New Zealand Warriors - 2004

The wheels fell of the Warriors juggernaut in spectacular fashion in 2004.

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“Daniel Anderson and I got a bit too big for our boots.” That is CEO Mick Watson’s frank assessment of one of the most spectacular club freefalls of the NRL era as the Warriors went from powerhouses to paupers in 2004.

Watson says he “took my eye off the ball”, with his involvement in boxing promotions and Cullen Sports’ ‘Pacifica’ Super Rugby franchise bid (which the IRB greenlighted but SANZAAR stamped out) diverting his attention away from the Warriors. “We thought our model was so successful we could expand,” he admits. “Daniel was expanding too, trying different things. We weren’t a collaboration anymore, we were working independent of each other.” With Watson preoccupied, Spiro Tsiros came on-board as Warriors general manager.