Team List Preseason 2025 Trial 2 - Warriors vs Storm

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Laban and JFH looked like the two fittest players on the park on the weekend.

Laban, JFH, and Dimitric were the only players to have a real spring in their step on the weekend.

He is a rare beast, a tall rangy very fit young poly forward, the rest looked fat compared to Laban out there.

He is gonna be one of the best defensive forwards this club has ever produced.

Huge call but I like it

 

[Noitall]

Hope we get back to that play like 2023 where you’d see Barnett turn to AFB and other forwards and they’d load up and drag a player back into their in goal. Was a real cohesion between the forwards that year. Not the guaranteed ball it used to be though with short dropouts

 

[france]

Huge call but I like it

same

 

[Vancent]

Laban and JFH looked like the two fittest players on the park on the weekend.

Laban, JFH, and Dimitric were the only players to have a real spring in their step on the weekend.

He is a rare beast, a tall rangy very fit young poly forward, the rest looked fat compared to Laban out there.

He is gonna be one of the best defensive forwards this club has ever produced.

A few folks I watch with saw the same thing with Jake.

I’m a Laban fan, even call him ‘baby Nanai to my Cows mate.

I was chuffed to see him named to start but thought when he did come on it was rather underwhelming.

Pleased I’m wrong on this one though TBH.

 

[BabylonPink]

Laban gives me young SK vibes

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Yeah.

Thing is though it is an extension of Websters personality/life philosophy to not use excuses (cue the Webster frequent sound bites about not blaming Refs and accepting responsibility).

We are in a rebuild. I do not see that as a negative thing. When you look at rebuilds objectively, and lay aside Warrior angst, every single club goes through them when the Chief play maker retires, when other key players age and slow down, when GLue type players like your Mannerings or Tohu Harris's retire.

The four best Warriors players of a rugby league cycle were here last season and have either gone or are on the wane.

SJ, best in a generation.

Harris, best ball playing forward in the generation. The best hands since Ali Lauitiiti, but could tackle, probably the greatest forward to ever pull on a Warriors jumper.

AFB best Prop of a generation.

Roger Tuivasa Sheck, best of an era, now aged and like Tohu diminishing.

Those are the most important guys in a RL team, the halfback, the fullback, the ball playing forward slash defensive rock, and the line breaking prop.

Take them out or have them on the decline without like for like new signings then you are in a rebuild.

Train spotters will point out we did get like for like with James F H replacing AFB.

While that is true, both top of their game, the Warriors are a special case, unlike the Roosters, or the Storm, who have enjoyed coaching stability, the new Star player coming to the Warriors is not the same as the new star joining those other outfits under coaching dynasty's like Bellamy and Robinson.

Which leads me to my core point about rebuilds. The Warriors are in constant rebuild because more than any club in living memory they have made the short sighted decision to sack more coaches than any club in existence.

This is why we are in constant rebuild and this is why it is absolutely critical that the Warriors ignore results and commit to Webster for six years minimum, absolutely minimum....because that would have given him time to have over seen our best sixteen year olds and bring them up in a stable system to eventually be a team with an age range in early to mid twenties in ninety percent of the run on side with years of playing together to threaten the comp.

The fact that this has not been tried since Cleary reinforces to me even more that the Warriors need to do a long term Webster commitment and suck it up till the young stars are all available for him to pick as men who have played grade together for five and more years together.

Agree with all this.

 

[CWC]

Kali is the future FB according to some posters, he did look good, it’s just frustrating they are all stuck behind one guy

 

[Brightman]

Yeah.

Thing is though it is an extension of Websters personality/life philosophy to not use excuses (cue the Webster frequent sound bites about not blaming Refs and accepting responsibility).

We are in a rebuild. I do not see that as a negative thing. When you look at rebuilds objectively, and lay aside Warrior angst, every single club goes through them when the Chief play maker retires, when other key players age and slow down, when GLue type players like your Mannerings or Tohu Harris's retire.

The four best Warriors players of a rugby league cycle were here last season and have either gone or are on the wane.

SJ, best in a generation.

Harris, best ball playing forward in the generation. The best hands since Ali Lauitiiti, but could tackle, probably the greatest forward to ever pull on a Warriors jumper.

AFB best Prop of a generation.

Roger Tuivasa Sheck, best of an era, now aged and like Tohu diminishing.

Those are the most important guys in a RL team, the halfback, the fullback, the ball playing forward slash defensive rock, and the line breaking prop.

Take them out or have them on the decline without like for like new signings then you are in a rebuild.

Train spotters will point out we did get like for like with James F H replacing AFB.

While that is true, both top of their game, the Warriors are a special case, unlike the Roosters, or the Storm, who have enjoyed coaching stability, the new Star player coming to the Warriors is not the same as the new star joining those other outfits under coaching dynasty's like Bellamy and Robinson.

Which leads me to my core point about rebuilds. The Warriors are in constant rebuild because more than any club in living memory they have made the short sighted decision to sack more coaches than any club in existence.

