Coming off consecutive preliminary final appearances, heavyweights Sydney City Roosters – with coach Phil Gould and captain Brad Fittler guiding a stacked line-up – were widely expected to open their 1999 campaign with a comfortable win over the beleaguered Auckland Warriors.
Amid a tumultuous ownership change at the end of the previous season, the Warriors replaced New Zealand Test coach Frank Endacott with Kiwis legend Mark Graham, while seasoned stars Stephen Kearney, Kevin Iro and Quentin Pongia left the club.
Graham took two debutants, Monty Betham and Odell Manuel, to Sydney to face a Roosters side containing seven internationals (including recruit Pongia) and a further three forwards who would represent NSW in 1999.
Roosters centre Julian Bailey opened the scoring in the seventh minute, put through a hole by halfback Adrian Lam. The unfancied visitors hit straight back when skipper Matthew Ridge ran off a pass from rangy forward Awen Guttenbeil
The Warriors led 12-4 at the break after tyro centre Joe Galuvao swooped on a loose Roosters offload, but Fittler beautifully laid on tries for Matt Sing and Bryan Fletcher in rapid succession to level up the scoreboard early in the second half.
Tensions boiled over with 15 minutes remaining when Warriors interchange forward Ali Lauitiiti – making only his ninth NRL appearance – ironed out Roosters counterpart Dallas Hood with an ugly high shot. Fittler threw a punch at transgressor Lauitiiti and an all-in ruckus ensued.
Once the melee calmed down, officials deliberated for two minutes before Matt Hewitt despatched Warriors back-rower Tony Tuimavave and Roosters fullback Andrew Walker to the sin bin, then sent off Lauitiiti and Fittler. Both pairs had been involved in separate push-and-shove incidents only seconds before the brawl.
It was the first early shower of the decorated Fittler’s decade-long career.
Fletcher burrowed over for his second almost immediately after the interruption to put the Roosters 16-14 in front, but Ridge – who spent part of the match on the sidelines nursing an injury – sliced through to complete his own double in sensational style.
The Warriors sealed an unlikely 26-16 triumph courtesy of Stacey Jones’ dummy-half snipe with four minutes on the clock.
Ridge’s goalkicking proved vital: both teams scored four tries but the maligned talisman kicked five-from-five, while Walker and Shane Rigon missed all five of their combined attempts for the Roosters.
“If you’re going to give anyone the wrap, give it to Matthew Ridge,” coach Graham said. “He’s the one who copped all the criticism and tonight he deserves all the accolades.”
Meanwhile, new Warriors ownership consortium figurehead Graham Lowe – who brought Ridge to Manly from rugby union in 1990 but had publicly slammed him in the off-season due to his perceived underperformance – said it “was the best game I’ve ever seen Matthew play”.
The boilover proved another frustrating false dawn for the Warriors, who won just four of their next 17 games (the combative Ridge missing 12 of those through suspension) before a late-season flurry lifted them to 11th.
The Roosters, meanwhile, surged to the top of the table by winning their next seven matches on the trot. Stumbling over the second half of the season to finish fourth, the Tricolours were bundled out of the finals in straight sets in what proved to be Gould’s last season a
