Speaker 1: Welcome to our three to sixty year abilly from every
Speaker 1: angle joining me again the great good talent. Let's been
Speaker 1: the jays in poor Crawley and Andrew Webster as the
Speaker 1: Broncos taking on the Warriors. The Broncos have gone back
Speaker 1: to back? Are they back? And the Warrior is the
Speaker 1: sleeping Giants? Maybe in the NRL in season twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: got it, But the Broncos Selwyn Cobbo, what's going on
Speaker 1: with him?
Speaker 2: Well, it's a fast moving story, isn't it. Obviously I
Speaker 2: thought he was put back to Reserve Grade to find
Speaker 2: some form and he was a little bit injured to
Speaker 2: Now other clubs have come to the party and want
Speaker 2: him to play, and I don't understand why they wouldn't
Speaker 2: let him go and free up some money.
Speaker 3: The Boys, well the Cowboys have put in the pitch
Speaker 3: to get him before June thirty.
Speaker 4: St George as well.
Speaker 3: The Cowboys wanted him before June three. Well, the Dragons
Speaker 3: dip it. They didn't agree on the price and the
Speaker 3: Broncos have knocked it back. What I can't understand is
Speaker 3: if the club doesn't want to play him, he doesn't
Speaker 3: have a contract for next year. He's got an opportunity
Speaker 3: to go somewhere else.
Speaker 4: Hold him back?
Speaker 1: Why hold makes sense?
Speaker 3: Doesn't You can only think that the only sense it
Speaker 3: makes is that don't want to give another team a
Speaker 3: leg up.
Speaker 1: But you know.
Speaker 5: He's a quality player. I can sort of see some
Speaker 5: of the logic in it. If you're going to make
Speaker 5: a run at the finals, you want to you know,
Speaker 5: you want some back up there in the outside backs,
Speaker 5: and he's a quality player Former Queensland Australian players. No, no,
Speaker 5: I get that.
Speaker 4: I get that.
Speaker 5: But it's also but if they're going to low ball him,
Speaker 5: or if they only have three hundred left in their cap,
Speaker 5: which is what it sounds like they do, let him
Speaker 5: go down.
Speaker 4: They're a bit light on in the middle.
Speaker 2: They let a guy go for like in a social
Speaker 2: media post and paid him out, So you would think
Speaker 2: getting offered some money for a guy that's playing reserve
Speaker 2: grade if it's the same sort of business sense where
Speaker 2: you'd let him go, well.
Speaker 1: I think they can all agree so on Cobo as
Speaker 1: the potential to be one of the best wingers backs
Speaker 1: in the game. He's an absolute superstar or should be,
Speaker 1: and he's got the talent, you know, He reminds us
Speaker 1: or me of a Latroal Mitchell kind of you know
Speaker 1: GI obviously not at that level, but he has the
Speaker 1: potential to be. But there's so much I've heard around him.
Speaker 1: Why hasn't it worked at Brisbane? Is it because of
Speaker 1: the Broncos or is it because of Selwyn Cobba?
Speaker 4: Both? I think both.
Speaker 5: I thought it was a really telling comment from Billy
Speaker 5: Walters in the last few days saying that Seln has
Speaker 5: to find his love of football again and if that's
Speaker 5: the case, then that's on Selwyn. When I think about Selwyn,
Speaker 5: I think about the infamous podcast that he did and
Speaker 5: he mentioned Kevin Walder and said he doesn't coach a team.
Speaker 5: I was one of the three people that went back
Speaker 5: and listened to that entire podcast for an hour and
Speaker 5: a half. Yeah, there wasn't that many who did. And
Speaker 5: he made a really telling statement he said, I want
Speaker 5: to play fullback. I want to play fullback. And I remember,
Speaker 5: you know, before Reese Walsh, when he was just emerging,
Speaker 5: we all thought, you know, it was a shootout between
Speaker 5: him and Selwyn Cobbo, and Reese obviously got that jumper
Speaker 5: and made it his own and he deserves to be there, Reese,
Speaker 5: but I'd love to see he's only twenty three. I
Speaker 5: would love to see Selwyn Cobbo, as you said, he's
Speaker 5: got g I sort of all over him. I'd love
Speaker 5: to see Soe and Cobbo find his love with the
Speaker 5: game again and go and play fullback somewhere.
