The 2017 season was bad enough for the Warriors - but get ready for just as much pain next year.
That's the growing chorus from league luminaries, with Kiwi great Tawera Nikau saying "it could take another 12 to 18 months to start seeing some semblance (of improvement)".
The Warriors will open the 2018 season on a nine game losing streak, with optimism around the club at an all time low.
Nikau's comments come a day after his old Melbourne Storm team mate Brett Kimmorley, a 20-test Australian halfback, made a similar prediction and accused the Warriors of not training hard enough.
Nikau described the 2017 season as "devastating" and blamed a soft Warriors forward pack for the problems.
Nikau, a key performer when the Storm won their first title in 1999, also expressed doubt over Broncos prop Adam Blair being a wise buy for the Auckland club.
"Too many Warriors players aren't up to first grade standard and that's the major concern," the Kiwi selector told Radio Sport's D'Arcy Waldegrave.
"The Achilles heel is the forward pack - there was no foundation for the spine and outside backs to perform off.
"They struggled all year to contain the middle of the ruck and lay the foundation. But there are a whole lot of pieces to the puzzle, not just one thing.
"I feel sorry for (coach) Steve Kearney at the moment. There has to be some stability so Steve can get the players he wants.
"But it is really hard when you have a team that doesn't perform. How do you attract players to a club at the bottom of the table, with a culture of not knowing how to win, losing for the last 20 years."
Nikau said many Warriors players lacked the required mental toughness, and that Australian clubs only began to rate players as first graders around the 100-game mark.
He urged young Kiwi prospects desperate for notice to head to the proving grounds in Queensland and New South Wales. He inferred the Warriors might recruit from there as well.
Blair, who is still involved in finals football with Brisbane, is rumoured as the next Warriors signing, joining Melbourne's Tohu Harris and Titan Leivaha Pulu at the club next year.
Nikau said: "Whether (Adam Blair) is going to be a good buy...or is he coming for overs (big money) at the end of his career for a three or four year deal."