Recruitment 2016 Warriors Recruitment Strategy and Targets

[tajhay]

How come the Warriors can't seem to find a good Fijian winger? The talent is right in our own backyard with basically every 2nd All Blacks wing prospect being a talented Fijian and yet we can't seem to identify and develop even one? Aussie clubs have no problem bringing them in so what gives?

I dont think i have ever read that the club even sends scouts to Fiji. Gold mine for talent over there albeit a bit raw. However keep in mind that the club also needs a good development program to get these raw athletes upto speed to the rigours of NRL. Koroibete was unwanted by the Tigers after making a lot of mistakes in his first season there. Bellamy and the storm crew have done a remarkable job with him. Nabuli was unwanted by the Dragons after his first season (after initially spotted by Johns and Fittler on their holiday - he was their porter!), and is now playing for the QLD Reds. Waqa was prone to some errors when he first came onto the scene and again, the Storm got him upto speed at the Storm. Uate, Radradra, Nadruku etc, some top line wingers have been produced by Fiji, and amazingly we are yet to get one. Doesnt the club get salary cap dispensation for luring union players or something? Been spoken numerous times on here - the club just does a shit job at scouting island nations. The Pacific Islands should all be cheering for the NZ Warriors in the NRL due to the large contingent of PI's in the team, however goto these islands and you will notice other clubs jerseys, but hardly ever the Warriors. So much potential - but execution misses the mark. Kinda like our first grade team.

 

[bruce]

Didnt he also come through the storm system but wasnt wanted???

Gary Freeman's son was in the same team.

My memory at the time was that the Storm wanted him, but McGahan had always wanted to play union more?

Has Hugh got a chip on his shoulder about the Warriors? Just asking like, Mat would be as good as Chad Townsend. Not firing for the Blues is no shame, nobody fires in that team.

 

[eric]

I dont think i have ever read that the club even sends scouts to Fiji. Gold mine for talent over there albeit a bit raw. However keep in mind that the club also needs a good development program to get these raw athletes upto speed to the rigours of NRL. Koroibete was unwanted by the Tigers after making a lot of mistakes in his first season there. Bellamy and the storm crew have done a remarkable job with him. Nabuli was unwanted by the Dragons after his first season (after initially spotted by Johns and Fittler on their holiday - he was their porter!), and is now playing for the QLD Reds. Waqa was prone to some errors when he first came onto the scene and again, the Storm got him upto speed at the Storm. Uate, Radradra, Nadruku etc, some top line wingers have been produced by Fiji, and amazingly we are yet to get one. Doesnt the club get salary cap dispensation for luring union players or something? Been spoken numerous times on here - the club just does a shit job at scouting island nations. The Pacific Islands should all be cheering for the NZ Warriors in the NRL due to the large contingent of PI's in the team, however goto these islands and you will notice other clubs jerseys, but hardly ever the Warriors. So much potential - but execution misses the mark. Kinda like our first grade team.

Add Suliasi Vunivalu to that list too. He's a gun. Marcus Bai was also a very good winger for the storm (from PNG). The club probably don't scout these places cause it isn't cost effective and i guess it's a risk? Still wish they would give it a shot.

Our track record of developing players isn't very inspiring though..

 

[Inruin]

Gary Freeman's son was in the same team.

Has Hugh got a chip on his shoulder about the Warriors? Just asking like, Mat would be as good as Chad Townsend. Not firing for the Blues is no shame, nobody fires in that team.

Mat must be one hell of a player

 

[Jay M]

Koroibete was unwanted by the Tigers after making a lot of mistakes in his first season there. Bellamy and the storm crew have done a remarkable job with him.

Read a news article today that said the wallabies were looking to fast track him and have him playing on their November tour...

 

[Jordan G]

Buy a player from league, throw him straight into the Wallabies, watch as the best Union juniors get picked off by NRL clubs who are less interested in headlines.

Been over a decade since they were in good shape and Union in Australia still hasn't learnt. Still looking for those quick fixes.

