All-time low. Club dead soon.

[SpaceMonkey]

Well one good thing- our nearly 3 year exile is effectively over now with the last game of the season being at home. The boys can finally move back to be with their families, and the Aussie based guys like Curran who are staying can get settled into their new home in Auckland.
hopefully we’ll look back on this period and not really worry about the on-field results, but see the whole period as a huge challenge that could’ve completely broken the club but which we got through intact, albeit barttered and bruised. Here’s to a better 2023, I’m not gonna start with the “This is our year” stuff, but hopefully a full quota of home games in front of the Mt Smart crowd does a lot for team morale and performance.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

 

[Fufu Andronez]

View attachment 65664

Bro, stop doing f**ken interviews. What does that even mean??

Just get in the office and shut up, must be one of the most quoted CEO's in the game.

 

[Blair]

Bro, stop doing f**ken interviews. What does that even mean??

Just get in the office and shut up, must be one of the most quoted CEO's in the game.

The 'one team town' situation. I wouldn't know who the Cronulla CEO is, they would be in the mix with half a dozen others.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Bro, stop doing f**ken interviews. What does that even mean??

Just get in the office and shut up, must be one of the most quoted CEO's in the game.

Yeah, what does it mean? Some sort of bullshit siege mentality? I think he tried that a couple of years ago. In fact I know he did. Nothing has ever been gifted to us. And we've never earned anything in the past 11 years.

Agreed on 2nd sentence. Ego way too big, seemingly loves his name in print and on camera.

 

[Scott]

Cameron George and the Warriors are pissed off. And rightly so. I'm extremely pissed off too.

3 years we have had to base ourselves away from our Mt Smart base. Endless sacrifices by players, their families and the staff at the Warriors. Many thanks from all the opposition clubs for 'keeping the competition running' and essentially allowing EVERYBODY in the game to keep being paid. The vast majority of clubs have said that the Warriors should have all or the majority of games in NZ in 2023.

Empty words from each & every one of them over the past 3 years. Absolute crap from the other 15 clubs and the NRL as well.

The NRL have given us a home game for Magic Round. Woopy f**ken dooo!!! It's insulting to all involved in our club.

I see Tohu Harris and Shaun Johnson have now come out and expressed their anger and dissapointment as well.

TBH, i'm completely disillusioned with the whole thing and the NRL in general. Lets be honest, the product itself is turning to shit and is becoming unwatchable. The standard of the competition this year has been very very ordinary.

Rant over - in summary, I can kind of see where George is coming from!!

 

[LeagueNut]

I must have missed something. Is this just about the 9-games-at-Mt-Smart thing? Why are people getting so riled up so early?

Has it been confirmed somewhere that none of the other clubs are bringing home games over here? There's still plenty of time to get that stuff sorted out isn't there??

We've always had a "home" game at Magic Round, it's financially worth it. And taking a couple of games out of Auckland to boost the coffers is probably a financial necessity after the last few years.

But shouldn't we wait until we actually see a 2023 draw before we give the middle finger to the NRL and/or the other clubs?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Cameron George and the Warriors are pissed off. And rightly so. I'm extremely pissed off too.

3 years we have had to base ourselves away from our Mt Smart base. Endless sacrifices by players, their families and the staff at the Warriors. Many thanks from all the opposition clubs for 'keeping the competition running' and essentially allowing EVERYBODY in the game to keep being paid. The vast majority of clubs have said that the Warriors should have all or the majority of games in NZ in 2023.

Empty words from each & every one of them over the past 3 years. Absolute crap from the other 15 clubs and the NRL as well.

The NRL have given us a home game for Magic Round. Woopy f**ken dooo!!! It's insulting to all involved in our club.

I see Tohu Harris and Shaun Johnson have now come out and expressed their anger and dissapointment as well.

TBH, i'm completely disillusioned with the whole thing and the NRL in general. Lets be honest, the product itself is turning to shit and is becoming unwatchable. The standard of the competition this year has been very very ordinary.

Rant over - in summary, I can kind of see where George is coming from!!

I think this is a great post. I like the passion

However, and this is probably further exposing my anti Cameron George viewpoint, if he's such a good operator - why wasn't he able to get negotiations done for other clubs to bring their games here, when we were led to believe there was a sentimentality by some of them to look after us?

