General Your 2025 team

[Milking!]

01. Charnze Nicol-klokstad - heart and soul-type player, which I think gets underrated by stats. Kinda player that if the team wins, he’s lauded as a Dylan Edwards-esque workhorse, if they lose, his place gets questioned due to lack of ‘X-factor’.

02. D Watene-Zelezniak

03. Ali Leitaua - our most promising back - let him play through some mistakes

04. RTS - people were harsh that he didn’t dominate at centre, but he got shuffled about as Mr Fix-it, and with all the struggles inside him - eg rotating halves through injury and second rowers struggling for form - meant the ball he got was often clunky AF - and RTS at centre opens up …

05. Rocco Berry - watching Zac Lomax has me thinking why not the Roc? One of our fastest backs, best defenders, great size and good in the air.

06. Luke Metcalf - think he’s better suited to playing with freedom and not being shackled as a game manager.

07. Tanah Boyd - if we want to consistently deliver on whatever our game plan is week-to-week, we need a decent kicking game - and Boyd seems to be far and away the best option in general play. Would give him the kicking tee as well.

08. James Fisher Harris (C)

09. Wayde Egan

10. Mitchell Barnett

11. Leka Halasima - Potentially our most exciting forward in an age. Get him out there and learning the job as soon as possible, with the old heads in the pack helping smooth out any rough edges.

12. Kurt Capewell

13. Tohu Harris



14. Dylan Walker - an absolute must. With Tohu injured, I thought he filled in admirably as a starting lock, but we absolutely missed the speed and ball playing he brought on at the 20min mark - and don’t have anyone who can replicate what he brings

15. Erin Clarke - Jazz 2.0

16. Sam Healey - seems a different style and tempo around the ruck than Egan and Lussick. Give him 20 mins per game to ask some questions of a tiring opposition defence

17. Marata Niukore - a bench role lets him bulk up a bit more in the off season and he empty his tank through the middle. Ideally gives them a forward they can lean on for longer minutes to give our middles a bit more of a breather.

18. CHT - in the case you need to activate him, covers your backline well enough for minimal shuffling, or could play hooker/ball playing lock for short stints

 

[Wrighty]

01. Charnze Nicol-klokstad - heart and soul-type player, which I think gets underrated by stats. Kinda player that if the team wins, he’s lauded as a Dylan Edwards-esque workhorse, if they lose, his place gets questioned due to lack of ‘X-factor’.

02. D Watene-Zelezniak

03. Ali Leitaua - our most promising back - let him play through some mistakes

04. RTS - people were harsh that he didn’t dominate at centre, but he got shuffled about as Mr Fix-it, and with all the struggles inside him - eg rotating halves through injury and second rowers struggling for form - meant the ball he got was often clunky AF - and RTS at centre opens up …

05. Rocco Berry - watching Zac Lomax has me thinking why not the Roc? One of our fastest backs, best defenders, great size and good in the air.

06. Luke Metcalf - think he’s better suited to playing with freedom and not being shackled as a game manager.

07. Tanah Boyd - if we want to consistently deliver on whatever our game plan is week-to-week, we need a decent kicking game - and Boyd seems to be far and away the best option in general play. Would give him the kicking tee as well.

08. James Fisher Harris (C)

09. Wayde Egan

10. Mitchell Barnett

11. Leka Halasima - Potentially our most exciting forward in an age. Get him out there and learning the job as soon as possible, with the old heads in the pack helping smooth out any rough edges.

12. Kurt Capewell

13. Tohu Harris



14. Dylan Walker - an absolute must. With Tohu injured, I thought he filled in admirably as a starting lock, but we absolutely missed the speed and ball playing he brought on at the 20min mark - and don’t have anyone who can replicate what he brings

15. Erin Clarke - Jazz 2.0

16. Sam Healey - seems a different style and tempo around the ruck than Egan and Lussick. Give him 20 mins per game to ask some questions of a tiring opposition defence

17. Marata Niukore - a bench role lets him bulk up a bit more in the off season and he empty his tank through the middle. Ideally gives them a forward they can lean on for longer minutes to give our middles a bit more of a breather.

18. CHT - in the case you need to activate him, covers your backline well enough for minimal shuffling, or could play hooker/ball playing lock for short stints

Firstly a big Welcome to the Forum Milking and like the user name.
I really enjoyed the rationales given to each player. And my favourite recommendation was Berry to the wing. I have never liked him at centre. Bomb to Rocco !!!!!

 

[Milking!]

