| Year: | 1997 |
| League: | SL |
| League Rank: | 7th |
| Cup: | Challenge Cup |
| League Wins: | 7 |
| League Draws: | 0 |
| League Losses: | 11 |
| Points For: | 332 |
| Points Against: | 406 |
| Ceo Title: | CEO |
| Ceo: | Bill MacGowan |
| Coach: | John Monie Frank Endacott |
| Captain: | Matthew Ridge |
| Stadium: | Ericsson Stadium |
| Avg Attendance: | 15,442 |
| Top Tries: | Sean Hoppe (11) |
| Top Goals: | Marc Ellis (25) |
| Top Points: | Marc Ellis (71) |
| Prev Season: | 1996 |
| Next Season: | 1998 |
The Auckland Warriors 1997 season was the Auckland Warriors 3rd first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's Super League. The coach of the team was John Monie until he was replaced by Frank Endacott after Round 9 while Matthew Ridge was the club's captain.
The Warriors adopted a new in 1997 that matched the Super League style used by the other nine teams in the competition. The jerseys were made by Nike, Inc.
See also: List of New Zealand Warriors results. The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1997, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 March | Round 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 2 - 14 | Ridge (1) | 42,361 | ||||
| 8 March | Round 2 | Hunter Mariners | Win | 18 - 14 | Hoppe (2), Eru | Ridge (3) | 20,300 | |||
| 17 March | Round 3 | Cronulla Sharks | Loss | 8 - 34 | Betts | Ridge (2) | 16,860 | |||
| 21 March | Round 4 | Adelaide Rams | Loss | 12 - 16 | Jones, Tuimavave | Ellis (2) | 13,000 | |||
| 29 March | Round 5 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 16 - 14 | Betts, Hoppe, T.Ropati | Ellis (1), Ridge (1) | 19,400 | |||
| 7 April | Round 6 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 31 - 24 | Henare, Hoppe, Jones, Kearnery, I.Ropati | Ellis (5 + FG) | 15,061 | |||
| 12 April | Round 7 | Hunter Mariners | Loss | 10 - 18 | Hoppe, I.Ropati | Ellis (1) | 7,719 | |||
| 19 April | Round 8 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 24 - 38 | Eru, Jones, I.Ropati, T.Ropati | Ellis (4) | 17,000 | |||
| 27 April | Round 9 | North Queensland Cowboys | Loss | 22 - 30 | Endacott, Hoppe, T.Ropati | Ellis (5) | 12,464 | |||
| 4 May | Round 10 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 18 - 34 | Hoppe (2), T.Ropati | Ellis (3) | 16,471 | |||
| 26 May | Round 11 | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 10 - 20 | Ellis, Ridge | Ellis (1) | 15,100 | |||
| 1 June | Round 12 | Western Reds | Loss | 12 - 24 | Eru, Hoppe | Ngamu (2) | 10,203 | |||
| 6 June | WCC 1 | St Helens R.F.C. | Win | 42 - 14 | Hoppe (2), A.Swann (2), Jones, Kearney, T.Ropati | Ridge (7) | 8,911 | |||
| 14 June | WCC 2 | Bradford Bulls | Win | 20 - 16 | Jones, Ridge, Staladi | Ridge (4) | 13,133 | |||
| 23 June | WCC 3 | Warrington Wolves | Win | 56 - 28 | T.Ropati (4), A.Swann (2), Kearney, Ngamu, Ridge, Vagana | Ridge (8) | 4,428 | |||
| 29 June | Round 13 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 22 - 26 | Eru (2), Jones, Staladi | Ngamu (3) | 4,446 | |||
| 6 July | Round 14 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 11 - 8 | Ellis | Ridge (3), Jones (FG) | 12,568 | |||
| 11 July | Round 15 | Adelaide Rams | Win | 18 - 8 | Oudenryn, T.Ropati | Ellis (3) | 13,278 | |||
| 18 July | WCC 4 | Bradford Bulls | Win | 64 - 14 | T.Ropati (3), Hoppe (2), Betts, Ellis, Eru, Ngamu, Oudenryn | Ngamu (12) | 12,500 | |||
| 25 July | WCC 5 | St Helens R.F.C. | Win | 70 - 6 | Ngamu (3), Eru (2), Hoppe (2), Oudenryn (2), Betts, Ellis, Jones | Ridge (11) | 18,354 | |||
| 3 August | WCC 6 | Warrington Wolves | Win | 16 - 4 | Eru, Jones, Kearney | Ridge (2) | 5,500 | |||
| 11 August | Round 16 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Loss | 18 - 40 | Hoppe, Oudenryn, A.Swann | Ridge (3) | 5,126 | |||
| 16 August | Round 17 | Western Reds | Win | 30 - 22 | Ridge (2), Betts, Jones, Kearney | Ridge (5) | 13,142 | |||
| 24 August | Round 18 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 50 - 22 | Ellis (3), Jones (2), Bailey, Hoppe, Oudenryn, A.Swann | Ngamu (7) | 12,000 |
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 October | Qualifying Final | Bradford Bulls | Win | 62 - 14 | Hoppe (2), Ridge (2), Ellis, Eru, Jones, Malam, Ngamu, A.Swann, L.Swann | Ridge (9) | 12,063 | |||
| 10 October | Semi-final | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 16 - 22 | Oudenryn (2), Endacott | Ridge (2) | 9,686 |
| Club | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Diff. | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 270 | 52 | 218 | 12 | ||
| 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 268 | 82 | 186 | 12 | ||
