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. |
| 2002 New Zealand Warriors season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 1st | |||
| 2002 record | Wins: 17; draws: 0; losses: 7 | |||
| Points scored | For: 688; against: 454 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Mick Watson | |||
| Coach | Daniel Anderson | |||
| Assistant coach | Tony Kemp | |||
| Captains | ||||
| Stadium | Ericsson Stadium | |||
| Avg. attendance | 16,529 | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Clinton Toopi (18) | |||
| Goals | Ivan Cleary (105) | |||
| Points | Ivan Cleary (242) | |||
| ||||
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.
| | | 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. |
The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2002, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Qualifying finals | Semifinals | Preliminary finals | 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 | |||||||||||||
| NZ Warriors | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Sydney Roosters | 32 | ||||||||||||||||
| 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 | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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)
| 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 | 81 |
1The Bulldogs were deducted 37 premiership points due to gross salary cap breaches.
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 |
| Player | Previous Club | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Carlaw | Wests Tigers | ||
| PJ Marsh | Parramatta Eels | ||
| Brent Webb | Wests Panthers | ||
| Sione Faumuina | Canberra Raiders |
| Player | Club | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Richie Blackmore | Retired | |
| Jason Death | South Sydney Rabbitohs | |
| Cliff Beverley | Barrow Raiders | |
| Jonathan Smith | ||
| Nathan Wood | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| Jason Temu | Retired |
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.
Ali Lauiti'iti won the club's Player of the Year award. [3]
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