| Year: | 1995 |
| League: | ARL |
| League Rank: | 10th |
| Cup: | Challenge Cup |
| League Wins: | 13 |
| League Draws: | 0 |
| League Losses: | 9 |
| Points For: | 538 |
| Points Against: | 501 |
| Ceo Title: | CEO |
| Ceo: | Ian Robson |
| Coach: | John Monie |
| Captain: | Dean Bell |
| Captain2: | Stephen Kearney Duane Mann |
| Stadium: | Ericsson Stadium |
| Avg Attendance: | 26,450 |
| Top Tries: | Sean Hoppe (19) |
| Top Goals: | Gene Ngamu (36) |
| Top Points: | Gene Ngamu (84) |
| Next Season: | 1996 |
The 1995 Auckland Warriors season was the inaugural season of the newly-formed club. Competing the 1995 Australian Rugby League premiership, they were coached by John Monie and captained by Dean Bell. The Warriors' home ground for their first season was Ericsson Stadium. They finished their first premiership regular season 10th (out of 20), so failed to make the finals.
See also: List of New Zealand Warriors results.
The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1995, and it remained the only Home Ground the club used in the competition until they played a match at Eden Park in 2011.
Three pre-season matches were played before the World Sevens and another three were played after the World Sevens.
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 January | Match 1 | Canterbury | Win | 26 - 12 | 12,811 | [2] | ||||
| January | Match 2 | Central Districts | Win | 36 - 16 | [3] | |||||
| January | Match 3 | Auckland | Win | 46 - 20 | ||||||
| February | Match 4 | Northland | Win | 66 - 6 | ||||||
| 14 February | Match 5 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 23 - 16 | 16,000 | |||||
| 25 February | Match 6 | Western Reds | Loss | 28 - 40 |
The Warriors participated in the 1995 Rugby League World Sevens, losing in the Trophy Quarterfinals.
Squad: Phil Blake (c), Sean Hoppe, Manoa Thompson, Tea Ropati, Whetu Taewa, Gene Ngamu, Syd Eru, Stephen Kearney, Tony Tatupu, Des Maea.[4]
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 February | Round 1 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 22 - 4 | Ngamu (3) | |||||
| 3 February | Round 2 | New Zealand 'A' | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Loss | 10 - 26 | Eru, Ropati | Ngamu (1) | |||
| 5 February | Trophy Quarterfinals | Sydney Tigers | Loss | 12 - 16 | Ngamu (2) | Ngamu (2) |
Team: Phil Blake (c), Sean Hoppe, Dean Bell, Manoa Thompson, Whetu Taewa, Martin Moana, Gene Ngamu, Gavin Hill, Duane Mann, Hitro Okesene, Stephen Kearney, Tony Tatupu, Tony Tuimavave. Bench: Tea Ropati, Se'e Solomona, Mike Dorreen, Jason Mackie.[5]
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 March | Round 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 22 - 25 | Ngamu (3) | 29,220 | ||||
| 18 March | Round 2 | Illawarra Steelers | Loss | 28 - 40 | Blake (2), Hoppe (2), Ropati | Ngamu (4) | 12,127 | |||
| 26 March | Round 3 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win* | 46 - 12 | Ngamu (7) | 21,446 | ||||
| 1 April | Round 4 | North Sydney Bears | Loss | 10 - 48 | Blake (2) | Ngamu (1) | 14,683 | |||
| 7 April | Round 5 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Loss | 14 - 26 | Hoppe (2), Moana | Ngamu (1) | 30,112 | |||
| 16 April | Round 6 | Illawarra Steelers | Win | 38 - 12 | Ngamu (5) | 29,474 | ||||
| 23 April | Round 7 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 40 - 4 | Ngamu (4), Alexander (1), Jones (1) | 10,426 | ||||
| 30 April | Round 8 | Sydney City Roosters | Win | 26 - 22 | Ngamu (3) | 29,048 | ||||
| 7 May | Round 9 | Newcastle Knights | Loss | 6 - 48 | Ngamu (3) | 29,220 | ||||
| 14 May | Round 10 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 23 - 18 | Ngamu (1), Jones (FG) | 10,142 | ||||
| 4 June | Round 11 | Sydney Tigers | Win | 36 - 12 | Hoppe (2), Betts (2) Jones, Ropati | Botica (6) | 28,713 | |||
| 18 June | Round 12 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 16 - 34 | Blackmore (2), Okesene, Ropati | 24,723 | ||||
| 25 June | Round 13 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win | 16 - 12 | Jones (2) | 10,700 | ||||
| 1 July | Round 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 38 - 20 | Botica (5) | 6,954 | ||||
| 9 July | Round 15 | Gold Coast Seagulls | Win | 44 - 16 | Botica (6) | 20,493 | ||||
| 16 July | Round 16 | Western Reds | Win | 34 - 10 | Alexander, Betts, Eru, Hoppe, Jones, Ropati | Jones (3), Botica (2) | 19,244 | |||
| 23 July | Round 17 | South Queensland Crushers | Win | 22 - 10 | Jones (3) | 28,928 | ||||
| 29 July | Round 18 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 28 - 10 | Ngamu (2) | 23,521 | ||||
| 6 August | Round 19 | St George Dragons | Loss | 14 - 47 | Alexander (1) | 28,973 | ||||
| 11 August | Round 20 | Sydney Bulldogs | Win | 29 - 8 | Alexander (2), Hill (1), Ngamu (1), Jones (FG) | 10,416 | ||||
| 18 August | Round 21 | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 8 - 15 | Hoppe | Ngamu (2) | 29,500 | |||
| 27 August | Round 22 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 6 - 44 | Ngamu | Ngamu (1) | 54,645 |
| width=20 abbr="Position×" | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 687 | 248 | +439 | 40 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Canberra | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 634 | 255 | +379 | 40 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Brisbane | 22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 600 | 364 | +236 | 34 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Cronulla | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 516 | 287 | +229 | 32 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Newcastle | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 549 | 396 | +153 | 30 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Sydney Bulldogs | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 468 | 352 | +116 | 28 | ||||||||||
| 7 | St. George | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 583 | 382 | +201 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 8 | North Sydney | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 542 | 331 | +211 | 24 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Sydney City | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 466 | 406 | +60 | 24 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Auckland | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 544 | 493 | +51 | 24* | ||||||||||
