Home is where the Warriors winning is
The Warriors’ 42-18 win over the Bulldogs at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday night was their highlight of the season so far as the team showed what playing in New Zealand means to them.
But the key issue for the remainder of the season is whether they can replicate that passion for their two remaining away games, against the Cowboys and Panthers, before returning home for their season finale against the Titans.
It could be said that as the Warriors aren’t going to make the top eight or pick up the wooden spoon, the games in Townsville and Penrith are meaningless, but there is pride and contracts left to play for.
Warriors middle forward Bunty Afoa hopes the team can bottle the energy they showed on Friday night and play like that again the next two weeks. ‘‘This gives us confidence and a little taste of what victory feels like,’’ Afoa said.
‘‘Throughout this whole year we haven’t had a lot of success or luck and to see us heading back in the right direction, puts a positive mindset into the young ones. It’s frustrating that we’re in Australia, so to come home and see our fan base gives us that extra boost.’’
The result was just the sixth win this season for the Warriors and the second since Stacey Jones stepped up as the club’s interim coach. In a season where not much has gone right, Afoa believes big wins like the one against the Bulldogs are worth celebrating.
‘‘It means a lot and showed we’re heading in the right direction with Stacey,’’ he said.
‘‘He’s been a massive influence on the boys and it has been frustrating that we hadn’t been seeing the results.
‘‘We’d been training our asses off, so to see us get the result against the Bulldogs is awesome.
‘‘I believe firmly in Stacey and what he does. I’m 100% behind this team, I want to see this club succeed and we are heading in the right direction.’’
The end is in sight for the Warriors’ time based in Australia. But the past couple of months have been harder to deal with. The families are still based themselves around Redcliffe, but the players are doing more travelling, making midweek trips to Auckland for home games, so are spending even more time living out of a suitcase.
It’s easy to overlook the emotional toll the last few years have taken on the Warriors players and staff and that’s partly because the club have shied away from using it as an excuse.
The Bulldogs’ gesture of coming over to their changing sheds after the game to pass on their gratitude was appreciated.
‘‘To be honest, it’s played on us a couple of times throughout the year. But you can’t toss up those [poor] performances in the NRL,’’ Afoa said.
‘‘It’s us that needs to have our preparation right coming into the week.
‘‘The main goal was to win a Premiership and you have got to put all the excuses aside and come into game day with the right attitude.’’
The Warriors will soon start negotiations to re-sign Afoa, who made his debut for the club in 2016.
He is one of only three players currently with the team who has played at least 100 games for them, the others being Jazz Tevaga and Shaun Johnson. A few years ago the Warriors told Afoa he was free to look at other clubs and Super League teams were interested. But Afoa stuck with his Warriors contract.