Payton or Webster

[nswarrior]

Who would you have picked at the start of the season?
Cowboys made it to the prelim finals last year and Payton was the coach of the year. Webster was number 3 at Panthers and no one knew of him.

Payton is having a shocker this year and not just in terms of results. Why tf did he play Granville as a prop for 70 odd minutes against us.

Anyway, I held a grudge when Payton turned us down but he seems to make some strange calls.

That’s the beauty of sport, you always have a chance and things don’t turn out as expected and payback is sweet…

Warriors have a real tough 3 matches coming up but who could have imagined a 5-2 start and 3rd place on the ladder after 7 rounds.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Payton
No doubt

 

[nswarrior]

Yeah me too - at the start of the season everybody would have gone Payton

what about now?

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

You would have to say WEebster when you compare the starts of the 2 sides

 

[spear tackle]

Start of the season I would have said Payton he was the only coach since Cleary that seemed to be able to get the team up for games. now after 7 rounds I'm glad we ended up with Webster I just hope he keeps building over the season.

 

[TheDMC]

Either

 

[Rich102]

Webster wants to be here and Payton didn't. Easy choice for me.

 

[Leber]

Start of the year: Payten.
Now: Webster.

Easy.

 

[JJ]

Start is season Payten
Now 50:50 but happy with our guy

 

[nswarrior]

It’s only been 7 games and Webster seems to have won over most of the fans. Let’s see if this holds through a tough period or if Webster ends up being a Bellamy or Bennet

 

[JJ]

It’s only been 7 games and Webster seems to have won over most of the fans. Let’s see if this holds through a tough period or if Webster ends up being a Bellamy or Bennet

I think a key things is we can see improvement in many areas, a playing style/game plan and clear roles for players... that hasn't been evident under some coaches, or effective if it was there...

I still see us finishing 6-8, or 6-10... I don't think anyone is suggesting Webster is a Bellamy, Bennett, Gould, Ryan etc... Do Robinson and Cleary get mentioned in a broader group of great coaches yet?

 

[Benek]

Payton's short success as a Warriors coach could easily be attributed to the new coach bounce in energy that every team experiences in that transition.

What Webster has done feels like much more than that, even though we have only a handful of games to judge him on.

Attitude is WAY better - we've gone from mentally weak pushovers to one of the most resilient teams in the comp. That is NOT an easy achievement!

Defence is better across the park. Attack is generally coherent. A huge number of our players are playing their best footy in years. Webster getting the best out of SJ alone is worth a lot.

I'm more than happy swapping Payton for Webster. I hope we stick with him for years - it's been a long time since we had coaching stability.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Payton's short success as a Warriors coach could easily be attributed to the new coach bounce in energy that every team experiences in that transition.

What Webster has done feels like much more than that, even though we have only a handful of games to judge him on.

Attitude is WAY better - we've gone from mentally weak pushovers to one of the most resilient teams in the comp. That is NOT an easy achievement!

Defence is better across the park. Attack is generally coherent. A huge number of our players are playing their best footy in years. Webster getting the best out of SJ alone is worth a lot.

I'm more than happy swapping Payton for Webster. I hope we stick with him for years - it's been a long time since we had coaching stability.

I’m reserving judgement til after this weekend- the last time we had a start this good was 2018 under Kearney when we were 6-1 and got thumped 50-10 on Anzac Day. We still had a decent season but that game put a line through us as a serious threat. If we at least show some fight and compete this year, then I’ll really believe.

 

[nswarrior]

I think our recruitment and timing has been a big part of the season’s success.

CNK, Niukore, Walker, Ford have improved resilience and defence (Barnett when he is back)

Tevage, Curran, Afoa and Ale have matured

And I have no idea what happened to SJ but he is one of the best halves in the comp atm and that makes a difference

Webster has obviously played a big part to bring structure and patience to the team but I am still holding judgement until next 3 games are done

 

[sup42]

Webster for mine. Fresh start. Todd wanted to go home which is fair enough.

I had no expectations of Webster apart from hoping he could lay the ground work for 2024.

It has been a bit of a shock to the system to what Webster has achieved almost by magic overnight.

The fact that we won last week with TMM and Eagan out just doesn't happen under other coaches, you lose half your spine you are toast until they return.

New coaches at the Warriors usually fix one major area and the rest of our game is hit and miss. Webster is changing our whole game all at once which as I say is something very few coaches can do at an outfit like this...or at any club that isn't cheating the cap.

The small mobile forwards and constant spreading the ball is a tactic that is working immediately and it is one that future proofs a side as well, it is not like other coaches can counter that too easily if we keep up this dogged defence.

We still have a long way to go, and we do not know how well supported Webster is by management.

If we lose SJ all of a sudden and or Dylan Walker, we would be looking at a few hidings and a drop to the bottom of the comp....does Webster have the skills to Nurse us through a Warriors dark period? Are management going to stick by the promise if we crash and win the spoon?

On the flip side we do have some genuine prospects in the NSW cup. Forwards who look every bit as good as Tom Ale at the same stage, and some promising backs of the future, Volkman, Ali Leiatua, Tuaupiki, Vailea and Metcalf.

Even the young hooker Paul Roach and young Akland look like future promising players.

There are too many forwards to name in that side that are good.

So we have a future that ideally the club would be smart about by keeping Webster around.

Webster knows what is going on at the Warriors, that will do me.

You can see his game plan has us finishing faster than the opposition in terms of our ruck and our defensive line.
We look fitter because Walker and Jazz have run them off their feet going into the seventieth minute and our tacklbots switch on...so we score and they are too tired to do anything about it the late close out.

That is very hard to coach against unless you have similar mobility....few teams have forwards as tiny as our little dynamos.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Is our “tiny” pack actually that small? It’s not huge and it’s certainly more mobile and capable of ball movement than than most, but I don’t think we’re actually particularly undersized. AFB, Bunty, Ale, Barnett, Tohu and Niukore are all fairly big units.

 

[sup42]

Is our “tiny” pack actually that small? It’s not huge and it’s certainly more mobile and capable of ball movement than than most, but I don’t think we’re actually particularly undersized. AFB, Bunty, Ale, Barnett, Tohu and Niukore are all fairly big units.

Yeah but when you are talking Jazz Walker and Sirronen....that is small impact forward trio.

AFB is the only genuine established prop in the side. Ale is a Prop in the making, barely out of his trainer wheels.

Tohu, Barnett etc are all backrow converts....to be honest I thought it was madness to go into this season with only one recognized top Prop. Bunty is not a line bender or tackle breaker.

Been proven wrong though, Websters tactics are genius.

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

I'll take Payten back if Webster falls over
Love both guys as they seem to get their message through clearly to the team.
Payten and the Cowboys will bounce back.

 

[nswarrior]

Wow - the Cowboys looked terrible tonight. Thrashed 66-18 by the Tigers.

Payton was coach of the year last year and will be under pressure now.

Looks like we dodged a bullet

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Yeah that was dire. Apparently he gave them a massive spray at half time when they were down 24-6, clearly it didn’t do much