wizards rage
Top 1% are the people in society that earn the top 1% of income... Blair’s definately in the 1% club😉
snake77
I know the Broncos aren't going to well but I don't think they are to worried about losing the heart of their front row. The age of the Blair and the age of their current crop of forwards they were probably thinking it was time for a heart transplant.
Have to laugh at the statements you see from various clubs recruitment. One clubs old washed up star gets promoted as a experienced enforcer at another.
The Stuff article said there is risks signing him someone at his age to a long contract. That is true but we are not facing that problem. The issue we have is the same with any decent contract over a long period. Not getting value for money. The Tigers had the same issue with him and that wasn't age related.
He may be paid overs but we are a million under the cap so hardly think the money is the biggest issue. We are obviously in a good spot salary cap wise
Defence
bruce
Contributor
I totally disagree.
If he is going to play with ISP stats then he isn't worth marquee money. If you have a look at running stats our best forward is big Ken
then Tohu Harris. I was surprised that one of our best forwards Bunty Afoa doesn't feature in any of the leaders lists. We all know Blair is way below Harris and Afoa on performance so just how he justifies the description of marquee is totally beyond comprehension.They could probably get two Aussie grafters for the price of Blair, and they probably need to looking at the stocks available in ISP right now.
bruce
Contributor
No we aren't. Our salary cap needs to be spent 95% on players worth their money.
Winston...
If we have a spare ~$1M hanging around (courtesy of the Shaun Johnson debacle), payout his 2020 contract and bid him farewell. We cant take that $1M into next season and the brains trust don't appear to have anyone lined up for this season, give Blair a golden handshake goodbye. Gives us his salary + the void left by Shaun Johnson to go shopping with in 2020.
Beastmode
Just another day in paradise
Contributor
It’s clear as mud the coaches want to use him as an organiser on the field for decoys and for his defensive nouce.
I don’t blame Blair at all.
If the coaches wanted 10 hit ups, they would get it. But it would have to be compensated somewhere else ie his defense. It’s not difficult to paddle the stats.
Just like with Luke, SK is managing his work load during games.
Does it still mean he is a waste of money? if we don’t win, then the answer is yes.
I don’t blame Blair at all.
If the coaches wanted 10 hit ups, they would get it. But it would have to be compensated somewhere else ie his defense. It’s not difficult to paddle the stats.
Just like with Luke, SK is managing his work load during games.
Does it still mean he is a waste of money? if we don’t win, then the answer is yes.
bruce
Contributor
...yes and 7 missed tackles while you are at it mate. The guy is a dud right now, always was questionable value, and his signing marked the first time me and Tahjay agreed on anything.If Blair is playing to coaches instructions, then they need a kick up the arse. After he left Melbourne all I can remember is he does the "small things" and works with the young guys in the gym.
I think the only thing Blair has going for him is a smart agent who has spread bullshit among scribes who don't know the game. It obviously hasn't worked on Rattue.
Heyzeuss spare me you can get somebody to work with the young guys in the gym without taking it out of the salary cap, and for the life of me does small things mean running around the field all day? Simon Mannering used to do that as well, making tackles along the way and doing hit ups.
Luke is on 25% of the money and is nursing injury. Why does Blair need his workload managed? He doesn't have any.
bruce
Contributor
My bet is Brian Smith would go for the hard option, drop him to ISP and save the salary for somebody actually worth it.
JBmurc
Certainly, need to go to ESL pasture ... sadly well past his best footy....the usual stupid Warriors giving out NRL retirement packages ...I know it worked with Pricey(but he was really a superstar player) but it rarely does how about hanging onto more up incoming Kiwi NRL players,,, maybe some younger Aussie players with potential stop trying to buy a Premiership team from the 30+ camp ... make a team of champions ... Chanel Harris-Tavita - Herbert type players skill with effort
mt.wellington
Warriors Orange Peeler
Contributor
Someone needs to get Blair reading this piece again and living by it...Interesting insights into the club and man himself. Well worth a read...
NO OTHER CLUB WOULD DO THIS
Adam Blair - Contributor
March 31, 2018
We’re three weeks into the NRL season and you’ve no doubt come across a few stories about the Warriors by now.
They’ve probably centred on off-season recruitment, a tough pre-season and some early wins.
That’s all true, but it doesn’t fully explain the depth and breadth of what we’re trying to achieve here. The Warriors are striving for a wholesale culture change. And for a small group, it has meant a return to the classroom.
Our club is running Maori language classes for anyone interested in attending.
Obviously, there’s a fair contingent of Maori boys at the Warriors. Whether they are older or younger, most have left New Zealand at some point in their careers and returned. I’m in that camp. I grew up on a farm in Panguru, in Northland, and left for Brisbane as a teenager. For many of us, there is a desire to brush up on the old language and return to our heritage.
There are about eight or nine players in the class right now and that number will probably increase as the season gets into full swing. It has been a brilliant experience, sitting there in class and learning from scratch. Even at my age!
