All in.

Late last year, Aotearoa Warriors broke into the modern ways as one of the few NRL clubs to offer basic Youtube content. You'd imagine that most, if not all NRL clubs would have a Youtube channel, let alone cool Youtube content and yet the majority of NRL clubs in 2020 have no Youtube channel and offer zero cool content. I've found myself crawling back to that pre-season training series offered by the Warriors constantly through this weird ol' year and it's only right that in wrapping up 2020 for the Warriors, I'm back where I started.

The slogan for the Warriors outlined in the video content back in late 2019 now feels rather divine.

The Warriors put the idea of being all in out there and at the time it was merely the annual twist that an NRL club puts on their upcoming season. I referenced Cameron George's speech from episode toru earlier in the season as he stated that 'the power would be outstanding' and after watching two of the worst games of Warriors footy that I can remember in the opening two rounds, I pondered what power was going to be outstanding.

Throughout this season, there have been moments where the best thing to do as someone like yourself who is engaged with the Warriors is to kick back. If you're a hearty fan, then stand by the team and if you're a casual sports fan then definitely don't dwell in the news headlines of this and that happening; the Warriors whirlwind is tough enough to deal with and it's been fairly easy to lose the plot this year.

Rather than dealing with the minutia, the best thing for me as a joker who types shit was to fall back and let things settle. Now, it's with gratitude and clarity that I'm comfortable with a rather intense vibe of pride that doesn't merely sit in what the players and staff have done this season and blossoms out to mana permeating from Mt Smart. Somehow, the mana raised by the players and staff in Australia has been such that the home of the Warriors is glowing with mana - the power is outstanding.

Mana is the most important word here.

First it's a reminder to raise your own mana and if we all live under the premise of raising your won mana, thus sharing mana and seeing the cycle flow on then chur.

The Warriors though, are the sports club/franchise in Aotearoa that has the greatest connection to Aotearoa and the mana of the land. Of course the All Blacks do the haka and stuff, yet the Warriors are the Warriors and throughout their history, the Warriors have operated as a representation of Aotearoa. This hit home the most with the Warriors wahine, all five of the players and a couple staff members who traveled across the ditch who are now joined by the Australian national coach and the rest of their squad who are Australians.

The Warriors women, all five of them have maintained cultural elements that have made this team who they are in the first few seasons of NRLW. Georgia Hale, Hilda Mariu, Kanyon Paul, Crystal Tamaua and Madison Bartlett aren't just playing to keep the Warriors women's team flowing through the NRLW's growth, the also have the task of keeping the mana of their team lit. In a Warriors team where the majority of players are Australian, these players have the task of ensuring that the group knows what it means to be part of the Warriors.

All in.

These are tough times for Aotearoa rugby league.

Again, that hit home with the NRLW competition where I've counted just seven players in the whole competition are aligned with the Kiwi Ferns. The five players from the Warriors are from Aotearoa and then Nita Maynard (Roosters) and Raecene McGregor (Broncos) are based in Australia while being Kiwi Ferns. It's all local footy for the rest of the women who would otherwise be playing in NRLW, while Australia continues to explode with growth in women's sport.

Kiwi footy fans will watch State of Origin and at this stage, I won't be able to chat about all the amazing Aotearoa Kiwis depth in the context of games. All the players from Aotearoa who represent Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Cook Islands will hit pause and we will have to wait to see the effects of this funky year of Kiwi-NRL footy in action. Same goes for a few other sports and my attention moves to domestic competitions where in rugby league there is some upcoming funk with the national premiership and sporadic fixtures.

Through this, we have the Warriors women keeping their mana torch lit and of course this season has seen a young South Aucklander rise up the leadership ladder in steering the Warriors through 2020. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is 27-years-old and while he's had the support of leaders like Adam Blair, through adversity there is extreme clarity in who Tuivasa-Sheck is as a person, let alone a baller and a captain.

The day to day headlines get weird because you're seeing media outlets hunting for views with stuff about Tuivasa-Sheck pursuing a move to rugby union ... while Tuivasa-Sheck is up to his neck in one of the greatest sports leadership campaigns in kiwi sport history. There's the day to day perspective vs the bigger picture that I've alluded to laid out and there are such examples scattered throughout the team and the season.

I'm partial to stats to reinforce a point, although no stats are required when assessing Tuivasa-Sheck in 2020. It's all mana, stuff you can see blatantly in front of you and that which you can't see but can feel. Tuivasa-Sheck was appointed captain by Stephen Kearney, just like Kearney helped establish a system that saw a crop of young players step up to contribute in a tough campaign and when you venture into a bigger picture view, appreciation for everything involved is the result.

Appreciation for what Kearney set up. There's a reason Kearney's no longer the coach and that's all good, we can still appreciate all that happened before this moment and it's made that much easier because Kearney's influence is evident in how this club rolled through 2020. Todd Payten got the team fizzing on the field and much of that was possible via the ripples of Kearney's tenure being felt; Tuivasa-Sheck's leadership, young players stepping up, foundations laid.

Take a look around the NRL and you'll see high profile clubs who are rooted in petty dramas, along with ratbag players. The Warriors have been involved in dramas as a result of performance and upon reflection, quick and rather ruthless action was taken to sort those issues out. The Warriors don't have background issues laid out in the media like the Bulldogs, the Warriors got their coaching kerfuffle and season sussed swiftly unlike the Broncos and generally speaking, the Warriors are a club who avoids the standard dose of NRL shenanigans.

It wasn't the Warriors players who hit up a restaurant during lockdown protocols and somehow the team who faced the most adversity this season by quite some margin, leave us all rather proud of how a year the shitter unfolded. Did the Warriors adjust like Melbourne Storm who also had to up and leave their homes? Not quite and these are the levels that the Warriors are working through.

I don't really give a shit about next season for the Warriors and I'll leave plenty of space to let things breathe before coming back into the DOAAWF. I will however suggest that expectations and goals for the Warriors need to reside in the area of consistent top-eight finishes, regardless of the hype around signings etc. No flash in the pan stuff, no crazy expectations offered by the mainstream media just so they can be the first to highlight the woes; let's get a consistent top-eight team and build from there.

Build from the foundations of a hearty, solid club that makes kiwis proud because that's what we have. No one knew at the time, but being 'all in' was perhaps the most important club slogan I've experienced in following sport and this is simply about appreciating everyone involved for living this, for being all in and taking the Warriors forward.

Those around the NRL celebrated the Warriors for their efforts in keeping the NRL season on track. Fair play and I'd add that the Warriors need to be celebrated for keeping the Warriors moving forward, for boosting the mana of the Warriors and representing Aotearoa as best as they could. This season isn't just about being all in on the footy or the NRL season, it's about being all in on being a member of the Warriors, about the club being all in with who they are and what they represent.

Chur to the Aotearoa Warriors class of 2020 because they really made the power of Warriors mana outstanding.