2007.....

[Shaun Hewitt]

Please add or correct anything please.


Gains : Wade McKinnon (Eels, 3 years??), Aiden Kirk (Roosters, 2 years??), Michael Witt (Manly, 1 year. 2nd year option?)

Losses : Awen Guttenbeil (Castleford Tigers), Brent Webb (Leeds), Clinton Toopi (Leeds), Misi Taulapapa (Released mid-season)

Re-Signed: Ruben Wiki (2008), Grant Rovelli (2010), Manu Vatuvei (2009), Sam Rapira (2009), Patrick Ah Van (2009), Epalahame Lauaki (2007, option 2008), Ervarn Tuimavavue (2009), Tony Martin (2007), Simon Mannering (2009)

Off-Contract : George Gatis, George Tuakura and Cooper Vuna

Rumoured Gains: Cooper Vuna and George Tuakura (re-signed), Michael Lett (Roosters)

Rumoured Losses : Cooper Vuna and George Tuakura (Released)


Okay.....

Toopi is no great loss, how many games has he played this season....furthermore, how many of them were good?

Webb is a loss in deed, but McKinnon has been bought as a replacement.

Guttenbeil imo is our big loss. Especially when you consider the 10- year discount we would have had.

Witt, hopefully isnt on too much, but i think could prove to be a handy pickup. Goalkicking ability and NATURAL 5/8th.

Kirk, while i havnt seen the lad play, im glad about his signing. Ives has been spot on picking players from the Roosters. Byrne was our bargain buy of 2005. Rovelli has been THE buy of 2006. Kirk i think will make an impact in 2007 i believe.

McKinnon had an awesome start to the season. Has been statistically one of the if not THE best fullback in the NRL, but we know stats dont tell the full story. Loved his try against the Dragons last season when PJ and Trent were fighting.

Will be Price's final season =(, but hopefully that will draw some inspiration.

Lauaki will hopefully make a succesful return from injury, if he does then he maybe a good 2nd row replacement for Guttenbeil.

Rovelli will continue to improve, with either Witt or an improving Ropo outside him, our halves may surprise some people.

MY TEAM :

