James Gavet

[Iron Lion]

Credit where credit is due. This guy has stepped up when nobody else could and become the warriors bully enforcer. This guy is one bad hombre and he has the opposition looking twice at him ball in hand and on defense. He just looks bigger as well, every play he has bad intentions, kind of like Akira Ionone in rugby union.

Gavet needs to be resigned, he is hard as nails and he offers a punch we have lacked for well over 2 to 3 seasons now in our forwards.

Also, I swear that Kearney has in-planted a heart in this warriors team. I had been a doubter of his but to be honest, I could of sworn I was watching a Manly seas eagles or Melborne Storm team on defense tonight. That was all heart and it has been so so long, maybe years, long years since I saw a Warriors side with heart like that. Sure it took a penalty to save us but I actually feel that the coach is getting somewhere with this team. Give him some real cattle to work with and I think we might get a few teams more than nervous.

Lastly, is Foran a tad overhyped?, he is good but not sure he is the be all and end all of NRL halves.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I agree with the lion (apart from the Foran bit), I feel dirty.

Also Lion have you changed your tune on Mannering yet? He's been immense lately. Those aggressive ball and all tackles, he's worth 6 points a game easily. Only tinr I've seen him beaten was when NAS monstered over from close range the other week.

 

[JJ]

nah, clearly we have a 2/3 worse chance of winning when Mannering is playing

 

[Iron Lion]

I agree with the lion (apart from the Foran bit), I feel dirty.

Also Lion have you changed your tune on Mannering yet? He's been immense lately. Those aggressive ball and all tackles, he's worth 6 points a game easily. Only tinr I've seen him beaten was when NAS monstered over from close range the other week.

I agree Mannering has been playing very strong and has been the standout on defense and leading with the heart in the team - though I still believe he limits us on offence and needs to run better lines and towards gaps.

I believe the Warriors have tried to create their own Richie McCaw legend in Mannering but he simply doesn't provide on offense to have such a comparison.

If you play Hoffman and Thompson beside him then we flat out are one dimensional and struggle making any ground through the middle and on the edges - that still very much hurts us and once again could of cost us the game yesterday if not for a fortunate penalty then we would of loss.

Having a Pulu, Harris and Gavet who punch holes in the line makes playing Mannering on attack more bearable. I am more than happy to keep Mannering if we can add these bigger guys into our 2nd row rotation.

 

[Meth]

Yep, credit to Gavet- he has really stepped up when he needed a Matulino (or, as Lion puts it, a 'punch'), and Vete and Gubb weren't doing the trick. He's maintained a degree of consistency that has been missing in his career up till this point.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

i reckon he will get another contract but im sure they just want to see how he handles week in week out.

 

[jamaman]

i reckon he will get another contract but im sure they just want to see how he handles week in week out.

He kinda said that on tv ..

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I agree Mannering has been playing very strong and has been the standout on defense and leading with the heart in the team - though I still believe he limits us on offence and needs to run better lines and towards gaps.

I believe the Warriors have tried to create their own Richie McCaw legend in Mannering but he simply doesn't provide on offense to have such a comparison.

If you play Hoffman and Thompson beside him then we flat out are one dimensional and struggle making any ground through the middle and on the edges - that still very much hurts us and once again could of cost us the game yesterday if not for a fortunate penalty then we would of loss.

Having a Pulu, Harris and Gavet who punch holes in the line makes playing Mannering on attack more bearable. I am more than happy to keep Mannering if we can add these bigger guys into our 2nd row rotation.

I agree that the Mannering, Hoffman and Thompson combo isn't right but Mannering is the first one I'd keep of the three. Thompson is the weak link IMO and the one I'd trade out.

Also reckon Simon would do more on attack if he wasn't tackling himself to a standstill. And he still makes a lot of metres, he outran any other forward by 40m+ yesterday.

 

[Iron Lion]

I agree that the Mannering, Hoffman and Thompson combo isn't right but Mannering is the first one I'd keep of the three. Thompson is the weak link IMO and the one I'd trade out.

Also reckon Simon would do more on attack if he wasn't tackling himself to a standstill. And he still makes a lot of metres, he outran any other forward by 40m+ yesterday.

I agree completely with you. Out of those three Mannering is the guy to keep. Hoffman tries his heart out and he runs better lines than any of the backrowers but he has older legs and less power to charge though, he wants it bad to make a difference though and thats what I like about him.

Thompson seems to have the best vision but he is neither a back or neither a forward type player, if he was more explosive like Manu Mau (similar size I guess) then he would flourish but he isnt making a difference in any games we play.

That leaves Mannering, Physically perfect, best defensive player in our squad and huge heart. Your point is fair, about his work load probably impacting his ball carrying impact. Also doesn't help having guys like Lisone coming on each week and dropping the ball so often as they probably makes him play more conservative. Actually I am suprised Lisone is getting such as extended run, I dont see a lot of quality in his perfomances yet except for his first 1 or 2 runs.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

i reckon he will get another contract but im sure they just want to see how he handles week in week out.

Absolutely. Matagi flew onto the scene in 2013 and couldn't handle the week to week, and faded badly. It happens.

But for now, I love me some Gavet. Exactly what a Warriors prop should be.

 

[JJ]

I agree completely with you. Out of those three Mannering is the guy to keep. Hoffman tries his heart out and he runs better lines than any of the backrowers but he has older legs and less power to charge though, he wants it bad to make a difference though and thats what I like about him.

