The NRL may be a results-driven business, but the NZ Warriors are determined to become a development club to keep young local talent on these shores.
And they need not longer any further than this week's opponent, and reigning back-to-back premiers Penrith Panthers for the blueprint.
With the bulk of their squad coming through the ranks at Penrith, including stars Nathan Cleary, Jerome Luai, and Brian To'o, the Panthers have become the competition's most dominant team in the past few years with an emphasis on promoting youth.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster, who served as an assistant at Penrith in their title-winning campaigns, has signaled his intent on following his former club's ethos.
Together with owner Mark Robison, and CEO Cameron George, the club have placed a bigger emphasis on honing local talent, and early signs suggest it's already paying off.
The Warriors NSW Cup team sit atop the table with seven wins from the opening nine rounds, giving Webster plenty to tuck into given the senior side's injury woes.
Webster doesn't see why the Warriors can't follow the Panthers' example and hopes it will keep local promising rugby league players from joining trans-Tasman rivals.
"Robinson and George are invested in the club about creating a pathway where kids don't have to leave New Zealand, they can stay here," he said. "They can wear that Warriors jersey earlier, and I think that's the difference.
"People always ask me 'what are the similarities?' And I think the similarities are we have a whole nation to try and develop.
"It's not easy, because they're so many, but with so much talent here, and we've got to pick the right ones, develop them and I think we can do something similar."
While results remain the priority for the Warriors, having been starved of wins over the past few years, Webster hopes to introduce more rookies over the coming rounds.
He admits it could take some time for the results of their efforts to show in the NRL, but they're determined to become a club focused on nurturing young talent.
"You just have to look at the average ages from when they debuted," he said. "We debuted one last week in Demitric [Sifakula], he's probably the first one of the new wave.
"Over the next five weeks, I think we're going to drip-feed them first grade, and I don't think by five years' time, we're going to have every single play from New Zealand, I'm not suggesting that.
"But I think you have to give it a fair period on how many of our homegrown that we've actually developed in this new phase of development.
"Because the Ed Kosis and those boys, they're from the other period, the Bunty Afoas, Jazz Tevagas - they're all local juniors, but it's almost like before COVID and after COVID.
"If you look at Robinson and George, and how much money they want to put into it, that's currently in resources.
"We're just going to have to be patient with that…when they come, that's great, and we'll find a way to keep winning, but we want to be a development club."
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