NRL news: What James Fisher-Harris signing really says about New Zealand Warriors | Matty Johns

James Fisher-Harris leaving a four-peat-chasing Panthers side to join the Warriors is a scary proposition for rival teams for more reasons than they realise, MATTY JOHNS writes.

Soon-to-be Warrior James Fisher-Harris. Picture: NRL Photos

The Warriors entered the ARL competition in 1995 to enormous fanfare.

By now, they should’ve won a couple of premierships but have been hurt, hindered and smashed by various challenges; the financial collapse of the Auckland Warriors, enormous coaching instability, Australian clubs not just pinching New Zealand talent, but also having a greater presence in the Pacific, and, of course, the pressure that New Zealand rugby union has exerted.

It was predicted the Warriors would rival the powerhouse Brisbane Broncos in size and stature, yet in 30 years they’ve barely had enough clear air to get close.

But that’s changing, the potential is being realised.

Soon-to-be Warrior James Fisher-Harris. Picture: NRL Photos

The James Fisher-Harris signing from Penrith is probably the biggest in the club’s history. The fact the New Zealand skipper is leaving a club shooting for four successive NRL premierships says everything about the Warriors and where they are heading.

Speaking to former New Zealand Test coach Michael Maguire during the week, he described Fisher-Harris as close to the best leader with whom he’s ever worked.

This club is booming.

WHY WAHS ISN’T A FAD

They’ve had plenty of false dawns but this feels different. You see the ‘Wahs’ have had an erratic existence, boom years are normally followed by a bust.

The big test of coach Andrew Webster’s Warriors was going to be if they could double up on last year’s success.

They’re better than last season.

The Warriors had the potential to manage the Broncos when they joined the competition in 1995.

People are saying the Warriors are a smoky to win this year’s title. Just a smoky? They’re better than that.

But it’s not just the Warriors who are booming, the code in New Zealand has never enjoyed anything like the support it’s getting.

SILVER LINING OF GOING THROUGH HELL

If we go back to those enormously difficult Covid years, they were numerous factors which lifted the respect and profile that rugby league got across the ditch. Out of all the clubs, the Warriors were by far the most dramatically affected, but there’s been a substantial silver lining.

The sacrifices and the class in which the Warriors club and its players dealt with their circumstance drew praise and admiration from all. The Warriors were, at one point, based in The Central Coast town of Terrigal, where the locals fell in love with the team, through the respect and kindness the players showed to the people of the community.

All this while those players were experiencing great emotional hardship, dragged away and kept away from their families back home.

Across Australia, rival supporters took on the Warriors as their second team, while a neighbour of mine abandoned the club he’s supported his whole life and can now be seen most weekends in his ‘WAHS’ T-shirt and hat.

In New Zealand, the Warriors, once a symbol of underachievement, were now a symbol of national pride.

And there was also the fact that the NRL was close to the first sport in the world to restart its competition. The code was given a whole fresh set of eyes, people who were desperate for any respite and entertainment while enduring lockdown.

In Las Vegas, I spoke to Americans and Canadians who first saw the game during these times and quickly became diehard fans. One young American fellow told me and Gorden Tallis that he actually wrote a book on the rules of rugby league and distributed it around his town. Likewise at Magic Round last year, there were a large groups of travelling supporters from Dunedin, in New Zealand’s South Island, an area renowned for its rugby union fanaticism, and potentially the NRL’s next expansion destination.

Six straight sellouts for the Warriors. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

One of the group, a large fellow with hands like baseball mitts told me: “I’ve packed into a few rugby union scrums in my day”. His nose gave that away.

“The only reason I started watching rugby league was because it was the only bloody thing on, now I’m hooked.”

PROOF WEBSTER’S WARRIORS ARE DIFFERENT

All that could’ve wore off quickly if the Warriors didn’t deliver.

Boy, deliver they have. Too often the Warriors’ wins and successes had been built on sand, relying on offloads and high-risk passing to attack and get results. When the passes stuck, they won. When they didn’t, they didn’t.

Talented, flamboyant, erratic, inconsistent. The Warriors are now the most deliberate team in the competition; every player knows their role and what the team is trying to achieve on every play, in every set.

The Warriors fought their way back into their match with the Sea Eagles. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

The foundation of their success is attacking discipline and high-energy defence. The balance of the squad is close to perfect, with two key men the glue.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Grand final-winning coach Chris Anderson would say “give me a great front-rower and a great halfback and I’ll win you a title.”

I bet Anderson would like his chances with Shaun Johnson and Addin Fonua-Blake.

Fonua-Blake is the competition’s best front-row forward, barely have we seen a big man with such speed and delicate late footwork.

And Johnson? What more can be written … Amazing.

Losing Fonua-Blake could have been a major blow for the Warriors. In proof of their new-found status, they got the best possible replacement in Fisher-Harris.

DRAWN TO A TITLE-WINNING CONCLUSION

The Warriors could easily be undefeated this season. Their only poor performance in 2024 came against Manly in Round 6.

Ironically, it’s that performance which has me convinced this team can greet the chequered flag.

For most of that game, the Warriors were completely out of sync and had no rhythm. High on errors, low on energy. It clearly wasn’t their day. Yet, somehow they were able to pull themselves together with only minutes remaining and snatch a draw.

Title-winning teams do that.

Originally published as NRL news: What James Fisher-Harris signing really says about New Zealand Warriors | Matty Johns