A total of 27 players have captained the Warriors in their 27-season existence, including 11 fulltime skippers – each who, for better or worse, added to the fascinating tapestry of the club’s history during their time in charge.
Here’s everything you could possibly want to know about the Warriors players that have had the (c) next to their name.
Legends lead the way
The Auckland Warriors needed a strong, experienced, respected leader for their bold 1995 entry to the Australian premiership – and club management nailed the brief by securing the services of Dean Bell.
An Auckland junior, Kiwis legend and decorated skipper in English club football, the 32-year-old’s close relationship with coach John Monie from their Wigan days sealed the deal.
Bell, who spent three injury- and suspension-hampered seasons with Eastern Suburbs Roosters during the 1980s, was a model captain at centre and lock for the fledgling outfit. The image of Bell leading the Auckland Warriors down the Mount Smart Stadium tunnel remains one of the most iconic in the club’s history.
Tellingly, the Warriors suffered their worst defeat – a 48-6 drubbing at the hands of Newcastle – in the first of a three-game stretch when Bell was unavailable.
Incumbent New Zealand Test captain Duane Mann was in charge for the Marathon Stadium debacle in what would prove his last first-grade start for the club before being usurped at hooker – in both the Warriors and Kiwis line-ups – by Syd Eru. Another Kiwis Test skipper, 22-year-old Stephen Kearney, led the Warriors until Bell returned.
Bell departed at the end of ’95, embarking on an English swansong with Leeds. Penrith’s 1991 premiership captain Greg Alexander was handed the reins for Auckland’s sophomore campaign ahead of the likes of Kearney (who remained the chief stand-in) and Englishman Dennis Betts – who had both led their countries at international level – before he returned to the Panthers in ’97.
1995 CAPTAINS: Dean Bell (19), Stephen Kearney (2), Duane Mann (1)
1996 CAPTAINS: Greg Alexander (16), Kearney (5)
Ridge’s rocky reign
Super League defector Matthew Ridge’s bid to head home and skipper the Warriors in 1996 was blocked by the courts, but after eventually relenting and returning to Manly the brilliant fullback further cemented his status as one game’s finest leaders.
The combative Ridge played an integral role in the Sea Eagles’ drive to grand final glory that year, before captaining New Zealand to an outstanding 3-0 cleansweep of the touring Great Britain side.
The historic ruling that gave the rebel Super League competition the green light for 1997 allowed Ridge to take up his role as the Warriors’ main man – but his three-season stint at the club could not have been in starker contrast to his ’96 heroics for Manly and the Kiwis.
Injuries saw Ridge play just half of the Warriors’ games during the Super League premiership season. He missed six games of the 1998 NRL campaign, while an ugly spitting incident with a Canterbury Bulldogs fan brought his suitability to the captaincy under the microscope. Kearney was the primary back-up during Ridge’s frequent absences, but the gun back-rower joined Melbourne in 1999.
Ridge then copped a three-match suspension early in 1999 for man-handling referee Paul Simpkins in an infamous loss to Balmain, before being outed for eight weeks for inexplicably raking the face of Canberra’s young winger Lesley Vainikolo – just two games into his return from the first ban.
The brilliant Stacey Jones initially took on the captaincy responsibilities, but coach Mark Graham rolled the dice by installing mid-season recruit John Simon as skipper in just his second game for the Warriors.
Simon retained the job when Ridge returned. Ridge retired at the end of the year despite having a year to run on his contract, while Simon captained Auckland for most of 2000 but Jones finished the year with the role.
Former New Zealand Test half Aaron Whittaker, who made just eight first-grade appearances for the Warriors, captained the club’s reserve grade side to grand finals in 1996 (ARL premiership) and ’97 (Super League).
1997 CAPTAINS: Matthew Ridge (9), Kearney (8), Dennis Betts (1)
1998 CAPTAINS: Ridge (18), Kearney (4), Quentin Pongia (2)
1999 CAPTAINS: John Simon (12), Stacey Jones (7), Ridge (6)
2000 CAPTAINS: Simon (16), Jones (7), Terry Hermansson (4)
‘Little General’ marshals the troops
After the dramatic buyout of the club and Daniel Anderson’s arrival as coach, Jones and journeyman recruit Kevin Campion were made co-captains for the 2001 season. It proved an ideal combination, with Jones the unassuming talisman and enforcer Campion leading the Warriors to their first finals series.
Surprisingly, hardman hooker Monty Betham, barely 24 years of age with just 47 NRL appearances to his name when the 2002 season started, took over as skipper the following season. But a knee injury just two games into the year wrecked Betham’s campaign and Jones captained the Warriors to a historic minor premiership and grand final appearance.
Betham was back on deck and back as captain in 2003, guiding the Warriors to the preliminary final, while he was again at the helm during the club’s disastrous ’04 season, in which he was restricted to 13 games. Awen Guttenbeil was Anderson’s first-choice replacement as Betham endured an early-season layoff.
