1997 Auckland Warriors season

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.

1997 Auckland Warriors season
SL Rank7th
1997 recordWins: 7; draws: 0; losses: 11
Points scoredFor: 332; against: 406
Team information
CEOBill MacGowan
CoachJohn Monie
Frank Endacott
Captain
StadiumEricsson Stadium
Avg. attendance15,442
Top scorers
TriesSean Hoppe (11)
GoalsMarc Ellis (25)
PointsMarc Ellis (71)
← 1996 1998 →

Milestones

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  • 12 April - Round 7: Sean Hoppe plays his 50th match for the club.
  • 19 April - Round 8: Gene Ngamu and Tea Ropati play in their 50th match for the club.
  • 27 April - Round 9: Stephen Kearney plays his 50th match for the club.
  • 6 July - Round 14: Stacey Jones plays his 50th match for the club.

Jersey & Sponsors

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The Warriors adopted a new jersey in 1997 that matched the Super League style used by the other nine teams in the competition. The jerseys were made by Nike, Inc.

Fixtures

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The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1997, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Regular season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
1 March Round 1   Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium, Brisbane Loss 2 - 14 Ridge (1) 42,361
8 March Round 2   Hunter Mariners Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 18 - 14 Hoppe (2), Eru Ridge (3) 20,300
17 March Round 3   Cronulla Sharks Shark Park, Sydney Loss 8 - 34 Betts Ridge (2) 16,860
21 March Round 4   Adelaide Rams Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 12 - 16 Jones, Tuimavave Ellis (2) 13,000
29 March Round 5   Penrith Panthers Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 16 - 14 Betts, Hoppe, T.Ropati Ellis (1), Ridge (1) 19,400
7 April Round 6   Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium, Canberra Win 31 - 24 Henare, Hoppe, Jones, Kearnery, I.Ropati Ellis (5 + FG) 15,061
12 April Round 7   Hunter Mariners Topper Stadium, Newcastle Loss 10 - 18 Hoppe, I.Ropati Ellis (1) 7,719
19 April Round 8   Canterbury Bulldogs Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 24 - 38 Eru, Jones, I.Ropati, T.Ropati Ellis (4) 17,000
27 April Round 9   North Queensland Cowboys Stockland Stadium, Townsville Loss 22 - 30 Endacott, Hoppe, T.Ropati Ellis (5) 12,464
4 May Round 10   Brisbane Broncos Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 18 - 34 Hoppe (2), T.Ropati Ellis (3) 16,471
26 May Round 11   Canberra Raiders Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Loss 10 - 20 Ellis, Ridge Ellis (1) 15,100
1 June Round 12   Western Reds WACA Ground, Perth Loss 12 - 24 Eru, Hoppe Ngamu (2) 10,203
6 June WCC 1   St Helens R.F.C. Knowsley Road, St. Helens Win 42 - 14 Hoppe (2), A.Swann (2), Jones, Kearney,
T.Ropati
Ridge (7) 8,911
14 June WCC 2   Bradford Bulls Odsal Stadium, Bradford Win 20 - 16 Jones, Ridge, Staladi Ridge (4) 13,133
23 June WCC 3   Warrington Wolves Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington Win 56 - 28 T.Ropati (4), A.Swann (2), Kearney, Ngamu,
Ridge, Vagana
Ridge (8) 4,428
29 June Round 13   Penrith Panthers Penrith Stadium, Sydney Loss 22 - 26 Eru (2), Jones, Staladi Ngamu (3) 4,446
6 July Round 14   Cronulla Sharks Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 11 - 8 Ellis Ridge (3), Jones (FG) 12,568
11 July Round 15   Adelaide Rams Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Win 18 - 8 Oudenryn, T.Ropati Ellis (3) 13,278
18 July WCC 4   Bradford Bulls Ericsson Stadium, Auckland 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. Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 70 - 6 Ngamu (3), Eru (2), Hoppe (2), Oudenryn (2),
Betts, Ellis, Jones
Ridge (11) 18,354
3 August WCC 6   Warrington Wolves Lancaster Park, Christchurch Win 16 - 4 Eru, Jones, Kearney Ridge (2) 5,500
11 August Round 16   Canterbury Bulldogs Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney Loss 18 - 40 Hoppe, Oudenryn, A.Swann Ridge (3) 5,126
16 August Round 17   Western Reds Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 30 - 22 Ridge (2), Betts, Jones, Kearney Ridge (5) 13,142
24 August Round 18   North Queensland Cowboys Ericsson Stadium, Auckland Win 50 - 22 Ellis (3), Jones (2), Bailey, Hoppe,
Oudenryn, A.Swann
Ngamu (7) 12,000

World Club Challenge Finals

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
3 October Qualifying Final   Bradford Bulls Ericsson Stadium, Auckland 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 ANZ Stadium, Brisbane Loss 16 - 22 Oudenryn (2), Endacott Ridge (2) 9,686

