Recruitment 2023/2024 Warriors Recruitment DISCUSSION

My 2 cents on Maiu'u is to not let the Knights get their hands on him. Yes, he's more likely to get regular NRL there but he's developing great under Webster/Griffin. Maiu'u couldn't get a run for Redcliffe's U21's in their Grand Final 6 months ago & now he's more than holding his own in NSW Cup.
 
Maybe, but 1 listed was a Tiger . And Ofahengaue, Nofoaluma and Laurie all played cup last week. And at this point none are listed in the 17 this week.
It's likely at least 1 will be going somewhere.
I really think Ofahengaue would be a great fit for us at a reasonable price.
I think we’d be good for him too.
He'd be sitting in reserves looking at how guys like ford and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad have turned it around here- there’s a possibility of finals footy… I’m sure he doesn’t want another spoon at the tigers- no one could blame him if he wanted out for a fresh start.
Bring him home…
 
I really think Ofahengaue would be a great fit for us at a reasonable price.
I think we’d be good for him too.
He'd be sitting in reserves looking at how guys like ford and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad have turned it around here- there’s a possibility of finals footy… I’m sure he doesn’t want another spoon at the tigers- no one could blame him if he wanted out for a fresh start.
Bring him home…
I saw somewhere saying he’s desperate to leave the tigers too, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true but not surprising where he sits at the club.
 
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I mean, it's easy to say that but what's the alternative...do we just rule out the top 20% of players and not bother then?

Yes Hynes probably wouldn't look at us even if we did offer something substantial, but I just don't see what other options we have recruitment wise other than having a crack at the big names
Probably not the really big names at the top of their game. We just don’t have the pulling power with being in a different country and having the larger travel requirements.
We have done really well this year to recruit the next tier of player in your Niukore, Barnett, Walker types. That combined with holding onto the key pieces of Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake sets us up well to start to develop the home grown players
 
Granted, they are far and few in between but we have had some big name non Kiwis come here - Price, Hoffman, Addin Fonua-Blake, Tomkins, Barnett, Queensland stars Daine Neilson and Dumanis Lui (tonge in cheek 🤪) as well as our fair share of decent Aussie talent looking for a start - Walsh, Egan, Volkman, Metcalf, Maloney.

The point is, if you don't ask you don't get. Also, silver lining is that if we offer a big contract to someone like Hynes and they don't take it, they can use that as leverage to bump up their asking price so that hopefully overall, it means the team they signed with have to fork out more and hopefully have to shed a player or two to fit them in the cap
So, the go is to make flirty eyes and suggestive noises at Player 7 from Team B who, truth be told, you don't really care about. But, if you convince Player 7's agent that he's in hot demand and the contract's up for renewal, Player 7 gets more dough from Team B and to accomodate Player 7, Team B have to give Player 12 the "It's not you, it's us" talk. And it was Player 12 you were hot on all along!

Oh, and you forget to add Allwood in the "big name non Kiwis". 6 games in 3 seasons. Beats heck out of that Steve Price fella, some No Name Chump from the Poodles or whatever the heck that nothing team calls themselves!
 
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Does anyone think Will Warbrick could play right centre?
Not yet, maybe in time. He got skinned pretty badly the weekend before last against the titans, managed to get both hands on the other guy's hips and fell off. Tackle technique isn't strong enough for centre yet.

On the plus side, with the start we've had, we might find a player or two interested in coming here in the hopes of playing finals football.
 
Does anyone think Will Warbrick could play right centre?

I've only seen a little of him so far, but looks decent.
I guess for me, centre wise we have 3 very exciting, young talents so if we are going to sign someone I would want an instant upgrade over what we have now, knowing those young guys will likely be in their prime 2025 moving forwards.

Id be reluctant to sign someone who has less experience NRL and position wise than our 3 up and coming juniors.
 
Also, just wanna give Kosi a bit of credit as he's come on leaps and bounds.

He signed a longer contract last week I think?
His last 12 games he's scored 10 tries and has run for an average of 130m or so. Starting to find his feet a little more - last few weeks he had an intercept, almost another one, and cut back in for his try where I thought he'd try and go wide and stuff it up. Showing that he's actually learning and developing which is great to see.

I was never a huge fan and thought after th Storm game last year he would struggle to come back, but he's going well. Great to see from our number 3 winger
 
Not yet, maybe in time. He got skinned pretty badly the weekend before last against the titans, managed to get both hands on the other guy's hips and fell off. Tackle technique isn't strong enough for centre yet.

On the plus side, with the start we've had, we might find a player or two interested in coming here in the hopes of playing finals football.
I'd be looking for an upgrade on Bunty someone mentioned Joe Offa I'd take him over Bunty easily
 
Huge fan of Bunty but what happened to him last night? Was quiet. Still happy to have him around as long as he is happy to continue getting minimum wage but we are short an accomplice to Addin Fonua-Blake especially if he goes down injured...

To be fair, we didn't have the ball during his stint and he made 100% of his tackles.

Webby seems to use him to settle into games before introducing impact for the last 60mins
 
I'd be looking for an upgrade on Bunty someone mentioned Joe Offa I'd take him over Bunty easily
I don't think Bunty is playing as badly as some thing. Great defender, good bench prop. Probably not a starting prop. Think he only got one spell last night (think our interchanges got used up on others) and in that spell we had stuff all ball.

I'd actually keep him as a cheap, experienced player. You know what you're going to get.
 
Huge fan of Bunty but what happened to him last night? Was quiet. Still happy to have him around as long as he is happy to continue getting minimum wage but we are short an accomplice to Addin Fonua-Blake especially if he goes down injured...
I thought the weather would have suited his style I'd still keep him but first cab off the rank from reserve grade for me we need him to put in much more if we are a finals team I think Joe or whoever would provide more impact
 
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I think Bunty has been given a job to do in the first 20 and thats to negate the attack of his opposite middles. Its debatable if its working given our starts, but then again we havent been losing. We have 4 guys on the bench who could churn out 80, hence why hes used sparingly while the other team is fresh. Best thing about this current squad is it looks like everyone knows their role and is happy with it.

Id still be having a sneaky word with the tigs about Joe O though. Thought he was very good last year in a woeful pack.
 
I think Bunty has been given a job to do in the first 20 and thats to negate the attack of his opposite middles. Its debatable if its working given our starts, but then again we havent been losing. We have 4 guys on the bench who could churn out 80, hence why hes used sparingly while the other team is fresh. Best thing about this current squad is it looks like everyone knows their role and is happy with it.

Id still be having a sneaky word with the tigs about Joe O though. Thought he was very good last year in a woeful pack.
Not a bad approach though. It's really that first 20 minutes where size and power count the most, as the match goes on fatigue settles in and speed and agility start to appreciate in value. Smart coaching. So Bunty's there to absorb that with his big body approach and then hand over his spot to bald bros who bring speed and tenacity but lack bit of size. I would still like to see a good prop there that pushes Bunty back a spot like stated above, we are one injury away from frequently getting dominated upfront.
 

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