Vs Bunnies

[TheDMC]

That was terrible. On the upside I got laid just before the game so my mood was far from depressed.

 

[Schuster86]

Very hard game to watch as a die hard warriors fan. As Gas said at half time, the a Rabbits seem to get all the 50-50 calls go there way but that's no shock as that seems to happen no matter who the Warriors play. I was particularly interested in how the refs seemed to hold up the game (on more than one occasion) in order to make sure the Rabbits didn't get a dud call yet some clear calls that should have went in in the Warrios favor were completely overlooked. All that being said the overall performance was well below par. Considering this is the halfway point of the season and there doesn't seem to be ANY significant improvement in the teams performances I think its time to run with the best 17 players they have at there disposal (in my opinion)
THE TEAM CAPPY SHOULD NAME NEXT WEEK

1. Sam Tomkins
2. David Fusitua/Glen Fisiahi
3. Konrad Hurell
4. Solamone Kata
5. Manu Vatuvei
6. Tuimoala Lolohea ( he's going to be here next year, might as well blood him now)
7. Shaun Johnson
8. Jacob Lillyman
9. Saliva Havili (has to be better than Friend, too many penalties & borderline passes far too slow)
10. Ben Matulino
11. Bodene Thompson
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Simon Mannering

14. Chad Townsend (can cover 6-7-9 & looks like a better 9 than a half anyway imo)
15. Sam Rapira
16. Sam Lisone
17. Raymond Faitala-Mairiner (?????)

 

[Rich102]

Johnson's been slack early on this season, but he and Chad were pretty good most of today.

Not his fault our ball security and defence went for a walk off the map.

Totally disagree on Johnson - he was terrible.
Absolutely refuses to drop on to a loose ball. Does it every time.
Totally disinterested in getting involved or setting up play.

If Chad goes we are losing our best half. (I hear that the Warriors are making a big play to keep him.)

 

[JJ]

Totally disagree on Johnson - he was terrible.
Absolutely refuses to drop on to a loose ball. Does it every time.
Totally disinterested in getting involved or setting up play.

If Chad goes we are losing our best half. (I hear that the Warriors are making a big play to keep him.)

Johnson really is a fair weather footballer

 

[jamaman]

Johnson really is a fair weather footballer

I would have him anyday!

 

[Blair]

I suppose it was well thought out and widely agreed upon but that tight dash to the airport, after the game, sounded like an unwelcome distraction for all concerned.

 

[Iron Lion]

That was terrible. On the upside I got laid just before the game so my mood was far from depressed.

Congratulations, where did you meet him?

 

[jamaman]

Congratulations, where did you meet him?

he was a friend of yours?

 

[JJ]

Lillyman terrible with the hands as well. Even Johnson dropped a few balls he shouldn't have.

.

Lot of people are saying that, but pretty sure that was the only ball he dropped, admittedly a shocker - but why is the other the only player that has the good sense to back up Matulino close to the line?

Lillyman topped the metres among the pack, he and Matulino were yet again very strong I thought

 

[Benek]

Lillyman dropped two balls that I could remember (one in the second half, possibly also from matulino offload on the right edge), so I didn't give him any points this week. But yes, good on him for following Matulino for those offloads when hardly anyone else was.

We've got one of the best offloading forwards in the NRL. How come we don't have 2 or 3 guys itching to follow him on every hitup?

 

[Auckland4ever]

Not his fault our ball security and defence went for a walk off the map.

This is the crux of the Warriors biggest failing as a club - has been for years. Individuals get bagged, but this is a team-wide issue that never seems to go away. Seems like there's at least one soft try given away at pretty much every Warriors game, regardless of the opposition.

I'm excited about RTS playing for us, but can already see him having to spend most of his energy trying to plug holes in leaky defense or having to endure repeat sets on a way more consistent basis than he's ever been used to.

There hasn't been much, if any improvement under McFadden as far as our defense is concerned. Benji Marshall was on NRL360 saying that they have full contact sessions in their training, where players are ordered to hit as hard as they can. Would be interested to see if there's anything like that put in place by McFadden. I think he's at the crossroads as far as his first grade coaching career goes - if he can't figure out how to improve our defense, the same pattern of the last three years is going to keep repeating, even with Luke and RTS in the side. If you can't coach a team stacked with rep players into a very generous top 8 finals system, you're not the man for the job.

