KEY POINTS:
Plastered on the walls of Warriors HQ is a collection of images of the glory days. The days when Stacey Jones weaved his way through half of the Roosters defence in the 2002 grand final, or when Ali Lauitiiti would somehow find a way to offload the ball despite the attentions of an enveloping defence.
There's a hope the present band of Warriors can join them on the walls.
It's hard to believe that only eight weeks ago Ivan Cleary's side were on the brink of extinction in the race for the top eight as they lurched to their sixth-straight defeat. That they're now threatening to grab a top four spot heading into those playoffs is a remarkable achievement.
Memories of the good old days of five years ago are inevitably starting to be rolled out. There are a number of similarities between the two sides but there are probably too many key differences to draw many parallels.
Today's side have the ability to excite like their predecessors and the fact they lead the league in offloads is testament to that. But one thing high on Cleary's agenda is structure and percentages.
It's not to say Daniel Anderson didn't have a structure, because he was a thorough coach, but his Warriors side that made it all the way to the 2002 grand final largely did it on the back of exciting, ad-lib football. They became an irresistible force as confidence and momentum grew, and Anderson didn't try to curb their natural instincts.
"We didn't really stick with one game plan the whole time," second-rower Logan Swann remembers of that 2002 side. "With some of the boys in that team, and the type of football they liked to play, which was with a lot of flair, sometimes the game plan went out window. There were individuals who were more flamboyant, guys who would look to pop the pass at every opportunity even if it wasn't the best option."
Although Cleary wants his players to express themselves, and they are full of expression at the moment, they are doing it on the back of a sound structure. If things aren't working, they have something to fall back on.
There are hard-nosed players like Steve Price and Ruben Wiki to get others to fall back into line and well-schooled Australians to drive the team around the park.
Defensively there are differences.
While the points conceded per game is almost identical at 18.81 in 2002 and 18.67 this year, today's side simply don't get flogged. Even though they have lost more games already (nine) than they did in 2002 (seven), their biggest defeat was the 30-6 round 11 loss to the Eels. Compare that to the 44-0 shellacking they received from the Roosters just three weeks out from finals football in 2002.
In saying that, however, the 2002 side didn't lose more than two games in a row and we all know what happened this season. Likewise, Anderson's mob put a record run of eight wins together, while Cleary's band are yet to record more than three on the trot.
There's also a tangible difference in the vibes. Anderson and Cleary are different characters, as are respective chief executives Mick Watson and Wayne Scurrah.
"It's a lot different," Swann says. "Everyone is a lot happier in the present environment, and it shows. Everyone gets on really well, the trainings are great and that's down to the coaching staff and management.
"Daniel had this fear factor. He didn't want anyone to rest on their laurels. It's not to say anyone in the current team is like that, it's just that he had a different approach. He had everyone walking around on tenterhooks.
"I didn't have a lot to do with the old backroom staff but there's now a calmness at the club, and that filters through to the players."
Scurrah and director of football John Hart have demanded players of good character at the club and took a hard line with miscreants like Sione Faumuina and Misi Taulapapa and were prepared to let the popular Brent Webb depart for salary cap reasons.
Perhaps the greatest difference between the two teams, however, is that this present side haven't achieved anything yet. They could be on the verge of something great, if not this year then next, but only time will tell.
Cleary is the master of self-control, to the extent he can appear diffident, and he's not likely to get ahead of himself. Again, this filters down. The players are excited by their achievements in recent weeks but it will mean nothing if the season slips away.
"The NRL is too close to get carried away," Swann says. "We are in pretty good shape at the moment but all of that can change in a couple of weeks so it's hard to look too far ahead. We focus week to week. This week it's the Roosters, who are travelling well under Brad Fittler.
"We can't afford to get ahead of ourselves. Those six losses are always in the forefront of our minds. It might be different for Manly and Melbourne, but we have our feet firmly on the ground."
Swann recognised that, like a lot of things in life, timing was critical.
In 2005, the Wests Tigers timed their run to perfection, entering the finals on the back of a record eight-straight wins. Last year, the Broncos seemed gone for all money until they secured three consecutive wins at the end of the season and they carried that momentum all the way to a sixth title.
If the Warriors can maintain theirs for another few weeks, something special could happen. And that would deserve new images on the walls.
