NRL The Underperformers Thread

[Cces]

One more before I must stop procrastinating & get some overdue work done.
Epalahame Lauaki. 69 games for the Warriors & just 10 starts (all in the Second Row & 6 of these in his rookie season). He just never developed a big enough gas tank to make enough of a contribution. Had plenty of great attributes & considering his brother was one of a tiny list of people who ever bullied Richie McCaw, the sky looked like it was the limit. Wasn't to be though.

 

[The Warrior Waka]

One more before I must stop procrastinating & get sone overdue work done.
Epalahame Lauaki. 69 games for the Warriors & just 10 starts (all in the Second Row & 6 of these in his rookie season). He just never developed a big enough gas tank to make enough of a contribution. Had plenty of great attributes & considering his brother was one of a tiny list of people who ever bullied Richie McCaw, the sky looked like it was the limit. Wasn't to be though.View attachment 4799

Its a shame he didn't reach his potential. Powerful ball runner. Hit hard in dee. Just his discipline & fitness let him down. I always wanted his big bro to come to league. What a site he would of been! Rip Sione.

 

[Wah's Up]

I really wanted the FISH to kick off but not to be.

Unsure if motivation, body type or coaching were key factors

The guy had speed to burn, such a shame he didn't kick on.

 

[shuffle]

When it comes to Warriors Juniors these names come to mind. The first 3 were almost given to become NRL stars, the rest I thought wouldve had decent careers based on NYC form.

Tui Lolohea
Carlos Tuimavave
Konrad Hurrell

Suiatonga Likiliki
Alehana Mara
David Bhana
Jordan Meads
Daniel O'Regan
Omar Slaimankhel
John Palavi
Elijah Niko

Awww bro!! Jordan Meads turning up for Greece for the World Cup with that impressive rig of his lol

 

[Wah's Up]

When it comes to Warriors Juniors these names come to mind. The first 3 were almost given to become NRL stars, the rest I thought wouldve had decent careers based on NYC form.

Tui Lolohea
Carlos Tuimavave
Konrad Hurrell

Suiatonga Likiliki
Alehana Mara
David Bhana
Jordan Meads
Daniel O'Regan
Omar Slaimankhel
John Palavi
Elijah Niko

You missed Vete, big and powerful but couldn't cut the mustard.

 

[Spence]

Alehana Mara would be mine too, I thought he was going to become a superstar.

Out of the people not mentioned yet, I’ll throw in Steve Rapira. I didn’t necessarily think he was going to be a great, but I loved his defensive technique and thought he would have a decent NRL career.

 

[sballer7]

You missed Vete, big and powerful but couldn't cut the mustard.

Yea true, i never really rated Vete that highly. Most of our junior props have been bullies in jnrs and not kicked on. Paasi probably the last decent one in a list including Taukiaho, Matulino, Rapira and Packer.

 

[Kiwi In Tasmania]

Sam Lousi was my favourite from under 20s. Absolutely dominated every game. Would get an offload away every tackle. I thought he was going to be like NAS before NAS come along. Tall, big and aggressive.

Ended up as a slug and went to Union as a Lock.

 

[Worried2Death]

Aaron Heremaia, skillfull goalkicking hooker in our 2011 GF year then disappeared to the UK in 2012, I was gutted, thought he was going to go on to be a legend. Had a good run in SL though.

 

[sup42]

Isaac John had a really nice kicking game.
Henry Paul the one that got away...might have been better than Stacey.

Russell Packer kicked on, just not for us in terms of peak ability.

 

[Pop Dukez]

Nate Roache unfortunately is my prime example.

He looked so, so good whenever he started to string a few games together and genuinely think if he'd stayed healthy he would've had a long, successful career. Cruel that his body kept letting him down.

Bro….. Nate was a real talent but his younger brother Paulie was exceptional to say the least. Unbelievably talented. We’ve seen SJ play touch when he was a tot but Paulie was on another level again. I used to watch Paulie play down at Grey Lynn park and he absolutely boggled everyone with his ability. Mesmerising stuff. Watched him play 1st XV for MAGS too. They were both over trained too young for too long, had incredible physiques for their age and in my honest opinion that’s possibly why they look average now. Some kids just lose the passion for the game, any game for that matter, parents pushing their kids a step too far, and once they are of age to play with the big boys they’ve lost their spark and their bodies and minds have been overworked and realising their missing out on just doing regular teenage activities. I’ve never seen a talent like Paulie before……everyone put their houses on the line and we’re 100% sure he would be an absolute mega star. Same with Nate but more so Paulie……he was special.

