News Malakai Watene-Zelezniak

[Howie B]

IMO his form is heavily dependent on his confidence...yes this is true of all athletes but some more than others and DWZ seems to be the type of player who is very reliant on confidence. When he's on he looks good but when he loses confidence he looks like a park footballer

Also, he is a winger who is being paid as a FB so he's always going to cop criticism unless he is on fire (apparently he's on $600K which is more than our JAC offer). With Cotric and JAC on $600K each we can't afford to be carrying DWZ on $600K too (yes I'm assuming we have signed JAC)

Maybe having his brother around with help with his confidence levels (hopefully).

I have never seen a bloke dip so much in form from one year to the next. Hopefully Baz can turn him around and get him to form a good combination with Cotric on the right hand side

 

[speedy2460]

This is probably going to get me some flak as some people on TK are ruthless.... but here goes anyway. What's with all the DWZ bashing? I know he can be questionable under the highball at times and he has made some errors(in an error riddled team). Are you guys forgetting when we got him at the back end of 2019 we were sitting in dead last? And finished 12th. Largely off his back and playing out of position. He is a winger FFS. Our biggest problem and has been well documented is our spine is flimsy as fuck. Until we develop or buy a decent fullback and hooker we are most probably going to finish outside the 8.... anyway just my opinion.
Go Dogs

Some of your report is probably true. Some of it is not. DWZ is a talented footballer. His ball returns are probably the best in the team.
His defence is better than average. He is most likely going to be fullback if JAC doesn't happen. The hate for him on here is because he dropped a few high balls. That is a confidence thing, and can be corrected by good coaching. He was picked as the NZ Captain for good reason. He offers leadership.
My support for him is mainly because of the lack of suitable alternatives. Apart from Meaney, there is no alternative fullback.
Like you, I suspect I will be harangued by the usual suspects. But think about this before you criticise.

 

[Family Guy]

Maybe having his brother around with help with his confidence levels (hopefully).

I have never seen a bloke dip so much in form from one year to the next. Hopefully Baz can turn him around and get him to form a good combination with Cotric on the right hand side

Having his brother around will make him happier but I don't know if there is a link between happiness and confidence - hopefully there is
For me it's all about the high ball. As long as he doesn't drop too many bombs he should be fine. But for $600K, even at his peak, he is not worth it

 

[COVENS]

Some of your report is probably true. Some of it is not. DWZ is a talented footballer. His ball returns are probably the best in the team.
His defence is better than average. He is most likely going to be fullback if JAC doesn't happen. The hate for him on here is because he dropped a few high balls. That is a confidence thing, and can be corrected by good coaching. He was picked as the NZ Captain for good reason. He offers leadership.
My support for him is mainly because of the lack of suitable alternatives. Apart from Meaney, there is no alternative fullback.
Like you, I suspect I will be harangued by the usual suspects. But think about this before you criticise.

Is he a footballer or an athlete though?

 

[Howie B]

Having his brother around will make him happier but I don't know if there is a link between happiness and confidence - hopefully there is
For me it's all about the high ball. As long as he doesn't drop too many bombs he should be fine. But for $600K, even at his peak, he is not worth it

Maybe the fact that when he came to us in 2019 he had been in a good system for a while and hit the ground running. Then in 2020 he had a full pre season with us and his game went to shit.Not many players improved in our system during the past 3 years.

He was good at the captains challenges though....

 

[Phalangist]

I don’t think DWZ is on 600k

that is a myth

 

[kap123]

Don't mind it as a depth signing.... I think NRL will be 1 Avo 2 DWZ 3 Cotric 4 Hoppa 5 Okunbor (if fit) and NSW Cup will be 1 Meaney 2 Crichton 3 Rennie 4 Schoupp 5 Malaki WZ .

 

[Dogs79]

Depth signing at best, we needed to replace Holland, Montoya, Lafai, Reimis, Tass to name a few off the top of my head. We cant replace them all with $500k+ players. I think he fits in with Schoupp, Rennie and a few development players who will fight it out for a promotion if we get some injuries during the season.

