Speaker 1: As we're assumed with Penrith Fox, one of the downsides
Speaker 1: of success is players got to be let go with
Speaker 1: the salary account. So the situation situation with you, like,
Speaker 1: how did was it the fact that the dogs just
Speaker 1: come in with other clubs was such a big offer
Speaker 1: that basically had to.
Speaker 2: Oh, it wasn't necessarily about the money. I lost my
Speaker 2: grandfather I think a year before or two years before,
Speaker 2: and I was.
Speaker 1: A great wally.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a big shout out the wall, you know, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was Yeah, I lost him, bro, and I was
Speaker 2: just like fuck I as I spent more time with him,
Speaker 2: and I sort of just wanted me to move back
Speaker 2: home spend more time with him, and all these offers started.
Speaker 3: I didn't.
Speaker 2: I made the decision just after we passed away.
Speaker 3: That I wanted to move back.
Speaker 2: So that's when all the clubs and all that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff wanted the wanted to sign me, but end
Speaker 2: up staying the following year to finish my contract off
Speaker 2: just out of respect for the storm. And that's how
Speaker 2: it all pretty much started.
Speaker 3: Brother.
Speaker 2: Like the money money was good, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 2: but yeah, family was was the main indicator, and that
Speaker 2: was always a message.
Speaker 4: You know what, you'd always loved sitting when you come
Speaker 4: back from off season. You'd always love seeing all your
Speaker 4: best mates and your cousins in Redfern as well, like.
Speaker 2: I was even on Sydney games and that, like we
Speaker 2: would always play earlier in the week, and I'd always
Speaker 2: stay in Sydney to spend time with family.
Speaker 3: That so.
Speaker 1: Put it in a Wally one nine and ten titles
Speaker 1: s didnety. He's one of the most.
Speaker 2: He I think twelve titles, fifteen, fifteen divisions or something.
Speaker 1: It's incredible, one of our greatest fighters, Wally, And I
Speaker 1: remember Fletch was talking to your pop Wally one day
Speaker 1: and Fletched years ago and asked him, who's the toughest
Speaker 1: guy you ever fought? And he actually said Ray Price.
Speaker 2: Mad Ray Price, Rave Price.
Speaker 3: But we had.
Speaker 2: You will you be Ray Price is because we had
Speaker 2: a camp up in Learning Third and Ray Price lives
Speaker 2: up that way. I think he's got the mentor or something.
Speaker 2: But yeah, he was like looking at me like I'm
Speaker 2: like I'm known in my whole life and he wanted
Speaker 2: to say something to me. I feel like he wanted
Speaker 2: to say that Rah, I no, you apart would like
Speaker 2: we we had a blue back in the day.
Speaker 4: So they had a street like a fight.
Speaker 1: So what happened? So Wally told Fletch and other people
Speaker 1: are verified at the time. So they're having Prices having
Speaker 1: a beer after work at a pub on Golden Street.
Speaker 3: And I'll think of it in a second.
Speaker 1: Anyway, they havn't anyway for whatever reason Pricey because Price
Speaker 1: is pretty pretty dude. Even while he get into an
Speaker 1: argument and then Price he says to all, you want
Speaker 1: to go outside. Apparently they went outside and Wally just
Speaker 1: kept dropping Pricey and Prices just kept getting up. They
Speaker 1: said that. Even the police turned up and just went
Speaker 1: just we're not going to get involved with this. We're
Speaker 1: actually we're going to stay out and rate Price. Honestly,
Speaker 1: when you talk about legends of the game, like he's
Speaker 1: one of the toughest players to ever played. Like when
Speaker 1: Paramount Paramo had never won a camp until Price he arrived.
Speaker 1: Then they win with him their full competitions. After he
Speaker 1: retire eighty six, they don't play finals again for another decade. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And like even when you had Stirlow and Kenny and
Speaker 1: all some of those great players still there, but Pricey,
Speaker 1: the Holy Left was Yeah, so that's great that you
Speaker 1: run India.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I feel like it's because I went up to him,
Speaker 2: say hey, Brahm Joyson, as I know who you are,
Speaker 2: and it's like he wanted to tell me something. That's
Speaker 2: the vibe I was getting anyways, But it's crazy like
Speaker 2: he's got the mental but he knows who are Remember, Yeah,
Speaker 2: like you remember that.
Speaker 1: Go through about Pricey about ten years ago. Well, two
Speaker 1: things that I think is that a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of the older players, like I feel from because
Speaker 1: a lot of them, particularly goes like Price, you don't
Speaker 1: just don't get quite the respect they deserve. For whatever reason,
Speaker 1: some people become immortals and other people, to a certainly
Speaker 1: Snicket get forgotten. But I remember when that movie The
Speaker 1: Final Winter and in the Newcastle screaming Price he was
Speaker 1: next to me and at the end of the final
Speaker 1: Window they showed just a lot of old players that
Speaker 1: pay tribute to them, and Price he come up and
Speaker 1: remember looking next to me, and he was crying because
Speaker 1: for him it's like like you know, it's the respect
Speaker 1: he deserved and he was just blown away by it. Anyway,
Speaker 1: a few years after that, Josh he got diagnosed with
Speaker 1: bell cancer, I said, oh wow, okay, so I ring
Speaker 1: price and I said pricey. Yeah, yeah, it's Maddie. Oh Maddie,
Speaker 1: here you're going. I listened, mate, I'm really sorry to
Speaker 1: hear about the bow cancer made here you're going, Maddie.
Speaker 1: I honestly, this is the challenge I've been waiting for
Speaker 1: since I retired. He goes, Mate, I'm going to boot
Speaker 1: this anyway. I said, oh, so what's going on? He said,
Speaker 1: I mate, I've just left there. I did kumo and
Speaker 1: I just did him a chemotherapy. Now one of the
Speaker 1: people finished, they've got to go home and lay down.
