Penrith / Warriors U20 Final?

[Hatzy]

With us blitzing everyone by 35 points for the last five weeks and with finally a settled halves pairing, will these two teams be the hot favourites?

 

[Panther_Daz]

Still a long way to go. At full strength i believe Penrith are the best team in the comp. Canberra,Warriors,Bulldogs,Dragons and Eels are all chances of winning it though. It will be interesting to see how the Warriors handle the final series mainly being in Australia.

 

[murraymob]

it is always hard to guage some sides in the u20 .Would like to see the warriors play the dragons or penrith in there current good form to get a better idea of where the warriors stand. For mine if penrith have all u20 players in the club in the team they would win

 

[Caged Panther]

Have Graham and Iosefa played the required number of games to be eligible for the finals?

 

[Panther_Daz]

I think Iosefa has, not sure about Graham.

 

[Lox]

i think a full strength warriors can beat penrith:

locke
seluini/matthews
ah van
ledger
tupou
o'reagan
john
packer
pawley
ah mau
matulino
fa'i
jones/rapira

poching
purcell
bristow
mara

that forward pack is insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mxlegend99]

I think our currently depleted side could give any team a run for its money and beat most of them.

At full strength... you can't go past the Panthers team. Our 1/6/7/9 combination is just too good.

 

[Big Mick]

i think a full strength warriors can beat penrith:

locke
seluini/matthews
ah van
ledger
tupou
o'reagan
john
packer
pawley
ah mau
matulino
fa'i
jones/rapira

poching
purcell
bristow
mara

that forward pack is insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah not bad, but this is a championship team:

1. Coote, 2. Watane, 3. Isa, 4. Waddell, 5. Tia Killifi, 6. Graham, 7. Iselin, 8. Grant, 9. Iosefa, 10. Blackett, 11. Paulo, 12. Leeds, 13. Theohaurous
RES: 14. McKendry, 15. Orton, 16. Penese, 17. Romelo

 

[maple_69]

yeah not bad, but this is a championship team:

1. Coote, 2. Watane, 3. Isa, 4. Waddell, 5. Tia Killifi, 6. Graham, 7. Iselin, 8. Grant, 9. Iosefa, 10. Blackett, 11. Paulo, 12. Leeds, 13. Theohaurous
RES: 14. McKendry, 15. Orton, 16. Penese, 17. Romelo

Make that 2x championship team.
If Penrith's horrific injury run continues, a few of these guys will get a taste of first grade also. If we make the first grade finals though I think we'll have a good shot, as long as most of our guys are on deck for the prelim and gf.

 

[girvie]

What's happening with Olly Tia Tia?

 

[Panther_Daz]

He is injured at the moment unfortunately. Was playing some real good footy.

 

[Dogaholic]

u20s are too hard to gauge...

Parra beat the Dogs after we fell asleep.
Warriors got a draw against the Dogs they didn't deserve due to our falling asleep again.
Same with Titans.

There are plenty of talented teams out there. The teams that want it the most will win it. A full strength Dogs team will blow any team away and will get beaten the following week.

u20s are very unpredictable.

 

[Big Mick]

I prefer watching Under 20's to FG to be honest.

They chance their hand more....its exciting to watch.

 

[mxlegend99]

Look at that team Big Mick named for the Under 20's, look at the quality an experience in it:

1. Lachlan Coote (if rumours are true, 1+ NRL games)
2. Zoram Watene
3. William Isa
4. Greg Waddell
5. Junior Tia Killifi
6. Wade Graham (2+ NRL games)
7. Trent Iselin
8. Tim Grant (14+ NRL games)
9. Masada Iosefa (2+ NRL games)
10. Shane Blackett
11. Joseph Paulo (5+ NRL games)
12. Michael Leeds
13. Jamie Theohaurous
RES:
14. Sam McKendry (2+ NRL games)
15. Joel Orton
16. Daniel Penese
17. Joel Romelo

Our full strength Under 20's team, would have 6+ players with NRL experience, and a minimum of 26 games between them. What other Under 20's team could compete with these blokes? Unfortunately i doubt Joseph Paulo and Tim Grant could play in the finals of the Under 20's.

