20 of the Best: New Zealand Warriors
As we wait for season 2011 to get underway, the Making The Nut team will take a look back over the last 20 years to name the 20 best players at all sixteen teams. Merged teams will take account of both clubs pre-merger and the only rule is that a player must have played at least three years post-1990. A player's time at the club is the only time that is taken into account.
Here, Cliff Bingham looks back at the greatest New Zealand Warriors.
20. Wairangi Koopu
You could argue a case here for a better player who had a shorter period at the Warriors here such as a Greg Alexander, Kevin Campion (who would be the clear number one in a twenty of the best bleeders list) or Andy Platt, but I have chosen to reward the longer period of service provided by Koopu. Whilst never the premier back rower in the Warriors line-up (we’ll come to those players later in the list), Koopu nonetheless provided solid service to the club in 159 matches from 1999 to 2008, capped off with three appearances for the New Zealand national side in 2004 and 2005.
19. Monty Betham
I don’t know what it was about Monty, but to me it always seemed like he was 1.7 seconds away from starting a fight during his 101 appearances for the Warriors. The fact that he won five professional fights after retiring from rugby league may have validated my thought processes. Betham was certainly a tough-as-nails hooker who you did not want to mess with, captaining the Warriors in 2003 and 2004 and making nine appearances for the Kiwis. Warriors’ matches are not quite as exciting without the threat of Monty exploding at any tick of the clock.
18. Micheal Luck
In 118 matches since joining the Warriors in 2006, Luck has been doing a fantastic impression of hard-working Queensland back rowers such as Dallas Johnson, David Stagg and in years gone by, Gary Larson. He topped the NRL tackle count in 2008 with 957 tackles and in 2009 went on to break the 1,000-tackle mark, highlighted by an NRL record 74 tackles against Melbourne and 65 tackles in a 32-32 draw with Penrith. Sadly for Luck, he has been unable to break into the Queensland side for an Origin debut as yet, but should the opportunity arise, pencil him in for 50 tackles in a gritty performance.
17. Awen Guttenbeil
Another in the production line of quality Warriors backrowers, Guttenbeil was plagued by injury throughout his career but he went on to become one of the longest serving Warriors, playing 11 seasons with the club from 1996 through to 2006. The fact that eleven seasons netted only 170 appearances gives some indication as to the impact of injuries on his career. He also made 10 Test appearances for the Kiwis and in the best argument I can mount for his inclusion on this list, became the second player to ever receive a testimonial from the club after Stacey Jones.
16. Gene Ngamu
Ngamu played mainly at halfback or five eighth during his career, and is probably best known for his combination with Stacey Jones at both club level for the Warriors and at international level. He scored 283 points in 81 matches for the Warriors – including the joint record (shared with Ivan Cleary and James Maloney) for the most points in a single match for the club. He also made 25 appearances for the national side, over which he scored 11 tries.
15. Matthew Ridge
His quality as a fullback would suggest a much loftier position on this list and his number of club appearances (just 37 matches at the tail end of his career) suggest exclusion from this list entirely, so I have split the difference and placed him in the lower half. He scored 238 points in 37 first grade games for the Warriors between 1997 and his retirement in 1999. At the time of his retirement, he was the all-time top scorer in international matches for the New Zealand national side.
14. Sean Hoppe
A member of the foundation Warriors squad in 1995, Hoppe was voted the competition’s best winger in that season, and his 19 try haul remained a club record until it was surpassed by Francis Meli in 2003. All told, he racked up 44 tries in 88 appearances and his pace and elusiveness out on the wing was rewarded with 35 Test caps.
13. Brent Webb
A solid custodian with speed to burn, Webb was at his most dangerous in attack when returning the ball in broken play or when chiming into the backline as the recipient of a short ball or chaser of a kick through the line (in both cases, typically orchestrated by Stacey Jones). He made 103 appearances for the Warriors and a further 17 for the Kiwis, and was named the Supporters Player of the Year in both 2003 and 2004.
