Endacott: Recruit, retain, revive

THE FORMER COACH

"Have a look at the performance of their 20s [side] this year, it's embarrassing." Frank Endacott

Former Warriors coach Frank Endacott is as worried about his old club’s youth squad as he is about Steve Kearney’s underperforming NRL team.

Endacott insists he ‘‘wants the Warriors to succeed more than anyone in the country’’, but he believes the Auckland-based club must improve their recruitment and retention to deliver overdue success to their frustrated fan base.

The former Kiwis coach - now a player’s agent - said it is a worrying sign that ‘‘’over 90 per cent’’ of young New Zealand players would rather sign for an Australian NRL club than the Warriors ‘‘because they see other club as more successful’’.

Endacott believes ‘‘you can’t build a big flash house with a shaky foundation’’ and he is concerned that the bottom-of-the-table Junior Warriors’ woes could be spell potential problems for Kearney’s senior side.

‘‘Have a look at the performance of their 20s [side] this year, it’s embarrassing. It will be unbelievable if they end up with the wooden spoon after all the success they’ve had over the years.’’

The Junior Warriors have won just three games in 2017 and are on a five-match losing streak. They were thrashed 70-4 by Newcastle last weekend and have lost 70-10 to the North Queensland Cowboys and 58-12 to Manly.

Endacott believes the Junior Warriors’ poor showing is a sign the club is struggling to attract the best young New Zealand talent with the brightest stars opting for Australian clubs.

The talent drain includes two top-line 21-year-old NRL first grade stars, Roosters back Joseph Manu from Tokoroa and Penrith Panthers forward James FisherHarris, the New Zealand junior player of the year who hails from rural Northland.

Endacott said almost every NYC and NRL squad was stacked Endacott said they had gone from the top to ‘‘rock bottom’’ in a short space of time.

The Warriors have also faced a battle to attract and retain Australian talent. The Sharks’ 2016 grand final halves, James Maloney and Chad Townsend, were once on the Warriors’ books but their careers have thrived since returning to Australia.

Endacott believes the Warriors need some hardnosed Australian players, saying they got great value from Queensland State of Origin reps Steve Price and Kevin Campion. Micheal Luck - while not a star player - ‘‘gave 100 per cent in every game, and that’s the type of player you need’’.

Kearney lamented last week after the loss to the cellar dwelling Knights that some of his players were not trying hard enough.

Endacott said the comment was a symptom of Kearney’s frustration, but he believes a lot of young New Zealand players struggle to maintain their effort for full games.

‘‘You need to be able to focus for 80 minutes to win NRL games.

‘‘But, growing up, a lot of our home based players come through the 16s, 17s and 18s [grades] winning games by 60-odd points because of their size in that agegroup.

‘‘Then they find themselves playing hard-nosed Aussie, who have been playing tough games for 10 years, and they struggle to cope.

Endacott said it wasn’t the players’ fault - New Zealand simply lacked the numbers to have more competitive grades, but he said 60 to 70 point blowouts gave a false impression of where the players were at.

He believes the answer is getting the bigger, more skilled players ‘‘playing up a grade’’ against older opponents so they learn how to cope with pressure and adversity earlier.

While the Warriors are struggling at first grade level, Endacott isn’t ‘‘in the queue of people calling for Stephen’s head’’, saying that Kearney needed two years to stamp his mark.

‘‘He needs to be recruiting now for next year and he needs at least two full years to prove what he can do.’’