Speaker 1: He drains you. I can hear bang bang bang bang.
Speaker 1: So where you at? He goes, I made I'm back
Speaker 1: on the building site. Like, mate, he he's a dog
Speaker 1: of war.
Speaker 4: That's that old school like, that's got.
Speaker 3: That or about him. But when you see him like yeah, telling.
Speaker 4: Just an old like, yeah, he's got that dog. Because
Speaker 4: you're not a bad fighter. You've seen you on the jeans.
Speaker 5: The jeans.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you remember we sparred one time
Speaker 4: in rehab.
Speaker 5: Rehab that would have been an easy victory.
Speaker 4: Tie one hand behind your back and letting people know
Speaker 4: this is rehab in like when we've when we've heard ourselves,
Speaker 4: not rehab that like people go to. But we were
Speaker 4: in the yeah, we it was Geelong Camp twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4: We were both hurt for one day and we had
Speaker 4: to go and we did a sparring session for like
Speaker 4: to get our fitness in there. And I remember I
Speaker 4: was up against you one day and you hammered me
Speaker 4: like it was only body shots but fire out and
Speaker 4: I can't fight, like I don't know.
Speaker 2: If that.
Speaker 5: Really? I mean often mistaken you for Muhammad Ali.
Speaker 4: I'm more of a verbal abuse man, that's my favorite.
Speaker 4: I'll hide behind the people who can fight, and I'll
Speaker 4: just like.
Speaker 1: An elephant sting like a moth.
Speaker 4: Bruh, whose side are you on from?
Speaker 1: He is with the strength? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Sure, letting What was that conversation like talking when you
Speaker 4: told belly Ache and the boys, like when you were
Speaker 4: going to signed to hold to.
Speaker 3: Be honestly, I didn't tell them the fucking ship myself.
Speaker 5: Oh really I didn't.
Speaker 2: Bells are like I told bells are, but I didn't
Speaker 2: tell the boys. Yeah, like I fucking ship I was
Speaker 2: back then, I hated what's the word, like I hated confrontation.
Speaker 2: Confront I hate confrontation. I just didn't have the heart right.
Speaker 3: To tell them.
Speaker 2: Yeah right, And looking back now, bro, I wish I
Speaker 2: wish I had the.
Speaker 3: Heart to tell him.
Speaker 1: They would have understood that then.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, just back then I was I just
Speaker 2: didn't have it in me to say it. Yeah, And
Speaker 2: that's just the type of person I am. Yep, but
Speaker 2: yeah now looking back at it, but I wish I did. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm emotional person. By when I'm sad, I'm sad, I'll
Speaker 2: start boring.
Speaker 3: Why is that born?
Speaker 2: I'm happy on Yeah, yeah, you right the way? Yeah,
Speaker 2: but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: When you left a massive I remember because I was
Speaker 4: trying to work out whether you said it in front
Speaker 4: of us or not in the plain group. But he
Speaker 4: left a massive hole in the group, Like not just
Speaker 4: what you did on the field, but like the off
Speaker 4: the field and o that you used to bring in
Speaker 4: the gym, Like you were always on the ox in
Speaker 4: the gym, and you never had a down date like
Speaker 4: he just never was, never was off foxy, Like he'd
Speaker 4: always get everyone high and leading into a training session,
Speaker 4: which is so important for a group when you're playing
Speaker 4: twenty six games a year. And you, yeah, come off
Speaker 4: the back of a bad loss or something like, when
Speaker 4: you have characters in your team that just lift the.
Speaker 1: Up or keep even short term. I remember in one
Speaker 1: Origin series, So left Fox out of game one and
Speaker 1: I remember talking to Guy at the time. I was
Speaker 1: critical because there's some things that are that are more important,
Speaker 1: well as important as what you do on the field's
Speaker 1: what you do off the field. And that's the reason
Speaker 1: why I think Ja tre Voyage should be picked this series,
Speaker 1: because it's what he brings, that energy and emotion. The
Speaker 1: same with you. I spoke to one of the players
Speaker 1: after Get Bat game one. I said, what was it like?
Speaker 1: He said, yeah, it was good. I said that was
Speaker 1: the camp and he said, yeah, it just sort of
Speaker 1: likes something. And I said, let me guess the Fox Jake,
Speaker 1: and he went, that's exactly what we liked. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it must be.
Speaker 4: You were What about when you come back to Sydney
Speaker 4: like being you went down to Melbourne as somebody who
Speaker 4: was looking for an opportunity, looking for a chance. Now
Speaker 4: you leave Melbourne as like one of the biggest stars
Speaker 4: in the NRL, played State of Origin, play for your country.
Speaker 4: Was that hard like leaving Yeah? Or not leaving, but
Speaker 4: like the distractions of Sydney.
Speaker 3: No, not at all, really, ah, not at all, not
Speaker 3: at all. But I was.
Speaker 2: I also locked into what I was doing at the Bulldogs.
Speaker 2: There's some things I wish i'd done better within my
Speaker 2: leadership and all that kind of stuff. Back then I was,
Speaker 2: I was still pretty young, But I just wish I
Speaker 2: did a few things better as as a leader of
Speaker 2: the club. I know, I know they were at a
Speaker 2: rough spot back then, but yeah, like I said, I
Speaker 2: just wish I'd done a few things a bit better.
Speaker 2: I had all right year the first year personally, but
Speaker 2: as a as a playing group. My my influence on
Speaker 2: the group obviously I didn't.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like I said, just wish I'd done a few things.
Speaker 1: Well, you're not your own there, Josh. That's life, mate.
Speaker 1: We all go through life.
Speaker 3: I'll do back to so.
Speaker 1: Many different things and said, you know, I could have
Speaker 1: handled that better. I should have done that better. That's life, mate.
