General Warriors end of year 2022 discussion

[kos]

I blame the lack of game sense and game fitness on the lack of a cohesive NSW Cup team - ie a Warriors team. Thanks to the Dolphins for taking some of our players when it suited (obviously and rightly, they would have focussed on their players first), but I really think to build cohesion or something at least like cohesion, you do need a full team of your club's players playing at NSW Cup/Reserve level.

I'm not sure how much of the lack of fitness is actually non-league as in "not enough running, cardio, weights etc etc". I'd suggest surely that's not the issue.

And I'm sure after the weirdness of 2020 turned into "We're going to have to do this shit again and again...." that wore the team down and there was no one in management who could/wanted to get the team together to engender some Us Against Covid solidarity. Some teams spent time away from their homes and didn't end up going too badly. Both Warriors senior players and management were found wanting there.

Yes good post
Having a nsw cup team and whatever under 20 s is called now is an important factor
Why
Because there is then competition for first grade and nsw cup spots
In many games this year due to injuries and suspensions we were struggling to put a team on the field
And as for fitness.
Look at PETA Hiku this year his fitness and defence work is massively improved from his time at the Warriors
But we were based at central coast Carrara and Redcliffe at various periods … how were we able to train and preseason effectively


Being back at Penrose and having a reserve grade team are massive plus factors


Massive task for Webster. Massive. Almost like eating a double shit sandwich

Also Reece going will as another poster pointed out will improve our defence

I live on the Gc and have season tickets to titans games
Jayden Campbell same age as Reece slighter smaller physique has far better defence than Reece

We’ll roll on 2023 and wish Andrew Webster the best

 

[Mr Dragon]

So the year is over for the Warriors and we finished 2nd last or Wooden Spoon adjacent! 🤣 I survived the year without quitting the Warriors, Shows growth as a man or true madness! 🤣 I let you be the judge. The owner and manager have really no clue what they are doing, we really need people who know what they are doing, maybe the new coach as some balls, You would have to be crazy taking on this job with them two in charge! 🤣 All i know it's the Warrior fans who suffer for loving League in this country and I'm never going to love a Australian team when my blood is Kiwi Red!

 

[Boats n Hoes]

Think through both successive seasons and coaches this team has lost its identity and there's no clear recognizable style of play anymore. Warriors of old we're known for a high error/ throwing the ball around style of game, with big packs that could roll down the park and offload, that our most successful coaches we're able to bring an underlying structure too.

We now have this mish mash of a Kearney introduced Storm structure that just didnt fit the personnel he had, to Brownies overcomplicated systems that just didnt gel, plus in combination with probably a lack of quality across the roster leads us to where we're at.

Have highlighted this in another thread but i would like us to start playing more footy again. By that i mean if we look at some of the stats this year -
- last in tackle breaks
- last in offloads (by a considerable distance)
- 2nd to last in linebreaks
- last in all metres run
- last in post contact metres

Basically if your not breaking tackles, if your not offloading the ball, if your not making any linebreaks......your not playing footy. And with a lack of dominance up front where your struggling to make yards, and losing the ruck battle and getting no ruck speed,,,,,you've got nothing to create off the back of......its no wonder to me all our spine players struggled to fire this year.

Couple of structure issues i struggled to fathom as well. Following the Sharks last year its easy to forget before he got injured Johnson was leading the try assists for the comp - most coming from 2nd man shape in which he was the 2nd receiver ,usually throwing the selective money ball to put his centre or winger in......now the first receiver in that shape has the all important job of straightening the attack up, taking the ball deep before he goes out the back......that's never been Johnson's go, everyone knows he plays lateral.....yet it was one of Chanel's strength's......inexiplicably we change them around with S J at first and Chanel at 2nd (who doesnt have the greatest vision at setting up his outsides) and with a lack of punch from their pack meant 2nd man pretty much had to become our go to play.....it just became a redundant run through the motions play for most of the season which was mind numbing to watch.

And that's just ball in hand.....defence is another chapter.