Thanks for the warm welcome, Wrighty. Long time lurker who spends far too much time daydreaming about the optimal make up of our four halves options.
Also a huge Rocco fan! Just wonder if a shuffle out wider could unlock him more as an attacking threat.

 

[Wrighty]

Thanks for the warm welcome, Wrighty. Long time lurker who spends far too much time daydreaming about the optimal make up of our four halves options.
Also a huge Rocco fan! Just wonder if a shuffle out wider could unlock him more as an attacking threat.

Glad you have come out of lurk mode with great comments like those. Well thought through.
Rocco is 23 and turns 24 in May next year. Time for him to return the faith put into him in whatever position he plays. I think he will need to prepare all off season to play there if that is to come to pass. I certainly suspect at this stage our back line and halves combinations are known to Coach Webster. We won't be able to glean much from pre-season snaps though as attacking plays come last in pre-season. Might even have to wait for the second trial match. Certainly for the last two years whatever Webster runs out on the 2nd trial matched closely to the game one line up.
I also feel that the curse of our team is that a lot of our backs are utlities without having a key stand out position which makes it very easy to get an average back line but hard to come up with a smoking hot one.
I also have Tanah Boyd in my halves primarily for goal kicking. This year for Titans he did better in the 6 jersey than the 7 jersey.
Real pity that CHT folded his goal kicking last year or he could have been in the running for game one with the options his left footedness opens up.

 

[Milking!]

Great points!
I do wonder if it’s a moot point if Roc is still injured … seems ominous about how quiet it’s been in that front. BUT I see an elite player NRL player there - it’s just how best to showcase it.
Webby will defo have the combos he wants in mind and the play style, but surely part of that will involve a solid and reliable long kicking game to consistently set us up when we’re executing our defensive plan - ergo Boyd comes into my mix … I love me some CHT and Lukey Met, but I’m not sure if either can reliably deliver that over 80 mins in an NRL game (criminally underrated aspect of late-career SJ’s game).
The utilities aspect of our backline is a great point I hadn’t considered - another reason to stick with RTS at centre I reckon. Put some good infrastructure inside him (eg, Lukey Met and Halasima just being dynamic handfuls) and there’s an elite centre there. Last season he just kept getting clunky AF ball, then for some reason people were surprised he couldn’t always step 3 blokes from a standing start and make some magic.

 

[Canonball]

01. Charnze Nicol-klokstad - heart and soul-type player, which I think gets underrated by stats. Kinda player that if the team wins, he’s lauded as a Dylan Edwards-esque workhorse, if they lose, his place gets questioned due to lack of ‘X-factor’.

02. D Watene-Zelezniak

03. Ali Leitaua - our most promising back - let him play through some mistakes

04. RTS - people were harsh that he didn’t dominate at centre, but he got shuffled about as Mr Fix-it, and with all the struggles inside him - eg rotating halves through injury and second rowers struggling for form - meant the ball he got was often clunky AF - and RTS at centre opens up …

05. Rocco Berry - watching Zac Lomax has me thinking why not the Roc? One of our fastest backs, best defenders, great size and good in the air.

06. Luke Metcalf - think he’s better suited to playing with freedom and not being shackled as a game manager.

07. Tanah Boyd - if we want to consistently deliver on whatever our game plan is week-to-week, we need a decent kicking game - and Boyd seems to be far and away the best option in general play. Would give him the kicking tee as well.

08. James Fisher Harris (C)

09. Wayde Egan

10. Mitchell Barnett

11. Leka Halasima - Potentially our most exciting forward in an age. Get him out there and learning the job as soon as possible, with the old heads in the pack helping smooth out any rough edges.

12. Kurt Capewell

13. Tohu Harris



14. Dylan Walker - an absolute must. With Tohu injured, I thought he filled in admirably as a starting lock, but we absolutely missed the speed and ball playing he brought on at the 20min mark - and don’t have anyone who can replicate what he brings

15. Erin Clarke - Jazz 2.0

16. Sam Healey - seems a different style and tempo around the ruck than Egan and Lussick. Give him 20 mins per game to ask some questions of a tiring opposition defence

17. Marata Niukore - a bench role lets him bulk up a bit more in the off season and he empty his tank through the middle. Ideally gives them a forward they can lean on for longer minutes to give our middles a bit more of a breather.

