Yeah there are doubts, that's the problem. Nobody knows his mental ability, legal state or fitness (wtf?!) but Foran himself. As if he doesn't have time to turn his fitness around anyway. The ONLY issue is the legal issues - which admittedly is massive, yet i'm sure the Warriors didn't go into with less knowledge than LU posters.
Yes culture is important, that's why they brought in someone familiar and well respected by the players - Kearney. Like you can compare that rabble of Parra with the squad he has in Auckland anyway. It's utterly ridiculous to assume Kearney will give the same results 5 years later with a completely different squad.
NZ has been hopeless when defending, that much has been proven. But it's not so much defending, but controlling the possession to build pressure. Part of that has been SJ coming of age, I believe (some very poor decisions at the 5th tackle). So there are a number of factors that influence a good defensive record.
Look, i'm a Bulldogs supporter, (largely without hope) and a Kiwi, but honestly as a longtime Rugby League fan thinking about the Warriors future gives me hope for next year the same way I see Penrith, going all the way. Of course the difference is that Penrith have showed continuous improvement where Warriors haven't, I still don't think it out of the realm of possibility for a club to do the opposite of their past given that they have the right tools or the job.