1. Wade McKinnon
2. Patrick Ah Van
3. Jerome Ropati
4. Simon Mannering
5. Manu Vatuvei
6. Michael Witt(gk)
7. Grant Rovelli
8. Ruben Wiki (vc)
9. Nathan Fein
10. Steven Price (c)
11. Michael Luck
12. Wairangi Koopu
13. Sione Faumuina
~~~

14. Lance Hohaia
15. Louis Anderson
16. Ervarn Tuimavavue
17. Epalahame Lauaki

~~

18. Tony Martin
19. Aiden Kirk
20. Todd Byrne
21. Sam Rapira
22. Sonny Fai
23.
24.
25.

* Last 3 spots to be determind by Player Movements.

Players i think will make a big impact on our season :

Steven Price - Final season, can his legs last another full season? I expect him to retire from rep footy come season end.

Grant Rovelli - Rising halfback, will he get Tim Smith second year dissappearance?

Manu Vatuvei - will he be his dominant best or will he Toopi pt 2?

Wade McKinnon - Replacing one of our key players, i think our style will suit him...but only time will tell.

Michael Witt - Big call, but should he fit in as our 5/8 could make or break our season

and....

Nathan Fien - If he continues this years form, then next season i think he may sneak into SOO.

Players i think will have a moderate impact :

Ruben Wiki - We've seen indifferent form from him this season. For the Warriors, it would be good if he hung up his black boots but i dont think he will next season. Does he really have 2 more seasons left him in?

Ervarn Tuimavavue - With Price and Wiki pushing along, and with it being Prices final season, i believe we will see Tuimavavue get more and more game time. Next season i think will decide whether he will be a starting prop in '08 or not. Expect a good impact from him.

Patrick Ah Van - One of our young up-comers. Good form may see him compete for a kiwi jersey, i think its too soon personally.

Lance Hohaia - I think we will see more from him next season. I think he will cement a spot in the 17, whether it be at 6 or off the bench.

Simon Mannering - Im expecting him to either keep his centre spot, or be shifted to lock. Shouldn't be dropped unless his form changes.

Sione Faumuina - On and Off player. Can be the one to give us that last play for the win, or make silly mistakes. Crucial to us, his form may play a bigger factor than expected.

Koopu/Luck/Anderson - Hard to split these three. One will come off the bench, other 2 will start. Possibly all three will start. Anderson especially needs to really stand up from now, without Guttenbeil.

Sam Rapira - We will only be seeing more and more of the big fella. Should we have an injury in our props, expect this guy to come off the bench. I actually think we will see quite a bit of him and im looking forward to the prospect.

Epalahame Lauaki - How good will his form be if he doesnt have an injury? Was going well this season before it.

Jerome Ropati - Will he be centre? Will he be 5/8th? Will he be dropped? How cleary will play him will affect us. If he can hold on to the ball, then im hoping he will be a centre.

Players who won't impact us too much....

Todd Byrne - Been injured this season. And now with Ah Van, Vatuvei, Mannering, Ropati and Martin all currently ahead of him, plus Kirk recruited....we may have seen the last of him. A return to 2005 form however, then he may be our surprise package.

Tony Martin - I may be completly wrong on this. It all depends on how Cleary decides to use Ropati, Byrne and Mannering. May play a role in all our 24 regular matches, or may not. I dont know.

Sonny Fai - Not because of the player, but because of the players ahead of him. Havnt seen too much of Fai so i cant really comment.

An the player i think will be our bargain buy....

Aiden Kirk. Havnt seen him play before, but as mentioned before, Cleary seems to be making the good picks from the Roosters PL team.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, the futures of Gatis, Vuna and Tuakura....we havnt heard anything official so no comment.

Cleary has said that our top squad is just about decided with one or two more spots in the air. We have shown an interest in Lett (Roosters) but since then we have got Witt, so possibly will put Ropo back in the centres, with Byrne focusing on the wing if we cant afford Lett anymore? All 3 Walkers are off-contract, would be cheap but i would not be impressed if we get one, especially for big bucks.

Thoughts?

 

[ozbash]

fantastic post mate, you put the time in.

the weak link is hohaia imo. why the warriors havnt got rid of him...

 

[Sanchez]

Has tuakura resigned?

 

[Skram]

Agreed, nice post but um...

Witt, hopefully isnt on too much, but i think could prove to be a handy pickup.

maybe you'll wanna avoid looking up his contract ;-)

I agree with most of what you've said but I'm more concerned with Ropati's defence than his ability to hold the ball if he's going to be put back into centre.
I don't think it will be Pricey's last season, on his current form he looks good for a few more.
Agreed on Rovelli, I can't wait to see how he goes with a full offseason with the boys working on plays, building combinations and more understanding.
While Gutts is indeed a huge loss I feel that the way Cleary has been playing him as an extra forward off the bench concentrating on mostly on straight hitups means he's somewhat more replaceable than he previously was. If Rapira or Lauaki can slide into that role it may help us forget about Gutts a little easier.

My team would be:

1 ~ Wade McKinnon
2 ~ Patrick Ah Van
3 ~ Tony Martin(gk)
4 ~ Simon Mannering
5 ~ Manu Vatuvei
6 ~ Jerome Ropati
7 ~ Grant Rovelli
8 ~ Evarn Tuimavave
9 ~ Nathan Fein
10 ~ Steve Price (c)
11 ~ Michael Luck
12 ~ Wairangi Koopu
13 ~ Sione Faumuina

14 ~ George Gatis
15 ~ Louis Anderson
16 ~ Reuben Wiki
17 ~ Sam Rapira

To begin with at least, with Witt having to earn his spot. Also I like the way that Cleary constantly has an experienced leader on the field. When Price and Wiki are on the bench Cleary will bring on Gutts, with Gutts gone and Wiki's form dwindling somewhat (and him being no spring chicken) I think there is a case to be made for him to start the match on the bench and come on when Price is off (initially at least, in tighter games Price and Wiki would most likely be on the field together) that way there is leadership out there the whole match and less potential for the team to lose their way than if they had say Tuimavave and Rapira/Lauaki on together.

 

