General 2023 Warriors Trial Games

[Damo]

Also, there’s some real Skip Bayless level hot takes in this thread. Lol.

It was just one trial.

Exactly. Just like the first game, it's obvious trials don't mean all that much.
Just last season we beat the Storm in the trial and look how that season turned out?

 

[African warrior]

That’s on Curran for mine- Shaun Johnson skipping out had caused the 3rd defender in to plant his feet and Curran needed to hit that defenders outside shoulder to get the center interested but hit the inside shoulder (looked like he realized late and tried to adjust but too late) and the center was able to slide off early to vailea- effectively shutting it down.

If Shaun can recreate the the timing he had with Matt Moylan in 2021 and use it with Te Maire Martin or Metcalf, I think we’ll be okay. That partnership worked well because for the most part Shaun operated as first receiver on both sides of the ruck with Moylan sweeping and being responsible for the wider play.

This would allow him to build into the season in a more structured role where his job on the attacking structure is to pull the defense up with the threat of the back rower running a in line and Te Maire Martin out the back.

 

[Tonbridge (Swanley)]

I have a real issue with young talented players who at the end of the day probably aren't good enough but hang in their for years plugging away.
I don't accept the concept that people like Ed Kosi or Volkman or Berry are allowed to have dreams and train away for years with their club having faith in them for the 5% chance they may come good and reach first grade potential. All three of those guys and all fringe players should be honest with themselves and realise they will never be a star in the NRL and that their ceiling is being average and only then if they train really hard and can reach that level.
Do yourself a favour and find something you can be elite at. Why settle for a career where your aspirations are to be as good as Montoya or Jazz or Trindall or insert name here of average NRL player here.
Find your true calling. Aiming to be an average professional and is that is truely as much as Volkman can ever hope for and would be a big step up from his current abilities is not accurate career management or life decision making.
I had to make a hard call in my life about my cricket career when I was named for the Hamilton reps at age 18 for cricket but was behind in my studies.
Martin Crowe's book on cricket finishes with the line "be all you can be". I disagree. Don't have stars in your eyes and plug away on train and trial deals for years. There will be an occupation which you can be elite in. Quit rugby league and find it.
CHT was a better prospect and better player than Volkman by some distance at the same age.

Berry will be a gun.

He just needs consistency.

 

[Cces]

"The Roosters don't let the good ones go"

Kurt Capewell, Jackson Hastings, James Tamou, Ethan Lowe, Christian Tuipulotu & Braden Hamlin-Uele. There's 6 representative players that played Roosters U20's then were later deemed surplus to requirements. Most before they even earnt a first grade cap for the Roosters.
Volkman was underwhelming last weekend but the guy was kicking 40/20's & scoring chip & chase tries in preseason games as a 18 year old. He's a talented kid

 

[tajhay]

Prob already been covered but we made on ave over 45m per set against Tigers to 32m against the Storm.

Not many backlines can pull a rabbit out of the hat when the go-forward is so lacking in setting a foundation.

We can talk about needing more centres or whatever, but what is the point if they are not going to get quality ball with the opposition retreating in defence?

 

[Up the guttz]

Is anyone else concerned that Addin Fonua-Blake seems to be going backwards? I know it was just his first trail and will likely step up a notch or two but I started my concern at the back end of last year. Don’t get me wrong he’s still very good and by far our best prop but he just seems to have lost his sting on both sides of the ball.

 

[Toookey]

Is anyone else concerned that Addin Fonua-Blake seems to be going backwards? I know it was just his first trail and will likely step up a notch or two but I started my concern at the back end of last year. Don’t get me wrong he’s still very good and by far our best prop but he just seems to have lost his sting on both sides of the ball.

90m, 3 tackle busts, 1 offload and 25 tackles from one stint on the weekend (pretty sure he didn't come back on again did he?)
Seems decent.

