# 2018 New Zealand Warriors season

The 2018 New Zealand Warriors season was the 24th season in the club's history. Coached by Stephen Kearney and captained by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the Warriors completed the National Rugby League's 2018 Telstra Premiership regular season in the number eight position, qualifying for the finals. They were defeated in the 1st Elimination Final by Penrith and did not progress further.

## Jersey and sponsors

* In 2018 the Warriors jerseys will again be made by Canterbury of New Zealand.

## Fixtures
### Pre-season training

Pre-season training began on 1 November, with the exception of 14 players involved in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

### Pre-season matches

The Warriors and Melbourne will headline a two-day festival in Rotorua that includes a regional nines tournament.
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
| Saturday 17 February | Trial 1 | Melbourne Storm | Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua | Win | 20-14 | Kata, Fusitu’a, Sao, Soosemea | Lino (2) | 5,123 | |

### Regular season

Home matches were played at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, while one away game was also played in New Zealand, at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.
The Warriors opened their season in Perth against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 10 March as part of a double header at Perth Stadium. Mount Smart Stadium will hosted a double header on 7 April when the Warriors played the North Queensland Cowboys and the Wests Tigers played the Melbourne Storm.
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 10 March | Round 1 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Perth Stadium, Perth (doubleheader) | Win | 32 – 20 | Fusitu'a (2), Papali'i, Lisone, Maumalo, Kata | Johnson (4/7) | 38,842 |
| 17 March | Round 2 | Gold Coast Titans | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20 – 8 | Fusitu'a (2), Tuivasa-Sheck, Kata | Johnson (2/4) | 14,132 |
| 24 March | Round 3 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium, Canberra | Win | 20 – 19 | Hiku, Harris, Luke | Johnson (3/3, 2 FGs) | 11,963 |
| 31 March | Round 4 | Sydney Roosters | Allianz Stadium, Sydney | Win | 30 – 6 | Lino, Pulu, Kata, Fusitu'a | Lino (7/7) | 14,493 |
| 7 April | Round 5 | North Queensland Cowboys | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland (doubleheader) | Win | 22 – 12 | Fusitu'a (2), Maumalo | Johnson (5/5) | 25,600 |
| 14 April | Round 6 | Brisbane Broncos | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 18 – 27 | Fusitu'a, Green, Johnson | Johnson (3/4) | 16,636 |
| 20 April | Round 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20 – 12 | Lino, Gelling, Luke, Papali'i | Lino (2/4) | 18,295 |
| 25 April | Round 8 | Melbourne Storm | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Loss | 10 – 50 | Fusitu'a (2) | Lino (1/2) | 25,731 |
| 5 May | Round 9 | Wests Tigers | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 26 – 4 | Lawton (2), Fusitu'a, Maumalo, Johnson | Johnson (3/6) | 16,727 |
| 12 May | Round 10 | Sydney Roosters | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 0 – 32 | | | 14,095 |
| 18 May | Round 11 | Parramatta Eels | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Win | 24 – 14 | Fusitu'a, Hiku, Tevaga, Luke | Lino (4/5) | 9,467 |
| 26 May | Round 12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 10 – 30 | Paasi, Kata | Luke (1/2) | 15,958 |
| | Round 13 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 9 June | Round 14 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | Win | 34 – 14 | Fusitu'a (3), Papali'i, Harris, Johnson | Johnson (5/6) | 17,357 |
| 15 June | Round 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville | Win | 23 – 16 | Maumalo, Tuivasa-Sheck, Kata | Johnson (6/6) | 11,062 |
| 29 June | Round 16 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 15 – 18 | Kata, Gelling | Johnson (4/4) | 14,195 |
| 6 July | Round 17 | Penrith Panthers | Panthers Stadium, Penrith | Loss | 4 – 34 | Maumalo | Johnson (0/1) | 10,255 |
| 15 July | Round 18 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Win | 26 – 6 | Kata (2), Beale, Luke, Paasi | Johnson (3/5) | 37,493 |
| 22 July | Round 19 | Melbourne Storm | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 6 – 12 | Beale | Johnson (1/1) | 17,695 |
| 29 July | Round 20 | Gold Coast Titans | Cbus Super Stadium, Robina | Loss | 12 – 36 | Johnson, Lawnton | Johnson (2/2) | 15,159 |
| 4 August | Round 21 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | Win | 18 – 12 | Kata (2), Luke | Johnson (3/4) | 13,924 |
| 10 August | Round 22 | Newcastle Knights | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20 – 4 | Blair, Fusitu'a, Green | Johnson (4/4) | 14,395 |
| 19 August | Round 23 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 26 – 27 | Fusitu'a (2), Beale, Hiku, Tuivasa-Sheck | Johnson (3/5) | 9,688 |
| 24 August | Round 24 | Penrith Panthers | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 36 – 16 | Fusitu'a (3), Kata, Lino, Paasi | Johnson (6/8) | 17,195 |
| 31 August | Round 25 | Canberra Raiders | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20 - 16 | | | |

