Hugh McGahan: Keep heads down, protect the team and win games

The war for the Warriors has commenced three weeks early - they are under siege from various circles and it's not the way they would like to have started their 2006 campaign. Now media, public and other NRL clubs have all weighed in and turned their guns on this organisation.

An answer for the moment is not to lay blame but to bunker down and correct the situation. Satisfaction of the NRL is paramount at this stage; everything else can wait until clearance has been given for the Warriors to start playing football this season.

I am very positive toward the new management and coaching personnel and have not weighed into any argument, nor made any comment on this issue and will not until after the NRL inquiry. This is so I do not add to all the rumour, innuendo and speculation. Unfortunately some people have already hung, drawn and quartered the club, determined what the punishment is going to be and forecasted their finishing position before the kick-off. Let us all calm down and reflect on what the NRL hand out after their inquiries.

Having been within clubs, as a player and administrator, when internal issues become public knowledge, I have had to deal with the fallout from stakeholders of the club. This is never an easy task but, first and foremost, you try to deflect as much attention as possible away from the team. The simple answer to 90 per cent of any problems within a club is to win games.

Win and everyone is happy and no one cares what else is going on; lose and the team becomes the focus of all problems within the club and increases the pressure on the organisation, even when the team has not caused the problem.

Ivan Cleary will certainly be working for his salary at the moment and his skill in man management will be under the spotlight. But it is not the help of his coaching staff that he needs right now; it is the assistance of his two most senior players in Steve Price and Ruben Wiki.

Their experience from the Bulldogs and Raiders, who went through similar situations, will determine the state of mind of every player on the club's roster. Ivan must channel as much energy through these two men to the players if the team is to win games.

This self-inflicted wound will carry a scar long after the outcome of the inquiry and it will have an effect on individuals. Let it be a warning to those outside of this sport that a salary cap works in name only and will not prevent some form of payment to players or agents. It will happen, because everyone wants to win and they will do what is necessary to achieve it. The honest players/agents will get less money and the honest clubs/provinces will finish down the table.

The economics of supply and demand will always prevail and people will be overpaid and clubs/provinces will overpay. The administrators will do their best to police the issue but they will never stop it from happening.

It is like performance-enhancing drugs. Athletes hope that their abilities will help them win. If not, their dilemma is to work harder and win (which some do) or to play on level terms. Administrators are always catching up with the drug technology but are never ahead of it.

Similarly, NRL administrators know salary-cap indiscretions are out there but have to wait for a mistake or a stroke of luck to catch the culprits. The weight of their penalties must bite if they are to deter others from following.

In New Zealand, we want to see this episode finish with a positive result so the Warriors can play. In Australia, they are hoping for the worst so the boot can go into them harder for being in their competition.

Either way, the love of the game and the club will be needed for Warriors fans to support them through the current onslaught and beyond.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY