Rumour Warriors Recruitment Discussion and Rumour Mill - 2014

[Defence]

Should they keep playing Samson then? Like with the Taylor situation- if he's not sticking round I'd give someone else a go- where's Paul tuli? Hasn't had a run yet?
Lino is a bit different coz he provides a lot of the structure and some of the other boys development might benefit from having him around.

 

[wallacenz]

Move on, Lockes gone.

Theres plenty of young guys who will be straining at the leash to get a chance to play first grade. Fusitua looks the goods, Manu aint moving, Tomkins aint moving, and if we have injuries a backline shuffle can fill the gaps.

The truth is that if any of our best players get injured we are most likely screwed anyway, most other teams are in the same position. This season is teetering on the edge of the abyss and with Matulino injured we just got a lot weaker. Forwards are what we need.

 

[Weno]

Happy with Hoffman coming
He is a go, had a great Origin 2.

1 or 2 more with his height and a couple more kilos will be great.

Keen on seeing what Josh McGuire brings to tonights game.
Not the monster we would like up front being around the same size of who we already have.
But he has proven he can be dominate bookend, and has started to rediscover that form since his injury.

Ashton Sims is reliable heart and soul bookend ,and Soisaia Vave is a good quality bookend who could bolster our front row stocks as well.

 

[Sup42]

I read that Carcassonne are making a bid to enter Superleague , beginning with SL2 entry then ESL main comp in five years.

 

[Iafetas Kickstand Wang]

In terms of Glen Fisiiahi, again though he is not costing us from getting either another winger or fullback either locally or abroad. I say abroad because look at Matt Allwood, we have apparently paid decent cash to get him and he is a fringe first grader at Canberra and in my opinion clearly not at Fish's level. So, if you get rid of Fish, you probably have to cut another player as well if you're going to replace him with an Australian. As far as youngsters in the Warriors mix, Solomone Kata, Brad Abbey, Tuimoala Lolohea, David Fusitua, all of these blokes are on contract and not being stopped from having a professional career with the Warriors. Whether Fish is better, or the others are better, that remains to be seen. One thing a number of great coaches have consistently said is speed kills, and frankly you can't just coach it. Glen has it in abundance. The other thing he has in spades is a great recent finishing record. Consider this, in Glen's last 16 games he's scored 12 tries.

In terms of Solomone as hooker - here's an interesting thing. Since the trial, has he actually played hooker in reserve grade? I believe he played half a game there in NYC but since then he's been a centre or a winger. If he was truly being looked at as a hooker, and given the central control of the Warriors over NSW Cup these days, I'm staggered the lad hasn't played there at least in an interchange capacity when Siliva Havili has been in first grade, interchanging with Michael Sio. I'm not completely sure the Warriors, since Matt Elliott has left, have any flavour on Solomone as a hooker.

In terms of the second row, I was in my mind thinking - why Ryan Hoffman? At the moment I think its pretty clear why you take quality when it enters the market. Because the next cab is good, but the likes of Ryan Hoffman is a great player. He was outstanding in Origin 2. I've, like a lot of Warriors fans I'm sure, all of a sudden taken more than a passing interest in the Melbourne Storm. And frankly, Hoffman has been terrific. Even games when he doesn't get massive metres etc, what I notice with Ryan is the 1%ers. He runs outstanding decoys which suck in edge defenders beautifully, and, he is usually the first bloke down there for a kick chase.

While Shaun Johnson wasn't outstanding with Thomas Leuluai outside him, that says more about Shaun's previous state of mind than Thomas Leuluai. Leuluai IMO is still a fairly sharp step up on Chad Townsend. His defence is excellent, and has a better running game than the Chad IMO.

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

In terms of Glen Fisiiahi, again though he is not costing us from getting either another winger or fullback either locally or abroad. I say abroad because look at Matt Allwood, we have apparently paid decent cash to get him and he is a fringe first grader at Canberra and in my opinion clearly not at Fish's level. So, if you get rid of Fish, you probably have to cut another player as well if you're going to replace him with an Australian. As far as youngsters in the Warriors mix, Solomone Kata, Brad Abbey, Tuimoala Lolohea, David Fusitua, all of these blokes are on contract and not being stopped from having a professional career with the Warriors. Whether Fish is better, or the others are better, that remains to be seen. One thing a number of great coaches have consistently said is speed kills, and frankly you can't just coach it. Glen has it in abundance. The other thing he has in spades is a great recent finishing record. Consider this, in Glen's last 16 games he's scored 12 tries.

In terms of Solomone as hooker - here's an interesting thing. Since the trial, has he actually played hooker in reserve grade? I believe he played half a game there in NYC but since then he's been a centre or a winger. If he was truly being looked at as a hooker, and given the central control of the Warriors over NSW Cup these days, I'm staggered the lad hasn't played there at least in an interchange capacity when Siliva Havili has been in first grade, interchanging with Michael Sio. I'm not completely sure the Warriors, since Matt Elliott has left, have any flavour on Solomone as a hooker.

