Warriors bench selections and interchange are shambolic

The big talking point to come out of the weekends game against the Manly Sea Eagles is undoubtedly focused on Tui Lolohea being not only named to play from the bench but also the lack of game time he was given.

Running with a hooker or utility as part of the four man bench is not an uncommon scenario within the NRL so it comes as no surprise to see the Warriors adopt the same set up.

The problem that the Warriors face and the inevitable trouble they get themselves into is when they run a hooker/utility (let’s use Jazz Tevaga as the example here) while at the same time they seem hell bent on including a back just for good measure.

While there is no doubt that Lolohea has incredible amounts of natural ability, the hard truth is that of the positions he can play, we currently have blokes in those positions who are in better form and when given half a chance to claim a spot as their own, they’ve grabbed it with both hands.

As a back playing from the bench the only way to get game time is to hook another back from the field which is a clear and obvious waste of a substitution.

You can argue until you’re blue in the face and suggest that we need a back on the bench in case of injury but this is the NRL and you don’t select a team based on “what if’s”, you select a best 17 that is going to compliment each other, which in turn is going to give the side the best chance of coming away with the victory.

Just because something is the norm doesn’t always mean it’s the correct way to go about things, it’s a case of “horses for courses”. Most sides do play with a back up hooker but it is unnecessary with this current Warriors outfit.

I’ve seen plenty of discussion around the selection of Tevaga on the bench and plenty have suggested he is there not only to cover hooker but also to play in the back row. With Isac Luke in the side we do not need a back up hooker as he is an 80 minute player. To bring Tevaga onto the field in place of Luke is just making a sub for the sake of making a sub, and it’s a waste.

The argument is then brought up that Tevega can be used as a back rower. In the past I have suggested that Lolohea be used as a lock (#Locklohea) only to have it dismissed due to his size and height. Yet Jazz Tevaga, who stands at 5″10 and weighs 88kgs, is big enough to play backrow, but Lolohea who stands at 5″10 and weighs 89kgs is too small?

The only way that Lolohea can be effective coming on as a substitute is to remove Tevaga from the bench. This will in turn give coach Andrew McFadden greater flexibility and more options to run Lolohea.

Going with this system covers the following:

Cover from 1-7: If an injury were to rear it’s ugly head on any of the starting backline then it is a simple switch.

Cover at Hooker: This will come across as contradictory but we seem to want to persist with giving an 80 minute hooker a breather. With that being said and the personnel at our disposal we can shift Thomas Leuluai into hooker and give Lolohea some game time in the position that we supposedly have put aside for him in the future

Cover in the back row: As previously mentioned, we currently use Tevaga in this role who is pretty much exactly the same size as Lolohea. While there may be some question marks over Lolohea’s ability to defend as a #13 we have the luxury of being able to switch Leuluai into the lock position when defending while Tui Lolohea defends at 5/8.

Given Tommy Leuluai has comfortably handled the defensive workload as a hooker for many years, and being one of the best defensive halves in the comp it would be hard to imagine him having trouble with this shift.

There’s no doubt Tui will be first in line to have a crack at the five-eighth jersey in 2017 but right now he has to bide his time. The continual selection of a utility as well as a back on the bench is something you’d expect at school boy level.

Tui’s time will come, but based on these bench selections and the rotation being implemented, ‘Cappy’ McFadden’s time will come sooner.