{"id":334680,"date":"2023-09-28T20:36:29","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T20:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=334680"},"modified":"2023-09-28T22:01:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T22:01:30","slug":"awkward-problem-caused-by-prodigal-sons-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=334680","title":{"rendered":"Awkward problem caused by prodigal son's return"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Warriors<\/a> were one of the big success stories of 2023, rising from second-last to within a game of the grand final.<\/p>\n

Along the way, they captured the hearts and minds of Kiwi-land, leaving the once-mighty All Blacks<\/a> in their wake.<\/p>\n

The team that sacrificed so much during COVID-19 was rewarded with capacity home crowds and responded by playing brilliant attacking football.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Disgruntling contract offer behind Freddy quitting Blues<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> 'You little liar': What Johnson whispered to Ponga<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'How is he a rookie?' Dally M controversy explodes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Rookie Andrew Webster was a deserved winner of the Coach of the Year title while critics on both sides of the Tasman are scratching their heads over how Shaun Johnson missed out on the Dally M Medal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AUCKLAND,<\/p>\n

Regarded as "soft" and unable to go the full 80 minutes by Aussie teams in previous seasons, the Warriors exhibited a new hard edge in 2023.<\/p>\n

They proved formidable opponents every time they went around and their ability to score spectacular tries made them one of the best teams in the game to watch.<\/p>\n

Their reward for a wonderful season – and fourth spot on the ladder – was an emotional game in the second round of the finals at home.<\/p>\n

Stream the 2023 NRL grand final live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The "house full" sign went up early in the week – and the Warriors produced one of their best-ever performances by thumping 10-game straight winners Newcastle 40-10.<\/p>\n

That game appeared to be their grand final, however, and the following week they crashed out of the competition with a 42-12 defeat to the Broncos.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

But 2023 will still go down as one of the Warriors' finest seasons and the start of what looks a promising era under Webster.<\/p>\n

The club recruited smartly, with new buys Marata Niukore, Luke Metcalf, Dylan Walker, Mitchell Barnett, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Te Maire Martin and Jackson Ford all playing significant roles in the new-look Warriors.<\/p>\n

While Johnson missed the Dally M Medal by the slenderest of margins, he made the Team of the Year at halfback, alongside Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (wing) and Addin Fonua-Blake (prop).<\/p>\n

Hooker Wayde Egan was also superb and could easily have made the Dally M team, just losing out to Storm dynamo Harry Grant.<\/p>\n

\"Roger<\/p>\n

Tohu Harris was a tower of strength at lock, leading the side well and often topping the tackle count and\/or running metres.<\/p>\n

Like the Storm, the Warriors made the top four but then suffered heavy defeats to the "big two" – Brisbane and Penrith – in the finals and their job over the summer will be to bridge that gap.<\/p>\n

Best player:<\/strong> Shaun Johnson turned back the clock to his heyday with eight tries, 30 try assists and nine linebreaks, and how he failed to win the Dally M will remain one of the great mysteries of 2023.<\/p>\n

Key signing:<\/strong> Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's return to the NRL is being waited on with great anticipation, but he may find himself shifted from his former home at fullback to the centres because of Nicoll-Klokstad's brilliant form this campaign.<\/p>\n

2024 gains:<\/strong> Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (rugby union), Chanel Harris-Tavita.<\/p>\n

2024 losses:<\/strong> Viliame Vailea (Cowboys).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Warriors were one of the big success stories of 2023, rising from second-last to within a game of the grand final. Along the way, […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334680"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=334680"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334684,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334680\/revisions\/334684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/334682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=334680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=334680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=334680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}