addin.png

Player Addin Fonua-Blake

Date of Birth
Nov 6, 1995
Birth Location
Meadowbank, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality
  1. 🇦🇺 Australia
  2. 🇳🇿 New Zealand
  3. 🇹🇴 Tonga
Height (cm)
189 cm
Weight (kg)
123 kg
Position/s
  1. Prop
Nickname
AFB
Warrior #
252
Warriors Debut Date
Mar 13, 2021
Warriors Debut Details
NRL 2021, Round 1, Gold Coast Titans
Warriors Years Active
  1. 2021
  2. 2022
  3. 2023
  4. 2024
Signed To
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Signed From
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Junior Club/s
Mascot Jets
Previous Club/s
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Current Club
New Zealand Warriors
Rep Honours
  1. NZ
  2. Tonga
Awards/Honours
  1. Warriors Captain
  2. Dally M (Positional Award)
Status
Active
Not bad for a guy who’s toxic.. top in the comp for post contact meters… 🤷🏻‍♂️

Rest of the team need to man up, pull their head in and do their job… including Wendy

View attachment 8133


AFB 1st in comp
Mitch 4th and the forwards are the problem? got to be kidding me… 😂
Hold on- I thought u were saying management should've released him straight away but now you're pointing out how good he's been this year? did I have u all wrong?
 
NZWarriors.com
Hold on- I thought u were saying management should've released him straight away but now you're pointing out how good he's been this year? did I have u all wrong?

Er, I said IF he was toxic to the culture and club then yeah, release him. But I am arguing his performance isn’t showing me someone that has clocked out or sulking .. far from it.., he’s been putting in the hard work and is the last person we should be laying blame on
 
Hold on- I thought u were saying management should've released him straight away but now you're pointing out how good he's been this year? did I have u all wrong?
That’s my position.

What if he’s calling out player selection?What if he’s calling out Webbys coaching? He can do all of these and still rip on the field.

Look at the gulf in current ability between him and our “captain”.
 
Last edited:
NZWarriors.com
Advertisement
If you would like to remove these advertisements, please do so by registering a free account
He's top prop.

But not top bloke. A good bloke? Probably but what I'm talking about is his character which isn't as amazing as his rugby league ability.

Get what we can out of him for the rest of this season then wish him well and farewell the bloke.

If JFH arrives and we make exactly the same performances then further evidence will need examining. Its actually quite scientific.

Find the issues. Back them up with evidence and sound logic. Then fix it.
 
Been away for a little bit but heard some AFB thoughts on my travels.

A good mate who is great mates with Ivan Cleary (next door neighbours when he coached here and their kids went same schools etc) caught up with him when Ivan came over to support the Mt Albert Lions fundraiser. Was a bye week for the Panthers and the Warriors had just been dicked by the Tits. My mate asked him what his thoughts were on what was happening at the club and Ivan said the only reason teams lose like that is because of a toxic environment which he said was most likely caused by the rift that AFB is creating by being held here despite desperately wanting to leave. His thoughts were that it would have been much better for the club to have released him and bought up the next player in line while searching the market for a replacement.

Another mate who has an ear very close to the top of the club told me the exact thing a couple days later independently. The club are well aware of how AFB is starting to poison the well in the changing rooms but are basically stuck with him till the seasons end.

Kind of reminds me of Feleti Mateo in 2012 or Manu Vatuvei in 2016.

Left unchecked it is sure to cause damage that remains long after the cancer has been cut out. I'd honestly fuck him off now and bite the bullet about paying his salary to play for someone else...
Thanks for the insights.
Seems to be well founded and totally believable.
Folk seem surprised, but most teams both in and out of the sporting environment, are in states of flux and given the rarified atmosphere of high echelon sports and the ego's involved conflicts can easily arise and disrupt performance.

I'm fully on board with the management on this one. They haven't ducked it and it seems to be working it's way out.
 
Can you back this statement up with facts? Aside from the Penrith game, his stats have been alpha. Plus he hasn’t skipped games with “injuries”… don’t recall him dropping balls, making mistakes, giving away penalties or doing dumb shit on the field.. unlike Tohu, RTS, SJ,Jazz.. even Capewell and Barnett have been pinged for penalties- Marata for his high shots… all this on AFB? I think not. He’s been, very good actually …🤔

Honestly I'm surprised it's even a debatable point.

In multiple wins this season he's acted very salty. Not to mention multiple incidents physically putting himself outside the team.

You've been critical multiple times about his lethargic runs in game.

People pulling out his stats like we are supposed to be surprised that the best prop in the game is posting decent numbers.

The match is what? 5-10% of the week? Get real. The dude is toxic, that doesn't change that he's a great prop, but so very clear that he's a terrible team mate.
 
NZWarriors.com
Advertisement
If you would like to remove these advertisements, please do so by registering a free account
Honestly I'm surprised it's even a debatable point.

In multiple wins this season he's acted very salty. Not to mention multiple incidents physically putting himself outside the team.

You've been critical multiple times about his lethargic runs in game.

People pulling out his stats like we are supposed to be surprised that the best prop in the game is posting decent numbers.

The match is what? 5-10% of the week? Get real. The dude is toxic, that doesn't change that he's a great prop, but so very clear that he's a terrible team mate.
Wasn't he captain of Tonga? If so how did he go leading his cuzzies and bros into games? Was the cultural aspect important to his mindset? Or is he just not as good a person as he is a player? Which he wouldn't be the first of.
 
NZWarriors.com
Advertisement
If you would like to remove these advertisements, please do so by registering a free account
I love that we are building more Māori DNA into the team again with recent signings and the development initiatives in Northland. The Pasifika influence is great, but diversifying, and instilling those generational roots is important for building a team that bleeds for the jersey and feels like they are home.
 
I love that we are building more Māori DNA into the team again with recent signings and the development initiatives in Northland. The Pasifika influence is great, but diversifying, and instilling those generational roots is important for building a team that bleeds for the jersey and feels like they are home.

Adding to this, it's offering accessible rolemodels that play domestically for the younger generation and incentivising these kids to stay with the club.

It's brilliant no matter what way you look at it.
 
NZWarriors.com
Advertisement
If you would like to remove these advertisements, please do so by registering a free account
NZWarriors.com
Advertisement
If you would like to remove these advertisements, please do so by registering a free account
NZWarriors.com
Advertisement
If you would like to remove these advertisements, please do so by registering a free account

Similar threads

Replies
62
Views
4K
Replies
28
Views
4K
Replies
0
Views
507
Replies
0
Views
474
Replies
0
Views
705
Back
Top