This is why we are in constant rebuild and this is why it is absolutely critical that the Warriors ignore results and commit to Webster for six years minimum, absolutely minimum....because that would have given him time to have over seen our best sixteen year olds and bring them up in a stable system to eventually be a team with an age range in early to mid twenties in ninety percent of the run on side with years of playing together to threaten the comp.

The fact that this has not been tried since Cleary reinforces to me even more that the Warriors need to do a long term Webster commitment and suck it up till the young stars are all available for him to pick as men who have played grade together for five and more years together.

Only point I would like to add to this is the rebuild is reinforced with a much more robust pathways development resource that the coach is inherently crucial to success..

Good post @sup42

 

[Noitall]

Watched a few games from last season that were on the tele last night. Hard to know what the future revolves around our halves, but pretty much certain that Metcalf is the halfback going forward. I do hope to see CHT get some time at five eighth in this trial, people say he’s played x amount of games and still not made his way into the team but he’s had a pretty unsettled journey to get to where he is. Always highly regarded by the club from a young, and his brother is supposedly a star in the making, so there’s pedigree. Often in the halves it’s about finding the partner that compliments the other and building a combination. With Metcalf providing the X factor and CHT just being solid, I think there could be something there if we’re fortunate enough

 

[sup42]

Huge call but I like it

It is actually a bit naughty of me to state that Laban is going to be one of the best defensive forwards this club has ever produced since we have only ever developed one junior into a mighty defensive forward. no prizes for guessing who that man was.
To be 'one of the best defensive forwards we have ever produced' is not very exclusive club or high mountain compared to other clubs.

 

[Noitall]

It is actually a bit naughty of me to state that Laban is going to be one of the best defensive forwards this club has ever produced since we have only ever developed one junior into a mighty defensive forward. no prizes for guessing who that man was.
To be 'one of the best defensive forwards we have ever produced' is not very exclusive club or high mountain compared to other clubs.

There’s something in him that reminds me of Awen Guttenbeil too, probably his stature

 

[Boats n Hoes]

Looking forward to seeing Leka have a run.
Talk is their looking to use him in the middle more. Dunno about that.
Niukore's been a disappointment, and Capewell provides zero threat on his edge.
Just think we lack that strike on our edges that can shorten defensive lines up and creates space out wide.
Leka's power, footwork, and speed would seem the best suited of anyone in our squad to provide this.

 

[Canonball]

Watched a few games from last season that were on the tele last night. Hard to know what the future revolves around our halves, but pretty much certain that Metcalf is the halfback going forward. I do hope to see CHT get some time at five eighth in this trial, people say he’s played x amount of games and still not made his way into the team but he’s had a pretty unsettled journey to get to where he is. Always highly regarded by the club from a young, and his brother is supposedly a star in the making, so there’s pedigree. Often in the halves it’s about finding the partner that compliments the other and building a combination. With Metcalf providing the X factor and CHT just being solid, I think there could be something there if we’re fortunate enough

Yeah, I continued with going back and looking at most of last season's games - the last two are actually quite interesting, v the dogs and the sharks - in both Metcalf is taking much more of an organising role than i remember and he's pretty good at it - granted it's alongside SJ, who is for the most part is really great in both as well, just not as dominant over LM at 6 as I remember - and again, the fucking refs... that dogs game is dead-set stitch-up... appalling performance from the onfield to the bunker - and it wasn't just the non-call of crichton on rts either ... the first 20 in that game we're high energy and killing it... from about 10 in the number of bs 6-agains and leg-up penalties the dogs get is the the only way they get back in it, starting to get partity in possesion from about 25min mark.. I really don't want to be here saying this but it was just soooo apparent in that game ... absolutely everyone doing roll-balls too lol

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Kali is the future FB according to some posters, he did look good, it’s just frustrating they are all stuck behind one guy

huh? another poster was telling me he's next up on the winger depth chart

 

[run_it_str8_again]

That's probably why it's a 3.30 kick off! Shit they will start drinking at 9am if that's case.

They might still be drinking from the night before

 

[run_it_str8_again]

Its narrower as well. Maybe we can afford to give him the ball for penalty touch finders now too?

I like this science. It will make Ed Kosi lightning fast on the wing

 

[Evil_Mush]

It's OK guys, I put a ridiculous multi on us winning, surely this will get us over the line on the weekend

 

[Dantheman]

It's OK guys, I put a ridiculous multi on us winning, surely this will get us over the line on the weekend

Just missing an ed Kosi first try scorer

 

[Evil_Mush]

Just missing an ed Kosi first try scorer

I only do ridiculous bets, not ludicrous bets!

Watch him get the first try now

 

[Inruin]

Looking forward to seeing Leka have a run.
Talk is their looking to use him in the middle more. Dunno about that.
Niukore's been a disappointment, and Capewell provides zero threat on his edge.
Just think we lack that strike on our edges that can shorten defensive lines up and creates space out wide.
Leka's power, footwork, and speed would seem the best suited of anyone in our squad to provide this.

Bit weird if true that they are looking at him as a middle. A dynamic power running back rower is what I saw from him in his hit out against the dogs. Or are we trying to remove any sign of x factor from the squad in order to stick the robotic plan?