NZ Warriors are poised to make their long-awaited return to Aotearoa shores - and it can't come soon enough.
The embattled Auckland NRL side have lived up to their long underdog odds against the defending champion Penrith Panthers, slumping to a seventh consecutive defeat 40-6 in their final game at their adopted Redcliffe home.
Next time the Warriors take the field will be at their genuine home - Mt Smart Stadium, where they'll face Wests Tigers on July 3 in their first match at their spiritual headquarters in almost three years.
Struggling Warriors half Shaun Johnson encapsulated the Warriors pain in an emotional post-match interview, where he described the huge toll being away from his young family had taken on him this season.
"I'm just going to come home and see my baby girl," Johnson told Sky Sports of his plans during bye week. "Hang out with friends and family, and my mum and dad.
"I don't have anything planned, but to spend quality time with the people I miss the most, recover and then get back to Mt Smart - a place we really miss - and then just rip in there."
After 59 straight games on the road, interim head coach Stacey Jones says their homecoming would be a hugely valuable chance to "reset" and salvage some pride with better performances through the back-end of the season in front of the Warriors faithful.
"It's going to be very exciting for the group and where we are at the moment," Jones said. "It gives us an opportunity to reset ourselves.
"We're not in a good way at the moment, with how we’re playing, but what this gives us is a good opportunity to get back home and try to play some good footy that we want to make our people proud of.
"The good thing about this is that it gives us the chance to do it."
While most of the post-match talk centered around the team's imminent return, Jones admits there are positives to take away from their clash with the Panthers, despite the scoreline and result.
Although afforded little ball to work with by their dominant opponents, debutant teenage half Ronald Volkman showed glimpses of his potential as the Warriors' long term halfback, after joining the club from Sydney Roosters on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
"He had some nice touches of the ball and he was involved," Jones said.
"I thought he gave us some good energy, we just didn't have enough of those opportunities to give him more of them. He put his hand up today.
"He's confident. I love players that are confident and he's not shy in what he does.
"He's a talker on the field and he'll only get better. Yes, he's got parts of his game that he needs to work on, but he's a 19-year-old kid that's been put in the deep end here and he's going to play a lot of footy."
Captain Tohu Harris has praised his team's improved effort and attitude, which he said needed to be more consistent through the full 80 minutes.
“There was a change and we knew we had to come with that kind of mindset, playing against the reigning Premiers," noted Harris.
"I thought we showed glimpses of that effort. But when you're playing against one of the best defensive sides in the comp, we've got to get those little details right.
"I thought with all the good things we did, we'd do one or two things that let ourselves down, and they’re too good a side to make those mental errors against.
"But in terms of the effort and changing in attitude, that part was really pleasing, but we've got to work on doing it for longer periods of time."
The Warriors are now mired in 14th place on the NRL ladder.