 

[Iron Lion]

If you can't coach a team stacked with rep players into a very generous top 8 finals system, you're not the man for the job.

Agree 100%

 

[vvvrulz]

There hasn't been much, if any improvement under McFadden as far as our defense is concerned. .

The strange thing is that when he first took over, our defence for a while suddenly improved and was aggressive and consistent. Where did all that go?

I'm also starting to join the chorus singing we won't get anywhere until we get a top class coach, even though we have great signings coming next year. We have a motivation and attitude problem which has been killing us ever since Cleary took off, everyone since then has only got bursts of form out of us at best.

 

[spear tackle]

The strange thing is that when he first took over, our defence for a while suddenly improved and was aggressive and consistent. Where did all that go?

I'm also starting to join the chorus singing we won't get anywhere until we get a top class coach, even though we have great signings coming next year. We have a motivation and attitude problem which has been killing us ever since Cleary took off, everyone since then has only got bursts of form out of us at best.

Tend to agree wouldn't know where to start by fixing it though

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Very hard game to watch as a die hard warriors fan. As Gas said at half time, the a Rabbits seem to get all the 50-50 calls go there way but that's no shock as that seems to happen no matter who the Warriors play. I was particularly interested in how the refs seemed to hold up the game (on more than one occasion) in order to make sure the Rabbits didn't get a dud call yet some clear calls that should have went in in the Warrios favor were completely overlooked. All that being said the overall performance was well below par. Considering this is the halfway point of the season and there doesn't seem to be ANY significant improvement in the teams performances I think its time to run with the best 17 players they have at there disposal (in my opinion)
THE TEAM CAPPY SHOULD NAME NEXT WEEK

1. Sam Tomkins
2. David Fusitua/Glen Fisiahi
3. Konrad Hurell
4. Solamone Kata
5. Manu Vatuvei
6. Tuimoala Lolohea ( he's going to be here next year, might as well blood him now)
7. Shaun Johnson
8. Jacob Lillyman
9. Saliva Havili (has to be better than Friend, too many penalties & borderline passes far too slow)
10. Ben Matulino
11. Bodene Thompson
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Simon Mannering

14. Chad Townsend (can cover 6-7-9 & looks like a better 9 than a half anyway imo)
15. Sam Rapira
16. Sam Lisone
17. Raymond Faitala-Mairiner (?????)

are u sure your a die hard fan. its origin next week so we will have no hoffman and lillyman

chad along with manu has been our best back but because hes not here next year you want him on the bench, shit call. im not writing this year off so he stays at 6 to get our backs going. Tomkins is leaving to but your picking him.
friend is a pro who sows the defencive line up. we need his experiance.
perhaps you should watch all there games to get a better view of where they are at and where they should go

 

[JJ]

Townsend has been our best half all year :lol: at dropping him, and sorry but :lol: at him as a 9... he cannot handle that defence

 

[Alan Johnson]

I believe the Warriors' problems stem from culture. Not the club culture, which appears to be very strong, but the culture of the predominantly NZ Polynesian players and how its translation to on-field performance. I don't want to suggest that there are inherent weaknesses of failings common to NZ Polynesian players, in fact I think what I am about to propose as the Warriors central weakness could equally be considered a strength in different circumstances, but I think there a clear differences between the way Polynesians play the game to what you see with predominantly Australian teams.

Tightly woven into the fabric of rugby league culture are the dreary working class values/myths of honest hard work and standing up for your mates. That's the dogma the game is founded on and which is routinely celebrated and reinforced in the game's popular narratives and iconography (consider the Provan-Summons Trophy itself). I would suggest that the Australian working class experience is markedly different to that of the South Auckland working class experience and that is significant in the relative success of the Warriors team. I'm not suggesting that the population that contribute most of the Warriors' players aren't hard working and don't stick up for their mates, but that those values aren't necessarily tied to a ball sport the way the are in Australia. That disconnect has an impact in on-field performance. It's a clash of cultures. Simply: we don't see the game in the same way they do and we don't play the game like they do.

