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Mitch Barnett makes decision on future
“Mitch absolutely epitomises toughness, resilience and leadership,"
www.zerotackle.com
Webster is his own manager
And also they are now playing differently.
Walker as link man
Tohu came on primarily as a hit up merchant.
Absolutely need that to continue
You read through that team of the week and get to number 8 and see AFB's numbers and it's just so deflating knowing he's leaving next year- but... then u get to number 10 and see JFH there and all is well in the world againTeam of the Week: Three Warriors selected
AuthorNRL.comTimestampTue 11 Jun 2024
Returning Origin stars Zac Lomax and Ben Hunt were rewarded for their 48-hour turnaround performance to help the Dragons to a big win over Wests Tigers.
While Blues hopeful Latrell Mitchell also made a big statement for South Sydney to earn selection in the Round 14 Team of the Week.
1. Latrell Mitchell (Rabbitohs)
Made his first telling impact on the game in the eighth minute and from there was unstoppable, with his final stat sheet including three try assists, five offloads and four tackle busts. A more surprising feature of his performance in Round 14 was his kicking game, with Mitchell kicking more than twice the amount of any other South Sydney player and causing some real issues with towering bombs.
Mitchell in form on the Gold Coast
2. Zac Lomax (Dragons)
On the back of a strong Origin debut on Wednesday night, Lomax was in a class of his own against the Wests Tigers. The 25-year-old set a new mark for most points in a game by a St George Illawarra player with 32, thanks to a hat-trick of tries and a perfect 10 from 10 off the boot. His ferocious kick pressure also had the Tigers' back three well and truly spooked at WIN Stadium.
3. Kayal Iro (Sharks)
Outstanding in defence, with some huge last-minute interventions off the ball that helped the Sharks subdue the star-studded Brisbane backline. Iro continues to go from strength-to-strength in his first full season as an NRL player.
4. Dane Gagai (Knights)
Was a constant attacking threat for the Knights in their narrow loss to Melbourne on Sunday. Had three damaging line breaks, ran for 248 metres and was rewarded for his efforts with a try late in the match.
5. Tommy Talau (Sea Eagles)
The Manly winger crossed for four tries in his side’s 32-22 loss to the Panthers on Sunday afternoon, becoming the first Sea Eagle to achieve the feat since Reuben Garrick in 2021. Talau scored three tries in the space of eight minutes to complete his hat-trick before half-time and then added a fourth in the second half.
6. Tyran Wishart (Storm)
Stepped up in the absence of Cameron Munster (groin) with a dominant attacking performance in Sunday’s win against Newcastle. Set up a try with a sweet ball for Coates in the corner and got two of his own, showing Craig Bellamy he’s hungry to cement a spot in the Storm’s 17.
Tyran Wishart grabs a double
7. Te Maire Martin (Warriors)
In the absence of the injured Shaun Johnson, Martin is enjoying close to career best form. His vision and pass selection in good ball situations in Townsville was excellent and saw him set up four of the Warriors’ seven tries on the night. The Māori All Star Came up with some big defensive plays before the scoreline blew out 42-12.
8. Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors)
Made an instant impact in his return to the field after missing the Warriors win over the Dolphins due to disciplinary reasons. The hulking prop ran for a mammoth 207 metres, broke six tackles and scored a try in his team’s convincing win over the Cowboys. The platform laid by Fonua-Blake provided plenty of opportunities for the Warriors to attack and they made the most of it in their seven-try onslaught.
9. Harry Grant (Storm)
Backed up his Origin performance in another strong showing for the Storm, providing plenty of spark in attack off the bench. Had a hand in several tries alongside Jahrome Hughes, continuing what has become a lethal attacking combination for Melbourne. Once again tackled himself to a standstill with 31 in his 58-minute stint to relieve Bronson Garlick.
10. James Fisher-Harris (Panthers)
Laid the platform alongside Moses Leota to set up Penrith’s hard-fought win over Manly. Got through a mountain of work in his 43-minute stint up front with 166 run-metres, two tackle busts and 26 tackles to zap the energy out of Manly for interchange props Lindsay Smith and Liam Henry.
11. Luciano Leilua (Dragons)
An absolute menace against his former Wests Tigers teammates, coming off the bench on the half hour mark to cause chaos down the left edge. Scored two tries off Ben Hunt down the corridor and smashed his way through seven tackle attempts on his way to 126 run metres.
Talakai too hard to handle
12. Siosifa Talakai (Sharks)
It’s becoming difficult to remember the Tongan international as a centre after watching him churn out an 80-minute performance at second row. Starting in place of Teig Wilton (shoulder), Talakai ensured the young forward’s presence wasn’t missed with a try, 120 run-metres and five tackle busts to help the Sharks to a big win over the Broncos.
13. Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs)
On the back of what was probably his best performance of the season back in Round 12, Koloamatangi continued to excel in his move to the middle of the park with a damaging 80-minute display. His 27 carries were almost double the amount registered by any other Rabbitohs forward and by full time he had 265 metres to show for it.