 

[KiwiDog7]

This is probably going to get me some flak as some people on TK are ruthless.... but here goes anyway. What's with all the DWZ bashing? I know he can be questionable under the highball at times and he has made some errors(in an error riddled team). Are you guys forgetting when we got him at the back end of 2019 we were sitting in dead last? And finished 12th. Largely off his back and playing out of position. He is a winger FFS. Our biggest problem and has been well documented is our spine is flimsy as fuck. Until we develop or buy a decent fullback and hooker we are most probably going to finish outside the 8.... anyway just my opinion.
Go Dogs

Captains Chur-llenge

 

[KiwiDog7]

Maybe having his brother around with help with his confidence levels (hopefully).

I have never seen a bloke dip so much in form from one year to the next. Hopefully Baz can turn him around and get him to form a good combination with Cotric on the right hand side

Money and security can make any man complacent

 

[Cappuccino]

Have a look at this team shot on Instagram
He is far right. View attachment 19351

How weird is that page
Official fans ... yet AFAIK there is no official club affiliated supporter group
So a big welcome to the club, then rounds it out this could just be a player in a photo helping out but if not hes officially signed

sad, no wonder people think dogs fans are pathetic lol

 

[Cappuccino]

Captains Chur-llenge

 

[speedy2460]

Captains Chur-llenge

This is another obvious reference to the lack of on field leadership.

 

[2144superman]

 

[Woofwoof1980]

View attachment 19395

So much for Baz not poaching Penriths players fuck them... salty pricks

 

[Headmix]

This is probably going to get me some flak as some people on TK are ruthless.... but here goes anyway. What's with all the DWZ bashing? I know he can be questionable under the highball at times and he has made some errors(in an error riddled team). Are you guys forgetting when we got him at the back end of 2019 we were sitting in dead last? And finished 12th. Largely off his back and playing out of position. He is a winger FFS. Our biggest problem and has been well documented is our spine is flimsy as fuck. Until we develop or buy a decent fullback and hooker we are most probably going to finish outside the 8.... anyway just my opinion.
Go Dogs

I agree, DWZ is a great player. Runs hard and straight..Sure he had a quiet year but remember when he first joined he saved us from the wooden spoon. Captained NZ too!!! He’s going to kill it under Barrett!!! Back the boys! Don’t knock them!... unless they leave.

 

[pisssst]

IMO his form is heavily dependent on his confidence...yes this is true of all athletes but some more than others and DWZ seems to be the type of player who is very reliant on confidence. When he's on he looks good but when he loses confidence he looks like a park footballer

Also, he is a winger who is being paid as a FB so he's always going to cop criticism unless he is on fire (apparently he's on $600K which is more than our JAC offer). With Cotric and JAC on $600K each we can't afford to be carrying DWZ on $600K too (yes I'm assuming we have signed JAC)

When he came to us from Penrith mid way through the season, he was by far our best player, correct me if I’m wrong but we were planted on the bottom of the ladder. Once he arrived we strung few wins together, he was always a part of the reason we were winning.
Last season he was playing the exact same as he always does, only problem was he wasn’t breaking tackles anymore and getting smashed when he ran the ball, (that’s his strength his tackle breaking ability) I believe his drop in from is heavily due to the piss poor strength training we had implemented by that spastic Harry Harris. (Thank fuck he is gone)
Once he builds his strength back up expect him to have a massive season for us next year.

 

[Bulldogz82]

This is probably going to get me some flak as some people on TK are ruthless.... but here goes anyway. What's with all the DWZ bashing? I know he can be questionable under the highball at times and he has made some errors(in an error riddled team). Are you guys forgetting when we got him at the back end of 2019 we were sitting in dead last? And finished 12th. Largely off his back and playing out of position. He is a winger FFS. Our biggest problem and has been well documented is our spine is flimsy as fuck. Until we develop or buy a decent fullback and hooker we are most probably going to finish outside the 8.... anyway just my opinion.
Go Dogs

My concern with him is he dropped more bombs then he caught in 2020, he is the true defination of the phrase butter fingers

 

[Woofwoof1980]

My concern with him is he dropped more bombs then he caught in 2020, he is the true defination of the phrase butter fingers

Like someone said it's a confidence thing. When the blokes around him start killing it hopefully he won't feel the pressure so much. Maybe he needs some of that stucko shit gridiron wide receivers use

 

[doggieaaron]

If tbaz gets his head right hell be a weapon on the wing