# 1999 Auckland Warriors season

The Auckland Warriors 1999 season was the Auckland Warriors 5th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Mark Graham while Matthew Ridge was the club's captain.

## Milestones

* 13 March – Round 2: Tony Tatupu plays his 50th match for the club.
* 21 March – Round 3: Brady Malam plays his 50th match for the club.
* 16 May – Round 11: Tony Tuimavave plays his 50th match for the club.
* 30 May – Round 13: Logan Swann plays his 50th match for the club.
* 21 August – Round 25: Stacey Jones becomes the first player to appear in 100 first-grade games for the club.

## Jersey & Sponsors

For 1999 the Warriors again used a similar style of jersey, produced by Nike, Inc., with Vodafone the shirt sponsor and Bartercard as sleeve sponsor.

## Sale to Tainui

Between the 1998 and 1999 seasons the Auckland Rugby League sold the Auckland Warriors to a consortium that included majority investor the Tainui tribe as well as Graham Lowe and Malcolm Boyle. The new owners cleaned out the management and coaching structures and also straightened the tongue on the Warriors logo, as a curved tongue is believed to be cursed in Māori culture.
The consortium paid $2 million in cash, $1.5 million in deferred settlement over three years and an annual development grant of $250,000. The Auckland Rugby League was forced to write off the deferred settlement in 2000 when the Auckland Warriors folded and the assets were purchased by the New Zealand Warriors.

## Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1999, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

### Country Carnival

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
| 12 February | Trial 1 | Melbourne Storm | Lang Park, Brisbane | Win | 16-14 | Oudenryn (2), Ridge | Ridge (1) | 2,500 | |
| 20 February | Trial 2 | Brisbane Broncos | Toowoomba | Loss | 10-22 | Manuel, Jones | Ridge (1) | 7,146 | |

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 8 March | Round 1 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 26-16 | Ridge (2), Galuvao, Jones | Ridge (5) | 10,124 |
| 13 March | Round 2 | North Sydney Bears | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 18-22 | Galuvao, Jones, Swann | Ridge (3) | 20,268 |
| 21 March | Round 3 | Manly Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval | Win | 36-10 | Death, Henare, Jones, Manuel, Swann, J.Vagana, N.Vagana | Jones (3), Ngamu (1) | 7,077 |
| 28 March | Round 4 | Sydney Roosters | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 14-28 | Manuel, N.Vagana | Ridge (3) | 17,492 |
| 3 April | Round 5 | Balmain Tigers | Leichhardt Oval, Sydney | Lost | 8-17 | Jones | Ridge (2) | 7,460 |
| 9 April | Round 6 | Melbourne Storm | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | 10-38 | 10-38 | Lauitiiti, Oudenryn | Jones (1) | 10,343 |
| 18 April | Round 7 | North Queensland Cowboys | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 0-24 | | | 8,954 |
| | Round 8 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 2 May | Round 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 8-12 | Beverley | Doherty (1), Jones (1) | 7,241 |
| 8 May | Round 10 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium, Sydney | Lost | 6-28 | Koopu | Ridge (1) | 13,087 |
| 16 May | Round 11 | Canberra Raiders | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 32-30 | Galuvao, Lauiti'iti, Manuel, Mears, J.Vagana | Ridge (6) | 9,423 |
| 23 May | Round 12 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Telstra Stadium, Sydney | Lost | 28-24 | Lauiti'iti (2), Endacott, Jones | Doherty (4) | 9,062 |
| 30 May | Round 13 | Parramatta Eels | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 18-25 | Jones, Swann | Doherty (5) | 8,940 |
| | Round 14 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 12 June | Round 15 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium, Sydney | Lost | 20-34 | N.Vagana (2), Mears | Doherty (4) | 7,097 |
| 19 June | Round 16 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 30-10 | N.Vagana (2), Hoppe, Jones, Manuel, J.Vagana | Simon (3) | 9,500 |
| 26 June | Round 17 | Balmain Tigers | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 22-4 | Swann, Manuel, Seuseu, N.Vagana | Simon (1) | 8,506 |
| 4 July | Round 18 | Canberra Raiders | Canberra Stadium, Canberra | Lost | 22-46 | Hoppe, Manuel, Mears, N.Vagana | Simon (3) | 10,155 |
| 10 July | Round 19 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium, Brisbane | Lost | 16-24 | Death, Lauiti'iti, Nelson | Simon (2) | 14,941 |
| 16 July | Round 20 | Cronulla Sharks | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 20-22 | Jones, Oudenryn, Mears | Simon (4) | 8,000 |
| 25 July | Round 21 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 20-16 | Jones, Manuel, Swann, Tuimavave | Ridge (2) | 7,364 |
| 1 August | Round 22 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne | Lost | 14-16 | Lewis, Tuimavave | Simon (2), Ridge (1) | 13,435 |
| 6 August | Round 23 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 32-18 | Beverley, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Manuel, Meli, N.Vagana | Simon (4) | 9,564 |
| 14 August | Round 24 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | Win | 40-14 | Oudenryn (3), Jones, Swann, J.Vagana, N.Vagana | Ridge (4), Simon (2) | 13,832 |
| 21 August | Round 25 | Newcastle Knights | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 42-0 | Death (2), Lauiti'iti, Oudenryn, Ridge, Simon, N.Vagana | Ridge (7) | 15,385 |
| 29 August | Round 26 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Campbelltown Sports Ground, Sydney | Win | 60-16 | Jones (4), Beverley (2), Oudenryn (2), Manuel, Meli, J.Vagana, N.Vagana | Simon (5), Swann (1) | 7,793 |

