The Warriors should be one of the best sides in the NRL
Roar Guru By Frank Lee Kennedy, 18 Jun 2012 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- New Zealand Warriors, NRL, Rugby League, Stacey Jones
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The Warriors should be one of the great sides in the NRL. Yes, they made the Grand Final last year, but it was a surprise to most.
They have the most talented/strongest youngsters and are second to none in the NRL under 20s. They seem like they can win whenever they want to.
However, this hasn’t translated to the NRL side. The question of why this is the case is intriguing many fans inside and outside New Zealand.
There are two answers. The first is coaching, the other is their style of football.
Let’s look at their coaches in the past 10 years.
Daniel Anderson coached the side between 2001-4. He took them to the GF and they lost to the Roosters in 2003. He has the highest success rate of all Warriors coaches in 17 years (55%); he left in acrimonious circumstances in 2004 after falling out with senior players.
Kemp did not last long, Cleary came next. He also took them to the GF in 2011 when they lost narrowly to the Manly Sea Eagles. He is has the second best strike rate among Warrior coaches, just under 50%.
Since the beginning of this year, Brian McLennan is the coach and it is probably too early to comment on his tenure.
OK, we got down to the second and perhaps the more intriguing part. Their style of football, which pretty much revolves around the flair factor. The flair factor can kill teams, but also can win premierships. However, in the long run it is not a winner.
Teams have to be controlled by few ways. Discipline and enthusiasm are two very important parts of the game after talent. The Warriors are very lucky talent wise, but very short of discipline.
Their main playmakers over the years (except the great Stacey Jones) are not noted cool heads, (perhaps Maloney, who is leaving this year, is the exception). They must find someone who can control the game – and the flair. This will give the team plenty of respect, and a better shot at the title.
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The Crowd Says (11) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Explore:
- New Zealand Warriors, NRL, Rugby League, Stacey Jones
June 18th 2012 @ 7:26am
oikee said | June 18th 2012 @ 7:26am | Report comment
They have Luleli coming back from super league next year to slot in at half. I think Shaun Johnson will make a better stand-off with the other guy running the show. Like Corey Norman and Wallace at the Bronx.
Apart from that they look alright. You cranky because they lost on the week-end. ? The Broncos lost as well, suck it up.
June 18th 2012 @ 9:01pm
Sylvester said | June 18th 2012 @ 9:01pm | Report comment
Leuluai has and always will be a disaster. Seriously overrated. I’m actually dreading his arrival.
June 18th 2012 @ 8:38am
JVGO said | June 18th 2012 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Cronulla had 3 0f their 4 best forwards out on the weekend. Warriors scored all their points against the weakened Cronulla bench in the middle 40 mins of the game. Cronulla dominated the opening 20 min and final 20 mins when De Gois and their startinfg props were on the field. Warriors didn’t play with enough flair against the Cronulla bench and didn’t rack up enough points to win the game. They should have gone all out in the middle 40 and gone for the arm wrestle against the Sharks starters. Warriors aren’t smart enough.
June 18th 2012 @ 8:56am
mushi said | June 18th 2012 @ 8:56am | Report comment
I think one thing that gets over played is the translation of Toyota cup to NRL. I think having a team full of bigger ball runners, whilst very useful at toyota cup level, does all those players (and the club) an injustice in development.
June 18th 2012 @ 4:50pm
oikee said | June 18th 2012 @ 4:50pm | Report comment
Very good point, you notice this nearly every week, they seem to play very slow. When Vatuvia gets the ball you know he is not going to pass, so they just put numbers on him in the tackle, they even punch the ball out just to rattle his cage.
The warriors are like a book already written, everyone knows the outcome. Go with them for 60 minutes then blow them away. It must be a thriller that book, with the ussual ending, the goodies get dusted.
The coach is unproven as well. Cleary had to keep dropping players to keep them motivated.
