"It's certainly been a priority in our training, defensive technique, so I think it will certainly come into play in this tournament again.
"The biggest thing is, last year no one really knew how it was going to be played, but I think defences will be far more prepared this year."
To counter that perceived tactical shift, the Warriors have enlisted plenty of their big men to pave the way through the middle and draw in defenders to free up the space out wide. The ball-playing ability of their forwards will provide their playmakers and support runners with plenty of options and McFadden says it's a trend he has noticed throughout the other Nines squads.
"We'll see how it pans out but I think that's where our big men will really come into their own, particularly guys like Suaia Matagi, Ben Matulino, Sione Lousi, they're going to be a handful in the middle and I've noticed some other teams have picked it that way too."
The Warriors' decision to include many of their biggest-name players in the two-day event comes with undoubted risk ahead of the NRL season start, and rival coaches have failed to share McFadden's enthusiasm for the short-format tournament.
Balancing the club's desire to lift the trophy on Sunday evening is the need to evenly spread the workload over the weekend to reduce the risk of fatigue and injury.
"It [squad rotation] is very important but obviously it's still important to get to the knockout stage," said McFadden. "That's something we'll be aware of, if we manage to get up a couple of games we might be able to rotate but we certainly want to make sure that that first day we play well so we'll be putting in our best side."
With the home side fulfilling a plethora of promotional obligations and functions throughout a week-long build-up of events and festivities, including last night's historic NRL season launch on Auckland's waterfront and today's Fan Day at Aotea Square, McFadden hopes his players can take it all in their stride.
"I think you have to embrace it and we want to enjoy the week but we don't want to lose our focus on what we need to do as well. We spoke about that as a group and we've just got to stay focused when the time comes.
"It's huge for the game here. Just the excitement it generates, not only for rugby league but for the city of Auckland. It is a time to enjoy it, it's a great atmosphere around and the players should have a bit of fun."
Johnson agrees the excitement around the team is palpable but after last year's disappointing exit at the semifinal stage he confirmed there is only one thing on their mind: Winning.
"Clearly. We choked in the semis so we're hoping to go one better and it would be awesome if we could win."