 

[Username: Required]

I remember Tui Lolohea and Sam Tomkins in 2015 being disappointing. Always thought Tui should have gone to 1 and Sam to the halves when SJ went down. That was a season of what ifs

 

[Bay39er]

Ashley Klein!!!!

 

[Makasene]

Watching Chris Satae do a pretty good job in Super League these days.

Always thought he might have kicked on to be a big bopper we needed.

This is an interesting thread.

How many of these guys might have kicked on better in today's organisation?

 

[Boats n Hoes]

Underperformers? Think all our wives would have a lot to talk about in this thread...

Im going to go Warriors as an organisation from Board to management to owners and C.E Os to coaching staff/recruitment and future planning from 2012 (actually probably more end of 2011) to 2022.

From the letting go of an established coach who had sustained success to the mistaken belief that talent from an all conquering u/20s set up would immediately translate to first grade, to allowing a sub culture pervade part of the playing group where anyone who strived to raise standards was frowned upon, to the absolute ludicrous situation of having 7 Head coaches in 10 years and wondering why we could never find consistency..... and not being able to find a coach until now who could resonate with his players.

As far as players go a lot of the young talent i dont know were under performers or were just victims of us (particulary on these boards) criminally over rating them......hey we all do it.....even to this day (cough......Rocco Berry.....cough), hell i remember last season Volkman being talked about as having the best kicking game in the NRL!....I was convinced Nafe Seluini was the next big thing and remember throwing my toys out of the cot when the Warriors let him go to the chooks lol......was never seen again.

Hopefully those days are a thing of the past and all roads lead to glory........Merry Christmas u filthy animals!

 

[sballer7]

Underperformers? Think all our wives would have a lot to talk about in this thread...

Im going to go Warriors as an organisation from Board to management to owners and C.E Os to coaching staff/recruitment and future planning from 2012 (actually probably more end of 2011) to 2022.

From the letting go of an established coach who had sustained success to the mistaken belief that talent from an all conquering u/20s set up would immediately translate to first grade, to allowing a sub culture pervade part of the playing group where anyone who strived to raise standards was frowned upon, to the absolute ludicrous situation of having 7 Head coaches in 10 years and wondering why we could never find consistency..... and not being able to find a coach until now who could resonate with his players.

As far as players go a lot of the young talent i dont know were under performers or were just victims of us (particulary on these boards) criminally over rating them......hey we all do it.....even to this day (cough......Rocco Berry.....cough), hell i remember last season Volkman being talked about as having the best kicking game in the NRL!....I was convinced Nafe Seluini was the next big thing and remember throwing my toys out of the cot when the Warriors let him go to the chooks lol......was never seen again.

Hopefully those days are a thing of the past and all roads lead to glory........Merry Christmas u filthy animals!

Played some games for Penrith too. I also rated Nafe highly. Its amazing how good some of these kids were in juniors, that never kicked on. Tuimavave had it all man, was a beast in the 20s in the halves...thought he would develop into a star centre at the very least in the NRL.

But youre correct, our management of that 2011 to 2018ish period was horrendous and didnt allow many of those kids consistency in gameplans or coaching. Pretty sad we wasted so many generational talents in that period.

 

[Cces]

Karl Filiga/Karl McNichol -
Can anyone remember the hype about this guy? Despite all the headlines about him he played a total of 11-minutes in the NRL at an estimate $20,000 per minute

 

[shuffle]

Karl Filiga/Karl McNichol -
Can anyone remember the hype about this guy? Despite all the headlines about him he played a total of 11-minutes in the NRL at an estimate $20,000 per minute

The next SBW from Cronulla. Massive hype!!

 

[Beastmode]

Underperformed are a dim a dozen

The real question is - who exceeded expectations??????

 

[Worried2Death]

Underperformed are a dim a dozen

The real question is - who exceeded expectations??????

Michael Luck, looks like your average bloke at the pub irl and somehow turned into the man of steel on gameday. Just shows what you can do when you believe in yourself.