Richie Barnett: Warriors poised for stellar round of innovation

Glen Fisiiahi has the physical and mental strength for the right wing position. Photo / Richard Robinson.

Opinion

What a season of league it promises to be.

Following on from last season when the Warriors won the club championship and the Kiwis took out the Four Nations in brilliant, dramatic style, the game is poised for another huge year in this country.

The big question for me is how far the sport can progress in terms of innovation and quality. The evidence of the All Star game - played when most players had hardly touched a ball in their pre-season preparations - suggests the game is in for a step up in 2011.

With the Warriors recruiting well and producing talents like Glen Fisiiahi, I expect a big year for them. You'd have to pencil them in for the top eight, but top four is the benchmark they will have set themselves.

The Warriors have experience and depth right across the field. Shaun Berrigan coming in with 186 first-grade NRL games and a heap of rep experience for Queensland and Australia is certainly a major boost. The younger guys will learn plenty from him.

I'm really pleased to see Feleti Mateo start in the second row. Playing him at five-eighths would have been a detrimental move. James Maloney proved last year he is an automatic pick in this side. His kicking was outstanding and a big reason the team performed so well.

Mateo is a brilliant player, but he will have to find his feet at his new club. I thought they might use him at lock, but clearly Ivan Cleary likes having Micheal Luck's defensive ability in the middle of the park. That's probably a good thing. Playing on the left with Jerome Ropati and Manu Vatuvei gives Mateo a defined role. It should ease his transition and make it easier for his teammates to get a good read on him.

I just hope he doesn't overplay his hand. With Manu waiting out on the wing he certainly doesn't need to.

I'm really excited about seeing Fisiiahi in action tomorrow night. The kid has got the goods in terms of physical ability, but it is his mental strength that put him ahead of the pack in the battle for the right wing spot. Sure, he doesn't have the experience of Krisnan Inu or even Kevin Locke, but he has a great temperament and is willing to learn.

He did everything that was asked of him in the pre-season trials and was picked on form.

I'm also pretty confident the props will stand up well in the post-Steve Price era. Sam Rapira looks full of energy and Russell Packer has emerged as a quality NRL prop. Behind them, Ben Matulino proved in the Four Nations that he is up to the job. He's a big guy who to me looks like a natural prop. He is made for taking the hard yards up the middle.

Jacob Lillyman isn't quite as big, but he is as tough as nails and a genuine athlete who last year was close to the form that made him an Origin player with Queensland.

There are plenty of reasons for optimism, then, but first-up games are always dicey affairs. The players have been concentrating more on fitness than ball handling and that can often show, particularly in the warmer weather when sweat on the ball becomes a factor.

The Eels look like a dangerous opponent. Steve Kearney will have them training and playing to the systems he learned under Craig Bellamy at Melbourne. He's picked a young side but on form. Those guys will have plenty to prove.

The key to the Eels has always been their halves. Daniel Mortimer had a tough 2010 but is a quality player, while Jeff Robson has been one of the best. If they can strike up a good combination the Eels will be extremely dangerous.

Jarryd Hayne has been their go-to guy in recent years but it looks as though Kearney is trying to get away from relying on him too much, and instead developing a more all-round game.

Under Kearney the Eels will certainly be a tough proposition, but the Warriors should be too good across the park.