The Warriors have already bottled 2019

Nah, I'm not buying it. There's a heap of successful Maori and Poly players across the NRL. Didn't seem to hold back the Tongan team at the WC. It's just a lazy stereotype used to justify the Warriors inconsistency, but conveniently not in the years they made GFs.

Hard on that poor choice of description by dayer but the truth is the Polynesian attitude to life including footy can be different to others. Doesn't mean there aren't guys who can knuckle down but you've only got to look at how Steve Price impacted the warriors at the back end of his career. It's all about the balance, lots of clubs (NRL & afl) are bringing in people to help manage their Polynesian & indigenous players, it's not racism but man management strategies. Same as the mental health issues, life's more complicated than back in the day.

They'll come last. Last year was a one off

The problem with both the Blues & Warriors, was explained by Hugh McGahan a number of years ago. An overbearing approach to winning by “size”, at junior grades, has lead to generations of underdeveloped athletes who don’t know the nuances of either game. Example, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi. Won the Under 17 test series versus Australia in League, scoring two 100m tries in the two victories from fullback. No offer from the Warriors or Nz League as he was deemed “too small”. Seems to have done alright in Union.

Johnson's response to being told he could look elsewhere proves why it was the best option to move on. The right thing to do attitude-wise would be to play hard in 2019 and prove your worth. Instead, he tossed his toys and demanded a release. Is that a player to build your team culture around?

...So only white players work hard?

Hi Mary. Thanks for putting this article up. I have been a Warriors ever since I was a kid and the performance on Saturday was just pathetic. That’s me being nice, but that 2nd half was so dismal. Credit to Manly though, they played really well, but goodness gracious, were the Warriors disappointing. No heart, no mana. Nothing. Defence was dismal as well. I don’t see the point of sacking Kearney as some of our supporters have suggested to do, because we have had 6 coaches in the last 9 years. I know it’s early days but the signs just don’t look good for them. Hopefully, it’s not another one of ‘those’ years for the men from Auckland.

"Simon Mannering retired, and they lost James Gavet, Mason Lino and also Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and replaced them with almost no one." Mannering was physically done in 2018 anyway - not really a significant loss, given the way that he played (Blair essentially replaced him a year early). Gavet was directly replaced (and upgraded) by Leeson Ah Mau. Lino & CNK were reserve graders with no realistic shot at NRL footy when released. Johnson is the only real stick to beat the Warriors with - and he wouldn't have helped in either game they lost so far. We know this, because we've seen it - many, many times over. Even then, the club didn't plan on losing him this year. He threw his toys out of the cart when not given his usual automatic upgrade before being allowed on the open market. The CNK thing is interesting. I'd argue that it is in large part Stephen Kearney's fault. His hard-on for Sol Kata has prevented others from getting the opportunity at centre - where CNK should have got his shot, with the back three so dominant. He should have been playing ISP there also, but instead was parked out on the wing to rot away with no plan for his development - despite his continued excellence at that level, and his extremely promising first taste (7 games) of first grade the year before. Joined-up thinking is clearly not the strong suit for this club - here's hoping that changes at some point, with the structure they have been slowly implementing behind the coaching staff. All that said, there are still multiple good options at centre.. Beale, for a start, and the three new signings: Herbert, Pompey & Milne. All are interesting, the first two have had an eye-catching start to the year (Pompey in particular... I hope he's in the 30 - not that I have any faith Kearney will hold Kata in any way accountable). Keighran looks fine so far... a bit rough, which is to be expected, but fine. There's no panic there.

i hate to say it but really the problem is they need to have some rugged Aussie forwards to do the dirty work so to speak.. in fact they need to balance the side with Aussie players or they will suffer year after year... maybe 10 years down the track is where they want to be 100% Polynesians but not now. only my humble opinion.

Blake Green has had a few few pretty decent years and has picked up a fair bit of praise for his impact on a few teams seasons. He is a great team mate from what I hear and a decent player but I've never thought he was any more than a reasonable 1st grader. Halves who don't threaten the line have to be in the right team or be unbelievable at other aspects of the game and he could have a long season ahead.

