2010 New Zealand Warriors season

The New Zealand Warriors 2010 season was the New Zealand Warriors 16th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League and finished fifth in regular season before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The coach of the team was Ivan Cleary while Simon Mannering was the club's captain. The Warriors won the club championship award for having the best combined results between the first grade team and the under-20s.^[1] The Junior Warriors then went on to win the Toyota Cup grand final, the club's first grand final win in sixteen years.

In 2010 Warriors games were broadcast on New Zealand's Sky network averaged 181,200 viewers.^[2]

• 13 February – All Stars Match: Manu Vatuvei represents the NRL All Stars in the pre-season All Stars Match.
• 14 March – Round 1: Four players made their debuts for the club; Brett Seymour, James Maloney, Jeremy Latimore and Sione Lousi. Lousi also made his NRL debut.
• 20 March – Round 2: Micheal Luck plays in his 100th game for the club.
• 28 March – Round 3: James Maloney equals the points club scoring record by scoring 28 points in a match. The record was previously shared by Ivan Cleary and Gene Ngamu.^[3]
• 28 March – Round 3: Wade McKinnon played in his 50th game for the club.
• 4 April – Round 4: Bill Tupou made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
• 18 April – Round 6: Ian Henderson played in his 50th game for the club.
• 15 May – Round 10: Mataupu Poching made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
• 23 May – Round 11: Lance Hohaia played in his 150th game for the club and his 150th NRL match.
• 6 June – Round 13: Manu Vatuvei played in his 100th match for the club.
• 17 July – Round 19: Ben Matulino played in his 50th match for the club.
• 21 August – Round 24: Alehana Mara made his debut for the club and his debut in the NRL.
• 27 August – Round 25: Sam Rapira played in his 100th match for the club.
• 10 September – Qualifying Final: Manu Vatuvei became the club's all-time leading try scorer, surpassing Stacey Jones' total of 77.
• 10 September – Qualifying Final: Russell Packer played in his 50th match for the club.
• 4 October – Grand Final: The club was presented with the Club Championship and the Junior Warriors won the Toyota Cup.

In 2010 the Warriors jerseys were again made by Canterbury of New Zealand. They retained their black and white home and away jerseys from 2009, however they added a 15-year anniversary blue jersey and a grey Heritage design, similar to the jersey worn for the Awen Guttenbeil testimonial match. The club also had a new white and black training jersey. The Warriors wore their blue strip in the first round of the season after the Gold Coast Titans opted to wear their white away jerseys for the match in the Gold Coast.[4] This decision was repeated in round three after Brisbane opted to wear white in another Sunday afternoon game in Queensland. Vodafone New Zealand was again the naming rights sponsor of the Warriors in 2009. Lion Red was the sleeve sponsor. Suzuki and HiFX were featured on the shorts while Loadlift was on the back of the jersey.

The Warriors again use Mt Smart Stadium as their home ground in 2010, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

