The club’s new owners plan to fast-track Auckland’s best junior talent into top professionals.
Back-up hooker Karl Lawton's energetic Warriors debut won him plenty of fans but it's his knockabout Aussie slang that's helped him win over his new teammates.
Warriors players rushed in to celebrate with Lawton, after he came off the bench to score two tries in the second-half of last week's win over Wests Tigers.
The 22-year-old Titans recruit only joined the Auckland-based club a week before the season began on a two-year deal, but his laidback style and quirky catchphrases have generated plenty of laughs around their Mt Smart headquarters.
Leading into last week's match, Lawton was given the honour of coming up with a chant for the players in their team huddle. He didn't disappoint, producing a dry one-liner that had the right balance of humour within a game-related message.
"I told the boys at the captain's run, we had a huddle together with all hands in and they said the phrase was on me," explained Lawton.
He's now good friends with two players who accidentally contributed to turning his first-grade debut from a dream into a nightmare, when he dislocated his ankle and fractured his leg playing against the Warriors in 2016.
"It was actually Bully [Issac Luke] holding me up and then Bunty [Afoa] came in from the back and sort of slid over my ankle and it just went out from underneath me," he told Radio Sport.
"It was a pretty gory sight and the boys said they were feeling a bit sick after watching that one.
"It didn't actually compound but it was 180 degrees, so it was facing the complete opposite way, and then it just clicked and spun around by itself.
"Bunty actually apologised and they were both texting me after the game which was good.
"That was a true show of character right there and they're good blokes."
After a lengthy recovery, he bounced back last year to make 11 more first-grade outings with the Gold Coast proving capable of slotting in at dummyhalf and also five-eighth, lock and centre.
His trifecta of good looks, colourful personality and funny-guy reputation make him a marketer's dream, and if he can cement himself in first grade it wouldn't surprise if he was to establish himself as a new cult hero among the Penrose faithful.
More recently his focus has been all on football, and with Luke ruled out of the Sydney Roosters clash on Saturday with a dislocated shoulder, Lawton is ready to add to his tally of appearances in the starting side.
And he has been soaking up plenty of tips and advice from the 30-year-old veteran.
"I have learned a lot off him. He's very knowledgeable old Issac," he said.
"I try and take a few notes from his book and copy a few things that he does.
"He's got some good defensive tricks and shown me a few little things that will really help my game improve.
"I just think I need to be a little craftier. No one's game is ever perfect, Cameron Smith has just about nailed it, but if I could just pick up a bit more skill I think that's a part that I could always improve on."
Warriors v Roosters at Mt Smart Stadium, Saturday, 5pm
Warriors: 1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (c) 2. David Fusitu'a 3. Peta Hiku 4. Solomone Kata 5. Ken Maumalo 6. Blake Green 7. Mason Lino 8. Bunty Afoa 14. Karl Lawton 10. Agnatius Paasi 11. Simon Mannering 12. Tohu Harris 13. Adam Blair Interchange: 15. Sam Lisone 16. Isaiah Papali'i 17. James Gavet 18. Sam Cook 20. Jazz Tevaga 21. Albert Vete 22. Anthony Gelling
