All-time low. Club dead soon.

[Benek]

Someone talk me off the ledge here.

If the Warriors don’t learn how to win in the next few weeks, and if they lose that homecoming game against the Tigers at Mt Smart, there may not be a Warriors club in 2023. There certainly wont be any fans left. And there’s no way a guy like Walsh re-signs. I can even see some of our 2023 signings trying to back out before they even get here.

Even if we avoid the wooden spoon, this is the lowest point in the clubs history. And I have seen zero public signs that anyone from coach up to owner have any idea how to correct this. It may take some kind of intervention from the NRL to save the club, but they seem very unwilling to do us any favours to pay back our sacrifices during Covid.

 

[Scott]

I said 2 years ago when we were forced to relocate, that it could spell THE END.

The simple fact that the team haven't been able to play in front of the faithful at Mt Smart has destroyed the little soul that we had prior to the pandemic.

I'm on the same ledge. I don't know what we need to do to be better. The concerning part is, neither do Robinson or George.

I'm lost!

 

[Alan Johnson]

The night is darkest before the dawn.

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

Etc.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

It's pretty low, but most clubs go through it. We just seem to be down here for a while. It's going to be along rebuild and need some home grown talent and a damn good coach.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

It’s as dire as I have ever seen the Warriors, and it has happened so quickly

it is very hard to see the way out at the moment with lack of juniors to hang their hat on coming through and lack of star quality in the squad as a whole

There have been some very good league minds involved at times, Brian Smith and Phil Gould top of the list, Smith got out extremely quickly which raised alarm bells for me because it sounded like he was pushed, and just before being pushed i read he was outstanding at a members function and was the only staff member that gave any confidence

They need someone hard nosed overseeing the coaching and conditioning, that won’t tolerate any slacking or crap and pull the prima donnas into line that have dictated poor performance over a number of years

Its concerns me greatly the amount of rugby league people jumping off the Warriors ship that have always been there, that starts to filter through to a lack of interest down to the grass roots, and we have some serious trouble there

I hate the word culture, but I’ll throw it in here. They need to identify what made the Warriors the Warriors, and try to reconnect to it and build from there, and recruit quality humans to the club rather than the likes of Lodge. Who the man is to sort that out, stuffed if I know, Kevin Campion may be a good start. There isn’t a quick fix in there situations which the Warriors have been trying for years with recruitment of big names based on past reputations, eg Blair and Luke. There needs to be a clear plan set out over a long run and not deviate from the course

I’ll use my mob as an example. They were gone and I didn’t have a team for a few years. They came back and copped some fearful hidings, but they got a Manly man involved in Des Hasler, he got that identity back, he then made extremely shrewd signings, starting with Ben Kennedy who was absolutely amazing as a leader and standard setter, Kite added to the forward pack, Orford for a bit of class in the halves then Jamie Lyon the cream on top out wide, and they slowly and surely made their way back up to the summit. That made the tough times all that much sweeter, so if you can hang in there, the rewards that come on the other side of it mean a hell of a lot more

 

[Penrose Warrior]

We could talk you down off the ledge, but you'll only be back up there again in the future.

This club is f**ked. It's not f**ked in a 'we won't exist' sense, because the NRL will always back us as the only (at this stage) team in the NZ market. There's zero chance they will rip that away. And there will still be fans. The club seems to have formed a following that is almost parody - the 'it's our year' vibe, where fans almost think it's funny how shit we are. The 'let's gone Warriors', all that sort of shit.

But honestly, I doubt we'll make the finals for the next 10 years. I am that certain of it. We're not going to get much better. All the things that make clubs great - management, coaches, pathways, professionalism, successful history etc - we have none of them. It's just impossible that we can be successful, even when we return home.

I said in another thread and I truly believe it, that if there were to be a 2nd NZ team in Christchurch or wherever, it would have infinitely more chance of success. And as gruesome as it seems to fans here, we may have to give away part of our identity in order to achieve success - to become more aligned across the Tasman, because they have the better coaches, the better pathways, and NRL players as a general rule would rather live there.

 

[LeagueNut]

 

[Mr Angry]

Winning cures all.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Ha, look at the drop off after 'best sporting organisation in the Southern Hemisphere'. And Tony Kemp. Two rock bottom moments for this club. This era obviously looming as the biggest.

 

[Rich102]

Remember when we were saying "looking forward to next year and watching Reece running off Shaun"?
Haven't seen it yet.
Be sad if we lose Reece before we see it.
Having said that I still see Reece as a half.
So give him Shaun's 7 jersey and make him captain.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Winning cures all.

