Pick Your Team 2023 Warriors vs Knights - Week 2 Finals (Pick Your Team)
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Stalefish540
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Agreed, easy to coach from the couch.
But even Joe Bloggs from his couch knows you need a good kicking game at any grade higher than park footy?
A couple of couch coach thoughts:
- I think we overrate our small 'mobile forward pack' alot and if you limit AFB like the Panthers did then you shutdown a lot of our momentum
- Warriors now have less momentum so it is now easier to target TMM & Walker, who don't have great long kicking games. You start to win the territory battle and are playing more footy in the attacking half.
- Winning the territory battle you now have more opportunities, and can apply a lot more pressure on the opposition forcing them into fatigue and mistakes
- You also immediately target the edges on attack as there are new defensive combinations (TMM / Niukore / Berry, Walker / Ford / Pompey) and assume there will be gaps due to a lack of trust and time together.
If we roll out a similar team to last week, then I think the Knights have an easy blue print to implement.
Tookey 2.0
Contributor
Does anybody actually rate Sirros game better than the other options we have for our bench, or is it his versatility that gets him the nod?
I think there's been about 3 games this year where I thought he was actually effective in his main role as a back rower. The rest of the games he's come on and been okay, or has plugged a hole due to injury.
Imo that's the guy you leave out this week. If someone gets injured, that's unfortunate and you play the next best person there - i.e Walker at hooker or half, Niukore in the centres etc. I know that ends up weakening our overall team and plan, but I argue also picking someone like Sirro as a 'just in case' also weakens our overall plan, as we can either chose to have a specialist hooker or an extra prop on the bench. Imo after watching us last week, I think we need another prop.
Barnett went well last week with starting and then coming back later on, so imo we keep to that. If Barnett starts, we should have Ale on the bench as he provides more impact than Bunty does - bigger hits, more meters and post contact meters.
And while I would have preferred to have Bunty starting and Barnett coming off the bench, Webby had the option to do that last week and chose not to, so it would be strange call to then revert back to that for week 2.
For me, Barnett and Curran to start.
Walker
Jazz
Ford
Ale/Lussick
I think there's been about 3 games this year where I thought he was actually effective in his main role as a back rower. The rest of the games he's come on and been okay, or has plugged a hole due to injury.
Imo that's the guy you leave out this week. If someone gets injured, that's unfortunate and you play the next best person there - i.e Walker at hooker or half, Niukore in the centres etc. I know that ends up weakening our overall team and plan, but I argue also picking someone like Sirro as a 'just in case' also weakens our overall plan, as we can either chose to have a specialist hooker or an extra prop on the bench. Imo after watching us last week, I think we need another prop.
Barnett went well last week with starting and then coming back later on, so imo we keep to that. If Barnett starts, we should have Ale on the bench as he provides more impact than Bunty does - bigger hits, more meters and post contact meters.
And while I would have preferred to have Bunty starting and Barnett coming off the bench, Webby had the option to do that last week and chose not to, so it would be strange call to then revert back to that for week 2.
For me, Barnett and Curran to start.
Walker
Jazz
Ford
Ale/Lussick
I rate Siros versatility but it is completely nullified when you also pick replacement specialists on the bench.
Siro and Lussick should never ever ever be on the same bench, ever.
If you pick Lussick, fine but then you need another middle (Bunty or Ale).
Siro has filled in admirably at 9 when needed which to be fair has not been that often across the entire season, making a specialist hooking replacement even more the puzzling.
6 pm today, NZT.
My thoughts:
Sironen v Lussick:
Sironen does not have utility value. He is a terrible second rower who falls off tackles. Would be a target. Good dummy half service though - better than Lussicks. Lussick is the better defender, which is weird for a little bloke.
I don't think I would pick either for this game. It's gonna have to be Jazz/Walker at hooker for some minutes. Lussick needs to concentrate on passing at training.
Curran versus Ford starting:
Curran all day, every day. Less errors and altho he had a disappointing start to the season he has been everywhere in the last couple of games. They have the same enthusiasm but Curran's comes with less errors and he is more dangerous on attack.
