Steve Deane: Warriors could surprise

James Maloney. Photo / Getty Images

A curiously optimistic Warriors press release fell into my inbox this week.

It pointed out that the five-win, five-loss record so far in 2010 was in fact the third-best start in the club's history.

Wow. The main thing this tells you is that the club hasn't often been much good in the past - although no long-term Warriors fan really needs reminding of that.

To quote the release: "Only twice before has the club managed a better than 50 per cent success rate in its first 10 games of a campaign, the best record coming in the grand final season in 2002 when they won eight of their first 10 games; in 2003 they won six of the first 10 on the way to making the finals again.

"The start to the 2010 campaign is marginally better than 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 when the Warriors opened with four wins and six losses while last year they had three wins, a draw and six losses in their first 10 games."

Pretty underwhelming stuff, really.

But that's not to belittle this year's effort. Given a horrendous injury toll that has concentrated largely on the club's best players, 5-5 is pretty darn good. Very good, in fact, when you factor in that the club is rebuilding from a horror 2009 season.

Given the loss of Micheal Luck, James Maloney and Sam Rapira, it's highly likely that record will have slipped a bit by this morning. Expecting a victory over Wests Tigers in those circumstances last night is pretty close to water into wine territory.

Coach Ivan Cleary might not be a miracle worker, but he and his staff should be well pleased with their efforts this season. As should the talent spotters in the football department who deemed that Maloney was worth a punt. He may be on the small side but Maloney seems to have a complete game. There is every chance he will turn out to be the star half the club needs.

Brett Seymour's influence has been limited by injury but when he has played he has been a vital steadying influence. The fact that the once-scandal-prone Seymour has attracted not a whiff of controversy suggests he has turned his life around.

It's too early to be definitive on that yet, but for the Warriors to have played a part in his apparent rehabilitation earns another big tick. When you meet Seymour it's hard to figure how he got himself in such strife. These days he oozes maturity, so fingers crossed.

Throw in the 2011 recruitment of Feleti Mateo and Krisnan Inu and Warriors fans have had plenty to be cheery about in 2010 - so far. There have been negatives, such as the three poor home defeats that sent packing a good few thousand fans and pushed crowds dangerously close to below break-even point. But those fickle fans will return if the team keeps up the effort it showed against the Cowboys and Rabbitohs.

The real questions are what can we expect from these Warriors, and how will we judge them? What will constitute success?

After last year's horror show, there can't be many Warriors fans who could put their hands on their hearts and say they wouldn't have settled for the club making the top eight this season. Many may still be in that camp.

However, there is an intriguing element to this side. At no point have we seen them at full strength, and key players have yet to form proper combinations. We don't yet know how good it could be.

While there is always a danger presuming that the return of injured players will translate to better results, it's hard not to feel there might just be something about this lot.

If Price returns for a belting last hurrah and Manu Vatuvei, Sam Rapira and Simon Mannering get fit, then who knows?

It's hard to escape the feeling that they lack the out-and-out class to be a factor in the finals but, as the club itself pointed out, this has been one of their better starts. It shouldn't be too much to expect that they follow it with one of their better finishes.