Why will the warriors be better in 2018?

[Rich102]

He has improved his defence a lot.
However he is still a reactive player not a planner or organiser.
From the Golden Boot days he has now regressed to not being in the top 10 NRL halves.
Lucky for him Foran announced his intention to return to Sydney while Johnson was in negotiations with the Warriors - put his price up well beyond his worth.
Johnson is a great broken-field runner, not much more. And now he has lost a bit of pace.
The Warriors are mad allowing him to play for the Kiwis this year - he should be resting and getting back to full fitness.

 

[Iafeta]

I hate to call rubbish. But I call rubbish. He was close to if not leading the NRL for things like try assists and perhaps line break assists up until he got injured, in a team that was no good. Seriously, get the lad a functional pack and then lets review him.

With Shaun, I sense tall poppy syndrome. We love to knee cap blokes. Some of the comments were fair calls 2 or 3 years ago but his game has adapted. That's even with ordinary coaching. He was having a very good year in a very poor team.

 

[JJ]

Yep can't criticise Johnson on last year, with Mannering and a couple of others he did everything that could have been expected of him

 

[Rich102]

We will continue this discussion if, or when, we get a decent forward pack.
Let's hope he hasn't retired by then.

 

[TheDMC]

I agree that SJ had a very solid season in a shit team. The bloke has to run the ball a lot more tho, should be a much bigger part of this role.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I hate to call rubbish. But I call rubbish. He was close to if not leading the NRL for things like try assists and perhaps line break assists up until he got injured, in a team that was no good. Seriously, get the lad a functional pack and then lets review him.

With Shaun, I sense tall poppy syndrome. We love to knee cap blokes. Some of the comments were fair calls 2 or 3 years ago but his game has adapted. That's even with ordinary coaching. He was having a very good year in a very poor team.

Preach.

I don't think it's tall poppy syndrome though, just pointing the finger in the wrong direction - which is usually at the halves in a football side. There's sort of a sense of we've blamed the coach enough, now it must be Shaun's fault. It isn't. f**k me the guy gets insane amount of negative stuff from the public and media, I think it speaks volumes how much he loves this club and how much he wants to succeed that he re-signed with us. Hopefully one day he'll get the pack, the coach, and the environment he needs to be finally recognised as the consistent star he can be.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Also, has anyone considered that our XVII will be 100% Kiwi if Ayshford isn't picked? Surely that hasn't happened in Warriors or NRL history, even a side being 100% Australian?

I don't have a problem with it as such, I think it could bring a togetherness rather than a 'bro hood' or whatever crap we and Lowey call it. It'll be our below-par propping stocks rather than the nationality of our players that will play the bigger part.

 

[VillaTheGorilla]

Yeah its a tough one for SJ - seems to always get bagged no matter whats happening. The fact is, it doesn't matter how good you are, when your team is getting beaten up front, your centres can't pass or are too slow, and you have a winger like Maumalo, there's only so much you can do.
Look at Thurston, regarded as one of the greatest halves of all time, and how long did it take him to win a premiership? It's because for the most part, he had an average team around him.
SJ will be able to be much better when he has a team who's able to compete - he should be the icing on top of the cake - finishing things off, not having to create everything from scratch.

And also - Thurston, Fitler, Johns - some of the greatest names of ALL time. Anyone you put up next to these guys are going to look shit

 

[Matua]

Yeah its a tough one for SJ - seems to always get bagged no matter whats happening. The fact is, it doesn't matter how good you are, when your team is getting beaten up front, your centres can't pass or are too slow, and you have a winger like Maumalo, there's only so much you can do.
Look at Thurston, regarded as one of the greatest halves of all time, and how long did it take him to win a premiership? It's because for the most part, he had an average team around him.
SJ will be able to be much better when he has a team who's able to compete - he should be the icing on top of the cake - finishing things off, not having to create everything from scratch.

And also - Thurston, Fitler, Johns - some of the greatest names of ALL time. Anyone you put up next to these guys are going to look shit

He won one early in his career.

I don't think winning premierships is the marker, it's whether they carry teams to better results than the team is worth. Thurston and Johns did that all the time.

