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Barnett steps up to steer Warriors through murky injury waters
Stephen Foote • April 30th, 2025 11:30 am
Photo: Photosport
The NZ Warriors have been defiant in the face of long odds and a slew of critical injuries, surging to fourth in the competition standings through the early stages of the NRL season.
One of the relatively unsung heroes amid that stretch has been Mitchell Barnett, who's temporarily shunned the co-captaincy role to step up as fully fledged skipper in the absence of injured cohort James Fisher-Harris.
And step up, the reigning Simon Mannering Medallist certainly has, taking the helm and steering the side to four wins in their past five games.
With the Warriors losing a wealth of experience both in the off-season with Tohu Harris and Shaun Johnson's retirement, and nursing an injury ward including Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak alongside Fisher-Harris, the man they call 'Barney' has shouldered arms and taken the wheel with aplomb.
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There's never been any doubting Barnett's ability to lead with his actions, but his ability to impact his troops with his words has been where coach Andrew Webster says the real development has come.
"I reckon Mitchell would be really, really satisfied with the difference in his leadership between now and this time last year," Webster explained.
"Last year was all around, I'll show you the way with my actions. He still leads exactly the same way but he's very polished at talking to the group when they need calming down."
Not that Webster is surprised. He's seen this kind of leadership brewing in the Australian since his days coaching against him with the Penrith Panthers.
"I couldn't believe just how aggressive he still is, but he's so disciplined and calm and clear," Webster recalled.
"When I got the (Warriors) job I started watching him closely when I was still at Penrith and I just couldn't believe his work ethic and how hard he tried.
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"When I rang him and spoke to him on the phone, I couldn't believe how much he cared about the team and how much of an impact he had, and I thought that was leadership stuff."
That leadership stuff, Webster adds, has rubbed off on some of his fellow veterans, inspiring the likes of Kurt Capewell, Wayde Egan, and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to find their voices.
"He’s a bit more vocal than Tohu,” said half Chanel Harris-Tavita. "But he's the same as Tohu in that he leads with his actions.
"As much as he talks at training and in games, he’s always doing the little things that not many people want to do.
"That's why he has the respect of the whole team. Fish has been a big loss for us. But in the last few weeks, Barney has really progressed as a leader.
"It's similar to last year. We lost a few players, were down on troops but Barney really stepped up and led us through that tough time.
"He's doing the same thing now. It’s good that we’re getting results off the back of it.”
The Warriors will try to make it three-straight when they head to Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium for the blockbuster Magic Round, where they'll take on the sixth-placed North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday.
And with Fisher-Harris, Tuivasa-Sheck and Watene-Zelezniak all expected to return in a fortnight's time, the Warriors are well poised to build on the promising start to their campaign.
