A despondent-looking Warriors side after their 42-0 drubbing at the hands of the Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day.
A despondent-looking Warriors side after their 42-0 drubbing at the hands of the Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day.
It's easy to sometimes forget the New Zealand Warriors aren't just running on to the park every week to play footy.
What they are really doing is going to earn a living, not that they need to be reminded of that.
But, akin to some employees in 9-to-5 jobs, there must be days when the Warriors aren't looking forward to their seasonal shifts.
Let's face it. If someone did religiously love going to work every day, something has to be terribly wrong with him.
A more accurate scenario is that some people engage in their jobs more than others but everyone dutifully "clocks in" because at the end of the day they all have bills to pay.
Those who feel disenfranchised tend to lose motivation and, consequently, the daily grind becomes a drag.
Truancy kicks in. You know, I have an upset tummy or my child's not well.
The sad truth is the finger-pointing ritual sets in on apportioning blame and the organisation then, presumably, makes a valued judgment on who to back if one party is deemed to be narcissistic or another a "terrorist", for the want of a better word.
The reality is whatever the outcome, productivity takes a hiding.
It's no different for the Warriors. Poor results - boy oh boy, have they had their fair share this NRL season - hurt your bottom line.
The 42-0 humiliation at the hands of the Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day was the defining result following a series of abysmal performances dating back to last season.
Post-Storm flogging the "Dirty Half Dozen" of Manu Vatuvei, Ben Matulino, Bodene Thompson, Sam Lisone, Albert Vete and Konrad Hurrell were dropped to reserve grade for breaching protocol when they partied on returning home and failed to turn up for a team meeting the next day.
All bar Hurrell, who denies engaging and claims he was the group's designated driver, popped a few prescription pills before washing it down with energy drinks (No bull, boys, but great chance to do a witty advertisement somewhere here).
Falling back on the 9-to-5 job analogy, let me hasten to declare up front that regardless of how insufferable a workplace may be, no employee worth his salt ever lets his standards drop.
Just as good tradespeople never blame their tools, sportspeople cannot use substances as an excuse for their ineptness.
But what intrigues me most is what drives athletes to a point where they are prepared to jeopardise their reputation and livelihood.
Vatuvei, who Warriors have granted leave of absence on medical grounds since the aftermath, has even had a pot shot at detractors via social media.
If Hurrell did not partake in the pill-popping ritual then why has he been demoted?
I would like to think that if teammates left a poker den for a bar to continue partying then it's a commendable gesture for a player to volunteer as chauffeur.
Even the All Blacks and Black Caps would find merit in such loyalty and foresight, so did the Warriors see Hurrell in the light of a getaway driver of a bank heist?
Perhaps the answer lies not in the bottom of a cocktail glass but in a sober Hurrell's actions.
The Tongan torpedo retweeted a fan's gibe on Twitter last week, questioning players' respect for Warriors coach Andrew McFadden, before deleting it but the damage was done.
Enter Cappy (McFadden), please, into the employment tribunal to state his case.
Andrew McFadden.
It's no secret that a bloke who was an excitement machine in 2013 returned this season in the best physical shape he has ever been in only to yo-yo from reserve-grade footy to the first-grade bench.
Scuttle all the talk of role models and partying. We don't look to our neighbourhood butchers for that so why them? Downtime also ensures Jack isn't a dull boy.
What puts McFadden in a precarious position is further evidence of insubordination.
Marquee signing Isaac Luke's self-confessed poor form is simply unacceptable but something the coach seems powerless to address except to push him to the bench.
Again, a happy working environment is one where the protagonists are willing to roll up to unequivocally give their all to the collective and the coach's mastery comes to the fore in getting the best out of them.
That a makeshift Warriors could beat the Dragons last Sunday speaks volumes.
Surely with such exciting quality players in the mix this season the Warriors can't be that bad, so is McFadden getting the best out of them?
It's refreshing to see other teams can be awful in the NRL but all that doesn't absolve Warriors for their mediocrity.
Fresh players not fully contaminated from the toxic Warriors environment obviously see this as an opportunity to carve a niche.
However, a more plausible reason is that the Dragons are hardly the yardstick of the challenges that lay ahead for the Warriors.
Can Cappy arrest his players' faith to save the season?
As crappy as they look, the Warriors stand a chance but not because the Paramatta Eels will plummet on the table after forfeiting their 12 points, pending an appeal, for breaching their salary cap.
