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    I’d keep Webby over Ivan for sure. It’s hard enough finding a good coach, even harder keeping them in nz. Webby has bought into everything with the nz culture, can turn out of favour club players into international reps (clark, Barnett so far), has developed two future Tongan superstars (leka, demetric), and has the club absolutely humming. We’d be mad to let him go, irrespective of who’s coming in.
     
    Defence said:
    Yeah I heard something similar- 5% but that doubles to 10% for the ones playing above their age group- they’re classed as genuine prospects.
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    I played a year in the west tiger system as a 16 year old, the first day they got the whole team into the room, all 30 of us and basically said 1 maybe 2 would every play first grade. Pretty sure the only one who did was teddy from 2011 west magpies
     
    mrblonde said:
    I know we never had much success with it, but the Storm v Warriors game was becoming quite an ANZAC tradition.
    Beats me while the NRL made the call on/signed off on getting rid of it.
    I hope that this Wellington ANZAC game will be against the Raiders and the fixture becomes permanent with the location alternating between Wellington and Canberra. Obviously, I'd rather it was Auckland but I'll take what I can get...
    But breath is not being held in that department.

    Usual hopes for the draw:
    Raiders twice.
    Broncos twice.
    A weak draw during the Origin period so no-one can use the "Well, of course the Warriors are going to beat the Broncos/Storm, they've got six players out due to Origin!" argument.
    A hard final month to get us primed for Finals Football.
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    Storm lost the ANZAC game due to an unwillingness to share. I would have been happy enough to keep it if it had alternated home/away but it was bullshit having to always play Storm at home and the “occasion” always saw it tipped in their favour- I’m glad we stood up and said ‘no more’
     
    Nelson been painted as a bit of a bad apples here but is there any evidence to back that up?
    The only off field thing I can think of was years ago when he bashed that guy in Bali for glassing his mate- bravo I say.
    If the storm are so ruthless towards poor attitudes how did he survive 10+ years there? They even made him a life member.
    As far as struggling with the social media stuff goes that’s just part and parcel of the job these days and he’s certainly not alone there- it’s good he acknowledges it. Sj talks about that a lot in his book- it’s something that really affected him too.
    Tbh he’s always seemed like a pretty good bloke to me- my only concerns would be how much we have to pay him and who we would have to release to fit him in- if it’s Lussick it’s a no brainer.
     
    Not to be confused with “forgiveness”

    But I am a true believer in the idea, that given a second chance a man can change his stars.

    Barnett was hardly a saint before he came here. Now look at him.

    IF…. Webby can cast his magic on him.
    There is no more impactful, intimidating and fearsome player in the NRL……
    Then Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

    It’s a risk, but you need to take risks to win the NRL. I say sign him.
     
    Nobody will watch 360 lol, league is tribal who the heck wanna watch London Thunders vs Qatar Chiefs 🤣 Sure they might have league super stars playing in the wrong code like Papa doing 30 punts/game and will regress to amateur level, do anyone really set your alarm for the Indian Premier League cricket with all the superstars on display? NRL fans will stick with their teams willing their teams to win the title as usual
     
    Let’s talk about this guy…
    I got to work today and some colleagues started talking about the game.
    One is an Aussie guy in his 60s, Played to a decent level and coached at Burleigh bears- coached a few big names in his time.
    Anyway, we were talking about Payne haas and he chimed in- “Meh give me that fisher-harris any day- he’s a leader of men- haas is a great player but if I could steal one guy for the Aussie team it’s that fisher-Harris- none of the other guys have the same impact on their teammates- you’d have to go back to Arthur beetson”.
    High praise indeed.
    Now I’m not sure I agree with all that but I do respect his opinion and it made me think- have we been a bit harsh on his form this year? If u start to dig into his stats they’re not all that different to his last couple of years at the panthers and we all know he’s not a stats guy anyway- he’s a guy that does the 1%ers better than any other front rower in the game- set after set, game after game.
    At the end of the day he was brought here to lead our pack after the departures of afb and tohu and he did that- all the way back into the finals- mission accomplished.
    While it didn’t get much of a mention, do we think Penrith would’ve gone 5 in a row if they still had him? I do- the guys just a winner.
    He's had quite a bit of praise for his form in the pacific championship and deservedly so but has it really been that different to his warriors form? his stats have actually been down on his regular season numbers.
    He's a prime example of someone whose value can’t be gauged in stats alone.
    He's an inspiration and I don’t think we could have anyone better to bring through the likes of Leka, vaimaga and the rest of the zesty boys (not sure where that came from?).
    His legacy at the club will continue long after he hangs up the boots.
     
