Last Wednesday was a sad day in the history of the Warriors. No one, bar perhaps Stacey Jones, has given more to the club than Simon Mannering, yet he felt compelled to walk away from a captaincy role that he was intensely proud to hold.
Mannering has been at the club more than a decade. By the end of this season, or early next year, he'll break Jones' appearance record and he has led the Warriors for an unprecedented number of games (136, a mark that may never be surpassed). He's bled for the cause, averaging 77 minutes a match across 236 games. It didn't feel right either that he bowed out yesterday as captain at a provincal South Island ground, after a heavy loss in an unimportant trial match. The occasion demanded a lap of honour at Mt Smart, or a packed stadium somewhere across the Tasman.
It wouldn't have been an easy decision, hence the unusual, late timing. But the fact he saw no alternative, even when the club has assembled their best line-up since 2011, showed what a toll it has taken.
It's been one of the hardest jobs in New Zealand sport for much of the last six years. It carries a heavy PR element due to league's status in this country, which Mannering has never been entirely comfortable with. But the main issue was the constant dramas, on and off the field.
He was there in 2012 when coach Brian McClennan battled through with almost no support staff and a thin squad, while Eric Watson and Owen Glenn made their bizarre "biggest franchise in Australasia" promises.
