Even the State of Origin period may not save the Warriors’ NRL season this year.
Armed with arguably the best roster in the history of the club, the Auckland-based outfit slumped to a 5-8 record on Friday night when they went down 32-24 to an injury-depleted Parramatta at ANZ Stadium.
The Warriors have one of the best spines in the competition. Last month they provided the Kiwis’ Test fullback, five-eighth, halfback and hooker in the same match for the first time in the history of the club.
So strong is their roster that former player Clinton Toopi told AAP at the start of the year that it was a case of now or never for the club – a deadline emphasised by the fact Kieran Foran has already signed with Canterbury for 2018.
But on Friday night it again meant little, aside from two 10-minute periods in both the first and second halves as they twice threatened to mount comebacks against an Eels team that was left with just one man on the bench.
“I know we have the capability to put some points on if we stick to what we do – the process,” Kearney said.
“What I was disappointed with was to give up too many points to start the halves to begin with.”
A sixth-straight loss in Australia has the Warriors in 13th on the ladder.
They have now won just four games in the past 24 months outside of New Zealand, no doubt a worrying trend given they return for a match on the Gold Coast next Saturday.
More concerning though is the fact they have already used their only pre-Origin trump card.
Because while the Warriors are renowned for making a run through the middle of the season against Origin-affected teams, they have byes before each of the next two Origin matches after beating an undermanned Brisbane last week.
They also face the unaffected Panthers after the third interstate clash, meaning the Round 16 fixture against the Bulldogs could be their only chance to capitalise against a tired side.
Cedric
Guest
I saw Kata run in to leave massive gap out wide. It was a gift. Boden is not a 1st grader. They lost to an already depleted side and then had a depleted bench, parramatta was gutsy warriors average. I thought the writing was on the wall after an average game against half a broncos team!
steveng
Roar Rookie
That was a disgraceful refereeing performance by Klein and his mob, I thought after SOO 1 the refereeing will improve but its gotten worst and Klein and his mob proved why RL is being ruined by the referees.
The eye
Guest
I watched one average team with a big heart grind down another with much more talent and far less care about winning..
Eddie
Guest
I agree about Bodene Thompson. He's not a first grader and Kata's fire has gone with last season. But the puzzle for me is what kind of team is Kearney trying to shape because clearly it's not working.Their defence has improved a little but they're not a team to grind out a win, discipline and precision lets them down whilst on attack their last tackle options have been hard to watch. I'm sure fans have got lots more to add. Was that Sir Graham Henry I saw in the Warriors coaching box during the Penrith capitulation? You can only wonder what he made of that debacle.
Aem
Guest
Kearney keeps selecting guys who aren't good enough for first grade. Bodene Thompson, Solomone Kata... step right up! Those two guys alone directly caused 3 tries for the Eels... and that's just scratching the surface of how badly they played. And here's the thing; that is far from just one a one-off performance. The two of them have been consistently bad this year, but keep getting selected. It's not as if Kearney doesn't have options - two of his best young performers in NRL & NSW cup this year have been Bunty Afoa and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad... both of them direct replacements for Thompson & Kata. Between that and a continued refusal to play Toafofoa Sipley while losing the majority of forward battles, Kearney has already earned the sack in my eyes. People say the players are the problem, not the coach - well, the coach picks the players. The Warriors are playing excellent footy in reserve grade, they have guys ready to step in... but Kearney is sticking with losers. Surprise surprise... he keeps losing.
Eddie
Guest
The 'process' isn't working, Mr Kearney. This team doesn't look like, well what are we looking at? One forward having a dig and a stuttering backline. Commitment? Not much. This would be their poorest effort yet, and we've seen a few.