Well, once again we had do deal with a fizzle. Instead of finishing the season off with a roaring fire, the Warriors sizzled.

That's enough to leave a pretty stink taste in the mouths of Warriors fans, the last few weeks have been as up and down as they come. Somehow they almost did the business and got the job done, making the eight would have made for a successful season and anything could have happened from that point.

Instead, we're here writing the season review. For me to not be a dick and rip in to the Warriors for another shit season, another season that does nothing but reinforce the stereotypes that have been built over the past decade or so, I have to start with the bad.

For me, the bad is the past 5 or so weeks of the season. There were performances like the game against the Knights where we saw a Warriors side that simply looked like they couldn't care less. Granted the Knights ended the season in great form, but I focus on this game because the Knights weren't better than the Warriors, they just wanted it more. This sums up the end of the season of the Warriors, we once again saw this lack of desperation, a lack of desire to put teams under pressure and really take the game to their opposition.

Has anyone seen a killer instinct?

This was matched by Andrew McFadden's selection decisions, which surely must have some sort of reason behind them. One selection in particular doesn't spring to mind as season destroying - I'm sure the decision to drop Chad Townsend for Thomas Leuluai late in the season had some sort of logic behind it ... I hope. Instead it was more the fact that he chopped and changed so frequently. Again, we could argue til' the cows come home about who should have played etc, but the fact that McFadden felt the need to chop and change week to week was weird. Granted, when he first took over he had to figure out his best 17 + there were injuries so that gave him a 3-5 week window to figure things out. But late in the season when the season's on the line? Hmmm.

That brings me to the positive - which we're all about here at the Nichey Niche. It feels like last year when McFadden took over from Mathew Elliot. The Warriors almost made the 8 after giving their coach the flick after a few weeks, they played well enough to put themselves in the mix. The biggest change was an improved defence (sometimes), the Warriors started to win the wrestle, slow teams down and set their D line before laying in to the next bloke. This didn't happen nearly enough, but the signs were there that the team was responding well to McFaddy's style.

I don't think any Warriors fan, or employee would like to admit the fact that this was a transition period. It shouldn't have been, but it was. A new coach, Sam Tomkins finding his feet in the NRL, figuring out the halves pairing and giving young blokes consistent first grade footy. It all amounts to the Warriors building.

They almost got away with individual talent taking them to the finals, but reality bit. Each season we're excited for the upcoming season, but this time around I feel that it's justified. McFadden gets an off season to do what he wants and hopefully it's not an off season, hopefully guys get the memo that they simply weren't good enough and that they need to work very had over summer. You would hope that Sam Tomkins, Shaun Johnson, Chad Townsend and Thomas Leuluai enjoy each others company because for them to build on this season they'll have to spend a lot of time together sussing out how to score, finish sets and control games.

While there's plenty of youngsters coming through, I'm more excited to see the likes of Konrad Hurrell, Ngani Laumape, David Fusitua, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Sione Lousi, Saliva Havili, Ben Henry and Shaun Johnson start to look like week in week out NRL footballers. They've had their taste of NRL footy, then they've experienced what the grind is like for a season, now they need to flourish. New Zealand doesn't have the same development systems as the Aussie clubs do, so our youngsters don't come up through tough, gritty, mentally challenging pathways. They must learn all of that once they start Under 20's and NRL. These guys all know what to expect, they've come up against the best in the world on a weekly basis, now it's time to reap the rewards.

There were guys who were awesome this season. Obviously Manu Vatuvei, the Niche Cache's favourite son was at his barnstorming best. Jacob Lillyman probably had the best season of his career while Sam Tomkins showed why he came with such a price tag. I'm super duper excited to see Ryan Hoffman pull on the Warriors jersey, he's the type of professional who oozes good habits, determination, desire and all round footy nous. The catch cry for folks with an opinion about the Warriors is that they need tough Aussies, well in Ryan Hoffman they will have just that.

Sure, 2014 wasn't quite what the doctor ordered but it was ok. The Warriors almost got there and could have gone a lot further but they didn't. There's a variety of excuses or reasons why, mainly they weren't good enough at the grind - both the week to week grind of the NRL and the 80 minute grind of a match.

Keep the faith though, one day it will be restored and there's no reason why that day can't come in spring 2015.

For what it's worth, here's my Warriors 17 for the season.

Sam Tomkins

David Fusitua

Ngani Laumape

Konrad Hurrell

Manu Vatuvei

Chad Townsend

Shaun Johnson

Jacob Lillyman

Nathan Friend

Sam Rapira

Simon Mannering

Ben Matulino

Sebastine Ikahihifo

Thomas Leuluai

Suaia Matagi

Feleti Mateo

Ben Henry