Our classes usually run for about an hour and the guy in charge, Tumatawhero, is great. On the very first day, he sat us all down and gave a short background of himself, his family history and love of the culture.
Every bit of it was in Maori and very little English is going to be spoken in the class. I guess if you speak English, you’re defeating the purpose.
To begin with, our classwork has been all about pronunciation and sounds. We’re learning the alphabet, the vowels of the language. It’s pretty basic but you’ve got to start somewhere. I know pretty much what is being said most of the time – I spoke reasonably fluent Maori as a kid – but that’s not the case for all of the group.
I can report the Maori language is gradually creeping into our daily lives. Most of the boys know the basics when it comes to speaking our native language, such as hello (kia ora) and goodbye (ka kite) but there are other words are a lot of other Maori words we use every day.
We’re all at different levels, but it’s great sitting there with everyone getting in touch with their cultural side. On the field, I’ve got a bit of a connection with Issac Luke. We’ve been playing together for a fair while, playing internationals and stuff.
Isaac was doing the Maori bit on his own before I got here. Together we are trying to get a lot of the other boys on board with the classes, whether they are of Maori descent or otherwise. We both speak a bit of Maori at training, and sometimes during games. We’ve even swapped a few Maori books to help the whole process along.
Steve Kearney has attended a couple of classes. I’m not sure how much of the language the coach knows but he’s obviously keen to keep it up. With the amount of travel we all do, it can be hard finding space in the schedule to attend classes. Nevertheless, I find it exciting that so many are making a big effort.
My wife Jess is an Aussie but she’s keen to learn how to speak Maori. She’ll be starting lessons in May, which makes me happy and proud. Jess wants to understand people conversing in Maori and be able to communicate. We believe it will be good for our family if all members can speak the native language.
In time, our young kids, Harlem and Taika, will pick up plenty from school and maybe learn some at home as well. They’ll be learning what it’s like to be Kiwi, just as I did all those years ago.
The language thing was one of the many reasons I came home. Even though I left New Zealand to pursue a footy career at 15 years of age, I remained passionate about my native culture, who I am. If ever a chance came to move back there, I knew I’d take it.
I wanted my family to come to New Zealand and experience and understand the culture and grow up in it. I have been away for so long and missed many things – the people, the customs, the food, everything.
Growing up on a farm, the farm life, still resonates strongly with me. I’m lucky too, as Jess’s family also own a farm in Queensland. When you go to a farm it’s quite peaceful, it’s hard work but still kind of relaxing. It takes your mind away from a lot of the city life, and football in general. I’m excited to go to the farm on weekends and be back doing some of the things I like.
ACCOUNTABILITY & THE WARRIORS
I see my role at the Warriors as being part of the leadership group striving for high performances. We are trying to achieve a culture change through hard work and effort.
Most of the new recruits at the Warriors came from highly successful clubs. I enlisted from the Broncos, Tohu Harris and Blake Green came through the Melbourne Storm system, Peta Hiku had been at Manly and Penrith.
Everyone in the leadership fully understands what it takes, what we have to do, and what a winning culture looks and feels like. We are trying to drive those standards.
The word accountability is getting plenty of mentions.
There was a pretty big player changeover over the off-season. A new trainer arrived in Alex Corvo and with him came a new attitude. We need to be honest with each other about our performance on and off the field. For us to perform well, we need to train well.
I’ve known Alex a long time and I always give him crap about his programs. I love taking the mickey. Most training programs are quite generic, nothing really new, but Alex is very good at what he does. He’s putting a different twist to it.
You’ve got to have the right strength to be able to perform on the field. Our training is based around power, speed and agility – what we’ll need in games.
Everyone is buying into it because they want to feel like they belong. Maybe in previous years it didn’t always happen that way. Everyone wants the new feeling or culture at the club to be better than ever before.
I remained passionate about my native culture, who I am. If ever a chance came to move back there, I knew I’d take it.
The boys all know what our standards are and we, the senior players, are the ones setting them. If we aren’t living and breathing them, doing the wrong thing, it doesn’t look good for the rest of the boys. You may have to pull up someone if they are not doing the right thing. You have to do that. Don’t just walk by if you see something that’s not what we are about.
It all comes back to being accountable. I haven’t seen it happen yet, I can’t provide an example. But it’s a long year, people might start slipping up here and there, who knows? This is why the senior core is driving the accountability thing so hard.
I got sin-binned over in Canberra last week. When I got back on the field, I apologised to all the boys for putting them under extra pressure. We were in a tough situation at the time, defending our line for three or four sets. I’m disappointed in myself as I let my team-mates down but sometimes these things happen during the course of a game.
The Warriors have done a lot of training with twelve men throughout the pre-season. Maybe it was coincidence, I can’t really say, but the coaching staff wanted us to learn how to perform under pressure.
It’s not so much about someone being sin-binned but how the team reacts to the change in numbers, who goes where, how to combat fatigue, that sort of stuff.
