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It’s the 16,000km journey some suggest is a bridge too far, but the Warriors claim their arduous path to Sunday’s NRL grand final might just be what helps deliver the club an inaugural premiership.
The Auckland-based club has made return trips to three different states up and down the Australian eastern seaboard to secure a start at ANZ Stadium.
Their clash with Manly is the culmination of a month which has yielded some big-name scalps – and plenty of frequent flyer points.
But while critics suggest the constant travel back and across the Tasman – totalling almost 16,300km – will take its toll on Sunday, Warriors players say it has brought the playing group closer together.
In essence, they have been on a series on mini-camps throughout September, the players and staff getting just two days at home this week following the win over Melbourne before setting up camp in Sydney on Wednesday.
“I remember at Parra, you would see each other at training and then you would just rock up for the game,” Warriors backrower and former Eel Feleti Mateo told AAP.
“The lead-up to games (with the Warriors), when you’re in the hotels having breakfast, meals together, it really helps us bringing the team together.
“I think it’s a real advantage.”
Added centre Lewis Brown:
“It doesn’t take a toll, if anything it works in our favour,” he said of the travel.
“We’re a tight-knit bunch of blokes .. travelling with each other, we know how the other person operates.
“We love coming away.”
However not all within the Warriors camp see the benefits of the tough travel regime.
In highlighting the enormity of his side’s achievement in making the grand final, Warriors director John Hart said:
“I don’t think people realise the pressure that this team goes through travelling every second week to Australia.
“Five of the last six weeks we’ve played away from home – that’s pretty tough.”
What also is pretty tough is picking yourself up off the canvas the way the Warriors had to after their 40-10 thrashing at the hands of Brisbane in the opening weeks of the finals.
Just three teams have managed to recover from a similar blow to win the competition since the introduction of the McIntyre finals system – Melbourne in winning their maiden title in 1999, Canterbury in 2004 and Brisbane in 2006.
Five-eighth James Maloney claimed the Suncorp Stadium embarrassment – after which coach Ivan Cleary claimed he wasn’t sure if his side deserved a second chance – had provided plenty of motivation.
“It probably helps us- it’s not long in the memory and everyone remembers the difference from losing and how down you are to having a win and the up,” Maloney said.
“Everyone just wants to keep this feeling of being up – it would be beautiful if we had it (one Sunday night).”
The Warriors held a session behind closed doors on Friday while the Sea Eagles welcomed backrowers Anthony Watmough and Tony Williams back to the fold after both were spared promotional activities on Thursday as they overcame illness.
Manly officials said the pair showed no ill-effects as they trained strongly, with the entire squad to take part in Saturday’s captain’s run at a private location.
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