TeamList [2023, Finals Week 1] - Penrith Vs Warriors

[CWC]

‘We want to seize the opportunity’: Exclusive - Warriors to travel to Sydney for NRL finals clash with Penrith in private jet to ensure best possible preparation​

The Warriors won’t be cutting any corners as they prepare for their biggest match in more than a decade – with the club deciding to use a private jet to transport the team to Australia later this week.

After finishing in the top four for the first time since 2007, the Warriors face Penrith in the qualifying final on Saturday night (6pm NZT).

If they beat the minor premiers, they will be one win away from the grand final, as they would receive a bye to the preliminary final, which in that case would be staged in Auckland. The carrot of that potential scenario – plus other logistical factors – has seen the club decide to take the huge step of investing in charter flights for the team, with the squad travelling in a 65-seat private plane.

It’s a move that is almost unprecedented in club history, though there were some similar arrangements made in 2002 when the club reached the grand final for the first time.

It will be a considerable expense - at least four times the cost of using a commerical flight - but Warriors chief executive Cameron George is adamant the cost is justified. It’s also a sign of the lengths the club is prepared to go to ensure an optimal preparation.

“We are chips-in for this,” George told the Herald. “This is a huge moment for our footy club, and we want to try to get everything as smooth and as streamlined as possible. This is our commitment to the footy team, the staff and the fans; we want to do everything we possibly can to have the best preparation.”

There were several factors that swayed the decision.

The first was to alleviate the risk of delays, which have blighted their recent transtasman travel. The Herald understands the squad has faced disruptions on at least three of their recent away trips. The most prolonged occurred last week. They were meant to arrive on Thursday 6pm (local time) in Brisbane, ahead of the Dolphins clash last Saturday, but didn’t land in the Queensland capital until after midnight.

It also allows the Warriors the option to return home on Saturday night, instead of having to fly from Sydney on Sunday. The match will finish around 6pm (Sydney time), which allows them plenty of time to get to the airport before the 10pm curfew, after which planes aren’t allowed to take off.

”It makes travel real efficient, [being] on our own plane,” said George. “There have been a couple of instances recently where we have had delays. This hopefully helps us to reduce that risk or even eliminate it by having our own charter. And it means we can get home quicker, instead of getting home at 5pm or something on Sunday and losing a day of recovery.”

It was also going to be a headache to find an appropriate commerical flight out of Auckland. The club didn’t receive confirmation of the finals schedule until late on Sunday evening, by which stage it was difficult to find a Thursday afternoon departure with the required seats available for their 45-strong party.

”The planes were full by the time we knew the timings,” said George.

The alternative would have meant a Friday departure post-captain’s run in Auckland, which is far from ideal for an early kick-off the next day or an early morning flight on Thursday, which wouldn’t be the best option in an already compressed week.

”Commercially, it was challenging for us,” said George. “This is the best pathway for us to get there, in the most efficient and best-prepared way.”

While it is a significant outlay, George said the potential upside was too hard to ignore.

”The club has worked for years to get these opportunities,” said George. “This is an investment to try to achieve the best result we can. We are not here to make up the numbers - we are here to win it.”

“If we go there and win, we have got two weeks off and we’ve got the biggest event in sport in New Zealand. Or if we go there and get beat, at least we are home a day early to recover and get ready to go again next week. There were lots of positives for us.”

“We want to give Webby and his team all the support, and the best possible preparation that we can. That’s my job, for the environment. We want to seize this opportunity.”

'We are chips-in for this': Warriors will fly to Sydney in private jet for finals clash

It’s a sign of the lengths the club is prepared to go to ensure optimal preparation.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[snake77]

Besides Metcalf we have everyone available for selection.

A bit nervous about the lack of game time for TMM and Tevaga have had. It is hard to have everything perfect. They are both experienced which will help a lot in this game.

A win will be huge for our confidence. Seen people claiming we will go out with two losses. Yes if we lose the next game will be tough but it would still be a tough assignment coming here to play us with the crowds we were pulling during the minor premiership.

