Michael Burgess: How the Warriors have turned doubters into believers

Shaun Johnson celebrates after scoring during a match between the St George Dragons and One NZ Warriors at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, NSW, Australia on June 23, 2023. Photo / David Neilson / www.photosport.nz

Opinion

The Warriors must be turning doubters into believers.

Before the start of this season, if you made a list of people who thought the Auckland NRL team would make the top eight, it would be a short one.

Outside the four walls of the club, few were backing the Warriors to be contenders. Most pundits were predicting improvement - but not on this scale. Even diehard fans were only cautiously optimistic, scarred by the awful 2022 campaign and aware there seemed to be so much to turn around.

There was hope that the team might get better, but so would almost every other club, and most were starting from a higher place.

But it has happened, and now it’s hard to see how the Warriors will miss the playoffs from here.

Last Friday’s 48-18 victory over the Dragons was another sign they are on the right track.

They have played better this season - and featured in more intense contests - but the way they lifted when they needed was telling. The unpredictable Dragons weren’t great, but their defensive line was turned into a rabble by the rolling waves of attack.

The most heartening aspect for the Warriors is the ongoing development, as certain areas get sharper every week. That is the biggest reason for optimism over the last nine rounds, as the Warriors seem to have the capacity to learn, grow and evolve and are getting more defensive and offensive cohesion every week.

They also have depth, with the likes of Jazz Tevaga, Te Maire Martin and Ed Kosi awaiting their chance.

It all bodes well. If there has been a signature of this season, it has been reliability, as the Warriors have maintained their performance levels.

That has enabled them to win the games they are expected to, which has been key. The only exception was the round-five defeat in Newcastle and, to a lesser extent, the Broncos clash in Napier, which they could have stolen at the end.

The New Zealand Warriors form a huddle during the pre-season NRL challenge match against the Wests Tigers at Mt Smart Stadium on February 9, 2023. Photo / Andrew Cornaga, www.photosport.nz

Otherwise, they have kept turning up, avoiding banana skins and taking out the tight contests, along with “bonus” victories that came in Cronulla, Townsville and Canberra.

That has put them on course for the playoffs, for only the second time in 12 years.

The next step comes on Friday against the Rabbitohs. They’ve beaten one ‘heavyweight’ team this year - with a spectacular comeback against the Sharks - but lost to the rest, with narrow defeats to the Panthers, Storm, Roosters and Broncos.

The games against Melbourne and Penrith were most telling, as the Warriors competed for long periods but couldn’t maintain their levels when the opposition lifted their intensity in the second half.

That will be the test against South Sydney.

The Rabbitohs have lost four of their last five but have been kryptonite for the Warriors, with a 14-1 record over the last decade. They dominated the Auckland team last season - with both clashes essentially over by halftime - and still have most of those players on deck.

“I don’t think they’re in a slump,” said Warriors coach Andrew Webster. “They’ve had some disruptions with injuries and things like that too. They’re a class act. I expect them to be coming here, knowing the challenge ahead and wanting to put their best performance out. A team that loses [after they] have been a successful team for so long can be hungrier than ever, so we have to be ready for that.”

Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.