| 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 230 | 54 | 176 | 12 | ||
| 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 256 | 120 | 136 | 12 | ||
| 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 302 | 108 | 194 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 218 | 121 | 97 | 8 |
See also: List of New Zealand Warriors players. The Warriors used 29 players in 1997, including four players making their first grade debuts.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | FB / HK | 10 March 1995 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3 | † | WG | 10 March 1995 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 44 | ||
| 6 | † | FE | 10 March 1995 | 17 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 24 | ||
| 10 | PR / HK | 10 March 1995 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 11 | † | SR | 10 March 1995 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 13 | † | /  | PR / LK | 10 March 1995 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 15 | † | / | CE / FE | 10 March 1995 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |
| 18 | † | / | PR | 18 March 1995 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 | † | HK | 28 March 1995 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | ||
| 24 | † | HB | 23 April 1995 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 29 | ||
| 28 | † | SR | 4 June 1995 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 29 | † | FB / WG | 31 March 1996 | 16 | 5 | 25 | 1 | 71 | ||
| 30 | † | PR / SR | 31 March 1996 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 33 | † | /  | SR | 14 April 1996 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | CE | 19 April 1996 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |||
| 36 | † | / | CE | 23 June 1996 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 37 | † | PR | 23 June 1996 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 38 | SR | 23 July 1996 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 40 | † | FB | 1 March 1997 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 48 | ||
| 41 | PR | 1 March 1997 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 42 | † | SR | 1 March 1997 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 43 | FE | 17 March 1997 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 44 | † | FE | 29 March 1997 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 45 | † | WG | 27 April 1997 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 46 | CE / LK | 1 June 1997 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 47 | † | WG | 6 July 1997 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 48 | HB | 29 June 1997 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 49 | CE | 11 August 1997 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 50 | / | PR | 16 August 1997 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | Previous Club | Length | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manly Sea Eagles | Had initially signed and trained with the side in 1996, until the Super League season was postponed. | |||
| South Queensland Crushers | ||||
| Canterbury Country Cardinals | ||||
| Gold Coast Seagulls |
| Player | Club | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehaven | ||||
| Wigan Warriors | ||||
| Warrington Wolves | ||||
| Auckland Rugby Football Union | ||||
| Salford City Reds | ||||
| NEC Green Rockets | ||||
| Warrington Wolves | ||||
| Retired | ||||
| Penrith Panthers | ||||
| Leeds Rhinos |
Stacey Jones won the club's Player of the Year award.[2]
The Warriors fielded teams in both Super League's reserve grade and the Under-19 competition (The Mal Meninga Cup). The Reserve Grade side finished fourth and then beat Cronulla, Perth and North Queensland to make the Grand Final while the Under 19's finished the regular season as minor premiers, beating Penrith to make the Grand Final. Ultimately however both sides lost their respective Grand Finals, with the reserve grade going down 12-40 and the Under-19's losing 12–27.
Reserve Grade: Glen Coughlan, Iva Ropati, David Bailey, Joe Galuvao, Paul Staladi, Meti Noovao, Aaron Whittaker, Hitro Okesene, Steve Buckingham, Grant Young, Tony Tuimavave, Jerry Seu Seu, Bryan Henare. Bench: Ben Fahey, Frank Watene, Paul Rauhihi, Ricky Henry. Coach: Gary Kemble.
Under-19: Junior Lemafa, Odell Manuel, Tai Savea, Peter Lewis, Mark Fakahua, Monty Betham, Anthony Clyde, David Solomona, Lee Wetherill, Pewhairangi Jones, Kylie Leuluai, Filimone Lolohea, Ali Lauitiiti. Bench: Steve Murray, Scott Dewhurst, Fale Falemoe, Jonathan Smith. Coach: John Ackland.