Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: Upto 2020?
Hmm, wonder what Aotearoa Warriors have been up to? Not a whole lot by the looks of things and it smells glorious, like a whiff of the ol' mate's buckie. Outside of some off-season content, the Warriors have been rather quiet and with the start of a new year with fresh vibes mixing in with historical context; staying low key is a good start to 2020.
While hibernating from sharing thoughts on the Warriors, their 'All In' series caused a bit of a kerfuffle in a strange way. This isn't any great insight on the Warriors, the reporting around the Warriors content merely shows you the quality of mainstream media as they struggle to produce their own content and instead sit, waiting for others to make content before reporting on that content.
Tangent: mainstream media 'journalists' literally sit their scouring content from teams, leagues and players then they use it for themselves. Makes you wonder what the point is of some mainstream media considering their method is to be a middle man. You the consumer and just go straight to the source (players, teams via social media etc) and well, fuck the middle man.
Warriors boss man Cameron George went on a little tirade in one of the videos ... and so what? What the Warriors chose to show in their own content is completely up to them and is obviously done so with a goal in mind, which is the benefit of producing your own content. Instead of buzzing about what is being fed to the public from the Warriors (good or bad), I simply found it cool that the Warriors are one of a few teams in the NRL making legit off-season content.
Some NRL clubs don't even have Youtube channels.
Whether it's how grown men behave in and around the NRL, how media in Australia and Aotearoa act in reporting NRL matters or a lack of tapping into 2020 energies creatively; the NRL resides in the dark ages. That's a fact and nothing has changed this off-season considering the dramas NRL players have again found themselves in, or a lack of insight via nicely crafted videos for example.
The Warriors? Well, come to think of it, the Warriors are doing pretty well in these aspects.
Heard of any Warriors players stabbing someone?
Heard of any toxic masculine vibes from the Warriors - perhaps rampant alcohol consumption and violence alongside far too many Aussies in South East Asia?
Heard of any player unrest and apparent complete disregard of contracts at Mt Smart?
No, not only have Aotearoa Warriors broken the NRL status-quo of utter fucked up mayhem, they are offering different layers of creative content for fans to enjoy. Whether it was listening to George express some passion and clear directive for the club, getting to know the new strength and conditioning lad or chewing the fat with new signing Wade Egan, those All In off-season videos were pretty cool.
As someone who consumes a fair amount of that kind of content from NHL, NFL, NBA, various football and cricket teams, no one should expect crazy insights from such offerings. Why would any sports team bare all in their own content? That's rather silly and the purpose is to merely allow fans to acquaint themselves with a new season - definitely not to give you all the information you want.
This flows into how to approach a new season and the only path to go down is tinged with positive vibes. Put yourself in the shoes of a player or staff member at any professional sports club, the Warriors in this instance and you will find that each season brings the ambition to win the competition. It has to, that's the only choice for those involved. You can't show up for the rigours of any kind of professional set up with the mindset of 'meh, we might suck this year'.
Regardless of how sucky a team's situation may be, professional sports folk have to have a mindset of winning. Anything less and you might as well be a grassroots battler.
As fans, it's an easy little landscape to navigate and can offer great insight into your own mind.
You can be weighed down by the negativity of the past, impacting how you see the present.
Or you can approach the new season and a new day as a new opportunity.
Don't bother arguing with me about the validity of either instance with the Warriors, it's all up to you and how your mind works. As such, I'm fairly content with where the Warriors are at and even more content with how I view the Warriors. In recent years I've highlighted what I consider the best way for the Warriors to move forward and with rugby league around Aotearoa low key consistently hitting nek levels, I have far less interest in who the Warriors are signing and more interest in who is coming up through the pipelines.
The Warriors made a shrewd move to sign Egan, bolstering the dummy half ranks with an eager fringe-NRL hooker who wants an opportunity. The Warriors also signed Nathan Brown to help out with the dummy halves and there's no need to worry about anything related to Brown and the Newcastle Knights, because Brown's directive will be to help a young crop of dummy halves.
