NRL 2017

taniwharugby

@westcoastie kinda my point, these guys a grown men, professional athletes who know what is expected of them...why would they suddenly decide it is ok to throw that all away within the Kiwis?

As for Kemp, yep, he has an axe, but he did make some good points, not least the fact that the NRL clubs dealt with these 2 and got on with it, whereas NZRL are continuing to punish them...

Paekakboyz

Dale Budge was going hard on RS this morning - must have caught up with Kemp for breakfast I reckon!!

He had some really good points imo. He saw multiple folks sharing the blame for this situation. An ongoing lack of leadership and nous by NZRL, Kidwell being out of his depth, farcical eligibility rules, and he also fired shots at JT for not being honest about why he's chosen Tonga over NZ.

Budge did say he'd have understood, and probably backed JT, if he was honest about why he's gone with Tonga. But to say at the eleventh hour that you want to 'give back' to a team that you weren't going to be playing for a week ago is pretty smelly.

Looking forward to the press conference today - might be a taaaaad awks I reckon!

Paekakboyz

@westcoastie - yeah he did go pretty hard aye! Def was on the money about a lot of stuff, but you could clearly tell it was personal as well.

Interesting how you get guys like Kemp who weren't flash coaches or anything, but clearly have a deep understanding of the game and what makes it tick. Then again he wasn't the first coach who couldn't make any decent change with warriors.

oh, one really good point he made was the appointment of Brian Smith, who hasn't coached in how long??

Sneakdefreak

Andrew Fifita is apparently withdrawing from the Aussies and joining Tonga too.

westcoastie

@paekakboyz
Good players (even those with great understanding) don't make good coaches - but the problem is that most need to pay their dues and don't, like you don't just become an AB or Warrior overnight, you spend years developing your playing craft therefore coaches should spend years building their craft too. Kidwell, Kemble, Kemp - good players, who spent fuck all time building their coaching craft, egos at play too.
Nonu, clearly a great player who developed amazing understanding of what was required, but doesn't strike me as being a guy whos going to coach. Richie McCaw...on-field coach. Coaching is more than just X & O's on a board nowadays too, I suspect most players just wouldn't have the foggiest clue.
Its interesting in AFL, they're moving miles away from ex-players moving straight into head-coaching roles - they're really looking for coaches who have proven records at lower levels, previous head-coaching experience, and they even have an AFL-specific high level coaching course over two years where the best (like very best) coaches are educating those newbies.

Kemp never really struck me as a high-performance guy, but then I don't know what training or knowledge he had acquired outside of the game.

Brian Smith, same as a class player, ie class is permanent, form is temporary. If he was a good coach once, hes a good coach now, but I'd suggest ring-rusty.

So anyways apart from coaching... what the fuck is this team even going to look like, surprised Shaun Johnson hasn't pulled the pin yet too...

westcoastie

On one hand its getting farcical, on the other, suddenly the RLWC just got interesting... Fifita apparently pulls the pin after getting named in the Aussie team - and is off to Tonga too.

Fifita goone

Virgil

@sneakdefreak said in NRL 2017:

Andrew Fifita is apparently withdrawing from the Aussies and joining Tonga too.

Have to ask, are we drawn to play Tonga?
Can’t see us beating them..

Bovidae

@virgil

Nov 11 in Hamilton

Sneakdefreak

Samoa, Scotland and Tonga are our pool opponents. This will be tough...

antipodean

Hilarious that certain players have decided to make the international game more competitive.

Nepia

@antipodean said in NRL 2017:

Hilarious that certain players have decided to make the international game more competitive.

I don't think it has made the 'international' game more competitive, just the international game under Australia and England - it's gone from a possible three contenders to two.

antipodean

@nepia Surely if Australia don't win it would be a massive upset?

Bovidae

The Tongan backline could be better than the Kiwis if all those eligible have jumped ship.

canefan

Fifita reportedly quitting Australia for Tonga. If they get a few more defectors they could be a threat. Any way to conjure up eligibility for Sam Thaiday?

Sneakdefreak

Tonga announces squad. Guessing Lolohea/Hingano/Hopoate will fight it out for the halves:

Tonga Rugby League World Cup 2017 Squad

Andrew Fifita
Mahe Fonua
David Fusitu’a
Siliva Havilli
Ata Hingano
Will Hopoate
Konrad Hurrell
Michael Jennings
Solomone Kata
Sione Katoa
Samisoni Langi
Tuimoala Lolohea
Sika Manu
Manu Ma'u
Sam Moa
Ben Murdoch Masila
Joe Ofahengaue
Tevita Pangai jnr
Ukuma Ta'ai
Sio Siua Taukieaho
Jason Taumalolo
Peni Terepo
Daniel Tupou
Manu Vatuvei

Nepia

@sneakdefreak Good squad on paper, be interesting to see if they can put it together on the field.

I'd assume they'd have Hopoate at fullback?

Sneakdefreak

@nepia Or Fusitua. Looking at the team I would guess 1. Fusitua 2.~~Fonua~~ Tupou 3.Hurrell 4.Kata 5.Jennings 6.Hopoate 7.Lolohea

Nepia

@sneakdefreak said in NRL 2017:

@nepia Or Fusitua. Looking at the team I would guess 1. Fusitua 2.~~Fonua~~ Tupou 3.Hurrell 4.Kata 5.Jennings 6.Hopoate 7.Lolohea

Fusitua at 1 I can understand, but surely the coach wont buy into the Kata myth, not when Jennings is around?

Hopoate, 2. Tupou, 3. Hurrell, 4. Jennings, 5. Fusitua, 6. Hingano, 7. Lolohea - looks a better mix to me personally.

Sneakdefreak

@nepia Tonga will be thinking they can go deep into the tournament but they won't with Lolohea and Hingano in the halves. Really think they'll put Hopoate there.

ACT Crusader

@sneakdefreak Hopate at 5/8 would be a great move. They’ll need a good kicking halfback which Lolohea is not.

The Silver Fern

NRL 2017