General Your 2025 team

[Wah's Up]

Even with Harris's retirement I cannot express how excited I am from what is coming from the Warriors this year. I think there will be some outstanding individual seasons (TMM, CNK, RTS on wing, Ali, Clark and Berry) some people who continue their strong form (Barnett, JFH, Egan, DWZ) and if Niukore can stay fit a massive season from him, with some really good signs from Ale, Leka, Demitric and Laban at different points of the season

And Metcalf will have a breakout year and we will all be fizzing

 

[the WARs]

And Metcaf will have a breakout year and we will all be fizzing

Metcaf needs to have massive season along with TMM back to the form we seen when SJ wasn't in the picture.. Metcaf has speed ..hoping Boyd has some as well if we can see speed from the start of the attacking play thats going give us much more impact out wide ,,, the Tits smoked us with their speed in attack ..it was are weakness last season ..our attacked become too easy to read as Tohu / SJ become so much slower in their play

 

[Five&Last]

If CHT could do 20 minutes as back up hooker, it would make the bench so much easier

I did like this idea, but honestly I'd rather him gain some form in NSW cup and try take the 7 jersey off TMM.

He's capable of doing it and we need a long term organising 7 (TMM has always felt like a stop gap)

I don't really feel like he got much footy under his belt last year because of his bench versatility.

 

[BabylonPink]

I think TMM will get the nod at 7. With Luke and Chanel duking it out for 6.
Tanah a smokey for 7. But I rate TMM alot more than him. Bar long kicking.

 

[Damo]

Didn't really know where to post this but, Bunty no longer known as Bunty? From the NRL site.

 

[Christchurch_Warrior]

Didn't really know where to post this but, Bunty no longer known as Bunty? From the NRL site.

View attachment 10813

Good for him as it is his first name.

Bunty Afoa - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ROCCO]

why?? I mean I love speculative teams and hypothetically shifting player's spots around but starting with Boyd at 9, one of our back up halves who I don't think has actually ever started at 9 previously, is a bit far even for me ... plus Niukore second row is something i don't think I want to see again... not going knock anything else, Zyon Maiu’u is our 'forgotten rookie' so nice to see him in there

Boyd = good passing and kicking game he could control the middle and do the kicking. A poor man's Koroisau. He needs to be in the team otherwise who going to punt the ball when we in trouble down our own end?? Niukore will start in the second row. For his experience, hard running and intimidation factor. Poor man's Olakauatu. Too bad we got a team full of "poor mans' haha still up da wahs all day!

 

[Playdaball]

Didn't really know where to post this but, Bunty no longer known as Bunty? From the NRL site.

View attachment 10813

This could be a move by the Warriors in their mission to off laod him? Other clubs may not want to sign Bunty but could be open to sign the new guy. Iulio, who runs hard and does good work on defence in the middle of the park.

 

[sup42]

Interesting teams in here. I have to admit I am at a loss as to which way to go, the club is clearly in a rebuild.

Agree with those pointing out the first picked half in either position will be the guy that can long kick. Tis a no brainer.

Ideally that player is also the best organizer, a true halfback. This is far from certain, so we may end up with for example an organizing half and a kicking six.

All metrics say that we are in a full rebuild from ground zero, Shaun Johnsons departure guaranteed that. His influence on the team was total.

The tricky part about Warriors rebuilds is not rolling out all your newbies from under grad school, getting flogged and thereby ruining those players.

Often times you see teams named full of Reggies stars, without thought for the defence required in the NRL. I doubt very much Webster would take that risk of burning out what little he has.

I should add that I am not afraid of rebuilds and development seasons, so if for example these young guys are resilient and mature, if they are able to cop hidings and keep growing, then by all means use twenty twenty five to blood the lot of them without a care for short term results.

I don't imagine us making the eight, hope it happens, just not realistic to expect it. I am ok with that, I know we have some potential, genuine potential, so I believe they should approach the season as a development program rather than a focus on short term results.

 

[JustVisiting82]

This could be a move by the Warriors in their mission to off laod him? Other clubs may not want to sign Bunty but could be open to sign the new guy. Iulio, who runs hard and does good work on defence in the middle of the park.

Shave off the hair and they'll be none the wiser.

 

[Tohu’s_Knees]

Interesting teams in here. I have to admit I am at a loss as to which way to go, the club is clearly in a rebuild.

Agree with those pointing out the first picked half in either position will be the guy that can long kick. Tis a no brainer.

Ideally that player is also the best organizer, a true halfback. This is far from certain, so we may end up with for example an organizing half and a kicking six.

All metrics say that we are in a full rebuild from ground zero, Shaun Johnsons departure guaranteed that. His influence on the team was total.

The tricky part about Warriors rebuilds is not rolling out all your newbies from under grad school, getting flogged and thereby ruining those players.