 

[cero_stars]

View attachment 308

that's crazy odds. if there was ever a time to pull the old "no one believes in us so let's go out there and f@ck Sh!t up "speech. this is the week

also, an acceptable speech would be " pain heals, chicks dig scars. glory lasts forever."

 

[CWC]

Webby was saying he’s going to do what has worked for us in the finals in interviews with Fox, which I thought would be Bunty at 10 and Barnett and Walker off the bench. Effective and predictable.

Then he chose Jazz

This is the team where the pros could be

1) AFB AND Barnett first liners starting

2) Bald Bros Assemble

The cons would be

1) We don’t know what we’re going to get with AFB/Barnett starting, is it gonna be dropsy daisy or Mario bros on steroids?

2 We don’t know what we’re going to get with Bald bros, is it gonna be a gassed Jazz or Mario bros on steroids?

Bunty would be the conservative approach, Webby is taking the Hail Mary approach, which is good because teams that troubled Penrith in the last month were playing Hail Mary

The key things for me would be

1) can SJ step up this time? He had a shocker against Penrith last time
2) I am guessing we will go back to introducing Walker etc at the 20 minute mark, was Webby pushing the boys’ cardio over the last month with late intro of the bench?
3) Watch Crighton intercepts and his Montoya style blindside hits
4) Our little set moves eg SJ/Egan etc, I enjoyed it in the early rounds, hope they unlease some of the moves they’ve been practicing all year, or having 50 people running at the defense, that’s being tucked away over the last month
5) Can we run them off their feet? This might be a game plan from the away Cowboys game. If we can save Curran for the last 20 like the Sharks game…






PS: Jason Paris please get your Twitter account ready to protect us from above

 

[Woofa]

Forum,

Mark my words - we will play the performance of our lives on Saturday. This Wahs team will be primed and in my opinion, this is set up by design by Webby.

Penrith are who we have wanted in the first game of the finals - and judging by Webby’s smile after the Phins game, he’s set this up strategically.

Let’s dissect.
1. Wahs have not played with their expansive game since before the third bye. We put the cue in the rack from some of our attacking plays and the last 5 weeks we have engineered grinding wins, learning how to win ugly. Behind closed doors, I reckon they have been developing plays to counter the defensive ploys team developed to counter our game from the beginning of the season. Be prepared to see some expansive plays and things we haven’t seen for 7 or 8 rounds.
At the same time, winning ugly if we have to is now ingrained in us. We can get into the arm wrestle and win rather than rely on shock and awe.

2. Jazz - the bald brothers haven’t played together for weeks. Jazz was held back against the Phins - he was ready and amping to get on the field. Clearly, something is up with how he will play against Penrith. Probably 30-40 minutes max I’d say. Now what we will likely see is Tohu move into prop when Jazz and DWalks come on, with Walker playing 13. Speed is the key to what we do.

3. We rested our entire spine bar TMM who needed the blow out. I’m picking this team has been putting plans together for 2 weeks on Penrith. Funny, Justin Morgan was on SENZ talking up playing the Broncos and said ‘they may have someone looking at Penny just in case’. That this away comment was interesting. In fact, I suspect it was the complete reverse. They’ve designed a plan specifically for this game, specifically against the Panthers. And our spine I bet will have this plan burned into their psyche by now.

5. And who was Assistant Coach there for the last few years? Webby knows them better than anyone. He knows their plays, calls, style, weaknesses and how they can be beaten. We have a comprehensive plan here and winning this gets us so close to the big dance. A home prelim would be unprecedented. If we are going to win it all, we need gas in the tank and the shortest distance to that goal is getting a prelim at home - we will not lose that match. So this game is literally our first ‘grand final’ as it unlocks the door to the edge of the promised land.

7. Private Jet? We are executing a pre planned victory strategy here people. This is not a decision made on a whim. We’ve dead set planned everything including making the most seamless travel arrangements. The entire week has been mapped probably to the minute. I swear this is a big sign..

8. AFB has been building his fitness to play 70 minutes in a semi. He’s played within himself in recent games - but has added miles to the clock. I expect a monster, dominant performance.

