Speaker 1: Hey coops could be back, mate, Yeah, good for some.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, welcome back and happy birthday. Happy sixty
Speaker 2: fifth birthday.
Speaker 3: Mate fifty five.
Speaker 2: I was not sixty five any birthday presents. And I
Speaker 2: get the spoilers today.
Speaker 3: That's a sore point.
Speaker 1: Got up and well, last year you're going a paper shredder.
Speaker 1: I mean who shreds paper? Honestly, And this.
Speaker 3: Year she got she just got me like car washed detergent.
Speaker 1: And it was like, is that for the shower or mate?
Speaker 1: She just goes like what's that? She goes, Oh, your
Speaker 1: cars always filthy. She goes your dirty cars, look at
Speaker 1: the drug dealer's car. I was like, Jesus, think I'm unbelievable.
Speaker 1: So I was like, oh, what's this?
Speaker 3: And you know, and then it ends up in a
Speaker 3: bit of an argument. Anyway, it's rumor day.
Speaker 1: But hey, on a different thanks, mate, I've got a
Speaker 1: bond to pick with you. By the way, yesterday the
Speaker 1: Titans were just flying. We hit halftime, Jayden Campbell playing
Speaker 1: the game of his life and honestly, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're working for the dragons. But
Speaker 1: let's just have a look at book. What took place
Speaker 1: this one. Yeah, yeah, I felt so bad, mate, I
Speaker 1: felt so bad. And there's this one from last week
Speaker 1: that was horrific, and of course this one, Coops, the
Speaker 1: beauty made unbelievable.
Speaker 2: You know, coming with excuse singers on your birthday. You'll
Speaker 2: be working on that all weekend.
Speaker 3: I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go now today.
Speaker 1: The Adam Dewey situation, Coops, it's been ongoing.
Speaker 3: It's been the big story the last four or five days.
Speaker 3: You know, if we go over, we don't recap it again.
Speaker 1: First we came out these head walked out of training
Speaker 1: because he didn't want to play, you know, a bench
Speaker 1: slash thirteen year roll.
Speaker 3: Everyone was saying they had to be more than that.
Speaker 3: But then Brett Comorley came out and said he had
Speaker 3: to experienced his interim coach there before.
Speaker 1: Another said he was making a statement about the culture
Speaker 1: of the club. If you're going to make a statement
Speaker 1: of the culture of the club, I don't think you
Speaker 1: walk out and leave you yeah, leave your teammates and
Speaker 1: the look yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got no idea. What is real? What is not?
Speaker 2: It's not a good look for Adam himself to Benji
Speaker 2: and three of the Tigers. Generally speaking, they had a
Speaker 2: meeting today and apparently he's back in at training. What
Speaker 2: would I do in that situation. Look, in the early
Speaker 2: parts of my career, I was only a young kid.
Speaker 2: I got asked to play multiple persons, right, So even
Speaker 2: if it happened at the back end, even if you
Speaker 2: don't like it, you get a little bit of arrogant
Speaker 2: about yourself and you got yes, coach, I will do it.
Speaker 2: And I would have gone out if I'm out to
Speaker 2: do it and been the best player in that field
Speaker 2: in number thirteen. Yeah, I would have tackled myself to
Speaker 2: a standstill, would have carried the ball. I just would
Speaker 2: not have taken the easy way out. Now he stand
Speaker 2: out for something maybe years, but I feel like he
Speaker 2: to go through that pain and that hurt to have
Speaker 2: more respect in that team than stepping off sideways. Just
Speaker 2: be really hard for him to walk back into that
Speaker 2: club and be part of the team.
Speaker 1: Well, firstly, in the thirteen role, let's face it, he
Speaker 1: wasn't going to play the Bradley Clyde Talmalalo thirteen role,
Speaker 1: which was just the meta reador thirteen in these days
Speaker 1: takes on many forms and a lot of it, like
Speaker 1: the Isaiah Yeah role, you're a lot of mostly first
Speaker 1: receiver and so look, I I've said this a couple
Speaker 1: of times, but I've seen Adam places schoolboy and he's
Speaker 1: always been a bloke who's been stuck between positions a
Speaker 1: little bit. But I've always been the belief that once
Speaker 1: he starts to thicken out that I thought his best
Speaker 1: spot would be thirteen. I think you've been outstanding thirteen,
Speaker 1: but that's by the boy Roosters and Storm. You've been
Speaker 1: in some really strong cultures, you know, Teams Club's big leadership.