## Ladder

1999 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 586 | 332 | +254 | 40 |
| 2 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 500 | 294 | +206 | 38 |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm (P) | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 639 | 392 | +247 | 36 |
| 4 | Sydney City Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 592 | 377 | +215 | 36 |
| 5 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 520 | 462 | +58 | 35 |
| 6 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 588 | 416 | +172 | 34 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 575 | 484 | +91 | 33 |
| 8 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 510 | 368 | +142 | 32 |
| 9 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 618 | 439 | +179 | 31 |
| 10 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 492 | 428 | +64 | 27 |
| 11 | Auckland Warriors | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 538 | 498 | +40 | 24 |
| 12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 349 | 556 | -207 | 24 |
| 13 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 454 | 623 | -169 | 23 |
| 14 | North Sydney Bears | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 490 | 642 | -152 | 20 |
| 15 | Balmain Tigers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 345 | 636 | -291 | 20 |
| 16 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 2 | 398 | 588 | -190 | 13 |
| 17 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 285 | 944 | -659 | 10 |

## Squad

Thirty two players were used by the Warriors in 1999, including eight players making their first grade debuts.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 3 | Sean Hoppe | | WG | 10 March 1995 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 6 | Gene Ngamu | | FE | 10 March 1995 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Tony Tatupu | | SR | 10 March 1995 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Tony Tuimavave | | PR / LK | 10 March 1995 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 18 | Joe Vagana | / | PR | 18 March 1995 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 19 | Syd Eru | | HK | 28 March 1995 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Stacey Jones | | HB | 23 April 1995 | 24 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 70 |
| 32 | Nigel Vagana | / | CE | 4 April 1996 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| 33 | Awen Guttenbeil | / | SR | 14 April 1996 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Brady Malam | | PR | 23 June 1996 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Bryan Henare | | SR | 23 July 1996 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 | Matthew Ridge | | FB | 1 March 1997 | 10 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 80 |
| 42 | Logan Swann | | SR | 1 March 1997 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 30 |
| 44 | Shane Endacott | | FE | 29 March 1997 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 47 | Lee Oudenryn | | WG | 6 July 1997 | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 50 | Jerry Seu Seu | / | PR | 16 August 1997 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 | Ali Lauitiiti | / | SR | 19 April 1998 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 56 | Joe Galuvao | / | FB / CE | 2 May 1998 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 58 | Odell Manuel | | WG | 8 March 1999 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 59 | Jason Death | | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 60 | Terry Hermansson | | PR | 8 March 1999 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 | Monty Betham | | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | Cliff Beverley | | FE | 21 March 1999 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 63 | Peter Lewis | | CE | 3 April 1999 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 64 | Wairangi Koopu | | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 65 | Francis Meli | / | WG | 2 May 1999 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 66 | Clinton Toopi | | CE | 2 May 1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 | Carl Doherty | | FB | 2 May 1999 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| 68 | Robert Mears | | HK | 16 May 1999 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 69 | John Simon | | FE | 12 June 1999 | 12 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 56 |
| 70 | Boycie Nelson | | CE | 19 June 1999 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 71 | Talite Liava'a | | PR | 4 July 1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Staff

* Chief executive officer: Trevor McKewen
* Football manager: Hugh McGahan

### Coaching Staff

* Head coach: Mark Graham
* Assistant coach: Mike McClennan

## Transfers
### Gains

| Player | Previous Club |
| Jason Death | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Terry Hermansson | Souths |
| Boycie Nelson | Widnes Vikings |

#### Mid-Season Gains

| Player | Previous Club | Notes |
| Robert Mears | Canterbury Bulldogs | Debut Rd 11 |
| John Simon | Parramatta Eels | Debut Rd 15 |
| Talite Liava'a | Balmain Tigers | Debut Rd 18 |

### Losses

| Player | Club |
| Stephen Kearney | Melbourne Storm |
| Tea Ropati | Retired |
| Marc Ellis | North Harbour Rugby Union |
| Anthony Swann | North Sydney Bears |
| Paul Staladi | Northland Rugby Union |
| Aaron Whittaker | Canterbury Rugby League |
| Kevin Iro | St Helens R.F.C. |
| Quentin Pongia | Sydney Roosters |
| Tyran Smith | Canberra Raiders |
| Zane Clarke | Cessnock |
| Frank Watene | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |

#### Mid-Season Losses

| Player | Future Club |
| Gene Ngamu | Huddersfield-Sheffield |
| Sean Hoppe | St Helens R.F.C. |

## Other Teams

During the 1999 season players not selected for first grade competed in the NZRL's National Provincial competition. The Warriors also sent four players a week to play for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Brisbane Souths.

## Awards

Jason Death won the club's Player of the Year award.