Diary Of A Warriors Fan - Chur Vegas
The Warriors hit up RotaVegas to take on the Penrith Panthers in a match that resembled an in-season fixture with many locals getting out in support of their Warriors. It was pretty impressive to see so much support for the Warriors and we know that many folks around Aotearoa love their rugby league, it's good to see the Warriors rewarding them with a fairly intense pre-season game.
Much of the noise from the game was about the youngsters that we have, but for me we've got to seperate them as there are very different situations for the outside backs and the forwards.
Ken Maumalo rightly plenty of praise for his two try effort on the wing. He's got plenty of size and looks athletic enough to handles himself against the freaks that fill NRL wing spots, while we also saw Tuimoala Lolohea and Marata Niukora have their moments. It's pretty difficult to see these lads in the Warriors top 17 come round one though as the outside back stocks are full to the brim.
That's probably the most competitive spot in the Warriors, the right wing. Manu Vatuvei will have one spot, while the other wing spot is up for grabs. There's many players to choose from, I'm going to narrow it down to between Solomone Kata and Jonathan Wright.
Just on Lolohea, it seems that no one really knows where his best position is/will be. Versatility is always good and he'll do what's required of him, but surely he's got to have some sort of plan mapped out for him. He's too skillful to be a winger, but there's at least two players ahead of him for play making spots in Chad Townsend and Thomas Leuluai. The only way we'll get a genuine opportunity to see where his future may lie is if injury strikes.
The other two young lads who looked the goods and combined to hand Shaun Johnson a try were Sam Lisone and Albert Vete. Both of these lads could definitely force themselves in to our top 17, at the very least they'll keep the starters on their toes. The NRL is more about big boys with footwork, making defenders miss and getting quick play the balls. Lisone's got some nifty footwork while Vete is very mobile himself and hopefully these two will continue to develop.
We need them to develop because that feeling of comfort at Mt Smart has crept too far. We need guys to make it impossible to leave them out, if that means dropping a more established player, then so be it.
I still think that Ryan Hoffman will be the buy of the season in the whole NRL. This dude is going to lock down one edge as well as offer plenty in attack. We continue to see the growth of the partnership between Johnson and Sam Tomkins, but the other key men will be Hoffman and the other edge back rower which looks likely to be Bodene Thompson. Both players run good lines and have plenty of skill, which will give Johnson and Tomkins many options.
For what this game was, an NRL trial, it was a pretty good effort from the Warriors. Both sides were without many players and we saw how influential Matt Moylan can be in the All Stars game, to say the Warriors defence was encouraging would be pretty dumb.
On that All Stars game, we had Manu Vatuvei and Nathan Friend do their thing, representing Mt Smart in the name of equality. We love Manu, but honestly, I don't think we've see Manu look as good as this. When the NRL starts, people will celebrate Manu and his form (hopefully) but he's been playing this way since the Four Nations and he looks like he's a man on a mission.