We’ve avoided it in previous years with much worse squads
Highlighted posts
Martin Devlin just asked Webby where is RTS playing next year.
Webby said I’m keeping that private, he learnt a lesson from last year etc.
Good to see Webby took that lesson, he backed himself into a corner with that one.
A small thing but a good sign from Webby.
Webby said I’m keeping that private, he learnt a lesson from last year etc.
Good to see Webby took that lesson, he backed himself into a corner with that one.
A small thing but a good sign from Webby.
Former Otago and Northland first five, Peter Breen, has been working with the team in pre season
View: https://youtu.be/rpkVUuBidVo?si=xvkFGeDVT97-W5AQ
View: https://youtu.be/rpkVUuBidVo?si=xvkFGeDVT97-W5AQ
I agree with most of this although Demitric has played more as a Lock or as an edge. Be interesting if the club see him playing there or as a prop. Halasima reminds me of Nanai although that could be my usual wishful thinking. Both of these players seem to be naturally aggressive players so I can see them pushing boundaries at time as they should.
Laban has a body shape we lack at the Warriors as he looks to be our second tallest player after Harris. He started FG really well but then seemed to fade. He is likely one of those players that need more time to get use to the FG grind. I hope he gets FG time next year with breaks between.
Andrew McFadden pointed out that too many kids are late bloomers and it’s hard to get a good read on them in the 15’s and 17’s but get a better idea at 19’s & 21’s,.
I think we all forget too just how young the Reserve grade side were last year - most were 19-21 years only, a few also had played a season in age group.
To his credit he did say if you are good enough you are also old enough but there is a need to manage the load and expectations on these guys.
What? I'm pretty sure you've got them mixed up lol. Yes, Halasima has more upside , Talented kid with so much potential. For a while there he was a cocky shit that would show boat a lot & liked a bit of push & shove.
Laban is more the work horse that I also see plenty of potential in. I've seen him stick up for team mates but not instigate shit lol.
Anyway, I can see Laban turning into either, a big wide running player like Eli Katoa, Or a Mannering type depending on where the club thinks his potential lies.
Halasima is a smaller & just as poweful, but faster Ali Lauitiiti !
Demetric reminds me of Moses Leota. Compact and powerful. Insane leg drive and good footwork with good speed.
I still think he has the most potential out of all the young bucks.
I just hope we can keep them all. They all offer something different & all three have incredible potential.
Completely disagree with that. Halasima has one game where he got carried away (i think straight after returning from injury) made some immature plays which gives him that rep on this forum. We've seen Laban do the same shit in NSW cup (get in players faces and try to start shit).. Overall Halasima has better discipline than Laban on defense and is way quicker to react on defensive reads.
At the end of the day, Halasima creates plays for others and is always more likely to break the line. But most importantly (and for me the most likely indicator of how well they'll do at the next level) is his work rate is way higher (both on attack and defense). You'll never go a long period without Halasima involved in the game in some way.
Cappy talked about the patience required, hopefully we've matured as a club and fanbase to have it. And the fans aren't trying to ship out guys like Leka and Demetric when they go through the inevitable rough patches the Katoas and Papaliis went through in their early days.
If you look at the most successful teams the last decade, storm, Penrith, their teams have been built on two things:
- their ability to develop players
- their pathways program
Both teams are quite different yet have both had a lot of success. Panthers were cellar dwellers until their pathways have turned them into the best team in the modern era (luai, Cleary, Burton, kikau, Edwards, yeo, Martin etc all internationals.
The storm don’t have strong pathways because they’re based in AFL country. However, their ability to turn fringe first graders into nrl stars is incomparable. Katoa, blore, king, warbrick, Hughes, Meaney, papenheyzun etc. the difference is, they’ve recruited & paid 70% of their cap on the spine, which has allowed the development of the fringe players to turn into stars.
IMO we are heading down the panthers system, this is obvious. What happens is, when there is an abundance of talent coming through, this allows you to sign these players on smaller salaries to be apart of the dynasty & to play with the best of the best. It also means that you can allocate your cap to your top players & sprinkle the young talent around these superstars. It also means you don’t need to overpay players, knowing there’s depth coming through (aka turuva released, McLean brothers coming through).
We’re starting to see the youth coming through now, Ali, Sifakula, laben, halasima, although I still think these kids are 18 months away from nailing their spots. I feel Ali will be pushing for starting, Sifakula bench in 2025. It does seem like there’s some talented 6s, hookers & outside backs coming through, but our glaring hole is 7. Weve identified this, and recruited a bunch of Aussie kids for our pathways program, hoping that one of these comes through as the future 7 of the warriors.
We’re progressing well, we’ve got the right staff in place, we’ve got funding and resource allocation in the right places. Now all we need to wait. IMO, 24-36 months & we will start to see the fruits. I get how this is frustrating but for the first time ever, I can see their vision. Fisher Harris is the first domino to fall, turning the warriors into the destination club for kiwis. Again, this is the only way we will be able to recruit these elite players, with the draw card of ‘coming home’.
