The Warriors have had plenty to celebrate this season. Photo / photosport.nz
The Warriors have had plenty to celebrate this season. Photo / photosport.nz
On Saturday night, the Warriors play their biggest game since the 2011 NRL grand final. After finishing in the top four for the first time in 16 years, they take on minor premiers Penrith, with the winner getting a bye to the preliminary final in a fortnight.
While the Warriorsare underdogs, especially since the loss of halfback Shaun Johnson through injury, their presence at this altitude is a phenomenal achievement off the back of their miserable 2022 campaign.
Last year they won only six matches - equalling an unwanted club record from 2004 - and at one point lost 12 of 13 matches. Given that context, this season has been the greatest turnaround in Warriors’ history. After a solid 6-6 record mid-year, they exploded in the second half of the season, winning 10 of their last 12 matches.
That run included a seven-game unbeaten streak and the overall 16-win, eight-loss tally is only bettered by the legendary 2002 campaign, when Daniel Anderson’s team finished as minor premiers.
Ahead of the Panthers clash, Michael Burgess asked some key figures about the moment when they knew something special was brewing under coach Andrew Webster.
It happened in the pre-season, due to the sheer intensity of our training sessions. The new guys – Mitch [Barnett], Dylan [Walker], Marata [Niukore] – all made an impact there and then seeing how hard the [existing] guys worked and the shape they came back in.
Early on, we had a particular day where it was all about competitions and that was some of the hardest things that I have ever done in any pre-season. Just going through those kinds of days, I knew we were going to have a good year.
And then the Cowboys game in round three. It was the first match where we showed signs of being a ruthless side, it had that finals’ intensity about it with the way we defended.
Tohu Harris says the intensity of pre-season training has set the Warriors up or success. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
Wayde Egan
For me, it was the way the guys were competing in training. That instilled a resilience and a competitive edge that we probably hadn’t had in the past. The more sessions we did, the more confident we were. Even in internal games, the boys wanted to win, no matter what the cost. That built a culture where I thought, okay, we might have a crack at it.
Shaun Johnson
I remember Webby giving a speech, which was early in the pre-season, that we could win the comp. He didn’t need us to believe at that time but he said through the work that we are going to do, you will slowly start to believe it.
I thought, yeah, that’s a really good way of looking at it. Because you can ask a lot of NRL players on day one of pre-season – can you win the competition and they will say yes. But he put it in a way like, okay, we are not there yet but maybe we will be if we do the right things.
That mindset is how I attacked my pre-season, where I just kept stacking up sessions on sessions and spent a lot of time on the field. I knew at the back end of pre-season I had more work under my belt than in years. I was strong, fit, I felt great and I was thinking, man, I could do something special, personally, and I feel like we can too. And a lot of the boys felt the same.
Marcelo Montoya says the game against the Cowboys in Townsville in round three gave the Warriors extra belief. Photo / Photosport
Definitely the Cowboys game in Townsville in round three. It was hot as hell, felt like 40 degrees and we found a way. That match, where we had a few guys out and we were able to win tough, you think, okay, that’s important for us as team. And then the Sharks game, two weeks later. We were down by 20 after 25 minutes and found a way back. Those games give you belief, though we had that from pre-season, if you saw how hard we trained.