Speaker 1: Does he walk back into that dressing room.
Speaker 2: Really hard to like. I think even Benji's got part
Speaker 2: of the problem here too, Like there would have to
Speaker 2: be a lot of getting the information out there in
Speaker 2: front of the group, but just being about Adam, like, yes,
Speaker 2: it would struggle. I would be at the point of
Speaker 2: there's a door, don't let a hitch on the way out.
Speaker 2: That would be my personal reaction. Now, if I'm Benji
Speaker 2: and he's coming back saying apologies or whatever and sits
Speaker 2: in front of the group, If I'm Benji Marshall, I'm
Speaker 2: picking him at thirteen again this week. Absolutely and see
Speaker 2: if what he does, because then the Tigers are in
Speaker 2: a they're in spiral mode, both performance wise and reputation wise.
Speaker 2: He wouldn't have lasted in the cultures I was in.
Speaker 2: But if there was some type of coming back to
Speaker 2: the fold, I'm putting him straight back into thirteen saying
Speaker 2: let's go do it together.
Speaker 1: And we can't walk back into the club and go
Speaker 1: into a meeting and come out winning one hundred nil,
Speaker 1: Benji without a shadow over doubt.
Speaker 3: If you're not coming through the news, if you're not
Speaker 3: coming through the New.
Speaker 1: South Wales Cup, we're on the bench, we're in seven
Speaker 1: or six, you're playing thirteen, and.
Speaker 2: He's probably the best seven at the club. Like he
Speaker 2: is right, and he may have taken a hit and
Speaker 2: the ego about it, But put the ego on the
Speaker 2: back door and go on, like I said before, just
Speaker 2: go and prove Benji wrong, Like, have a little bit
Speaker 2: of arrogance about your performance. Not that it's selfish. I'm
Speaker 2: talking about just a bit of swagger and confidence and
Speaker 2: go improve people wrong and then to walk out they
Speaker 2: get beaten fifty, then to walk back in and say sorry.
Speaker 2: If I'm Benji, I'm putting him back into thirteen.
Speaker 3: Javan andrews By.
Speaker 1: That kid had to go down there with a lot
Speaker 1: of pressure on his shoulders side that was in the
Speaker 1: spotlight and without the best side around him. And at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, he deserves to play seven
Speaker 1: with the best team around him, and it's impossible.
Speaker 2: It's hard being a rookie seven. We have seen so
Speaker 2: many good kids come into our game and be part
Speaker 2: of a bad team for the first year or two
Speaker 2: and struggle to be the player they expect they had
Speaker 2: been at schoolboy level. So you know, I think this
Speaker 2: is a mess and there's only a couple of people
Speaker 2: that can truly fix it, Benji and Adam, right, But
Speaker 2: then this whole Tigers and where they are it has
Speaker 2: to be play led because benjis just thrown himself out
Speaker 2: in front of everyone, the media, and that these players
Speaker 2: need to respond because you could say that Adam playing
Speaker 2: thirteen watch watch Benji wanted he would have been a
Speaker 2: much better middle defensive player than any other of those
Speaker 2: middle defenders Tigers delivered on the weekend. The way they
Speaker 2: played there was gaps, holes, lazy efforts everywhere, and maybe
Speaker 2: that was why Benji wanted him to play that we
Speaker 2: don't know that, but yeah, they're in a mess.
Speaker 1: The last couple of weeks, could just you draw in
Speaker 1: your own experiences, in your own dressing room experiences to
Speaker 1: expect or to sort of anticipate what to expect from
Speaker 1: a side who's underreversed like that, and both the last
Speaker 1: two weeks, I've anticipated that Tiger's really came out and
Speaker 1: make a statement and they'll be worse.
Speaker 2: And if Adam's trying to improve the culture, you know,
Speaker 2: the standards you walk past or the standards you accept. Right,
Speaker 2: So instead of like you know, pitchfork in the ground
Speaker 2: and exiting, how about you clip the guys for not
Speaker 2: doing the work in the gym, clip the guys for
Speaker 2: not doing the efforts of the extras after train. That's
Speaker 2: true leadership. True leadership is having strong conversations and accountability
Speaker 2: and getting changed that way, not just tools down. I'm out.
