Graham Lowe: Golden oldies offer hope and anxiety

The NRL curtain rises this weekend for season 2005, but unlike Hollywood's recent centre stage spectacular, the footy spotlight is likely to be on age, not beauty.

It's often been said the mark of a truly great coach is knowing when the time is right to offload champions.

Broncos master coach Wayne Bennett rocked the league world when he dumped superstar Wally Lewis back in 1990 - when many thought he still had a few years at the top left in him.

Lewis was subsequently voted Man of the Series in the 1991 State of Origin in the strongest possible statement that he was not finished.

The Broncos, without Lewis, went on to become a juggernaut and the controversial culling of "The King" was vindicated.

Some may argue that Bennett took the opposite tack when in 2001 he enticed the mercurial but aging Alfie Langer from semi-retirement at Warrington to go one more round at State of Origin level. But that was a coach's request for a decisive one-off 80 minutes of football genius to spearhead Queensland to a series win - not a grinding week-in, week-out schedule of the toughest footy competition on the planet.

Like the words in the well-known song, knowing when to hold 'em, and knowing when to fold 'em, sets great coaches apart.

It also puts a fascinating spotlight on this season's opening-round clash for the Warriors against Manly.

Coaches and management of both clubs, and those at the Raiders and Bulldogs, will be on the edge of their seats to see whether they've discarded and acquired aces or also-rans for the new season.

Only 80 minutes of full-on footy will determine whether the Dogs and the Raiders have made a rare and serious misjudgment in believing old warhorses Steven Price and Ruben Wiki were of no further use to them.

The Warriors management and coaches will be wondering whether the fruit they've picked is overripe.

Or in the case of Terry Hill for Manly if he has been lying on the ground too long.

The fascination will be to see just how much these three great players have left in the tank.

The Warriors season could be in the balance from game one.

They were arguably the worst team in the competition last year and as much as this season gives them a fresh start, nothing but a total exorcism in the off-season will have removed the ghosts of 2004.

The club has worked hard during summer to reinvent itself. But there is little apart from performance on the paddock that can restore credibility and ease the pressure they are all under.

In fact, there would have been a lot less pressure for them if they were facing the champion Bulldogs in the first round instead of this Manly outfit who ambushed them at Ericsson last year.

The Warriors will start favourites, which all adds to this pressure. NRL football is a young man's game but there's no getting away from the fact that the key to Sunday's match will be the performance of the three veterans, Price, Wiki and Hill.

There's an old saying that you can't put an old head on young shoulders. Unfortunately, you also can't put young legs under an old head, and this is what faces Wiki, Price and Hill. They are in the twilight of their careers.

The Warriors will be hoping that the change of scenery will help to keep their big signings up with the pace throughout the season and, most importantly, injury free.

Hill is making a remarkable comeback to the game after missing all of last year with an injury. He could be the ace in their pack because he has also been a magnificent player and a genuine game breaker.

With all the pre-season training under their belts the acid is on both sides to get that first win on the board because every point will make a difference come finals time.

"Frantic" is how you can usually describe the pace of the season's first official game and I don't expect this one on Sunday to be any different.

There has been much reported about the Warriors' gruelling off-season training programme and without doubt they will start much fitter than they were last year.

This alone will make them more of a threat, but it is the ability to concentrate under pressure that is the key, and Sunday will give coach Tony Kemp and his staff the only true guide as to whether the preparation has worked.

Manly coach Des Hasler was a legendary trainer as a player and he will have made the same demands on his squad that he used to make on himself.

As a result, the Warriors certainly won't be any fitter than his team and they will be just as desperate for a good start.

At the start of a new season all eyes are on the new buys, with much interest in Nathan Fien and Todd Byrne, as well as Wiki and Price.

Fien does not yet enjoy the same reputation as his more experienced team-mates but there are plenty of good wraps on him and he should add value.

Byrne knows his way to the tryline from the wing and will be keen to show his value to the club.