14. Ben Hunt (Dragons)
An admirable effort just 48 hours on from his starring role for the Maroons, in which he pushed through 42 minutes in the middle of the park. Hunt torched the Wests Tigers’ right side with his deft touches on Friday, none more so than a crisp short ball for Luciano Leilua’s first try. To want to play the full 80 minutes even as the score blew out says plenty, while his try gave him the rare distinction of scoring three times in the space of two days, following on from his double in Origin I.
15. Mitchell Barnett (Warriors)
Barnett returned to the Warriors fold after a week in the NSW Blues camp and he showed exactly why he’s in the State of Origin equation with his performance on Saturday. The forward scored a try, ran for 147 metres and made 28 tackles without a miss as the Warriors secured a dominant win over the Cowboys.
16. Royce Hunt (Sharks)
Hunt may have played just 24 minutes off the bench in Cronulla’s win over the Broncos but he had an explosive impact in the contest. The forward ran for 88 metres from just six carries, breaking six tackles in the process.
Captain Crichton leads Bulldogs to a win
17. Stephen Crichton (Bulldogs)
A captain’s knock from the centre, with two tries, a try assist, three tackle breaks and 148 run metres. In a tight game where his team came-from-behind to down the Eels, his leadership also came to the fore to help guide the Dogs home.
Team of the Week: Three Warriors selected | Warriors
Te Maire Martin, Addin Fonua-Blake and Mitchell Barnett named in NRL Team of the Week.www.warriors.kiwi
.Still cant believe we're losing a top 3 prop and replacing him with another top 3 prop.
We owe Melbourne a flogging.
Actually, more than one. Over the years they have given us several. And it pisses me off. On eight occasions they have put more than 40 points on us. The points differential across all games is in excess of +500 in favour of Melbourne. Naturally, some of the worst results were obviously in the years where our defence was simply a shambles - think 2022 (70-10), 2020 (50-6), 2016 (42-0), 2004 (42-6), Round 20 2000 (56-10). That last one was the same time we first played for the Michael Moore trophy, an away game. Earlier that season in Round 1, the game was in Auckland. The Storm's inaugural Manager, Michael Moore, was tragically killed in the after match festivities down at the Auckland waterfront when he fell off the wharf and found concrete. It was tragic and it was sad. It shook us all.
But we need to stop subliminally apologising for it as though we were to blame as hosts. Its not our fault, and even if it had been - we've done the time. Far better to honour the man by playing some wonderful footy, and putting the Storm to the sword and bringing that trophy back to the Mt Smart cabinets. It's well overdue, and signs in the last three rounds are that we have the capability of doing that. Ironically, that same year (2000) was the same season that Melbourne received their biggest ever hiding in losing to the Dragons 4-50. It's testament to Bellamy's record as a coach that results like that are few and far between. Right now we have the coach and the roster capable of undoing them. Utu in blue and green.
Yep, out of respect we owe Melbourne a bloody flogging and I am really looking forward to Saturday night in the hope that finally, this is it.
Come on boys! Write some new history. Outsmart, outplay, outlast!
Actually, more than one. Over the years they have given us several. And it pisses me off. On eight occasions they have put more than 40 points on us. The points differential across all games is in excess of +500 in favour of Melbourne. Naturally, some of the worst results were obviously in the years where our defence was simply a shambles - think 2022 (70-10), 2020 (50-6), 2016 (42-0), 2004 (42-6), Round 20 2000 (56-10). That last one was the same time we first played for the Michael Moore trophy, an away game. Earlier that season in Round 1, the game was in Auckland. The Storm's inaugural Manager, Michael Moore, was tragically killed in the after match festivities down at the Auckland waterfront when he fell off the wharf and found concrete. It was tragic and it was sad. It shook us all.
But we need to stop subliminally apologising for it as though we were to blame as hosts. Its not our fault, and even if it had been - we've done the time. Far better to honour the man by playing some wonderful footy, and putting the Storm to the sword and bringing that trophy back to the Mt Smart cabinets. It's well overdue, and signs in the last three rounds are that we have the capability of doing that. Ironically, that same year (2000) was the same season that Melbourne received their biggest ever hiding in losing to the Dragons 4-50. It's testament to Bellamy's record as a coach that results like that are few and far between. Right now we have the coach and the roster capable of undoing them. Utu in blue and green.
Yep, out of respect we owe Melbourne a bloody flogging and I am really looking forward to Saturday night in the hope that finally, this is it.
Come on boys! Write some new history. Outsmart, outplay, outlast!
Perform as well as he has? No one could foresee that level of performance - its been exceptional. Someone highlighted that SJ and Cleary have never had 4 try assists in a single game before for example.
But, there are plenty on here who rated TMM as a very good player. I feel they have been vindicated somewhat. Others have been made to look a little silly, some continue to do so. A few were even saying he wasn't first grade standard FMD!