Montoya versus Kosi.
Montoya is all effort but is in a form slump. Have loved his game these last 2 years but it's time to bring in Kosi. Kosi caught everything that came his way until he got injured. Effort off the ball is a work on tho.
We need st least one more big body on the bench. Would probably go go Bunty with his excellent defence.
If SJ doesn't play, Volkman has to. I liker his effort in the Dolphins game. He tried things other than the short passing we employed against Penrith. We need to play a little more expensively so as not to become too one dimensional. The short passing game is a strength tho.
CNK
DWZ
Berry
Pompey
Kosi
TMM
Johnson/Volkman
AFB
Egan
Bunty/Barnett
Niukore
Curran
Harris
Walker
Jaz
Barnett/Bunty
Ford
Sironen v Lussick:
Sironen does not have utility value. He is a terrible second rower who falls off tackles. Would be a target. Good dummy half service though - better than Lussicks. Lussick is the better defender, which is weird for a little bloke.
I don't think I would pick either for this game. It's gonna have to be Jazz/Walker at hooker for some minutes. Lussick needs to concentrate on passing at training.
Curran versus Ford starting:
Curran all day, every day. Less errors and altho he had a disappointing start to the season he has been everywhere in the last couple of games. They have the same enthusiasm but Curran's comes with less errors and he is more dangerous on attack.
Montoya versus Kosi.
Montoya is all effort but is in a form slump. Have loved his game these last 2 years but it's time to bring in Kosi. Kosi caught everything that came his way until he got injured. Effort off the ball is a work on tho.
We need st least one more big body on the bench. Would probably go go Bunty with his excellent defence.
If SJ doesn't play, Volkman has to. I liker his effort in the Dolphins game. He tried things other than the short passing we employed against Penrith. We need to play a little more expensively so as not to become too one dimensional. The short passing game is a strength tho.
CNK
DWZ
Berry
Pompey
Kosi
TMM
Johnson/Volkman
AFB
Egan
Bunty/Barnett
Niukore
Curran
Harris
Walker
Jaz
Barnett/Bunty
Ford
My theory is...
Webster names Volkman, SJ won't play.
He rarely makes the same mistake twice any we need a better kicking game.
Webster names Volkman, SJ won't play.
He rarely makes the same mistake twice any we need a better kicking game.
That's not the future.
The future is the Broncos. Young, big, fast and debuting early. Huge depth and huge impact players. We have NO impact players in the current side.
Warriors have little to none of that at the moment and that's why they can't win the NRL title. If they don't inject the young guys into the team next year then highly likely they will not be top 4 either.
There are young talent at the Warriors that can make a difference in the years to come. Warriors will need to debut them though like the Broncos did.
As a complete season I think selections have gone well, but there have been a couple of games where the selections gave us less chance to win which is a concern. Throughout the year a lot of selections were actually forced due to availability. It has given the team a chance to try a few things, and at this stage of the season I think you have to go with what you learned over that time, there's no time to try something new and untested. In saying that from what I can tell just from watching games, I think the best lineup would be:
1. CNK
2. DWZ
3. Berry
4. Pompey
5. Montoya
I don't think you can change those 5 at this stage. Montoya is definitely out of form, but the only one who could come in is Kosi and I don't think he's going to offer more right now. Also throwing someone like Tuapiki in is something you would try in the middle of the year, not now.
6. TMM
7. Johnson / Volkman
With Metcalf out it is what it is. If Johnson is out then replace him with the backup halfback, we need a kicking game.
8. AFB
9. Egan
10. Afoa
11. Niukore
12. Curran
13. Harris
Changes I'd like to see... bring back Bunty, lots of talk on here before/after he was dropped or whatever happened, got me on board with him going out there to do a simple job at the start of the game, and it will be good to have Barnett come on while AFB has a breather. The other is Curran over Ford, as I think he's a bit more reliable and offers a bit more.
