The Warriors have no regrets at not fielding their strongest lineup at the Auckland Nines despite recording their worst performance at the tournament.
Coach Stephen Kearney's decision to rest the likes of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Issac Luke and David Fusitu'a was compounded when Shaun Johnson suffered a minor groin injury warming up for the first game and sat out day one. It meant Ruben Wiki's return was not a memorable one as the Warriors lost 15-11 to Manly before falling 17-0 against Parramatta to miss out on the quarterfinals for the first time.
With so much of the Nines' success hinging on how the home team performs and Johnson a poster-boy for the event, it was a nightmare scenario for the tournament which has already been linked with a move to Australia.