What is going on at the Warriors?

After an up and down year last year, there were plenty of great things expected from the Warriors this year. The Warriors picked up star English Fullback Sam Tomkins. The Warriors also brought Jayson Bukuya and Chad Townsend. They played well at the Auckland Nines but they went down to eventual finalists the North Queensland Cowboys in the semifinals, and they thumped the Brisbane Broncos in the last trial game before the season started. Things were going good for the club; fans felt that their team could make the eight.

The Warriors first two games of the year were average to say the least, they played like a side that had no focus, no heart and were unfit. In rounds three and four they played some good attacking football and everyone played well as a team, and not as individuals.  Results from the first four games were:

Round 1 Parramatta Eels 36 over the NZ Warriors 16

Round 2 St George Illawarra Dragons 31 over the NZ Warriors 12

Round 3 NZ Warriors 20 over the North Queensland Cowboys 16

Round 4 NZ Warriors 42 over the Wests Tigers 18

However in round five, everything turned to custard. They continuously dropped the ball, they were weak in attack and defense and Warriors centre Dane Nielsen thought it would be good to throw the ball out over the sideline on numerous occasions. They got thumped 37 points to 6 by the bottom placed Cronulla Sharks.

After the game Matt Elliot came out and said he “did not know what was going on” and “why the team played as badly as they did”. Could it have been the game plan not being implemented by his team? Or that the team didn’t like him as a coach and they knew he was being reviewed after 5 games, so they revolted so that they could get a new coach.

Ok Warriors fans what’s some of the other problems your team faces:

Their props fail to provide the go forward required, both Sam Rapira and Ben Matulino struggle to break the line let alone the tackle and sometimes it looks like when they get tackled they just stop instead of trying to go through. Their halves are struggling for consistency as neither has stamped their mark on the season so far. I know many will look at this now and say we have Shaun Johnson and he’s great. Yes he has his moments, but he goes good when the forwards do their job but when they don’t he loses his way and seems to go missing and many would ask, when do you see Johnson making a tackle or breaking the line or putting a good kick through when his team is going backwards? They have a winger, Manu Vatuvei, who is too slow when compared to the current crop in the NRL and who should be in the forwards and also defensively he is a liability.

What needs to happen?

This is going to be a long rebuild, the club needs to sack / drop underperforming players. These include: Feleti Mateo, Townsend, Bukuya, and Nielsen. These guys have failed to perform consistently for the Warriors despite their reputations. They need a new captain and hooker Nathan Friend would do a great job at that because he leads from the front by making plenty of tackles and tells players were to go and what to do, something that current captain Simon Mannering doesn’t do.  They need to good back to a simple game plan and play  what they see in front of them, rather than this  robotic run up the middle and kick it to Manu idea. As any current or former player will tell you, league is a simple game, so don’t over complicate it and let players use their natural talent rather than insist they must stick to the game plan regardless of what is going on during the game. As Gordon Tallis said recently, I don’t know a player who came off the field after a loss saying I don’t think the game plan was any good.  They are a huge side, and their attacking flair is what other teams fear so they need to use both these things  to their advantage.

In terms of the management and support staff, they need to get a big broom and sweep out all the bad influence and negative people in the club. The first one that should go is CEO Wayne Scurrah. It seems clear that Scurrah wanted Elliot out because some of the senior players did not like what the coach was doing. Echoes of the Daniel Anderson player revolt come to mind and this type of player power seems to pervade the Warriors.

According to a report from Fox Sports they suggest that “However, it is understood Warriors management felt the side’s limp display against Cronulla was proof Elliott’s coaching was not going to produce a top-four finish this season”.  Hello, Earth to the Warriors management, you can’t judge a clubs performance after 5 games and think they can’t make the eight let alone the top four. That’s just bizarre and naïve especially when you consider the results that occurred last weekend including the major upsets of the Storm by the Titans and Manly by the lowly ranked and poor performing Tigers.

Scurrah and his Warriors board sat down in front of media on Monday and said that “Matt Elliot had resigned”. However co-owner Sir Owen Glenn claimed he had no idea about this “sacking”. Then Andrew McFadden was interviewed on Monday, and he came out and said “I’m a bit shocked obviously it’s a bit raw, my heads been spinning in the last 24 hours, but I’ve been given a responsibility now and I’m going to take it” , so let’s face it if McFadden knew about this 24 hours before the decision was made public. You decide whether all these conflicting statements meant Elliot was sacked or not but I would leave you with the other co-owner Eric Watson’s comments which were “if Elliot hadn’t resigned he would have been sacked” so go figure, .

So, to fix some of the problems, they need to look at buying some new players and maybe the following would be good options:

o   Kiwis prop Sam Moa (Off contract this year, who plays for the Sydney City Roosters)

o   Benji Marshall (If they can put a good offer)

o   Tim Sheens (As either a coach or an advisor)

o   Queensland Maroons second rower Ben Te’o (Off contract this year, who plays for the South Sydney Rabbitohs)

o   Former New South Wales Prop Tim Mannah (Off contract this year, who plays for the Parramatta Eels)

o   Former New South Wales Halfback Jarrod Mullen (Off contract this year, who plays for the Newcastle Knights)

o   Kiwis Second rower Kevin Proctor (Off contract this year, who plays for the Melbourne Storm)

o   Beau Champion (Off contract this year, who plays for the South Sydney Rabbitohs)

The Warriors had a 2 wins and 3 loss records, so that’s an ok start to the year in fact much better than last year. However, the last loss the Warriors was an appalling performance and it cost Elliot his job. The Warriors need to realise that the coach, is not playing the game, he is not dropping the ball, nor is he telling the players to make mistakes. It is the players fault for not delivering the plan the coach wanted to see on the field and for not showing any guts or pride, which was common place last year.

Elliot’s name can be added to a long list of coaches that have been sacked by the Warriors, these include:

• John Monie
• Frank Endacott
• Mark Graham
• Daniel Anderson
• Tony Kemp
• Brian McClennan
• Tony Iro
• Matthew Elliott

These are some of the most proven names in the business yet they failed to survive the Warriors. In fact the only coach that was never sacked by the Warriors was Ivan Cleary

To sum up, I’ll leave you with a question, 5 games into the year, the Warriors have once again been a very hard watch with totally inconsistent performances and an apparent couldn’t care less attitude, right from the 1^st match of the season, so is it right that the Warriors sack their coach because the players aren’t performing?