Vuna released

[Blaze]

Pretty astonishing that a guy can break into first grade at such an absurdly young age and yet never really improve from there.

I wish him all the best, but given his lack of progress I can't be too harsh on the management for this call.

Yes!

I could never see what all the fuss was about with Vuna.

Edit - And I also don't get the Sonny Fai hype as well. Maybe that is just because of what I imagined him to be like before I saw him play.

From what I have seen of him this season he seems similar to Reni Maitua, whereas I was expecting a Sonny Bill type player.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Warriors wingers pecking order

Vatuvei
Ah Van
Crockett
Byrne
Solomona
Vuna - I never like seeing kiwi players let go, but it's the best move for him and possibly NZ league if he kicks on from here.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I'm not really expressing an opinion either way on whether Vuna deserved more games in 2005/06. I only see Bartercard games occasionally

For the record I actually wanted to see more of him and have made a few posts on this forum wondering where he was.

This year all of our young up and comers do have the chance to press their claims in televised matches against high standard opposition. I haven't heard ANYONE say that Vuna should get a run based on 2007 Premier League form. I'm just going on the consensus of opinion which is that he has not shone against Premier League opposition.

You're all talking about Crockett and Byrne but Patrick Ah Van has Vuna's spot at the moment, and he is a Kiwi who is even younger than Vuna is!

I'll freely admit that I don't have a strong opinion or knowledge either way about Vuna. However I do firmly believe that if a guy can hardly make first grade over a 3 year period, there's no point crying about him leaving. The powers that be at the Warriors get a good luck at how all the guys are playing and training, and obviously didn't even rate Vuna highly enough to give him a run.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I think fai has to be included over the next few weeks too - maybe he should go to an aussie club and play jim beam cup for 4 years gain aussie citzenship and then cleary will sign him up and play him every week.

That doesn't explain why Lauaki is ahead of him.

I would have anyone ahead of Lauaki atm.

 

[ozbash]

good to see a good few of you voting NZ first,, as it should be.

good luck to coops, i looked forward to watching him play but he often dissapointed me with his silly stuff. Hope he goes well at the knights, really dont think Aucks is the place for cooper.

Hes the only warrior ive seen that stops mid game and waves to someone in the crowd, seen him do it twice now.

tells me he needs a coach who can get his mind on the job.
once cooper realises his talent he could very easily become the next vainikolo, or better.

so yea, makes you wonder alright, we lose our up and coming potential for players who are never going to go anywhere in their aussie clubs.

 

[NZ Warrior]

Crockett OWNS Vuna.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Has he got any potential at all or is he just another dud signing like Russell Richardson was for us (and a host of other players)?

Certainly has the potential but seems to be a bit lacking in the top 12 inches, some great attacking flair but too many brain explosions...

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Just like Talapapa is ...and doing bloody well at that.

Talapapa had his chance in first grade and f**ked it up with his off field behaviour, what were the warriors supposed t odo, turn a blind eye to it? Can't blame the club for that one.

 

[Sanchez]

crockett>>>>vuna

 

[-Dr.J-]

Crockett was starting to get exposed for his weakness under the high ball and his line D before injury. I hope he can fix that up cos Vuna was better in these areas.

 

[Waitakere Warrior Fan]

It's a shame to see him go, but realistically I think it's a good move for him as he seemed to be well down the list of wingers here. Even ignoring the aussies he's behind Vatuvei, Ah Van and possibly even Solomona. He hasn't looked great in the games I've seen for the Lions either. It seems like we aren't able to get the best out of him here for whatever reason, so hopefully the environment over in Newcastle will see him reach his potential.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Crockett was starting to get exposed for his weakness under the high ball and his line D before injury. I hope he can fix that up cos Vuna was better in these areas.

Last time I saw Vuna play he dropped a bomb that an half-decent 1st XIII player should have caught so he's not exactly stellar in that dept.

 

[Iafeta]

Good luck to Cooper. Like Thierry said, I find it hard pressed that he can debut so young, and in his first two games look so good, and then flounder to the point of playing what 3 games after that?

