Motu Tony hails Warriors for helping inspire a major rise in rugby league membership

As a former Warriors player turned New Zealand Rugby League official Motu Tony is delighted that Tohu Harris’ team has helped inspire more Kiwis to take up rugby league.

Tony – now the NZRL’s general manager of football and high performance – played 55 games for his hometown Warriors from 2001 to 2003 and was in their first-ever grand final team in 2002.

He also had a spell with the Brisbane Broncos in 2004 but there was only one team he was supporting in Saturday night’s preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium.

“Long before I was a Warriors player, I was a Warriors fan since ‘95,’’ said Tony, who planned to be “wearing my Up the Wahs socks and cheering the boys on’’.

The 42-year-old, who earned 13 Kiwis test caps and spent close to a decade in England’s Super League, shares how the Warriors’ current run reminds him of 2002, why Shaun Johnson has gone to a new level and credits the Warriors for helping drive a major surge in rugby league membership around the motu.

How good was that Warriors crowd for the Newcastle game?

Even though I was fortunate to play in the Warriors’ first home final in 2002 against Canberra, I’d have to say what we saw last weekend was amazing and probably hasn’t been experienced [at Mt Smart Stadium] before.

Did the singing remind you of being back in Super League?

Yes, that was a UK-style crowd with the passion the supporters had for the team and the characters that are starting to emerge like the Spi-Wah Men, the group who dress up like Spiderman, and you’ve got the range and assortment of Warriors jerseys over the years.

I had some people who aren’t rugby league people message me to say they’d been to watch a Warriors game a few weeks ago. They’ve actually converted from non-sporting people to Warriors fans.

Has the Warriors run brought back memories of your own finals campaign in 2002?

It certainly has. The game against Newcastle reminded me of our own win over Canberra in 2002. I remember [coming back from Australia] our coaches and managers telling us we might take a little while to get out of the airport because there were a lot of fans there. But the magnitude and the number of people didn’t hit us till we walked out of the customs area and saw the arrivals lounge was packed. That’s reminiscent of what the lads will have been going through this year, and also the response to the win over Newcastle.

What sticks out most in your mind from 2002?

When we played Cronulla at [Stadium Australia] in the major semifinal. We were very similar to the current group of Warriors players. There’s not many who would have been picking them to win either. Yes, there are some amazing players, but it’s the team that is the strongest thing this year. When they beat Newcastle at the weekend, the whole team stood up. You saw a couple of bench players come on and score tries. One to 17, they all performed.

The thing about the Warriors, if you say you’re going to shut down one player, there’s 16 others, including the players from the bench, who can come in and do a job. That’s been their strength. They’ve lost players, but everyone’s stepped up. It’s something Andrew Webster spoke about – the next man up philosophy.

Tell us why couldn’t you sleep before your debut against the Dragons in 2001?

I was meant to be marking Trent Barrett, one of my favourite players growing up. You start to think the worst, like “what if he runs over the top of you” and think about all the things that can go wrong. That’s one of the things that kept me up at night. But once you get on the field, the thing you’ve practised and done your whole life comes to the fore and gets you through the game.

Didn’t you score first-up?

I did. I think there was some debate from my teammates about how long it was, but I think it was 30 or 40sec after I came on the field. I was very lucky to say that I scored a try on my NRL debut and to play at Ericsson Stadium in front of my family and friends.

Why did Clinton Toopi claim some credit?

There’s a couple of things about that – first of all Clinton actually passed the ball, which was a miracle in itself. He kept telling me he was going to make me famous by setting me up for a try.

As a former Warriors playmaker yourself, how good has Shaun Johnson been this year?

Shaun’s been fantastic. I totally support all the applause and recognition he’s getting. One thing Shaun’s done real well is he’s accepted that he’s got a role to perform and doesn’t need to carry the weight of the team and expectations of the supporters on his shoulders. He can still run the football or score an individual try off his own brilliance, but he’s beating teams with his game management skills and rugby league smarts. He’s kicking at the right time, he’s finding the right pass, and when they score tries Shaun and Wayde Egan have orchestrated the leadup work.

So he’s a red-hot contender for Dally M Player of the Year?

I’m a bit biased, but I think he should win it!

Wearing your NZRL hat, what do you think the Warriors’ golden run will do for rugby league’s profile and growth?

We’re so grateful because the Warriors are our shop window. We’ve been doing a lot of work while the Warriors were away in Australia, but now they’re back it just makes it so much easier for everyone who works in the game and loves rugby league.

What they’ve done this season supports all the work we’ve done around the country to grow our game. We’ve had a 20% rise in participation from last year, we’re looking at 30,000 participants. Our rangatahi participation is up 28%. And the biggest growth in our game has been outside Auckland, areas like Waikato and the Bay of Plenty are going great guns. That’s the impact of the work that’s been done by the rugby league community and the Warriors being the icing on the cake.

Can the Warriors’ momentum help boost the Kiwis for the test series?

There will be some boys from the Warriors in contention for the Kiwis, which will be a massive leg-up for our team. In the past the Warriors players have come to the Kiwis camp to find confidence and try and enjoy their footy again but this year they will be bringing some energy and enthusiasm.

In the longer term, the work the Warriors are doing is making young men and women fall in love with the Kiwis and the Kiwi Ferns and the game of rugby league.

We shouldn’t be surprised when we hear a kid in five or six years time say Shaun Johnson or Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad inspired them when they were younger to play for the Warriors and the Kiwis.