The Auckland Warriors 1996 season was the Auckland Warriors 2nd season in first-grade. The club competed in Australasia's Australian Rugby League competition. The coach of the team was John Monie while Greg Alexander was the club's captain.
Milestones 29 July - Round 18 - Gene Ngamu scores 28 points (3 tries, 8 goals) in the defeat of the North Queensland Cowboys, setting the club's point scoring record.
Jersey and sponsors The Warriors retained the same jersey design as in 1995. The official jersey supplier were Lenco. The Jersey was blue with a Green, Red and White "V". Only one jersey was used for both home and away games. The main sponsor was DB Bitter. Asics, Coca-Cola and Mitsubishi also had sponsorship deals.
Super League
As the Auckland Warriors had, along with seven other clubs, signed with News Limited they did not originally intend to compete in the Australian Rugby League's Optus Cup in 1996. Instead Super League was scheduled to start on 1 March 1996.
Legal proceedings had been ongoing between the ARL and News Ltd since 1995 and on 23 February 1996 Justice James Burchett ruled the new Super League competition to be illegal. As a result, the eight Super League clubs were obliged to compete in the Optus Cup in 1996. However the competition, which was originally planned to kick off on 1 March was delayed and commenced on 22 March.
As a result of the court action the Warriors were not invited to participate in the ARL's 1996 Rugby League World Sevens but many of their players instead took part in Super League's 1996 World Nines, which were won by New Zealand.
All Super League clubs apart from the Warriors forfeited Round One of the Optus Cup. The Warriors board instead directed reserve grade coach Frank Endacott to organise two teams of un-affiliated players to fly to Brisbane. Endacott did so, assembling teams largely made up of the Otahuhu Leopards and Ellerslie Eagles senior sides, and the Warriors first and reserve grade sides were awarded a win each via forfeit as Brisbane refused to play.Frank Endacott with John Coffey Being Frank:The Frank Endacott Story. Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett, 2002. . p.78
Auckland Warriors players were again ineligible for the New South Wales and Queensland State of Origin sides and the Australian Kangaroos due to the Warriors Super League stance.
In October 1996 New Limited won an appeal and Super League was allowed to go ahead in 1997.
Fixtures
The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1996, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.
Trial Matches Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance ReportFebruaryMatch 1 Cronulla SharksEricsson Stadium, AucklandLoss 24 - 38
Regular season Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance ReportRound 1 Brisbane BroncosWin* 31 MarchRound 2 Illawarra SteelersEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 18 - 10T.Ropati (2), BlackmoreAlexander (2), Hill (1)17,2464 AprilRound 3 Western Suburbs MagpiesCampbelltown Stadium, SydneyLoss 8 - 22J.VaganaAlexander (1), Hill (1)10,0881 AprilRound 4 North Sydney BearsEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 12 - 8JonesHill (2), Alexander (1), Ellis (1)22,5007 AprilRound 5 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesBrookvale Oval, SydneyLoss 10 - 22Blake, NgamuNgamu (1)18,58816 AprilRound 6 Illawarra SteelersSteelers Stadium, Wollongong Win 30 - 20Alexander, Blake, Ellis, Jones, TatupuNgamu (3), Hill (2)8,05523 AprilRound 7 Parramatta EelsEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 28 - 4Kirwan (2), Alexander, Hoppe, HoroNgamu (3), Hill (1)23,43230 AprilRound 8 Sydney City RoostersSFS, SydneyLoss 16 - 28Blackmore, Hoppe, T.RopatiNgamu (1), Hill (1)13,4717 MayRound 9 Newcastle KnightsEricsson Stadium, AucklandLoss 18 - 22Kirwan (2), BettsNgamu (1), Ellis (1)17,00014 MayRound 10 Cronulla SharksEricsson Stadium, AucklandLoss 24 - 28Hoppe, Kearney, Kirwan, NgamuNgamu (4)22,8104 JuneRound 11 Sydney TigersLancaster Park, ChristchurchLoss 22 - 34Blackmore, Ellis, Kirwan, T.RopatiNgamu (2), Ellis (1)10,00018 JuneRound 12 Penrith PanthersPenrith Park, SydneyWin 26 - 16Ellis (2), Hoppe, Horo, KirwanNgamu (3)6,98125 JuneRound 13 Western Suburbs MagpiesEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 32 - 16Jones (2), Alexander, Eru, Hoppe, KirwanNgamu (4)17,5001 JulyRound 14 South Sydney RabbitohsEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 24 - 10Eru (2), Jones, KirwanNgamu (4)20,0009 JulyRound 15 Gold Coast ChargersCarrara Stadium, Gold CoastWin 28 - 14Ellis, Henare, Horo, Kearney, SwannNgamu (4)11,87016 JulyRound 16 Western RedsWACA Ground, PerthLoss 12 - 32Ellis, SwannNgamu (2)12,76023 JulyRound 17 South Queensland CrushersEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 16 - 12Blackmore, SwannNgamu (3), Ellis (1)17,00029 JulyRound 18 North Queensland CowboysEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 52 - 6Ngamu (3), Betts, Blake, Hoppe, Horo, Jones, KirwanNgamu (8)14,6006 AugustRound 19 St George DragonsKogarah Oval, SydneyLoss 6 - 35GuttenbeilNgamu (1)14,25611 AugustRound 20 Canterbury BulldogsEricsson Stadium, AucklandWin 18 - 12Betts, Blackmore, RopatiNgamu (3)23,30018 AugustRound 21 Canberra RaidersBruce Stadium, CanberraLoss 6 - 30BlackmoreNgamu (1)14,52827 AugustRound 22 Brisbane BroncosEricsson Stadium, AucklandLoss 6 - 38HoppeNgamu (1)26,000 *Brisbane forfeited Round One. The Warriors had sent a team to Brisbane consisting of players un-signed to Super League.
