Hugh McGahan: Cleary's charges set for a bright future

Forget where the Warriors are placed on the NRL competition table - look where they have come from.

Player unrest has gone, administration fear has turned to confidence and the coaching has revived the team from apprehension and doubt to belief and confidence. Now and again their creativity will spark at the wrong time - to their detriment - but in general the mix in the team is right.

There has been experience lost through the season, and more is to depart, but the nucleus of a team has been established. It has taken a while for the younger players to come to grips with this level of competition, week in week out, but signs are emerging they have what it takes.

The Tuimavaves, Lauakis and Vatuveis are collecting more game time and showing improvement in handling pressure and the constant grind of competition. This improvement is slow but can only come with time and game by game.

The player who has impressed me most is Simon Mannering, with maturity beyond his game time. Not even 20 and with only 20 games, his composure is that of a 100-game veteran. His strength, vision and off-the-ball attributes, not to mention pace, toughness and desire to mix it, are outstanding.

Ivan Cleary's worries would be lessened if all his young charges were of a similar ilk.

The Warriors' position on the table belies where they currently are as a unit and, prior to last night's fixture against the Cowboys, the team had the fourth best defensive record (391) and fifth best attacking statistics (448); they are also lying third in points differential (57). On the face of those figures, they should be higher up the table.

It would be easy to reflect they have had a disappointing season but there is no dissatisfaction from the league community nor general public because there were low expectations. There is also a sense of stability.

Wade McKinnon is the only major recruit but expectations will be higher in 2007.

The young props need to be firing for 2008 with Steve Price retiring and Ruben Wiki extending well into vintage years (although age belies his form and even Peter Pan would be impressed with Ruben's longevity).

Leadership succession does not come as a matter of right, it is planned but I can not see an obvious choice beyond Price and Wiki... yet.