June 18th 2012 @ 9:44am
Spiritfree said | June 18th 2012 @ 9:44am | Report comment
Many things going on. I’ve been heavy on Vatuvei’s errors, but his replacement made some clangers – tho it was on debut, so give him that. And he is a try machine.
I agree totally with what’s driving the article, though. So much talent.
I reckon that the spirit of the team, the determination to win, is what’s missing.
Oh, and to replace Maloney next year….Lino!? He had a good Toyota Cup game, right?
June 18th 2012 @ 9:45am
allblackfan said | June 18th 2012 @ 9:45am | Report comment
There may be another reason.
Schoolboy RU in NZ is very well developed while schoolboy RL is not (think polar opposite to the situation in Sydney/Brisbane).
RL players at the school level are having to play rugby. Perhaps when transiting back to RL, these players struggle to adapt to the 13-a-aside code (apart from the likes of Konrad Hurrell)
NZ Herald talks about this:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10813604
June 18th 2012 @ 5:05pm
oikee said | June 18th 2012 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
The Storm do better than the warriors at picking young players from NZ. The Storm seem to pick fast mobile players with attitude, the warriors seem to pick the slower types who are monsters.
Rugby league players will beat you every day, the quick younger types will run rings around the Vatuvai’s of this world, this is why he is struggling on the wing. A run of the mill player like Beau Ryan just runs around him.
You look at the under 20 warriors team this year and for the life of me, i cant see any players who are rugby league players, not 1.
So you have a whole team of youngsters who wont probably ever make it in the NRL.
Now look at the Storm kiwi juniors , most will make it because they pick league players, not union players.
The warriors already know they have problems in this area. Look no further than the Broncos, our kids are killing them, all coming through lovely. They were not world beaters either, they never won the comp. I watched the young broncos the other day play the Warriors, i could not believe how good the Broncos were, yet they got flogged by the warriors. The point is, i seen league players, not union players. I know these kids will be Bronco boys when they get older, most were 16 to 18 year olds, our club is rebuilding again.
If you get the chance, have a look, the Broncos juniors have not won alot of games this year, one or two, but gee they have big futures.
Another player i would have keep, but the Warriors seem to lost him. Henry the winger for the Roosters. This guy is fast and elusive, a natural league player. The warriors let him go. This is how you know the warriors are picking the wrong players. The other NRL clubs are laughing, even Inu, i always rated him, but not the warriors, they let him go, ? dow.
June 18th 2012 @ 9:15pm
Sylvester said | June 18th 2012 @ 9:15pm | Report comment
To be fair, the Warriors are in the early stages of integrating a number of juniors into the top grade. There’s a huge step up from U20 and some get up to speed sooner than others. Took Locke a season or two and Billy Tupou.
I don’t think it’s a size or skill issue.
A few more games under the belts of Johnson, Hurrell, Henry, Taylor etc could be a different story.
The other point is, as you mention oikee, is that the Warriors can’t keep all their best juniors. They may want them but can’t contract all of them if clubs with bigger chequebooks come calling.
I get that Inu’s signing seemed wrong, but you need to sign experienced players as well.
June 18th 2012 @ 10:27am
Benson said | June 18th 2012 @ 10:27am | Report comment
Realistically they should win u/20 every year. It would be the equivalent of Australia entering an u/20 team in a NZ rugby under 20 comp.
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June 18th 2012 @ 11:53am
sledgeross said | June 18th 2012 @ 11:53am | Report comment
I think it shows the difference between now and previous years in teh type of player coveted by clubs. Clubs tend to go for athletes who they can teach the basics to and pray for the best, if things dont pan out by the time they are 20, then there is always something else on the production line. The old school ball players who can read a game may not be as athletic or physically gifted, so they dont necessarily stand out at junior rep level, and so may be passed over because they dont have the short term gain.
So I think the Warriors are guilty of this. They have some great footy athletes but play a “dumb” game )by dumb i mean inconsistent). Once these blokes can gain a bit of knowlwedge and structure, they will be tough to be.