Warriors exit with no regrets
The Warriors have no regrets at not fielding their strongest lineup at the Auckland Nines despite recording their worst performance at the tournament.
Coach Stephen Kearney’s decision to rest the likes of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Issac Luke and David Fusitu’a was compounded when Shaun Johnson suffered a minor groin injury warming up for the first game and sat out day one.
It meant Ruben Wiki’s return was not a memorable one as the Warriors lost 15-11 to Manly before falling 17-0 against Parramatta to miss out on the quarterfinals for the first time.
With so much of the Nines’ success hinging on how the home team performs and Johnson a poster-boy for the event, it was a nightmare scenario for the tournament which has already been linked with a move to Australia.
While the Nines had been a major focus for the Warriors in previous years, they made no secret that it was not a priority this year and assistant coach Steve McNamara insisted they have to think of the big picture.
‘‘We make no mistake that from day one we’re really preparing for the NRL competition,’’ McNamara said. ‘‘Because we’re the home team it does make it a little bit more difficult for ourselves but sometimes we have to make tough decisions and the decisions were all based on what was right for our team going forward.’’
Keeping Johnson on understandable.
McNamara said he felt a tightening around his groin area and with the 26-year-old so integral ice was to the Warriors’ fortunes, it would have been foolish to risk him.
It is difficult to see him playing in today’s meaningless pool match against the Dragons, although McNamara added he would be given every chance to take part.
‘‘Shaun is integral to promoting the game around New Zealand and around the world,’’ the former England coach said. ‘‘So if Shaun’s available and fit we’ll give him that opportunity to play but if he’s not then we’ll have to make another strong decision.’’
As for Wiki, who hung up the boots more than eight years ago, there were few of the barnstorming charges he was famous for in his prime but by no means did he look out of place.
The 44-year-old battled bravely in the middle of field and admitted he found it easier than expected.
‘‘As you can see I survived,’’ Wiki said after the Manly match. ‘‘If you give up that amount of ball you’re going to suffer but we had unlimited interchanges so it made it easy on this old fella anyway.
‘‘Martin Taupau ran straight at me, I just held him by the laces so I don’t think that classes as a missed tackle.’’
While Johnson was left watching from the sidelines, the tournament’s two other star attractions, Jarryd Hayne and Johnathan Thurston, both made flying starts to their respective campaigns.
With Thurston pulling the strings, the Cowboys are shaping as the team to beat after they overpowered the Roosters 27-15 and Raiders 35-6.
Thurston set up a couple of tries against the Roosters but was made to play second to fiddle in the second game as young gun Kalyn Ponga carved up Canberra in a two-try performance.
‘‘We know what he can do,’’ Thurston said. ‘‘It’s just bout giving him those opportunities where he can use his speed and his feet and hopefully as the tournament goes we get better at doing that.’’
Hayne showed flashes of his brilliance throughout the day as the Titans eased past the Sharks (25-4) and Bulldogs (17-10).
But the cross-code getting carried away.
‘‘We’ve just got to hold the ball. It’s a nine-minute game so anything can happen but hopefully we can get the bounce of the ball.’’
Six teams were undefeated on day one, including Parramatta, Manly, Penrith and Brisbane.
Although, Benji Marshall’s life as a Bronco got off to a rough start as the former Kiwis captain required stitches for a cut to the mouth before suffering a minor case of Achilles tendonitis. star wasn’t