The Auckland Warriors 1999 season was the

Auckland Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

5th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. The coach of the team was Mark Graham while

Matthew Ridge Matthew John Ridge (born 27 August 1968) is a New Zealand television presenter, and a former rugby union and rugby league footballer. A fullback in both codes, Ridge played rugby union for Auckland and became an All Black, but never won an ...

was the club's captain.

Milestones

*13 March – Round 2:

Tony Tatupu Kuripitone "Tony" Tatupu is a former professional rugby league footballer. He played as a and in the and represented both New Zealand and Western Samoa. Tatupu is the uncle of the rugby league footballer; Matthew Wright. Playing career Tatupu ...

plays his 50th match for the club. *21 March – Round 3:

Brady Malam Brady Malam (born 14 March 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer. His preferred position was at . Early years A junior from the Glenora club, Malam played for Auckland at before bulking up and moving to in his late teens. He ...

plays his 50th match for the club. *16 May – Round 11:

Tony Tuimavave Antonio (Tony) Emil Tuimavave is a Samoan former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, who was the head coach of the Ponsonby Ponies from 2010, primarily as a also as a . He was nicknamed The Chief because he ...

plays his 50th match for the club. *30 May – Round 13:

Logan Swann Logan Swann (born 10 February 1975) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. Swann is related to several other international rugby league players, notably cousins Willie Swann and Anthony Swann. ...

plays his 50th match for the club. *21 August – Round 25:

Stacey Jones Stacey William Jones (born 7 May 1976) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He is currently the head coach of New Zealand national rugby league te ...

becomes the first player to appear in 100 first-grade games for the club.

Jersey & Sponsors

For 1999 the Warriors again used a similar style of jersey, produced by

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

, with

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

the shirt sponsor and Bartercard as sleeve sponsor.

Sale to Tainui

Between the 1998 and 1999 seasons the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

sold the Auckland Warriors to a consortium that included majority investor the

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...

tribe as well as

Graham Lowe Sir Graham Michael Lowe is the owner of the Bradford Bulls together with fellow New Zealander Andrew Chalmers. He is a New Zealand former rugby league football coach and administrator. He previously coached in Australia and England and was the ...

and Malcolm Boyle. The new owners cleaned out the management and coaching structures and also straightened the tongue on the Warriors logo, as a curved tongue is believed to be cursed in Māori culture. The consortium paid $2 million in cash, $1.5 million in deferred settlement over three years and an annual development grant of $250,000. The Auckland Rugby League was forced to write off the deferred settlement in 2000 when the Auckland Warriors folded and the assets were purchased by the New Zealand Warriors.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009'', 2009. .

Fixtures

The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 1999, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Country Carnival

Regular season

Ladder

Squad

Thirty two players were used by the Warriors in 1999, including eight players making their first grade debuts.

Staff

*Chief executive officer: Trevor McKewen *Football manager: Hugh McGahan

Coaching Staff

*Head coach: Mark Graham *Assistant coach:

Mike McClennan Michael James McClennan (26 January 1944 – October 2019) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who played for the New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand national team. McClennan went on to coach Auckland rugby league team and ...

''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 1998. p.58

Transfers

Gains

Mid-Season Gains

Losses

Mid-Season Losses

Other Teams

During the 1999 season players not selected for first grade competed in the

NZRL The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

's National Provincial competition. The Warriors also sent four players a week to play for the

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, Queensland, Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum, Queensland, Wynnum. They competed in the Bri ...

and Brisbane Souths.Peter Jessu
Price could rule out stadium
''New Zealand Herald'', 18 September 1999

Awards

Jason Death Jason Death (pronounced ; born 25 August 1971) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a , he played for the Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys, New Zealand Warriors and ...

won the club's Player of the Year award.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002'',

, 2002. p.50

References

External links

Warriors official site
{{1999 in rugby league New Zealand Warriors seasons Auckland Warriors season

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...