We will never win an NRL title until

[JJ]

I've never been a huge Manu fan, but imo he's as good, if not better, at the moment than he's ever been...

And if we're talking about poor hands, the fullback should be in the discussion too... think he had 2-3 simple drops when there was no reason...

Both should be in the team imo, but I don't think we're a premiership winning looking squad at the moment - a prop short, and issues at fullback, wing, centre if Nielsen is there, and stand off (regardless of TL or CHad being there)

 

[tangalife]

I doubt anyother NRL club would play him on the wing now.

Lmao, most clubs would take Manu on the wing in a heartbeat.

Also JJ, no this is not Manu's best ever year, he has had at least two better seasons. The season he won intl winger of the year, and the year where Uate just pipped him for NRL winger of the year.

 

[JJ]

Lmao, most clubs would take Manu on the wing in a heartbeat.

Also JJ, no this is not Manu's best ever year, he has had at least two better seasons. The season he won intl winger of the year, and the year where Uate just pipped him for NRL winger of the year.

Fair enough, but for me he's been playing bloody well... and I am not one that's always been a fan of his... with Hurrell, Laumape, Manu and Fusitua I am happy - if we're looking for problems, they are elsewhere imo...

Manu will always have the occasional mistake, that's a given... but I am more than happy with him on one wing atm

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

I have picked up no anti-Vatuvei bias in this post at all. Can you post where it is. Attitudes of victimisation is what will hold this club back, screw that lets call a spade a spade. Manu Vatuvei along with Konrad Hurrell could be the most important ball carrier in our team and without a doubt from inside our 20 but the truth is he isnt even an average winger anymore, I doubt anyother NRL club would play him on the wing now.

Manu doesnt even want to play on the wing from what I hear and continuing to play him there may even end up costing us a finals position also.

Manu is a prop, make him give us 2x20mins quality spells each week. He is a major liability of the wing now, id rather Jarrod Tua there at the moment if it got Manu into the pack.

Just speaking in generalities mate wasn't saying Warrior@Heart has any unreasonable bias about Vatuvei, haven't seen enough of his posts to make that sort of judgement about him/her

Anyway I hear a lot of people talk about how if Manu was at another club he wouldn't be on the wing, but that negates the fact he's played wing at the Warriors under how many coaches, about 6? 3 in the last 2 years(4 if you count Iro 2 games)? None of them have seen fit to move him from the wing.

Now like I said I'm not saying i think he's a great winger or even that I'm against moving him. I just don't see Vatuvei as a player who is either that good or that bad to warrant all the melodramatic extreme opinions he seems to attract. Maybe in NZ he's massively overhyped by the general media and fairweather fans so a lot of forumers here are reacting to that by being overly critical?

Manu is above average with ball in hand and below average without it.

On the whole I think he's had a strong year. But seems every time a try is scored and Vatuvei is in the vicinity the usual pitchforks come out.

 

[Iron Lion]

Just speaking in generalities mate wasn't saying Warrior@Heart has any unreasonable bias about Vatuvei, haven't seen enough of his posts to make that sort of judgement about him/her

Anyway I hear a lot of people talk about how if Manu was at another club he wouldn't be on the wing, but that negates the fact he's played wing at the Warriors under how many coaches, about 6? 3 in the last 2 years(4 if you count Iro 2 games)? None of them have seen fit to move him from the wing.

Now like I said I'm not saying i think he's a great winger or even that I'm against moving him. I just don't see Vatuvei as a player who is either that good or that bad to warrant all the melodramatic extreme opinions he seems to attract. Maybe in NZ he's massively overhyped by the general media and fairweather fans so a lot of forumers here are reacting to that by being overly critical?

Manu is above average with ball in hand and below average without it.

On the whole I think he's had a strong year. But seems every time a try is scored and Vatuvei is in the vicinity the usual pitchforks come out.

I think Manu is an awesome force ball in hand for the Warriors but I also think his workload and pressure to make things happen from the wing forces a lot of mistakes out of him. If you put him in the forwards as an impact player I truly believe he could be another Petro Civeonceva. He is the big prop we need - he is basically more effective in the middle of the field than any other forward we have.

Id sign him up for 4 years today as a prop.

And there is no way Manly, Bulldogs, Souths or Roosters would play Manu on the wing, his % are way to low for structured based coaches to risk him there.

