General Your 2025 team

[Inruin]

Havng said that good teams handle adversity and have a next man up mentality where the reserves slot in a whole lot more seamlessly than we manage.

AW has also said players were played injured until it was basically a foregone issue and made bulk changes for the Panthers game. Next man up is a great philosophy but only if the coach uses it and also if he recognises and rewards those same players that step up

 

[John Nick]

Not blaming injuries but at times our structure, lack of attack options and composure at key moments looked like second stringers trying to do their best.

Particularly in the halves and backs. CHT perfect example.

Having said that good teams handle adversity and have a next man up mentality where the reserves slot in a whole lot more seamlessly than we manage.

All comes back to DEPTH imo.
All players will have niggles at certain times of the year.
However if their performance is affecting the results they shouldn't be out there.
Medical staff are very important

 

[Iridescent]

AW has also said players were played injured until it was basically a foregone issue and made bulk changes for the Panthers game. Next man up is a great philosophy but only if the coach uses it and also if he recognises and rewards those same players that step up

Where did he say players were played injured????

I don't know why some of you think the coach decides who is fit to play, that is the medical teams job and has nothing to do with the coach at all.

 

[Inruin]

Where did he say players were played injured????

I don't know why some of you think the coach decides who is fit to play, that is the medical teams job and has nothing to do with the coach at all.

I'll see if I can find a link. But it was along the lines of players played injured and they couldn't do what they would normally do in a game and got to magic round and he really had no choice but to rest them and the players coming in stepped up.

Of course the coach has something to do with it. Medical staff will tell them if the player can play or not with the injury they have and what the risk is. Tohu for example was cleared to play but it was AW's call to play him and then later to rest him, and then to play him again. And then the call was made to get surgery done.

 

[John Nick]

Where did he say players were played injured????

I don't know why some of you think the coach decides who is fit to play, that is the medical teams job and has nothing to do with the coach at all.

I posted similar earlier. Of course later into the season all players will carry niggles but medical staff are responsible for the final decision. Or should be

 

[Inruin]

I'll see if I can find a link. But it was along the lines of players played injured and they couldn't do what they would normally do in a game and got to magic round and he really had no choice but to rest them and the players coming in stepped up.

Of course the coach has something to do with it. Medical staff will tell them if the player can play or not with the injury they have and what the risk is. Tohu for example was cleared to play but it was AW's call to play him and then later to rest him, and then to play him again. And then the call was made to get surgery done.

View: https://youtu.be/0Zsy0eh008c

From 6.00 mark.

 

[John Nick]

View: https://youtu.be/0Zsy0eh008c

From 6.00 mark.

Great insight. The most obvious thing and it's understandable is that he is still learning to be a FG coach.
Hopefully he has learnt from last couple of years

 

[Wrighty]

After a long hard soul search - I think we finish in the top 8 this year but not the top four. I think Webster is a fine NRL coach and from his interviews he has correctly addressed where we fell down last year. So we will improve. However we just don't have the cattle to be top four, and if we are top four then we will have over achieved. I rest my case on the fact some of you think Jackson ford makes our best 17. He doesn't make the top 30 in the top four teams in the league.

In our top 30 we have several guys who are passengers and or past their use by date.

I don't think 2026 is the Warriors year but have a gut feeling we should be strong enough to make the playoffs.

 

[SJ2k]

After a long hard soul search - I think we finish in the top 8 this year but not the top four. I think Webster is a fine NRL coach and from his interviews he has correctly addressed where we fell down last year. So we will improve. However we just don't have the cattle to be top four, and if we are top four then we will have over achieved. I rest my case on the fact some of you think Jackson ford makes our best 17. He doesn't make the top 30 in the top four teams in the league.

In our top 30 we have several guys who are passengers and or past their use by date.

I don't think 2026 is the Warriors year but have a gut feeling we should be strong enough to make the playoffs.

If we get top 8 with this roster I think that's a great success and a huge sign of potential for the future. This roster is severely flawed and honestly no where near top 8 on paper. If they over perform to the point of grabbing a finals spot, that locks in Webby and the org as the ones to carry us to continued success. I feel like you could add a top 12 player to this roster and there'd be no concerns around salary cap breaching.

Honestly I worry about a few key injuries and us being bottom 4. Squad was better this year.

 

[Wrighty]

If we get top 8 with this roster I think that's a great success and a huge sign of potential for the future. This roster is severely flawed and honestly no where near top 8 on paper. If they over perform to the point of grabbing a finals spot, that locks in Webby and the org as the ones to carry us to continued success. I feel like you could add a top 12 player to this roster and there'd be no concerns around salary cap breaching.

Honestly I worry about a few key injuries and us being bottom 4. Squad was better this year.

Webster in my mind is going to be an elite coach. Last year was not his fault as so many of his core star players inexplicably went completely out of form when they had every reason to still be in elite form.
He in interviews says we lost due to losing three or four close games we should have won and that damaged our momentum and confidence for other matches. The boys are practicing 80% of the same things as last yea in pre season but 20% different with the twenty percent being ball skills at high pace so we can ice our try scoring opportunities more often. This all sounds to me like accurate thinking and aligns with my thoughts in the post season reviews we did.
To your points above, it came across me like a wave yesterday, we don't have the cattle. Your view is even stronger than we are on pace for bottom four. I used to think like that and had us pegged for the wooden spoon until I heard Webster talking. Maybe he just said what I wanted to hear or maybe he really is the real deal. But it was a far better analysis than anything I head from Kearney or Payten during their tenures here. Well drilled sides with no stars can make the playoffs - they don't end up winning but like you said it would be a strong sign of potential to build on for future years. Key problems in our cattle are in the spine, and lock. And if he injuries hit us hard then we are back on again for my spoon prediction. Any talk of playoffs requires us to be healthy.

 

[SJ2k]

Webster in my mind is going to be an elite coach. Last year was not his fault as so many of his core star players inexplicably went completely out of form when they had every reason to still be in elite form.
He in interviews says we lost due to losing three or four close games we should have won and that damaged our momentum and confidence for other matches. The boys are practicing 80% of the same things as last yea in pre season but 20% different with the twenty percent being ball skills at high pace so we can ice our try scoring opportunities more often. This all sounds to me like accurate thinking and aligns with my thoughts in the post season reviews we did.
To your points above, it came across me like a wave yesterday, we don't have the cattle. Your view is even stronger than we are on pace for bottom four. I used to think like that and had us pegged for the wooden spoon until I heard Webster talking. Maybe he just said what I wanted to hear or maybe he really is the real deal. But it was a far better analysis than anything I head from Kearney or Payten during their tenures here. Well drilled sides with no stars can make the playoffs - they don't end up winning but like you said it would be a strong sign of potential to build on for future years. Key problems in our cattle are in the spine, and lock. And if he injuries hit us hard then we are back on again for my spoon prediction. Any talk of playoffs requires us to be healthy.

I agree overall. I may also be being a tad pesimistic, we really did have some outrageous bad luck/choke jobs on enough games to get us 8th. Was quite unbelievable how unclutch we were. But our roster was better last year and a lot of other teams were worse. Our draw is better this year, with some injury luck it could get interesting. Our injuries last year were atrocious, and while AFB was amazing, he did sook a few games.

 

[Wrighty]

I agree overall. I may also be being a tad pesimistic, we really did have some outrageous bad luck/choke jobs on enough games to get us 8th. Was quite unbelievable how unclutch we were. But our roster was better last year and a lot of other teams were worse. Our draw is better this year, with some injury luck it could get interesting. Our injuries last year were atrocious, and while AFB was amazing, he did sook a few games.

I think we should address the unclutchiness in pre-season through game scenario discussions and drills. Apparently the Storm are the best at this and each player knows where they should be on the field in all sorts of strange scenarios which other teams don't prepare for. I also was appalled with Webster's positive thinking get back on the horse attitude with CHT asking him to keep being goal kicker week in week out after the Raiders game meltdown. He is now ruined for life as a goal kicker where as if he had just hooked him for the rest of the season from gaol kicking CHT could have recovered his mojo over the pre-season. I hate how positive pollyanna Webster gets where if someone loses a game for us by choking he refuses to say that person had anything at all to do with the loss and that you lose as a team. Such lack of accountability means you can't improve from week to week or give extra training to someone who had a bad game because Webster won't admit that anyone ever has a bad game. Mind you neither did any of our other coaches especially Kearney. I don't know what the coaches see when they watch the game but they don't see what the fans see. So while I think Webster will be elite I think he needs to improve in terms of assigning accountability for losses.

 

[John Nick]

I think we should address the unclutchiness in pre-season through game scenario discussions and drills. Apparently the Storm are the best at this and each player knows where they should be on the field in all sorts of strange scenarios which other teams don't prepare for. I also was appalled with Webster's positive thinking get back on the horse attitude with CHT asking him to keep being goal kicker week in week out after the Raiders game meltdown. He is now ruined for life as a goal kicker where as if he had just hooked him for the rest of the season from gaol kicking CHT could have recovered his mojo over the pre-season. I hate how positive pollyanna Webster gets where if someone loses a game for us by choking he refuses to say that person had anything at all to do with the loss and that you lose as a team. Such lack of accountability means you can't improve from week to week or give extra training to someone who had a bad game because Webster won't admit that anyone ever has a bad game. Mind you neither did any of our other coaches especially Kearney. I don't know what the coaches see when they watch the game but they don't see what the fans see. So while I think Webster will be elite I think he needs to improve in terms of assigning accountability for losses.

Hi Wrighty. Hope you're doing great
As I have already said before Webster is still learning how to be a successful fg coach.
Some coaches have been around football for a long time but they still make mistakes.
Times are changing and the game and players are still evolving.
I think in time he will be a great coach but for now he has a lot of learning to do.

 

[Noitall]

I think we should address the unclutchiness in pre-season through game scenario discussions and drills. Apparently the Storm are the best at this and each player knows where they should be on the field in all sorts of strange scenarios which other teams don't prepare for. I also was appalled with Webster's positive thinking get back on the horse attitude with CHT asking him to keep being goal kicker week in week out after the Raiders game meltdown. He is now ruined for life as a goal kicker where as if he had just hooked him for the rest of the season from gaol kicking CHT could have recovered his mojo over the pre-season. I hate how positive pollyanna Webster gets where if someone loses a game for us by choking he refuses to say that person had anything at all to do with the loss and that you lose as a team. Such lack of accountability means you can't improve from week to week or give extra training to someone who had a bad game because Webster won't admit that anyone ever has a bad game. Mind you neither did any of our other coaches especially Kearney. I don't know what the coaches see when they watch the game but they don't see what the fans see. So while I think Webster will be elite I think he needs to improve in terms of assigning accountability for losses.

I quite like the back the player and back the team attitude that Webster seems to display, but listening to a recent interview it sounded like it only goes so far with him saying he wasn’t happy with some preparation through the period of good wins over panthers and dolphins and that being the catalyst for big changes. Sort of insinuated it was players not 100% returning from injury, but it’s been a good lesson to Webster all the same of the hunger and competition throughout the squad and not to settle on any player no matter their status in the team unless they’re earning it and are fit enough to perform at a high standard

 

[Wrighty]

Hi Wrighty. Hope you're doing great
As I have already said before Webster is still learning how to be a successful fg coach.
Some coaches have been around football for a long time but they still make mistakes.
Times are changing and the game and players are still evolving.
I think in time he will be a great coach but for now he has a lot of learning to do.

I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom on the forum. The above makes sense.

 

[Wrighty]

I quite like the back the player and back the team attitude that Webster seems to display, but listening to a recent interview it sounded like it only goes so far with him saying he wasn’t happy with some preparation through the period of good wins over panthers and dolphins and that being the catalyst for big changes. Sort of insinuated it was players not 100% returning from injury, but it’s been a good lesson to Webster all the same of the hunger and competition throughout the squad and not to settle on any player no matter their status in the team unless they’re earning it and are fit enough to perform at a high standard

League is like no other sport in the world. 50% of success is based around the coach. 50% around the players.

It is good Webster doesn't throw any one under the bus in pressers. How4v4r I really hope that is just a show and he reams people out on Monday morning.

 

[Tookey 2.0]

Yeah I think some (myself included) can get a bit carried away with Webster and how he wasn't quick enough to respond to our issues this year.