Speaker 1: How did you How did you find like that? Craig
Speaker 1: Bellamy and camera Surralda because Surrealdo is a tremendous fella
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 2: Now here's the similarities there. It's just I feel like
Speaker 2: the the system of how they both want to plays
Speaker 2: like completely different Melbourne. I've got their system and Bulldo's
Speaker 2: got the them. It's completely opposite to what I was
Speaker 2: used to when I was down in Melbourne. So I
Speaker 2: pretty much had to start from scratch.
Speaker 4: And it's that tough, like trying to buy into a
Speaker 4: completely different system, especially you've come from one that you
Speaker 4: know works.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like it was so hard because I
Speaker 2: was so I'm not talking himself up, but I mastered
Speaker 2: what I did down in Melbourne, and I feel like
Speaker 2: that was that was the best thing for me and
Speaker 2: what I could have done for the group. You know,
Speaker 2: it doesn't make sense, but it was like, I'll do
Speaker 2: whatever whatever's best for the team, and I didn't want
Speaker 2: to sound like a window or a hate or whatever
Speaker 2: you want to call it. So I just did what
Speaker 2: was best for the group. And I was learning a
Speaker 2: new system. But yeah, I pretty much had to start
Speaker 2: to start from scratch.
Speaker 4: And yeah, what was what was the cell of the
Speaker 4: Bulldogs because like you're you're the marquee man for that
Speaker 4: sort like they needed a big fish to land so
Speaker 4: then they could attract other players, and you were that
Speaker 4: like you were that guy, what was the why did
Speaker 4: you pick the Bulldogs?
Speaker 2: I wanted to go to a struggle that was a struggle.
Speaker 2: I wanted to go to a club that was struggling.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be that guy to turn it around,
Speaker 2: and that was my whole mindset. Like I could have
Speaker 2: easily went to a good team, but I wanted to
Speaker 2: bring bring players, bring coaching staff to the club and better.
Speaker 2: And what got me over line even more was the fans,
Speaker 2: Like there's sleeping giants or whatever you want to call
Speaker 2: it as well, Yeah, mate, huge, like they're a huge club,
Speaker 2: and I wanted to turn that around. But I feel
Speaker 2: like it was for me. I was still young and
Speaker 2: I was all I all I was doing is just
Speaker 2: enjoying my foot, Like I didn't take professional side serious enough.
Speaker 2: And I wish I'd understood that a bit more because
Speaker 2: I just relied on my ability.
Speaker 3: But I wish I knew what it takes to actually
Speaker 3: be a professional.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think you've been tough on yourself there, because
Speaker 1: the toughest thing when you go to a club that
Speaker 1: has been struggling for a long time, that are almost
Speaker 1: a rock bottom, the hardest thing is getting the bolder moving. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you you're part of that, mate, you know, and
Speaker 1: watching watching some of the games you have, the combination
Speaker 1: that you've formed on that left side and what you
Speaker 1: brought to the team. I thought you give a lot, mate,
Speaker 1: I thought you give a lot, Josh, And I think
Speaker 1: you know the success of having here is fair bit
Speaker 1: belongs to you, mate, appreciate that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we look at particularly that left edge like Burton,
Speaker 4: kick out Bronze and Cherry that you played a lot
Speaker 4: of footy with when you're at the Dogs, A lot
Speaker 4: of the same shapes that they are executed now, you know,
Speaker 4: and kick go out the back. They were the shapes
Speaker 4: that you know, you justin Munster and Kenny Bromwich had
Speaker 4: nailed for two or three years.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: That was Kenny's pet play to then find you for
Speaker 4: a lot of tries. So I imagine that the impact
Speaker 4: and like how you got, how you would have helped
Speaker 4: those boys know their roles in those shape would have
Speaker 4: been a lot, you know.
Speaker 2: I yeah, I did my very best to help out
Speaker 2: as much as I could in terms of like the
Speaker 2: attacking that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, just like.
Speaker 2: I just feel like.
Speaker 3: I just feel like to be too.
Speaker 2: I just feel like I didn't get the best out
Speaker 2: of my footy there. Yeah, okay, Like respectfully, I just
Speaker 2: didn't play to my streams. So I just felt like
Speaker 2: I couldn't. I couldn't what's the word like, play at
Speaker 2: my strengths in the team too, you.
Speaker 1: Know, Yeah, I played to you optimum. Yeah, but Josh,
Speaker 1: you know the other thing about it is is it Melbourne? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're you're there and and like you said, you've come
Speaker 1: into a side with some of the greatest players of all. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you've been taking to the dogs right with this young
Speaker 1: team are who have been really struggling, who are really
Speaker 1: down in conference. Your role was completely different, wasn't it.
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: I mean that's what I mean.
Speaker 2: Like I wish I knew what a professional was. Like I,
Speaker 2: like I said, I just rely on my ability. I'll
Speaker 2: be right, Like I'm sore, but I don't need to
Speaker 2: do my recovery or I don't need to do actually
Speaker 2: video like all that kind of stuff. I just always
Speaker 2: rely on my ability. But all that stuff now I do.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 2: That's probably it's probably because of Zero and Kicks and Burdo,
Speaker 2: because they become from a very successful club.
Speaker 3: It's sort of open.
Speaker 2: Miyes that I needed to do that stuff to influence
Speaker 2: the players, especially when Critic come and just went to
Speaker 2: another level. A big shout out to Critic. He taught
Speaker 2: not only myself but a lot of the boys the
Speaker 2: new system because a lot of us didn't believe in
Speaker 2: it because we've I'm telling them right now, like the
Speaker 2: way we train, we work so hard to get.
Speaker 3: It right, but sometimes we just could not get it right.
Speaker 2: But then when Crita was there, like he just showed
Speaker 2: us that it does fucking work, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: Like I was one of them, that was one of
Speaker 2: them followers, like our tea is right now, Like I
Speaker 2: didn't believe in it because we put so much hard
Speaker 2: work into it into it. But then once Critic come.
