Warriors chief executive Cameron George on Warriors' shift to Australia. Video / Christopher Reive
The Warriors are in a lull, and new coach Nathan Brown knows it.
Over their past nine NRL seasons, the Warriors have only qualified for the finals series once – a first-round exit against the Penrith Panthers in 2018.
"No club is happy with that," Brown said of the team'spoor strike rate over the past decade.
"There are plenty of other clubs in the eight that have had bad runs for periods of time. We all want the same thing, and it's easy to talk about at this time of the year but much harder to do."
After spending the first part of the off-season working in two groups – with one based in Auckland and another in Kiama, New South Wales – the club assembled as one in Tamworth last week where they will work for a month before moving to Terrigal for the start of the season.
Nathan Brown has joined the Warriors for the 2021 season. Photo / Photosport
For at least the first four rounds of the competition, they will base themselves in Terrigal with the hope of returning to Auckland in early April for their fifth-round match against the Manly Sea Eagles. But unlike in 2020, the club had time to plan their stay across the Tasman, with family and a larger group of players and staff making the trip.
After needing to loan players from other teams last year, the Warriors have a group of more than 40 players in Australia this season which includes a number of the club's young stars.
Brown said with the team being together in the environment every day, it would only help growth.
"It's about gaining consistency and getting some growth out of our junior players.
"We're very happy with our squad. We've got a big blend at the moment of about 42 blokes; there's a real blend of experience. There's a broad range in the squad at the moment which is great.
"The boys had some good wins at different stages last year but we'd like to get some consistency about what we're doing and that's a real challenge; easy to talk about, hard to do."
New recruit Bayley Sironen, who joined the club on a three-year deal this season after two years with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, echoed Brown's comments on the squad, with the young second rower excited by the potential of the group.
Bayley Sironen joined the Warriors on a three-year deal. Photo / Photosport
"That was one of the reasons I was so excited to come here," Sironen said. "The recruitment and the way they performed last year under so much pressure.
"We've started really well in this training camp and we're looking forward to seeing what we can do."
