General Warriors/NRL Stuff (during Covid-19 break)

[Penrose Warrior]

I just wanna see footy - as long as the players are safe.

No crowds really doesn't bother me, although it does lessen the product. I'd probably go back to my old days of watching most of the games every weekend, as opposed to now where I watch us - and even then I don't bother sometimes.

 

[Blair]

I just wanna see footy - as long as the players are safe.

No crowds really doesn't bother me, although it does lessen the product. I'd probably go back to my old days of watching most of the games every weekend, as opposed to now where I watch us - and even then I don't bother sometimes.

It all seems so tightly wound though, imagine them all there at Homebush, everything hunky dori, then a player tests positive to Covid-19.

We'll find out tomorrow what's in the pipeline. I'll get on board, despite the misgivings. Weekends without it are untenable. I'm cold and bored.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

May 21st earmarked as the start date, the 2 rounds already played count, 15 round regular season with everyone playing each other once then a full finals series plus Origin

Best that could be hoped for if they pull that off

 

[Penrose Warrior]

It all seems so tightly wound though, imagine them all there at Homebush, everything hunky dori, then a player tests positive to Covid-19.

We'll find out tomorrow what's in the pipeline. I'll get on board, despite the misgivings. Weekends without it are untenable. I'm cold and bored.

Yeah that's obviously a big issue. From what I'm seeing in Australia - and absolutely granted I'm not there - it seems like it's a lot more fast and loose in terms of the rules and levels being applied. A lot of the language seems to be 'encouraged to', 'urged' etc whereas here we're in lockdown and told what not to do. Of course, very few Australians will be told.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Yeah that's obviously a big issue. From what I'm seeing in Australia - and absolutely granted I'm not there - it seems like it's a lot more fast and loose in terms of the rules and levels being applied. A lot of the language seems to be 'encouraged to', 'urged' etc whereas here we're in lockdown and told what not to do. Of course, very few Australians will be told.

that’s a fair assessment. Everything in NZ seems both stricter and more clearly defined.

 

[Blair]

They're extra-eager for Origin because of the 'forty-year' anniversary. A marketing opportunity that can't be missed!

And the Warriors want to bring family over with the players. Can you imagine being stuck in a hotel room for months, with 'mum and the kids'?

 

[Big Marn]

im a little over this family business. i think they need to grow up and be big boys.
And its been such a media beatup about the sacrifices they made when they stayed behind for the second game in Australia. They have been on road trips to Aussie before where they stayed another week due to a short turnaround to the next game. No mention of sacrifices back then were there?
They need to harden up. Do they want to put food on their kids plates or not? Maybe thats why the Warriors have won jack shit. Its that soft underbelly showing itself yet again. /rant off.

 

[Blair]

The NRL reportedly didn't bother to consult the NSW Health Minister over plans for a May 28th restart. Let's presume they intend to do so, eventually.

 

[LeagueNut]

Maybe the NRL will restart on May 28th, maybe it'll be a bit later. Maybe we'll have two conferences going or maybe they'll all play each other once. Maybe the Warriors will have their family there, maybe they won't. The only thing we really know is that the season will obviously be much shorter.

The way I see it, the Warriors basically have a free pass. Nobody expected much this year anyway and now they face having to play all of their games in Australia away from their home base and supporters.

I genuinely hope Kearney & his crew say "f**k it, just get out there and have fun". Throw away the game plans, structures, "process", etc. Play like they have absolutely nothing to lose, because they really don't. Sure it may end up as even more of a flaming wreck but it still feels like a risk worth taking.

 

[Meth]

im a little over this family business. i think they need to grow up and be big boys.
And its been such a media beatup about the sacrifices they made when they stayed behind for the second game in Australia. They have been on road trips to Aussie before where they stayed another week due to a short turnaround to the next game. No mention of sacrifices back then were there?
They need to harden up. Do they want to put food on their kids plates or not? Maybe thats why the Warriors have won jack shit. Its that soft underbelly showing itself yet again. /rant off.

nah.

The ‘media beat up’ about the Warriors staying on was a bit over the top. They did however commit to an indefinite, unplanned stay in Australia to keep the competition going. Meaningful and not a small sacrifice. Not the same at all as a planned 2-week trip.

