Pick Your Team NZ Warriors v Cronulla Sharks - [Round 5, 2026]

[CWC]

Btw Boyd needs to practice 50 kicks a day 10m-20m to right of post, that’s our bread and butter scoring zone and he can’t convert

Was hard enough to kick under pressure and worse on your weak spot

 

[Cces]

Have to maintain standards regardless of pay packet and as much as we want Metcalf to be firing at 6, he is under done and not playing his role defensively. A couple of games in cup

This has merit but I can't see a universe where the club go from hailing the return of Luka Mikafu to demoting him to Cup within 7 days. I'm pretty sure that even when he was our #6 in 2023 & 24, whenever he played Cup he defended on his preferred right side & played #7. Hanson would need to shift sides to accommodate game time for him on the left too. Surely they just persist with him & Boyd

 

[Inruin]

This has merit but I can't see a universe where the club go from hailing the return of Luka Mikafu to demoting him to Cup with 7 days. If pretty sure that even where he was our #6 in 2023 & 24, whenever he played Cup he defended on his preferred right side. Hanson would need to shift sides to accommodate this too. Surely they just persist with him & Boyd

Persist with LM and Boyd. That's what will happen. They'll persist with the combo hoping it pays off or until one of the two are injured and miss a game.

 

[Cces]

IMO Luke doesn’t need to be kicking unless Boyd’s trapped on tackle 5,

That happened on at least 2 occasions

 

[John Nick]

CNK
RTS
Pompey
 Ali
DWZ
CHT
Boyd
Ford
Egan
JFH
Laban
Leka
Clark

Healey
Demitric
TSS
Barney
Marata
TT

Have to maintain standards regardless of pay packet and as much as we want Metcalf to be firing at 6, he is under done and not playing his role defensively. A couple of games in cup to get him putting his body in to the tackle and maintaining his positioning in the line.

Luke mentioned after the game that he and Boyd had only had one training session together before the game
Sure Luke wasn't quite ready and I astonished that Webster left him stay for 80
Webster is still learning to be a fg coach

 

[CWC]

So stacey really said Luke was ready R1 and now Luke said they had 1 session together?

Well on the bright side this could have happened vs Storm and we lose 60:10, growing pains man, one of the options was Luke 14 CHT 6 until we consolidated a big lead in the second half or was desperate for points

Boyd needs to be the dominant half otherwise we end up with TMM/SJ 66:6 disaster. Tell Luke to F off or shove him to the ground for the call and ball if needed, be an alpha Tanah

 

[Cces]

Webster is still learning to be a fg coach

I wonder if putting on Healey right when the Tigers went up 10-22 was reactionary or pre planned
Getting CHT on to strengthen the left edge might've been the better card to play when Tigers had the momentum & were about to receive the ball again. The 6 man bench brings an extra layer that even the veteran coaches are still trying to master

 

[Inruin]

So stacey really said Luke was ready R1 and now Luke said they had 1 session together?

But apparently they looked good in that session. Was it running attacking shape against training cones? Obviously wasn't a tackling session.
Webster is in his fourth year of first grade coaching and has a fair bit more experience under that, so hardly a rookie coach now. This is a big test for him and how he manages the team.

 

[enterthewarrior]

I think Gannon needs to come into the team to see how he copes with a proper game without getting knocked out. Because if he adds something positive to the team then I'm all for it.

 

[John Nick]

So stacey really said Luke was ready R1 and now Luke said they had 1 session together?

Well on the bright side this could have happened vs Storm and we lose 60:10, growing pains man, one of the options was Luke 14 CHT 6 until we consolidated a big lead in the second half or was desperate for points

Boyd needs to be the dominant half otherwise we end up with TMM/SJ 66:6 disaster. Tell Luke to F off or shove him to the ground for the call and ball if needed, be an alpha Tanah

Did Stacey actually say that Luke was ready for round 1 and why did Webster wait until round 3
Why if he was ready for round 1 didn't him and Boyd have more reps together before game day

These folks are the Days of our Lives.

 

[John Nick]

But apparently they looked good in that session. Was it running attacking shape against training cones? Obviously wasn't a tackling session.
Webster is in his fourth year of first grade coaching and has a fair bit more experience under that, so hardly a rookie coach now. This is a big test for him and how he manages the team.

His strategies are those of a rookie to be precise

 

[John Nick]

But apparently they looked good in that session. Was it running attacking shape against training cones? Obviously wasn't a tackling session.
Webster is in his fourth year of first grade coaching and has a fair bit more experience under that, so hardly a rookie coach now. This is a big test for him and how he manages the team.