Speaker 3: Dragons well, they have got Gutho, and Gotho might might
Speaker 3: potentially long term move into the Hearts. Who knows, like
Speaker 3: he could play center anywhere he wanted. The thing about
Speaker 3: Sewin and going back to Billy's quote though, and he
Speaker 3: has to go and find his love of football.
Speaker 4: When when Mage.
Speaker 3: McGuire, with his reputation as a hard ass, signed with
Speaker 3: the Broncos. Of all the players you thought may struggle
Speaker 3: under Madge, Selwyn would have been at the top of
Speaker 3: my list. And for Billy to say that today, it's
Speaker 3: kind of like, mate, if he hasn't got his love there,
Speaker 3: go let him enjoy it somewhere else. Like is it
Speaker 3: that big a burden for Brisbane not to release him?
Speaker 1: Really, because all I've heard out of Brisbane is that
Speaker 1: you know, he's got a few issues. He gets home sick,
Speaker 1: he doesn't love the game, him. You know, some games
Speaker 1: he just doesn't want to play for reasons that other
Speaker 1: players would wouldn't make up. So there is certainly I
Speaker 1: think there has to be said there's an issue there
Speaker 1: with Selwyn because Brisbane you can say, well, he hasn't
Speaker 1: been coach right or handled right, and I'm sure Brisbane
Speaker 1: is saying, well, you know what, we've tried hard with
Speaker 1: this kid and we just can't get him to work.
Speaker 3: Question in the world break.
Speaker 1: But that's not the point.
Speaker 3: Is that if they've realized that, which is the reason
Speaker 3: why they're offering him three hundred and something thousand half
Speaker 3: his paypacket for next year, they've realized that, and if
Speaker 3: there is an opportunity to go else where, why hold
Speaker 3: him back, Like a couple of weeks ago they wore
Speaker 3: those black jerseys for mental health, and do you just
Speaker 3: wear the jerseys or do you live it?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 3: If there's an opportunity where he thinks he can go
Speaker 3: and have a better career and maybe pick himself up,
Speaker 3: let him do.
Speaker 1: It's a great point you make. I love to hear
Speaker 1: from Brisbane why they didn't let him go, because you
Speaker 1: make some valid points, some really good points there as
Speaker 1: to if you're not going to keep him, you offering
Speaker 1: you're low balling him anyway.
Speaker 4: He can't do like they offered him.
Speaker 2: He's a state of ogon player with the well, which
Speaker 2: means that's a bit of a kick in the bar.
Speaker 3: So and there's you're right, Gordon, there's no question of world.
Speaker 3: He's got to take some ownership here, absolutely, But if
Speaker 3: it's not working for him, and they've obviously decided he's
Speaker 3: not going to be there, even though they say they
Speaker 3: want to keep him on half the wage, it ain't
Speaker 3: going to work out.
Speaker 4: You know, there's some guys you've got to manage, right.
Speaker 2: I always say that Stephen and Uf wouldn't have had
Speaker 2: the same career if he played under Bryan Smith. I
Speaker 2: did right, And there's certain ways to manage certain players.
Speaker 2: And I remember we were walking off trainer one day
Speaker 2: and I said to Wayne Bennett, why doesn't he have
Speaker 2: to do it? Wayne goes, when you do what he
Speaker 2: can do, you do what he does. And it was
Speaker 2: a great lesson for me. They worry about my job
Speaker 2: and not worry about what everybody gets. And that's what
Speaker 2: Wayne does at Souse with Latrelle and all those guys.
Speaker 2: They're all individuals, they're not one, but they come together
Speaker 2: on Sunday. And then he'd have was saying, just as
Speaker 2: long as you bring your boots. I think he's one
Speaker 2: of those guys.