 

[The Falcon]

Let’s not forget the constant commentary from players sans post match loss about certain team mates not turning up etc..
So much to work on, culture, playing style, accountability, belief.
Fingers crossed for a Cowboys type turnabout led by a coach who won’t settle for mediocrity.

 

[RiceOwl]

Well, that was one hell of a rough year with very little to feel positive about. It's hard to know where to start to dissect all the negatives and what we need to go to improve, but I will give my two cents worth.
Negatives:
1) Not being based in Auckland at Mt Smart. I feel that some commentators really underestimate the impact this has but good to see most forumers can see it e.g. disconnected from fan base, lack of identity, unsettled living conditions for players, part of the season still separated from family, junior grades not taking place. Its massive.
2) Coaching: I'm a glass half full kind of guy and although i had some hope for Brownie to get us sniffing around the 8 I wasnt at all surprised to see the team look terrible under his watch. They seemed to have been given poor directives around a game model, lacked motivation (which often comes from not being confident in your coach and what he is instilling). To then bail out on the team wouldve been pretty motivation destroying.
3) Development: Because of point 2 we had very few of our younger players develop as hoped (Vailea probably the exception but how much can be contributed to Brownie). Also the lack of lower grades means less opportunity to develop as a player and less competition for spots.
4) Governance and Club Leadership: I put these 2 key elements together. As many others have mentioned, it starts at the top and I am still concerned (and confused) that Ken Reinsfield is our Chair with very little (if any) governance experience. We then have CG the salesmen, who I admit is clearly passionate about the club and been through a lot with them throughout Covid, is just not the type of CEO we ideally need to lead us to the holy grail. Last but not least, we have our owner, who much like CG is passionate about the club and I certainly appreciate the backing/funding to keep the club going,
undoes any good work with his 'my club' rhetoric alienating the other key stakeholders of the club, and lets not go down the rabbit-hole that is the $700k Matt Lodge debacle.
5) Player Performance: I'd hazard a guess that the above contributed alot to a lack of motivation and intent. But the key detrimental factor would also be the lack of cohesion generated by the lack of game time together. We had a number of new guys, young guys, and swapping of positions. Losing go forward from Matt Lodge's departure has been key as well and as many others have pointed out we are missing a big bopper for next year.

Amongst all of that, there are a few key positives for me to look forward to:
- Coming home and being based out of Mt Smart. This will be huge to turn around a lot of the negative factors from point 1.
- Andrew Webster and Cappy. Am much more comfortable and confident with these 2 taking over the reins and can only wish them the best.
- Incoming buys. This is going to be very different looking side Round 1 next year and there are plenty of exciting players coming in, and guys that are going to be good for culture (Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Te Maire Martin, Barnett...although there is a question mark against Walkers influence on culture he has been playing bloody well).
- Development and Pathways. This is key to our long term success and take my hat off to MR for investing here.

 

[ramps]

As many have stated before. Pathways and development are 70% of the factor to the worst season in our history. Not having a juniors and reserve grade made it very hard to develop our players for over 3 years. There were soo many injuries and squad changes throughout the year and so we were relying on plaer who simply werent up to first grade quality and therefore, competition for spots were limited.

Next year we will definitely see improvement but i think we are at least 3 seasons away from being competitive in the top 8 race. I dont know if the club can handle another 3 years of this rubbish though. I think this year tested a lot of die hard supporters and definitely contributed to the lack of first class recruitment but we done well with what we have coming. I just dont see anyone of Captaincy material to lead us to the promise land. While TH is an awesome player, he just isn't the type of Captain we need. Barnett reminds me a bit of Campion. Maybe he could be the man for us eventually.

lack of Leadership and Development is the cause of the downfall imo.

 

[Akkerz]

The Warriors should get down on their knees & thank you for your passion guys. These are posts with great insight & understanding gathered over too many years of failure.
If Webster had you good people on board he should have no fear of losing.
The playing year was again a bummer but posts like these , not just on the footy but the general subjects too - covid, politics, etc have kept me sane most of the season so thanks.
Now take a break 'cause it's all on again for 2023

 

[Dunedin warrior]

A terrible season, but it was more than likely going to be the case for a few years when COVID hit. Limited opportunities for youth and reserves as well playing away from their home support was always going to hurt.

