2015 New Zealand Warriors season


The 2015 New Zealand Warriors season was the 21st in the club's history. Coached by Andrew McFadden and captained by Simon Mannering, the Warriors competed in the National Rugby League's 2015 Telstra Premiership. They also competed in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines tournament.

Milestones

Fixtures

Pre-season training

The bulk of the Warriors' 2015 NRL squad began preseason training on 3 November 2014.

Auckland Nines

The Warriors finished second in the Hunua pool at the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines before being eliminated by the Cronulla Sharks in the quarterfinals.
The squad for the Nines was Shaun Johnson, Matthew Allwood, Nathan Friend, Ben Henry, Ryan Hoffman, Solomone Kata, Ngani Laumape, Sam Lisone, Tuimoala Lolohea, Sione Lousi, Suaia Matagi, Ben Matulino, Ken Maumalo, Nathaniel Roache, Bodene Thompson, Sam Tomkins, Chad Townsend and Manu Vatuvei. Simon Mannering, Dominique Peyroux, Sebastine Ikahihifo and Jonathan Wright were originally named in a 22-man training squad.
Solomone Kata was named in the team of the tournament.
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
31 JanuaryHunua 1 Gold Coast TitansEden Park, AucklandWin17–10Kata, Hoffman, LoloheaJohnson 43,000
31 JanuaryHunua 2 Canberra RaidersEden Park, AucklandLoss19–23Johnson, Maumalo, Lolohea, AllwoodJohnson 43,000
1 FebruaryHunua 3 Wests TigersEden Park, AucklandWin22–8Kata, Vatuvei, Lolohea, HenryJohnson 43,000
1 FebruaryQuarter Final Cronulla SharksEden Park, AucklandLoss12–14Vatuvei, Kata, Laumape43,000

Pre-season matches

The Warriors were planning to host the St. George Illawarra Dragons at Trafalgar Park in Nelson, however the match was cancelled when the Dragons were invited to compete in the World Club Series. It would have been the first time the Warriors had played in Nelson.
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
7 FebruaryTrial 1Gold Coast TitansClive Berghofer Stadium, ToowoombaLoss12–22Peyroux, PeteruPewhairangi 6,827
14 FebruaryTrial 2Penrith PanthersRotorua International Stadium, RotoruaWin18–4Maumalo, Niukore, JohnsonTownsend 9,000
21 FebruaryTrial 3Warriors NSW CupBruce Pulman Park, PapakuraWin42–14Hurrell, Vatuvei, Tomkins, Friend, Kata, Mannering, JohnsonJohnson 2,000

