Will the GF curse hit the Warriors?

Will the grand final curse continue?

In 2009, the Parramatta Eels surfed a sensational wave of form in the back half of the NRL season all the way to the grand final. They started 2010 as one of the favourites but missed the finals altogether. That season, the Roosters came from nowhere to secure a grand final berth, only to miss the playoffs a year later.

For all the praise about their 2011 campaign, the Warriors weren't even in the NRL's top eight heading into round 18 last season, and – like the Eels and Roosters – owed their grand final appearance to a terrific late run of form. Are they also in danger of becoming an also-ran so soon after challenging for the title?

The signs suggest they should dodge the curse. Unlike the Eels and Roosters, the Kiwis aren't dependent on one Dally M-winning star (in the Jarryd Hayne/Todd Carney mould). They boast a strong spine, including two of the game's most dangerous youngsters and one of the NRL's most improved playmakers, and have been boosted by the addition of classy ex-Titans hooker Nathan Friend. They've got great depth too, with both their NSW Cup and Toyota Cup teams also reaching last year's grand finals.

So they should again be a top-eight contender, but there are still some big questions that will need answering, like ...

How much will they miss Ivan Cleary?

Effective but low-key, as both a player and coach, Cleary's influence on the Warriors' success as a club is hard to judge at this stage. The club was superb across all the grades last year, but how much of that is down to Cleary's management, and how much is down to the club effectively having an entire nation of playing talent to choose from?

Cleary does deserve credit for toughening up the Warriors as a defensive side – the New Zealanders have always had flamboyance with ball in hand but rarely looked as capable of winning the tough games as they did last year. The coach's eventual success last season vindicated Phil Gould's decision to sign him up for Penrith (and for all his faults, Gould certainly knows his coaching).

On the plus side, Cleary's replacement as coach is no slouch either. Brian McClennan is an NZ native who led the national team to a Tri Nations title in 2005, and has since taken Leeds to two premierships in the English Super League. There could be the odd hiccup early on as McClennan looks to stamp his style of play on the team, but the Warriors don't look to have lost much in the coaching stakes.

Will Maloney's impending departure hurt team harmony?

Since the NRL accepted reality and removed its June 30 anti-tampering deadline – a restriction that was hardly stopping clubs from negotiating with rival players anyway – it has become commonplace for players to sign deals with other clubs before the end of a season. The Warriors themselves signed Nathan Friend in April last year, a move that gave fellow dummy halves Aaron Heremaia and Shaun Berrigan plenty of time to find new employers elsewhere.

But it's still a rare thing for a player to sign on with a new club a full 12 months before his current deal expires. That's the case for Warriors five-eighth James Maloney, who agreed last November to join the Roosters in 2013. He'll start the season knowing this will be his last at the club, that his future is already taken care of (he's signed a lucrative three-year deal) and that the opponents he'll be facing in Round five at the Sydney Football Stadium will be his teammates in a year's time.

The Warriors consented to Maloney's departure and the players are presumably professional enough not to let the issue become a distraction during the season, but any dip in form from the playmaker is likely to prompt fans to think otherwise. It adds a little more pressure to a team who, as last year's grand finalists, won't be able to fly under the radar this season.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of BigPond Sport.