ozbash
Referee
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The New Zealand Warriors have set themselves a platform to build on for next season's NRL season, former coach Frank Endacott has said.
But whether they quite had the right mix yet in their personnel to win a grand final was open to question.
The Warriors' 2007 campaign ended in the Townsville heat yesterday as North Queensland scorched to a runaway 49-12 victory in their elimination semifinal.
Like their narrow opening playoff defeat at home to Parramatta the previous weekend, the Warriors were undone by an inability to complete their sets.
Possession was conceded cheaply, which meant they again had to pull off far more tackles than their opponents - this time a particularly huge discrepancy of 328 to 206.
But Endacott, the former Kiwi coach who also guided the Warriors for two seasons in the late 1990s, saw plenty of encouraging signs for the future.
"Over the whole season they can be very, very satisfied," he said.
"It's a very good foundation for better things to come and I think they learnt a lot about themselves."
Endacott said a major highlight was the way the club turned around a mid-season slump of six consecutive losses to win nine and draw one of their next 12 matches.
The reversal of fortunes resulted in the Warriors ending the minor premiership in fourth spot and making the playoffs for the first time in four years.
Endacott regarded the Warriors' pack, led by veterans Steve Price and Ruben Wiki and with youngster Sam Rapira developing into a quality frontrower, as one of the best in the competition.
They were strong in other parts of the field as well, and he said coach Ivan Cleary, with his "cool, calm and collected" approach, was someone he could see in the job for a few years to come.
The main reservations Endacott had about whether the Warriors could achieve grand final success in 2008 was their lack of game-breaking halves, describing Grant Rovelli and Michael Witt as "solid" performers.
"I see the Warriors kicking on and going up another step next year," he said.
"But to go on and win a grand final, you need special players. At the moment, I don't think they have that in positions that count."
The Warriors finished the year with 13 wins, 12 losses and the extra-time draw with the Sydney Roosters.
Their star performer was skipper Price, who led from the front in record fashion.
The 4515 metres the prop gained in his 23 games - he missed the three others through Queensland State of Origin duty - was the best for a forward in an NRL season since records began in 1998.
Price's efforts secured him the Dally M skipper and prop of the year prizes, and he also became the first person to take the Warriors' player of the year award twice.
Among others to stand out was combative fullback Wade McKinnon, whose kick returns launched many an attack.
Also impressive was Witt's goalkicking after being given the duties in mid-season.
His 62 goals from 67 attempts represented a 93 percent success rate, the highest in the league.
Four players featured in every match - Rapira, hooker Nathan Fien, backrower Micheal Luck and centre Simon Mannering.
Luck's feat meant he has not missed a fixture since joining the Warriors from the Cowboys at the start of last season, stringing together 50 consecutive appearances.
The Warriors' exit at Townsville meant a trio of players played their last match for the club - hooker George Gatis and centre Tony Martin, who are headed to English Super League clubs, and three-quarter Todd Byrne.
Confirmed arrivals for next season are Kangaroo and Queensland Origin back Brent Tate from Brisbane and Scottish-born Bradford hooker Ian Henderson.
Meanwhile, the Warriors showed they could pull a crowd - as long as they were winning.
Their last three home matches drew attendances that grew from 20,609 to 28,745 as club management increased capacity to cope with demand. But before then, their average gate for the season was the league's second lowest at just 11,302.
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But whether they quite had the right mix yet in their personnel to win a grand final was open to question.
The Warriors' 2007 campaign ended in the Townsville heat yesterday as North Queensland scorched to a runaway 49-12 victory in their elimination semifinal.
Like their narrow opening playoff defeat at home to Parramatta the previous weekend, the Warriors were undone by an inability to complete their sets.
Possession was conceded cheaply, which meant they again had to pull off far more tackles than their opponents - this time a particularly huge discrepancy of 328 to 206.
But Endacott, the former Kiwi coach who also guided the Warriors for two seasons in the late 1990s, saw plenty of encouraging signs for the future.
"Over the whole season they can be very, very satisfied," he said.
"It's a very good foundation for better things to come and I think they learnt a lot about themselves."
Endacott said a major highlight was the way the club turned around a mid-season slump of six consecutive losses to win nine and draw one of their next 12 matches.
The reversal of fortunes resulted in the Warriors ending the minor premiership in fourth spot and making the playoffs for the first time in four years.
Endacott regarded the Warriors' pack, led by veterans Steve Price and Ruben Wiki and with youngster Sam Rapira developing into a quality frontrower, as one of the best in the competition.
They were strong in other parts of the field as well, and he said coach Ivan Cleary, with his "cool, calm and collected" approach, was someone he could see in the job for a few years to come.
The main reservations Endacott had about whether the Warriors could achieve grand final success in 2008 was their lack of game-breaking halves, describing Grant Rovelli and Michael Witt as "solid" performers.
"I see the Warriors kicking on and going up another step next year," he said.
"But to go on and win a grand final, you need special players. At the moment, I don't think they have that in positions that count."
The Warriors finished the year with 13 wins, 12 losses and the extra-time draw with the Sydney Roosters.
Their star performer was skipper Price, who led from the front in record fashion.
The 4515 metres the prop gained in his 23 games - he missed the three others through Queensland State of Origin duty - was the best for a forward in an NRL season since records began in 1998.
Price's efforts secured him the Dally M skipper and prop of the year prizes, and he also became the first person to take the Warriors' player of the year award twice.
Among others to stand out was combative fullback Wade McKinnon, whose kick returns launched many an attack.
Also impressive was Witt's goalkicking after being given the duties in mid-season.
His 62 goals from 67 attempts represented a 93 percent success rate, the highest in the league.
Four players featured in every match - Rapira, hooker Nathan Fien, backrower Micheal Luck and centre Simon Mannering.
Luck's feat meant he has not missed a fixture since joining the Warriors from the Cowboys at the start of last season, stringing together 50 consecutive appearances.
The Warriors' exit at Townsville meant a trio of players played their last match for the club - hooker George Gatis and centre Tony Martin, who are headed to English Super League clubs, and three-quarter Todd Byrne.
Confirmed arrivals for next season are Kangaroo and Queensland Origin back Brent Tate from Brisbane and Scottish-born Bradford hooker Ian Henderson.
Meanwhile, the Warriors showed they could pull a crowd - as long as they were winning.
Their last three home matches drew attendances that grew from 20,609 to 28,745 as club management increased capacity to cope with demand. But before then, their average gate for the season was the league's second lowest at just 11,302.
www.stuff
