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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
'We’re rowing in the same direction': Andrew Webster on Warriors' 2025 success
Kieran Bingham • June 18th, 2025 3:00 pm
Photo: AAP
It’s the ultimate running joke: “It’s our year.” But as we enter Round 16, the phrase is starting to feel a lot less tongue-in-cheek.
Sitting third on the NRL ladder with 10 wins already banked, a top-four finish within reach, something is clearly clicking across the entire Warriors organisation after a slow start to the season in Las Vegas.
Ask head coach Andrew Webster where the turnaround started, he won’t point to the table. He’ll point to the bus.
“The boys will just be off their phones, playing games with each other like 16-year-olds,” he said, speaking to Sport Nation's Running It Straight.
“They’re connecting. And it matters.”
Last year, after a breakout 2023 campaign, the Warriors were widely tipped to establish their place among the competition’s elite.
But Webster sensed something wasn’t quite right. While the team still had good people, the off-field alignment wasn’t as sharp as it needed to be. For a coach who prides himself on culture, it was a hard truth to swallow.
“We probably weren’t all rowing in the same direction,” he admits. “And it only takes one person going the other way, you just can’t succeed like that.”
The solution wasn’t tactical, it was personal. Webster and his staff turned their focus to the group’s connection, not just how they trained, but how they spoke to each other, how they supported each other, how they simply spent time together.
Warriors celebrate during their 40-10 win against the Sharks in Round 14 | Photo: PHOTOSPORT
That work is now paying off, and not just in the win column. There’s resilience. There’s trust. There’s buy-in.
“We lost the tight ones last year. This year, we’re finding ways to win them.”
Webster is quick to put his hand up for what he got wrong in 2024. After the highs of the previous season, he assumed that culture would carry over automatically. It didn’t.
“I was filthy on myself for that,” he says. “I assumed we’d just turn up and be connected. But we lacked the detail, and under pressure, that hurt us.”
There’s no such assumption this year. The club has put systems in place to help connection thrive. And now, the players are leading it themselves.
The unity runs deeper than just the first-grade side. With both the NRL and NSW Cup teams flying, Webster is managing a depth puzzle many clubs would envy. The Warriors' reserve grade team is dominating the competition, while fringe NRL players like Tanah Boyd and Sam Healey continue to make a compelling case for selection.
“It’s a good headache to have,” says Webster. “You want that as a club.”
But keeping players engaged when they’re not getting minutes is a challenge. Webster’s approach is simple - honesty. He tells them exactly where they stand, what they need to work on, and why opportunities haven’t come yet. And then he tells them to be ready.
“There’s nothing worse than waiting for your opportunity, and when it comes, you’re not ready because you’ve been kicking stones.”
Healey, who impressed fans again after a last-minute call-up against the Sharks, is Webster’s perfect example. And while Tanah Boyd is yet to break into the NRL side, Webster has no hesitation calling him the team’s best trainer.
“What he delivers for us by putting opposition plays on, being a real threat with the ball, and the way he gels with that Cup group, he’s a huge reason we’re winning at NRL level, even if he hasn’t played there yet.”
How Andrew Webster lured Sam Healey to the Warriors | Running It Straight
Veteran forward Kurt Capewell’s Queensland Origin recall has also been a source of pride for the club, even if it means he won’t feature for the Warriors this week.
“He gives us more around the building than he does on game day, and on game day, he still gives everything,” Webster says. “His camaraderie, his effort, it’s unbelievable.”
Though Webster has aspirations to one day coach at Origin or international level, his focus remains firmly on the job at hand.
“I’d love to coach the Blues one day, or even at international level, but I don’t want to be anywhere else right now. This is where I want to be.”
Injury-wise, the club is still managing a few absences. Ali Leiataua is expected to miss four to six weeks following ankle surgery, while Rocco Berry could be available within the next fortnight.
With their next challenge coming at Go Media Stadium this weekend, the Warriors enter the run home not just as contenders, but as a club that knows who it is and where it’s going.
“We’ve got great people,” says Webster. “But now we’re rowing in the same direction. And that makes all the difference.”
Tune into Sport Nation for live commentary of the NZ Warriors vs Panthers this Saturday from 3.30pm, kick-off 5pm. Real-time commentary is available at Go Media Stadium, thanks to LiveFeed.
