Brent Webb to wear the White V?!

[carlnz]

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Brent Webb in line for Kiwis
23 July 2004
JOHN COFFEY

Australian-born fullback Brent Webb is likely to be included in the Kiwis team for the Tri-Nations rugby league series against the Kangaroos and Lions later this year.


New Zealand officials are preparing what they believe is an irrefutable case for Webb, 23, to be declared eligible to play for the Kiwis on three-year residency grounds.

Although Webb did not make his NRL debut for the New Zealand Warriors until April 2002, they contend he arrived in Auckland the previous September for pre-season training.

The Tri-Nations starts with New Zealand meeting Australia at North Harbour Stadium on October 16, before both teams travel to Britain for the rest of the double round- robin and final.

NZRL chairman Selwyn Pearson confirmed the move yesterday. He said Webb, who this week extended his Warriors contract until the end of 2007, is keen to play for his adopted country.

Daniel Anderson, the Kiwis and former Warriors coach who originally signed Webb from the Queensland Cup competition, said he was constantly on the lookout for players who were eligible "in regards to parentage, birth, and residency".

AdvertisementAdvertisement"I've just got to clarify what the eligibility guidelines are.

"I am interested in players who are eligible first and then available.

"There are plenty of blokes who have eligibility but unless they are available it's not worth it. In the past Timana Tahu and Willie Mason were eligible but didn't make themselves available," he said.

Regular Kiwis centre Nigel Vagana was switched to fullback for the Anzac test at Newcastle after young Karmichael Hunt opted for Queensland and Australia, and replacement David Vaealiki was injured.

An out-of-position Vagana suffered through a fumbling, forgettable night as Australia romped away to a 37-10 victory.

The Auckland-born Hunt, 17, moved to Brisbane five years ago and has enjoyed an outstanding debut season for the Brisbane Broncos. But he is regarded as a masterpiece in progress, with Rhys Wesser and Matt Bowen representing Queensland.

Meanwhile, the Kiwis are still short of options.

Vaealiki suffered a second, season-ending injury, and former international Motu Tony is now playing as a centre for lowly British Super League club Castleford.

"What annoys me is Karmichael Hunt had it whispered in his ear that one day he would play State of Origin and for Australia, yet the Queensland selectors recently said they also have Brent (Webb) in their sights," said Pearson.

"How many fullbacks do they want?

"If there were 10 fullbacks in Australia who were eligible for the Kiwis would they tell them all not to make themselves available to play for us?"

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Great, we give them Karmichael Hunt, and get Brent Webb in return :?

 

[Anonymous]

Would he make the team??? I would have hoped for some sort of a mixture of Robbie Paul/Latu/Betham/Faumuina/Ropati/Hohaia/Leuluai/Marshall in the 1, 6 and 9 jerseys.

 

[Anonymous]

oh yeah, and Motu

 

[ozbash]

i think sel is trying to tell the aussies (wayne bennett) something here.

webby hasnt got what it takes.

 

[carlnz]

IMO webby is bearly holding his place at the Warriors!! But if they want to select him so be it...I believe the Kiwis are a better attacking team the Kangaroos..but we are weak on D.....And webby is crap on D

 

[Skinner]

I like Webby, he's a nice young bloke and sometimes he plays great footy,
sometimes he plays very ordinary footy, and sometimes he plays absolute
crap footy.

I think we actually have fullbacks that are better than Brett. None of them
actually play for the Warriors - that's because they either had them, and let
them go, ala Daniel Floyd, or missed them completely e.g. Karmichael Hunt.

There does appear, still, do be a perchant to select key players from the
NZ team in the NRL........bad move, bad move.

Cheers
Skinner

 

[Iafeta]

I watched Daniel Floyd at the sevens after much raps on him; he seemed slow and not the player at all I expected. I wasn't overly surprised after witnessing him yet that he hasn't been picked up by the Warriors, or, that any other NRL club has lined him up, even an ESL club hasn't lined him up. That tells me something about his perceived ability to perform at the top level.

Motu Tony should never grace a Kiwis jumper again, Brent is an Australian but given Motu's hypocritical comments I have no doubts that Brent would fill the jersey with more team pride than individualistic Motu.

