Kiwis rule the Roos, woe for Warriors
IF SOMEONE in January had said the Kiwis would go unbeaten throughout the Four Nations, beating Australia twice to win the tournament, they would probably have been written off as barmy.
Following last year’s humiliating 34-2 defeat in the World Cup final the Kiwis looked a side in tatters, hardly one that could go on to win a tournament 12 months later.
The Anzac test was the first step on what would become a stellar year for the national side. That day Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney fielded a young, and in many cases unknown side including five debutants, but the team walked away with a 30-18 loss – better than many expected.
Come the end of October and the Four Nations and many believed the first up 30-12 win over the Aussies in Brisbane would be far as it would go. A good game but perhaps a fluke. After all that game saw the Kiwis snap an eightmatch losing streak against the Kangaroos.
But, the Kiwis went on to win their next two pool games, against Samoa and England, albeit in far less convincing fashion. The final, though, was a watershed moment for this Kiwis side as they showed it was no fluke and the Kangaroos’ invincibility was gone. In that game the Kiwis took a massive step in holding on to win 22-18.
The tournament saw some much vaunted talent finally shine particularly the likes of Shaun Johnson, Kieran Foran and Jesse Bromwich; the creation of a number of new stars for the Kiwis, the likes of Jason Taumalolo, Dean Whare and Martin Taupau, and the rejuvenation of older players especially Jason Nightingale and Manu Vatuvei, who had been left out of the Anzac test. It also left fans with a hunger for more international football.
The fairytale ending for South Sydney was the story of the NRL season with their 30-6 win over the Bulldogs in the grand final breaking a 43-year premiership drought. The match was also the swansong for rugby union-bound forward Sam Burgess who broke his cheekbone in a crunching tackle from James Graham in the first moments of the match, but went on to play the rest of the game.
For the Warriors it proverbial mixed bag.
It’s easy to forget just how big the ructions at the club were when looking back on the season retrospect. First of all there was the
was
the sacking of coach Matt Elliott five rounds into the season and the subsequent appointment of his assistant, Andrew McFadden, as head coach. That was followed by a bitter fall out between co-owners Eric Watson and Owen Glenn which looks set to continue on into the new year.
In player news, the club, having signed fullback Sam Tomkins, agreed to an early release of once-star player Kevin Locke to play for the Salford Devils in the Super League.
The Warriors had a hot run of form during Origin season and looked certain to make the eight before bombing out and finishing the season ninth, predictably underperforming again.
After the season chief executive Wayne Scurrah, who had been with the club for nine years, left to go and work for another of Watson’s companies, with Jim Doyle, who had previously been the chief executive at the New Zealand Rugby League and chief operating officer at the NRL, stepping into his shoes in December.
McFadden and the
executive made a number of personnel changes bringing in two new assistant coaches and new fitness staff as well as waving goodbye to underperfoming players Dane Nielsen, Jayson Bukuya and Feleti Mateo.
McFadden started the preseason how he means to play out the 2015 season, with a huge step up in intensity. Should it play out the Warriors might shrug off the underperformers tag.
As for the Kiwis? Anything like a repeat of the Four Nations exploits will keep fans happy.