Can Warriors finally land NRL title after so much heartache?

After performing beyond expectations in 2023, can the Warriors deliver at last - or will the curse of inconsistency once again come back to haunt them?

Sunday’s Tania Page looks at the key issues that have cost New Zealand’s only NRL franchise over the years, and asks those in the know how they can turn despair into success.

Having promised so much when they launched in 1995 the Warriors have never won a premiership in their 29 year history. Despite seeming to have the right ingredients: great teams, star players and coming achingly close on two occassions.

Rugby league legend Sir Graham Lowe says they simply haven’t had the right people in charge.

“They’ve had people who have given their whole lives to the game and tried to do their best. But at the end of the day, some of the coaches they’ve had couldn’t coach a chocho vine over an outside dunny.”

Over at Warriors HQ CEO Cameron George, who joined the club in 2017, agrees that while the passion has always been there, a lot of chopping and changing at the top has hurt the NRL team’s performances.

“We've had nine different owners, a similar amount of coaches and the likes. It wasn't until Mark Robinson and I took over that we finally found stability.”

Robinson bought the club in 2019. He’s a mate of Lowe’s, who credits the textile businessman with injecting everyone at the club with accountability.

“I think he's (Robinson) put a stake in the ground. And he's driven an expectation into the middle of that field there at Mount Smart Stadium that he will not accept ordinariness,” Lowe said.

At a packed Mt Smart for their pre-season game against the Redcliff Dolphins, the fans are typically rowdy and outspoken.

They’ve been put through the wringer over the years, riding the highs and lows of their club.

In the stands we meet Renee and Josh who’ve both been season ticket holders for well over a decade. They point to greying hair as a sign of their loyalty to the Warriors.

“It’s been hard being his wife, like he has been down, he’s been depressed,” Renee said.

But the overall vibe in the stands is one of excitement and belief that the Warriors are running hot after ping-ponging up and down the table for years.

It’s their turnaround from finishing near the bottom of the competition in 2022 to top four last year that captured the nation, seeing long time league fans rewarded for the loyalty and new fans climb aboard the Warriors waka.

From parliament to school grounds up and down the country "Up the Wahs" became a famous refrain.

Star half-back Shaun Johnson says he was a “Warriors Tragic” as a kid, plotting the team’s progress as he played for Orewa College and several clubs on Auckland’s North Shore.

He’s upfront and honest when it comes to his own performances.

“There was no beating around the bush with how inconsistent we were - as a footy team, as a club, on all levels of involvement we weren't consistent. Right through to my own performances, ups and downs.”

He sees it as a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.

“If you look at a lot of the great teams, successful teams in the world, they've had stability from the top,” he said. “And it works both ways, you know, to have stability at the top, you need to win. But to win, you need stability at the top.”

The ultimate destabilising factor came in 2020 when Covid-19 travel restrictions meant the entire team had to move to Australia to keep the NRL competition intact. Although initially told their families would follow, within a month that changed and the team faced enormous uncertainty and isolation.

Captain Tohu Harris, who towers over most of the team, is a quietly spoken man who was there through it all.

“We had guys living out of their family home for the first time. A few guys made the tough call of coming back home because it was becoming too hard,” he said.

“So you're not fully focused on the job at hand. And when you're playing against guys who are, it makes it very difficult.”

It showed on the field and the hurt was evident in many post-match press conferences. The NRL financially supported the club and its owner Robinson dug into his own pockets to guarantee the club’s future, providing some reassurance.

For straight talking experts like Lowe some of their performances were a shambles.

“I think they've been an absolute joke at times, not only to themselves and to the club, but to the game,” is his outspoken verdict.

George shifts in his chair uncomfortably and his speech quickens in response to criticism of the club during Covid. “We had grenades thrown at us all the time. But we desperately just needed to get home. And that was the answer.”

For Lowe, who’s had international success coaching the Kiwis, Wigan and Queensland to historic victories, it showed a lack of depth and professionalism.

What happens under stress and under pressure, if you haven't got a base plan to fall back on and the faith, in yourself, in the coach and the plan itself, you just disintegrate and when you disintegrate, the opposition just run through. And that has happened on a lot of occasions.

After more than two years the Warriors finally moved home to Auckland and set about a reset. They employed a sports psychologist to do a cleansing session with the entire club, from the players to the staff who handle sales and merchandise.

Harris recalls the hesitation many people felt going into that meeting. “No one really wanted to speak about that period. But I guess you never know what people hold on to. And so it gave everyone an opportunity to say something to just let it out. And then we could all move on together.”

No one could have guessed how much the Warriors would move on, after finishing almost bottom of the ladder in 2022, when yet another new coach came on board.

Although a rookie as a head coach Andrew Webster had pedigree, having already tasted success as assistant coach at Penrith Panthers with back-to-back titles. He jumped at the chance to take on the role.

“I wanted the job because I felt like I had affiliation with the Warriors. I didn't want to be a head coach at just any club. So if six, seven, eight teams offered me a job, I wasn't gonna say yes to all of them.”

Having already spent time at the Warriors as an assistant coach Webster knew what he was walking in to.

“I knew the culture, I knew the people. I felt like I could make a real difference. And what Cameron and Robinson wanted to achieve was perfect for me.”

Tactically Webster works backwards, by analysing the four stats he believes determines who wins in the NRL. He and his team of assistants then construct drills to achieve those outcomes, but in a way that suits the players’ strengths.

He says he’s fallen into the trap before of designing systems he loves but haven’t suited teams he’s worked with.

It is an ultra-tailored approach that may have fallen flat if it weren’t delivered by a man who is a natural born communicator.

“My job is to get to know them on a personal basis, create a relationship and then understand how I need to coach that individual,” he said. “Does he like to be spoken to strongly, does he want it pointed out in black and white or do I need to put an arm around him?”

Both Johnson and Harris agree Webster has had a huge impact on the culture at the Warriors.

Harris said: “He's been awesome. He's very detailed and leaves no stone unturned. Every single player in the club, I believe has gotten better since he's arrived.”

On the walls of the club’s base at Mt Smart, photos, jerseys and sketches of famous players like Stacey Jones cover the walls from floor to ceiling.

It’s a reminder to everyone who walks past it daily of the missteps and triumphs, thousands of eyes peering out, fists clenched on bare knees below the hems of shorts of varying tightness and length to track the passing years.

Looking up at this towering bank of memories, CEO George is cognisant of the club’s history and the weight of expectation on the Warriors now that they appear to have entered a new phase in their evolution.

“A lot of memories here, of all the blood sweat and tears of all the men and women who’ve worn these jumpers. We want that premiership for New Zealand, not just one but many of them,” he said.

With efforts to make the expectation of success central at the club and to get everyone’s buy-in, Lowe said the change he is seeing from the outside is obvious and inspiring.

“Without any doubt whatsoever, the Warriors have definitely turned a corner,” he said. “They used to drive that way for hope. Now they've turned into expectation, it's totally different.”