Speaker 1: Sell on combos. So imagine Maguire signed on his head coach.
Speaker 1: I thought, well, they're far from the perfect match in
Speaker 1: terms of Cobbo and Magui, the way that he plays,
Speaker 1: the way that he trains, and the way that Madge coaches,
Speaker 1: and already less than a year looks like the relationship
Speaker 1: is over. Now. We spoke last night about some of
Speaker 1: the Broncos looking busted. You and Buzz said that pain
Speaker 1: Hass probably should be rested. Reese Walsh even carrying that
Speaker 1: knee injury. What do we think of this?
Speaker 4: I agree everything Gordon said.
Speaker 3: I think that if the Broncos want the best out
Speaker 3: of pain Hess at the end of the season, they're
Speaker 3: going to have to give him a break on the weekend.
Speaker 3: Was it his back, was it his groin? Was it
Speaker 3: his hamstring? They sort of switched between this and that,
Speaker 3: and no one really said. What you know about pain
Speaker 3: Hearss is that every time he runs on the field,
Speaker 3: he's got such a big motor and he's got such
Speaker 3: a commitment to do his absolute best he will run
Speaker 3: himself into the ground if you allow him.
Speaker 1: To do it.
Speaker 3: And Madge, when this came up last night, the first
Speaker 3: image that came to my head was Greg English into
Speaker 3: he seventeen when he was playing at South Sydney and
Speaker 3: Madge was the coach and he did his knee in
Speaker 3: the first half and he played on in the second half.
Speaker 3: It was against the Tigers, and towards the end of
Speaker 3: that game even the Tigers players felt sorry for Gui,
Speaker 3: where they basically they didn't want to go in and
Speaker 3: tackle him anymore and he was left out in the field.
Speaker 3: Sam Burgers had issues there. He's got to take that
Speaker 3: into consider.
Speaker 1: Ra be resting players of the mayment. Now Reese is different.
Speaker 1: Reese's got the mcl injury with PC which he's going
Speaker 1: to have for the rest of the year. And even
Speaker 1: Billy Slater said he had the same injury. He's not
Speaker 1: going to go away. He's got to play it. He's
Speaker 1: going to play it. You know, it's as simple as that.
Speaker 1: Peyton Ha's a little bit different. What if Madge has
Speaker 1: spoken of paint and pains like whole want to play
Speaker 1: you got to play, but you've got to.
Speaker 2: Save him from themselves because Shane Webke wanted to play
Speaker 2: and like I played with guys like Petro and they
Speaker 2: just feel like they don't want to let the players down.
Speaker 2: And talking to paint House after the game on the weekend,
Speaker 2: he said, I love this Jersey, I love this club
Speaker 2: and I don't want to let the boys down.
Speaker 4: But he's going to let them down at.
Speaker 2: Some stage because of how much petrol he's got on
Speaker 2: his team.
Speaker 1: He's not a rav right now under a huge pressure.
Speaker 1: Copy it from the media. They Comet got back on
Speaker 1: track yet, But do you rest pain then you.
Speaker 2: Do well, you've got to rely on your squad. Penrith
Speaker 2: did it right. So Penrith are in a worse position
Speaker 2: than Brisbane. Can they rely on the squad right now though?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 4: Question?
Speaker 3: But in the end of it is as Gordon said,
Speaker 3: do you use him up now and leave nothing in
Speaker 3: the tank for later.
Speaker 4: In the year or do you give him a rest?
Speaker 4: Because I'll tell you one thing is.
Speaker 3: Quite certain, he won't go out in Origin three and
Speaker 3: leave anything in the text.
Speaker 2: The guys that they're going to rely on now, they're
Speaker 2: going to have to rely on at the end of
Speaker 2: the year when the chips are bigger and they're all in.
