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The New Zealand Warriors (formerly '''Auckland Warriors''') are a Rugby League team based in Auckland , New Zealand who compete in the Australian based National Rugby League competition. The Warriors Club is based at Ericsson Stadium in Auckland. HISTORY On 17th of May 1992 the announcement stating an Auckland-based team's entry into the Australian Rugby League competition, the Winfield Cup in 1995 was made. The coach of the new team would be former Parramatta and Wigan coach John Monie. Former rugby union players such as John Kirwan and Marc Ellis (in 1996) were brought in also. The Warriors first entered the NRL (Then Australian Rugby League) 1995 with their debut match against the Brisbane Broncos on March 10 , 1995 to an almost full stadium of 30,000. The Warriors lost 22-25. 1995 the Warriors missed the playoff by just two points, ironically after having two points deducted from them mid season due to interchange infringements. In 1996 the Warriors found themselves well off the pace and they again missed the playoffs. With the superleague war in full swing the Auckland based franchise sided with the rebel Superleague teams. Monie was replaced with Frank Endacott as coach midway through the 1997 season. Aside from occasional flickers of form such as in the World Club Challenge , where the Warriors made the semi-finals to lose 22-16 to Brisbane , things continued to look lack-lustre for the Warriors as the team continued to miss making the play offs. Former Kiwi Mark Graham took over as coach in 1999 after the Auckland Rugby League sold the club to a consortium that included Former Kiwi Coach Graeme Lowe and the Tanui Tribe. In the 1999 and 2000 seasons the Warriors again disapointed fans and did not threaten the leaders. In and Monty Betham. These measures seemed to work, as in 2001 the Warriors made the play-offs, albeit only just, having finished 8th. In the playoffs the Warriors were immediately eliminated when they lost to the Eels 56-12, which at the time was the biggest ever loss in finals matches. The Warriors reached their zenith to date in 2002. They won the ''minor premiership'', finishing in first place at the conclusion of the regular season after the Canterbury Bulldogs lost most of their competition points late in the season as a result of salary cap breaches. The Warriors would finish the season as Runner-up after losing in the Grand Final to the Roosters 30-8. For the final match against the Sharks at Homebush the Warriors' sponsors, such as Vodafone New Zealand and Eric Watson, purchased 15,000 tickets and gave them away for free to anyone with a New Zealand passport. Reportedly, in the 45,000 plus crowd there were more ‘black'(Warriors) supporters than there were for the local Sharks side which greatly reduced the 'home' advantage. The Warriors went on to win 16-10. In 2003 the team finished 4th. Despite predictions from many in the pre-season of the Warriors in 2004 performing well, ended up finishing second to last and narrowly escaped being bottom on the table. In 2005 it didn't get much better with the team finishing 11th, despite some high profile off season signings including captain Steve Price , New Zealand international captain Ruben Wiki, Nathan Fien and Todd Byrne. At the end of the 2005 round robin the coaching structure was reviewed and Ivan Cleary, a former Warrior, was promoted from Assistant Coach to Head Coach replacing Tony Kemp. Prior to this, CEO Mick Watson was replaced by Wayne Scurrah. In February 2006 , the Warriors were found to have breached the NRL Salary Cap . On the 27th of February, it was announced the club would be deducted 4 competition points for the 2006 season, and the club would also incur a $430,000 fine. The club will also have to play under a reduced salary cap in 2007. Coaches
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