New Warriors coach Stephen Kearney says the Auckland-based club has a culture problem and he’s there to fix it.

Kearney took over from Andrew McFadden who was sacked as head coach after a miserable 2016 campaign.

McFadden has been retained by the club in an assistant role while Kearney has returned to the club he played at in the 1990’s.

“It’s pretty obvious that there needs to be change and sometimes that change is pretty challenging for some,” Kearney told Newstalk ZB.

“But what I do know is there needs to be change and that change for the most part is from an attitude perspective.

“Part of that is building a culture which encourages the team to perform the best every time we take the field.”

The Kiwi legend has had a fair apprenticeship before accepting the Warriors role.

Kearney has been an assistant at Melbourne and Brisbane under Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett respectively while he also coached Parramatta through a turbulent period.

“The strong teams in the competition have cultures which certainly have that and it’s my goal, it’s my vision, to have a football club that does that.”