Also, I reject the idea that because they are professionals, they should shut up and accept whatever costs come their way to “put food on the table”. That’s not growth and professionalism. My employer would have no right to ship me off to live apart from my kids for 6 months (and I have a high travel component to my job) and if they suggested it, family relocation would be assumed before we even sat down at the table to talk about it.

We want the Warriors to be more professional- well, it starts with the administration treating them like professionals.

 

[Rich102]

OK. Let's go a step further.
Now is a good time to evaluate the performance of the NRL administration.
Beaver makes a good point on another thread here and one that I agree with; the football is not as attractive to watch as it was.
The NRL has turned it into a "marketing package". A product that they can sell - not to the public but to broadcasting and sponsors.
The revelation that Channel 9 has accused the NRL of gross mismanagement, as well as squandering the tv revenues, cannot come as a great surprise.
Gone are the administrators with league history; Quale, Arthurson etc. Hello the opportunists Todd Greenburg et al.
All the recent changes to the game: increased interchanges, video bunker, two refs, no physicality don't make for a better game for the public.
Likewise the salary cap was intended to make the competition a level playing field. If this is the case let the players be contracted to the NRL and paid by them. Then each club can have their quota policed by the NRL.

Back to the current situation.
As I see it the Warriors decided to stay on in Australia for an additional two weeks when the lockdown here made free travel between the countries impossible. At that time two players had already headed home and the rest were making noises about following. Fair enough.
Then the NRL issued a statement about player payments for the 2020 season and a 75% reduction in payments. Suddenly the players wanted to return to playing. Not surprising. Did they think they would be paid their full contracts for sitting at home? (There was also a major flaw in the proposed payment structure. The first $60,000 should have been paid to all. They all have to live.)
Not only do the players want to return they also want their partners and children to go with them. This will cause major problems. The lockdown will cause stress. How good is a crying baby in the middle of the night going to be? What happens if a partner wants to return to NZ? Who is going to pay the travel costs and costs of quarantine in NZ? Plus I think it would be bad for children.

There are going to risk to lives involved in an early resumption of the NRL It is not worth it.
Better the NRL and clubs spend time sorting out their problems ahead of a full resumption when it is safe.

We have a great game with proud traditions. We are letting clowns destroy it.

 

[Fufu Andronez]

Better the NRL and clubs spend time sorting out their problems ahead of a full resumption when it is safe.

We have a great game with proud traditions. We are letting clowns destroy it.

They Need to put everyone at risk in order to have a future. Otherwise all the lights will go off in the joint forever

 

[Penrose Warrior]

im a little over this family business. i think they need to grow up and be big boys.
And its been such a media beatup about the sacrifices they made when they stayed behind for the second game in Australia. They have been on road trips to Aussie before where they stayed another week due to a short turnaround to the next game. No mention of sacrifices back then were there?
They need to harden up. Do they want to put food on their kids plates or not? Maybe thats why the Warriors have won jack shit. Its that soft underbelly showing itself yet again. /rant off.

Couldn't possibly disagree more.

I don't think you get the context of the staying on in Australia either. They didn't know when they were going to come back. It wasn't one week when they headed over - it could have been many more.

I'm a father, and the potential of not seeing my girls for months on end is not fathomable. And if I'm an NRL player, I didn't sign up to that. If I become a FIFO worker, then I know the score.

A lot of them will do it for the pay cheque, but with a heavy heart. The single guys, no real issue. But you're asking guys who have never had to do so, to be away from their families for big extended periods. Money doesn't make that easier. Yes they'll do it, but the harden up message I reckon is way off the mark. You can still be on $800k and be sad. Money doesn't lie in bed with you at night.

 

[Blair]

...The NRL has turned it into a "marketing package". A product that they can sell - not to the public but to broadcasting and sponsors...We have a great game with proud traditions. We are letting clowns destroy it.

It's been there since 1998, as most of us know. They fought a 'war' to save it, from the Murdoch marauders.

