# 2000 Auckland Warriors season

The Auckland Warriors 2000 season was the Auckland Warriors 6th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Mark Graham while John Simon was the club's captain.

## Milestones

* 20 February - Round 3: Nigel Vagana played in his 50th match for the club.
* 1 April - Round 9: Joe Vagana played in his 100th match for the club.
* 8 April - Round 10: Lee Oudenryn played in his 50th match for the club.
* 6 May - Round 14: The Warriors lost 0–54 to the St. George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium. This result stands as the Warriors largest defeat to date.
* 18 June - Round 20: Jerry Seuseu played in his 50th match for the club.
* October–November: 20 players from the club participated in the World Cup: Stacey Jones, Ali Lauitiiti, Logan Swann, Joe Vagana, Nigel Vagana (New Zealand), Peter Lewis (Cook Islands), Talite Liava'a (Tonga), Monty Betham, Henry Fa'afili, Joe Galuvao, Vae Kololo, Francis Meli, Jerry Seuseu (Samoa), Terry Hermansson, Wairangi Koopu, Odell Manuel, Boycie Nelson, Henry Perenara, Clinton Toopi, Paul Whatuira (Aotearoa Māori).

## Jersey & Sponsors

* For 2000 the Warriors again used a similar style of jersey, produced by Puma. A red away jersey was also used, and was occasionally worn at home matches. The main sponsor is Vodafone.

## Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2000, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

### Pre-season trials

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
| 14 January | New Zealand Māori | HopuHopu, Ngaruawahia | Win | 50-18 | | | | |
| 21 January | Canberra Raiders | Western Springs Stadium, Auckland | Win | 22-8 | Death, J.Vagana, Spence, Manuel | Cleary (3) | 16,000 | |

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 6 February | Round 1 | Melbourne Storm | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 14-6 | Death, Swann, Tuimavave | Cleary (1) | 20,546 |
| 14 February | Round 2 | Wests Tigers | Leichhardt Oval, Sydney | Loss | 16-17 | N.Vagana (2), Beverley, Myles | | 10,807 |
| 20 February | Round 3 | Brisbane Broncos | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 10-28 | Lauiti'iti | Cleary (3) | 17,505 |
| 26 February | Round 4 | Newcastle Knights | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Draw | 18-18 | Lauiti'iti, Tuimavave, N.Vagana | Cleary (3) | 12,560 |
| 6 March | Round 5 | Canberra Raiders | Canberra Stadium, Canberra | Loss | 12-56 | Tuimavave (2) | Cleary (2) | 8,170 |
| 11 March | Round 6 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 24-31 | Death, Beverley, Cleary | Lythe (2), Cleary (1), Pethybridge (1) | 9,305 |
| 18 March | Round 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 8-36 | Death | Lythe (2) | 11,217 |
| 26 March | Round 8 | Sydney Roosters | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 26-22 | Beverley, Hermansson, Lauiti'iti, Swann | Simon (5) | 11,125 |
| 1 April | Round 9 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 22-24 | Oudenryn (2), N.Vagana (2) | Simon (3) | 12,026 |
| 8 April | Round 10 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Telstra Stadium, Sydney | Draw | 18-18 | Lauiti'iti, Oudenryn, N.Vagana | Simon (3) | 7,132 |
| 15 April | Round 11 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | Win | 18-12 | N.Vagana (2), Tuimavave | Simon (3) | 13,557 |
| 24 April | Round 12 | Cronulla Sharks | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 24-20 | Death, Fa'afili, Spence, Oudenryn | Simon (4) | 12,286 |
| 29 April | Round 13 | Wests Tigers | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 4-30 | N.Vagana | | 12,560 |
| 6 May | Round 14 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | Loss | 0-54 | | | 7,039 |
| 13 May | Round 15 | Northern Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | Win | 18-14 | Lauiti'iti, Myles, N.Vagana | Simon (3) | 6,106 |
| 20 May | Round 16 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 24-12 | Hape (2), Manuel, Oudenryn, N.Vagana | Simon (2) | 11,000 |
| 27 May | Round 17 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | Loss | 12-30 | Jones, Mears | Simon (2) | 13,954 |
| 3 June | Round 18 | Canberra Raiders | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 6-13 | Oudenryn | Oudenryn (1) | 9,500 |
| 10 June | Round 19 | Penrith Panthers | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 20-24 | Hape, Mears, Swann | Jones (4) | 10,305 |
| 18 June | Round 20 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne | Loss | 10-56 | Fa'afili, Oudenryn | Mulhall (1) | 13,028 |
| 24 June | Round 21 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 4-36 | Oudenryn | | 7,286 |
| 30 June | Round 22 | Parramatta Eels | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 10-11 | Mears, Coxon | Jones (1) | 9,220 |
| 8 July | Round 23 | Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Park, Sydney | Loss | 12-22 | Lauiti'iti, Spence | Jones (2) | 10,635 |
| 15 July | Round 24 | North Queensland Cowboys | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 44-12 | Swann (2), Fa'afili, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Manuel, Toopi, N.Vagana | Jones (6) | 8,105 |
| 22 July | Round 25 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium, Brisbane | Loss | 20-38 | Jones, Manuel, Mears, J.Vagana | Jones (2) | 17,545 |
| 30 July | Round 26 | Northern Eagles | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 32-22 | Mears (2), Fa'afili, Manuel, Simon, Spence | Jones (4) | 13,263 |

