NRL: Tate departs as Warriors are left with empty feeling

Gutted Brent Tate says he has loved his stint with the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

In a turbulent couple of hours over the weekend Brent Tate went from texting his Warriors teammates about next week's match, to arranging to meet them for end-of-season drinks.

Mad Monday may be the traditional end for an NRL campaign but, with their season ending painfully early, the Warriors yesterday convened for what must have been a subdued Sunday.

"The way footy is now, we have hardly had a beer together all year," Tate said. "I don't even think we have had one, to be honest. It will be nice just to reflect and enjoy what we have done this year."

After their defeat at the Gold Coast on Friday was followed by a remarkable run of events on Saturday night that dumped them out of the competition, it might well have taken a few drinks to make such reflection bearable.

"It is such a hollow feeling I don't really know how to feel," said Tate, who with Ian Henderson, Jesse Royal and Patrick Ah Van are facing up to the end of their Warriors career.

"It is just so disappointing. I thought we had a lot more to offer than getting beaten in the first week."

Fate thought otherwise, with the Tigers blowing a 15-2 lead in extraordinary fashion, followed quickly by the second-placed Panthers losing 24-22 at home to the Raiders to seal the Warriors' fate.

With the Tigers leading the Roosters 15-14 with just 30 seconds on the clock, the Warriors seemed odds-on to survive into week two.

"I was texting the boys 'we are sweet, we are right to go'," said Tate, who then watched in horror as the Tigers botched a scrum feed and Braith Anasta kicked a field goal on the final hooter to send a game the Roosters would eventually win - with a Shaun Kenny-Dowall intercept - into sudden death extra time.

"I just can't believe how that game unfolded," Tate said. "I can't believe how they packed that scrum. I am still in shock. It is such an empty feeling. It is almost surreal.

"It doesn't feel like we are finished."

Having failed to produce their best form against the Titans on Friday night, Tate said the Warriors could have few complaints - but that didn't make their elimination any easier to take.

"When you are playing finals footy you have got to win to keep progressing. We all knew that.

"We definitely had our chances on Friday night to win that game. In the second half we were really coming to get them but we weren't composed enough."

Despite the abrupt end, Tate believed 2010 should be regarded as a successful season. The club had rebounded from 14th to fifth; the likes of Russell Packer and Ben Matulino had emerged as genuine NRL forwards; and talents such as Lewis Brown and James Maloney had announced themselves.

"From where we were last year to where we are now is a huge step forward," he said.

One of just two present Australian internationals to sign with the club, Tate frequently battled injuries during his three seasons at the Warriors. He never, however, regretted his decision to come here.

"When I look back on my time here it is going to be with some really fond memories. We had our son here and we have a huge emotional connection to the place.

"I have loved every minute of it. It is just sad it has finished the way it has.

"But that is the way it goes. That's footy."