I saw him live at Penrith for the Warriors, and I was quite impressed by him. I thought he looked Clinton Toopi-ish in stature, yeah I know, not good, but in actual fact he looked very light on his feet and agile to beat defenders. Ran the ball back hard and his ball control was fairly good.

I think he will go onto a good career, but likewise, I think Patrick Ah Van and Manu Vatuvei will improve. They're both young blokes with already good performances behind them, one's in a bad of bad form but he'll come good. Time is on all three of their sides. Lets hope Malo Solomona and Miguel Start are retained and continue to develop.

 

[Hatzy]

Crockett over Vuna?

You gotta be kidding me. The only reason the Warriors got Crockett was because of his speed. In terms of talent Crockett had done nothing to impress us. Sure, he scored tries but so did Skinny last year. Finisher, yes. Complete player, no.

Makes you wonder why we needed him. Pricey himself said that Vuna, Crockett and Manu are the fastest in the team.

Regardless of who was better, why do we sign overseas players when we have our own waiting in the wings.

This sucks and is a major step back for the club.

 

[Hatzy]

Lets hope Malo Solomona and Miguel Start are retained and continue to develop.

I don't see why we retain them if we are to just release them.

Last year when the Bulldogs were rumoured to want him the Warriors signed him on a one year contract and THEN signed up Crockett. I'm confused.

 

[Dr Crane]

Don't we have two New Zealanders as starting wingers at the moment?

It's better for the Kiwis if he isn't in Premier League.



BTW, Hatzy, i like my wingers scoring tries.

 

[Hatzy]

BTW, Hatzy, i like my wingers scoring tries.

Who doesn't?

My point is that all Crockett has showed us is that he can finish. He didn't have a skillset that Vuna has.

The fact also is that Vuna isn't just a winger either - he is a centre and a fullback too.

You guys are all talking about how he hasn't showed us the goods this year - has Lauaki? Has Wiki? Did Rapira show us much last year? Vuna showed plenty in his games last year and that alone should have been reason NOT TO SIGN CROCKETT.

Sammy wasn't half the footballer last year that he is this year. This year it is a totally different story.

But its called development. And the Warriors are not prepared to develop our players and give them time.

Instead we sign players like Crockett who do nothing but hinder the development of our club and our players.

 

[Dr Crane]

Isn't 3 years enough time to show some type of development?

 

[Hatzy]

Isn't 3 years enough time to show some type of development?

Two takes at this.

Before this season we had no Premier League team and so players had to play in the Bartercard Cup.

Thus:

a) If you do want to monitor his development in the Bartercard Cup then he was one of the stars.

BUT

b) How can you monitor his development in the Bartercard Cup and believe that whatever he was doing in there would equal what he could do in the NRL.

Simple, you can't.

Thus the notion that he has three years to develop doesn't make sense because although he was good in BC, that wasn't a good measure of who he was as a player. Which means that 10 games should not be a measure of how good he is as a player. He needs time to develop and needs experience.

Manu Vatuvei hasn't lived up to expectations this year ...should be dump him? Wiki is playing the worst league of his career ...should we dump him? Lauaki is playing ordinary and not up to NRL standard ...should we dump him? I think you get the picture.

We need to develop our players. What we saw Vuna do last year in five games should have warranted that he is something we need to hold onto. He has potential but needs time to develop.

What we didn't need is for Warriors management to sign Vuna only to then sign Crockett further pushing the development of our players.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

But its called development. And the Warriors are not prepared to develop our players and give them time.

What??? Are you serious????? We've given Swann, Manu and Anderson plenty of time to develop !!!

But in all seriousness, Im very unhappy that he's left but at the end of the day thats the nature of a professional sport. You cant hold onto all of them, and even if it gives you the sh*ts when we lose players like this we will have plenty of 'wins' in our player retention.

I agree it's annoying when we lose young local juniors like this, but we are not privvy to all of the information available. Player Attitudes, how they train, how they fit into the game plan, how they fit in with the rest of the squad etc - we just don't know enough to start grabbing the pitchforks and flaming torches just yet.

One does think though that Vuna will develop into more of a player than he ever would of here.