[ozbash]

but I'm more concerned with Ropati's defence than his ability to hold the ball if he's going to be put back into centre.

ropo is in the top tackler stats week in, week out. he is one of the warriors better defenders.

his options on attack is the area the coaches should be developing.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Yeah top defenders.....except that he is weak on sliding defence and one on one tackles. He is a top flopper though.

 

[Skram]

ropo is in the top tackler stats week in, week out. he is one of the warriors better defenders.

his options on attack is the area the coaches should be developing.

This is all true, I'm not doubting Ropati's ability to defend at 5/8th, that's an aspect of his game he can claim to definitely have over Witt at this point.
I'm referring to if/when he gets moved to centre. His defence in that position in the past has been woeful.

 

[Iafeta]

Great effort James Webster..

Now, next year I think is one of make or break. Firstly, losing Toopi is a long term positive. I think weeding out Meli, Lauitiiti, Toopi and Betham - while not good in terms of lost skill - is good for the club in rebuilding a culture on team-work, discipline, control and reliability. Too many times in his last season or so Meli looked disinterested, too many times over his career Monty gave up cheap and costly penalties, too many times Toopi had on field brain explosions, and to be honest, Ali has played a little bit indifferently - sometimes interested, sometimes not - for Leeds. As much as it pains me to say it, I think all four of their careers are on the downward slide and blokes like Tony Martin, Michael Luck, Georgie Gatis - while probably being nowhere near as skilled are tough, they work hard for each other, they concentrate on the basics, and they pride in the jumper - are good for this joint long term. Much the sames as Jason Death, Kevin Campion, Robbie Mears, Johnnie Carlaw were for us. They performed a "role", particularly in terms of attitude.

Back to make or break...

Lance Hohaia - Got to earn a regular jersey. Got to learn to look wider out when at dummy half. Sometimes lacks organisation out of there. That's the one thing holding him back behind George Gatis currently. The differences are obvious, Lance is a much more talented ball runner, but sometimes makes the incorrect decisions. The kick against the Doggies on the blind side dead in goal, early in the tackle count when everyone was practically on the open side except for their fullback in Patten could only be described as one of those cruel decisions. If he learns to read when to run, when to pass, when to kick and where to kick he'll be a terrific hooker/halfback utility for the club.

Wade McKinnon - form was indifferent around contract time (brilliant last week), I think he knows he's in for a bit of a tough initiation to win over the crowd who is largely pro Wibby.

Jerome Ropati - Where to with Michael Witt here? Centre? Five eighth? Wing? Fullback? He's played them all in the past. If he wants to be a five eighth still he needs to learn to create and execute opportunities for his runners outside of him through either passing or kicking. If he wants to be a centre, he needs to work very hard on his lateral defence because he can be a liability out wide.

Todd Byrne - When he's confident, he's a very good "role" player. A good part of the squad. The thing is though, he's marketed as the bloke who Scotty Sattler ran down and having the same done to him at Canberra this year can't be good for his confidence or market value. If he wants another NRL contract either with the Warriors or another club, he needs a good season. I won't write him off, because last year he was terrific, and for the most part at the Chookies he was a very effective if underrated player.

Evarn Tuimavave - he's got the contract now, now he needs to prove he's really worth it. I just hope he hasn't done a Mark Tookey. He was great pre-contract, so much so that without any shadow of a doubt and no bias I rated him the most improved NRL player of 2006. I think the decision to drop him this week is astute, he needs to restart the Tuimavave freight train and find a way to mentally think Wiki's not there, or Price isn't there, or I'm still fighting for my career, because when he had those situations he responded like a runaway Isuzu freight truck.

Sam Rapira - I only say this because how many Karl Te Mata's, Shannon Stowers' Kane Ferris', etc. have come to the Warriors with big wraps, and then either slowly faded away, or just not had the stamina to go the distance required. Big step up still needed.

Sonny Fai - I say this because for the wrap, he's yet to be graded this year. I hope he turns into what he's hyped as.

Epalahame Lauaki - He needs to repay the faith shown by the club. A load of talent but he needs to learn how to harness his physical presence. For such a big lad, he's remarkably soft in the tackle, and unfortunately extremely slow laterally in defence. He's also a tad bit slow getting the motor going in the hit up zone, which is a bit disappointing. The coaches though were excited about his progress preseason and he never really got a chance to show it though it was evident he was developing.

Michael Witt - Could be the unlikely answer to the #6 problem. Needs to work on his D, needs to run well, and hit good passes. Kicking game will be an advantage.

Micheal Luck - needs to keep building. A very basic player, he needs to keep working on the things that he obviously has been working on - the passing before the line, the offloading, and add things like adding the ability to run and attack a defensive gap and demand the ball and then execute the break. A couple of times this season he's got himself into a good position, but for whatever reason has fumbled. A clear example was against Parramatta, line was wide open, and possibly that cost the game.

Manu Vatuvei - the biggest make or break IMO. If he can get his handling on the ground right, he'll be great. If not, he could really start to get found out by classy halves. I fear for what the likes of Alfie Langer and Ricky Stuart may have done to him in their prime. Too good a player not to fix this part of his game up.