## Ladder

2018 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 542 | 361 | +181 | 34 |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 536 | 363 | +173 | 34 |
| 3 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 582 | 437 | +145 | 34 |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 519 | 423 | +96 | 34 |
| 5 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 517 | 461 | +56 | 32 |
| 6 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 556 | 500 | +56 | 32 |
| 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 519 | 472 | +47 | 32 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 472 | 447 | +25 | 32 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 377 | 460 | −83 | 26 |
| 10 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 563 | 540 | +23 | 22 |
| 11 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 414 | 607 | −193 | 20 |
| 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 428 | 474 | −46 | 18 |
| 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 449 | 521 | −72 | 18 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 472 | 582 | −110 | 18 |
| 15 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 500 | 622 | −122 | 16 |
| 16 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 374 | 550 | −176 | 14 |

## Squad

| No. | Name | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 125 | Simon Mannering | SR | 26 June 2005 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 168 | Shaun Johnson | HB | 4 June 2011 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 50 |
| 189 | David Fusitua | WG | 15 March 2014 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| 191 | Agnatius Paasi | PR | 19 July 2014 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 193 | Solomone Kata | CE | 7 March 2015 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 196 | Sam Lisone | PR | 7 March 2015 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 197 | Albert Vete | PR | 7 March 2015 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 201 | Ken Maumalo | WG | 16 May 2015 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 202 | Mason Lino | HB | 24 August 2015 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 36 |
| 203 | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck | FB | 5 March 2016 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 204 | Blake Ayshford | CE | 5 March 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 206 | Issac Luke | HK | 5 March 2016 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| 207 | Nathaniel Roache | HK | 5 March 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 208 | James Gavet | PR | 5 March 2016 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 209 | Jazz Tevaga | HK | 20 March 2016 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 210 | Ligi Sao | LK | 16 April 2016 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 213 | Bunty Afoa | PR | 2 July 2016 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 215 | Isaiah Papalii | PR | 5 March 2017 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 218 | Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | WG | 30 April 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 219 | Chris Satae | PR | 22 July 2017 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 220 | James Bell | SR | 28 July 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 221 | Peta Hiku | UB | 10 March 2018 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 222 | Blake Green | FE | 10 March 2018 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 223 | Adam Blair | PR | 10 March 2018 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 224 | Tohu Harris | SR | 10 March 2018 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 225 | Sam Cook | HK | 10 March 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 226 | Leivaha Pulu | SR | 10 March 2018 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 227 | Anthony Gelling | CE | 30 March 2018 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 228 | Joseph Vuna | SR | 25 April 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 229 | Karl Lawton | UB | 5 May 2018 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 230 | Gerard Beale | UB | 18 May 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Matiu Love-Henry | SR | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Zac Santo | UB | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Manaia Cherrington | HK | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Hayze Perham | FB | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | King Vuniyawa | SR | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Patrick Sipley | PR | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Chanel Harris-Tavita | HB | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Junior Pauga | CE | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Lewis Soosemea | WG | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Transfers

Gains :
| Player | Previous Club | Length | Notes |
| Zac Santo | Canberra Raiders | 1 1/2 years | 2017 mid-season |
| Manaia Cherrington | Cronulla Sharks | 1 1/2 years | 2017 mid-season |
| Adam Blair | Brisbane Broncos | 3 years | |
| Peta Hiku | Warrington Wolves | 3 years | |
| Tohu Harris | Melbourne Storm | 4 years | |
| Leivaha Pulu | Gold Coast Titans | 3 years | |
| Gerard Beale | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 3 years | |
| Matiu Love-Henry | Brisbane Broncos | 1 year | |
| Agnatius Paasi | Gold Coast Titans | 2 years | |
| Blake Green | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 3 years | |
| Anthony Gelling | Wigan Warriors | 1 year | |
| Karl Lawton | Gold Coast Titans | 2 years | |
Losses :
| Player | Club | Notes |
| Tuimoala Lolohea | Wests Tigers | 2017 mid-season |
| Erin Clark | Canberra Raiders | 2017 mid-season |
| Manu Vatuvei | Salford Red Devils | 2017 mid-season |
| Kieran Foran | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | |
| Bureta Faraimo | Hull | |
| Ben Matulino | Wests Tigers | |
| Charlie Gubb | Canberra Raiders | |
| Ryan Hoffman | Melbourne Storm | |
| Toafofoa Sipley | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | |
| Matt Allwood | Released | |
| Jacob Lillyman | Newcastle Knights | |
| Bodene Thompson | Leigh Centurions | |
| Ata Hingano | Canberra Raiders | |