Braving a torrential downpour, more than 20,000 hardy souls poured through the Mt Smart Stadium turnstiles last Sunday to see the Warriors succumb to the Roosters in the rain.


Or 20,395, to be more precise.


That's the official crowd figure released to the media and the NRL by the Kiwi club, chalked up in match reports and recorded in the league's history books.


It followed similarly impressive turnouts of 18,595 and 23,695 for the Warriors' other two home games at their Auckland fortress this season against the Bulldogs and the Cowboys respectively.


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So far, so normal. But then some eagle-eyed anoraks noticed a slight curiosity in those figures – all three of them ended in '95'.


Of course, with a sample size of just three, there's a chance – albeit it a small one – that it could be an amazing if slightly improbable coincidence.


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HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES

It was hard work for the Warriors and Roosters but more than 20,000 people turned out to watch.

Yet when Stuff delved a little deeper into the record books, we discovered that of the last 26 matches played by the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium, 18 of the official crowds ended in '95'.


That ruled out the possibility of it being merely coincidental. So how then can this peculiar mystery be explained? As is often the case, the answer is refreshingly straightforward.


“We might round it up one or two numbers just to get to '95',” Warriors chief executive Cameron George revealed to Stuff, admitting it was done in a nod to the club's foundation year of 1995.