Speaker 3: He just just showed us, like I just got to
Speaker 3: get the reps. You got to get the reps because.
Speaker 2: It is a hard system and it's a very good,
Speaker 2: successful system. But yeah, like I said, well.
Speaker 1: Tough for camera Seraldo to Foxy. He looked back in
Speaker 1: that first season and go, oh man, you know, because
Speaker 1: it's so hard for him to go from a system
Speaker 1: that's been so successful, but a system where all these
Speaker 1: blokes have played together since they've been in juniors at Penrith.
Speaker 1: Suddenly take it to new group of players who have
Speaker 1: been struggling, who are lowing conference and really he've all
Speaker 1: just come together for the first time.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: That's you know that that that that is completely different.
Speaker 1: But you know, I was sitting Jack and I were
Speaker 1: watching last night, just watching a bit of stuff and
Speaker 1: Crewta came on and I said to Jack, I've been thinking,
Speaker 1: who does he remind me of? Right, And he's a
Speaker 1: different body shape and everything, but he's twenty four years
Speaker 1: of age, his size, his presence and his leadership the
Speaker 1: Blake I compare him to his melmourninger. Yeah, going to
Speaker 1: say Greglish no, no, no, but just what he brings
Speaker 1: to the team as far as his leadership and just
Speaker 1: the way the other players look at him, you know,
Speaker 1: and the ability to change something down the game. And
Speaker 1: a lot of similarities with Mal because Camp the Canberra
Speaker 1: side mate. When up until when Mal went there they
Speaker 1: were really struggling underachieving club. They bought Mail and Mail
Speaker 1: changed everything.
Speaker 3: Not just similar to.
Speaker 2: What's credit to Sarah too, like he we did like
Speaker 2: the first year we didn't have a good year and
Speaker 2: we could have Like there was a period there where
Speaker 2: we weren't going to make the like it was just
Speaker 2: locked in, you know, and we could have easily just
Speaker 2: like fuck around the train and all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 2: but Sarah was like, nah, we're sticking to what we're doing.
Speaker 2: Because he had that belief and that was probably the
Speaker 2: best thing about Sarah, Like he believed in what he
Speaker 2: brought to the club and definitely like, look at the
Speaker 2: results now what the boys are doing, Like to see
Speaker 2: where all the work we put in back then, like
Speaker 2: they're getting.
Speaker 3: The results now. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like it's I'm so happy for the boys, Like
Speaker 2: because fuck there was tears. Yeah there was blood, sweat
Speaker 2: and tea. I'm telling you those tears, but because we
Speaker 2: worked hard on telling me it's like that.
Speaker 4: It's like the Penrith team, right, yeah, like they were
Speaker 4: they had two years of like that sort of back
Speaker 4: end of two thousand and eighteen twenty nineteen. They had
Speaker 4: a rough year in twenty twenty twenty, I think when
Speaker 4: they made the Grand Final. They had a really rough
Speaker 4: start to the year and then sort of come good
Speaker 4: towards the back and making the Grand Final. But you
Speaker 4: see the rewards of like all that hard work for
Speaker 4: three or four years and then they just come through
Speaker 4: all at the right time and they all start peeking
Speaker 4: and buying into the system. Was the one for in
Speaker 4: a run?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's well, it's crazy crazy with Origin.
Speaker 4: Like I wanted to ask you out because you played
Speaker 4: a lot of State of Origin and I know how
Speaker 4: much it means to you. Was it tough, like when
Speaker 4: you go to the dogs and then like the team's
Speaker 4: not playing as good as it need to be, which
Speaker 4: impacts your form? Was that tough losing the jersey?
Speaker 1: Then?
Speaker 3: Oh fucking shadowy? Yeah? Like did we win the series
Speaker 3: year before? I'm pretty sure we did.
Speaker 4: Yeah, twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's come from Yeah, I think because
Speaker 1: I remember there was one series twenty twenty one or
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two where they left you and Jake out
Speaker 1: of the first game. But I think he's one of
Speaker 1: the next two. I'm trying to remember.
Speaker 3: No, No, I did not.
Speaker 2: I didn't get left out of any game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, yeah, any game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it was true. It might have been trill, Yeah, it.
Speaker 1: Might have been. Might have been, but that's it's.
Speaker 2: Oh no, because the year before was when Queenland beat
Speaker 2: us when they had all that, you know, the worst,
Speaker 2: the worst ever side, that young ass side. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure just one one twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4: I think that was that might have been.
Speaker 5: Was that your last series last year?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah right?
Speaker 4: But was it hard when you go to the dogs
Speaker 4: and then you feel like you lose that jersey?
Speaker 2: Well I didn't score a try till round seven or something, yep,
Speaker 2: so that was probably played a big.
Speaker 3: Factor in it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, fun, I was fucking shadowed by like fucking
Speaker 2: love putting that blues jersey on and that hate between
Speaker 2: Queensland and that's real R and I want to be
Speaker 2: a part of that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, that year, like it was just yeah, it.
Speaker 2: Was disappointing because we did we did win the year
Speaker 2: before as well, and obviously showing a bit of you know,
Speaker 2: faith and loyalty would have been nice. It is what
Speaker 2: it is, bro, you know, it's I was supporting the
Speaker 2: team no matter what, like.
Speaker 4: Because you played in some fucking cracking serial. I remember
Speaker 4: twenty eighteen when you first got picked. That was ge
Speaker 4: I's last series and you played at the MCG I
Speaker 4: think game one and remember when he pumped Tommy Turbo
Speaker 4: Turbo Turbot was on the wing. He started killing it
Speaker 4: and he took a run and g I flew out
Speaker 4: of the line nearly killed him. That's right, he's still
Speaker 4: reaping the rewards of the injuries now, Turbo and you
Speaker 4: end up winning that series. But it was also Billy
Speaker 4: Slater's last one as well. That was when I think
Speaker 4: he came in Game three with him and Ponga Ponger come.
