When Sir Peter Leitch, more commonly known as The Mad Butcher, gives his opinion on the Warriors, you best pay attention.

The rugby league fanatic and household name joined Nathan Limm on The Big League Podcast to give the fans a taste of what he has seen so far in coach Andrew Webster’s short time at Mt Smart.

“The team are playing a lot better and a lot of that has to do with our coach, Webster.”

Sir Peter says he had had a short meeting with Webster earlier that day and is impressed by the culture he has brought with him from Penrith.

“Mate he’s doing a lot good stuff for the club. The other day we had our captain’s run, and he invited all the families, you know, ‘bring your kids’ and all the ex-players. He’s just building a very nice culture at the club.”

Based mostly on Waiheke Island these days, Sir Peter says he had a conversation with his wife who’d asked him how many games he thought he’d be able to get along to this year.

The Butcher said he thought he may be able to get to Mt Smart for ‘one or two’ games, but he may be heading along to a few more having seen the way Webster goes about his business.

“I spent quite a bit of time at the start of the season at the club, going there most days, and what I seen and what I heard of Andrew Webster got me very excited – and to be honest I’m like a little kid at the toy shop.”

Sir Peter tells The Big League watching players develop both on and off the field, in particular Shaun Johnson, who had struggled in 2022 and someone even the most die-hard of fans had begun to lose confidence in, has brought him real joy.

The best piece of insight into Webster’s tenure is one that very few people have access to - and that is what he says to his team behind the closed doors of the changing shed, a privilege that Sir Peter was happy to share with Nathan Limm.

Sir Peter says following Sunday’s win over the Bulldogs, Webster praised the team’s performance, but reminded them there was a lot more work to do and that they had plenty of areas to improve on if they were to beat the Cronulla Sharks away from home next week.

“Look I’ve been around rugby league well before the Warriors come in… so I’ve been in plenty of changing sheds, but gee what I’m hearing is really exciting me. I think he’s got the players believing in themselves, which is a big plus.”