Last year, the main narrative around the Warriors was why people were still turning out and tuning in to watch them. This year, it is about how many extra seats they're going to need at Mt Smart when the playoffs start.
The action shifts down the road to Hamilton this weekend, where the Warriors go in as heavy favourites against the last-placed Tigers.
Coach Andrew Webster has stressed the "one game at a time" approach consistently throughout 2023, so there's been no mention of the massive disparity in ladder placings between the two sides, but the affable Australian's willingness to explain why makes it more than just a dead bat to probing media queries.
"I just want to see our game ... an 80-minute performance in our style," Webster said this week.
Warriors player celebrate with Shaun Johnson after he kicked the winning field goal against the Canberra Raiders at Mt Smart Stadium. Photo: Photosport
"Good teams learn when they win. Everyone's always waiting for a really bad loss or something, to hit rock bottom. The great teams don't do that, while they win, they're learning lessons along the way ... this is our test this week, have we got better?"
The Warriors are coming in off the back of a scratchy 28-18 win over the Titans, but even describing it that way tells a bit of a story.
In seasons gone by, a road win that was closed out by two good tries would have been cause to pop the champagne corks, now it's being treated like a problem that needs fixing.
What's remarkable about where the Warriors are right now isn't just confined to the fact that they are looking good for a top four finish for the first time since 2007, and only their third ever. Shaun Johnson is being touted as a possible Dally M medalist, another unthinkable prospect 12 months ago. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is a good shot at being the NRL's top try-scorer and being named in the team of the year as well.
Both have somewhat embodied the club's turnaround. There was serious chat about both players being shuffled off last year, now they're part of an appointment viewing show every week.
What really stung were assessments like this, from Fox Sports, after the Warriors slumped to a second-last finish in 2022:
"After finishing 12th in 2021, the Warriors won two less games in 2022 to finish second last and a return to the finals looks even further away than when they started this season. A return home to New Zealand can't come soon enough for the players and coaches, but if they are hoping that will be the magic bullet to turn this club around they are sadly mistaken."
Or this from Stuff:
"New coach, new players and hopefully a new chapter but don't count on the Warriors making the NRL finals in 2023."
That's no slight on the people that wrote those, given just how big a hole the club was in after winning only two of their last 14 games. Especially when captain Tohu Harris was saying this: "For some reason, we have some really good moments but then dumb moments or lack of discipline or whatever it is, we just find a way to shoot ourselves in the foot".
If you were to have offered third in the comp and nothing else to the Warriors at the start of the season, it's likely they would have enthusiastically taken it. However, right now they're thinking bigger and with good reason. The Warriors have four games left before the playoffs: tomorrow against the Tigers, then the Sea Eagles, Dragons and Dolphins.
Two of those sides are propping up the ladder and by the time the Warriors get to the last round, the Dolphins will be thinking about Mad Monday more than anything else. It would take something pretty seismic to shift the Panthers and Broncos out of the top two spots, but the Broncos do have the Storm in their last round game, but as long as the Warriors keep winning they'll be able to lock in a home finals game for the first time in 16 seasons.
