Stacey Jones

[Nashy]

Jones isn't 5/8th?

 

[Flutterby]

Jones has always been seriously under-rated, I've always had him in my top 10 halfbacks of all time. Also thought he was older than 32. Hope his comeback is a good one.

 

[Alec]

I heard Fien is off to Huddersfield and Witt has also been released somewhere (not 100% sure though), so Moon will still probably get first crack at the 5/8th.

Warriors squad is looking excellent on paper. With the direction Jones will provide, they'd could really go all the way next year.

 

[mal]

Tell ya what Moon will be stoked to be playing next to Jones, one of the most underrated half backs to play our game.

 

[pennywisealfie]

uh oh. i like stacey, but anything that potentially stands in the way of P7, im not down with.

 

[Fozz]

Stacey hasn't produced the goods at NRL level consistently. Plus he's been out of the game for a year, wonder if he was training last year?

 

[gUt]

Why would they release Witt? He's no Lockyer but he's good at what he does, plus he's a guaranteed 2 points...

 

[Sabu_2008]

NZ will always be crap much like England in cricket. They might win one miracle series every 10 years but they will continue to lose to the Aussies. Stacey Jones was never even that good why is he even bothereing to make a come back. He is no Alfie Langer.

No one said he was Alfie Langer. But Stacey Jones, from 1997 through to 2001 WAS the Warriors. They had no star power, aged imports, and were constantly at the bottom of the table, yet Stacey stood out in EVERY match they played. Had he had the Broncos' forwards and backs, I have no doubt Stacey would have won a premeirship with the Warriors in that time frame. He was also hampered by serious knee injuries his entire career.

Then in 2001, on the back of Kevin Campion, a fit Ivan Cleary and a fit Jason Death and superstars in the making like Ali Lauiititi, Clinton Toopi, Motu Tony and Francis Meli, they turned the corner and started killing teams. Stacey proved himself to be in the top 5 players in teh world at this time. Jones was awesome, and anyone who says he was average needs to go read up on football, because that is the biggest understatement you will ever hear.

Alas, I am not sure whether this will work out, but Stace is a nice guy, and I am hoping it does.

 

[Nashy]

Stacey hasn't produced the goods at NRL level consistently. Plus he's been out of the game for a year, wonder if he was training last year?

I think he has. He's always playing a brilliant game, and holds the Warriors up. The only thing that lets him down is the club, and the blokes around him.

 

[Kimlo]

He's an awesome half back and one of the main reasons NZ were competitive when he was playing.

 

[Hitman]

I can’t wait to see this guy back on the park again. He’s their little general, a true hero for the Kiwis. He’s an exciting player to watch and can create something from nothing. It’ll take a few games for him to get back into it but once he’s got his rhythm again, we may get to see the Stacey Jones of old.

Steve Price leading the forwards and Jones leading the backs, Warriors are going to be a very well organized team. Betcha the players are excited to be playing along side him. I can see the Warriors being a real force in 2009 with the addition of Kemp & Moon to the squad as well.

For the Warriors sake, I hope the young guns learn something off him next year and take their game to the next level. God knows they need a decent half-back and can’t keep relying on Jones forever.

I met him once, great guy too. Really down to earth and he took time out to talk to me, believe it or not we didn't talk about footy. We talked about Nike shoes and his sponsorship back them.

 

[mick]

Stacey hasn't produced the goods at NRL level consistently. Plus he's been out of the game for a year, wonder if he was training last year?

I think he has. He's always playing a brilliant game, and holds the Warriors up. The only thing that lets him down is the club, and the blokes around him.

+1.

Stace is a footballer. Might not be as quick on his feet as he once was, but he has a great brain for the game and will be a great, steadying influence on the Warriors. They've got a pretty young team in the halves and IMO he will be invaluable for them.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

i reckon with jones there, this could rocket witt into calculations for a bench utility spot for qld next year.

 

[gUt]

i reckon with jones there, this could rocket witt into calculations for a bench utility spot for qld next year.

Yep he was pretty good in 2008 I reckon.

 

[HITMAN82]

Quite a few people are actually tipping Witt for an early release. Either he or Fein will have to go, surely. Jones is coming back on $220,000 + $4000 per NRL match... I doubt we would be able to afford him without cutting one of our other halves.

That may seem like a big price tag for a well-retired player, but Jones' crowd and fan pull alone would be worth it imho. I remember when he left the club, it seemed like the Warriors had a major identity crisis for a while there!

Really hoping to see a Jones / Moon combo, as I believe their styles would compliment each other well, plus Henderson starting hooker with live-wire Hohaia off the bench. Should provide an excellend playmaking base.

A squad of:

McKinnon
Kemp (cheers guys)
Tate
Ropati
Vatuvei
Moon
Jones
Rapira
Henderson
Price
Matulino
Mannering
Luck

Lillyman
Hohaia
Fai
Tuimavavae

That's a pretty fearsome looking side to me. icon_thumbs_u

 

[gUt]

Kemp (cheers guys)

[icon_frown [icon_non

 

[Coxy]

Hilarious to think some people on this forum were saying how crap Kemp was at the start of the year.

 

[gUt]

Hopefully Tate never gives him the ball so he'll get the sh1ts and come back home.