# 2004 New Zealand Warriors season

The 2004 New Zealand Warriors season was the 10th in the club's history. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Daniel Anderson while Monty Betham was the club captain. Daniel Anderson resigned in June and was replaced by assistant coach Tony Kemp.

## Milestones

* 8 May - Round 9: Stacey Jones makes his 200th first-grade appearance in New Zealand's 16–8 loss against the North Queensland Cowboys at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
* 30 May - Round 12: Brent Webb played in his 50th match for the club.
* 6 June - Round 13: Iafeta Paleaaesina played in his 50th match for the club.
* 18 July - Round 19: Vinnie Anderson played in his 50th match for the club.
* 14 August - Round 23: Lance Hohaia played in his 50th match for the club.
* 29 August - Round 25: Sione Faumuina played in his 50th match for the club.

## Jersey & Sponsors

* The Warriors made no changes to their jersey design for the 2004 season.

## Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2004, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

### Pre-season Trials

The Warriors played the St. George Illawarra Dragons in Hamilton.

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 14 March | Round 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Lost | 20-28 | Webb (2), Leuluai, Meli | Martin (2) | 28,548 |
| 20 March | Round 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 10-16 | Fa'afili, Meli | Martin (1) | 16,425 |
| 28 March | Round 3 | Penrith Panthers | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 22-42 | L.Anderson, Guttenbeil, Latu, Paleaaesina | Faumuina (3) | 15,781 |
| 4 April | Round 4 | Manly Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | Win | 28-10 | Lauaki (2), Webb (2), Lauitiiti | Faumuina (4) | 8,722 |
| 10 April | Round 5 | Newcastle Knights | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 20-34 | Martin, Murphy, Seuseu | Faumuina (4) | 14,409 |
| 16 April | Round 6 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | Lost | 18-24 | V.Anderson, Jones, Lauaki | Faumuina (3) | 13,772 |
| | Round 7 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 2 May | Round 8 | Melbourne Storm | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20-14 | Faumuina, Lauaki, Villsanti | Faumuina (4) | 9,637 |
| 8 May | Round 9 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | Lost | 8-16 | V.Anderson | Faumuina (2) | 13,062 |
| 16 May | Round 10 | Manly Sea Eagles | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 20-42 | Jones (2), Meli | Faumuina (4) | 10,099 |
| 23 May | Round 11 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 26-12 | V.Anderson (2), Meli (2), Jones | Faumuina (3) | 8,032 |
| 30 May | Round 12 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Lost | 6-58 | Paleaaesina | Faumuina (1) | 10,078 |
| 6 June | Round 13 | Canberra Raiders | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20-14 | V.Anderson, Hohaia, Meli, Villasanti | Faumuina (2) | 6,967 |
| 13 June | Round 14 | Wests Tigers | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | Lost | 4-50 | Tookey | | 16,221 |
| 20 June | Round 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 26-28 (a.e.t) | Toopi (2), V.Anderson, Fa'afili, Tuimavave, Villasanti | Webb (1) | 6,793 |
| 26 June | Round 16 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne | Lost | 6-42 | Martin | Hohaia (1) | 10,621 |
| 3 July | Round 17 | Parramatta Eels | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20-10 | Jones, Ropati, Toopi | Martin (4) | 6,391 |
| 10 July | Round 18 | Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Park, Sydney | Lost | 14-22 | L.Anderson, Betham, Koopu | Faumuina (1) | 7,017 |
| 18 July | Round 19 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 34-20 | Webb (2), L.Anderson, Fa'afili, Koopu, Meli, Ropati | Jones (2), Faumuina (1) | 7,894 |
| 25 July | Round 20 | Canberra Raiders | Bruce Stadium, Canberra | Lost | 29-30 (a.e.t) | Jones, Meli, Paleaaesina, Ropati, Webb | Jones (4 & FG) | 8,535 |
| | Round 21 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 7 August | Round 22 | Brisbane Broncos | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 14-21 | Meli, Villasanti | Jones (2) | 9,710 |
| 14 August | Round 23 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | Lost | 10-28 | Meli, Webb | Jones (1) | 12,520 |
| 21 August | Round 24 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium, Sydney | Lost | 18-48 | Hohaia, Martin, Villasanti | Faumuina (3) | 7,271 |
| 29 August | Round 25 | Sydney Roosters | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 24-30 | Guttenbeil, Ropati, Temata, Vuna | Jones (4) | 8,019 |
| 5 September | Round 26 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 10-54 | Martin (2) | Jones (1) | 9,930 |

