New Warriors recruit Matt Lodge hopes fans can forgive his past. Video / NZ Herald
OPINION:
The Warriors' captain fantastic Roger Tuivasa-Sheck deserves so much better.
He will not only depart a club in a mess, but one which is losing its identity and worse still, its very reason for existing in the first place.
No one has tried harder than RTS, but a salvageoperation was beyond his incredible standards.
Pandemic allowing, the Warriors' quick-hit homecoming on August 15 will act as a Mt Smart Stadium farewell for one of its finest and most-loved players, with RTS heading to rugby next year.
In a season of growing discontent, it screamed, among other things, that Nathan Brown isn't the coach to get the Warriors out of a 27-season malaise.
Yes, camping in Australia because of Covid-19 creates hurdles but it is no excuse for this shabby form.
Todd Payten did a better job last year. Even the fairly maligned Stephen Kearney produced better stuff than this.
But Brown's struggles are simply a symptom of a wider disaster.
The great teams, the old Broncos, the eternal Storm, the new Panthers, were built from within.
But coaching and development, building a team ethos, have become lost in the circus.
The Warriors have turned into player market hunters, chasing just about anything that moves, even if it doesn't move very well. There's nothing a snazzy headline can't fix.
The latest recruit is Matthew Lodge, the old-school Broncos prop. People are excited by the latest signing. I've seen all this excitement before, and look where it's got the club.
The Warriors were set up on the idea that it would give the finest New Zealand talent another avenue into the NRL while creating a powerful club - enhanced by a few essential Aussie signings - capable of rewriting league history here.
Warriors players look dejected after the loss during the round 16 NRL match between New Zealand Warriors and the St George Illawarra Dragons. Photo / Getty Images.
It is failing on every level.
Of the team which played against the Dragons, only Jazz Tevaga could be described as a true Warriors product who has made the grade. Eliesa Katoa will also fit that bill down the line.
Ed Kosi, the rookie wing, tells another story. He's homegrown but looks out of his depth, suggesting the Warriors can no longer attract the best talent, or are incapable of developing it properly.
Meanwhile homegrown Warriors like Ken Maumalo and Isaiah Papalii, who has been a sensation at the Eels, are mysteriously discarded, and the club tried to get rid of Bunty Afoa.
Replacements have included an Aussie player on the slide in Kane Evans and half Sean O'Sullivan who hardly gets a chance, and you can see why when he does.
The club is now over run by Australians: Phil Gould, Peter O'Sullivan, Cameron George, plus the coaching trio of Nathan Brown, Craig Hodges and Justin Morgan. The voluble Gould, a classic Aussie league alpha male, doesn't even live here.
Two of recruitment manager O'Sullivan's recruits are family members, son Sean and his daughter's partner Lodge.
The Warriors have even adopted the Redcliffe club in Brisbane as their reserve grade home. Australian clubs are better than the Warriors at snaring the best New Zealand players (Sonny Bill Williams, RTS et al.)
You can even throw in that the Kiwis are also coached by an Australian.
None of these factors, taken on their own, deserve much scrutiny. But as a whole, it is an Aussie hijack, and one which isn't working.
Shaun Johnson will help re-establish some of the Auckland identity next year and perhaps further inspire kids to dream the Warriors dream. And the injured Chanel Harris-Tavita plays like the club means something to him, as does Tevaga.
But the best player coming through, by a country mile, is another Aussie in the sensational Reece Walsh.
The Warriors should have been able to find and develop their own Walsh-class players and mould them into one, the way Penrith have. That is what the club was set up for, believe it or not.
In reality though, the horse has bolted after years of compounding errors. It's all gone horribly wrong, with no sign of a cure.
You might wonder if it's worth the Aussie Warriors ever coming home at all.
