2018 New Zealand Warriors season

The 2018 New Zealand Warriors season was the 24th season in the club's history. Coached by Stephen Kearney and captained by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the Warriors completed the National Rugby League's 2018 Telstra Premiership regular season in the number eight position, qualifying for the finals.[1] They were defeated in the 1st Elimination Final by Penrith and did not progress further.[2]

2018 New Zealand Warriors season
NRL Rank8th
2018 recordWins: 15; draws: 0; losses: 9
Points scoredFor: 472; against: 447
Team information
CEOCameron George
CoachStephen Kearney
Assistant coachAndrew McFadden
Stacey Jones
Captain
StadiumMount Smart Stadium
Avg. attendance16,830
High attendance25,600 (vs. North Queensland Cowboys, round 5)
Top scorers
TriesDavid Fusitu'a (22)
GoalsShaun Johnson (33)
PointsShaun Johnson (82)
← 2017 2019 →

Milestones

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Jersey and sponsors

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In 2018 the Warriors jerseys will again be made by Canterbury of New Zealand.

 

Fixtures

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Pre-season training

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Pre-season training began on 1 November, with the exception of 14 players involved in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[3]

Pre-season matches

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The Warriors and Melbourne will headline a two-day festival in Rotorua that includes a regional nines tournament.[4]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
Saturday 17 February Trial 1 Melbourne Storm Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua Win 20-14 Kata, Fusitu’a, Sao, Soosemea Lino (2) 5,123 [5]

Regular season

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Home matches were played at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland,[6] while one away game was also played in New Zealand, at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.

The Warriors opened their season in Perth against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 10 March as part of a double header at Perth Stadium. Mount Smart Stadium will hosted a double header on 7 April when the Warriors played the North Queensland Cowboys and the Wests Tigers played the Melbourne Storm.[7]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
10 March Round 1 South Sydney Rabbitohs Perth Stadium, Perth
(doubleheader)
Win 32 – 20 Fusitu'a (2), Papali'i, Lisone, Maumalo, Kata Johnson (4/7) 38,842 [8] [9]
17 March Round 2 Gold Coast Titans Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 20 – 8 Fusitu'a (2), Tuivasa-Sheck, Kata Johnson (2/4) 14,132[10] [11]
24 March Round 3 Canberra Raiders GIO Stadium, Canberra Win 20 – 19 Hiku, Harris, Luke Johnson (3/3, 2 FGs) 11,963[12] [13]
31 March Round 4 Sydney Roosters Allianz Stadium, Sydney Win 30 – 6 Lino, Pulu, Kata, Fusitu'a Lino (7/7) 14,493[14] [15]
7 April Round 5 North Queensland Cowboys Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
(doubleheader)
Win 22 – 12 Fusitu'a (2), Maumalo Johnson (5/5) 25,600[16] [17]
14 April Round 6 Brisbane Broncos Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 18 – 27 Fusitu'a, Green, Johnson Johnson (3/4) 16,636[18] [19]
20 April Round 7 St. George Illawarra Dragons Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 20 – 12 Lino, Gelling, Luke, Papali'i Lino (2/4) 18,295[20] [21]
25 April Round 8 Melbourne Storm AAMI Park, Melbourne Loss 10 – 50 Fusitu'a (2) Lino (1/2) 25,731[22] [23]
5 May Round 9 Wests Tigers Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 26 – 4 Lawton (2), Fusitu'a, Maumalo, Johnson Johnson (3/6) 16,727[24] [25]
12 May Round 10 Sydney Roosters Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 0 – 32 14,095[26] [27]
18 May Round 11 Parramatta Eels ANZ Stadium, Sydney Win 24 – 14 Fusitu'a, Hiku, Tevaga, Luke Lino (4/5) 9,467[28] [27]
26 May Round 12 South Sydney Rabbitohs Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 10 – 30 Paasi, Kata Luke (1/2) 15,958[29] [30]
Round 13 Bye
9 June Round 14 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles AMI Stadium, Christchurch Win 34 – 14 Fusitu'a (3), Papali'i, Harris, Johnson Johnson (5/6) 17,357 [31]
15 June Round 15 North Queensland Cowboys 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville Win 23 – 16 Maumalo, Tuivasa-Sheck, Kata Johnson (6/6) 11,062 [32]
29 June Round 16 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 15 – 18 Kata, Gelling Johnson (4/4) 14,195 [33]
6 July Round 17 Penrith Panthers Panthers Stadium, Penrith Loss 4 – 34 Maumalo Johnson (0/1) 10,255 [34]
15 July Round 18 Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Win 26 – 6 Kata (2), Beale, Luke, Paasi Johnson (3/5) 37,493 [35]
22 July Round 19 Melbourne Storm Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Loss 6 – 12 Beale Johnson (1/1) 17,695 [36]
29 July Round 20 Gold Coast Titans Cbus Super Stadium, Robina Loss 12 – 36 Johnson, Lawnton Johnson (2/2) 15,159 [37]
4 August Round 21 St. George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium, Wollongong Win 18 – 12 Kata (2), Luke Johnson (3/4) 13,924 [38]
10 August Round 22 Newcastle Knights Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 20 – 4 Blair, Fusitu'a, Green Johnson (4/4) 14,395 [39]
19 August Round 23 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs ANZ Stadium, Sydney Loss 26 – 27 Fusitu'a (2), Beale, Hiku, Tuivasa-Sheck Johnson (3/5) 9,688 [40]
24 August Round 24 Penrith Panthers Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 36 – 16 Fusitu'a (3), Kata, Lino, Paasi Johnson (6/8) 17,195 [41]
31 August Round 25 Canberra Raiders Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland Win 20 - 16