Lat 6 games of the year he made over 100m ever game, over 150 3x. Only 4 missed tackles in those games and scored a try.
I'd say he's going pretty good...

 

[hoolioh]

View attachment 51030

I look at this play and it sums up everything about the offence atm.

Firstly I thought Shaun needed to straighten and even turn in to draw the defender in.
Curran is in no mans land and has no idea really what he's doing. He and Shaun aren't on the same page.
Vailea does his best Dallin is left with nothing to work with except kick.

I fear this type of play will plague us this year and alot has to do with Shaun going rogue or his outsides not being able to read his mind.

There was no need for the skip and away by Shaun but it tells you alot that his teammates have little to no rapport with him after a year and a half.

There was another shit play like this early in the first half where i thought put a grubber in an lets try to get a repeat set. I know repeats dont mean shit if u cant score but its just not even a thought for Shaun Johnson. Very frustrating

 

[JaggedJ]

I have a real issue with young talented players who at the end of the day probably aren't good enough but hang in their for years plugging away.
I don't accept the concept that people like Ed Kosi or Volkman or Berry are allowed to have dreams and train away for years with their club having faith in them for the 5% chance they may come good and reach first grade potential. All three of those guys and all fringe players should be honest with themselves and realise they will never be a star in the NRL and that their ceiling is being average and only then if they train really hard and can reach that level.
Do yourself a favour and find something you can be elite at. Why settle for a career where your aspirations are to be as good as Montoya or Jazz or Trindall or insert name here of average NRL player here.
Find your true calling. Aiming to be an average professional and is that is truely as much as Volkman can ever hope for and would be a big step up from his current abilities is not accurate career management or life decision making.
I had to make a hard call in my life about my cricket career when I was named for the Hamilton reps at age 18 for cricket but was behind in my studies.
Martin Crowe's book on cricket finishes with the line "be all you can be". I disagree. Don't have stars in your eyes and plug away on train and trial deals for years. There will be an occupation which you can be elite in. Quit rugby league and find it.
CHT was a better prospect and better player than Volkman by some distance at the same age.

This is a really weird take, Wrighty. I don't get it at all. If everyone went this direction 95% of people would be changing industries every couple of years because they aren't "elite".

 

[Sup42]

Disagree. When the warriors were good, they still got screwed by the ref.

My favourite bad call of all time is still Maloney getting penalised for being in front of the kicker, when he was the kicker...

That's a goodie.

My favourite was Ali Lauitiiti getting sent off for being punched in the face. Off he goes with a bloodied nose and he didn't do anything wrong apart from getting punched.

The Ref having realised his mistake was caught on mike laughing with the touchie and saying 'it's only the Warriors'.

That incident was followed by a private meeting between Warriors HQ and the NRL followed by a the rest of the season being ruled fairly and cautiously.....Law suit must have been the stick.

 

[Up the guttz]

90m, 3 tackle busts, 1 offload and 25 tackles from one stint on the weekend (pretty sure he didn't come back on again did he?)
Seems decent.

Lat 6 games of the year he made over 100m ever game, over 150 3x. Only 4 missed tackles in those games and scored a try.
I'd say he's going pretty good...

Yep his stats are still good. But stats don’t show dominance in contact. He is still very good but just doesn’t seem to be hitting the line hard and causing trouble like NAS and the Tigers prop.

 

[Lance155]

Yep his stats are still good. But stats don’t show dominance in contact. He is still very good but just doesn’t seem to be hitting the line hard and causing trouble like NAS and the Tigers prop.

I agree, yes the stat's are there but he does seem a a little bit less aggressive

 

[wizards rage]

Yep his stats are still good. But stats don’t show dominance in contact. He is still very good but just doesn’t seem to be hitting the line hard and causing trouble like NAS and the Tigers prop.

2 things:

- His knee in knee injury to his knee cap
- Lodge leaving and having no real back up prop if injured

They both happened at the same time and since then his aggression appears to have been toned down, even though he pumps out the stats.

