The New Zealand Warriors 2011 season was the New Zealand Warriors 17th first-grade season. The club competed in Australasia's National Rugby League. The coach of the team is Ivan Cleary while Simon Mannering is the club's captain. The Warriors lost to the Manly Sea Eagles 10-24 in the 2011 NRL Grand Final. The Junior Warriors won the Toyota Cup for the second consecutive year while the Auckland Vulcans finished second in the NSW Cup.

The finals form of the Warriors in 2011 increased the NRL's television audience in New Zealand by 29 per cent this year.^[1]

Milestones

• 12 February – All Stars Match: Feleti Mateo represents the NRL All Stars and Joel Moon represents the Indigenous All Stars in the pre-season All Stars Match.
• 16 April – Round 6: Micheal Luck played in his 200th National Rugby League match.^[2]
• 4 June – Round 13: Lewis Brown played in his 50th match for the club.
• 8 July – Round 18: Jacob Lillyman played in his 50th match for the club.
• 15 July – Round 19: Aaron Heremaia played in his 50th National Rugby League match.^[3]
• 24 July – Round 20: Shaun Berrigan played in his 200th National Rugby League match.^[4]
• 3 September – Round 26: Joel Moon played in his 50th match for the club.
• 10 September – Qualifying final: Kevin Locke played in his 50th match for the club.
• 24 September – Preliminary final: James Maloney played in his 50th match for the club.

Jersey and sponsors

In 2011 the Warriors jerseys were again made by Canterbury of New Zealand. They retained their black and white home and away jerseys originally released in 2009. They will wear a special all-black jersey with silver ferns around the logo for the Eden Park match.[5] During the Heritage Round the Warriors wore a jersey based on the New Zealand Flag. Both special jerseys were worn again later in the season. The Junior Warriors have their own jersey in 2011, designed by Daryl John, who won a competition run by sponsors Vodafone and Canterbury of New Zealand to design a New Jersey for the team.[6] Vodafone New Zealand were again the naming rights sponsor of the Warriors in 2011. SKYCITY joined as a major sponsor for 2011, becoming the 'Home of the Vodafone Warriors'.[7]

Fixtures

The Warriors opened the season by hosting the Parramatta Eels at Eden Park in Auckland. This was the first time that the Warriors played a home match away from Mount Smart Stadium.^[8] The remaining 11 home games were played at Mount Smart Stadium, their only home ground since they entered the competition in 1995.

Pre-season training

The main squad returned to training on 15 November 2010 to start preparing for the 2011 season.^[9] Players involved in the 2010 Four Nations and other representative matches returned to training later.

Pre-season matches

A fourth match was added to the Warriors schedule to raise money for the West Coast region after the Pike River Mine disaster. In a joint partnership with the NZRL, NRL and Newcastle Knights, all money raised was donated to the Pike River mining relief fund and the West Coast Rugby League.^[10] The teams arrived early on 3 February to carry out community appearances in the region.^[11]

The final trial match against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles was also later made a fundraiser match, with North Harbour Stadium donating all profits of the match to the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake victims.^[12][13]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
5 February	Trial 1	Newcastle Knights	Wingham Park, Greymouth	Draw	22-22	Fisiiahi (2), Tupou, Godinet	Inu (3)	6,500	[1]
12 February	Trial 2	Parramatta Eels	Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua	Win	24-4	Fisiiahi (2), Vatuvei, Inu, Brown	Inu (2)	8,600	[2]
19 February	Trial 3	Burleigh Bears	Toll Stadium, Whangarei	Win	30-0	Locke (2), Inu, Aranga, Fisiiahi, Mara	Maloney (2), Inu (1)	8,500	[3]
26 February	Trial 4	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland	Loss	12-14	Matulino, Locke	Maloney (2)	14,000	[4]