We should be making the finals regularly, Johnson has to shoulder 'some' of the responsibility for that failure. Furthermore, Johnson gets shit in years when he's average, that's not tall poppy syndrome. When he plays well he gets out of proportion plaudits, so it works both ways.

 

[VillaTheGorilla]

He won one early in his career.

I don't think winning premierships is the marker, it's whether they carry teams to better results than the team is worth. Thurston and Johns did that all the time.

We should be making the finals regularly, Johnson has to shoulder 'some' of the responsibility for that failure. Furthermore, Johnson gets shit in years when he's average, that's not tall poppy syndrome. When he plays well he gets out of proportion plaudits, so it works both ways.

Haha come on, that first Premiership is hardly worth a mention when talking about how good Thurston's been.
Do you really think SJ gets a fair amount of wraps both ways? I completely disagree - he shoulders SO much of the blame. I've seen him play well and still get criticised. I guess its the nature of the beast when you're a half, but I think you would have to agree that he tends to get shit when ever we lose

 

[spear tackle]

No Thompson , that should improve our penalty count for starters.
More competition for spots so some of last years regulars will either need to put in or get used to RG.
Whoever it was/is that's coming up with the kiwis game plan, is there room in our coaching ranks for them? Its more lively to watch than the brand we have been showing this year and it looks like that team are actually enjoying themselves, I was totally wrong about the kiwis side at this years world cup by the way.

 

[Iafeta]

What happened to Bodene? Up until this year I thought he was a good player. Was I wrong? I mean I'm married so I know I'm usually wrong so it's ok if I was wrong here too...

 

[Matua]

Haha come on, that first Premiership is hardly worth a mention when talking about how good Thurston's been.
Do you really think SJ gets a fair amount of wraps both ways? I completely disagree - he shoulders SO much of the blame. I've seen him play well and still get criticised. I guess its the nature of the beast when you're a half, but I think you would have to agree that he tends to get shit when ever we lose

Re: Thurston, that's why I included the wink emoji. However, he did take the Cowboys to their first final, their first premiership and the majority of the years he was there they made the finals.

As for Johnson, I actually think the reverse of what you're describing frequently happens, I've seen him play poorly and still get championed. I've seen him play poorly and be defended - the blame is always pushed elsewhere, even when he's making schoolboy errors. However, in saying that we all want him playing well all the time, and we want the team he needs to direct around the park to play well too.

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

What happened to Bodene? Up until this year I thought he was a good player. Was I wrong? I mean I'm married so I know I'm usually wrong so it's ok if I was wrong here too...

He had a few distractions off the field and that came up publicly. Also he was not setting a good example to the younger guys coming through. Often breaking Team protocols and lets not forget the infamous red bull saga and letting some of the boys watch him get it on.

I liked Thompson personally but he went off the tracks a bit and that reflected on the field too.

Wish him well over the ESL he should be able to do some damage

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

What happened to Bodene? Up until this year I thought he was a good player. Was I wrong? I mean I'm married so I know I'm usually wrong so it's ok if I was wrong here too...

Thompson has ended up where he is through no ones fault but his own
In 2nd division in the UK
Good riddence

 

[TheDMC]

It is crazy that these NRL guys do years of hard work to break into first grade and set themselves up financially....and then utterly blow it. Injuries and a lack of talent should be the obstacles, but more often it is their peanut sized minds and complete lack of maturity.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

No Thompson , that should improve our penalty count for starters.
More competition for spots so some of last years regulars will either need to put in or get used to RG.
Whoever it was/is that's coming up with the kiwis game plan, is there room in our coaching ranks for them? Its more lively to watch than the brand we have been showing this year and it looks like that team are actually enjoying themselves, I was totally wrong about the kiwis side at this years world cup by the way.

And our edge defence, he was horrendous this year. Had to be attitude and preparation, which all marries up with the Red Bull and roasting shit. I liked him until this year, and he should've been NSW Cup from after the Dragons debacle in Hamilton.

 

[spear tackle]

And our edge defence, he was horrendous this year. Had to be attitude and preparation, which all marries up with the Red Bull and roasting shit. I liked him until this year, and he should've been NSW Cup from after the Dragons debacle in Hamilton.

I thought he was great when he first arrived , then went downhill pretty quick after a while, they probably should have dropped him to RG earlier as a wake up call, having said that hindsight is a great thing.