Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: Matariki Mana
The reliability of nature is soothing and as Aotearoa enters another hearty winter, Aotearoa Warriors need a new coach. They have an interim coach in Stacey Jones and now need to start the familiar process of finding the next long term coaching maestro. Not that Warriors have found a long term coaching maestro before, but one can only try.
Since Craig Bellamy took his Melbourne Storm coaching gig in 2013, Warriors have had 12 blokes step into the head coach role. None of those blokes won many games. No player from Aotearoa or Australia has been able to win lots of games either. That's cursed mahi.
Nathan Brown might be the worst coach since 2013. These exit situations are covered from two angles - those speaking for the club and those speaking for Brown. Both like to be cute with language to manage perception. Whether Brown didn't want to move to Aotearoa or not, he does not appear to be a good coach.
This team is 16th in offloads and post contact metres. 16 out of 16, the worst. The Warriors are also 2nd for missed tackles. That translates to nothing brewing on attack and poor defence. Those are Brown's latest coaching credentials, hence he won't coach again.
Shaun Johnson shouldn't win Aotearoa Kiwis selection ahead of Jahrome Hughes or Dylan Brown. Kieran Foran should be ahead of Johnson too and Aotearoa Kiwis coach Michael Maguire can now lead Aotearoa with a point to prove, as well as all his focus. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak isn't a starting Kiwis winger and has recently captained Aotearoa, that's the Warriors influence under Brown.
Tohu Harris is class but not firing at his best. Same thing with Reece Walsh as he leads all fullbacks for errors in the NRL, now joined by Jayden Campbell and Xavier Savage as high quality Queensland fullbacks providing depth behind Kalyn Ponga. Blokes aren't operating anywhere near their best. Brown isn't a very good NRL coach and the weight of the entire Warriors situation seems to be mounting, culminating in stink footy and bad vibes.
The club needs empathy. No other NRL organisation was impacted by the pandemic like Aotearoa Warriors. Sure, the cute Aussie celebrations of Warriors moving to Australia to 'keep the competition alive' were nice. That has now become 'why do the Warriors suck so much?'. The lack of any home advantage is a factor, losing the Warriors reserve grade side made up of solely Warriors plays also hinders the playing field.
Warriors had a delightful SG Ball team, their first excursion into SG Ball footy. That team was dismantled due to the pandemic. Many juniors left the club because the number of junior and reserve grade spots decreased. It's easy to highlight juniors leaving Warriors and criticise the club. That shows a lack of knowledge about Aotearoa's rugby league abundance, NRL recruitment out of Aotearoa and how Warriors roster spots halved within a few weeks ... mid-year.
Hence all of this feels like an ending, just in time for the first major celebration of Matariki. Everyone needs to move on from the mess of the last two years. It was crap. We tried to pretend like it could be good, but it sucked. The reality of the situation eventually festered and it's alright. It's over. We got through it. Matariki brings a new year, new energy and we can only control how we conduct ourselves right now.
Matariki brings life in winter, light in the dark. Aotearoa Warriors have strong foundations laid despite all of the above and can look forward to home advantage. Connection to fans, community and Aotearoa. Mana. Return to NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg - two squads made up of only Warriors players at U21s and reserve grade level. Operations in one country, not two. Turangawaewae of Mt Smart and the whare vibes.
While in Australia, the club has maintained their grassroots presence. Six months into the year, Warriors have had a team in Condor U18 Sevens, players in Shaun Johnson U16/Dean Bell U18 Cups, players in Auckland U16 North Island Tour, the Junior Warriors U18 Invitational North Island Tour, players in NZRL U20s and players in Fox Memorial Premiership.
That's only in Aotearoa. Juniors from Aotearoa will also return and the two pools of players will blend together. Along with players like Viliami Vailea, Rocco Berry, Taniela Otukolo, Eliesa Katoa, Edward Kosi who have played NRL, Warriors have the following players sprinkled across Redcliffe teams; Kina Kepu, Lingi Kepu, Lleyton Finau, Eric Va'afusuaga, Benjamin Kosi, Ali Leiataua, Zyon Maiu'u, Jacob Laban, Tamakaimoana Whareaorere, Sebastyan Jack, Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo, Tome Poona.
These juniors who moved from Aotearoa to Australia have been playing against the best of their age-groups in Queensland, playing against other high quality Kiwi-NRL juniors recruited from Aotearoa. The Warriors juniors are as good as the Kiwi-NRL juniors with Aussie clubs, rooted in Kiwi-NRL abundance and the strength of Aotearoa rugby league.
Why would one feel sad knowing that future? Knowing what will come can only be better than what was. There is mahi to do today, wood to chop and water to collect, NRL games to win. There is also a brighter future ahead where Aotearoa Warriors return to Aotearoa, deepen their connection to Aotearoa and elevate mana.
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Peace and love.