Often times you see teams named full of Reggies stars, without thought for the defence required in the NRL. I doubt very much Webster would take that risk of burning out what little he has.

I should add that I am not afraid of rebuilds and development seasons, so if for example these young guys are resilient and mature, if they are able to cop hidings and keep growing, then by all means use twenty twenty five to blood the lot of them without a care for short term results.

I don't imagine us making the eight, hope it happens, just not realistic to expect it. I am ok with that, I know we have some potential, genuine potential, so I believe they should approach the season as a development program rather than a focus on short term results.

Agreed, which leads to my selections of Halasima and Laban sharing that right edge.
And Ali getting as many reps at centre as possible.
I was Pompey and Berry before Tohu retired, but since then I feel our chances of getting to the finals are highly unlikely. So may as well SERIOUSLY build towards 2026 and beyond.

However we don’t want to be stupid with it, which is why I’m reluctant to have Taine start over CNK. At least not round 1.

Which then brings me to Tanah Boyd…….
Good signing, not so good selection.
He’s backup halfback/hooker/14

We simply cannot use 2025 as a development/rebuild year give Boyd 20+ games and then he fucks off back to Aussie with his career back on track. And we end up with NOTHING.

A Metcalf-TMM halves combo is crucial for us in the future.

 

[Christchurch_Warrior]

Agreed, which leads to my selections of Halasima and Laban sharing that right edge.
And Ali getting as many reps at centre as possible.
I was Pompey and Berry before Tohu retired, but since then I feel our chances of getting to the finals are highly unlikely. So may as well SERIOUSLY build towards 2026 and beyond.

However we don’t want to be stupid with it, which is why I’m reluctant to have Taine start over CNK. At least not round 1.

Which then brings me to Tanah Boyd…….
Good signing, not so good selection.
He’s backup halfback/hooker/14

We simply cannot use 2025 as a development/rebuild year give Boyd 20+ games and then he fucks off back to Aussie with his career back on track. And we end up with NOTHING.

A Metcalf-TMM halves combo is crucial for us in the future.

Isn't Metcalf on the same amount of years as Boyd? Same argument applies to him. If you really want to go by the logic of not giving it to an Aussie then it would be CHT/TMM combo which I would think most fans would not want. The reality is we only 3 NRL capable halves (You could argue 2.5) and with how bad our injuries were last year we needed another. TMM has played 25 games in the last 2 seasons and Metcalf has played 19 in the same time period so we needed Boyd as our "main" halves spend a lot of time in rehab.
If Boyd does become a great half then 2026 is our year. The reality is that he likely won't. I see him at his best he would get to a Chad Townsend level but more likely to be playing in the Super League come 2027.

 

[Tohu’s_Knees]

Isn't Metcalf on the same amount of years as Boyd? Same argument applies to him. If you really want to go by the logic of not giving it to an Aussie then it would be CHT/TMM combo which I would think most fans would not want. The reality is we only 3 NRL capable halves (You could argue 2.5) and with how bad our injuries were last year we needed another. TMM has played 25 games in the last 2 seasons and Metcalf has played 19 in the same time period so we needed Boyd as our "main" halves spend a lot of time in rehab.
If Boyd does become a great half then 2026 is our year. The reality is that he likely won't. I see him at his best he would get to a Chad Townsend level but more likely to be playing in the Super League come 2027.

Yeah, you can certainly make that argument with Metcalf. If you look at my past comments which wouldn’t be a few pages ago. You’d see I mentioned that. But you need to take risks in some places. Hence Metcalf who IMO, has a higher ceiling than Boyd.
So what I’m arguing is having a halves combo of Boyd and Metcalfe is madness. Not selecting one or the other.

Not giving TMM game time (or CHT) is crazy.

You can take risks (Metcalf) just don’t be stupid about it (Metcalf and Boyd).
Seriously, what if both of them leave?
It’s not even 50/50…… especially if they come good.
Where as I bet TMM doesn’t want to go anywhere and will be reasonably cheap.

If Webster selects Boyd and Metcalf I actually start to question his long term intentions.

 

[sup42]

Agreed, which leads to my selections of Halasima and Laban sharing that right edge.
And Ali getting as many reps at centre as possible.
I was Pompey and Berry before Tohu retired, but since then I feel our chances of getting to the finals are highly unlikely. So may as well SERIOUSLY build towards 2026 and beyond.

However we don’t want to be stupid with it, which is why I’m reluctant to have Taine start over CNK. At least not round 1.

Which then brings me to Tanah Boyd…….
Good signing, not so good selection.
He’s backup halfback/hooker/14

We simply cannot use 2025 as a development/rebuild year give Boyd 20+ games and then he fucks off back to Aussie with his career back on track. And we end up with NOTHING.

