General Your 2024 lineup

[Tookey 2.0]

I see Metcalf as quite similar to Ezra Mam - they actually have quite similar stats despite Mam doing it over the whole year this year, but Mam scored tries at 0.6pg (Metcalf 0.5) and set up tries at 0.4pg (Metcalf 0.3). Metcalf also got across the like another 3 or 4 times that were disallowed as well as bombing a few tries that hopefully he learns from.

He does strike me as the type of player that things are always happening around. Not always for the good tho as he's had a few very poor brain explosions, but he's learning. If he could improve his defence and kicking by say 20% in the next 2 years I think he'd be a weapon

 

[John Nick]

I see Metcalf as quite similar to Ezra Mam - they actually have quite similar stats despite Mam doing it over the whole year this year, but Mam scored tries at 0.6pg (Metcalf 0.5) and set up tries at 0.4pg (Metcalf 0.3). Metcalf also got across the like another 3 or 4 times that were disallowed as well as bombing a few tries that hopefully he learns from.

He does strike me as the type of player that things are always happening around. Not always for the good tho as he's had a few very poor brain explosions, but he's learning. If he could improve his defence and kicking by say 20% in the next 2 years I think he'd be a weapon

Agreed. Only played less than 20 games from memory.
Very inexperienced for a 6 .Time is well and truly on his side

 

[Playdaball]

Daniel or Jacob Saifiti?

Peter, their father ?

 

[Tookey 2.0]

We had a pretty great year in 2023, many players had their best year of their careers, so it makes me a bit worried that we can emulate that next year.
We were also quite fortunate with injuries - hoping we get another year like this in 2024.

The 3 biggest areas I think we could improve on from this year would be: * More x factor/strike in our backs.
* Fix our propping rotation
* Get more out of bench

I feel Roger will fix the first one. I'm guessing he'll be able to create something out of nothing 15-20 times next year. While they might not all lead to tries, I think this is what we all know we need. Also having Roger means he'll need to be marked well, which opens up other opportunities in our backline.

Our propping rotation and bench largely depends on what Webby wants, as if we start with Barnett that gives us an edge there, however if he starts off the bench that gives us a great bench option.
I Ales been spoken about at length, but if he puts on 3-4kg of muscle and has a full preseason I think he could have a break out year. 9 career games over 30 min he averages over 114m a game with minimal errors and missed tackles. I'd like to see Ale start several times this year, to see how we go with Barnett off the bench.

I'd have Walker, CHT and Ale/Barnett as the 3rd spot, and I believe we'll sign someone else (hopefully a prop) who will cover 4th spot

 

[cock_o]

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
3. Rocco Berry
4. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
5. Marcelo Montoya
6. Luke Metcalf
7. Shaun Johnson

8. Addin Fonua-Blake
9. Wayde Egan
10. Marata Niukore
11. Jackson Ford
12. Kurt Capewell
13. Tohu Harris

14. Chanel Harris-Tavita
15. Dylan Walker
16. Mitchell Barnett
17. Jazz Tevaga

Taine Tuaupiki
Ed Kosi
Adam Pompey
Ali Leiataua
Te Maire Martin
Ronald Volkman

Freddy Lussick
Bunty Afoa
Tom Ale
Demitric Sifakula
Zyon Maiu’u
Jacob Laban

 

[Shogun]

I can't imagine Capewell being an up the Wahs type.

Next year at the trials I'd like to see CNK DWZ & RTS all play a half at FB with the other 2 on the wing.

 

[pompower]

Is there anything outside of idle speculation that points to Niukore moving to the middle this season?

 

[Damo]

Is there anything outside of idle speculation that points to Niukore moving to the middle this season?

Pure speculation but it does make sense, or else it could be Ford possibly doing that role.

 

[BabylonPink]

Is there anything outside of idle speculation that points to Niukore moving to the middle this season?

I believe David Long from Stuff Speculated it.
Niukore did play some middle last season though.

 

[Tookey 2.0]

There's been a lot of talk about Marata potentially moving in to the front row to accommodate Capewell, which I think is a good option but just wanted to touch on 2 things:

1. That's kinda not Webbys vibe - he's spoken about playing to people's strengths, as opposed to trying to fit people in places and making them fit. Do we think Niukore to prop really fits Webbys plans? Time will tell.

2. Niukore is listed at 106kg. There's a tick over 15 weeks to Rd 1 Nek year- if he was given the green light, realistically how much muscle could he look to add to his frame to help him handle the rigors of the front row, without losing too much speed and lateral movement? Would love to see him up over the 110kg mark.
I love his physicality in the collision and would love to see him make 10-15 hit ups a game, he'd finish with 150+ meters every game I reckon

 

[WahsaurusRex]

There's been a lot of talk about Marata potentially moving in to the front row to accommodate Capewell, which I think is a good option but just wanted to touch on 2 things:

1. That's kinda not Webbys vibe - he's spoken about playing to people's strengths, as opposed to trying to fit people in places and making them fit. Do we think Niukore to prop really fits Webbys plans? Time will tell.

2. Niukore is listed at 106kg. There's a tick over 15 weeks to Rd 1 Nek year- if he was given the green light, realistically how much muscle could he look to add to his frame to help him handle the rigors of the front row, without losing too much speed and lateral movement? Would love to see him up over the 110kg mark.
I love his physicality in the collision and would love to see him make 10-15 hit ups a game, he'd finish with 150+ meters every game I reckon

Barnett is 2 kilos lighter than Niukore is now, so I don't think that is too big of an issue. Though I would still like him to put a little more muscle on before making the switch too.

