The cross-code star will rejoin the Warriors ranks in 2024, signing a three-year deal and making the current Super Rugby campaign his last with the Blues. Video / NZ Herald
As the Warriors pay tribute to former coach Daniel Anderson, there’s poetry to the fact they can reach a milestone that hasn’t been reached since Anderson was at the helm.
In late May, the NRL announced round 25 would be known as the Daniel Anderson Round, when the rugby leaguecommunity will come together to raise critical funds for the former Warriors and Parramatta Eels coach, after the 56-year-old suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury late last year in a body surfing incident in New South Wales.
The Warriors come into tonight’s clash against the Manly Sea Eagles a Mt Smart Stadium – renamed Daniel Anderson Stadium for the night – riding a five-game winning streak. A win would not only secure their spot in the playoffs but also extend that streak to a mark not hit since Anderson’s 2002 Minor Premiers won eight straight.
The 2002 season is one that Warriors fans will be quick to remember. It was the first – and only – time the side finished the regular season at the top of the table, and it was the first of their two grand final appearances.
“So many players that are on our staff have been coached by him and they just talk so fondly of their memories and how good he was as a coach, so we need to honour that personally,” Warriors coach Andrew Webster said of Anderson.
While the finals series is looming on the horizon, the 2023 incarnation of the Warriors have the opportunity to secure the second-highest regular season finish in club history. Third on the ladder, four points behind the Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos, the Warriors’ last three games of the season are all against opponents outside the top eight.
The club have only finished in the top four twice; the other being a fourth-placed finish in 2007.
For Webster, the opportunity to honour Anderson holds a personal appeal as well, as he explained how Anderson was a mentor for him early in his coaching career.
The Warriors are on a five-game winning streak. Photo / Photosport
“I coached in England for six years and returned back to Australia. I was a young coach, I was coaching under-18s and I just wanted to reach out to experienced coaches; I just wanted to ask them some questions about creating a pathway for yourself as a coach and what’s really important,” he said.
“I just rang him up and asked him to have a coffee. He was good enough with his time as a busy man at the time and he was more than happy to do it.
“I didn’t know him personally prior to that. We just knew of each other, and he was happy enough to give me his time and I learned plenty of him from that one conversation, and he did a lot of coach to coaches education around all the NRL there for a period and I watched him lecture at different ones and hung around afterwards to have a conversation and just pick his brain. So, I’m really grateful to him.”
The Warriors will take the added motivation into their clash against Manly, whose top-eight chances would take a massive blow with a loss to the Warriors. They do, however, come in with an impressive record in Auckland, having won 11 of their 15 meetings with the Warriors in the city. They are also on a three-game winning streak against the Warriors.
In recent weeks, the Warriors have not been up to the standard previously shown during their NRL campaign, and Webster said the side had worked on their mental skills leading into the game and is hopeful the flick will switch tonight.
“I don’t know if it’s outside the box, but we address it and we do some mental skills; I’m going to leave it at that,” Webster said.
“I don’t know if it’s anything crazy or anything silly, but we definitely coach it and talk about it, as opposed to just hard work. We’ve said all year, hard work will get you into the contest, but it won’t get you the result.”
Warriors: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Rocco Berry, Adam Pompey, Marcelo Montoya, Luke Metcalf, Shaun Johnson, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Bunty Afoa, Jackson Ford, Marata Niukore, Tohu Harris.
Interchange (from): Dylan Walker, Jazz Tevaga, Bayley Sironen, Josh Curran, Tom Ale, Taine Tuaupiki, Freddy Lussick, Ed Kosi, Ronald Volkman (five to be omitted).
Manly Sea Eagles: Reuben Garrick, Jason Saab, Tolutau Koula, Morgan Harper, Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega, Josh Schuster, Daly Cherry-Evans, Toafofoa Sipley, Lachlan Croker, Sean Keppie, Haumole Olakau’atu, Kelma Tuilagi, Jake Trbojevic.
Interchange (from): Jake Arthur, Dean Matterson, Aaron Woods, Ethan Bullemor, Gordon Chan Kum Tong, Ben Condon, Samuela Fainu, Austin Dias, Jamie Humphreys (five to be omitted).
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