Speaker 1: The other one too, Cooper is Jerome, who's going there
Speaker 1: next year. It's been well documented, documented and a lot
Speaker 1: of people saying, well, now it's now Benji looks to
Speaker 1: the future and Jerome gets dropped.
Speaker 3: It can't do that to the young, to the young siety.
Speaker 3: In my opinion.
Speaker 1: With young Andrews and all these other young players in
Speaker 1: the side, you need Jerome there to drop your most
Speaker 1: experienced bloke and say we're going to plan for the future.
Speaker 3: He does know any help getting flogged every single week.
Speaker 2: And that's why I find this whole situation bafflely. Like,
Speaker 2: if I'm Benji Marshall and I'm want to make your
Speaker 2: career out of coaching, I want to make the Tigers
Speaker 2: great again, I wouldn't have let Jerome Lui go. Like
Speaker 2: he's the only guy really that's achieved a lot over
Speaker 2: a long period of time. What he did at Penrith.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of lessons that he can pass on
Speaker 2: to Andrews. Right, and now Dewey might be out. Is
Speaker 2: the next crop of young halves at Benji has, are
Speaker 2: they truly going to be the guy that deliver ten
Speaker 2: out of ten performance most weeks for Benji to because
Speaker 2: if they're in this position next year, Benji's under threat.
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of a lot of dominoes to
Speaker 2: play out.
Speaker 3: But I just must have made it.
Speaker 1: Honestly, it must hurt when you're paying your best, like
Speaker 1: five hundred thousand dollars to Western Sydney rival to take
Speaker 1: him that next year. It's great pick up for Paramatter.
Speaker 1: People are saying, oh, one you deal made, he'd be
Speaker 1: great for Paramatter. He's going to partner with Moses, can
Speaker 1: help those young guys come through a bit of success
Speaker 1: there possibly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and hopefully for Tigers fans there's light of around
Speaker 2: the tunnel. But we've been saying that for ten years
Speaker 2: out Tigers coops.
Speaker 1: This season competition at the moment, it's shaping up a
Speaker 1: bit of a survival of the fittest.
Speaker 3: Isn't it.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing about it, isn't like through a
Speaker 1: There's so many important factors in winning a competition. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you get the in the preseason or your you know
Speaker 1: your fitness work, you're talking about all your tactic work,
Speaker 1: you're reading in your attack, your defense, all your principles,
Speaker 1: but made at the end of the day, sometimes you
Speaker 1: know one of the biggest factor can be Oftentimes, just
Speaker 1: like as far as injury, your season can fall apart
Speaker 1: on a tackle gone wrong.
Speaker 3: Sindos Mosis.
Speaker 2: Look at Newcastle, i'man Brown and Lucas calen Ponger still
Speaker 2: not one hundred percent, but Newcastle had done all the
Speaker 2: right things up until this point, sitting seventh. Now there's
Speaker 2: a question mark whether they can get to September because
Speaker 2: you take Dylan Brown and Lucas out of there. With
Speaker 2: Kaylan he might play this weekend, might not. Now all
Speaker 2: of a sudden they're vulnerable. They have done so much
Speaker 2: good stuff this year Newcastle Knights to turn around what
Speaker 2: they did last year and as you said, luck two
Speaker 2: of their best players gone down in the space of
Speaker 2: a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1: Last like the last three weeks coup not just injuries.
Speaker 1: They've lost by two points, the week after two points
Speaker 1: and against the Rooster's a point.
Speaker 2: But they were scrapping through a couple of those wins
Speaker 2: prior to that. The two points are two points, so
Speaker 2: like they were doing a lot of things. Now now
Speaker 2: Dylan Brown is more than two points of that team,
Speaker 2: like he is Dylan Lucas. It's more than two points
Speaker 2: of that team.
Speaker 1: It's funny he went in Dylan Brown when he's had
Speaker 1: a partial two of the ACL and it's gone, so
Speaker 1: now he has to go and get the full operation.
Speaker 3: It hurts, has no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: Big opportunity for Fletcher Sharp, huge opportunity, but.
Speaker 3: He gave the six and he and Kaylen's side.
