Warriors coach Todd Payten reveals how close the club came to quitting

Warriors coach Todd Payten broke his silence about times when he feared his team was about to leave the NRL mid-season.

The Warriors have had incredible form, winning four of their last five games, to put them in view of the impossible dream: a spot in the NRL playoffs.

Interim coach Payten, who will take over the Cowboys next year, said things hit rock bottom when the Warriors were crushed 50-6 by Melbourne, days after he replaced fired Steve Kearney.

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Payten had addressed his distraught squad, which had been forced to camp in Australia due to Covid-19, and then sat in his Terrigal hotel room, “fearing someone would knock on his door,” as the Telegraph put it.

“At first, I gave everyone a chance to go home right after Steve was fired,” he revealed as the Warriors prepared to play the Eels.

“I stressed to the boys that if someone wants to go home I understand, but they have until 6 in the afternoon to come see me in my room.

“If that’s what you want to do, I won’t blame you, but for everyone who doesn’t see me, I want you to know that I expect you to come every day with the right attitude to do the job.

“I was a little nervous. I got the first knock on the door about 10 minutes after six.”

Prop Leivaha Pulu came in to inform Payten that his pregnant wife had been in a car accident and that he needed to rush home. Then came outstanding wings Ken Maumalo and David Fusitu’a, as well as forwards Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa, who also gave their reasons for wanting to return to Auckland.

Payten said: “They came in a group and said they were fighting.”

At the time, Payten wondered if the campaign would disintegrate, if his squad was ready to go out en masse.

“I had moments of that,” he said.

“I tried not to spend too much energy on that and I always talked to the coaches about how we can improve and how we can lift our spirits.

“But I had a couple of nervous moments. We never gave him many legs to grow.”

Payten said Kearney’s treatment had created distress and made him wonder if he should agree to be promoted from assistant to head coach.

“When I got the phone call for the first time I wasn’t sure … if it didn’t work out well, I thought my reputation would suffer,” he said.

“They wanted a quick response. I felt that I had an obligation to the group and to the club to get us out of what was happening.”

After the game, the players vented their anger by saying they had been “disappointed.”

“(but) they realized that they were lucky to continue playing soccer and they wanted to do the right thing for their family and fans at home,” Payten said.

He said the team had come together through adversity and the reduced travel schedule had helped them better prepare for games.

Payten said he had given the players more free time than usual and trained them to “feel.”