NRL 2012.

Since Harvey has posted some pertinent, upcoming news for Warriors fans in the other thread, I think we should have a new thread for the coming season. The last thread was called 'new beginnings', but this season is more of a new beginning, I think! Mostly because of Bluey coming on board.

2012 will be our last season with James Maloney, but as Harvey linked in the other thread, we have Johnson for the next 2 years at least. 6 players making the step up from the juniors which is unprecedented in this competition AFAIK!

We have a great future in this competition.



gc.

I am both excited and nervous about the new season. I really hope Bluey can keep the momentum going.

Also my reaction to the new jerseys was *exactly* the same as before the 2009 season when they debuted the last jersey. Initial indifference but now I think it looks awesome. Still a bit dubious with the all red Juniors uniform but as gummi has pointed out, it's all to do with sports psychology! :>

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0518_050518_redsports.html

Plus major props to the NRL genius who decided to make the Warriors opening game of the year a Grand Final replay with Manly at Eden Park. Fucking awesome! I'm so there and going to arrange a major crew for this!

^ I think the home-strip is a major improvement on the last few years'. But I'd like to have Blue in the mix too, like 2002/3..

Anyways, enough fashion design.

2012 is going to be a big year!

We're a stronger side on paper with Nathan Friend coming into the picture, a settled halves combo, and a much more experienced team following a taste of Grand Finals footy... Bluey should be salivating at the thought of running this team, we should be gunning for Top-4.

When's Ropati due back and will he be a saviour in the centres? Will we see anything of Steve Rapira or at least find out wtf happened with him? Which of the juniors will get a run-on? Will James Maloney last the whole season or gun out for a mid-season transfer?

So many questions, and I for one cannot fucking wait!!!

Maloney is signed up to the Roosters for a three year deal starting in 2013. So I am guessing he will be at the Warriors for all of the 2012 season.

That was always the plan (to stay for this season).



gc.

Plans don't mean shit as far as NRL contracts are concerned, wouldn't be the first or last time a player switched mid-season (Sydney would love him earlier with Carney gone to Cronulla).

That sucks how he's going to the Roosters though (I didn't realise it was confirmed). They're probably my most hated team and I was hoping he'd go to a team I liked so I could keep supporting him.. like Penrith to re-join Cleary perhaps. Boooo!

Agree 100% ^^ My heart sank a bit when I saw he had signed with the Roosters of all teams. Fuckin modern silvertail cunts.

But there is no way the Warriors will agree to an early transfer. Unless he gets a season ending injury or loses so much form he doesn't even get a look in the main team. But even then only a maybe.

I've got to say I was gutted when I saw he was going to the Roosters as well. Would have much preferred Penrith.

I've been watching the Twitter updates on the pre-season training. Friend is a freak as expected, hopefully that translates to a good injury free season for him.

Can't wait for the season to start, I'll be at Eden Park, wouldn't miss this rematch for the world.

On a side note, already saving up for a ticket to the GF if we make it again, being there earlier this year was amazing.

Not sure why so much respect is being shown, f**k him, we made him into a star and this is how he repays us. Could'e at least ensured there was somethign in the deal to keep it on the DL until later as it's massively disruptive.

In terms of an early transfer, could the Roosters even fit him under the cap this season?

Me too, on both counts!

TBH mate, Auckland is not always the right place for an Australian to live. When you get offered a lot more money to move back to where your friends and family live, whilst still playing the game you love, it's a total no-brainer.



gc.

Bro, he's been saying for a long time that he misses home and wants to raise his kids over there. He's been honest and upfront about everything, which is all you can ask from someone in his situation.

I really don't think it's been that disruptive at all either... pretty sure most people in the club would have known he was gonna head back to Sydney when his contract was up, so don't see the big deal.