I could go on. But in essence, watch the body language of the team this week. Watch the little mannerisms and the look in their eyes. Forget what they say, look at the focus, the confidence and the swagger.

We have already been written off by all media (as per usual). I reckon there is something special cooking here.

Do you dare to dream? 4pm on a Saturday afternoon in Penrith - hard and fast pitch. Team built for speed.

deadset, if we get what I think will happen, this will be one of the greatest matches in our clubs history.

Wahs in a statement performance by 8.

UP THE FKN WAHS!!!!!

Fark.. TAB 1 grand on the wahs pls

 

[Riz]

LET'S EAT!!!

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

View attachment 319

Will Chloe Swarbrick cancel her club membership?

 

[sup42]

Forum,

Mark my words - we will play the performance of our lives on Saturday. This Wahs team will be primed and in my opinion, this is set up by design by Webby.

Penrith are who we have wanted in the first game of the finals - and judging by Webby’s smile after the Phins game, he’s set this up strategically.

Let’s dissect.
1. Wahs have not played with their expansive game since before the third bye. We put the cue in the rack from some of our attacking plays and the last 5 weeks we have engineered grinding wins, learning how to win ugly. Behind closed doors, I reckon they have been developing plays to counter the defensive ploys team developed to counter our game from the beginning of the season. Be prepared to see some expansive plays and things we haven’t seen for 7 or 8 rounds.
At the same time, winning ugly if we have to is now ingrained in us. We can get into the arm wrestle and win rather than rely on shock and awe.

2. Jazz - the bald brothers haven’t played together for weeks. Jazz was held back against the Phins - he was ready and amping to get on the field. Clearly, something is up with how he will play against Penrith. Probably 30-40 minutes max I’d say. Now what we will likely see is Tohu move into prop when Jazz and DWalks come on, with Walker playing 13. Speed is the key to what we do.

3. We rested our entire spine bar TMM who needed the blow out. I’m picking this team has been putting plans together for 2 weeks on Penrith. Funny, Justin Morgan was on SENZ talking up playing the Broncos and said ‘they may have someone looking at Penny just in case’. That this away comment was interesting. In fact, I suspect it was the complete reverse. They’ve designed a plan specifically for this game, specifically against the Panthers. And our spine I bet will have this plan burned into their psyche by now.

5. And who was Assistant Coach there for the last few years? Webby knows them better than anyone. He knows their plays, calls, style, weaknesses and how they can be beaten. We have a comprehensive plan here and winning this gets us so close to the big dance. A home prelim would be unprecedented. If we are going to win it all, we need gas in the tank and the shortest distance to that goal is getting a prelim at home - we will not lose that match. So this game is literally our first ‘grand final’ as it unlocks the door to the edge of the promised land.

7. Private Jet? We are executing a pre planned victory strategy here people. This is not a decision made on a whim. We’ve dead set planned everything including making the most seamless travel arrangements. The entire week has been mapped probably to the minute. I swear this is a big sign..

8. AFB has been building his fitness to play 70 minutes in a semi. He’s played within himself in recent games - but has added miles to the clock. I expect a monster, dominant performance.

I could go on. But in essence, watch the body language of the team this week. Watch the little mannerisms and the look in their eyes. Forget what they say, look at the focus, the confidence and the swagger.

We have already been written off by all media (as per usual). I reckon there is something special cooking here.

Do you dare to dream? 4pm on a Saturday afternoon in Penrith - hard and fast pitch. Team built for speed.

deadset, if we get what I think will happen, this will be one of the greatest matches in our clubs history.

Wahs in a statement performance by 8.

UP THE FKN WAHS!!!!!

Good on you man, been a while since I read a truly glass is full post.

Dunno if I agree about the long range plan but I like your thinking.

I agree we are gonna go hell for leather and play the hardest game we have ever played, we will probably have to survive some insane bullshit and win with 12 men.

Shock and awe for sure.

I agree some specifics you identified. AFB was prepared deliberately for an eighty minute finals run.

Also agree the Walker Jazz impact role was changed for the lead into the finals and I am sure we will roll them out there early now, like we did when we were carving.

