Last year was the Warriors’ 30th season in the big time, and to be honest, they haven’t met with as much success as they should have in that time.
Their best seasons were in 2002 and 2011 when they finished runners-up, but they’ve barely threatened in recent years, making the finals just twice since their grand final appearance in 2011.
Despite this lack of success, they’ve had a host of great players wear the blue, green, red and white, but who deserves to be included in their greatest team of all time?
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Here’s my line-up, and the only selection criteria is that they must have played a minimum of 50 top-grade games for the club.
Fullback: It’s hard to go past Roger Tuivasa-Scheck for the number one jersey, as he was an exceptional performer in his first stint with the Warriors between 2016 and 2021.
During that time he won both the Dally M medal (2018) and the Golden Boot award (2019) and was the first choice as fullback for the Kiwis.
Wingers: The Warriors have been blessed with some excellent wingers over the last 30 years, including the likes of Sean Hoppe and Francis Meli, but I can’t go past the wing pairing of Manu Vatuvei and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
Vatuvei was an absolute beast and scored more tries for the Warriors than any other player, including 22 try doubles and six try trebles, and he also played 28 tests for NZ and two for Tonga.
DWZ is one of the most fearless ball runners in the game and can score some freakish tries, and he too is a regular selection for NZ.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak of the Warriors scores a try. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)
Centres: The Warriors have had some good centres on their books over the years, with the likes of Solomone Kata, Konrad Hurrell, Peta Hiku, Brent Tate and Jerome Ropati all lining up on the edge at some stage, but the two best for me are Nigel Vagana and Clinton Toopi.
Vagana was one of the best in the business and really established himself in the NZ test team during his time with the Warriors, while no one played more games in the centres for the Warriors than Toopi, a powerful ball-runner who rarely missed Kiwi selection.
Five-Eighth: With due respect to the likes of James Maloney, Gene Ngamu and Thomas Leuluai, the two stand-out halves for the Warriors have been Shaun Johnson who’ll wear the six jersey, and Stacey Jones who will play halfback.
Johnson was an irresistible attacking force, far more effective in a running five-eighth role, is the Warriors highest-ever point scorer by some margin and has represented the Kiwis on 35 occasions.
Shaun Johnson of the New Zealand Warriors. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Halfback: Stacey Jones is arguably the greatest Kiwi to have ever pulled on a boot and was both a magnificent performer and an inspirational leader during his 12 years with the club. He was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame in 2019 and played 46 tests for NZ.
Front-Rowers: There have been some impressive big men turn out up front for the Warriors over the years, with Sam Rapira, Jerry Seuseu, Joe Vagana and Addin Fonua-Blake all immediately springing to mind, but the best of them all, in my opinion, are Steven Price and Ruben Wiki, who will be in the run-on side and Ben Matulino and Jacob Lillyman who’ll be on the bench.
Price proved to be a great leader for the Warriors across the 2005 to 2009 seasons and was still one of the first forwards picked for both Australia and Queensland during that time, while Wiki was one of the hardest men to ever play the game and a player who owned the middle of the ruck. No one messed with Ruben.
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Hooker: A 43-time Kiwi representative Isaac Luke is the stand-out pick here and he wasn’t just a great dummy half but was also a feared competitor who loved to dominate the opposition. He didn’t get the nickname “Bully” for nothing.
Second-Rowers: Hard to go past Simon Mannering and the recently retired Tohu Harris for the back-row positions.
Mannering holds the record for most games for the Warriors in a sterling 14-year career which also included 45 tests for the Kiwis, while Harris has been a rock for the Warriors since joining them in 2018.
There have been few better back rowers to play the game than this pair.
Tohu Harris. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Lock: Big Logan Swann completes a very imposing run-on pack, adding his damaging ball-running and crunching defence. Swann was good enough to turn out 29 times for the Kiwis in his career.
Bench: In selecting the bench I’ve gone for a utility player, a backrower, and two front rowers.
Utility – Surely there’s none better for the utility role than Lance Hohaia, a player comfortable anywhere in the spine, and with 28 tests for the Kiwis under his belt.
Back-row – The largely underrated and relentless workhorse in Michael Luck wears the number 15 jersey and you know he’ll never back off nor leave anything on the paddock.
Front-rowers – Ben Matulino and Jacob Lillyman missed the run-on side but form a solid bench front-row rotation. Both tough and experienced performers, they’ll add their own version of impact off the bench.
Here’s how they line up, showing the number of games they each played for the Warriors.
1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (131*)
2. Manu Vatuvei (226)
3. Nigel Vagana (71)
4. Clinton Toopi (129)
5. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (71*)
6. Shaun Johnson (226)
7. Stacey Jones (269)
8. Steve Price (91)
9. Isaac Luke (83)
10. Ruben Wiki (C) (87)
11. Simon Mannering (301)
12. Tohu Harris (119)
13. Logan Swann (201)
14. Lance Hohia (185)
15. Michael Luck (150)
16. Ben Matulino (212)
17. Jacob Lillyman (188)
That’s some side, a top-class spine, a powerful pack of forwards, and some exciting outside backs.
Did I leave anyone out?