Auckland stint works for Brown
Warriors coach Nathan Brown says spending the first part of preseason in Auckland was invaluable.
Because of border restrictions, Warriors players were split into two camps for the past month.
Players with strong links to Australia trained in Kiama, NSW, under the watch of assistant coaches Craig Hodges and Justin Morgan, while Brown came to Auckland after spending two weeks in quarantine to work with the New Zealand-based players.
Brown, who has headed back to Australia for Christmas, could have chosen the easier option and gone to Kiama, but told he was glad he came to Auckland, even with the two weeks he spent stuck in managed isolation.
‘‘It was great for a number of reasons,’’ Brown said.
‘‘One was to work and live where the team is based.
‘‘It will take more time, but I got to learn about the different cultures, the different families and how that works. It was great for me to see how that operates.
‘‘A lot of the players training over there were first years and a lot of our more experienced players were in Australia.
‘‘So being with the younger part of the squad was good and also the staff that were out here [in Australia], I’ve worked with before, whereas the staff in New
Zealand I hadn’t worked with, so it was important for me to understand those guys and how they work, while they could understand how I work.
‘‘For the day to day running of the football club, whether it be the ladies in the office, Laurie the kit man, that’s how a club works, it’s not just a group of players, it’s also the people in the front office. Being able to build relationships is really important.’’
Having the Warriors squad split in two isn’t ideal and the whole team won’t get together until they all arrive in Tamworth on January 3.
Having got to know some Warriors players now, Brown remains confident about what lies ahead next season. He believes there’s enough talent in the squad, but he’s looking for those who came through in
2020, such as Eliesa Katoa, Jamayne TaunoaBrown, Adam Pompey and Chanel Harris-Tavita to kick on in 2021.
‘‘I’m very optimistic after watching the development of some of the guys last year and with the good, hardened experienced players who are coming into the sweet spot of their careers,’’ he said.
‘‘For me, understanding some of the younger players, who are talented and have a good career ahead of them, they need to keep making the right sacrifices and put the right effort in.
‘‘You’ve got to work hard, but there are young players we haven’t seen yet for the Warriors, who are in the core group of players we’ll see play in the next
18 months.’’