Finally, after what has seemed like an age, the NRL is back, and tomorrow Round One will commence.
That also means that it's time for me to give my thoughts on how I see the Warriors going in 2020.
As I did last year, I will be breaking down my preview into sections outlining my views on the preseason and trial results, the key signing, the 2020 squad, my gameday 17 and then rounding it up with my 2020 prediction.
As always these are all my thoughts and opinions and I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts too so if you want to share your views, comment below and let me know what you think.
Preseason News: Hello darkness my old friend
2019 was disappointing, to say the least.
After a dominant Round One victory over a poor Bulldogs side, the Warriors looked sure to be in contention for playoff football.
Consistent inconsistencies, however, saw the Warriors slump to 13th place by the end of the season managing a mere 9 wins.
The 2020 preseason has been filled to the brim with change's, albeit many of them off the field.
Gone are head trainer Alex Corvo, manager of football Brian Smith and NSW Cup coach Nathan Cayless.
Joining the club are trainer Craig Twentyman, former Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown comes in as an assistant coach. Slade Griffin is now in charge of the Future Warriors program designed to stem the flow of local talent moving across the ditch.
And last but not least, Simon Mannering returns to help in a coaching/mentor role.
One of the most significant talking points of the preseason has been the Warriors recruitment or lack thereof.
Peter O'Sullivan was once the guru of recruitment luring talents like Sonny Bill Williams and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to the Bulldogs and the Roosters. Still, since joining the Warriors, there has been almost nothing but misses for the recruiter.
With 12 players coming off contract this season there is going to be plenty of room for recruiting for the 2021 season, but so far the Warriors have failed to pull in all but one of their targets.
The biggest slap in the face for fans was the youngster Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, who was offered a monster deal to join the Warriors only for him to take less money to join the fledging Gold Coast Titans.
The Warriors did manage a win recently, signing Tongan representative Ben Murdoch-Masila.
Fans are divided on Ben, but it is no secret that the Warriors are in dire need of size upfront and the Warrington Wolves forward fits the bill.
In news that should make fans happy, coach Stephen Kearney has agreed that his structured style has stunted the Warriors attack and moving forward the Warriors are to play a more expansive style.
It's a no brainer, the Warriors are at their best when playing off the cuff and that showed in the Round 26 victory over the Raiders last year.
Does this mean the Warriors are going to be world-beaters, well no but at least they will hopefully be exciting to watch.
Unfortunately, this new style didn't really come to be in the preseason matches.
The nines returned this year, but the Warriors were by far the worst performers of the tournament losing 34-0 to the Knights and 14-8 to the Roosters.
Many of the Warriors strike weapons did not make the trip to Perth, but the experienced players that were there offered very little.
For me the only bright side of the nines was Paul Turner, he showed some class and is a name to remember for the future.
The first of the Warriors two trial saw the Warriors venture to Palmerston North to face the Melbourne Storm, both sides played without their key players, and there isn't much to say about this match with the Storm coming away with an 18-16 victory.
My standouts in this trial were Adam Tuimavave-Gerrad, Setu Tu and Chanel Harris-Tavita.
New signing Wayde Egan only had a short spell in the second half but when he was on the Warriors play the balls were quick and crisp.
There was plenty to work on, but it was at least a step up from the Nines performance.
The second trial saw most of the stars make the trip to Rotorua to face the Wests Tigers.
The Warriors were competitive in the first half, going into the break 6 all but when the regular first-graders went off the Tigers ran away with the match, winning 20-6.
Tohu Harris looked good on the edge and formed a good partnership with David Fusitu'a in his new position of centre.
The Warrior last tackle options left plenty to be desired with Blake Green continuing his poor form from last season.
If Kearney really wants to allow the Warriors to play a more attacking style of football, then he needs to drop Green.
So that was a disappointing preseason with zero wins but the biggest issue coming out of preseason is the Warriors casualty ward.
Prop's Bunty Afoa and Jackson Frei are out for the season with knee injuries.
Agnatius Paasi and Josh Curran's injuries will see them miss Round One and Jazz Tevaga is slated to be back around Round 6.
Nathaniel Roache and Gerard Beale will be back even later.
As the trial match against the Tigers showed, the players at the next level down are not good enough, so the Warriors will be hoping that the rest of the squad remain healthy.
Lastly, I have a little rant.
Early in the preseason, the Warriors showed a video of Cameron George talking to the players about being "All In", playing for each other and the fans.
