As a Warriors supporter, there is a mood in the air that I have never experienced in 20 years. Or should I say, lack of mood – apathy is the only word to describe it.
The lack of enthusiasm, emotion, and even general interest in some cases, is a stark contrast to years gone by.
Over the past two decades, my weeks and weekends have been dominated by everything rugby league and Warriors. My general mood over the week soured after a loss, then brightened again as game-day approached. My circle of friends similarly dove head-first into the sport and the Auckland-based side with an eagerness that was unmatched for years.
However, during the last few seasons, I have noticed a gradual shift.
It started out as simply less anger, less frustration after a loss. Then some started to avoid watching the games once it was clear the Warriors weren’t going to make the eight.
This progressed to snorts of derision during the propaganda-filled preseasons, and collective eye-rolling when we were fed articles declaring a ‘fitter, stronger, more focused squad than ever before’.
The club slowly descended from an entity that filled us with pride, enjoyment and passion to something we found ourselves resenting. We were putting everything we had into it, and getting nothing in return.
This season has seen the biggest change of all. The fiery passion among many supporters is not only gone, it has been replaced with almost nothing at all. People simply no longer care about the outcome.
I can speak about this with a degree of confidence, having helped run the largest online supporters forum for the past decade. There will always be a sub-set of supporter that lives and dies by the results on the field, but this breed is dwindling.
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From a competition standpoint, I would suggest the Knights are in a deeper hole than the Warriors, but they at least have some past success to fall back on. I don’t see the Warriors winning a premiership for a long time, if ever. If I have to star gaze, they are probably on the verge of a Newcastle style ‘rebuild’, with very little light at the end of the tunnel.
I don’t say this lightly, or as a knee-jerk reaction to what has unfolded so far this year. The Warriors simply do not produce footballers good enough to compete for sustained periods of time. What we see are many players who are good at one or two things only.
Some are great on attack, but can’t defend, or lack basic ball-handling skills. Some are great defenders, but can’t break a tackle to save themselves. It is apparent that the players with all-round abilities tend to end up in rugby union, and why wouldn’t they? Spending your days in the pulsating industrial hub of Penrose must surely pale in comparison to an All Black jersey and all the comes with it.
Photo: AFP
The attribute which is most consistently lacking however, is mental fortitude. Most players this club produces lack it in spades. It can be hidden to a degree in a side filled with players who have it, but is sorely exposed here.
The so-called nursery of junior league players in Auckland is nothing but a giant YouTube highlight reel, with zero substance. There is nothing about the junior players in our current squad that suggests they are anything but fringe first graders, let alone the type of players you can build a club around. The future looks incredibly dim.
The Warriors are a club where careers come to die. Where basic skills, fitness and attitudes nose dive, never to recover – a few notable exceptions aside. Prior and current strategies on and off the field have not worked, save for perhaps a couple of brief periods.
Jim Doyle’s current strategy of recruiting Kiwis looks grand on paper, but is producing some of our worst ever performances. I expect to see him fall on his sword at the end of this season, as he probably should, though he has at least tried something different.
In short, there is almost nothing to be positive about regarding this club and the direction it is headed.
I will probably watch again this weekend, as old habits die hard. Though none of what unfolds will mean very much – to myself nor many of my fellow supporters-turned-observers.
Apathy has taken over, and it’s here to stay.
Numchuck
Guest
Did Rugby comps stop in NZ during WW1 as it did in Oz?? That's when RL took over though the money aspect and class distinction may have made it inevitable anyway.
duecer
Guest
I do think, for a niche sport in NZ, that RL does quite well. Of course when playing against Australia, the Kiwis will always lift. Unfortunately the Warriors are competing in an Australian competition and a similar competitiveness does not translate as well as country vs country. It's an interesting point as to whether having a team in the NRL has been more or less beneficial to GR in NZ than a local based competition.
Eurogrub
Guest
Lack of promotion - relegation. Glory Leagues have no future. The Europeans showed the world how to run a sports competition. It became the World Game. THE FORMULA. You MUST have an OPEN competition. You cannot allow the losers of a League to remain in that League. They MUST be relegated to the next lower division. And the hardest workers of the lower division must be promoted to the next higher division. It's like working any job or running any business. If nobody can lose their job, the workers will become lazy. If no company can go bankrupt, their productivity goes down the drain. Rugby League teams are overprotected. Same goes for the A-League. Football Australia is going nowhere because no promotion - relegation. It is sports SOCIALISM.
clipper
Guest
Good to get a reality based, independent view.
zim
Guest
Hmm wonder what happened to him in the off season then to cause that change in attitude. He's back in the side this week. Maybe a change of scenery is in order. He'd look good in lime green ;)
Ron Swanson
Roar Guru
The issue is with culture and leadership. Zero accountability, same side named this weekend. How and why? Young forwards showed promise and have been coached to put away their off-loading skills, sick of hearing the forwards are small, useless etc. it's the coaching. Actually watch the game, count the off-loads or doubt they put in their opponents mind. Only time they pass is before the line laterally which ends with a Johnson run of 45 metres and about 15 metres gained. When you look at club legends, I can only name 2 which sustained a long run as leaders and legends of the club, Stacey Jones and Simon Mannering. Ruben, Pricey, Campion and Luck all contributed but were not around for a long time. They can no longer accept these performances or roll out cliched excuses, the fans have had a gutful and have a right too. Like Michael Jordan said "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying", that summed up the Warriors last Friday night!
