Players must look inward: Harris
Delving into who will be the next Warriors coach is above Tohu Harris’ pay grade but he admits the players feel responsible for Nathan Brown’s exit.
It’s no secret the Warriors have lacked the basic fundamentals of effort and commitment required for the NRL in the club’s last five consecutive losses and the captain says they are determined to change that when the Stacey Jones era begins against the Sharks on Sunday.
Brown’s exit on Tuesday is yet another distraction for the struggling club, who sit 14th on the NRL ladder with just four wins from 13 games, with his assistant, Jones, taking on the head coaching role for the rest of the season.
Harris confirmed the players had no input into Brown leaving the club but felt their shocking performances and lack of resilience contributed.
He also believes players need to worry about their own performances right now over investing time into who will coach in 2023.
‘‘To be honest, that’s above my pay grade,’’ Harris said. ‘‘I’ve got to focus on getting my performances right.’’
For Harris, it’s the second time in less than two years he’s had to face the upheaval of losing a coach mid-season, after Stephen Kearney was shown the door in June 2020.
‘‘It’s strange times at the moment,’’ Harris said.
But in professional sport, life goes on, and the skipper said players need to concentrate on what they can control.
‘‘We feel like we’ve had a hand in what’s gone on,’’ Harris said. ‘‘We feel as though if our performances had been a bit better or we’d had some better results then maybe what happened wouldn’t have happened.
‘‘We’re all excited for Stace and we want to put in for him because as players we’re disappointed in the results that we’ve had,’’ Harris said.
Jones opened his head coaching tenure by slamming the effort of his players in recent matches and Harris says the spray wasn’t wrong. ‘‘We really need to look at ourselves in the mirror and get our performances right.
‘‘You may be feeling tired or whatever it is, but you’ve just got to give that little bit extra,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re not doing it well enough to compete at this level.’’
Harris said not delivering effort plays or showing resilience at the right times can be down to a lack of understanding, experience or communication but other times the situation is far more simple. ‘‘Then there are other situations where you’ve just got to bite the bullet and put your body on the line.’’
Lifting the training intensity, bringing fun back into the mix and keeping things simple are the key focal points in this week’s preparation and Harris said the game plan has been stripped back, trying not to overcomplicate things with an emphasis on execution.
Besides Dale Finucane, Cronulla are near enough to full strength and the TAB odds reflect that, with the Sharks paying $1.19 to the Warriors $4.60 in the headto-head market.
Harris, who is still yet to get back to 100% after returning from an ACL knee injury midway through the season, said the players are desperate to find some form under Jones.
But things don’t get any easier following the Sharks clash, with the table-topping Panthers on Saturday week before a week off for the standalone State of Origin and Kiwis v Tonga weekend. July’s homecoming match against the West Tigers in Auckland looms as the club’s most likely crack at a fifth victory in the foreseeable future.
‘‘We really need to look at ourselves in the mirror and get our performances right.’’
Tohu Harris on the Warriors