KEY POINTS:
The Warriors leadership team is disappointed at the 32-6 exit from the NRL finals series at the hands of the Sea Eagles but they are sure the lessons learned will pay dividends next season.
They bristle at the suggestion they fell short.
When asked if it was a shame they had not been able to send veteran Ruben Wiki out a winner, captain Steve Price replied, "We did mate." They had made it three games further than anyone had predicted. They had left their mark on Manly with bumps and bruises.
There were plenty of those in the Warriors' sheds too, Price and Wiki covered in welts, the Kiwi legend sporting a badly bruised cheek and fullback Wade McKinnon worse.
McKinnon was supremely disappointed. "I didn't get one half-chance, not one decent bit of ball," he said. Manly played it that way.
Price expressed admiration for his team and mentioned those who didn't play. "Grant Rovelli, Epalahame Lauaki and the other guys who weren't playing put in everything to help the team be its best. That's the sort of culture Ivan [coach Ivan Cleary] has been trying to create.
"Every guy stepped up in a way they never have before so hopefully they continue that next year," the captain said. "Twenty-eight guys played throughout the year, the Under-20s were just beaten tonight, so it's a fantastic effort from the club."
They had defended their hearts out in the first half of the finals eliminator against Manly, Price said. "At the start we were right in it, end for end. Something tinny would happen and Manly would go 40 metres. Our scramble was brilliant, we kept turning up but it just wasn't enough. I was pretty tired from tackling.
"I certainly don't feel like we got beaten by 36," Price said. "Of course I'm disappointed we didn't get to the next step. But I'm so proud."
So Wiki bows out on 308 games and will play his last match in New Zealand for the All Golds in the Kiwis trial next month.
"Footy can be good to you or it can be real bitter," the vice-captain said. "It just wasn't meant to be. The boys will be better for this.
"We believed in ourselves. We had a fair share of the ball but they got a roll on and we just couldn't stop it. In rugby league if you defend that much it takes the juice out."
Wiki stayed on the field long after the game had finished enjoying the best wishes of fans and to congratulate Manly's Steve Menzies, who started against him in 1993.
"I wished him the best and congratulated him on the player he's been over the years; he wished me luck for next week, which was nice," Menzies said.
Coaches Ivan Cleary and John Ackland credited Manly with a complete performance, said the best two teams were in the title game and vowed their side would be back in the playoffs.
"We're gradually getting there, I certainly believe we can get a bit better again next year," Cleary said. The field in general was catching up to the standard set by the repeat grand finalists Melbourne and Manly, he said.
"I'm proud of the players and to get to this point was a great achievement. The last four weeks have been a lot of fun but Manly were a level above us and fully deserved to win."
His assistant Ackland has been in or around the club since its start in 1995. "We're getting closer to being where we should have been five years after the club started," Ackland said. Were it not for the four-point salary cap deduction in 2006, they would have made the finals series three seasons running. They are fourth of the 16 teams in terms of games won all-up in that time.
"We've made it this far at both grades this year and the club has never had that success before," said Ackland.
The NRL was extremely happy the Warriors made the series, and that they made it interesting by overturning Melbourne in week one. Any talk they could be ushered out of the competition was nonsense while the league took broadcasting rights money. And the crowd on Saturday was 32,095 compared with the 27,570 who went to see the other Sydney finals side Cronulla play Melbourne on Friday night at the same venue, the difference all Kiwis.
Price was his usual diplomatic self when drawn on the likely title winner. "Melbourne have done a great job since they were beaten by us. Manly had the pressure on them tonight and they turned up."
Shayne Hayne shapes as grand final referee, to be named today, superseding Tony Archer from 2007.
