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    SJ2k said:
    Squad is extremely meh on paper. We're absolutely a marquee player short, probably 2. Can't blame the recruitment, all their signings are sharp. Just no one wants to come here when they can stay in Aus, apart from when we're lucky. Webby's doing fantastic things with very average squads.

    Real question is why are none of the kiwi backs (apart from the worst one by far CNK, no offense to him he's just cooked) play for us. A bunch of young stars playing for other teams. I'm sure the club is doing everything it can to mitigate it, but there is plenty of kiwi talent not playing for us.
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    I think I tend to disagree here. I think we have a couple of weak points within the squad/team but overall I rate it strongly.

    Our young forwards have an extra year and preseason of NRL under their belts, Halasima, Vaimauga, Laban, EIT are a core of young forwards most teams would be jealous of.

    A hooking rotation of Egan and Healey is solid potentially exciting depending on go forward and how much game time Healey gets.

    Lock of the year.

    JFH, Barnett starting props. Both offer different things but equally valuable.

    Follow that with depth of Ford, Capewell, Niukore, TSS. Very reasonable replacements.


    Our backs are where I think the unease is for me.

    I hope we get a serviceable season from CNK, anything above that is a bonus.

    RTS is a rock in the backline with effort and consistently high performance.
    The other wing is a toss up, I’d prefer AKP to start, if we’re going to have a defensive liability I’d prefer one with legitimate blistering speed.

    Centre is a massive question mark, not negatively, just really don’t know what to expect. I think Berry if healthy offers the most. But that’s incredibly hopeful.
    Between Pompey and Leiataua for the other spot.

    I have nothing against CHT I just don’t know where he fits and if 6 is his position.
    Metcalf is the key. He is our premier HB and attacking threat. It was obvious to all how different we were once he went down.

    Then the unknowns, to me, could be nothing, could be X-factors.

    Gannon, Linnane, Fatialofa, Mellars. High hopes but no expectations.

    TMM, Tuapiki and Boyd are players I don’t see fitting anywhere. Boyd will no doubt start the season at 7 until Metcalf is back but unless he’s paired with a creative 6 I don’t think he can be the attack we’re going to need.


    The squad looks strong to me. Health will obviously play a key part as will development of new recruits and youngsters but meh is not what I would describe it as.
     
    It’s going to be a really interesting season. In many ways, I think 2026 will be a bit of a transition year, and it’s 2027 where we’ll see the real next phase of the Warriors unveiled. The clean-out at the end of the 2025 season was much needed and strategically well thought out. Players like Ale, Bunty, Lussick and others were too good for NSW Cup but just not good enough for the NRL. Some were the very definition of journeymen, taking up vital spots in Cup that will now be better used developing players who’ll genuinely compete for first grade places in 2027. Others (like Crosby) just weren’t progressing fast enough and had been overtaken by the time the Grand Final rolled around.

    Much the same could be said for most of the players coming off contract this year. I can’t see the two Andrews hanging onto many of them. Maybe Rocco and Capewell. Roger, if he’s still invested in the game and the club. But the rest have had a solid run in first grade and either haven’t moved the needle enough (Tannah, Harris-Tevita) or haven’t lived up to expectations (Marata, Te Maire). That includes Taine, who’ll be 27 mid-year and clearly isn’t the long-term solution at fullback.

    Webby said in interviews that he considers the Broncos, Storm and Panthers a class above last season. And he’s right. He says the Warriors need to improve significantly to keep up. Part of that will be improving attacking shape and locking down defensively on the goal line (something Sam Ackerman noted the team was drilling heavily in pre-season). But another part will be his team selections. He’s played favourites for too long. Hopefully the penny’s dropped that he can’t promise positions regardless of form.

    He has some defenders on here, but honestly, DWZ was dreadful last season. He should’ve been dropped long before finals. In Webby’s defence, they lacked wing depth. But not anymore. I’d be starting AKP and using DWZ as the new Kalani Going-type pro in Cup. Others like Marata and Chanel kept getting picked when they were offering very little. If Webby wants to evolve as a coach, he needs more of that ruthlessness we see from Bellamy, Stuart and Bennett.

    The next gen of Warriors talent is exciting. I’m really intrigued to see how the brightest of them go against bigger bodies and with more expectation. Bishop especially. That First XV footage made him look like the next Jonah Lomu, swatting defenders away like flies. He’s big, fast, skillful. The whole package. But he’s probably never been properly belted in a tackle, and big bodies like Kikau or Olakau'atu will test him once he hits first grade. We’ll see how he handles an increased level of physicality in 2026.

    It was interesting to see Jack Thompson doing the Bethells sand dunes, one of the few younger players to get that honour this year. Makes me wonder where he now sits in the pecking order. He just seems like a natural footy player, one of those kids who just has it. Will he get a run in Cup this year? If so, what does that mean for Cleary? Linnane? Tannah, once Metcalf returns? It’s a logjam in the halves, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they stagger things so the best of the next gen feel like they’re developing and progressing.

    Same goes for Fatialofa. How does Webby work him into the match day squad? The back row is stacked: Leka, Laban, Erin, Gannon, Eddie, Capes, plus Kayliss. And remember, Kayliss can negotiate with other clubs from November 2026. If he feels like he’s stagnating, he could walk. That’d be a real loss, even with Bishop on the horizon. So Webby needs to get him in the mix.

