Kiwi winger Will Warbrick says he's overcome impostor syndrome and a dip in confidence to lead Melbourne's tryscoring into their NRL playoff against Cronulla sharks.
Settling in for his second post-season series with the Storm, which opens in a qualifying showdown against the Sharks at AAMI Park on Saturday, Warbrick says he finally feels like a fully fledged rugby league player.
He switched from rugby sevens to the NRL after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he won an Olympic silver medal with New Zealand.
"First year, I sort of felt like an impostor a bit, playing rugby league, but I see myself as a rugby league player now," said Warbrick. "I'm confident and comfortable around the club, and on the field, I don't think too much now about what's happening and what's going on, I'm just playing my game and hopefully it's shown with the recent games."
Both Storm coach Craig Bellamy and captain Harry Grant have sung the praises of Warbrick, 26, but the imposing speedster feels he wasn't at his best early in the year.
"It's been a funny season,'' he said. "I feel like my first half of the season, I probably struggled a bit there with form and consistency, and in the back end, I've really tried to remind myself of what I bring to the team and what my strengths are.
"I feel like I'm playing with a bit more confidence now and a bit more experience of the game goes a long way as well."
While Melbourne's tries have been shared around, Warbrick heads the club's tally with 13, many coming off his aerial prowess, and he's favoured to land a Kiwis jersey for the upcoming Pacific Nations Cup.
He says he and Nick Meaney, who switched to the centres this season, had to work to get their combination humming.
"We've grown as a combination, as an edge," said Warbrick. "We probably weren't performing to our best at the start of the year and I think both of us could say we were probably struggling to figure each other out.
"We had some pretty honest conversations and watched vision together, and even spoke to the coaches, but with more reps, and more games and experience playing alongside each other, I feel like we're on the same page now and we've got a good connection on the field."
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