Warriors legend Simon Mannering and fellow players are heading to the Far North for pre-season training.
Warriors legend Simon Mannering and fellow players are heading to the Far North for pre-season training.
Far North rugby league fans are in for a treat in December with the majority of the Auckland Warriors NRL squad coming for pre-season training.
Speaking exclusively to the Northland Age, Warriors' general manager Jim Doyle said almost the entire NRL first team squad - minus those competing thein the Four Nations competition in England - would head to the Far North between December 6-8.
Mr Doyle said the Warriors' organisation was aware that the Far North, and particularly Kaitaia, has had a number of problems in the past few years.
"We know it's a community that doesn't get a great deal of support from professional sports teams. We know places like Kaitaia have had a pretty rough year or so we thought we'd head up to give something back to the community up there," he said.
Mr Doyle said like many other teams the Warriors' scouts regularly checked out league and rugby talent in the Far North, with the district providing a number of great NRL players over the years, including Craig Smith, Elijah Taylor, Adam Blair and James Fisher-Harris.
But the trip in December was more about pre-season training and putting something back into the community by giving Far North league fans a chance to see some of their heroes prepare for a gruelling NRL season.
Mr Doyle said the itinerary for the far North trip was still being worked out, but he had received great support for the trip from a number of Far North groups to help make it happen.
"It will be the whole first team squad, minus those who played in the Four Nations [including Shaun Johnson, Issac Luke, David Fusitu'a and Solomone Kata]. [Former captain and club great] Simon Mannering will be there though."
He said star fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck - who was injured after just six games this NRL season, would make the trip and a decision was yet to be made if Kieran Foran would make the trip.
Mr Doyle said with the talent available at the club for next season he predicted it would be an exciting time for Warriors' fans.
Meanwhile, Warriors' coach Stephen Kearney says the player's attitudes and mental application needs to improve for the NRL club to begin consistently performing at a high level after years of underachieving.
Just weeks into the role as new head coach and a fortnight into pre-season training, Kearney says it is clear changes are needed in the wake of them missing the NRL playoffs for a fifth straight year.
The former Kiwis World Cup-winning coach is looking to instill and grow a club culture that enables players and the team to perform at their peak each week with a focus on improving their mindset and mental strength.
"It's pretty obvious that there needs to be change and sometimes that change is pretty challenging for some," Kearney told Newstalk ZB"s Tony Veitch.
"But what I do know is there needs to be change and that change for the most part is from an attitude perspective.
