Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: Round One, Roger!
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Aotearoa Warriors fans need to acquaint themselves with rumours and whispers about Kieran Foran, quickly (if you haven't already). We head into the 2017 NRL season with this cloud lurking above us, however when the Warriors signed Foran for one year, they were never guaranteed that Foran would repay the faith shown in him.
He doesn't need to and that's best summed up by the fact that Foran might have such a great season with the Warriors, driving his price-tag through the roof to the point where the Warriors simply can't afford to keep him. Crazy, while the prospect of Foran wanting to return to Australia to be closer with his children is perhaps more likely.
So rid yourselves of that stress and enjoy this season in a bubble because if Foran's playing well, the Warriors will go alright. Would you hate on Foran for leaving Aotearoa (there's many reasons why he would) if he and the Warriors won a Premiership this year? Well, we'd all be too busy celebrating to really care.
Those rumours and whispers will pop up all season, believe that.
Those rumours may be true, they may be fabricated by agents, clubs and Australian media (who are all as shady as each other).
Who cares, just enjoy what we've got now.
And while we wait for Foran to return, what we've got now is our first Aotearoa Warriors squad. There's some changes to the way these squads are named and I'm leaning towards using the term 'squads' instead of 'team' because we won't know the team until closer to kick-off. That's all good because coach Stephen Kearney has given a clear indication of his thinking with this squad.
In the backline, things are largely as expected. Ata Hingano will start his partnership with Shaun Johnson and that's another reason why we can't really buzz about Foran leaving because the Hingano/Johnson combination has almost as much upside long-term. Manu Vatuvei is named in reserve grade and that's a wise ploy by Kearney - other coaches haven't really done that - and allows Vatuvei to build some confidence after a rough season last year.
I'm always intrigued by the many ways to get Tuimoala Lolohea involved from his wing position. He won't have the defensive responsibilities of fullback (positioning/communication) but I suspect we will see Lolohea play a low key role in sparking some Warriors attack when they are coming out of their own end; slick passes, footwork, speed.
Albert Vete starts at prop with Charlie Gubb, making Gubb the first major benefactor from Ben Matulino's injury. Jacob Lillyman and Sam Lisone are named in the squad and they should slot on to the bench as middle forwards, plus - as I wrote last week - Isaiah Papalii could get some early game time if Bodene Thompson isn't fit enough. Once Thompson is fully fit, then we should see him start instead of Bunty Afoa, but for now it's Afoa will start and face a tough assignment up against either Sione Mata'utia or Jamie Buhrer.
The funkiest move from Kearney is to put Erin Clark on the bench as a utility. The more minutes Issac Luke plays, the better as he will thrive alongside Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in making middles around the ruck but with Clark offering some nifty skills as a hooker/half, he will be interesting to watch in 10-15 minute stints.
Mason Lino, James Gavet and Blake Ayshford should drop out of the squad come game time. If Thompson is good to go, he'll take Papalii's spot but I'm low key hoping that Thompson's got to wait another week.
4pm on a Sunday at Mt Smart, up against the Knights. It doesn't get much better than that to start the season and the Warriors should get the victory here.
This will be a great opportunity to see the Warriors run rampant around the ruck area and this is how they will become a force this season. Luke and Tuivasa-Sheck do their best running through the middle and this gives the Warriors a different, yet just as effective threat as what Jason Taumalolo gives the Cowboys. Speed and power through the middle breeds quick play-the-balls and while the big boppers need to offer that, this is the bread and butter of Luke and Tuivasa-Sheck.
Tuivasa-Sheck demands your attention in round one. Not only will be looking to dazzle what should be a fairly tame Knights defence, he's making his debut as Warriors captain. Over 20 carries/200m is the expectation when Tuivasa-Sheck plays footy and he's got wonderful assist-ability as well, as the leader though he will dictate proceedings by taking tough carries through the middle.
Get used to seeing Tuivasa-Sheck inspire.