NRL 2020: Todd Payten reveals the real story on how close the Warriors came to quitting
Warriors coach Todd Payten has revealed just how close the team came to shutting down their 2020 season, as they embark on the most unlikely - and heart-warming - run to finals.
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Incoming Cowboys coach Todd Payten is preparing the Warriors for an unlikely tilt at the NRL finals — just months after it almost fell completely apart.
On the weekend he was unveiled as Paul Green’s replacement, Payten has opened up on the moment he thought the Warriors’ season would fold, when he sat anxiously in his Terrigal hotel room dreading a knock on his door.
Just hours earlier he had addressed an emotional and clearly fragile Warriors playing group. The side were at their lowest ebb having been shocked by Stephen Kearney’s sacking in June and getting thumped 50-6 by Melbourne days later. Payten offered an out.
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“At the very beginning, I gave everyone an opportunity to go home right after Steve was sacked,” Payten said.
“I stressed to the lads ‘if anyone wants to go home I understand it but you have (until) 6pm to come and see me in my room. If that’s what you want to do I won’t hold it against you but for everyone else that doesn’t see me I want you to know that I expect you to turn up every day with the right attitude to get the job done’.
“I was a little bit nervous. I got the first tap on the door about 10 minutes after six.”
In came from prop Leivaha Pulu who explained that his pregnant wife had been involved in a car accident in New Zealand and he had to rush home. Shortly after there was another knock. Star wingers David Fusitu’a and Ken Maumalo as well as forwards Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa all gave their reasons for needing to leave.
“They came and saw me as a group and said they were struggling and wanted to go home,” Payten said.
It was about the same time Payten began to think the playing group could walk away from it all. He privately feared the squad was on the brink of exiting the competition.
“I had moments of it,” Payten said.
“Several different times in the early days. I tried not to spend too much energy on it and I always spoke to the coaches about how we can get better and how we can lift the spirits in the team but I did have a couple of nervous moments. We never gave it much legs to grow.”
The angst centred around the treatment of Kearney. It even left Payten unsure if he wanted to take on the job in fear of it quickly crumbling around him. An untried NRL coach in the toughest of environments could have meant Payten’s head coaching aspirations ended as quickly as they started.
“When I first got the phone call I was uncertain if this was the right opportunity, if I didn’t work out well I thought my reputation would take a hit,” Payten said.
“They wanted an answer quickly. I felt like I had an obligation to the group and the club to lead us out of what was happening.
“(After the Storm game) the players spoke about their frustrations, disappointment, how angry they felt and let down. They finished it off with agreeing with what I said and they wanted to stay. They realised they were fortunate to keep playing footy and wanted to do the right thing by their family and fans back home.”
The benefit of living together is how close it has brought the team. The young players are taking turns cooking for each other. Movie nights have become a regular event with the club booking out a whole cinema, while fishing trips and whale watching has also helped pass the time. The luxury of not travelling back and forth to Auckland has aided preparation and given them a bonus day in lead-up to games.
It has culminated in the most remarkable five weeks of football where they have dropped just one game and that was a six-point loss to competition frontrunners Penrith. It is the best five weeks of football the club has produced since 2018.
“We’ve had to coach by ‘feel’ more than I’ve ever had to,” Payten said.
“With long turn-arounds the natural thing for coaches is to pump as much work into the players as we’ve gone. We’ve gone in a different direction giving them two days off after a review.”
It comes as Payten could only name 20-players to play the Eels on Sunday through injuries or suspensions and they will be scrambling to field a full team next week against the Sharks.
A win against the out of form Eels will give weight to the most unlikeliest of finals charges. It has Payten believing his side can play finals footy as his time as a Warrior draws to an end after being appointed Cowboys coach from next season.
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“The connection part I always believed was a strong foundation of a good club and a good team,” Payten said.
“Whether you’re winning or losing it’s important to enjoy what you do. That’s probably emphasised the last six weeks. I believe we can play finals. I’m not a coach that says we can’t talk about finals. If the players want to think, believe and talk about it I will let them dream. But I’m not going to say ‘if we want to play finals we have to do this and that’.
“All we’ve been doing is enjoying the moment and that’s what we will do.”
Originally published as NRL 2020: Todd Payten reveals the real story on how close the Warriors came to quitting