2001 CAPTAINS: Jones (26), Kevin Campion (23)
2002 CAPTAINS: Jones (22), Ivan Cleary (3), Monty Betham (2)
2003 CAPTAINS: Betham (24), Jones (2), Guttenbeil (1)
2004 CAPTAINS: Betham (13), Guttenbeil (8), Jones (3)
The Price is right
Australian Test prop Steve Price, cruelly denied a grand final win as Bulldogs skipper by injury in 2004, immediately stepped into the captaincy at the Tony Kemp-coached Warriors in ’05. Jones deputised in his farewell season at the club as Price battled injury mid-season.
Despite Jones’ departure, the Warriors’ squad boasted ample leadership under rookie coach Ivan Cleary from 2006: New Zealand great Ruben Wiki, who helmed the Kiwis’ famous Tri-Nations triumph in 2005, proved an ideal fill-in during Price’s less-frequent absences over the next few seasons.
Price, the club’s Player of the Year in 2006-07, further entrenched his standing as one of the game’s finest leaders. After guiding the Warriors to just the second (and, to date, last) top-four finish in their history in 2007, the 33-year-old was named Dally M Captain of the Year, as well as picking up the Prop of the Year gong.
His guidance and front-row form was no less instrumental in 2008 as the Warriors surged to a preliminary final appearance.
2005 CAPTAINS: Steve Price (16), Jones (7), Betham (1)
2006 CAPTAINS: Price (20), Ruben Wiki (4)
2007 CAPTAINS: Price (23), Wiki (3)
2008 CAPTAINS: Price (17), Wiki (5), Micheal Luck (5)
Cleary’s bombshell
Price was plagued by injury during 2009 and with Wiki retired, workhorse back-rower Micheal Luck proved a worthy stand-in.
But coach Cleary sprung a major surprise when he named 23-year-old second-rower Simon Mannering as his new skipper for 2010. Ultimately, Price never returned to the field, forced into retirement by a toe injury.
Already a veteran of 100 NRL games and 18 Tests, Mannering fit into the actions-not-words style of captaincy, but he quickly prospered in the role and led the Warriors to a fifth-placed finish at his first attempt and a grand final in 2011.
With Mannering sidelined during the Warriors’ woeful late-season fadeout in 2012, coach Brian McClennan gave the gig to club legend Manu Vatuvei, who joined a select group of players to captain a first-grade team from the wing.
The Warriors lost all four games under ‘The Beast’ by a combined 139-54, but it was a deserving mark of respect for the prolific tryscorer.
The retiring Luck also enjoyed one last outing as skipper in his penultimate game for the club, a rare highlight in an injury-ravaged campaign for the popular Queenslander.
2009 CAPTAINS: Price (14), Luck (10)
2010 CAPTAINS: Simon Mannering (18), Luck (5), Brent Tate (2)
2011 CAPTAINS: Mannering (28)
2012 CAPTAINS: Mannering (19), Manu Vatuvei (4), Luck (1)
2013 CAPTAINS: Mannering (23), Sam Rapira (1)
2014 CAPTAINS: Mannering (24)
2015 CAPTAINS: Mannering (24)
Mannering steps down
The widely respected Mannering assumed the New Zealand Test captaincy in 2013, a tenure that included Four Nations glory in 2014 and a historic Anzac Test victory in 2015. But the Warriors’ continual failures and the arduous media requirements of the club role saw Mannering abdicate at the end of 2015 after a club record 137 games as skipper.
Ryan Hoffman, who joined the Warriors in 2015, made no secret of his desire to become an NRL captain. Coach Andrew McFadden duly bestowed the responsibilities upon his former Melbourne Storm teammate, overlooking the likes of Shaun Johnson and new recruit and incumbent Kiwis captain Issac Luke.
Hoffman took to the role with gusto, but his short-fused temperament with referees and inability to hide his frustration did the Warriors few favours. While honest and reasonably accommodating, the veteran’s defensiveness did not endear him to local media contingent.
'We're better than that' – Warriors captain Ryan Hoffman bemoans thrashing by Eels https://t.co/sQ8LysUdUX pic.twitter.com/h7qeoKdsTk
— 1News – Sport (@1NewsSportNZ) September 4, 2016
Roger that
Incoming coach Stephen Kearney – another old teammate of Hoffman’s at the Storm – produced a Cleary-esque shock when he took the captaincy off Hoffman and named the 23-year-old Roger Tuivasa-Sheck as the Warriors’ new on-field general. Despite coming back from a knee reconstruction that ruined his first year in Auckland, as well as the team’s poor results, ‘RTS’ became just the third captain after Price (2006-07) and Mannering (2011, 2013-14) to take out the Warriors Player of the Year honour.