Regular season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
12 March	Round 1	Parramatta Eels	Eden Park, Auckland	Loss	18-24	Ropati (2), Brown	Maloney (3)	38,412	[5]
19 March	Round 2	Wests Tigers	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	Loss	12-20	Mannering, Inu	Seymour (2)	13,161	[6]
27 March	Round 3	St George-Illawarra Dragons	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	12-25	Matulino, Berrigan	Maloney (2)	11,651	[7]
3 April	Round 4	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Owen Delany Park, Taupō	Win	26-18	Fisiiahi (2), Maloney, Inu	Maloney (5)	8,680	[8]
8 April	Round 5	Sydney Roosters	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	24-12	Inu, Brown, Hohaia, Berrigan	Maloney (4)	13,312	[9]
16 April	Round 6	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval, Sydney	Loss	10-20	Brown, Taylor	Maloney (1)	8,680	[10]
24 April	Round 7	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	18-14	Inu, Luck, Lillyman	Maloney (3)	22,694	[11]
1 May	Round 8	Penrith Panthers	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	26-18	Locke (2), Inu, Hohaia	Maloney (4)	11,412	[12]
8 May	Round 9	Gold Coast Titans	Skilled Park, Gold Coast	Win	34-14	Maloney (2), Brown, Mannering, Taylor, Vatuvei	Maloney (5)	17,285	[13]
15 May	Round 10	Newcastle Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle	Win	25-16	Hohaia (2), Vatuvei, Maloney	Maloney (4 & FG)	18,158	[14]
22 May	Round 11	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	12-6	Seymour, Inu	Maloney (2)	16,872	[15]
	Round 12	Bye
4 June	Round 13	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Loss	6-13	Mannering	Maloney (1)	10,116	[16]
12 June	Round 14	Wests Tigers	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	22-26	Vatuvei (2), Johnson, Inu, Locke	Maloney (1)	15,889	[17]
18 June	Round 15	North Queensland Cowboys	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville	Loss	10-30	Johnson, Maloney	Maloney (1)	16,081	[18]
26 June	Round 16	Melbourne Storm	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Loss	8-16	Hohaia	Maloney (2)	13,362	[19]
	Round 17	Bye
8 July	Round 18	Gold Coast Titans	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	22-6	Vatuvei, Berrigan, Tupou, Mannering	Maloney (3)	10,780	[20]
15 July	Round 19	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	36-12	Heremaia (2), Hohaia, Taylor, Maloney, Mateo	Maloney (6)	12,012	[21]
24 July	Round 20	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	Win	48-16	Vatuvei (3), Moon (2), Johnson, Tupou, Maloney, Godinet	Maloney (6)	11,208	[22]
31 July	Round 21	Canberra Raiders	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	29-10	Vatuvei, Maloney, Sam Rapira, Tupou, Moon, Berrigan	Maloney (2 & FG)	14,731	[23]
6 August	Round 22	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Loss	20-21	Johnson, Berrigan, Locke	Maloney (4)	31,000	[24]
13 August	Round 23	Newcastle Knights	Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	20-12	Berrigan, Johnson, Mannering, Mateo	Maloney (2)	13,279	[25]
20 August	Round 24	Penrith Panthers	Penrith Stadium, Sydney	Win	26-12	Matulino, Vatuvei, Johnson, Locke	Maloney (5)	11,644	[26]
28 August	Round 25	St George-Illawarra Dragons	WIN Stadium, Illawarra	Loss	22-26	Inu, Mateo, Locke, Tupou	Maloney (3)	15,732	[27]
3 September	Round 26	North Queensland Cowboys	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland	Win	18-6	Inu (2), Hohaia	Maloney (3)	20,082	[28]

Finals

	Qualifying finals					Semifinals					Preliminary finals					Final
	1	Melbourne	18
	8	Newcastle	8								1W	Melbourne	12
						4W	Wests	20				New Zealand	20
	2	Manly	42			2L	New Zealand	22
																Manly		24
	7	North Queensland	8
																New Zealand		10
	3	Brisbane	40								2W	Manly	26
	6	New Zealand	10			3W	Brisbane	13				Brisbane	14
						1L	St. George Illawarra	12
	4	Wests	21
	5	St. George Illawarra	12

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
10 September	Qualifying final	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Loss	10-40	Mateo, Vatuvei	Maloney (1)	48,943	[29]
16 September	Semifinal	Wests Tigers	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Win	22-20	Mateo, Maloney, Hohaia, Inu	Maloney (3)	27,109	[30]
24 September	Preliminary final	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park, Melbourne	Win	20-12	Brown, Maloney, Tupou	Maloney (4)	28,580	[31]
2 October	Grand final	Manly Sea Eagles	ANZ Stadium, Sydney	Loss	10-24	Taylor, Vatuvei	Maloney (1)	81,988	[32]

Grand Final

Ladder

2011 NRL Telstra Premiership v t e
Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	19	0	5	2	521	308	213	42
2	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (P)	24	18	0	6	2	539	331	208	40
3	Brisbane Broncos	24	18	0	6	2	511	372	139	40
4	Wests Tigers	24	15	0	9	2	519	430	89	34
5	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	14	1	9	2	483	341	142	33
6	New Zealand Warriors	24	14	0	10	2	504	393	111	32
7	North Queensland Cowboys	24	14	0	10	2	532	480	52	32
8	Newcastle Knights	24	12	0	12	2	478	443	35	28
9	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	12	0	12	2	449	489	-40	28
10	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	11	0	13	2	531	562	-31	26
11	Sydney Roosters	24	10	0	14	2	417	500	-83	24
12	Penrith Panthers	24	9	0	15	2	430	517	-87	22
13	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	7	0	17	2	428	557	-129	18
14	Parramatta Eels	24	6	1	17	2	385	538	-153	17
15	Canberra Raiders	24	6	0	18	2	423	623	-200	16
16	Gold Coast Titans	24	6	0	18	2	363	629	-266	16

Squad

The Warriors used thirty players during the season. Eight players made their debut for the club, including five who made their NRL debuts.