Speaker 5: The side of Reese Walsh in the warm up doing
Speaker 5: his knee and then playing on there. I really want
Speaker 5: to say this, Like Ree Welsh gets bashed up a
Speaker 5: lot in the press. I thought the way that he
Speaker 5: managed to stay on the field and continue to play
Speaker 5: on and then finish that game as he did Awkland
Speaker 5: and had an absolute blinder Like I sometimes I don't
Speaker 5: think we give these blokes enough credit, like for the
Speaker 5: to be able to do that and play the standard
Speaker 5: football that he did.
Speaker 4: We're just watching it there.
Speaker 5: And just to see the way that he limped around,
Speaker 5: Like I mean, they're tough bloks to.
Speaker 4: Be able to do that.
Speaker 5: I would think that Pain to me seems like the
Speaker 5: mature sort of football. I know what you mean about
Speaker 5: players wanted to go through. He seems like mature enough
Speaker 5: as a footballer to make the decision himself. That's that's
Speaker 5: how Pain seems to me. He seems like a pretty
Speaker 5: smart cookie, all right.
Speaker 1: Billy Waters has addressed the unfolding Cobo situation and his
Speaker 1: own future under Michael maguire at red Hill.
Speaker 6: There was never really a culture issue. I don't think.
Speaker 6: It's just there's always teething periods, I guess with a
Speaker 6: new coach and he's a bit different the way keV
Speaker 6: did things. So that's not good or bad. That's just
Speaker 6: the way it is with coaches. And we're just happy
Speaker 6: that we've got back to back wins and can build
Speaker 6: off the back of that advice. Can you to sell them, yeah,
Speaker 6: I suppose just to be patient and find the love
Speaker 6: for foot again where he to support seally and whatever
Speaker 6: he needs to do, and we love having about the club.
Speaker 1: We love having him in our team.
Speaker 6: Blake Bos has just been resigned obviously now we've run
Speaker 6: over the next year as well.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of competition.
Speaker 6: There is there, Yeah, there is, but it brings out
Speaker 6: your best footy. I feel I haven't had as many
Speaker 6: minutes as what I've had the last couple of years.
Speaker 6: But I'm just happy I'm stilling the team at the
Speaker 6: moment and off the back of two wins, two really
Speaker 6: good wins. It's just a good feeling around the place.
Speaker 1: So just happy to be involved. There is Billy Waters
Speaker 1: talking about sell and Cobble, hoping that he stays patient
Speaker 1: and gets another shot and can find the love of
Speaker 1: his footy again, which I think speaks volumes to the
Speaker 1: situation and where selling is out at the moment. He
Speaker 1: also mentioned there that he'd like to play more minutes
Speaker 1: and hasn't played as many as he has in previous years.
Speaker 1: And Billy just to give him a rap when he
Speaker 1: come on the weekend, he changed the game. Like when
Speaker 1: he came on, they were behind, it was just after halftime.
Speaker 1: I think it was halfter the ten minutes in the
Speaker 1: bin where they failed to score a try. I think
Speaker 1: Cronulla scored. He came on and they went on to
Speaker 1: win the game. So he's definitely having an impact there.
Speaker 4: Gordy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, with such big personalities and pain and carrying
Speaker 2: him wanting the ball so much up up the middle,
Speaker 2: I think he gets it to the right places at
Speaker 2: the right time. Billy, and they did look a little
Speaker 2: bit sharper and Adam's the dominant playmaker there, but he
Speaker 2: was given Respulse's chance and that he looked better with Billy.
Speaker 1: And does he get pushed out Billy?
Speaker 2: Uh, Well, I hope not, but it's probably looking that way.
Speaker 2: And the Cowboys have released their hooker. He's going to
Speaker 2: the roosters next year, so there's spots for Billy and
Speaker 2: I think he's got a bit more to offer this competition.
Speaker 1: Do you think you better this time next year?
Speaker 4: You wouldn't think so after they signed that hooker, but
Speaker 4: I hope so By.
Speaker 5: I'd yeah, I like it. He's a great player. Can
Speaker 5: I just say this about me? We're bashing out magic
Speaker 5: Cops are fair bit of criticism. They're fifth for club.
Speaker 5: It'son supposedly been in crisis a few weeks ago and
Speaker 5: we're questioning his methodology and that's fair enough.
