Report Cards.

[Meth]

All things considered, what mark are we giving our roster?

Thomas Leuluai D- his reintroduction significantly disrupted any synergy and momentum we had going into the finals.

Manu Vatuvei A- much maligned, but a top season. It must be tough carrying a forward pack.

Simon Mannering A- always puts in. A couple of top shelf games. A few weaknesses in his game, but that may have actually been his best season.

Sam Rapira C Started well enough. Struggled with injury. May actually be a spent force.

Ben Matulino C The disappointment of the season for mine.

Jacob Lillyman A The only prop to play well this season. No nonsense. Just a metre eater who gives us a good, quick play-the-ball

Sione Lousi C A couple of good games, but nothing remarkable about his season.

Feleti Mateo D A long way from the creative genius he originally was and a long way from the hardworking contributor we have attempted to make him. He seems a bit lost really

Shaun Johnson B At times, it looked like this was his breakthrough season. Then at times he looked bereft of ideas and unable to command the respect of his team in crucial moments. Pretty hard to play behind our forwards this year though.

Ben Henry B Pretty tough playing out of position so much and he obviously got caught out a few times there. Works hard.

Nathan Friend B Not the biggest fan of Friend's service, but after Leuluai's outing at hooker- you don't know what you've got till it's gone

Konrad Hurrell B+ Seems to have made a lot of progress on his defence. Give him good ball and he's a weapon. A good year.

Sebastine Ikahihifo- B Started pretty well, then trailed off towards the end. A good, honest debut season.

Dane Nielson- C+ Filled in the gap well, but obviously not our future

Ngani Laumpape- B+ Almost tempted to give him an A. Very similar to Manu- does a lot of hard work early in the set that he doesn't get a lot of credit for.

Suaia Matagi- C+ He's been criticised a lot, but I think his inexperience and limitations have been exposed a lot in a prop rotation that simply isn't performing. If Matulino and Rapira are playing better, Matagi wouldn't look as bad as he did this year.

Sam Tomkins-B- Don't get me wrong. I was expecting A+. Some very frustrating things about his game. But a lot of good. Hoping he'll be better off for a full year in first grade.

Chad Townsend B- Not supposed to be the chief playmaker. We never looked better than when he and Johnson were starting to gel. His axing was, as I mentioned before, McFadden's season defining mistake.

Jason Bakuya- C+ Did some good things. Maybe we expected too much of him. Anyway, he'll need to do more next year to keep his spot.

David Fusitua- C Rocks and diamonds. Obviously a steep learning curve for him. Hope he comes back.

 

[Meth]

Overall, I'll give the Warriors a C.

They did pretty good to respond to the pre-season drama. None of us really expected to be in the hunt for the 8 when Elliot got axed, players were talking of walking and Watson and Glenn were slugging it out. However, we tanked it at the end.

We finished where we deserved to IMO

 

[vvvrulz]

Good analysis Meth, can't argue with most of that
Will put some thought into my marks later today

 

[Mr Angry]

Front office, F.

Coaches

Elliot D
McFadden -C


Amount of jerseys used E

 

[Mr Angry]

Actually, Front Office E

My club claims an -F

 

[Cold Roses]

Actually, Front Office E

My club claims an -F

The Warriors have been waiting for a strong professional CEO for a long time now. Doyle, by all accounts, from his previous tenures, is not one to go with the status quo. And definitely not one to play games. He will be looking to improve and reform. He could just be the making of us as a club. My hope is that the professionalism he brings will leach down into all areas of the club. It's time to let go of the Jandals and Hoodies culture, and he'll be the man to make it happen.

 

[sup42]

Head Office

B -

Recruitment

B -

Coaching

B -

PLaying group

D +

Fans

A+

Our owners carry ons this this year may have folk wondering how I could go B +.

Getting Jim Doyle aboard and making a decision to try to fix their original mistake with Matt Elliot is the important stuff.

What Owen Glen and Eric do in their own lunch times I don't actually care as long as critical decisions like getting Doyle aboard are still happening the Warriors couldn't have done any better in real world stuff.....gossip mag stuff bleh.

Recruitment gets a favorable mark too. People demanded a big Prop, the Warriors went after Kassiano. They also went for class in Moa.
That we can't get them over the line is outside of the Warriors control in the end.

They chased Matai , he has the competitive drive this club needs more of.

