# 2010 New Zealand Warriors season

The New Zealand Warriors 2010 season was the New Zealand Warriors 16th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League and finished fifth in regular season before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The coach of the team was Ivan Cleary while Simon Mannering was the club's captain. The Warriors won the club championship award for having the best combined results between the first grade team and the under-20s. The Junior Warriors then went on to win the Toyota Cup grand final, the club's first grand final win in sixteen years.
In 2010 Warriors games were broadcast on New Zealand's Sky network averaged 181,200 viewers.

## Milestones

* 13 February – All Stars Match: Manu Vatuvei represents the NRL All Stars in the pre-season All Stars Match.
* 14 March – Round 1: Four players made their debuts for the club; Brett Seymour, James Maloney, Jeremy Latimore and Sione Lousi. Lousi also made his NRL debut.
* 20 March – Round 2: Micheal Luck plays in his 100th game for the club.
* 28 March – Round 3: James Maloney equals the points club scoring record by scoring 28 points in a match. The record was previously shared by Ivan Cleary and Gene Ngamu.
* 28 March – Round 3: Wade McKinnon played in his 50th game for the club.
* 4 April – Round 4: Bill Tupou made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* 18 April – Round 6: Ian Henderson played in his 50th game for the club.
* 15 May – Round 10: Mataupu Poching made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* 23 May – Round 11: Lance Hohaia played in his 150th game for the club and his 150th NRL match.
* 6 June – Round 13: Manu Vatuvei played in his 100th match for the club.
* 17 July – Round 19: Ben Matulino played in his 50th match for the club.
* 21 August – Round 24: Alehana Mara made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
* 27 August – Round 25: Sam Rapira played in his 100th match for the club.
* 10 September – Qualifying Final: Manu Vatuvei became the club's all-time leading try scorer, surpassing Stacey Jones' total of 77.
* 10 September – Qualifying Final: Russell Packer played in his 50th match for the club.
* 4 October – Grand Final: The club was presented with the Club Championship and the Junior Warriors won the Toyota Cup.

## Jersey and sponsors

* In 2010 the Warriors jerseys were again made by Canterbury of New Zealand. They retained their black and white home and away jerseys from 2009, however they added a 15-year anniversary blue jersey and a grey Heritage design, similar to the jersey worn for the Awen Guttenbeil testimonial match. The club also had a new white and black training jersey.
* The Warriors wore their blue strip in the first round of the season after the Gold Coast Titans opted to wear their white away jerseys for the match in the Gold Coast. This decision was repeated in round three after Brisbane opted to wear white in another Sunday afternoon game in Queensland.
* Vodafone New Zealand was again the naming rights sponsor of the Warriors in 2009. Lion Red was the sleeve sponsor. Suzuki and HiFX were featured on the shorts while Loadlift was on the back of the jersey.

## Fixtures

The Warriors again use Mt Smart Stadium as their home ground in 2010, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

### Pre-season training

The main squad returned to training on 2 November 2009 to start preparing for the 2010 season. Players involved in the 2009 Four Nations and 2009 Pacific Cup returned to training later.

### Pre-season matches

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 13 February | Trial 1 | Sydney Roosters | Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua | Win | 26–8 | Heremaia (2), Locke, Ah Van, Ta'ai | Seymour (3) | 9,600 |
| 20 February | Trial 2 | North Queensland Cowboys | Barlow Park, Cairns | Win | 28–6 | Hohaia (2), Heremaia, Ah Van, Tupou | Seymour, Locke, Heremaia, Johnson | 10,000 |
| 27 February | Trial 3 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | Draw | 16–16 | Vatuvei, Moon, Latimore | Seymour, Johnson | 17,362 |

