I have watched Matty Johns since he signed with Fox and had his own gigs. He doesn't "hate the Warriors", in fact he used to regularly tip us for the top 4. And like many others he has stated that a strong Warriors side is good for rugby league in general. But the club has become such a laughing stock that we've become easy whipping boys, and we have noone else to blame but ourselves. The last 6 years have been an absolute farce from the Warriors, starting from the top down. Some of the coaching, recruitment and retention decisions have been amongst the worst in the club's history, that combined with the fact that the culture of the place was clearly an absolute joke. Does anyone here remember how much shit Souths copped during their years of shite performances? They copped much worse than we have, and they're a Sydney based club with years of heritage behind them.
We've won 5 games, that does not erase years of rubbish. You don't just get given respect, you earn it with your performances on and off the field, and this club has failed in both areas - hence it is not surprising the reactions we get from the league media in general. This year is a strong start in terms of undoing that poor opinion, but it needs to be sustained. I for one am still sceptical, so I don't expect non-supporters of the club to be any different.