Rugby League: Warriors looking at player cleanout

By PETER JESSUP

The post-mortem of the Auckland Warriors' self-destruction at Canberra will bring player changes and may result in sackings as the club addresses dissension within the ranks.

A player meeting straight after the 56-12 hiding raised a range of reasons as to what went wrong, including criticism of selections and the game plan.

That prompted coach Mark Graham to call senior players together later to lay down the law.

Graham, bitterly disappointed at the result and the lack of commitment from his troops, would not talk about the specifics of what was said at the meetings.

"I wasn't happy with what was brought to me," he said. "We'll have to address things."

There were four days until the next assignment against Penrith at Panther Park, said Graham, and he would "pick the side accordingly" to ensure his orders were followed.

So the unchanged side named yesterday to meet National Rugby League requirements seems certain to change radically by the weekend.

Jason Death was yesterday given a medical clearance after suffering concussion against Newcastle and he and Monty Betham flew to join the squad. They seem assured of a start.

Terry Hermansson was the one player from five who appeared for Newtown on Saturday to perform with credit and he will go in ahead of Talite Liavaa.

Matt Spence will not hold his spot after poor defence. Graham must also be looking again at replacing wing Lee Oudenryn, whose confidence appears shot to the point he cannot fall on loose balls, and has Francis Meli as an option. The centre pairing remains a problem, Scott Pethybridge doing himself no favours at Canberra.

Graham said that after a "video nasty" of the game, the team would dissect its performance again overnight then put the night behind them. "We have to put it behind us. We've been stumbling and bumbling since the season began. We were deplorable from the first minute [in Canberra].

"What's disappointing for the coaching staff is that they've been given the skills and told what to do and when they cross the white line it all seems to go out the window. We played like a bunch of individuals last night."

The boardroom changes last week had no impact, Graham said. "Most of the players wouldn't know what Malcolm Boyle [a sacked director] looked like and it's not as if the new boys have been down on them boots and all.

"The boardroom stuff is a poor excuse. You'd like to think professional athletes can get over that."

The team were lectured by management yesterday and told the performance was unacceptable. They had let down everyone who had made an emotional investment in the team and they were kidding themselves if they thought the club would continue to invest in that sort of return.

The all-Tainui board will discuss the match this week after receiving reports from chairman Nuri Niwa and director Michael Stiassny. They were at the game but had no immediate message for the team, said tribal legal adviser and Warriors director Shane Solomon.

He agreed that the directors' trip appeared to fly in the face of his statement last week that there would be no more trips for directors as the new management "cut out the fat," but countered by saying yesterday that it was important the new board "front up and show direct support."

They would not travel with the team again, Solomon said, and would not be at Penrith.

Solomon also confirmed that the board had instructed the management to cut around $350,000 from the club budget but said the areas to be trimmed were "not your business." There would be no staff cuts and immediate player changes were not contemplated.