Hands up anyone who sees promise in the Warriors
OPINION: At what point can we judge Stephen Kearney?
Apparently one season isn’t enough to ascertain whether the New Zealand Warriors coach knows what he’s up to or if he’s likely to turn the club into the NRL powerhouse it could be. It’s going to take a big rebuild and those take time, we’re told.
We’ll discount the 10 wins in 42 head starts that Kearney had as Parramatta head coach and just look at year one at the Warriors. The team have a 7-12 record in 2017 and sit three wins outside of the top-eight, with five rounds to play, and are at massively long odds to sneak into the playoffs.
That doesn’t look like an amazingly good record, particularly given how good the Warriors were said to be this year. Remember all that early season talk about the team’s ‘‘spine’’ of Roger Tuivasa-sheck, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke? Weren’t they meant to make the Warriors unbeatable?
Let’s go back to this business of it being too early to critique Kearney.
A cursory look at the list of men coaching NRL teams this year reveals that Trent Robinson (2013) and Ricky Stuart (2002) both won NRL titles in their first seasons as head coach at the Roosters. Wayne Bennett and Des Hasler went to the grand final in their first season at Canberra and Canterbury, respectively, while Paul Green guided the Cowboys to the title in his second year.
Never mind all the other coaches in history to do the same. This is just the blokes coaching now.
Different code, sure, but Dave Rennie took the Chiefs to the Super Rugby title in his first season. The Hurricanes’ Chris Boyd was a runner-up in year-one and champion the following year. Neither franchise had won a competition prior to those men’s arrival, nor been especially successful.
Look, it might take years to sort the Warriors out. Maybe it’ll never happen. In the meantime, don’t let anyone tell you it’s too early to judge how the head coach is going. It’s not.
AN ABSOLUTE CHAMPION
Cameron Smith? Amazing. So clever, such an asset to rugby league in every sense.
His performance in game 350 for Melbourne on Sunday was as good as any in his storied career. Manly are a decent team and yet Smith and the Storm dismantled them 40-6. It was an absolute privilege to watch and of all the many words said and written in honour of Smith and the 350-game milestone, I like these from the hooker’s longtime friend and Queensland and Australia teammate Johnathan Thurston.
‘‘I’ve never seen anyone control a game like he does. I thought [Darren] Lockyer was the best, but this bloke’s like four, five sets ahead of every team,’’ Thurston said.
So many players don’t appear to know what they’re doing from one play to the next. The idea that Smith is already scheming 24 or 30 plays ahead gives you an insight into why the teams he plays for have been so successful.
AROUND THE GROUNDS
Beyond marvelling at Smith, Parramatta’s 28-14 win over Brisbane was the round’s other highlight. If the sixth-placed Eels can keen playing with that kind of toughness, then a prolonged playoff run isn’t beyond them.
There was nothing tough, though, about the cheap shot Parramatta backrower Kenny Edwards put on prone Broncos wing Jonas Pearson. The game doesn’t need that stuff.
Elsewhere, second place flatters the Roosters and their 22-16 win over the Cowboys was again pretty unconvincing. The Panthers and Sharks were other teams to win without impressing, while Knights and Tigers fans at last had something to cheer about.
The Knights enjoyed an ugly, but deserved, 21-14 victory over the Dragons, while the Tigers towelled up the disappointing Titans 26-4.