The 2006 New Zealand rugby league season was the 99th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the seventh season of the Bartercard Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The Auckland Lions won the Cup by defeating the Canterbury Bulls 25–18 in the grand final.
See also: List of New Zealand Kiwis matches.
The New Zealand national rugby league team co-hosted the Tri-Nations with Australia. Three tests were played in New Zealand; with the Kiwis defeating Great Britain 18–14 in Christchurch and 34–4 in Wellington and losing to Australia 18–30 in Auckland. New Zealand lost the final, which was played in Sydney, 16–12 to Australia after Golden Point extra time. The first win against Great Britain was discounted after it was discovered that Nathan Fien was ineligible to play for New Zealand. Coached by Brian McClennan, for the Tri-Nations New Zealand included; Roy Asotasi, Adam Blair, Jason and Nathan Cayless, David Fa'alogo, Nathan Fien, Dene Halatau, Shontayne Hape, Stacey Jones, David Kidwell, Simon Mannering, Steve Matai, Frank Pritchard, Tony Puletua, Jerome Ropati, Iosia Soliola, Motu Tony, Tame Tupou, Nigel Vagana, Manu Vatuvei, Brent Webb and captain Ruben Wiki.
Earlier in the year New Zealand had lost the ANZAC Test 12-50 to Australia and lost to Great Britain 14–46 in a June Test match. Jake Webster, Paul Whatuira, Thomas Leuluai, Sonny Bill Williams, Benji Marshall and David Faiumu all appeared in the ANZAC Test but did not make the Tri-Nations squad. Lesley Vainikolo, Willie Talau, Henry Fa'afili, Ben Roberts, Alex Chan, Iafeta Paleaaesina, Ali Lauiti'iti, David Solomona, Robbie Paul, Harrison Hansen and Monty Betham all appeared in the Great Britain Test but did not make the Tri-Nations squad. Clinton Toopi and Louis Anderson appeared in both mid-season Test matches but did not make the Tri-Nations squad.--------
This match was discounted after New Zealand were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player.--------During the Tri-Nations the Kiwis played a New Zealand Residents side in Greymouth and defeated them 34–4. The Residents team included Corey Lawrie, Shane Beyers, David Fisi'iahi, Cliff Beverley, Julian O'Neill, Sala Fa'alogo, Cooper Vuna, George Tuakura and Wayne McDade.[1] [2] Earlier in the year the Residents had hosted a Trans Tasman Quadrangular Series, winning the final against Country 32–18.[2] [3] The Queensland Rangers, New South Wales Country and Jim Beam Cup side all came to New Zealand for the tournament. The Residents side for the tournament included Steve Buckingham, Sala Fa'alogo, Sonny Fai, Fabian Soutar and Miguel Start.[2] [4] The side was coached by David Lomax who was assisted by Sam Panapa.
Auckland hosted the 2006 Pacific Cup, which was won by Tonga. New Zealand Māori finished third.[5] The Māori had already defeated Fiji in a January test match. Later in the season the New Zealand Māori team toured the Cook Islands, losing a three match series 2–1.[6] The New Zealand Māori side was coached by Dean Clark and included Paul Atkins, Jeremiah Pai and Steve Skinnon. Kevin Tamati coached the team in the January match, which included Luke Goodwin.
The 2006 Bartercard Cup was the seventh season of the Bartercard Cup competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League. This season saw substantial change for the Cup as the number of clubs was reduced for the 2006 season from 12 to 10. The New Zealand Rugby League also decided to move towards a franchise model. As a result, there was a large number of clubs affected and all Auckland franchises were reviewed. The major changes were; the Harbour League replaced the Hibiscus Coast Raiders and the North Harbour Tigers, the Waitakere Rangers replaced the Glenora Bears to represent all of Waitakere City, the Auckland Lions replaced the Mt Albert Lions and the Marist Richmond Brothers, the Tamaki Leopards replaced the Otahuhu Ellerslie Leopards and the Eastern Tornadoes and the Northern Storm were formed, to represent Northland. In addition the Wellington Franchise adopted the nickname the Orcas in support of the Southern Orcas National Rugby League bid.
One game a week was shifted to a Monday night and played live on Māori Television.[7]
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland Lions | 18 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 704 | 270 | 434 | 31 | |||||||||
| Canterbury Bulls | 18 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 583 | 376 | 207 | 26 | |||||||||
| Waitakere Rangers | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 608 | 435 | 173 | 24 | |||||||||
| Tamaki Leopards | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 546 | 440 | 106 | 20 | |||||||||
| Counties Manukau Jetz | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 522 | 458 | 64 | 19 | |||||||||
| Harbour League | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 476 | 446 | 30 | 18 | |||||||||
| Wellington Orcas | 18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 452 | 549 | -97 | 12 | |||||||||
| Waicoa Bay Stallions | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 494 | 662 | -168 | 12 | |||||||||
| Central Falcons | 18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 415 | 678 | -263 | 12 | |||||||||
| Northern Storm | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 314 | 802 | -488 | 6 | |||||||||
The playoff system used was the McIntyre final five system. This meant that:
| width=5=100 | Date | width=130 | Match | width=150 | Winner | width=13 | width=150 | Loser | width=13 | width=190 | Venue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elimination Play-off | Tamaki Leopards | 25 | Counties Manukau Jetz | 12 | Mt Smart Stadium | ||||||||
| 26 August | Preliminary Semifinal | Canterbury Bulls | 26 | Waitakere Rangers | 20 | Rugby League Park | |||||||
| Elimination Semifinal | Tamaki Leopards | 25 | Waitakere Rangers | 24 | North Harbour Stadium | ||||||||
| 3 September | Qualification Semifinal | Auckland Lions | 27 | Canterbury Bulls | 14 | Western Springs Stadium | |||||||
| 11 September TV Match | Preliminary Final | Canterbury Bulls | 30 | Tamaki Leopards | 6 | Mt Smart Stadium |
| Team | Halftime | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland Lions | 14 | 25 | |
| Canterbury Bulls | 12 | 18 |
| Tries (Auckland) | 1: K.Wright, R.Wigg, M.Start | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries (Canterbury) | 1: S.Hurrell, C.Fraser, L.Fanene | |
| Goals (Auckland) | 6: S.Buckingham | |
| Goals (Canterbury) | 3: S.Hurrell | |
| Field Goals Goals (Auckland) | 1: S.Buckingham | |
| Date | 18 September | |
| Venue | Mt Smart Stadium | |
| Broadcast | Māori Television |
Auckland won the National First Division championship.[2] They were coached by Sam Panapa and defeated Wellington 32–14 in the final at Wise Park. Canterbury and Waikato also competed. The squads were limited to players that had played less than three Bartercard Cup matches that season.
See main article: 2006 New Zealand Warriors season. The New Zealand Warriors competed in the National Rugby League competition. They finished 10th out of 15 teams and failed to make the playoffs.
See also: Auckland Rugby League club trophies.
The Mount Albert Lions won the Fox Memorial trophy, the Rukutai Shield (minor premiership) and the Roope Rooster. The Lions defeated the Papakura Sea Eagles, 49–6, in the final.[2] Mangere East Hawks won the Stormont Shield.
The Manurewa Marlins won the Sharman Cup (Division Two) while Hibiscus Coast won the Phelan Shield (Division Three).
Richie Blackmore coached Otahuhu.[2]
Hornby won the Canterbury Rugby League title.
Turangawaewae defeated the Pikiao Warriors in the Waicoa Bay championship.
The Paikea Whalers defeated EITSA 42-18 to win the Eastern Alliance championship.[19]