cpwigan wrote:
A question to our NZ contributors. What do you think of Matty Elliott Is their still a difficulty getting the Islander players to play hard clinical NRL RL than their natural higher risk game, likewise attitude across the board etc.
You have got a gem with Sam!!
I'm not one of the NZWarriors ( still getting used to having to add the 'NZ' ) fans who has any doubts about Sam Tomkins. I think he is one of the greatest players I have ever seen.
Matt Elliot is still very New But two qualities that stand out are both about his personality. He is a big ideas man , and the way he got the job when the Six Million dollar Bid for Craig Bellamy fell over....was due to Matt Elliots personality not his coaching record ).
Elliot sold himself by proposing a vision where the Warriors will change the entire Club structure so that our Juniors and reserve grade coaches have to fall into line with the Top sides needs. This is why our Two time Winning NRL Juniors Coach John Akland is leaving.
John Akland favors filling the Junior team with Giants / power players who bully the opposition into submission then rip them apart with the Polynesian Flair you hinted at.
Elliot has our best jnrs being promoted to Reserve grade now ( this weekend six were moved up ) in the mind set that they will have to learn to play against Veteran Ex First grade hard grinding footballers week in week out.
Instant promotion to the Top side of Jnr X factor players has stopped under Mathew Elliot and in fact he has dropped a couple out of the first grade team who he is now reintroducing ( with remarkable results ).
Matty Elliot has another helpful trait, he is flexible. Many ' experts ' have theorised that the Polynesian players lack mental toughness.
In My experience of the New Zealand rugby league scene this is a misnomer.
A more accurate generalisation is that Polynesians are confidence players , if you take the right approach ( build confidence ) then they are gold.
Case in point : Matt Elliot brought his structures to the club and we were bottom of table after giving them a fair go. The Senior players approached Matt Elliot as a group and told him they wanted to play more direct , have props running straight at people ( Polynesians love the tough stuff ) , Elliot was smart enough to adapt and we are winning.
The Irony is that Ivan Cleary our coach before Bluey , was top heavy on structure , he selected teams full of secound rowers and converted the Warriors to a boorish style of game , the attack plan was entirely built on kicking the ball to our Super Winger Manu Vatuvei.Such was the extent of Cleary's structuring that he had to import a Polynesian from the Paramata Eels to bring back some X Factor / Flair.
So Matty Elliot didn't really have to introduce discipline / structure to turn things around. He needed to find a way to get the players to develop self belief.
The Missing part of the Jigsaw then is a winning Culture. The Warriors have always fed off imports who bring this infectious self confidence. Sam Tomkins is critical to solving the puzzle.
An ongoing relationship with Wigan will I believe....be a win win long term.
Consider that Polynesians mature physically faster than their European Counter parts , what they need is the Mental / psychological influence of another system.
Accordingly our Juniors are set to explode into the kind of production Line of World beaters you see with the Rubgy Union set up here.
I think it is a very smart move for Wigan to Align themselves with that future.
You should demand the best players in the NRL at their peak or very near too it. Right now Konrad Hurrell and Glen fisiahi would be two players who exemplify this culture change.
Sam Tomkins will return home. Our talents should follow the same path , two years in the ESL as genuine First Grade high Quality before they leave our shores, then come home and bring the Wigan culture with them.
