Fast Eddie
First Grade
- Messages
- 8,085
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.
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?
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.
But he won't be able to do the Shark Fin after scoring a try, if he goes to Penwiff!
As a player, Lewis is blessed with talent. The club wil miss him.
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.
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.