As everyone knows, the Warriors will have the Kiwi 1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13 & 14 until the end of 2018 (Mutts, Shaun Johnson and TL till 2017). Considering the individual and collective form of these players, this is, quite obviously, HUGE news for the Warriors regarding our chances of winning our maiden premiership in the next 3 years. It also speaks to the potential for some Kiwi dominance in the test arena in the years to come. However, imho, this Warriors/Kiwi synergy (especially regarding our spine) represents so much more than just a boost to the Warriors chances of breaking our premiership drought (though winning premierships is, of course, ALWAYS the primary goal) and the Kiwis chances of collecting more silverware (ditto primary immediate goal).
What I'm talking about isn't so much the short-term, yet crucial, goal of winning games and comps, but rather the opportunity this club-level convergence of Kiwi awesomeness might provide to both the Warriors and Kiwis in the area of player and culture development. With almost half the Kiwis run on side at the Warriors for years to come, including 3/4 of our spine and the Kiwi captain, we (by which I mean the Warriors and Kiwis) seem to have a rare and valuable window to focus on elite junior development in a cohesive environment. Imagine a development squad of x2 16-20 year old fullbacks, halfbacks and hookers (6 total) having the opportunity to learn under Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Shaun Johnson and Luke (our very own big 3) together. Imagine how easily the Warriors could themselves host War/Kiwi clinics, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Manu and Shaun Johnson mentoring promising backs and Luke, Mutts and Manners doing the same with promising young forwards. If such a junior development group hasn't been identified yet, and clinics like this aren't planed yet, they should be. If money (from both the Warriors and NZRL) hasn't been ear marked for it, it needs to be (what about this Trust that Glen's putting together). Doyle could be just the sort of ambitious far-thinking person to put something like this in place, imo.
I'm sure a development program (across club and Kiwis juniors) already exists, but my point is we'd be insane not to recognise the War/Kiwi convergence as a big opportunity that we should be looking to take advantage of by further investing in and streamlining our development program. Hell, we could call it the 'Kiwi Academy', partner up with an elite junior sports institute if necessary, get corporate sponsorship, have NZRL run it and pay the Warriors players as national sports ambassadors or some such (clearing it with NRL audit central first, of course). A big problem is that a system like this excludes non-local juniors and Kiwis who play at other clubs, but maybe clinics could be run in NSW/Qld/Vic by Kiwi players at clubs there for promising NZ juniors from those states. An even bigger problem might be other clubs seeing such an initiative as a Warriors poaching front. Tbh, I'm not sure what could be done about this. It might be fatal to such an initiative being accepted by other clubs. If Aussie clubs refuse to allow NZ eligable juniors to participate, then screw those clubs, make it a strictly War/NZRL affair run in NZ, and use it and our Kiwi star pulling power to poach those juniors in exactly the way Aus teams think we'd be doing anyway. I wonder if Doyle has a line to the managers of the Junior Kiwis spine players, Isaako, Martin, Docker-Clay and Katoa. Hmm.
*I get that some of what I've mentioned is far-fetched or might be impossible for practical reasons. While those elements might dismissed as 'dreaming', the overall fact that we'll have an amazing opportunity represented by the club convergence of so many key Kiwi players remains. How best should the Warriors/NZRL take advantage of this opportunity?
What I'm talking about isn't so much the short-term, yet crucial, goal of winning games and comps, but rather the opportunity this club-level convergence of Kiwi awesomeness might provide to both the Warriors and Kiwis in the area of player and culture development. With almost half the Kiwis run on side at the Warriors for years to come, including 3/4 of our spine and the Kiwi captain, we (by which I mean the Warriors and Kiwis) seem to have a rare and valuable window to focus on elite junior development in a cohesive environment. Imagine a development squad of x2 16-20 year old fullbacks, halfbacks and hookers (6 total) having the opportunity to learn under Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Shaun Johnson and Luke (our very own big 3) together. Imagine how easily the Warriors could themselves host War/Kiwi clinics, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Manu and Shaun Johnson mentoring promising backs and Luke, Mutts and Manners doing the same with promising young forwards. If such a junior development group hasn't been identified yet, and clinics like this aren't planed yet, they should be. If money (from both the Warriors and NZRL) hasn't been ear marked for it, it needs to be (what about this Trust that Glen's putting together). Doyle could be just the sort of ambitious far-thinking person to put something like this in place, imo.
I'm sure a development program (across club and Kiwis juniors) already exists, but my point is we'd be insane not to recognise the War/Kiwi convergence as a big opportunity that we should be looking to take advantage of by further investing in and streamlining our development program. Hell, we could call it the 'Kiwi Academy', partner up with an elite junior sports institute if necessary, get corporate sponsorship, have NZRL run it and pay the Warriors players as national sports ambassadors or some such (clearing it with NRL audit central first, of course). A big problem is that a system like this excludes non-local juniors and Kiwis who play at other clubs, but maybe clinics could be run in NSW/Qld/Vic by Kiwi players at clubs there for promising NZ juniors from those states. An even bigger problem might be other clubs seeing such an initiative as a Warriors poaching front. Tbh, I'm not sure what could be done about this. It might be fatal to such an initiative being accepted by other clubs. If Aussie clubs refuse to allow NZ eligable juniors to participate, then screw those clubs, make it a strictly War/NZRL affair run in NZ, and use it and our Kiwi star pulling power to poach those juniors in exactly the way Aus teams think we'd be doing anyway. I wonder if Doyle has a line to the managers of the Junior Kiwis spine players, Isaako, Martin, Docker-Clay and Katoa. Hmm.
*I get that some of what I've mentioned is far-fetched or might be impossible for practical reasons. While those elements might dismissed as 'dreaming', the overall fact that we'll have an amazing opportunity represented by the club convergence of so many key Kiwi players remains. How best should the Warriors/NZRL take advantage of this opportunity?
