Epalahame Lauaki

[Murphdogg1]

I wonder what peoples thoughts are on his play this year

I went to the game today and he was simply outstanding, we were down 16-0 and he came on the field and set up a try and then scored 2 as the game went on, if he doesnt play, Warriors get lapped today in my opinion. He gives them that confidence.

He is playing himself into a Kiwi jersey at the end of the year for sure. His ability with ball in hand is amazing (much like his All Black brother) and his defense for a big man is quite remarkable, a few years ago he would shirt grab and had terrible fitness, now he is pushing for a starting position and his decision making such as when to throw the offload has improved out of sight.

He has to be one of the hardest players in the NRL to tackle so difficult to put on the ground.

Just for comparisons sake - if i was to pick between him and Pritchard for an NZ bench spot i'd take Lauaki hands down - Pritchard is a fantastic player but he makes plenty of brain explosions and his defense can be very suspect if he doesnt pull off the 'big hit', lots of shirt grabbing. Not meaning to rag on Pritchard as i think he is a great player too but Lauaki is on fire.

 

[Tom Ace]

I wonder what peoples thoughts are on his play this year

I went to the game today and he was simply outstanding, we were down 16-0 and he came on the field and set up a try and then scored 2 as the game went on, if he doesnt play, Warriors get lapped today in my opinion. He gives them that confidence.

He is playing himself into a Kiwi jersey at the end of the year for sure. His ability with ball in hand is amazing (much like his All Black brother) and his defense for a big man is quite remarkable, a few years ago he would shirt grab and had terrible fitness, now he is pushing for a starting position and his decision making such as when to throw the offload has improved out of sight.

He has to be one of the hardest players in the NRL to tackle so difficult to put on the ground.

Just for comparisons sake - if i was to pick between him and Pritchard for an NZ bench spot i'd take Lauaki hands down - Pritchard is a fantastic player but he makes plenty of brain explosions and his defense can be very suspect if he doesnt pull off the 'big hit', lots of shirt grabbing. Not meaning to rag on Pritchard as i think he is a great player too but Lauaki is on fire.

He is a weapon.

I was hoping he'd be struck down by the early onset of SARS at one stage during the game...It was the only thing that was going to stop him

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Lauaki was a huge difference out there. Went MIA in the 2nd half a bit but he is the mongrol on the bench every team needs

 

[Fast Eddie]

Lauaki is great of the bench. Still needs to get rid of the odd silly penalty. Was our most dangerous player today.

 

[tommytomlin]

Needs a more phonetic name, but I dig him.

 

[OVP]

I must admit i havent seen him play much at all. But today he was just awesome. What a player !! He was almost unstoppable, and that wonderful offload to McKinnon was utter class. Hang on to him Warriors, at ALL costs.

Put it this way, you guys are so good to watch, if the Roosters dont make the 8, I'll be supporting the Warriors all the way. Thanks for the best game ive ever seen since the Balmain vs Canberra Grand Final (in my opinion). Cheers lads and best of luck for the rest of the year

 

[Mal Meninga]

Always been impressed whenever I see him play along with Rapira but wondered why they've never taken their physical talent to the next level, glad to see they're developing this season.

 

[Fast Eddie]

We only signed him up for one more year not long ago.

 

[neeknitsuj]

He's a log.

 

[Murphdogg1]

I must admit i havent seen him play much at all. But today he was just awesome. What a player !! He was almost unstoppable, and that wonderful offload to McKinnon was utter class. Hang on to him Warriors, at ALL costs.

Put it this way, you guys are so good to watch, if the Roosters dont make the 8, I'll be supporting the Warriors all the way. Thanks for the best game ive ever seen since the Balmain vs Canberra Grand Final (in my opinion). Cheers lads and best of luck for the rest of the year

Certainly was a terrific game to go to! I think todays game shows what a small difference there is in this competition between the top sides and the bottom sides - Roosters playing far better over the last 4 or so weeks than say the Cowboys who are in 4th.

Going by that performance - it would be suprising if the Roosters arent in the hunt come finals time 08 - although they will miss Craig Wing - terrific footballer.

 

[JB]

Yeah he definitely was in rampaging form out there today.

The thing with Pritchard and SBW, is they display this sort of form on a regular basis. Once Lauaki shows this consistentcy then he'll be rated alongside them.

He's definitely heading in the right direction though!

 

[Big Mick]

The thing with Pritchard is they display this sort of form on a regular basis.

No he doesn't. If he did we wouldn't be last.

 

[petetheileet]

He is a grub, but also very lethal

 

[kia ora storm]

A good bench player who adds strong impact against tiring forwards.

I think the test for Lauaki will be to lengthen his game time and keep his intensity at a high level.

 

[Iafeta]

Agree with kia ora, lengthen his game time... plus his consistency. At the beginning of seasons he can tend to be very MIA, but come into his own as the season progresses. If he could get that glitch out of his game he'd be a regular international for New Zealand.

But today, he was world class.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

This thread is overrating him something awful

The best I can say for him is he's good enough to play first grade now whereas he wasn't really before

 

[Iafeta]

If I'm not mistaken Thierry, you were banging off about him before he even played first grade.

 

[Murphdogg1]

This thread is overrating him something awful

The best I can say for him is he's good enough to play first grade now whereas he wasn't really before

Youve got to be kidding me

Talk about holding a grudge against a player - look at his defensive improvement over the last 12 months - His ball carrying is exceptional how you can rate that as just first grade standard is beyond me

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

You're probably mistaken

I might've said "pick Hame, I know him from school" or something like that but it wasn't based on actually seeing him play

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Youve got to be kidding me

Talk about holding a grudge against a player - look at his defensive improvement over the last 12 months - His ball carrying is exceptional how you can rate that as just first grade standard is beyond me

He's been up and down this year alone. He's had a couple of rank shockers. Prior to this year he was below par as a first-grader.