The main squad returned to training on 2 November 2009 to start preparing for the 2010 season.^[5] Players involved in the 2009 Four Nations and 2009 Pacific Cup returned to training later.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
13 February	Trial 1	Sydney Roosters	Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua	Win	26–8	Heremaia (2), Locke, Ah Van, Ta'ai	Seymour (3)	9,600	[1]
20 February	Trial 2	North Queensland Cowboys	Barlow Park, Cairns	Win	28–6	Hohaia (2), Heremaia, Ah Van, Tupou	Seymour, Locke, Heremaia, Johnson	10,000	[2]
27 February	Trial 3	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland	Draw	16–16	Vatuvei, Moon, Latimore	Seymour, Johnson	17,362	[3]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
14 March	Round 1	Gold Coast Titans	Skilled Park, Gold Coast	Loss	18–24	Vatuvei (2), Locke	Seymour (3)	16,112	[4]
20 March	Round 2	Cronulla Sharks	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	30–16	Vatuvei (3), Heremaia, Mannering, Rapira	Locke (2), Maloney (1)	15,314	[5]
28 March	Round 3	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Win	48–16	Maloney (3), Ropati (2), Mannering, Hohaia, Moon	Maloney (8)	32,338	[6]
4 April	Round 4	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	6–14	Ropati	Maloney (1)	19,230	[7]
10 April	Round 5	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	Win	30–24	Tate, Vatuvei, Lillyman, Locke, Hohaia	Maloney (5)	17,095	[8]
18 April	Round 6	Penrith Panthers	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	12–40	Ta'ai, Tate	Maloney (2)	14,620	[9]
25 April	Round 7	Melbourne Storm	Etihad Stadium	Loss	6–40	Ta'ai	Maloney (1)	23,906	[10]
1 May	Round 8	Canberra Raiders	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	16–23	Ta'ai, Ah Van, Tate	Maloney (2)	11,499	[11]
	Round 9	Bye			–
15 May	Round 10	North Queensland Cowboys	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	24–12	Ta'ai, Brown, Henderson, Locke	Maloney (4)	10,800	[12]
23 May	Round 11	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	26–24	Ropati (2), Hohaia, Tate, Packer	Seymour (3)	10,485	[13]
28 May	Round 12	Wests Tigers	Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney	Loss	6–50	Moon	Seymour (1)	10,061	[14]
6 June	Round 13	St George Illawarra Dragons	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	20–22	Maloney, Mannering, John	Maloney (4)	8,312	[15]
13 June	Round 14	Newcastle Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle	Win	32–24	Vatuvei (2), Moon, Latimore, Maloney	Maloney (6)	10,535	[16]
	Round 15	Bye			–
27 June	Round 16	Sydney Roosters	AMI Stadium, Christchurch	Win	20–18	Locke (3), Vatuvei	Maloney (2)	20,721	[17]
4 July	Round 17	Parramatta Eels	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	35–6	Brown (2), Matulino, Ta'ai, Vatuvei, Maloney	Maloney (5), John (FG)	9,912	[18]
11 July	Round 18	Penrith Panthers	CUA Stadium, Sydney	Win	12–6	Maloney, Vatuvei	Maloney (2)	9,983	[19]
17 July	Round 19	Melbourne Storm	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	13–6	Vatuvei, Ropati	Maloney (1 & FG)	13,118	[20]
25 July	Round 20	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	Loss	28–38	Brown (2), Vatuvei, Latimore, Maloney	Maloney (4)	13,895	[21]
1 August	Round 21	Gold Coast Titans	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	20–28	Mannering, Hohaia, Vatuvei, Seymour	Maloney (2)	12,017	[22]
7 August	Round 22	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Toyota Stadium, Sydney	Win	37–10	Tupou (3), Tate, Maloney, Moon	Maloney (6 & FG)	7,510	[23][permanent dead link‍]
15 August	Round 23	Newcastle Knights	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	22–10	Vatuvei (3), Tupou	Maloney (3)	12,824	[24]
21 August	Round 24	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval, Sydney	Loss	16–19	Maloney, Mannering	Maloney (4)	13,095	[25]
27 August	Round 25	Brisbane Broncos	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	36–4	Brown(2), Hohaia(2), Vatuvei, Mannering, Matulino	Maloney(4)	21,627	[26]
4 September	Round 26	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney	Win	26–12	Ropati, Tate, Royal, Locke, Vatuvei	Maloney (3)	11,383	[27]

	Qualifying finals					Semifinals					Preliminary finals					Final
	1	St. George Illawarra	28
	8	Manly	0								1W	St. George Illawarra	13
						4W	Canberra	24				Wests	12
	2	Penrith	22			2L	Wests	26
																St. George Illawarra		32
	7	Canberra	24
																Sydney		8
	3	Wests	15								2W	Gold Coast	6
	6	Sydney	19			3W	Sydney	34				Sydney	32
						1L	Penrith	12
	4	Gold Coast	28
	5	New Zealand	16

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
10 September	Qualifying Final	Gold Coast Titans	Skilled Park, Gold Coast	Loss	16-28	Heremaia, Moon, Vatuvei	Maloney (2)	27,026	[28]

2010 NRL season v t e
Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Illawarra Dragons (P)	24	17	0	7	2	518	299	+219	38
2	Penrith Panthers	24	15	0	9	2	645	489	+156	34
3	Wests Tigers	24	15	0	9	2	537	503	+34	34
4	Gold Coast Titans	24	15	0	9	2	520	498	+22	34
5	New Zealand Warriors	24	14	0	10	2	539	486	+53	32
6	Sydney Roosters	24	14	0	10	2	559	510	+49	32
7	Canberra Raiders	24	13	0	11	2	499	493	+6	30
8	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	12	0	12	2	545	510	+35	28
9	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	11	0	13	2	584	567	+17	26
10	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	0	13	2	508	535	−27	26
11	Newcastle Knights	24	10	0	14	2	499	569	−70	24
12	Parramatta Eels	24	10	0	14	2	413	491	−78	24
13	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	9	0	15	2	494	539	−45	22
14	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	7	0	17	2	354	609	−255	18
15	North Queensland Cowboys	24	5	0	19	2	425	667	−242	14
16	Melbourne Storm	24	14	0	10	2	489	363	+126	01

¹ Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.^[6]

Twenty nine players played for the Warriors during the season. Seven players made their debut for the club, including four making their NRL debuts.

