Graham Lowe: Kemp must take control

A loss is hard to take at any time for a footy coach. But it is even harder for the fans to swallow when their team are playing the type of football being served up at present by the Warriors.

It is unrealistic for fans to expect their team to win every game, but it is not unreasonable for them to expect to at least be entertained and sent home with a smile on their faces.

Too often the Auckland club is failing to deliver on both counts.

And the question has to be asked, why?

Sure, they managed to achieve consecutive wins against Souths and the Wests Tigers, neither of whom could be described as champion teams or even premiership contenders.

But last Saturday against the Dragons the Warriors dismally returned to a brand of football lacking in imagination, intensity and commitment.

They're not the only team in the NRL failing to produce this season. The Bulldogs and the Knights are also having horror seasons. But both these teams are still producing the level of effort that at least gives you the impression they might yet turn a corner.

Most disappointingly, it is hard to see any consistent pattern of improvement in the Warriors. You really have to wonder which team are going to turn up on the day, because while they are still capable of turning in some blinding flashes of football, more often than not, they lack that important edge which is the difference between victory and defeat.

Warriors coach Tony Kemp must have the hardest job in the NRL trying to consistently turn his team's performance around. The raft of personnel and positional adjustments each week are evidence of the effort he is putting in to get it right. But I believe he should now take an honest look at his own performance and see if he can make adjustments to the way he does things.

Coaching only gets complicated if you make it that way and many young coaches fall into the trap of too much tinkering.

League is a simple game. But coaches these days are being bombarded with reams of statistics, a lot of which serve little purpose. As coach, Kemp needs to chuck most of that out the window for a while and just look at the game in its simplest form. He will probably find the answers staring him in the face.

Make no mistake, Kemp is moving very close to the waiting room for another career. Each loss from now on will only hasten the process.

He is on a hiding to nothing, so it's time for him to start re-inventing himself. If he is to be sacked, which is an opinion gaining currency, at least he should go down with all guns blazing.

His players will be well aware that their coach is walking on eggshells. No matter what spin the management put on it, they will not fool the players.

If he does get the DCM it's unlikely assistants Kevin Campion and Ivan Cleary or any of his other staff will also get their marching orders. In fact one of them is certain to take over.

This has got to be a very unnerving environment for any coach to work in. Kemp may well now consider that his best bet is to take the initiative and start coaching the club on his own. By that I mean he should ask his assistants to take a back seat.

Cleary and Campion have both had great playing careers and are obviously very popular with the players. But Kemp needs to fend for himself in the dog-eat-dog world of coaching.

I'm not suggesting the assistant coaches are the problem.

But I am saying that if Kemp wants to save his career, he must take over the coaching reins entirely, so there is a stronger bond between him and his players, and to ensure his message is getting through louder and clearer.

Players respond to a coach when the coach is in the trenches with them. At the moment maybe there are just too coaches to not only fit in the trench, but to deliver one strong consistent message.

The buck doesn't stop with the assistants, the management or anyone else. It stops with Kemp and he needs to make a very strong point to his players that he and he alone is going to guide the club out of the mess it is in.

The lack of depth and quality in the playing strength has not helped the situation.

I'm surprised chief executive Mick Watson was reported as saying the Warriors won't be bringing in outside talent to the club next year. Even though class players do not come cheap, he is kidding if he doesn't think the club desperately needs a few. If they don't, then what's going wrong at present? 

The main ingredient the Warriors lack is class. Because they don't have players with that touch of class, they are destined to finish the season in disappointment.

There is plenty of power in the Warriors squad but it is plainly obvious (particularly without Steve Price) that the team lack the class needed to be champions.

Class is that extra piece of talent, effort and will to win that drives players such as Andrew Johns, Darren Lockyer, Mat Bowen, Sonny Bill Williams, Billy Slater and Trent Barrett to step up and get their teams almost single-handedly across the line for a victory.

The good sides always have one or two classy players who make the difference at crucial times during a game, and this sets them apart from the average or even good players.

I'm convinced all the Warriors players give their best each week. But in this competition that alone is not enough because all players at each club are doing the same thing.

St. George/Illawarra centre Mark Gasnier oozes class and he displayed it on Saturday night when he waltzed through the Warriors' back line to score a 60m try.

Players without class could not have done that, or would not have backed themselves to have a go.