14. Walker
15. Barnett
16. Ford
17. Sironen / Tevaga / Ale / Lussick *
18. Tevaga / Sironen
* I'd look at excluding Jazz because I haven't seen him offer much since he came back, and the team has looked clunky in that period too. Potentially he could take Sironen's place, but Sironen is a reliable backup option where needed. I think either could be the 18th man as they will come in and do whatever they need o should they be forced into the game. I haven't seen enough from Ale is year for him to break into the squad but he's an option. Lussick could be there but only if he spells Egan either at the start or the middle.
To me it looks like Webster sometimes carries too much insurance on the bench, with the likes of Lussick being there but not getting regular time, he must have been there just in case Egan went down. I think you should go in with the mindset that there will be no injuries and you'll be able to use your bench to a plan, but be able to adapt to the game when you have to. There are enough versatile players in the squad to work something out.
PS: I still think Webster and co are doing a much better job then a lot of our previous coaching teams. The team selection/bench rotation was always one of the really dumb parts of several bad years.
1. CNK
2. DWZ
3. Berry
4. Pompey
5. Montoya
I don't think you can change those 5 at this stage. Montoya is definitely out of form, but the only one who could come in is Kosi and I don't think he's going to offer more right now. Also throwing someone like Tuapiki in is something you would try in the middle of the year, not now.
6. TMM
7. Johnson / Volkman
With Metcalf out it is what it is. If Johnson is out then replace him with the backup halfback, we need a kicking game.
8. AFB
9. Egan
10. Afoa
11. Niukore
12. Curran
13. Harris
Changes I'd like to see... bring back Bunty, lots of talk on here before/after he was dropped or whatever happened, got me on board with him going out there to do a simple job at the start of the game, and it will be good to have Barnett come on while AFB has a breather. The other is Curran over Ford, as I think he's a bit more reliable and offers a bit more.
14. Walker
15. Barnett
16. Ford
17. Sironen / Tevaga / Ale / Lussick *
18. Tevaga / Sironen
* I'd look at excluding Jazz because I haven't seen him offer much since he came back, and the team has looked clunky in that period too. Potentially he could take Sironen's place, but Sironen is a reliable backup option where needed. I think either could be the 18th man as they will come in and do whatever they need o should they be forced into the game. I haven't seen enough from Ale is year for him to break into the squad but he's an option. Lussick could be there but only if he spells Egan either at the start or the middle.
To me it looks like Webster sometimes carries too much insurance on the bench, with the likes of Lussick being there but not getting regular time, he must have been there just in case Egan went down. I think you should go in with the mindset that there will be no injuries and you'll be able to use your bench to a plan, but be able to adapt to the game when you have to. There are enough versatile players in the squad to work something out.
PS: I still think Webster and co are doing a much better job then a lot of our previous coaching teams. The team selection/bench rotation was always one of the really dumb parts of several bad years.
Pretty sure SJ will be named today. Then we wait with bated breath, until the 24 hour team, then repeat until the 1 hour team 
100% this happensPretty sure SJ will be named today. Then we wait with bated breath, until the 24 hour team, then repeat until the 1 hour team
With Volkman is seems obvious that this is about player welfare.
Webster does not think he is ready and the rushing him into these games may or may not work, but the risk to Volkmans development as an emerging talent is too high.
To say we are not trying to win due to selections is an over reach.
I think people are forgetting that Ivan Cleary ignored the fact that a young SJ was carving up Reggies and held him out for ages until (as Stacey Jones confirmed in an interview) the special tackling program they had him on worked and they saw he was NRL ready.
It is funny to read all the fans who are questioning Webster now because he is not doing what they think he should.
Why is it the coach is always wrong with selection when we lose games? . I don't like Ford, but I start from a place that says Webster knows what I do not know end of story.
Here is the thing, I love reading peoples opinions especially those that offer something different (that is the function of a forum) but people say Webster is making insane calls, or not the coach of the year calls, or making his first mistakes because their opinion differs from the outside on a couch???
Come on.
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