On Monday the Warriors announced the signing of Cronulla Shark Blake Ayshford. Ayshford will join Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Issac Luke and Ligi Sao as 2016 signings as well as 22 year old Henare Wells, but more on Wells in a jiffy.

On the surface, the signing of Ayshford is reasonably mediocre. When I tweeted a few thoughts on the matter a bunch of Aussies jumped out of the wood-work and put me on blast, it turns out that Ayshford wasn't a favourite son in Cronulla. Ayshford joined the Sharks from the Wests Tigers after the 2013 season and played 20 games for the Sharks; the fact that he only played four games for the Sharks this season highlights why Sharks fans might be happy to see the back of him.

But the Warriors are in a vastly different situation to the Sharks. Besides Manu Vatuvei, the outside backs group is young and I'd point to this lack of experience as one of the reasons that the Warriors season crumbled. Injuries, lack of form and the general enigma that is Konrad Hurrell meant that the outside back depth of Mt Smart was tested. And it failed miserably, as you might expect when young players are thrown to the wolves.

Hurrell is 24, Solomone Kata is 20, Ken Maumalo is 21, David Fusitua is 20, Mathew Allwood is 22 and Tuimoala Lolohea is 20 while players leaving the club Glen Fisi'ahi (24) and Dominique Peyroux (26) have never played consistent NRL footy. Where Simon Mannering would sometimes jump in the centres to cover an injury, Raymond Faitala-Mariner took over that role this season and at 22 years old he is still very much learning how to handle the NRL's attacking weapons.

Marata Niukore is a great prospect at centre who could be a potential long-term NRL centre, but he's in the Junior Warriors and needs time. That has been the issue for the Warriors as they haven't been able to blood youngsters into the NRL at the right pace; injuries and a lack of experienced depth has meant that young players get too much footy too quickly.

That's where Jonathan Wright comes in and it's why Andrew McFadden said that he wants more players like Wright at the club. This doesn't mean that Wright is the saviour, he's merely a solid NRL player who might not be in a full-strength Warriors 17 but he's a good option to call up if there's a spot up for grabs. In that sense, Ayshford fits the description.

I see Ayshford as a centre but he also offers a bit of second-row depth, which is another area where the Warriors have had to rely too much on young players. I would love to see Hurrell and Kata start the season as the two centres, which would mean that Ayshford will offer depth and raise the bar for Kata and Hurrell. Kata enjoyed a long season which is great for a rookie but Ayshford will keep him honest while we're all hoping that Ayshford's presence will get the best out of Hurrell.

If Hurrell isn't up to par, Ayshford steps in and if Hurrell is truckin' along nicely then Ayshford will ensure that Hurrell can't slip up. Ayshford isn't as gifted as these two youngins' but he's a trooper who will work hard with an aim of playing first grade which will help get the best out of the Warriors' young talent. The Warriors are then also well prepared should injury or suspension strikes.

The signing (/likely signing) of Henare Wells is also pretty interesting as the 22 year old is a bit of a journey-man despite his young age. Wells played with the Sydney Roosters Under 20s side, which gave him some NSW Cup experience with the Newton Jets before moving to Queensland to play for the Burleigh Bears in the Intrust Super Cup. He's mainly a fullback but can play wing as well.

With Fisi'ahii off to rugby and current Junior Warriors fullback Brad Abbey off to the Bulldogs next season, the Warriors have seen two back up fullbacks head out the door. Wells will have to battle it out with Viliami Kaveinga who played fullback for much of 2015 in reserve grade, to start at fullback for the Warriors' NSW Cup side. 

Like how Ayshford's presence will provide better competition for starting places in first grade, the arrival of Wells will give the Warriors competition to see who will be Tuivasa-Sheck's back up. This does have a flow on effect with Tui Lolohea who played a fair bit of fullback this season and I'm leaning towards Lolohea settling down in the halves next season, with Wells and Kaveinga to replace Tuivasa-Sheck if he misses games. 

One of the Warriors main problems over the past five years or so has been their reliance on young players to offer depth. Injuries and suspension happen all the time which has meant that the Warriors have leaned towards throwing inexperienced players into the NRL and expect them to perform consistently, which is pretty dumb and doesn't reflect well on Wayne Scurrah and Dean Bell.

The signing of Ayshford won't be a 'best signing of 2016' type of signing, but it will give the Warriors are more NRL-hardened look to their squad. On the surface it may not look like much is changing at the Warriors but trust me, this signing (and to a lesser degree the signing of Wells) tells me that change is happening at Mt Smart and it's change that is going all the way down to the foundations of the club.