In regards to the injuries forcing Webster's hand, I completely agree. He will have learned a lot from the last 7-8 weeks. From trusting his next man up philosophy to trying to get through games with too many players carrying significant injuries to the enthusiasm and energy injected by the younger players selected to the use of his bench and second row. The pleasing thing is he seems to have recognised and adjusted. One concern I have is that the previous three wins have highlighted a number of things which some have been pointing out on the forum and we are slowly turning back to some of these as players return. This week and the games after are potentially going to show whether some or all of these were just anomalies - Tohu at 13 for example. Walker has been great there over the last three games with speed, energy, leadership etc but here we are with Tohu starting at 13 again (assuming the team sheet is correct at game time) Was Tohu just busted, is he past being a 60 minute player, is he too slow now or a combination of things? RTS coming back in to the side at whose expense? Was it just that the team wasn't performing well previously or was he a contributor to things not gelling?
The next few games are going to be very interesting.
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Not sure if it’s been posted already but Webby mentioned this: Shaun won't be so dominant all the time but will soon have a big impact on the game, he wants to let Te Maire run the show again," Webster said.
I agree. Montoya is one of the biggest hype men in the team, always big reactions and rushing in to congratulate when we force a turnover, score, etc. He's 100% Wahs FTW.
That side of Pompey/Montoya doesn't sound flash on paper, but it's solid and has provided decent results. I would like that combo to stay until injury or something forces a change.
The thing that’s stood out to me above all else is just how hard they’ve been going into contact- both sides of the ball.
They just seem to be running and tackling harder- winning that initial collision.
Sounds simple because it is.
It just felt like they were going through the motions a bit early in the season.
Moving Barney and muss has made us much more physical on the edges and I think the players around them grow a leg having them there.
There’s other reasons too obviously- overall just a lot more energy.
Just on our defence during that losing streak we were conceding on average 27 points a game. On our 3 game winning streak we've got that down to 17 points a game.
Our set completion rate during the losing patch was 81%, we got that up to 86% on our winning run.
We improved our error rate and more importantly our discipline has improved and we've halved the amount of penalties we were giving away.
For mine while the focus has been on the attack and i can acknowledge a change up of variation was needed to our structure, more importantly these are the factors that are vital to playing Webby ball and ultimately winning games, cause u can change up what u do in the attacking zone and have whoever u want playing 6 or 7, but if your not winning these markers your pushing shit up hill.
Like everyone else ill be interested to see how SJ and Te Maire go about complementing each other so we have dual threats, but more importantly if we want to beat the Storm these are the non sexy boxes we need to be ticking first and foremost.
Please please beat these shitheads. I do not care if TMM has no try assists nor if Tohu is only held together by bandages and starts or doesn't start. Just so sick of losing to these pricks.
He kept that left edge locked down tight on D last week, he was a machine, I reckon his experience is invaluable in reading the opposition, knowing where to be and communicating to his outsides. Gives me confidence seeing him there against the top teams.
This Storm team is beatable
I work for Emerson’s brewery in Dunedin. Today we caned 20’000 cans of lion red with a special Warriors themed Label.
We normally only do our own beers but we are owned by Lion and they asked us to do. We were happy as to do it. Three diehard Warriors fans on the packaging crew. I ran the can line the other two packed and stacked the cans.
It’s a one off they are I believe being sold at the home Broncos game. I have a photo I tried to upload but the file was to large
We normally only do our own beers but we are owned by Lion and they asked us to do. We were happy as to do it. Three diehard Warriors fans on the packaging crew. I ran the can line the other two packed and stacked the cans.
It’s a one off they are I believe being sold at the home Broncos game. I have a photo I tried to upload but the file was to large
I see the media are making up excuses for why we beat the Cowboys so well.
Because of origin.
Sorry, but all that is, is poor coaching. If you have players fatigured because they played origin are not up to playing another 80 minutes 3 or 4 days later. Choose someone else thats why every team in the NRL has a squad of 30 players to choose from.
lol
We had Up to 10 first grade starters out of our last 2 games and beat 2 top 4 teams ( Panthers and Dophins )
Origin period is so annoying, mitch moses has a relatively sub par game last night, and straight away on nrl 360 he def should be in the origin squad lol
Fuck off origin, as much as the game is entertaining. All the fluff that goes with it is rediculous.
Because of origin.
Sorry, but all that is, is poor coaching. If you have players fatigured because they played origin are not up to playing another 80 minutes 3 or 4 days later. Choose someone else thats why every team in the NRL has a squad of 30 players to choose from.
lol
We had Up to 10 first grade starters out of our last 2 games and beat 2 top 4 teams ( Panthers and Dophins )
Origin period is so annoying, mitch moses has a relatively sub par game last night, and straight away on nrl 360 he def should be in the origin squad lol
Fuck off origin, as much as the game is entertaining. All the fluff that goes with it is rediculous.