Sounds like more of a case of a fail BLM and a fail GLA/PLD. As well, Paladin has Cover for these situations. Warrior has nothing outside of Steel Cyclone (2000TP@30sec) versus Gladiator's instant Flash and conditional War Drum, among many other enmity tricks.
Also, find me an EXP party pre-45 that has a Warrior for a tank and I'll show you a dead party.
I think this is much less about Warrior's ability to tank well under certain conditions as it is more about people loving to deal damage and tank at the same time. Gladiator and Paladin are still viable tanks, and you won't convince me otherwise.