18. CHT - in the case you need to activate him, covers your backline well enough for minimal shuffling, or could play hooker/ball playing lock for short stints

Rocco to wing is a good shout

 

[Neo]

Rocco to wing is a good shout

The weakest part of Rocco’s game is his yardage carry. I don’t thino wing would suit him. If you had him at centre with Halasima beside him it would be a good combo. Halasima would attract enough attention for Rocco to use the quick hands

 

[Canonball]

The weakest part of Rocco’s game is his yardage carry. I don’t thino wing would suit him. If you had him at centre with Halasima beside him it would be a good combo. Halasima would attract enough attention for Rocco to use the quick hands

Yep, it has been a weakness of his - the idea is somehow appealing though because of his pace - i'm very keen to see how our backs line up - so many questions there, reckon there' are only 2 automatic picks: DWZ and Leiataua

 

[Wrighty]

Great points!
I do wonder if it’s a moot point if Roc is still injured … seems ominous about how quiet it’s been in that front. BUT I see an elite player NRL player there - it’s just how best to showcase it.
Webby will defo have the combos he wants in mind and the play style, but surely part of that will involve a solid and reliable long kicking game to consistently set us up when we’re executing our defensive plan - ergo Boyd comes into my mix … I love me some CHT and Lukey Met, but I’m not sure if either can reliably deliver that over 80 mins in an NRL game (criminally underrated aspect of late-career SJ’s game).
The utilities aspect of our backline is a great point I hadn’t considered - another reason to stick with RTS at centre I reckon. Put some good infrastructure inside him (eg, Lukey Met and Halasima just being dynamic handfuls) and there’s an elite centre there. Last season he just kept getting clunky AF ball, then for some reason people were surprised he couldn’t always step 3 blokes from a standing start and make some magic.

Well it looks like another poster has backed your Rocco to wing suggestion. So that is a pretty good start to your posting career to get two endorsements for a post.
In terms of your point "Surely the halves with involve someone with a long kicking game".
Not necessarily
In our mid season three game win streak against Penrith et al we had TMM and CHT neither of whom have a long kicking game but both were adequate to do a bomb on the 5th tackle. So I have a suspicion a lot will be read into those observation points.
Secondly and more tellingly the Warriors don't mince words. In the article announcing Tannah Boyds acquisition they said he was coming here as "depth and competition for the halves" as opposed to announcing a starting position for him. Based on that newspaper article I see the Halves rankings a 1) Metcalf 2) TMM 3) Boyd 4th and last) CHT.
I think they will give the goal kicking to either Metcalf or Pompey and not give a rats ass really about having a quality goal kicker or someone capable of kicking a drop goal in golden point.
But then again they could surprise me = my beliefs are heavily influenced by the wording of the newspaper article.

“Tanah’s arrival will create healthy competition among our halves,” said head coach Andrew Webster.

“He brings a great kicking game, strong game management skills and he’s also a proven goal kicker. We’re really looking forward to having him at our club.”

Warriors recruit Titans halfback on two-year contract

Tanah Boyd arrives on a two-year deal after Shaun Johnson’s retirement.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[Milking!]

I wondered if the lack of yardage was more by design than weakness, Neo
With the thinking that by not spending the energy doin yardage work you can reliably count on the rest of the back 5 to do, he’d be better placed juice-wise to really put in a huge effort on long kick chase and bust out his grass-cutting tackles …. which he is sublime at. A wing move would likely mean that detail would fall on someone else.

 

[Wrighty]

The weakest part of Rocco’s game is his yardage carry. I don’t thino wing would suit him. If you had him at centre with Halasima beside him it would be a good combo. Halasima would attract enough attention for Rocco to use the quick hands

As a 24 year old he should be bigger than the last time he played wing. Think how good it would be if we had a winger on defence he didn't jam in 10 metres and leave his opposing winger un marked. The Defence Rocco could offer could be enough for him to make an impact.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

01. Charnze Nicol-klokstad - heart and soul-type player, which I think gets underrated by stats. Kinda player that if the team wins, he’s lauded as a Dylan Edwards-esque workhorse, if they lose, his place gets questioned due to lack of ‘X-factor’.

02. D Watene-Zelezniak

03. Ali Leitaua - our most promising back - let him play through some mistakes

04. RTS - people were harsh that he didn’t dominate at centre, but he got shuffled about as Mr Fix-it, and with all the struggles inside him - eg rotating halves through injury and second rowers struggling for form - meant the ball he got was often clunky AF - and RTS at centre opens up …

05. Rocco Berry - watching Zac Lomax has me thinking why not the Roc? One of our fastest backs, best defenders, great size and good in the air.