I liked the video don't get me wrong, but last week the Warriors had their season launch and did not include the fans.
They usually have a small event at SkyCity for the fans, but this was cast aside for an event for the suits.
It's great to keep sponsors happy, but at the end of the day, it's the fans that show up in all types of weather regardless of how the Warriors are performing.
In what is most likely going to be a rough year the club should be embracing the fanbase instead of shunning them.
The 2020 preseason has been filled to the brim with change's, albeit many of them off the field.
Gone are head trainer Alex Corvo, manager of football Brian Smith and NSW Cup coach Nathan Cayless.
Joining the club are trainer Craig Twentyman, former Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown comes in as an assistant coach. Slade Griffin is now in charge of the Future Warriors program designed to stem the flow of local talent moving across the ditch.
And last but not least, Simon Mannering returns to help in a coaching/mentor role.
One of the most significant talking points of the preseason has been the Warriors recruitment or lack thereof.
Peter O'Sullivan was once the guru of recruitment luring talents like Sonny Bill Williams and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to the Bulldogs and the Roosters. Still, since joining the Warriors, there has been almost nothing but misses for the recruiter.
With 12 players coming off contract this season there is going to be plenty of room for recruiting for the 2021 season, but so far the Warriors have failed to pull in all but one of their targets.
The biggest slap in the face for fans was the youngster Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, who was offered a monster deal to join the Warriors only for him to take less money to join the fledging Gold Coast Titans.
The Warriors did manage a win recently, signing Tongan representative Ben Murdoch-Masila.
Fans are divided on Ben, but it is no secret that the Warriors are in dire need of size upfront and the Warrington Wolves forward fits the bill.
In news that should make fans happy, coach Stephen Kearney has agreed that his structured style has stunted the Warriors attack and moving forward the Warriors are to play a more expansive style.
It's a no brainer, the Warriors are at their best when playing off the cuff and that showed in the Round 26 victory over the Raiders last year.
Does this mean the Warriors are going to be world-beaters, well no but at least they will hopefully be exciting to watch.
Unfortunately, this new style didn't really come to be in the preseason matches.
The nines returned this year, but the Warriors were by far the worst performers of the tournament losing 34-0 to the Knights and 14-8 to the Roosters.
Many of the Warriors strike weapons did not make the trip to Perth, but the experienced players that were there offered very little.
For me the only bright side of the nines was Paul Turner, he showed some class and is a name to remember for the future.
The first of the Warriors two trial saw the Warriors venture to Palmerston North to face the Melbourne Storm, both sides played without their key players, and there isn't much to say about this match with the Storm coming away with an 18-16 victory.
My standouts in this trial were Adam Tuimavave-Gerrad, Setu Tu and Chanel Harris-Tavita.
New signing Wayde Egan only had a short spell in the second half but when he was on the Warriors play the balls were quick and crisp.
There was plenty to work on, but it was at least a step up from the Nines performance.
The second trial saw most of the stars make the trip to Rotorua to face the Wests Tigers.
The Warriors were competitive in the first half, going into the break 6 all but when the regular first-graders went off the Tigers ran away with the match, winning 20-6.
Tohu Harris looked good on the edge and formed a good partnership with David Fusitu'a in his new position of centre.
The Warrior last tackle options left plenty to be desired with Blake Green continuing his poor form from last season.
If Kearney really wants to allow the Warriors to play a more attacking style of football, then he needs to drop Green.
So that was a disappointing preseason with zero wins but the biggest issue coming out of preseason is the Warriors casualty ward.
Prop's Bunty Afoa and Jackson Frei are out for the season with knee injuries.
Agnatius Paasi and Josh Curran's injuries will see them miss Round One and Jazz Tevaga is slated to be back around Round 6.
Nathaniel Roache and Gerard Beale will be back even later.
As the trial match against the Tigers showed, the players at the next level down are not good enough, so the Warriors will be hoping that the rest of the squad remain healthy.
Lastly, I have a little rant.
Early in the preseason, the Warriors showed a video of Cameron George talking to the players about being "All In", playing for each other and the fans.
I liked the video don't get me wrong, but last week the Warriors had their season launch and did not include the fans.
They usually have a small event at SkyCity for the fans, but this was cast aside for an event for the suits.
It's great to keep sponsors happy, but at the end of the day, it's the fans that show up in all types of weather regardless of how the Warriors are performing.
In what is most likely going to be a rough year the club should be embracing the fanbase instead of shunning them.
