Warriors assistant coach Stacey Jones points to off-field issues in woeful NRL season

Warriors assistant coach Stacey Jones has revealed that off-field problems contributed to the club’s woeful NRL campaign.

The Warriors slumped to a 13th-place finish in the regular season, missing the finals when some pundits had tipped them to be title contenders.

Expectations had been inflated by a top-four finish and finals berth the previous year, when a semifinal win over Newcastle was sandwiched between heavy losses to eventual finalists Penrith and Brisbane.

But the Auckland club were unable to attain that same type of form, winning only nine of 24 games.

With a two-week review into the season recently completed, Jones told Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine that a number of issues had been identified to explain the downturn.

Warriors assistant coach Stacey Jones has revealed that off-field problems contributed to the club’s woeful NRL campaign.

The Warriors slumped to a 13th-place finish in the regular season, missing the finals when some pundits had tipped them to be title contenders.

Expectations had been inflated by a top-four finish and finals berth the previous year, when a semifinal win over Newcastle was sandwiched between heavy losses to eventual finalists Penrith and Brisbane.

But the Auckland club were unable to attain that same type of form, winning only nine of 24 games.

With a two-week review into the season recently completed, Jones told Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine that a number of issues had been identified to explain the downturn.

Jones said defensive resiliency was a big factor in the narrow defeats and one statistic illustrated that.

Last season, when opponents were inside the Warriors’ 20-metre line, the assistant coach said it took an average of 21 tackles before they reached the tryline. This season, that number was nine, falling from second-best to second-worst in the NRL.

But after the comprehensive review, Jones – now preparing for the upcoming Pacific Championship as head coach of the Kiwis – was optimistic a similar reversal was possible next year.

“The first week was players and the second week was us as coaches,” he said. “We were put through some pretty thorough stuff and we feel like we’re heading in the right direction in regards to what we’ve got to do next year to be better.

“We’ve recruited some really good players, and some young kids that have had a bit of taste of NRL footy, we need them to step up next year.”

That will be especially true in the absence of Shaun Johnson, the retiring halfback leaving a leadership void. While Jones did not discount the possibility of Johnson making a shock return to the Kiwis, injuries meant this was the right time to walk away from the NRL.

“Unfortunately for Shaun, he had an Achilles problem that he got in the preseason and couldn’t quite shake off,” Jones said. “When the injury came and the pressure he was under and the pressure he puts on himself to perform, his body told him it was enough.”

Te Maire Martin appears the most likely player to fill Johnson’s No 7 jersey, while Jones also pointed to Chanel Harris-Tavita and Luke Metcalf as options. He also said 19-year-old Jett Cleary – signed away from father Ivan and the Penrith Panthers – would be training with the first-grade side.

But Martin was the man entrusted with the responsibility when Johnson was injured this season, despite suffering from fitness concerns of his own.

“He’s very tough,” Jones said. “A lot of people don’t understand what he went through this year – he hurt his neck and was so sore every time he went into a tackle or made a tackle.

“He had to get surgery about a month ago – time was up for him. He’s going to come back a better player next year. He got some really good experience when Shaun was out, handled the team really well, so it’s going to be interesting.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission