Team v Dragons

[Meth]

Cannot believe Hurrell was dropped.

Fufu, why do you say he's not happy about it?

 

[jamaman]

Hurrell the scapegoat again. Don't think he is very happy about it either.

maybe get fit Koni..

 

[Blair]

Does seem strange that he's dropped again, but Kata not... Kata's horrific at times, and was exposed badly against the Roosters...

I'm happy with Wright in the team, but only on the wing... centre and 5/8 will continue to be huge issues next year I reckon

It's a worrying team selection, as discussed. Wright performed poorly at centre last time, he's done some good defensive work on the wing.

Kata has to be impressing the coach with his attitude at training, and in games, and Hurrell not. If Hurrell isn't happy with being dumped (again) that's good, we don't want him happy about it. A late inclusion (for whatever reason) of him in first grade could be a masterstroke. We need Konnie angry I reckon, he'd be a better player.

The whole team should be angry this weekend, after the last. They've been watching The Magic Johnson Show for far too long, people are thinking they're just in the live studio audience (with a few hanging out in the foyer for most of it) , and not even cast members.

And yes, the director makes some strange decisions along the way.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Sorry Cappy, you're losing me.

Unless there's something behind closed doors, Kon was decent last week - and vitally showed effort. And Kata has fallen away form-wise and probably energy-wise in his rookie year. Add to that, that Wright has been exposed badly at centre and is a stop-gap measure at best.

McFadden has bemoaned not being able to create and grow combinations. Well the last 3 weeks, he's completely chopped and changed the backline (not talking halves) mostly with fit players. We haven't had a settled left or right side - including back-rowers - any of those weeks.

To me, if you're facing season's end and desperate times - Wright for Hurrell is about the last thing I'd be doing. An intuition says that might change before kick-off and you'd like to hope so.

 

[Juju]

Pretty sure Hurrell is getting dropped constantly for his poor effort and lack of urgency off the ball.
Check out the passage of play 1m36 to 1m45 on the 1st Holmes.
http://www.warriors.co.nz/news/2015/08/01/rd_21_warriors_vsharkshls.html

He's obviously a walk up started on attacking prowess but got a feeling he's either really really unfit or isn't putting in as much as the coaches are hoping.

 

[Auckland4ever]

He's obviously a walk up started on attacking prowess but got a feeling he's either really really unfit or isn't putting in as much as the coaches are hoping.

Wouldn't be surprised if you're right. There's a lot of emphasis put on performance analysis, so it's likely down to stuff off the ball that goes unnoticed by fans.

 

[Blair]

Whaaaa?

Running up a score on the worst defensive team in the comp in your last start does not a good attack make. The last time the Dragons scored more than 2 tries in a match before last week was way back in round 13. They're without their best finisher and also without (IMO) their best attacking outside back prospect. That said, have no doubt, we'll find a way to let them in!...

Yes, definitely a dose of 'Benji's back' hype in that last Dragons win.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

We simply do not know enough of what is going on in the background, so hard to form an informed opinion on Konrad's dropping.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Pretty sure Hurrell is getting dropped constantly for his poor effort and lack of urgency off the ball.
Check out the passage of play 1m36 to 1m45 on the 1st Holmes.
http://www.warriors.co.nz/news/2015/08/01/rd_21_warriors_vsharkshls.html

He's obviously a walk up started on attacking prowess but got a feeling he's either really really unfit or isn't putting in as much as the coaches are hoping.

Then fix him. I'm not a big Kon fan at all as I've made clear over the last few years but what have we done in 4 years to better his effort and commitment to being a professional footballer?

Without fail we drop him, play him in NSW Cup for a couple of weeks maximum, then he comes back up to do the same again. There's never any bagging of him in the media (Cappy actually gave him a big endorsement this year) and we re-signed him to a presumably fairly sweet deal.

If he's not a good defender, coach him. It's their job. If he's unfit, make him fit or tell him he's not being considered until he stays at a certain skinfold/yoyo test level. If he's uncommitted, give him 1 month minimum in NSW Cup. But at the moment there's no comeuppance for him. He knows he'll be back in 2 weeks.

