Interesting take from Ropati:
Warriors legend Jerome Ropati believes that Jeff Robson will be the most important recruit for the New Zealand club this season.
That is some call from the 31-year-old considering the high profile Kiwis pair of Issac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck have made headlines in the game since their return to New Zealand.
"A lot of people are talking about Shaun [Johnson], Issac and Roger. But Jeff Robson, to me, is the key because he's going to be the one to steer the ship 80 per cent of the time to ensure everything goes to plan," Ropati told NRL.com.
"Johnson does what he does as a talent, and he can take that other 20 per cent and just really take off. Jeff will be a complement to Shaun [Johnson].
"Robson's valuable because of his experience too. He's value because of who he is as a person as well. He's a really good guy who gives a lot of time to our younger players."
Most people would rate Thomas Leuluai as the most likley partner in the halves for Johnson in the 2016 season, but Ropati didn't see it that way.
The club veteran, who played 145 times for the Warriors, reckoned that Leuluai - who is returning from an injury layoff after rupturing his ACL against the Eels - could be the back up to Luke from the interchange bench.
"Judging by what I see from training Thomas is fighting back to fitness and I'm guessing he'll factor into the halves at some point and likely play reserve hooker," Ropati said.
"That's still not determined at the moment though, everyone is still training in multiple positions so it's hard to get a gauge on anyone apart from the big name players we're used to."
The Warriors, who are preparing for the Auckland Nines on Waitangi weekend, will face the Wests Tigers in Sydney in round one of the NRL Premiership.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league...believes-Jeff-Robson-is-the-clubs-key-recruit
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