League: Fien to replace the Little General

Nathan Fien

When critics were asking last season who would be replacing Stacey Jones in 2006, a guy from a small town in the backblocks of Queensland was left biting his lip.

Nathan Fien was springboarded into the Warriors in 2005 when it emerged the Little General was unsettled and could be on his way to Wigan. Although Jones decided to stick it out for another season, Fien was part of a succession plan to take over from a guy who had been the heart and soul of the Warriors in their 11-year existence.

Jones played 238 games for the Warriors, a club record, and also holds the record for most tries, most points, most goals, most field goals and most consecutive appearances. Although it's impossible to replace the irreplaceable, Fien will attempt to fill the void left by Jones.

Comparisons will inevitably surface but if the 26-year-old native of Mt Isa is worried about the pressure, he isn't showing it.

"If you worry about stuff like that, it's going to be the end of you," Fien admitted after another tough training session. "I've played over 100 NRL games so really it's just another season for me.

"I was behind Paul Green and Noel Goldthorpe at the Cowboys and now I'm taking over from Stacey Jones. If you try to live up to their names and play their style of football you won't do yourself any favours."

Fien wouldn't have done himself any favours if he had walked into the Warriors' No 7 jersey 12 months ago and treated his team-mates in the way he did in his five years with the North Queensland Cowboys.

"It was great to learn from Stacey last year and watch the way he reads the game and how he handles the Kiwi blokes," Fien explained.

"The Kiwi guys are confidence players and it's a matter of getting the best out of them.

"It would have been different to the way I would have handled the team back at the Cowboys because I would have ripped into them and called them all the names under the sun. But you can't do that to the players over here."

It's something most Australians who venture to the Warriors discover when they get here. It's not a shortcoming or a failing of the players at the Auckland-based club, it's just different and a reflection of their largely Polynesian upbringing.

Fien played most of 2005 in the less familiar roles of hooker or five-eighths, all the time observing Jones.

He's now been installed by new Warriors coach Ivan Cleary as the first-choice halfback, winning the job over Lance Hohaia, and received more good news recently when he was named in the Queensland emerging Origin squad that new Queensland State of Origin coach Mal Meninga will run the rule over.

Although Fien would love to add to his one Origin appearance for Queensland in 2001, the Warriors are his main priority. He will guide a team that, despite finishing 11th on the table after a disappointing 2005, will not be short of confidence leading into the new NRL season.

"People might write us off, that's their prerogative, but we're quietly confident. With the Kiwis winning the Tri-Nations, hopefully we can bring that into the club side and kick on from there.

"Last year I watched a number of my friends from the Cowboys playing in a grand final. I just realised I'm 26 and time is running out [for me to do that]. Hopefully we can do it this year - I'm sure that we can."

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Sonny Fai, Simon Mannering, Sam Rapira and Grant Rovelli will represent the Warriors at the three-day rookie camp in Sydney next weekend. It is the second year clubs have sent four promising youngsters to learn more about the game, from marketing to media work. Fai attended last year with Benji Marshall, Bronson Harrison and Frank Pritchard.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY