General Holding on to our best juniors?

[edd]

From an article about Havili:
[His Tongan national coach Charles Tonga has already urged Havili to make an impression before NRL and Super League club officials this weekend and beyond.

Havili has made progress at Mt Smart by sharing the Vulcans' hooking role with Alehana Mara and Pita Godinet, though in the medium term the pathway to first grade is blocked by Nathan Friend and fellow veteran Thomas Leuluai.

"I said to him, maybe he'll have to start looking [outside the Warriors] but those island boys love being at home and close to their comfort zone," Tonga told Fairfax Media.

"I told him to look at going overseas to expand your career because the Warriors have so much talent. You could be forgotten about."]


If TL becomes hooker, Havili needs to be thinking understudy for a few years at least. TL is 28 so won't be playing all that much longer, and when he hangs up his boots Havili could step straight up. But that's going to take time and patience... which the average 20 year old doesn't really understand.

If he want's to be straight into FG he will have to go to another club, where he will most likely become an understudy anyway. The path Chad Townsend (22) is on is also the right path for Havili (20) IMO...

 

[slaughterhouse.sa]

From an article about Havili:
[His Tongan national coach Charles Tonga has already urged Havili to make an impression before NRL and Super League club officials this weekend and beyond.

Havili has made progress at Mt Smart by sharing the Vulcans' hooking role with Alehana Mara and Pita Godinet, though in the medium term the pathway to first grade is blocked by Nathan Friend and fellow veteran Thomas Leuluai.

"I said to him, maybe he'll have to start looking [outside the Warriors] but those island boys love being at home and close to their comfort zone," Tonga told Fairfax Media.

"I told him to look at going overseas to expand your career because the Warriors have so much talent. You could be forgotten about."]


If TL becomes hooker, Havili needs to be thinking understudy for a few years at least. TL is 28 so won't be playing all that much longer, and when he hangs up his boots Havili could step straight up. But that's going to take time and patience... which the average 20 year old doesn't really understand.

If he want's to be straight into FG he will have to go to another club, where he will most likely become an understudy anyway. The path Chad Townsend (22) is on is also the right path for Havili (20) IMO...

Charlie Tonga ...seriously what an ammo.
No head coach of some amateur footy team ....(thats what they are) should be offering advice to what club he should be playing for

What a great message to send to a young player....you might have to go to another club, as it might be too hard to overcome TL and Friendy.

The advice he should be...is keep on pushing and developing, as you have in 2013 and you will push into the top 17 permanently.

 

[Ref]

Where he has mostly improved this year is the top two inches.
He is making good decisions.
He seems to have developed vision.

 

[mt.wellington]

The advice he should be...is keep on pushing and developing, as you have in 2013 and you will push into the top 17 permanently.

The advice should be to play and train his ass off every week and select yourself for FG. Make yourself standout and have a point of difference. Forget about the understudy thing. Great to learn while doing your apprenticeship in the Reserve Grade but dont forget thats what Alehana did and that didnt work out so well for him. Last I heard he still hasnt got a contract to anywhere...

 

[edd]

The advice should be to play and train his ass off every week and select yourself for FG. Make yourself standout and have a point of difference. Forget about the understudy thing. Great to learn while doing your apprenticeship in the Reserve Grade but dont forget thats what Alehana did and that didnt work out so well for him. Last I heard he still hasnt got a contract to anywhere...

There's only 272 FG spots going every week in the NRL. There's not enough room for every talented U20 player. Maybe Mara didn't make the step up because he's just not good enough, or didn't work hard enough on his game... If he want's one of the 16 starting hooker spots in the NRL he needs to be pretty awesome in more ways than one...

Peter Hiku, playing under Brett Stewart, over at Manly's getting a mighty good education on FG footy, just without all the pressure of expectation. That's the way forward for our club as I see it.... If Havili, and the other young standouts, can try to follow that same career path as Hiku, right here at the Warriors, I think it would make our club a lot stronger...