Speaker 2: Now, yeah, and this is the story of the Nights
Speaker 2: before Dylan Brown arrived and Sharp was available. Last year,
Speaker 2: it was all wherever Kaylen is, double team him, force
Speaker 2: someone else to win the game. Right, So now defenses
Speaker 2: are going to do exactly the same thing. But all
Speaker 2: the good stuff that Caylen was doing was because Dylan
Speaker 2: Brown was doing a lot of good stuff in the
Speaker 2: past between to help him with the space. So I
Speaker 2: think it's going to be a real challenge for Newcastle
Speaker 2: to get September now, simply because I think teams will
Speaker 2: double team Klein from here on out.
Speaker 3: Daniel two po to shoulder reconstruction.
Speaker 1: Look will need surgery. They're going to try to rehabit.
Speaker 1: I hate for this the way to end for Dinial.
Speaker 2: We've seen a number of players over the course of
Speaker 2: the last ten years shot of pops out do a
Speaker 2: little bit of rehab, strong enough to get through that
Speaker 2: others it comes out at any time. So it's literally
Speaker 2: a flip of a coin for.
Speaker 3: The World Cup.
Speaker 1: Two yeah, may gus t what now game TEDSCA. There's
Speaker 1: still elements of the Rooster's attack, which is really inconsistent
Speaker 1: went to disco in one second.
Speaker 3: It's interesting, that, isn't it?
Speaker 1: Like you got I'm looking at the Rooster's attack and
Speaker 1: you know it's just you know, you can have great
Speaker 1: sets and all of a sudden, you know there's little
Speaker 1: bits like I was thinking about what trying to work
Speaker 1: it out in a lot of ways. You know, DC
Speaker 1: and Semmi Walker are both very unorthodox reactive halfbacks, you know, and.
Speaker 2: They moved they moved sideways first, yeah, straight.
Speaker 1: And you know they're unpredictably, un predicabarly. Sometimes can really
Speaker 1: work for you, but other times it makes it difficult
Speaker 1: for teammates.
Speaker 2: But we look at the game last week against the Melbourne Storm.
Speaker 2: It highlighted the importance of Tedesco, like they had enough
Speaker 2: field position, enough attacking sets. But when you don't have
Speaker 2: halves that engage the line consistently enough, defenders just sit
Speaker 2: there and slide off and count the numbers. There's one
Speaker 2: thing that adds spark to the Rooster's attack is Radley
Speaker 2: playing at thirteen because he is arrowed straight with his
Speaker 2: first touch, he'll always engage the first couple of defenders
Speaker 2: and then when Todesco gets the ball, everyone's worried about
Speaker 2: Todesco running freaking, and that causes defense to do things.
Speaker 3: Some of the things you did just completely nothing.
Speaker 2: He gets first receiver in around midfield and then he's
Speaker 2: got the ability to get a couple of passes wider,
Speaker 2: so he'll attack you from anywhere. And he is absolutely
Speaker 2: key because if the Roosters haves don't engage the line
Speaker 2: or play a little bit sideways before they should, Bradley
Speaker 2: in Tedesco are the two ones that will take the
Speaker 2: line on.
Speaker 1: Give me some insight in to Disco as far as
Speaker 1: like you know, you get certain guys to train.
Speaker 3: He's had longevity. I don't know how any games you
Speaker 3: must be closing in all three hundred.
Speaker 2: Well, if you go back to his Tiger's days, he
Speaker 2: had some big injuries, yes, to the point that you thought, well,
Speaker 2: is he really going to get to the level of
Speaker 2: the potential? And I've got no idea about the Tigers
Speaker 2: set up at that stage, right, But he arrives at
Speaker 2: the Roosters the same time as me. You've got Trent
Speaker 2: Robertson and Travis Tumor at the time, like guys who
Speaker 2: really put a lot of time effort in preparation and
Speaker 2: he professionalism from what I understand, went through the roof.
Speaker 2: Now all of a sudden, he's hardly ever missed a game.
Speaker 2: He's thirty odd something getting better to the point that
Speaker 2: most people slowed down at the age that he's at.
Speaker 2: If anything, he's held his level to a point that
Speaker 2: he's staying with it because he has twenty carries a game,
Speaker 2: so he's getting the tough carries in the yardage when
Speaker 2: he gets around midfield. He's sort of reorganized how fullbacks play.
Speaker 2: A lot of them. Keanu Kinney was doing it yesterday
Speaker 2: where they either get first receiver off the fifth play
Speaker 2: either little shift to crap momentum, or they run to
Speaker 2: quick play the ball for the kick to happen on
Speaker 2: the on the last play, but then they're still throwing
Speaker 2: the cutout past the winger in the red zone and
Speaker 2: Tanasco's doing it all.
