Team v Bulldogs

[sup42]

Well Sat is shaping up nicely.

Crunch game for the Warriors, followed by the first All Black test and seeing if Robertson can deliver on the hype.

Fking love this time of year

Who are the blacks playing? I do not watch Union, last game I saw was 1995 WC final.

 

[Izz]

Harris out. Afoa onto the bench. Tuaupiki and Halasima the two reserves.

Question is, will Ford play middle or edge from the bench, or will either he or Bunty drop off for Halasima?

Looks like RTS at centre for another week

 

[Meth]

Who are the blacks playing? I do not watch Union, last game I saw was 1995 WC final.

england

 

[TheDMC]

.

 

[Diesel]

Good for Tohu not to be playing. He’s slowed down this year, so it’s either time to reflect where he is, or time off to rest and reset,

 

[Penrose Warrior]

It's an interesting state of affairs that Tohu is out and I honestly don't think that's a significant thing for our side

 

[hitro]

Yes it's not the end of the world that Tohu is not playing, he's only just been hanging in there anyway. It might be better to have someone else in the team who's fully fit. Who is the Captain now?

 

[Blair]

A fit Tohu might've been handy tomorrow though. If the game's tight, in the wet, then our defence needs to be at its best.

 

[Meth]

Who is the captain with Harris out?

 

[nswarrior]

Who is the captain with Harris out?

Thats a big change, to drop your captain and club captain or was he injured. Really live the guy and everything he has done for the club but he seems to be struggling with the pace of the game this year

 

[Izz]

Thats a big change, to drop your captain and club captain or was he injured. Really live the guy and everything he has done for the club but he seems to be struggling with the pace of the game this year

Wrist injury, apparently. Indefinite time frame. Barnett to captain most likely imo

 

[hitro]

I hope the C is Barnett, I guess the other option is Wade, he frequently runs out in the first few, but he is an extreme danger of being knocked out or dazed. AFB also runs out in the first few but even though he is one of the best he also openly wants to leave. RTS is the previous C it might be him

 

[Meth]

RTS probably a good choice

 

[Izz]

Nrl.com team list has Barnett as captain

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I actually thought last year that it was only a matter of time before both SJ and Tohu hit the wall with their bodies and it looks like it’s happening at the same time. It’s probably going to derail this season but I also think it’s not the total disaster it could’ve been as we can already see some very good signs of what the team will look like after they’re gone. It could just be that this year turns out to be the rebuilding year. If we finished out of the 8 but in a good position to continue with a younger squad next season, I won’t be too disappointed.

 

[sup42]

Nrl.com team list has Barnett as captain

He seems to have pipped the other candidates now and is well placed to be our future club captain. Good on him. He deserves it. Apart from Barnett off the top of my head our fill in captains have been Montoya (trial game) and Walker. Both known positive talkers off field that are good at Geeing up the lads.

 

[sup42]

Some rumblings on Social media that Leka is set for a shock debut today.Whether this is just people connecting the dots whereby Webster names a Junior at 18th man etc then sneaks them in or not I dunno.

It would be the first 18 year old the Warriors have put out there for a while. Pretty exciting if it comes to pass. Leka of course is the leading 'great hope' we have in the Juniors/Reggies system according to many expert pub fans.

Are we seeing the end for Jazz? The thing I will be watching if/when Leka debuts is whether he can keep up with the defensive sharp curve of the NRL. Laban and MGT managed it, he should be fine (not expecting him to go out there and fill Jazz's niche. I see few flaws in his game so far, the only concern is his discipline when he gets angry.

 

[nswarrior]

Some rumblings on Social media that Leka is set for a shock debut today.Whether this is just people connecting the dots whereby Webster names a Junior at 18th man etc then sneaks them in or not I dunno.

It would be the first 18 year old the Warriors have put out there for a while. Pretty exciting if it comes to pass. Leka of course is the leading 'great hope' we have in the Juniors/Reggies system according to many expert pub fans.

Are we seeing the end for Jazz? The thing I will be watching if/when Leka debuts is whether he can keep up with the defensive sharp curve of the NRL. Laban and MGT managed it, he should be fine (not expecting him to go out there and fill Jazz's niche. I see few flaws in his game so far, the only concern is his discipline when he gets angry.

Hope to see him out there. Surprised he jumps ahead of Laban. Laban managed the step up from Reggie’s although he struggled with the pace of the game and fitness levels and struggled to get back in the defensive line at times

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

I actually thought last year that it was only a matter of time before both SJ and Tohu hit the wall with their bodies and it looks like it’s happening at the same time. It’s probably going to derail this season but I also think it’s not the total disaster it could’ve been as we can already see some very good signs of what the team will look like after they’re gone. It could just be that this year turns out to be the rebuilding year. If we finished out of the 8 but in a good position to continue with a younger squad next season, I won’t be too disappointed.

I would hardly call a broken thumb as a body hitting the wall but i get what you mean.

 

[sup42]

Hope to see him out there. Surprised he jumps ahead of Laban. Laban managed the step up from Reggie’s although he struggled with the pace of the game and fitness levels and struggled to get back in the defensive line at times

Yeah he is very young (Laban) and a massive unit. He ended up being pushed further than someone his age normally would because of Injuries and send offs, plus there is the specter of some of his team mates turning over possession through penalties, six again's and other thnigs which are a mix of Ref bias and frankly useless Warriors being useless.

In Leka they are looking for more speed through the middle if they play him. I hope it works out for multiple reasons but mostly because we are moving away from AFB next year to having two fast props in Barnett and JFH.

They are not line benders as such they are fast players that tax the anaerobic capacity of the opposition. For that model to work, you would need two other fast forwards on the bench. Walker is one, he ups the tempo, Leka could be that fourth we need to exhaust the opposition which is the compliment to a territorial fast kick chase game that Webster ball seeks every week.

Next year we want to see a fast pack that is backed up by our big back five who roll down town giving JFH, Barnett, Leka, Walker a platform to keep it rolling quickly.
This is really the only way we won't miss AFB. We cannot try to replace AFB with what we have. Dimitric is the nearest thing we have to an AFB big body type, but he is quite fast for all that bulk.

Unfortunately an AFB is born and not made, the rare combination of being a giant with a big engine, tricky dark arts when he runs at the line (he looks like he is jogging and slows down into the contact which means the defence does not get the collision physics from two opposing forces). The way AFB Jogs into the line is as I say really tricky, he makes a soft impact which means he can set his feet, lower his center of gravity and kill the defenders in the post contact meters arm wrestle.

You can learn that part of AFBs game but history shows it takes Props years and years to reach that level of sophistication in the contact.