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   Sydney Roosters 24 16 0 8 1 542 361 +181 34
2   Melbourne Storm 24 16 0 8 1 536 363 +173 34
3   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 16 0 8 1 582 437 +145 34
4   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 16 0 8 1 519 423 +96 34
5   Penrith Panthers 24 15 0 9 1 517 461 +56 32
6   Brisbane Broncos 24 15 0 9 1 556 500 +56 32
7   St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 15 0 9 1 519 472 +47 32
8   New Zealand Warriors 24 15 0 9 1 472 447 +25 32
9   Wests Tigers 24 12 0 12 1 377 460 −83 26
10   Canberra Raiders 24 10 0 14 1 563 540 +23 22
11   Newcastle Knights 24 9 0 15 1 414 607 −193 20
12   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 8 0 16 1 428 474 −46 18
13   North Queensland Cowboys 24 8 0 16 1 449 521 −72 18
14   Gold Coast Titans 24 8 0 16 1 472 582 −110 18
15   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 7 0 17 1 500 622 −122 16
16   Parramatta Eels 24 6 0 18 1 374 550 −176 14

Squad

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No. Name Position Warriors Debut App T G FG Pts
125 Simon Mannering SR 26 June 2005 8 0 0 0 0
168 Shaun Johnson HB 4 June 2011 6 2 20 2 50
189 David Fusitua WG 15 March 2014 12 12 0 0 48
191 Agnatius Paasi PR 19 July 2014 10 1 0 0 4
193 Solomone Kata CE 7 March 2015 10 4 0 0 16
196 Sam Lisone PR 7 March 2015 9 1 0 0 4
197 Albert Vete PR 7 March 2015 2 0 0 0 0
201 Ken Maumalo WG 16 May 2015 12 3 0 0 12
202 Mason Lino HB 24 August 2015 5 2 14 0 36
203 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck FB 5 March 2016 11 1 0 0 4
204 Blake Ayshford CE 5 March 2016 0 0 0 0 0
206 Issac Luke HK 5 March 2016 11 3 1 0 14
207 Nathaniel Roache HK 5 March 2016 0 0 0 0 0
208 James Gavet PR 5 March 2016 7 0 0 0 0
209 Jazz Tevaga HK 20 March 2016 9 1 0 0 4
210 Ligi Sao LK 16 April 2016 4 0 0 0 0
213 Bunty Afoa PR 2 July 2016 12 0 0 0 0
215 Isaiah Papalii PR 5 March 2017 8 2 0 0 8
218 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad WG 30 April 2017 0 0 0 0 0
219 Chris Satae PR 22 July 2017 3 0 0 0 0
220 James Bell SR 28 July 2017 0 0 0 0 0
221 Peta Hiku UB 10 March 2018 12 2 0 0 8
222 Blake Green FE 10 March 2018 12 1 0 0 4
223 Adam Blair PR 10 March 2018 12 0 0 0 0
224 Tohu Harris SR 10 March 2018 11 1 0 0 4
225 Sam Cook HK 10 March 2018 2 0 0 0 0
226 Leivaha Pulu SR 10 March 2018 6 1 0 0 4
227 Anthony Gelling CE 30 March 2018 5 1 0 0 4
228 Joseph Vuna SR 25 April 2018 1 0 0 0 0
229 Karl Lawton UB 5 May 2018 3 2 0 0 8
230 Gerard Beale UB 18 May 2018 2 0 0 0 0
Matiu Love-Henry SR 0 0 0 0 0
Zac Santo UB 0 0 0 0 0
Manaia Cherrington HK 0 0 0 0 0
Hayze Perham FB 0 0 0 0 0
King Vuniyawa SR 0 0 0 0 0
Patrick Sipley PR 0 0 0 0 0
Chanel Harris-Tavita HB 0 0 0 0 0
Junior Pauga CE 0 0 0 0 0
Lewis Soosemea WG 0 0 0 0 0

Staff

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Transfers

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References

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