# 2002 New Zealand Warriors season

The New Zealand Warriors 2002 season was the New Zealand Warriors 8th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Daniel Anderson while Stacey Jones was the club captain. The club finished the year as minor premiers and made the grand final for the first time, however they were defeated 30–8 by the Sydney Roosters.

## Milestones

* 14 April – Round 5: The Warriors have a then record win (68–10) over the Northern Eagles.
* 14 April – Round 5: Stacey Jones played in his 150th first grade match for the club, the first person to reach the milestone.
* 14 April – Round 5: Ivan Cleary scores 28 points in a match (1 try, 12 goals), equaling the club's point scoring record set by Gene Ngamu in 1996.
* 23 June – Round 15: Henry Fa'afili played in his 50th match for the club.
* 18 August – Round 23: Clinton Toopi played in his 50th match for the club.
* 1 September – Round 25: Jerry Seuseu played in his 100th match for the club.
* 6 September – Round 26: Ivan Cleary played in his 50th match for the club.
* The Warriors claim the NRL minor premiership for the first time. The Warriors received A$100,000 prize money for finishing the regular season as minor premiers.
* Daniel Anderson is named Dally M Coach of the Year and Ali Lauitiiti Dally M Second Rower of the Year.
* 15 September: – The Warriors host their first finals match, beating Canberra 36–20 at a sold-out Ericsson Stadium.

## Jersey and sponsors

* The Warriors had a New Jersey in 2002, completely moving away from the blue and white that had been the club's colours. The 2001 jersey was retained as an away strip.

## Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2002, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

### Pre-season trials

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 17 February | Cronulla Sharks | Jade Stadium, Christchurch | Draw | 30–30 | | | |
| 24 February | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Carlaw Park, Auckland | Win | 24–20 | Guttenbeil, Campion, Villasanti, Faumuina | Cleary (4) | 14,000 |
| 9 March | West Auckland Cowboys | Waitakere Stadium, Auckland | Win | 66–24 | | | |

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| | Round 1 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 24 March | Round 2 | Sydney Roosters | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 21–14 | Lauiti'iti (2), Carlaw, Meli | Cleary (2), Jones (FG) | 14,378 |
| 1 April | Round 3 | Newcastle Knights | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 14–32 | Jones, Meli, Webb | Cleary (1) | 13,456 |
| 6 April | Round 4 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | Win | 50–20 | Jones (2), Carlaw, Cleary, Faumuina, Hohaia, Tookey, Toopi | Cleary (8), Jones (1) | 9,657 |
| 14 April | Round 5 | Northern Eagles | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 68–10 | Jones (3), Faumuina (2), Toopi (2), Cleary, Hohaia, Seuseu, Webb | Cleary (12) | 12,563 |
| 20 April | Round 6 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | Loss | 20–28 | Cleary, Koopu, Toopi | Cleary (4) | 24,251 |
| 27 April | Round 7 | Melbourne Storm | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 20–10 | Fa'afili, Guttenbeil, Meli, Toopi | Cleary (2) | 11,404 |
| 5 May | Round 8 | Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Sports Ground, Sydney | Win | 36–14 | Tookey (2), Carlaw, Hohaia, Koopu, Tony | Cleary (6) | 13,658 |
| 12 May | Round 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 25–18 | Toopi (2), Campion, Guttenbeil | Cleary (4), Marsh (FG) | 14,765 |
| 17 May | Round 10 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | Win | 34–12 | Toopi (2), Cleary, Hohaia, Tony, Webb | Cleary (5) | 16,361 |
| 25 May | Round 11 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne | Win | 28–12 | Guttenbeil, Hohaia, Murphy, Tony | Cleary (6) | 8,873 |
| 2 June | Round 12 | Cronulla Sharks | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 42–20 | Guttenbeil (2), Hohaia, Koopu, Toopi, Villasanti, Webb | Cleary (7) | 17,050 |
| 9 June | Round 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 34–6 | Lauiti'iti (2), Fa'afili, Hohaia, Marsh, Toopi | Cleary (4), Jones (1) | 14,616 |
| 15 June | Round 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 46–10 | Fa'afili (2), Cleary, Lauiti'iti, Marsh, Morgan, Murphy, Tookey | Cleary (7) | 8,658 |
| 23 June | Round 15 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Loss | 22–32 | Carlaw, Fa'afili, Lauiti'iti, Toopi, Webb | Jones (1) | 15,303 |
| 30 June | Round 16 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium, Brisbane | Win | 26–16 | Webb (2), Fa'afili, Morgan, Toopi | Cleary (2), Jones (1) | 24,907 |
| 7 July | Round 17 | Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Park, Sydney | Loss | 24–36 | Tony (2), Carlaw, Seuseu | Cleary (4) | 15,196 |
| | Round 18 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 21 July | Round 19 | Parramatta Eels | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 26–10 | Webb, Lauiti'iti, Murphy, Villasanti | Cleary (5) | 15,563 |
| 27 July | Round 20 | Canberra Raiders | Canberra Stadium, Canberra | Loss | 30–38 | Toopi (2), V.Anderson, Lauiti'iti, Webb | Cleary (5) | 8,702 |
| 4 August | Round 21 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium, Sydney | Win | 38–24 | Swann (2), Carlaw, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Seuseu, Toopi | Cleary (5) | 10,723 |
| 10 August | Round 22 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 22–14 | Cleary, Koopu, Meli, Myles | Cleary (3) | 21,570 |
| 18 August | Round 23 | Brisbane Broncos | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 18–4 | Cleary (2), Meli | Cleary (3) | 22,125 |
| 25 August | Round 24 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 0–44 | | | 18,186 |
| 1 September | Round 25 | Northern Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | Loss | 16–18 | Guttenbeil, Murphy, Tookey | Jones (2) | 7,529 |
| 6 September | Round 26 | Wests Tigers | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 28–12 | Koopu (2), Villasanti (2), Toopi | Hohaia (4) | 16,284 |

