Webster wants more ruthless Warriors in 2026

The coach highlighted putting the foot on the throat as a key improvement to avoid late-season fatigue.

Warriors coach Andrew Webster pinpointed his team’s slew of close matches during the first half of the 2025 season as a factor in their fadeout over the latter part of the year.

Fielding a question at Wednesday’s media session about the notion of ‘peaking too early’, Webster said you have to prepare to win every game – it’s not a matter of pacing yourselves for a certain part of the season.

“It’s not about like training a racehorse where you’re going to aim for Group 1 in four weeks’ time,” Webster said.

“ You put everything in it, because every game matters. And if you turn up underdone or overdone, then you’re an opportunity of getting beaten.

“Which we found out last year when we got beaten by teams on paper or ladder that the public would say we should have won.”

HEAR ANDREW WEBSTER’S PRESS CONFERENCE IN FULL BELOW, INCLUDING INJURY UPDATES, HALVES SITUATION AND YOUNGSTERS IMPRESSING IN NAPIER