TeamList Team List Tuesday (2023 Finals Week 2) - Warriors vs Knights

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Yea 100% the kind of guy to get salty from that of thing 😂

But to be far how stupid is the club to only have like 3 awards for the first grade team??

Why not have :
Simon mannering medal
Players player medal
fans player of the year
Rookie of the year
dynamic performance of the year (DWZ 4 try’s or AFB 2 try’s and 290 run meters)
big impact player of the year ( someone who’s contributed it the toughest moments)
Coaches player of the year

Fuck I don’t know but just give out medals to Dwz, SJ AFB and Egan as we need them happy and firing. Give one to Montoya as well for tough bugger of the year.
He gets a million reasons to be happy does my favourite prop this year. Sorry to say this but shut up AFB. SJ is important but he has not been the one hyping himself up. SJ has grown up well to this day and deserves the club awards. AFB is also important and if he has a sneaky account here he can see that we all rate him highly. Carry on.
 
He gets a million reasons to be happy does my favourite prop this year. Sorry to say this but shut up AFB. SJ is important but he has not been the one hyping himself up. SJ has grown up well to this day and deserves the club awards. AFB is also important and if he has a sneaky account here he can see that we all rate him highly. Carry on.

Bro what are you on about. AFB hasn't acted salty and hasn't said anything in the media that indicates he's jealous. One poster said he thought he was being sarcastic about something at some point.

Telling him to shut up on the internet, lordy 🙄
 
This is borderline insanity!

One thought I have had rattling around in my brain is that SJ is already one of the greatest Warriors and Kiwis players. He has won the Golden boot. He led us to the GF in 2011. As a winner and competitor he would love this chance to acheive legendary status. Even winning this game would probably be enough, given his injury and the dramatic context.

If he was to lead us to the GF victory (which I recognise is a slim chance), surely he could lay claim to being the greatest Kiwi league player in history!

He would certainly be in the conversation.
I think he’s already in the conversation- if he wins us a premiership it’s game over- there is no conversation.
 
Bro what are you on about. AFB hasn't acted salty and hasn't said anything in the media that indicates he's jealous. One poster said he thought he was being sarcastic about something at some point.

Telling him to shut up on the internet, lordy 🙄
Another thing. I say stuff. When someone disagrees I'm ok with it. I also don't mind arguing a point and can refrain from arguing the bloke. Also I've been chastised many a time in real life and on the internet. So correction isn't something I'm allergic to. Having said all that. Thanks for your say.
 

Warriors nostalgia: Ruben Wiki, Fried Chook and one of Mt Smart Stadium’s greatest nights​

The Warriors defied all expectation this season. They have earned themselves a home playoff for the first time since 2008 against the Newcastle Knights this Saturday. Ruben Wiki joined The Big League Podcast to have a look back 15 years.

Everywhere Ruben Wiki goes this week, the memories will come flooding back.

The former Warriors captain isn’t one to seek the limelight but it has been hard to avoid over the last few days.

The first home final in 15 seasons has prompted plenty of nostalgia, as people cast back to the last playoff match at Mt Smart in 2008.

And what a game it was, one of the most memorable in Warriors’ history, as they overwhelmed the Sydney Roosters 30-13 to progress to the preliminary final.

Wiki was already a cult figure – for his deeds across the previous three seasons – but his legend was enhanced with a brutal charge into Kiwis’ teammate Iosia Soliola in the second half, which ended the loose forward’s night. That moment sent an already feverish atmosphere sky high among the sell out crowd.

“Across the whole buildup, there was a lot of hype,” Wiki tells The Big League podcast. “We had the black jerseys, the old school Puma and the crowd got right behind us. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take one off the back fence and lead the way.”

The Warriors trailed 13-6 at halftime but were unstoppable after the break, helped by a seething cauldron inside Mt Smart, bringing back memories of the rugged atmosphere at Carlaw Park in the 1980s.

“Going into halftime we believed in what [coach] Ivan [Cleary] had planned for us and everyone stuck to it,” said Wiki. “They did their job and the crowd got behind us. Sia had been smashing everybody so it was just like ‘mate, stop being a bully’. I had to return the favour.”

The physical impact of the collision – at full speed – was frightening, a true ‘what did I just see moment’ and the Roosters never really recovered. It was a special night and YouTube highlights and archived articles don’t quite do justice to the feeling at the Penrose venue.

The 2008 season was the mid point of the Warriors’ second great era, after the Daniel Anderson-inspired success between 2001-2003. But it didn’t feel that way in late June, after a 20-14 home loss to Manly in front of 7,000 people. It was their seventh defeat in nine games, leaving them 13th. But they embarked on a remarkable run – with eight wins from their last 10 games – booking eighth spot with their last round win in Parramatta.

That felt like a booby prize, with a trip to Melbourne. What came next still defies belief, as the Storm – featuring Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Greg Inglish and Israel Folau – along with Kiwis stars Adam Blair and Jeremy Smith – were beaten, thanks to a 77th minute long range try, finished off by Michael Witt. It was the first time in NRL history that the eighth placed team had beaten the minor premiers and was arguably the greatest upset in NRL finals history.

That set the scene for the Roosters clash. The Bondi team had finished fourth in the regular season but were swimming against the tide, with the Herald Supersport cover summing up the feeling. It depicted Wiki on a KFC bucket – labelled Mt Smart Fried Chook – with the sub heading promising ‘Warriors ready for a feed’.


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Wiki had become a central focus. He was 35-years-old – and had become the first New Zealander to achieve 300 NRL games earlier in the season. Aware of his impending retirement, the team’s mid-season charge was partly inspired by the desire to give him the best possible farewell.

“It was a great night for it, everything bought into the hype of it,” said Wiki. “It could have been my last game, it was just endless, so we kept on believing.”

“I wanted to do my job for the team. It was an up and down season, they wanted me to retire and I didn’t want to retire. I wanted to finish on my own terms, there was a lot of politics, as happens to the older dinosaurs of the team.”

That match is brought up regularly, especially around this time of year.

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“[People] remember that night vividly and all these highlights going across social media,” laughs Wiki. “I feel sorry for my buddy; I’m trying to get it out of my memory but it always keeps coming back up when they talk about finals footy.”

The Warriors’ first home final came in 2002, with a comfortable 36-20 win over the Canberra Raiders, with Stacey Jones and a returning Ali Lauiti’iti to the fore, before their preliminary final in Sydney two weeks later.

The run to the 2003 preliminary final was all across the Tasman – with successive games against the Bulldogs, Canberra and Penrith in Sydney – before a three year finals hiatus.

That was snapped in 2007, when the Warriors finished fourth to earn a home final against fifth placed Parramatta. The Friday night fixture drew a huge 28,000 crowd – the biggest since 1995 – but the match was an anti-climax, as the Warriors were edged 12-10, before they were knocked out the following week in Townsville.

But they made amends the following year, with tries to Ian Henderson, Aidan Kirk, Manu Vatuvei and a double to Lance Hohaia, in a match that will always be part of club folklore.

“It’s pretty surreal,” admits Wiki. “You look back and man, time has flown but the way the boys are playing there is great hype around the town.”

 
Another thing. I say stuff. When someone disagrees I'm ok with it. I also don't mind arguing a point and can refrain from arguing the bloke. Also I've been chastised many a time in real life and on the internet. So correction isn't something I'm allergic to. Having said all that. Thanks for your say.

Fair enough man! To be honest with the new lay out around here I'm having trouble keeping up with who's said what, but I appreciate the attitude that when you say things, people will call you on it. Same here, as I'm sure you'll call me on a few things if you already haven't 😜
 
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