New Zealand Warriors 36–20 Canberra Raiders — Qualifying Final, 2002 NRL Finals Series
15 Sep 2002 · Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (NZ) · Attendance: 25,800
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2002 NRL finals series: New Zealand Warriors 36–20 Canberra Raiders, at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (NZ) on 15 Sep 2002.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found for this fixture. The Warriors' #22 (Henry Fa'afili) started on the wing, #18 (Motu Tony) at five-eighth, and #17 (Logan Swann) started second row with Ali Lauiti'iti (#11) on the bench — all deviate from the numbers those players wore later in the series and are reported exactly as sourced. Canberra's #5 (Mark McLinden) and #2 (Jamaal Lolesi) both started on the wing — non-standard numbering, also reported as sourced.
Scorers
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Fa'afili; Carlaw; Meli; Jones; Tookey; Lauiti'iti Goals: Cleary (6/7 conversions) |
| Canberra Raiders | Tries: McLinden; J. Monaghan; J. Monaghan; M. Monaghan Goals: Schifcofske (2/4 conversions) |
Team sheets
| New Zealand Warriors | Canberra Raiders | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Cleary | Fullback | Clinton Schifcofske | 1 |
| 22 | Henry Fa'afili | Wing | Mark McLinden | 5 |
| 3 | John Carlaw | Centre | Jason Croker | 3 |
| 4 | Clinton Toopi | Centre | Joel Monaghan | 4 |
| 5 | Francis Meli | Wing | Jamaal Lolesi | 2 |
| 18 | Motu Tony | Five-Eighth | Michael Monaghan | 6 |
| 7 | Stacey Jones (c) | Halfback | Brett Finch | 7 |
| 8 | Jerry Seuseu | Prop | Todd Payten | 8 |
| 9 | PJ Marsh | Hooker | Simon Woolford (c) | 9 |
| 10 | Mark Tookey | Prop | Ryan O'Hara | 10 |
| 17 | Logan Swann | Second Row | Ruben Wiki | 11 |
| 12 | Awen Guttenbeil | Second Row | Michael Hodgson | 12 |
| 13 | Kevin Campion | Lock | Terry Martin | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 6 | Lance Hohaia | Alan Tongue | 14 | |
| 11 | Ali Lauiti'iti | Darren Mapp | 16 | |
| 16 | Wairangi Koopu | Sean Rutgerson | 17 | |
| 20 | Richard Villasanti | Troy Thompson | 21 | |
| Daniel Anderson | Coach | Matthew Elliott | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tim Mander |
Match report
Minor premiers New Zealand Warriors, in their most successful regular season to date, opened their finals series at home with a comfortable win over eighth-seeded Canberra, six different try-scorers underlining the depth of a Warriors side built around captain Stacey Jones.