In whos opinion did they look good in training and was it opposed?
Training sessions tend to be a tiny bit easier than the real test of game day when you have the opposition lads running after you to make sure you feel their presence

 

[CWC]

Did Stacey actually say that Luke was ready for round 1 and why did Webster wait until round 3
Why if he was ready for round 1 didn't him and Boyd have more reps together before game day

These folks are the Days of our Lives.

Could have rushed him back R1, so I guess probably 0 training at 6 until a few days ago

Heck I suspect he was probably training with CHT to take back the 7 all this time

 

[Stalefish540]

I'm not sure im as sold on TT at fullback as others are. He's on the borderline of too small, so it only seems to work in certain weather conditions and the NRL season is long and tough. So those issues probably compound over the course of a season.

I'm more a fan of a medium size fullback like CNK/Edwards. CNK only ran for 150m in round one, feels like his energy was being better spread than we have seen in the past.

Webby is also at the stage anyway always going to have CNK in the team, which means hes moved to centre where the jury is still out on that one.

It would be surprising if we saw a different 17 unless Capewell is back, need some continuity. As someone mentioned earlier we almost have too much depth given everyone is basically fit bar Capewell and Berry. Vaimauga didn't even get on the field last night, im guessing due to circumstance. But it was a bit weird as he brings something a bit different that most of our other middles don't have. At some stage Webby is going to have to stop playing with his food and start building combos.

Ford was always going to have a few errors at some stage. Just because he can play 80mins every week doesn't mean he should, theres no way he was going to be able to replicate Rnd 1-3 for a whole year, so I don't put last night on him. How many other props play 80min? Maybe Haas who is an outlier.

 

[John Nick]

I'm not sure im as sold on TT at fullback as others are. He's on the borderline of too small, so it only seems to work in certain weather conditions and the NRL season is long and tough. So those issues probably compound over the course of a season.

I'm more a fan of a medium size fullback like CNK/Edwards. CNK only ran for 150m in round one, feels like his energy was being better spread than we have seen in the past.

Webby is also at the stage anyway always going to have CNK in the team, which means hes moved to centre where the jury is still out on that one.

It would be surprising if we saw a different 17 unless Capewell is back, need some continuity. As someone mentioned earlier we almost have too much depth given everyone is basically fit bar Capewell and Berry. Vaimauga didn't even get on the field last night, im guessing due to circumstance. But it was a bit weird as he brings something a bit different that most of our other middles don't have. At some stage Webby is going to have to stop playing with his food and start building combos.

Ford was always going to have a few errors at some stage. Just because he can play 80mins every week doesn't mean he should, theres no way he was going to be able to replicate Rnd 1-3 for a whole year, so I don't put last night on him. How many other props play 80min? Maybe Haas who is an outlier.

I agree and much prefer TT on a dry track
Metcalf was obviously not ready especially for 80 minutes
Compared with the more successful nrl coaches Webster is a rookie .

 

[Stalefish540]

I agree and much prefer TT on a dry track
Metcalf was obviously not ready especially for 80 minutes
Compared with the more successful nrl coaches Webster is a rookie .

That's the sticking point isn't it, selecting a player based on weather conditions isn't really something you can do in the NRL.

CNK has his limitations for sure, but you know what you'll get regardless of weather. Taking two runs a set clocking up 300m pre 2026 certainly exacerbates the limitations.

We've been in a strange situation where we've convincingly won the first three games but all with major shuffles and changes. So it's probably harder to pick your top 17 than it would be if you were getting folded three weeks in a row with a host of changes, as you'd just revert to what your originally thought was your best 17 if in a perfect world everyone was fit.

 

[John Nick]

That's the sticking point isn't it, selecting a player based on weather conditions isn't really something you can do in the NRL.

CNK has his limitations for sure, but you know what you'll get regardless of weather. Taking two runs a set clocking up 300m pre 2026 certainly exacerbates the limitations.

We've been in a strange situation where we've convincingly won the first three games but all with major shuffles and changes. So it's probably harder to pick your top 17 than it would be if you were getting folded three weeks in a row with a host of changes, as you'd just revert to what your originally thought was your best 17 if in a perfect world everyone was fit.

I very much admire TT and his ability and toughness however CNK every day for me wet or dry

 

[Stalefish540]

I very much admire TT and his ability and toughness however CNK every day for me wet or dry

That's sort of where I am, until someone with a bit more size like CNK from the junior grades starts knocking down the door.

 

[Tragic]

I would like to see Boyd at 7, CHT at 6, LM at fullback, CNK at centre.

I love TTs ticker and defence but he is the almost guy, almost breaks through, almost finds the gap.....

 

[Ref]

Is Taine the first choice full back now.
CNK given a chance to stake a claim as a centre yesterday.