NRL: Warriors hit back at 'circus stories'

Senior Warriors players have dismissed rumours of disharmony and division within the team and slammed "garbage" media reports for portraying the club in a bad light.

In recent weeks the under-siege club has been beset by rumours of dissent, and depending on the what version you hear or read, the Warriors are a team divided along racial lines and unhappy under the leadership of captain Ryan Hoffman and beleaguered coach Andrew McFadden.

Star halfback Shaun Johnson has also been the subject of unfounded talk that he is offside with teammates for alerting club management to players abusing prescription pills and energy drinks.

The trio has slammed the rumours as false and described inaccurate reports throughout social and mainstream media as "circus stories" serving only to undermine the club.

Despite team morale taking a battering after losing three of their past four games and the club enduring one of the darkest periods in their 21-year history, the playing group and management insist they remain united and committed to working together to dig themselves out of their lowly 14th place NRL ladder standing.

"They're coming from external sources," Hoffman said of the various rumours. "They're certainly not coming from within the club. People from outside this club are only speculating on what's happening here.

"It's a very harmonious environment. We've had a good chat to each other within the club and I can categorically dismiss any of those rumours and they have no basis for facts whatsoever."

Last week the Herald reported a private player's only meeting had seen younger players voice concerns around their ability to speak freely with senior leaders, and while praising McFadden's coaching ability, wing Manu Vatuvei admitted some players found his hard-but-fair and no-nonsense style confronting.

Those admissions led to further suggestions that the club was gripped by unrest, but McFadden says his team is simply unhappy with their current predicament and suffering a lack of confidence after a difficult period that began with the embarrassing 42-0 Anzac Day defeat to Melbourne.

"Look we're certainly aware of the rumours and all of the noise in the media but I can say that there's no rift," he said.

"There's a lot of disappointment, there's no doubt about that, but there's no rift. And we just need to win some footy games and show that style of play that we're known for."

Meanwhile, Johnson angrily denied he had 'dobbed' on his teammates and slammed reporters and columnists for giving life to speculation without offering players a chance to respond.

The 25-year-old admitted the rumours had filtered through to the Warriors inner sanctum and some of his teammates had asked him about their validity before he put their concerns at ease.

"That is just another one of those circus stories where there's no truth to it at all," he said. "I don't know if there was a senior leader that went to the coaching staff but I know it wasn't me. And I've told the players that have asked me that and that was ages ago.

"It's been dealt with, there's no split in the group. Everyone's one, we're all equal. We enjoy being around each other.

"Of late there's been too many of those stories where 'there's a divide in the group', or 'players aren't taking to Hoff (Hoffman)'.

"And that's the thing that probably gets under my skin the most, is that the media will keep writing those stories when they just don't know."

Johnson acknowledges the entire Warriors organisation is feeling the pressure and knows only improved on-field performances and results will ease the strain.

"It's a stressful time for everybody involved with the Warriors. But, look, we've been through these periods before and we've come out (the other side). We'll just keep working hard and we know it will turn for us."