The Warriors' overall hopelessness is desperately disappointing and beyond belief, writes Chris Rattue. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
A potpourri of ideas in the wake of the latest Warriors disaster, a record, 10-70 NRL defeat against the amazing Melbourne Storm.
The big question first … has it all been worth it?
With the benefit of hindsight, was it worth establishing the Warriors in the first place?
Rugby league was actually in a great position in the early 1990s, a foolproof winner.
A lot of New Zealand sports fans adopted various Australian clubs to support, wore the jerseys, had a lot of fun with ample opportunity to follow star Kiwi players.
These bright lights from across the ditch attracted a lot of new followers including women - league was exciting and non-threatening in Rugbyhead Land.
And there were no downsides, because no single team dominated the space.
But now a disaster of a club takes all the spotlight and worse still, the make-up of the team/club has become so Australian it's indistinguishable from any other failing NRL club.
A club which should be a top five regular can't even make the generous top eight playoffs and instead scratches around in the lower half of the ladder, hardly ever beating a decent side.
The Warriors' biggest success has been their ability to generate headlines, but it means rugby league has often made a noise for dubious reasons, downgrading the game's image.
Crowds at Mt Smart have often been disappointing, the city hasn't provided the club with even a halfway decent venue, and the Kiwis are no more competitive than they've ever been. The local league scene has simply declined even further.
All the best Kiwi players play for Australian clubs anyway, and the rot is so deep in the Warriors that this situation is beyond saving.
Has it been worth it? There's a halfway decent argument which says no, even though it has been a fascinating ride since 1995.
Rugby league could have gone down another path, forgetting about a team based here and bringing big games between Australian clubs to New Zealand venues.
Yes, on balance, the Warriors were definitely worth a try. But as someone who has followed league since the early 1970s, the club's overall hopelessness is desperately disappointing and completely beyond belief.
There have been a couple of great years, storylines and stars, but there's a big chance that they are all gone forever.
Next question: Is it worth continuing? You be the judge.
Was this the worst performance ever?
I don't know. How do you rate these things?
When you get to a certain age, remembering what you had for breakfast is a triumph. Trawling through old football games isn't even an option, particularly when the Warriors have such an extensive lowlight reel. Life is too short.
But a flicker of memory suggests…
There was one particularly horrible disaster against the Newcastle Knights in the very early days, and they were ripped apart by the Penrith Panthers nearly a decade ago.
The Warriors have failed for so long and on so many levels that I think the audience is punch drunk - there's little sting in the criticism, or thirst for trudging down a wobbly memory lane.
Which made it easier to sit back and admire the amazing Melbourne Storm.
Famous words…
Before the game coach Nathan Brown said the match would be a good guide to where the club was at.
After the match, he said some players had given up, which in turn caused the good players to fatigue.
Will Brown survive?
Does it matter? Little will change, whether he stays or goes. History tells us that.
Same old story
Among those to go missing last night was the once brilliant Shaun Johnson, as he did too many times in his sometimes glorious first stint at the club.
Bringing Johnson back was a typical straw clutching move by a club with few options, and it could be justified on those grounds.
But as the old saying goes, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing again and expect a different result.
A lot of things never add up
One of the reasons coach Nathan Brown was seen as a good fit for the Warriors - we were led to believe - was a strong friendship with recruitment manager Peter O'Sullivan. But soon after Brown arrived O'Sullivan headed for the new NRL club in Brisbane.
There is often little rhyme or reason to the comings and goings at the club.
Todd Payten looked like a decent option as a rising coach, but then he walked out on the club when the top job was there for the taking. Huh?
The club has lost its identity
The Melbourne Storm had almost as many New Zealand-born players as the Warriors - six compared to eight.
And only four of the Warriors - Chanel Harris-Tavita, Shaun Johnson, Ed Kosi and Jazz Tevaga - rose to first grade through the club's own ranks.
The Warriors' strength is in the forwards, which is dominated by Australians.
The Warriors have never been good at identifying, attracting and developing the swathe of great prospects in this country.
Many of the NRL's greatest talents, from Sonny Bill Williams to Joey Manu, have been, and still are, Kiwis recruited by other clubs at a young age.
The best young players - and their advisors - know that the Warriors are a bad choice.
Ever decreasing circles
When the club does have a star on its hands, they can't do anything about it. For example, super strong Isaiah Papali'i has become one of the NRL's best forwards since leaving the club two years ago.
He was actually seen as a boom prospect at the Warriors, had a flat patch, and off he went.
Meanwhile wing Ed Kosi has always looked out of his depth and this culminated in a nightmare against the Storm, one from which he will struggle to come back from.
The bad decisions
There have been so many. But this one stands out.
Appointing Steve Kearney as coach, when Ivan Cleary wanted to return, took boneheaded to new levels.
And I say that with all due respect to the wonderful Kearney, a Kiwi league great, an outstanding assistant coach (at the Storm right now), but a terrible head coach.
Cleary had already taken the Warriors to a grand final, and has now created one of the finest teams in NRL history at the Panthers.
On such decisions clubs rise and crash. Cleary's potential return was, in some ways, the last chance saloon for the Warriors. They bombed it.
Problem positions
The Warriors have always had trouble finding good centres, ones who could establish long careers at the club. Jesse Arthars had a disastrous time trying to halt Storm powerhouse Justin Olam.
Lame excuses
People love to blame the referees, who they feel often mistreat the Warriors. While I would strongly disagree, some very reasonable minds I know do argue the point. But the blame game gets you nowhere. I'm sure if the Melbourne Storm were a failing club, people would say they are victims of a Sydney bias. All the big mistakes are made by the Warriors themselves, not the referees, as Brown has thankfully pointed out. And all that whinging is actually a turnoff.
Can the Warriors bounce back?
Funnily enough, yes. The NRL is a bit like that.
Luckily, they are playing the equally troubled Canberra Raiders on Saturday. But don't put a lot of money on it, particularly as they have lost key forward Josh Curran to injury and their wing options - in the wake of Kosi's disaster - are reduced by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak's injury.
And Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will have his troops all fired up, smelling blood in the water.
Hope on the horizon
Classy captain Tohu Harris will make a difference but he's not due to return from a knee reconstruction quite yet. Might as well finish on a somewhat positive note.
On the surface, the Warriors draw for the 2025 season is quite kind