Speaker 1: Well, welcome back everyone to another episode of Code NRL
Speaker 1: Monday's podcast. I'm joined by Fatima Kadou Hey, Fatima, Hi,
Speaker 1: I'll stay look at you this time?
Speaker 2: Sorry about last week and Bulldog Richie. How are you Bulldogs?
Speaker 2: I'd be I'm well, very good mate.
Speaker 1: I'm Alex also known as Nerrol Soapbox and winter is
Speaker 1: over for some hopeless teams this season. The Broncos got
Speaker 1: up manly, got up ubut and then we saw the
Speaker 1: Tigers with an unbelievable upset against the Sydney Roosters. Bulldog
Speaker 1: you wrote about this in Bulldogs Bite. What do you
Speaker 1: make of the Tigers over the weekend?
Speaker 3: Unbelievable? I really couldn't believe what I was watching as
Speaker 3: the game panned out. Where has this been? Eight losses
Speaker 3: in a row and they come out and bowl over
Speaker 3: the Roosters who have been incredibly consistent over the last
Speaker 3: what month? Month and a half, which beggars the question,
Speaker 3: well begs the question, rather, where has this form been?
Speaker 3: Why aren't we getting this every week with the Tigers?
Speaker 3: I know consistency in enerrole is difficult given this, but
Speaker 3: what they've served up over the last work eight weeks
Speaker 3: has been appalling at times, absolutely terrible. This gives them
Speaker 3: some hope. There's a pulse at Concord, but the pulse
Speaker 3: can only keep bipping if they actually start to put
Speaker 3: games back to back, and this is their greatest challenge.
Speaker 3: There's no point having a win like that if they
Speaker 3: don't back it up. This season's gone, but next year
Speaker 3: it's got to be a year whe they've got to
Speaker 3: start to put together some consistent results. It's hard, but
Speaker 3: this is a club that's been a failure a failure
Speaker 3: for fifteen years. We saw yesterday what they can do
Speaker 3: over to them.
Speaker 1: Well, so for Tim, let me ask you, is this
Speaker 1: more embarrassing for the Roosters or exciting for the Tigers.
Speaker 4: I think it's both. I think I think it's both
Speaker 4: of those things, just on the Tigers. Why I found
Speaker 4: that performance so impressive is it might have been last
Speaker 4: week or maybe two weeks ago, where Benji Marshall basically
Speaker 4: admitted that, yes, this team is mentally fatigue. The headlines,
Speaker 4: the roller coaster, the circus, the rest of it is
Speaker 4: actually getting to this team, and we'll see it now.
Speaker 4: I get that. I get that we're seeing that in
Speaker 4: our performances. Club on fatigue, absolutely, but it is true.
Speaker 4: You know, you could see it in the performances that
Speaker 4: this was a team that wasn't you know, I'm not
Speaker 4: gonna say I didn't want to be there, but was
Speaker 4: clearly struggling in terms of mental fatigue.
Speaker 3: You know what, they're not in aeral players. If they
Speaker 3: can't cope with that, they are not up to aneral standard.
Speaker 4: But the comeback and to beat the Roosters, who all
Speaker 4: of a sudden a lot of people are talking about
Speaker 4: being the Premiership favor over Penrith and in the way
Speaker 4: they did it, shades of what got everybody excited at
Speaker 4: the start of the year showed and I agree like
Speaker 4: that there is still some fight in there and there's
Speaker 4: still with some fight in Benji Marshall. There's still some
Speaker 4: fight in that team. The question now is can they
Speaker 4: back it up? Because I'm assuming they expelled a lot
Speaker 4: of energy to get that victory on the weekend. Can
Speaker 4: they back it up? And I think that will give
Speaker 4: us more of an indication of whether Benji has enough
Speaker 4: hope for it to be a building block into the summer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but losing is a habit, so we see teams
Speaker 1: go on this skid and when you get that win, though,
Speaker 1: it kind of resets everything. You've got this opportunity. Now,
Speaker 1: Oh okay, the team's back. They're buzzing, the coach has
Speaker 1: got a bit more self esteem, a bit more confidence
Speaker 1: on what the playing group's doing.
Speaker 2: It feels that the team can now go into.
Speaker 1: The last I think they only have two games left
Speaker 1: to one game left, going with a bit of hope
Speaker 1: they could ruin the Cowboys season. Really, that could be
Speaker 1: a strong motivation for the Tigers. The Cowboys need those wins.
Speaker 1: So there's some really promising things out. I think, Bulldog,
Speaker 1: you're right on, like fatigue is not excuse every team
Speaker 1: is struggling. But I noticed in Justin Holbrooks pressa when
Speaker 1: the Newcastle Knights put out a future performance against Manly.
