Player Addin Fonua-Blake

[The Warrior Waka]

point it at Wendy,

Is Wendy's still a sponsor of the club?

 

[mrblonde]

I’m not pointing fingers at anyone- why would I? I don’t know if they done the right thing or not- neither do u…
The dragons denied bent hunt a release and now he’s re-signed- lomax got denied a release and has had a breakout year.
Would u have granted both those guys immediate release’s?

The only argument in AFB's defence is that the Warriors management should maybe - and maybe they have - noted how AFB agitated to get out of Manly and thought "Well, if he could do it to them, he could do it to us."

 

[Makasene]

When you put together a chronological list of incidents which begins with a request to be released 3 years early when not even in the country and ends with continued salty behaviour (shoving a camera) when we win - it's quite clear he spat the dummy a long time ago.

I don't blame the club for getting an extra year out of him, they would have expected for a bit more professionalism out of him. Clearly he would prefer to be cuddled and told how great he is - unfortunately, in team sports you have to be part of the team (insert photo of him standing 10 feet from the huddle).

He is not solely to blame, SJ playing but not training coincided exactly with the first run of losses. In any professional environement things go lopsided when the guy barking orders isn't pulling his weight during the week - With the exception of Cooper Cronk in the Grand Final, I can't think of any scenario where the halfback is playing but not training.

Ironically, had we have let AFB go early then we may well have been forced to call on some juniors earlier. Sadly, the situation has worked out just about as bad as it could of.

Many posters said they were worried about AFB being made to play another year out of fear of him being disruptive. I did not agree with those comments and I was wrong.

 

[Inruin]

We have AFB for another 8-12 games. We are a better chance with him playing IMO. He is the best prop in the game. If our team aren't capable of putting his alleged issues aside for that period then we are in really bad shape. Is he doing his job, yes. Is he stopping any from doing theirs, no. Time to suck it up and try and make a run for the finals.

 

[kos]

My point is you made your bed so sleep in it. Not point crying over split milk and saying this and that about AFB like it’s all his fault. That doesn’t sit well with me. Surely management knew the risk and have to accept how it’s played out. Accept responsibility of their decisions. If we’re pointing fingers - point it at Wendy, CG and Robbo

Wendy Webster?

 

[Beastmode]

- it's quite clear he spat the dummy a long time ago.

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 …

 

[Beastmode]

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




AFB 1st in comp
Mitch 4th and the forwards are the problem? got to be kidding me…

 

[MrFrankWhite]

My point is you made your bed so sleep in it. Not point crying over split milk and saying this and that about AFB like it’s all his fault. That doesn’t sit well with me. Surely management knew the risk and have to accept how it’s played out. Accept responsibility of their decisions. If we’re pointing fingers - point it at Wendy, CG and Robbo

People avoid accountability at all costs. Yet to hear Webby own up to the errors this year.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

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…

Facts.

AFB should have been released when he asked for it based off his history and the state of club.

But to say he’s the reason we are losing is madness. There’s 3-4 players that should be well above AFB on the chopping block. I bet AFBs attitude would be better if we were higher on the ladder.

Anyone considered he’s mad at the coaching staff for fielding poor players?

 

[Viking]

A while back it was suggested that the homesickness was due to family members being sick, was that true or just speculation and joining dots?,

 

[mrblonde]

Facts.

AFB should have been released when he asked for it based off his history and the state of club.

But to say he’s the reason we are losing is madness. There’s 3-4 players that should be well above AFB on the chopping block. I bet AFBs attitude would be better if we were higher on the ladder.

Anyone considered he’s mad at the coaching staff for fielding poor players?

Could be on the money. Just as maybe the coaching staff are mad at his being mad at the poor players because he's not mentoring any of them?
This has always been the central problem with the NRL's contracting system. A club's fans hear that Player L has been released and will leave at the end of the season. They then hear Player L has signed with Club 3. Subsquently Player L's performances are less than stellar and/or he acts like a miserable sod even if his stats are still up there. Cries of "He playing shit/acting like a dick because he's leaving! Dump. Him. Now!" start.
I do take issue with the "AFB's attitude would be better if we were doing better." argument. There's being disappointed and then there's some of the thing's AFB's been doing. I don't think our lack of performance so far is anything like the No 1 Problem.
I don't think AFB's happy, I personally think he'd be happer if he left now but on-field I don't think he's farting around at all and he appears within that 80 minute period of Game Day to be burying how he really feels and being a pro. Which is great and everything, being professional, turn that frown upside down for the folks etc. But cracks will appear every so often.

 

[Jimjam]

Why does it make logical sense? Is he responsible for RTS missing all those tackles, is he responsible for picking an aging Tohu and putting Ed Kosi on the wing? Is he to blame for DWZ not being able to read plays, and defend his man? for the injuries and the team not pulling their weight?

Seems like an easy excuse to pin everything on one guy. He made it clear last year he was dealing with personal issues and wanted out, but we wanted to keep him to squeeze out as much as we could. The owners and coach chose not to release him early, so now they have to live with that call.

Sure, AFB is part of the overall problem, but he's definitely not the only reason we have failed to live up to the hype.

Exactly it’s just easy for the peanut committee to pin it all on him based on nothing but pure speculation.

 

[Defence]

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?

 

[Beastmode]

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

 

[MrFrankWhite]

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”.

 

[run_it_str8_again]

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.

 

[Davo]

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.

 

[Makasene]

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.

 

[run_it_str8_again]

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.

 

[John Nick]

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.

Wasn't the reason he wanted out of Manly because he was wanting to get away from Sydney and bad influences.
Says a lot