Warriors owners aim to be 'best in Australasia'

[Ziggy the God]

The Warriors are doing a great job for Rugby League in NZ, and the more they get people over thee watching the game, all the better for the NRL as a whole.

 

[Iafeta]

Finals appearances don't make super power teams. They make good teams. That's what I said is the maximum any club can achieve. Superpower team win premierships consistently and even Brisbane has won just 1 since 2000.

And half of that squad will play their 2nd contract at another club. There just isn't the capspace to build these super teams Kearney, Gould and now Watson are dreaming of.

Bunniesderp, nowhere in that news article does it mention 'superpower teams'.

It talks about a succession of action plans merged into the overriding strategy of the club to increase the value of the junior pathways through the community and high school engagement programs, increased funding for an elite academy to sit as a precursor to the NYC squad, improving the club membership systems to get more active members, and other things that have come out include an upgrade of Mt Smart Stadium (with acceptance from ARC I would suggest) and taking some Warriors games around New Zealand.

They've said they want to make this the single best sporting franchise in Australasia. I would assume this is where your naiivity around superpower teams (coupled with your own personal naiivity and insecurities) comes into it. A sporting franchise extends far beyond the 100 metre paddock week in week out. While thats obviously a major focus (and they did alude to trying to win a premiership, noble goal I would have thought yes?), getting player numbers up, getting better structures and infrastructure in place to support the growth of New Zealand talent, and ensuring the Warriors engaged with the local community to try to get the cream of the crop, and improving the facilities for our fans... these are the things they are really discussing. Again, I fail to see how you bunniesderp could misconstrue things or see any negativity in the press release whatsoever. Its good for rugby league in general, I would have thought.

Again bunniesderp, given they've publically released their strategic vision and you think its not going to win them a multitude of premierships (which again is not their stated aim), I challenge you to nominate a better strategic vision for the club to follow.

 

[Iafeta]

The Warriors are doing a great job for Rugby League in NZ, and the more they get people over thee watching the game, all the better for the NRL as a whole.

Completely agree on all your comments Ziggy. I would say in the past perhaps the Warriors were too insular in worrying about their own backyard without really adding back to the game in New Zealand (indirectly obviously there were big benefits though), but this to me suggests more of an engagement with the process of improving New Zealand Rugby League and from that I would also suggest, as you've pointed out, the NRL gets a major benefit from it too.

 

[Juju]

bunniesgimp isn't going to have the intelligence to come back to this thread with any kind of coherent response.

 

[Richard Gay Was God]

I'm trying to work out how this Souths fan even has the right to question this direction when your club has not won a premiership in 40 years and has played 1 finals game in the last 22 years. Hilarious stuff!

The reality is that while the Warriors won't be able to keep all their top juniors, it is still cheaper to invest in kids. I'm a Saints fan and while Doust's junior vision blinkers sometimes gives me the shits, we have made the finals in 15 of the last 20 years since 1992. It's a reality that investment in juniors gives you far more opportunities to develop better players and then be able to keep them on less money through loyalty. Especially true for kiwi's who do have a love of home.

A wholistic approach from early development also helps to garner bigger support both corporate and from the supporter base who develop a greater pride/love of their club and what it has to offer.

As an aussie married to a maori kiwi, I can tell you her mostly hardcore rugby family have grown into the Warriors over the last few years especially through seeing the kids like Locke, Matulino, Packer, Johnson, Taylor etc come through. The Warriors develop a decent 5/8 and hooker to work with Locke and Johnson and they will have a spine that can lead a team to consistent Top 4 finishes for the next 6-8 years.