2003 New Zealand Warriors season
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Rugby league team season
| 2003 New Zealand Warriors season | |
|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 6th |
| 2003 record | Wins: 15; draws: 0; losses: 9 |
| Points scored | For: 545; against: 510 |
| Team information | |
| CEO | Mick Watson |
| Coach | Daniel Anderson |
| Assistant coach | Tony Kemp |
| Captains | |
| Stadium | Ericsson Stadium |
| Avg. attendance | 16,842 |
| Top scorers | |
| Tries | Francis Meli (23) |
| Goals | Stacey Jones (29) |
| Points | Francis Meli (92) |
The 2003 New Zealand Warriors season was the 9th in the club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2003 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season in 6th place. The Warriors then came within one game of the grand final, losing to eventual premiers the Penrith Panthers. The coach of the team was Daniel Anderson while Monty Betham was the club captain.
Milestones
[edit ]- The Warriors had the youngest squad out of all the 15 clubs in the 2003 NRL season.[1]
- 23 March — Round 2: Monty Betham played in his 50th match for the club.
- 6 April — Round 4: Francis Meli, Wairangi Koopu and Mark Tookey played in their 50th first grade games for the club.[2]
- 22 June — Round 13: Motu Tony played in his 50th match for the club.
- 12 July — Round 18: Ali Lauitiiti played in his 100th match for the club.
- 10 August — Round 22: Richard Villasanti played in his 50th match for the club.
- 6 September — Round 26: Awen Guttenbiel played in his 100th match for the club.
Jersey & Sponsors
[edit ]
The Warriors launched a new jersey design in 2003, finally removing completely the blue and white colours the owners had inherited when the purchased the company.[3]
Fixtures
[edit ]See also: List of New Zealand Warriors results
The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2003, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.
Pre-season
[edit ]The Warriors played a pre-season trial match against the Penrith Panthers in Invercargill on 28 February. 15,000 fans attended the match, which was sold out.[4]
Regular season
[edit ]
Final Series
[edit ]| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 September | Qualifying Final | Bulldogs | Showgrounds, Sydney | Win | 48 - 22 | Meli (5), Webb (2), Faumuina, Tony | Webb (5), Faumuina (1) | 18,312 | [25] |
| 20 September | Preliminary Final | Canberra Raiders | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 17 - 16 | Fa'afili, Swann, Toopi | Webb (2), Jones (FG) | 31,616 | [26] |
| 28 September | Preliminary Final | Penrith Panthers | Telstra Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 20 - 28 | Swann, Toopi, Villasanti, Webb | Webb (2) | 43,174 | [27] |
Ladder
[edit ]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penrith Panthers (P) | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 659 | 527 | +132 | 40 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 680 | 445 | +235 | 38 |
| 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 702 | 419 | +283 | 36 |
| 4 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 620 | 463 | +157 | 36 |
| 5 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 564 | 486 | +78 | 34 |
| 6 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 34 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 632 | 635 | -3 | 32 |
| 8 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 497 | 464 | +33 | 28 |
| 9 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 570 | 582 | -12 | 26 |
| 10 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 548 | 593 | -45 | 26 |
| 11 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 606 | 629 | -23 | 24 |
| 12 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 497 | 704 | -207 | 20 |
| 13 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 470 | 598 | -128 | 18 |
| 14 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 557 | 791 | -234 | 18 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 457 | 758 | -301 | 10 |
Squad
[edit ]See also: List of New Zealand Warriors players
Twenty eight players were used by the Warriors in 2003, including five players who made their first grade debuts.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Stacey Jones | New Zealand | HB | 23 April 1995 | 22 | 3 | 29 | 4 | 74 |
| 33 | Awen Guttenbeil | New Zealand / Tonga | SR | 14 April 1996 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 42 | Logan Swann | New Zealand | SR | 1 March 1997 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 50 | Jerry Seu Seu | New Zealand / Samoa | PR | 16 August 1997 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 | Ali Lauitiiti | New Zealand / Samoa | SR | 19 April 1998 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 61 | Monty Betham | New Zealand / Samoa | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 64 | Wairangi Koopu | New Zealand | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 65 | Francis Meli | New Zealand / Samoa | WG | 2 May 1999 | 27 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 92 |
| 66 | Clinton Toopi | New Zealand | CE | 2 May 1999 | 22 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
| 76 | Mark Tookey | Australia | PR | 6 February 2000 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Henry Fa'afili | New Zealand / Samoa | WG | 26 March 2000 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 87 | Richard Villasanti | Australia / Tonga | PR | 18 February 2001 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 90 | Motu Tony | New Zealand / Samoa | UH | 9 March 2001 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 92 | Justin Murphy | France | WG | 7 April 2001 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 93 | Iafeta Paleaaesina | New Zealand / Samoa | PR | 1 June 2001 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 95 | John Carlaw | Australia | CE | 24 March 2002 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 96 | PJ Marsh | Australia | HB / HK | 24 March 2002 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 36 |
| 97 | Brent Webb | New Zealand | FB | 1 April 2002 | 21 | 8 | 26 | 0 | 84 |
| 98 | Sione Faumuina | New Zealand | CE / LK | 1 April 2002 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
| 99 | Lance Hohaia | New Zealand | UB | 6 April 2002 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 44 |
| 100 | Vinnie Anderson | New Zealand / Tonga | CE | 7 July 2002 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 102 | Evarn Tuimavave | New Zealand | PR | 1 September 2002 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 103 | Karl Temata | Cook Islands | PR / SR | 6 September 2002 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 104 | Mark Robinson | New Zealand | HK | 2 May 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 | Thomas Leuluai | New Zealand | HB | 2 May 2003 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 106 | Vince Mellars | New Zealand | CE | 7 June 2003 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 107 | Tevita Latu | New Zealand / Tonga | HK | 7 June 2003 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 108 | Jerome Ropati | New Zealand | CE / FE | 31 August 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Staff
[edit ]- Chief Executive Officer: Mick Watson
Coaching Staff
[edit ]- Head coach: Daniel Anderson
- Assistant coach: Tony Kemp
- Assistant coach: Rohan Smith
Transfers
[edit ]Gains
[edit ]| Player | Previous Club | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Robinson | North Harbour Rugby Union |
Losses
[edit ]Other Teams
[edit ]Players not required by the Warriors were released to play in the 2003 Bartercard Cup. This included Motu Tony and Jerome Ropati at the Marist Richmond Brothers, Mark Robinson at the North Harbour Tigers and Richard Villasanti at the Canterbury Bulls.
Awards
[edit ]Francis Meli won the Player of the Year award.[5]
References
[edit ]- ^ John Coffey Warriors youngest in NRL The Press, 30 November 2002
- ^ Francis Meli will play his 50th NRL match for the Warriors Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Western Leader, 4 April 2003
- ^ John Coffey Warriors' new strip The Press, 29 November 2002
- ^ We're first - angry Roosters call for ad to be dropped Sydney Morning Herald, 28 February 2003
- ^ Vodafone Warriors RED BALL Awards warriors.co.nz, 16 September 2014