The Warriors looked to me to be trying hard and certainly seemed to care. The mental stuff around being alert, knowing numbers etc on the quick Manly play the balls let then down on defence it seemed. Roger was like a shag on a rock at times trying to cover everyone. Attack looks a real worry as well, all those sets of six with the ball down in the Manly half, guys running it up well and recycling but no Shaun Johnson type player to make the elusive plays to create tries. Very much a journeyman team on attack in this game excepting Roger. Could he shift into that role? ????

And yet the buffoons at the NRL ie greenburger and beetroot want to put another underperforming underachieving team in NZ at the expense of teams with great history tradition and supporters. Get rid of the clowns.

Mary you clearly dont watch the Warriors matches very often. Johnson has a fantastic highlights package and every NON warriors fan looks at those highlights and says "how could you let him go"? Well the truth is he was a very flawed genius and you could never be sure which Johnson turned up on any given day. As a fan who has lost interest in the sport over the last few years but still records and watches Warriors games, Johnson should of been moved on years ago. He does 1 highlight a game and his ability beyond the amazing is very average. take the highlight out and he is not up to leading a side around the park. He is far better suited to Cronulla where thay have NO TRAVEL and more game managers around him so he can do nothing all game then do a "highlight".

I am a Warriors fan due mostly to the fact that I am a New Zealander (the Broncos were my team prior to inception of the Auckland based team) and I find it really difficult to really get invested in the team when the team doesn't always seem invested themselves. There is a huge amount of talent on the field, and the athleticism is undeniable, but it sometimes it seems as though they would rather play flashy and lose than play boring and win. Surely Kearney, with all that experience under Bellamy at Melbourne, understands that the flash stuff is made possible by the straight, hard stuff. On a positive note, I cannot fault either team in the lead up to the game. Manly do an amazing thing by bringing world class rugby league to Christchurch and their players' interaction with the community made such a positive impact on a city that seems to continually rebounding from one tragedy or another.

I understand the Johnson thing. You have to build your team and structures to accommodate the freedom he needs to shine. It was also hard to tone him down given the NZ national team success. And yet he was injured so often that they got left in a halfway house of talent v discipline. Moving on was going to be painful but necessary.

I thought Kearney might be the point of difference when he arrived. The Warriors struggles are the same as those of the Auckland Blues in Super Rugby, their squads are loaded with talent that the players seem to turn on and off like a tap, with no rhyme or reason to the consistency or lack of. Tana Umaga turned up at the Blues and he couldn't work out how to keep the tap on. The Warriors are set for a CLASSIC Warriors season, up and down, winning when they shouldn't. So, they will finish either eighth or ninth, it will be in the balance until the final moments of the final round. They'll get there by beating Melbourne twice and destroying the Roosters, and then losing to the Titans minus everyone. If Kearney goes during the season, who the hell is going to want to take this on?

There are some serious issues with Rugby League in NZ. Its more than just the Warriors though they are the visible bit of it. The International team has under performed these last few years, the warriors never seem to deliver on their potential, The governing body never has any money, there is seemingly constant changes of ownership and control. Then there are the crowds .....

and I wouldn't blame him if he did, Dominic. It's got to be hard for a champion, to know that there are still more than 20 rounds to go and your side is in big trouble already.

This may well have wider consequences for the code as well, such inept performances could prompt RTS to make the switch to Union. . .

I think the loss of Mannering cannot be underestimated. His ability to do the 1 per centers and more to the point his ability to get others to do likewise in the Warriors team cannot be underestimated. There are a few other underperforming teams in the comp at present, who seem to be in a similar position to the Warriors but the difference is, these sides have plenty of improvement through moving players around, players coming back from injury, etc. The Warriors have none of that, so it looks like another long year of misery for Kearney's guys, assuming he's even there at seasons end.