The dramatic rise of the Warriors this season has taken just about everyone by surprise.
Some say their success is the result of the injection of new players, while others point to a tougher attitude at training.
But the answer may lie in the recruitment of an experienced coach who moved to New Zealand with little fanfare.
Brian Smith is one of the NRL's most experienced coaches and most profound thinkers.
He has coached in 675 first grade games all over the world, before jumping off the coaching rollercoaster, and becoming a “part-time farmer and gardener”.
"I'd been burn out and I knew it, but I found out when I stopped coaching," he told Newshub.
“This is the right job for me. I didn't want to coach anymore.
“I felt like I'd contributed everything I could in that regard, but this opportunity is just perfect for me.”
Then the opportunity to move to Auckland came up to work as a life coach for current Warriors boss Stephen Kearney.
"I'm here for Steve. He understands that I've had that experience, and there's lots of stuff that I can do for him to take away jobs and activities that he doesn't need to worry about and shouldn't have to worry about."
Kearney has worked alongside some of the game's best coaches in the past and is enjoying having another one at his side right now.
"The idea of being invited into the footy club was to help me with my job and to help the club, to be honest, in the sense that last year, I thought that I'd tried to fix everything in the club,” Kearney said. “And we had some areas that needed to be fixed and needed attention,"
The addition of Smith's wisdom has paid dividends on the field. He thinks the winning formula was already at Mt Smart, but he also thinks an NRL title is still a few more years away.
"I think we need to win on a more regular basis for a longer period, before the premiership bell is going to start sounding over there somewhere close. It's a bit further off yet.
"We really need to address our opportunities for our young fellas in the whole of New Zealand really. There's an abundance of talented guys who are currently playing in Australia, and we've got to address that."
Newshub.
