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Gould's tough talk to inspire Warriors

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13th January, 2021
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Phil Gould has made a career from his inspirational talks and now the Warriors are hoping he’ll make their NRL season one to remember.

The New Zealand side is based in camp in Tamworth as they prepare for the NRL season, with hopes a bubble will be opened between the two countries by April.

It has created a ‘super camp’ of sorts – an intense pre-season that is hoped will foster success the club has been starved of since entering the competition in 1995.

To add inspiration to the group, new coach Nathan Brown called on club consultant Gould to deliver a few choice words to the team last week.

As well as not having won a premiership yet, the Warriors have finished 10th on average over the last decade.

Gould reminded the group of this harsh reality and the chance they have to fix it in 2021.

“He gave us an inspirational talk about the opportunity we have and how we have all this time and how we should take it,” said new recruit Kane Evans.

“He was actually talking about the club too, about how we can take the organisation from being mediocre to being up there with the best and to keep it up there for the next 10-20 years.

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“Everyone had that fire in their belly after his speech.

“Some boys were emotional but some were just fired up to do their best.

“Hearing stats like that and his inspirational talk after, it was exciting and that’s why I can’t wait to play.”

Evans was part of the Australian-based group that was training in Kiama with support staff prior to the entire squad assembling in Tamworth earlier this month.

The Warriors will then move to the Central Coast, where they spent the majority of the 2020 season while unable to fly home.

Their first two home games in the opening rounds of this season have been moved from Mt Smart Stadium to Central Coast Stadium.

They will then play two away games in Canberra and Sydney before hopefully returning to New Zealand to play out the rest of the year.

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But for now, the building blocks will be formed at their Tamworth camp.

“Coach has explained how important it is and what a blessing it is at the same time,” Evans said.

“Most teams won’t be able to have all of this time together so he’s definitely making use of it with late-night video sessions and extra training sessions that other teams wouldn’t be able to do.

“There’s really no excuse for us not to have a good year and go where we want to go.”

© AAP

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