They secured Ryan Hoffman one of the best in his position in the world. Great achievement. Once again he has the drive to lift this team and the brains to teach them a thing or three.

Allwod. A useful idea in principle. Cheaper than what Canberra were prepared to offer him. Known to McFadden. Looks a worry on defence, but I'll go with McFadden on this one.....and did I mention he costs next to nada.

Coaching.....I'm not going to lump this group of players inadequacies or the lack of an offseason on McFadden.
From what I have seen and constantly heard coming out of Mt Smart no one can criticise the standards McFadden is setting.

The fault with everything else well and truly lands on the playing group.

Lastly that anyone follows the Warriors is a commendable commitment to forgiveness.

 

[JJ]

All things considered, what mark are we giving our roster?

Thomas Leuluai D- his reintroduction significantly disrupted any synergy and momentum we had going into the finals.

Manu Vatuvei A- much maligned, but a top season. It must be tough carrying a forward pack.

Simon Mannering A- always puts in. A couple of top shelf games. A few weaknesses in his game, but that may have actually been his best season.

Sam Rapira C Started well enough. Struggled with injury. May actually be a spent force.

Ben Matulino C The disappointment of the season for mine.

Jacob Lillyman A The only prop to play well this season. No nonsense. Just a metre eater who gives us a good, quick play-the-ball

Sione Lousi C A couple of good games, but nothing remarkable about his season.

Feleti Mateo D A long way from the creative genius he originally was and a long way from the hardworking contributor we have attempted to make him. He seems a bit lost really

Shaun Johnson B At times, it looked like this was his breakthrough season. Then at times he looked bereft of ideas and unable to command the respect of his team in crucial moments. Pretty hard to play behind our forwards this year though.

Ben Henry B Pretty tough playing out of position so much and he obviously got caught out a few times there. Works hard.

Nathan Friend B Not the biggest fan of Friend's service, but after Leuluai's outing at hooker- you don't know what you've got till it's gone

Konrad Hurrell B+ Seems to have made a lot of progress on his defence. Give him good ball and he's a weapon. A good year.

Sebastine Ikahihifo- B Started pretty well, then trailed off towards the end. A good, honest debut season.

Dane Nielson- C+ Filled in the gap well, but obviously not our future

Ngani Laumpape- B+ Almost tempted to give him an A. Very similar to Manu- does a lot of hard work early in the set that he doesn't get a lot of credit for.

Suaia Matagi- C+ He's been criticised a lot, but I think his inexperience and limitations have been exposed a lot in a prop rotation that simply isn't performing. If Matulino and Rapira are playing better, Matagi wouldn't look as bad as he did this year.

Sam Tomkins-B- Don't get me wrong. I was expecting A+. Some very frustrating things about his game. But a lot of good. Hoping he'll be better off for a full year in first grade.

Chad Townsend B- Not supposed to be the chief playmaker. We never looked better than when he and Johnson were starting to gel. His axing was, as I mentioned before, McFadden's season defining mistake.

Jason Bakuya- C+ Did some good things. Maybe we expected too much of him. Anyway, he'll need to do more next year to keep his spot.

David Fusitua- C Rocks and diamonds. Obviously a steep learning curve for him. Hope he comes back.

Good stuff Meth, the only one I'd debate would be Townsend - think a B+ or even an A- might be in order there - better than expected, and tbh the same argument applies as you used for Friend, putting Leuluai there showed Chad was actually good :lol:

 

[Meth]

Good stuff Meth, the only one I'd debate would be Townsend - think a B+ or even an A- might be in order there - better than expected, and tbh the same argument applies as you used for Friend, putting Leuluai there showed Chad was actually good :lol:

yeah, I did think that, but felt a bit awkward giving him a higher grade than Johnson

 

[hitro]

"Feleti Mateo D A long way from the creative genius he originally was and a long way from the hardworking contributor we have attempted to make him. He seems a bit lost really"

I keep wondering how he would go at 6, he looked good there that one game with Tony Iro as coach, and indeed the only time I 've seen anyone organising the other guys for years. I am not sure whether he has a short kicking game but it couldn't be any worse than TL and CT. He would be right into it and actually try really hard

 

[vvvrulz]

I keep wondering how he would go at 6, he looked good there that one game with Tony Iro as coach, and indeed the only time I 've seen anyone organising the other guys for years. I am not sure whether he has a short kicking game but it couldn't be any worse than TL and CT.