Shaunie is the man anyway. :>

Maloney is a good runner of the ball, has a great mind for controlling the team structure and is a great kicker and as such was a great counterpoint to Shaunie who is more creative and is a bit more spontaneous but not as good at running the football team. But Shaunie will mature and will develop the qualities that Maloney brings to the table. Shaunie is who we should be building our team around, it just would have been great to have Maloney there to complete the picture.

No matter. The club will move on. Leuluai is no slouch and we got some promising kids as well.

Urgh Leuluai ... make the hurt stop! Have we ever been able to bring back a player from the UK that actually made a diff in the team? NO.

Liking the new strip for this year, but don't think ill be updating from my 2011 strip just yet.

Ian Henderson? Aaron Heremaia? Shaun Berrigan? Andy Platt?


Ok I was joking about Andy Platt but all of those players actively contributed at the time to the team performance. None of them were current internationals either. Looking at other teams you can point at Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis as great examples of players who have come into the NRL from the English Super League and have held their own. Leuluai has more than held his own in the Kiwis side, while I'd prefer Maloney for sure, Tommy is massive class above the player he was when he left here.

I would hardly say Shaun Berrigan has made a huge difference?



gc.

Platt?

Ah I see you're joking, well played.

I keep forgetting Leuluai is only in his mid 20s and not some past it veteran as it seems like he's been round forever.

He's only holding the 6 jersey for Tuimavave anyway.

He definitely made a contribution though, he shored up on of our gaping problems this year in the centres, who knows he may have made more of an impact had he not been injured as much as he was, it was his injury that let Krisnan Inu back into the side for the finals....

You definitely couldn't say he was a dud either.

He has no obligation to "re-pay" us for anything! It's professional sport..actually it's the NRL, the land of free agents and cowboy deals galore. And as mentioned by others he has always said he wanted to move back to Aussie. I think it's much less disruptive to make it between seasons also.

Roosters would have room in the cap by the looks having lost Todd Carney and Nate Myles.

All season transfers here: http://www.nrl.com/TelstraPremiership/2012PlayerTransfers/tabid/10248/Default.aspx#syd

Denan Kemp picked up by St George! He'll have fun bringing the water out to Brett Morris and Nightingale I'm sure

Berrigan off to Raiders - no loss for us, he was only ever stable at best for us, who knows, maybe he'll get into the swing in his 2nd season back in the NRL but you'd have to suspect he's past his use-by

Knights and Eels look to be the biggest beneficiaries of player trading this year. Knights will go deep in finals surely.

just want to say .. good job brother.... Thanks for sharing it.

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FUCK OFF YOU SPAMMY CUNT

Pre-season underway! Sqaud is



PS "Sio Siua Taukeiaho" ........ epic

I'd just like to say I thought the Indigenous-All Stars game was great and the "6 more" rule is awesome.

So many injuries in our pack to start the season! :/

Not sure who we're playing in the first 4 weeks or so, but if we run OK in those first few weeks it will be a pretty good index of a successful season ahead imo

I think we have Manly 1st up?

Not toooo worried about the big boppers, we have a bit of depth. Luck is obv a huge blow though. Good too see they decided to make Steve Rapira bulk up and become a prop. He always seemed a bit neither here nor there as a 2nd rower

Already talk about Inu being "on notice" Just fkn play him!

Both Rapira's are injured no?

yep

Inu has to earn his spot or else he can fuck off imo. Ain't nobody in this life got shit for free! :>

Yeah gonna be a bit skinny in the forwards for the first few games but I'd rather have our injuries worries now than later on in the season...

Inu fanboys used to cry foul at Ivan Cleary, claiming he had an unjust personal vendetta against him. Now it's obvious that Inu really is a lazy shit!

I'm in Sydney now so will be catching as many Warriors away and Tigers homegames as possible. Can't wait for this to kick off!

Obvious how? The season hasnt even fkn started!

Need I remind you of the Gold Coast game where you pointed to Inu and commented that you could see why people thought he was lazy as he just walked up down the wing with his hands on his hips?

