I wanted to create an interesting, thought provoking website dedicated to my favourite team, The New Zealand Warriors. As I am the only reporter in this website and a warriors fan to boot the topics in this website will probably be a little bias toward my team but I will try to be fair.

 It is not my wish to upset, aggravate nor defame any person, group or organisation in any way. I only want to get people thinking about this wonderful game of Rugby League, the NRL's exiting Telstra Premiership competition, and of course that wonderful team...      The New Zealand Warriors.

But I will from time to time state my own opinions. These opinions are neither presented as fact nor as irrefutable. In fact on many occasions folks that are close to me have often told me that my opinions are full of it, and you know what? They are most probably right!

But if you  would like to read more about the most unpredictable, dynamic and exiting team the NRL has ever known then this website is for you!    "GO THE WARRIORS!"    -Ed

Why I am a Rugby League fan

Originally I was a rugby union fan. I would watch local and international matches eagerly. When the ARL's Winfield cup competition was first screened in New Zealand, I didn't believe the hype from the TV Network try hard to pushing it. I didn't believe the hype and excitement from my friends, and I didn't think it was a threat to rugby union for entertainment value. But not being one to instantly write off anyone or an thing without giving it a chance. I decided to watch it for myself.

And a few league games and got to know the rules and players, teams and referees and after a while I came to appreciate the game in it's own right. It wasn't long before I noticed a distinct difference between the two codes. 

Much of rugby union match is dominated by formal garbage that didn't seem to have much in the way of entertainment value. I mean the ball kicking ping pong match between fullbacks for positional advantage until one fullback would drop nuts and kick the ball into touch, this exchange could last half a minute each time. After the ping pong match we were "treated" with that all exiting (note sarcasm) lineout. Then there were the scrums. These also could last a half minute per engagement, and that's if the ref didn't get them to reset 3 or four times.

 Another thing I noticed was that union matches had less hand on the ball action than did league. What myself and most others really liked about the game of football was not the lineout, not the scrum, not the full back ping pong...It was the expansive running football,  the guy running with the ball trying his hardest to get a try, and it was that defender who would do his best to prevent that from happening. It was the ball in play, the deft passing, the bone shaking tackles, the fierce attack and the equally fierce defence. It was the irresistible force meets the immovable object and waiting till the dust cleared to see who had prevailed.  

When I looked at it in this way I realised that this was what league was all about. Scrums were relegated to a minor role... the ball goes in... the ball comes out and then real football would ensue. Moreover the dreaded line outs were entirely banished. Good riddance I say!

The whole game of rugby was invented when William Webb Ellis picked up a soccer ball and ran with it, Note the key word here. He RAN. He did not huddle down with his competitor playing a game of reverse tug-of-war (scrum).  He did not get play a wierd two lined version of piggy in the middle (line outs). League though is all about getting running with the ball, and therefore stays true to that rebellious movement begun by young master Ellis.

Why I am a New Zealand Warriors Fan

Like the warriors because more than most teams they exemplify running football. They have played games with such flair and athleticism that it takes the breath away. Yes they sometimes pay for this expansive running style of football, but it sure makes for a spectacle. I for one would rather watch a team who plays an exciting game and sometimes wins and sometimes loses than a team of boring robots that play bland percentage football and is always winning.

Sport reflects life, and life's highs don't amount to much if you have never known lows. The warriors play the sort of football that gets the pulse racing, the blood boiling and the adrenaline pumping.

GO THE WARRIORS! 

-Ed Taylor

Henry Fa'afili

© Images obtained from www.warriors.co.nz