Speaker 1: Not that I'm complaining about it, and he said, oh,
Speaker 1: we've had a long run, we're tired. But when you've
Speaker 1: got results on the board, you get that excuse. When
Speaker 1: you've been losing and been putting in poor performances, you don't.
Speaker 1: And Tigers fans get upset about that. They say, why
Speaker 1: doesn't the media leave us alone? Well, if they were,
Speaker 1: just like you've said, bulldog. If they were just better,
Speaker 1: there would be less scripting.
Speaker 4: I think just the whole book was talking about mental fatigue.
Speaker 4: I think that's a completely different type of fatigue that
Speaker 4: you know, Yes, they're professionals, they get paid a lot
Speaker 4: of money. You know they should, you know, whether it's
Speaker 4: on the club to make sure that they've got the
Speaker 4: right people in place to help them deal with the
Speaker 4: mental side of things. I think maybe Justin Hodbrook was
Speaker 4: talking about sort of the physical side of things as well.
Speaker 4: I don't think you go on a run and you
Speaker 4: end up being mentally fatigue because you've been winning, Like
Speaker 4: the vibe is completely different when you're winning. So yeah,
Speaker 4: I get it they're professionals, but I also do think
Speaker 4: it's absolutely possible for a club mentally to be down
Speaker 4: in the doll drums after what they've been through and
Speaker 4: for that to be reflected in how they play.
Speaker 3: But the importantly we know about a false storm though
Speaker 3: we've had a minute, we've had false hope, and we've
Speaker 3: been let up the garden path multiple times in the
Speaker 3: last fifteen years, and they've all added up to nothing.
Speaker 4: Absolutely nothing, which is why I said, so, yeah, totally
Speaker 4: agree what we see is enough there for a building
Speaker 4: block because there is so much more to go, you know,
Speaker 4: and probably looking back, the excitement over them at the
Speaker 4: start of the year was a bit of a false storm.
Speaker 4: But I mean there's something there. I don't know if
Speaker 4: I don't think they're going to play in the top
Speaker 4: eight next year, but you know, if they scrambled like
Speaker 4: they did, I think there was this five minutes into
Speaker 4: the second half where you know, they defended three straight sets.
Speaker 4: We hadn't seen that from them for a really long time.
Speaker 4: That shows that there is some fight, that there is
Speaker 4: some care, and they have the right attitude.
Speaker 1: So well Tiger sides, at least there's some fight in
Speaker 1: the team, like, at least they've got something. When twelve
Speaker 1: went off in the first ten minutes or something, I
Speaker 1: thought they're doomed. Then Billy Smith's scores in the corner,
Speaker 1: and I go, there's going to be an absolute flogging.
Speaker 1: At least there's some fight.
Speaker 3: Build there, certainly is. I always get perplexed at Tigers
Speaker 3: fans who come at the media for a perceived over
Speaker 3: examination of their side. My argument back is, is this
Speaker 3: what you accept? Do you not want the media to
Speaker 3: call out your side? For consistent failure. Do you not
Speaker 3: want the media to find out why your side is
Speaker 3: going so ordinary? Why pick out the media and bag them.
Speaker 3: Shouldn't those questions be directed at the club to find
Speaker 3: out why. Yeah, you're bagging the wrong people. Get to
Speaker 3: the club find out how it's gone so bad for
Speaker 3: fifteen years.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: I agree, it's an easy target the media. It's fine.
Speaker 3: I doesn't bother meat orter for ducks back. However, it
Speaker 3: just it fascinates me that they go for the media
Speaker 3: rather than actually going they're playing the ball, not the player.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting because you look at the Broncos and
Speaker 4: all the media scrutiny they've received this year, you know,
Speaker 4: and in past years. When was it when they won
Speaker 4: the wooden Spoons? So you know, Canterbury, how much studenty
Speaker 4: have they been under in the last twelve eighteen months.
Speaker 4: So I don't know, it's not just the Tigers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you avoid scrutiny when you win, so and
Speaker 1: it's been a decade and a half of incompetence, so
Speaker 1: that's part of the reason.
Speaker 3: What about the Roosters. I mean, we talk about the
Speaker 3: Tigers winning, good luck to them, but that loss could
Speaker 3: be a hammer blow to the Roosters, who I still
Speaker 3: think can win the competition. I'm not going to write
Speaker 3: them off. They're on thirty six points with the Panthers
Speaker 3: and the Warriors, so not the end of the road
Speaker 3: by any means. But it was just the way that
Speaker 3: they lost. They looked lethargic, they look weary. They had
Speaker 3: no spark that had a tann of ball inside the opposition.
Speaker 3: Twenty did bugger all with it, let's be honest, and
Speaker 3: their big stars just didn't stand up. I thought Sam
Speaker 3: Walker was average at best, Chairs didn't do a whole lot.
