NRL The Underperformers Thread

[Tookey 2.0]

Simple! Talk about the player (or players) who you thought were going to kick on to higher honours and bigger things only to turn in to an average clubman and ended up failing to realise their potential. Doesn't have to be Warriors of Kiwis related.

For me - Ukuma Taai - this dude was build like a brick shit house and I thought he was going to be a huge damaging player for us.

Played 4 seasons for us and just never got any better. Went to SL and had a decent career. Really thought he could a been anything tho.

Honourable mentions:
Tim Smith - huge rookie year then nada after that.
Kevvie Locke - pissed it away with all the booze

Discuss!

 

[JustVisiting82]

I didn't actually see much of them but I kept hearing about the Kepu twins and was personally looking forward to seeing how they would go in first grade.

Wouldn't it have been nice to have two local junior big bodied young props coming through right now ready to step up when AFB leaves.

The hooker Otukolo sounded like the next big thing too.

Hopefully some of our current crop can kick on.

Sorry if this is derailing the thread - I'm not sure if you meant to talk about youngsters who never really got a start.

 

[Cces]

Most probably ain't heard of him but I'll add Robert Tanielu. Big Prop (1.97m, 114kg) out of Christchurch who was the first try scorer on debut for the Baby Broncos during the 2002 State of Origin period. That was his only appearance for Brisbane before 2 seasons & 5 games for the Storm. Went to Cowboys in 2006 before career ended prematurely due to a neck injury.

 

[Noitall]

View attachment 4791
Most probably ain't heard of him but I'll add Robert Tanielu. Big Prop (1.97m, 114kg) out of Christchurch who was the first try scorer on debut for the Baby Broncos during the 2002 State of Origin period. That was his only appearance for Brisbane before 2 seasons & 5 games for the Storm. Went to Cowboys in 2006 before career ended prematurely due to a neck injury.
View attachment 4792

My wife is a Tanielu, though separated. There was a Josh Tanielu floating around in the local scene for Bay Roskill.

 

[shuffle]

From a Warriors fan Perspective I would say Ata Hinagano. Super talented but just couldn’t find that hunger to be an NRL player. There are more players but I thought Hingano had a big future in the game.

Honourable mentions - Siuatonga Likiliki, Nafe Seluini and Sam Lisone.

For the rest of the comp I would say Chris Sandow. Thought he would be an absolute superstar! Fell right off! Dave Taylor too.

 

[Cces]

From a Warriors fan Perspective I would say Ata Hinagano. Super talented but just couldn’t find that hunger to be an NRL player.

Going from a starting Halfback at a World Cup to likely being a reserve grader at your club must have been hard to comprehend hence his move to Canberra. It appears the same thought process might have been going through Ronald Volkman's head of late. Young fellas need to be patient but that's easier said then done

 

[Defence]

From our juniors- alehana Mara and Sebastian ikahihifo- I was convinced they’d both be stars.

 

[Lets Eat (YeahNah)]

I really wanted the FISH to kick off but not to be.

Unsure if motivation, body type or coaching were key factors

 

[Pop Dukez]

Agree with all of the above…..what happened to big Dave Taylor?

All I remember of Sandow was GI bumping him off like he was invisible.

Warriors wise…..Sam Tomkins, Feleti Mateo & Krisnan Inu. The latter duo were mercurial players but very inconsistent and lazy. Tomkins gave his all but was well out of his depth here.

 

[Lets Eat (YeahNah)]

Agree with all of the above…..what happened to big Dave Taylor?

All I remember of Sandow was GI bumping him off like he was invisible.

Warriors wise…..Sam Tomkins, Feleti Mateo & Krisnan Inu. The latter duo were mercurial players but very inconsistent and lazy. Tomkins gave his all but was well out of his depth here.

Oh man Inu was my hero back in the day but looked a little on the lazy side

 

[John Nick]

Agree with all of the above…..what happened to big Dave Taylor?

All I remember of Sandow was GI bumping him off like he was invisible.

Warriors wise…..Sam Tomkins, Feleti Mateo & Krisnan Inu. The latter duo were mercurial players but very inconsistent and lazy. Tomkins gave his all but was well out of his depth here.

Last I heard of Dave Taylor he had been sacked from a North American team along with a few others.
Might have been Canadian iirc
Yes Toronto Wolfpack. Him and Fuifui Moimoi reported to have left after training incident in Portugal

 

[Matiunz]

Agree with all of the above…..what happened to big Dave Taylor?

All I remember of Sandow was GI bumping him off like he was invisible.

Warriors wise…..Sam Tomkins, Feleti Mateo & Krisnan Inu. The latter duo were mercurial players but very inconsistent and lazy. Tomkins gave his all but was well out of his depth here.

Inu in particular was pretty lazy and the epitome of rocks and diamonds, Mateo I think apart from the odd lazy tackle was a point of difference and probably on the better side. Also think Tomkins was so much of a flop as he was used criminally incorrectly by us, his running and passing game were fantastic he just wasn’t an NRL fullback- had he transitioned to a half I think he would have shined.
Couple I thought would kick on were Carlos Daly and Tui Lolohea

 

[miket12]

Bruce is my biggest underperformer…... his input on the site has been pathetic lately.

 

[Matiunz]

Bruce is my biggest underperformer…... his input o the site has been pathetic lately.

If you listen very carefully on a windy day you may still hear faint murmurings about carlaw park and Eric Watson signed off with a ‘ladies and jellybeans’

 

[John Nick]

If you listen very carefully on a windy day you may still hear faint murmurings about carlaw park and Eric Watson signed off with a ‘ladies and jellybeans’

Just saying like

 

[sballer7]

When it comes to Warriors Juniors these names come to mind. The first 3 were almost given to become NRL stars, the rest I thought wouldve had decent careers based on NYC form.

Tui Lolohea
Carlos Tuimavave
Konrad Hurrell

Suiatonga Likiliki
Alehana Mara
David Bhana
Jordan Meads
Daniel O'Regan
Omar Slaimankhel
John Palavi
Elijah Niko

 

[Zaggo]

It's tough to accurately rate guys like Lisone, Hurrell and to an extent Tompkins.

Were they great for us? In general, no.

However - all 3 have had long, successful careers in the Super League. The latter 2 have also had good rep careers.

For Lisone and Hurrell I think going overseas and getting away from home comforts must've given them the necessary kick up the ass to put in a more consistent effort. For Tomkins, we really expected too much when he was in a pretty dire team. If he was playing off the back of a good pack he could've been incredible (and he had his moments where he was), but he was never the type to make something from nothing.

 

[dean]

Andy Platt

 

[Cces]

Louis Anderson.
The bloke played about 330 first class games but more specifically his time at the Warriors was somewhat underwhelming.
Captained the Junior Kiwis as a Prop but in his first 10 NRL appearances he played Five-Eighth, Second Row, Lock, Hooker & off the bench. Probably had more talent than the great Simon Mannering.
His brother Vinnie was another who showed a lot but wasn't around for long. Scored 4 tries against the Kangaroos across 3 games. Completely forgot he played #6 for the Kiwis in 4 Tests.
Surprised neither played for Tonga later in their careers as their older brother, Fraser, did in Rugby Union

 

[Zaggo]

Nate Roache unfortunately is my prime example.

He looked so, so good whenever he started to string a few games together and genuinely think if he'd stayed healthy he would've had a long, successful career. Cruel that his body kept letting him down.