General 2025 your season review

NZWarriors.com

It's happened a few times this season. I'd be shocked if this hasn't been highlighted as a priority issue.

As the boys say, this team plays simple footy. Pretty obvious when people aren't sticking to the plan.
I personally would have played charnze at centre at tuapiki at the back last night. But he gave charnze his shot in his preferred position and I hope that leads to greater optics on him in the post season review and better long term outcomes,.
 
Attack needs a major overhaul. Even when we did have Metcalf it wasn’t the best but everyone on the forum kept saying doesn’t matter about your attack. Defence wins games. Wins a win.

We must be one of the worst teams in the red zone. It’s really embarassing when we are dominating teams for possession and time inside the red zone and we come away with no points time and time again.

We can’t manipulate the defensive line to create space out wide or holes for players to go through. The lines our players run don’t seem to be effective and the halves need to try straighten up our attack in my opinion. We just seem to shovel it out the back with predictable block plays and then it gets to our fullback and the play dies.

On the odd occasion a player makes a break, there is no fullback/support players backing up most of the time. Lack of speed in the team stands out again this year.

CNK and CHT have been great servants but they aren’t going to win you a premiership. Being a workhouse or putting on a big hit every now and then isn’t enough to win a prem. We need players that put the defense in two minds. We need x factor in the spine.

Young guns: Leka, Demi, Healey etc… all were very good and gets you excited for what’s to come. Hopefully we see more of Healey in first grade next year.

Erin Clarke take a bow. I was a hater when I saw he signed but he served me a big slice of humble pie.

RTS had a massive second half of the season. Capewah had a massive year being mr fixit. Fish was a bit of a let down signing for me.

Best win Sharks game. Probably the only time we had a dominant 80 min performance.
 
I give the season a B. Had we not dropped the close games against the Eels and Dolphins with so much on the line it would have been an outstanding season, but those two winnable games tainted it a little. That we had to play second rowers at centre for so many games highlights that position as a major problem area to work on. But despite some of the issues with the current squad there seems to be a lot of unity at the club. The players are putting in the effort under Webby and that was everything I was longing for after we were at such a low ebb before he took over. The games at Vegas, in Melbourne and in the wet against the Dogs were the only ones where we were dominated. 22 out of 25 competitive games made for an enjoyable season.
 
Yeah a good season for sure. Especially now that the pressure is off and you can look back over the whole season and appreciate that we went from a club rebuild with multiple departures of senior players and the retirement of our generational half back. To ride in the top four for most of that was incredible.

The best part was the last game, after all the talk about Penrith or any of the elite sides giving us a hiding, and the claims that we did not belong in the top four-we certainly were beating Penrith up in stages of that game.

It shits me that people claim Penrith did not play well, ah are you blind? no team can play well when the opposition is folding them and driving them back in gang tackles through ultra fast line speed and uber aggressive contact.

Add to that the way we fixed our edge defence when it mattered, leaving Penrith clue less when their deadly shifts couldn't do shit against our players.

That was one of the best Warrior performances, it is unfortunate that it was spoiled by freak mix of talent and luck care of one player, Nathan CLeary, I really hate that guy.

The best thing about this season was Webster went deep into the reserve grade drawer and the unlikely arrival of TSS and EIT as NRL regulars. I mean that is going really deep down the list of possibles.

Next year we have some really exciting young forwards that will feature regularly, you have some genuine quality in Leka, Dimitric, Laban, Gannon and probably Fatialofa to look forward to seeing out there at some stage.

Those guys can really play, all of them are talented, mobile, fast, aggressive and explosive.

EIT, I haven't forgotten him, he is quick when he gets in the clear he is gone, and Fatialofa is faster than most NRL forwards.

Also Webster found a place for Healy, so he knows exactly what we have, he knows Healy is a talent, people need to get off Websters back, he played the lad in the finals ffs.

Then for those quibbling about our lack of pace out wide, consider that there are going to be some fast players pushing for spots next season.

These guys are quick:

Linane
Leiataua
Metcalf
DWZ
Kali

Ali would be the slowest out of that lot, and he is not too slow for a center, but there is plenty of speed.

We will be leaping for kicks on the try line next year.

You have aerial players galore in this young crop.

Mellars
Leka
Laban
Eit
Gannon
Dimitric

These are all known attacking kick contesting players.

If this season has taught us anything it is that our team will change next year significantly as Webster sees when young players are ready.

Metcalf will be another year older and more settled as a halfback, CHT will find a spot if Linane pushes him out, and of course we may even see Cleary get a run if there are a bunch of injuries to the guys ahead of him.