Thompson seems to have the best vision but he is neither a back or neither a forward type player, if he was more explosive like Manu Mau (similar size I guess) then he would flourish but he isnt making a difference in any games we play.

That leaves Mannering, Physically perfect, best defensive player in our squad and huge heart. Your point is fair, about his work load probably impacting his ball carrying impact. Also doesn't help having guys like Lisone coming on each week and dropping the ball so often as they probably makes him play more conservative. Actually I am suprised Lisone is getting such as extended run, I dont see a lot of quality in his perfomances yet except for his first 1 or 2 runs.

WTF, Mannering love?? Weird

Thompson is just not that good, that's his fundamental problem

 

[SpaceMonkey]

WTF, Mannering love?? Weird

I know right? Shows how good Mannering is at the moment. But credit to the Lion for recognising it.

 

[vvvrulz]

But credit to the Lion for recognising it.

Disagree.

Mannering could be doing the exact same thing he is now, but if we were getting plundered like previous seasons Lion would be calling for his head.

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

Gavet stats comparison to Lillyman, Vete and Afoa for 2017 so far.
http://m.nrl.com/statistics/playercomparison/tabid/11483/default.aspx

 

[legs 11]

Gavet is the number one prop alright, big strong and tough....your right the opposition is starting to look out for him..... on his form i would have had him in the kiwis ahead of the jailbird thug....

 

[Iron Lion]

Disagree.

Mannering could be doing the exact same thing he is now, but if we were getting plundered like previous seasons Lion would be calling for his head.

Not accurate because I have been seeing a considerable improvement over the last month of football from this team even with losses that I am feeling quite optimistic.

My argument has always been that for quite a while Mannering has had more of a negative impact on our attacking structures giving his pivotal role in our sets going forward. When you team him up with Hoffman, Thompson, Lillyman and Afoa then we look very predictable and make very little dynamic go forward. It has been no surprise that previously when Mannering has been out of the warriors through injury they has been an uptake in better Warriors attack. The team tends to take the blinders off and express themselves - its been easy to see that with Mannering out the team does seem to play with a little more freedom.

This season I have seen a gradual change in how Mannering is playing ball in hand. He seems to be more focused on getting an greater tactical outcome rather than looking to just win the collision - that has to be Kearneys influence as a former 2nd rower. This has been evident particularly over the last month of football.

As I have stated, I still feel he is an undeveloped attacker and could learn a thing or two from Hoffman on how to run sharper lines. Again I do believe that Steven Kearney is having a positive influence on Mannering and this team and I am more than happy and willing to eat humble pie going forward.

I still want to be clear on this one fact - the warriors have fabricated their own legend in Simon Mannering. It is pure genius marketing to keep the faith with the supporter base - and it is clearly designed to give Rugby League at MT Smart its own Richie McCaw. When a club fails to make the finals so consistency the one thing to give the fans to fall back on is the constant fighter which Mannering is. You create legends to keep fans buying tickets merchandise and coming back.

Mannering, Johnson, Vatuvei (even less now) and Foran is the warriors marketing bread and butter. This is a business, never forget that.

 

[Iron Lion]

Gavet is the number one prop alright, big strong and tough....your right the opposition is starting to look out for him..... on his form i would have had him in the kiwis ahead of the jailbird thug....

The last time I saw opposition players looking twice at any of our players was Matulino pre-shoulder charge ban era. Gavet is doing it now on pure brutality. He is no gimmicks this kid. He simply wants to be a bad ass and he is playing the part perfectly.

For me he currently is our No 1 Prop. I am hoping/expecting Tofofoa Sipley joins him.

 

[jaseg]

Gavet is the number one prop alright, big strong and tough....your right the opposition is starting to look out for him..... on his form i would have had him in the kiwis ahead of the jailbird thug....

Probably, yeah. I want to see Gavet sustain it for a longer period before I fully buy into him, but he's been very, very good this year. Most of the annoying crap has been left out of his game, his defence looks totally transformed and he's running harder than ever.

But Packer shouldn't be in the Kiwis team at all. Personal stuff aside (which is a significant issue, I feel - dude went to jail for a year), I don't think he's the best NZ prop at his own club, and far from the top few available to the national side right now. Would much rather see Gavet in than Packer.

 

[JJ]

jase - my cursory look at the stats suggests Lillyman and Gavet have been relatively similar (perhaps Lillyman better) - if you have the interest might you give us the hot (and detailed) word?? No question Gavet has been great relative to expectations (so far) though

Agree on Packer - he's been solid, but one of a solid collective effort at the Storm - plus, I am all for second chances and all, but I can't help but wonder about the victims and their families... The Kiwis didn't HAVE to to pick him, plenty of options

 

[jaseg]

jase - my cursory look at the stats suggests Lillyman and Gavet have been relatively similar (perhaps Lillyman better) - if you have the interest might you give us the hot (and detailed) word?? No question Gavet has been great relative to expectations (so far) though

Lillyman's workrate has been slightly higher (not by much) on both attack and defense (not surprising that the balance is so similar either - they've played most of their minutes together). Gavet's metres per run is a little higher, but the main difference comes when looking at tries/linebreaks/assists, tackle breaks/offloads and errors/penalties. Gavet has significantly more of each (the errors/penalties thing is to be expected - often correlates with the other two groups, as long as it stays within an acceptable range it's fine).

There's a rundown of the middles we've used this year.

Essentially what makes Gavet look good is the combination of >40 minutes per game, the per minute workrate (mtr80, tk80), the decent mtr/r and good tackle break/offload numbers - ie. similar workrate to Lillyman, but more impact.