In terms of the second row, I was in my mind thinking - why Ryan Hoffman? At the moment I think its pretty clear why you take quality when it enters the market. Because the next cab is good, but the likes of Ryan Hoffman is a great player. He was outstanding in Origin 2. I've, like a lot of Warriors fans I'm sure, all of a sudden taken more than a passing interest in the Melbourne Storm. And frankly, Hoffman has been terrific. Even games when he doesn't get massive metres etc, what I notice with Ryan is the 1%ers. He runs outstanding decoys which suck in edge defenders beautifully, and, he is usually the first bloke down there for a kick chase.

While Shaun Johnson wasn't outstanding with Thomas Leuluai outside him, that says more about Shaun's previous state of mind than Thomas Leuluai. Leuluai IMO is still a fairly sharp step up on Chad Townsend. His defence is excellent, and has a better running game than the Chad IMO.

Perhaps the thinking with Fish should be reworded. Don't retain him, as opposed to releasing him. Naturally if we can get him for peanuts, and there is no other options available, we would keep him, but I wouldn't personally pay him much more that the lowest possible salary for a first grader.

Elliot may have been the one to dabble with the idea of hooker, but it seems to have been discovered by Ricky Henry in the Nines to begin with. His hooker-type skills shone through in that format. Not neccessarily as a first choice player, but as a utility option, it was worth playing with. I may be wrong, but I thought Kata had played for a time in U20s at hooker, since McFadden has taken the reigns, but was injured in that game. He hasn't played there since his return. But perhaps it is more about getting him the confidence to make the next step to NSWarriors before changing too much. It will be interesting to see how it pans out in the future. I don't see him pushing ahead of Ngani or Konrad, so to stay with the club would require him to be simply depth at centre, or take on another role.

I have no problems with Hoffman coming, apart from the fact it will put further limits on our forwards. We already have Mannering capable of playing 80 minutes. Matulino is working toward bigger minutes, Bukuya seems to play big minutes, and that just leaves one more on the bench. I believe we need Benry in the team, somewhere, but that means we have no room for a Mateo-type role on the bench. We are also seeing the likes of Sebastine and Sione playing in the lock position. Its getting pretty congested in the back row, but will get worse with so many capable of so many minutes.

As I said, I am undecided with TL. I was a big supporter of moving him to hooker. Elliot didn't seem to be, and I have no idea what McFadden thinks. I just think he is a little too dominant a personality in the halves, and perhaps in the team for Shaun Johnson to feel confident to shine. He was a miracle player when TL was there, but now is playing a much better halfback style of game. I don't know if it is due to Chad, due to Tomkins, or simply Shaun maturing naturally. If it were a choice of the new Shaun Johnson and Chad, or the old Shaun Johnson and TL, I know where my vote goes.

 

[Ever Hopeful]

Granville has just scored against us. Might be a nice, cheap signing for hooker depth out of QLD cup. I like what I see so far super quick acceleration, will be interesting to see how he handles his defensive workload for the 80

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

Interesting to hear Sam Tomkins brother is coming back to league. Didn't Sam say he wanted to play rugby alongside his brother in the future? What does this do to our chances of extending him at the end of his contract? I like that there is now the slimmest of chances.

 

[Wellington Warrior]

Or Joel Tomkins to the Warriors??

 

[brightman]

so what do people think of the sort of impact/influence Hofffman will have for us in games like this next season?

 

[Fazz]

Or Joel Tomkins to the Warriors??

Yeah, because the first one has me clamouring for more lol.

 

[matiunz]

Or Joel Tomkins to the Warriors??

What position does he play?
Liked the look of Granville tonight.

 

[Wellington Warrior]

What position does he play?
Liked the look of Granville tonight.

Centre I think..

 

[kos]

Asked about him the other day and couldnt get an answer. He'll be ready when he is ready. Bit of a weird injury that will come and go on its own. He did just have an op and they found a hernia. Anyone know how long that takes to heal???

I had 5 and was off work 3 weeks but tentative for another 3. my work has heavy muscle work bout half an hour a day.
my groin is not the same but TL only 1 maybe a little one should be easier.

 

[ryno]

Matai vs Ashford on at the moment (2 players we have been linked with).

Manly on a bit of a steamroll at the moment so Matai has been pretty dominant.

 

[Jah]

After the SOO so excited to have Hoffman coming next year he was the man that nite

 

[Fazz]

After the SOO so excited to have Hoffman coming next year he was the man that nite

Same bro. I'm a little worried that things he gets away with at The Storm and with NSW will be penalised into oblivion here, but I think his Aussie mentality and ability to run lines off Shaun Johnson and Chad/whoever our 5/8th ends up being, will be a great asset.

 

[eX | Machina]

In regards to the Locke highlight real. Going from being compared to Billy Slater to this it's disappointing that a player of his ability hasn't turned up to play since GF 2011. Had he maintained form throughout we wouldn't be having this conversation.
In regards to Tomkins, the NRL is clearly very different than Super League and he has been found out defensively. He's underweight for NRL footy and struggling to break tackles. Some bulk in the off season in the leg department and 5kgs heavier will do wonders for his running game. Alternatively he moves into 6 and works hard on his on his front on defense leaving us with slim pickings at the back.

 

[runituptheguts]

warriors should have a crack at adam reynolds

 

[Jamie]

warriors should have a crack at adam reynolds

Can't see it happening, personally I don't think Reynolds is that good anyway.