International Pacific Championship

[JustLikeStartingOver]

That was pretty boring advertisement for test footy TBH, granted not a final. Australia were fine, pulled along by Edwards, SJ kicked a lot better than he did for the warriors this year.

Klein coaching players the whole game long - yuck

 

[Playdaball]

A mates wife made a comment that the kiwis have heaps of good looking players at the moment - not sure what that has to do with the fact that we couldn’t score a try with many back to back sets but hey I thought I’d share it

 

[El Chuckie]

Position	Player	Offence	Defence
1​	Kini	8​	0​	4​
2​	Isaako	5​	8​	6.5​
3​	Timoko	4​	4​	4​
4​	Hiku	7​	9​	8​
5​	Warbrck	10​	7​	8.5​
6​	CNK	0​	8​	4​
7​	SJ	6​	5​	5.5​	Kiwis offence looked stifled like the Warriors
8​	JFH	7​	9​	8​
9​	Crossland	5​	7​	6​	Bad miss on the Collins try
10​	Neame	8​	10​	9​
11​	Papa	8​	9​	8.5​
12​	Sorenson	8​	8​	8​
13​	Tapine	7​	7​	7​	He had an average night when he needed to be a point of difference
15​	Whyte	10​	10​	10​	Kiwis Player of the Match
16​	Niukore	8​	8​	8​
17​	Riki	7​	7​	7​	PTB error. OK for a rookie
14​	Nikorima	NA	NA		Not on there long enough

Mostly agree with this. Thought Papa'ali'i silenced a few of those who questioned his selection. A few stats from the NRL page:
Timoko made the most PCM of any Kiwi, ran for 170-odd (behind Warbrick and Kini), and made 3 tackle breaks.
Hiku made 22 tackles but missed 5.
Crossland's tackle efficiency was third in the team behind Tapine and Neame, and he topped the tackle count.

 

[Bluecat]

That sums up the Kiwis v Australia for the last 40 years
Key players injured or suspended
Makeshift halves/spine
Ill discipline at key moments
Momentum killers by players overplaying their hand
An inability to capitalise on possession
Aussie scoring in the last 5 minutes of the fist half after we've slogged our guts out to be on par
And the sheer class of a couple of Australian players putting the game out of reach. Edwards and Moses combining. Turbo and Lomax earlier

 

[Teets]

NZ teams have to find the ability to genuinely threaten from anywhere on the field.

 

[Zaggo]

That was pretty boring advertisement for test footy TBH, granted not a final. Australia were fine, pulled along by Edwards, SJ kicked a lot better than he did for the warriors this year.

Klein coaching players the whole game long - yuck

Are you serious? I thought it was one of the best games I'd seen all year - a good old fashioned ding dong, not ruined by endless penalties or six agains.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Yeah SJ;s positional and depth kicking was test match standard tonight and was probably better than Moses considering Mitchell put one out of on the full.

The major concern I had with SJ in the red zone all year was executing the plays at a slow near walking speed slow trot before he handed off behind his back to a forward and the forward is expected to magic the ball across the try line from 7 metres out.

Anyway I don't want to be negative. He answered the call of his country and that could have been 50 - 10 without SJ repeatedly pinning them near their try line at the end of a set.

Im starting to thinking the other SJ needs to walk away from the team

 

[BigUCE]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but Kini was the highest rated player for the kiwis last night.

 

[Falcon]

I would have liked Crossland to run from dummy half more last night. Became too transparent and as a result runners got shut down with numbers in the tackle.

I was at the game, great atmosphere, I thought the man on the mic and whoever was spinning the decks through the game also did a good job too. 170005 in attendance.

 

[Beastmode]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but Kini was the highest rated player for the kiwis last night.

Exactly the type of player we need at Warriors.

The sheer speed and energy he brought was a delight to watch. Put his body on the line every time.

20 years young.
Read that Webby


Ok he got carved up a few times but we’ll let it slide.

 

[jonesy101]

A mates wife made a comment that the kiwis have heaps of good looking players at the moment - not sure what that has to do with the fact that we couldn’t score a try with many back to back sets but hey I thought I’d share it

She's not wrong. Thought we edged the Kangaroos in the mullets too. Tapine was channeling a 1991 Tarewa Nikau.

 

[Noitall]

Exactly the type of player we need at Warriors.

The sheer speed and energy he brought was a delight to watch. Put his body on the line every time.

20 years young.
Read that Webby


Ok he got carved up a few times but we’ll let it slide.

I think we’ve got our own version in Tuaupiki. Not quite to the same extent perhaps, but thought Kini’s performance was really reminiscent of Tuaupiki against the sharks in the final game of the season. Showing speed and willingness to take a gap

 

[Playdaball]

Makeshift halves/spine

This also applies to Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and The Cooks

 

[hornbybrown]

I’m actually perfectly fine with what happened last night when you consider that the Convicts have already had a game and we haven’t. Traditionally we get significantly better throughout a tournament.

As long as we get past Tonga which we should but it will be tough I really like our chances in a final vs Australia.

The one thing that gives me pause is I’m far from convinced about Stacey as a head coach or even a coach at all

 

[Bluecat]

The one thing that gives me pause is I’m far from convinced about Stacey as a head coach or even a coach at all

I'm prepared to be proved wrong by Stacey too. Judging by the results of his efforts at the Warriors he has a hill to climb to be successful.
I heard in the commentary last night that he has Blair, Halligan, and Kearney alongside him. That's hardly confidence building for anyone who has followed the Warriors for any length of time.
To be fair Kearney knows his stuff but the other two are a worry

 

[MrFrankWhite]

The one thing that gives me pause is I’m far from convinced about Stacey as a head coach or even a coach at all

From what I gather his single award is reserve grade to GF victory his first year? His Warriors record of 2/9 is pretty poor.

 

[John Nick]

From what I gather his single award is reserve grade to GF victory his first year? His Warriors record of 2/9 is pretty poor.

His problem is that he is too nice.
Many of the best coaches are not

 

[Ref]

Exactly the type of player we need at Warriors.

The sheer speed and energy he brought was a delight to watch. Put his body on the line every time.

20 years young.
Read that Webby


Ok he got carved up a few times but we’ll let it slide.

We have Taine.
Every first grade game he has played for the Warriors , he has been as impactful as Kini has for the Titans.
Don’t show me stats for stats sake.
That means jackshit.
It’s the effectiveness of each run, pass, off load, tackle break, line break, line break assist.
A great stat would be.
Line break supporter who receives the ball.

 

[jonesy101]

I'm prepared to be proved wrong by Stacey too. Judging by the results of his efforts at the Warriors he has a hill to climb to be successful.
I heard in the commentary last night that he has Blair, Halligan, and Kearney alongside him. That's hardly confidence building for anyone who has followed the Warriors for any length of time.
To be fair Kearney knows his stuff but the other two are a worry

For years we'd always have an experienced Australian or two as assistants as well like Steve Price (not the ex-player for the Warriors). I hope they haven't gone for some all Kiwi policy in the coaching staff as that narrows the recruitment pool too far.

 

[Beastmode]

We have Taine.

Someone tell Wendy that.
I’ve been saying it all season.

And not just Taine.

All our youngun’s need more time on the field as a collective group. Not just the odd cameo.

We saw what they did to Penrith and the Dolphins.

2025. It starts.