Just my opinion....

 

[mt.wellington]

Wasnt sure where to post this but here goes.

Seth Keepa-Tauamiti's league dream needs support
MYLES HUME

DAVID WALKER / Fairfax NZ
BIG DREAMS: Seth Keepa-Tauamiti with his mum Angeleen Keepa and little brother Noah.

Raised by a single mother in a rundown state house, Seth Keepa-Tauamiti's dream of changing his family fortunes has arrived sooner than he hoped.

The 15-year-old rugby league player is the eldest of four children living with their mother in a quake-damaged two-bedroom Mairehau home.

Money is tight, but his family are determined to help Seth chase his National Rugby League (NRL) dream.

The whopping 104kg and 186-centimetre tall teenager has been offered a playing contract by the Wests Tigers club in Australia and a scholarship to the Gold Coast's Keebra Park State High School - the former stomping ground of rugby league star Benji Marshall.

The three-year scholarship covers study fees, but additional costs, including $235 per week for a homestay, is out of the question for his mother Ange Keepa and father Lia Tauamiti, who remain a big part of his life.

So far, friends and family have raised $2030 on a Give a Little page set up by Ange Keepa's employer, Jenny Thiele, but it will take thousands more.

"I'm determined to do well, I've got a lot to live up to now," Seth said.

The Papanui club player leaves for Australia on January 21. At 15, he is nervous about leaving his family behind.

The pressure to fulfil his potential as a bruising prop in unknown territory has his stomach churning.

Ange Keepa is anxious about how they will afford to keep him in Australia.

She suffered a stroke in September and could only return to work part-time.

"Things are pretty tough, but there's a silver lining and that's what's happened for Seth. If that could finish off a year that's been a bit doom and gloom [then] it's given us a real highlight for years to come.

"I always believed there was something bigger for Seth . . . he's always shown potential but we never thought it would be now, I thought he'd have a few more years at home."

Silt from quake liquefaction is under their house. The house exterior is cracked. In winter, mildew and mould was "rampant".

The living conditions agitated Seth's asthma, but he has not let it get in the way of his schooling and sporting success.

Seth co-captained the South Island Scorpions under-15 rugby league team this year and has been selected for Canterbury representative teams since he was 10.

He flourished academically at Shirley Boys' High School, passing NCEA Level 1 English, despite being Year 10, and he has dreams to study law.

Thiele, who set up the Give a Little page, said she wanted to help the family who "need something to go right for them".

Donations to the "Help Seth with his NRL dream!" Give a Little page can be found at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/sethkeepa.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/64626743/Seth-Keepa-Tauamitis-league-dream-needs-support

Love to donate something but I just cant support the Tigers. Goodluck to him anyway...

 

[InsideBall]

Maybe the Warriors should swoop in with a better offer?

 

[mt.wellington]

Maybe the Warriors should swoop in with a better offer?

Problem is we dont have any systems for kids his age. One of the huge advantages the Aussies have over us. Last I heard there were some 400 Kiwi kids in Aussie playing NYC down to Harold Matthews Cup...

 

[InsideBall]

Problem is we dont have any systems for kids his age. One of the huge advantages the Aussies have over us. Last I heard there were some 400 Kiwi kids in Aussie playing NYC down to Harold Matthews Cup...

True, it's not as if the Warriors have the authority or position to offer a scholarship to an Auckland school, or that there is even a good enough age grade system/competition in Auckland to warrant making such an offer.

 

[slaughterhouse.sa]

Wasnt sure where to post this but here goes.

Seth Keepa-Tauamiti's league dream needs support
MYLES HUME

DAVID WALKER / Fairfax NZ
BIG DREAMS: Seth Keepa-Tauamiti with his mum Angeleen Keepa and little brother Noah.

Raised by a single mother in a rundown state house, Seth Keepa-Tauamiti's dream of changing his family fortunes has arrived sooner than he hoped.