Speaker 3: Off the benches.
Speaker 4: That must be like when you win a series like that,
Speaker 4: it must be so good, the feeling.
Speaker 2: The best feeling, like one that won the premiership the
Speaker 2: year before. Then my name was getting tossed.
Speaker 3: Around to play this as well. I was like, FU
Speaker 3: wouldn't read about it, but I was.
Speaker 2: I was just happy with that brother. My name was
Speaker 2: getting tossed around to play yeah, straight out. And then
Speaker 2: when Freddy rang me, I was blown away, are going
Speaker 2: to You're gonna play?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Like my mum always talk about origin and all that
Speaker 2: kind of stuff, and she used to tell me all
Speaker 2: the memories and that that because she she went to
Speaker 2: a game and obviously she's in new Support and I
Speaker 2: think it was in Queensland because she lived in rock Camp.
Speaker 3: It might have been in Brisbane, Brisbane or something.
Speaker 2: So yeah, she always used to sit in the middle
Speaker 2: of the Queenslanders. Then she'll be the only Blue support
Speaker 2: and they all used to like Sprayer and that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the Queensland.
Speaker 2: Why my dad's from my dad's side of finish from
Speaker 2: Cans from Queensland, Ya Yarraba from Yarba.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a Queensland in a way. Yeah, in regards
Speaker 2: to my dad'side of the family. So my dad, I've
Speaker 2: got a massive family on my dad's side, and so
Speaker 2: I always want to I want to put that Blues
Speaker 2: always want to be queens because give it.
Speaker 1: To my family, you know what I mean, return return
Speaker 1: to Kansas the maroauding Hero.
Speaker 2: Because they give it to me, like if they if
Speaker 2: they would beat us in a game and that they
Speaker 2: would give it to me.
Speaker 1: So yeah, the Araba is beautiful.
Speaker 4: So the thing Jarabah. I played there one day. I
Speaker 4: remember that we going in. I said to you, I
Speaker 4: was like, I'm playing Yarbra this week. You said, bro'
Speaker 4: from there. At fifteen minutes outside of camp. You to
Speaker 4: drive there and there's a there's a post out the
Speaker 4: front there and I said, it's illegue go to have
Speaker 4: alcohol in there in the community.
Speaker 2: It's one of the one of only two missions still
Speaker 2: classified as a mission in Australia.
Speaker 4: Ye, and you go past this sign and it's just
Speaker 4: got all these beers that like obviously the boys are
Speaker 4: walking back in there and they go no more alcohol
Speaker 4: past this point. So they finished their beers and they
Speaker 4: leave them there at the at the post. But I
Speaker 4: remember I went in. You get over the hill and
Speaker 4: you're driving the bus down like this, down these like
Speaker 4: swervy sort of lanes and it's.
Speaker 5: Right on the water.
Speaker 4: It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever
Speaker 4: seen in my life. And as soon as we're off
Speaker 4: the bus. I was playing for the Falcons against I
Speaker 4: played in Yaraba against the Northern Pride, who was a
Speaker 4: feeder for the Cowboys and all the because a lot
Speaker 4: of the community then you like played for the Storm
Speaker 4: and they must have seen that, like we were mates
Speaker 4: on Instagram or whatever. The amount of kids come up
Speaker 4: to me like before the game and I'm trying to
Speaker 4: practice kicking you know Josh had Yeah, yeah, I know, Josh,
Speaker 4: he's my cousin. There would have been and half of
Speaker 4: them would have been telling.
Speaker 1: Nine going back there like to see you know, like
Speaker 1: you know with a lot of all the young kids
Speaker 1: looking at a hero worship it is.
Speaker 2: That's something I'm very passionate about, like giving back to
Speaker 2: the mob. But the worst thing about going up there
Speaker 2: is you can't please everyone. They always always when you
Speaker 2: come see me, and I don't know where you leave
Speaker 2: you go to come see me, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: But in terms of going up there, like I love
Speaker 2: going to see family, going fish and going hunting all
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff and giving back to the kids
Speaker 2: like at Yarrable, Like it's so it's a completely different
Speaker 2: world when you walk out there. But it's everyone's running
Speaker 2: around barefoot and there's wild horses, wild dogs running around.
Speaker 2: They just live off the lambrun and it's just such
Speaker 2: a special place, like you'd be blown.
Speaker 4: Away if it is actually like we should go there.
Speaker 4: It's actually crazy, Like it's so beautiful.
Speaker 2: They do some some wonderful things within the community, like
Speaker 2: with the kids and that, Like I know South went
Speaker 2: up there. I'm pretty sure they took the Club of
Speaker 2: All Stars boys up there to to the Wiggles went
Speaker 2: there as well. But they yeah, they do some wonderful,
Speaker 2: wonderful things with the kids there, which is good.
Speaker 4: So go to a footy clinic.
Speaker 2: Made some freaking footy players out there. When you talk
Speaker 2: about quick.
Speaker 1: Really up there, quick mate, I tear Josh like it's
Speaker 1: like I feel the Indigenous boys. I played with Olan Craigie.
Speaker 1: Where's always from It's from Tinger. You've got Preston, Nathan Blacklock,
Speaker 1: Bevan French.
Speaker 4: It's killing of the super leg Bevan.
Speaker 1: When we saw him in Vegas, he just carved him.
Speaker 1: He's one player I hated playing against. He's just so nippy.
Speaker 2: Bro, Like you just baby, there they over there, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, He's carving up.
Speaker 1: What about playing for Australia, Josh, particularly going over playing
Speaker 1: for Australia in England. Enjoy that.
Speaker 3: That's something I will always want to be a part of.