Speaker 3: It's a real week of soul searching, because if they
Speaker 3: don't pull themselves out of this quickly, the season of
Speaker 3: hope can evaporate very quickly.
Speaker 2: Well, and we've seen that happen with the Sharks.
Speaker 1: I was trumpeting their chances only a few weeks ago,
Speaker 1: and they barely got by against the Titans after two
Speaker 1: consecutive losses. Yeah, the Roosters look like they just thought
Speaker 1: this game would fall over and they'd win, which is
Speaker 1: credit to the Tigers.
Speaker 2: They did show the fight to defend.
Speaker 1: But in addition to that, but the Rusters didn't go
Speaker 1: right in the second half no longer need to I
Speaker 1: sa Toya Cherry, Evans Ramsey out the back. Why did
Speaker 1: they keep going left or like meander through the middle?
Speaker 1: They It just looked like a team that expected that
Speaker 1: they would win and didn't get that result. But to
Speaker 1: be fair, they've had this in them. They have been
Speaker 1: on a nine game winning streak and been one of
Speaker 1: the best teams in the competition. But they've only played
Speaker 1: three excellent games. So I'm not willing to write them
Speaker 1: off because they've played plenty of games like that and one.
Speaker 1: I still think they're one of the best teams in
Speaker 1: the competition. Do you think they go all the way?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think the Warriors are for me,
Speaker 4: are the team that's going to go all the way.
Speaker 4: But it was interesting watching the Roosters because you're right,
Speaker 4: what we saw from them sort of were those bad
Speaker 4: habits that they had before they went on their runs.
Speaker 4: So I think Billy Smith, you know, makes a poor
Speaker 4: defensive error, it leads to a try. I think, then
Speaker 4: he makes another handing error they can't defend. It leads
Speaker 4: to a try, Lindsay's at Lindsay Collins era try and
Speaker 4: then Afar who White who has been easily their best
Speaker 4: player all year, their best, most consistent player, comes up
Speaker 4: with a loose spoor, a brain snap moment that hands
Speaker 4: over a possession that allows Jock Madden to kick the
Speaker 4: field goal. So you know that was really you know,
Speaker 4: it was discipline and not being able to back up defensively.
Speaker 4: On the back of that poor discipline, we hurt them.
Speaker 1: Wilto be really happy about the Roosters Warriors. So this
Speaker 1: is out out of those top three teams, the three contenders,
Speaker 1: they've probably been in the best form in recent months.
Speaker 1: They actually had the toughest game in the round as well.
Speaker 1: They were the only one going up against a strong
Speaker 1: Top eight team, and as much as there was a
Speaker 1: fight back from the rabbit O's, the Warriors really just
Speaker 1: showed their premiership credentials. My thought on the Warriors right
Speaker 1: now is that I don't actually think it matters who's
Speaker 1: playing in the halves, not because they're inconsequential positions, but
Speaker 1: that's how clean and clear Andrew Webster's system is. But
Speaker 1: as well as how dominant his pack is they play.
Speaker 1: I've been having online this week for saying the Warriors
Speaker 1: play boring footy, but I don't mean boring in that
Speaker 1: it's not creative. It's just that get down the field,
Speaker 1: kick to your corner, put pressure on, put increase your
Speaker 1: line speed, make them make a mistake, and then capitalize
Speaker 1: on the back of that bulldog. When you say, survey
Speaker 1: the three title contenders at the moment, where do you
Speaker 1: put the worry?
Speaker 3: Well, I went out on a limb two weeks ago
Speaker 3: and I said it would be East the West in
Speaker 3: the Grand Finals, which is Roosters the Panthers.
Speaker 2: We shan't let you forget.
Speaker 3: No, you shan't, And I'm more than happy for you
Speaker 3: to bring it up when you want. Having said that,
Speaker 3: I can't go back on my word, so I'm going
Speaker 3: to sit here right now and stick with what I've said.
Speaker 3: Otherwise it looks like I'm pissed week and I don't
Speaker 3: want to do.
Speaker 2: That, or you're open to new information.
Speaker 3: I don't know. But look, to be fair, they still
Speaker 3: all are on thirty six points. Yeah, so it's not
Speaker 3: like one of those two are fallen away. The Panthers
Speaker 3: will be right there, as will the Roosters, but certainly
Speaker 3: in terms of form and momentum, which is crucial at
Speaker 3: this point of the year, you find the good teams
Speaker 3: start to build that momentum about three weeks out that's
Speaker 3: right here, right now, and the Warrior's big pack of
Speaker 3: forwards are just absolutely pausing, creating havoc.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yep, I think I write about it.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 4: I did write about it in the Tackle, about the
Speaker 4: Warrior's power game, and I think that's what sets them apart.
