Aotearoa Warriors have signed Todd Payten as an assistant coach to Stephen Kearney for three years in a move that bolsters a staff roster that is already full to the brim with experience and talent. Payten joins the Warriors from North Queensland Cowboys and brings with him a taste for winning; 2005 Premiership as a player for Tigers, 2012 Under 20s Premiership as Tigers coach 2015 NRL Premiership as Cowboys assistant coach.

The only minor issue here is that Payten is coming from a Cowboys team that has oozed mediocrity this season. That's a super minor issue though as the Cowboys have been ravaged by injury and their woes are far greater than Payten. Throughout his rugby league career, Payten's won stuff and as a coach specifically, Payten has served a fantastic apprenticeship and will continue to build his experience with the Warriors.

There are so many nuances to recruiting Payten that make it a wonderful move for the Warriors, starting with Payten being a winner. Payten also fits the mould of the Warriors recruitment of players and staff largely focused on experience, recruiting those who understand what it takes to not only be successful but also the weekly grind. Think of players like Blake Green, Adam Blair, Gerard Beale and their experience, then think of the long road that Leivaha Pulu and Agnatius Paasi have taken to establish their NRL careers. 

Same goes for Alex Corvo, or Brian Smith in the footy department. Payten retired in 2011 and then embarked on his coaching journey and now the Warriors get Payten after he's enjoyed six years of learning.

Whether it's the players I've mentioned or the staff, they have all been in numerous systems and experienced footy life around Australia and England. Payten's the same as his coaching journey has seen him work with Under 20s players at the Tigers and then getting out of his comfort zone to move up to Townsville. 

Peep the trend; most, if not all of the Warriors player and staff recruits have life experience. This differs from the old Warriors model of relying heavily on players and staff straight out of the Auckland, or Aotearoa footy bubble, those who haven't had to take the long route or even simply experience life outside of Aotearoa.

However, don't take that to mean that the Warriors are relying on Aussies or foreigners to suss out their club. Payten is obviously an Australian and he joins Brian Smith and Alex Corvo as notable Aussies in the staff, while Blake Green has consistently been the only Australian in the Warriors top-17 this season. Sometimes we get some Karl Lawton sprinkled in as well.

The Warriors aren't recruiting many Aussies, those Aussies they do get though are the cream of the crop. Payten's exactly that and the trend's around this Warriors rebuild are blatantly obvious, so obvious I struggle to see how anyone can't be optimistic about the future of the club. 

Reinforcing that optimism is the fact that Payten's been a highly sought after coach for a few years now. He has been mentioned as a contender for a few different head coaching roles and instead of chasing a head coaching gig, or even pursuing other assistant coaching roles in Australia - the demand would have surely been there for Payten - he has chosen to move to Auckland. 

Peep the trend; so many players and staff believe in Mooks. This number of players and staff who have come to the Warriors because of Mooks and because of what is being built at the Warriors, is now indisputable. There is no way that this many talented, experienced players and staff have come to the Warriors for shits and giggles, they see the vision and want to be a part of it.

As fans and observers, we are never really privy to the contributions of an assistant coach. I mean, I have no concrete evidence of what Brian Smith's contributions have been since joining the Warriors and while we get little splashes of information about Alex Corvo's methods, no one actually knows how he goes about his business. That's all good, we don't need to know.

What we know for sure, is that there are good, talented, experience people doing their thing at the Warriors. Having faith in the Warriors has always been the motto, yet in the past that faith wasn't actually based on anything. Now though, our faith is rooted in the quality of the people who are operating the Warriors and recruiting Payten is only following the trend.

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Peace and love 27.