Speaker 2: Bro, Like, yeah, you're always his stories about Australian camps
Speaker 2: all that kind of stuff, and it's that's what they
Speaker 2: fucking say. Like it's to a t like all the
Speaker 2: good times, all the fun times, and b it's putting
Speaker 2: that jersey on and playing with the best players in
Speaker 2: the world. That's something I always want to do and
Speaker 2: hopefully I can do again. Yeah, that's definitely one of
Speaker 2: my goals this year, get back in the representative spotlight.
Speaker 2: But yeah, now and the coaching staff and obviously the
Speaker 2: senior players that always get picked. Like how fun they
Speaker 2: make it? Yeah, like yeah, we yeah, we play football.
Speaker 2: But when it's time to train, we train hard. When
Speaker 2: it's time they have fun. We have fun, like and that's.
Speaker 3: What I love about me.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: We're over there for seven eight weeks and we'll probably
Speaker 2: trained maybe once or twice a week, and then the
Speaker 2: rest of the days will be like like spend the
Speaker 2: time together, haven't it be great? Like boys would go
Speaker 2: to train and pretty much hungover, but would killed. Luck
Speaker 2: would carve up the session because that's what he said,
Speaker 2: Like if like he's gonna have do whatever, do whatever
Speaker 2: you want, but as long as you training good, and
Speaker 2: that's what we've done.
Speaker 1: Well, malt that off Bob Fortum when Males and Captain
Speaker 1: and all those Kangaroo tours. Bob Thulton is the coach,
Speaker 1: that's the camp. His thing was, boys, we're going to
Speaker 1: train really hard in the mornings and then after lunch
Speaker 1: maybe we might go to we'll go to pub somewhere,
Speaker 1: have a beer and have a good time if it
Speaker 1: was the best time in your life, and consequently you
Speaker 1: play great football. A tear Foxy. You've got to make
Speaker 1: the end of this year, man will drive, You'll get
Speaker 1: behind you, got it. I mean the three Test Ashes
Speaker 1: series Wembley, then Liverpool and New Everton Stadium and then
Speaker 1: heading the league. Wembley will just be I'll see, you know,
Speaker 1: something really special the Australian I'm sorry. When they play
Speaker 1: Test matches and Challenge Cup finals at Wembley, the whole
Speaker 1: English crowd, the Rugby Lue crowd. There's a tradition they
Speaker 1: sing this famous old song called Abide with Me, and
Speaker 1: it is It's unbelievable. It's just it's it's such an experience.
Speaker 1: I sait to the boys. Man, I'm going to fly
Speaker 1: over there and just really see the Wembley game. In
Speaker 1: that second game in Liverpool, desperate. It will just be
Speaker 1: something I don't remember.
Speaker 4: You tell them us well your other kids and other kids. Yeah,
Speaker 4: another Rep Jersey, I want to talk to you about Indigenous
Speaker 4: All Stars.
Speaker 3: Yes, have you.
Speaker 4: Because did you play this year because you were suspended? Right,
Speaker 4: Sorry to bring that up.
Speaker 3: Tackle, I've gotta watch it.
Speaker 4: They crush the tackles they're cracking down on. Not the
Speaker 4: Wingers made tackles. But did you go into like the
Speaker 4: boys always used to say, especially when Nico and stuff
Speaker 4: went in there, that like you just drive so much
Speaker 4: of the culture stuff and you love getting around all
Speaker 4: the boys in there, and they all the boys say
Speaker 4: they come out feeling so connected to their culture.
Speaker 3: Yeah the best. That's what. Like.
Speaker 2: From the first time I was involved in the camp,
Speaker 2: it was sort of like there wasn't much cultural stuff.
Speaker 2: But like once we start having fun and started doing
Speaker 2: like dances all that kind of stuff, you can see
Speaker 2: like I started bringing like love to the culture. Like
Speaker 2: there was there was there was a lot of us
Speaker 2: that was strongly connected, but there were some of us
Speaker 2: that weren't. But yeah, like once me, Troll Cody, all
Speaker 2: these guys that come that played for the first time,
Speaker 2: we just made camps so fun, Like we do all
Speaker 2: these dances like at nighttime, late at night and all
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff, and it sort.
Speaker 3: Of just a sort of just brought these cultural leaders.
Speaker 2: Into the camp to teach everyone and make make things meaningful.
Speaker 2: So like when you're when you do a dance, people
Speaker 2: know what you're doing like you actually know what you're doing,
Speaker 2: like what you're representing and sort of like myself, Cody
Speaker 2: and Patrol, we sort of drove that and sort of
Speaker 2: changed it the dynamic of.
Speaker 3: What actual All Stars is about.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we're we're super proud of that. Like to
Speaker 2: see where it was then and to see where is
Speaker 2: it now, Like boys fill their cup up after that
Speaker 2: camp and are so strongly connected because they learn, like
Speaker 2: it's only we're only together for a week, but they're
Speaker 2: so strongly connected within that week and how much they
Speaker 2: get out of that camp, and that's what we want.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Josh, do you think A question is do you
Speaker 1: do you think Rugby lurg in general? Do you think
Speaker 1: we respect the indigenous culture enough?
Speaker 2: I feel like the don't get wrong, we can do
Speaker 2: so much more things. But I feel like the NRL
Speaker 2: do a wonderful job in terms of acknowledging us. You know,
Speaker 2: we have own Indigenous around, We get community involved, get
Speaker 2: young kids involved.
Speaker 1: That's what it's all about.
Speaker 2: We're and obviously have the All Stars game sorry too,
Speaker 2: So I feel like, yes we do, but we just
Speaker 2: want to keep driving it every day within our game
Speaker 2: because we do feel the love from the ural and
Speaker 2: we do appreciate the people that get behind our culture
Speaker 2: because everyone knows our history and if you don't learn it, so.
Speaker 3: We are a beautiful culture. No cult, no, no, there's no.
