Ryan Hoffman defends club culture at Warriors

Departing Warriors forward Ryan Hoffman has defended the club's culture, denying a lazy work ethic had set in.

The Warriors will once again have to wear criticism after yet another NRL season marked by major underachievement.

Their season ended with a 28-16 loss to the Wests Tigers on Sunday, their ninth loss in a row.

Despite boasting an all-Kiwi Test spine and going into the year as title fancies, they finished 2017 in 13th to miss the top eight for a sixth straight year.

Not even the presence of ex-New Zealand national coach Stephen Kearney and superstars Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke has had an impact.

Hoffman hit back at rumours of lackadaisical attitudes to training and a lack of professionalism that have dogged the franchise in recent years.
"Trust me, we train hard enough," he said.

"It's just at the moment we don't have blokes that are first-grade ready.

"That comes through the development and that sort of stuff. You can't be training players to be first-graders in first-grade.

"I think Steve's identified that, that there needs to be some improvement in the development of the juniors. They've won three 20s grand finals but we've got to make sure they're turning into first-graders."

He said he did not regret any of his time at the Warriors, which included one season as captain.

"It's a season of unfulfilled potential, I could argue we've had three years of that," Hoffman said.

Hoffman's future is uncertain and said he expected to make an announcement next week.

He is being courted by his former club Melbourne and has offers from several NRL and Super League clubs on the table, with the 33-year-old saying he would definitely play on in 2018.

"I'm pulling the boots on next year, don't you worry," he said.

- AAP