 

[The Truth]

Because we have the Beast.

Exactly. We don't want Fijian wingers. Unless they played in the forwards.

 

[Weno]

Buy a player from league, throw him straight into the Wallabies, watch as the best Union juniors get picked off by NRL clubs who are less interested in headlines.

Been over a decade since they were in good shape and Union in Australia still hasn't learnt. Still looking for those quick fixes.

Be a scapegoat like Sam Burgess was for England when Aussie get embarrassed . Eddie McQueen got England together.
Cant wait for England V ABs.

 

[MeetTheMonster]

Matt Macghan has been awful in the ITM cup so I wouldnt look art him at all. HE is not cutting it.

If you want to sign a major marquee player then id throw the bank at Aucklands Akira Ioane. He is destined for greatness and is without doubt already the most impactful ball runner in world rugby. There is not a close 2nd to him in metres made, metres per run and tackles broken this guy is a LEGIT BEAST, I do not believe there is a player in Rugby league that could hold any type of candle to him.

The guy has everything ever needed to become a superstar. Id easily pay him a million per season to get him on board, put this way - Jason Taumomalo would be the poor mans version of Akira Ioane an I truthfully mean that as a fan of both players.

 

[fizurg]

i agree with you. It's just going to b very hard to get any player out of the NZRFU system. They don't have salary caps so can easily compete with any NRL offer.

 

[mt.wellington]

Matt Macghan has been awful in the ITM cup so I wouldnt look art him at all. HE is not cutting it.

If you want to sign a major marquee player then id throw the bank at Aucklands Akira Ioane. He is destined for greatness and is without doubt already the most impactful ball runner in world rugby. There is not a close 2nd to him in metres made, metres per run and tackles broken this guy is a LEGIT BEAST, I do not believe there is a player in Rugby league that could hold any type of candle to him.

The guy has everything ever needed to become a superstar. Id easily pay him a million per season to get him on board, put this way - Jason Taumomalo would be the poor mans version of Akira Ioane an I truthfully mean that as a fan of both players.

Not a chance in hell of signing him. Wants to be an All Black. Awesome player though and the bro Rieko is just as good...

 

[Weno]

Matt Macghan has been awful in the ITM cup so I wouldnt look art him at all. HE is not cutting it.

If you want to sign a major marquee player then id throw the bank at Aucklands Akira Ioane. He is destined for greatness and is without doubt already the most impactful ball runner in world rugby. There is not a close 2nd to him in metres made, metres per run and tackles broken this guy is a LEGIT BEAST, I do not believe there is a player in Rugby league that could hold any type of candle to him.

The guy has everything ever needed to become a superstar. Id easily pay him a million per season to get him on board, put this way - Jason Taumomalo would be the poor mans version of Akira Ioane an I truthfully mean that as a fan of both players.

He a monster too.
Could not believe how big he was when he ran on against the Chiefs this year.

 

[MeetTheMonster]

Not a chance in hell of signing him. Wants to be an All Black. Awesome player though and the bro Rieko is just as good...

Agreed, he would be very hard to convert but he would be worth serious $, I reckon id give him Mannering's, lillyman's and Vatuvai's salary just to get him here. He's that good.

 

[MeetTheMonster]

He a monster too.
Could not believe how big he was when he ran on against the Chiefs this year.

He is listed at 113kg but looks easily to be around the 120kg mark. He just monsters everyone physically he comes up against. Extremely powerful human being.

Id play him in the 2nd row not at prop.