This dummy half situation serves as a nice microcosm of the Warriors development club theme. Egan joins Karl Lawton and Nathaniel Roache as the top-tier dummy halves, all three of whom have battled injuries throughout the early phase of their careers. None of those three have established themselves as starters, or even as consistent operators and so, there is a dummy half mentor guy involved.
Tyler Slade and Sean Mullany shared dummy half duties in reserve grade last year, despite both being eligible for Jersey Flegg (under 20s). The most interesting thingy about 2020 is the absence of Warriors Jersey Flegg and how the influences where different guys play, last year's Flegg hookers were Temple Kalepo and Taniela Otukolu. Both Kalepo and Otukolu were named in Aotearoa Under 18 residents last year (under 18 eligible while playing under 20s Flegg). Kalepo was then named Aotearoa Under 18 Player of the Year for 2019.
That's a pipeline and while an experienced dummy half would be beneficial, hiring Brown at least provides the required skill set. You're either of the belief that the Warriors need to make a splash in the market, or that they plug holes via the market and rely primarily on players coming through their development system.
The pursuit of Tino Fa'asuamaleaui was a no-lose situation. The Warriors made him an offer that almost tempted Fa'asuamaleaui to cross the ditch, but it wasn't to be and my educated opinion is that the Warriors have a few fresh robust forwards who can put pressure on those in the NRL group. Whether it's Jackson Frei's size, Leivaha Pulu's desperation to play NRL again, the funky skill of Brody Tamarua or the dynamic running of Preston Riki, Phillip Makatoa, Tom Ale or Eliesa Katoa; there's no shortage for forward depth.
The Warriors fired their shot, missed and simply re-up with their own crew. All good. While Kalepo was named Under 18 Player of the Year, Cassius Cowley was named Under 16 Player of the year and he's part of the Rotorua Boys High School connection. In 2018, the Warriors signed Cowley, Tome Poona and Ngakohu Walker from RBHS and all three featured to various extents in the Warriors Academy games played last year. Cowley went on to play for Aotearoa Residents Under 16, alongside highly touted Warriors prospects such as Francis Manulelua and Ali Leiataua (both of whom are at Kings College, where Kalepo went as well).
Blink and you would have missed William Fakatoumafi - who made his Flegg debut last season - play in the World Cup Nines for Tonga. Fakatoumafi was named alongside Warriors prospects Kalepo, Otukolo, Caleb Pese, Jyris Glamuzina and Sione Moala in the Aotearoa Under 18 Residents for 2019.
Again, a nod to development stuff. How this all fits into the change with Jersey Flegg though, that's the intriguing bit. Don't forget about that Rocco Berry chap either. We've heard nothing from or about Berry since the Warriors recruited him from 1st 15 rugby and his emergence, then development will be a key yarn for 2020.
As for the NRL team specifically, I'm enticed by the consistency of the squad and how they can build on that cohesion for the 2020 season. There has been a fair amount of change in the staff in recent years, so to have a summer in which there are few new arrivals to the playing group at least offers the a level of chemistry, cohesion and consistency in preparation.
Remember that last season, Kodi Nikorima was a mid-season arrival and usually, play-makers take time to settle and build combinations. Combine this with injuries in the halves and hooker roles and there was a blatant lack of consistently in key positions, which generally limits how effective an NRL team can be.
Right now, there is competition to start at hooker and in the halves. All the blokes competing for game time, are there, around Mt Smart as we speak getting those reps in and they are doing so with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Blake Green. How these two integrate with the rest of the spine is crucial, with the best way to ensure success is for repetition on the training turf. Who joins Tuivasa-Sheck and Green in the halves will be very interesting to observe as we approach the season.
Seeing what happens around those Jersey Flegg changes is the most interesting Aotearoa Warriors thing I'm pondering as of early January. Naturally, that flows into how the younger crop move to the fringes of the NRL squad and who commands NRL opportunities. The talent on offer below the surface level assessment, at Mt Smart is tremendous and the roots of the Warriors being a smart, hearty development club are taking hold.
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Peace and love 27.