1995 New Zealand rugby league season

Canterbury defeated the West Coast 28–14 in their first defence of the season.

Auckland then won the Rugby League Cup, defeating Canterbury 21–18. This was Canterbury's first loss at home since 1989. Auckland were coached by Dominic Clark and included Leroy Joe, Mark Faumuina, Matthew Sturm and Jerry Seuseu. Canterbury included David Kidwell, Blair Harding and Glen Coughlan.

• The North Harbour Sea Eagles successfully defended their title despite losing 21 players from the 1994 season.[1] Again coached by Graeme Norton, North Harbour also defeated the touring French side 40–10 in a mid-week match. The squad included Latham Tawhai, captain Don Stewart, Jason Palmada, Mike Setefano and Paki Tuimavave.[7]
• The Waitakere City Raiders again finished last of the four Auckland based sides in the competition. However they were competitive for most of the season before losing their last five games and missing the playoffs. They were again coached by Ron O'Regan and the squad included Ben Lythe, Willie McLean, Cliff Beverley, Brian Jellick and Fred Robards.[8]
• The Auckland Warriors Colts replaced the Auckland City Vulcans in the 1995 competition. This led to a reshuffle of the other Auckland franchises boundaries. The Warrior Colts used the facilities of the professional team at Ericsson Stadium.[1] Coached by John Ackland the Colts won the minor premiership before slipping up in the Grand Final. Colts players included Phil Bergman, Steve Buckingham, David Fatialofa, Bryan Henare, Solomon Kiri, Aaron Lester, Des Maea, Brady Malam, Doc Murray, Boycie Nelson, Meti Noovao, Julian O'Neill, Paul Rauhihi, Paul Staladi, Anthony Swann, Logan Swann, Willie Swann, Nigel Vagana and Frank Watene.[9]
• The Counties Manukau Heroes were coached by Stan Martin. They again finished in the top three, despite having only six players return from the 1994 squad.[10] Players included Dean Clark, Mark Faumuina, Leroy Joe, Esau Mann, Matthew Sturm, Vinnie Weir and Jerry Seuseu.
• The Waikato Cougars were again coached by Joe Gwynne and again finished fourth. The team also played France, losing 2-24. The squad included Tukere Barlow, Darryl Beazley, Tama Hohaia, Butch Tua, captain Aaron Tucker, Tony Waikato and former Kiwi Mark Woods.[11]
• The Bay of Plenty Stags again finished bottom of the table. Coach Neil Joyce resigned halfway through the season and he was replaced by former Kiwi coach Tony Gordon and Lawrence Brydon.
• The Taranaki Rockets concentrated on local talent, a tactic which did not play off as the team finished a disappointing 11th. Coach Allan Marshall retired at the end of the season. The squad included Blair Nickson and Willie Talau.
• the Hawkes Bay Unicorns were coached by Gary Kemble, who also coached the New Zealand Residents and was a New Zealand Kiwis assistant coach. The squad included Richard Broughton, Nathan Picchi and captain Alan Mason.
• The Hutt Valley Hawks were coached by Tyrone Paikea, Kara Puketapu and Mike Edmonds throughout the season. The team included Zane Clark, Denvour Johnston, Arnold Lomax and Yogi Rogers.[12]
• The Wellington City Dukes were coached by Ken Laban and based largely around his 1994 champion Marist Northern club side.[13] The team included Earl Va'a, who won the Best and Fairest award, and captain George Fa'alogo.
• The Christchurch City Shiners were coached by Lex Clarke and included former Kiwi Blair Harding, Shane Endacott and Paul Bergman. The team was greatly improved from the 1994 season and only just missed out on the finals.[14]
• The Canterbury Country Cardinals were again coached by Ged Stokes but could not repeat their 1994 result of finishing third after injuries and player transfers altered the squad.[15] The squad included Glen Coughlan, Marty Crequer, Paul Johnson, David Kidwell and Aaron Whittaker.

