A prodigal son and a bit of pride.

The Warriors have newfound steel, and just enough of that famous juice.

Take a glance back through time, to the distant memory of a mere three weeks ago. On the eve of the opening round of the NRL season, social media was alight with ladder predictions from experts and faceless punters alike.

I challenge you to find a prediction that had the Warriors in the top eight, be it from a neutral observer or biased fan alike.

Sporting cliches are mirrored to suit agendas. Three weeks is a short time in rugby league. However, three weeks is also forever in rugby league.

After three weeks the New Zealand Warriors sit fourth, with two wins and a differential fourteen points to the good.

In years gone past, the Warriors were the entertainers of the league. Boasting the flair of the likes of Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the Kiwi side would play a brand of footy so expansive and outrageous that it didn’t matter they would concede 24 points every week, because you could be damn sure they were scoring 30.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent forced relocation of the Warriors to various hubs throughout regional New South Wales and south east Queensland, that vibrant identity was dulled and diluted into a sleepwalking band of zombies praying for the end of every miserable game.

The Warriors conceded 700 points last season at just under 30 per game, comfortably the worst defence in the NRL, and were only saved from the wooden spoon by their anemic yet good-enough attack to just push above the Tigers into fifteenth.

That’s what makes their identity turn into the impenetrable barricade of the league through three weeks remarkable, but maybe we should have seen it coming.

Through three weeks in 2023 the Warriors have only allowed 44 points, the best mark of all teams who have currently played the full quota of three games, and second in points allowed per game at 14.7 behind only the Penrith Panthers at 11.5 (two games).

The Warriors haven’t exactly recruited the biggest names on the market but they have recruited smartly to plug gaps in their roster while trying to maintain some of that firebrand that makes them so entertaining, if volatile, but two stand out in particular in Te Maire Martin and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

Reece Walsh was a huge loss for the club, there’s no getting around that, and his red hot start to his second life as a Brisbane Bronco is sure to get fans east of the ditch a little upset. But as far as consolation options go, the former Warrior in Nicoll-Klokstad is hardly bad.

Charnze debuted as a Warrior but really burst onto the scene in Australia’s capital with the Canberra Raiders, winning the hearts and minds of an adoring public with strong work with the ball out of his own end and tidy work organising the defensive line.

Te Maire Martin has had one of the odder career trajectories you’ll see, from Tigers starlet to Penrith cast off, retiring from the game at 24 due to a bleed on the brain, reclaimed by Brisbane and now back home in New Zealand.

The point I’m making by bringing these two up is that they provide a real semblance of stability in the spine that the Warriors have been sorely lacking over the last few years. Sure, Walsh is one of the most prodigious talents in the game but the constant media circus around his commitment to the Warriors long term only served as a distraction.

The return of two New Zealand talents has solidified the Warriors and given them some much needed identity. Too often we see the Warriors have their best talents from their own backyard pilfered before even getting a chance to enter the system. Look at Joseph Manu or James Fisher-Harris. In an alternate universe those two are club legends at Mt Smart.

That re-connection back to home is a continuation of the strategy the Warriors have been building since the middle of last year when their long exile from their home stadium was ended. The recruitment of two home grown talents, plus others like another Kiwi in Marata Niukore, Jackson Ford and Mitch Barnett, have furthered that steel and resolve.

I would not be shocked if, deep in the halls of Warriors HQ, the plan for this year was to regain respectability and just look to build. All the faces they brought in, while uninspiring individually and scoffed at the time of announcement, have all had that common theme of experience and workmanship.

That rock solid attitude isn’t just limited to the defence though. The Warriors have always had one of the bigger forward packs (at least up front), one which many thought archaic under the Atari rules of PVL-ball in 2020 and 2021. In a faster game, big packs get moved around and tire quicker, hardly rocket science.

The evidence this year is so much different.

In their two wins, the Warriors averaged 10 metres more per set than the Knights, and six metres more than the Cowboys. The Knights are hardly one of the premier teams of the competition this year, but that Cowboys performance, up in the Townsville March heat, is seriously impressive.

In the most recent win, the Warriors had 36 more runs than the Cowboys for over 400 more metres, busted the line seven times to one, were quicker in the play the ball, were disciplined with the ball and didn’t force frivolous offloads.

Five of their forwards ran for over 100 metres (Addin Fonua-Blake, Mitch Barnett, Tohu Harris, Tom Ale and Jazz Tevaga), while their outside backs were also strong in yardage, led by Marcelo Montoya.

It’s easy to point to, especially with the appointment of Andrew Webster, but the Warriors are playing a very Penrith brand of football at the moment. Strong through the middle of the park, leaning on their outside backs to get them out of trouble, pushing the limits of the ruck, and having big mobile forwards who can shift the ball.

This dominance up front has allowed Shaun Johnson that extra second of time and space, and I think he’s started this year very promising and willing to take on the line again, even in his advanced age with the last ebbs of that magic dust in his feet.

The Warriors have laid themselves a strong platform over the first three weeks of the season with a very basic, yet repeatable and robust, game plan.

With a next month of Bulldogs (H), Sharks (A), Knights (A) and Warriors (H), they can set up their season.

Kia ora and let’s gone Warriors.