Pre-season 2023.

[Mr Angry]

Metcalf is very much like a young Shaun.

Attack is natural, his speed and acceleration, evasiveness.

He is not a terrible defender, but is small so like all, will get run over by a backrower from time to time and breaks.

Harris needs to be Tony Carroll, with Luke Metalf his Lockyer.

Barring injury, I expect a strong season from Shaun, the man is now thinking of his legacy.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Metcalf didn’t look small to me yesterday. May have bulked in the off season?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The trials have been brilliant for the Warriors. So many new faces in SG ball and our B side NSW cup players.

Main concerns leading into this season were the lack of go forward options, the halves, fullback, and the three quarter line with center being a big concern. Not to mention hooker, basically a whole team with issues except for reasonable back row forwards and bench utility being the only strengths.

There is something happening at the club with the players defence. They are keen to tackle, it started with the SG kids, and continued last night. We have dropped the jamming in and umbrella defence and look far more settled working inside out.

Lots of energy and hustle on D. Adam Blair is doing an amazing job there, and Webster is too with the big boys.

Halves look much better having seen Metcalfe and TMM pair up. Starting to think Johnson is a good fill in option....let the new blood take the stage.

Williame looks great distributing for his outside, but for some unknown reason he started jogging the ball back and looked awful after a promising start?

The halves were obviously good all round, especially some nice kicks which is their main weakness, and they tackled well which is their other Achilles heel.

Where I was worried about our props, last night you could see we have recruited a lot of hard running big fast young potential stars of tomorrow.

We might have lost Katoa, but I think we gained so much more. Even though it was a weak Tigers middle, I thought our new kids hit the line hard and had some really nice footwork, Ale was the stand out of a very good crop of new kids.

In the immediate term, this first new coach season, I am always looking for a repeat of 2001 our space odyssey, when Daniel Anderson took a bunch of very raw kids and coached them to struggle their way to 8th only to get flogged by fifty plus in the finals. What I would give for a similar script this year, any kind of top eight finish with these exciting new faces would be amazing.

Anyway ranted enough, any day we are allowed to be happy is a good day.

Yeah I’m hoping 2001 is the model for this season too. Bonus being an 8th place finish these days isn’t a date with the premiers at home for a hiding either

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Metcalf MUST be the 7 this season

 

[Mr Angry]

Book it in.

6. Metcalf
7. Johnson

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Metcalf MUST be the 7 this season

I imagine SJ will play in the next trial then we’ll see

 

[Mr Angry]

I take that bet, new coach is starting his highest paid.

maybe TMM @6.

But I think Metcalf.

TMM maybe 1.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Metcalf and SJ were at the sharks together too yeah?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Interesting points here that Webster looks to be going for a sharks style “two 6s” spine and gameplan:

'Pretty shocking': New year, same Tigers as Warriors hand Sheens hefty defeat in first trial of 2023

There have been 82 footy-free days since the final whistle blew in the World Cup final at Old Trafford in Manchester last November. It's…

www.theroar.com.au

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Does SJ still kick goals? We don’t have Walsh or CHT any more so we’ll need a new regular kicker

 

[Matua]

Lot of hype for Metcalf off a trial match ...

 

[JJ]

I’d like to see a commitment to Mercalf and Ale, have to give them opportunities

 

[JJ]

Lot of hype for Metcalf off a trial match ...

Got to move on from Johnson, Metcalf can do a job

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Got to move on from Johnson, Metcalf can do a job

Yep even if SJ finds form he’s only got a year or two left in him, we absolutely need to get new halves ready especially with CHT dipping out this year.

But yeah let’s not get too carrried away, remember Adam Keiran looking like Andrew Johns in the season opener against the dogs a few years back?

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Start of Maori vs Indigenous longer than a half of footy!
How the Indigenous boys getting that paint off before kickoff?

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Yep even if SJ finds form he’s only got a year or two left in him, we absolutely need to get new halves ready especially with CHT dipping out this year.

But yeah let’s not get too carrried away, remember Adam Keiran looking like Andrew Johns in the season opener against the dogs a few years back?

Yes, against a trial team a playmaker can look good.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Nice first try for Maori team.

 

[JJ]

Yep even if SJ finds form he’s only got a year or two left in him, we absolutely need to get new halves ready especially with CHT dipping out this year.

But yeah let’s not get too carrried away, remember Adam Keiran looking like Andrew Johns in the season opener against the dogs a few years back?

Yep, but ‘can do a job’ is a long way from Johns…

He can be a first grade half, and now is the time for him to play and learn imo

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Lot of hype for Metcalf off a trial match ...

Yeah...that's what we do. But that try was a thing of beauty, the acceleration gave me wood

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

SJ at the moment has probably the weakest squad hes ever had since hes been at the Warriors.
He probably had the best squad around the 2015-16 season and still he couldnt get us to the finals so what makes everyone think that he can do that now????

We are in rebuild mode after they let RTS walk. SJ has done his time so we have to hand it over to the newbies in Metcalf TMM and Volkman