New Zealand Warriors Fan Site

The Aussie Warriors Fan was born in Bankstown hospital, in the heart of Bulldog territory on the 22nd of January 1968. Nothing really exciting happened until his older cousin came to live in the same house in about 1976. The cousin was born and raised on Rabbitoh turf and arrived with stories of rugby league champions, heroes and role models. The Aussie Warriors Fan was inspired by tales of the great Arthur Beetson and, coupled with the fact his team had won the competition the previous year, decided to support the Eastern Suburbs Roosters.

AWF loyally followed the tri-colours for the next 20 years, crying when they lost and cheering when they won. Amongst his favourite players was one of the best half backs never to represent Australia, Kevin Hastings. He wasn’t very quick but he had excellent kicking and passing games and he tackled like a demon. He consistently topped the tackle count despite not being a forward. He was also the 1st player to play over 200 games for the club. Another favourite was Craig Salvatori, the first Easts junior to play for Australia in over 50 years. He was a prop who sometimes played like a five eighth or centre.

AWF dumped the Roosters in the mid 1990’s after a couple of incidents changed the way he viewed rugby league, the sport he loved. He read a newspaper article about Kevin Hastings approaching the Easts CEO at the World 7s when they were popular. After talking for a short while the CEO stopped Hastings and asked, “Sorry, do I know you?”
Reading that gave AWF the shits! He was also upset when the Roosters dumped Craig Salvatori. He couldn’t understand why the club he supported never seemed to have long-term players retiring at the club. They always seemed to shaft them instead of looking after them. Anyway, that was the end of AWF’s love affair with the Eastern Suburbs Roosters.

When the Super League war happened AWF wasn’t following a team but bought a Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs season ticket. He truly thought Super League was a great idea and would’ve launched rugby league into the international spotlight had it not met with such resistance. It looked to AWF as if rugby league was dying a rapid death so he prepared to distance himself emotionally from the sport. He would not watch a game for about 2 years.

Lo and behold, the game did not die and AWF got caught up in the Auckland Warrior’s charge to the 2002 minor premiership. Unfortunately, Australian tv coverage of their games wasn’t what you’d call saturation by any stretch of the imagination, so he had to make do with what he was served. As we all know, the Warriors made the Grand Final in 2002 and lost to the team AWF has grown to love the least.

The Aussie Warriors Fan was reborn in 2002 and has been quietly following the progress of the New Zealand Warriors ever since. The life of a rugby league supporter can be a roller coaster ride and with everyone who’s anyone predicting the Warriors to perform well in 2009, the ride is bound to run its rocky course. The Aussie Warriors Fan is committed to supporting the Warriors from this point forward, and hopes you will join him on the road to glory!