Back in late August and early September, I highlighted how the Warriors were maintaining a level of flexibility in their salary cap and recruitment strategies. As other clubs had got themselves in a pickle about the ever-changing salary cap, the Warriors laid low and then went on a barrage of signings, without breaking the bank or doing anything too crazy. The result? Well, here we are, about to put up some Christmas lights and the Warriors have signed Blake Green for three years.

Green was rumoured to be heading the Warriors way for a few weeks and it's important to note that Green has the same agent as coach Stephen Kearney and fellow new recruits Adam Blair and Gerard Beale, which Warriors cynics will highlight as being a major negative. Positive vibrations don't have room for negativity, so I instead view this as making the most of Kearney's connections and although this agent obviously benefits from the money that has been thrown the way of his clients, this ain't nothing new in the world of professional sport.

The move of Green from Manly to Mt Smart was sealed when Mitchell Pearce was released from the Roosters, thus opening the door for the Sea Eagles to replace Green with Pearce. Sure, rumours of Green being chased by the Warriors were there for a few months, but much of this move appears to have been determined by Cooper Cronk, then Pearce and an almighty case of the stars aligning.

Courtesy of the BBC. 2013 SL Grand Final. October 5th

This ain't just about money though as Green was unlikely to have a long-term future at Manly and instead of moving into 2018 with uncertainty around his Manly future, Green's got three years locked in.

Aotearoa Warriors maintained some flexibility in their cap and were nicely poised to snap up a player who can help the club move forward in the next three years. This is in very similar fashion to Blair, with Blair released from his contract that was unlikely to be upgraded by a Brisbane Broncos team who are pivoting to a younger forward pack and Green released from his final year to seal stability. Both instances also involved many folk questioning the money offered by the Warriors; if you got the money, spend the money.

There's no reward in the NRL salary cap for saving money and perhaps we are seeing how poorly the previous Warriors management ran their salary cap and third-party deals. Many folk are also questioning the length of the deals, which is also a bit weird because what has been made blatantly clear is that the winds of change have blown through Mt Smart and we are living in the here and now, existing in the moment with NRL glory the sole aim of the coming two-three years. Premiership would be ideal, although that's bloody tough to do so I'd re-adjust this obvious move from the Warriors to be based around establishing themselves as a top-four NRL club during this time period.

Don't buzz about three years down the track, those situations will take care of themselves when they need to. If the Warriors were doing the Newcastle Knights re-building ting, then we'd be more concerned with how players will look in two-three years time. The Warriors are out to build foundations as a top-tier NRL club, aka win now.

Green will help, he's not the type of player who will steer the Warriors to glory and produce consistent moments of magic. He is the type of player who will do his job and take a lot of the workload off of Shaun Johnson's shoulders and based on recent events, the best case for all involved (Johnson's sanity included) is that Johnson is asked to do way less than he is now.

That's a low key aspect of the winds of change through Mt Smart as we are seeing the focus move away from Johnson. THIS IS NOT because of Johnson's ability and more about the responsibility of leading the team around the field and general focus (buzz, hype, the negativity that youz bog yourselves down with). Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is arguably more entertaining than Johnson and is the captain of the club, thus making him the joker who is hugely popular with children and the face of the club.

That used to be Johnson, now it's Tuivasa-Sheck and with a veteran half, who has life experience partnering Johnson, the responsibilities of Johnson in the halves will decrease. There are also more leaders in this Warriors team, taking that burden away from Johnson; Tuivasa-Sheck, Simon Mannering, Adam Blair, Tohu Harris.

Kieran Foran brought dramas for Johnson and Foran's level of play only amplified the pressure on Johnson. I was eager to see Ata Hingano step up to start consistently for the Warriors, although right now I can not argue with signing Green because Johnson would have still been 'that guy' with Hingano in the halves. Hopefully Johnson can now focus on doing a smaller job on the field and operate with greater clarity, clarity that he's never had at Mt Smart until the winds of change came through.

Hingano will still get opportunities and I don't see this as a negative for Hingano as he's still at the start of his journey (he's 20yrs!!). Tonga's RLWC campaign clouds this narrative and I'd suggest that it's a lot different competing every week in the NRL, where teams hammer at weaknesses and have far more video/resource on how Hingano plays. Had the Warriors been content with building towards win-now mode, accepting that there would still be ups and downs in 2018 with Hingano starting every week, Hingano would be a fine option.

The Warriors want to get on track next year though, win games and change the narrative of their club swiftly. That does not align with consistently starting a young half, not when that also means so much responsibility on Johnson. How Hingano deals with this is completely up to him; he can think he's worthy of a release and opportunities elsewhere, or he can knuckle down and become a better player at the Warriors.

If there are no dramas, Hingano's slow-cooking process will be the best situation for the Warriors and Hingano.

One final insight on getting Green is that he will link up with former Melbourne Strom comrade Tohu Harris. This is funky because the Green/Harris combo operated on Melbourne's left edge in their Grand Final run of 2016 and the chemistry is already there, not only in attack - mandatory note on how excited I am for Harris to be a Warrior - but also in defence.

I've highlighted how the Warriors could roll out a completely different left edge of Harris, Hiku and Beale. Now we can add in Green to that left edge, borderline revolution status. Not only are we seeing a low key pivot in responsibility, easing the burden on Johnson (who may explode at any moment under the pressure), the winds of change through Mt Smart have brought in a steady half who is part of the left edge revolution.

Revolutions are cool, I just didn't know if the Warriors would build into that revolution over another year or two, or spark that revolution into action swiftly. I didn't really care though, as long as they made it clear that they were going down either path and now we have some lovely clarity of what the Warriors are trying to do. Hit an ad if you enjoyed the read, if the winds of change through Mt Smart are tickling your toes and you'll be making a donation without having to do anything.

So shout out to you, keep ya heads high kiwi rugby league fans.

Peace and love 27.