Speaker 1: Cheers that photo I saw of him as a young
Speaker 1: player at the Tigers to what he is now, he's
Speaker 1: a big.
Speaker 2: Across the ass.
Speaker 4: Ye like, who's the biggest threat to pens roosters, wires, Sharks, Remember.
Speaker 2: Penrith are the biggest threat to themselves. To start with,
Speaker 2: I think if if they get complacent, if they just
Speaker 2: have a slight percentage off their best, they will come
Speaker 2: back to the field. So I think they're in pole position.
Speaker 2: It's this time of year, having been a player through
Speaker 2: an Origin series thereabouts. No one will ever admit it,
Speaker 2: but you do dial it back. You're like, I just
Speaker 2: need to get through the next couple of weeks and
Speaker 2: then I'm going to set something. I can tell you
Speaker 2: right now. All the best teams maybe next week or
Speaker 2: the week after call it. With four rounds to go,
Speaker 2: they will all start setting south for September. But if
Speaker 2: you are to ask me, who's the threat to Panthers,
Speaker 2: I still think the Warriors. The Warriors have their game
Speaker 2: consistently over the course of the year. They're a good
Speaker 2: defensive team, a great completion rate. They've got some sparking attack.
Speaker 2: We've seen them against the Warriors. I think they play
Speaker 2: in a couple of weeks time, which is going to
Speaker 2: be a cracker. They can mix it with Penrith, right,
Speaker 2: I think the Roosters have the game style and the threat,
Speaker 2: but can they deliver it against Penrith. Their record against
Speaker 2: them's poor. The Sharks, on the other hand, well they're
Speaker 2: playing with a hell of a lot of conference. They
Speaker 2: seem to be the only team that's actually going in
Speaker 2: the right direction at the moment.
Speaker 1: I mean, you got your Braden Trindle and nickol I
Speaker 1: think both of those got both of them in the
Speaker 1: top five triasists for the season.
Speaker 2: Put Brayley in there, who is really bamboosly.
Speaker 3: In the middle of the fields play.
Speaker 2: I agree like he's try under the post that he
Speaker 2: should just watch that over and over again. Why because
Speaker 2: as soon as he gets a ball, he goes fast
Speaker 2: at the inside shoulder and just strong carry through the
Speaker 2: bill and beats a couple of bigger defenders. But they've
Speaker 2: got their own Penrith don't have any issues, right, They've
Speaker 2: got history of performance, They're confident at the moment. The Warriors,
Speaker 2: they've got the game style. But Fisher Harris is the
Speaker 2: guy that I think is most important to that.
Speaker 3: There's the thing with the Warriors is I'm really curious
Speaker 3: to see what.
Speaker 1: Happens in a couple of weeks, As you said, a
Speaker 1: couple of things on the Warres they will match or
Speaker 1: even you know, beat out Penrith in the artist battle.
Speaker 3: You know, with those young.
Speaker 1: Forwards and the powerhouse and you know they're boostle like
Speaker 1: dal and bringing up early tackles.
Speaker 3: Mate, They're just they're so strong. It's what they do
Speaker 3: with it. Coop.
Speaker 1: You know, this is this is this is the challenge
Speaker 1: Tomorra and Chanel you know what I mean that that
Speaker 1: that's that's that's the real big one until Picky.
Speaker 3: Now with the foot injury, we can see how serious
Speaker 3: that is.
Speaker 1: And I must say, it's the first time this season
Speaker 1: the other night, Coop, and I understand, like just what
Speaker 1: you're saying.
Speaker 3: You know, it's it's a little part of the.
Speaker 1: Season where everyone's sort of tread and water a little bit,
Speaker 1: particularly in that if you're in that top four.
Speaker 3: It's the first time this suason against the Dogs. I
Speaker 3: thought they looked tired. The Warriors.
Speaker 2: Yeah they did, Yeah they did. Yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker 2: The Bulldogs have beaten Melbourne at the stage was a
Speaker 2: good performance Penrith and the Warriors, and they've done it
Speaker 2: the same way now. They've done it through line speed,
Speaker 2: aggressive contact, real high end fitness to keep up and
Speaker 2: down and annoy the opposition's attack. But then they played
Speaker 2: not like I've seen the Dogs play with the ball
Speaker 2: on the weekend, like they were fast, Like normally they're methodic.
