Chris Rattue: So it's goodbye excuses, hello trophy

The Warriors are well worth backing for a grand final appearance this year.

But this optimism has nothing, or very little, to do with their having found any magic solutions in the halves.

The NRL opens this week with controversy and disruption swirling around the champions Manly, who have gone from red-hot favourites into red-hot headlines thanks to booze-related controversies involving two of their best, Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough.

Among the very few clubs capable of challenging the brilliant Manly side of 2008 are the Warriors. They are solid title propositions despite the situation in the halves and not because of it.

Yes, there is cause for optimism at halfback, with Nathan Fien having grown into a World Cup winner and Stacey Jones taking the risk of growing old ungracefully. Lots of optimism.

Yet despite the world champion mantle, Fien isn't a world-beater. He's a very decent NRL club halfback, and versatile enough to cover a couple of other positions. Jones was a world beater, and could be again but ...

Head wise, Jones may be better than ever. Attention never appeared to sit comfortably on his shoulders when he was younger. He ended up carrying the weight of expectation at a club with disastrously unstable management. Side issues festered. His solution was to escape.

Approaching 33, time is no longer on Jones' side. He has been through the mill but could flourish again. Maturity will allow him to take the knocks and enjoy his swan song.

The head and the heart will be fine, but what about the hamstrings, and joints, and muscles? It's a big but, and one that has already reared its head in the form of a calf strain.

Jones also needs protecting in defence, yet the big runners will still find him. Missed tackles could hurt, and injury lies in wait. It would be fantastic to see Jones spark this team, and ride gloriously into the sunset. If Fien wasn't there, though - and he did try to escape once Jones announced his comeback - there would be a major question mark hanging over halfback.

Standoff is a different story, but it is throughout the NRL. The great Bronco Darren Lockyer plays on, but not many are following in his clever steps.

Possibilities are said to run deep in the halves at the Warriors. But they are only possibilities. Theories. Potential.

This, however, isn't necessarily the great disaster it might have been.

It has long been said that without great halves, you can't win the NRL. Yet the two finest teams of the past few years, Manly and Melbourne, converted players to No 6.

The game has changed in this regard. For starters, it's not overly wise to rely on one great playmaker anyway. Injuries can strike.

Some of the playmakers of old, and Brad Fittler is a prime example, were famed for being able to drift in and out of games sizing up the moments to seize.

You wondered where Fittler was sometimes, and then wham, he'd appear from nowhere, hit the line, throw a cut out pass, set up a try and then drift on back to halfway.

Yet even Fittler found towards the end of his career that he could no longer play the pampered genius. Work rates are vital everywhere.

There aren't all that many great standoffs - in the traditional sense - around any more. Any team that can have a star at seven and six is doing exceedingly well.

The Warriors are still behind the 8-ball here, though, because they are going into the season without an established standoff at all.

Ditching Michael Witt is a good move, because his horizons were limited. But it doesn't necessarily solve the problem. Ivan Cleary will want to find an early answer. Joel Moon is the first cab off the rank and Cleary will hope he is also the last.

Elsewhere, optimism should abound. Sam Rapira and Evarn Tuimavave have built up the miles that should have them matching Simon Mannering's contributions. Steve Price can't go on forever, but he has another outstanding season in him.

The Warriors are on track to shed their one man error disaster zone Epalahame Lauaki. The forwards have been bolstered with Jacob Lillyman's arrival, which will also mean Cleary can move Mannering to the centres - as seems necessary now and then - with more comfort. Hooker Ian Henderson, who is aggressive and strong, had a very promising debut season and should have learned plenty.

Manu Vatuvei is more confident and ready to explode. Rather than being a spare part, Lance Hohaia is now a weapon.

Hohaia, a fine stand-in fullback last season, skips around defenders and gets his side on a roll. But he's no Wade McKinnon, who can deal to opponents like a hot machete through a butter pat. McKinnon has a few behaviour problems, though, and having two referees on the field might be an extra red rag to this bull.

Luckily, Hohaia is comfortable as a bench player and has the knack of being able to make an immediate impact.

The Warriors' late victory over Melbourne and the Kiwis' World Cup sensation will have instilled a confidence about playing in Australia. In Brent Tate and Micheal Luck, they have no-holds-barred examples of the attitude to take into every battle.

A lot of planets have come into line this season, and if they include Greg Eastwood then it will be time to get really excited.

There are even signs that the crowds are ready to come back in droves.

Weaknesses have slowly disappeared, depth is increasing. If only there was a gifted offloader in there - Ali Lauitiiti in his prime would have been nice. But you can't have everything.

In a nutshell, this is the Warriors' time. Under a salary cap system, you have to seize the moment and this is it for the Warriors.

What needs to grip the players' thinking is that they are good enough, that there is no time except the present, and that being promising can be a euphemism for not being good enough.

Goodbye excuses, hello trophy. It's time to go shake a few reputations, and establish more of their own.

Steve Price, Brent Tate and co understand that, but I'm not so sure some others always have. As for a likely MVP?

McKinnon is the key, the man who will turn a powerful side into a great one if injury and suspension can be kept at bay.

Hopefully, he will stay fit, and stop having them on the field.