Jersey & Sponsors
 |  | 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] |
| 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.
| | | 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] |
The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2003, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.
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]
| 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 | |
| 20 September | Preliminary Final |  Canberra Raiders | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney | Win | 17 - 16 | Fa'afili, Swann, Toopi | Webb (2), Jones (FG) | 31,616 | |
| 28 September | Preliminary Final |  Penrith Panthers | Telstra Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 20 - 28 | Swann, Toopi, Villasanti, Webb | Webb (2) | 43,174 |
| 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 |
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 |  | HB | 23 April 1995 | 22 | 3 | 29 | 4 | 74 |
| 33 | Awen Guttenbeil | /  | SR | 14 April 1996 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 42 | Logan Swann | | SR | 1 March 1997 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 50 | Jerry Seu Seu | /  | PR | 16 August 1997 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 | Ali Lauitiiti | / | SR | 19 April 1998 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 61 | Monty Betham | / | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 64 | Wairangi Koopu | | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 65 | Francis Meli | / | WG | 2 May 1999 | 27 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 92 |
| 66 | Clinton Toopi | | CE | 2 May 1999 | 22 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
| 76 | Mark Tookey |  | PR | 6 February 2000 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Henry Fa'afili | / | WG | 26 March 2000 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 87 | Richard Villasanti | / | PR | 18 February 2001 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 90 | Motu Tony | / | UH | 9 March 2001 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 92 | Justin Murphy |  | WG | 7 April 2001 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 93 | Iafeta Paleaaesina | / | PR | 1 June 2001 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 95 | John Carlaw | | CE | 24 March 2002 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 96 | PJ Marsh | | HB / HK | 24 March 2002 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 36 |
| 97 | Brent Webb | | FB | 1 April 2002 | 21 | 8 | 26 | 0 | 84 |
| 98 | Sione Faumuina | | CE / LK | 1 April 2002 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
| 99 | Lance Hohaia | | UB | 6 April 2002 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 44 |
| 100 | Vinnie Anderson | / | CE | 7 July 2002 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 102 | Evarn Tuimavave | | PR | 1 September 2002 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 103 | Karl Temata |  | PR / SR | 6 September 2002 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 104 | Mark Robinson | | HK | 2 May 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 | Thomas Leuluai | | HB | 2 May 2003 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 106 | Vince Mellars | | CE | 7 June 2003 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 107 | Tevita Latu | / | HK | 7 June 2003 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 108 | Jerome Ropati | | CE / FE | 31 August 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | Previous Club | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Robinson | North Harbour Rugby Union |
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.
Francis Meli won the Player of the Year award. [5]
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