Elephant in room Warriors must address; why return could spark growing pains: State of Play

The elephant in the room for the Warriors is how to replace the best paid prop in the game in Addin Fonua-Blake who is looking to return to Australia after 2024.

Meanwhile, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s return could spark growing pains as he builds combinations with his teammates in a new position at centre.

And the Warriors have no shortage of halves partners for Shaun Johnson, but who gets the No.6 jersey and who replaces the No.7 when he retires are huge unknowns.

Read on for Warriors’ State of Play.

In his first season with the club Andrew Webster restored pride in the jersey and built them from a cellar dweller team into a top four side in 2023. Webster was a deserved winner of the Dally M coach of the year award after guiding the Warriors to within a game of the NRL grand final in his first season at the helm. His ability to not only get the best out of veteran halfback Shaun Johnson, whose career was at a crossroads, but guide him to within a whisker of taking out the Dally M Medal spoke volumes of his coaching credentials. Getting the best out of a playing group that has been the underachievers for so long is the biggest vote of confidence in Webster’s ability. However, the Warriors won’t be taken lightly next season and will be the hunted as opposed to the hunters, so they will have to be ready if they want to remain a top four team and compete for the title in 2024. Webster will be helped by his three assistants, club legend Stacey Jones, Justin Morgan and Richard Agar.