KEY POINTS:
The organisation behind the Warriors is a big factor in this year's success. The seeds for this success were sown with the off-field appointment of John Hart as director of football and as the person who reported back to owners Eric Watson and Mark Hotchin as to how
things should be fixed.
Hart's first recommendation was to sack the management. His second was to get rid of the coach. Hart employed Wayne Scurrah as chief executive and took a risk on the inexperienced Ivan Cleary as coach.
Those decisions - with some astute player purchases made since then - have led to the top-four finish last year and this season's finals run.
So I was dumbfounded earlier this year when Matthew Ridge - for whom I have great respect - called for the sacking of Hart and Scurrah. These two had cleaned up the salary-cap mess left by the previous administration and pushed the team to fourth last season.
Yet Ridge was questioning the management expertise! I have to be honest Matthew, when you run away with the boss's wife you lose the right to comment on the management.
But, my real disappointment , Matthew, was that you didn't have the balls to take me on when the Warriors were outside the top eight and I offered a bet that one or other of us would resign his newspaper column - me in the Herald and you at the Sunday News - depending on whether the side made the playoffs or not.
Having made the top eight in style, the Warriors can beat any team in the NRL finals series. Victory over the Storm in Melbourne, particularly given that it was a playoff game where the hosts, and top-ranked side, had the opportunity to go straight to week three of the finals series, is one of the biggest achievements in league.
To turn around after five days and dump the fourth-placed Roosters by 30-13 is something very special.
And the scoreline should have been larger in the Warriors' favour. There is no way the penalty try awarded to Anthony Minichiello should have been given as Lance Hohaia was contesting fairly for the ball. And besides, there was no guarantee Minichiello would have grounded the ball properly.
The score should have been 30-6, as the Roosters would not have shot a field goal if the teams were level 6-all.
The Warriors' odds at the TAB are $2.80 to the Eagles' $1.40 and the Auckland team is paying $6.50 to win the NRL title. While I am desperately trying to keep my enthusiasm in check, I reckon that's some of the best money available on them all year - get your bets on because this team is at full strength, is playing with momentum and confidence and, all of a sudden, has the other sides in the playoffs worried.
Nothing, however, has changed for the Warriors. They just have to stick to the gameplan of recent weeks and keep doing what they have been doing so well of late: applying tough and tight defence, running well from dummy-half, making smart use of their kick-and-chase game and getting the ball to their backline strike power. They must stay on this path..
* I believe the Storm will win the first preliminary final tonight, even without Cameron Smith. The way they came back to win in Brisbane was telling. I just don't think the Sharks will have the firepower to score more points than Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, et al.
One thing I'd love to know is, how is it that the Storm can fit all those stars under the salary cap?