Sure, we could dismiss "cultural differences" and argue that the Warriors are a professional outfit and should play to a certain standard, a certain model. But that would ignore the obvious influence culture can have on sports. Consider the football world cup. The flamboyant Brazilians (although with an admittedly weak team by their standards) destroyed by the clinical Germans. The clinical Germans. They play with that expectation, just like the Brazilians are expected to play with flamboyance and brilliance. it just so happens that on this occasion their clinical beat flamboyant (and in the process became pretty flamboyant in its own right). The Warriors come from a different place to that which most Australian players come from and I think that's the major difference.

How do we fix this "problem"? Unfortunately I think the only way to fix it is to have a strong coach coach us to play like the Australian teams. Other than that we just have to wait for the rare occasions that the stars align, when we have the right players and our natural game clicks and we become a force of nature like we were in 2002.

Apologies for rant and any offence caused.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

I am quite glad I missed this one!

 

[Rich102]

I believe the Warriors' problems stem from culture. Not the club culture, which appears to be very strong, but the culture of the predominantly NZ Polynesian players and how its translation to on-field performance. I don't want to suggest that there are inherent weaknesses of failings common to NZ Polynesian players, in fact I think what I am about to propose as the Warriors central weakness could equally be considered a strength in different circumstances, but I think there a clear differences between the way Polynesians play the game to what you see with predominantly Australian teams.

Tightly woven into the fabric of rugby league culture are the dreary working class values/myths of honest hard work and standing up for your mates. That's the dogma the game is founded on and which is routinely celebrated and reinforced in the game's popular narratives and iconography (consider the Provan-Summons Trophy itself). I would suggest that the Australian working class experience is markedly different to that of the South Auckland working class experience and that is significant in the relative success of the Warriors team. I'm not suggesting that the population that contribute most of the Warriors' players aren't hard working and don't stick up for their mates, but that those values aren't necessarily tied to a ball sport the way the are in Australia. That disconnect has an impact in on-field performance. It's a clash of cultures. Simply: we don't see the game in the same way they do and we don't play the game like they do.

Sure, we could dismiss "cultural differences" and argue that the Warriors are a professional outfit and should play to a certain standard, a certain model. But that would ignore the obvious influence culture can have on sports. Consider the football world cup. The flamboyant Brazilians (although with an admittedly weak team by their standards) destroyed by the clinical Germans. The clinical Germans. They play with that expectation, just like the Brazilians are expected to play with flamboyance and brilliance. it just so happens that on this occasion their clinical beat flamboyant (and in the process became pretty flamboyant in its own right). The Warriors come from a different place to that which most Australian players come from and I think that's the major difference.

How do we fix this "problem"? Unfortunately I think the only way to fix it is to have a strong coach coach us to play like the Australian teams. Other than that we just have to wait for the rare occasions that the stars align, when we have the right players and our natural game clicks and we become a force of nature like we were in 2002.

Apologies for rant and any offence caused.

Yeah. It's time for some straight talking. There is still a problem here and it wasn't just the likes of Locke, Inu, Mateo etc.

However putting your finger on the problem is very hard. How do you explain the the Poly players at other clubs don't seem to have the same problems?

Are our coaches too soft? If a player need disciplining and doesn't get it he shrugs it off and does it again. Should our players get dropped to Vulcans for underperforming? (The only one I recall this happening to is Hurrell and he certainly isn't the only one underperforming.

Interesting to hear your thoughts.

 

[JJ]

Few of them have EVER shown the ability to be consistent week-to-week throughout a season - the Aussie imports, Mannering, Matulino (this year), Thompson, and Manu...

The rest just don't have the week-to-week mentality - it's lovely to turn up for a big game occasionally, or to play well in tests, but this comp is a grind - and we just aren't up for it consistently enough

On the Sunday Footy Show they showed a try or two (Johnston, and Walker, I think - Kata and Manu's side) - in one there were 5 or 6 Warriors defending two Bunnies, and they waltzed in, that's flat out ridiculous -