Tony Kemp was back on RadioSport this morning. He was talking about the highest paid player at the warriors is Ben Matalino (which was a guess I gather).
He also said that the Australian players playing for the warriors have to be well paid, elsewise why else would you come to Auckland i.e. it doesn't offer the same lifestyle choices as in Oz, therefore the only way to keep WAGS happy was to pay heaps of cash.
Which is interesting. And as an Aussie living in NZ, I think quite true. The weather does suck unless you like constant rain and cold. And in Wellington you can add wind.
But anyway, Friend. We open up this season without him. And are absolute mud. He comes back, and the team starts to look better and now is winning games.
Co-incidence? Or are you seeing the necessity of having a good crisp dummy half pass when defences move up so quickly these days?
The Mara's, the Havilli's and maybe the Godinat's DO NOT HAVE the pass. They have a running game. TL might have the passing game and might be an option there.
Friend also make a kwazillion tackles every game. He has a classic, core hookers game.
He won't win a game, because he does not create opportunities and do the star work. But he creates the platform for those players to win games. New Zealand system does not seem to respect or appreciate the hard grafters in league. People want the shots, the steps and the runs.
In Oz, the grafter is far, far more respected than here I've noticed. Friend is an absolute case in point. The only real grafter respected here was Lucky.
Bloody annoying that our new best 13 is leaving at the end of the year. Man, is he playing well.
