I wish I had a dollar or every time it looked like the Warriors were ready to stake a claim for genuine title favouritism, only for their season to end in disappointment.
2016 mirrored many other seasons across the ditch, as the Warriors, at times, looked like they could not be stopped, while at other times looking like they could not be bothered.
A late-season fade out saw the Warriors miss the finals, which just a few rounds earlier looked impossible given their form.
The return of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and the arrival of Kieran Foran arguably makes this Warriors side, at least on paper, the most frightening yet.
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Weakness: Inconsistency
The Warriors have the ability to be both the best team in the competition, as well as the worst team in the competition, in a matter of games.
They routinely blow fancied sides away with relative ease, only to be beaten by strugglers just a week or two later.
This inconsistency has plagued them for longer than I can remember, with only a 2011 Grand Final appearance bucking the trend in recent times.
Heaven help the NRL if this side ever finds a way to be at their best week on week.
Strength: Match (and premiership) winning spine
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson, Issac Luke: A combination that is both lethal and arguably the best in the competition.
RTS, Foran and Luke (despite missing the decider) all have premierships to their names, while Johnson has lead his side to glory at an international level.
A lot will depend on how RTS has healed from serious injury, combined with the focus on Kieran Foran, but there is no reason these four can’t etch their names into Warriors history books.
Shaun Johnson hasn’t had a supporting cast like this at his disposal in the past, yet has managed some amazing things. Given what he has achieved in the game, that is a scary thought.
Best Player: Shaun Johnson
Shaun Johnson may be the game’s best player. He may also be just an above average player who is capable of breaking the odd game open when he’s fully firing.
2017 will go a long way to defining the incredibly talented Warriors and Kiwi ace in terms of his standing in the game.
I can’t remember a player who has been the one to individually win a game out of nowhere so often, yet seemingly go missing just as often.
A fully fit and firing Johnson is as close to unstoppable as anyone in the game. He has been forced to do too much in previous seasons, although the addition of Foran could be the making of him as the game’s best player.
Pressure On: Kieran Foran
Few players will enter the 2017 season under more scrutiny and therefore pressure than the Warriors number six.
Foran’s 2016 was a disaster both on and off the field, and the decision to re-register his contract so early has Eels fans fuming.
The best thing for Foran is to be back on the field playing rugby league. I think I speak for the majority of fans when I say I don’t want to read any more negativity about a genius player.
His struggles are well documented, but so are his abilities and accomplishments. If he can overcome the media, and fan, scrutiny, he is the missing piece of the Warriors premiership puzzle.
Prediction: 8th
Honestly, throw a dart at the NRL table, and if it lands anywhere between say third and 13th, there’s a good chance the Warriors can finish there.
This side, on paper, is one of the top in the competition, and there is no reason they can’t be there come late September, or even early October.
That said, if Stephen Kearney can’t unlock the answers many coaches before him have failed to find, another late season fade out, and early Mad Monday is not out of the question.
I honestly have no idea where this side will finish. I don’t think even they know. It’ll be higher than it is low, and I expect them to end their finals drought, but who knows?
