Gameday 2024 Trial 1 - Warriors vs Wests Tigers

[WarriorsForever]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEmLhEPzcd4&ab_channel=NRL-NationalRugbyLeague​

 

[Citygirl]

I’m just glad the warriors are on TV this weekend!

I'm just glad I'll be at the game

 

[Riz]

Rog be starting round 1 on the wing is the good oil

Roger outside Ali gives me tingles in places it probably shouldn't.

 

[wahs_tragic]

Long time forum stalker, first time poster. If they're going down the route of RTS on the wing and Ali at centre, then that also makes more sense regarding Roger's role roving around the park.

Shape-wise, we wouldn't be as impacted on the left if he pops up supporting elsewhere. This also showcases the need to have Capewell playing on the left edge, as he could fill the gap of a pseudo-centre if RTS gets tied up on the right and we're needing to shift the ball to Ali.

 

[Citygirl]

Great turn out to Captain's run this morning, signing session after

 

[Chchfanatic]

Went to a Q&A with webby last night. He is very impressive.

 

[WarriorsForever]

FIRE UP ITS GAME DAY!!

 

[WarriorsForever]

Big ups to all you Cantabrians and those in the SI travelling to CHCH to support the boys today!

 

[MrFrankWhite]

View attachment 5137
Big ups to all you Cantabrians and those in the SI travelling to CHCH to support the boys today!

Holy fuck the hype is huge this year. Selling out preseason games...

 

[Fonzie]

We had a chat to Slade Griffin this morning in advance of the game:

View: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3fTNh7hLuaRLu9ZuzYjeX0?si=4CtZ7s1CShyhpasZR_Ouuw

 

[Citygirl]

The crowd at Speights in Christchurch by the ground is fantastic. Loving being around all these supporters

 

[sup42]

Roger looking three times more threatening than Pomps already, poor Pompey, love you cuz but Rogers got your Jersey....

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Any love for Ale? His late footwork is good!

 

[Billyspleen75]

ROGER TUIVASA-SHECK IS BAACCCKKKKK

 

[tajhay]

This is a terrific turnout from chch public for a trial gane

 

[bringinthebulls]

Our young forwards truely have a world of potential. Laban, Halasima, TSS. Some real leg drive there. A real shame we didnt get to see much of Maiu'u.

 

[Boats n Hoes]

Pretty hard to do when your position is owned by a bloke called Tohu Harris.

Tbh im not getting lock vibes from him at all.

The top locks (Tohu, Cam Murray, Yeo) as well as making yards also average 40+ tackles a game so have to have a big engine. Also these guys all have the abilty to ball play before the line (almost like a 5/8) something i havent seen in Ale's arsenal.

For mine he's more similar at best to a Spencer Leniu type impact player......thats where i see his best role at

 

[Rick O’Shay]

Just a shout out to Montoya as Captain today. Did a great job and I don't think I've seen a better fend

 

[Cces]

Observations from the grandstand.
- Bunty is so much thicker in the torso than when he was playing here last preseason. Credited with 40 tackles & 15 Runs so is carrying it well.
- Halasima moves so smoothly. Only turned 18 in September but made 24 tackles at 96%.
- Going is quality. If Jazz's management were to get greedy at negotiation time for 2025 then Kalani is a ready made replacement.
- Hansen looks like an ideal body shape for a #9.
- RTS was fantastic. He should put Montoya in for a career best Try haul this year.
- If Egan was injured for an extended period I think we might only scrape into the 8. If SJ missed 7+ games we'd likely finish in the bottom third of the table.

 

[Defence]

The send off was fair enough but seems a bit silly u can’t replace them in a trial.
I’m sure both coaches would’ve preferred to see 13 v 13.

 

[Makasene]

The send off was fair enough but seems a bit silly u can’t replace them in a trial.
I’m sure both coaches would’ve preferred to see 13 v 13.

The irony though is we forced ourselves into a situation in a game that doesn't matter.

