The proven formula Warriors applied when selecting rookie coach Andrew Webster

Ahead of the club’s NRL semi-final against Newcastle, Warriors owner Mark Robinson explains why he took a chance on rookie senior coach Andrew Webster.

Former Penrith assistant coach Andrew Webster has been a revelation in his first season in charge at the Warriors. Credit: NRL Images.

Warriors owner Mark Robinson has lauded rookie coach Andrew Webster with the ultimate praise by declaring he could become the next Ivan Cleary.

In the countdown to the most important match in over a decade for the Warriors, Robinson has also offered rare insight into how Webster negotiated his first NRL coaching contract without a manager.

Ahead of the club’s sold-out clash with Newcastle, Robinson began the conversation with this masthead by explaining why he and Warriors CEO Cameron George are poised to extend the 41-year-old’s future beyond his current 2025 contract.

“He did the original deal by himself with me and Cam,” Robinson said.

“That’s the best way to be.

“We‘ll extend it further, we’ve just got to sit down and discuss the length of it.

“He doesn’t have a manager.

“So we’ve just said to him, let’s get the season over with and then we’ll put a package together.

“He’s going to get better as a coach and crucially, both he and his wife absolutely love New Zealand.

“You’d have to say he’s the Dally M coach of the year. He’s got the entire nation behind him.

“This is someone that could be another Ivan Cleary.”

The deeply passionate, committed and at-times eccentric Robinson offered a quirky insight into what originally drew the club to Webster, who was working as an assistant coach to Cleary at Penrith when the Warriors came calling.

Former Penrith assistant coach Andrew Webster has been a revelation in his first season in charge at the Warriors. Picture: NRL Images.

“I had met Webby two or three times over the previous couple of years,” Robinson said.

“I knew he was a good dude.

“When I saw what he was doing at Penrith, I thought, ‘Hell, this guy could be the one for us.

“Being a red head that was even better for me.

“I had a lot of mates that were red heads growing up and they’re pretty feisty. They’re good dudes, who work hard and they know how to handle it when people hang shit on them, because they cop it from the day they’re born.

“So for him, being a coach in the NRL with the pressure, anything that comes his way, is water off a duck’s back.

“He never loses his shit. He’s so calm.’’

Interestingly, George gave a fascinating explanation as to why the Warriors went with an untried rookie coach over an experienced or proven NRL coach following the departure of former coach Nathan Brown halfway through the 2022 season.

“Everyone was telling us we needed a hard nosed coach like Shane Flanagan, Geoff Toovey or Michael Maguire,” George said.

“All those coaches are superb options.

“But if you look at what we needed and what we’ve had when we’ve been most successful, it’s a young coach, who was really well held in terms of their thinking and the way in which they go about their business.

New Zealand Warriors owner Mark Robinson and CEO Cameron George took a punt on Andrew Webster. Picture: Getty Images

“We had Daniel Anderson and success (making the 2002 grand final).

“We had Ivan Cleary and success (making the 2011 grand final).

“Then when I looked at Webby, they’re all cut from the same cloth, in a number of ways.

“Daniel may have been a bit more louder and slightly more intense, in terms of his messaging, but all those coaches carried the same sort of attributes.

“We’ve had ranters and ravers, but I thought we were at the stage where we needed something new that could be exciting, because we didn’t know what we were going to get.

“There was a bit of an element of let‘s risk this, all chips in.

“But it wasn’t a risk on Webby himself, as a character or person, it was only the experience factor.

“If you went to the public, they would have all said, go with Michael Maguire, he‘s proven, as opposed to Webby who would’ve got 1 vote in 100.’’

George added that he spoke with club legend and assistant coach Stacey Jones, plus club leaders Shaun Johnson and Tohu Harris about Webster before the club appointed him.

“I spoke to Tohu and Shaun and Stacey Jones and they all jumped out of their chair because they had experienced Webby when he was here in 2015 as an assistant coach (to Andrew McFadden),’’ George said.

“They knew his footy nous and footy IQ.

“For Stacey Jones, who was the interim coach at that point, Shaun Johnson and Tohu Harris, guys that were going to carry the burden forward, they were really excited about the opportunity, if we could get it done.

“We trusted Webby, we believed in him and decided to work with him.

“It’s a decision that we’re proud to have made and proud that Webby has taken on with absolute commitment.’’

Originally published as The proven formula Warriors applied when selecting rookie coach Andrew Webster