2026 Season

Yeah there’s a limit to how much psychological load a person can handle.

I will say though I think Jahrome Hughes is still going fantastic. I don’t think the bad form has anything to do with him.

Munster has been living on reputation for little while now though IMO.

On top of the off field stuff, sometimes it’s also as simple as: Eli Katoa is their best player. Then the guy who was doing a okay job replacing him as their alpha back rower Lisati also got hurt. Take those guys out and they’re losing a lot of physicality, their pack is kind of just not good atm. Maybe worse than ours.

Coates is also their most important yardage back and their most dangerous in attack, that’s a bit reminiscent of our attack falling off a cliff in 2024 when Dom wasn’t there anymore.

A lot going wrong for them at once basically.
 
Anyone remember how people though Jack Hetherington was going to go there and Craig will turn him into a quality forward and he has yet to do a single thing for a injury plagued Storm.

Good times, add it to the list of failed projects from Craig.
 
Yep don’t disagree.

And lol it can’t be a failed project if he doesn’t even play! (Sarcasm)

Dragons holding off potentially sacking Flanno for another week lol, anywaaaaaay
 
Jack was a real disappointment. It's interesting that the Melbourne system hasn't been able to get him to where his potential appeared to be, but it's only early. They're obviously going through some major roster challenges.

I hope Marata is better than the last enforcer I can remember us buying from the Wahs...I think he will be.

PS. Not sure that sacking Flannagan does much with their current list. Especially when his son (who was signed to play 14) is clearly their best 7.

And replacing his dad at the moment with anyone who can do anything with that list would be nearly impossible. Gould is calling it a 5-10 year rebuild. IDK about that, but it's not the most insane take he's ever had. It seems the Dragons need to sort out their board level stuff first, move on to recruitment and development and then think about the coach, short of an obviously better option.
 
Seano said:
Jack was a real disappointment. It's interesting that the Melbourne system hasn't been able to get him to where his potential appeared to be, but it's only early. They're obviously going through some major roster challenges.

I hope Marata is better than the last enforcer I can remember us buying from the Wahs...I think he will be.
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Hopefully keep this one out of jail.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
I think the changes they’ve had over the last year have had a bit of an underlying theme of “there’s more important things in life”.

Katoa and Kamikamica - health trumps footy. No doubt they have some concern for these players. *

Paps and to a degree NAS - leaving to experience life and things outside of footy. Could have easily played again, but just couldn’t motivate themselves for whatever reasons. Is that a reflection of the overall mood at the Storm?

To a lesser extent Meaney and Wishart leaving, the club trying to get in Lomax.

Munster and Hughes are also getting on a little. Hard to argue with them re-signing Hughes post Dally M win. But in hindsight (knowing what we can see now) they probably needed to get Pezet and/or Wishart in more. Now they find themselves in need of some halves in the next few years.


*I follow Liverpool in the EPL and over the off season they had a teammate pass away in a car accident. There was/is a lot to honour Jota in the opening rounds, games against his former club, reminders during each game etc. no doubt his has a bit of an effect on players. I can see
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I was reading your post and thinking, “he might as well be describing Liverpool” then saw your asterisk at the end!

You could even liken the Hughes situation to Salah this year.
 
Gus is at it again.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/aust...-to-stay-phil-gould-isn-t-helping/ar-AA20NuYd

Not that the NRL will do anything despite threatening to after the Galvin scandal, but really, commentators should not be associated with the running of footy clubs or allowed to be player agents whilst discussing player contracts on TV.

Poor old Connor Tracey must feel great having just re-signed.

Of course, it was his constant meddling in the team that ended his tenure at Penrith when Cleary the elder gave the board a me or him ultimatum. The Penrith board chose wisely.
 
Great to see the Warriors Dolphins game on ANZAC Day in Wellington is sold out! Should be a crowd of around 33,000. It’ll be the first NRL or international game here since the Warriors Knights game in round 1, 2023 … been a very long wait for those of us in the capital! Hopefully this leads to more fixtures.

 
Also I see the Pacific Super Rugby team has collapsed and won't take part after this season. It played in Auckland to very lacklustre crowds. Rugby Union definitely isn't the drawcard in this country that it used to be.

But with every Warriors game that's taken to Christchurch also selling out (even trials), it's obvious there is a huge demand for more NRL in New Zealand.

I hope a second team arrives here sometime in my lifetime and capitalises on all this support.
 
jamesgould said:
Also I see the Pacific Super Rugby team has collapsed and won't take part after this season. It played in Auckland to very lacklustre crowds. Rugby Union definitely isn't the drawcard in this country that it used to be.

But with every Warriors game that's taken to Christchurch also selling out (even trials), it's obvious there is a huge demand for more NRL in New Zealand.

I hope a second team arrives here sometime in my lifetime and capitalises on all this support.
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Would be more successful the i can see either of the new franchises being. But time will tell.
 
jamesgould said:
Also I see the Pacific Super Rugby team has collapsed and won't take part after this season. It played in Auckland to very lacklustre crowds. Rugby Union definitely isn't the drawcard in this country that it used to be.

But with every Warriors game that's taken to Christchurch also selling out (even trials), it's obvious there is a huge demand for more NRL in New Zealand.

I hope a second team arrives here sometime in my lifetime and capitalises on all this support.
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I'd be shocked if it wasn't the next team to come in after PNG.
 
Wonder what the final plan is, what is the limit of teams in a one division game or will it continue to expand to places like Samoa etc along with additional team in NZ.
The plan might be for say 20 teams split into 2 lots of 10 playing each other twice, home and away with top 4 in each playing semi’s against each other with the GF possibly played by two teams from same group with the following year teams re allocated to groups depending on where they finished.
I guess the possibilities are endless as long as expansion does not weaken the standard that causes crowds to dwindle
 
Im okay with it but we have to accept for a while itll be like 1998-99 with a huge gap between the good teams and bad teams.
 
I'm hoping for a 2nd NZ team based in either Wellington or Christchurch, probably the latter to build a North Island vs South Island rivalry but I've noticed Cam George has been against the idea of a 2nd NZ team in the NRL.
 
Macca89 said:
He’d be thinking of his own club and not the good of the game. Probably enjoys being in charge of a one team country
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Totally, and it’s very short sighted … a second A-League team has only boosted the profile and interest in both sides. I could actually imagine the NRL overtaking Union in terms of coverage if a second team entered.

Plus you can hardly make the argument NZ doesn’t produce enough players. Would be great to give the chance for more of them to stay here.
 
jamesgould said:
Totally, and it’s very short sighted … a second A-League team has only boosted the profile and interest in both sides. I could actually imagine the NRL overtaking Union in terms of coverage if a second team entered.

Plus you can hardly make the argument NZ doesn’t produce enough players. Would be great to give the chance for more of them to stay here.
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It's a no brainer for me
 
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