The media has skewed it, too. Yes, there's 9 games at Mt Smart, and we've chosen (rightly) to take 2 around the country. Shame they're both North Island, mind you. Then the Magic Round is a financial sweetener. So there's your 12.

My questions would be as follows:
How hard has Cameron George gone to negotiate clubs over here? Craig Bellamy, Phil Gould and I am sure others were very strong in saying we should be looking after the Warriors. So did he try and get deals done with the Dogs (who have done it previously), Melbourne etc)? Or did he wait for them to voluntarily come?
How is it decided who gives up their home game for Magic Round? Does that mean if you are the 'home' team, you get the revenue?
Does Cameron George think this is a professional league, or a friendly league? Because it's all well and good people saying 'oh good on the Warriors, they've done our comp a favour, we should help' but it's completely another when you ask them to compromise their bottom line, add a week of travel and one game away from home advantage.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I'll be honest, I think we have to prove our toughness by getting on with it. I am not a fan of the 'oh woe is me' mentality in any walk of life, thinking you're owed something because you went through hardship. No doubt, we have had the hardest run of any professional club in the world through COVID, or biggest disadvantage I should say. But shit happens in life. No club ripped us off, the NRL didn't, it was out of anyone's control.

I'd rather we said OK, it's been tough but we'll be buoyed by being back at home, we can't wait to be on an even keel again, fresh new signings and guys who will be thrilled to be at home every second week, and let's go. Not this pseudo siege mentality BS George is pedalling.

 

[Rich102]

Add to that show that we deserve support by the team playing well.

 

[BLN2]

It is bullshit from the NRL and other clubs to not have a single club play a match in NZ next season. We know the club has been perusing this the whole year, Cameron George cant just make teams play a home game here, unless the NRL push it from the top. They are all too happy to say "we really appreciate what they have done for the past 3 seasons" etc.

But in reality, they don't give a f**k about the Warriors or New Zealand rugby league, except when it comes to scouting 16 year olds. It's all just chat to keep people happy, with no real action. Just like our government. All good intentions, media bites and fluff, but zero substance.

It hasn't even made media in Australia, because they couldn't give a shit. It's the harsh reality of being an NZ team in a Australian comp unfortunately. If it's now that the Warriors front office have realised this, I would be very surprised.

The only thing we can do as a club is get good, and earn some respect back on the footy field.

 

[Blair]

I nice little personal positive will be me heading to Mt Smart for the first time ever.

Mr George, however, this still depends on the on-field attitude and performance. I'm currently sitting out games here in Sydney, remember!

But, Mt Smart, I can't wait. Ditto visiting Auckland again, after 25 years. How has it changed?

 

[Matua]

I don't have a problem with other clubs not wanting to gift the Warriors their home games. It's not their fault Covid hit, and there are financial aspects to losing a home game that may be risky in a competition where clubs appear to be close to financial issues at any given time.

Also, if the Warriors were successful in a year where they play most games at home it would feel a bit strange as a fan. If they won, there'd always be a little asterisk next to it.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I don't have a problem with other clubs not wanting to gift the Warriors their home games. It's not their fault Covid hit, and there are financial aspects to losing a home game that may be risky in a competition where clubs appear to be close to financial issues at any given time.

Also, if the Warriors were successful in a year where they play most games at home it would feel a bit strange as a fan. If they won, there'd always be a little asterisk next to it.

That’s why I reckon getting the home games paid back over the course of 3 or 4 years would be a better idea. How long do we get to play magic round in NZ for? Better be more than 1 year, that’s a pathetic concession

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I don't have a problem with other clubs not wanting to gift the Warriors their home games. It's not their fault Covid hit, and there are financial aspects to losing a home game that may be risky in a competition where clubs appear to be close to financial issues at any given time.

Also, if the Warriors were successful in a year where they play most games at home it would feel a bit strange as a fan. If they won, there'd always be a little asterisk next to it.

Agreed.

It is bullshit from the NRL and other clubs to not have a single club play a match in NZ next season. We know the club has been perusing this the whole year, Cameron George cant just make teams play a home game here, unless the NRL push it from the top. They are all too happy to say "we really appreciate what they have done for the past 3 seasons" etc.