Townsend? He did his job just fine at #6

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

All things considered, what mark are we giving our roster?

Thomas Leuluai D- his reintroduction significantly disrupted any synergy and momentum we had going into the finals.

Manu Vatuvei A- much maligned, but a top season. It must be tough carrying a forward pack.

Simon Mannering A- always puts in. A couple of top shelf games. A few weaknesses in his game, but that may have actually been his best season.

Sam Rapira C Started well enough. Struggled with injury. May actually be a spent force.

Ben Matulino C The disappointment of the season for mine.

Jacob Lillyman A The only prop to play well this season. No nonsense. Just a metre eater who gives us a good, quick play-the-ball

Sione Lousi C A couple of good games, but nothing remarkable about his season.

Feleti Mateo D A long way from the creative genius he originally was and a long way from the hardworking contributor we have attempted to make him. He seems a bit lost really

Shaun Johnson B At times, it looked like this was his breakthrough season. Then at times he looked bereft of ideas and unable to command the respect of his team in crucial moments. Pretty hard to play behind our forwards this year though.

Ben Henry B Pretty tough playing out of position so much and he obviously got caught out a few times there. Works hard.

Nathan Friend B Not the biggest fan of Friend's service, but after Leuluai's outing at hooker- you don't know what you've got till it's gone

Konrad Hurrell B+ Seems to have made a lot of progress on his defence. Give him good ball and he's a weapon. A good year.

Sebastine Ikahihifo- B Started pretty well, then trailed off towards the end. A good, honest debut season.

Dane Nielson- C+ Filled in the gap well, but obviously not our future

Ngani Laumpape- B+ Almost tempted to give him an A. Very similar to Manu- does a lot of hard work early in the set that he doesn't get a lot of credit for.

Suaia Matagi- C+ He's been criticised a lot, but I think his inexperience and limitations have been exposed a lot in a prop rotation that simply isn't performing. If Matulino and Rapira are playing better, Matagi wouldn't look as bad as he did this year.

Sam Tomkins-B- Don't get me wrong. I was expecting A+. Some very frustrating things about his game. But a lot of good. Hoping he'll be better off for a full year in first grade.

Chad Townsend B- Not supposed to be the chief playmaker. We never looked better than when he and Johnson were starting to gel. His axing was, as I mentioned before, McFadden's season defining mistake.

Jason Bakuya- C+ Did some good things. Maybe we expected too much of him. Anyway, he'll need to do more next year to keep his spot.

David Fusitua- C Rocks and diamonds. Obviously a steep learning curve for him. Hope he comes back.

Great read meth
pretty much spot on

 

[reykaine]

Pretty good analysis Meth.
The only thing I can say about TL was that he was one of our better players last year and he's been a shadow of that player this year. Cappy must have thought he would come right after a few games but he never did.
The other critical moment in this year was that Canberra away game when we lost Hurrell for 3 weeks. If we had had him fit for that away Newcastle game we might have jagged a win there. Kind of exposed our lack of weapons.
The CT/Matulino combo was great and we went away from that in anticipation that TL would be better. Didn't kind of work out that way.

As per other forum posts about next offseason..not sure what difference the offseason with Cappy will have in terms of the one they had under Elliot. Are you implying he didn't work them enough and that's why we bottomed out at the back end of the season? Elliot wouldn't have sole input on their training regime so who else should we be pointing the finger at?

 

[Rich102]

Head Office

B -

Recruitment

B -

Coaching

B -

PLaying group

D +

Fans

A+

Our owners carry ons this this year may have folk wondering how I could go B +.

Getting Jim Doyle aboard and making a decision to try to fix their original mistake with Matt Elliot is the important stuff.

What Owen Glen and Eric do in their own lunch times I don't actually care as long as critical decisions like getting Doyle aboard are still happening the Warriors couldn't have done any better in real world stuff.....gossip mag stuff bleh.

Recruitment gets a favorable mark too. People demanded a big Prop, the Warriors went after Kassiano. They also went for class in Moa.
That we can't get them over the line is outside of the Warriors control in the end.

They chased Matai , he has the competitive drive this club needs more of.

They secured Ryan Hoffman one of the best in his position in the world. Great achievement. Once again he has the drive to lift this team and the brains to teach them a thing or three.

