Brothers in arms: Webster's Connecticut connection

When 10 Americans and a vaguely familiar ginger lad from England arrived at the New Zealand Warriors’ Las Vegas hotel this week, it offered a unique insight into the journey and methodology of their coach Andrew Webster.

Like all eight teams in Nevada, the Warriors will be trying to keep distractions to a minimum until after their full-time whistle at Allegiant Stadium.

But Webster’s American visitors - his former team-mates at Connecticut Wildcats - will make their presence known and the red-headed fella - his older brother James - has a crucial role to play in the clash with Canberra.

That’s because 45-year-old James Webster submits match reports for his brother’s consideration from far away Humberside every single week of the NRL season.

“James... we’ve always chatted about footy, since we were kids - obviously,” Andrew said at Resorts World.

“We both love the game so much, so lucky to be involved in it. 

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“James is always a good sounding board for me. I use him a little bit to look at the opposition we’re playing.

“As we’re reviewing the game, he’s looking ahead. That’s always good. Every coach looks ahead, but he helps that process and makes it quicker and more efficient. It’s always good to have someone external have a look at what’s going on with our game and the opposition.

“James was a good half himself. He was clever. He wasn’t the biggest guy so he had to have something going for him."

James - the catalyst to 45-year-old Andrew kicking off his professional coaching career as an assistant at Hull KR in 2006 - these days does teaching, one-on-one coaching, commentary and some consultancy work.

Andrew visited James in England after he started his coaching career at Connecticut as a 23-year-old in 2005, when he also played halfback. 

“I had a big book on how I wanted to coach when I landed in America,” Andrew recalled when asked about his AMNRL experience.

“And I threw it out after the first week because I just needed to simplify everything. It’s just crazy how simple you need to be now.

“I actually wanted to travel. I knew rugby league was over for me (as a player). I just wanted to experience it and I thought ‘where would I like to go? America’. I started researching it and found out how passionate they were, how much the loved the game.