 

[wizards rage]

I remember Benji talking about Sheensy.

Some of the vet back rowers used to get the shits with Benji for always running overs because they’d end up running in the same hole because they’d hit conventional unders lines on the 3 defender.

Sheens told the vets to shut up and adjust to hit overs and trust Benji to put them through the next hole over.

You’d think this Curran/Shaun Johnson edge would’ve figured that stuff out by now.

I can’t remember who it was but a halves partner said years ago even Shaun Johnson’s team mates didn’t know what he was going to do when he did it.

He was very instinctive and didn’t work well within structure.

 

[wizards rage]

Whats wrong with having mixed race refs? If the game has 50% poly/maori players wouldnt it make sense to have 50% poly/maori refs? And i persobally dont really care what gender. As long as the Wahs are getting the calls they deserve.

The big question is are 50% of the refs in lower grades and amateur poly/ Maori?

Like with most things the top level is just a reflection of all the layers underneath. Or are there barriers that stop certain ethnicities going up the ranks?

More needs to be done to get diversity into reffing at the lower levels. However there is a real shortage of people that put their hand up for what can be a thankless job and most sports are just thankful for anyone of any race they can rope in to help.

 

[Dunedin warrior]

Most of our problems on Sunday stemmed from our atrocious handling. That needs to be fixed quickly or it’s going to be a long season.

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad delivered exactly what I expected from him, hard working and good defensively while offering very little on attack. We are going to have to work hard to get points this season.

I was impressed with Walkers ball handling and he enabled Shaun Johnson to work a little wider from the ruck, throw in Martin who is a good passer and we could be able to shift the ball well this season

I was happy enough with the defence from what I’ve seen, it’s not overly aggressive but it looks simple and organized and people seem to know their roles. If we can build on that over the course of the season I will be happy.

We aren’t going to set the world on fire this season but if things go well, we can set a good platform for the next few seasons. That’s my hope for this season.

 

[Paulo24]

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad delivered exactly what I expected from him, hard working and good defensively while offering very little on attack. We are going to have to work hard to get points this season.

The attraction of Metcalf and his speed is, not only does he create doubt in the oppositions defense, he also can turn those breaks or half breaks into try’s with his support play and speed.

If Te Maire Martin had a strong kicking game I would seriously have Shaun Johnson as back up half to Te Maire Martin and Metcalf.

 

[Bangbros 2023]

If Shaun can recreate the the timing he had with Matt Moylan in 2021 and use it with Te Maire Martin or Metcalf, I think we’ll be okay. That partnership worked well because for the most part Shaun operated as first receiver on both sides of the ruck with Moylan sweeping and being responsible for the wider play.

This would allow him to build into the season in a more structured role where his job on the attacking structure is to pull the defense up with the threat of the back rower running a in line and Te Maire Martin out the back.

So why cant they do that here
It's like fucken hell mate your 30 fucken 2 already!

 

[Dunedin warrior]

The attraction of Metcalf and his speed is, not only does he create doubt in the oppositions defense, he also can turn those breaks or half breaks into try’s with his support play and speed.

If Te Maire Martin had a strong kicking game I would seriously have Shaun Johnson as back up half to Te Maire Martin and Metcalf.

I’m sure Metcalf will get an opportunity this season, it might be sooner rather than later if we start the season poorly. Exciting talent but the defences will be a lot better than that Tigers team was. Hopefully he can step up to the mark.

 

[Paulo24]

I’m sure Metcalf will get an opportunity this season, it might be sooner rather than later if we start the season poorly. Exciting talent but the defences will be a lot better than that Tigers team was. Hopefully he can step up to the mark.

Yeah, I’m sure he’s got his faults. No doubt we will find them. Anyway, this coach seems highly pragmatic. He will give Shaun Johnson a fair crack and will make the changes as he deems necessary. I’m hoping Webster will be one of the best coaches we’ve had.