 

[Hatzy]

Our full strength Under 20's team, would have 6+ players with NRL experience, and a minimum of 26 games between them. What other Under 20's team could compete with these blokes? Unfortunately i doubt Joseph Paulo and Tim Grant could play in the finals of the Under 20's.

Well, if you are going to name players with NRL experience that could play U20 then we have Ah Van, Matulino, Packer, Fai.

Packer - 5+ games
Fai - 9+ games
Ah Van - 38+ games
Matulino - 3+ games

We come close. Very close. Granted Ah Van would need to spend a little more time in NYC to be eligble for the finals.

Warriors got a draw against the Dogs they didn't deserve due to our falling asleep again.

Interesting you put it that way. I felt we have been the ones to fall asleep. But the last five weeks have seen a new side to our team - with the halves pairing finally settled, expect big things from this team.

 

[mxlegend99]

If you're going to include Ah Van, we could include Michael Jennings. He is still young enough to play in the Under 20's.

Our 1/6/9 could all have a few first grade games up their sleeves. So aside from our halfback, the core of our team will have first grade experience. Assuming that Lachlan Coote gets a run. That's looking a little less likely.

The Warriors have a great forward pack, but they wouldn't be able to compete with the Panthers backline IMO. Meanwhile our forward pack can match the Warriors.

 

[Dogaholic]

Well, if you are going to name players with NRL experience that could play U20 then we have Ah Van, Matulino, Packer, Fai.

Packer - 5+ games
Fai - 9+ games
Ah Van - 38+ games
Matulino - 3+ games

We come close. Very close. Granted Ah Van would need to spend a little more time in NYC to be eligble for the finals.



Interesting you put it that way. I felt we have been the ones to fall asleep. But the last five weeks have seen a new side to our team - with the halves pairing finally settled, expect big things from this team.

the point could be argued both ways.

Like I said, Dogs can demolish anyone when they are blazing, but they can cop it all the same. Goes with most teams in the NYC.

 

[Wicks]

I think the smaller teams could run both teams around and win and that will show up even more in the day and as the days get warmer

I wouldnt be surprised to see Wests Tigers win this weekend

 

[Hatzy]

The Warriors have a great forward pack, but they wouldn't be able to compete with the Panthers backline IMO. Meanwhile our forward pack can match the Warriors.

Perhaps you are right, but you also didn't play us when our back line was settled. You played us when our fullback was injured right? Kevin Locke? And O'Regan wouldn't have been at five eighth.

I think come next time you play quite a different team out there.

I wish we got more from the NYC - I would love to be following some of the other teams.

 

[mxlegend99]

Warriors team we faced:
1. Kevin Locke
2. Bill Tupou
3. Francis Leger
4. Elijah Taylor
14. Nate Seluini
6. Isaac John
7. Angus Cameron
8. Mataupu Poching
9. Arron Pawley
10. Leeson Ah Mau
21. Sione Lousi
12. Ben Matulino
13. Daniel O'Regan

15. Eddy Purcell
16. Rusty Bristow
17. Alehena Mara
20. Michael Afioga

That team isn't far off the one you named. Patrick Ah Van has played too many first grade games and it's too late to qualify for the finals this season... so he doesn't really count. Likewise, Michael Jennings wouldn't count for our team. Even though both are young enough, neither could step down from the NRL to play in the finals series.

Penriths team was:
1. Lachlan Coote
2. Zoram Watene
3. William Isa
4. Chris Ward
5. Junior Tia Kilifi
6. Wade Graham
7. Joel Romelo
8. Bradley Goodwin
9. Masada Iosefa
10. Shane Blackett
14. Tinirau Arona
12. Daniel Panese
13. Jamie Theohaurus

15. Tim Glasby
16. Joel Orton
17. Jarrod Cannon
18. Luke Clydesdale

Players we were missing:
Sam McKendry - Front Row (played first grade)
Tim Grant - Front Row (was injured at the time)
Joseph Paulo - Back Row (played first grade)
Michael Leeds - Back Row (was injured at the time)
Greg Waddell - Centre (season ending injury early in the year)
Trent Iselin - Half-Back (season ending injury earlier in the year)