The great coaches would go about it a lot different. Bellamy showed it with Fonua - a brilliant attacker with defensive and motivational shortcomings. When he went down a grade, he generally stayed there a fair while. When he came back, he was made to play on the wing until he sorted his shit out. When it finally got too much this year, he's been shipped off and will end up in the UK. That won't happen to Hurrell because we're so shit scared we'll lose him to another club that will turn him into a gun so we hang onto him, do f**k all about it and somehow dream that he'll wake up one day a committed, fit, NRL-quality player. Not gonna happen.

 

[Rebel]

It's an attitude thing with hurrell. My aunt won 'member of the week' and got to meet the coaches at Sky city. She tried to ask probing questions and cappy said that there was problems in the backline, but the hardest worker was surprisingly kata. I assume that hurrell isn't the coaches fav

 

[Sanchez]

I cant understand how so many people are surprised by this. Hurrells been a continual liability for 4 years. Katas a rookie experiencing some growing pains. Theres a stark difference there

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I cant understand how so many people are surprised by this. Hurrells been a continual liability for 4 years. Katas a rookie experiencing some growing pains. Theres a stark difference there

So why bother re-signing him, on I presume fairly good money?

People are surprised (like me) for a few reasons. A) Hurrell might have been exposed 1 or 2 times by Holmes last week but not glaringly, and he offered a great deal more energy and willingness to get involved than in past rounds. Why recall him and drop him after one week when you probably knew what you were getting defensive-wise? That strikes me as poor coaching B) Why put Wright in his place? Last week we struggled to score points. Wright is defensively sound (ish) but has the attacking skills and athleticism of a 1970s interchange front rower. It's not like he's being selected to shut down any big gun in the Dragons. So any defensive benefit we get from Wright is going to be negated by Kon's carries and finishing ability C) Whether Kata is a rookie or not, we need to win games therefore pick the best side. Kata has fallen off a cliff in the last few weeks and I presume because he's energy-sapped after a big year D) It's another combination change. The coach himself bemoaned this weeks ago with injuries but keeps picking different sides, injury-unaffected.

 

[ozbash]

I thought Konnie had a reasonable game last week, he got involved.

 

[vvvrulz]

I cant understand how so many people are surprised by this. Hurrells been a continual liability for 4 years. Katas a rookie experiencing some growing pains. Theres a stark difference there

What?

Hurrell has been one of our few reliable and constant attacking weapons, with bucket loads of tries and assists. At times he has been found wanting on defence (no worse than Fus and Kata) and acts like a bit of a harmless knob, but not enough to be dropped like this.

Smells like another Inu situation to me.

 

[Matua]

I thought Konnie had a reasonable game last week, he got involved.

Me too, and I'm far from a Konnie fan (as a player, he's funny as on Code).

Kata has strung a few average games in a row now.

 

[Sanchez]

What?

Hurrell has been one of our few reliable and constant attacking weapons, with bucket loads of tries and assists. At times he has been found wanting on defence (no worse than Fus and Kata) and acts like a bit of a harmless knob, but not enough to be dropped like this.

Smells like another Inu situation to me.

Find attacking players isnt really the problem for us is it

 

[Meth]

'Kata is training the house down'

Just based on performance alone, Hurell was better than Kata on the weekend. That really can't be denied. So an explanation is needed. I am not calling for Kata to be dropped…but I can't fathom Wright for Hurrell based on Hurrell's last couple of games.

 

[Iron Lion]

Should we be concerned Hurrell and Laumape just have not kicked on at the warriors? - I find Hurrell to be such a warm laughable bloke that surely the right motivator could bring the best out of him.

Wright is not the solution, we just wont win the championship games with guys like him in the team. Disapointing

 

[vvvrulz]

Find attacking players isnt really the problem for us is it

Somewhat true, but it's pretty hard to rival what Hurrell has delivered for us at his peak.
The guy is a beast when he is on song, and he wasn't awful last week at all.

 

[Blair]

'Kata is training the house down'

Just based on performance alone, Hurell was better than Kata on the weekend. That really can't be denied. So an explanation is needed. I am not calling for Kata to be dropped…but I can't fathom Wright for Hurrell based on Hurrell's last couple of games.

Like the perplexing TL for Chad at six in the corresponding game last year (when season was on the line v Penrith). It was a crucial error, that we had to wait for a new season to fix.

History might repeat.