Changes are a Coming

Soon we will see the effects of the annual line-up changes. There are new players that have been acquired in the off season draughts, and old players who will be leaving for other clubs. Among the leaving are Logan Swann, Motu Tony and John Carlaw. New faces include Matt Jobson, Tony Martin and Danny Sullivan.

"So Long" to Old Friends

It is hard to say goodbye to faces that have done their best to uphold that Warriors spirit and more so when they are long serving. Logan and Motu have are two such players. They have had long and prosperous careers as New Zealand Warriors and both displayed moments of stunning form last year. They can leave in the firm knowledge that they played their part to ensure a third consecutive semi-final appearance for the warriors.

Logans end of season form was conducted with confidence and maturity. He broke the line on more than one occasion to score and Motu played with vision and flair at a point when both qualities could have seen a drop off due to the absence of play makers Stacey Jones and PJ Marsh.

Another loss is that of John Carlaw. During the early stages of 2003 Carlaw (along with Fa'afili) terrorised oppositions in goal defences with their aerial catches of Stacey's well placed drop kicks into the corner goal area. Many of these that resulted in tries. Carlaw was also known for his well timed burst from the defensive line to intercept many an opponents lazy pass, a skill that has not been so prevalent in a warriors player since Sean Hoppe.

Neither of the three underperformed last year so it is hard to see them go. But since all clubs in the competition have a salary cap, warriors management has to be judicious when allocating it. They must offer generous enough contracts to key players to ensure retention of their services whilst leaving enough in the coffers to cover the rest for the core team and any any rookie players they hope to develop.

Because of this, many a good player has wound up without a contract at the end of a more or less successful season. Clubs simply are unable to offer all deserving players contracts that are more than they can get elsewhere. You only have to look at recent history worth such players as Kevin Campion and Ivan Cleary.

Salary Caps

Such occurrences are unavoidable in a game that is conducted under a players salary cap. Though this is unfortunate, it is unavoidable and a small price to pay when you examine the benefits it grants us. Having a salary cap prevents rich teams from buying all the best players, therefore creating a virtual two tier competition. The have's with their strong teams will always near the top of the table come semi finals time, and the have-not's scrambling for any left over semi-final berths not taken up by the rich near-unbeatable haves.

This this a farce repeated ever year in the FA Cup.   

The salary cap avoids this by creating a level playing field that fosters real competition across the board with every team having an equal opportunity to make a good team. Hopefully the salary can be kept low enough for all teams to afford, whilst high enough to ensure players make a respectable enough living from rugby league that they don't feel the urge to cross codes for substantially larger rugby union contracts. Therefore I feel that the salary cap is a good idea provided it is kept competitive with payments paid in other codes.

New Faces

Among this years new recruits are:

• Matt Jobson

•  

• Tony Martin

•  

• Danny Sullivan

Of these warrior newbie's Tony Martin could be the most strategic. He has an 80% kicking average which is an obvious benefit to the warriors camp. But not only is the man able to slot a goal from time to time, he has the reputation of an all around strong player.

Last seasons goal kicking was a comedy at best and a tragedy at worst. Many warriors had a shot at filling the position vacated by Ivan Cleary but none did so with lasting success. In fact Brett Webb the warriors last goal kicker for the 2003 season created quite a stir across the Tasman with his 1 1/2 min average pre-kick regime. Because of this and episodes like it the NRL have created a new rule for the 2004 season that puts a time limit on the goal kick attempts. 

Posted 18th January, 2004