NRL 2023: Peter O’Sullivan’s role in building the current winning Warriors team
The current Warriors’ side is filled with mostly rival-club rejects – meet the man who knew they would be the key to turning the club’s form around.
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This is the man with the best eye in rugby league.
A recruitment guru who built the Warriors from an easybeat club to shock premiership contenders with players who were mostly rival-club rejects.
Peter O’Sullivan then left to work alongside old super coach Wayne Bennett to build the Redcliffe Dolphins into the NRL’s success story of the season.
He has a long-established reputation as the sharpest eye in the game, having found Greg Inglis and Israel Folau as teenagers for the Melbourne Storm and then Boyd Cordner, Latrell Mitchell and Joey Manu for the Roosters, long before they would become household names.
O’Sullivan and former Warriors coach Nathan Brown signed 11 of the Warriors players who will run onto Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night for the preliminary final against the Broncos.
Plus injured five-eighth Luke Metcalf, who was outstanding before being hurt.
Most of their dozen signings were unwanted at their previous clubs.
Canterbury offloaded Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Marcelo Montoya, who have been two of the form wingers in the competition this year.
Both have averaged more than 150 metres per game this year.
The Bulldogs even contributed $400,000 a year to Watene-Zelezniak, the favourite for Dally M winger of the year, who had previously been on $800,000 at Belmore.
Montoya couldn’t find a club before O’Sullivan offered him less than $150,000 to join the Warriors.
The Warriors added only Raiders fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Dragons forward Jackson Ford this year to a team that was pre-built for their new coach Andrew Webster.
Champion halfback Shaun Johnson was a risky signing after a disappointing stint at Cronulla.
“Browny wanted an experienced halfback who could manage a game and kick the football,” O’Sullivan said.
“So we signed him. He didn’t make an immediate impact but he’s been exceptional this year. We thought he could help us and we could help him. Webby has got the very best out of him.”
Recruitment was never easy for the Warriors.
Not when they finished 13th (2019), 12th (2010), 10th (2021) and 15th (2022) before the massive turnaround under their new rookie coach.
“It’s always hard to attract players at struggling clubs,” O’Sullivan said.
“So we went looking for undervalued, under-appreciated players.
“Guys we thought had the potential, given an opportunity at a different club.”
Then there was O’Sullivan’s network of contacts and the scouts who suggested he go to check out a youngster, Rocco Berry, in schoolboy rugby union in Wellington back in 2020.
O’Sullivan tracked down his parents straight after the game and offered him a contract to join the Warriors.
“You could see from that one game he was going to be special,” O’Sullivan said.
Berry has been one of the best centres in the competition this year.
Two of the Warriors signings have come from the Sydney Roosters, a club renowned for keeping their best youngsters in Bondi Junction.
Not in the case of Josh Curran and Adam Pompey, both of whom accepted O’Sullivan’s offers, knowing the passage to first grade NRL would be more achievable with the Warriors.
And then the best signing of them all – rampaging front-rower Addin Fonua-Blake.
“His manager came to us and said Manly were prepared to release him,” O’Sullivan said.
“He was having a few issues in Sydney. So our sell was to get him a fresh start in New Zealand. And he hasn’t looked back.”
Having an eye for talent, strong contact networks in junior pathways and good relationships with the player agents are crucial for successful recruitment bosses.
But O’Sullivan says: “There’s no magic formula. The big part is not paying too much money for players. Getting value in the salary cap is the big thing for overall roster balance.
“You see clubs that pay over the top for one or two players and it leaves them short in other areas.
“You always look at the character of players too. You can’t have all choir boys because you’ll run last but you don’t want bad people in your organisation either.”
REBUILDING THE WARRIORS
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak: Unwanted at Bulldogs
Rocco Berry: Found in schoolboys rugby union in Wellington
Adam Pompey: Unwanted by the Sydney Roosters
Marcelo Montoya: Unwanted at Bulldogs
Luke Metcalf: Poached from Cronulla
Shaun Johnson: Unwanted by Cronulla
Addin Fonua-Blake: Released from Manly
Wayde Egan: Released by Penrith, who had Api Koroisau
Marata Niukore: Poached from Parramatta
Bayley Sironen: Unwanted by South Sydney
Josh Curran: Released by the Roosters
Ali Leiataua: Signed from Kings school rugby union
Originally published as NRL 2023: Peter O’Sullivan’s role in building the current winning Warriors team
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