    I can’t wait for it all to kick off. With so many new players emerging - Bishop, Lemana, Linnane, Norris, Sikuvea, Bowden - it really feels like the next 1–5 years will get better year over year. We have the coach. We have the recruitment guru. We have the CEO. We have the leadership group. Now it’s about how much improvement they can squeeze out of this off-season.

    And with the Roosters at home first up, it’s the perfect litmus test for how far they’ve come.
     
    I see a lot of Sam Rapira about TSS in the way he plays (and the bald dome). Slightly undersized, good quick play the ball and seems to be an intelligent player. Couple of defensive lapses but it’s a big step up from playing in a dominant team in NSW Cup

    He will have learnt a fair bit from last season and should get an opportunity to build on it this season.
     
    The fact that TSS was retained until the end of 2028 kind of says something. He made his debut & was putting out 30+ mins of decent work in the top grade, all whilst he was jersey flegg eligible.

    Hes not a world beater but they were forced to fast track his development with the amount of injuries in our pack, and whilst he didn’t dominate, he certainly didn’t look out of place. Im just hopeful he’ll turn into a 50 min prop, getting 100 metres & making 30 tackles at a high %. He’s big, strong & mobile, and clearly has great work ethic.

    You need players like him in the squad. Hes essentially a younger, fitter, more mobile bunty, on a cheaper contract with 10+ years left in first grade, to put things into perspective.
     
    Wrighty said:
    Ok I had a rough finish to the working year if that makes sense, so please be patient with me if I say something incorrect.

    TSS stats wise has not done well. His tackle efficiency is 91% which sounds high but is very low as far as middle forwards go. Most top middle forwards are around 95% and the very best are around 97%. Only N00b middle forwards are around 90% or 91%. So TSSs Defence has been poor and I am looking forward to him having another pre-season so he can improve a couple of percentage points and be around 93 or even 94% this year. If he doesn't improve to those percentages this season then I would label him a defensive concern.
    FInally his run metres which you said were 10M per run were about 8metres per run when I ran the numbers. 10M per run is only for the truly eite props like AFB. You are still a very very good prop if you can average 9metres per run. Metres per run is a key statistic I follow and track that tells you everything you need to know about a prop's hit ups. 8 metres is what Noob props or fringe props average and he is around there. Yes you are correct he has the fastest PTB in the team and the fastest PTB I have ever seen in my short time following league. So I give him that.

    EIT I have not run the numbers on. So I can't respond with anything other than eye test comments and those are subjective. So I have nothing concrete to say other than at this stage he does not bend the line with his hit ups but is a good little tackler.

    Yes Crosby - high light reel block busting runs on a consistent basis. Needs to be converted to an edge as he simply did not show he had the motor to even be a strong 40 minute prop. He was frequently out of gas and needs a position such as edge where he can catch his breath and also run amok against defenders. He has a huge projectory and has great personal values based on his interviews and personal values are very important to the priojectory of a player.
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    All good Wrighty. It would be a boring place if we couldn’t try and understand other people’s perspectives. I would just say that the motor required to be an 80 minute edge is massive. When you look at the unsung work the likes of Martin, Hudson Young, Capewell etc do off the ball you realise what it takes to be part of a successful team.

    On that note the player I was most impressed with in the end of year tests was Isaiah Papalii . I know it will be a massively unpopular opinion but I thought he got through a mountain of tough work that allowed others to shine. I thought it was no coincidence that Brown could play that well when Ice was chopping down everything that moved and constantly going to the line with him to give him options.
    I think that kind of work ethic is what is elevating the likes of EIT and TSS’s position within the squad
     
    I don’t get the TSS criticism. I thought he was great for a young FRer. Ran with purpose and often found his front when being tackled.

    Edited to add that his stats weren’t garnished by making a lot of wider runs or taking hitups off kickoffs. I’d assume a low error rate as well. Cue Cces hammering me with his error stats.
     
    Last edited:
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    15K views · 1.3K reactions | 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐔𝐩 season four is here. This episode kicks off part one of our pre-season, taking you inside the walls of Warriors HQ as we build towards Round 01. Watch tonight, 7:00pm, YouTube 📺 | One NZ Warriors

    𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐔𝐩 season four is here. This episode kicks off part one of our pre-season, taking you inside the walls of Warriors HQ as we build towards Round 01. Watch tonight, 7:00pm, YouTube 📺
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    El Chuckie said:
    There's a couple. One is on Fox (the one above): "It's charged down, play on Warriors, charging through. Halasima...Halasima has scored for the Warriors." Bit dry.

    The other one is Nine Wide World of Sport. That's the one I like: "Charged down, it ricochets, space here...look at him go! Halasima! It's on! Footwork! Trysaver! He's over!! With momentum!! Aw, Leka! Halasima for the Warriors. Can you believe what you have just seen?"
    It's more like a radio commentator building up to totally losing his shit. Then Joey Johns, probably in tears, asks "Is there a defibrillator in here?"
    Click to expand...
    This is the one has the last 8 minutes but go to 10:40

    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=r_S0v_JSiqA
     
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