Recruitment 2018 Warriors Recruitment Discussion

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mt.wellington

mt.wellington

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Jazz Tevaga re-signed. They tried to hardball but the club were pushed to do so after Sharks were going to fly him out for a tour.

Club keen as hell to get Simon Mannering to stay on in some capacity. Not going to happen. Already bought a house in Nelson just hasn't told management yet.

Mason Lino not signed to any just now. Will hold off making a decision after his wedding in Queenstown which is coming up.

Asked about Ligi Sao and his non-selection and he just fell out of favour. No one but Kearney knows why but Kearney did say he always planned to Blair playing lock...
 

Swanny

Jazz Tevaga re-signed. They tried to hardball but the club were pushed to do so after Sharks were going to fly him out for a tour.

Club keen as hell to get Simon Mannering to stay on in some capacity. Not going to happen. Already bought a house in Nelson just hasn't told management yet.

Mason Lino not signed to any just now. Will hold off making a decision after his wedding in Queenstown which is coming up.

Asked about Ligi Sao and his non-selection and he just fell out of favour. No one but Kearney knows why but Kearney did say he always planned to Blair playing lock...

Any ideas on the motivation for Lino? Would seemingly still be a back up player there (although there were rumours of Watson being shopped around).
 
AlexM

AlexM

Jazz Tevaga re-signed. They tried to hardball but the club were pushed to do so after Sharks were going to fly him out for a tour.

Club keen as hell to get Simon Mannering to stay on in some capacity. Not going to happen. Already bought a house in Nelson just hasn't told management yet.

Mason Lino not signed to any just now. Will hold off making a decision after his wedding in Queenstown which is coming up.

Asked about Ligi Sao and his non-selection and he just fell out of favour. No one but Kearney knows why but Kearney did say he always planned to Blair playing lock...
Any news on Roache?
I guess he is our no.9
 
ttkk19

ttkk19

Pikiao youngsters snapped up by Warriors
20 Sep, 2018 5:30am
4 minutes to read
CDVWN4PXD5ALRFBYW7V6ZDPGOE.jpg

Pikiao under-15 rugby league players Ngakohu Walker (left), 15, Tome Poona, 15, and Cassius Cowley, 15 have signed with the New Zealand Warriors. Photo / Stephen Parker
7bf5d98d-1b35-4698-a422-e6814a9fb730.png

By: David Beck
David Beck is the Rotorua Daily Post's sports reporter
david.beck@nzme.co.nz@thedailypost


Secondary school sporting stars are in high demand when they finish school and the race to obtain their signatures is heating up.

Pikiao under-15 rugby league players Cassius Cowley, Tome Poona and Ngakohu Walker have that special something and the New Zealand Warriors have swooped in to sign them on academy contracts.

The three Rotorua Boys' High School 15-year-olds will remain in Rotorua until they finish school but will have training and development opportunities with the Warriors throughout.

Pikiao stalwart Jason Sayers has been coaching the boys since they were in the Pikiao under-5s. They have won multiple age group titles, but Sayers has done everything in his power to keep the players humble and grounded.


Shortly after finding out about their new contracts, he had them refereeing and helping with prize giving at a local junior rugby league tournament.

"It was about the boys giving back to the younger players, but it was also about showing the younger players that there is a pathway in rugby league. A lot of them look up to these boys.

"I'm really happy for them. They are all pretty much leaders themselves, they have a lot of natural ability of course, but also a willingness to listen and learn and take on new skills, that has been to their advantage.

"There are a lot of talented kids running around, but it's the little one per cent things that make the difference."

Tome said he was "excited" about the contract. He played rugby union and league, but had always enjoyed league more.

"I like the physicality of league.

Ngakohu said he was most looking forward to the chance to develop as a player. He started playing only a year ago.

"It's way different, going back 10m all the time on defence. The passing and tackling is a bit different too. It was scary at first but it's cool now."

Cassius said he had been playing league since he was about 6, his dad played and got him into it.

Warriors academy co-ordinator Jordan Friend said the club had been watching the boys for a while and they were among the most talented players of their age in the country.

"They were identified during the Maori Rugby league competition and then the North Island competition – quality competitions both held in Rotorua. These competitions provide really good opportunities for players and we get to see of the best kids outside of Auckland.

"Following that we invited them to a Future Warriors camp up in Auckland where we got to know them a bit more and they spent a day with our staff."

Friend said all three players were standouts and it was crucial to help them with their development early in their careers.

"Cassius and Tome play in the halves and Ngakohu on the edge and we think they're among the best in the country in those positions. For us as a club, we believe we can actively develop them better than any other NRL club, that's the key for them with the plan not to relocate until they finish school."

