General Solomona won't play for the Warriors.

[Robster_old]

Just read in the Sunday News that David Solomona won't play for the Warrior or any NRL club if he is offered a contract with the event of his team getting relegated. He states that he likes playing in the Super League at the monent.

Darn it! huge blow, if we can't get Awen what other players should we turn to?

Not being baised but Justin Murphy is off contract but of course we are looking for someone to replace Sione.

 

[warriors4life_old]

I don't think we need anyone to replace Sione, we have Anderson, Koopu, Luck, Lauaki and Fai coming through the ranks, I think we should wait till next season before making a much larger buy for 2008.

 

[Batz_old]

your fasination with murphy has got to stop, it is very unhealthy. Look murphy has been at the warriors, performed in one season (2002) and then went crap. He has no chance of getting signed.

To bad Justin is straight, because if he wasnt I would bet a lot of money you would be hanging off his back pocket....

 

[Northern_Union]

I don't think we need anyone to replace Sione, we have Anderson, Koopu, Luck, Lauaki and Fai coming through the ranks, I think we should wait till next season before making a much larger buy for 2008.

Said it before and i'll say it again, the back row is our achillies heel. We don't have a quality ball player in there threatening the opposition defensive line. Other teams are comfortable against our pack knowing the chances of a good ball being popped arn't great.

 

[Skinny_Ravs82]

your fasination with murphy has got to stop, it is very unhealthy. Look murphy has been at the warriors, performed in one season (2002) and then went crap. He has no chance of getting signed.

To bad Justin is straight, because if he wasnt I would bet a lot of money you would be hanging off his back pocket....

LOL aah dear too funny!

 

[Wiki_old]

Don't sign anyone

We got the cover.

 

[Jesbass_old]

I'm not sure how signing Justin Murphy would solve our back row problem... :?

We definitely need a backrower, and not having Solomona is definitely a setback. We have four backrowers, (Koopu, Luck, Anderson, Lauaki), who are all very similar in attack, while Anderson and Lauaki are particularly strong in defence. (Sonny Fai, by all accounts, has been very disappointing in Bartercard this season.)

So we have four very similar players to fill three positions. That's almost no depth. An injury or a suspension will put us in a very bad place. We would quite possibly see Tuimavave shifted into the backrow, weakening the interchange bench and leaving only Sam Rapira as backup for Price and Wiki. It could also see Mannering forced into a backrow position before his growing body is ready for it.

The fact of the matter is, Faumuina was our most effective ball playing forward, and Guttenbeil was probably not far behind. Fai isn't ready for first grade - he would still be behind Faumuina in the pecking order were Sione still with us.

That's why I think we need an experienced first grade ball playing forward who can play in the back row without weakening other positions on the field.

If Solomona definitely won't consider joining us, then I hope Castleford gets relegated and we re-sign Guttenbeil.

 

[Wiki_old]

Fai will be ready.

People said Vuna wasn't ready, but he was.

 

[Jesbass_old]

Fai will be ready.

People said Vuna wasn't ready, but he was.

Only time will tell, I suppose. I haven't seen him play. But expecting him to step up and fix our back row problem may be a very tough ask for someone so young and inexperienced. I hope he doesn't feel the burden of trying to push the pass too much, because although that's needed for our back row on attack, it could result in a lot of turnovers and ruin his confidence.

 

[2big2strong_old]

lets lure Ben Kennedy into one more season of NRL, best ball playing forward in the world at present.

The chances of us doing this is about 1,000,000,000 to 1 however.

 

[MiXmasterreece_old]

Lets not give up on Solomona yet.....

 

[MiXmasterreece_old]

To bad Justin is straight, because if he wasnt I would bet a lot of money you would be hanging off his back pocket....

Too funny mate. Classic.

 

[MiXmasterreece_old]

If Solomona definitely won't consider joining us, then I hope Castleford gets relegated and we re-sign Guttenbeil.

Have to disagree with you here mate. If you think resigning guttenbeil is the best solution to our problems I'm VERY suprised.

All nostalga apart, Guttenbeil at best is a tradesman - an extremely solid 2nd rower who did not offer alot in the flair department.

Losing a ball playing forward like Sione - who was probably our only ball playing forward at the club currently - means we need to sign a similar player. Someone who is atleast abit dynamic.

Sadly Guttenbeil is not such a player.

I dont claim to have the answer here. At the moment if we cant sign Solomona Im not 100% sure who Sione's replacement should be. One thing im sure of is it's not Fai. Give the boy a few starts off the bench as the season goes and see how he progresses.

Solomona aside maybe there isnt a 2nd rower / lock on the market in the NRL or the ESL who will fit the bill ?

The way Im starting to look at it is maybe we need to look at signing a dynamic centre to play lock. It's worked for other teams and someone like Shontayne Hape would be perfect. There are plenty of candidates floating around the 2 comps.

Or perhaps we put Mannering at lock (as well as he is playing at centre) and purchase another centre to fill his boots.

I see a REAL problem here going forward into 2007 if we cant remedy this. It's a major piece of the puzzle missing from a possible 'contender' team.

 

[Jesbass_old]

If Solomona definitely won't consider joining us, then I hope Castleford gets relegated and we re-sign Guttenbeil.

Have to disagree with you here mate. If you think resigning guttenbeil is the best solution to our problems I'm VERY suprised.

All nostalga apart, Guttenbeil at best is a tradesman - an extremely solid 2nd rower who did not offer alot in the flair department.

Losing a ball playing forward like Sione - who was probably our only ball playing forward at the club currently - means we need to sign a similar player. Someone who is atleast abit dynamic.

Sadly Guttenbeil is not such a player.

