Managing director Jim Doyle and coach Stephen Kearney are without question the right people to begin this re-build. Critics will say Doyle has had three years and the club has gone backwards under his leadership. True. To be fair to Doyle took on a job I think he under-estimated. Appoint the right coach, sign a couple of star players and get some better values and the Warriors will be away. Not quite. He saw quick fix when a total re-build was required. I'm pretty sure he gets that now. Why then would people want someone new to come in and take a year or more to find out the glaring issues the club faces? Make no mistake this is more than finding the right coach and a roster overhaul - a lot more. Why waste another year if the bloke in charge now at least knows what's wrong. By keeping him in place it saves wasting a year of finding out.
Doyle is a smart businessman. There is a difference between business and football and he has found that out the hard way over the past two and half years. But he's a winner and if I was betting on someone turning it around he would be top of the list. That doesn't mean he isn't due criticism - he has got the last three years wrong. I believe the club was heading for this mess regardless of whether Doyle was in charge or someone else. Doyle's biggest error was not realizing the club needed a full-blown re-build much earlier in the piece.
Likewise critics will point to Kearney's horrific winning percentage as an NRL head coach. They will say the team is playing bland football, which makes the losing even harder to accept. I get that too. Forget the winning percentage thing - it means jack. It means he happened to be appointed to coach two of the worst football teams in modern history. Maybe he's a sucker for punishment. The Eels were in that hole long before he was appointed, much like the Warriors are this year. They were going to be awful this year regardless of who was made head coach - Bellamy, Bennett, Toovey, Cleary - doesn't matter. This roster had more holes in it than a used dart board. The bland style of football is about earning the right to be expansive. If you can't earn that right I doubt there will be a place for you longer-term under Kearney.
Kearney has already started cleaning house. There aren't many players off-contract that were re-signed - a telltale sign that the coach didn't rate them. They'll bring in a few more players between now and the start of next season. He has been loyal to his side this year because there have been limited options for him to go to. Now that the playoffs are impossible to reach I expect him to make some changes. Does anyone really care how they lose their remaining four games because it is hard to see a win coming? They are 0-12 without Shaun Johnson over the last couple of seasons.
Kearney does need to make a statement now especially after talking about a lack of effort from some of his players in the loss to the Knights. Issac Luke had the worst game of his career while Sam Lisone's defensive effort (or lack of) in the opening stint was inexcusable. Plus there was the standard penalty conceded and handling errors as there always is with him. They both need to be dumped next week. Ata Hingano is penciled in as the starting five-eighth for next year - he needs to be given the number six jumper for the rest of the season now. The departing Kieran Foran can shift to halfback to accommodate Hingano.
The club needs to think long-term now with this re-build. If the quickest way to get sustained success is to give up hope of winning in 2018 they need to go down that path. While we, in this part of the world, aren't as familiar with that kind of re-build as they are in US pro sport I think fans would gladly see a stripped back team of no-names showing potential as an improvement on what we've seen the past six seasons. If Doyle can find a taker for Luke he should pull the trigger. Likewise some of the other big contracts could be wasted if the re-build is likely to take another two NRL seasons.
What is needed in the re-build? They need to start at the bottom, which Doyle has already hinted at in recent interviews. The 16-17 year-old kids they sign to develop need individual and specific courses plotted for first grade. They need to be fully prepared in all aspects of the professional game from attack and defense to training, mental skills, living away from home, diet, rehab and conditioning. All players given contracts need to be seen as genuine first grade potential. As soon as that changes they need to be cut and replaced. Bad eggs need to be flicked immediately. The junior or reserve teams need to be used purely as a development tool for the shop window first grade team. Winning is largely irrelevant and certainly second on the priority list.
The club needs to start recruiting juniors out of Australia - if nothing else to help bring new ideas and balance to the development squads currently in use. That means spending on Australian-based scouts. Maybe they invest in a base across the Tasman where they can send kids to acclimate to living away from family for periods.
They also need to look for more bargains across the Tasman. Michael Luck, James Maloney, John Carlaw and even Richard Villasanti were terrific signings from yesteryear. They punched well above what they were getting paid. People moan about Maloney walking away for bigger money after three years - who cares? The model worked well for three years. If they kept at it there would be someone else ready to step into the role. Look at what the Storm have done with their wingers over the past few seasons to see why they constantly succeed. Yes, they have once-in-a-lifetime players like Smith, Cronk and Slater commanding big dollars but they have paid wingers next to nothing and then as they come off contract seeking a big upgrade they move to the next nobody. First it was Sisa Waqa, then Marike Koirobete, now it is Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr. Those players have been among the competition's best but take up a tiny fraction of the cap.
Kearney has lived through that philosophy at Melbourne. Doyle has heard about it and understands how it has succeeded. I don't doubt that given the appropriate time that can be implemented in Auckland.
It is ugly right now. Fans have reason to be livid but if the club reacts emotionally and too spontaneously they will be doing more harm than good.