Speaker 1: But they're fifth, said, you know, we've got to give
Speaker 1: him credit.
Speaker 4: They're not they're not.
Speaker 5: They can be streaky, but I think apart from Canberra
Speaker 5: and Canbury, tell me what team isn't in his competition.
Speaker 1: Jury is still out, but they've improved a lot. They've
Speaker 1: won to in a row and everyone was bashing them
Speaker 1: before that, so you know there's still a lot of
Speaker 1: positive signs there for the Broncos. I agree with you, Rebby.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well things changed when Reecee Walsh came back.
Speaker 1: That's when it changed.
Speaker 3: And prior to that, Whereby you say they were getting
Speaker 3: bashed up deservedly, So sure, that their form was awful.
Speaker 3: Some of the football they were playing was terrible. There
Speaker 3: was so much coming out of that club that it's
Speaker 3: not an issue you could ignore. And then they beat
Speaker 3: the Titans. They started pretty ordinary against the Shark, but
Speaker 3: the second half was super impressive.
Speaker 1: All right, there's some massive ins and outs around seventeen
Speaker 1: thanks to sports, but let's take a look real pivotal
Speaker 1: ones and the big one. To start off with Nathan
Speaker 1: Cleary named at halfback for the Panthers. There was a
Speaker 1: question mark over that after his origin game two. Galvin
Speaker 1: has been selected for the Bulldogs. He is on the bench.
Speaker 1: Will they use him like they did last time or not?
Speaker 1: Feynu to half back low wide of five eight for
Speaker 1: the Tigers. Flenny and king Tony are remaining the hards
Speaker 1: for the Dragons. Walker and Graham back from injury for
Speaker 1: the Bunny He's good one for them and Ford. Interestingly,
Speaker 1: he has been recalled at five eight four the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Let's start with Nathan Cleary. It's a huge game up
Speaker 1: against the Dogs. I think both these teams have got
Speaker 1: a bit to prove here.
Speaker 5: Can I just say this what a phizzer on on
Speaker 5: Nathan Cleary is he going to be in ro out
Speaker 5: of origin. He's backed up already. So all that talk
Speaker 5: about who's going to suppose we'll see in a big
Speaker 5: game like this on on Thursday night. I know one thing.
Speaker 2: It's he's good enough to play in the didn't suit.
Speaker 2: That's like, that's one thing that I made. You just
Speaker 2: hope that he doesn't redo it.
Speaker 3: Well, he was clearly hampered Orange and he wasn't kicking.
Speaker 3: He early kicks would going to Lui. He didn't do
Speaker 3: the goal kicking. You know there was an injury there.
Speaker 3: They rested him last week that you know more about
Speaker 3: this break with managing the load of his kicking, how
Speaker 3: he visualizes his kicks now and doesn't do as much,
Speaker 3: And it's they need him on the field. Like a
Speaker 3: month ago, they're sitting last on the ladder. Now they're rape.
Speaker 3: They go over there without their origin players and beat
Speaker 3: the Warriors. This is a mess.
Speaker 1: If Tea thought the biggest turning point for them this
Speaker 1: year would be with all their origin players out playing
Speaker 1: a top four team over in New Zealand, Like that's
Speaker 1: that could they could really turn their season around. No,
Speaker 1: it probably already has, but this could be the momentum
Speaker 1: they needed, They get the Origin players back and it
Speaker 1: proves to be a big game to take on the
Speaker 1: bulldog was Now Galvin has been named at seventeen. How
Speaker 1: do they playing? Do they playing like they did last time?
Speaker 4: Or I'll ask you how do they play well?
Speaker 1: I mean it worked last time. I can't imagine them
Speaker 1: playing him any differently unless there's injuries or you know
Speaker 1: they sex and struggles badly or Burton in that case.
Speaker 1: But I would assume that because they work so well
Speaker 1: the first time with that dynamic, they would stick to that.
Speaker 4: How long? How long do they keep on doing this?
