1994 New Zealand rugby league season
| 1994 New Zealand rugby league season |
|---|
The 1994 New Zealand rugby league season was the 87th season of rugby league in New Zealand. The main feature of the season was the inaugural Lion Red Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The North Harbour Sea Eagles won the Cup by defeating the Counties Manukau Heroes 24–16 in the Grand Final. At the end of the season the New Zealand national team was also assembled for a tour of Papua New Guinea.
International competitions
The
The
The
New Zealand sent a national team to the
The
Western Samoa tour
Western Samoa conducted a three match tour of New Zealand, its first ever. They defeated Wellington 22–14 and Manawatu XIII 36–22 before losing to the New Zealand Residents 64-2.[7]
The team was Raymond Tusa, Ola Loau, Earl Va'a, Lokeni Savelio, Paki Tuimavave, Tony Tuimavave, Vinnie Winterstein, Mark Faumuina, Mike Setefano, Matthew Tuisamoa, Don Stewart, Henry Suluvale, Gafa Tuiloma, Ron Siami, Willie Poching, Mualia Fuiava, Wayne Schuster, Tafunai Alaelua, Toka Tofaeano, Muse Galuvao and Veli Patu. The coach was Steve Kaiser. Tony Tuimavave was the captain while Willie Poching led the team against Manawatu. Tea Ropati was originally named in the squad but withdrew due to injury. Maika Felise was later added to the squad.[7]
National competitions
Rugby League Cup
Auckland and Wellington both unsuccessfully challenged Canterbury for the Rugby League Cup during the season.
First, Wellington were thrashed 72–14 by Cup holders Canterbury on Anzac Day. The Wellington side was weakened the day before the match when the four Hutt Valley Firehawks players selected withdrew after a Lion Red Cup match. Wellington included Paul Howell while Canterbury included Tevita Vaikona, Phil Bancroft, Aaron Whittaker, Marty Crequer, Henry Suluvale and Shane Endacott.[8]
Then Auckland, coached by Dominic Clark, lost 20–28 to Canterbury on Queen's Birthday. The Auckland team included
Lion Red Cup
Buoyed by the acceptance of an
The Teams
- The Just Jeans and coached by Graeme Norton. Their two main feeder clubs were the Fox Memorial-winning Northcote Tigers and the Hibiscus Coast Raiders.[11] Notable players included Ken McIntosh, Brian McClennan, captain Duane Mann, Fa'ausu Afoa, Paul Rauhihi, Jason Palmada, Don Stewart, Richard Stewart, Tony Tatupu, Latham Tawhai and Joe Vagana.
- Despite making the final of the pre-season competition, the .
- After winning the Pepsi Max Knockout Cup the Auckland City Vulcans started the season as favourites. However the Gary Prohm coached side ended the season in fifth place and were then quickly eliminated from the playoffs by the Canterbury Cardinals in Christchurch.[13] Stacey Jones foreshadowed his 1995 season with the Auckland Warriors by taking over the halfback position during the season from established New Zealand Sevens captain Vinnie Weir. Other notable players included Mark Faumuina, Aaron Lester, Eugene Bourneville, Danny Lima, Jason Mackie, Doc Murray, Meti Noovao and Mike Setefano.
- The Cronulla Sharks. Other notable players included Esau Mann, Matthew Sturm, Matthew Tuisamoa and Willie Wolfgramm.
- The Waikato Cougars were coached by Joe Gwynne and captained by Tukere Barlow. The team finished second after the regular season but a series of injuries saw them perform poorly in the playoffs and they were quickly eliminated.[15] Notable players included Gavin Hill, Tama Hohaia, Francis Leota, Martin Moanaand Aaron Tucker.
- The Bay of Plenty Stags finished the season in last place, winning only two matches in twenty two rounds. They were coached by Neil Joyce and the squad included Alex Chan and Russell Stewart. The Stags drew players from both the Bay of Plenty Rugby League and the Coastlines Rugby Leaguecompetitions.
- The Taranaki Rockets were widely regarded as the competitions easy beats until they made the semifinals of the pre-season competition.[16] They performed well for the first nine weeks, with five wins and four losses until they suffered a run of injuries and coach Teri Tamati stepped down for health reasons. Despite this, under caretaker coach Alan Marshall, the Rockets recovered to finish sixth and just miss the playoffs. Notable players included Robert Piva, Mark Woods and Willie Talau.
- Coached by Auckland Warriors at the end of the season, as well as Joe Faimalo, who signed with Oldham, and Nathan Picchi.[17]
- The Firestone Hutt Valley Firehawks finished a disappointing eighth in the Lion Red Cup. They were coached by Tyrone Paikea and included Zane Clark, captain Peter Edwards, David Ewe and Denvour Johnston.
