On a rain-soaked night in the Shire last year, the New Zealand Warriors mounted an incredible comeback against Cronulla early in the campaign which helped to build the foundations for the fairytale run into the finals that was to come.
The Warriors had made a blistering start to the season under rookie coach Andrew Webster as they won three of their first four games, only to find themselves 20-0 down against the Sharks inside 20 minutes. Suddenly, they faced a severe test of their belief in the new regime.
How one NRL game last season turned the New Zealand Warriors into premiership contenders under Andrew Webster
The visitors conceded two tries in the first five minutes with Teig Wilton touching down after barely a minute on the clock, before Ronaldo Mulitalo scored just moments later.
MORE: Jackson Hastings reveals mental health breakthrough after suffering relationship struggles
The Warriors eventually went into the sheds at 26-12 down with Marata Niukore sidelined for the first 10 minutes of the second period after he was sin-binned for a hip drop virtually on the siren.
Yet New Zealand posted two tries in this danger period to stun Cronulla and when Josh Curran then grabbed a try in the closing stages, it set up a grandstand finish against all the odds.
Shaun Johnson, who had kickstarted the try-scoring in the second period, continued his perfect night from the boot as he slotted a long-range penalty with 20 seconds left to spark jubilant scenes.
SHAUN JOHNSON COMES IN CLUTCH!!!
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 2, 2023
📺WATCH #NRLSharksWarriors on Ch. 502 or stream via @kayosports https://t.co/KU6O1WswuO
✍️BLOG https://t.co/y1BgeVIpCs
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/zEWRVdhc9p pic.twitter.com/J0zCBsPf5F
"I think it was that Cronulla game," Dylan Walker said while appearing alongside Jazz Tevaga on Ebbs and Flows.
"I think that’s where the sense of belief and confidence grew within the squad.
"Every time we went out onto that football field after that it wasn’t, 'I hope we’re going to win'. It was, 'we’re going to win'. And we were always in it."
However, despite mounting a 20-point comeback for just the third time in the club’s history, the victory was followed by a five-game slump which returned a solitary win.
They fell to the Knights 34-24, while also slipping to defeats against the Storm, Roosters and Panthers.
In years gone by, this run would have severely damaged the confidence levels within the squad and caused a spiral down the ladder from which the Warriors would have been unable to recover.
But the belief in Webster’s methods, backed up by that pivotal win against the Sharks, kept them together and on track.
"In pre-season, Webby was saying trust me you’re going to believe it in a few months' time that what we’re doing is going to be right," Walker continued.
"It’s hard to grasp whether it’s actually going to happen or it's just going to be another one of those years.
"The attitude and everything within the certain details of the drill and what Webby and the assistant coaches had been doing with us - it translated straight from training into the games.
"It was real cool to see, as a player, come together.
"As a young player…you’re sort of oblivious to all of those things but then when you get older and see what we did last year, it was real rewarding. It was just a little taste of what we want to do."
LISTEN: It's now or never for the Warriors
The Warriors bounced back from their losing streak to string together one of the best runs in the club’s history in the second half of the campaign to win 11 of their final 14 regular season matches.
Within this stretch they notched 30 or more points against six sides, including Cronulla and Parramatta, as they surged up the ladder and secured a top-four spot after being many people’s pick to receive the wooden spoon.
The Warriors rode that wave of momentum and the adoration that was evident at every home game all the way to a preliminary final against Brisbane, which they ultimately lost 42-12.
"I definitely feel like there’s a sour taste there from last year," Tevaga told Ebbs and Flows.
"We had no expectation last season of what we had created but after that Broncos game, there was a fire lit in our belly."
Entering into their second season under Webster, the narrative has now flipped with expectations at an all-time high in New Zealand for the outfit that captured the nation’s imagination.
They start their campaign off on home soil against Cronulla on Friday night and Walker declared the side was ready to showcase themselves as premiership contenders once again.
"Your belief comes into context a lot more when you’re explaining things because we’ve hit the ground running rather than learning a whole new system this pre-season," Walker said.
"The belief is there and I’m super excited with it.
"With the expectation of the country and all that - I think you’ve got to walk towards it rather than shy away from it."
