Warriors coach Stephen Kearney on the injury challenges the club faces. VIDEO / Warriors
COMMENT:
Let's start by clutching at a few straws.
The NRL did the displaced Warriors a minor favour, pitting them against the troubled Dragons when the NRL kicks off again this week.
They deserved something even better - the revised draw should have given them the softest of re-starts againstthe hopeless Titans.
The Dragons will do. St George-Illawarra have an unstable coaching situation, although the unifying effect of Covid-19 will help shore up Paul McGregor's position for a while.
The Dragons have also lost their chief architect Gareth Widdop, who returned to England, warhorse James Graham must be near the end of the road, and the bouncy representative forward Tyson Frizell - a major bright spot - has signed with the Knights from next season.
On paper, the Dragons are not a bad side, but there is something amiss at the club.
But the good news for the Warriors ends about there. I'm almost afraid to watch how this season unfolds, while praying that my instincts are wrong.
Come Saturday, the lockdown action from Gosford shapes as fascinating and terrifying. Things look so bad that fears could emerge for the Warriors' very survival without an intervention.
Forget the pandemic. The so-called injury crisis unveiled last week was a symptom of 25 years of mismanagement. It has been a veritable circus, most notably of fast-talking Aussie CEOs who laid foundations of rubble all those years ago.
At the heart of almost every successful NRL club, I would argue, is the stable and quality relationship between a CEO/powerbroker and the coach.
In a quarter of a century, the only quality version approaching this at the Warriors occurred between the rugby identity John Hart and Ivan Cleary, leading to the belated run at the title in 2011.
The worldwide pandemic is being loosely blamed for an almost unprecedented situation in which retired Aussie stars offered to don boots to rescue our brave lads, who have been forced to camp in Australia.
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney ran up the white flag, basically admitting he couldn't field a first grade side. The NRL obliged, with a lame mercy rule.
Paul Gallen, Sam Thaiday, Billy Slater and a fleet of loan players could turn out for the Warriors this year, but the underlying problems will remain.
It is reaching a point where the NRL needs to look at something far beyond loaning players, although what the remedy might be, who knows?
I honestly struggle to see how this club can now survive. The results could be horrendous.
The Warriors at training. Photo / NRL Photos / Photosport
Part One of the original plan all those years ago involved nurturing the finest local talent, a concept which ran into difficulties almost for the outset.
As of today, two of the best forwards in the NRL, Jason Taumalolo and Jesse Bromwich, were plucked from under the noses of the Auckland club.
It's not just the obvious talent which gets away either. Undersized players like Kenny Bromwich and Brandon Smith - also from Auckland - are vital ingredients at the powerful Melbourne Storm.
These players represent the tip of the iceberg. The flailing Warriors don't have the pulling power, and even if they did, their development ability is suspect.
Part Two of the formula was luring a few top Australians. Despite bringing controversial but skilled Aussie recruiter Peter O'Sullivan on board, the Warriors would have trouble attracting the common cold right now.
Which leaves them with a squad so weak that a standard injury crisis was portrayed - rightly - as a catastrophe worthy of an NRL backtrack.
The NRL eventually bent their rules to allow loan players, but they've not done the Warriors any favours with the draw.
After the Dragons, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's men face tough fixtures against the Panthers, Cowboys, Rabbitohs, Storm and Broncos, matches with horror scorelines written all over them.
Next come the Titans, but even that comes with a caveat. Contrary to wide expectations, they only get to face the Gold Coast battlers once this year.
An exhausting no-break schedule will crush this fragile Warriors squad, stripped of its usual State of Origin breathing space.
As for immediate omens, the Warriors have started correcting what was a terrible record against the Dragons in recent times, and the league community is on their side. There is a lot of goodwill out there.
But the only major positive I can find is this.
Dragons coach McGregor has the disgraced former Sharks boss Shane Flanagan as his new assistant, with Flanagan tasked with sorting out the poor defence of 2019. But they were still leaking points all over the place against the Tigers and Panthers before the competition was temporarily abandoned.
Yes, I can hear you say, but the Warriors only managed one penalty try across two games against the Knights and Raiders.