- The Wellington City Dukes were coached by James Leuluai and included Paul Howell, Earl Va'a, Riki Cowan, Darren Rameka and Arnold Lomax.
- Coached by former Kiwi Wayne Wallace, the Christchurch City Shiners were clearly the "second" Canterbury team in the competition and finished in eleventh place.[18] The team included Simon Angell, Tane Manihera, Andrew Vincent and Marty Crequer.
- The Paul Johnson, Mark Nixon, Phil Bancroft, Maea David, Blair Harding, Henry Suluvale, Tevita Vaikona and Aaron Whittaker.
Challenge Cup
Before the season began a pre-season "Pepsi Max Challenge Cup" was held. This involved all twelve teams and was held on a knock out basis. Auckland City won the tournament, defeating Waitakere City 22–18 in the final on March 13.[20] North Harbour and Taranaki were the two defeated semi-finalists.
Season Standings
The Counties Manukau Heroes finished the season as minor premiers.[21]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counties Manukau Heroes | 22 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 563 | 334 | 219 | 34 |
Waikato Cougars
|
22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 589 | 405 | 184 | 33 |
| North Harbour Sea Eagles | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 524 | 299 | 225 | 32 |
| Canterbury Country Cardinals | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 615 | 410 | 205 | 32 |
| Auckland City Vulcans | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 517 | 363 | 154 | 29 |
| Taranaki Rockets | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 481 | 536 | -55 | 21 |
| Waitakere City Raiders | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 530 | 487 | 43 | 19 |
| Hutt Valley Firehawks | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 474 | 499 | -25 | 18 |
| Wellington City Dukes | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 470 | 508 | -38 | 16 |
Hawkes Bay Unicorns
|
22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 377 | 485 | -108 | 14 |
| Christchurch City Shiners | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 358 | 634 | -276 | 12 |
Bay of Plenty Stags
|
22 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 262 | 800 | -538 | 4 |
The Playoffs
| Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary final | Grand final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Waikato | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| Canterbury Country | 32 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Canterbury Country | 30 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Auckland City | 22 | ||||||||||||||||
| Match | Winner | Loser | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elimination Play-off | Canterbury Cardinals | 30 | Auckland City Vulcans | 22 |
| Preliminary Semifinal | North Harbour Sea Eagles | 24 | Waikato Cougars | 10 |
| Elimination Semifinal | Canterbury Cardinals | 32 | Waikato Cougars | 6 |
| Qualification Semifinal | North Harbour Sea Eagles | 25 | Counties Manukau Heroes | 22 |
| Preliminary Final | Counties Manukau Heroes | 34 | Canterbury Cardinals | 16 |
Grand Final
| North Harbour | Position | Counties Manukau |
|---|---|---|
| Quinten Dane | FB | Wilson Marsh |
| Steve Johnston | WG | Bryan Laumatia
|
| Tony Tatupu | CE | Gus Malietoa-Brown |
| Jason Kaulima | CE | Whetu Taewa |
| Richard Stewart | WG | Solomon Kiri |
| Ken McIntosh | FE | Matthew Tuisamoa |
| Latham Tawhai | HB | Vinnie Clark |
Faausu Afoa |
PR | Kerry Pomare |
| Duane Mann (C) | HK | Hitro Okesene (C) |
| Lafaele Filipo | PR | Jason Temu |
| Joe Vagana | SR | Paul Okesene |
| Don Stewart | SR | Matthew Sturm |
| Glen Palmer | LK | Esau Mann |
| Jeff Thurston | Bench | Willy Wolfgramm
|
| Jason Palmada | Bench | Fred Morunga |
| Michael Patterson | Bench | Des Maea |
| Patrick Hellesoe | Bench | Steve Ekepai |
| Graeme Norton | Coach | Stan Martin |
Counties Manukau started the match as favourites, however by halftime the North Harbour Sea Eagles had opened up a 20-6 lead and held on to win 24–16.[22]
| Team | Halftime | Total |
|---|---|---|
| North Harbour Sea Eagles | 20 | 24 |
| Counties Manukau Heroes | 6 | 16 |
| Tries (North Harbour) | 2: J.Kaulima |
|---|---|
| 1: F.Afoa, L.Filipo, J.Palmada | |
| Tries (Counties Manukau) | 1: G.Malietoa-Brown, E.Manu, S.Ekepati |
| Goals (North Harbour) | 1: Q.Dane, L.Tawhai |
| Goals (Counties Manukau) | 2: W.Marsh |
| Date | 25 September |
| Referee | Phil Houston |
| Venue | Carlaw Park |
| Broadcast | TVNZ |
Awards
Team of the Year
|
Top Try Scorers[23]
|
Top Point Scorers[23]
|
National Provincial Championship
With the advent of the Lion Red Cup, the National Provincial Championship was run as a second division for provincial sides who did not have a team in the Cup. Six teams participated with the West Coast winning the Championship after an undefeated season. The Gisborne-East Coast Lions won their first game since May 1991.[24]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Coast | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 242 | 65 | 10 |
| Northland | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 117 | 113 | 7 |
| Manawatu | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 170 | 136 | 6 |
| Gisborne-East Coast Lions | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 106 | 172 | 3 |
| Southland | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 103 | 199 | 2 |
| Otago | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 80 | 159 | 2 |
National Secondary Schools Cup
Club competitions
Auckland
The
Hibiscus Coast were the main surprise, finishing second in the minor premiership with Brian McClennan as the player-coach.
