamu (2) 23,5216 AugustRound 19 St George DragonsEricsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 14 - 47Blackmore, Hoppe, Jones Alexander (1) 28,97311 AugustRound 20 Sydney BulldogsParramatta Stadium, Sydney Win 29 - 8Blake (2), Alexander, Kearney, Poaching Alexander (2), Hill (1), Ngamu (1), Jones (FG) 10,41618 AugustRound 21 Canberra RaidersEricsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 8 - 15HoppeNgamu (2) 29,50027 AugustRound 22 Brisbane BroncosANZ Stadium, Brisbane Loss 6 - 44NgamuNgamu (1) 54,645 *The Warriors were stripped the 2 competition points from winning this game due to exceeding the replacement limit.

Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Manly22 2002687248+439 402 Canberra222002634255+379403 Brisbane221705600364+236344 Cronulla221606516287+229325 Newcastle221507549396+153306 Sydney Bulldogs221408468352+116287 St. George221309583382+201268 North Sydney221129542331+211249 Sydney City2212010466406+602410 Auckland221309544493+5124*11 Western Reds2211011361549-1882212 Illawarra2210111519431+882113 Western Suburbs2210012459534-752014 Penrith229013481484-31815 Sydney Tigers227015309591-2821416 South Queensland226115303502-1991317 Gold Coast224117350628-278918 South Sydney224117319686-367919 Parramatta223019310690-380620 North Queensland222020269660-3914 *Auckland Warriors were stripped of 2 competition points due to exceeding the replacement limit in one game.

Squad

Twenty Eight players were used by the club in 1995.

No.NameNationalityPositionWarriors debutAppTGFGPts 1CE / LK10 March1930012 2FB / HK10 March17140056 3WG10 March22190076 4CE10 March70000 5CE10 March111004 6FE10 March21336084 7FB / HB10 March2184040 8PR10 March70102 9 / HK10 March1330012 10PR / HK10 March172008 11SR10 March202008 12 / SR10 March1650020 13 / PR / LK10 March211004 14 / PR10 March90000 15 / CE / FE10 March21120048 16LK10 March50000 17LK / FE10 March61004 18 / PR18 March80000 19HK28 March1530012 20 / SR28 March21004 21SR / LK7 April151004 22WG16 April1630012 23PR23 April140000 24HB23 April1459240 25CE7 May42008 26CE14 May1050020 27WG4 June5219046 28SR4 June1150020

Staff Chairman: Peter McLeod Chief executive Officer: Ian Robson Football manager: Laurie Stubbing

Coaching staff Head coach: John Monie Reserve grade coach: Frank Endacott Coaching & development manager: Bob Hall U16 grade coach & development officer: John Ackland U16 grade co-coach: Brian McClennan

Other teams The Warriors participated in the ARL's Reserve grade competition that mirrored the senior draw. The Reserve grade side made the top eight, finishing eighth, but lost to Penrith 8-14 in the Quarterfinals.Australian Competitions 1995 The Vault

In the Club Championship the Warriors finished seventh overall.

Warriors Colts

In addition a Warriors Colts side was fielded in NZRL's Lion Red Cup. The Warrior Colts made the grand final but lost to the North Harbour Sea Eagles.

North HarbourPositionAuckland Colts Quinten Dane FB Nigel Vagana Auvae Tapuai WG Paul Staladi Paki Tuimavave CE Stuart Lester Jason Kaulima CE Anthony Swann Steve Barry WG Tacofe Kalauta Aleki Maea FE Meti Noovao (C) Latham Tawhai HB Willie Swann Donald Stewart (C) PR Dallas Mead Sean Wilson HK Aaron Lester Darren Kohlhase PR David Fatialofa Mike Setefano SR Bryan Henare Keniti Asiata SR Frank Watene Jason Palmada LK Logan Swann Frank Fuimaono Bench Charlie Kennedy Cory Jamieson Bench Des Maea Lafaelle Filipo Bench Druce Nilsen Brent Snooks Bench Steve Buckingham Graeme Norton Coach John Ackland

After trailing 15–2 at halftime the North Harbour Sea Eagles came from behind to defeat the Warrior Colts 28–21 in the second Lion Red Cup Grand Final.Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1995. p.75-84 The match included an eight-point try scored by Paki Tuimavave in the 48th minute. Tuimavave was tackled high by Aaron Lester while he was grounding the ball. Lester was then sin-binned for back chatting the referee after the incident.

Team Halftime Total North Harbour Sea Eagles 2 28 Auckland Warriors Colts 15 21

Tries (North Harbour) 1: F. Fuimaono, S. Wilson, P. Tuimavave, J. Palmada Tries (Auckland Colts) 1: N.Vagana, B.Henare, M.Noovao, W.Swann Goals (North Harbour) 6: Q.Dane Goals (Auckland Colts) 1: S.Buckingham, M.Noovao Field Goals Goals (Auckland Colts) 1: M.Noovao Date 16 September Referee Dennis Hale Venue Ericsson Stadium Broadcast TVNZ

Awards Tea Ropati won the club's Player of the Year award.New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.50

Super League

The Auckland Warriors, along with seven other clubs, signed with News Limited to form a new competition in 1996, the Super League. Thirteen players signed with the new competition on 2 April 1995, after the Warriors' Round 4 loss to the North Sydney Bears, with coach John Monie having signed in late March. The club as a whole signed with News Limited on 20 April. This decision meant that Auckland Warriors players became ineligible for the New South Wales and Queensland State of Origin sides and the Australian Kangaroos. The New Zealand Rugby League and English Rugby Football League organisations had also signed with News Limited and so the majority of Warriors players were still eligible to represent their countries at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

References

External links Warriors official site 1995 Warriors Season rugbyleagueproject.org