All this is to say the club is in a great place and the defence this team constructed in that finals match is the key to winning a premiership, I am sure Webster will get the guys to watch their performance with some pride and lots of learning for next year.
 
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Yeah a good season for sure. Especially now that the pressure is off and you can look back over the whole season and appreciate that we went from a club rebuild with multiple departures of senior players and the retirement of our generational half back. To ride in the top four for most of that was incredible.

The best part was the last game, after all the talk about Penrith or any of the elite sides giving us a hiding, and the claims that we did not belong in the top four-we certainly were beating Penrith up in stages of that game.

It shits me that people claim Penrith did not play well, ah are you blind? no team can play well when the opposition is folding them and driving them back in gang tackles through ultra fast line speed and uber aggressive contact.

Add to that the way we fixed our edge defence when it mattered, leaving Penrith clue less when their deadly shifts couldn't do shit against our players.

That was one of the best Warrior performances, it is unfortunate that it was spoiled by freak mix of talent and luck care of one player, Nathan CLeary, I really hate that guy.

The best thing about this season was Webster went deep into the reserve grade drawer and the unlikely arrival of TSS and EIT as NRL regulars. I mean that is going really deep down the list of possibles.

Next year we have some really exciting young forwards that will feature regularly, you have some genuine quality in Leka, Dimitric, Laban, Gannon and probably Fatialofa to look forward to seeing out there at some stage.

Those guys can really play, all of them are talented, mobile, fast, aggressive and explosive.

EIT, I haven't forgotten him, he is quick when he gets in the clear he is gone, and Fatialofa is faster than most NRL forwards.

Also Webster found a place for Healy, so he knows exactly what we have, he knows Healy is a talent, people need to get off Websters back, he played the lad in the finals ffs.

Then for those quibbling about our lack of pace out wide, consider that there are going to be some fast players pushing for spots next season.

These guys are quick:

Linane
Leiataua
Metcalf
DWZ
Kali

Ali would be the slowest out of that lot, and he is not too slow for a center, but there is plenty of speed.

We will be leaping for kicks on the try line next year.

You have aerial players galore in this young crop.

Mellars
Leka
Laban
Eit
Gannon
Dimitric

These are all known attacking kick contesting players.

If this season has taught us anything it is that our team will change next year significantly as Webster sees when young players are ready.

Metcalf will be another year older and more settled as a halfback, CHT will find a spot if Linane pushes him out, and of course we may even see Cleary get a run if there are a bunch of injuries to the guys ahead of him.

All this is to say the club is in a great place and the defence this team constructed in that finals match is the key to winning a premiership, I am sure Webster will get the guys to watch their performance with some pride and lots of learning for next year.

I couldn't agree more, on and off the field , through the grades and in the community this season must be considered a success. Building a Premierships and an enduring one requires patience.
On a slightly different note I had the pleasure of a long chat with a current Warriors star and veteran, who when I asked what is important in an NRL sides successes that isn't given enough emphasis in the comments section and he replied pre season.
Whilst I'm at it, he also said keeping concentration was an attribute that's hard to train but comes with experience and the next level is being able to distract the opposition, break their concentration, when fatigued without losing your own focus.

Best
 
If you said to me 6th place at the start of the season, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. In saying that considering where we were, it's still one where we will lament what could have been. If anything this shows how good Andrew Webster is. He's taken a team of also rans and got them over achieving. Now imagine what he could do with a team of superstars.

I can't see us doing as well next year, but here's hoping for some consistency into the 8 over the next few years
 
As the season has progressed, it's become increasing obvious for me that we are a team that 'its whole is greater than the sum of it's parts'.

You look at some players - CNK and CHT and even Niukore to a degree - individually it's easy to see their limitations or flaws, but within the Webby juggernaut when it has all its parts, they compliment the other parts of our team well.

Unfortunately we lost two of the most important cogs in the Webby juggernaut in Metcalf and Barney and we simply weren't able to replicate what we had lost.

I think on top of that, we need to remember that both we started the year with both Walker and Tohu on the books, which would have factored into the way we wanted to play, and of course our biggest areas we were lacking has been our centres. Pompey did a great job as our 3rd drop centre but to go close to winning the comp, you need all of your players for and firing and I think Berry and Ali played a total of 15 out of nearly 60 games this year.

The good news? I don't think we need to tweak too much. If we were to have Ali, Berry, Metcalf and Barney for the majority of next year and in to the finals, we instantly perform much better than we did this year.
Add to that the continued development of our juniors, and hopefully a surprise packet of someone like AKP, Linnane, or Gannon offering a little more attack or a point of difference, arguably we finish better than what we did this year.

