Cloudsurfer
Juniors
- Messages
- 1,184
The whole thing is total pie-in-the-sky stuff, especially considering that the Warriors franchise came close to collapse on several occasions and the team has generally performed poorly apart from a handful of good seasons (2002, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011).
Are the New Zealand Warriors going to revert to the Auckland Warriors if the Whales make their NRL debut?
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That's still a handy record for the length of time in the comp, especially compared to how long the Oz & UK comps have been going. And yes, it would take a while for any other franchise in NZ to find their feet. Competition within NZ is needed to up the ante for the Warrior selectors & to minimise the flow of NZ players to Oz. I agree grassroots league & the 2nd tier comp has to have some real growth to make it more viable but watch the interest grow from the Warriors success this season - NZ needs to capitalise on that big time & ensure the provincial & regional comps step up. The talent is there...they need to create the pathways.
Being a parochial kiwi like we all tend to be, the Warriors aren't it for me (even though I can back'em to beat an OZ team) & it would be great to see a central regions NRL team & a southern one, sooner rather than later.