2002 New Zealand Warriors season
The New Zealand Warriors 2002 season was the New Zealand Warriors 8th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team was Daniel Anderson while Stacey Jones was the club captain. The club finished the year as minor premiers and made the grand final for the first time, however they were defeated 30–8 by the Sydney Roosters.
Milestones
- 14 April – Round 5: The Warriors have a then record win over the Northern Eagles.
- 14 April – Round 5: Stacey Jones played in his 150th first grade match for the club, the first person to reach the milestone.
- 14 April – Round 5: Ivan Cleary scores 28 points in a match, equaling the club's point scoring record set by Gene Ngamu in 1996.
- 23 June – Round 15: Henry Fa'afili played in his 50th match for the club.
- 18 August – Round 23: Clinton Toopi played in his 50th match for the club.
- 1 September – Round 25: Jerry Seuseu played in his 100th match for the club.
- 6 September – Round 26: Ivan Cleary played in his 50th match for the club.
- The Warriors claim the NRL minor premiership for the first time. The Warriors received A$100,000 prize money for finishing the regular season as minor premiers.
- Daniel Anderson is named Dally M Coach of the Year and Ali Lauitiiti Dally M Second Rower of the Year.
- 15 September: – The Warriors host their first finals match, beating Canberra 36–20 at a sold-out Ericsson Stadium.
Jersey and sponsors
Fixtures
The Warriors used Ericsson Stadium as their home ground in 2002, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.Pre-season trials
Regular season
Final series
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |
| 15 September | Qualifying Final | Canberra Raiders | Ericsson Stadium, Auckland | Win | 36–20 | Carlaw, Fa'afili, Jones, Lauiti'iti, Meli, Tookey | Cleary | 25,800 | |
| Semi Final | Bye | - | |||||||
| 29 September | Preliminary Final | Cronulla Sharks | Telstra Stadium, Sydney | Win | 16–10 | Carlaw, Tony, Toopi | Cleary | 45,702 |
Grand Final
First HalfIn the 23rd minute, Sydney opened the scoring with a try to Shannon Hegarty with Craig Fitzgibbon converting taking Sydney to a 6–0 lead. Not long after, Ivan Cleary got New Zealand on the board with a penalty goal making the score 6–2, which remained that scoreline until halftime.
Second Half
In the 46th minute, New Zealand took the lead for the first time through a Stacey Jones try and an Ivan Cleary conversion taking the scoreline to 8–6. Approaching the 60th minute, Sydney regained the lead with Craig Wing scoring the try and Craig Fitgibbon converting another to make the score 12–8 after a spectacular 40/20 kick from Sydney captain Brad Fittler. In the last 15 minutes Craig Fitzgibbon, Chris Flannery and Bryan Fletcher scored tries for Sydney with Craig Fizgibbon converting all three to take Sydney to a 30–8 win. By winning the grand final the Roosters also received A$400,000 in prize money.
| 30 | Sydney Roosters |
| Tries | Hegarty, Wing, Fitzgibbon, Flannery, Fletcher |
| Goals | Fitzgibbon 5/5 |
| Field Goals | |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Tries | Jones |
| Goals | Cleary 2/2 |
| Field Goals |
Clive Churchill Medal: Craig Fitzgibbon
When They Scored
23rd Minute: Sydney 6–0
29th Minute: Sydney 6–2
46th Minute: New Zealand 8–6
58th Minute: Sydney 12–8
65th Minute: Sydney 18–8
71st Minute: Sydney 24–8
75th Minute: Sydney 30–8
Ladder
- Canterbury Bulldogs were stripped of 37 competition points due to a salary cap breach.
Squad
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Warriors Debut | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| 24 | HB | 23 April 1995 | 24 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 49 | ||
| 33 | /  | SR | 14 April 1996 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |
| 42 | SR | 1 March 1997 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 50 | /  | PR | 16 August 1997 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| 55 | / | SR | 19 April 1998 | 25 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 | |
| 61 | / | HK / LK | 8 March 1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 64 | CE / SR | 9 April 1999 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| 65 | / | WG | 2 May 1999 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |
| 66 | CE | 2 May 1999 | 26 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 72 | ||
| 73 | FB / CE | 6 February 2000 | 26 | 8 | 105 | 0 | 242 | ||
| 76 | PR | 6 February 2000 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| 77 | CE | 14 February 2000 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 80 | CE | 18 March 2000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 81 | / | WG | 26 March 2000 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 | |
| 86 | /  | LK | 18 February 2001 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 87 | / | PR | 18 February 2001 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | |
| 88 | PR | 25 February 2001 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 90 | / | UH | 9 March 2001 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |
| 92 | WG | 7 April 2001 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 93 | / | PR | 1 June 2001 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 95 | CE | 24 March 2002 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | ||
| 96 | HB / HK | 24 March 2002 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 97 | FB | 1 April 2002 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| 98 | CE / LK | 1 April 2002 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 99 | UB | 6 April 2002 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 36 | ||
| 100 | / | CE | 7 July 2002 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 101 | FE / LK | 21 July 2002 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 102 | PR | 1 September 2002 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 103 | PR / SR | 6 September 2002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Staff
- Chief Executive Officer: Mick Watson
Coaching staff
- Head Coach: Daniel Anderson
- Assistant Coach: Tony Kemp
- Video Analysis: Rohan Smith
Transfers