Chris Rattue: Eric Watson, the Warriors' absentee boss

Eric Watson. File photo / Herald on Sunday

As the Warriors sail calmly towards the rocks yet again it would be nice to know what the captain of our local league club thinks about the journey so far under coach Ivan Cleary.

When I say captain, I mean the captain, as in the bloke holding the purse strings. Come in Eric Watson.

For those who like their sports club owners flamboyant, Watson doesn't get close to cutting the mustard. In fact, he doesn't even rate as mildly interesting.

"This is your captain speaking," doesn't apply when it comes to the long, tall financier who comes up short in talking about the club he bought on the cheap.

Sports owners take all shapes and sizes and each to their own, but the Warriors experience would be much more interesting if Watson came out of his shell. Okay, so he's parked overseas, but he could still make his presence felt down Penrose way.

South Sydney's owner Russell Crowe has done wonders for the NRL - at least he puts a bit of heart and pizzazz into the competition and makes his presence felt in the stands.

There's some clever analysis out there about why Crowe supposedly fails as the owner of South Sydney, but Souths - once doomed as central Sydney dropouts - were failing a long time before Crowe turned up.

Owners have long played a dramatic, controversial and pivotal role in American sport. They've also had an increasingly dominant place in the English premier league.

Roman Abramovich cops a bit of flak for his money-soaked and domineering ownership of Chelsea, but he's turned them into one of the best clubs in Europe and given the scribes plenty to write about.

The manner in which the club's Russian supremo acquired his extraordinary wealth is dodgy to say the least. Take that out of the equation, though, and he has been fantastic for the English Premier League. Owners at other clubs, such as Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City, have all left their mark, either good or bad. But it has been a mark.

The difference, of course, is that they operate in a genuine free market, and far too free when you consider the wage bills.

In contrast, the NRL salary cap has squashed private enterprise, yet Crowe has shown that a passionate owner can still be an important part of the scene.

The failure of Watson's finance company means he's unlikely to show his face around these parts but he has never had much of a presence anyway.

(I recall trying to contact him during the salary cap controversy and ran into a wall of lackeys instead).

The mystery is this: you never have any sense about what Watson hoped to achieve with the Warriors or his emotional link to the place. Right now, I'd love to know if he is satisfied with what is going on or - as he should be - increasingly frustrated by the lack of substantial progress.

Coach Cleary has had more than long enough to build the club the way he wants to, to raise the game. The junior Warriors forever promise plenty, and unfortunately it stays that way in terms of driving the first grade team forward.

While there have been a couple of excellent signings from across the ditch, the likes of Shaun Berrigan, Brett Seymour and Nathan Friend shouldn't be needed in Auckland if the head coach is using the club's powerful junior development programme properly.

If Watson's heart is in the Warriors, he should be on the warpath after four straight losses and a disappointing seven-win, eight- loss record. Yet who would know? He operates by remote control to the point that you can't even be sure he's even watching the games on TV.

SUPER 15 SUPREMOS

The Sydney Morning Herald has named its Super 15 team of the tournament and included two Australian tight five forwards and another in the reserves. (That's the punchline).

WHACKY RULING DEFENDED

The Super 15 rugby's referees boss Lyndon Bray has defended Bryce Lawrence's bizarre penalty against the Sharks front row for dangerous play when all they appeared to be doing was standing still before setting a scrum against the Crusaders. Rugby rules are a minefield but the code needs to understand that whacky rulings like that will never be accepted as logical by the public. Would Lawrence have made a call like that
if the World Cup final was on the line? Don't think so.

MARSHALL UPS ANTE

Here's a dark horse pick so deep that it would make Black Beauty look like Silver (that's the Lone Ranger's horse, kids) ... Crusaders fullback Tom Marshall for the World Cup squad. From his slippery running to a brilliant goal line tackle against the Hurricanes, Marshall has been a revelation, and on another planet compared to the fading All Black No 15 Mils Muliaina.

The two injured heir-apparents, Isaia Toeava and Israel Dagg, have got serious competition for the test fullback job. Dagg v Marshall also presents a quandary for the Crusaders.