I don't mind the idea of Niukore at prop, but it does kind of seem like a move just for the sake of it. I assume that would move Barnett to 12, and Niukore to 10? I just don't see the big benefit in that myself

Barnett is also a couple of years older than Niukore, so if we are thinking ahead even further, Barnett surely wouldn't be on the edge at 32 or whatever.

Niukore would be about 30 by the time Leka is ready for FG, and when that comes around, then it will be the time to move to prop full-time imo

I reckon I could be convinced quite easily though

 

[Damo]

There's been a lot of talk about Marata potentially moving in to the front row to accommodate Capewell, which I think is a good option but just wanted to touch on 2 things:

1. That's kinda not Webbys vibe - he's spoken about playing to people's strengths, as opposed to trying to fit people in places and making them fit. Do we think Niukore to prop really fits Webbys plans? Time will tell.

2. Niukore is listed at 106kg. There's a tick over 15 weeks to Rd 1 Nek year- if he was given the green light, realistically how much muscle could he look to add to his frame to help him handle the rigors of the front row, without losing too much speed and lateral movement? Would love to see him up over the 110kg mark.
I love his physicality in the collision and would love to see him make 10-15 hit ups a game, he'd finish with 150+ meters every game I reckon

Does he need to put on weight?



He's a very similar body type to James Fisher Harris, although most of JFHs weight is in his biceps.

 

[WahsaurusRex]

Does he need to put on weight?

View attachment 4542View attachment 4543

He's a very similar body type to James Fisher Harris, although most of JFHs weight is in his biceps.

I reckon I could be convinced quite easily though

Like I said haha, even just seeing his measurables next to the Fish I am already like

 

[Tookey 2.0]

I mean, Fisher-Harris is th and exception, not the rule. There are so many front rowers who are about his height and weight and are doing f all.

There was a lot of talk that Barnett isn't big enough as a full time prop, and he struggled with some of the bigger boppers out there, so that's why I'm thinking Marata would need to pack on a few kg. Surely the weight that he is now, designed to be a damaging edge runner wouldn't be what we would want for him at prop as he will likely have to tackle a lot bigger opposition much more consistently if he's in the middle.

 

[cock_o]

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
3. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
4. Ali Leiataua
5. Marcelo Montoya
6. Luke Metcalf
7. Shaun Johnson
8. Addin Fonua-Blake
9. Wayde Egan
10. Bunty Afoa
11. Jackson Ford
12. Kurt Capewell
13. Tohu Harris

14. Chanel Harris-Tavita
15. Dylan Walker
16. Mitchell Barnett
17. Marata Niukore

If we start with Bunty up front for a 20 minute stint. Then he is done for the game. This give us a very strong bench.

 

[BabylonPink]

I mean, Fisher-Harris is th and exception, not the rule. There are so many front rowers who are about his height and weight and are doing f all.

There was a lot of talk that Barnett isn't big enough as a full time prop, and he struggled with some of the bigger boppers out there, so that's why I'm thinking Marata would need to pack on a few kg. Surely the weight that he is now, designed to be a damaging edge runner wouldn't be what we would want for him at prop as he will likely have to tackle a lot bigger opposition much more consistently if he's in the middle.

Marata is an amazing Wrestler , would be very fast lateraly and wouldn't miss a beat defensively. He can bend the line well but usually runs solid lines into gaps.
Most props like Barnett hit and try and break tackles or make post contact to bend the line. Addin works well as your second carry because he never quite hits a fully formed d line and can use his footwork and size to hit gaps and inside shoulders.

If Niukore plays edge then shifts to the middle, 1 interchange.
Need a second rower to replace him?
So complex given Walker and Jazz needed to come on together for that impact we saw a bit in the middle stages last year.

 

[BabylonPink]

We need a Joe Tapine to replace AFB.
Someone who is fast , big and strong enough to handle it obviously. But someone with very late footwork and a bit of a pass.
We could do with a stronger play 1 prop too imo. Bunty is so vanilla and Barnets only just better because of his defensive aggression and linespeed.

 

[Tookey 2.0]

We need a Joe Tapine to replace AFB.
Someone who is fast , big and strong enough to handle it obviously. But someone with very late footwork and a bit of a pass.
We could do with a stronger play 1 prop too imo. Bunty is so vanilla and Barnets only just better because of his defensive aggression and linespeed.

Barnett's much, much better sorry. 140m per game average, 6 clean line breaks in 12 games. Plays with so much heart and energy....nothing like Bunty at all.

AFB had a great year. A career best year really. I still count him as a top 5 prop in the game but he's not going to be doing that for the rest of his career. We need to stop having his career year as the bench mark and players needing to step up to that because maybe 2 or 3 props can do what he did full stop, and spoiler alert were not getting any of those players at the Warriors lol

 

[BabylonPink]

Barnett's much, much better sorry. 140m per game average, 6 clean line breaks in 12 games. Plays with so much heart and energy....nothing like Bunty at all.

AFB had a great year. A career best year really. I still count him as a top 5 prop in the game but he's not going to be doing that for the rest of his career. We need to stop having his career year as the bench mark and players needing to step up to that because maybe 2 or 3 props can do what he did full stop, and spoiler alert were not getting any of those players at the Warriors lol

Yeah your probably right , was being harsh on Barnett.
Linebreaks are a strange state to measure a prop on. Usually means he was in good support positioning which is a skill but as to why the D line let him through... maybe everyone marking up on AFB and tohu.

 

[Shogun]

We need a Joe Tapine to replace AFB.
Someone who is fast , big and strong enough to handle it obviously. But someone with very late footwork and a bit of a pass.
We could do with a stronger play 1 prop too imo. Bunty is so vanilla and Barnets only just better because of his defensive aggression and linespeed.

I wouldn't want too many forwards in their 30s. Capewell & Harris are already and Barnett & Tapine are 30 next year.