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   Brisbane (P) 18 14 1 3 481 283 +198 29
2   Cronulla 18 12 0 6 403 230 +173 24
3   Canberra 18 11 0 7 436 337 +99 22
4   Canterbury 18 10 0 8 453 447 +6 20
5   Penrith 18 9 0 9 431 462 -31 18
6   Hunter 18 7 0 11 350 363 -13 14
7   Auckland 18 7 0 11 332 406 -74 14
8   Perth 18 7 0 11 321 456 -135 14
9   Adelaide 18 6 1 11 303 402 -99 13
10   North Queensland 18 5 2 11 328 452 -124 12
  • (P) - Premiers


WCC Australasia Pool A

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Club Played Won Lost Drawn For Against Diff. Points
  Brisbane Broncos 6 6 0 0 270 52 218 12
  Auckland Warriors 6 6 0 0 268 82 186 12
  Cronulla Sharks 6 6 0 0 230 54 176 12
  Penrith Panthers 6 6 0 0 256 120 136 12
  Canberra Raiders 6 5 1 0 302 108 194 10
  Canterbury Bulldogs 6 4 2 0 218 121 97 8

Squad

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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 Phil Blake   FB / HK 10 March 1995 2 0 0 0 0
3 Sean Hoppe   WG 10 March 1995 18 11 0 0 44
6 Gene Ngamu   FE 10 March 1995 17 0 12 0 24
10 Hitro Okesene   PR / HK 10 March 1995 1 0 0 0 0
11 Stephen Kearney   SR 10 March 1995 17 2 0 0 8
13 Tony Tuimavave   /   PR / LK 10 March 1995 7 1 0 0 4
15 Tea Ropati   /   CE / FE 10 March 1995 16 5 0 0 20
18 Joe Vagana   /   PR 18 March 1995 17 0 0 0 0
19 Syd Eru   HK 28 March 1995 18 5 0 0 20
24 Stacey Jones   HB 23 April 1995 18 7 0 1 29
28 Denis Betts   SR 4 June 1995 14 3 0 0 12
29 Marc Ellis   FB / WG 31 March 1996 16 5 25 1 71
30 Mark Horo   PR / SR 31 March 1996 15 0 0 0 0
33 Awen Guttenbeil   /   SR 14 April 1996 4 0 0 0 0
35 Iva Ropati   CE 19 April 1996 5 3 0 0 12
36 Anthony Swann   /   CE 23 June 1996 18 2 0 0 8
37 Brady Malam   PR 23 June 1996 15 0 0 0 0
38 Bryan Henare   SR 23 July 1996 11 1 0 0 4
40 Matthew Ridge   FB 1 March 1997 9 3 18 0 48
41 Grant Young   PR 1 March 1997 9 0 0 0 0
42 Logan Swann   SR 1 March 1997 13 0 0 0 0
43 Steve Buckingham   FE 17 March 1997 2 0 0 0 0
44 Shane Endacott   FE 29 March 1997 8 1 0 0 4
45 Paul Staladi   WG 27 April 1997 4 1 0 0 4
46 Meti Noovao   CE / LK 1 June 1997 1 0 0 0 0
47 Lee Oudenryn   WG 6 July 1997 5 4 0 0 16
48 Aaron Whittaker   HB 29 June 1997 1 0 0 0 0
49 David Bailey   CE 11 August 1997 3 1 0 0 4
50 Jerry Seu Seu   /   PR 16 August 1997 1 0 0 0 0

Staff

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  • Chief Executive Officer: Ian Robson, replaced by Bill MacGowan in February 1997[1]

Coaching Staff

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Transfers

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Gains

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Player Previous Club Length Notes
Matthew Ridge Manly Sea Eagles Had initially signed and trained with the side in 1996, until the Super League season was postponed.
Grant Young South Queensland Crushers
Shane Endacott Canterbury Country Cardinals
Lee Oudenryn Gold Coast Seagulls

Losses

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Player Club Notes
Aaron Lester Whitehaven
Doc Murray Wigan Warriors
Nigel Vagana Warrington Wolves
Mark Carter Auckland Rugby Football Union
Andy Platt Salford City Reds
John Kirwan NEC Green Rockets
Tony Tatupu Warrington Wolves
Gavin Hill Retired
Greg Alexander Penrith Panthers
Richie Blackmore Leeds Rhinos

Awards

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Stacey Jones won the club's Player of the Year award.[2]

Other Teams

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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.

Grand Final Teams

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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.

References

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  1. ^ a b Frank Endacott with John Coffey Being Frank:The Frank Endacott Story. Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett, 2002. ISBN 1-86958-922-X.
  2. ^ John Coffey Jones honoured as `Player of the Year'[dead link] The Press, 29 August 1997
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