Staff

• Chief executive Officer: Wayne Scurrah
• General manager: Don Mann Jr
• Recruitment and Development Manager: Dean Bell
• High Performance Manager: Craig Walker
• High Performance Assistant: Ruben Wiki
• Medical Services Manager: John Mayhew
• Welfare and Education Manager: Jerry Seuseu
• Media and Communications Manager: Richard Becht

NRL staff

• NRL Head Coach: Ivan Cleary
• NRL Assistant Coach: Tony Iro
• NRL Assistant Coach: David Fairleigh^[14]
• NRL Trainer: Dayne Norton
• NRL Physiotherapist: Hamish Craighead

NYC staff

• NYC Head Coach & Assistant NRL Coach: John Ackland
• NYC Assistant Coach: Frank Harold
• NYC Trainer: Andrew Souter
• Development Coach: Ricky Henry

Transfers

Gains

Losses

Re-signings

Other teams

In 2011, the Junior Warriors again competed in the Toyota Cup while senior players who were not required for the first team played with the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup.

2011 Auckland Vulcans

The Auckland Vulcans were coached by former Warrior, Richie Blackmore.^[27] The Vulcans lost the NSW Cup Grand Final to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28-30.^[28]

Grand Final Team: Glen Fisiiahi, Willie Peace, Sione Lousi, Ivan Penehe, Niuvao Taka; Brett Seymour, Pita Godinet; James Gavet, Alehana Mara, Jeremy Latimore; Ukuma Ta'ai, Matt Robinson; Isaac John (c). Interchange: Darin Kingi, Upu Poching, Steve Rapira, Anthony Gelling.

On 18 February the Vulcans announced the following eight-man squad, with a six-man reserve squad. The squad was topped up with Warriors squad members each week.^[29]

Upu Poching was the Player of the Year with Darin Kingi named as runner up. Willie Pearce Jnr was named the Rookie of the Year.^[30]

2011 Junior Warriors

The Junior Warriors won the Toyota Cup, defeating the North Queensland Cowboys 31-30 in extra time in the Grand Final.

Grand Final Team: George Maka, Adam Henry, Sosaia Feki, Konrad Hurrell, DJ Collier, Carlos Tuimavave, Jordan Meads, Ligi Sao, Eko Malu, Donald Tony, Samiuela Lousi, Ben Henry [c], Sebastine Ikahihifo. Siliva Havili, Agnatius Paasi, Siua Taukeiaho, Toka Likiliki, Siulongua Fotofili, John Palavi.

Along with players from the Melbourne Storm, Cronulla Sharks, Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles, the new members of the Junior Warriors attended a Toyota Cup Rookie Camp on 11–12 December 2010 which was held in New Zealand for the first time.^[31] The camp provided extensive training in media, cultural awareness, drugs and alcohol, social media, money matters, community work, social responsibility and personal presentation.^[32]

The Junior Warriors squad was again captained by Ben Henry and included Stephen Shennan, Omar Slaimankhel, Vili Lolohea, Sio Siua Taukeiaho, Konrad Hurrell, Sosaia Feki, James TePou, Carlos Tuimavave, Jordan Meads, Siliva Havili, Henry Chan-Ting, Sam Lousi, Sheldon Brown, Adam Henry, Toka Likiliki, Agnatius Paasi, Lance Su'a-Poe, Anthony Lama, Siulongua Fotofili, Eddie Aki, Donald Tony, Levi Holland, DJ Collier, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Nathaniel Peteru, Sirovai Makatoa, Simon Gibson, Ben Kingi, Falaniko Leilua, Kane Hannan, Eko Malu, John Palavi, Malakai Houma and Chris Ofanoa.^[33]

Omar Slaimankhel, Konrad Hurrell, Carlos Tuimavave and coach John Ackland were all named in the Toyota Cup team of the year.^[34] John Palavi was named the Vodafone NYC Player of the Year, Siliva Havili won the TNT NYC Young Player of the Year award and Donald Tony was named the DeWalt NYC Club Person of the Year.^[35]

2011 National Youth Competition season v t e
Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	New Zealand Warriors (P)	24	19	1	4	2	851	494	+357	43
2	North Queensland Cowboys	24	17	0	7	2	758	509	+249	38
3	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	16	1	7	2	707	600	+107	37
4	Melbourne Storm	24	16	0	8	2	678	517	+161	36
5	Sydney Roosters	24	15	1	8	2	639	523	+116	35
6	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	14	0	10	2	659	458	+201	32
7	Wests Tigers	24	12	2	10	2	607	529	+78	30
8	Newcastle Knights	24	12	1	11	2	638	660	-22	29
9	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	2	11	2	752	551	+201	28
10	Penrith Panthers	24	12	0	12	2	558	709	-151	28
11	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	10	2	12	2	562	594	-32	26
12	Parramatta Eels	24	10	1	13	2	547	556	-9	25
13	Canberra Raiders	24	8	1	15	2	683	749	-66	21
14	Gold Coast Titans	24	5	1	18	2	467	779	-312	15
15	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	4	1	19	2	454	881	-427	13
16	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	4	0	20	2	432	843	-411	12

Awards

Simon Mannering won the Lion Red Player of the Year award, becoming only the second double winner of the award. Shaun Johnson won the Vodafone NRL Young Player of the Year Award while Jerome Ropati won the Canterbury of New Zealand Club Person of the Year Award and Kevin Locke won the Vodafone People's Choice Award.^[36]