NRL 2021
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Fucking horrible from the warriors.
Flashes of why they could be a top eight side, mixed in utter bulshit for the rest.
Egan, O'Sullivan and kosi are all not nrl standard.
BMM and Evans were garbage.
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Can we just agree that "it's our year" will never actually be a thing.
We aren't even also rans, we make up the numbers. We are a feeder team for the rest of the competition. Occasionally we find some talent. That talent goes ok for us to the point where we acquire false hope. We'll buy into their back story(like "he's a great young talent and his mum plays for the women warriors. Great story...". Predictably that talent then goes off to somewhere else because we can't stand them in our team and lack the know how to do what happens next. Next is obviously that player goes to anywhere else and almost like clockwork, becomes a fantastic player that is pivotal in making their team a contender
We will go through years, fucking years, of buying cast offs. Players no one really wants. But players Brandy Alexander would refer to as "solid and just the type of player NZ needs". While which ever team sent them to us is happy as fuck to be shot of them. Where other teams will experiment short term with this type of player. The warriors will lock them in for 3 years and stifle their own ability to bring through home grown players.
When you look back at what we have done as far as player signing are concerned it's fucking shameful how often we have signed quality let alone someone who was a star or could become one.
Top tier:
Steve Price
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
Ruben WikiJust below:
Kevin Campion
Tohu Harris
James Maloney
Jacob LillymanA bit further back:
Brent Webb
Wade McKinnon
Brent Tate
Nathan FienHonorable mention:
Michael Luck
Bully - when fitAfter that it's pretty fucking slim picking. We are talking almost 30 years of signings and that's pretty much it.
Coaching through our history is either a joke Or we have a good coach, like I believe we do now, but they lack the support to get the job done.
Im tired and I really have a fair bit more to say but I can't be fucked.
I will never understand rugby league in NZ. A place where we can turn out quality rugby sides with relative ease.
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@raznomore Personally, I'd bounce Luck up to just below and Lillyman down to a bit further back but pretty much agree with you. Also, Tohu must be close to to tier too.
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Our current team is still better than some of the shit we have produced at times...
The warriors seem to have a major cultural issue. Nobody seems to put much effort in. We can be good for short periods, unfortunately its mixed in will large patches of shit.
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@mackerzzzz said in NRL 2021:
Our current team is still better than some of the shit we have produced at times...
The warriors seem to have a major cultural issue. Nobody seems to put much effort in. We can be good for short periods, unfortunately its mixed in will large patches of shit.
Last night is pretty strong evidence suggesting the opposite.
I know everyone wants Cameron George to be our saviour but he's not getting any better results than previous fishheads.
We've heard for years we need Aussies, now we're overflowing with Aussies and we're still shit.
By we I mean you from next season.
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@raznomore said in NRL 2021:
@nepia I thought about tohu as top tier but he's just not at that level were he is the absolute best player we could field or anyone else could in that position. Price,RTS and Wiki have been that.
Interesting way to look at it, not sure I agree but respect your rating, I think he's probably up there with RTS in our best player stakes over the past couple of years. He's a consistent performer. Who are the origin backrowers at the moment? I doubt that Tohu wouldn't get picked for either squad if he was an Aussie (or a traitorous bastard like Tamou
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@mackerzzzz for me this is a weak team. You can't count new buy ins. They just got here and it takes time to develop chemistry.
Of what we currently have Harris and Roger are the established players any other team would take and start immediately. Walsh as good as he has been is still a "jury is out" buy. A full season under his belt will determine if he's really any good or not.
After that I'm not sure who's actually any good. We are littered with players no one else wants.
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@nepia I highly rate Harris. He's one of the best forwards going. His work rate does not change from game to game. He'd certainly make the Qld side right now. Perhaps I'm lumping his rating in with the rest of the shit show we currently have.
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I've said so before, if you've been here long enough. But when I was playing league and rugby at the same time I played for one league club and a couple different rugby clubs. The off field interactions were similar at the union club rooms but at the league club it was fucking diabolical. I know this to be true of a few other league clubs in wellies too.
League is the chosen sport of gangs. Not saying gang members don't play union too. It's just there's a high % of "the element". That's brought about by a long history RL being the unwanted code in NZ. Outcasts gravitated to it. Imo that shit is deep seated and its hard to get the right administration/owners behind the warriors because of that stigma. If the people running the club are wrong form the start then nothing is going to change.