Allwod. A useful idea in principle. Cheaper than what Canberra were prepared to offer him. Known to McFadden. Looks a worry on defence, but I'll go with McFadden on this one.....and did I mention he costs next to nada.

Coaching.....I'm not going to lump this group of players inadequacies or the lack of an offseason on McFadden.
From what I have seen and constantly heard coming out of Mt Smart no one can criticise the standards McFadden is setting.

The fault with everything else well and truly lands on the playing group.

Lastly that anyone follows the Warriors is a commendable commitment to forgiveness.

But, but, but you didn't go B+

 

[Blair]

Fine write up, Meth. I'd only be nitpicking if I tried to put my two cents worth into that.

I'd like to mention Fish though. Another frustrating player but I think we missed his sheer speed in attack.

Manu showed on Sunday that with power (and pace) you can go end-to-end under pressure. With Manu though, I was holding my breath, praying he'd make it. With Fisiiahi it would be 'shut the gate, the Fish has bolted'.

 

[Mr Angry]

Would love to see the wages.

Best value for money? Who the f**k knows.

Eg. Am sure Townsend, Lillyman are not on Tomkins coin.

Wonder what Simon gets, should be decent......

 

[Rich102]

Sorry Sup. Can't let this pass.

"Recruitment gets a favorable mark too. People demanded a big Prop, the Warriors went after Kassiano. They also went for class in Moa.
That we can't get them over the line is outside of the Warriors control in the end."

How can recruitment get a favorable mark for not getting players? Like saying our season gets a favorable mark for intending to win the grand final.
At the end of the day we are all marked for results. Nothing else.
So recruitment must get a minus score. We lost Ropati, Sam Lousi, Carlos Tuimavave and a host of our most promising juniors and got..... another second rower and an iffy centre.
Epic fail.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Sorry Sup. Can't let this pass.

"Recruitment gets a favorable mark too. People demanded a big Prop, the Warriors went after Kassiano. They also went for class in Moa.
That we can't get them over the line is outside of the Warriors control in the end."

How can recruitment get a favorable mark for not getting players? Like saying our season gets a favorable mark for intending to win the grand final.
At the end of the day we are all marked for results. Nothing else.
So recruitment must get a minus score. We lost Ropati, Sam Lousi, Carlos Tuimavave and a host of our most promising juniors and got..... another second rower and an iffy centre.
Epic fail.

So far, Ropati retired, Sam Lousi (if he actually goes) and Tuimavave are at best meh losses. They signed a world class player and someone who will most likely be depth, and actually available to play more often than not unlike Ropati. Theres been worse seasons in terms of recruitment.

I think too much is made of us 'losing our promising juniors' What ones have really kicked on? Hiku no doubt, but for all we know we could have offered him a decent deal but it's not like every 18-20 year old kid wants to stay in Auckland believe it or not. We're not the only club trying to either get these guys or keep them.

 

[vvvrulz]

This is only my humble opinion, nothing more nothing less.
Here goes...

Manu Vatuvei A One of his best seasons yet, a beast in every sense. Don't move him to prop, keep him doing what he's doing best on the wing.

Jacob Lillyman A Showed up thanklessly all season.

Shaun Johnson A- I thought Johnson did the best he he had to work with, namely the groin injury, Leuluai and a useless forward pack. Otherwise he was being the great #7 we expect him to be.

Chad Townsend A- Started to look really good especially given his top grade inexperience. His combination with Johnson was blossoming before McFadden had a brain explosion and dumped him. Disappointing that he's bumming around in the Vulcans, needs to be back asap.

Ben Henry A- He's a hard working and solid cog in the wheel, won't cost games but won't win many either.

Simon Mannering A- Simon Mannering the player is of course A grade, but his captaincy and leadership is a big problem. Sure he questions the ref, but its our boys stuffing around out there and he doesn't remind them of this. Standing around bemused isn't what a captain should be doing.

Nathan Friend A- Gets extra marks for being one of the very few that never failed to stop trying. Huge work rate, service is good but not great, nice to see him darting out of dummy half a bit too.