A Metcalf-TMM halves combo is crucial for us in the future

My point is that we are in a rebuild no matter what machinations fans come up with.
Boyd may well fook off after one season, I am certain the Warriors expect these contingencies given they have had thirty years of players fooking off on them when table results are not kind.

Let me break this down.

As a coach, you cannot roll out a game plan that is affected by the possibility of players leaving. Winning clubs do not build their season plan around who might leave if they lose more than they win. Rather they demand of the people that they hire that they stay the course of the plan of the company and if they leave? good riddance they were the wrong hire for the overall plan.

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Didn't really know where to post this but, Bunty no longer known as Bunty? From the NRL site.

View attachment 10813

Does the change of name get him a two year extension?

He definitely can't leave here as bunty, a rebrand is a good idea!

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Yeah, you can certainly make that argument with Metcalf. If you look at my past comments which wouldn’t be a few pages ago. You’d see I mentioned that. But you need to take risks in some places. Hence Metcalf who IMO, has a higher ceiling than Boyd.
So what I’m arguing is having a halves combo of Boyd and Metcalfe is madness. Not selecting one or the other.

Not giving TMM game time (or CHT) is crazy.

You can take risks (Metcalf) just don’t be stupid about it (Metcalf and Boyd).
Seriously, what if both of them leave?
It’s not even 50/50…… especially if they come good.
Where as I bet TMM doesn’t want to go anywhere and will be reasonably cheap.

If Webster selects Boyd and Metcalf I actually start to question his long term intentions.

Well TMM and Tavita better be showing that they are capable of leading this team around. It's not a given to anyone!

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Yeah, you can certainly make that argument with Metcalf. If you look at my past comments which wouldn’t be a few pages ago. You’d see I mentioned that. But you need to take risks in some places. Hence Metcalf who IMO, has a higher ceiling than Boyd.
So what I’m arguing is having a halves combo of Boyd and Metcalfe is madness. Not selecting one or the other.

Not giving TMM game time (or CHT) is crazy.

You can take risks (Metcalf) just don’t be stupid about it (Metcalf and Boyd).
Seriously, what if both of them leave?
It’s not even 50/50…… especially if they come good.
Where as I bet TMM doesn’t want to go anywhere and will be reasonably cheap.

If Webster selects Boyd and Metcalf I actually start to question his long term intentions.

I actually think Boyd and Metcalf are the better options! Boyd can kick goals and drop kick, the other two can't!

 

[Tohu’s_Knees]

My point is that we are in a rebuild no matter what machinations fans come up with.
Boyd may well fook off after one season, I am certain the Warriors expect these contingencies given they have had thirty years of players fooking off on them when table results are not kind.

Let me break this down.

As a coach, you cannot roll out a game plan that is affected by the possibility of players leaving. Winning clubs do not build their season plan around who might leave if they lose more than they win. Rather they demand of the people that they hire that they stay the course of the plan of the company and if they leave? good riddance they were the wrong hire for the overall plan.

In principle and all things being equal. I completely agree.
But all things aren’t equal…….

The retirement of Tohu Harris has changed the whole season for me. And I dare say Andrew Webster…..

Assuming we’re rebuilding in 2025. Who’s going to be here in 2026 and beyond is arguably the most important thing. There’s no point giving a halves combo 20+ games just for one or both to leave. Especially when you have a similar level option in TMM and he’s likely to stay.

Clubs do it with players who are leaving all the time (obviously not the elite ones, of which Boyd is not).

 

[Tohu’s_Knees]

Well TMM and Tavita better be showing that they are capable of leading this team around. It's not a given to anyone!

I actually think Boyd and Metcalf are the better options! Boyd can kick goals and drop kick, the other two can't!

Bro I’m not talking about getting anywhere in 2025.
I’m talking about laying a foundation for 2026 and beyond……

There’s no point having a combo of Boyd and Metcalf just for one to (heaven forbid both) leave.

Where as going with TMM and taking a risk with Metcalf (yes he could leave anyway). But at least you’re not starting from completely scratch and wasting 2025. And TMM still has at least 3-5 years left.

 

[WA Warrior]

In principle and all things being equal. I completely agree.
But all things aren’t equal…….

The retirement of Tohu Harris has changed the whole season for me. And I dare say Andrew Webster…..

Assuming we’re rebuilding in 2025. Who’s going to be here in 2026 and beyond is arguably the most important thing. There’s no point giving a halves combo 20+ games just for one or both to leave. Especially when you have a similar level option in TMM and he’s likely to stay.

Clubs do it with players who are leaving all the time (obviously not the elite ones, of which Boyd is not).

Personally I don’t think Webby is going to see this year is for rebuilding even with Tohu retiring.
He plummeted back down to earth last season after a dream start.
Whatever combo he goes for will be all about winning and all about this year for his own coaching sanity.
I do agree that TMM is most likely to stay as he seems settled though.