Warriors will restore the faith
There’s something missing about the Warriors going into this season. Something that’s been there for almost every year of the club’s existence.
That thing that’s disappeared? It’s the unrealistic, over the top hype.
In each of the past few seasons there has been a marquee signing by the club, the arrival of a player who’s supposed to make the difference and finally lead them to glory. It’s been Sam Tomkins, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Issac Luke and Ryan Hoffman who’ve come to the club over the past few seasons and they’ve been paraded by the Warrior’s marketing team as the reason why they’re finally going to win the Premiership and why you should sign up as a member.
Kieran Foran fits the bill of being a big name recruit for this season and while they’ll boast one of the best spines in the NRL, there are question marks about how Foran will go, given that he hasn’t played for almost a year, is returning from a serious shoulder injury and has overcome some serious off-field issues.
Even the most ardent Warriors fan must feel like they’ve been burnt too many times. But at the risk of looking foolish, this really could be the Warriors’ year.
Only the Broncos or Storm could come close to matching the Warriors for star power and in players like David Fusitu’a, Tuimoala Lolohea and Solomone Kata out wide, there’s plenty of X-factor across the park.
Notice that Manu Vatuvei wasn’t mentioned in that last sentence? Well how could he be after the 2016 he had?
He scored just six tries in 15 games and needed time away from the club to sort out some of his own off-field issues.
At the age of 30, Vatuvei should still have what it takes to play in the NRL but he does need to have a better season and in Ken Maumalo they have a player who’s ready to play each week.
But while scoring tries has never been a problem it’s defence where they need to lift their game.
Justin Morgan was brought in from the Storm last season to look after this area and ended up being one of the biggest casualties from that disappointing campaign.
There were signs in the trial game against the Titans last weekend that the defence is improving, although that was against a team that was lacking Jarryd Hayne, Konrad Hurrell, Kevin Proctor and Dan Sarginson.
Opposition teams are going to constantly try to break the the Warriors’ defence on the edges. The players will know it’s coming and their season will depend on how they respond to that.
Given everything, the Warriors should make the top eight and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have a decent run after that.
As to who else will do well, it may not be trendy to say this, but the Sharks have the squad to be the first club since the NRL era began in 1998 to win back-to-back titles.
They have made some interesting signings in underrated Kiwis squad member Manaia Cherrington, Tony Williams and Jeremy Latimore and players like Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis will still have the drive to get the best out of themselves.
The Broncos and Cowboys will once again be up there, as will the Raiders, who made the biggest jump in improvement in 2016 and are set to make further strides.
Surely the decline in the Storm has to come soon, although people have been saying that for the last couple of years.
Former Storm player Proctor will be a key signing at the Titans and with Hayne on board for a full season they should again make the top eight.
After a dreadful 2016 the Roosters should bounce back. Putting new signing Michael Gordon at fullback and switching Latrell Mitchell to centre gives the team more bite on attack.
Lock in the Knights for the wooden spoon. They only won one game last year and with a squad still full of kids and misfits they won’t do much better this time.
The Dally M Medal could go to someone different this year and that player might be Anthony Milford from the Broncos.
But for most people in New Zealand, these are all side issues, it’s about the Warriors.
2017 may not be the year they win the Premiership, but it could be the season where they play footy in September again and give supporters something to be happy about.