Key Signing: Wayde Egan
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| Copyright Photo: Warriors.kiwi |
With only two new signings for 2020, there weren't that many options for my key signing, but I've gone with Wayde Egan.
Wayde has big shoes to fill replacing Isaac Luke, and he will have plenty of opportunities to show Warriors fans his calibre when he makes his debut for the club in Round One.
Wayde has big shoes to fill replacing Isaac Luke, and he will have plenty of opportunities to show Warriors fans his calibre when he makes his debut for the club in Round One.
Andrew Johns tagged the former Penrith Panthers NYC Captain as a future star of the NRL even going as far as comparing him to a young Cameron Smith.
Now I don't know if I would go that far, but from what I have seen from Wayde in the trials, I believe he is an excellent addition to the Warriors roster.
He passes quickly out of the ruck and can snipe out of dummy half when the opportunity arises, and more importantly, he has a solid kicking game which the Warriors sorely need.
My biggest concern would be the fact that his limited first-grade experience has come as an interchange player and the adjustment to becoming a starter has been an issue for players in the past. Another potential issue is his history with shoulder injuries, the Warriors hookers tend to not have the best luck when it comes to injuries, but I have my fingers crossed that he can remain healthy for the entire season.
At the young age of 22, Wayde could be a key figure in the Warriors spine for years to come, and I expect him to feature heavily in my reviews this season.
2020 Squad
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| Copyright Photo: warriors.kiwi |
The 2020 squad is not too different from 2019, gone are Blake Ayshford, Issac Luke, Tevita Satae, Ligi Sao and most recently Sam Lisone.
And in are Wayde Egan and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown with Adam Pompey and Eliesa Katoa getting upgrades from their development contracts.
With 12 players coming off-contract this season I'm hopeful that they will be playing out of their skin for a new contract either with the Warriors or elsewhere. I'm clutching at straws, but the Warriors could benefit from player desperate to continue their playing careers in the NRL.
Kearney announced that Fusitu'a is going to be moving into the centres and I'm not sure if that is going to be a good move or not, but at least if it doesn't work out, he can swap with Patrick Herbert and go back to the wing.
The rest of the outside backs are easy picks, Tuivasa-Sheck is one of the game's best, and the combination between Peta Hiku and Ken Maumalo needs to continue to build.
Blake Green needs to move out of the 17 and be used to pass on his knowledge to the younger halves at the club. I believe that pairing up Kodi Nikorima and Chanel Harris-Tavita in the halves is the way to go.
Kodi excels running with the ball in hand and would partner up nicely with Chanel, give the young talent time to gel together and build for the future.
With the injuries upfront, it is now the perfect time to do what should have been done a while ago and move Adam Blair into the middle. The Warriors have some good young players that should be playing in the second row, and personally, I think Blair is more productive when he plays at prop.
I would have Joshua Curran, Tohu Harris and Lachlan Burr as my second-row lock combination but there several players that could slot into the 11 and 13 especially when Jazz Tevaga returns from injury.
If Warriors carry three forwards on their interchange, I would be happy with any mix really.
The team on paper isn't really that bad, but the Warriors forward pack is going to struggle this season which means we could be in for a long season.
My 2020 Prediction
Last year I was way off with my prediction when I said the Warriors would finish 7th.
In what has become a regular occurrence most of the NRL Pundits in Australia have written the Warriors off with most predicting the Warriors to get their first-ever wooden spoon this season.
I don't agree with them about the spoon, but I do think the Warriors will struggle, and I see them sitting 12th at the end of Round 25.
I hope I'm wrong and the Warriors have a good season, but with a small forward pack and a tough draw, I just don't see it happening.
So, let's bring on the new season, I cannot wait for the first game this Saturday.
I will once again be writing game reviews every week throughout the season, and I'm looking forward to talking to all of you as the year progresses.
If you are at any of the home games this year, you can always find me in the member's tent before kick-off so come say hi and talk some football.
If you like what I'm doing here, please share my blog around with your friends and leave comments telling me how you think the seasons going to go.
I've been kept on as the Warriors correspondent for NothingbutLeague.com this season so please show them some love by checking out my articles on their site each week.
So that's my take on the Warriors upcoming season, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
1. Are you excited for the 2020 season?
2. What are your thoughts on Ben Murdoch-Masila's signing?
3. Who would be in your gameday 17?
4. Where do you think the Warriors will finish in 2020?
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