    This pacific series has been nothing short of fantastic.
    To all the Samoan and Tongan fans out there who attended the games in person - take a bow. You have shown what it’s like to be passionate, how to create a magical atmosphere supporting your teams that makes you want to attend live games.
    The panning camera shots of the flags in the stands and singing and cheering have made the spectacle on the pitch magical by what you make it off the pitch.
    To the superstars who chose to represent their respective country through of birth, family ties or otherwise, you have immediately legitimised international rugby league. Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita forged the path choosing to bypass NZ and Australia to play for Tonga and as a result the groundswell of interest and the influence on others to choose this path will always be immense. You have all set the stage for next years World Cup in Australia and PNG.
    On the back of Australia touring the UK as well,
    I hope the game can nail down an international window and build on this momentum because on the back of a great NRL season, it has been nothing short of entertaining - both on and off the pitch!
     
    sup42 said:
    Having a specific department with someone with the experience of an ex NRL coach must make a massive difference.

    The pool of players is relatively small anyway, which is in part got to be why they have applied themselves across two codes (their Union activities are clearly way ahead of Warriors past).

    I suspect before McFadden was appointed, if you were a parent, a player agent, or a scout, that getting hold of someone at the Warriors to specifically look at kids that are real standouts outside of Auckland was a complete waste of time.

    Surely the phone runs hotter when there is someone at the Warriors with the authority of McFadden answering it.
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    Nah, they've had an ear to the ground around the country for decades now. The difference with the last few years as opposed to the previous twenty or so, is that the Warriors now have the resources to retain talent thanks to the owners. Previously there weren't the facilities and resources to cater for the hundreds of players they now have on their books. And they didn't have anywhere to play except local club footy or school union so we couldn't compete with the Aussie clubs.

    The Harold Matts and SG Ball squad probably have 80 contracted boys between them. Each away game would cost them 50K (not including contract payments) and home games might be half that. I'm guestimating that 400K goes into what is essentially a preseason comp for two teenage teams. BUT...if out of those 80 boy we can create 4 first graders, the saving in salaries from less need to import talent, will make the investment well worthwhile.
     
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    sup42 said:
    There is nothing wrong with that chat GP exert.

    What it doesn't speak to is what happens with a brain bleed that requires surgery.

    You can have bleeds that show on scans that do not require surgery.

    Obviously we seem to be looking at the more serious kind of bleed.

    You only need look at Te Maire Martin.

    Serious bleed, told he will never play again.

    Gets a better prognosis after a long time out of the game, a specialist says there is no reason he cannot try playing again.

    But to answer the original posters question about career then yeah obviously it can be the end of a career.

    You can end up brain damaged right. Like impairment in normal every day life that is permanent.
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    Agree, in my fifties when diagnosed with a weak heart (type 2 diabetes related issues) on top of that had a stroke, pretty much mucked me up, took 2 months off work, went back to work, but then had to resign due to cognitive difficulties, now given everything away, poor missus has to look after my dumbass - bedridden at the moment, last 3 years taken toll, miss been able to work or do anything physical, listened to Goran and Blairy saying sky sport production team should have alerted Tongan coaching staff and shown them footage of the collusion, medical staff surely would have stood him down, footage looked pretty sickening - gotta feel for the young fella, hopefully he'll make a full recovery and live a normal life, I think my stroke caused by too many head knocks playing league in my younger days, worry about him when he gets into his 50s & 60s, kia kaha! Eliesa.
     
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