# 2005 New Zealand Warriors season

The 2005 New Zealand Warriors season was the 11th in the club's history. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Tony Kemp while Steve Price was the club captain.

## Milestones

* 3 April - Round 4: Clinton Toopi played in his 100th match for the club.
* 9 April - Round 5: Francis Meli plays in his 100th first grade match for the club.
* 7 May - Round 9: Wairangi Koopu played in his 100th match for the club.
* 13 August - Round 23: Monty Betham played in his 100th first grade match for the club and Karl Temata played in his 50th game for the club.

## Jersey & Sponsors

* The Warriors again made no changes to their jersey design for the 2005 season. During Round Sixteen a replica 1995 jersey was worn against the Brisbane Broncos to mark the 10th season of the Warriors.

## Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2005, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

### Pre-season

The Warriors played a match against the NZRL's Presidents selection at North Harbour Stadium on 27 February. The President's selection was coached by John Ackland and Tawera Nikau and included: Toshio Laiseni, Cooper Vuna, Simon Mannering, Joshua Davis, Rowan Baxter, Daniel Vasau, Bernard Perenara, George Tuakura, Ben Lythe, Phil Shead, Odell Manuel, Chris Newton, Wayne McDade. Interchange: Paul Atkins, Andreas Bauer, Marvin Filipo, Robinson Godfrey, Pinomi Tafea, Willie Live, Artie Shead, Sam Rapira, Chris Tupou, Dean Shepherd, Antonio Tusani. For the Warriors, the match was Nathan Fien's first for the club. The Warriors won the game 58–6.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
| 13 February | Parramatta Eels | Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth | Win | 20-10 | | | 9,500 | |
| 27 February | NZRL's Presidents selection | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | Win | 58-6 | Meli (3), Webb (3), Hohaia (2), Ropati, Martin, Latu | Jones (5) | | |

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 13 March | Round 1 | Manly Sea Eagles | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 20-26 | Anderson, Koopu, Toopi | Jones (4) | 13,682 |
| 19 March | Round 2 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Win | 24-12 | Jones, Ropati, Wiki | Jones (6) | 24,719 |
| 27 March | Round 3 | North Queensland Cowboys | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 22-32 | Betham, Byrne, Fien, Paleaaesina | Jones (3) | 13,888 |
| 3 April | Round 4 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 46-14 | Betham, Byrne, Fien, Guttenbeil, Jones, Koopu, Toopi, Manu Vatuvei | Jones (7) | 9,751 |
| 9 April | Round 5 | Wests Tigers | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | Lost | 6-24 | Byrne | Jones (1) | 18,421 |
| 17 April | Round 6 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | Win | 30-26 | Vatuvei (2), Byrne, Faumuina, Meli, Toopi | Jones (3) | 18,173 |
| | Round 7 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 1 May | Round 8 | Penrith Panthers | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 14-16 | Byrne, Temata, Vatuvei | Jones (1) | 10,989 |
| 7 May | Round 9 | Cronulla Sharks | Members Equity Stadium, Perth | Lost | 24-28 | Byrne, Hohaia, Koopu, Villasanti | Hohaia (4) | 13,293 |
| 15 May | Round 10 | Sydney Roosters | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 6-10 | Byrne | Hohaia (1) | 10,082 |
| 21 May | Round 11 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | North Sydney Oval, Sydney | Win | 34-16 | Faumuina, Meli, Ropati, Vatuvei, Villasanti, Webb | Jones (3), Hohaia (2) | 6,195 |
| 29 May | Round 12 | Wests Tigers | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 21-4 | Toopi (2), Byrne, Villasanti | Jones (1 & FG), Hohaia (1) | 9,420 |
| 4 June | Round 13 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium, Wollongong | Lost | 18-32 | Byrne, Paleaaesina, Vatuvei | Jones (3) | 14,479 |
| 12 June | Round 14 | Melbourne Storm | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 24-16 | Byrne (2), Meli, Paleaaesina, Ropati | Jones (2) | 7,898 |
| 18 June | Round 15 | Parramatta Eels | Waikato Stadium, Hamilton | Lost | 18-28 | Byrne, Meli, Toopi, Villasanti | Hohaia (1) | 17,142 |
| 26 June | Round 16 | Brisbane Broncos | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 30-18 | Koopu (2), Faumuina, Hohaia, Meli, Vatuvei | Jones (3) | 13,752 |
| 2 July | Round 17 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | Lost | 16-24 | Koopu, Vatuvei, Wiki | Jones (2) | 20,078 |
| 10 July | Round 18 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 24-26 | Meli, Byrne, Koopu, Jones | Jones (4) | 12,822 |
| 16 July | Round 19 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 24-22 | Hohaia (2), Webb, Wiki | Jones (4) | 13,789 |
| 23 July | Round 20 | Canberra Raiders | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 24-16 | Fien, Hohaia, Meli, Ropati | Jones (4) | 18,361 |
| 30 July | Round 21 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium, Sydney | Lost | 34-42 | Byrne, Faumuina, Fien, Guttenbeil, Jones, Webb | Jones (5) | 13,985 |
| 6 August | Round 22 | Parramatta Eels | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 20-38 | Fien (2), Koopu | Jones (4) | 19,211 |
| 13 August | Round 23 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne | Lost | 10-22 | Fien, Meli | Jones (1) | 11,072 |
| 20 August | Round 24 | Newcastle Knights | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Lost | 4-16 | Vatuvei | | 17,356 |
| 27 August | Round 25 | Manly Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval, Sydney | Win | 22-20 | Faumuina, Jones, Koopu, Wiki | Jones (3) | 14,219 |
| | Round 26 | Bye | | | | | | |