Speaker 2: There's many, there's good and there's bad, and culture in
Speaker 2: every culture. So if you learn, if you learn about
Speaker 2: our culture, you'll see the beautiful.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, like I'm not saying it's perfect.
Speaker 1: One of the things I'm really proud of is that certainly,
Speaker 1: and I'm guessing every I'm guessing it's every club. But
Speaker 1: people don't really understand this how important sport is, meaning
Speaker 1: those you know, bridges and helping cultural awareness. And given
Speaker 1: the fact that when you're playing a rugby league side,
Speaker 1: like in the sides of it, like those fos race,
Speaker 1: no one gets fuck or give a fuck about how
Speaker 1: many tries to score and how many tackles you make.
Speaker 5: That's it is. It is.
Speaker 1: It's equality.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I was just about to say something, but
Speaker 2: it's I feel like, I feel like the NERR does
Speaker 2: such a good job in terms of like community and
Speaker 2: we need to keep driving it because you want to
Speaker 2: see the next Gregist, you want to see the next
Speaker 2: do you want to see the next Latrob.
Speaker 3: Mitchell, Cody Walker.
Speaker 2: And you know you want to put those that support
Speaker 2: out there to average communities because we don't have much.
Speaker 3: Yeah, straight up, we don't have much. Especially in the country.
Speaker 2: Kids don't want to move away from from from their
Speaker 2: hometowns because they want to be around other Indigenous people.
Speaker 2: That's it's just the reality.
Speaker 3: Of it, you know so well.
Speaker 4: And there's I don't want to shine too much of
Speaker 4: a light on this, but there there's a player that
Speaker 4: I played with up at the Queensland Cup. He never
Speaker 4: made NRL, but he would have been one of the
Speaker 4: most talented players I've ever played within my life, like
Speaker 4: a free and he was. He's about twenty eight, twenty.
Speaker 1: Nine, And I was like, what's going on?
Speaker 4: Has any NRAL clubs ever flowed around? U said no, No,
Speaker 4: I don't know how it didn't happen. How he didn't
Speaker 4: He might have been a bit small for NRL scouts,
Speaker 4: eyes or whatever, but he was. He was a free.
Speaker 4: He would have been the freakyst player I've ever played against.
Speaker 4: He's said that he's passed away now. But like the
Speaker 4: amount of talent, the amount of talent that doesn't get
Speaker 4: noticed in some indigenous communities for whatever whatever reason, whether
Speaker 4: you know, they just don't they're not playing for like
Speaker 4: they don't come to the right pathway or whatever. But
Speaker 4: like there's so many talented kids out there who were
Speaker 4: probably better than some of the players in the RL.
Speaker 1: You know, Old Craigie got discovered. There was a guy
Speaker 1: driving on a road passed a football field in Tinger.
Speaker 1: He was an athlete's coach and looked to the left
Speaker 1: and went on all these kids playing and saw Owen
Speaker 1: and went.
Speaker 3: What the fuck.
Speaker 1: Pulled up, went onto the field to Owen and said, mate,
Speaker 1: you let me train you. I'll win your Olympic gold medal.
Speaker 1: So not long after that, Owen went to the school
Speaker 1: boy Olympics, won the gold middle one hundred meders. But
Speaker 1: then when he came back sort of chose the path
Speaker 1: again to rugby league. But I remember when I had to.
Speaker 1: I had to pick him up from the Newcastle Airport
Speaker 1: and take him in with his with his dad and
Speaker 1: Nathan Blacklock was there as well, and we took him
Speaker 1: to the trial games and the Knights went, don't let Craigie,
Speaker 1: We're not going to try him because there's other scouts
Speaker 1: here that we don't want people. So anyway, Nathan Blacklock
Speaker 1: went out and played school four tries in the first
Speaker 1: half and noone's watching his great mate and just went, mate,
Speaker 1: I want to play the second half. So I threw
Speaker 1: him on. He's called six tries six tries and they
Speaker 1: just dragged him straight off, took him down to the
Speaker 1: shards with his dad and signed the contract.
Speaker 4: I always love watching I always watching out of the
Speaker 4: Creer knockout because all the boys get like you see
Speaker 4: the biggest yourself, Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, and you going
Speaker 4: sometimes you go, how did the NFL clubs even like
Speaker 4: let the boys play like it's actually crazy and rip in.
Speaker 4: Oh mate, it's a it's an aggressive comp isn't it.
Speaker 2: It's it's it's passion, bro. Like it's it's bragging rights
Speaker 2: like yeah first and other communities and like it's bragging rights, bar.
Speaker 2: But what you can do for like if you host
Speaker 2: or you win it, what you can do for your
Speaker 2: community and the kids. It's it's not about the money,
Speaker 2: but it is is in a way because how much
Speaker 2: money you make you give back to the kids and
Speaker 2: the community, because like so much of money is involved
Speaker 2: because all the sponsorships, keeping parking, all the sponsorship stuff,
Speaker 2: all the canteen stuff, like it all goes back into
Speaker 2: the community.
Speaker 3: But yes, just brag and rights and.
Speaker 4: How much how much beef actually is there between like
Speaker 4: who would be? Is there a community that you're like
Speaker 4: that you don't like, that you don't like, but like
Speaker 4: you have a history of rival.
Speaker 2: I think it goes with anything like the most successful teams. Yeah,
Speaker 2: well that's Maddie Rose, Georgie Rose and your front Rose
Speaker 2: and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, we've had a
Speaker 2: lot of beef on the field. Stays on the field.
Speaker 3: N A B.
Speaker 2: Newcastle all blacks that you know, the Briggs boys them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, what's Nicols?
Speaker 2: He's he's not Newcastle, He's he's Griffith's Griffith his grandfather.
Speaker 3: He found out his grandfathers from Griffith. Yeah. Yeah, it's
Speaker 3: pretty crazy man.