Then I remembered he's in year two as a full time coach lol. Also, while I'm sure he played a huge part of 2023, we had like 13 of our players have career best years, including arguably the best player in the comp. It all turned gold.

Fast forward to 2024 and we had killer injuries and form issues and imo, poor use of our bench. Essentially everything worked for Webby in year one, and most things turned to shit in year two...very hard for a new coach to be able to make all of the right calls on the fly, as he's learning.

What I'd really like to see from Webby in 2025 is how he responds to the issues we had in 2024. Has he learnt anything?
Does he have a plan b incase things turn to custard. Is he developing a game plan for the brand of footy we want to play, that will have to largely forego a dominant kicking half? Does he know what he wants to do with his bench? What the fook are we doing with Niukore?

All questions I'm excited to see the answers for. I think Webby's a very intelligent man and will have us thinking outside the box for some of our challenges, but I hope he gets guidance on those things that he might not be very strong in

 

[Noitall]

Yeah I think some (myself included) can get a bit carried away with Webster and how he wasn't quick enough to respond to our issues this year.

Then I remembered he's in year two as a full time coach lol. Also, while I'm sure he played a huge part of 2023, we had like 13 of our players have career best years, including arguably the best player in the comp. It all turned gold.

Fast forward to 2024 and we had killer injuries and form issues and imo, poor use of our bench. Essentially everything worked for Webby in year one, and most things turned to shit in year two...very hard for a new coach to be able to make all of the right calls on the fly, as he's learning.

What I'd really like to see from Webby in 2025 is how he responds to the issues we had in 2024. Has he learnt anything?
Does he have a plan b incase things turn to custard. Is he developing a game plan for the brand of footy we want to play, that will have to largely forego a dominant kicking half? Does he know what he wants to do with his bench? What the fook are we doing with Niukore?

All questions I'm excited to see the answers for. I think Webby's a very intelligent man and will have us thinking outside the box for some of our challenges, but I hope he gets guidance on those things that he might not be very strong in

Arguably the best player in the comp on $600k to add, and deserved dally m winner. Perhaps underestimated the impact of the season SJ had in 2023 being how important a halfback is to a team. Surely Webster had an impact on career best stats for so many too being a new voice and a fresh set of ideas. I get the feeling there’s a lot of confidence in Webster from players that played under him as an assistant or any capacity. I don’t reckon we attract players like JFH or Capewell if he’s not here

 

[John Nick]

Yeah I think some (myself included) can get a bit carried away with Webster and how he wasn't quick enough to respond to our issues this year.

Then I remembered he's in year two as a full time coach lol. Also, while I'm sure he played a huge part of 2023, we had like 13 of our players have career best years, including arguably the best player in the comp. It all turned gold.

Fast forward to 2024 and we had killer injuries and form issues and imo, poor use of our bench. Essentially everything worked for Webby in year one, and most things turned to shit in year two...very hard for a new coach to be able to make all of the right calls on the fly, as he's learning.

What I'd really like to see from Webby in 2025 is how he responds to the issues we had in 2024. Has he learnt anything?
Does he have a plan b incase things turn to custard. Is he developing a game plan for the brand of footy we want to play, that will have to largely forego a dominant kicking half? Does he know what he wants to do with his bench? What the fook are we doing with Niukore?

All questions I'm excited to see the answers for. I think Webby's a very intelligent man and will have us thinking outside the box for some of our challenges, but I hope he gets guidance on those things that he might not be very strong in

Never disappointed to hear your thoughts Tookey. On point as per..
Coaching isn't just Coaching as we know it and he is just starting to get the hang of things.
Then comes the man management.
His biggest problem for me is saying,," this guy will be our centre/ whatever/whoever."
Just my experiences showing thru.

 

[JustLikeStartingOver]

Tend to agree, culture and attitude will get them into the 8, if it happens, not a top 10 roster, probably not top 12, what rep level players at their positions do we have, JFH & Barney and both aren’t getting any younger.

Some unfancied teams often win half their games and make it though, would be a fine coaching and collective effort to do that.

If last year was all in on veterans this year needs to be the opposite.