Rumour Feleti Mateo To Panthers In 2014?

[mt.wellington]

Y'know, this gets to me as much as the thought of him leaving. The undisputed king of offloads, and I don't think we've even come close to capitalising on that. Hopefully Elliot is looking at that facet of his game as something to build actual on-field plans around instead of relying on it like some sort of magic wand.

He only missed out on the 2009 season because of injury! Would love to see set plays running off Mateo. Cleary used it to great effect with Maloney and the Bulldogs did well with their forwards second phase play off short offlaods. Like I said in the original post, its underutilised and that needs to be addressed. Its like having a Ferrari and never getting it out of 1st gear...

 

[a.c.e]

This article has me amping! Off the booze this year and since October, new diet has him fitter then ever and he has an eye on playing longer minutes. Has a comment about Bluey leaving him on the bench too long. Last sentence of the article is the best though...

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/...mposed-booze-ban/story-e6frfgbo-1226566997297

Nice! Giving up the booze did wonders for Sonny, can only be a plus for us as Mateo is in contract year and hes ready to get into top flight.

 

[Sebastian]

Almost as interesting as the on field entertainment will be the contract negotiations. We get this series of contracts right and we are pretty much set. Important year for the Warriors, and not just on the field.

 

[Fazz]

Conversely, I don't even want to think about it if we get it wrong haha. Hopefully we can keep the core members of the squad around, while unearthing/recruiting some decent wingers.

 

[OMG]

It's my time he says, love it... big year for the boys coming into and in to their peak years,
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/8279138/Mateo-puts-NSW-ahead-of-Tonga-in-Origin-bid

 

[Chch Fan]

Don't want to jinx it but gut feeling always felt like Mateo's manager was just bumping the price up a bit here.
They are aware we are well under the camp and we are well aware how important he is...
That said, if he's on the sort of money that some tipped at the time he signed, the harshest of critics would say he's underperfomed overall given the 2012 season.
Would be awesome to see him really arrive this season!

 

[Sup42]

Doesn't sound like this guy played an Audition for Ivan yesterday , not that he need to Ivan knows him.

I was thinking about how Ivan experimented with Martel at six and how Elliot gave him a play making role yesterday.

It mus be the temptation for the ego of all of Martels coach's to try and make a John Sutton / Brad Fittler out of him.

Or is it Martel pushing his barrow forward every time he has a new listening ear.

Whatever he is one of my favorite players in the team....If they had support runners off him there would be no need to try to make water into wine imo...

 

[ToiletDuck]

Doesn't sound like this guy played an Audition for Ivan yesterday , not that he need to Ivan knows him.

I was thinking about how Ivan experimented with Martel at six and how Elliot gave him a play making role yesterday.

It mus be the temptation for the ego of all of Martels coach's to try and make a John Sutton / Brad Fittler out of him.

Or is it Martel pushing his barrow forward every time he has a new listening ear.

Whatever he is one of my favorite players in the team....If they had support runners off him there would be no need to try to make water into wine imo...

I think he often suffers from trying to do too much. If you watch Feleti on the field, especially on attack, there's no lack of enthusiasm. Watching him yesterday, he put himself at first receiver at times and was vocal. Whether that's been something they've practiced, or a lack of faith in the halves inside him I'm not sure. You get the feeling with him however that if he sat out wide and played a traditional backrow role (like Mannering) and ran hard and straight, he'd be as effective as any backrower in the competition. His skillset is above that however, and I'm not totally convinced he has yet found his role in this side. So much is expected of him, he gets criticised for going missing in games and on the flipside cops flak for overplaying his hand. With the amount of inexperience surrounding him I'm sure we'll see a few more up-and-down performances this season.

 

[fanrrior]

Man, every time some one updates this thread I'm scared to open it. Can management please sign him already.

 

[Sup42]

Man, every time some one updates this thread I'm scared to open it. Can management please sign him already.

Never fear if you see it's a post from me.

I have no inside contacts at the Warriors and have barely ever met anyone even remotely connected to the club.....it's how i maintain my objectivity

 

[koolkat]

Try him at hooker,I think that's the only potition left he hasint tried,or has he lol,

 

[elnegros]

I really think he is keen to stay (as long as his Mrs is too) and we'd be stupid not to keep him. Maybe the plan is for mateo to pay a bit of 1st receiver to free up Johnson to play his running game plus feleti does have a good passing game.

 

[Akuma_81]

From what I've read he's pretty keen to stay, so let's just hope that we do everything that we can to keep him.

He was awesome in 2011, close to the buy of the season in the NRL and even last year was great in a losing side. He obviously adds so much in attack and he will be pivotal in the re-building of our team.

I'd be gutted to lose him.

 

[g.man]

We need him to re-sign for sure as he is a genuine attacking beast, as long as ME doesn't having him sitting on the bench for extended periods then i think we need to pay him what he's worth. If we have another shocker of a season i don't know how much he will want to stay as he may think his chances of playing origin will be slipping away.