For the second season in a row, it’s hard to be too critical of the Warriors despite their failure to make the top eight.
The players spent the entire year in a different country, didn’t have a single game at home and an injury plague saw them struggle to field a team in some games.
Coach Nathan Brown was forced to beg and borrow players from rival clubs, so serious was the Warriors’ plight.
Despite that, they were competitive in most games and were in the finals race for more than half the season.
Skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s shock mid-season announcement that he was switching to rugby next season didn’t help – but the Warriors found a wonderful replacement in young Reece Walsh who will develop into a superstar in years to come.
The club has rolled the dice on re-signing prodigal son Shaun Johnson in something of a gamble.
Johnson is a brilliant player on his day but he turns 31 in two days and injuries have been cruel to him in his time at Cronulla.
The club is likely to come up with another couple of signings before 2022 kicks off and has a squad capable of finals footy next year if they can learn to play for 80 minutes.
Best player: Josh Curran started the season a no-name but quickly developed into the Warriors’ most potent forward in defence and attack. One of the NRL’s big improvers in 2021.
Biggest disappointment: Eli Katoa came into the year as the Warriors’ big hope but never fulfilled his potential with just one try and one try assist. But he has talent and is still young – maybe 2022 will be his year.
Key signing: Johnson is a favourite son who was the face of the franchise for many years – if he can regain his mojo, the Warriors will gain enormous confidence.
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