Leroy Joe from Otahuhu won the Lipscombe Cup as the Premier One sportsman of the year.
Wellington
Marist-Northern, coached by Ken Laban, won the Grand Final 37–26 over the Upper Hutt Tigers. The Wainuiomata Lions were the minor premiers but lost twice in the playoffs to be quickly eliminated.[8]
Maika Felise from Wainuiomata won the Colin O'Neil Trophy as the best and fairest in the competition.
Canterbury
The Papanui Tigers won the Pat Smith Challenge Trophy by defeating last years champions, the Haswell Hawks, 14–4 in the Canterbury Rugby League grand final. Papanui, who featured Shane Endacott and Blair Harding, also won the minor premiership.
Aaron Whittaker was named the Canterbury Rugby League's player of the year.
Northland
The Moerewa Tigers won the Northland Super Six Series by defeating the Takahiwai Warriors 34–28.[25]
The Portland Panthers won the Whangarei City & Districts title, by defeating the Takahiwai Warriors 30–20 in Whangarei.[25]
The Kaikohe Lions won the Bay of Islands title, by defeating the Moerewa Tigers.[25]
The Te Paatu Warriors won the Far North Districts title, by defeating the Whangatauatia Mountain Men.[25]
Other competitions
Minor premiers Turangawaewae defeated the Hamilton City Tigers 30–23 to win the Waikato Rugby League Final. Taniwharau, led by Tama Hohaia, won the Pre-season tournament while Hamilton Boys' High School won the High School Shield.[26]
Piako dominated the
The Western Suburbs Tigers defeated the Waitara Bears 22–20 in the Taranaki Rugby League grand final to end the Bears dominance of the region. The Kia Ora Warriors, coached by Peter Sixtus, won the Manawatu Rugby League grand final 20–16 over Linton.
The Taradale Eagles upset Tamatea 38-22 in the Hawke's Bay final to deny them their third consecutive premiership in front of 1500 fans.[26] Minor premiers, the Repongaere Eels, defeated the Turanga Panthers 36–24 to win the Gisborne-East Coast grand final.[24]
The Golden Bay Boars defeated the Motueka Tigers 22-19 in the Nelson competition before defeating the Blenheim Knights 42–4 to win the Top of the South competition. Blenheim were the Marlborough champions. This was the first time a team in any sport from Takaka had ever won a Nelson competition. The Golden Bay Boars women also won their respective competition in the same year making it a clean sweep for the Boars.
Waro-Rakau smashed Papanui to 40–4 to win the Thacker Shield and bring it to the West Coast for the first time since 1982. Former Kiwi Blair Harding scored the only try for Papanui. The Waro-Rakau Hornets had earlier won the West Coast competition for the second consecutive year when they defeated Runanga 42–8 in the grand final. The Hornets were also the competitions minor premiers and scored 862 points throughout the season while only conceding 146.[27]
He Tauaa defeated the South Pacific Raiders 29-26 to win the Otago-Southland Swains Trophy. However, He Tauaa lost the Southland grand final to the Coalshop Leopards. The South Pacific Raiders were undefeated in Otago and won the grand final 18-8 against Kiatoa.
References
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 34
- ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 61
- ^ World Sevens The Vault
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 154
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 4
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 50
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. pp. 187–193
- ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4.
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.164
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.102
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 121
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 115
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.106
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 114
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 118
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.132
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 133
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 110
- ^ New Zealand National Premiership 1994 The Vault
- ^ New Zealand Competitions 1994 The Vault
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 94
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p.98
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. pp. 176–178
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 172
- ^ New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. pp. 174–175
- New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1994. p. 204
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| New Zealand Kiwis |
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| New Zealand domestic seasons | |