I do agree with Webby in that we are deffo missing a piece of the puzzle and I hope we're able to sign a marquee player in the next 2 years it could push is closer to the grand final.

I reckon we improve next year, with 2027 potentially our biggest chance at taking out the whole thing
 
Looking at our cap, if we were aus based we'd probably have been able to bring in a marquee player for next year which is exactly what we need. Instead we're super limited in recruitment unfortunately. The recruitment choices have been very good, but our options seem to be limited to mostly kiwis coming home which is far too luck based.

Solid B+ from me. Coming into season this was a bottom 6 squad on paper pretty clearly. Webby is really a savant at getting the most out of his players. I think he still has a fair bit of learning around strategy, and ESPECIALLY bench usage and rotation. He might be the worst in the league at how he uses his bench, though I can't say I pay that much attention to the other teams there outside of when they play us. Considering how conservative our play style is, it's bizzare how cute he gets with the bench. If we're a defend and grind team we should have a big bench with plenty of rotation keeping the forwards fresh and dominant. Especially considering we no longer have an AFB type anchor in the middle. Wasting a spot on pure injury cover is an insane luxury we cannot afford and he needs to get over it. Having players do single digit minutes is nonsense.

Great young core coming through, can see the potential building. Biggest concern for me is getting a marquee 7 which is essential. Swap Cleary and Boyd and we beat the Panthers. Not that we'll ever get Cleary, but you really need a gun. Especially if your 1 and 6 are budget which ours are. Egan a let down this season as well. I hope we don't lose Healey because Webby wants to run TMM at 14.

Just not sure how we're ever going to have a marquee 7 outside of the next SJ which as far as I'm aware is not even remotely on the radar.

We need a spine in place for 27/28 when our team will mostly be built around young kiwis entering their prime. We have no choice but to go all in on Metcalf, but he can't finish a season. Next year Webby needs to focus on building up the youth and his bench rotation. A top 8 finish and first round exit will be ok in my books. Our spine is just not there and that's not changing next year.

CNK needs to be the best defensive FB in the comp if all he's bringing are hit ups. He's clearly not that.
 
First half of the season was an A.

Only lost 3 out of the the first 13 games to what ended up being the top 2 teams in the comp. Many of our wins were tense grindy affairs which we've typically lost over the years after the 60min mark ticks over.


Second half of the season was a C.

Only won 4 of the final 12 games, a lot of the losses coming against unfavoured opposition or teams missing key players.
That was of course after we had lost two of our most key players (Dally M leader and SOO-representative captain) for the year so that obviously had a massive effect.


So I guess a B on average, which given our ladder position (and finals exit) compared to last year and general pre-season expectations makes sense.


Biggest positives are the breaking out of the young guns (Leka, Demetric, Jacob, Sam in particular), and the noticeable don't-give-up attitude in effort throughout the year (aforementioned successful grinds, RTS being a monster, Erin Clark being a relentless bulldozer).


Biggest negatives are obviously our inability to convert opportunities into points regularly (e.g. while the winning grind is good when it works, only 5/14 wins were by double digits), which I think most people agree is heavily influenced by not having any zippy dudes to take opportunity of breaks (except Luke).
And the leaky as hell right side defensively. Sorry Dallin, you get most of the flak but there's a reason most of our points conceded came down your side (I don't actually know if this is a fact but damn sure felt like it! 😅)


As proud as I am of where they got to, still feels like a season gone begging (somewhat out of our control with the injuries - technically only had 20 minutes all year with our number one run-on squad for the Bunnies game), still a bit fresh from the disappointment of Saturday night :cry:
 
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Definitely a success, I would have picked us to finish around 12-13th going into the season so to finish 6th is a great effort.

Positives- Erin Clark was one of the buys of the year. RTS was great on the wing. No 2nd season slump for Halasima and hes on track to be one of the best forwards in the game sooner rather than later. Metcalf pre injury was fantastic.

Blooded in a young core of forwards in Healey, Vaimaunga, TSS, EIT and Laban who will be the platform for future success. Webster contiues to impress as a coach who adapts to the cattle he has at his disposal.

Negatives- Serious injuries to two key players. Outside back stocks are thin and Berry and Ali took a step back this season. A number of poor performance at home this season.
 
Pass it to Leka is turning into the 2025 version of the bomb to Manu tactic and catch phrase.
In 2026 as he grows physically (he turns 20 on Sept 21st 2025) he will only become more of a try scoring threat. Also guess who scored our only try last night?
Pass it to Leka is an option. Like a punch you throw. Not the only punch we should throw.