- their ability to develop players
- their pathways program
Both teams are quite different yet have both had a lot of success. Panthers were cellar dwellers until their pathways have turned them into the best team in the modern era (luai, Cleary, Burton, kikau, Edwards, yeo, Martin etc all internationals.
The storm don’t have strong pathways because they’re based in AFL country. However, their ability to turn fringe first graders into nrl stars is incomparable. Katoa, blore, king, warbrick, Hughes, Meaney, papenheyzun etc. the difference is, they’ve recruited & paid 70% of their cap on the spine, which has allowed the development of the fringe players to turn into stars.
IMO we are heading down the panthers system, this is obvious. What happens is, when there is an abundance of talent coming through, this allows you to sign these players on smaller salaries to be apart of the dynasty & to play with the best of the best. It also means that you can allocate your cap to your top players & sprinkle the young talent around these superstars. It also means you don’t need to overpay players, knowing there’s depth coming through (aka turuva released, McLean brothers coming through).
We’re starting to see the youth coming through now, Ali, Sifakula, laben, halasima, although I still think these kids are 18 months away from nailing their spots. I feel Ali will be pushing for starting, Sifakula bench in 2025. It does seem like there’s some talented 6s, hookers & outside backs coming through, but our glaring hole is 7. Weve identified this, and recruited a bunch of Aussie kids for our pathways program, hoping that one of these comes through as the future 7 of the warriors.
We’re progressing well, we’ve got the right staff in place, we’ve got funding and resource allocation in the right places. Now all we need to wait. IMO, 24-36 months & we will start to see the fruits. I get how this is frustrating but for the first time ever, I can see their vision. Fisher Harris is the first domino to fall, turning the warriors into the destination club for kiwis. Again, this is the only way we will be able to recruit these elite players, with the draw card of ‘coming home’.
This is a key observation and there are a few posters on here who don't fully seem to have grasped what it means to be a development club. I don't mind @Tookey 2.0 idea to go hard for Pezet but that would still fall into the second point below.
Other posts decrying "wHy HaVEn't wE SignEd AnYOne yeT?!!?" - that's not going to be our game.
1. We will fill majority of our positions internally.
2. When recruiting externally we will always be looking for players we think can improve.
Look at Penrith, virtually no external recruiting until now where their exits of top players has reached a tipping point.
All this talk of Leo Thompson.
Just remember one thing
He was only a Sifikula not so long ago
So leave him in Aussie and look ahead to Demitric Sifikula
The thing that stood out to me is Cappy saying that he is not looking at Australia much. Only if there is a gap to fill that there is no answer to in our Kiwi-based development.
They won't fill the 30th spot unless something falls into their lap, but are looking to give it to a local guy coming through.
It might be a bit tough next year, but that patience is probably what the club needs in a longer term plan.
Thanks @Fonzie
They won't fill the 30th spot unless something falls into their lap, but are looking to give it to a local guy coming through.
It might be a bit tough next year, but that patience is probably what the club needs in a longer term plan.
Thanks @Fonzie
One thing is for sure, junior pathways and development is being managed much better..
I'm glad Volkmann got signed by somebody.
The proof will be in the pudding but my hope is that JFH pushes the standards. For as good as AFB is, he doesn’t have a title yet and didn’t get us to one. We’ve now got Webster at the helm who has got there and JFH arriving who has 4. I know that doesn’t necessarily translate into us having the same fortune automatically, but when I look at people like Capewell too and what he’s achieved at the clubs he’s played at I’m more optimistic than pessimistic for where we’re heading
Tobias has speed - can run 100metres in 11.6 seconds.
Has power - probably would have near the best bench press kgs at the warriors
He has agility and can side step opponents to score length of the field tries
He was an unknown coming to the Warriors trial day along with 1200 other hopefuls on open day. He was one of 20-25 who made it into the system. He turned heads in his open day trial by scoring three tries.
Havn't ever seen him ball play
In his NSW Cup game, even though he only played one match, he did two great hit ups and then it was unstructured after that and all the second rowers wanted to do one out hit ups and neither he of the other prop got the pill, with Toby then only really running decoy lines on each play for like I said other hunguses who were screaming for the ball.
Early last year they said he could only break tackles if guys went high on him. Since that criticism he has learned a lower arm bumper to brush off grass cutters. He is now a multt dimensional metre gainer.
There is no one who trains harder than him. And for that alone he should be given a shot at regular NSW cup play this year.
Has power - probably would have near the best bench press kgs at the warriors
He has agility and can side step opponents to score length of the field tries
He was an unknown coming to the Warriors trial day along with 1200 other hopefuls on open day. He was one of 20-25 who made it into the system. He turned heads in his open day trial by scoring three tries.
Havn't ever seen him ball play
In his NSW Cup game, even though he only played one match, he did two great hit ups and then it was unstructured after that and all the second rowers wanted to do one out hit ups and neither he of the other prop got the pill, with Toby then only really running decoy lines on each play for like I said other hunguses who were screaming for the ball.
Early last year they said he could only break tackles if guys went high on him. Since that criticism he has learned a lower arm bumper to brush off grass cutters. He is now a multt dimensional metre gainer.
There is no one who trains harder than him. And for that alone he should be given a shot at regular NSW cup play this year.