 

[ozenzud]

Manu wins us more than anybody Dickhead!

Absolutely agree. Manu has to play outside of Nielson who has zero attacking skills, no pace and no vision.

Manu has a mistake in him, but he also has the abilility to do stuff nobody else can.

 

[ozenzud]

And might I add, he comes across as an absolutely fantastic guy and an absolute ambassador for our sport. I reckon he lifts our guys on the field by his presence and attitude. Playing alongside the guy would be uplifting.

 

[ozbash]

Huge fan of Manu, but I hope his days on the wing are numbered. Too many crucial mistakes. (I think he cost us the game yesterday too).


Love to see him in Mateos spot...

 

[JJ]

Seriously - how can the whole game boil down to one dropped ball? Or are we talking about the ankle tap?

How many did Tomkins drop?

I had thought he should shift to the pack, but I have changed my mind - he's going well on the wing, and it's a little late in his career anyway - plus the workload will take a toll on him.

Couple of losses, and we're looking for a scapegoat? Both the teams we lost to are better than us - Manly easily so...

 

[JoeD]

Is it a coincidence that he is paired up with Neilson again and all of a sudden things are going wrong on that side in defence?

Thinking the same thing.

I wouldn't mind Manu heading in field if we had someone better to replace him but I don't think we do. Was not Manu's fault we lost yesterday. Manu cops a lot of shit from the opposition. High tackles, 3-4 man tackles, hands on the ball that goes unnoticed by the refs. He's often running the ball back on his own. I'm not surprised he has a high error count.

 

[hitman82]

Manu was awesome when Ropati was at his peak. Manu looks defensively poor beside Nielsen, though his strike rate is great. Manu looks defensively solid beside Laumape, though his strike rate suffers.

It's all about finding the right centre to pair him with. Manu isn't hardy enough for the forwards and would lose the ball in contact way too often.

 

[vvvrulz]

The only problem I have with Manu on the wing is that he loves coming off it and creating an overlap, Hiku scored twice.

That said I would never move him to the forwards, with a proper centre he's a gun winger.
Still got the pace and the finishing, but isn't getting the frequent chances he should be.

What's wrong with a winger that can also make strong hit-ups?
Its a nice bonus, it doesn't make him a prop.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Manu has no business being on the field in the last 20 minutes of a game. He's made more crucial, game defining, errors in the final 20 minutes of a game than any other player I've ever seen.

 

[JJ]

Manu was awesome when Ropati was at his peak.

which game was that?

 

[hitman82]

which game was that?

About 3 seasons where he was a first choice Kiwis centre, oh ye of poor recollection

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Manu was awesome when Ropati was at his peak. Manu looks defensively poor beside Nielsen, though his strike rate is great. Manu looks defensively solid beside Laumape, though his strike rate suffers.

It's all about finding the right centre to pair him with. Manu isn't hardy enough for the forwards and would lose the ball in contact way too often.

Totally agreed, and I'd take the Laumape/Manu combination with his output reduced. I may have a short memory but I don't remember having a single issue with Manu whilst Nielsen was away. Their combination just doesn't work at all.

Give Fusi a couple of weeks to recharge the batteries then throw him in hungry for the last 4-5 rounds.

 

[Rebel]

Manu and Henry would make a decent left hand edge.

 

[Meth]

This sums up Manu's career. A heck of a lot of good stuff yesterday. One blunder (a classic Manu moment). What do we remember?

 

[hitman82]

This sums up Manu's career. A heck of a lot of good stuff yesterday. One blunder (a classic Manu moment). What do we remember?

While I don't attribute the loss to Manu, it's fair to say you could point to more than one blunder. For me it's the two times he showed Hiku the sideline and failed to lock him down which really jump out as Manu Moments.

 

[tangalife]

Fair enough, but for me he's been playing bloody well... and I am not one that's always been a fan of his... with Hurrell, Laumape, Manu and Fusitua I am happy - if we're looking for problems, they are elsewhere imo...

Manu will always have the occasional mistake, that's a given... but I am more than happy with him on one wing atm

Yep I do agree, he is going well this year. I thought his days on the wing were numbered about halfway thru last year but he's proven he's still got it. He still has the pace too, was outpacing DCE until he was tapped.

However I still think his final couple of years should be played in the middle like Wiki did.