The games that we have looked our killer best have been defensively resilient. Not necessarily crushingly dominant. *Never used the word crushingly before. But unrelenting in it's application.

Also what we lack is the 80 minute complete game. We have explosive blocks of time. But can we sustain it? No if we look at the evidence.

Also what we lack is the ability to know when to switch to plan B, C, D etc or if we "trust the process"

Speed to burn? Yes please.
 
Attack needs a major overhaul.

We must be one of the worst teams in the red zone. It’s really embarassing when we are dominating teams for possession and time inside the red zone and we come away with no points time and time again.

This year we showed that we could score from outside the red zone which is an important aspect. Even if we aren't coming away with points from the red zone, we can take away pressure built.

Eventually it tells. Kind of what got done to us on Saturday
 
When Metcalf was playing we were definitely a threat from halfway for sure, be good if someone a lot faster than capewah to be backing him up. Capewell and him seemed to have a really good rhythm there, imagine if he figured that out with Leka.
 
When Metcalf was playing we were definitely a threat from halfway for sure, be good if someone a lot faster than capewah to be backing him up. Capewell and him seemed to have a really good rhythm there, imagine if he figured that out with Leka.
I was hoping Tanah would see his ticket to glory on putting that oval shaped thing in Lekas hands at the right time and space.
 
Agree 100% - I got pumped by the sign Jayden Campbell movement today in the recruitment thread until tajhay updated us Titans will resign him.
Campbell was just my fantasy option to elevate this team along with signing Herbie. Contender status.

Another fantasy option,
We chuck 1.5mil for Herbie and slot him straight into Fullback??
 
Definitely a B+ season.
As a hard Warriors supporter my hope for this season was fighting to make the 8. So to be top 4 for most of the year and with the injuries to Metcalf and Barnett mid season and to hold on, full credit to Webster and the boys.
However the weaknesses in our side become glaring at the back end.
But man we have some talent coming through.
 
To me, this season was a nice surprise. Expectations among a lot of people would have been low after 2024.

We weren't in a lot of people's top 8 picks going into the season. Instead, we were entrenched in the top 4 for most of the season.

Going quite deep into the season without losing two games in a row was a nice surprise. If we did lose or put in a poor performance, the team turned it around.

The halves were a concern going into the season. Often, replacing a long-term half like Johnson coaches will chop and change their halves. The fact that we had consistency there until Metcalf got injured was good.

Last year, we knew AFB was leaving. Johnson had decided to retire. Harris was looking like a struggle to make it another season. Walker had speculation around him and ended up leaving early in the season. That was a lot of experience leaving and they managed to cover it well.

As much as we thought we had a squad with depth. It's depth that keeps us competitive. We still have a few players if we lose them they are hard to cover. Or a few positions we need a bit more class.

The young forwards looking at home in first grade was a big positive. Vaimauga, Halasima, Laban, Stowers-Smith, and Ieremia-Toeava all looked ready for first grade. Another NRL pre-season should help a lot.

We have a season to build off. Need to continue as a top 8 side next year or ideally improve next year.
 
We have a season to build off. Need to continue as a top 8 side next year or ideally improve next year.

Hopefully we don't forget about the learnings from the transition from 2023 highs to 2024 lows (along with the 2025 review they'll be doing) - whatever they ended up determining those to be!
 
A good season for sure, B - for me though.

End of the day, the team shat the bed in the back half of the season, dropping far too many points and costing them a top 4 birth, which they worked thier arse off for in the early part of the season.

Great to see Leka break out this season and hes only going to get way better.

Player of the year for me goes to Erin Clark, I do wonder without him how well they would have gone.

Best debut season for me was Sam Healey, never looked out of place, and it was great, albeit the last game of the season to see webby see his value to this squad.

Most dissapointed for Leiataua and Berry, in a season when we needed our backs to fire, they never got going, im so surprised how berry is automatic still.

Thanks to Bunty, Kosi, Taufa and Ale for thier service and good luck to them.

Webby has done a great job with what hes got and should be marked A for me. U do hope webby can work in a second faze game plan. I do think we have the cattle to unleash some offloads.

Its going to be difficult the start of next season, with no Barnett or Metclaf, But we are lucky to at least have Boyd even though people dont think he brings much, I do feel like hes good enough until metcalf is back.

Anyways fams, its been great fun running my mouth all season, I hope you all have a great rest of the year!

And guess what?............

Next year is not our year, just saying.
 
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