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 14 March | Round 1 | Gold Coast Titans | Skilled Park, Gold Coast | Loss | 18–24 | Vatuvei (2), Locke | Seymour (3) | 16,112 |
| 20 March | Round 2 | Cronulla Sharks | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 30–16 | Vatuvei (3), Heremaia, Mannering, Rapira | Locke (2), Maloney (1) | 15,314 |
| 28 March | Round 3 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Win | 48–16 | Maloney (3), Ropati (2), Mannering, Hohaia, Moon | Maloney (8) | 32,338 |
| 4 April | Round 4 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 6–14 | Ropati | Maloney (1) | 19,230 |
| 10 April | Round 5 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Win | 30–24 | Tate, Vatuvei, Lillyman, Locke, Hohaia | Maloney (5) | 17,095 |
| 18 April | Round 6 | Penrith Panthers | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 12–40 | Ta'ai, Tate | Maloney (2) | 14,620 |
| 25 April | Round 7 | Melbourne Storm | Etihad Stadium | Loss | 6–40 | Ta'ai | Maloney (1) | 23,906 |
| 1 May | Round 8 | Canberra Raiders | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 16–23 | Ta'ai, Ah Van, Tate | Maloney (2) | 11,499 |
| | Round 9 | Bye | | | – | | | |
| 15 May | Round 10 | North Queensland Cowboys | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 24–12 | Ta'ai, Brown, Henderson, Locke | Maloney (4) | 10,800 |
| 23 May | Round 11 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 26–24 | Ropati (2), Hohaia, Tate, Packer | Seymour (3) | 10,485 |
| 28 May | Round 12 | Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 6–50 | Moon | Seymour (1) | 10,061 |
| 6 June | Round 13 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 20–22 | Maloney, Mannering, John | Maloney (4) | 8,312 |
| 13 June | Round 14 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | Win | 32–24 | Vatuvei (2), Moon, Latimore, Maloney | Maloney (6) | 10,535 |
| | Round 15 | Bye | | | – | | | |
| 27 June | Round 16 | Sydney Roosters | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | Win | 20–18 | Locke (3), Vatuvei | Maloney (2) | 20,721 |
| 4 July | Round 17 | Parramatta Eels | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 35–6 | Brown (2), Matulino, Ta'ai, Vatuvei, Maloney | Maloney (5), John (FG) | 9,912 |
| 11 July | Round 18 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium, Sydney | Win | 12–6 | Maloney, Vatuvei | Maloney (2) | 9,983 |
| 17 July | Round 19 | Melbourne Storm | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 13–6 | Vatuvei, Ropati | Maloney (1 & FG) | 13,118 |
| 25 July | Round 20 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 28–38 | Brown (2), Vatuvei, Latimore, Maloney | Maloney (4) | 13,895 |
| 1 August | Round 21 | Gold Coast Titans | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 20–28 | Mannering, Hohaia, Vatuvei, Seymour | Maloney (2) | 12,017 |
| 7 August | Round 22 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Toyota Stadium, Sydney | Win | 37–10 | Tupou (3), Tate, Maloney, Moon | Maloney (6 & FG) | 7,510 |
| 15 August | Round 23 | Newcastle Knights | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 22–10 | Vatuvei (3), Tupou | Maloney (3) | 12,824 |
| 21 August | Round 24 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | Loss | 16–19 | Maloney, Mannering | Maloney (4) | 13,095 |
| 27 August | Round 25 | Brisbane Broncos | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 36–4 | Brown(2), Hohaia(2), Vatuvei, Mannering, Matulino | Maloney(4) | 21,627 |
| 4 September | Round 26 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium, Sydney | Win | 26–12 | Ropati, Tate, Royal, Locke, Vatuvei | Maloney (3) | 11,383 |

### Finals

| Qualifying finals | Qualifying finals | Qualifying finals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | St. George Illawarra | 28 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Manly | 0 | | | | 1W | St. George Illawarra | 13 | | | |
| | | | 4W | Canberra | 24 | | Wests | 12 | | | |
| 2 | Penrith | 22 | 2L | Wests | 26 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Penrith | 22 | 2L | Wests | 26 | | | | St. George Illawarra | St. George Illawarra | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra | 24 | | | | | | | St. George Illawarra | St. George Illawarra | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra | 24 | | | | | | | Sydney | Sydney | 8 |
| 3 | Wests | 15 | | | | 2W | Gold Coast | 6 | | | |
| 6 | Sydney | 19 | 3W | Sydney | 34 | | Sydney | 32 | | | |
| | | | 1L | Penrith | 12 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Gold Coast | 28 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | New Zealand | 16 | | | | | | | | | |
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
| 10 September | Qualifying Final | Gold Coast Titans | Skilled Park, Gold Coast | Loss | 16-28 | Heremaia, Moon, Vatuvei | Maloney (2) | 27,026 | |

