NRL: Doyle won't be defined by '17 season

Jim Doyle plans to stay at the Warriors. Photo / Greg Bowker

Jim Doyle has no plans to exit the Warriors, despite the club's likely failure to make the playoffs in 2017. The Auckland club's top eight chances are all but over for another year, after the 26-12 loss to the Sharks on Friday night.

While there is still, perhaps, a mathematical possibility the team could end up in the finals, reality says there is no chance.

The team has lost four matches in a row, three in disappointing fashion, and confidence is at a low ebb. There is no sense of a miracle about to unfold, like the Eels' run from nowhere in 2009 or the Ruben Wiki-inspired Warriors a year earlier.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, as the recruitment of Kieran Foran and the arrival of new coach Stephen Kearney, plus a host of support staff and a grandiose sounding football advisory board, were meant to result in rich dividends this year.

Making the finals was seen as a bare minimum and Doyle admitted in March that it was a "defining season" for him.

"Obviously it depends on the circumstances," Doyle told the Herald on Sunday. "Things might not go well [this year] but it depends on how [it happens]. But if there has been no dramas, no issues along the way, and no significant injuries and I am sitting here thinking I don't know how I could improve things - then there is no point me being here. It is a defining season, certainly for me," added Doyle. "In any organisation, the CEO is responsible for creating the right environment and getting the right people. We have the best coaching staff the club has ever had and a pretty good roster. We'll have issues along the way - whether they are injuries or other things - but hopefully we have people who can cope with that."

Doyle declined to comment on his future when approached by the Herald on Sunday this week but it's understood he has no plans to abandon ship. It's believed he has already told senior staff - as well as the football department - that he intends to be at Mt Smart for at least another year and has received assurances from the board and owner Eric Watson that his job is not under review.

This season has been a major disappointment, where the constant talk of process and progress hasn't been matched by results on the field. Instinct says the team have developed a harder edge this year, and they have competed well against the big teams on occasions, but questions remain over attitude, culture, work ethic and tactics.

The Warriors have also paid the price for poor recruitment decisions last year. While they put a lot of energy into luring Foran - which was an understandable gamble - what the club desperately needed was some quality forwards, and choosing to proceed with essentially the same pack that struggled in 2016 was a major strategic mistake.

Doyle deserves credit for the acquisition of Issac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and for securing the club's future at Mt Smart. He has streamlined the club's operations and increased overall membership numbers. But he also put his faith in Kearney (over much more experienced candidates such as Geoff Toovey and Ivan Cleary) and allowed former coach Andrew McFadden to stay on, in an unusual scenario.

Recruitment over the next few months is crucial, then Doyle - and Kearney - will be judged on results next year.

Former CEO Wayne Scurrah helped oversee four finals appearances in nine years, including the 2011 grand final, but his legacy was damaged by the Sam Tomkins failure and Cleary's premature exit.