KEY POINTS:
A bit like an ad for a newly re-branded cleaning product, the Warriors insist that, after a healthy spring clean, everything now smells of roses.
"People are starting to have a bit of fun again," says CEO Wayne Scurrah.
"There is an air of trust. People just want to be here."
Air of trust? Sounds a bit like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, although, given last year's booze-related sackings of Sione Faumuina and Misi Taulapapa, the analogy is a fair way wide of the mark.
And, if he's right, Scurrah has a valid point. People haven't always wanted to be at a club that has gone, via a salary cap scandal and a bunch of high-profile walk-outs, from cellar dweller to contender and back again.
Ali Lauiti'iti and Stacey Jones top an impressive list of want-away Warriors.
With the salary cap scandal he inherited from previous management now behind him, Scurrah believes he is well on the way to dealing with the club's second-biggest downfall - player retention.
"With the salary cap you are always going to lose players," he says.
"In saying that, we lost a lot of players for the wrong reasons as well. I guess we have got to manage expectations and have to treat all the players fairly and we would hope that our retention improves greatly.
"I think there were signs of that happening last year and, if we are more successful on the field, players will want to stay at the club."
The financial expectations of players who perform well can't always be met, especially as the salary cap hasn't risen to match those expectations, he says.
Brent Webb would be a classic case in point, with the Warriors unlikely to have been able to match offers from England, even if they'd wanted to - which is a moot point.
When Scurrah mentions the big-name players who left the club, he talks hypothetically. He was appointed in September 2005 to replace Mick Watson, so most of the walk-outs didn't occur on his watch.
"I imagine some of the salary cap changes started to bite so they [previous management] had to make some harsh decisions and maybe players they would have liked to have stayed couldn't stay because of issues of cost. But I also imagine some players just purely didn't want to be here any more.
"We all read the papers and I was a fan at the time and always took an interest in the Warriors. Some of the players who left, like Ali [Lauiti'iti], were world-class players and I guess the fans didn't want them to leave. Those are the sorts of things we want to try to avoid.
"It is important that we try to retain our players. We want it to be a place that they want to work at.
"But having had a year in the job, having to negotiate contracts and work with agents with a salary-cap limited budget, it is a challenge. You are not always going to be able to keep every player."
The Warriors have a number of key players coming off contract at the end of the season, all of whom, according to Scurrah, have indicated they'd like to re-sign with the club.
But with the NRL anti-tampering deadline having been scrapped, other eyes will be tracking how the off-contact Warriors perform.
"Yeah, but they've got their own players to worry about too. The early signs from all of the clubs is that they are not jumping into other clubs' players because they have got problems of their own, which should be their main priority, as it is with us."
Scurrah is confident his new broom has cleared the way for on-field success. "The administration of the club is, I think, in the best shape it has ever been in.
"We really feel comfortable with where we are going. The focus is purely on football and the fans - getting people to the games and making sure it's a great day's entertainment."
The club may be in better shape but Scurrah also knows last year's in-built excuse for failure, a four-point deduction for the the salary cap breach, no longer exists.
Scurrah's job won't necessarily swing on whether 2007 yields a successful on-field campaign - although coach Ivan Cleary's might - but there's no doubting failure between the chalk lines will make it harder for the club to recapture the financial footing that allowed it to turn a substantial profit in 2003.
"We have got financial goals for the club, which is the part of the business I drive, and we are looking for a vast improvement over the previous three years.
"And Ivan has goals and I'm sure he'd be happy for me to publicly say we are here to get in the finals.
"Top eight is really the standard we are trying to achieve. We are not here to run 10th or 12th, we have got to be in the top eight.
"We are not going to forecast that we are definitely going to be there but it is the goal."
Just like those re-branded cleaning products, the "all-new Warriors" promise big things. But how often do those miracle products ever really get rid of all the grime?
Only time will tell if the Warriors really have cleaned up their act.
The Hart Factor
Originally appointed as a director in January 2005, John Hart is now acting as the Warriors' director of football.
A polarising figure in rugby union circles, the former All Black coach's influence at the club has grown steadily.
As well as providing commercial advice to Scurrah, Hart is effectively coach Ivan Cleary's overseer, providing the link at boardroom level between the club's on-field activities and representatives of the club's owners, Eric Watson and Mark Hotchin.
Hart, said Scurrah, acts "primarily in a mentoring role for Ivan and he'll also report to the board on football strategy".
"But also, from my point of view, he has huge commercial and HR experience, so he has a lot to do with the admin side as well. He is probably the go-to man for myself and Ivan."
The other board members are new chairman Mark Flay (Cullen Investments' finance chief), who has replaced Maurice Kidd, and Dwayne McGorman (investment manager at Hanover Group).
The Departed
Key Warriors who packed their bags.
Sacked
* Sione Faumuina
* Misi Taulapapa
Got the hump / released
* Ali Lauiti'iti
* Stacey Jones
* Shontayne Hape
* Joe Vagana
* Vinnie Anderson
Contracts not renewed
* Brent Webb
* Iafeta Paleaaesina
Coming Off Contract
* Steve Price
* George Gatis
* Nathan Fien
* Lance Hohaia
* Cooper Vuna
* Todd Byrne
* Tony Martin
* Michael Witt
Re-Signed
* Jerome Ropati