12. Nigel Vagana
One wonders how often Warriors management wished during the early ‘00s that they could have their time again when it came to re-signing Nigel Vagana. A young centre with great potential and 37 tries in 70 matches over his first three seasons at the club, he was signed by Canterbury and promptly increased his try-scoring prowess even further whilst adding a 2004 premiership ring and a celebrated international career (38 Tests in all, during which he scored 19 tries) to his CV. I think it is fair to suggest that he would have been a handy player to hold onto.
11. Ivan Cleary
An underrated nomad who played for Manly, North Sydney and the Sydney Roosters before heading across the ditch to join the Warriors, Cleary provided great service to the club is his three-year tenure from 2000 to 2002, a period which also saw the Warriors rise to a minor premiership and a Grand Final appearance. His point-scoring prowess was particularly welcome – in just 53 matches for the club he posted 439 points to sit second behind only Stacey Jones on the all-time points scoring table for the Warriors.
10. Lance Hohaia
A halfback by preference, Hohaia has great utility value and has been utilised by the Warriors at fullback, centre, halfback, five-eighth, hooker and lock. For a number of years this utility value worked against Lance in his quest for a starting position, often given the “Mr Fix-It” role coming off the interchange bench. However, from 2008 and 2009 onwards he has managed to find a spot in the starting 13 for nearly every game, spending some time in the centre before taking over the custodian role from Wade McKinnon. Entering his tenth season for the club, Hohaia is the third highest points scorers in the club history and has also made 17 appearances at international level.
9. Francis Meli
A flying winger of great repute at his peak, Meli crossed the stripe 60 times in 119 matches for the Warriors, adding 14 Test caps along the way. His watershed season was certainly 2003 – he scored a New Zealand Warriors' record 23 tries in the 2003 NRL season, with five of those tries coming in a single finals game against the Canterbury Bulldogs, a finals record which stands to this day.These feats earned him the 2003 New Zealand Warriors’ Player of the Year.
8. Simon Mannering
Regarded highly enough to be made Warriors captain in just his fifth season in the NRL and with 19 Test appearances already on his CV, Simon Mannering has become an indispensable cog in the Warriors machine. This centre-cum-backrower opened his career with 92 straight appearances before a knee injury ended the streak in late 2009. Whilst there is not one aspect of Mannering’s game that is spectacular or brilliant, he does everything very well on both sides of the ball and should continue to be a terrific servant of the club for many years to come
7. Clinton Toopi
Try to ignore his recent ‘efforts’ for the Gold Coast (yet another example of a player returning from England and struggling to pick up where they left off in the NRL) and think back to a time where Toopi was a dangerous ball-runner and punishing defender out in the centres. A time where Toopi played 22 Tests for his country and scored 57 tries in 129 matches for the Warriors. A time where opposition centres did not want their halves to play short and throw them the pill mere fractions of a second before Toopi dropped his shoulder and drove in hard. Granted, it was a long time ago – but back in the day, Clinton Toopi was an outstanding centre. You will just have to trust me and/ or your faded memories.
6. Ali Lauitiiti
During the period in the early ‘00s where the Warriors forward pack were revered as being among the hardest hitting (if not at the top of the list), this fearsome back rower was central to their reputation, winning the NRL's second-rower of the year award in 2002. International duty also called frequently, with Lauitiiti making 19 appearances in the black and white. Sadly for the Warriors faithful, he signed with the Leeds Rhinos in 2004 at the tender age of 25, and thus his NRL career ended with 115 bone-crunching displays. Opposition ball runners let out a collective sigh of relief upon his departure.
5. Stephen Kearney
In the ’20 of the Best’ article for the Melbourne Storm, fellow Nut columnist Nick Tedeschi made the argument that “Kearney is a player history has not given its proper due”. I wholeheartedly agree – how many other players can make 47 Test appearances yet are still not receive reverence as one of the all-time greats? He was a great fringe runner who set the trend for the likes of current Kiwi back rower Bronson Harrison, a strong defender and a man who personified courage and leadership on the field. The primary question in my mind is why the Warriors let him go at the end of 1998 after just 79 appearances for the club – management of the day have much to answer for on that front.