He said, while talent was obviously a major factor in recruitment, the boys' attitudes and work ethic were closely analysed as well.

"We get to know their families as well and make sure they're supportive, it's all part of the package. Although they're all from Rotorua Boys', that wasn't the sole focus of why we picked them up, but we do have a good history with the school. All the boys that have come from there have really good work ethics and attitudes which is obviously credit to the school.

"We have to acknowledge Bay of Plenty Rugby League, Pikiao and Pacific Sharks, they are products of their systems. It's a talented region and they do a really good job at fostering rugby league, these boys definitely won't be the last from the Bay to join the club," Friend said.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/good-news/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503279&objectid=12126434

re-uploading the article because my last one wasn't complete
 
ttkk19

ttkk19

Great stuff.

So much talent all around NZ for the Warriors to tap into.

yep same feeling here,
we need to get these young guys signed up before the aussie clubs come over and take them. especially the ones from out of Auckland who might consider themselves out of the warriors' sight and mind

seems like we're circling in on Rotorua Boys' as a consistent feeder school so if we can maintain a good relationship with them hopefully it'll produce longterm dividends
 
snake77

snake77

Jazz Tevaga re-signed. They tried to hardball but the club were pushed to do so after Sharks were going to fly him out for a tour.
The Sharks have got fantastic accountants. I'd love for them to look after my money, always seem to have extra cash for another purchase.

Some decent names have become available and they still seem to have some money available. I know on NRL 360 they said they are the masters of getting other clubs to pick up part of the tab. That wouldn't be the case on all of their recruits. Also sounds like code like the Roosters lost reserve grade players x,y,z so can afford 5 more stars, just ignore the suspicious looking guy with the brown paper bag.

Asked about Ligi Sao and his non-selection and he just fell out of favour. No one but Kearney knows why but Kearney did say he always planned to Blair playing lock...
A pity about Sao as he was going well early in the year and played his part to our strong start to the season. He at least deserved to have made the coaching staff rethink their original plans.

I prefer Blair at lock instead of prop. But Blair starting with Sao interchanging with him could give us some grunt in the middle. Mannering was also injured at the start of the year which also left a space open for Sao.



Someone posted mid season that the Raiders were looking at Sao. Anyone seen anymore on that?
 
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snake77

snake77

He said, while talent was obviously a major factor in recruitment, the boys' attitudes and work ethic were closely analysed as well.

"We get to know their families as well and make sure they're supportive, it's all part of the package. Although they're all from Rotorua Boys', that wasn't the sole focus of why we picked them up, but we do have a good history with the school. All the boys that have come from there have really good work ethics and attitudes which is obviously credit to the school.

"We have to acknowledge Bay of Plenty Rugby League, Pikiao and Pacific Sharks, they are products of their systems. It's a talented region and they do a really good job at fostering rugby league, these boys definitely won't be the last from the Bay to join the club," Friend said.
Some good quotes in that article. Like the bit about getting to know the families, makes the eventual move away from their families when the parents have a relationship with the club and know the plans for their kids.

Also the bit about the boys work ethics. Hopefully they keep that up as the journey is only beginning.

Used to know a couple of guys from the Pikiao club back in the day. Used to switch between our club in the Coastline comp and their club.
 

kos

So if Lino goes to the Knights.....who plays half when Green and Shaun get injured.......there must be a planned replacement coz ch and cook are not ist graders....,,,
 
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ttkk19

ttkk19

So if Lino goes to the Knights.....who plays half when Green and Shaun get injured.......there must be a planned replacement coz ch and cook are not ist graders....,,,

if they let Lino go they'll most likely sign a fringe half to replace him as they still need to fill the 30 FG spots in the squad. Who they bring into the team in case of an injury is a different question. They might throw caution to the wind and give Chanel Harris-Tavita a crack or might even use Perham seeing as he''s apparently got experience in the halves. I'd personally rather see either of them given a shot than and import or Cook, he seems like a lovely guy but definitely not FG standard imo.

Edit: Now that I think about it Chanel Harris-Tavita and Perham would probably be on development contracts so I'm guessing one of them could take Lino's spot in the FG squad.
 
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Fearmuss

Fearmuss

Pity Lino is going, quality depth and I doubt we would have even made the 8 without him standing up in some of those games.

He would have been good to develop as our utility. Can kick, pass, and knows how to find the line. Halves depth is probably one of the more important positions in the squad since it is so specialised too, seasons have been made or broken depending on how teams have responded to an injury in the halves.

So we are willing to lose our first effective halves depth in years, and also an elite rake (who it really looked like we couldn't win without this year). Things could potentially end badly next season from those decisions.
 
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