Are the Warriors trying to stop the NRL season?
-Staff writers
28/06/20
With the recent sacking of their coach and subsequent comments by their caretaker, Payten, it is a real possibility that the Warriors are trying to get the whole NRL competition put on hiatus.
Everyone is appreciative of the Warriors heading 'across the ditch' to give the punters rugby league to watch but some at Warriors HQ felt at the time that they were shooting themselves in the foot and are now desperately trying to rectify the situation.
The on field results were bad enough but piled on top of that was the emotional toll of the players being away from their families and friends for weeks and weeks. Morale at the Warriors has been plummeting and hope for improving results are disappearing fast. Encouragement and thanks from grateful rugby league fans was now having little positive effect on the players who just want to go home.
Then,in a surprising twist, coach Stephen Kearney was sacked, by phone, and from overseas. The leader of this courageous team was unceremoniously dumped with the only reason proffered being: 'we had been thinking about it for some time.'
Journalists were frantically ringing their contacts in an attempt to find out if there was more to the story. It seemed too bizarre that the Warriors owners would destroy so much goodwill and hurt their players so much without an ulterior motive.
Eventually we had a conversation with someone close to the board who was promised anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.
It was revealed that because the Warriors are experiencing such poor on field results they feel spending any more isolated time in Australia will be detrimental to the longer term results of the team and players.
Management want to write off this year, the players want to go home and everyone else involved wants to forget this 'Annus Horribilis'.
The way this has been stage managed has been interesting. The Warriors understand they can't just head to the nearest airport, no matter how much they want to, so they had to do something else.
First, the coach Kearney was fired. Leaving us with the feeling of a captain-less ship and homesick crew. Is that the first stirrings of mutiny we hear?
Then the caretaker coach Payten steps up. Normally in every previous case of interim coaches the message is how the team will band together, really dig deep, hope to repay the faith of the fans. Did Payten do any of this? No. Instead we hear about how sad the players are, distraught even, furthering the seeds of discontent.
Following on did Payten lay down the law, demanding his contracted players knuckle down and get to work? Again, no. In fact throughout his surprising press conferences he seemed to be almost asking his players to go home. 'He wouldn't stand in anyone's way,' he said., 'if players wished to return to New Zealand.'
It just seemed too strange to be true, but now the story is clear.
Warriors management have had enough of this season. They aren't making any money from gate takings, their players are not around to help out charitable causes or meet sponsors, coverage in the news is dwindling as Rugby Union has re-started, and the lack of positive results are beginning to make themselves felt as sponsors are drying up.
Make no mistake, the Warriors don't want to be playing any more this season and sacking their coach and encouraging their players to return home is a strategy to shift responsibility to the NRL so the Warriors avoid being seen as the villains.
It will be interesting to see what happens next, assuming a second wave of Covid-19 doesn't make the decision for the NRL first.
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