Twenty two years now. I wouldn't mind a new start, somewhere, somehow. I look at my favourite year - 1991 - and see all that marvelous, open-running, back play, and those tough, but mobile forwards.

One of the reasons I spent so much time supporting our NSW Cup side is that they often reminded me of the 'good ol' days', as per above. I was always less of a fan at Warriors first grade games, post-2011.

 

[hitro]

If the Warriors did play some games in May or sometime relatively soon, could they get Sonny Bill on a short term contract? He would certainly add some creativity and flair where we have next to nothing currently. Are there any other good players hanging round in NZ not playing? Laumape is another who springs to mind

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I really don't rate Cameron George at all anymore.

I get that the Warriors have a vested interest in the comp restarting with everyone on zero points. I get why Politis wants the same for the Roosters. Their interests are not in fairness, but getting the best deal for their respective teams.

But to state that publicly, it actually pisses me off as a fan. Nah. You had months to prepare for this season, to be better than the filth we produced last year. And we were absolutely atrocious against the Knights. f**king woeful. At that stage, no one knew what we were facing. OK the Raiders game, some sort of sympathy can be had there. That wasn't ideal at all. But if a reporter asks you the question, just play it off. Say we might deserve some sort of rebalance for the fact we lost a home game. Stop making excuses for the other shit - ie we're 0-2 because we're a f**king hopeless football side who can't score points. I keep hearing that this guy is hard on things (generally from himself) then he makes excuses, like when he launched that absolutely incredibly embarrassing idea to have fans turn up in referee gear with whistles last year. Now he tells someone today that it'll be very hard in a shortened comp to make finals. Well yeah, it will be - because you lost two games. I imagine a few teams who presented better for the start of the season will find it easier.

 

[Blair]

Yes, Rich, we were atrocious. Within a whisker of zero points atrocious. Even that escape was by penalty try.

It's mid-April, we assumed Kearney would've been gone by round eight, in a couple of weeks. What a disaster this virus is.

 

[Fufu Andronez]

I really don't rate Cameron George at all anymore.

I get that the Warriors have a vested interest in the comp restarting with everyone on zero points. I get why Politis wants the same for the Roosters. Their interests are not in fairness, but getting the best deal for their respective teams.

But to state that publicly, it actually pisses me off as a fan. Nah. You had months to prepare for this season, to be better than the filth we produced last year. And we were absolutely atrocious against the Knights. f**king woeful. At that stage, no one knew what we were facing. OK the Raiders game, some sort of sympathy can be had there. That wasn't ideal at all. But if a reporter asks you the question, just play it off. Say we might deserve some sort of rebalance for the fact we lost a home game. Stop making excuses for the other shit - ie we're 0-2 because we're a f**king hopeless football side who can't score points. I keep hearing that this guy is hard on things (generally from himself) then he makes excuses, like when he launched that absolutely incredibly embarrassing idea to have fans turn up in referee gear with whistles last year. Now he tells someone today that it'll be very hard in a shortened comp to make finals. Well yeah, it will be - because you lost two games. I imagine a few teams who presented better for the start of the season will find it easier.

If we are playing a shortened competition eg 13 rounds or 15 or whatever, then everyone should start from zero.

Yeah it will be shit for the teams that won in round 1 and 2 but lets face facts, if we are resuming with a shortened season, altered rounds, no home games, no crowds, no rep rounds, salary cap dispensation then the goalposts have changed and we have a new and totally different competition for 2020. You cannot say we are playing the same NRL competition as years gone by. And yes whoever wins the comp will have the worlds biggest asterisk next to them.

If the points are to stand, then we need to find a way to get the remaining 24 or whatever rounds are left, played.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

The competition was never canceled, it was suspended, the points stay and rightly so

If the setup is everyone plays everyone once then it’s a no brainer that the points stay and you play the remainder

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The competition was never canceled, it was suspended, the points stay and rightly so

If the setup is everyone plays everyone once then it’s a no brainer that the points stay and you play the remainder

Yep the only problem would be if some teams had already played each other twice and even NRL scheduling isn’t THAT geniused.
We get a slight disadvantage by being down a home game but that can be rectified by giving us an extra one if home games ever restart.