Warriors head coach Andrew Webster has given fresh insight into his coaching style at the Warriors, sharing the influence Ivan Cleary has had on his methods and the love he's always had for New Zealand.
It comes as the team are in second place on the table, after a last-gasp 32-30 win over the Sharks on the weekend.
Speaking on Breakfast this morning, Webster said: "I'm really happy the way we're going, we've got a long way to go but a lot of hard work from the players and the staff so we're happy so far."
Asked why he'd taken on the head coach role, Webster said he'd always seen the team's potential.
"I saw it last time I was here [from 2015 to 2017 as an assistant coach], always kept a close eye on them, I felt like the players they recruited for this year were good and I love living here, I love the city and passion about the place," he said.
"I'd love the Warriors to do well and thought it was a challenge that I'd be ready for and a challenge I'd be good for."
Cleary taught him a lot about how to coach with the culture at the Warriors, Webster added.
"You look at Ivan's manner, how relaxed and calm he is... I think his manner suits the culture here, I think he works with the player instead of against them or standing over the top of the player, so I think I've learned a lot about that from Ivan," he said.
"Him and I always talked about the Warriors when we worked together because I'd been here and he'd been there and, how much we love the place and the city itself and the country... and he actually went through the whole process with me when I was looking at the job.
"He was very supportive, he said 'go for it', he's still very passionate about the place himself."
Questioned on his coaching style, Webster said he'd "like to say [he is] a player's coach" like Cleary.
"You can stand over the top and yell and scream, that's certainly not me," he explained.
"So we were terrible at half time on the weekend, I mean that first half on the weekend... I think there was a few fans that switched off.
"I'm not that guy that's gonna yell and scream at them, I can be strong but I'll work with the player and talk to him, tell them what they're doing wrong. We went through exactly the same process at half time that we have every week.
"Went around, spoke to every individual player, called it out, 'this is what we're doing really poorly boys, this is not us, we haven't done this all year [and] I don't know why we're doing it now, so if you honestly simplify this and just fix this, you're gonna have a big impact'."
Webster said he was confident the game could be turned around.
"We didn't have to turn it around fast, we had to slowly do it," he added.
"We had to use the full 40, which we did, that was pleasing because we got back to a game plan, got back to doing what's worked all year, and we saw the results."
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