General Metcalf - Halfback Replacement 2025

[Damo]

Thought Egan was a bit disappointing against broncos too and has had a quiet middle part of the season

Our pack got dominated, we were defending most of the game. Of course Egan struggled.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

I think we'll see a lot more of Healey next year

 

[CWC]

I thought Egan was good against the broncos… 2-3 mini breaks with no back ups to offload to and then a mega break under pressure ruined by Walsh and the ref. Put his body in the line a few times too on defense

 

[CWC]

IMO Luke’s general kicking has been great the last month - long punts, long bombs to 10m line, midfield bombs for Leka/Laban, consistent accurate drop outs, field goal, looked like he was on goal kicking wise in the weekend before the injury as well

With Boyd we luckily won’t lose any of that and probably get more grubbers and consistent goal kicking from all angles

He doesn’t have the speed to finish tries but seems experienced enough to follow the breaks, so he will either get run down or play dummy half after a break, so the next playmaker needs to finish the jobs

He’s probably able to create more space for others so it’s just about how they execute.

He will probably create more drop outs too so the team needs to work on dotting down tries from grubbers and retaining drop out possession

Funny enough we can probably make up for Luke’s offensive absence as a team but we will lose out on his defense, nobody can sprint across the field for cover tackles/try savers and he did some freakish goal line defense as well

I am wondering if we should have Roger as the FB when we are defending the set in our half, that try saver in the weekend was beautiful and TT would have gotten bundled out of the way

We could also try TMM as 7 at the end of the game if needed as the broncos seem to struggle with a change of attacking rhythm when he took over

 

[Bluecat]

Has anyone thought about CHT and Toby Sexton? He's just sitting around doing nothing at Belmore.
Could we invent a Kiwi connection for him and get an immediate transfer to Mt Smart on compassionate grounds because he's homesick or something? I'm sure he'd prefer The Warriors to The Catalan Dragons

 

[roguei]

I'm really looking forward to seeing Byod play at seven and I hope he gets picked there. I don’t think we’ve had a traditional half during Webster’s time in charge. SJ, TMM, and Metcalf have all been more running-style halves. Even in 2023 and 2024, I’d still consider SJ a runner. As he was averaging around two to three linebreaks a game in 2023.

So watching a Warriors team shaped more like the Raiders or Broncos, rather than the Panthers or Storm, (half wise) is going to be interesting at the very least. Byod has also been in our system long enough to know it well, so I trust he’ll slot in quickly and make an impact.

Now for a more controversial take... I think TMM is a great person and still a talented player. But putting him at six or seven i think would actually hurt the club in the long run. Players like CHT, Metcalf, Byod, and even Jye or Cleary are long-term prospects. If any of them reach their potential, you could build a team around them for years. Bringing in an older player instead, and not rewarding Byod for his patience and performances in NSW Cup, feels like a mistake. Or if they put TMM at 6, it would also mean moving CHT out of the halves and stalling his development by shifting him to a utility role or back to NSW Cup level. All for the chance that this last-minute switch somehow turns things around, it would feel like a very short sighted decision.