STILL IMPROVING
Everyone at the Warriors has been told he has a voice. From the youngest player who has played no games to the oldest guy who has played the most. The good thing about the club is that everyone is rowing in the same direction.
I’m happy with how the season has started. The Warriors had never won three straight games to open a season until now. Wins over the Rabbitohs, Titans and Raiders is a pretty good launching pad but we’ve only taken some early steps. There is a very long way to go.
From those wins, I feel we are showing to be quite calm and clear about what we want to achieve as a player group. We’ve got some really good players. Blake Green, for example, is doing a terrific job getting everyone to stick to the process, and do the things that work for us.
Even when we were down by more than a try with a few minutes left in Canberra, we stayed calm and had a chance of winning the game. I’m pleased with how we have performed but there’s so much more improvement to be made both individually, and as a group.
Plenty of talk has sprung up about our post-try huddles. They are a collective thing, a buy-in from everyone from the top to the bottom. Every time we get in a huddle, it’s quite calm and relaxed. In there, we are working out what our jobs are, what we are going to do. When we talk it’s about refocussing, staying calm. Nobody is over-excited or doing any yelling so that we can get a clear message across to each other.
Winning games early on obviously makes everyone feel better. Three from three gives the entire organisation something to strive towards. There have been some hard times for the boys previously at the club, but they are getting a taste of what it feels like to win.
We are three games into the new season – our fourth is coming up against the Roosters this weekend. We are slowly ticking the boxes even though we aren’t always playing the best football.
Lots of changes are happening at the Warriors and obviously winning is a major part of it. We are looking for improvement and demanding it every week.
We feel that a good pathway is being created for now and the future.
And if that involves a little classroom work, so be it.
LEAVING A BOY, RETURNING A MAN
To be honest, I think transitioning is still happening. I mostly feel at home here in New Zealand but there are times that I don’t.
As the year goes on, I’m sure that will change. I feel comfortable about where we are.
It wasn’t easy leaving Brisbane. The Broncos are a wonderful club.
There was still a year to go on my contract but Wayne Bennett gave me permission to look around. The Warriors had an offer on the table and there was some interest from a couple of other clubs. I ended up signing a three-year deal here in Auckland. I am indebted to Wayne for giving me that green light.
Coming home is a different feeling. I left New Zealand as a boy and return as a man.
Jess is a qualified naturopath, she’s right into the health and wellness side of things. She’s passionate about helping people. Getting a local business up and running is her ambition. She is even studying papers in Maori health here to learn more about my culture. She has been trying to get her name out there, get some live spots on the radio; Jess has been making some appearances, here and there.
Harlem’s school is 500 metres from where we live and Taika’s day care centre isn’t far away either.
My family is happy. I am happy. That’s the main thing.
Adam Blair - Contributor
https://www.playersvoice.com.au/adam-blair-no-other-club-would-do-this/#mFlMIrXh5eJuY0mD.99
Hadyn
Whether or not it's $650K or $800K makes no difference,just makes it worse.
Blair is a conman,talks the talk but doesn't or can't walk the walk.
Ironic that his signing was all about changing the culture .....yeah right,crap on.
Pozza
There's only one culture I'm interested in and that's a winning culture !
Hadyn
He could and he might but major problem at the moment is that Kearney is the one picking the team.......unfortunately.
bruce
Contributor
Bloody expensive culture investment though. If that is true, and I don't doubt it it one bit, it actually shows there are much deeper problems at this club. Shut up Bruce and don't mention the elephant.
Had high hopes (like many) when Blair was signed, but yeah-nah... another dud investment IMHO.
The issue seems to be that none of these guys are actually held to account for clearly not providing the sort of value that they are being paid for. You could argue that Isaac Luke also fit into this category for a long time, until his contract was not going to be renewed and so decided to actually put in some meaningful effort and have a bloody good season (2018). Get the feeling that Blair is a similar type of guy.... will only put in the effort when his contract is coming up for renewal and outside of that, is happy to cruise along on past reputation.
The issue seems to be that none of these guys are actually held to account for clearly not providing the sort of value that they are being paid for. You could argue that Isaac Luke also fit into this category for a long time, until his contract was not going to be renewed and so decided to actually put in some meaningful effort and have a bloody good season (2018). Get the feeling that Blair is a similar type of guy.... will only put in the effort when his contract is coming up for renewal and outside of that, is happy to cruise along on past reputation.
bruce
Contributor
I don't know about that.
His attention to training and fitness was second only to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck last year, I don't know about this season though. I watched his game last week, which was a massive improvement even considering the low running metres and missed tackles. He made some crucial tackles, especially one on Cameron Smith who had actually broken the line and Blair hauled him back by the collar, nicely too. If he had missed that I think it might have been a try for sure.
So the guy has talent, and gets about the field, but like has been said countless times has shocking stats for a marquee player.
If we really need him at the club for those little things, we have real problems.
Now where was I, yes he should be in ISP. With stats like that he has no place in any first grade team.
Beastmode
Just another day in paradise
Contributor
Well you’ve come to the wrong place my friend....