Quietly I'd think the coaches are chuffed that we had major adversity and rolled through it.

 

[Rick O’Shay]

The red card thing bugs me, not just our game but union as well.

IMO, there should be a 15 min period of down to 12 or 14 like a yellow then a replacement can be brought on but not the guy sent off.
Foul play should be treated differently but a lot of these cards are for bad technique or are accidental. Can make the game a non event especially if it happens early.

The perp can have a few weeks on the sideline but at least the games would be evenly matched and more of a spectacle

 

[miket12]

I thought the crowd was amazing yesterday (except the pitch invaders), especially for a preseason game.

I thought we stood up well in the first twenty considering we had basically our NSW cup forward pack against a close to full strength NRL pack. Even at the end of the game, it looked like we had NSW reserves and juniors against a NSW cup team. To only go down by a missed conversion when playing for 60 minutes with 12 players, I’m proud of that effort.

The combination of RTS and Montoya is only going to get better. RTS is pure class!!!! And those fends from Montoya….. really hoping he’s in for a huge try scoring season!!!

Hanson was my pick of the halves.

 

[Tookey 2.0]

I'd had thought, given his form last year, the fact he's playing for his FG spot and his experience, that Ford would have had more of an impact yesterday. I think others like Laban played better than him. I was a bit disappointed he didn't take more his opportunity yesterday. He probably paid himself out of FG contention with that game.

I politely disagree sir. While Ford didn't have his greatest game, 100m and 35 tackles is still a good hit out in 50-60 min or what ever he played.

I'm guessing he was likely there as they wanted to test out the Metcalf/Ford/RTS/Montoya combo and see what they could get out of that, however after Maiuu being sent off everything kind of went out the window and it was more defending and desperation so hard to gauge.

Ford's always been seen as a fit, hard worker, the only way he doesn't get picked is if that's dropped off, which I didn't really see yesterday so I reckon he'll be starting Rd 1

 

[Cces]

I politely disagree sir. While Ford didn't have his greatest game, 100m and 35 tackles is still a good hit out in 50-60 min or what ever he played.

I'm guessing he was likely there as they wanted to test out the Metcalf/Ford/RTS/Montoya combo and see what they could get out of that, however after Maiuu being sent off everything kind of went out the window and it was more defending and desperation so hard to gauge.

Ford's always been seen as a fit, hard worker, the only way he doesn't get picked is if that's dropped off, which I didn't really see yesterday so I reckon he'll be starting Rd 1

To his credit, he marked Isaiah Papali'i & contained him well too

 

[Lance155]

Here is my review. No Flames for this please. Please politely disagree if you have an alternative opinion. These are just my opinions and I am not an expert and am new to league.

1) Zyon for the two minutes he was out there did not look effective at bending the line. That said two minutes isn't very long and would need to have a second look at him. What I did see what was not encouraging. I felt sorry for him with his send off as he was over excited and had been looking forward to the game for months and he got carried away. Poor guy must feel terrible today. I hope the coaching staff are sympathetic to him.

2) Ford looked like an upgrade on 2023 Ford. Like the 6 million dollar man opening he was "Bigger. Stronger. Faster". You could see he was a first grader playing against NSW cup level opponents. He looked like a Penrith forward who they bring off the bench and plays really well for them. He looked in great nick. Most importantly he didn't give away a penalty which must be a first for him.

3) Ali L did some good things and some bad things. He and Setu Tu were terrible beyond belief in letting in the second tigers try. That was keystone cops stuff. But physically he is a super star. Needs more time in NSW cup. Berry gets picked over him in my judgement.

4) CHT I thought was brilliant at distributing and getting the ball to the outside backs. He did do a Naff kick that went out on the full but nailed everything else. Some real heart on defence.