No Im not forgetting. I KNOW hes lazy...I still love him anyway. Partly cos its kinda fun in todays game of metronomic grinders to have such an enigmatic hot/cold type of player

Partly cos I believe his flaws are out weighed by his awesomness/XFactor (which every team needs. Unless you are St George)

Anyway...its too early to squabble about Inu, you cunts sure do have short memories. Krisnan didnt play well in the GF but he sure had a heck of a lot top dfop with us getting there in the 1st place!

PS WHO THE FUCK OUTBELTS Steve Matai!!?? EVER!!??

PS WORK THE FUK SCORES TRIES LIKE THIS











HES A FREAK

Heard on radiosport the other day from someone who apparently should know these things that Inu is doing way better @ training than ever before.

So fuck up, haters

The only thing he did was the try against the Tigers to put us through to the pre-lims. Aside from that he did more harm than good.

Konrad Hurrell > Krisnan Inu

You do realise you just admitted that Inu is awesome right


GRINDER LOVES INU EVERYONE YAY WELCOME TO THE FAN CLUB MATE

Time will tell!

I'm very results orientated about this, if Inu does well, then I will be pleased for him and he can be my homeboy, if he doesn't, he can fuck the hell off. ^_^

2 weeks to go now.... :>

RARE GUMMI LOSING HIS COOL MOMENT!!


People note this date. :>

ha ha yeah I was pretty alarmed by that too

Meh they can hate all the fuck they want - Inu is the man! We have been putting up with way worse people in the team for way longer without cunts saying a word. This season will be no diff, I can start pointing them out already.

Yeah the media loves to stir it up as well, case in point Saturdays article saying same old stpry how he was on the outer and needed to prove himself etc. Then Sunday they actuall bother to interview Brian Mc who said he is starting to year with Inu and Ropati as his premier centres!

not long to go

http://www.nrl.com/nrl-finals-system-changed/tabid/10874/newsid/65960/default.aspx

^ Just came in to post that. At a glance, I like it. Seems a much simpler and more fair way of sorting through a top 8.

Awesome now I need to listen to the cunts at work tell me how we reverted back to the AFL way of doing things

The papers over here are all having a field day with the celebrations over this and are constantly using the Warriors "march" to the finals in 2011 as an example of how the McIntyre system was a complete joke. Cunts. True though.

Which I don't get, because had we this system last year, the Warriors would have had a home final first up against the Cowboys who they had beaten convincingly the week before and then would have likely gone on to play the Tigers away which was exactly what fucking happened.

Uh oh Maestey. Looks like Inu has been dropped again!


VODAFONE WARRIORS

1 KEVIN LOCKE
2 BILL TUPOU
3 KONRAD HURRELL
4 JEROME ROPATI
5 MANU VATUVEI
6 JAMES MALONEY
7 SHAUN JOHNSON
8 RUSSELL PACKER
9 NATHAN FRIEND
10 BEN MATULINO
11 FELETI MATEO
12 SIMON MANNERING (c)
13 ELIJAH TAYLOR
Interchange:
14 LEWIS BROWN
15 SIONE LOUSI
16 BEN HENRY
17 UKUMA TA’AI
18 GLEN FISIIAHI
20 KRISNAN INU
21 ALEHANA MARA

COACH: BRIAN McCLENNAN


Have to admit, I was in favourite of giving Hurrell some time in the NSW Cup first to make sure he was up to scratch defensively before getting him into the top side but it looks like he convinced Bluey with his trial form. I hope the kid runs good. :>

I also think we look a little light in the forwards going into this. We will be pretty mobile but Manly have a big pack!

Konrad Hurrell!

Happy about that selection, but all of a sudden this side looks extremely young and inexperienced, and thin up-front. Hopefully the injuries to Luck, Lilyman and Rapira aren't serious otherwise we could be exposed big-time especially against a class side like Manly…

Also on the wing, surely Billy Tupou is just warming the spot until Bluey thinks the Fish is ready for NRL again? I'd even have put Krisnan bloody Inu in there over Tup's.