| 11 | Western Reds | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 361 | 549 | -188 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 12 | Illawarra | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 519 | 431 | +88 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 13 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 459 | 534 | -75 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Penrith | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 481 | 484 | -3 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 15 | Sydney Tigers | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 309 | 591 | -282 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 16 | South Queensland | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 303 | 502 | -199 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 17 | Gold Coast | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 350 | 628 | -278 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 18 | South Sydney | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 319 | 686 | -367 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 19 | Parramatta | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 310 | 690 | -380 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 20 | North Queensland | 22 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 269 | 660 | -391 | 4 | ||||||||||
See also: List of New Zealand Warriors players. Twenty Eight players were used by the club in 1995.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CE / LK | 10 March | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
| 2 | FB / HK | 10 March | 17 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 56 | |||
| 3 | WG | 10 March | 22 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 76 | |||
| 4 | CE | 10 March | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 5 | CE | 10 March | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 6 | FE | 10 March | 21 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 84 | |||
| 7 | FB / HB | 10 March | 21 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 40 | |||
| 8 | PR | 10 March | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 9 | /  | HK | 10 March | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 10 | PR / HK | 10 March | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||
| 11 | SR | 10 March | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||
| 12 | /  | SR | 10 March | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | ||
| 13 | / | PR / LK | 10 March | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 14 | / | PR | 10 March | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 15 | / | CE / FE | 10 March | 21 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| 16 | LK | 10 March | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 17 | LK / FE | 10 March | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 18 | / | PR | 18 March | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 19 | HK | 28 March | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
| 20 | / | SR | 28 March | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 21 | SR / LK | 7 April | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 22 | WG | 16 April | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
| 23 | PR | 23 April | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 24 | HB | 23 April | 14 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 40 | |||
| 25 | CE | 7 May | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||
| 26 | CE | 14 May | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |||
| 27 | WG | 4 June | 5 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 46 | |||
| 28 | SR | 4 June | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
The Warriors participated in the ARL's Reserve grade competition that mirrored the senior draw. The Reserve grade side made the top eight, finishing eighth, but lost to Penrith 8-14 in the Quarterfinals.[7]
In the Club Championship the Warriors finished seventh overall.
In addition a Warriors Colts side was fielded in NZRL's Lion Red Cup. The Warrior Colts made the grand final but lost to the North Harbour Sea Eagles.
| North Harbour | Position | Auckland Colts |
|---|---|---|
| Quinten Dane | Nigel Vagana | |
| Auvae Tapuai | WG | Paul Staladi |
| Stuart Lester | ||
| Jason Kaulima | CE | Anthony Swann |
| Steve Barry | Tacofe Kalauta | |
| Aleki Maea | Meti Noovao (C) | |
| Willie Swann | ||
| Donald Stewart (C) | PR | Dallas Mead |
| Sean Wilson | Aaron Lester | |
| Darren Kohlhase | David Fatialofa | |
| SR | Bryan Henare | |
| Keniti Asiata | Frank Watene | |
| LK | Logan Swann | |
| Frank Fuimaono | Bench | Charlie Kennedy |
| Cory Jamieson | Bench | Des Maea |
| Lafaelle Filipo | Bench | Druce Nilsen |
| Brent Snooks | Bench | Steve Buckingham |
| Graeme Norton | Coach | |
After trailing 15–2 at halftime the North Harbour Sea Eagles came from behind to defeat the Warrior Colts 28–21 in the second Lion Red Cup Grand Final.[8] The match included an eight-point try scored by Paki Tuimavave in the 48th minute. Tuimavave was tackled high by Aaron Lester while he was grounding the ball. Lester was then sin-binned for back chatting the referee after the incident.
| Team | Halftime | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Harbour Sea Eagles | 2 | 28 | |
| Auckland Warriors Colts | 15 | 21 |
| Tries (North Harbour) | 1: F. Fuimaono, S. Wilson, P. Tuimavave, J. Palmada | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries (Auckland Colts) | 1: N.Vagana, B.Henare, M.Noovao, W.Swann | |
| Goals (North Harbour) | 6: Q.Dane | |
| Goals (Auckland Colts) | 1: S.Buckingham, M.Noovao | |
| Field Goals Goals (Auckland Colts) | 1: M.Noovao | |
| Date | 16 September | |
| Referee | Dennis Hale | |
| Venue | Ericsson Stadium | |
| Broadcast | TVNZ |
Tea Ropati won the club's Player of the Year award.[9]
See also: Super League war.
The Auckland Warriors, along with seven other clubs, signed with News Limited to form a new competition in 1996, the Super League. Thirteen players signed with the new competition on 2 April 1995, after the Warriors' Round 4 loss to the North Sydney Bears, with coach John Monie having signed in late March. The club as a whole signed with News Limited on 20 April. This decision meant that Auckland Warriors players became ineligible for the New South Wales and Queensland State of Origin sides and the Australian Kangaroos. The New Zealand Rugby League and English Rugby Football League organisations had also signed with News Limited and so the majority of Warriors players were still eligible to represent their countries at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.