Speaker 4: For holding the kid back?
Speaker 3: Sexton was so good, wasn't he like when he partnered
Speaker 3: up with him last time? And the week after he
Speaker 3: was a paramatta that they'd played, and then the following
Speaker 3: week he had his best first half of football since
Speaker 3: being there. But Galvin has also looked so good, So
Speaker 3: at some stage it's got to go one way, and
Speaker 3: you would think the long term answer is going to
Speaker 3: be Galvin at seven sec and to his credit, he's
Speaker 3: creating a fight for it.
Speaker 1: What about reed MANI he wasn't too happy a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago.
Speaker 3: Well, it's the same as how do they play it
Speaker 3: this time? Like if Galvin comes on, does Sexton move
Speaker 3: to dummy half and does Reese go back to the
Speaker 3: dressing room to kick some more cancer.
Speaker 1: I don't know. How does he handle it?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 5: Read only looks a lot happier I think than he
Speaker 5: was in that game, but probably after that game. But
Speaker 5: I think, to be honest, I think the way you know,
Speaker 5: I've said this elsewhere. You know, Gus always talks about
Speaker 5: Penrith's success wasn't so much the culture of the club,
Speaker 5: but the chemistry within the team. You know, that's been
Speaker 5: the success of Penrith in many ways. And I think
Speaker 5: the way that both I know, I think it says
Speaker 5: a lot about Read's competitiveness, the way that he reacted
Speaker 5: after that that game against Paramatta, but the way that
Speaker 5: Toby has sort of embraced it and like it. If
Speaker 5: you don't have that then it could have been really toxic.
Speaker 5: But the way it's shaped, it looks like it's you know,
Speaker 5: it's gonna work from well.
Speaker 1: It says a lot about the club where they're in
Speaker 1: their culture. Now I forget about Cleary and Serrouto. It's
Speaker 1: about Cleary v. Gus Cleary v Gus for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1: Well you know I helped Ivan with his book.
Speaker 4: That's out of the moment.
Speaker 5: Feel free to go and buy ten thousand cops one
Speaker 5: and that's right, yeah, good, good for not everything counts,
Speaker 5: but everything matters. But it's a leadership book. But in
Speaker 5: that book, Ivant explains how he says it straight out.
Speaker 5: He goes, Gus hurt me, you know the way that
Speaker 5: the way that the Gus sacked him the first time
Speaker 5: in two thousand and fifty, and it was they were
Speaker 5: never the same after that.
Speaker 4: He was gusting in many ways.
Speaker 5: I reckon the fact that Canterbury have built so much
Speaker 5: of their rebuild around Canterbury around Penrith, players around Penrith, coaching,
Speaker 5: around Penrith staff.
Speaker 2: But but that's right, did gusco get all those kids?
Speaker 4: Did Gus find those kids and the help build.
Speaker 5: That he set up the team there? But I mean
Speaker 5: the system at Penrith. But just knowing the history between
Speaker 5: the two.
Speaker 4: Of them, I think Ivan.
Speaker 5: Ivan's too classy and too understated to say it, but
Speaker 5: I think he would love to get one up over him.
Speaker 1: There's more to this game than just the players. Of course, Okay,
Speaker 1: I love it. Clint Garthinson says time maybe running out
Speaker 1: for the Dragons to find the right halves combination. As
Speaker 1: shamed for an again digs in on his selections.
Speaker 7: I think when you're in the seven Jersey there's always
Speaker 7: going to be added pressure. Doesn't matter if you're winning,
Speaker 7: you're losing. There's always going to be pressure and the
Speaker 7: best way.
Speaker 4: To deal with that is win.
Speaker 7: If you're winning and you're winning well and playing well
Speaker 7: and doing your job, the pressure gets off you. And look,
Speaker 7: it takes time and we don't have time in there
Speaker 7: and you're going to get make things work pretty quickly. Look,
Speaker 7: Locke's handled the whole situation great. He hasn't kicked stones,
Speaker 7: hasn't has it wins one He just got about his business.