Speaker 4: Like if you look at you know, the teams that
Speaker 4: have those sort of dominant forward packs, the Warriors for
Speaker 4: me right now playing the best power game in the NRL,
Speaker 4: but also their bench, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 4: their bench Come on, and you know there was Eddie
Speaker 4: Arama Taba who for me had a bit of a
Speaker 4: breakout game. He makes a break and I think he
Speaker 4: sets up Chanelle Harris to Beta. It might have been,
Speaker 4: but he makes that break from an even just as
Speaker 4: unbelievable pass from Demetric Bymonga, you know. So. Yeah, I
Speaker 4: just love the way they play. Yes, it's simple, but
Speaker 4: at the same time you want to watch them because
Speaker 4: you want to see all the freaky things they're forwards
Speaker 4: can come up with. What I liked about their result
Speaker 4: the most is Yes, you're right, bulldog. They're all on
Speaker 4: equal points, but there is a single point separating the
Speaker 4: Warriors and Penrith, and I love that they were cocky
Speaker 4: enough to go after that single point, to put themselves
Speaker 4: at the top of the ladder.
Speaker 2: That would have been a direction coming down from the
Speaker 2: coaching box, right.
Speaker 1: I'm sure, come on, yeah, if you're putting a field
Speaker 1: got this is so disrespectful.
Speaker 3: Look at the Warriors. You see the lot of the
Speaker 3: don't you. Andrew Webster learned his craft, he learned under Ivan.
Speaker 3: He obviously listened, he learned, he digested, he was educated,
Speaker 3: and there's a lot of similarities in the way that
Speaker 3: they play. And if you look at Coach of the Year,
Speaker 3: it was only last week I was seeing in the
Speaker 3: praises of Justin Holbrook if he could have taken them
Speaker 3: from last seventeenth, the fourth or fifth, he's coach of
Speaker 3: the year. But it can change very quickly. One bad
Speaker 3: loss and you look now and you think, gee, how
Speaker 3: can we go past Andrew Webster. He's going to have
Speaker 3: to be coach of the year, isn't he.
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 1: I still rate Wholebrook just because of the story. I
Speaker 1: don't know what influences how that decision is made, but
Speaker 1: to take a team from the Doldrims into the top
Speaker 1: eight is impressive. But Andrew Webster's equally is impressive. And
Speaker 1: that's the thing we talk about their bench, their forwards
Speaker 1: coming through, forward's coming off the bench. It's really easy
Speaker 1: to have a great next man up culture when you
Speaker 1: have an excellent system. So I think there's times where
Speaker 1: it's like the attention goes to the players, but it
Speaker 1: overlooks how much great work Andrew Webster and his coaching
Speaker 1: staff have done.
Speaker 3: Just going to meander to the left here with the
Speaker 3: Coach of the Year, you look at the and there's
Speaker 3: a few contenders. I think it's an award that has
Speaker 3: to go and hold until Grand Final day. I think
Speaker 3: all the other awards can be handed out at the
Speaker 3: Daim Medal, which is a glittering night. But I think
Speaker 3: the Coach of the year it should probably be announced
Speaker 3: on the rostrum when they hand out the trophy.
Speaker 2: Well, this is good.
Speaker 3: I think the premiership winning coach pretty much you get
Speaker 3: it most year.
Speaker 2: Oh I was going to say, is that what you
Speaker 2: think it should be?
Speaker 1: Because people say it should be iving, it should be
Speaker 1: even clear a year after year after year, So like
Speaker 1: why are we talking about Hoolebrook. Some people say it's
Speaker 1: not the most improved coach award, it's the best coach
Speaker 1: of the competition.
Speaker 2: So for you on that, do you.
Speaker 1: View it as the best coach as the coach that
Speaker 1: got their team to win the camp or it created
Speaker 1: the most transformation in their team.
Speaker 3: The criteria for Coach of the Year is uncertain. We
Speaker 3: don't actually know. I don't think it's ever been actually
Speaker 3: fed out a blueprint as to why you are voting
Speaker 3: for the Coach of the year. But you will have
Speaker 3: coaches who have done extraordinary well, like a whole book example.
Speaker 3: But the coach of the year should really be the
Speaker 3: bloke that holds up the trophy. He's got his side
Speaker 3: to win the premiership. I just think that, no matter
Speaker 3: how many arguments you throw forward, he's the best coach
Speaker 3: of the comp because he's got his side there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I viewed it's like, well, he gets to
Speaker 1: have the premiership credential though, premiership winning coach. I love
Speaker 1: the story. I really love the story of the Knights
Speaker 1: this year. Like, yeah, everyone wrote them off. I bet
Speaker 1: you two wrote them off. I didn't write them off,
Speaker 1: but no one thought that they would be good this year,
Speaker 1: especially after that trial game against the Bulldogs. You know,
Speaker 1: they've gone and scored forty seven more tries this season
Speaker 1: compared to last. Their attack was completely revolutionized, and even
Speaker 1: that game and they were woeful against mainly they were
Speaker 1: absolutely terrible.
