Warriors 2023 preview: Webster needs time to build new era

The New Zealand Warriors have been adrift in the NRL for some time now, with just one finals appearance in the last decade, but with the club finally returning home after three years in Australia thanks to COVID-19, there’s plenty of hope in the air.

While the 2022 NRL season nearly ended in disaster—the club was two wins away from its first wooden spoon—in the end, the Kiwis outlasted the Wests Tigers and managed 15th.

It was, however, still a brutally poor season for the New Zealand team.

The not-so-diamonds, mainly rocks campaign cost Nathan Brown his job, with Stacey Jones seeing out the season in an interim role. In his place, Andrew Webster has taken over as top boss, and has already picked up several strong recruits from Te Maire Martin and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to Mitch Barnett and Marata Niukore.

Webster, billed as a breath of fresh air for the club, is a newly-minted coach. While he’s handled a few top-flight games (two for the Tigers, one for the Panthers), Ivan Cleary’s apprentice is plying his trade in a leading gig for the first time.

Last year’s finish: 15th, six wins and eighteen losses

Last ten NRL campaigns: 15th, 12th, 10th, 13th, 8th, 13th, 10th, 13th, 9th, 11th

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Predicted Round 1 lineup

1. Te Maire Martin
2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
3. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
4. Viliami Vailea
5. Edward Kosi
6. Luke Metcalf
7. Shaun Johnson
8. Addin Fonua-Blake
9. Wade Egan
10. Tohu Harris
11. Mitchell Barnett
12. Marata Niukore
13. Josh Curran
14. Dylan Walker
15. Jazz Tevaga
16. Bunty Afoa
17. Tom Ale

Coach: Andrew Webster

Biggest losses: Reece Walsh Biggest gains: Te Maire Martin, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad

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How 2023 is looking for New Zealand

The whole season hinges on how Webster can get his boys firing. The Warriors have been on a slide in recent years, especially once Brown started building for the future. While no one is expecting the Kiwis to really challenge for anything grand in 2023, a flash of life is desperately needed to convince the New Zealand faithful there’s something worth supporting.

The COVID-19 issues cannot be ignored either though. The club has been playing out of Australia for the last three years in the bubble season and even after everything has opened up again, and their full-season homecoming will have a huge impact.

Add Martin, Nicoll-Klokstad, and Barnett into the mix, and the Warriors are starting to look like a threat on the park again.

Look to Luke Metcalf this season too. The 23-year-old playmaker has already impressed early in the preseason and should be right at the heart of the Webster rebuild.

The Sporting Base can’t see much changing this year, but if the powerbrokers in Auckland stick strong for at least a few seasons, Webster can begin implementing his own style of football—the offloading, glamour play the Warriors have been sorely lacking since they were regularly challenging for silverware in the early 2000s.

Predicted 2023 finish: 15th

First five: Knights (H), Roosters (A), Cowboys (A), Bulldogs (H), Sharks (A)

TopSport odds: Premiers $67, Make Top 4: $17, Make Final 8: $5.50, Miss The Top 8: $1.13

Pass mark: Avoid the club’s first NRL wooden spoon Download Our Free NRL App

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