The 15-year-old rugby league player is the eldest of four children living with their mother in a quake-damaged two-bedroom Mairehau home.

Money is tight, but his family are determined to help Seth chase his National Rugby League (NRL) dream.

The whopping 104kg and 186-centimetre tall teenager has been offered a playing contract by the Wests Tigers club in Australia and a scholarship to the Gold Coast's Keebra Park State High School - the former stomping ground of rugby league star Benji Marshall.

The three-year scholarship covers study fees, but additional costs, including $235 per week for a homestay, is out of the question for his mother Ange Keepa and father Lia Tauamiti, who remain a big part of his life.

So far, friends and family have raised $2030 on a Give a Little page set up by Ange Keepa's employer, Jenny Thiele, but it will take thousands more.

"I'm determined to do well, I've got a lot to live up to now," Seth said.

The Papanui club player leaves for Australia on January 21. At 15, he is nervous about leaving his family behind.

The pressure to fulfil his potential as a bruising prop in unknown territory has his stomach churning.

Ange Keepa is anxious about how they will afford to keep him in Australia.

She suffered a stroke in September and could only return to work part-time.

"Things are pretty tough, but there's a silver lining and that's what's happened for Seth. If that could finish off a year that's been a bit doom and gloom [then] it's given us a real highlight for years to come.

"I always believed there was something bigger for Seth . . . he's always shown potential but we never thought it would be now, I thought he'd have a few more years at home."

Silt from quake liquefaction is under their house. The house exterior is cracked. In winter, mildew and mould was "rampant".

The living conditions agitated Seth's asthma, but he has not let it get in the way of his schooling and sporting success.

Seth co-captained the South Island Scorpions under-15 rugby league team this year and has been selected for Canterbury representative teams since he was 10.

He flourished academically at Shirley Boys' High School, passing NCEA Level 1 English, despite being Year 10, and he has dreams to study law.

Thiele, who set up the Give a Little page, said she wanted to help the family who "need something to go right for them".

Donations to the "Help Seth with his NRL dream!" Give a Little page can be found at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/sethkeepa.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/64626743/Seth-Keepa-Tauamitis-league-dream-needs-support

Love to donate something but I just cant support the Tigers. Goodluck to him anyway...

I am sorry but that is totally wrong .....to right that story first of all and then for people to support him doing that.

He needs to get some advice from CHCH league heads like Frank Endacott. Frank Endacott gets all the decent CHCH kids an opportunity somewhere.

If the Warriors were to try and move him to Auckland now (no real need yet) - Fly the kids up for a few sessions or mini-camps.

Or look at a school who is willing to give him a scholarship. And let him play some league.

 

[slaughterhouse.sa]

Problem is we dont have any systems for kids his age. One of the huge advantages the Aussies have over us. Last I heard there were some 400 Kiwi kids in Aussie playing NYC down to Harold Matthews Cup...

Warriors could get him up here and talk to a school like Kings etc and tell them he can play rugby - but train with Warriors and play a little club league.

Those would only be Kids with Kiwi Heritage. Parents would be stupid to move them over for anything other than SG Ball IMO.

 

[mt.wellington]

I am sorry but that is totally wrong .....to right that story first of all and then for people to support him doing that.

He needs to get some advice from CHCH league heads like Frank Endacott. Frank Endacott gets all the decent CHCH kids an opportunity somewhere.

If the Warriors were to try and move him to Auckland now (no real need yet) - Fly the kids up for a few sessions or mini-camps.

Or look at a school who is willing to give him a scholarship. And let him play some league.

Agree. Reality is that if he was truly good enough the Tigers would have paid for it themselves. I know the Roosters and Bulldogs have houses with live in parents that they pay for themselves...

 

[Defence]

Mark hunt shared that article on Facebook- prob raised him a bit of cash.
Keebra look after their kids- he won't starve.