Speaker 2: But that was their first.
Speaker 1: Loss by more than two points since Round eight. What
Speaker 1: is this team we're watching like? For me, that's a
Speaker 1: coach with incredible credentials. I'm voting I'm still going for
Speaker 1: Hoolebrook for Coach of the Year. Well, the true identity
Speaker 1: of signing double O seven has been revealed. Joey Marnu
Speaker 1: is joining the Chiefs. He said that he would only
Speaker 1: ever go back to the Roosters, but I guess tax
Speaker 1: free money.
Speaker 2: Talks, Bulldog. What are you making of the Chiefs?
Speaker 3: Now? Great bye, No doubt about that. Joey marn who
Speaker 3: was an elite player in the Enneral several years ago,
Speaker 3: he adds to what is an obviously incredibly impressive recruitment drive. However,
Speaker 3: I want to point this out. Okay, let's go through
Speaker 3: the list one by one. Brian Totto outstanding, absolutely outstanding,
Speaker 3: Alex Johnson wonderful player, getting too all the end of
Speaker 3: his career wrecked.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: Zak Lomax will have been at rugby for a year
Speaker 3: picking up god knows how many bad habits. Joey Marnho
Speaker 3: French rugby four three two or three two or three
Speaker 3: French rugby back to the general is an incredibly big
Speaker 3: jump to make. We look at Jerome Leuy. His form
Speaker 3: this year has been patchy at best. He's got another
Speaker 3: year next year before he goes there is a year
Speaker 3: old and that year is at Paramatta hardly setting the
Speaker 3: competition on fire. So and Kinda Watson is obviously getting
Speaker 3: older as well. So you look at that roster. It
Speaker 3: looks great on paper. I'm just trying to break it
Speaker 3: down to say, I don't think it's as impressive as
Speaker 3: what some people think.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's got a lot of star power to it.
Speaker 1: But I would suggest that most of the players that
Speaker 1: they've signed this might be their last contract. But by
Speaker 1: the time I think Leui and to O we're get
Speaker 1: into the Chiefs are going to be nearing thirty. I
Speaker 1: think Manu will be thirty two. They don't have that
Speaker 1: much footy left in them. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: so what are you saying Boulder, do you think that
Speaker 1: they'll make the AID? Do you think that they're building
Speaker 1: a squad that will be respectable.
Speaker 3: I don't know about the age of shit. I want
Speaker 3: to know about their forwards. Yeah, because their forwards are
Speaker 3: very light on. I want to know about their forwards.
Speaker 3: I can have a bit more of an educated stab.
Speaker 3: I guess as to where they'll finish in that year. One. Look,
Speaker 3: it's going on a different path the Perth. They're going
Speaker 3: down the tradesman like path. This mob's going down the
Speaker 3: glamour path. And that's fine. That's a good analyswent My
Speaker 3: only as I said, my only reservation here is that
Speaker 3: the signings look very good on paper, but when you
Speaker 3: peel it back individually, there's a few flaws in there,
Speaker 3: which are people I don't think are digesting fully.
Speaker 4: But there's also a lot of experience and a lot
Speaker 4: of premierships. Yeah you know what I mean. So yeah,
Speaker 4: and I do see where Bulldogs coming from. It feels
Speaker 4: like you could probably there's a question mark you could
Speaker 4: put aside next to every signing, but you look at
Speaker 4: what they've achieved at the NRL, what they all rep
Speaker 4: players in some form. So yeah, I think they're putting
Speaker 4: together a pretty good team.
Speaker 1: People said they remember when the Dolphins came in and
Speaker 1: people thought they were going to be terrible because they
Speaker 1: sold They signed a lot of old players from the
Speaker 1: Storm and a lot of experience that seems to work
Speaker 1: with a new franchise getting that experience where we've seen
Speaker 1: at least proof concept.
Speaker 2: So I don't think that.
Speaker 1: I don't think the Chiefs will be Premiership contenders. That's definitely.
Speaker 1: They're absolutely assembling a top eight squad. Though a lot
Speaker 1: of fans, though of other clubs, are really frustrated, Bulldog.
Speaker 1: They say it's unfair. This tax free salary for the
Speaker 1: players is just creating an completely unfair playing field.
Speaker 2: Do you think it's unfair?