Speaker 2: When you do your research and you sort of know
Speaker 2: that your Aboriginal and you do your research, you're blown away.
Speaker 1: Like your history mate, what Gordy told me once he
Speaker 1: played for LAPA, Yes, he just got bash it like this.
Speaker 1: Then r Rob Blake, who thinks he's a tough guy.
Speaker 1: We're going to go after him.
Speaker 2: I was going over for a try one time. This
Speaker 2: is when I played for where I'm from Red from
Speaker 2: All Blacks versus the NAB Newcastle All Blacks. Yep, I
Speaker 2: was going over for a try and I was literally over,
Speaker 2: like I beat about five defenders stuff. But yeah, I
Speaker 2: was literally diving over and one of the Briggs boys
Speaker 2: come over and just knock me out. There's a clip
Speaker 2: on YouTube and I'm just like, I've just dropped like that,
Speaker 2: I've got no I didn't know where the hell I was.
Speaker 2: I went off, started grabbing my thoughts, myself back together again, sorry,
Speaker 2: and come back on the field and I was scoring
Speaker 2: two tries and we wont to grad finals.
Speaker 4: Man, is there a lot of that? Like like going
Speaker 4: after the nro Ol boys, because remember there was a clip.
Speaker 4: I remember there was a clip on getting around social
Speaker 4: media when they went after Latrelle and Latrell was just
Speaker 4: like standing there and they kept Jersey grabbing him and
Speaker 4: trying to punch him, and then trel was like yeah
Speaker 4: sweet sweet didn't react and then like the next play
Speaker 4: killed like picked him up and just was.
Speaker 5: Is there a he for that? Like the boys go
Speaker 5: after the Yeah, like.
Speaker 2: The when when we play games, like the players try
Speaker 2: to go after us.
Speaker 3: But what we love is.
Speaker 2: Always trying to give back to community because these these
Speaker 2: communities don't see much of us footy players. And that's
Speaker 2: what that's what we love about the Knockout, Like we
Speaker 2: go and show love. I know we can't move around
Speaker 2: the whole knockout because everyone's adotos and all that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff, but that's what we love and always getting
Speaker 2: couraged to do is to try to get involved with
Speaker 2: the within the knockout. But if you're not playing, try
Speaker 2: to coach or something and around us. And that's that's
Speaker 2: what we myself Cody, And and did you ever coach
Speaker 2: post footy?
Speaker 3: I'd love to coach really yeah, Like I don't know, like.
Speaker 2: I am at parent now understand how roles he wants
Speaker 2: to coach and how he wants us to play it.
Speaker 3: Just really.
Speaker 2: Understand it, and I know what to say and I
Speaker 2: know what to to do, and so like it's sort
Speaker 2: of given me a drive to want to coach.
Speaker 1: After footage, You've been coached by some good blokes. That's
Speaker 1: the thing you've gone from Belly, Yeah, Cameron, surrender to Risey.
Speaker 1: You've had mal as far as man management everything concern mate,
Speaker 1: you've had a yeah, that's your football education second and none. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like especially at Para, like knowing how Risey
Speaker 1: wants to wants to play. I even like when I'm
Speaker 1: cause I drive from Kelly or to Bilmore every day
Speaker 1: just like I just like I did not really say
Speaker 1: that in the media because I never used to be
Speaker 1: good at it. I never used to know how to Oh, boys,
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on this? So like I reckon,
Speaker 1: we can just do better here or does that make sense?
Speaker 1: Like I never used to be like that. I'll be like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I reckon, Like.
Speaker 2: You know, it's a study all the time. But now
Speaker 2: it's like I'm really clear in what I'm saying, just
Speaker 2: because over time and the players and the coaches I've had.
Speaker 4: Feel comfortable and you've also you know, you're probably like
Speaker 4: you probably feel comforting yourself where you've earned the right
Speaker 4: to speak up, you know when those young ages where
Speaker 4: you feel like I'm going to get shame because boys
Speaker 4: might think what is.
Speaker 3: He talking about? Yeah?
Speaker 2: But the boys, I feel like the paraboys they've got
Speaker 2: a growth mindset so that the they want to learn
Speaker 2: as the way that roles he wants to play. And
Speaker 2: there's no really like arrogant. There's no Arrogan follows in
Speaker 2: our team. They're just always willing to learn. They can
Speaker 2: see the bigger picture, which I love. Like when you
Speaker 2: have that one toxic guy or a couple of toxic guys,
Speaker 2: that's it's like it's nothing I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: It bleeds through the side down. It's just so bad.
Speaker 4: Do you want to rattle off a couple of names?
Speaker 4: Will beep it out, of course, Foxy, thanks are coming over, mate.
Speaker 4: We've taken too much of your time, but mate, good
Speaker 4: to see you again. Mate, and you just remember so
Speaker 4: I'll just show you this so this phone, it's two ways.
Speaker 4: You feel free to ring any.
Speaker 5: Time because I just know I need to.
Speaker 3: I need to. I need to.
Speaker 4: It's right, mate, that's all right, just just letting you
Speaker 4: know that. Like you know, I've still got the same number.
Speaker 2: And I met to catch up with his last time,
Speaker 2: but my old man was driving around everywhere.
Speaker 3: He said, I couldn't take me.
Speaker 5: A license back.
Speaker 1: Now, a Foxy, I first appreciate coming over, but make
Speaker 1: congratulations on your career. It's been unbelievable and good luck
Speaker 1: the rest of you. But it's not just mate, it's
Speaker 1: not just what you do on the fields, what you
Speaker 1: do off the field. And you know, for for young guys,
Speaker 1: it's such a great personality made fans love you and
Speaker 1: make good on you, well make you. You should be
Speaker 1: proud of yourself, and your family too may be proud
Speaker 1: of you.
Speaker 2: Fox makes a lot