Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Aotearoa Loves Rugby League
After three wins in a row scoring 30+ points, NZ Warriors host Rabbitohs in Auckland on Friday night. Warriors slipped up in Napier against Broncos and have since dismantled Dolphins, Raiders and Dragons. Rabbitohs enter this game with four losses in their last five games and all four losses have seen Rabbitohs concede 30+ points.
Eels, Raiders, Dragons and Cowboys have all scored 30+ points against Rabbitohs. The win over Titans saw Rabbitohs concede 28 points. Rabbitohs have lost seven games this season and four have come in the recent stretch of footy, coinciding with Latrell Mitchell's absence. This builds an intriguing challenge for Warriors as Rabbitohs have finals mana and will be eager to get their season on track, however they have slid backwards in recent weeks and won't be bringing any form with them to Mt Smart.
Warriors footy is fun right now, to the point that another bumper home crowd should be expected in Auckland ... regardless of the weather. There has been plenty of buzz about coach Andrew Webster and the changes he has made for Warriors, but the most important change has been the end of the pandemic. Having emerged from the 2020-22 period with a vibrant Warriors organisation humming, let's take a moment of reflection.
Webster has been highly influential, although he is coaching a team that is based in Auckland. Tohu Harris and many players have spoked about the joys of being based in Auckland. Many players recruited to Warriors during the pandemic were only signed because they didn’t have to move to Aotearoa. Warriors had no home advantage during the pandemic. Aussies were quick to celebrate the Warriors for moving to Australia, then they couldn't figure out why Warriors were losing.
Winning NRL games is not easy. A small dip in energy/intensity/focus can be the difference between a win and 20-point loss. Understandably, Warriors struggled to maintain those winning levels because the Aotearoa Warriors were based in Australia. How does a team win NRL games when there is no connection to their community?
Webster has tapped into the wave that started as soon as Warriors ran out against Wests Tigers in Auckland last year. The post-pandemic wave started with 26,009 folks showing up at Mt Smart to let a losing Warriors team know, that they love them. Warriors are getting big crowds consistently this season, but none have been as big as that homecoming encounter. Warriors don't need to be playing in Auckland for big crowds either as plenty of kiwi league fans showed up for a trial in Christchurch, along with NRL games in Wellington and Napier.
Aotearoa loves rugby league.
Even though this is the Aotearoa Warriors Diary, the current flourish is about rugby league in Aotearoa. Rugby league is sizzling to the point that during the pandemic, there was an Aotearoa Kiwis team with no players from NZ Warriors. An abundance of Kiwi-NRL youngsters settled into NRL footy and various NZRL representative fixtures were introduced to highlight young men and ladies. Let alone how Warriors juniors like Ali Leiataua, Demitric Sifakula, Zyon Maiu'u and Jacob Laban emerged as some of the best youngsters in Queensland despite their moves from Auckland to Redcliffe.
No organisation or person did anything wrong during the pandemic. The pandemic forced many people into a different way of life, a survival mode for some. Warriors didn't kick up a stink even though they lost most of their development pipeline and the wahine team, nor did they complain about competitive disadvantages. For all that coach Webster has done, returning to an even playing field is the biggest change in Warriors footy this year.
The players are happy, they are part of the community. Players and staff are with whanau before heading off to work. Everyone involved in Warriors can feel what their mahi means to fans in Auckland and around Aotearoa. The NRL players can see the NSW Cup and SG Ball teams train or play, building a culture that flows through the entire organisation. None of that was possible during the pandemic.
Assessing Warriors is not as simple as coach Webster working wonders, or the recruitment for this season. That ignores how disadvantaged Warriors were for three seasons compared to every other NRL team and we are now seeing how these vibey intangibles genuinely impact winning footy. Perhaps the biggest impact Webster has had is knowing how important culture, identity, turangawaewae, community and mana is for an Aotearoa sports team.
All of which will be on display in Auckland on Friday night. A big crowd of rugby league lovers will show up for the NRL game and Mitchell Barnett is back on the bench for Warriors. Mt Smart will rally behind his vigour, celebrating a team that can bash their opponents as well as picking them apart with precision.
Don't overlook the NSW Cup team's game against Rabbitohs beforehand though as this is where Aotearoa's rugby league wave shines. Youngsters in the NSW Cup team are playing one level below NRL while closely connected to grassroots footy in Aotearoa. Eddie Ieremia (Otara) made his NSW Cup debut after playing SG Ball along with Tanner Stowers-Smith (Halswell) who was at school in Christchurch last year and Selumiela (Leka) Halasima (Mangere East) is at school right now.
Again, this goes far beyond Aotearoa Warriors with many examples of how the Kiwi-NRL presence is growing. Aotearoa loves rugby league and while one would be foolish to restrict this to Aotearoa Warriors winning games, another epic Mt Smart banger serves as the latest reminder.
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Peace and love.