The Warriors have no choice but to give young, inexperienced players opportunities after their humiliating Melbourne defeat despite the prospect of more lows, ex-Kiwis captain Adam Blair says.
Blair, who is now a development coach at the Warriors after a 331-game NRL career, said the Warriors were found wanting in attitude, desire and care for one another in the 70-10 loss on Sunday night.
“It comes down to want, to desire and how much you care for each other. First and foremost, you’ve got to care for your [fellow] players out there,” Blair said of the record defeat.
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“We had six sets total in that second half - I don’t even know if that’s heard of.”
After losing Josh Curran and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to injuries early in the second half, Blair said the Warriors lacked belief as they leaked 10 tries and completed just two sets in a 31-minute second-half onslaught.
“Most likely the belief that kicks in when you lose a couple of players, people playing out of position - do you actually believe that you can beat them? Believing what you can do individually and collectively,” he said.
Blair said coach Nathan Brown, who accused some of his players of giving up in the second half, had no choice but to turn to the younger players at the club, even though the former Kiwis captain was “unsure about the depth beyond the guys that are on the field”.
“It is now about giving young guys opportunities in those right positions,” he said.
“Mostly likely we’re going to have some lows before we have some highs.”
Blair did point out that it was important to play young players in their correct positions and that he felt for hooker Taniela Otukolo.
The 19-year-old spent 22 tough minutes in the backrow and fell victim to a fend from Ryan Papenhuyzen as the Storm fullback scored one of his two tries.
“I feel sorry for one kid in particular, Taniela Otukolo, a nine that’s played five games off the bench, stuck into a second-row position that has to make precise decisions,” Blair said.
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“Him being a kid, it was tough watching those kinds of things happen.”
The Warriors had a longer-term focus on getting their development and pathways to a level where they were producing players prepared for the NRL, Blair said.
“If we can get that right and be patient with it, in four or five years’ time you’ll reap those rewards,” he said.
“So we’re not getting players that haven’t played too much rugby league, that have played rugby union and putting them out on there on the big stage.
“You’ve got to get a better understanding of the game and that’s where we’ve got to give back to these kids, help them develop and understand the game of rugby league.”
Storm culture the example
Blair was uniquely placed to comment on the cultures at the both the Warriors and Storm having played for both clubs in his 331-game NRL career.
After moving to Australia in his teens, Blair’s first pre-season with the Storm was in 2003, coach Craig Bellamy’s first season in charge.
“Back then it was his way or the highway, so you just adapted because if you didn’t you’d find yourself out the door,” Blair said.
“Only the strongest survive so I was very lucky to hang on in there - tough times for sure.”
Right from the start, Bellamy put on an emphasis on developing mental toughness among his players, using the club’s infamous military-style boot camps and stints on worksites to develop it.
“The one thing that he pointed out when we were there was that he wanted mentally tough players, so you put yourself in those kinds of situations when it comes to training,” Blair said.
“You do things that have got nothing to do with rugby league to challenge you in those tough times.
“They build a really great culture, and with a great culture comes success.
“If you don’t fit in, you find yourself out there.”
The Warriors needed to implement a similarly demanding culture in order to be successful, Blair said.
“For us the culture is contagious if we do it all the right way,” he said.
“With our culture it’s got to come from the top down.”
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