{"id":90127,"date":"2021-06-23T23:50:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T23:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=90127"},"modified":"2021-06-24T04:00:53","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T04:00:53","slug":"you-listen-how-gus-has-transformed-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=90127","title":{"rendered":"'You listen': How Gus has transformed Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Considered by many to be one of the leading voices in the rugby league world, it's no surprise that when Phil Gould<\/a> walks in the room, "you listen", says Warriors playmaker Kodi Nikorima.<\/p>\n

Gould's storied history in rugby league as a player coach, commentator, writer and administrator is well documented.<\/p>\n

He was just 30 when he guided the Bulldogs to a title as coach in 1988 before adding another premiership ring to his hand in 1991 with Penrith. He's also the most successful NSW Blues coach in history with six Origin series wins.<\/p>\n

But most recently, Gould has taken up a role as consultant for the Warriors in pathways and development, which Nikorima claims has done wonders for the club.<\/p>\n

While the Warriors haven't played finals football since 2018, the club, which has also welcomed new coach Nathan Brown this season, is on the path to a brighter future.<\/p>\n

\"Gus<\/p>\n

"I think the future is pretty bright, especially under his (Nathan Brown) guidance," Nikorima told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"He's a quality coach and I feel he knows how to get the best out of his players. You don't ever want to be on his bad side, especially when it comes to me.<\/p>\n

"No doubt we're slowly building a pretty good squad here.<\/p>\n

"I will mention Phil Gould, having him onboard especially has helped a lot too. He pops in everyone now and then.<\/p>\n

"He's so knowledgeable. I remember when he was talking to me before the Raiders game [back in May], he was saying how when I play my best footy, I can help this team out.<\/p>\n

"Having someone like him help talk to me like that gives me confidence. This time under Brownie and Gus, the sky is the limit."<\/p>\n

\"Kodi<\/p>\n

And when Gould is around it's simple according to Nikorima, revealing he inspires you to "train better."<\/p>\n

"His (Gould) presence, especially when he rocks up to training, he has an aura about him," Nikorima said.<\/p>\n

"He's one of the smartest men in rugby league. Having him here at training, it makes you want to train better and whenever he talks to you, you listen.<\/p>\n

"I was in a meeting when he was talking to our outside backs, and it was mainly for them, that if they want the ball they've got to talk… how is anyone going to know what you want or what you want to do.<\/p>\n

"I've just found his presence among the group has definitely been a boost."<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

For Nikorima, life as an NRL player has been a little more comfortable since he departed the Brisbane Broncos in 2019, which saw him struggle to retain a spot in the top 17 during the back end of his stay.<\/p>\n

But as a Warrior, the 27-year-old has owned a spot in the halves and is now focused on how he can be a better leader for the club in the aftermath of fellow playmaker Blake Green's departure.<\/p>\n

"When Blake Green left, I had to step up as a leader," Nikorima revealed.<\/p>\n

"That's definitely something I lacked growing up where I didn't talk as much. That's something I've learned over the years.<\/p>\n

"To be a good player and to be more consistent, you need to talk, otherwise your teammates around you won't know what's going on.<\/p>\n

"I'd say I still haven't completed that (leadership) to what I know I'm capable of, but I've definitely grown in that department of my game."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPsLkN9g939\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Kodi Nikorima, Kalyn Ponga, Jordan Kahu and Johnny Tuivasa-Sheck channelled their inner Rambo as they trained for<\/strong><\/em> Call of Duty<\/strong><\/em><\/a>'s 80s Action Heroes Season 3 Reloaded, with a classic 80s training montage.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

While on the field the Warriors are all business, off it there's still time for fun and Nikorima detailed a special recent gaming experience he shared with some other NRL stars.<\/p>\n

"We've gotten involved in some fun content recently for the new season three reloaded in Cold War and War Zone," Nikorima said.<\/p>\n

"It was really cool. Johnny made some really cool content with our 80s training montage which is really fun<\/p>\n

"It was nice to step aside from footy and show what we do outside of footy. This is what I like do to do away from footy and it's nice to get that downtime, and I just love playing games.<\/p>\n

"Playing games with my teammates, I'm one of those guys who just loves having fun outside of footy."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Considered by many to be one of the leading voices in the rugby league world, it's no surprise that when Phil Gould walks in the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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\/90127"}],"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=90127"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90129,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90127\/revisions\/90129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}