Year in review: NZ Warriors ride rollercoaster to NRL playoffs

Photo: Tertius Pickard/www.photosport.nz

Under the Go Media Stadium stand, with the bravado of hope finally stripped away, NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster confronted reality.

After a season that saw them off to a best-ever 7-2 start, sitting second on the table after 11 rounds, damn near selling out their Mt Smart home for every game and reaching the post-season for just the 10th time in their history, the Warriors' journey had abruptly ended, with a sixth-place finish and clinical, one-and-done exit to four-time defending champions Penrith Panthers.

A campaign that looked so promising mid-season lost much of its momentum down the stretch, with a 4-7 closing run against the easiest draw on paper of any playoff team.

For two months, the players and coach seemed to be running on fumes, as they unsuccessfully defended their long-held spot in the top four and flirted with the possibility of missing the finals altogether.

Even when they were winning, Webster insisted they hadn't played their best and, in the end, they ran out of chances to deliver on that promise.

"I just feel we've built some great stuff, but that last piece is missing." he lamented. "I feel like we've handled adversity and stayed really tight, but there's a piece missing."

Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

"We could launch, if we take those lessons and go to the next step, or we could stay exactly where we are, which is just a top-six team.

"I just think we can be better."

So this wasn't the Warriors' year after all - sigh!