Speaker 3: Of course, it's unfair, but every club agreed to it. Yeah,
Speaker 3: all the clubs knew what was going to happen. They
Speaker 3: just didn't look at the fine detail. They were offered
Speaker 3: the four million and they're all greedy gutses and they
Speaker 3: grab the money and guess what four million bucks was
Speaker 3: offered to me? I grab it too, yeh. What I'm
Speaker 3: saying is, though they didn't go through and really look
Speaker 3: at the fine print down the bottom which said tax free,
Speaker 3: contract acts, free third parties. Now they've realized, Holy hell,
Speaker 3: this is the bomb that's gone off in the in
Speaker 3: a row. None of us anticipated this. We all thought
Speaker 3: that P and G would run Stone Motherless last, and
Speaker 3: yet here we are talking about them potentially being a
Speaker 3: top eight in their first year. So it's unfair. But
Speaker 3: who's to blame. The NRL, I think had to give
Speaker 3: them some concessions, otherwise they would have been a disaster.
Speaker 3: And no one wants any new club to come in
Speaker 3: and be crap from year one. They're not going to
Speaker 3: be and that's because of the contract situation.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 4: Yeah. And not only did they take the money, but
Speaker 4: a part of me still feels like I'm talking to
Speaker 4: club types, is they really underestimated the Chiefs's ability to
Speaker 4: be able to now somebody like the why And once
Speaker 4: they did that, all of a sudden, the Dominoes four became.
Speaker 3: A cool place to go to some degree, where before
Speaker 3: that it was a place you wouldn't compound in the
Speaker 3: third world nation.
Speaker 4: There. Yeah, you know, look just on that. I think
Speaker 4: at the same time that obviously those players are going
Speaker 4: to PNG because they believe in the vision, you know,
Speaker 4: they're happy to take their families there. They think they
Speaker 4: can relocate start a new life there. The rest of it,
Speaker 4: I think also the chiefs so would deep down know
Speaker 4: that they will probably end up giving more releases on
Speaker 4: compassionate grounds. And it would not surprise me if it's
Speaker 4: a couple of the players. Not that I know anything
Speaker 4: about this, but you know what I mean. There's also
Speaker 4: happens for the warrant that they can't anticipate that. Yes,
Speaker 4: I've got everybody on board for now, but those players
Speaker 4: still going to feel the same after twelve months, after
Speaker 4: twenty four months.
Speaker 3: They'll have the biggest rotation roster and then a rule
Speaker 3: by far, you won't see a Tom Traboy Wach type
Speaker 3: any year player at P ANDNG. They'll be there for
Speaker 3: their two years, then they're out. You said they're sharing
Speaker 3: in their vision. I think they're sharing in their cash.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I don't know where there's any vision at all, or
Speaker 3: that can be the concern. That's and you know what,
Speaker 3: I've got no problem with that. I've always said when
Speaker 3: footy players come out and say it's not about the money,
Speaker 3: it is, and good luck to you. I'd take the
Speaker 3: money as well. I don't know why these rugby league
Speaker 3: players have to come out and feel at some sort
Speaker 3: of moral dilemma to say that you've gone for the cash.
Speaker 3: Take the money down, blokes, go and set yourself up
Speaker 3: for life.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's the thing. So the other criticism of
Speaker 1: this team is that they are motivated by the paycheck,
Speaker 1: not the premiership. They are going there to get the
Speaker 1: really great deal. It's not like they grew up going gosh,
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to play for Papua New Guinea. This
Speaker 1: is just an opportunity that they've taken on that. The
Speaker 1: clubs took the four million dollars, and I would take
Speaker 1: four million dollars too. What I wouldn't do is then
Speaker 1: winge about the four million dollars that I got because
Speaker 1: I didn't inspect the fine print.
Speaker 2: Bulldog.
Speaker 1: I'm going to throw it to a question to you
Speaker 1: to clear it for our fans in a second. But
Speaker 1: fans that are upset about the chiefs and the tax
Speaker 1: free salary exemptions that they're getting, they really should be
Speaker 1: taking out their fury at the clubs.
Speaker 2: The clubs signed off on it.
Speaker 1: The CEOs can't come out and say we're not into
Speaker 1: this because they've signed the deal.
Speaker 2: I suspect we're going to see.
Speaker 1: Far more coaches and players connected to clubs come out
Speaker 1: and criticize it.
Speaker 2: The clubs can't because they took the money.
Speaker 1: But there is an important caveat here that I want
Speaker 1: to clear up with your bulldog. So a lot of
Speaker 1: fans out there think that because they have the tax
Speaker 1: free exemption, that and it's doubling what they're paying, it
Speaker 1: means they can underpay players.
Speaker 2: But that's not how it works with the salary cap,
Speaker 2: is it. Now?
