3-2-1 someone's gotta do it..

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

I kinda get why people are praising Ata and Mason- Mason has an excellent short kicking game and isn't afraid to get tackled, Ata I reckon is a decent all-round talent.

However, switching out Shaun for Mason/Ata or both literally takes us from being an average team to a team who will never win another game.

I get praising inexperienced players for performing well relative to expectations but I feel like you're missing the wood for the trees if you think it's been "refreshing" to have Mason in the team instead of Shaun. I've seen so many comments like this on forums, FB etc.

Swap Shaun for Mason and we become the worst team in the comp. Let's be real.

Consistency is all Im after from our young halves. I seen both Ata and Lino have one good game and then average average for the next 2 or 3.3

Johnson and Ata combination weve seen that before. Most of the first half of the year was Ata and Johnson. Over and over again we saw the pair fail to deliver. Im worried were going back to that so when Johnson does comeback I would like to see him go to fullback and leave Ata and Lino to do their thing.

Im a little worried about both the youngsters defence and they will be targeted for mismatches but defence can be improved greatly through games.

 

[Meth]

I'm a lot more positive about Ata than Mason. I think Ata has a bigger upside. In saying that, neither is a capable of controlling a game just yet and their getting points is reflective of a low bar as much as anything

 

[JJ]

Agree Ata has the bigger upside - but neither will develop if not given the chance - with the season dead, and Johnson hurt why not play them both- the draw is pretty easy too not like we're playing the big guns

 

[TheDMC]

You have to give halves a lot more leeway to take the step up to first grade than all other positions, and that means putting up with inconsistent performances. They both need to get serious game time between now and end of the season, even if Johnson returns.

 

[PhantomChief]

Tough game to watch from the stands. I offered 5 of my whanau's season tickets, normally reserved for my wife and kids, to a work colleague and her whanau. They were just happy to see the young Warriors fronting up and trying their best so I'm voting accordingly.

3. Ata
2. Mase
1. Nate

HM Isaiah to him for making the most of his 5 mins; and scoring a try as well.
Lillyman looked 'soft' again for mine - Satae could've been given a longer spell.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

By the end of this season we will have lost 16 consecutive games without Johnson following his injuries in 2015 and 2017. 0-16. When switching halfbacks makes you lose 16 straight and when you can at least win the odd game with your first-choice half, you have to ask whether the incoming halves are of the required standard.

But the incoming halves are never likely to be of the same standard are they? Otherwise they'd be in the team too. Hardly an indictment on Lino, Ata, Tui and whoever that they come into a poorly-coached and unconfident side and can't do anything as basically rookies. Hell in 2015 without SJ we gave up.

Is SJ underrated because we win *some* games with him and none without? Possibly, I don't believe so though. Moreso to me that our back-ups are generally always rookies (not a Benji, or even a Luke Kelly) and our attitude generally to him being injured is 'oh well, we lose. Why try'

 

[Rich102]

The point is it has never been said that we should drop Johnson for Ata or Mason. Johnson is not available and who knows how he will perform when he returns.
The discussion has been around giving Ata & Mason as much time as possible in the top side while not bringing Foran back.

Plus comparing a couple of halves with a handful of games to a seven season veteran is a bit OTT.

Couple of nice breaks by Ata though and some cleaver kicking by Mason. Who knows what the could do under a good coach.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I'm not saying we shouldn't be playing Ata or Mason, I'm just pointing out how bad they are relative to the replacements other teams would have.

We are just as bad with Foran too.

My point is solely that our drop off without Johnson is worse than any other team's drop off with any other player. The gap from Johnson + Lino/Foran/Hingano to any combo of Lino/Foran/Hingano is disastrous. We can't win a game with them.

Johnson gets more criticism than praise yet we bring in guys who are so far behind him it's pretty much off the charts and we praise them. How bad must they be if they are that far behind Johnson and Johnson isn't even supposed to be good?

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

But the incoming halves are never likely to be of the same standard are they? Otherwise they'd be in the team too.

No other team in the comp has this problem. We switch one player and become a Fox Memorial side. It's not normal.

 

[Warriorsoul]

I'd be interested to see how Ata and SJ would go behind a pack that actually gave go forward, when we had the Raiders back on their heels a couple of times on the weekend, Ata looked ok.

 

[JJ]

No other team in the comp has this problem. We switch one player and become a Fox Memorial side. It's not normal.

That goes to the whole set-up though - if the sole attacking strategy is give the ball to Shaun and hope, then obviously we'll have no idea

Johnson is fine, but he's not Andrew Johns, and it's stupid to have deliberately made the team that dependent on him for attack, or letting it develop that way

 

[Rich102]

I'm not saying we shouldn't be playing Ata or Mason, I'm just pointing out how bad they are relative to the replacements other teams would have.

We are just as bad with Foran too.

My point is solely that our drop off without Johnson is worse than any other team's drop off with any other player. The gap from Johnson + Lino/Foran/Hingano to any combo of Lino/Foran/Hingano is disastrous. We can't win a game with them.

Johnson gets more criticism than praise yet we bring in guys who are so far behind him it's pretty much off the charts and we praise them. How bad must they be if they are that far behind Johnson and Johnson isn't even supposed to be good?

Some of the problem is because of the "get it to SJ and let him run things" instructions from Cappy and SK.
All of a sudden when SJ isn't there no one knows what to do.

 

[Meth]

Congratulations Ata Hingano

Hingano 23
Matulino 15
Roache 12
Lino 12
Mannering 10

12 voted

 

[Cold Roses]

when we had the Raiders back on their heels a couple of times on the weekend, Ata looked ok.

He has a good running game. Given that Johnson is reluctant to take on the line as much as he used to, they might actually compliment each other fairly well.

 

[jaseg]

Is SJ underrated because we win *some* games with him and none without? Possibly, I don't believe so though. Moreso to me that our back-ups are generally always rookies (not a Benji, or even a Luke Kelly) and our attitude generally to him being injured is 'oh well, we lose. Why try'

SJ is underrated because he's put up per-minute numbers better than any half in the competition this year (and has been repeating at above 3 tries, linebreaks or assists per 80 minutes for a few years now - something done by only a handful of guys in 20 years) and still isn't talked about as one of the best in the game. He plays for an absolutely turd team and still does that. Is it peak-Thurston/Johns/even Marshall numbers? Nope. But they're still great.

Oh and here's our win % since Johnson debuted in case anyone is interested;
With Johnson - 42.04%
Without Johnson - 12.5%

 

[JJ]

So shit vs cluster f**k lol