Tupou never gets no love....

He puts shitloads of effort in and can alwasy be counted to be there for the boys when the hard yards are needed. Bluey obviously sees that as did Cleary when he was there. OR, you could say that Bluey sees Inu as a centre option only and not as a wing at all.

Whats with that extended bench? Hard to say who is playing at this point

BUT....I can imagine Steve Matai would much rather face some newb than the only guy to bash him in his entire career. Playing Hurrell over a seasoned pro seems madness

Hahahahahah! Yessssss! Hurrell!! Fuck you Inu!

(...and so it goes)



gc.

Also - anyone keen to play dreamteam that hasn't been emailed? (Grinder and Gummi you've been @tweeted)

Maesty?

Dream Team is the shit. Plus bragging rights etc... I am not doing tipping this year.



gc.

Fuck me, the heritage jersey for this year is amazing!

Yes, Inu might get a reprieve yet. Bluey has said that there are a few things he is working through yet and the starting line up may change...

Yep...anothr AWESOME thing about Krisnan is how polarising he is, so we get to yell at each other an stuff

Hideous...I wish the Warriors would do an actual heritage jersey like all the other NRL teams.. rather than taking their own interpretation of the heritage round and doing this obvious "cultural heritage" thing. And can we also change back to being the AUCKLAND Warriors while we're at it?

Fuck yes! :>

That jersey is fucking awful

:/

gc.

Are you guys kidding me? That jersey is amazing!

Designed to tell a story of the club and league heritage in this country. Whitebread ITT. :>

It's meant to pay homage to the CLUB, not tell a story about cultural or national heritage.. and even if it was meant to, how would you claim it has achieved that by using a poor-taste Maori design? Or the lame NZ flag version like last year...

http://www.nrl.com/TelstraPremiership/HeritageRound2011/tabid/11015/Default.aspx

The creation of the club is tied in with league heritage in this country. Only a fool would think that the Warriors history began in 1995.

NZ league != Warriors though? They're two distinct entities.

Also think the jersey is a fkn eyesore

They should just rock the OG 95 jerseys for the heritage round... maybe they can even change their name to the AKL Warriors for just that round as well :>

They're two *different* identities but certainly not distinct, if it wasn't for the NZRL's involvement, and that of the ARL (Auckland Rugby League), there would be no Warriors in the first place.

I would get bored of the team rocking the same jerseys every heritage round.

General league heritage in this country obviously goes further back than the history of the Warriors… just like league heritage in Queensland goes further back than the Broncos. That's not what the heritage jerseys are meant to be about.

(And even if they were, I'm still not sure what that jumper, nor the previous years, has to do with NZ league history or Warriors club heritage)..

and besides, you guys while touting that they should be called the Auckland Warriors for the heritage round, are conveniently ignoring the fact that for every other round they would be called the NEW ZEALAND Warriors. They don't just represent Auckland, they deliberately brand themselves as such so they represent the country, so that means more than just the history of 1 club in 1 city. So of course they are going to incorporate the heritage and culture of league throughout the country. It's been their aim all along!

And When it comes to the Auckland Warriors, lets not forget that for 4 of the 6 seasons under that moniker, they were terribly utterly awful. There's not much to celebrate in those awful seasons, what I like to call: "The Dark Times."

I think you're being too literal with what you think the heritage round should be about. If the Warriors weren't abiding by "what the heritage jerseys are meant to be about" then you better believe the NRL would say something. After all, it's their baby.

ps. There is a story why the jersey was designed so, the design itself tells that story. I don't have a link to it but they spoke about it at the season launch yesterday.

I am quite surprised by the negativity here tbh. The overwhelming feedback elsewhere is that it is one of the greatest jerseys the Warriors have ever had.

It's. Just. So. Ugly.



gc.