But in reality, they don't give a f**k about the Warriors or New Zealand rugby league, except when it comes to scouting 16 year olds. It's all just chat to keep people happy, with no real action. Just like our government. All good intentions, media bites and fluff, but zero substance.

It hasn't even made media in Australia, because they couldn't give a shit. It's the harsh reality of being an NZ team in a Australian comp unfortunately. If it's now that the Warriors front office have realised this, I would be very surprised.

The only thing we can do as a club is get good, and earn some respect back on the footy field.

The NRL can't make clubs do that. They don't own them. The competition is a business, and clubs are mostly concerned with their bottom line, winning and their fans. Whilst it might be a nice sentiment to think anyone would relocate their home games for our hardship, this competition is not built around reciprocity and good will.

You're right, the media doesn't give a f**k about the Warriors. The NRL cares to have a presence here, but they're not patsys for us by a long shot. They could care less if we win anything, as long as we are present. It's also not their job to care about NZ rugby league as a whole, that's the NZRL's job. So yeah, no one is doing us any favours, they don't give a f**k. No one did from 2007-11 either, but we got on with it and made GFs, finals and won a World Cup, a Four Nations etc. Same thing we need to do now, not do what SJ and Tohu have done, and try to go the bleeding heart line in the media.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

if the Warriors in their existence cared so much about rugby league in NZ, maybe they’d actually have played a decent amount of games around the country in the past 25 years ?

I haven’t seen a Warriors ‘home’ game in Christchurch. The Sharks, Tigers, Panthers, Roosters, Panthers and Manly I have seen play home games in Christchurch. In those weeks the other clubs have been here on the Monday of Tuesday and put time into school visits, while the Warriors have flown in a day before the game

Yep they have certainly had it tough being away from home, no doubt about it, but I haven’t heard the same kick up publicly from the Breakers or the Phoenix. George going public is just opening up another set of excuses for the players, along with the set they already had about being hard done by every week they play, and the hard edge just isn’t there as a consequence

Again the situation may not be as tough, but 2020 the Storm were also made to leave home for the season and base themselves elsewhere, didn’t hear a peep about it, and they lifted the trophy at the end of the year

 

[Penrose Warrior]

if the Warriors in their existence cared so much about rugby league in NZ, maybe they’d actually have played a decent amount of games around the country in the past 25 years ?

I haven’t seen a Warriors ‘home’ game in Christchurch. The Sharks, Tigers, Panthers, Roosters, Panthers and Manly I have seen play home games in Christchurch. In those weeks the other clubs have been here on the Monday of Tuesday and put time into school visits, while the Warriors have flown in a day before the game

Yep they have certainly had it tough being away from home, no doubt about it, but I haven’t heard the same kick up publicly from the Breakers or the Phoenix. George going public is just opening up another set of excuses for the players, along with the set they already had about being hard done by every week they play, and the hard edge just isn’t there as a consequence

Again the situation may not be as tough, but 2020 the Storm were also made to leave home for the season and base themselves elsewhere, didn’t hear a peep about it, and they lifted the trophy at the end of the year

Completely agree with all points.

You become what you focus your attention on, and we're focusing it on 'unfairness' and the hardships. Just another set of excuses to fall back on if (when) we don't win.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Pretty sobering year, all disadvantages withstood:

15th - worst finish in club's history (15th also in 1998) *could change if Knights lose by 25*
Only club to concede 700 points this year
Worst points difference in the comp *could change if Tigers go down*
Comfortably last in offloads (less than half of the Eels' 332, and almost 40 behind second to last. Eels average 13, we average 6)

Incredibly, we are only 7th in missed tackles despite having the worst defense in terms of points conceded. So that's probably speaking to poor defensive structures that we either don't lay a hand on defenders at all, or concede through overlaps or kicks.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Champion bloke that Lodge fella

Why bargain-buy Matt Lodge could be the Roosters’ main man

Mark Robinson, who clashed with Matt Lodge and paid him out in full before a mid-season exit, hopes the prop can win an NRL title with rivals Sydney Roosters.

amp.smh.com.au

 

[JJ]

Much as Lodge is to be disliked, I still can't go past the 'alpha males' bullshit from the owner - he's just a grade A mong