KEY POINTS:
The old adage is "success breeds success" but what happens before it arrives?
You must have a period with little or no success, and, more often than not, losing will be commonplace. In the case of the Warriors, they have had more losing matches than winning ones over their existence - but winning is not always a prerequisite to that elusive culture of success.
Tough times need to be experienced to understand the pain of losing, and believe me when I say that there is real pain if you want to win badly enough.
Unfortunately, the public do not know what players go through when a losing streak hits. It is not only the players who feel it but coaches, administrators and their families go through the pain just as much.
I have been involved at all levels of sport and I know what this pain is. To be honest, I did not know what I was putting myself through until I was outside of the game and saw others experiencing it.
One day I was lucky enough to be in a home team's corporate box at a professional game watching their team play. There were also invited directors of the opposition in the box as guests, which is the normal practice when the visiting team's VIPs travel.
Throughout the game I watched the anguish on the faces of the people supporting both the home team and the visitors. It was then I realised what I was putting myself through on a weekly basis and was actually glad to be on the outside.
I truly felt sorry for both parties that day, as it is not a nice feeling knowing how much the public and media will batter you in the press or on talkback radio when you lose.
It is irrelevant how you are playing; the critics will not look at it objectively and view what is transpiring on the field. To the purist, you can identify the basics of what is being undertaken on the field. But the few who have been in a professional environment can see more clearly what is being constructed within the team and why it needs to either change or be persevered with for it to succeed.
Yes, it is important to win but it is more important you learn to win in a structured manner which breeds confidence and, when confidence is achieved, self-reliance will transpire.
Self-reliance is a mode of ad-lib or risk football which is entertaining, The difference is that when the high risk football turns to custard, the controlled and ordered basic style is what you can default to - and winning is still probable.
This is what the Warriors are in the process of obtaining and it has taken years to achieve this.
In 2002, when the team made the NRL grand final, they made it with high risk ad-lib football and could not adjust when it was shut down in that game.
The Warriors of today are developing a style of play which will see them be successful, but when will 'success' arrive?
Only time will tell.
