NRL: Mateo's position a difficult one

Feleti Mateo may well wear the No 6 shirt but for now it's all about getting match-fit. Photo / Getty Images

It's the question that will dominate the Warriors' pre-season, and it is unlikely to be answered until the club's trials campaign kicks off against the Eels in Rotorua on February 19: Where will star new recruit Feleti Mateo fit into the side?

There is no obvious answer. Mateo played exclusively at lock for the Eels last season but he would be unlikely to displace Micheal Luck at the Warriors.

Mateo has also played as an edge back rower, however the Warriors have captain Simon Mannering playing 80 minutes most weeks on one side and Lewis Brown demanding plenty of game time on the other.

Throw in the likes of Ukuma Ta'i, coming man Sione Lousi, the re-signed Steve Rapira and young prospects Elijah Taylor, Ben Henry and Matt Robinson and it's not as if the club is hard pressed for back row talent.

The other option for Mateo is five-eighth, a position he filled semi-regularly earlier in his career and has played with aplomb for Tonga.

But the Warriors have a pretty handy five-eighth in James Maloney, a player who possesses the best kicking game in the club and who was one of the few to stand up to the pressure of finals football on the Gold Coast.

Where, then, does Mateo fit?

It's a conundrum coach Ivan Cleary will wrestle with in the pre-season, and possibly beyond. The Eels never solved it in four seasons.

At his best Mateo is a borderline genius, but he doesn't fit neatly into any box.

He has been in training with his new club since mid-November but the 26-year-old former Eel has dodged questions about his positional hopes.

That's understandable. Mateo would hardly try to lay claim to someone else's jumper in his first days at a new club.

Having also sidestepped the issue of Mateo's likely position when his signing was announced midway through last season, Cleary was more forthcoming.

"He has got a bit of a desire to play six and he has played there before," Cleary said.

"Initially when we first signed him I was definitely thinking along those lines, although to be honest I didn't really have a plan in concrete.

"The main thing I want is for him to just play his natural game.

"Since then, obviously, James Maloney has come a fair way - his role has been pretty important to us.

"The short answer is 'I'm not too sure yet'. But you can be sure that he will be seeing plenty of ball."

Turning back the clock by turning Mateo into a five-eighth is undoubtedly the riskier option.

The idea of a muscular presence in the six shirt has tempted most coaches at some stage, but league is littered with strong players who have failed to successfully convert to five-eighth because they don't possess the full skill set.

Greg Inglis, Greg Bird and Jamie Lyon are recent examples of experiments that didn't pan out, while the Warriors don't have to look too far back to find Sione Faumuina clogging up their playmaking channels.

The idea of Mateo as a playmaker does have its attractions. He can certainly bust the line and push a pass.

In 21 games as an NRL five-eighth he has chalked up 16 try assists at a rate of 0.76 a game.

To put that in perspective, Benji Marshall led the NRL this season with 20 in 23 games (0.86/game). With nine in 16 games, Maloney has a career strike rate of just 0.56.

But Maloney is a genuine half. His long kicking game is one of the best in the competition, while his short kicking is accurate enough.

Mateo has no kicking game to speak of, Cleary admitted.

Aaron Heremaia and Lance Hohaia could take on more of the kicking duties to accommodate Mateo, however that hardly appeals as a long-term solution.

"Ideally I quite like two halves who can kick and James is probably our best kicker, certainly in terms of length," Cleary admitted.

"All of those things are thrown in but whether he is in the back row or at six is not going to change the way he plays."

But it will change how the Warriors play.

Having just uncovered Maloney after a fruitless search for a quality half that spanned plenty of seasons, Warriors fans will be nervous at the prospect of the chirpy little Aussie being squeezed out of the top side.

Maloney has been linked to a return to Australia - ironically with Mateo's former club Parramatta - and the prospect of him taking up such an offer midway through 2011 hardly bears thinking about.

Cleary was confident that wouldn't happen.

He didn't fully buy the stories in the Australian media about Maloney being chased.

And the Warriors have an option in their favour on Maloney for a third season, meaning they effectively have him under control for two more seasons.

"The first thing James has got to do is back up what he did last year and that is not always easy for a young player to do," Cleary said.

Having Mateo competing for his spot would be good for Maloney, he said.

"It doesn't matter who you are or where you sit in the ranks, every year you have got to earn everyone's respect and no matter where you are in your career there is always someone getting ready to take your spot if you don't perform. That is the nature of professional sport."

For now, Cleary is focused on a physical rather than a positional transformation of Mateo.

Despite his gifts, the knock on Mateo has always been his poor fitness.

He is listed in the NRL media guide at 104kg but reportedly arrived in Auckland heavier.

"I don't want to say what [weight] he was at," Cleary said.

"Let's just say he had a few [kilos] to lose. He's already lost a few.

"He is doing pretty well but he started off a fair bit behind the eight ball."

FELETI MATEO

* NRL games: 88

* Lock: 37

* Interchange: 24

* Five-eighth: 21

* Second row: 6