 

[Billy Teets James]

I dont think i have ever read that the club even sends scouts to Fiji. Gold mine for talent over there albeit a bit raw. However keep in mind that the club also needs a good development program to get these raw athletes upto speed to the rigours of NRL. Koroibete was unwanted by the Tigers after making a lot of mistakes in his first season there. Bellamy and the storm crew have done a remarkable job with him. Nabuli was unwanted by the Dragons after his first season (after initially spotted by Johns and Fittler on their holiday - he was their porter!), and is now playing for the QLD Reds. Waqa was prone to some errors when he first came onto the scene and again, the Storm got him upto speed at the Storm. Uate, Radradra, Nadruku etc, some top line wingers have been produced by Fiji, and amazingly we are yet to get one. Doesnt the club get salary cap dispensation for luring union players or something? Been spoken numerous times on here - the club just does a shit job at scouting island nations. The Pacific Islands should all be cheering for the NZ Warriors in the NRL due to the large contingent of PI's in the team, however goto these islands and you will notice other clubs jerseys, but hardly ever the Warriors. So much potential - but execution misses the mark. Kinda like our first grade team.

I dont think i have ever read that the club even sends scouts to Fiji. Gold mine for talent over there albeit a bit raw. However keep in mind that the club also needs a good development program to get these raw athletes upto speed to the rigours of NRL. Koroibete was unwanted by the Tigers after making a lot of mistakes in his first season there. Bellamy and the storm crew have done a remarkable job with him. Nabuli was unwanted by the Dragons after his first season (after initially spotted by Johns and Fittler on their holiday - he was their porter!), and is now playing for the QLD Reds. Waqa was prone to some errors when he first came onto the scene and again, the Storm got him upto speed at the Storm. Uate, Radradra, Nadruku etc, some top line wingers have been produced by Fiji, and amazingly we are yet to get one. Doesnt the club get salary cap dispensation for luring union players or something? Been spoken numerous times on here - the club just does a shit job at scouting island nations. The Pacific Islands should all be cheering for the NZ Warriors in the NRL due to the large contingent of PI's in the team, however goto these islands and you will notice other clubs jerseys, but hardly ever the Warriors. So much potential - but execution misses the mark. Kinda like our first grade team.

We did have a pretty handy fijian center in Manoa Thompson. Be cool to have his son lol.

 

[Vancent]

How long did Mosey (no idea about spelling) sign with the Dragons, Mossy Mosoe or something?

 

[Bunty]

My memory at the time was that the Storm wanted him, but McGahan had always wanted to play union more? I could be wrong, but I remember being disappointed at the time because I was looking forward to seeing him develop in league.

They wanted McGahan to play hooker for a few years to eventually take over Cam Smith. But since he was the NZ schools first five all the super rugby teams kept an eye on him. So he had plenty of options to come back to NZ. He's now on the bench at Harbour and surely won't get a Blues contract for next year. Definitely worth the Warriors offering a NRL contract for next season to compete in the halves with Ata.

 

[bruce]

We did have a pretty handy fijian center in Manoa Thompson. Be cool to have his son lol.

He was only good when he played for Souths. He did stuff all here. Mind you he was a hard runner, when he was up to speed he took some stopping.

They wanted McGahan to play hooker for a few years to eventually take over Cam Smith. But since he was the NZ schools first five all the super rugby teams kept an eye on him. So he had plenty of options to come back to NZ. He's now on the bench at Harbour and surely won't get a Blues contract for next year. Definitely worth the Warriors offering a NRL contract for next season to compete in the halves with Ata.

It seems the Auckland region is going down the gurgler with rugby union. Matt Duffy was a fine player and he didn't do well at the Blues. North Harbour is a joke. I don't know what the story is with Matt McGahan but he must be worth a try. To be fair Nathaniel Roache is a real glimmer of hope, and so is Jazz. Maybe it is just the told heads at Mount Smart that need sorting out.

 

[Wellington Warrior]

We did have a pretty handy fijian center in Manoa Thompson. Be cool to have his son lol.

Nah his son talks too much about himself..

 

[Bunty]

Now that Graham Henry is on the board we should use his expertise to recruit union players. I know it's not ideal recruiting from union but they have a lot of great athletes that are fringe super rugby players or just mitre 10 cup players. We wouldn't have to try convince players to move over from Oz. Joe Edwards from auckland would make a fine sexond rower - he also use to play rugby for St Kents with Albie Vete