### Final series

| Qualifying finals | Qualifying finals | Qualifying finals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | NZ Warriors | 36 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Newcastle Knights | 22 | | | | 1W | NZ Warriors | 16 | | | |
| | | | 4W | St. George-Illawarra | 24 | | Cronulla Sharks | 10 | | | |
| 2 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 2L | Cronulla Sharks | 40 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 2L | Cronulla Sharks | 40 | | | | NZ Warriors | NZ Warriors | 8 |
| 7 | Sydney Roosters | 32 | | | | | | | NZ Warriors | NZ Warriors | 8 |
| 7 | Sydney Roosters | 32 | | | | | | | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Roosters | 30 |
| 3 | Cronulla Sharks | 20 | | | | 2W | Brisbane Broncos | 12 | | | |
| 6 | Parramatta Eels | 14 | 3W | Sydney Roosters | 38 | | Sydney Roosters | 16 | | | |
| | | | 1L | Newcastle Knights | 12 | | | | | | |
| 4 | St. George-Illawarra | 26 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Canberra Raiders | 20 | | | | | | | | | |
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 15 September | Qualifying Final | Canberra Raiders | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 36–20 | Carlaw, Fa'afili, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Meli, Tookey | Cleary (6) | 25,800 |
| | Semi Final | | | Bye | | | | |
| 29 September | Preliminary Final | Cronulla Sharks | Telstra Stadium, Sydney | Win | 16–10 | Carlaw, Tony, Toopi | Cleary (2) | 45,702 |

### Grand Final

| Sydney | Position | New Zealand |
| Luke Phillips | FB | Ivan Cleary |
| Brett Mullins | WG | Justin Murphy |
| Shannon Hegarty | CE | John Carlaw |
| Justin Hodges | CE | Clinton Toopi |
| Anthony Minichiello | WG | Francis Meli |
| Brad Fittler (C) | FE | Motu Tony |
| Craig Wing | HB | Stacey Jones (C) |
| Jason Cayless | PR | Jerry Seu Seu |
| Simon Bonetti | HK | PJ Marsh |
| Peter Cusack | PR | Mark Tookey |
| Adrian Morley | SR | Ali Lauiti'iti |
| Craig Fitzgibbon | SR | Awen Guttenbeil |
| Luke Ricketson | LK | Kevin Campion |
| Chris Flannery | Bench | Lance Hohaia |
| Bryan Fletcher | Bench | Logan Swann |
| Michael Crocker | Bench | Wairangi Koopu |
| Andrew Lomu | Bench | Richard Villasanti |
| Ricky Stuart | Coach | Daniel Anderson |
First Half
In the 23rd minute, Sydney opened the scoring with a try to Shannon Hegarty with Craig Fitzgibbon converting taking Sydney to a 6–0 lead. Not long after, Ivan Cleary got New Zealand on the board with a penalty goal making the score 6–2, which remained that scoreline until halftime.
Second Half
In the 46th minute, New Zealand took the lead for the first time through a Stacey Jones try and an Ivan Cleary conversion taking the scoreline to 8–6. Approaching the 60th minute, Sydney regained the lead with Craig Wing scoring the try and Craig Fitgibbon converting another to make the score 12–8 after a spectacular 40/20 kick from Sydney captain Brad Fittler. In the last 15 minutes Craig Fitzgibbon, Chris Flannery and Bryan Fletcher scored tries for Sydney with Craig Fizgibbon converting all three to take Sydney to a 30–8 win. By winning the grand final the Roosters also received A$400,000 in prize money.
| 30 | Sydney Roosters |
| Tries | Hegarty, Wing, Fitzgibbon, Flannery, Fletcher |
| Goals | Fitzgibbon 5/5 |
| Field Goals | |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Tries | Jones |
| Goals | Cleary 2/2 |
| Field Goals | |
Clive Churchill Medal: Craig Fitzgibbon
When They Scored
23rd Minute: Sydney 6–0 (Hegarty try; Fitzgibbon goal) 29th Minute: Sydney 6–2 (Cleary goal) 46th Minute: New Zealand 8–6 (Jones try; Cleary goal) 58th Minute: Sydney 12–8 (Wing try; Fitzgibbon goal) 65th Minute: Sydney 18–8 (Fitzgibbon try; Fitzgibbon goal) 71st Minute: Sydney 24–8 (Flannery try; Fitzgibbon goal) 75th Minute: Sydney 30–8 (Fletcher try; Fitzgibbon goal)

