The arrival of Kiwi superstars Isaac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck have many of the Mt. Smart faithful licking their lips with the prospect of their first finals series in five years.
Though 2015 promised a lot for the Warriors, a disastrous finish to the season losing star players such as Shaun Johnson saw them finish 13th on the table after failing to win any of their last eight matches.
However, after a big year of spending, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Isaac Luke bring some class to an already quality Warriors spine, joining Shaun Johnson and 12-season veteran Jeff Robson. The Warriors will boast one of the best rosters in the competition this year with 10 players having represented either their country or state in 2015.
The classy spine of Tuivasa-Sheck, Luke and Johnson will be complemented well with the brut strength of Lillyman and Matulino in the front row and the experience and leadership of Ryan Hoffman and Simon Mannering in the back row.
After years of promise the question still stands on whether or not 2016 will be the year the Warriors can bring the Provan-Summons trophy across the pond to New Zealand for the first time in their history. The expectation on the team this year is that they have the experience and the roster to do so. However, as only a Warriors supporter knows, that doesn’t guarantee anything.