## Ladder

2005 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 704 | 456 | +248 | 36 |
| 2 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 655 | 510 | +145 | 36 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 597 | 484 | +113 | 34 |
| 4 | Wests Tigers (P) | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 676 | 575 | +101 | 32 |
| 5 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 639 | 563 | +76 | 32 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 640 | 462 | +178 | 30 |
| 7 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 550 | 564 | -14 | 28 |
| 8 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 554 | 632 | -78 | 28 |
| 9 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 488 | 487 | +1 | 26 |
| 10 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 554 | 554 | 0 | 26 |
| 11 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 515 | 528 | -13 | 24 |
| 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 472 | 670 | -198 | 23 |
| 13 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 482 | 700 | -218 | 23 |
| 14 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 465 | 606 | -141 | 22 |
| 15 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 467 | 667 | -200 | 20 |

## Squad

Twenty Four players were used by the Warriors in 2005, including several players who made their first grade debuts.
| No. | Name | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 24 | Stacey Jones | HB | 23 April 1995 | 23 | 5 | 63 | 1 | 147 |
| 33 | Awen Guttenbeil | SR | 14 April 1996 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 61 | Monty Betham | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 64 | Wairangi Koopu | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 65 | Francis Meli | WG | 2 May 1999 | 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 66 | Clinton Toopi | CE | 2 May 1999 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 87 | Richard Villasanti | PR | 18 February 2001 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 93 | Iafeta Paleaaesina | PR | 1 June 2001 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 97 | Brent Webb | FB | 1 April 2002 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 98 | Sione Faumuina | CE / LK | 1 April 2002 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 99 | Lance Hohaia | UB | 6 April 2002 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 40 |
| 102 | Evarn Tuimavave | PR | 1 September 2002 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 | Karl Temata | PR / SR | 6 September 2002 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 107 | Tevita Latu | HK | 7 June 2003 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 108 | Jerome Ropati | CE / FE | 31 August 2003 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 109 | Tony Martin | CE | 14 March 2004 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 110 | Epalahame Lauaki | SR | 14 March 2004 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 | Louis Anderson | LK | 28 March 2004 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 115 | Manu Vatuvei | WG | 23 May 2004 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 118 | Cooper Vuna | WG | 21 August 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 | Steve Price | PR | 13 March 2005 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 122 | Todd Byrne | WG | 13 March 2005 | 22 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
| 123 | Ruben Wiki | PR | 13 March 2005 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 124 | Nathan Fien | HK | 13 March 2005 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 125 | Simon Mannering | CE | 26 June 2005 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Staff

* Chief Executive Officer: Mick Watson

### Coaching Staff

* Head coach: Tony Kemp
* Assistant coach: Ivan Cleary
* Assistant coach: Kevin Campion
* IT and Video Analyst: Tony Iro
* Trainer: Craig Walker

## Transfers
### Gains

| Player | Previous Club |
| Steve Price | Canterbury Bulldogs |
| Todd Byrne | Sydney Roosters |
| Ruben Wiki | Canberra Raiders |
| Nathan Fien | North Queensland Cowboys |

### Losses

| Player | Club | Notes |
| Paul Atkins | Otahuhu-Ellerslie Leopards | |
| Kane Ferris | Canterbury Bulls | |
| Herewini Rangi | Central Comets | |
| Shannon Stowers | Mount Albert Lions | |
| Paul Dezolt | Queensland Cup | Released 14 June 2004 |
| Matt Jobson | Wests Tigers | |
| Danny Sullivan | Retired | |
| Vince Mellars | Cronulla Sharks | |
| Thomas Leuluai | London Broncos | |
| Vinnie Anderson | St Helens R.F.C. | |
| PJ Marsh | Parramatta Eels | |
| Justin Murphy | Widnes Vikings | Released July 2004 |
| Henry Fa'afili | Warrington Wolves | |
| Mark Tookey | Castleford Tigers | Released June 2004 |
| Ali Lauitiiti | Leeds Rhinos | Released April 2004 |
| Jerry Seuseu | Wigan Warriors | |

## Other Teams

Players not required by the Warriors were released to play in the 2005 Bartercard Cup. This included Cooper Vuna who played for the Otahuhu-Ellerslie Leopards.

## Awards

Ruben Wiki won the Player of the Year award.