Head coaches of what in some cases may be loosely described as professional, high-performance teams can usually accept mistakes from their players.
And so, for Warriors coach Nathan Brown to say some of his players "gave up" during their record 70-10 defeat by the Storm seems to be a watershed moment, not just for the club but for a professional New Zealand football team.
“Some people did – I’ve got no doubt at all,” Brown said when asked if the Warriors gave up after trailing only 16-10 at halftime. The visitors gifted the Storm the opening three tries via wing Edward Kosi’s handling errors and Shaun Johnson’s no-look pass, which was gratefully intercepted by Nick Meaney.
READ MORE: Warriors reach humiliating new low as Storm rack up 70
It’s difficult to remember the last time a coach said such a thing about their players here. It’s not uncommon in English football, particularly by those with such notoriously sharp tongues such as Jose Mourinho, who has managed nine clubs in the last 20 years (the high turnover may not be unrelated to the way he treats some of his players).
And yet there’s no one better qualified than Brown to give such an assessment. Kosi’s performance will come under severe scrutiny but the bare figures of the team's implosion almost beggar belief.
The Warriors conceded 52 points in the final 33 minutes and 20 in the last 11. Storm wing Xavier Coates scored three tries in eight minutes and four in total. Depending on the measure, the Warriors had only six or seven sets of possession in the second half and completed two.
It was the Storm’s biggest home win and the Warriors’ biggest ever defeat.
READ MORE: Some Warriors players gave up during Storm thumping - Brown
After winning the sympathy of their fans and many others across the ditch after being on the receiving end of several curious decisions by the match officials in their 22-14 defeat to the Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground a week earlier, the Warriors threw all of that support and goodwill away with a contemptible performance short of brains and, according to Brown, heart.
“I’ve been in this game a long time and it’s disappointing to actually sit here and say that but some people looked for the easiest way out they could and that’s sad.
“That’s not a reflection of all the players - we had some that worked extremely hard and put themselves on the line.”
The giving up thing is a big statement to make - in fact it’s probably the worst thing a coach can say about those who are paid to kick and pass a ball.
When you watch the game back, it's hard to disagree with Brown, whose only course of action is to make wholesale changes to his line-up.
“We had some players that were a little below their best and at that stage when it got harder and harder, thought the easiest option was to look for the easiest option,” he said.
“Unfortunately for a lot of our middle forwards who worked really really hard, and did a great job for us, not having the ball under fatigue made it extremely difficult.”
Asked how he would attempt to fix it, Brown replied: “I have got some ideas, but not public ones.”
He's probably said enough.
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