Hoffman to Warriors

[One Warrior]

Not unhappy with this signing, the club has been searching for somebody to fill the tough Aussie professional role filled by Campion, Price & Luck. Lowrie obviously was a flop, but Hoffman has been the forward leader at Melbourne and should fill this role well, I would say Mateo will be going now, although hopefully he may produce his best form for the rest of the year. Note it also announces that we can still sign high quality Australians after all our problems, the last one was Mateo? when we were going well and prior to that Tate.

 

[JJ]

While we are not short of back rowers, tbh most of what's been offered on field is shit... Mannering and to an extent Bukuya, the rest has been rather dire... they have been playing Peyroux in the back row, so that says something when the centres have been poor too (aside from Koni the Shorty St hero).

Strange move for me, but he is a quality player, a high quality one - more in the Price/Luck mould, and clearly a better player than Luck - hopefully a similar character too (indications seem to be he is a good pro, team man)...

Time will tell... not where I thought the obvious problems were (for me stand off, and a centre would have been the focus, and teaching our wingers the basics

 

[Izz]

Lowrie mark II, imo.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Lowrie mark II, imo.

:lol: Must not have watched much of either player to make that statement.

 

[Izz]

:lol: Must not have watched much of either player to make that statement.

Yeah, i've watched plenty of both player.

I know it's your policy to laugh at anybody who doesn't agree with you re signings, etc, but as always, time will tell. If he goes well, hooray!

 

[Fast Eddie]

Yeah, i've watched plenty of both player.

I know it's your policy to laugh at anybody who doesn't agree with you re signings, etc, but as always, time will tell. If he goes well, hooray!

In what way are they comparable in this situation, other then the fact they both came from the Storm and are Australian? Hoffman is an infinitely more talented player with a very good career behind him while Lowrie was/is a journeyman (who even struggled to get a contract despite being part of a grand final side) at best with no skills outside of defensive workload (if that). Go ahead.

 

[Izz]

Mate, don't have the time or desire to argue with you. Am supposed to be packing for overseas trip starting later today. If i spend too long on here the missus will give me a hiding :lol:

I'll stand by my opinion that i don't think Hoffman is as good as he's hyped up to be. As i said, if he goes well, then hooray! I certainly don't want any of our signings to perform poorly.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Mate, don't have the time or desire to argue with you. Am supposed to be packing for overseas trip starting later today. If i spend too long on here the missus will give me a hiding :lol:

I'll stand by my opinion that i don't think Hoffman is as good as he's hyped up to be. As i said, if he goes well, then hooray! I certainly don't want any of our signings to perform poorly.

Fair enough, but its because you don't really have a basis for an argument. To say he is Todd Mk II just smacks of making a very simple comparison based pretty much on the club they both came from and little about the actual players or ability.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

So who is going to get the chop

Mannering
Bakuya
Mateo
Ikahihifo
Henry
Lousi
Peyroux
Palavi

Im guessing its these 3

Won't be Palavi he's regarded as 'future captain' material. I think we'll see friend, mateo and someone like big Sam leave

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Fair enough, but its because you don't really have a basis for an argument. To say he is Todd Mk II just smacks of making a very simple comparison based pretty much on the club they both came from and little about the actual players or ability.

He's certainly no Todd, but he won't be elite outside of that Melbourne setup. He will however be a very good pickup for us.

 

[Fast Eddie]

The only way they'll be able to get rid of Mateo is by giving him the Inu treatment. And I don't think we should write off a player like Mateo yet personally.

 

[Fast Eddie]

He's certainly no Todd, but he won't be elite outside of that Melbourne setup. He will however be a very good pickup for us.

Yeah don't think anyone should be expecting him to be elite but he brings to the club what a lot of people are always asking for during these last losing seasons. 3 years is my only problem with it, 2 years would have been ideal.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

I don't mind it.
A bit surprised as its at an area that doesn't need strengthening. Would have thought other positions would have taken priority.
The guy has a class past, but can he keep it up?

All in all, if he performs better than what we have currently, it will be a success.

 

[JJ]

The only way they'll be able to get rid of Mateo is by giving him the Inu treatment. And I don't think we should write off a player like Mateo yet personally.

Yeah, the enigma that is Mateo...

Hopefully the competition will help him, but a back row of Hoffman, Mannering, Matulino, Mateo, Bukuya, Ihikahifo packs plenty of punch...

Not sure how anyone could compare a current SOO player (and quite possibly playing this year) and a recent Australian international to Todd Lowrie.

Hoffman's not Luke Lewis, but he's seriously good. I am a big fan of Luck and Campion, but he's a better footballer than them... and only 30, brings plenty imo...

Not the signing I expected, but I expect him to be good for the club... and tbg the halves have to do a better job of getting him, Bukuya and Mannering the ball at the right times... Townsend has showed signs of that with Mannering...

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

I can see us picking up Luke and maybe a centre (not world class)
Neilson to depart
Friend to retire/move on
Possibly Mateo to go?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Hoffman is an infinitely more talented player with a very good career behind him

Agree.

That's the issue - he's hardly set the world on fire this year. I'm not saying he won't be successful, and to be fair he's an eminently better pro than Nielsen is. Time will tell, and the three years is probably overkill but it's likely we had to offer him it to get him over the line.

So we know Friend will definitely go, Peyroux has to now but as someone said, I can't see them punting Palavi and Ikahihifo is now a starting option. Mateo is on contract until the end of 2016, yes?

 

[vvvrulz]

In what way are they comparable in this situation, other then the fact they both came from the Storm and are Australian? Hoffman is an infinitely more talented player with a very good career behind him while Lowrie was/is a journeyman (who even struggled to get a contract despite being part of a grand final side) at best with no skills outside of defensive workload (if that). Go ahead.

Gotta agree with Feddie on this one.
SuperLowrie is nowhere near the player Hoffman is.

I can see why they could be categorized together, they are similar style players however Hoffman is clearly superior.

He's not a bad buy like I said, but the real questions are 1) is he past it? 2) do we need him?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I think we can all agree this is a culture/professionalism thing as much as it is a playing ability thing.

Cappy and the rest of the staff have obviously targeted seasoned professionals, who will bring as much to the table off it and on it.

Throughout the squad, there's not many that scream leader. Tommy, Friend, Mannering and possibly Tomkins would be the main drivers of the professionalism.

 

[vvvrulz]

Throughout the squad, there's not many that scream leader. Tommy, Friend, Mannering and possibly Tomkins would be the main drivers of the professionalism.

Even in that lot there isn't one central figure that stands out as the iconic driver of the team.
Just the presence of someone like Steve Price alone was worth plenty.

Is Hoffman in that same league? Not quite.
He's probably more in the Michael Luck / Brent Tate league in that regard.

The more I think about it the more I like this signing.

 

[Rich102]

A back row of:
11. Hoffman
12. Matulino
13. Mannering
would tick the boxes for me. With Bukuya off the bench maybe.

Sam Lousi I used to rate. Just hasn't kicked on. Another chance to see him and Locke on SS2 Saturday.

I wonder if Hoffman was Cappy's idea? I wouldn't have thought another back rower was top of our wish list. Still I guess we can only sign what is available.

A big prop with a bit on angry would be my #1 target.

Luke would be nice but I wouldn't mind seeing how Havili goes. Could surprise a few people.

We should see a bit of a clean-out at the end of the season.