Lino rewarded for perseverance
ago, that consistency was rewarded as he leapfrogged Ata Hingano into the No 7 jersey.
‘‘That’s one of our mottos at the club, to never give up and we’ve got to live up to it,’’ Lino said.
‘‘There was probably a time last year when I thought I was getting close but unfortunately I didn’t. I knew all I needed was a pretty big pre-season under my belt, which I did and I’m fortunate enough to get a shot.’’
After an impressive return against the Cowboys, Lino came back to earth against the Sharks with a mistake-ridden first half on Friday night, including one that led directly to a try.
But in another example of his great resolve, he dusted himself off after the break and laid on a try to get his team back in the contest.
It is the type of attitude coach Stephen Kearney has quickly come to admire.
Even before Kearney called him up to face North Queensland, he saw enough in Lino to re-sign him for another two years, despite little interest from other clubs. AT first glance it appeared that the Warriors had let down the country by not allowing Stacey Jones to work with the Kiwis at the World Cup.
Kiwis coach David Kidwell revealed last week that he’d asked Stephen Kearney if he could have Jones as one of his assistants.
Kearney said no and suddenly the Warriors looked like they didn’t care about the national team.
How could a club that recruited their head coach from the Kiwis turn its back on this country when it came calling? Especially so given Warriors managing director Jim Doyle is a former CEO of the New Zealand Rugby League.
It would also seem more perplexing when you consider the Warriors allowed Steve McNamara to be the Kiwis assistant coach this year and they only went after Jones because McNamara has left the club to join Catalans Dragons.
But the Warriors aren’t the villains in all of this and it highlights yet more ineptitude at the NZRL.
There will be about half a dozen Warriors’ staff involved with the Kiwis at the World Cup and it’s usually been the case that the national team rely heavily on the club.
They agreed to allow McNamara to be an assistant to Kidwell because they had two other coaches working under Kearney, Andrew McFadden and Jones.
If the Warriors were to give up Jones, too, they’d lose him until early February as he’d be entitled to a month’s holiday plus the usual Christmas break after the World Cup. That’s a lot to give up when the Warriors are under increasing pressure.
The NRL season has been yet another disappointing one for the club and they’ve never looked like
‘‘It says a lot about him,’’ Kearney said. ‘‘He’s a popular member among the group and to keep ticking away the way he has been doing for the last year and a half without seeing a great deal of first grade is a challenge so it’s a real credit to him.’’
A sharp organiser, Lino’s strength lies in his calm demeanour and astute general kicking game. He is also an accomplished goalkicker, scoring more than 500 points in the NYC and over 350 in 51 NSW Cup games.
He has made the most of training alongside Johnson and being in contention for the top eight. The continual problem has been their dreadful starts to the season.
At the beginning of the campaign the club controversially chose to not put out the strongest possible team for the Auckland Nines, hoping this would make a difference, something that played a part in the tournament’s demise.
However, it didn’t and they lost three of their first four games.
Fixing up these poor starts has become a priority for the Warriors and no stone is being left unturned to work out why it’s been a perennial problem.
Management want the players to be fitter and stronger in the first eight games of the 2018 season, so that for the first time in a long while they’re not starting the season on the back foot.
Pre-season starts on November 1, while the World Cup runs from October 27 to December 2.
It just doesn’t work for Jones to be involved with the Kiwis.
However, it was a surprising decision from Kidwell to portray Kearney to the media as the bad guy in all of this.
Kidwell has refused to comment on the rumours that Brian Smith could be one of his assistants at the World Cup, but quite happily spoke about Jones.
And just what on earth is going on at the NZRL in their search for assistant coaches?
Willie Poching and Justin Morgan were dumped after last year’s poor Four Nations in England and in March McNamara was appointed. They could only get one on board in time for the Anzac test in May and haven’t had anyone since mid-June when McNamara quit. Does it really take this long to find someone to help coach the Kiwis?
The NZRL appointed Shane Richardson in March as the Kiwis campaign manager, but there has been scant evidence of anything he’s done.
Surely, organising a coaching team for a tournament starting in just 88 days would have been a higher priority. Kieran Foran, absorbing as much as he can from the Kiwis halves pairing. But it is assistant coach Stacey Jones who he credits as his biggest mentor.
With Foran off to the Bulldogs next year, this is Lino’s golden opportunity to show he is more than just a capable understudy.
Of course, the Warriors may yet go to the market for a replacement, while Hingano may be more suited to five-eighth with Lino considered to be a specialist No 7.
But as long as he’s at the club, it pays not to count him out. signing a lucrative four-year deal believed to be worth $3 million.
Some say he’s lucky to still be at the club. Had Josh Reynolds not been off contract at the end of this season, perhaps it would have been Mbye making way for the arrival of Kieran Foran from the Warriors next season.
But even before the arrival of the Kiwi five-eighth, Mbye is no longer the first-choice half, with coach Des Hasler opting to play Matt Frawley in the No.7 jersey in recent weeks.
It has forced Mbye into the hooking role, where many expect he will be next season when Foran arrives at Belmore. The 23-yearold Queenslander is no stranger to the position, having spent some time in the No.9 coming through the ranks, but he remains unsure about where he fits into Hasler’s plans next season.
‘‘It’s a tough one because I haven’t had that conversation yet and I think it’s a little bit too early to have that conversation considering the way things go with injuries and chopping and changing,’’ Mbye said.
‘‘If there’s a hole for me to fill in that spot [hooker], I’m more than happy to put my hand up. It will be good to learn the game inside blokes like Matt and Kieran and whoever is coming on board for us next season. We’ll have to wait and see [what] the future holds.’’ The Sun-Herald