Sylvester
Guest
Cleary's record wasn't above average but I'll give him some credit for them making the grand final in a year where they were scrambling to even make the finals.
Scrumma
Guest
Do the maths, we only have an overall player base pool of 26,000 with 3550 registered adults against Australia 406,000 overall player pool with 56,000 registered adults. Not bad odds considering our Kiwis have won 4 major titles against their arch rivals, but the numbers were always going to catch up with the state of our NZ Warriors rugby league worries, kiwis team included.
Parra
Guest
Attitude is poor and has been for awhile. Correct that and they will start winning again. The roster is good enough to win the comp, the players simply require the desire to get there. Simple. However it's not simple how to correct the problem? Confidence and self belief. Perhaps Bellamy can help.
Margaret
Guest
Stu You seem to make a study of this (NRL Central employee?) yet somehow you have the Warriors crowd when its not on NRL website or in any newspaper. There are 5 rugby franchises with average crowds on a par or greater than Warriors. The Warriors get to play a Broncos seconds this weekend so they get plenty of favours from HO just before the British Lions arrive. The Wallabies outdraw the Kangaroos at home but doesn't mean they are more popular to use your bizarre analysis.
Steve
Guest
Yep, the Warriors are an enigma that defy explanation. I have to disagree with you on the roster....on paper you look at it and say "wow....theres a fair bit of talent there". Even if the pack is littered with a few journeymen, who cares. They are all first grade footballers for crying out loud. It just seems that the Warriors can take a hugely talented player and turn them into reserve graders almost overnight. Isaac Luke is a good example......never at any time since he started with the Warriors has he shown form anywhere near to that he displayed at Souths. At the Rabbits he was one of their major attacking lynch pins causing havoc up the middle of the ruck time and time again. All of a sudden he goes to the Warriors and that aspect of his game disappears completely. Its bizarre! RTS is another.....has played really average since his return after being a sensation at the Chooks. Even Foran, after a good start is starting to show the inevitable signs of mediocrity that seem to always result after spending time at the Warriors. Whats the answer? Is it the coaching?....Are the players not fit? Who knows? All I know is that I will never tip them again as long as I live.....lesson learnt.
Paulie
Guest
REALLY looked half empty pal chiefs cusaders game in Fiji packed stadium
MrJSquishy
Roar Pro
Not sure what home and away stats you are looking at, but, the Warriors are 4 from 6 at home this season and 0 from 5 away. Doesn't appear that their "...away and home stats are just as bad as each other...". If you're talking all time, the Warriors have won 151 of 266 (win percentage of 56.8%) at home and 93 of 264 away (35.2% win percentage). So, no, moving them away from NZ is a terrible idea...
Birdy
Guest
I always had the feeling when the Warriors kicked off they would never excell without a local derby. 2 teams or none for NZ is whats needed. They could learn off each , grow together and compete against each other to throw off any complaicency. Or smug feeling of just playing in the NRL while living at home is good enough
Kiwijack
Guest
I think the Warriors need to somehow copy the AB,s culture and organisation. It never ceases to amaze me how NZ can produce the most successful team in the world and the most inconsistent. NZ has so many outstanding footballers, just look at the dominance of the Super rugby teams but at League we suck. Maybe need to get some rugby players to create consistency, forget Foran let's get Cruden or Barrett.
terrence
Guest
Nostradamus and Cedric, you are both on the mark. I can't believe the Warriors overlooked Geoff Toovey for Stephen Kearney (who is looking more like Jason Taylor than Jason Taylor, a great assistant coach, a poor choice for head coach).
thomas c
Guest
It's so difficult to come up with a compelling explanation as to why the warriors (and NZ in general) can't put together a cohesive, composed, generally disciplined team. You can't lay the blame exclusively at Kearney's feet as the warriors (like the eels) seem to have cultural issues across many years and multiple coaches. I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult. Make sure the players train well (ethic, fitness) and know precisely their job. I wouldn't say that there's a single template for success. But i think the more mechanical teams have advantages, and know that if things fall apart they can reinvest in basics. Teams that rely on attacking "magic", don't necessarily have a clear solution when the magic doesn't work. There's a reason why the warriors might be described as "mercurial". The kiwi centric recruiting should help in terms of stability and being better situated for a couple easy victories over the origin period.
Klee gluckman
Guest
I wanted Cleary back and still do. We need his defence advise.
Luke
Guest
Not enough smart footballers in their side. Bucket loads of talent
Akari
Guest
Thanks for this article, Kris. I am guessing that it must have been difficult to write although it might also have been therapeutic in some ways too. Despite my criticism of the current day Warriors, they were (back in the day) the only team that I looked forward to watching because of the razzle-dazzle that comes with their game as opposed to the regimentation that was and still is prevalent in league today. The then new boys in town came with attitude and their razzle was so refreshing. I miss that of the Warriors.