Good times don't last long

Well the good times didn't take long to go bad this season did they. Tate out for the season and now it looks like Vatuvei is facing knee surgery as well.

Thats two seriously big time players out long term. The replacement at centre for Tate will be Patrick Ah Van. Follow the link above for a good video piece on Vatuvei's injury and Ah Van as a replacement. 

Loss to the Broncoes was a real dissappointment but they look to be the form team of the competition and early title favourites with Manly yet to record a win. This week's game vs South's looks to be another tough one with Souths showing some excellent early form with two wins out of three leaving them second in the table in points diff. 

With all the doom and gloom we have to remember its early days and based on last year the first 12 rounds don't actually matter that much. The Warriors need to stay strong and beat the bottom half teams and they will still be in contention when some of these injury worries blow over. 

I thought it was pretty cool to see the Bulldogs lose two competition points in round 3 for fielding 14 players  in their win over the Penrith. Those of you who are old enough will remember that a similar points deduction in the Warriors first season after a win over the old Wests Magpies was the start of the derailment of that Warriors inaugural year and in the end the club missed the playoffs by - you guessed it - two points. In that case the Warriors used five interchange players instead of four so their big win 46-12 was annulled and the points deducted. So a nice harbinger to see it happen to someone else - apparently it has happened six times in history with the Warriors one of those. However no way should Penrith get a rematch - if they do we need to replay the NRL seasons right back to that Warriors game in 95 to be sure we get a fair result.

I just got back from Poland on Sunday so am a bit slow to update the blog. I did however get an email from Ali G out of the blue - how goes it in Aussie Ali? 

G20 summit in London this week and major protests against the banks and capitilism generally are expected to shut the city down for the next two days. Large scale "G20 Meltdown" riots and protests centred around the Bank of England are on the cards. 

Great first up win for Warriors over the Eels

Well the Warriors off to a great start for 2009 with a win at home vs the Eels. A few shaky moments and errors but overall a good performance. There is a certain symmetry in being able to put away a Daniel Anderson coached side and lets hope its the start of a big year for the team.

Damning with faint praise

There are no bounds to the optimism coming out of NZ about the Warriors prospects this year. Striking a bolt from the blue - even Chris Rattue of the Herald a long time Warriors knocker and fair weather supporter if there ever was one - is picking a grand final spot for the team this year. That said - he is not exactly gushing in his support.

This mini-Manly implosion has got to be a good thing for the Warriors prospects though - you will recall the Warriors minor premiership and grand final appearance in 2002 was favourably assisted by the massive points penalty suffered by a fantastic Bulldogs side for salary cap breaches and it would be nice if Manly could take themselves out of the running one way or another.

I really enjoyed the Phil Gould suggestions that all NRL players should be contractually forbidden to drink for the duration of their contracts. Geez Phil don't you think thats a bit draconian?

Weight of expectations

Well two good trial wins for the Warriors so far including the most recent 32-28 win over the Cowboys at North Harbour in Albany. Almost 30,000 fans turning out to watch the two trial matches. Bookies placing Warriors fourth in the running for the NRL title this year. All the noises out of NZ seem to be predicting a massive year for the Warriors this season (including new high tech jerseys).

I too can sense the quality and enthusiasm coming out of the squad this year. But forgive me for being a spoilsport, lets temper our expectations. I have been here too many times before to get over-confident about this club. They have looked great on paper many times in the past and not delivered. Trial games are also virtually meaningless. So quiet and restrained optimism is my outlook for the early season games. I really hope for the best for the team and there is a groundswell of support for them out there and the return of Jones has got to help as he is an icon of the club and the sport.

In other team news Lauaki has been released and Eastwood may well get picked up in what seems like a player merry go round with the English Super League. Eastwood is one of several ex-NRL players signed by Super League clubs but prevented from playing because the British High Commission has refused work visas. A series of brain explosions and criminal convictions has left a number of brain dead players in limbo. Eastwood, 21, is a useful utility who played lock, five-eighths and centre for the Brisbane Broncos from 2005-08. He made the Kiwis under Brian McClennan and it was McClennan who enticed him to sign with Leeds Rhinos but, two games into the Super League season, there is no sign of the High Commission backing down on its decision, which relates to traffic offences.

And a strong squad has been named for the Warriors final trial vs the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday night.

Finally Leeds play Manly in the World Club Challenge in the UK this week. I can't tell you what a non-event this game is in the UK with a round of Champions League round of 16 matches, FA Cup replays and the Carling Cup final also on this week. The biggest story around this game is that Leeds Australian player Danny Buderus has torn cartilage in his knee so will miss the game.

Season preview

Well the Warriors have had an excellent win in their first trial down in Hamiltron vs the Storm. 

The win included a big contribution from many players young and old including Warriors legend Stacey Jones.

This season could well be a good one and if Cleary can harness the emotion swirling around this team and direct it into their play they could be an unstoppable force. With that said psychological fragility is the Warriors calling card and added emotional weight may hurt rather than help. So the question may be one of which will implode first, the Warriors season or the world financial system. I really hope the team can keep it together and deliver what we all know they are capable of. 

My hopes are for a top four finish with a definite home semi first up.

Also good news  to see Mannering has extended his contract until 2012, he is a great example of the Warriors bringing local young talent through. I have to say when I saw the headline "Mannering resigns with Warriors" I thought it meant he was quitting the team - but fortunately thats not the case. 

Sonny Fai Memorial Season

I have had difficulty knowing how to deal with the loss of Sonny Fai on this blog. 

It is an unmitigated tradgedy for someone so young and with such potential to be lost like this. I can assure you that even for those of us living outside NZ hearing the news and letting it sink in has been deeply upsetting. The team will carry his memory with them forever.

This is now the Sonny Fai Memorial Season and the Warriors will do him proud this year.

Been a long time

Hello all - I guess by now many of you might have thought this blog was dead however I would consider it more of a hiatus. After watching the Warriors get kicked out of the NRL playoffs by a rampant Manly I couldn't stomach thinking about the team for a few months.

Anyway its a new year and a new season awaits once the interminably long off season ends. The draw for the season and the game by game schedule for the first five weeks of games has been released. The first few games are as follows:

Round 1 - Saturday 14 March - vs Eels at home

Round 2 - Sunday 22 March - vs Manly away

Round 3  - Saturday 28 March - vs Broncoes at home

Round 4 - Sunday 5 April vs Rabbitohs at home

Round 5 - Sunday 12 April vs Knights away

So we will know pretty early how the Warriors shape up with a few tough games in the opening set. The big question based on last years shock run to the semi-final has to be - does the regular season even matter at all? Or put another way - do we really need to worry about how the team goes across 26 rounds - when a late season push can take you within 80 minutes of the grand final. I would suggest that maybe Cleary has developed a new strategy - that is - forget about the first half of the season. Think of it as a training exercise in finding out who your best team is. After that put together 10 or so wins towards the end of the season and ideally squeeze into fourth spot on the table and enter the playoffs with big momentum. This might be wishful thinking but I think we can all agree the NRL is too long a season, rendering the individual regular season games somewhat meaningless (ala NBA) . If you had a 15 or 20 round season - each game would take on much more significance (see the NFL for a good precedent on that front).

The return of Jones to the playing squad is an interesting role of the dice, will be interesting to see how that develops and if Jones - rather than being the pivotal player he once was can be a role player or bench support to add depth if need be.  His leadership and reputation can't hurt - because as always the Warriors biggest enemy is inside their own heads so I am hopeful his addition to the squad will  be a plus rather than a negative.