4. Manu Vatuvei
At 190 cm and 112 kgs, this leviathan winger is the leading try scorer in Warriors history, crossing the stripe on 78 occasions in just 113 games. Despite injuries preventing him from completing a full season in 2008, 2009 and 2010, he managed to top the tries tally for the Warriors on all three occasions with 16, 13 and 20 meat pies respectively. He was the 2010 Lion Red Player of the Year and collected the Vodafone One Tribe Supporters' Player of the Year award. Whilst injuries and some unsure moments when fielding opposition kicks have derailed his success on occasion, once the ball is safely in hand, Manu transforms into a human wrecking ball – far too much for many an opposition winger to handle in defence. This attacking prowess has led to 17 appearances for the Kiwis (including a World Cup record-equalling four tries against England in Newcastle and a brilliant performance in the Kiwis’ 34-20 final victory against Australia) and an International Winger of the Year award.
3. Steve Price
A staple of both the Queensland and Australian sides for the better part of the last decade, Price arrived at the Warriors in 2005 and assumed the captaincy immediately. This list has touched on the tackling exploits of Micheal Luck– for the Warriors, Price was to hit-ups and metres gained what Luck was to tackling. In particular during the 2007 season at age 33, Price stepped up his workload to new heights, breaking 300 metres gained with the ball in hand against both Cronulla and the Sydney Roosters. His performances in that season led to awards for both Captain of the Year & Prop of the Year at the 2007 Dally M Awards. Fellow Nut columnist Nick Tedeschi may disagree by virtue of the manner in which Price left Canterbury at the end of 2004, but as a diehard Queenslander I cannot say a bad word about the man.
This brings us to the final two players on the list – Stacey Jones and Ruben Wiki. Both are Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to rugby league. They were the only two modern era players to make the New Zealand rugby league team of the century (for the period from 1907 to 2006). Jones holds the club records for matches played and points scored, while Wiki holds the record for the most International caps. I am not a big enough Warriors aficionado to buy into arguments about whom was the better player, and therefore will be using the fact that Jones made almost 150 additional appearances for the Warriors as the deciding factor.
2. Ruben Wiki (ONZM)
Whilst much of his career took place in Australia’s national capital for the Green Machine before making 90 appearances for the Warriors, Wiki had a pronounced impact on the way the latter team went about their football. His 55 appearances for the Kiwis stands as the record for most number of international appearances of any rugby league player in history, albeit that Darren Lockyer is now on the cusp of passing that mark. His hard-running, hard-hitting, no-nonsense style was just the tonic that the enigmatic Warriors pack needed. The influence of both he and Steve Price cannot readily be measured in tackle and hit-up counts (nor many other tangible outcomes), but will become more evident over time as the careers of young Warriors forwards such as Sam Rapira, Russell Packer, Simon Mannering and Lewis Brown unfold. These young men played alongside two of the great forwards of the modern era – let’s hope the lessons were well learned.
1. Stacey Jones (ONZM)
“The little general” was, like many a halfback before him, small in stature but grand in on-field presence. He had great vision and ability to control the game when his team was on attack, with excellent decision-making being his hallmark – rarely did the “pass, run or kick?” question bring him undone. His kicking game in particular was sublime – often finding his outside backs with cross field bombs or placing sneaky through balls for the likes of a flying Francis Meli or Brent Webb to pounce on. Statistically, he is without peer for the Warriors – 238 appearances and 654 points for the club (both figures well in advance of the next best), along with 46 caps for the Kiwis. He also led the club to the minor premiership and a maiden Grand Final berth in 2002, scoring a brilliant 30-metre try after scurrying out of dummy half in a losing side. The Golden Boot Award for the World's best international rugby league player (only the second time that a New Zealander had won the award) was the culmination of a phenomenal year for Jones and indeed the high point of a wonderful career.
Thanks to Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images AsiaPac for use of the photo