Speaker 7: And I think the one nine in a row in
Speaker 7: New South Wales Cup, so at seventeen that gets to
Speaker 7: play every week is out there to try and win.
Speaker 7: And if you don't, your positions on the line.
Speaker 1: Shave Flannagin won't budge on the halves Crawls.
Speaker 3: What do you think I think this If Flanno was
Speaker 3: going to budge, this had to be the week because
Speaker 3: Lockie was dropped. Was it seven games back. It was
Speaker 3: his game management that was letting him down at the time.
Speaker 3: I can't agree with Flanno's assumption that Kyle has done
Speaker 3: better in that respect. I thought his last game was
Speaker 3: particularly poor. He's kicking games not good. But if you
Speaker 3: were going to make a change, this was the week
Speaker 3: you had to do it, because you look at that draw.
Speaker 3: They're playing the Eels this week, and look who follows.
Speaker 3: You've got the Raiders, the Roosters, the Bulldogs, the Cowboys,
Speaker 3: the Raiders, the Sharks, the Warriors. So if you're going
Speaker 3: with Cole Flanigan, now you hit your wagon to him
Speaker 3: and you keep him to the end of the season,
Speaker 3: because I reckon it would be weak to come in
Speaker 3: a few games into that run and then give someone
Speaker 3: else like ill As his chance and then say, well
Speaker 3: I told you so. So if this is their time,
Speaker 3: and Flanno's also, he's gambling on his own job here
Speaker 3: because what they finished eleventh last year, and you go
Speaker 3: through that run and you don't win your share of games,
Speaker 3: there's a good chance you're going to finish well down
Speaker 3: the ladder. And what the one topic everyone will talk
Speaker 3: about is the coach and his son.
Speaker 1: What does it mean, if Funo doesn't finish above eleventh
Speaker 1: this year, I.
Speaker 5: Don't think there's no way that they'll move him on
Speaker 5: at all. I think I think Sean Flanagan's a right
Speaker 5: blake for the job, I really do. And I think
Speaker 5: he needs more than just two years to improve the Dragons,
Speaker 5: because they were coming from a pretty low base when
Speaker 5: he took over the problem with Flannel is that he's
Speaker 5: got a blind spot when it comes to his son,
Speaker 5: you know. And I say that with the greatest respect
Speaker 5: to to Shane and to Kyle, but and it's admirable
Speaker 5: that he that he supports his son and that he
Speaker 5: comes out swinging for him, but he surely he cannot
Speaker 5: understand when he says, you know, Kyle's among our best
Speaker 5: performers every week, that even if it's the case, and
Speaker 5: even if he thinks that, just don't say it, because the.
Speaker 4: Optics of it are terrible. And it only works.
Speaker 5: The father son combination works if you're Ivan and Nathan Cleary.
Speaker 5: And you saw with Ricky Stewart last week with Jed
Speaker 5: just how reserved he was, how much.
Speaker 4: That's right he should be there. It's a really tricky.
Speaker 3: Better off and it would be better for Cole if
Speaker 3: he said nothing, that's right because it doesn't do him
Speaker 3: any favors. But but whether you tell me, can you
Speaker 3: can you ignore the fact that it's not just a
Speaker 3: Dragons fans. We sit here and talk about it too,
Speaker 3: like it's it's an obvious point. They've got Daniel Ackertson
Speaker 3: going there next year. They brought Lachlin to play seven
Speaker 3: and he's gone back. He's done nothing wrong. They've won seven.
Speaker 3: He's got tries, he's got huge triassists, he's not missing
Speaker 3: tackles one points through a game. Like, he's doing everything
Speaker 3: that he possibly could and.
Speaker 1: Do everything that I wanted him to do.
Speaker 3: Yet Kyle is still keeping hold of the seven jersey.
Speaker 2: If your reserve grades winning games away, they're doing your
Speaker 2: first grades losing, there's got to be the ladder up.
Speaker 2: It can be a slippery slide down, but there's got
Speaker 2: to be a ladder up.