Of all the rugby union players we have at our disposal, selection wise. We only sign a handful. And usually their not top prospects. That means there's not enough being done at the age grade level to cultivate a pathway. We have thousands of boys playing rugby and only a few of them get super contracts and further honours. Yet so few of the rest of the players see league as a viable option. We shouldn't need Aussie players. We have enough potential quality here. But again league at club and high school is such a basket case that identifying players, the same way Australia does, is impossible. So to that point, I guess the warriors can be partially forgiven. For not getting the young players like the Barrett's, Mo'unga's or Ardie Savea's coming though. But it's a double edged sword. With the right administration the warriors could be more active and aggressively targeting players.
We don't need token gestures either. Using someone like Graeme Henry in an advisory role isn't what they need. Honestly they should hit up someone like Steve Tew or someone of that ilk. Someone who has experience overseeing grassroots to top tier. I don't believe culture can be fixed by hiring the right coach. Not at the warriors.
Something that is not really in the hands of the warriors and most of you are aware of is that union within the Polynesian community, in NZ, is king. Poly dad's will always push their boys to play union. I think this will always be a hurdle the Warriors will struggle with. It's funny living in Australia and it's been flipped on its head here.
Anyway rant over.
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@raznomore said in NRL 2021:
So to that point, I guess the warriors can be partially forgiven. For not getting the young players like the Barrett's, Mo'unga's or Ardie Savea's coming though.
The Warriors shouldn't be chasing after these guys, they should be getting all the good young guys who become top pros who chose Aussie clubs - like Tohu and RTS first time round, and the Bromwichs, the SBWs etc. Then there's the guys the Warriors do identify and yet they stagnate in the system before becoming stars in other clubs.
And before anyone jumps down my throat, not saying we should be aiming to get them all, that clearly wont happen, but, we should be getting more than we currently do.
The talent is there without raiding straight up rugby players, the Warriors more often than not don't get that talent.
One of the issues often mentioned is that kids who stay in NZ don't build the professionalism/work ethic etc that they get in Oz. A way to solve that which die hard leaguies will hate is encourage good league players to attend good rugby schools and play 1st XV. Of course you keep them in the loop with league camps etc and there's always a risk one or two will get lost to rugby, buy if you want that layer of work ethic, training etc then the top 1st XV comps are where it's at in NZ.
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@nepia I was more alluding to the profile of league in NZ. Rugby kids, and of course this is nothing new, do not see rugby league in the same way they see union. The warriors need to work harder to change that perception. But mostly NZRL need to help clubs build numbers and prestige. Make the sport desirable for the parents to send their kids to.
How in the fuck you did that is beyond me. I only know what's needed. Not how to get it done.
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What a game so far Broncos vs Sharks
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@mackerzzzz said in NRL 2021:
What a game! Great result from Broncos. Let's hope it can continue.
Staggs looks clutch
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@mackerzzzz Probably the game of the round.
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Taken me all weekend to remove from my mind that effort from the warriors on Friday, possibly some of the worst league of all time by both teams in the final 20 minutes, which came down to who wanted to lose it the most. Didnt help that they lost their forward leader in Tohu early but some of the defence outwide was absolutley woeful to the point of should there be an investigation into betting aginst your own team. Unlikely to have Tohu, Kotoa, Townsend or maybe even Walsh this week. Means work experience kid gets another run by default which shouldnt happen. Work experience kid will also get his bro in law on the field no doubt, but I doubt that helps his game. Townsend actually wasnt that bad for most of the game, until the last twenty, where in that time even RTS went from hero to zero. The infectious nature of the fear of losing just took over and everyone went bad, what appalled me most, was that even our senior leaders (who were still on the field), also succumbed...
..at least our guys didnt attend Paul Vaughans party
Broncos V Sharks game was close to/if not the game of the round, what a difference some players make to some teams. How terrible were Manly before Turbo came back, Newcastle without Ponga and likewise Broncos without Staggs.
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@bayimports excuse my ignorance, but who is the work experience kid and who is his brother in law?
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Big suspensions and fines just handed down to Dragons players
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Paul Vaughn suspended for 8 weeks and fined $50K
12 other players fined a total of $305K and suspensions of week. Those suspensions can occur over the next 4 weeks given they will struggle to put a side out!
