New Zealand Warriors 16–10 Cronulla-Sutherland — Preliminary Final, 2002 NRL Finals Series
29 Sep 2002 · Telstra Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW · Attendance: 45,702
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2002 NRL finals series: New Zealand Warriors 16–10 Cronulla-Sutherland, at Telstra Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW on 29 Sep 2002.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found for this fixture. Motu Tony (five-eighth at #18 in Week 1) is on the bench here wearing #21, with Lance Hohaia (Week 1's bench #6) starting five-eighth at #6 — the two players swapped roles and Tony's number changed between finals matches, reported exactly as sourced. Cronulla's Greg Bird (bench in the Semi-Final) started five-eighth at #6 here, with Matthew Johns not in the squad; Paul Gallen wore #15 in this match versus #19 in the Semi-Final.
Scorers
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Carlaw; Tony; Toopi Goals: Cleary (2/4 conversions) |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Tries: Kimmorley; Rieck Goals: Kimmorley (1/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| New Zealand Warriors | Cronulla-Sutherland | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Cleary | Fullback | David Peachey (c) | 1 |
| 2 | Justin Murphy | Wing | Matthew Rieck | 2 |
| 3 | John Carlaw | Centre | Chris McKenna | 3 |
| 4 | Clinton Toopi | Centre | Paul Franze | 4 |
| 5 | Francis Meli | Wing | Paul Mellor | 5 |
| 6 | Lance Hohaia | Five-Eighth | Greg Bird | 6 |
| 7 | Stacey Jones (c) | Halfback | Brett Kimmorley | 7 |
| 8 | Jerry Seuseu | Prop | Jason Stevens | 8 |
| 9 | PJ Marsh | Hooker | Dean Treister | 9 |
| 10 | Mark Tookey | Prop | Danny Nutley | 14 |
| 11 | Ali Lauiti'iti | Second Row | Paul Gallen | 15 |
| 12 | Awen Guttenbeil | Second Row | Phil Bailey | 12 |
| 13 | Kevin Campion | Lock | Nick Graham | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 16 | Wairangi Koopu | Matt Bickerstaff | 11 | |
| 17 | Logan Swann | Dean Bosnich | 16 | |
| 20 | Richard Villasanti | Karl Lovell | 19 | |
| 21 | Motu Tony | Andrew Pierce | 23 | |
| Daniel Anderson | Coach | Chris Anderson | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tim Mander |
Match report
Minor premiers New Zealand led 6-0 at halftime and held on against a resurgent Cronulla to book a first Grand Final appearance in the club's short history, extending the Sharks' long finals hoodoo with a third preliminary-final loss in four seasons.