## Ladder

2000 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Brisbane Broncos (P) | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 696 | 388 | +308 | 38 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 601 | 520 | +81 | 32 |
| 3 | Newcastle Knights | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 686 | 532 | +154 | 31 |
| 4 | Canberra Raiders | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 506 | 479 | +27 | 30 |
| 5 | Penrith Panthers | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 573 | 562 | +11 | 30 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 672 | 529 | +143 | 29 |
| 7 | Parramatta Eels | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 476 | 456 | +20 | 29 |
| 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 570 | 463 | +107 | 26 |
| 9 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 576 | 656 | -80 | 24 |
| 10 | Wests Tigers | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 519 | 642 | -123 | 24 |
| 11 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 469 | 553 | -84 | 21 |
| 12 | Northern Eagles | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 476 | 628 | -152 | 18 |
| 13 | Auckland Warriors | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 426 | 662 | -236 | 18 |
| 14 | North Queensland Cowboys | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 436 | 612 | -176 | 12$^1$ |
$^1$ North Queensland were stripped of 2 competition points due to a breach of the interchange rule in Round 4.

## Squad

Thirty four players were used by the Warriors in 2000, including seven players who made their first grade debut.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 13 | Tony Tuimavave | / | PR / LK | 10 March 1995 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 18 | Joe Vagana | / | PR | 18 March 1995 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 24 | Stacey Jones | | HB | 23 April 1995 | 19 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 50 |
| 32 | Nigel Vagana | / | CE | 4 April 1996 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| 33 | Awen Guttenbeil | / | SR | 14 April 1996 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Logan Swann | | SR | 1 March 1997 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 47 | Lee Oudenryn | | WG | 6 July 1997 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 34 |
| 50 | Jerry Seu Seu | / | PR | 16 August 1997 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Ali Lauitiiti | / | SR | 19 April 1998 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 56 | Joe Galuvao | / | FB / CE | 2 May 1998 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Odell Manuel | | WG | 8 March 1999 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 59 | Jason Death | | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 60 | Terry Hermansson | | PR | 8 March 1999 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 61 | Monty Betham | / | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | Cliff Beverley | | FE | 21 March 1999 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 64 | Wairangi Koopu | | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 | Francis Meli | / | WG | 2 May 1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 | Clinton Toopi | | CE | 2 May 1999 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 68 | Robert Mears | | HK | 16 May 1999 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 69 | John Simon | | FE | 12 June 1999 | 20 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 54 |
| 71 | Talite Liava'a | | PR | 4 July 1999 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | Scott Pethybridge | | UB | 6 February 2000 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 73 | Ivan Cleary | | FB / CE | 6 February 2000 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| 74 | Matt Spence | | SR | 6 February 2000 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 75 | Scott Coxon | | SR | 6 February 2000 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 76 | Mark Tookey | | PR | 6 February 2000 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | David Myles | | CE | 14 February 2000 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 78 | Paul Whatuira | | CE | 14 February 2000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 | Ben Lythe | | HB | 26 February 2000 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 80 | Shontayne Hape | | CE | 18 March 2000 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 81 | Henry Fa'afili | / | WG | 26 March 2000 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 82 | Jason Bell | | FE / HK | 13 May 2000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 83 | David Mulhall | | FB | 18 June 2000 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 84 | Jonathan Smith | | SR | 24 June 2000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 | Henry Perenara | | SR | 24 June 2000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Staff

* Chief executive Officer: Trevor McKewen

### Coaching staff

* Head coach: Mark Graham

## Transfers
### Gains

| Player | Previous Club |
| Scott Pethybridge | North Sydney Bears |
| Ivan Cleary | Sydney City Roosters |
| Matthew Spence | Western Suburbs Magpies |
| Scott Coxon | Western Suburbs Magpies |
| Mark Tookey | Parramatta Eels |
| David Myles | Cronulla Sharks |

#### Mid-Season Gains

| Player | Previous Club | Length | Notes |
| Jason Bell | Newtown Jets | | Debut Round 15 |
| David Mulhall | Brisbane Souths | | Debut Round 20 |

### Losses

| Player | Club |
| Tony Tatupu | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Syd Eru | Retired |
| Matthew Ridge | Retired |
| Bryan Henare | St Helens R.F.C. |
| Brady Malam | Wigan Warriors |
| Shane Endacott | Retired |
| Peter Lewis | Mt Albert Lions |
| Carl Doherty | Mt Albert Lions |
| Boycie Nelson | Otahuhu Leopards |

## Other Teams

The Warriors had feeder agreements with the Newtown Jets in the NSWRL Premier League and Brisbane Souths in the Queensland Cup. Players not selected for the first grade side would be sent to one of these clubs for the weekend. This arrangement also worked the other way when the Warriors signed Jason Bell from the Jets midway through the season and the Brisbane Souths captain, David Mulhall, made his debut in Round 20. Occasionally players were also released to Bartercard Cup teams.

## Awards

Robert Mears won the club's Player of the Year award.