I do think about the Sharks before Gallen’s later years and the premiership. At one point they were seen as something of a doomed club, no premierships, no money, no influence, no prospects. Now one of the more secure and sorted outfits in the competition

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

I'd hate to think how many fans are just done with the club.
Not being able to play at home, the on field performances, things like the Lodge-gate if you will and genuinely nothing really to get excited about.

I must admit, I'm at a stage now that I don't really care if I don't watch a game anymore. I used to watch our club religiously...every single game but now I'm not fussed and will settle for the highlights (usually of the other team...)

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I'd hate to think how many fans are just done with the club.
Not being able to play at home, the on field performances, things like the Lodge-gate if you will and genuinely nothing really to get excited about.

I must admit, I'm at a stage now that I don't really care if I don't watch a game anymore. I used to watch our club religiously...every single game but now I'm not fussed and will settle for the highlights (usually of the other team...)

Saturday is the first time I haven’t even made it to half time without switching off. I haven’t been to a game in a couple of years either. Up until a year or two before Covid I wax a regular match attendee and if I didn’t have pay tv would always go to the pub to watch games. Now I can’t barely be bothered watching the live feed at home. I’ll usually be cooking or vacuuming or something.

 

[Alan Johnson]

If they won a few games I’d be back into it. At the moment I’m not watching any league because i find it hard to enjoy neutral games when the warriors are causing me this much misery (also i no longer have free skygo; i was considering paying for it but nah, not just now thanks).

 

[Matua]

I said 2 years ago when we were forced to relocate, that it could spell THE END.

The simple fact that the team haven't been able to play in front of the faithful at Mt Smart has destroyed the little soul that we had prior to the pandemic.

I'm on the same ledge. I don't know what we need to do to be better. The concerning part is, neither do Robinson or George.

I'm lost!

I think it's too easy to blame the relocation, the Warriors were breaking anyway.

I'm the idiot who cut all ties last year, tried to become a Storm supporter (lots of Kiwis usually, out of Sydney, not Brisbane or Newcastle), but couldn't bring myself to truly jump on board, slinked back to the Warriors like a domestic abuse victim returning to their abuser (not suggesting my suffering as a Warriors fan is equivalent, just an analogy that fits).

League is almost done for me as a sport, not Aus so don't care about Origin and it's ruined test league, and the Kiwis don't play enough.

 

[Matua]

Saturday is the first time I haven’t even made it to half time without switching off. I haven’t been to a game in a couple of years either. Up until a year or two before Covid I wax a regular match attendee and if I didn’t have pay tv would always go to the pub to watch games. Now I can’t barely be bothered watching the live feed at home. I’ll usually be cooking or vacuuming or something.

I turned down a members seat on halfway for the Manly game. My mate always does a nice tomahawk steak before the games too. I almost went for the steak but that couldn't balance out watching the game.

 

[Tongue]

View attachment 62476

That chart is grim reading. A sustained slide for 10+ years.
However, couple of periods in earlier years shows that a sustained slide can be turned around fairly quickly. See the period leading up to and after 2002.
Pretty tragic right now, but if the owner becomes silent, a coach of repute is locked in and we have a few regular seasons based in NZ, those worms can turn for the positive.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

That chart is grim reading. A sustained side for 10+ years.
However, couple of periods in earlier years shows that a sustained slide can be turned around fairly quickly. See the period leading up to and after 2002.
Pretty tragic right now, but if the owner becomes silent, a coach of repute is locked in and we have a few regular seasons based in NZ, those worms can turn for the positive.

Yep 2001 onwards (when Watson took over) is illustrative. The club was literally on the verge of collapse In 2000. Mismanaged, broke, and about to forfeit its license. Watson bought in at a bargain price and made some astute appointments, and we made the finals for the next 3 years including a GF. Things fell apart for a couple of years after that but by 2006 we were back on the up and stayed there through the Cleary tenure.

 

[Alan Johnson]

There must be someone with money who isn’t a complete spanner like the current guy or Glenn. At this point I’m thinking maybe we need to look to China.

 

[Mr Angry]

I do think about the Sharks before Gallen’s later years and the premiership. At one point they were seen as something of a doomed club, no premierships, no money, no influence, no prospects. Now one of the more secure and sorted outfits in the competition

And peeps hate Sticky, he saved us.