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Manly-Warringah22 1804549191+358362 Brisbane211704607263+344343 North Sydney221525598325+273324 Sydney City221516521321+200315 Cronulla-Sutherland211425399268+131306 Canberra211317538384+154277 St. George211218443360+83278 Western Suburbs221219394434−40259 Newcastle2110110416388+282310 Canterbury2111010375378−32211 Auckland2110011412427−152212 Balmain2211011319459−1402213 Parramatta219111404415−112114 Illawarra228014403444−411615 Penrith217113363464−1011516 Western Reds216114313420−1071317 North Queensland216015288643−3551218 Gold Coast225116359521−1621119 South Sydney225116314634−3201120 South Queensland213018220496−2768
Squad
The Warriors used twenty eight players in 1996, including nine who made their first grade debuts.
No.NameNationalityPositionWarriors debutAppTGFGPts 2FB / HK10 March 19951830012 3WG10 March 19952070028 6FE10 March 1995205500120 7FB / FE / HB10 March 19951634020 8PR10 March 1995708016 10PR / HK10 March 199540000 11SR10 March 1995212008 12 / SR10 March 1995111004 13 / PR / LK10 March 199550000 15 / CE / FE10 March 19952050020 18 / PR18 March 1995201004 19HK28 March 19951130012 22WG16 April 199519100040 23PR23 April 1995210000 24HB23 April 19952160024 26CE14 May 19951760024 28SR4 June 19951730012 29FB / WG31 March 19961864032 30PR / SR31 March 19962140016 31SR31 March 199680000 32 / CE4 April 199610000 33 / SR14 April 1996141004 34FB19 April 199610000 35CE19 April 199620000 36 / CE23 June 1996930012 37PR23 June 199680000 38SR23 July 199631004 39HK28 July 199630000
Staff Chairman: Peter McLeod Chief Executive Officer: Ian Robson Football Manager: Laurie Stubbing
Coaching staff Head coach: John Monie Reserve Grade Coach: Frank Endacott Development Officer: John Ackland
Transfers
Gains Player Previous club NotesMarc EllisOtago Rugby Football UnionMark Horo Western Suburbs MagpiesMark CarterAuckland Rugby Football UnionAwen GuttenbeilManly Sea EaglesIva RopatiParramatta Eels
Losses Player Club NotesDean BellRetiredManoa ThompsonReleasedWhetu TaewaNorth Queensland CowboysDuane MannReleasedSe'e SolomonaNorth Queensland CowboysJason MackieReleasedMartin MoanaHalifax Blue SoxWillie PochingNorth Queensland CowboysLogan EdwardsReleasedMike DorreenSydney TigersFrano BoticaLlanelli RFC
Other teams The Warriors participated in the ARL's Reserve grade competition that mirrored the senior draw. The Reserve grade side again made the finals, finishing third. Unlike in 1995, the Warriors did not field a Colts side in the Lion Red Cup.
In the Club Championship the Warriors finished fifth overall.
In the Reserve Grade Finals the Warriors first bet Sydney City 19–18 in the Quarterfinals. In the Semifinals they defeated Brisbane 18-12 to make the Grand Final. However, in the Grand Final the Warriors went down 14-12 to the Cronulla Sharks, the second year in a row that a Warriors team had lost a Grand Final.Australian Competitions 1996 The Vault The cost of the finals campaign to the club was estimated at between $70,000 and $75,000.
Awards Stephen Kearney won the club's Player of the Year award.New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.50
References
External links Warriors official site 1996 Warriors Season rugbyleagueproject.org