Ngani Laumpape A- Too bad he got fat in the off season, because he could be one of our best. Good solid winger/centre

Sam Tomkins B+ Was C grade at one stage but (unlike say Denan Kemp) he put in the hard yards and improved on all the glaring issues in this game. He was one of our better players by the end of the season, and once the rest of the team gets themselves sorted he'll become one of our key playmakers. Still a bit unsafe under the high ball and can't make a 1-1 tackle. Won't ever be top five NRL fullback, but that's fine.

Konrad Hurrell B+ Outstanding... when fit. When unfit he's almost a liability. Slow, exhausted and all over the place when trying to defend.

Sebastine Ikahihifo B+ One of the few hard workers, needs to go up another level next year

Glen Fisiiahi B Disappointing that he copped a harsh injury, was finally starting to look like an NRL winger. Hoping to see him back.

Dominique Peyroux B Given no chances, and yet puts in 100% every time. Want to see more of him next year.

Sione Lousi B- Seems like surplus to requirements if at full strength, but he's been solid this year generally

Sam Rapira C+ Injury doing him no good but showed glimpses that he's still got it. Give him another go.

Suaia Matagi C+ Second year syndrome? Totally missing in action compared to last year and seemed strangely unfit. Needs to be able to play more minutes and expect much more next year.

Dane Nielson C+ Mixed bag. Was absolutely shocking for a few games and deserved the chop, didn't want to see him again. But during his comeback he turned in a few of his best games in a Warriors jersey before falling over to injury. Did enough (just) to be reconsidered I thought.

Jason Bukuya C+ Weird one, took a couple of games to get going and then started doing some really good work. Then what, injury? Other issues? Turned into a ghost and did SFA. He's better than this, I want to see him up and running again.

Ben Matulino C+ It took longer than the others, but eventually followed Packer and Locke into playing mediocre heartless crap. Seems to have turned into a bad version of Mateo, lazing around and throwing flick passes nearly every play when it isn't on. He's way better than this and he should know it.

Feleti Mateo C Another really weird one. Came out fat and unfit early on, returned trim and energetic and put in a lot of prop-like hard work. But then disappeared again... where is all the flair and the killer offloads? Also usually the first to pack up and stop trying when we start losing, when he should be one of our leaders.

David Fusitua D+ Knows how to score a try but is garbage on defence, kinda like when Fish first started out. Back to Vulcans.

Thomas Leuluai D+ Now I like the bloke for his hard work and maturity, but you don't get selected into the spine just for that. He's a Vulcan's grade half, maybe there is a place for him as a sub hooker but that's about it. Maybe fitness was a problem, happy to let him prove himself again but this time from the bench.


Not rated:
Gubb - Didn't really offer anything and threw *that* pass vs the Dragons to really piss everyone off
Ropati - Poor guy didn't deserve to go out that way, but he did look a bit past it
Palavi - Looked promising but faded quickly
Havili - Thought he should have been given a few more chances, again looked promising if slightly overhyped
Paasi - Barely remember his debut
Lolohea - Seriously looks the goods, fits into first grade like a glove. The only serious challenge to Townsend at the moment, worth a go on the wing
Sam Lousi - Didn't do anything in particular in his one game
Tuimavave - Was awful in his one game, but could have been worth another go


Everyone that is a B grade and downwards isn't really cutting it, and that's half the team.
Worst of all most of them are key forwards and without them we're not going anywhere. Far too many guys playing below their potential.
The roster is there, we're only one or two key guys away from clicking.

What is this team really missing?
A Michael Luck

Tireless worker, natural leader, gets everyone organised, has an aura about him, and is not afraid to dish out a spray if someone isn't pulling their weight.

Hopefully Hoffman can be that guy for us next year.

 

[JJ]

What is this team really missing?
A Michael Luck

Tireless worker, natural leader, gets everyone organised, has an aura about him, and is not afraid to dish out a spray if someone isn't pulling their weight.

Hopefully Hoffman can be that guy for us next year.

Yeah, that will be interesting - Hoffman is clearly a fine player, but he strikes me as perhaps more like Mannering? Friend is the other one, guess he just doesn't have that presence. Certainly we've been better with the likes of Campion, Price, and Luck - all hard as nails, but in a way that seems to resonate with team mates.

But however you grade things about half the squad were poor, and perhaps just two really good performances (Melbourne and Nth Qld) all year (I do not count towellings of incompetent or uninterested opposition - Eels, Canberra, Gold Coast) - if I am being harsh, the Dogs games were ok too... overall, the more things change, the more they stay the same