After trailing 15–2 at halftime the North Harbour Sea Eagles came from behind to defeat the Warrior Colts 28–21 in the second Lion Red Cup Grand Final.[1] The match included an eight-point try scored by Paki Tuimavave in the 48th minute. Tuimavave was tackled high by Aaron Lester while he was grounding the ball. Lester was then sin-binned for back chatting the referee after the incident.

• Best and Fairest: Earl Va'a (Wellington City)
• Coach of the Year: Graeme Norton (North Harbour)
• Captain of the Year: Don Stewart (North Harbour)
• Referee of the Year: Dennis Hale

The NPC was conducted on an invitational basis, with all districts being invited to participate. Because Wellington and Canterbury also had teams in the Lion Red Cup, these sides were selected from only playing in their local club competitions.[16]

This was the first time Coastline had competed as an independent district and they recorded their first ever win when they defeated Gisborne-East Coast 41–32. Gisborne-East Coast also defeated Northland for the first time ever.[16]

This was the first time Nelson-Marlborough had competed as an independent district. Otago recorded their first win over Canterbury in 35 years.[16]

The Grand Final was played in Christchurch with Wellington winning 32-20 after being down 10–14 at halftime.[16]

Eighty Two schools competed in the National tournament with St. Paul's College, De La Salle College, New Plymouth Boys High School and Hillmorton High School all making the semi-finals. St Paul's won the trophy for the second year in a row, defeating New Plymouth 38–6 in the final.[17]

The Otahuhu Leopards won the Fox Memorial, their tenth, by defeating the Marist Saints 32–0 in the grand final. City Pt Chevalier won the Rukutai Shield as minor premiers.[18]

The Manurewa Marlins defeated the Waitemata Seagulls to win the Sharman Cup second division. As a result, they were promoted to the Fox Memorial for 1996.[19] Otahuhu won the Stormont Shield.

Otahuhu were coached by Trevor McLeod while Marist were coached by Del Hughes.[20] Richmond included Greg Wolfgram, Ben Lythe and Boycie Nelson played for Mt Albert and Steve Buckingham and Lee Tamatoa played for Glenora.[18]

Marist Northern won the grand final of the Wellington Rugby League competition, defeating St George 48–22. The Randwick Kingfishers were the minor premiers.[21]

The Halswell Hornets won the Canterbury Rugby League's Pat Smith Challenge Trophy grand final 20–19 over Linwood. Halswell were coached by Phil Prescott and included Glen Coughlan.[22] The two teams had earlier shared the minor premiership.

The West Coast Waro-rakau Hornets won the Thacker Shield by defeating Canterbury's Haswell Hornets 48–16.[23]

The Moerewa Tigers won the Bay of Islands competition, by defeating the Kaikohe Lions 16–12.[24]

The West End Jumbos won the Whangarei City & Districts title, by defeating the Otaika Eagles 30–24 at Jubilee Park, Whangarei.[24]

The East Coast Rebels won the to win the Far North Districts title by defeating the Te Paatu United Warriors 32–28.[24]

Turangawaewae won the minor premiership and the championship in the Waikato Rugby League competition, defeating Taniwharau Rugby League 20–15 in the grand final.[25]

The Piako Warriors defeated the Tokoroa Pacific Sharks 34–20 in the Bay of Plenty Rugby League grand final.[26] Piako featured Hare Te Rangi.

The Waitara Bears won the Taranaki Rugby League competition 16–14 over the defending champions, the Western Suburbs Tigers.[27] The Bears featured Blair Nickson while the Tigers included Willie Talau. Kia Ora, coached by Peter Sixtus, defeated Otaki 14–4 in the Manawatu Rugby League grand final.[28]

Taradale Eagles defeated the Omahu Huia 51–10 in the Hawke's Bay Rugby League grand final while the Kaiti Knights won the Gisborne-East Coast grand final, defeating Uawa 34–26.[29]

The Motueka Tigers won the Nelson-Marlborough grand final, defeating the Blenheim Knights 42–24.[30] Cobden-Kohinoor won the West Coast Rugby League grand final, defeating minor premiers Waro-rakau 12–10.[23] The Waitati Warriors won the Otago grand final 14–10 over the South Pacific Raiders while Bluff defeated He Tauaa 20–14 in the Southland championship match.