What a joy it is to start the week as we have for a decent number of years, with a sense that something good might be brewing at the Warriors.
It's easy to dismiss the Warriors and many have.
But it's also easy to get excited about a new year when you have a start that looked like the effort we saw on Friday night in Wellington.
I liked Andrew Webster when he came in to see us last week.
Having interviewed all the coaches, and man have there been a lot of them, they all come to the job with the same intent.
A lot of them say the same things but Webster seems a little bit different. He's awfully likeable, he seems authentic, he seems realistic, and he seems like a bloke that players can look up to and learn from.
If Friday is a guide, we look good.
We have recruited well. There are a lot of good, dynamic players that, if they are consistent, will serve the side well.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad scored on Friday and, if you don’t follow all this closely, has been with the side before. I can't remember why he left but I remember thinking he was a real talent and it was a shame he was off.
So, it’s a thrill to have him back and looking as good, if not better, than he was.
Even Shaun Johnson, who these days gets more scrutiny than he does accolades, looks like he might be up for a bit. Maybe he's a bloke who responds to atmosphere? When he likes what he sees he steps up and he looked excellent.
Overall, the whole team looked good. They defended well and a number of tries for the Knights that might have been scored other years, weren't.
If this is a taster, you'd be miserable if you weren't pretty stoked about round one.
Like all the other years there is a good queue of so-called experts that have written the side off. But part of the joy of sport is loyalty, as the fly-by nighters ebb and flow with each week.
Given this is a new-ish side with a new coach, surely it's fair to start with at least a partially clean slate?
And if you do that then Friday was full of hope and satisfaction.
It's early days, but, do you reckon this is our year?
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