It’s going to be year one of a rebuild next season. New young coach, back at home and pathways re established. Robinson has been an embarrassment this season with the Lodge affair, but has an opportunity to push forward with the club as a whole.

On the field next year, we should be a bit tougher with Barnett and Niukore. Added experience in Walker and Martin. Still lack a prop to help out Tohu Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake although Ale finished the season well.

Winning the battle in the arm wrestle and defence are the two main things I want to see next year. Aside from Walsh we aren’t losing many backs so there should be better combinations offensively and defensively.

Not expecting any miracles next season, but an improvement next season, building for a playoff shot in 2024 would be what I’m hoping for next season.

 

[JaggedJ]

They suck - that was a pretty easy discussion.

 

[BippidyDooDah]

I'm happy the season is done and we can flush it. 2023/2024 are rebuild years. I'm totally over rebuilds but it is what it is. New coach, new system, new players, rebuilding pathways. Lets set a goal of making the 8 in 2025 and be in the hunt in 2023/2024. Fuck even writing it makes me sad

 

[Navigator]

Some one was asking about.
Trai Fuller, who inked a train-and-trial deal with the Dolphins for next season, starred with three linebreaks, 11 tackle busts and 284 running metres in the Queensland Cup side’s 22-16 win over the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

 

[Damo]

Some one was asking about.
Trai Fuller, who inked a train-and-trial deal with the Dolphins for next season, starred with three linebreaks, 11 tackle busts and 284 running metres in the Queensland Cup side’s 22-16 win over the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Wonder if he will remember to actually do the train part of that deal this time.

 

[Ref]

I am optimistic about next year.
By that I mean we will be a competitive team every week and could push for 5th or 6th.
For mine Webster and Cappy are returning because they want to come.
They know the lie of the land.
We have a solid squad and have bought decent players and have good depth.
Metcalfe, Volkman, Ale and Taupaki could be sensations next year. Further improvement from Vailea, Berry and Kosi.
Surely we are lining up one or two good quality go forward props. Maybe there will be an announcement/s when their team/s is bounced from the finals.

 

[MattyJared]

Hi team. Does anyone know if the membership 10% off code adds on to the discounted jerseys (currently 20% off) in the online store? If so, does anyone have a code they'd mind sharing by chance? I'm after 3 jerseys and sadly missed out on the 40% off ones from Puma over the weekend (they were "excluded from promotions" but people got them for 40% off lol.

Thanks!

 

[The Falcon]

Team naming Tuesday.. miss it already!

 

[Warriorshopeful]

Funny how all these clubs say they respect the sacrifices Warriors have made over the last 3 years by basing in Aus instead and yet none of them have the balls to commit to playing any extra games over here 🤨 obviously don't respect it as much as they claim....

I'm hoping next year will be a better year and we will be more competitive. From some of the news articles I've seen on the club in regards to Webster and the clubs development sides looks like he is a bit stricter with fitness. Has told players for development sides to not turn up basically if they're not fit as they won't get a shot if they're not in shape.

I think he will have some good ideas on attack as well but biggest thing I hope to see next year is better attitude from the players and more steel in the team.

 

[Brother Faisal]

Sorry I haven’t read through everyone’s posts but for me I’m concerned at the NRL product itself and the underbelly of politics that governs the game and it’s impact from top to bottom right through to us fans.

I think this team constructed was ultimately flawed in design but also the way the game is officiated and the governance of the game has seen us as almost outcasts.

If we’re all honest Addin Fonua-Blake is the only quality star player we have and that’s abysmal from the amount of quality you find in a top 8 side. That’s a recruiting issue but also an economy issue that doesn’t add up. The fact we can’t attract or access 2 extra star players is immediately putting us in the bottom 8 for the next 2-3 years.

Based on the rules and officiating this team was never going to compete with the amount of possession and speed the 6 again rule has granted the more athletic teams.