Tuivasa-Sheck’s 2017 form was inaccurately criticised in some quarters, but Kearney had no reservations about retaining the fullback as skipper for 2018 – and he grew into the role spectacularly. Electrifying and courageous in the No.1 jumper, RTS is developing into the archetypal ‘lead by example’ captain and became the first Warriors player to snare the coveted Dally M Medal. He was contentiously denied the Captain of the Year gong by Cameron Smith.
If anything, Tuivasa-Sheck’s 2019 form in charge of a declining Warriors outfit was even more impressive. Collecting his third straight club Player of the Year honour, he finished fifth in the Dally M count despite his side coming 13th and later claimed the Golden Boot award. RTS still struggled to assert his authority with referees – which often put the Warriors behind the eight-ball when they come up against the likes of Smith and Daly Cherry-Evans – but it was hard to fault Tuivasa-Sheck for the officials’ failings in being manipulated by higher-profile skippers.
While his 2020 performances were down slightly on the stratospheric heights of the previous two campaigns, RTS’s leadership in the face of the Warriors’ unprecedented challenges enhanced his status as one of the NRL’s most admired figures. The 27-year-old was the only New Zealander to not have his family in the Warriors’ Central Coast camp, and his selflessness and superb late-season form for the resurgent team was rewarded with the Dally M Captain of the Year honour – just the second player from the club to win the award after Price.
Warriors' pair Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Tohu Harris recognised at Dally M awards https://t.co/BfHwhAZGA6 pic.twitter.com/9m4u9o5MgD
— 1News – Sport (@1NewsSportNZ) October 19, 2020
Blake Green filled in as skipper for two games in 2018, while Tohu Harris captained the Warriors in all three games Tuivasa-Sheck missed in 2019-20.
In the lead-up to the 2021 campaign, Tuivasa-Sheck announced he would be switching to rugby union at the end of the season. But as well as maintaining his extraordinary level of consistency and excellence – sitting second in the Dally M Medal count at the halfway mark – he showed admirable leadership and selflessness by volunteering to move out to the wing to accommodate 18-year-old fullback wunderkind Reece Walsh.
RTS became just the second player after Mannering to skipper the Warriors in 100 games when he led the team out against Melbourne at Central Coast Stadium in Round 14.
Great fullback captains are relatively rare but hold a cherished place in rugby league’s narrative: Frank McMillan, Jim Sullivan, Clive Churchill, Keith Barnes, Ken Thornett, Fred Griffiths, Graeme Langlands, Darren Lockyer, Anthony Minichiello – even Ridge (at international level) and the Kiwis’ 1999-2000 skipper, Richie Barnett. Tuivasa-Sheck’s feats as Warriors captain put his name up alongside those icons.
Following his early exit back to Auckland during the 2021 campaign – which coincided with Harris’ season-ending injury – star front-row recruit Addin Fonua-Blake skippered the Warriors in six games, while departing backline veteran Peta Hiku led the team in one match.
Harris, though not due to return from an ACL injury until May 2022, was named as the Warriors’ new fulltime captain in December 2021.
Fonua-Blake led the Warriors through the first 10 rounds of an arduous 2022 campaign until Harris’ belated return, after which the veteran had the (c) next to his name for the club’s last 14 games.
With suitable candidates thin on the ground – Fonua-Blake aside – Harris was confirmed to continue in the club captain role for 2023.
2016 CAPTAINS: Ryan Hoffman (23), Mannering (1)
2017 CAPTAINS: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (23), Hoffman (1)
2018 CAPTAINS: Tuivasa-Sheck (23), Blake Green (2)
2019 CAPTAINS: Tuivasa-Sheck (23), Tohu Harris (1)
2020 CAPTAINS: Tuivasa-Sheck (18), Harris (2)
2021 CAPTAINS: Tuivasa-Sheck (17), Addin Fonua-Blake (6), Peta Hiku (1)
2022 CAPTAINS: Harris (14), Fonua-Blake (10)
MOST GAMES AS WARRIORS CAPTAIN (1995-2022)
137 – Simon Mannering
104 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
90 – Steve Price
74 – Stacey Jones
40 – Monty Betham
33 – Matthew Ridge
28 – John Simon
24 – Ryan Hoffman
23 – Kevin Campion
21 – Micheal Luck
19 – Dean Bell
19 – Stephen Kearney
17 – Tohu Harris
16 – Greg Alexander
16 – Addin Fonua-Blake
12 – Ruben Wiki
9 – Awen Guttenbeil
4 – Terry Hermansson
4 – Manu Vatuvei
3 – Ivan Cleary
2 – Quentin Pongia
2 – Brent Tate
2 – Blake Green
1 – Duane Mann
1 – Dennis Betts
1 – Sam Rapira
1 – Peta Hiku
Categories: A Short History Of..., FEATURES
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