More of the same from the Warriors in 2018? Let's hope not.
The NRL kicks off across Australia this weekend, which means that the Warriors are ready to create some headlines.
Warriors prop Bunty Afoa with possession against Melbourne Storm during a pre-season game in Rotorua Photo: Photosport Ltd 2018 www.photosport.nz
Of course, for the past six seasons, those headlines haven't been that good. Their 2011 grand final appearance, the second and last time the club had managed to make it to the big dance, seems like a long time ago now.
So what can we expect this time around?
Already there's been a couple of distractions. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's aspiration to play for the All Blacks has again raised its head in the pre-season, in the same period in which the Warriors got themselves embroiled in a tug-of-war over the services of teenage talent Etene Nanai-Seturo.
To their credit, the Warriors emerged from those potential messes looking pretty good. While Nanai-Seturo has pledged allegiance to the XV-man code, it highlighted the battle that the league team has in securing talent. Besides, it would've been unlikely that Nanai-Seturo would've been playing much first grade this year anyway. Tuivasa-Sheck has subsequently recommitted to the club for the next four years, but time (and just how many spots in the All Blacks open up) will tell if he actually sees it out.
Five-eighth Ata Hingano was shown the door, not long after reminding everyone of how good he is for Tonga in the World Cup. His halves partner for Tonga, Tuimoala Lolohea, was in exactly the same boat the season before last. Lolohea's shift from the Warriors to Wests included a try in a win against his old club, so hopefully they can prevent the same sort of hubris when they take on Hingano's Raiders.
Just a week out from the season starting, the Warriors have suffered injury news of almost the worst kind. One of the few players in the Warriors' history seemingly immune to criticism, Simon Mannering, is gone for the first five weeks with a shoulder injury. Not long when you consider the lengthy NRL season, but a lifetime if they can't get off to a good start without him.
In fact, the first five rounds are against some of the bigger hitters in the competition. The Rabbitohs, Roosters and Cowboys all await the Warriors in the early rounds, then things don't get any easier with matches against the Broncos, Storm and Dragons (a team the Warriors have beaten once in their last 15 meetings).
As always, the season rests heavily on the shoulders of half Shaun Johnson. The Warriors' win percentage when Johnson doesn't take the field is staggeringly low, so simply making sure he doesn't go the same way as Mannering is the club's top priority.
The club has brought in 31-year-old Blake Green to partner Johnson in the halves, and hopefully take a bit of the workload off. He brings much needed finals experience from his time with the Melbourne Storm. But then again, so did Ryan Hoffman and for all the State of Origin and Kangaroo forward's efforts, it didn't amount to much in terms of results.
Other signings include Kiwis captain Adam Blair, which would be a lot more impressive if the Kiwis hadn't been so horrendously awful under his leadership. Fellow test players Peta Hiku and Gerard Beale have also made the trip back across the Tasman but Beale is still recovering from a broken leg suffered in the World Cup.
The squad does have some guys that could definitely break out this year: winger Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad scored seven tries in as many games last year, while big prop James Gavet has the potential to develop into a real enforcer alongside Blair in the pack.
However, any good showings need to be replicated across the park. The NRL, indeed rugby league itself, thrives on momentum and the Warriors have had barely any since 2011. Otherwise any standouts will just do what the others have done in the last six years: add some value to any contracts they might sign with another club.
The media and public's tether is about as short as it has ever been with the Warriors, yet that might not be the worst thing for the club. Low expectations can be met with a few upset wins early on, then the power of the bandwagon can spur them on to the representative break.
After that, it'll either be the uphill battle to a finals berth - or a downhill slide to another ignominious early season's end.
