The Warriors are languishing in 11th place and look almost certain to miss the finals for a sixth straight year. Sadly, their place on the competition table is not the worst thing that has happened in 2017. This season many of the club’s young players have gone backwards rather than developed and this must raise serious questions about the Warriors development process.
The Warriors have always struggled to attract top Australian talent. There has been the odd signing of note, but these...
If there is one thing that the Warriors have learnt it is that you can’t buy a winning culture. Over the past few years, they have signed high-profile recruits such as Hoffman, Luke, Tuivasa-Scheck and Foran. The narrative has been that these players are not only skilful but have been part of successful clubs and will help drive a winning culture at the Warriors. Newsflash to management: Bringing in high profile players is not changing the culture.
Last week Ryan Hoffman made the statement...
Having never lived in Auckland I have attended maybe a dozen live Warriors games, all of them have involved a road trip. There have been some great ones (driving from Christchurch to Auckland to watch the minor prems defeat the Raiders), some poor ones (Bulldogs vs Warriors 2007) and everything in between.
I have watched my fair share of Warriors losses but have never been as disappointed as when I made the trip south to Forsyth Barr stadium. Upon arriving at the stadium, I was shocked to...
“What we do in life echoes through eternity” so the famous quote from the movie Gladiator goes. I am not sure about eternity but the biggest mistake in Warriors history seems to have echoed through the club for the past 13 years. What is the mistake? The releasing of Ali Luaitititi.
Lauitiiti was something special, a big man with amazing ball skills, he is still the most exciting forward the club has ever developed. Despite being only 24 years old when he left the club, the backrow forward...
The Warriors were well beaten by a clinical Melbourne side in wet weather at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday night. The Warriors competed at times, especially in the first half, overall, there are more concerns than positives for the side.
They were unlucky to lose captain Roger Tuivasa Sheck to a concussion early in the match, however, the response from coach Kearney to move Tui Lolohea to fullback ahead of David Fusitua was surprising. Lolohea has found favour with successive Warriors...
This Friday night sees the Warriors host the Melbourne Storm at Mt Smart stadium. The last time they played Melbourne, the Warriors were beaten 42-0 in what was one of the worst performances in the history of the club. This was further compounded when 6 players decided to mix energy drinks and prescription drugs on their return to Auckland. The on-field disaster followed by such stupidity off the field gave the public a view inside the toxic Warriors culture.
The club will tell you that the...
Can we all agree that Ken Maumalo has no place as a first-grade winger? The Warriors obsession to find the next Manu Vatuvei has led them to pick a winger who is better suited to prop. Maumalo may have the size and debatably the top end speed of a young Vatuvei, but he does not have the agility, acceleration or attacking instincts that made Manu a star. He is good at gaining metres early in the set, but this needs to compliment a winger’s finishing skills not be a replacement for them. He...
Ever since Kieran Foran had his contract with the Warriors registered, there has been a constant theme in the media that the Paramatta Eels have some right to be aggrieved. Foran was able to negotiate a release from the Eels mid-2016, just halfway through his first year of a four-year deal. At the time of his release, he had suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and was going through personal issues which were affecting his mental health. Media reports were that Foran was not just leaving...
There has been much debate about whether Kieran Foran is the missing piece in the Warriors puzzle. Would the club have been smarter to invest the money in an aggressive prop, or a backrower with some attacking flair?
Before discussing what signing Foran means for the Warriors roster it is important to acknowledge that for most of the clubs history the recruitment has been limited to talented youngsters, Australian journeymen, players from Super League and the odd ex-All Black in the early...
With the Warriors having missed the play-offs for a 5th straight year it is inevitable that the media and public begin to question the position of head coach Andrew McFadden. While Jim Doyle has insisted he won’t be commenting till after a review several senior players have pledged their support to the embattled coach. Many frustrated fans can’t understand this support given the results and assume that the players must have been put up to this. While I am sure there is an element of damage...