Brent is the #1 at the Warriors for a reason, he was ahead of Motu for a reason, that reason, he's a much better player.

Good on you Brent, question though bro, do you know the words to the haka? :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Motu never dropped a kick-off.

 

[Evil Homer]

Why do coaches decide because players have gone to England they cant play for NZ anymore?Ok Robbie Paul and Vainikolo did/will but theres Swain,Tony,Solomona and more that will do you a job at the end of the year.Why not pick them?

 

[Skinner]

I watched Daniel Floyd at the sevens after much raps on him; he seemed slow and not the player at all I expected. I wasn't overly surprised after witnessing him yet that he hasn't been picked up by the Warriors, or, that any other NRL club has lined him up, even an ESL club hasn't lined him up. That tells me something about his perceived ability to perform at the top level.

Motu Tony should never grace a Kiwis jumper again, Brent is an Australian but given Motu's hypocritical comments I have no doubts that Brent would fill the jersey with more team pride than individualistic Motu.

Brent is the #1 at the Warriors for a reason, he was ahead of Motu for a reason, that reason, he's a much better player.

Good on you Brent, question though bro, do you know the words to the haka? :lol:

Iafeta, c'mon man. We have both watched players who are outstanding
when playing sevens or nines but would not come near to playing
first grade. The converse is true as well. Players who excel at the 13 man
game do not often look good at the shortened game.

I don't know if you have ever seen Daniel Floyd playing Bartercard
or lower grade. He has speed, a posititional kicking game that is superb,
a conversion boot that is second to none, but most of all, he has
magnificent vision that is simply not seen at the Warriors. He was
dropped from the Warriors (by MrA) because his defence was perceived
to be weak and (according to MrA) was unable to improve it.

Trust me Iafeta, fullback behind a dodgy forward pack is the worst
possible spot on the paddock....but Daniel Floyd handles it with ease.

Cheers mate

Skinner

 

[Phillips]

Why do coaches decide because players have gone to England they cant play for NZ anymore?Ok Robbie Paul and Vainikolo did/will but theres Swain,Tony,Solomona and more that will do you a job at the end of the year.Why not pick them?

ive been wondering about that too, because theres a lot of good kiwis over thier at the moment i think players like Solomona, Vagana, Hape, Paul, Vainikolo, Lauititi, Talau etc etc would not look out of place in the kiwi jersey again....but one player who wont be playing for the kiwis ever again is Richard Swain, as he's retired from rep footy

 

[Iafeta]

I watched Daniel Floyd at the sevens after much raps on him; he seemed slow and not the player at all I expected. I wasn't overly surprised after witnessing him yet that he hasn't been picked up by the Warriors, or, that any other NRL club has lined him up, even an ESL club hasn't lined him up. That tells me something about his perceived ability to perform at the top level.

Motu Tony should never grace a Kiwis jumper again, Brent is an Australian but given Motu's hypocritical comments I have no doubts that Brent would fill the jersey with more team pride than individualistic Motu.

Brent is the #1 at the Warriors for a reason, he was ahead of Motu for a reason, that reason, he's a much better player.

Good on you Brent, question though bro, do you know the words to the haka? :lol:

Iafeta, c'mon man. We have both watched players who are outstanding
when playing sevens or nines but would not come near to playing
first grade. The converse is true as well. Players who excel at the 13 man
game do not often look good at the shortened game.

I don't know if you have ever seen Daniel Floyd playing Bartercard
or lower grade. He has speed, a posititional kicking game that is superb,
a conversion boot that is second to none, but most of all, he has
magnificent vision that is simply not seen at the Warriors. He was
dropped from the Warriors (by MrA) because his defence was perceived
to be weak and (according to MrA) was unable to improve it.

Trust me Iafeta, fullback behind a dodgy forward pack is the worst
possible spot on the paddock....but Daniel Floyd handles it with ease.

Cheers mate

Skinner

Mate, perhaps Daniel Floyd has speed compared to his Bartercard counterparts, but that is a massive jump to both NRL and International level. Trust me, he was being beaten by the length of the Auckland motorway by big, cumbersome premier league grade players. One who did stand up as far as potential Warriors goes was Robinson Godfrey, but Floyd completely and utterly disappointed me. Brent Webb played in the same tournament with tights on because of a thigh injury and would have gassed Daniel Floyd should they have been in the same pool quite easily.

