Peta Hiku - Elite NRL Centre ?

[Iron Lion]

Guys, somebody who is completely flying under the radar currently is Peta Hiku, but one look at his stats has him ranking in the top elite of 2018 NRL centres

Before this last weekend Hiku was

2nd in the NRL (Centres) for metres per game - 132 per game
2nd in the NRL (Centres) for total offloads - 12
8th in the NRL (Centres) for line breaks - 3
4th in the NRL (Centres) for Try assists - 2

Did the warriors make a pretty astute signing?

 

[Fufu Andronez]

He has his moments in defence but I really like what he brings to the team. Gets involved with carries, puts his hand up to get us out of trouble, fights for penalties, passes to Fus.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

If he could just fix that tackling technique....

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Nope. Talented attacker no doubt, but has missed the second most tackles in the comp (and Jimmy Maloney always takes that honour).

You can't miss an average of 5 tackles a week and expect to be called elite. Directly led to 2 tries last week. Is probably fortunate he has Harris next to him cleaning up too.

I still think hes a good signing but needs to sort his D out quick

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

Speaking of stats, against the Dragons, we we're losing all the stats but we ended up winning the game!

Stats doesn't tell the full story and Hikus been...ok IMO.

 

[vvvrulz]

Ah yes, good ol stats.

Hiku has been very good on attack, 'elite' is a stretch, but sure he's up there.

But as mentioned frequently all season his defence lets him down so badly I wouldn't even bother with him if we have Kata, Beale & Ayshford fit and ready. He's never been good and he's not improving the way Fus and Kata got their shit together, several times last weekend we needed extra stiffeners on his edge because of his sloppy efforts. Luckily people covered him, in other weeks he'll give up tries.

Good player, good solid buy, but I wouldn't even call him an elite Warrior let alone the NRL.

 

[Izz]

Guys, somebody who is completely flying under the radar currently is Peta Hiku, but one look at his stats has him ranking in the top elite of 2018 NRL centres

Before this last weekend Hiku was

2nd in the NRL (Centres) for metres per game - 132 per game
2nd in the NRL (Centres) for total offloads - 12
8th in the NRL (Centres) for line breaks - 3
4th in the NRL (Centres) for Try assists - 2

Did the warriors make a pretty astute signing?

Someone's been reading nrl.com...

 

[JJ]

No - handy enough signing but not an elite centre...

 

[ozbash]

Reminds me of Jarred McCracken.

 

[Blair]

Reminds me of Jarred McCracken.

I hope his career doesn't end the same way.

Athough a few more leaked tries, at important times, and who knows?

 

[sup42]

Reminds me of Jarred McCracken.

The Kraken was blond.

 

[sup42]

Those stats are indirectly a damning indictment of the Warriors use of their left edge as a dumping ground for people who can't pass very well nor catch too well either.

Verily they park a fast spare Prop on the left (not a ball playing prop either) and their plainest center option, with a sprinkling just now of the ball skills of Simon Mannering,

I can't wait to see how long Blake Green abides that nonsense, having come from teams that use the entire width of the field to play the opposition rather than rely on kicking the ball to the winger because no one can consistently pass it too them.

The Warriors could be twice the team that they have been with some thought and care given to both edges.

There is hope.

Beale is back soon. Pulu will be back, Green with those two and RTS chiming in starts to make our left good enough to draw teams away from that omnipotent right side matrix.

If you want the most from SJ, Harris, Hiku, Fus....you strengthen the threat of that Left side STAT.

2002 all over again with better defence.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I know OP is unpopular but jeez, there's a lot of negativity in this thread.

I actually agree that Hiku has been a major surprise package and a good signing. He's one of our most reliably effective attacking weapons.

I'd be really interested to know what we paid for him because he might have been a real bargain considering that just a couple of years ago when he signed for the Panthers he would not have been going cheap. Not sure exactly what happened in the meantime but it seems like a combination of injuries and a rather odd decision to have a stint in England. Maybe we also benefitted from a bit of homesickness.

The NRL is a fickle business and it's easy to forget that circa 2014-2015 Hiku was a precociously solid performer for a strong Manly side and perceived as being a good long term bet for a strong NRL career.

To have snuck in and snaffled him when he's still only 25 and when his "issues" may not have really been issues at all could turn out to be a very good signing.

And yes, as much as his attacking potency has surprised me, so has his dodgy defence. Crossing my fingers on that, we're covering it well enough so far.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Heard a good story about Hiku in the pre season

Was going absolute nuts at training doing extras every week, not being content with team training, and when fans would talk to him at open training sessions he would tell them he is going to OWN one of the centre spots.

Fast forward to round 7 and he is our first centre picked every round. He wanted it and earned it.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Hes on minimum wage to, he asked the club if he could come back for an opportunity

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Hes on minimum wage to, he asked the club if he could come back for an opportunity

I find this extraordinary (but extraordinarily good business by us!)- what did he do so wrong that he went from being a relatively big money signing in 2016 (or at least it was portrayed as such) to a minimum-wager in 2018? Surely another club would've paid him more?

In general I have been wondering how we managed to sign so many players while at such a low ebb. I know they weren't all superstars but still.....

Like for example, surely Gelling was on more money as a starter for Wigan than he's getting here?

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

Hiku going to the Panthers, f**ked him up money and playing wise. You know I actually forgot he went to the Panthers until you MV mentioned it. And then I remembered...I don't know what happened at Penrith but there was a phase where everytime Hiku came on for the Panthers, they went down hill. Penrith turned him into a cheapo.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Hiku going to the Panthers, f**ked him up money and playing wise. You know I actually forgot he went to the Panthers until you MV mentioned it. And then I remembered...I don't know what happened at Penrith but there was a phase where everytime Hiku came on for the Panthers, they went down hill. Penrith turned him into a cheapo.

He missed most of 2016 through injury and then left halfway through 2017 so from the outside looking in it's like he hardly got a proper chance.

I guess part of it was that he had been a fullback/winger at Manly and there were big expectations on him at Penrith to slot right in and be a gun centre.

Anyway, seems like short memories and impatience have led to our gain, if he can just tidy up his defence a bit.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

He was on decent coin at Warrington but was homesick. He asked for an opportunity and the warriors basically could only offer a tracksuit and a pair of boots. He backed himself and here he is

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

He missed most of 2016 through injury and then left halfway through 2017 so from the outside looking in it's like he hardly got a proper chance.

Yeah thats right. I remember commenting on here with the Panthers lot and they never liked it when Hiku came off the bench. Sure enough, soon as he got on, things went wrong. Sometimes they werent his fault and at times they were absolutely his fault. Bottom line is things werent going well for him there.

Like I said before - I think he's going ok here with us.