• Chief executive officer: Wayne Scurrah
• Football Operations Manager: Don Mann Jr
• Recruitment and Development Manager: Dean Bell^[7]
• High Performance Manager: Craig Walker
• High Performance Assistant: Ruben Wiki^[8]
• Medical Services Manager: Jude Spiers
• Welfare and Education Manager: Jerry Seuseu^[9]

• NRL Head Coach: Ivan Cleary
• NRL Assistant Coach: Tony Iro
• NRL Technical Assistant: David Fairleigh^[10][11]
• NRL Assistant Trainer: Dayne Norton
• Club doctor: John Mayhew
• Kicking Coach: Daryl Halligan^[12]

• NYC Head Coach & Assistant NRL Coach: John Ackland
• NYC Assistant Coach: Frank Harold
• NYC Manager: Jerry Seuseu^[8]

• Micheal Luck – until end of 2012.^[19]

In 2010 the Junior Warriors again competed in the Toyota Cup while senior players who were not required for the first team play with the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup. The Vulcans finished ninth out of twelve teams and missed the finals by just one point. Brent Gemmell was the coach of the Vulcans. Pita Godinet was the Vulcans player of the year while Johnny Aranga won the Rookie of the year award.^[20]

National Youth Competition season 2010 v t e
	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	17	0	7	2	687	567	+120	38
2	New Zealand Warriors (P)	24	16	1	7	2	731	481	+250	37
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	15	2	7	2	773	596	+177	36
4	North Queensland Cowboys	24	14	3	7	2	673	540	+133	35
5	Sydney Roosters	24	14	1	9	2	695	588	+107	33
6	Canberra Raiders	24	14	1	9	2	764	734	+30	33
7	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	13	0	11	2	568	583	-15	30
8	Gold Coast Titans	24	12	1	11	2	581	663	-82	29
9	Wests Tigers	24	12	0	12	2	620	532	+88	28
10	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	1	12	2	690	635	+55	27
11	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	10	1	13	2	568	543	+25	25
12	Newcastle Knights	24	9	1	14	2	612	732	-120	23
13	Melbourne Storm	24	8	2	14	2	683	782	-99	22
14	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	8	1	15	2	492	634	-142	21
15	Penrith Panthers	24	8	0	16	2	643	838	-195	20
16	Parramatta Eels	24	3	1	20	2	454	786	-332	11

	Qualifying finals					Semifinals					Preliminary finals					Final
	1	South Sydney	24
	8	New Zealand	25								1W	South Sydney	64
						4W	North Queensland	18				Canberra	18
	2	Canterbury	54			2L	Canberra	22
																South Sydney		28
	7	North Queensland	46
																New Zealand		42
	3	Sydney	12								2W	New Zealand	23
	6	Canberra	18			3W	Canterbury	24				Canterbury	16
						1L	Sydney	22
	4	Manly Warringah	22
	5	Gold Coast	22

The match was the club's sixth grand final appearance in sixteen seasons after the 2002 NRL, 1996 and 1997 Reserve Grade, 1997 Under 19's and 1995 Lion Red Cup grand finals.^[21] The club led 12–10 at halftime before going on to win 42–28.

Under-20s: Glen Fisiiahi, Omar Slaimankhel, Sosaia Feki, Siuatonga Likiliki, Elijah Niko, Carlos Tuimavave, Shaun Johnson, Neccrom Areaiiti, Henry Chan-Ting, Mark Ioane, Matt Robinson, Elijah Taylor (C), Sebastine Ikahihifo. Bench: Nafe Seluini, Charlie Gubb, Sam Lousi, Daniel Palavi. Coach: John Ackland.^[21]

Captain Ben Henry withdrew before the match started due to injury while John Palavi was omitted from the bench. Carlos Tuimavave won the man of the match award.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
4 October	Grand Final	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	Win	42-28	Taylor (2), Likiliki, Fisiiahi, Lousi, Niko, Seluini	Johnson (7)	82,334	[29]

Manu Vatuvei was named the Lion Red Player of the Year and the Vodafone One Tribe Player of the Year at the club's annual awards function.^[22] James Maloney was the Vodafone Young Player of the Year while Aaron Heremaia was named the Canterbury of New Zealand Clubperson of the Year.

Micheal Luck, Vatuvei and Sam Rapira were all presented with rings to celebrate them playing there 100th match for the club during the season.

• Warriors official site
• Warriors 2010 season rugby league project