We have named a side that can defend with 12 men and with repeat sets on our line.

We are going to spread the ball and make the Riff work in defence then set for DWZ and Egan will pull a sneaky and put Tohu through in the gap in the middle under the posts.

 

[run_it_str8_again]

No idea where all this optimism is
coming from… emotion is one hell of a drug

It's from knowing we are here at this stage of the season and have a shot. It's also realistic that we might lose, get 3 yellow cards, shocking refs calls, the yips, butter fingers, emotionally spent by all the hype, and actually beaten by a better team.

But it's more enjoyable being optimistic knowing that we CAN beat them. I know the odds, I know the Panthers are the benchmark. But our team is here because they were prepared to get this far.

Three more games? I'm optimistic. He was my favourite transformer anyway.

 

[sup42]

Imagine if the Union wanks had of let RTS go.
We would have had some serious left strike.

Thanks potato heads.

 

[Tonbridge(aka Swanley)]

Most of the Knights good wins have been at home. They would play us away. Cant see them beating us at Mt Smart.

I can, they are playing damn good football.

 

[Tonbridge(aka Swanley)]

Really good post.
I have been wondering how much foxing has been going on

Still very popular in Japan, and that's a fact.

 

[Tonbridge(aka Swanley)]

Good team and as expected.

Only concern is Jazz......hammys are tough to read, I just hope he's used it in anger a few times....

starting to get excited now.

 

[ndp26]

an acceptable speech would be " pain heals, chicks dig scars. glory lasts forever."

Such a good movie!!

 

[Beastmode]

I think our defence is better than Penrith on stats.

Please think again. On stats, they shit everyone by a country mile…

 

[sup42]

Please think again. On stats, they shit everyone by a country mile…

View attachment 324

Player stats are more interesting.

Our forwards out match theirs.

SJ has better stats apart from kicking than Cleary.

Centers they have it all over us.

Wings DWZ is the Kong.

But their wingers and centers kill it for tackle breaks.

Without Luai these two sides on paper come a lot closer together.

Fullbacks are even.

We have the better hooker.

They have more strike power on the bench.

We have the better back row.

So packs goes to Warriors.

Depending on what we get out of TMM the halves could tip our way because of SJ...obviously we need SJ the Dally M version.

These teams individually are closer than people realize. The problem is everyone is scared of Penrith and their opponents fold under the relentless pressure that comes from Penrith having a dodgey looking cap and years of playing high intensity football.

The question is really, can a rebuild team pull off a big performance right when they need it most and after that.....it is all on...

Oh and there is the REAL problem, NRL Refs pet the darlings of the comp and are too scared to be seen to make calls against them...that has been the way forever, which is why the Broncos are shit scared of the Storm...because Melbourne have conditioned the Refs bias for years.

 

[Tookey 2.0]

Luai and Kikau for them have always been that wild X factor. Not to say they don't have X factor, but with Kikau gone and Luai not there this week if we can match them in the middle, it's going to be an amazing game.

One thing I've noticed is that teams often wait until their up by 6 or 12 to really chance their arm. We obviously have to respect the ball, but at the same time I think we need to bring a bit or unpredictable Warriors ball early. Not a lot...but enough to show Penrith that they can't just muscle up in the middle and gang tackle. They are the king's of that and can control the ruck so well. Keep them guessing and put uncertainty in their players so that they're not rushing up and jamming in

 

[regenerated borg]

Its the strongest available team we can field really.
Webbys game plan is the key if we're to have any chance of pulling this off..
He knows how they operate their strengths and weaknesses.
IMO dont let the Panfurs dictate the game to suit their strengths.. Need an unorthodox approach, maybe do a Manly and off load as much as possible anything to upset em..
But I still think we're at least another year away from being a real challenger.

 

[Five&Last]

If Jazz is only playing the 20 odd minutes that Bunty usually plays then his lack of game time won't be that obvious I don't think

 

[FormerlyJamesW]

AFB was prepared deliberately for an eighty minute finals run.

AFB will be huge for us. Imagine if he took it up a gear.....