Speaker 3: The salary cap does state quite clearly that you have
Speaker 3: to the n ROR will set some form of a
Speaker 3: value on every player. So for example, Hudson Young can't
Speaker 3: go there for six hundred thousand dollars. He's clearly a
Speaker 3: lot better than that that the NRL will say, we
Speaker 3: think he's valued at nine hundred whatever it may be.
Speaker 3: So it's not correct what you're saying. The NORAL will
Speaker 3: step in and for Tiamy, you understand it to be
Speaker 3: the same that the NORAL will put an individual value
Speaker 3: on every single player.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the way I understand it is the salary cap
Speaker 4: order star will expect that they are registered as market
Speaker 4: value at fair value.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so, and that means that at Hudson Young can't
Speaker 1: go for six hundred, It's going to be closer to
Speaker 1: a million, which means that every single signing at the
Speaker 1: Chiefs will be a superstar because they have to play
Speaker 1: the players what they're worth. They're not getting Jerome Leuie
Speaker 1: for seven hundred thousand, they're paying one point two. They
Speaker 1: have the same salary cap. Peter Landy's tried to explain
Speaker 1: that did a poor job at it, but he is
Speaker 1: saying like eventually every spot will be filled, but it
Speaker 1: won't be filled completely with superstars.
Speaker 3: I think what the club's fear, and it's a genuine fear,
Speaker 3: is that they just can't compete. They know if P
Speaker 3: and G come hunting one of their guns, they just
Speaker 3: throw their hands up. Now, what can we do? The
Speaker 3: Raiders of table the one point one million dollar offer
Speaker 3: a year over three years for Hudson Young, it's three
Speaker 3: point three. They ain't going to cut it. That's the
Speaker 3: biggest offer in the history of Camber going back to
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty two. And they still know that if P
Speaker 3: and G want him, they'll probably get him.
Speaker 4: Let's see what clubs are also doing in that breath
Speaker 4: is that they're allowing players to talk before November one
Speaker 4: just to.
Speaker 3: Pang Yeah, so why do you think that's happening, Because
Speaker 3: they want to know if you're going to go, then
Speaker 3: we want to know. Now. We don't want to hang
Speaker 3: around to November one because we want our money to
Speaker 3: go and plan to sign him, him, upgrade him, and
Speaker 3: then that's how the money is going to be spent.
Speaker 3: But by waiting around in November one, it's a ticking
Speaker 3: time bomb which just waits to go off, and it
Speaker 3: goes boom on November one, and by then other players
Speaker 3: may well have potentially decided privately to move elsewhere.
Speaker 1: Well, at the end of the day, this was never
Speaker 1: going to work unless there was some advantage given to
Speaker 1: the chiefs. So fans can winge about it, complain about it,
Speaker 1: but it's the CEOs who signed the deal. Well, as
Speaker 1: much as I'm sure the teams that are currently in
Speaker 1: the top eight wish it was settled. There's still hope.
Speaker 1: There's a glimmer, the tiniest glimmer of hope for Manly fans.
Speaker 1: It's not going to happen, but the Bulldogs generally have
Speaker 1: a shot of making the top eight Bulldog I'll go
Speaker 1: to you. Is this top eight settled?
Speaker 3: Well, No, clearly it's not settled because of the state
Speaker 3: of the table in terms of points. I think the
Speaker 3: top eight now will be the top eight. I don't
Speaker 3: think the Doggies will get there or bet they can
Speaker 3: still so as far as I can see there one
Speaker 3: went outside of the eight on twenty six points and
Speaker 3: the two teams above them on twenty eight other Cowboys
Speaker 3: and South Sydney. So technically we've got three going into two,
Speaker 3: haven't we if we really want to peel it back
Speaker 3: and make it simplistic. So it's up to whether the
Speaker 3: Doggies can pick up two wins, which they have to do.
Speaker 3: You've written down there. For Tima they play the Panthers
Speaker 3: and the Broncos. So look, I think the Panthers can
Speaker 3: end the Bulldog's hopes and that would mean I guess
Speaker 3: going to the final round that the top eight hunt
Speaker 3: is finished.
Speaker 1: But for Tima you need to win some points a
Speaker 1: Bulldogs fans, so do you think they can make it?
Speaker 3: Do?
Speaker 4: I need to win points the Bulldogs fans, I think
Speaker 4: all I think they can beat Brisbane in the final round.
Speaker 4: They showed they've got Penrith's money in round six. I
Speaker 4: think it was interestingly for Penrith with no Jack Coggo
Speaker 4: who's been suspended, Ivan Cleary now has to make a
Speaker 4: decision about whether Blaze to Lunge comes in or whether
Speaker 4: he goes with Jack Cole. And it was that game
Speaker 4: in round six that really exposed Blaze to Lunge's defensive issues.
