Pick Your Team Warriors v Raiders - [Round 3, 2024]

Couple of weeks now we’ve given up the lead, albeit getting to the lead after trailing in the last match but with a perception by other teams long being to stay close to the Warriors and they’ll wilt is something we’re going to have to be mindful of. Hope we move towards putting an 80 minute performance in, round 1 was an impressive 20 minute period and the last an impressive half so hopeful that extends again. Would be a disaster to see a flat performance after such a heartbreaking loss but I think there’s too much experience in the team to see anything but positivity from the game
 
Hate to say it but Capewell looks like a plodder so far and Laban’s killing it in cup and Sifakula who I rate the highest out of our young forwards stocks isn’t far away

I think that tracks fairly well tho...
Laban and Sifakula will both get exposure to first grade this year, maybe a start here or there but Capewell's spot for this year.

Same again nek year, but both are likely on th bench for the first half of the year and getting good minutes. Towards the end of the year they overtake Capewell, who goes back to the bench.

Capewell's last year in 2026 from the bench/phasing him out for the next up and comer
 
I think that tracks fairly well tho...
Laban and Sifakula will both get exposure to first grade this year, maybe a start here or there but Capewell's spot for this year.

Same again nek year, but both are likely on th bench for the first half of the year and getting good minutes. Towards the end of the year they overtake Capewell, who goes back to the bench.

Capewell's last year in 2026 from the bench/phasing him out for the next up and comer
Would love to see Laban and Zyon Maiu’u play their way into the team. They’ve spent much of their journey coming up through the Warriors together to the point where one lived with the others family for a while I think?
 
1.Tuapiki
2.RTS
3.pompey
4.Berry
5.DWZ
6.Metcalf
7.SJ
8.AFB
9.Egan
10.Barnett
11.Capewell
12.Ford
13.Tohu

14.Walker
15.CHT
16.Afoa
17.Bunty

Rts chews the metres and can do so much damage on kick returns. plus his best passing as a fullback is on the right hand side of the field. watch the extended highlights of cronulla game when tuapiki is off he did most of his passing on that side also in 2018 as a fullback hes now on the left. so montoya has been getting little service as RTS runs from centre.

Montoya is great , however he came shooting of the wing in cronulla game, that led to talakai try, plus several drop balls in Melbourne game. carries the ball in right hand to finish tries , like the melbourne
game would probably score if held in left hand., dwz scores acrobatically but ball carrying arm is away form the defender can fend etc.

And pompey had good service last year knows the systems and will feed RTS.
Agree on this. Pablo (Montoya) is a great man, hard as granite, but is not a winger. I would give him a spell.
 
Hate to say it but Capewell looks like a plodder so far and Laban’s killing it in cup and Sifakula who I rate the highest out of our young forwards stocks isn’t far away

Taine Tauapiki
Roger Tuivasa-Scheck
Ali Leiataua
Rocco Berry
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
Luke Metcalf
Shaun Johnson
Addin Fonua-blake
Freddie Lussick
Mitch Barnett
Jackson Ford
Kurt Capewell
Tohu Harris

Dylan Walker
Bunty Afoa
Tom Ale
Channel Harris-Tavita
Perfect team selection
 
Would love to see Laban and Zyon Maiu’u play their way into the team. They’ve spent much of their journey coming up through the Warriors together to the point where one lived with the others family for a while I think?

Haha it's the kind of story you love to see. And they both have big potential so really, I cant see there being much more than a few months difference before both of them are on our bench as full time, 25-40 minute players.
 
Good we are playing the in form version of the Raiders. At least no one who understands this comp can logically argue that a Warriors win is not meaningful because it is only the Raiders.

That is rubbish, when they are in form they can be the best attacking team in the comp.

Big test for our defence, exactly what we need to find our mettle.
 
Haha it's the kind of story you love to see. And they both have big potential so really, I cant see there being much more than a few months difference before both of them are on our bench as full time, 25-40 minute players.
Provided Zaiu’u has a successful return to nsw cup I think they should consider debuting him the following week. Although it was brief in the trial he looked menacing and keen to hit hard and something feels like Tom Ale might be on the outer?
 
Provided Zaiu’u has a successful return to nsw cup I think they should consider debuting him the following week. Although it was brief in the trial he looked menacing and keen to hit hard and something feels like Tom Ale might be on the outer?

Yeah man I'm a little bit worried about Ale if I'm honest.

I can see it going one or two ways really.
Option A: He gets minutes here and shows what he has, smashes it and becomes locked in as a starting/bench prop for the next few years.

Option B: He gets no minutes, packs the shits and signs with Tigers or a bottom side and looks even worse, before fading in to obscurity.

He's had what, 10 minutes in the first 2 games so I'm worried it's the latter. I really do think that so far he hasn't been given a decent opportunity to string 10+ games together with 30+ minutes. I feel if he does, he'll look great
 
Someone said in GameDay thread that Montoya needs to carry the ball in his outer hand. Then he could have fended the defender. Winger 101
It was the play I have identified that costed us the game and not Coates' magical try at the end. It his "JOB" with capital letters to score tries like that. As a top order batsmen in cricket my job once I got a start was to go on to 50 plus. It was my job to do that. You can't control which of your top order batsman will get a start due to how much luck is involved at the start of an inning, but if it your day to get a start you must buckle down and cash in. Montoya's job was to score that try. He also did a dumb knock on, off admttedly a very poor dummy half pass from Metcalf, so it was not his only mistake in the game. Montoya also had the chance to get back into the field of play on the final up and under from Paps but the kick chasers from Melbourne bullied him back into the in goal. I say Kosi would have made it back into the field of play, I think he also would have dropped that pass, but I say he would have scored that try.
Montoya is not a core player in the team and his position should be up for a challenge by a young buck like Kosi. Also Ed is the better defender. Last year Montoya had a 69% tackle efficiency and Ed had 75%.

I think everyone still remembers the 70 point hiding when they think of Kosi but it is time to move on from that, and I think that he is a better player than what Montoya has shown in the last 12 months. Montoya used to be good. But he had mixed form all of last year and kept dropping the pill and making random errors and that has continued into this year. Kosi should get a shout. They say don't change a winning team, but we lost on the weekend and have lost two in a row.
Kosi is experienced in first grade and this is a low risk change.
 
Montoya is top of my target list at the moment.
Next in line is Dylan Walker who is trying too hard to make something happen on every play and ends up giving away turn overs. we need to give him a more targeted role.
 
Who else is happy this is a Friday night match? After saturdays denial it would have been hard to wait 7 days for our next match.
I don’t like Friday night games when I am refereeing in a Saturday.
Not too bad if it’s an 8.00 kick off because that gives me less time of beer consumption.
 
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