## Ladder

2002 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 688 | 454 | +234 | 38 |
| 2 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 724 | 498 | +226 | 38 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 672 | 425 | +247 | 37 |
| 4 | Sydney Roosters (P) | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 621 | 405 | +216 | 35 |
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 653 | 597 | +56 | 34 |
| 6 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 531 | 440 | +91 | 26 |
| 7 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 632 | 546 | +86 | 25 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 471 | 641 | -170 | 25 |
| 9 | Northern Eagles | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 503 | 740 | -237 | 24 |
| 10 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 556 | 586 | -30 | 23 |
| 11 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 496 | 803 | -307 | 20 |
| 12 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 546 | 654 | -108 | 18 |
| 13 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 498 | 642 | -144 | 18 |
| 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 385 | 817 | -432 | 14 |
| 15 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 707 | 435 | +272 | 8$^1$ |
$^1$ The Bulldogs were deducted 37 premiership points due to gross salary cap breaches.

## Squad

Twenty-nine players were used by the Warriors in 2002, including six players who made their first grade debuts.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 24 | Stacey Jones | | HB | 23 April 1995 | 24 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 49 |
| 33 | Awen Guttenbeil | / | SR | 14 April 1996 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 42 | Logan Swann | | SR | 1 March 1997 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 50 | Jerry Seu Seu | / | PR | 16 August 1997 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 55 | Ali Lauitiiti | / | SR | 19 April 1998 | 25 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 61 | Monty Betham | / | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Wairangi Koopu | | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 65 | Francis Meli | / | WG | 2 May 1999 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 66 | Clinton Toopi | | CE | 2 May 1999 | 26 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 72 |
| 73 | Ivan Cleary | | FB / CE | 6 February 2000 | 26 | 8 | 105 | 0 | 242 |
| 76 | Mark Tookey | | PR | 6 February 2000 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 77 | David Myles | | CE | 14 February 2000 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 80 | Shontayne Hape | | CE | 18 March 2000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Henry Fa'afili | / | WG | 26 March 2000 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 86 | Kevin Campion | / | LK | 18 February 2001 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 87 | Richard Villasanti | / | PR | 18 February 2001 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 88 | Justin Morgan | | PR | 25 February 2001 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 90 | Motu Tony | / | UH | 9 March 2001 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 92 | Justin Murphy | | WG | 7 April 2001 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 93 | Iafeta Paleaaesina | / | PR | 1 June 2001 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 95 | John Carlaw | | CE | 24 March 2002 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 96 | PJ Marsh | | HB / HK | 24 March 2002 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 97 | Brent Webb | | FB | 1 April 2002 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 98 | Sione Faumuina | | CE / LK | 1 April 2002 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 99 | Lance Hohaia | | UB | 6 April 2002 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 36 |
| 100 | Vinnie Anderson | / | CE | 7 July 2002 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 101 | Jeremiah Pai | | FE / LK | 21 July 2002 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 102 | Evarn Tuimavave | | PR | 1 September 2002 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 | Karl Temata | | PR / SR | 6 September 2002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Staff

* Chief executive officer: Mick Watson

### Coaching staff

* Head coach: Daniel Anderson
* Assistant coach: Tony Kemp
* Video analysis: Rohan Smith

## Transfers
### Gains

| Player | Previous Club |
| John Carlaw | Wests Tigers |
| PJ Marsh | Parramatta Eels |
| Brent Webb | Wests Panthers |
| Sione Faumuina | Canberra Raiders |

### Losses

| Player | Club |
| Richie Blackmore | Retired |
| Jason Death | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Cliff Beverley | Barrow Raiders |
| Jonathan Smith | |
| Nathan Wood | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Jason Temu | Retired |

## Other teams

Players not required by the Warriors were released to play in the 2002 Bartercard Cup. This included Iafeta Paleaaesina and Karl Temata for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders, Sione Faumuina for the Glenora Bears, Evarn Tuimavave for the Marist-Richmond Brothers, Vinnie Anderson for the Mount Albert Lions, Jeremiah Pai for the Otahuhu Leopards, Logan Swann for the Eastern Tornadoes and Henry Fa'afili and Lance Hohaia for the Manurewa Marlins.

## Awards

Ali Lauiti'iti won the club's Player of the Year award.