Speaker 1: Well, the problem is he's got with these players is
Speaker 1: if they go back and play out of their skin
Speaker 1: and win games and do everything that they have coaches
Speaker 1: to ask of them, and they don't get picked in
Speaker 1: first round while the first grade team is losing, then
Speaker 1: what do you what do you do? And I'm sure
Speaker 1: all the players are probably thinking that and talking about
Speaker 1: that amongst themselves. It's like what else can we do?
Speaker 1: You know that's and then that can be toxic inn
Speaker 1: a group. That's all I'm saying. That's from experience.
Speaker 3: There's an old saying that you can't pull your socks
Speaker 3: up if you're not wearing any But with Flannel playing
Speaker 3: his son there, like's if it's not the most important
Speaker 3: position on the field, it's one of the two most
Speaker 3: important positions on the field, and it's not working for
Speaker 3: the Dragons if they slide down the ladder further this year.
Speaker 3: It's a problem that they've got to address, and it
Speaker 3: doesn't seem like they have gone about addressing.
Speaker 5: There was a real reluctance from Saint George's directors to
Speaker 5: get Shane Flanagan to the club in the first place,
Speaker 5: because of this very situation that we're in that they're
Speaker 5: in now about about the problem about whether how it
Speaker 5: would work with Kyle coming to the club and it's
Speaker 5: coming to fruition. But for me, as a long suffering
Speaker 5: Dragons fan, it goes deeper than this, Like I don't
Speaker 5: understand how one of the biggest a club with the
Speaker 5: biggest nurseries in the competition and have been for decades.
Speaker 5: Cannot unearth an organizing halfback. It's been a problem with
Speaker 5: that club for decades. And I know they've got King
Speaker 5: coming through, and I've got you know a few other
Speaker 5: young players coming through, Kate Reid, but before that it
Speaker 5: was going to be a moan and and Bud Sullivan.
Speaker 5: So the Dragons just have this inability to keep halves.
Speaker 1: Or keep players.
Speaker 4: We'll keeps.
Speaker 5: In particularly but in particular, in particular decent quality halves
Speaker 5: when they have a nursery like the one that they do.
Speaker 1: Breaking news to this afternoon, Sloan is free to leave,
Speaker 1: so coach Flanagan has given him the opportunity to negotiate
Speaker 1: with other clubs. Thoughts on this sad.
Speaker 5: You know, he had so much potential and when he's on,
Speaker 5: he's on, But you know there's parts of his game
Speaker 5: that aren't then aren't up to NRL standard at the moment.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's a tough one. Look watching that game against
Speaker 3: the Sharks two weeks back, it was obvious that he
Speaker 3: wasn't going to keep his spot going forward.
Speaker 4: You came up with multiple errors.
Speaker 3: Is you know that collision with Gutho under the high
Speaker 3: ball that that day, it was just kind of like
Speaker 3: it was coming.
Speaker 1: He's a player that you look at him and it's
Speaker 1: sort of similar to Nico Hins in a way that
Speaker 1: you can tell that he's just struggling with confidence and belief.
Speaker 1: But when he's on, he's got so much talent, Like
Speaker 1: the kid could be a freak. Like in open space
Speaker 1: he's beautiful watch and even under the high ball in
Speaker 1: good field position he struggles with it coming out of
Speaker 1: his own end. His carries have got to be better.
Speaker 1: But there's just so much to this kid that could
Speaker 1: be special. Seems like he's getting in his own way.
Speaker 5: And earlier in the year he looked like he was
Speaker 5: enjoying not having the pressure of fullback but blood playing
Speaker 5: on the wing. It just seemed like it was, you know,
Speaker 5: it was set up for him to take over from
Speaker 5: Guthe when the time came, but it hasn't.
Speaker 4: Worked the other way all right.
Speaker 1: Sticking around journals, Sam Constance is back. The Young Gun
Speaker 1: returns for the Aussie tour of the West Indies. The
Speaker 1: first Test begins tomorrow night from Barbados, with every ball
Speaker 1: live on ESPN,