5) Metcalf gets a half mark from me. There were some good things he did such as the under ball to Laban for the try and some decent positional and long kicking. However there was the following
1) He was part of the rabble that defended or failed to defend the second soft tigers try. I saw him amongst the middle of it gently pulling at someone's jersey and getting swatted aside.
2) He didn't really feed his outside backs and give Setu Tu or Ali L time and space to work with and failed to feed them much at all
3) There was the Freddy Lussick line break and Freddy with one man to beat dished the ball off to Metcalf but the pass wasn't quite right and Metcalf spilled it and the try went begging. This sort of near try and dropped pill with the try line begging always happens to Luke as he over runs the play and didn't stay behind Lussick. Metcalf accelerated before he caught the ball. This is an ongoing issue that happens again and again.

6) RTS looked like an elite centre

7) shout out to Taine at fullback. I thought he was defensively superb and must have saved at least three tries that Reece would have let in. A little CNK in the making. He is really growing on me. Let's resign him.

8) I though Ben Farr had a day to forget.

9) Tom Ale I thought was very poor and often made negative post contact metres just like last year at NRL level. He got manhandled a lot and thrown backwards behind the line of advantage. While Bunty had the best game I have seen from him in a long time and I would put Bunty in the 17. I think Bunty did enough.

10) Tanners Stowers Smith. Nearly. Maybe. Give him another year in NSW cup I think. He is nearly good enough for NRL but not quite. He unlike Tom Ale did bend the line. But not by enough to really sit up and take notice. I really liked his intent.

Overall all our forwards looked in top physical condition and looked like better Athletes than the West Tigers players
For them i thought Sezer and Ice showed very well.

Seriously mate, it's OK to have an opinion. You don't need to state you are "new to league" or ask people not to get angry. Noone is an expert, we all have differing opinions which is what makes it interesting to discuss things here.

 

[Cces]

9) Tom Ale I thought was very poor and often made negative post contact metres just like last year at NRL level. He got manhandled a lot and thrown backwards behind the line of advantage. While Bunty had the best game I have seen from him in a long time and I would put Bunty in the 17. I think Bunty did enough.

A valued review @Wrighty.
If the stats are correct then Ale made 82 PCM @ 5.5m per run & Bunty made 61 @ 4m per run. Ale went backwards at least once but overall he was strong in contact. Ale made 19m more in total yardage than Bunty in the same amount of carries even though Bunty had 4 kick returns to Ale's one. I thought both were good but Ale would be my pick ahead of Bunty for a bench role

 

[The Warrior Waka]

I'm happy to see Laban get some love. I mentioned him as the player i look forward to seeing when others were raving on about Halasima & co(rightly so)
Then i got the old he's done nothing in cup. He did nothing in the kiwis A team. Hes meh...lol. i don't know, from what i saw of him he just has this special something. Tall, frame is filling out, Fast for his size. Awesome work ethic. Aggressive. Most importantly, Disciplined. I like the look of this kid.

 

[Warriorsfan92]

People have completely missed the 18 year old warrior bloke named on their bench

 

[Beastmode]

Everyone pumping up Bunty please remember he looked just as good in the same trial last year. Everyone was talking about how much bigger he looked then too.
I’m not a hater, he does a job, but for anyone expecting anything different in 2024…I think we are going to end up seeing the same Bunty as 23,22,21…..

Props peak at a much later age and Bunty is now 27. This is his year to shine. He’s seems like a gentle giant. Don’t know what it takes to unlock Beastmode in this guy, but in Webby I trust

This season I’m hoping Webby leverages his big body more with the hit ups. He’s pretty much the same size as AFB and more than capable of bending the line. Needs to add variety in his running angles and style. One thing in particular he has a tendency to bend low and run dead straight when making contact. I prefer he runs more upright. He’s a big boy - no need to worry about getting smashed and put on your back. Practice the Māori side step or make contact using the shoulder more like Steven Price used to do. Run at holes. Grow your hair out full Afro like Willie Mason used to have and go berserko on the field. That would be glorious. Haha I love Bunty!