I'm worried

[JJ]

If I start agreeing with Rattue, something really f**ked up must be wrong...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/warriors-league-team/news/article.cfm?c_id=360&objectid=11699986

The Rio glow will last a long time, but normal sports service is resuming which means the Olympics are taking their place among the usual suspects.

Which leads to the following medley.

1) Don't try telling me that Andrew McFadden is as safe as houses.

His position as Warriors coach HAS to come under scrutiny again, in a season falling short of expectations.

By some miracle, the Warriors are still a decent shot to make the NRL top eight finals despite horrible recent outings against South Sydney and North Queensland.

They trail the Gold Coast Titans by three points with only two rounds remaining. But the Warriors have very winnable home matches against the Tigers and Eels, while the eighth-placed Titans face the highly rated Panthers and Cowboys.

HOWEVER...even if the Warriors do make the eight, it should not obscure their failure to live up to potential and expectations.


Until the ball gets to Shaun Johnson, there's a notable lack of creativity...and that's just one of many problems.

There are so many questions that need answering, including.-

1) Why is Ben Matulino's form erratic? He should be the Warriors' version of Storm powerhouse Jesse Bromwich.

2) Is David Fusitua a centre, wing or fullback. It's hard to tell.

3) Is Tui Lolohea a wing, centre, fullback or five-eighth...or first grader?

4) How will the relatively delicate Johnson cope when the combative Thomas Leuluai - whose charges to the defensive line make the space for him - returns to England at the end of this season.

5) Why is a club which should be top four contenders a lot of the time in a mid-table muddle yet again.

Stay tuned, especially if the Warriors fail to make the eight. Debate about the club's direction needs to take place, either way.

 

[Dr Crane]

Rattue is not as much of a prick as he writes. He writes to provoke a reaction. This one sure gets one out of me.

Matulino should go. I have no use for part-timers. We already have a fullback, if anyone remembers those five seconds he played for us? Johnson will struggle if Ata can't tackle.

The Warriors seem to be an echo chamber and shitheads like me who still support them won't change that without a really furious, unforgiving cleanout. If Wellington or Christchurch get admitted to the NRL we're going to become a second-fiddle and not a good one at that.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Yeah...I used to work in his industry, he's actually a very learned person when it comes to sport. But he gets more clicks, more reaction and more revenue as a by-product. It's how Mark Watson continues to keep a job in an industry he sucks at.

Haha at Dr Crane labelling himself a shithead for supporting our rabble on and on. Feels that way doesn't it?

 

[Meth]

ha.

I actually had the same reaction.

 

[Rich102]

Rattue is not as much of a prick as he writes. He writes to provoke a reaction. This one sure gets one out of me.

Matulino should go. I have no use for part-timers. We already have a fullback, if anyone remembers those five seconds he played for us? Johnson will struggle if Ata can't tackle.

The Warriors seem to be an echo chamber and shitheads like me who still support them won't change that without a really furious, unforgiving cleanout. If Wellington or Christchurch get admitted to the NRL we're going to become a second-fiddle and not a good one at that.

I agree with you in principal. However as Johnson and Hingano will defend on opposite sides of the field this isn't an issue. BTW Hingano has good defence.

Would be a real shame to lose Ben. The most capable of our forwards. Better we get a coach who can motivate him.
On this point - I think below par performances from Ben and Simon are a symptom of below par effort from others in the squad. Why put in a big effort when others are coasting?

Surely Cappy must see this lack of effort at training.

 

[Meth]

Matulino should go.

Seems a bit like slaughtering your best egg laying hen because the farmer is neglecting to collect the eggs.

Don't ask me why that was the first analogy that came to mind.

 

[Meth]

I think we are all a bit confused by this season.

What impact did those key injuries have on the season? Was it disproportionate?

Are we any closer to settling on long term positions for Fusitua and Lolohea?

Could McFadden actually become a decent coach? Or decent enough to win with the cattle he's been given? (I suspect not, sadly)

Is the Doyle sheen starting to wear off?

 

[Meth]

I agree with you in principal. However as Johnson and Hingano will defend on opposite sides of the field this isn't an issue. BTW Hingano has good defence.

Would be a real shame to lose Ben. The most capable of our forwards. Better we get a coach who can motivate him.
On this point - I think below par performances from Ben and Simon are a symptom of below par effort from others in the squad. Why put in a big effort when others are coasting?

Surely Cappy must see this lack of effort at training.

What about when Ben's performances are below par and Simon's effort is through the roof?

 

[Meth]

I am a big Matulino fan and I have been disappointed by his effort this season. But his poor effort is generally still a relatively tidy prop's performance. I get it- he should be in the Bromwich/Graham/Scott league.