Perhaps I dont understand or respect what a Heritage Jersey is or means in terms of its entity or whatever....but to me an overriding factor in sports apparell is it HAS to look good. Especially in todays era of franchise sport where fans are are often supporting a jersey more than a region and buying the jersey besides

and yeah.....it looks ugly. I wouldnt wear it, let alone buy it....and I wouldnt want to see the Warriors play in it, surely the Highlanders cock up was enough warning that shiney Kermit Green is no good

^ Last year's jerseys. Note the odd one out.

I'm gonna go with Canberra for having a heritage jersey EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEIR NORMAL ONE.


But yeah, I can't defend that flag one, I thought that one was hideous too. Much preferred the silver fern special jersey last year. The fact they did two suggests that even Canterbury knew they had a dog with that flag one.

Maestro, it's greenstone green not Kermit green. It's much darker than that hideous Highlanders one.

Well whatever its still green ie awful. Are we actualy going to play a game in this jersey? If so.... I cant wait you see how terrible it is against the backdrop of grass

YES

INUUUUUUUU

Hahaha saw that

:>

gc.

Have I forgotten how league works or is there absolutely nothing wrong with Frank Pritchards tackle Whats all the fuss about

Inu fucked in the ass again.

Also how many games will Many cost us before he gets the boot?

Good win and really encouraging, I thought we looked great and a class above the Eels really

Packer is a monster these days, hes gonna go on to big things. Hopefully we can keep him. My 1st decent look at Hurrelll aND i CAN SEE WHAT THE FUSS IS ABOUT oops. Obviously needs to work on defence/positioning but super strong in the collision, he could be a weapon if we can release him in the rignt spots

Thought Inu looked fantastic when he FINALLY came on, showed sick pace off the mark and offloaded well a few times. Good spot tackle on our line too. He better be starting next week

Sandow is a dick, but fun to watch

Some thoughts on the game:

* Matulino is a BEAST

* Was a relief to see Maloney play so well; he was pretty absent against Manly.

* It seems obvious as fuck to me that our centre pairing has to be Hurrell and Inu. Didn't Henry play lock or something in the Juniors Why is he starting his senior career playing OOP?

* Anyone else a bit underwhelmed by Friend so far? It's great that he can tackle and pass teh ball for 80 minutes (although he throws a few shockers from out of dummyhalf as well), but the guy NEVER runs from dummyhalf. So much of our go-forward has always been due to darts out of dummyhalf and it sucks to not have that option

Bulldogs game is going to be EPIC!

Re: heritage jerseys - I think it would be awesome if they used retro versions of the 3 traditional NZ league provincial jerseys, just rotate between a retro Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury jersey each season. That way we capture the history of NZ league, either that or just pick out a NZ club team each season in a ballot type draw. Either option has way more credibility than letting some dickhead designer come up with some crap artistic interpretation of what he think heritage is.

hahaha I thought Jono had come in here to lambast me for watching the league instead of playing indoor football :>

I've already lambasted you for bailing on your commitments to your team mates.

gummi_bear = Jim Dymock.

I really don't know why we bothered with him in the first place - seems crazy.



gc.

Watching the Warriors > some stupid gay faggot soccer game with a bunch of homos!

Ya I didn really like the signing at the time but I didnt really know much about Friend either. Aaron H was a decent hooker and good kiwi battler besides, seemed crazy to pay so much for Friend too

the theory was he would add the structure and fast delivery to unlease our backline potential/give Jonson more time etc. . Early days I suppose but fail mark at this point certainly

Heh, give him a few games first guys.

He has to build his combinations with the team over time. He will only get better.

I just feel he lacks some mongrel or an x-factor that we often enjoy at the Warriors ya know? Even if sometimes that brings a little bit of inconsistency.

Hmmm



gc.

The other thing to factor in is that he's only played two games now since a major injury which kept him out all last year. He's warming up into his game and he'll only get better.

