General Lance Hohaia

[Iafeta_old]

Replace Henderson? Good one guys, seriously, I needed that laugh. Last year he was one of our best players, constantly driving us forward and keeping us nice and direct, coupled with very good defence. Nothing has changed here, except the Warriors have looked to go east-west a little more early on in their sets. He's still a class defender waiting for an opening.

Hohaia is definitely in the team, and I'd imagine by the time he's ready Stacey will be 100% ready to go. Even if he isn't, and he needs 5 minutes either side of half-time on the bench, I'm not against Lance playing a running game in and around the break at halfback. Moon's proving himself to having quite a good kicking game, as long as Lance saws off his kicking boot while assuming the mantle and just runs to the gaps things will be sweet.

 

[Iafeta_old]

LOL on the Moon comments too. We finally get a five eighth with the right balance of opening it up for his backs and playing direct, and the first sign of being overly good we want to shunt him elsewhere?

 

[raypower_old]

Snap! You're so caustic sometimes feka. I like it.

 

[commonsense_old]

i dont think that's the case iafeta. i thnk ppl here just wanna make room for hohaia and the are running out of ideas.

i think it's pretty obvious. dont move moon, dont drop hendo, dont replace mckinnon or even touch stacey. solution is drop fien. dont get me wrong he is good player, i like the heart the guy shows on the field but he has been to inconsistent (even last yr). sure he played well in the back end of last season and in the world cup but that's just a case of his inconsistency since he hasnt shown anywhere near that kind of form in the past couple games.

hendo is a consistent performer. he has either good games or great games.
mckinnon is just dynamic and is terrific suppport player.
moon has shown the good so far. maybe he can be a bit inconsistent given his form last year BUT he is young player and we are looking at him for the future (and as for fien he is most likely moving on)
stacey jones is just stacey jones.

hohaia offers a lot more spark than fien does. much better running game. fien has a better kicking game, but we dont really need his kicking for the team.

so just to sum up hohaia jump straight back in the 17...jones to 7 and fien to vulcans

 

[Iafeta_old]

Nathan Fien has well and truly answered this question in the first half. No organisation, no structure, ... Fien, you are the weakest link.

 

[Budo_old]

Replace Mckinnon?

Worth thinking about i rekon, while wade is safe under the ball and his ball returns he is not creating any spark at all in attack, defence not 100% either imo

 

[Iafeta_old]

ARGHHHHHHHHH!!! He's supporting up the middle practically every set. Just like he always does. He's always relied on offloads and hole running, the passes just ain't coming. That is the only difference.

 

[Budo_old]

ARGHHHHHHHHH!!! He's supporting up the middle practically every set. Just like he always does. He's always relied on offloads and hole running, the passes just ain't coming. That is the only difference.

i think hes getting one dementional with that, look at K Hunt, put in some great kicks tonight broke the line a few times, when the passes do come for wade its great but i would like to see some more variety, like i may have said in another thread i am probly just used to seeing more from him, a bit like Matty Bowen you always get excited when he has the ball in hand and expect something special everytime

 

[Iafeta_old]

That's like suggesting Ian Henderson should show the variety Cameron Smith does. They're completely different styles of players. Khunt is the rugby union equivalent of a second five eighth, McKinnon a classic support playing fullback. One is probably on $400,000 and unlikely to be able to be kept in the NRL, the other is a $250,000 player.

Matt Bowen again is a different player altogether, and perfectly culpable of a handling blunder or two. Much like this I don't suggest Kevin Locke will be a Matt Bowen type player.

I'm happy with our fullback. I'm disappointed with our forwards. I'm pissed with Ropati's D. First things first, lets fix our disgraceful fringe defence. The offloads will come sure enough and people will be going down on Wade in this forum before too long. Nothing's changed, but for the offloads.

 

[Spence_old]

I can't believe people are bagging Wade. He was amazing tonight, especially in the second half. He was backing up on every other hit up. He just wouldn't give up. He may not have gotten any line breaks, but it was top class stuff.

 

[warriors4life_old]

People are looking for a scapegoat and McKinnon seems to be an easy target. Personally I don't think you could have asked for more, he did the best with what he was given and the effort was certainly there, just not the opportunities. He certainly looked better than tripe like Ropati and Fien.

 

[Iafeta_old]

The best analogy I can make is, Khunt and Bowen are like your brand new Ferrari FXX's. McKinnon's your 6 month on the road version. Not as great, but boy they're nice. The problem with McKinnon's car is it's running without fuel. The forwards aren't able to pump the gas (the offloads) into it, so while it wants to be it's shiny mofo best, it just can't. It's like Phar Lap running the Melbourne Cup without a jockey, sure, it wants to win, but technically it can't.

 

[ultimatefan_old]

No I think they just expect him to be the 2007 version...

 

[Spence_old]

He is the '07 version, he just isn't getting the ball.

 

[Jesbass_old]

McKinnon lacks the turn of pace and the step that he had pre-injury. He was great in support tonight, but cumbersome on kick returns.

 

[KeepingTheFaith_old]

It takes more than a full off season to mend the mental effects of something like knee surgery. I don't think McKinnon has done much wrong and I think in the second half of the Manly, and Brisbane games he's gotten better the longer the game goes on.

I think we'll see steady improvement from McKinnon throughout the year.

Hohaia will end up in the centres unless someone else puts there hand up in the meantime.