I don't think Bartercard is the be all and end all, I think the top 5 players in Bartercard at any given time could make the jump and with work make it as an NRL player. Maybe 1/2 of those in any given year could be a potential international with the right work ethic. Success in Bartercard does not translate to NRL level. Just ask the likes of Shannon Stowers how hard the jump was, he found it exhausting just in 10 minute stints. Likewise with Evarn Tuimavave, he's maturing into an excellent player now but it took him 2 seasons or so to realise the fitness requirements of an NRL player.

Thierry, Motu's dropped more than kick offs in his career. Simple passes dropped was such an art of his he actually lists it on his CV as a skill.

Evil Homer, the reason a lot of Super League players don't get picked is two fold:-

A: Likewise to Bartercard, the difference in Super League to NRL is significant skill and fitness wise which is why average bench players in the NRL like Dennis Moran could be stars in Super League
B: They can't make it back in time to train properly for a mid season test.

There will be more Super League Kiwis this time around, provided their form is over and above the same form shown by the NRL Kiwis in a tougher competition. I'd expect Paul and Vainakolo to be certainties, I've heard Ali is going great guns (there's a case in point, not quite pulling off the big numbers this year in the NRL, a month later carving up Super League - difference in fitness and defensive skill over there). Same with say an Iafeta Paleaaesina, I think if he went to Super League he'd be a cult sensation beyond our wildest beliefs, whereas players work hard and stick with him here, I doubt the Super League forward packs would go with him for as long and would eventually cave in.

 

[Skinner]

Now, you see, that's the thing. Robinson stood out in the sevens but is playing
very, very ordinary footy in Bartercard and in college footy.

I'm certainly not saying that Bartercard is the be all, but outside of NJC (and
for NJC, read Jersey Flegg) it is the only gauge that we have in this country.
If I'm being really honest Bartercard would struggle to match Jim Beam Cup
in most cases.

It remains, though, that there are young fellows playing the game at a purely
local level that deserve a better opportunity......Daniel Floyd is one of those.

Cheers Mate,

Skinner

 

[carlnz]

Im sick of people that go on saying that we have no talent in the Bartercard....most of the people that say that have never seen a game or just watch on on tv...or in this case the sevens....

Their is so mauch talent it just hurts to see all the players go overseas #-o

 

[Iafeta]

Overseas? Yes I heard 100 odd players went, but how many of those are in this years first grade teams? Super League perhaps but thats a low grade of footy anyhow I mean Ali had 5 tries from 5 games didn't he? And how come Daniel Floyd isn't one of them? I know he makes tries etc in Bartercard, but remembering that Paleaaesina got 5 tries in 2 games there it just shows how super soft and brittle the defences and defence patterns really are. Its totally different to being a good NRL player.

Maybe we are losing players, thats inevitable and thats life, we at the Warriors just have to make sure we pick the best of the crop and deal with reality.

 

[Magpie Nick]

For NZ, I'd play Paul at Fullback, Hohaia at 5/8 and the best inform Hooker beit Latu or Betham or whoever.

 

[Earl]

Why would you want Webb playing fullback for NZ anyway :?

 

[Iafeta]

For NZ, I'd play Paul at Fullback, Hohaia at 5/8 and the best inform Hooker beit Latu or Betham or whoever.

Possible, but I'd most certainly go Ropati over Hohaia. I think Ropati is going to be a bit of a Kiwis sensation.

Much the same as Webb was in Maroons consideration Earl, he has speed, can bust the line, and can dominate a big game. His performances for instance against the Roosters and Broncos last year were unbelievable, even against the Broncos this year he went straight through them a few times. I think people are thinking too much of the Slater miss tackled in summarising his abilities, every player has a moment in their career they wish the ground would open and swallow them whole due to sheer embarrassment and that was Brent's.

 

[Skinner]

Iafeta, I am fine with Webby (and I think I called him Brett instead of Brent
earlier on - so apologies for that) playing number one for the Kiwis. The selector
should always pick the guy that he thinks is the very best for that particular
spot. If they think that Webby is the best fullback in this, or even outside, this
country then, they must stand or fall by that decision.

My thoughts are that there are better guys going around.

skinner