Nathan Brown at a post-match press conference in June. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Nathan Brown at a post-match press conference in June. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
OPINION:
The Warriors face one of their most important decisions in years, as they look to reshape their recruitment department.
It's yet another fork in the road for the Auckland club, who have had no shortage of pivotal calls in the last few years.
Peter O'Sullivan's recent exit was bothswift and unplanned. The Australian had been preparing for more time in New Zealand in 2022, to re-establish networks here, when the offer from the Redcliffe Dolphins arrived.
As he told the Herald, it was "too good to turn down" and the Warriors also had to move on immediately, even though O'Sullivan had a year remaining on his contract, given the nature of the recruitment game.
O'Sullivan left plans in place for the current transfer window – which chief executive Cameron George and the football staff will manage – but beyond that point they will need specialists.
On a broader level, the Warriors will need to consider what kind of club they want to be.
Do they want to develop local talent, or hope to import marquee talent and cut-price gems from other clubs?
In the short term it is possible to do both, and the scale over the last two seasons has tipped towards procurement rather than construction.
But to achieve long term success, the Warriors need to re-establish themselves as a development team.
The best periods in club history (2001-2003 and 2007-2011) were built around local products, while the 2018 squad that broke a long finals drought contained 12 players that had come through the grades.
The Warriors will never be able to compete for the best Australian talent, with the financial muscle and influence of the likes of the Roosters, Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs et al, the increasing prevalence of third-party deals and the difficulties involved in persuading Aussies to relocate.
Instead, they need to follow the Penrith model and build an empire from within.
That is easier said than done, especially with the lack of pathways in New Zealand for young juniors, exacerbated by the current Covid situation.
There is still plenty of raw talent coming through, epitomised by the club's success in the 2020 SG Ball competition, where they had reached the semi-finals, despite having one of the youngest teams, before the season was discontinued.
There are high hopes for several graduates of that team, some of whom will play Queensland Cup next year while others will be overseen here by Tony Iro and Stacey Jones.
But what about the next layer coming through?
Australian clubs haven't been able to spend much time in New Zealand scouting over the past two seasons, due to the lack of school and junior competitions staged and the travel restrictions.
Reece Walsh of the Warriors shows his frustration during the round 17 NRL match between the Cronulla Sharks and the New Zealand Warriors. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
But they'll be back.
When he was Warriors' General manager of football, Brian Smith used to talk a lot about "winning the war for local talent", but that will be a battle, because the Warriors have lost ground on the home front.
They need to return to the pre-Covid model, when O'Sullivan (or Smith before him) was the senior recruitment manager, with Jordan Friend looking after the juniors and development.
There is a similar set-up at most successful Australian clubs, but the Warriors have been undermanned in that area since mid-2020, when Friend, who has a brilliant network when it comes to local school boy talent, left the club.
NRL recruitment and development is cutthroat and competitive – on a scale unmatched by any other sport in Australasia – and the job has become far too big for one person.
