I think this year more then ever the teams that get the week off will be hard to beat, and the teams that don't are pushing shit up hill.
Penrith are going to be very hard to beat based on their game against the Tigers. Yes the Tigers werent good, but its about the way Penrith went about it.
The top 3 are about the only teams I can see winning it, with Penrith ahead of the Warriors and Dolphins, and a bee's dick between the Dolphins and Warriors. You beat us by 2, and we beat you by 2. Nothing between us. We are in better form now then we wee back then.
I will say, If we win, id be confident in growing a leg leading into the grand final. If we lose, I dont think we can go on with it. And Id suggest the same will be for the warriors.
The thing I will say for the Dolphins though, is that as a Club, winning or losing this year wont be the end of us. Id suggest with our financial standing and grass roots area we will be a powerhouse going forward, competing year on year.
My concern for the Warriors, is that Webster will be on everyone's radar now. You remember when Cleary got you guys firing? What happened to Cleary not long after that? Webster should be coach of the year in my book. Ford and Boyd are great examples of that. Ford was rubbish at the Dragons (I was a Dragons supporter) And Boyd was worse at the Titans. Warriors lose Webster for whatever reason, I can see them battling to make the 8 again.
Good Luck on the weekend, may the best team win, and noone notice the ref or the bunker.
Thanks for the reply.
Most NRL experts have been calling the Phins the team you do not want to face in the finals all season. I know what that feels like, people said that of the Daniel Anderson era Warriors and the Bulldogs found out what that was like when Francis Meli broke the NRL record at the time for Trys in a finals game (five).
Webster has been locked up long term mate.
The Warriors owner Mark Robinson knows exactly what Webster is worth, he has extended him in multi year contracts seasons ahead of his contract renewal since signing him.
Basically Webster has been told he has a job for life.
As for Ivan Cleary let me dispell a myth here.
Ivan wanted to stay. the Morons running the Warriors at the time declined his request for job security, Ivan asked for a three year commitment from the club, the Warriors only agreed to offer him and his wife a two year trial period (after six years service as a head coach plus his years as a foundation player).
It was complete disgrace.
At that time the Warriors were owned by an international fraudster called Eric Watson (he defrauded NZ retirees from their savings in a national scandal then landed in the British courts for crimes there, he was sentenced to time in prison). The Ceo at the time was a bloke called Wayne Scurrah, a Womens fashion businessman the former CEO of Bendon (they sell bras and Panties you have to laugh) I dunno if you remember the era when the Warriors wore non stop different ridiculous jerseys but that was this twit.
Anyway those crooks shafted Cleary, he was not head hunted by anyone else, there were no scalping raids he left after throwing his CV on the open market, while the geniuses running the Warriors celebrated signing a Kiwi to the role, like that was some kind of genetic fix coz the bloke called Bluey Mclennan was born here.
Surprise surprise it didn't work.
The Websters bought their first house in New Zealand this year after living here for more than six years on and off as an assistant then head coach.
Andrew Webster has the same dream Woolf has, to be a head coach on the NRL hall of fame who is a first winner for a franchise that has never had a title.
Webster isn't going anywhere because our owner will see off any rivals and raise them, the guy (Mark Robinson) has a record of taking amateur Rugby league clubs in New Zealand and turning them into profitable comp winning juggernauts before he even bought the Warriors so this is a New Zealand grass roots guy with private wealth of a Billion dollars employing Webster, Cameron George and pathways and recruitment mistro Andrew McFadden.
Like you our grass roots are where we are future proofed.
Mark Robinson is the guy who took the Warriors to Redcliffe because he refused to let the club fall over.
He is the guy who created the first ever after three decades New Zealand NRL recruitment and pathways system to the Warriors (2022).
Think about it. Thirty years of the Warriors abusing the golden goose and never putting a cent towards its grass roots, this bloke comes in...three years later Leka Halasima Jacob Laban Demitric Vaimauga Tanner Stowers Smith, hit the NRl while McFadden hires Clark, Lofi, Tanah Boyd for Temu prices from the NRL.
The Dolphins may well be behemoth on the rise but the Union scene in NZ is collapsing at a time where the Warriors are pouring tens of millions into grass roots rugby league, one day, the All Blacks will be NRL players then the comp will see what NZs best players are like to play against.
On a lighter note, I always like to end a long rant with lols, Eric Watson the criminal who ended up in prison that let Ivan Cleary walk has one good positive claim to fame....Russel Crowe called him out in the mens toilets in a bar in Japan. Crowe challenged him to a punch up, Watson gave Crowe a hiding. A member of the public stepped in to rescue the Gladiator. True story made the headlines in mainstream news in NZ you have to laugh. Watson had been keeping fit through boxing for a long time.
