Warriors players returned to training today as the search continued for teammate Sonny Fai, swept out to sea on Sunday night after saving his brother from a rip at treacherous Bethells Beach.
Coach Ivan Cleary said the decision to train was made to offer "a bit of a distraction'' for the shocked young league stars.
"We came to the conclusion Sonny's not the sort of guy to sit around on his hands so we thought it was probably best to get out there and get moving,'' he said.
Cleary said his players were handling the tragedy "really well on the surface ... (but) probably when they go away from here, it's hard to know how they're coping.
"You're (playing) a waiting game. There's still many questions to be answered,'' he said.
"We're trying to stay in contact with them all (players), particularly some of the younger guys who were probably a little bit closer (to Fai). They seem to be holding up OK but it's just hard to know when shock stops and when it really sinks in.''
Cleary said taking the team to the notorious beach on Auckland's west coast yesterday, where they met members of Fai's grieving family, had helped the players deal with the terrible situation.
"Although there's not much you can do, it gives you a bit of an affinity with what happened. And just to be able to have some sort of contact with the family, I think probably helped,'' he said.
The Warriors were supporting Fai's family in any way possible and had paid for a private helicopter search for a second day.
"We're just trying to do everything we can, but remaining sensitive to what they're going through, which is really hard to understand and get a hold of,'' he said.
"It's just really sad. Sonny was a really popular part of our club and such an effervescent personality and always fun to be around. My heart goes out to his family. It's a great loss.''
Cleary said Fai was "primed to make some big strides'' in 2009. "He was going into this year as like an NRL player rather than a kid trying to make it.''
While "there's always hope'', Cleary was realistic about the prospects of Fai being found alive. "I think ... it's fairly unlikely.''
But an emotional Warriors captain Steve Price refused to accept Fai had drowned in the hazardous waters.
"We are not giving up,'' Price said. "To us, it isn't a tragedy because we are still hopeful he is going to come [back].
"We are very hopeful he will come back, as are his family.''
Price spoke only in the present tense as he talked of how 20-year-old Fai, a former Junior Kiwi who played 15 NRL games in 2008, had been ready to emerge as a genuine first-grade star this year.
"The physique Sonny has got is something I haven't seen [before]: he is one of the quickest in the club and one of the strongest in the club and he's only 20 years old. He can play centre or second row and he can play either just as good, as he showed last year.
"He has shown what he can do at both under-20 and first grade level - he showed against the Bulldogs here [last season] and he beat Sonny Bill Williams a couple of times. He idolises (Williams) and idolises some other players too, but he was not only mixing with them but showing he was just as good, if not better.
"The thing I love so much about Sonny is he is humble but he also backs himself. I think at times, he didn't back himself as much as he could have, but he is getting better and better at that.''
Price said the Warriors' brief gym session at Mt Smart stadium helped the team cope with the situation and because that's where Fai would have been.
"Everyone deals with things differently, so it was important as a group we do stuff together... we are feeling our way, we have never been in this situation before,'' he said. "Everyone is coping as best they can. It was good to train, but it wasn't a normal atmosphere, that's for sure. We're trying to get through it.''
But asked how he was coping with the emerging star's disappearance, Price choked up.
"Not real well ...'' he said before leaving the Warriors' media conference crying.
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