 

[Izz]

Seems to me that Matulino has been phoning it in since old mate Packer got shown the door

 

[Meth]

Seems to me that Matulino has been phoning it in since old mate Packer got shown the door

Last year's POD FWIW

After 26 rounds

Matulino 29.24
Mannering 16.2
Hoffman 11.82
Johnson 11.8
Lillyman 8.68
Friend 7.26
Lolohea 6.48
Townsend 6.06
Tomkins 6.02
Vete 6.02
Vatuvei 5.27
Thompson 5.0
Wright 4.53
Lisone 3.49
Kata 3.17
Gubb 2.92
Faitala-Mariner 2.74
Rapira 1.47
Ikahihifo 1.4
Maumalo 1.14
Allwood 0.77
Leuluai 0.73
Lino 0.57
Fusitua 0.5
Hurrell 0.29
Lousi .09
Havili 0.07

Final standings.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Seems to me that Matulino has been phoning it in since old mate Packer got shown the door

He was player of the year last year. Think he averaged 155m a game. So I dunno about that.

I've posted this in other threads but he was absolutely dicked around minutes and use wise by Andrew McEMouse at the start of this year. I think he was named on-field in round one only to be benched (?). His minutes went from bugger all to basically 80 then back down again. So I don't really blame him for looking disinterested. Probably sick as shit of missing finals too, and has more of a propensity to drop his lip than a Mannering does.

 

[Meth]

I still think McFadden has Lillyman and Matulino the wrong way around.

Start Matulino. Bring in Lillyman off the bench.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

What impact did those key injuries have on the season? Was it disproportionate? Not particularly more so or less than anyone else as far as I'm concerned. The Silly Six thing doesn't count, and the fact we've used 33 players is as much to do with tinkering and uncertainty as it is injury.

Are we any closer to settling on long term positions for Fusitua and Lolohea? Nope. Definitely not on the latter. In fact we're further away than we were 2 years ago. Fus, even him we're not sure whether he'll be a centre or wing. I suspect it should be wing but he's not playing there now.

Could McFadden actually become a decent coach? Or decent enough to win with the cattle he's been given? (I suspect not, sadly) Maybe in 2-3-4 years time. To be fair to him, he was appointed before he was ready and worked apprenticeships to a below average coach. But the last year of his contract is next year and I'm certain he's not ready to lead us to top 4. We're MILES off that. All the mentors in the world won't change that.

Is the Doyle sheen starting to wear off? We'll know by November or so, I reckon. He needs to sort the coaching thing out (especially if we miss the finals), we need a big name prop (Vaughan, Moa etc) and sort out the Foran/Gillett whoever situation. So nah I don't think so yet, he's still a quality administrator but it will be interesting to see what he's been doing behind the scenes in terms of screening coaches

 

[Meth]

Injuries to RTS and Luke have been massively disadvantageous in a way that injuries to Ayshford or Thompson wouldn't have been.

But that's football.

 

[Blair]

Last year's POD FWIW

After 26 round...
...
Kata 3.17.

One of McFaddon's success stories, Kata will bounce up that list for 2016.

We missed him so much last week versus Cowboys.

 

[Diesel]

Injuries can't be used as an argument in your favour as every club knows the risks of contact football. Some clubs prepare and train better than others

 

[VillaTheGorilla]

Injuries can't be used as an argument in your favour as every club knows the risks of contact football. Some clubs prepare and train better than others

I will respectfully disagree sir.
I'm only speaking specifically about our team, but to have your star recruit injured for 75% of the year, and your other star missing for around 30% is gunna stuff you up big time. A fit RTS and Luke for 85% of the yearwould have given us ateast 2 or 3 wins difference, but the reshuffling has been the biggest thing for us this year. If RTS is fit, we never have the whole 'where do we put Tui' issue, with either Tui staying at centre, or switching to wing once Fusitua became fit.

But to be honest, we had a terrible start to the year and really created our own destiny.

A loss against the Cowboys was expected, and IMO the Rabbitohs playing the way they are atm are a top 4 side, so to lose to them in hindsight, isn't really surprising.

 

[JJ]

most teams have their sob stories with injuries across the season tbh, it's a given that people will get hurt, we cannot claim to be any worse off

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

Ben might be carrying a niggle. Pure speculation for his average performance this year. He seemed to link well with Luke on a few hit ups so it'll be interesting if that becomes a highlight for us when Luke returns. He also went well at 2nd row last year, it'll be interesting to see if thats where his best performances came out of in 2015..

Were all worried now. Like I said before, every weeks a grand final, hope the team is treating it like that too.