I dont claim to have the answer here. At the moment if we cant sign Solomona Im not 100% sure who Sione's replacement should be. One thing im sure of is it's not Fai. Give the boy a few starts off the bench as the season goes and see how he progresses.

Solomona aside maybe there isnt a 2nd rower / lock on the market in the NRL or the ESL who will fit the bill ?

The way Im starting to look at it is maybe we need to look at signing a dynamic centre to play lock. It's worked for other teams and someone like Shontayne Hape would be perfect. There are plenty of candidates floating around the 2 comps.

Or perhaps we put Mannering at lock (as well as he is playing at centre) and purchase another centre to fill his boots.

I see a REAL problem here going forward into 2007 if we cant remedy this. It's a major piece of the puzzle missing from a possible 'contender' team.

A few things, Mix.

I agree that Sione was our best ball playing forward. I disagree that Guttenbeil offers no flair. He isn't of course, as much of a pill pusher as Sione, (no pun intended), but he has still managed a fair few offloads this season.

I'm also saying that although I'd prefer to have Solomona, I'd rather re-sign Guttenbeil than force Fai into the starting lineup before he's ready.

The only back rowers that I know may be potentially available are Solomona and Guttenbeil. So I view it as Solomona first, Guttenbeil second, and Fai third.

Who else is off contract at the end of 2006? I doubt man people would want to see the return of Betham. This is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed, and I'm confident that our current Warriors management will do so.

 

[MiXmasterreece_old]

If Solomona definitely won't consider joining us, then I hope Castleford gets relegated and we re-sign Guttenbeil.

Have to disagree with you here mate. If you think resigning guttenbeil is the best solution to our problems I'm VERY suprised.

All nostalga apart, Guttenbeil at best is a tradesman - an extremely solid 2nd rower who did not offer alot in the flair department.

Losing a ball playing forward like Sione - who was probably our only ball playing forward at the club currently - means we need to sign a similar player. Someone who is atleast abit dynamic.

Sadly Guttenbeil is not such a player.

I dont claim to have the answer here. At the moment if we cant sign Solomona Im not 100% sure who Sione's replacement should be. One thing im sure of is it's not Fai. Give the boy a few starts off the bench as the season goes and see how he progresses.

Solomona aside maybe there isnt a 2nd rower / lock on the market in the NRL or the ESL who will fit the bill ?

The way Im starting to look at it is maybe we need to look at signing a dynamic centre to play lock. It's worked for other teams and someone like Shontayne Hape would be perfect. There are plenty of candidates floating around the 2 comps.

Or perhaps we put Mannering at lock (as well as he is playing at centre) and purchase another centre to fill his boots.

I see a REAL problem here going forward into 2007 if we cant remedy this. It's a major piece of the puzzle missing from a possible 'contender' team.

A few things, Mix.

I agree that Sione was our best ball playing forward. I disagree that Guttenbeil offers no flair. He isn't of course, as much of a pill pusher as Sione, (no pun intended), but he has still managed a fair few offloads this season.

I'm also saying that although I'd prefer to have Solomona, I'd rather re-sign Guttenbeil than force Fai into the starting lineup before he's ready.

The only back rowers that I know may be potentially available are Solomona and Guttenbeil. So I view it as Solomona first, Guttenbeil second, and Fai third.

Who else is off contract at the end of 2006? I doubt man people would want to see the return of Betham. This is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed, and I'm confident that our current Warriors management will do so.

Well I am definetly not promoting the fast tracking off Fai, quite the contrary as I mentioned in my post

What I will ask is this :
Does anyone have :
a. A complete list of all 2nd rowers on the market from the NRL and the ESL
b. Any others who could play lock : e.g. centres like Hape

Whilst as I said Guttenbeil is a fine player, I do stand by my comment that he indeed offers no flair. And flair my friend is what we need. Atleast one forward who can bring something a little different to the table.

Even if we can try someone on a 1 year deal and try to secure a better player for 08 when the market offers up a little more substance.

If we have to, let's get creative with who we play at lock next year. The game is such that you dont have to be a mountain of a man to play at 13. There are options out there, they may not be playing lock at the moment but I know they could be effective.

We need some with the capability to offload for Mckinnon and co to run off.

Mix

 

[warriorfaithful*_old]

Eve if solomona doesnt come/warriors dont buy him, that will be good cos it will mean the warriors save money for next year when they are going to get SBW

 

[-Dr.J-_old]

I'd prefer that we blooded someone new, Ropati has done a lot of defence this season so maybe he can become a good lock? It suits his running style, though he suits the flanks.

 

[warriors4life_old]

I don't think we need anyone to replace Sione, we have Anderson, Koopu, Luck, Lauaki and Fai coming through the ranks, I think we should wait till next season before making a much larger buy for 2008.

Said it before and i'll say it again, the back row is our achillies heel. We don't have a quality ball player in there threatening the opposition defensive line. Other teams are comfortable against our pack knowing the chances of a good ball being popped arn't great.

And you wouldn't call Lauaki a ball-playing forward?

 

[Wiki_old]

I don't want to rush Fai either. I don't think he is the answer for Sione and I only hope that they gradually introduce him to the NRL.

I do however think that once he makes it, he will be great.

He is young and inexperienced. He will grow with time. Although I think he should be gradually introduced I do believe that he is ready to step up.

 

[warriorfaithful*_old]

I don't think we need anyone to replace Sione, we have Anderson, Koopu, Luck, Lauaki and Fai coming through the ranks, I think we should wait till next season before making a much larger buy for 2008.

Said it before and i'll say it again, the back row is our achillies heel. We don't have a quality ball player in there threatening the opposition defensive line. Other teams are comfortable against our pack knowing the chances of a good ball being popped arn't great.

And you wouldn't call Lauaki a ball-playing forward?

Anderson is probably considered a ball playing foward as well isnt he!?