## Ladder

2010 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | St. George Illawarra Dragons (P) | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 518 | 299 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 645 | 489 | +156 | 34 |
| 3 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 537 | 503 | +34 | 34 |
| 4 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 520 | 498 | +22 | 34 |
| 5 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 539 | 486 | +53 | 32 |
| 6 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 559 | 510 | +49 | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 499 | 493 | +6 | 30 |
| 8 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 28 |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 584 | 567 | +17 | 26 |
| 10 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 508 | 535 | −27 | 26 |
| 11 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 499 | 569 | −70 | 24 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 413 | 491 | −78 | 24 |
| 13 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 494 | 539 | −45 | 22 |
| 14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 354 | 609 | −255 | 18 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 425 | 667 | −242 | 14 |
| 16 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 489 | 363 | +126 | 0$^1$ |
$^1$ Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.

## Squad

Twenty nine players played for the Warriors during the season. Seven players made their debut for the club, including four making their NRL debuts.
| No. | Name | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 99 | Lance Hohaia | UB | 6 April 2002 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 108 | Jerome Ropati | CE / FE | 31 August 2003 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 115 | Manu Vatuvei | WG | 23 May 2004 | 19 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
| 121 | Steve Price | PR | 13 March 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 | Simon Mannering | CE | 26 June 2005 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 126 | Micheal Luck | SR | 12 March 2006 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 | Patrick Ah Van | WG | 9 April 2006 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 131 | Sam Rapira | PR | 20 May 2006 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 132 | Wade McKinnon | FB | 17 March 2007 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 137 | Brent Tate | CE | 17 March 2008 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 138 | Ian Henderson | HK | 23 March 2008 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 141 | Russell Packer | PR | 4 May 2008 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 142 | Ben Matulino | SR | 14 June 2008 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 145 | Joel Moon | CE / FE | 14 March 2009 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 146 | Jacob Lillyman | PR / SR | 14 March 2009 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 148 | Jesse Royal | PR | 22 March 2009 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 149 | Ukuma Ta'ai | SR | 22 March 2009 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 151 | Lewis Brown | HK / LK | 3 May 2009 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 152 | Kevin Locke | FB / WG | 31 May 2009 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 32 |
| 153 | Aaron Heremaia | HB / HK | 31 May 2009 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 154 | Isaac John | FE / HB | 19 July 2009 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 155 | Siuatonga Likiliki | CE | 15 August 2009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 157 | Brett Seymour | FE / HB | 14 March 2010 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 18 |
| 156 | James Maloney | HB | 14 March 2010 | 24 | 10 | 73 | 2 | 188 |
| 158 | Jeremy Latimore | PR | 14 March 2010 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 159 | Sione Lousi | SR | 14 March 2010 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 160 | Bill Tupou | WG | 4 April 2010 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 161 | Mataupu Poching | PR | 15 May 2010 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 162 | Alehana Mara | HK | 21 August 2010 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | Elijah Taylor | FE | Uncapped | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Staff

* Chief executive officer: Wayne Scurrah
* Football Operations Manager: Don Mann Jr
* Recruitment and Development Manager: Dean Bell
* High Performance Manager: Craig Walker
* High Performance Assistant: Ruben Wiki
* Medical Services Manager: Jude Spiers
* Welfare and Education Manager: Jerry Seuseu

### NRL staff

* NRL Head Coach: Ivan Cleary
* NRL Assistant Coach: Tony Iro
* NRL Technical Assistant: David Fairleigh
* NRL Assistant Trainer: Dayne Norton
* Club doctor: John Mayhew
* Kicking Coach: Daryl Halligan

### NYC staff

* NYC Head Coach & Assistant NRL Coach: John Ackland
* NYC Assistant Coach: Frank Harold
* NYC Manager: Jerry Seuseu

## Transfers
### Gains

| Player | Previous Club | Length |
| Brett Seymour | Cronulla Sharks | 2010, with option |
| James Maloney | Melbourne Storm | 2011, with option |
| Jeremy Latimore | Parramatta Eels | 2010, with option |

### Losses

| Player | Club |
| Stacey Jones | Retired |
| Evarn Tuimavave | Newcastle Knights |
| Denan Kemp | Brisbane Broncos |
| Leeson Ah Mau | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Aiden Kirk | Released |
| Malo Solomona | Released |
| Daniel O'Regan | Melbourne Storm |

### Mid-season losses

| Player | Club | Notes |
| Wade McKinnon | Wests Tigers | |

### Contract extensions

* Micheal Luck – until end of 2012.