## Ladder

2004 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 710 | 368 | +342 | 42 |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (P) | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 760 | 491 | +269 | 42 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 602 | 533 | +69 | 37 |
| 4 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 672 | 567 | +105 | 34 |
| 5 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 624 | 415 | +209 | 32 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 684 | 517 | +167 | 30 |
| 7 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 526 | 514 | +12 | 29 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 554 | 613 | −59 | 26 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 509 | 534 | −25 | 24 |
| 10 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 516 | 617 | −101 | 24 |
| 11 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 528 | 645 | −117 | 24 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 517 | 626 | −109 | 22 |
| 13 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 615 | 754 | −139 | 22 |
| 14 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 427 | 693 | −266 | 16 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 455 | 812 | −357 | 16 |

## Squad

Thirty five players were used by the Warriors in 2004, including seven players who made their first grade debuts. In addition PJ Marsh was in the squad but did not play a game due to a serious injury.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 24 | Stacey Jones | | HB | 23 April 1995 | 23 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 55 |
| 33 | Awen Guttenbeil | / | SR | 14 April 1996 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 50 | Jerry Seu Seu | / | PR | 16 August 1997 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 | Ali Lauitiiti | / | SR | 19 April 1998 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 61 | Monty Betham | / | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 64 | Wairangi Koopu | | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 65 | Francis Meli | / | WG | 2 May 1999 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 66 | Clinton Toopi | | CE | 2 May 1999 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 76 | Mark Tookey | | PR | 6 February 2000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 81 | Henry Fa'afili | / | WG | 26 March 2000 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 87 | Richard Villasanti | / | PR | 18 February 2001 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 92 | Justin Murphy | | WG | 7 April 2001 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 93 | Iafeta Paleaaesina | / | PR | 1 June 2001 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 96 | PJ Marsh | | HB / HK | 24 March 2002 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 | Brent Webb | | FB | 1 April 2002 | 23 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 34 |
| 98 | Sione Faumuina | | CE / LK | 1 April 2002 | 19 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 68 |
| 99 | Lance Hohaia | | UB | 6 April 2002 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
| 100 | Vinnie Anderson | / | CE | 7 July 2002 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 102 | Evarn Tuimavave | | PR | 1 September 2002 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 103 | Karl Temata | | PR / SR | 6 September 2002 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 105 | Thomas Leuluai | | HB | 2 May 2003 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 106 | Vince Mellars | | CE | 7 June 2003 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 107 | Tevita Latu | / | HK | 7 June 2003 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 108 | Jerome Ropati | | CE / FE | 31 August 2003 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 109 | Tony Martin | | CE | 14 March 2004 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
| 110 | Epalahame Lauaki | / | SR | 14 March 2004 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 111 | Danny Sullivan | | SR | 28 March 2004 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 | Louis Anderson | / | LK | 28 March 2004 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 113 | Matt Jobson | | PR | 4 April 2004 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 114 | Paul Dezolt | | HK | 8 May 2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 115 | Manu Vatuvei | | WG | 23 May 2004 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 116 | Shannon Stowers | | PR | 20 June 2004 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 117 | Herewini Rangi | | HK | 25 July 2004 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 118 | Cooper Vuna | / | WG | 21 August 2004 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 119 | Kane Ferris | | PR | 29 August 2004 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 120 | Paul Atkins | | WG | 29 August 2004 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Staff

* Chief executive officer: Mick Watson

### Coaching Staff

* Head coach: Daniel Anderson (until June, replaced by Tony Kemp)
* Assistant coach: Tony Kemp
* Assistant coach: Rohan Smith (left in June, joining the London Broncos)

## Transfers
### Gains

| Player | Previous Club |
| Tony Martin | London Broncos |
| Danny Sullivan | Parramatta Eels |
| Matt Jobson | Newcastle Knights |
| Paul Dezolt | North Queensland Cowboys |

### Losses

| Player | Club |
| Mark Robinson | Northampton Saints (RU) |
| John Carlaw | St George Illawarra Dragons |
| Motu Tony | Brisbane Broncos |
| Logan Swann | Bradford Bulls |

#### Mid-Season Losses

| Player | Club | Notes |
| Ali Lauitiiti | Leeds Rhinos | Released in April |
| Paul Dezolt | Queensland Cup | Released 14 June |
| Mark Tookey | Castleford Tigers | Released in June |
| Justin Murphy | Widnes Vikings | Released in July |

## Other Teams

Players not required by the Warriors were released to play in the 2004 Bartercard Cup. These included Iafeta Paleaaesina, who played for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders, Brent Webb, who played for the North Harbour Tigers, Evarn Tuimavave, who played with the Marist-Richmond Brothers, Lance Hohaia, who played with the Waicoa Bay Stallions and the Eastern Tornadoes' Justin Murphy.

## Awards

Wairangi Koopu won the Player of the Year award.