Singer Lapi Mariner was the star of the 2001 Warriors' anthem. He visited his old school, Waitakere College, to sing a new version of the song with the school choir for the Warriors' 2018 charge into the finals.

If Sir Peter Leitch or Shaun Johnson are the face of the Warriors, Lapi Mariner is the voice.

His 2001 anthem became synonymous with the club through some of it's toughest years and to this day, that six-word hook instils a feeling of nostalgia and hope in many a die-hard Warrior fan.

It's just a matter of faith.

Seventeen years a go, it was an advert by Vodafone which launched the song into the mainstream.

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It depicted the man with the voice, Mariner, leading a band of Warriors fans "Pied Piper-style" down Auckland's Karangahape Rd, belting out the gospel track.

At the time, it was just a catchy slogan to market the telco company's sponsorship with New Zealand's lone NRL franchise.

But it became so much more.

It turned into a phrase muttered in Kiwi league circles for years, usually after one of the side's many on-field disappointments.

And season after heartbreaking season, it was a crutch on which fans lent.

Flash forward 17 years and the catchy chorus could still be heard echoing down Beasley Ave after the Warriors Round 12, 30-10 loss, to South Sydney.

JASON DORDAY/STUFF Lapi Mariner visited his old school, Waitakere College, to jam with the pacific choir and create a new version of the song he helped make famous.

"Keep the faith brothers, we'll bounce back. It's just a matter of faith," one fan sang, as he charged proudly toward the Penrose McDonalds, fist in the air.

However, at the time of its recording back in 2001, Mariner and the team at Liquid Studios had no idea just how big the song would become - or how much it would change the life of a shy boy from West Auckland.

Mariner always knew he had a gift.

From a young age he would sing in church, at home and jam with the family.

But his true passion - ironically - was rugby league and through his early years, that was the avenue down which Mariner saw his life heading.

"I grew up in Te Atatu North, or I think they call it Peninsula now? something fancy like that," he said, sipping a green smoothie at his now local Otahuhu cafe.

"It was a great place to grow up, very diverse. We had a lot of Pasifika people, Pakeha and also all the Croatian kids who's families owned the vineyards. I was surrounded by a whole host of different music and cultures but like all kids, I gravitated to sports."

The Waitakere College product was a talented teen.

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF Warriors' legend Stacey Jones was one of the players who starred in the 2001 advert.

At 14 years old he was selected to represent Auckland at a tournament in the Waikato - until tragedy struck.

"I missed the bus down but I was so keen to get there and have my first real crack that the old man agreed to drive me," Mariner said.

"We were on the motorway when a woman coming the other way lost control. Her wheel buckled under her car and she slid across the lane. Straight into us. Head on."

The crash left the young rugby league prodigy broken. His hip, ankle and knee were shattered and he was forced to take the best part of the year off school recovering.

He was told he would never play league again.

Unable to chuck the ball around with his mates at lunchtime, Mariner became isolated and "lost".

That was until he met a group of boys who "truly changed everything".

"There was a group of guys who would hangout in the B block toilets and sing, all day," he said.

"While I was recovering I would go sit outside and just tap my foot and nod along, probably looked pretty weird to the other kids but I fell in love with the harmonies and honestly, that was where it all started for me."

After eventually plucking up the courage to go in and jam with his fellow students, Mariner became the ultimate school entertainer.

JASON DORDAY/STUFF Mariner now sings professionally overseas in some of Las Vegas' top hotels and casinos.

Over the next few years he starred in all of the school's shows and learnt how to properly use his powerful voice.

He joined a group and picked up a job working at the Aotea Centre.

Mariner would sing on the job and for the boys at lunchtime, his big break coming when his then boss, Don Mann, was leaving to take up a position at the Warriors.

"He was doing some marketing stuff for New Zealand Rugby League, this is 1999, and he asked if I could sing the anthems. Honestly, I can't thank Don enough for giving me that," he said.

"Even though I never got to fulfil my dream of playing on that stage, I still got to be out there next to the boys and I suppose represent my country, in my own little way."

Mann, brother of Kiwi league great and foundation Warrior Duane Mann, then put Mariner's name forward for the 2001 ad campaign.

"And from there the rest is history," Mariner said.

"The relationships I built through that period really kick-started my career. I would record jingles for Liquid Studios and I got to travel the world. Truly blessed for that song [It's just a matter of faith] and the people that helped make it happen."

Nowadays, Mariner is still a professional singer, and splits his year between singing at concerts in the Pacific Islands, New Zealand and America, where he plays some of the biggest hotels in Las Vegas.

And as the 2018 Warriors charge toward their first finals birth in seven years, he said his faith in the team remained as strong as it was all those years ago.

Mariner hopes his latest version of the song, sung with students from his old stomping ground at Waitakere College, can serve as extra motivation to the players, club and its loyalist fans.