Well into his first week on the ground at Mt Smart Stadium, new Warriors coach Nathan Brown insists they'll have no excuses for falling short of the NRL playoffs next year.
Brown finished his 14-day quarantine on Sunday and fronted media for the first time on Wednesday.
He wants the younger players in his squad to step up and simply pushing for the post-season - as they did this year - won't qualify as an achievement, even if they're based in Australia.
"COVID had probably a bigger effect on the Warriors, then the next biggest club it had an effect on was Melbourne Storm - and they won the comp," Brown says.
"What was achieved last year was good, but in particular, the younger players getting over some hurdles and not being a good successful team... is that an achievement or is it doing what the Melbourne Storm did?"
Club chief executive Cameron George says the team will likely be based across the Tasman for the start of next season, with everyone on board regardless of where they are.
"There's no sympathy vote with me this year," George says. "We've got the ability to take families with us.
"That point that was very stressful for a lot of our players and families - now it's not there."
With the border into New South Wales open, families of players and staff will be able to travel with the team, if required.
"Our expectation is we've had time to plan this and we've planned it around the feedback we received from our players, so we think we've got it right," says George.
"That's the expectation - everybody will be on the plane going, inclusive of any families that want to go as well."
Brown has spent his first days in charge watching over the first group to return pre-season training. He's excited with the roster that's being built, as he looks to construct a team that consistently makes the playoffs.
"It's certainly something we'd like to do," says Brown. "A bit of that will hinge of the development of our younger players.
"We made some recruitment decisions that certainly helped the club and the youth players. There's any number of 7-8 of them who showed potential either last year or the year before.
"The pleasing thing is they've all played some first grade now. Chanel [Harris-Tavita] has been playing for a couple of years now, Wayde Egan's been playing for two clubs now for about three years."
And despite still facing some uncertainty around the borders, Brown isn't looking for handouts this year either.
"You can't be looking for too many favours from people. We're in a bit of a different situation to probably any other club.
"How your pre-season is and how you prepare determine how you start the year."
"We've certainly got a couple of plans in place, so if we do have to live abroad, we know what's favoured. One of the biggest advantages is the group knows what worked and what didn't work.
"We can certainly go over there with some confidence. Don't use it as an excuse to do bad, use it as an excuse to do well," says Brown.
"They did gain some good experience out there last year and played some good football at the end of last year."
