New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[Wb1234]

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Reading between the lines I don’t think he means off-field issues within the club as much as players having off-field problems in their lives outside footy. Could be wrong on that though.

 

[Wb1234]

Reading between the lines I don’t think he means off-field issues within the club as much as players having off-field problems in their lives outside footy. Could be wrong on that though.

The article said players had off field issues and he’s not saying what they are

could explain afb poor season and release and impact on the team

 

[Perth Red]

Warriors just being warriors. All the talent in the world out of that country but they keep serving up crap performances.

 

[Wb1234]

NRL great Phil Gould on a mission to get more funding for rugby league in NZ

The Warriors consultant has already helped NZRL more than double its funding from the NRL.

www.1news.co.nz

“Are we even near our maximum potential? Nah. Nowhere near it. Haven't even scratched the surface yet,” Gould added.


26 percent of all nrl players came from the nz systems. And the game hasn’t even scratched the surface

 

[Matua]

The article said players had off field issues and he’s not saying what they are

could explain afb poor season and release and impact on the team

Why do you keep saying this despite all evidence against it? It's hard to take your seriously as a league guru when you write this. He was one of the four nominated players of the year for the Warriors and won the players player of the year award.

He was easily one of the better Warriors in terms of on field performance.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Why do you keep saying this despite all evidence against it? It's hard to take your seriously as a league guru when you write this. He was one of the four nominated players of the year for the Warriors and won the players player of the year award.

He was easily one of the better Warriors in terms of on field performance.

Players player was a token gesture for a bloke who's leaving.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

I think the future of Super Rugby is "going long" - Making the season a March-to-September/October proposition much like NRL/AFL, bringing Japan back in & have an open player market within Super Rugby.

Simply scrapping Super Rugby & going back to the NPC won't work - it just won't earn the same TV money, and be a bigger cost to Sky to produce coverage of games all around NZ (especially if the length of the NPC is increased to compensate for dropping SR).

Distance is a problem if they're thinking of Japan, USA/Canada or Argentina, but getting the current 11 teams up to 12 could be done by adding a 6th NZ team or breaking Moana Pasifika into Samoa & Tonga teams.

If they really wanna get into the American market, Hawaii could possibly be a first step. A bit less distance to travel than the American mainland anyway.

Or just get swallowed by the NRL no matter what they do

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Is the Samoa and tongan int sides improvements (of mostly Aussies and kiwis) making any difference to the interest in the games in the actual islands? Any player numbers from those places?

Did you catch the scenes in Tonga in 2017 and 2019 and in Samoa in 2022? Yeah, it's having a massive impact.

Pathways and players will build off the back of it. Hell, the current Samoa team at full strength could push for one of the next two world cup titles. They are filled with elite talent and big game experience

 

[Matiunz]

The article said players had off field issues and he’s not saying what they are

could explain afb poor season and release and impact on the team

Don’t think AFB was the problem as he still put in- his wife on the other hand may have ruffled a few feathers though based on some of her posts.
There was a bit of a rumour doing the rounds early in the season that sounded quite bad but it went quite pretty quick so who knows.
Think it’s as simple as Jones said, SJ injured in preseason and never recovered. Multiple other injuries meant the team were in constant revolving doors mode and combinations never formed.

 

[Matiunz]

Why do you keep saying this despite all evidence against it? It's hard to take your seriously as a league guru when you write this. He was one of the four nominated players of the year for the Warriors and won the players player of the year award.

He was easily one of the better Warriors in terms of on field performance.

I thought he seemed a little distant from the team at times during the year- there’s the infamous photos of the team hugging and celebrating a try while he stands off to the side, however I think that’s just a personality thing the last game he’s in heaps of photos etc with the other departing players.
He certainly put in the effort unlike other departing players of the past *cough James Maloney cough*

 

[Wb1234]

“That was part of it, but there’s lots of different things. I can’t go into too many details but there were players having problems away from the game and probably not in the right headspace.”

 

[Wb1234]

Don’t think AFB was the problem as he still put in- his wife on the other hand may have ruffled a few feathers though based on some of her posts.
There was a bit of a rumour doing the rounds early in the season that sounded quite bad but it went quite pretty quick so who knows.
Think it’s as simple as Jones said, SJ injured in preseason and never recovered. Multiple other injuries meant the team were in constant revolving doors mode and combinations never formed.

The game he was stood down for they won

he came back and they started losing again.

 

[Perth Red]

Did you catch the scenes in Tonga in 2017 and 2019 and in Samoa in 2022? Yeah, it's having a massive impact.

Pathways and players will build off the back of it. Hell, the current Samoa team at full strength could push for one of the next two world cup titles. They are filled with elite talent and big game experience

When’s the last time Tonga or Samoa actually played at home? How many of either team have ever played rugby league in either place at any age?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

“That was part of it, but there’s lots of different things. I can’t go into too many details but there were players having problems away from the game and probably not in the right headspace.”

Sounds to me like players with personal dramas outside the club (which could include AFBs missus, lol)