As for mongrel, well he's not aggressive but have you seen the way he uses his body? I would not be surprised if he was a black belt in judo or something. The way he manipulates his body into positions to easily take down much bigger guys is impressive!

You mean Solomon Haumono?

I think centre is probably best suited to Ben Henry's senior career. He's a bit on the small side for a second rower (he was a 12 in NYC) in the modern game. Bluey certainly seems to see it as such. He's got quite a surprisingly good turn of pace and I rate him better defensively than Inu. Inu was very lucky not to get caught out badly in the last 5 minutes of the game last monday. He kept coming out of the line at the wrong player while we were hard on our heels on the goal line in those last few attacking raids by the Eels. A better team would have exploited it.

But as we keep saying... Inu's got the x factor..... when he brings it.


As an aside, I really really like how Bluey is encouraging the football, the creativity, the natural flair these kids have. He's not too heavy handed with the systems that Cleary was. He still preaches the systems though of course but not at the expense of the x factor. If this team keeps playing like this, they're going to be the most watchable side on the comp. Bring on the Dogs! :>

ha ha yeah I was wondering that too, but I wasnt sure exactly what gummis crime was. Ditching footbal for the soxy pleasure machine was it?

Wasnt Dymock notorious for something a-rather too? That was what confused me

Jim Dymock was one of my favourite players. I've always had high regard for big skillful locks. I don't remember him being involved in anything? Maybe a drinking episode in the Cross or something? But back then that was pretty much the norm for your average Sydney based NRL player. :>

He was a career Bulldog ffs, surely there were SOME shenanigans! :>

Nah he started at the Bulldogs and then switched to Parramatta. That was a very good Eels side too from memory. Excellent forward pack including a few other ex-Bulldogs like McCracken, Dean Pay as well as young Hindy and Jason Smith.

I reckon.

Nathan Friend is a class player and a stats machine.. when the Titans were running hot a few years back he played a huge part. If we can get the Friend / Luck / Mannering / Taylor combination working this year we'll have some of the tightest D in the comp. Friend brings Aussie smarts, organisation and experience to the side which is obviously crucial this year with such a young team.

He's been off the pace in our first 2 games but he's still coming back from serious injury and it's a new team environment for him... give him a chance IMO. He'll get quick and start playing 80mins again in no time.

Definitely a good trade too. Absolute no-brainer to take him over Heremia seeing as we obviously had the cash.

True, but remember the reason we got so far last season was because Cleary had us playing with structure/discipline/grind.

In other news, apparently Daly Cherry Evans is only being paid $85,000! Best halfback in the comp and getting paid less than some Toyota Cup players... he's off contract in 2013 - could be the biggest trade of the year.

Can you imagine him and Johnson in the halves .... ahahahhahaha!!!!

+1 for giving Friend some time, the only thing he is not doing right atm is running himself out of dummy half, the rest is all there.

Agreed, when the Warriors get too much freedom we tend to go off the rails and become flakey and inconsistent.

Oh and yeah I meant the Hormone earlier.

Yes and no. We were a so so team until Johnson cemented his first grade spot and Locke cemented his fullback spot and brought a bit of creativity and flair to our attack. We were actually pretty average to begin with remember? Johnson and Locke moving into their positions were the catalyst for our strong run home.

The key is to marry them both together. Like I said, Bluey is still preaching the systems, the percentages if you will, but unlike Cleary, he isn't coaching the flair out of them either. He is encouraging the natural attack these players have but to be clever about it. Pick and choose your moments. Play field positions and safety but also play whats in front of you. This is the key to unlocking the potential of this team and it has me excited!

We're not Melbourne so we shouldn't play like them. We are who we are so we should play to our own strengths and supplement it with some intelligent organisation. As far as I can tell, (and I'm keeping in mind that it's only round 3 - it could all turn to shit yet!) Bluey is finding the right mix to his approach with this team. :>