Lewis Brown -->> Penwiff

[Fast Eddie]

Theres no way I would keep Tai'i unless he stays for 100k or not much more than that. I'm sure he will get a few decent offers from elsewhere though, I reckon he will resign here though.

 

[hitman82]

The problem for any off contract backrower at the Warriors who hasn't cemented a spot is they are faced with the prospect of not playing first grade and also taking less money than they can get playing elsewhere.

Mateo, Mannering, Taylor are our certain starters/top 17. Behind them though we have massive depth and could afford to lose just about any of the others knowing that all their replacement has to do is come in and tear in for 30 minutes at the most.

Would you pay 200k for a Luck, Rapira, Ta'ai when we have guys like Ikahihifo, Taukeiaho etc who could develop nicely over a season or two and be perfectly happy with 20-30 mins of game time for considerably less?

No way.

I'd say Ta'ai will stay on relatively low money regardless as I doubt he would leave his family.

 

[vvvrulz]

Even with the presence of Taylor I think people tend to really under-estimate Luck. Our defence just went to shreds while he got injured last year. Apart from a tackle machine (which Taylor is also) I think Luck was also largely responsible for rallying and organizing them.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

With Lousi's prop emergence I'd not die internally if we lost Package, as much as I like the guy. But I very much doubt he will leave - I know family of his and they say he is crazy about the Warriors and loves NZ in general.

Ukuma I'd like us to retain simply because we lack big rampaging brown second rowers. But Lousi could provide this when he returns to second row, and we have a couple coming through the Vulcans who look likely as well.

Steve Rapira I'd like to see play alongside Sam, but I feel a bit indifferent to him.

Tupou we need to keep.

Luck I am indifferent - Taylor is going to provide his defense but with the bonus of an attacking game.

I'm of similar opinion.

Pre-season i would've said Packer is a must keep, but Sione is playing damn well. It would certainly soften the blow.

The passion Packer has for the Warriors though is something you can't always get so I'd be fighting hard to keep him.

Rapira, is quality for low cost imo. Suffered injuries, has his brother here, was reportedly home sick when with the Cowboys. I think we'll keep him for a decent price.

Luck - Will be surprised, and even a little annoyed if we keep him. Respect the hell out of him, but we have better options imo.

Ta'ai - Meh, hasn't improved at all since he burst onto the scene. Provides something different, but not yet consistent enough.

Tupou - Yeah, we need to keep him. Doesn't do a lot wrong, and his D is improving a lot. Gets a rough deal on forums because he doesn't do the brilliant things that others have or are capable of.

 

[Dr Crane]

bugger.

 

[_addict]

It's a shame to lose sharkie, but like everyone else has said, second row is his best position and we have 'em running out our ears. It looks like we're thankfully loading the other positions with specialists, so his utility value is becoming more redundant. He has mongrel about him, which I will miss, but there is still a year to go so hopefully he can leave as a premier winner.

As for the others contracts mentioned as coming up, I agree there's a good chance a few more will go. Packer better pull finger 'cos he's hardly setting the world on fire at the 'mo

 

[Micistm]

But he won't be able to do the Shark Fin after scoring a try, if he goes to Penwiff!

:lol:That's immediately what came to mind!
Meh, good luck to him. I'd prefer him to stay, his life though.

 

[Micistm]

What would be the irony if the Pandas had a few centre injuries and he ended up filling in there again?! ;-)

 

[One Warrior]

This is a pity, as he has been good for us and I like him, however we can cover his loss fairly easily. It will be interesting to see if any others follow Cleary to the Panthers.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Luck would have to be a good chance you'd think.

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

I'm pretty confident that Luck will join the panthers. He has been here longer than he was with the cowboys? ET will be VC by 2014. Just my opinion

 

[JRo]

As a player, Lewis is blessed with talent. The club wil miss him.

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

Great signing for Penrith

 

[Iafeta]

Big loss for mine. For a number of reasons, firstly we are a development club and there's no doubt how much Lewis has developed since coming to Auckland... second, its great to have Kiwi internationals in our ranks, which Lewis is... third, he's just a terrific player. He seems to break through a lot of tackles and push through the ruck well, and has great instinct out of dummy half.

Very sad to see him go, all the best to him at Penrith. They've got a terrific signing, one who'll add a lot of value to them.

 

[Cheops]

It's a shame because he's been such a good player for us and tries his guts out, but I fully understand and pretty much expected this. For the Warriors, it's not really worth paying big dollars for him when we have so much talent and depth in the back row and for Lewis, he gets probably more money and more game time.

All the best to him (just not when he plays us)

 

[NZ Warrior]

As a player, Lewis is blessed with talent. The club wil miss him.

Why couldn't it be you!

 

[JoeD]

Sad to see him go and good luck to him. Will definitely get more game time over there in his preferred position.

 

[Syren]

Even with the presence of Taylor I think people tend to really under-estimate Luck. Our defence just went to shreds while he got injured last year. Apart from a tackle machine (which Taylor is also) I think Luck was also largely responsible for rallying and organizing them.

Luck shouldn't be that big of a loss IF Mannering continues to develop his leadership and maintain his current form plus the continuing development and maturing of Taylor. That's pretty much all you will "miss" about Luck because he really doesn't offer much in attack.

 

[vvvrulz]

Luck shouldn't be that big of a loss IF Mannering continues to develop his leadership and maintain his current form plus the continuing development and maturing of Taylor. That's pretty much all you will "miss" about Luck because he really doesn't offer much in attack.

A lot of people harp on about Luck's lack of an attacking game, which admittedly isn't there. But did the Warriors ever need Luck to attack? His defensive work and leadership was more than enough imo. Hard hit-ups are good enough for me as we have plenty of other attacking options around him.

 

[hitman82]

A lot of people harp on about Luck's lack of an attacking game, which admittedly isn't there. But did the Warriors ever need Luck to attack? His defensive work and leadership was more than enough imo. Hard hit-ups are good enough for me as we have plenty of other attacking options around him.

Luck doesn't make "hard hit ups". He pretty much gets in the way on attack, which is even worse than not being involved.

The point is not whether Luck is valuable or not - he's a fantastic player. The point is we have Elijah Taylor who can perform the same tacklebot role as Luck, but can ALSO attack.