News of Simon Mannering's retirement from professional rugby league struck like a taiaha to the heart, although to go out on top, on his own terms and having played his role in the winds of change through Mt Smart, is the perfect scenario for Lord Mannering. There will be many kind words written about Mannering about his retirement and many glorious reflections from you and your homies about the pakeha kid from Nelson, all of which leads us to the 'Greatest Warrior' door.

There really is no other title for Mannering. For example, when reflecting on Mannering's place in Aotearoa rugby league's history, I have to provide the caveat that I didn't see NRL Hall of Fame inductee Mark Graham play and I barely know of his exploits other than him being from South Auckland and ending up as a HOFer. So for someone like Mannering, it's a case of him being second to Benji Marshall as the greatest Kiwi ever ... of my lifetime, sort of thing.

My history isn't great, but I'd still chuck Mannering in top-5 Kiwis ever. Benji's there, Graham is there and then maybe Stacey Jones, or Stephen Kearney, but that's a discussion for those who have more knowledge about Kiwis history. Regardless, Mannering's top-5 for sure and second to Benji as my greatest Kiwis cerca 1991ish.

When it comes to the Warriors though, a club born in 1995, Mannering is the greatest. Your fluff, your lack of kahunas to go out on a limb with an almighty hot-take that isn't really all that hot, doesn't bother me; Mannering is the greatest.

One Tribe

Since he announced his retirement, I've meditated on Mannering and his career - 24 hours of mental Mannering obsession - and it's been a weird journey. There was this underlying tension of Mannering enduring such bullkaka during his time at the Warriors, so many different coaches, so many underwhelming seasons and in very general terms a career that wasn't associated with winning. For every tribute paid to Mannering's work ethic and what a great example he was/is, Mannering was there, he was a leader at a club that apparently didn't have the highest standards or a hearty winning culture.

Everyone was very quick to sip the hateraide and have a fat ol' whinge about the Warriors culture, in the same fashion as everyone was very quick to celebrate a guy who was present during the whole formation of that culture. This is merely a strange situation and I'm not implying that Mannering was related to the famed Warriors culture pre-Stephen Kearney. These are more just facts of Mannering's career, that his time as a Warrior was bonkers and that if you strictly judged greatness on winning, you'd overlook the Lord.

Maybe the best way to sum all that up is; Mannering played for seven coaches in 13 years, all of which had winning percentages below 50.

And yet Mannering is still the greatest.

Mannering enjoyed success as a Warrior, he got to a Grand Final and on top of that he's a World Cup winner. The obsession with winning in team sports doesn't do greatness justice and Mannering's greatness is evident in his performances staying solid during all the bullkaka. Mannering's worst game was pretty good and he never really played a bad game, he cruised on auto-pilot at a level of play that was above average, as though his Lord Mannering aura protected him from the bullkaka.

As a pakeha playing rugby league, all the horrible stereotypes about being hard working, grit and grind, tackle machine type of player, were there for Mannering. They are horrible to polynesian and maori players as they imply that they don't have those traits in their game, but they also fail to genuinely represent Mannering. To say that Mannering was a tackle machine, doesn't come close to doing him justice.

This is a bloke who could throw 10m spiral passes to his left and right. Shimmy with his feet and get an offload out, carry three defenders with him as be waltzed down field. The pure footy nous of Mannering allowed him to play centre, edge forward and middle forward with ease, the sort of versatility NRL clubs crave. Such versatility only comes via first and foremost being able to execute in the various positions, but then having the fluidity to be able to adapt and bring the various skills to all those positions.

Lord Mannering fucked with the razzle dazzle.

a tribute to warriors captain.

In that sense, Mannering epitomises what we love about the Warriors; razzle dazzle and the mahi. To maintain a high level of play for a long time puts Mannering above the rest, to purely, like in the very purest sense represent exactly what we love about the Warriors, puts Mannering in another realm.

Take a step back and take a geeze at the bigger picture and you'll find a super low key trend-setter, a pioneer. Modern rugby league in Aotearoa is not exactly associated with pakeha folk and even less pakeha folk from the South Island. Coming from Auckland, South Auckland, seeing Mannering emerge and become a Warriors legend kinda defies belief, but is a perfect representation of rugby league's growth in Aotearoa.

Look around the NRL and you'll see that the presence of kiwis and polynesians from Aotearoa knows no boundaries. Whether you are another South Island pakeha like Slade Griffin, one of three Northland maori at the Penrith Panthers or a Canterbury rugby union gun like Jamayne Isaako; if you got the goods, give it a crack.

This isn't solely the doing of Mannering, but when pondering his legacy, it's impossible to ignore the trail-blazing nature of Mannering. There is great diversity in Aotearoa rugby league now, culturally and geographically, a door that Mannering busted down and then became the example. Mannering is also a trail-blazer in the sense of being scouted from rugby union, with little to no rugby league experience.

In 2018, that's the norm. NRL scouts pour as much resource into finding rugby league players as they do looking at rugby union players and making them league players. Growing up in Aotearoa, moving between the codes is second nature because we all grow up with a footy ball and Mannering set the tone for this, swiftly rising through the rugby league ranks having impressed playing 1st 15 rugby.

The Warriors went down that path again in recruiting Ngani Laumape, Solomone Kata, Albert Vete and Konrad Hurrell from 1st 15 rugby. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck only dabbled in league around 1st 15 rugby. Melbourne Storm snapped up Matt Duffie, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Suliasi Vunivalu from 1st 15 rugby, along with luring Tohu Harris to a league camp from rugby union. Cronulla Sharks got Jamayne Isaako and there's an abundance of prospects at various NRL clubs who were signed directly from their rugby union exploits.

Just like Mannering.

Mannering represents rugby league in Aotearoa. He represents the growth and transitional phase Aotearoa rugby league has gone through over the past decade, to the point where now he leaves the game in an incredibly strong position. The seeds were planted, roots established and now we are seeing the tree grow, that's the legacy of Mannering.

This guy didn't need to win to be the greatest, he didn't need win to have that legacy. Mannering was simply himself and while there were many winning moments in his career, Mannering's greatness will be measured by how he leaves the game. The pakeha kid from Motueka and Nelson leaves the game in a far better position than he found it, simply by being himself.

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Peace and love 27.