Speaker 4: Like Galvin and Preston, who were really good on the weekend,
Speaker 4: That combination with Matt Burden being on that right side
Speaker 4: as well, really exposed him that It'd be interesting to
Speaker 4: see what decision their IBN makes. Look Canibury were good
Speaker 4: on the weekend. Penrith I think found a bit of
Speaker 4: their mojo back. I think they I called them ratherless
Speaker 4: without Asao last week. I think Nathan Cleary handled you know,
Speaker 4: being without Yo a lot better against Melbourne. I can't
Speaker 4: see them winning Penrith, beat beating Penrith, so I think
Speaker 4: that's what will hurt their chancest to the end.
Speaker 1: It's a super steep hill to climb. Except if this
Speaker 1: is why it's nerve racking right now for rabbit Os
Speaker 1: and Cowboys fans. If that there's one team that delivers
Speaker 1: and performs against the Panthers, It's the Bulldogs. And that's
Speaker 1: why Bulldogs fans won't give up hope because they know
Speaker 1: that this team. In fact, if there's a team SURROUNDO
Speaker 1: knows how to beat and how to play against, it's
Speaker 1: the Panthers. So it could be this is going to
Speaker 1: be so exciting, it could be agonizing, or it could
Speaker 1: we could be going into the last round still not
Speaker 1: knowing the top eight, which is always awesome.
Speaker 2: For the season.
Speaker 1: And now for our final segment of our weekly episode,
Speaker 1: fans bs Messages of the week. If you are pissed off,
Speaker 1: if something's got you wound up, if you've got a
Speaker 1: strong hot take, we want to hear it.
Speaker 2: We've got two here for team.
Speaker 1: We're going to throw this one to you from Scott
Speaker 1: from Kayama, Lovely place to live, tax free, P and
Speaker 1: G deals. Now about beating NRL clubs, the game is
Speaker 1: chasing money, not passion.
Speaker 4: A bit of yes and a bit of no on
Speaker 4: that one. I mean, is there more passionate face when
Speaker 4: it comes to Rugbilly than PNG?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 4: Yeah, there isn't. They absolutely love it. And you know,
Speaker 4: like Bulldog said, which player really deep down. Isn't chasing money?
Speaker 3: Eric, I don't understand the question. Is it the game
Speaker 3: is chasing money?
Speaker 4: What does the game is chasing money.
Speaker 2: About the investment?
Speaker 1: Like would you ever go to P and G unless
Speaker 1: the massive amounts of money were available from the government?
Speaker 3: Okay, No, I get what he's say. I guess. Look,
Speaker 3: there are some issues there that the players are going
Speaker 3: to have to confront, but it's all going to be
Speaker 3: smothered by rivers of gold.
Speaker 1: It's all about the money. Scott, Sorry, mate, bulldog, throw
Speaker 1: this one to you. This is a spicy one from
Speaker 1: Gus in Melbourne, one of the few fans down there. Okay,
Speaker 1: So Bellamy's empire crumbles as young guns fail to fill
Speaker 1: the boots of legends. Is the end of an era?
Speaker 1: Is this the end of an era? In Melbourne?
Speaker 2: Gus thinks so.
Speaker 3: No, Gus, I can't agree. From memory. They've got Jermaina,
Speaker 3: Sarco and Bronson Cherry going down there. A couple of
Speaker 3: handy boyers, particularly Osako has been absolutely outstanding this year.
Speaker 3: He'll take over from will Warlbrick, who's going back to
Speaker 3: the Warriors. But look, while they got their spine there,
Speaker 3: Harry Jerome cam and so far long ago back there,
Speaker 3: They'll always be competitive. They throw a few extra players
Speaker 3: in there. Look, is Melbourne's empire over in terms of
Speaker 3: winning premierships? Probably? But are they going to be successful
Speaker 3: next year? I think they will be. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it's just a course. The rules this year
Speaker 1: really hampered. It took too long for Melbourne to adjust,
Speaker 1: and then the rules changed back. The key issue for
Speaker 1: Storm is that they just don't have the forwards right now.
Speaker 1: It all hinges on Stefano and when he's off, it's
Speaker 1: not that much to do with the spine they've been injured.
Speaker 1: I reckon that Melbourne are too great a club in
Speaker 1: Bellum is too good a coach to be written off.
Speaker 1: So Gus, we disagree mate. The empire is not crumbling.
Speaker 1: They've just had a rough season. I disagree with Bulldog.
Speaker 1: I think they still could win one, even though I
Speaker 1: hate the Storm. All Right, folks, thanks so much for
Speaker 1: joining in. We'll catch you next week, and don't forget
Speaker 1: this Fozball lives