## Other teams

In 2010 the Junior Warriors again competed in the Toyota Cup while senior players who were not required for the first team play with the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup. The Vulcans finished ninth out of twelve teams and missed the finals by just one point. Brent Gemmell was the coach of the Vulcans. Pita Godinet was the Vulcans player of the year while Johnny Aranga won the Rookie of the year award.

### 2010 Junior Warriors

National Youth Competition season 2010vte :
| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 687 | 567 | +120 | 38 |
| 2 | New Zealand Warriors (P) | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 731 | 481 | +250 | 37 |
| 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 773 | 596 | +177 | 36 |
| 4 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 673 | 540 | +133 | 35 |
| 5 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 695 | 588 | +107 | 33 |
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 764 | 734 | +30 | 33 |
| 7 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 568 | 583 | -15 | 30 |
| 8 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 581 | 663 | -82 | 29 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 620 | 532 | +88 | 28 |
| 10 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 690 | 635 | +55 | 27 |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 568 | 543 | +25 | 25 |
| 12 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 612 | 732 | -120 | 23 |
| 13 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 683 | 782 | -99 | 22 |
| 14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 492 | 634 | -142 | 21 |
| 15 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 643 | 838 | -195 | 20 |
| 16 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 454 | 786 | -332 | 11 |
| Qualifying finals | Qualifying finals | Qualifying finals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | South Sydney | 24 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | New Zealand | 25 | | | | 1W | South Sydney | 64 | | | |
| | | | 4W | North Queensland | 18 | | Canberra | 18 | | | |
| 2 | Canterbury | 54 | 2L | Canberra | 22 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Canterbury | 54 | 2L | Canberra | 22 | | | | South Sydney | South Sydney | 28 |
| 7 | North Queensland | 46 | | | | | | | South Sydney | South Sydney | 28 |
| 7 | North Queensland | 46 | | | | | | | New Zealand | New Zealand | 42 |
| 3 | Sydney | 12 | | | | 2W | New Zealand | 23 | | | |
| 6 | Canberra | 18 | 3W | Canterbury | 24 | | Canterbury | 16 | | | |
| | | | 1L | Sydney | 22 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Manly Warringah | 22 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Gold Coast | 22 | | | | | | | | | |

#### Grand Final

The match was the club's sixth grand final appearance in sixteen seasons after the 2002 NRL, 1996 and 1997 Reserve Grade, 1997 Under 19's and 1995 Lion Red Cup grand finals. The club led 12–10 at halftime before going on to win 42–28.
Under-20s: Glen Fisiiahi, Omar Slaimankhel, Sosaia Feki, Siuatonga Likiliki, Elijah Niko, Carlos Tuimavave, Shaun Johnson, Neccrom Areaiiti, Henry Chan-Ting, Mark Ioane, Matt Robinson, Elijah Taylor (C), Sebastine Ikahihifo. Bench: Nafe Seluini, Charlie Gubb, Sam Lousi, Daniel Palavi. Coach: John Ackland.
Captain Ben Henry withdrew before the match started due to injury while John Palavi was omitted from the bench. Carlos Tuimavave won the man of the match award.
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
| 4 October | Grand Final | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Win | 42-28 | Taylor (2), Likiliki, Fisiiahi, Lousi, Niko, Seluini | Johnson (7) | 82,334 | |

## Awards

Manu Vatuvei was named the Lion Red Player of the Year and the Vodafone One Tribe Player of the Year at the club's annual awards function. James Maloney was the Vodafone Young Player of the Year while Aaron Heremaia was named the Canterbury of New Zealand Clubperson of the Year.
Micheal Luck, Vatuvei and Sam Rapira were all presented with rings to celebrate them playing there 100th match for the club during the season.