Regular season

All home matches were played at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, with the exception of the Round 22 match, which was played at Westpac Stadium in Wellington. It was the third year in a row the Warriors took a match to Wellington, as part of the "Capital Clash".
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport
7 MarchRound 1Newcastle KnightsHunter Stadium, NewcastleLoss14–24Leuluai, HoffmanJohnson 16,146
15 MarchRound 2Canberra RaidersGIO Stadium, CanberraWin18–6Vatuvei, Kata, HoffmanJohnson 8,241
21 MarchRound 3Parramatta EelsMount Smart Stadium, AucklandWin29–16Kata, Hoffman, Lolohea, VatuveiJohnson 14,112
29 MarchRound 4Brisbane BroncosMount Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss16–24Townsend, Allwood, KataJohnson 14,670
6 AprilRound 5Melbourne StormAAMI Park, MelbourneLoss14–30Vatuvei, Friend, IkahihifoJohnson 18,179
11 AprilRound 6Wests TigersMount Smart Stadium, AucklandWin32–22Vatuvei, Townsend, Lolohea, Johnson,
Thompson		Johnson 13,781
18 AprilRound 7North Queensland Cowboys1300SMILES Stadium, TownsvilleLoss24–28Hurrell, Wright, Kata, VatuveiJohnson 16,038
25 AprilRound 8Gold Coast TitansMount Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss28–32Fusitu'a, Matulino, Wright, Kata, ThompsonJohnson 15,102
9 MayRound 9Cronulla SharksRemondis Stadium, SydneyWin20–16Wright, Vatuvei, Kata, JohnsonJohnson 13,988
16 MayRound 10Parramatta EelsParramatta Stadium, SydneyWin17–13
Kata, Johnson, ThompsonJohnson
Townsend 		11,152
Round 11Bye-
31 MayRound 12Newcastle KnightsMount Smart Stadium, AucklandWin24–20Lolohea, Vatuvei, Kata, Matulino, WrightJohnson 13,203
6 JuneRound 13South Sydney RabbitohsNIB Stadium, PerthLoss4–36Vatuvei20,272
13 JuneRound 14Sydney RoostersMount Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss21–25Kata, Lolohea, VatuveiJohnson 14,167
20 JuneRound 15Gold Coast TitansCbus Super Stadium, RobinaWin36–14Johnson, Friend, Faitala-Mariner,
Hurrell, Thompson		Johnson 14,132
27 JuneRound 16Canberra RaidersMount Smart Stadium, AucklandWin30–8Lolohea, Thompson, Johnson, VatuveiJohnson 13,110
Round 17Bye-
12 JulyRound 18Melbourne StormMount Smart Stadium, AucklandWin28–14Lolohea, Fusitua, Thompson, JohnsonJohnson 17,278
19 JulyRound 19Sydney RoostersSydney Football Stadium, SydneyLoss0–2416,301
25 JulyRound 20Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesMount Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss12–32Johnson, VeteLolohea 15,812
1 AugustRound 21Cronulla SharksMount Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss14–18Hurrell, ManneringLolohea 12,481
8 AugustRound 22St. George Illawarra DragonsWestpac Stadium, WellingtonLoss0–3618,317
15 AugustRound 23Penrith PanthersSportingbet Stadium, SydneyLoss10–24Tomkins, HurrellLolohea 6,774
22 AugustRound 24North Queensland CowboysMount Smart Stadium, AucklandLoss16–50Lolohea, Maumalo, PeyrouxLolohea 14,412
20 AugustRound 25Wests TigersCampbelltown Sports Stadium, SydneyLoss16–50Allwood, VeteLolohea 6,700
6 SeptemberRound 26Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsANZ Stadium, SydneyLoss22–26Lolohea, Friend, KataLolohea 14,821

Ladder

Squad

No.NamePositionWarriors DebutAppTGFGPts
105HB2 May 2003101004
115WG23 May 200416110044
125SR26 June 2005241004
131PR20 May 200640000
142PR14 June 2008212008
146PR14 March 2009210000
159SR14 March 201070000
163FB12 March 201110000
168HB4 June 2011188482130
171SR4 March 201240000
172HK4 March 20122430012
173CE4 March 20121240016
176LK28 July 201291004
180WG24 March 201300000
181PR11 May 201310000
182CE3 June 201381004
183PR7 July 201390000
185FB9 March 2014131004
186HB9 March 2014222019
188PR9 March 201400000
189WG15 March 201432008
190HK13 April 201480000
192HB27 July 2014231113070
193CE7 March 201524120048
194SR7 March 20152160024
195SR7 March 20151830012
196PR7 March 2015180000
197PR7 March 2015212008
198WG15 March 20152040016
199CE29 March 2015330012
200SR25 April 2015111004
201WG16 May 201581004
202HB22 August 201530000

Staff

Gains

Losses

Other teams

As in 2014, the Warriors entered a team into the NSW Cup and the Junior Warriors competed in the Holden Cup.

NSW Cup squad

The Warriors NSW Cup side finished fourth in the regular season, however lost two consecutive play-off matches and were eliminated from the play-offs. John Palavi was named in the competition's team on the year.

Holden Cup squad

The Junior Warriors finished 7th to make the finals. They defeated the Roosters and the Broncos before being eliminated by the Penrith Panthers in the preliminary final.

Club awards

was named as the Warriors player of the year, his second time winning the award. The other finalists for the award were Simon Mannering and Shaun Johnson.
Johnson was awarded the People's choice award, Albert Vete was named the Club person of the year and Tuimoala Lolohea was named the NRL rookie of the year.
John Palavi was named the NSW Cup side's player of the year, while Mason Lino was the sides rookie of the year.
Bunty Afoa was the Junior Warrior's player of the year, while Ata Hingano was the rookie of the year.