06. Luke Metcalf - think he’s better suited to playing with freedom and not being shackled as a game manager.

07. Tanah Boyd - if we want to consistently deliver on whatever our game plan is week-to-week, we need a decent kicking game - and Boyd seems to be far and away the best option in general play. Would give him the kicking tee as well.

08. James Fisher Harris (C)

09. Wayde Egan

10. Mitchell Barnett

11. Leka Halasima - Potentially our most exciting forward in an age. Get him out there and learning the job as soon as possible, with the old heads in the pack helping smooth out any rough edges.

12. Kurt Capewell

13. Tohu Harris



14. Dylan Walker - an absolute must. With Tohu injured, I thought he filled in admirably as a starting lock, but we absolutely missed the speed and ball playing he brought on at the 20min mark - and don’t have anyone who can replicate what he brings

15. Erin Clarke - Jazz 2.0

16. Sam Healey - seems a different style and tempo around the ruck than Egan and Lussick. Give him 20 mins per game to ask some questions of a tiring opposition defence

17. Marata Niukore - a bench role lets him bulk up a bit more in the off season and he empty his tank through the middle. Ideally gives them a forward they can lean on for longer minutes to give our middles a bit more of a breather.

18. CHT - in the case you need to activate him, covers your backline well enough for minimal shuffling, or could play hooker/ball playing lock for short stints

Great team!

You aren’t visiting from the Raiders

 

[Wrighty]

there' are only 2 automatic picks: DWZ and Leiataua

here is an ali highlights package


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-JYSdk6I50

 

[Milking!]

I’ll admit the massaging from the club re: Boyd isn’t exactly ‘don’t worry, we’ve got our new field general’. Following the headlines, I think it’ll be Lukey Met getting first crack at halfback, which probs means TMM at five-eight (which I’m ok with, cos I think he’s our best ball player). Attacking-wise, no worries - but in a tough set and we have to kick at the 30-40, can either really hoist a deep kick we can chase to put pressure on? And if Luke has to do all try hat as the primary kicking option, can he still uncork his running game if he needs to steer the team?

 

[Worried2Death]

here is an ali highlights package


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-JYSdk6I50

Controversial take, Ed Kosi is a good finisher, love seeing him smash it up near the line. He was actually developing pretty well until he injured himself in that brutal tackle.

 

[Milking!]

Totally agree. I never really got the Ed Kosi slander - he’s a pretty good backup first grade winger. Not super-agile but does a good job in yardage, defensively not that much worse than our other wingers and finishes the tries he should.

 

[Inruin]

Totally agree. I never really got the Ed Kosi slander - he’s a pretty good backup first grade winger. Not super-agile but does a good job in yardage, defensively not that much worse than our other wingers and finishes the tries he should.

There's the key phrase - defensively not that much worse than our other wingers. Which means he is pretty bad to be lower than that low bar. Add in his unforced errors and it's not great. Defensively inept and error prone is not what we want as descriptors for our outside backs

 

[Milking!]

Bit harsh, but I see where you’re coming from. I view it more that he’s a backup who usually delivers on his job description. Don’t get me wrong, though, would love to boost our wing stocks in general.
By Gawd! Is that Rocco Berry’s music?

 

[Naynay]

I wondered if the lack of yardage was more by design than weakness, Neo
With the thinking that by not spending the energy doin yardage work you can reliably count on the rest of the back 5 to do, he’d be better placed juice-wise to really put in a huge effort on long kick chase and bust out his grass-cutting tackles …. which he is sublime at. A wing move would likely mean that detail would fall on someone else.

It may be I had a quick look at Adam pompey has averaged 80 per game to Roccos 76, and then in like for like Ali averaged 112 to RTS 132 ( with fullback games)

 

[cock_o]

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad/Taine Tuaupiki
2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
3. Rocco Berry
4. Ali Leiataua/Adam Pompey
5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
6. Luke Metcalf/Chanel Harris-Tavita
7. Te Maire Martin/Tanah Boyd

8. James Fisher-Harris
9. Wayde Egan
10. Mitch Barnett
11. Jackson Ford/Jacob Laban
12. Kurt Capewell/Leka Halasima
13. Tohu Harris

14. Freddy Lussick/Sam Healey
15. Marata Niukore/Zyon Maiu’u
16. Demitric Sifakula/Tom Ale
17. Dylan Walker/Erin Clark

Motu Pasikala
Ed Kosi
Bunty Afoa