Wairangi Koopu - the final one for me, a big make or break. Why? Because I regard his 2005 form as... disappointing. Not really ever commented on because he's somewhat of a cult hero nowadays due to how underrated he once was, but this season he's been pretty poor for me. Low work rate ball in hand, not finding a lot of gaps, he needs to increase his work rate with ball in hand and his offloading skills.


Round 1 team, pending injuries, looms as

1 Wade McKinnon
2 Patrick Ah Van
3 Jerome Ropati
4 Tony Martin
5 Manu Vatuvei
6 Michael Witt
7 Grant Rovelli
8 Ruben Wiki
9 Nathan Fien
10 Steve Price (c)
11 Simon Mannering
12 Wairangi Koopu
13 Louis Anderson

Evarn Tuimavave
Lance Hohaia
Michael Luck
Sione Faumuina

I find Mannering's situation most disappointing out of that, given the excellence he's shown in establishing himself as our best first grade centre currently. It'd be a shame to lose him running rough shot on centres and five eighths who clearly aren't strong enough defensively to handle his size and fend.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Great thread boys

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Has tuakura resigned?

Yes

 

[Dr Crane]

What about Ropati as a lock?

 

[Fast Eddie]

He would be not much better than Luck, Anderson or Famiuwina or even Mannering.Well no one is better than Big Si.

I'd say Ropati will be a starting Centre next year.....until his defence gets shown up.

The Mannering situation is an interesting one, he is playing very well in the centres and looks like he could become a top quality centre but then again with even more work and ball in teh back row he could be even better there. You never know he could even dominate like he did for the good ol Nelson College 1st 13.;-)

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Yes

link?

Im not sure he has, there hasnt been anything on the warriors site or the nrl site. A link would be nice, and not just 'sunday paper' etc, link to the article? Not that i dont believe you, just if its official, then its for granted ;-)

 

[MKEB...]

I personally think all we lose with webb going is the extra five eighth, and speedy support player...I never rated him as a fullback, to often went high on players, giving away silly penalties and I found him constantly back peddling on the fifth tackle with the ball going over his head.

Ah Van looks more like a natural fullback than winger...makes his own luck and his confidence is growing. Will learn to run the support lines a bit better. Pity with McKinnon coming will end up on the wing..But then I would rather him on the wing than Byrne or Martin.

Mannering I'm hoping will stay in the centres, has flair pace and strength. I said earlier on in the year that he could be another Mccrackon, and I still think that. Dont waste in the second row for another few years yet please uncle Ivan. I cant wait to see him play against and run over Gasnier.

I dont think that Martin has the genuine pace or size for a center. Sure he hasnt really dissappointed this year, I think he would most likely end up in barter card next year with Ropo in trhe centers. I still find it amusing to think of the big F... off fend that he caght earlier this season. I also think that in the off season he could add another couple metres to the boot.

Jro....apart from f... off . His game has improved (slowly) will problably end up in the centres. I think that he is too small for a lock and doesnt have another dimension other than his step to be a five eightth. Needs to improve his sliding defence.

Vatuvei i can see being a real handful in defence as a centre.. alas he will stay on the wing. I would love to see him and mannering team up in a meninga/ wiki style centre pairing ...but alas not the case.
Needs to be kept confident at all times. I love that he is not afraid to try and burn opposite down the outside.

Rovelli is forming into a good player, will benefit from a bit more tutelage from Ives. I still dont think that we have sen the best of him. I am thinking another Scott prince. Needs to work more on a bullet pass than a floating pass. Could also benefit from anj extra bit of weight.

 

[byrne_rovelli_fan82]

Great post guys!

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

From all reports ive read, it seems that Cleary is positive about trying to get another winger. Looking at the list of wingers or could-be wingers off-contract......

Andrew Emelio
Trent Cutler
Leon Bott
Paul Stephenson
Chris Walker
David Seage
George Carmont
Lee Hookey
Joven Clarke
Todd Polglase
Michael Lett
Vince Mellars
Sam Perrett
Shane Elford

Are the wingers/could-be wingers still 'on the market' as it were.

 

[Phillips]

1. McKinnon
2. Ah Van
3. Martin/Ropati/Byrne
4. Mannering
5. Vatuvei
6. Witt (GK)
7. Rovelli
8. Price
9. Fien
10. Price (C)
11. Koopu
12. Anderson
13. Faumuina

14. Hohaia/Gatis
15. Luck
16. Rapira/Lauaki
17. Tuimavave

 

[LeagueNut]

From all reports ive read, it seems that Cleary is positive about trying to get another winger. Looking at the list of wingers or could-be wingers off-contract......

Andrew Emelio
Trent Cutler
Leon Bott
Paul Stephenson
Chris Walker
David Seage
George Carmont
Lee Hookey
Joven Clarke
Todd Polglase
Michael Lett
Vince Mellars
Sam Perrett
Shane Elford

Are the wingers/could-be wingers still 'on the market' as it were.

Weren't there rumours floating around a while ago that Michael Lett was already in our sights? (Is he the Rooster??)

From that list though, I'd target David Seage. He'd be a solid pick-up if he was over his injury problems.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Weren't there rumours floating around a while ago that Michael Lett was already in our sights? (Is he the Rooster??)
.

Yes, as mentioned in an earlier post.

I think Seage may be out of our price range i think.

I'd be looking at either Lett or Perrett, with that said Chris Walker would be great value if we can get him on the same sort of contract that Melbourne have him this season

 

[Lego_Man]

Chris Walker would contravene any sort of "no dickheads" policy that the warriors may have in place. Plus having cost the Roosters 2 premierships he comes with a lot of baggage that we dont really need. I say go for the young 'un and try and develop him a la Brent Webb.