There was no plan this year upon reflection and now the season is over there are no real positives. I didn’t see much growth or development. I saw a lot of regression which is a bad sign for any club.

Coaching has showed real ineptitude. I don’t blame anyone employed at the warriors. They are being paid by an owner. It’s the fact that the owner hasn’t sacked them or identified the weaknesses we all see. It’s seems really hard to get sacked from the warriors for some reason. When I here guys like Iro and Morgan are still around it irks me like seeing grima worm tongue sitting by the king of Rohan. It doesn’t make sense. The hope is Webster will instil a fresh but simple system built on key principles of success. I truely hope so for the good of the game.

Already a couple games at home and the last game of the year showed that it’s almost resuming the same results we have always seen despite being at home or not. That should level out next year but going from 15th to 12th won’t justify the hoopla of coming home. Home field for this club doesn’t mean anything.

I believe we are truly at a disadvantage now that could see some dark times for this club and other bottom 8 clubs. I for one can’t see the bottom 6 teams really changing for a while. This competition use to be one of the most even comps in the world. With the poor officiating, sub conscious bias to top 4 teams. It’s constant pandering to the more important clubs like Melbourne and roosters I feel like we won’t see much change moving forward and I think a team like the warriors who they clearly need for tv money but not much else will continue to be on the other end of bad officiating, recruitment plus poor management we stand no chance unless for a miracle of a coach and junior development of the likes of a jt cam smith and billy slater. The gap is too far to even compete in a grand final ever again. I just can’t see it.

I’m not mad at the warriors as such this year but the NRL have clearly put their focus on certain clubs and unfortunately we won’t be able to compete for the near future.

 

[snake77]

We have had some poor seasons but this would have to go down as one of the worst as after a few years of trending downwards it looked like they were making steps to turn thing around. They cleared out players from the previous years and brought in new guys. The aim was also to change the role/body type of some positions moving like moving from bigger wingers to guys with a bit more pace or adding some size up front.

Even after all of those changes, we fell apart. It looked like they would be competitive and we'd be in close games either winning or losing close. The season ended with some massive losses.

Like 2004 after a few years in the finals or 2009 (can forgive this one due to circumstances) after a good 2008 we should have had reason to look up. So to me this year is similar to those as there was a good case we should of improved whereas some of the others were just poor in general. Also results wise this is one of our worst seasons.

The reasons for the terrible season probably vary.

• Fitness and conditioning.
• Coaching. Coach seemedrelaxaxed on poor performances like it would eventually turn around. Also we were lacking tactically (offense and defense).
• Second-year season syndrome for Walsh. He made way too many errors and looked to have been well scouted from the opposition.
• Lodge leaving. We fell apart around this time then the coach decided he didn't want to carry on into 2023 so he was removed.
• Injuries. More as we struggled to get the same side on the field. But this is where the better sides suck it up and cover for their missing teammates,
• Being stuck in Australia, covid fallout over the last few seasons may have caught up with some players.

 

[snake77]

Webster has a lot to work on and think about over the weekend.

One of the articles this week had George saying anyone wanting to join the club better be in shape and that was something Webster was wanting to implement. That's good to hear but also should be a given for a professional sports team. That could be for the guys trialing for the NSW Cup squad or any train and trial contracts. But hopefully we don't here in general that guys are in the "fatties" group doing extras.

We have heard a lot about coaching wanting to implement standards. Like Kearney and his "above the line". At the moment I'm worn out on this and hearing it doesn't mean anything, it needs to be done. Hopefully as a rookie coach and someone coming from the current number 1 side Webster comes in pushes everything to a high standard.

I do know this though. Next year when we see the analysts predict their top 8, biggest improvers, premiers and wooden spooners. If we get listed as favourites for the wooden spoon instead of stating the analysts just list the clubs forget about us or don't know anything about us and then write a rebuttal. I'll just leave it next year as this year we should have did more and were lucky to avoid the spoon.

 

[Miket12]

I'm looking forward to the hardest pre-season ever (for CG's phone with all the players wanting to come here) and the knowledge that "next year will be our year!!!"