The Warriors played their 500th NRL game last night. Michael Burgess identifies seven things they need to do to win a first title.
1. Dominant halves The Warriors have never really had a dominant halves pairing across their 20-year history. They've often had good, even great, players in one position but rarely two at once. James Maloney and Shaun Johnson in 2011 were probably the closest, but both (and particularly Johnson) were too inexperiencedand Stacey Jones rarely had the right lieutenant beside him. Chad Townsend could develop into that player in time but looks headed back to Sydney at the end of the season. A top halves pairing is essential — think of Broncos duo Allan Langer and Kevin Walters and Canberra pairing Ricky Stuart and Laurie Daley to Maloney and Mitchell Pearce (Roosters, 2013) and Melbourne's Cooper Cronk and Gareth Widdop (2012).
2. Double their membership The Warriors cracked the 10,000 members barrier by the end of the 2013 season but need to be closer to 20,000. The Rabbitohs, Broncos, Dragons and Storm have set the membership benchmark in recent years but there is no reason why the Warriors, as a one-city club, cannot be among that group. That would be a huge step towards larger crowds and greater revenue.
3. Reach the finals in five consecutive years Success does not happen overnight. Getting to the top eight is one challenge but learning how to win finals matches is another matter. The Roosters' 2002 success was after seven consecutive years of playoff appearances and Manly (2005-14) and Brisbane (2000-09) can boast decade-long streaks. The Storm have missed the top eight only once in the past 12 seasons. The Warriors are greenhorns and less than one-third of the current squad have finals experience.
4. Balance development and recruitment The signings of Ryan Hoffman, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Issac Luke may be regarded as a turning point for the club, as they were players in demand and at the peak of their powers. But getting the recruitment recipe right — luring marquee players, as well as solid mid-level professionals — is only one element of the equation. The other is development. There have been plenty of hits in that area, but ensuring they don't miss out on the next Jason Taumalolo, Sonny Bill Williams or Tuivasa-Sheck is vital.
5. Schoolboy competition The ongoing growth of New Zealand, and particularly Auckland, schoolboy league is critical. After decades of discrimination against the sport at college level, small steps have been made in recent years with the highly-successful national tournament. That needs to continue, to provide pathways for the best young athletes before Holden Cup level.
6. Culture The Warriors need to get to a point where their culture, mentality and environment is taken for granted. Rather than always talking about improvements and what needs to change, the Auckland club have to reach the levels of the Storm, Rabbitohs, Sea Eagles and Bulldogs. Those clubs rarely leave the field wondering 'what if' and always make other teams work hard for their victories.
7. Coaching stability The Warriors desperately need coaching stability. Their first 10 years saw four head coaches depart and they have had six men in the top role in the past decade. Aside from Ivan Cleary (154 games, six seasons), no Warriors coach has reached 100 matches and only three have been in charge more than 50. They have either opted for coaching rookies (Tony Kemp, Mark Graham, Daniel Anderson) or established names with little or no NRL experience (Frank Endacott, Brian McClennan). If Andrew McFadden is the man to lead this club to more success, he will want to accumulate 100-200 matches in Auckland.
