Comment - There is nothing for the New Zealand Warriors, or their long-suffering fans, to be embarrassed about in their latest loss.
Shaun Johnson did not make the same physical commitment as the Storm's top players during the Warriors' most recent defeat, Hamish Bidwell writes. Photo: Photosport
The team's 70-10 Anzac Day loss to the Melbourne Storm was a realistic reflection of where they sit in the NRL pecking order.
The Storm, along with Penrith, are the two elite teams in the competition. Others, such as Cronulla, Parramatta and the Sydney Roosters are generally a cut above the other clubs as well.
That leaves 11 others, including the Warriors, who are pretty much making up the numbers.
By process of elimination, three of those also-rans will qualify for the end-of-season top-eight playoffs and the rest will go on holiday.
The simple fact is that beyond the top handful of clubs, the NRL consists of poorly run, poorly coached teams who throw good money after bad at poorly performed players.
Far from Monday's 70-10 defeat to the Storm being a disgrace, I'd ask Warriors fans what other outcome did they expect? I mean the Warriors were never going to win, the only issue was how much they were going to lose by.
The fact that the final margin was 60 points doesn't alter the fact that this is occasionally what happens when a good team plays an ordinary one.
The Melbourne Storm are among the NRL's elite sides in Hamish Bidwell's opinion. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Warriors can be competitive. After all, with 10 other poor clubs in the competition you will meet an opponent at your level most weekends.
And so it's been for the Warriors this season, beating battlers like Brisbane, North Queensland and the West Tigers, to go with narrow losses to St George Illawarra and the Titans.
Those teams are all much of a muchness, with the result coming down to who performs better on the day.
Yes, there was merit in the Warriors' 22-14 loss to the Roosters. But everyone would agree that the Roosters are struggling a bit, by their own very high standards.
I like it that people appear to like rugby league a lot these days. In fact I'd venture that the NRL is becoming as well-followed as Super Rugby Pacific.
Whatever the NRL's faults are, most games are evenly contested and the rules easy to follow.
You couldn't say that about Super Rugby.
Ivan Cleary Photo: PHOTOSPORT
I always go back to 2011, in trying to evaluate the Warriors.
Back then, men such as John Hart, John Ackland and Ivan Cleary played critical roles at the club.
When you have people in an organisation who know what real high-performance sport is and who know how to identify and develop talent, then you give yourself a decent shot at success.
Well, in 2011, the Warriors teams contested each of the NRL, NSW Cup and under-20 grand finals. That's phenomenal.
That shows you have elite talent, depth and pathways. That should have been the springboard to a decade of success, but instead the Warriors went backwards.
If there was a time for fans to be discouraged by results and personnel decisions, then it was in the years immediately after 2011 . Because, let's be fair, there's no-one in the club right now who can hold a candle to the playing, coaching and management staff who took them to those grand finals.
So, on that basis, what is there to complain about when this team performs poorly?
Shaun Johnson's best day as a rugby league player is as good as anyone's. Ever.
But his worst - and Anzac Day in Melbourne would have to be right up there - is appalling.
I'd say Johnson's best days are behind him and have already said that recruiting him back to the club was a terrible decision.
Trying harder isn't enough
Warriors head coach Nathan Brown is no genius. His method is to coach effort.
So he's brought in players such as Matt Lodge, Euan Aitken, Josh Curran and Addin Fonua-Blake who he believes will try. Dylan Walker and Mitch Barnett are arriving next year for the same reason.
When Brown doesn't believe the effort is there - as he's said in the wake of the Storm clash - he gets upset. It's because he can't coach players to be better, only urge them to try harder.
Against teams of similar ability, that effort will sometimes be enough to win. Against good ones, it won't.
Among the problems for Brown here, is that so many players take their cue from Johnson. He's the most talented, the most adored by fans and the most experienced.
Unfortunately, he's also the one who sometimes puts in the least effort.
Melbourne won for a multitude of reasons on Anzac Day, but I'll just give you one.
The team's playmakers: Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen weren't afraid to earn a few bruises. Johnson was not.
Where the Storm trio created holes in the defensive for themselves or their teammates, Johnson stood deep and shuffled the ball sideways.
So when a coach preaches effort, as Brown does, and a coach says today's effort wasn't good enough, as Brown did, that all falls a bit flat when your best player isn't paying the same physical sacrifice as the others.
You'd assume they'll all be trying against Canberra on Saturday and maybe that'll be enough to win and maybe it won't.
But it'll take pretty much a wholesale cleanout before the Warriors are qualifying for grand finals again.