It was the team that captured the hearts of a nation.

The Vodafone Warriors, coached by Ivan Cleary and captained by Simon Mannering, put rugby league right in the public eye when they made it through to the NRL grand final in 2011.

No other Warriors side had done it since 2002 and the hype in the lead-up to the much-anticipated match in Sydney was huge on both sides of the Tasman. Not bad in a year otherwise dominated by Rugby World Cup madness.

Sadly the Vodafone Warriors lost to a fired up Manly side that finished the game 24-10 before a crowd of nearly 82,000. But they still returned home to a heroes welcome and the drive to do it all again.

The Mad Butcher and Suburban Newspapers Community Trust is fortunate enough to have a signed jersey as a keepsake of that historic team.

And we've had it framed, along with some stunning photographic reminders of the match.

We're putting the whole thing under the hammer on Trade Me as part of Project Kidney, a trust initiative supported by Suburban Newspapers to raise $132,000 for the purchase of four new haemodialysis machines to be installed in the first ever dedicated paediatric haemodialysis unit at Starship Hospital.

Go online to trademe.co.nz and search for Project Kidney to bid.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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