New Zealand Warriors 30–13 Sydney Roosters — Semi-Final, 2008 NRL Finals Series
19 Sep 2008 · Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (NZ) · Attendance: 25,585
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 2008 NRL finals series: New Zealand Warriors 30–13 Sydney Roosters, at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (NZ) on 19 Sep 2008.
Sourcing caveat: No try/goal minute timestamps were found for this fixture.
Scorers
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Hohaia; Hohaia; Henderson; Kirk; Vatuvei Goals: Witt (5/5 conversions) |
| Sydney Roosters | Tries: Pearce; Penalty try Goals: Fitzgibbon (2/2 conversions) Drop goals: Anasta |
Team sheets
| New Zealand Warriors | Sydney Roosters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Hohaia | Fullback | Anthony Minichiello | 1 |
| 2 | Aidan Kirk | Wing | Amos Roberts | 20 |
| 3 | Brent Tate | Centre | Mitchell Aubusson | 17 |
| 4 | Jerome Ropati | Centre | Iosia Soliola | 4 |
| 5 | Manu Vatuvei | Wing | Sam Perrett | 5 |
| 6 | Michael Witt | Five-Eighth | Braith Anasta (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Nathan Fien | Halfback | Mitchell Pearce | 7 |
| 8 | Ruben Wiki | Prop | Mark O'Meley | 8 |
| 9 | Ian Henderson | Hooker | James Aubusson | 9 |
| 10 | Steve Price (c) | Prop | Lopini Paea | 10 |
| 11 | Simon Mannering | Second Row | Nate Myles | 11 |
| 12 | Ben Matulino | Second Row | Anthony Cherrington | 16 |
| 13 | Micheal Luck | Lock | Craig Fitzgibbon | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Grant Rovelli | Setaimata Sa | 3 | |
| 15 | Evarn Tuimavave | Anthony Tupou | 12 | |
| 16 | Sam Rapira | David Shillington | 15 | |
| 17 | Logan Swann | Frank-Paul Nu'uausala | 18 | |
| Ivan Cleary | Coach | Brad Fittler | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tony Archer |
Match report
Trailing 13-6 at half-time, the Warriors produced a stunning second-half blitz to blow the Roosters away in front of a raucous Mt Smart crowd. Lance Hohaia's double either side of the break was the platform, with Michael Witt landing all five conversion attempts. The win sent New Zealand to their first preliminary final in five seasons and made them the first 8th-placed team to reach that stage under the McIntyre system.