Speaker 2: They moved the ball around to their points in the field,
Speaker 2: but they were getting out running quickly. Stephen Crichton like
Speaker 2: he is the best center in the world, but he's
Speaker 2: becoming a very very good five eight just simply because
Speaker 2: he's got the confidence. There was a couple of kicks that, look,
Speaker 2: it's not elite kicking, but it's all right. But he's
Speaker 2: got the ability to tell people what to do. He
Speaker 2: knows the game plan, and he's got kick Out and
Speaker 2: Burton around him, and he knows how to use them up.
Speaker 3: That's the key. Big strong edge back rowers.
Speaker 1: They could have a lot of short comings with your ballplayer.
Speaker 2: And the other thing that Crichton has allowed it's allowed
Speaker 2: Galvin and Preston to get back together again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's they're playing really strong football the moment. And
Speaker 1: you know I said on the show last night, is
Speaker 1: they actually recognize their identity. You know that that like
Speaker 1: its defense at the end of the day, and don't
Speaker 1: put you know, don't work so hard in an attack or
Speaker 1: try to prove so much in attack. You know that
Speaker 1: you're coming up with theres and putting pressure on your strength.
Speaker 1: And again like at the end of the day, if
Speaker 1: you look at the Sharks, I'm sorry the Dogs. This
Speaker 1: great run they've had the core of it, it's been
Speaker 1: their defense.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the Dogs are the only team that
Speaker 2: could jump into the eighth Yeah too. So the Dogs
Speaker 2: are in ninth on twenty four points below them Manly
Speaker 2: Raiders Tweet two everyone else from there, you put a
Speaker 2: line through them. The Dogs have a chance if one
Speaker 2: of those teams South Knights of the Cowboys and twenty
Speaker 2: six points slip up. Yeah, the Dogs have just made
Speaker 2: a statement of the performance against the.
Speaker 3: Warriors and the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Tommy didn't foot Nancle injury, which there and he is
Speaker 1: one we just spoke about him.
Speaker 3: Do he well done to Jake Clifford could.
Speaker 2: Have done the same thing, could have done, have done
Speaker 2: exactly the same thing.
Speaker 3: Unfairly dropped in my opinions that I thought that was
Speaker 3: really tough.
Speaker 1: And Toddy did on it, and guess what he did
Speaker 1: on the weekend just mate just went out there, pit
Speaker 1: down and got on with it. And particularly like with
Speaker 1: Jake when he did it, I was really surprised that
Speaker 1: with Todd because Jake to me is the sort of
Speaker 1: player that confidence and self belief doesn't come easy.
Speaker 3: Some players just roll with it, doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: Jake doesn't appear it takes a bit to get his
Speaker 1: confidence up. I thought, oh, he's going to react to
Speaker 1: this made him wingch just got on with it and
Speaker 1: came back and was sensational.
Speaker 2: He did two things for me on the weekend. Jake
Speaker 2: Clifford that I think he needs to be in the
Speaker 2: hars for the Cowboys going forward, like Purdue, probably has
Speaker 2: some more upside if didn't comes back in. He is
Speaker 2: at seven right. But Jake Clifford some of his long.
Speaker 3: Kicking games exceptional.
Speaker 2: It turns of average set into a good one because
Speaker 2: of the depth of his kick. He scored that try
Speaker 2: before halftime. But the bigger play he chased down I
Speaker 2: think it was Rys Walsh took the advantage down the
Speaker 2: sideline and Jake Clifford didn't stop and watch. He took
Speaker 2: off and tackled him into touch. So that point around
Speaker 2: him being dropped. I thought, oh, that's unfair. But he
Speaker 2: didn't spit the dummy out. He didn't go to the
Speaker 2: coach and say I'm not playing this weekend. He took
Speaker 2: his medicine he got his chance the next week and
Speaker 2: it's just repaid the cowboys Todd paint that says he
Speaker 2: will be in the outside from here on out.
Speaker 1: To finish with the one of Yandi about the Melbourne
Speaker 1: storm and we saw Harry Grant with a hamstring injury. Look,
Speaker 1: Melbourne mathematicians will tell you something different, but Melbourne went.
Speaker 2: They're done. They've done. I thought if they had to
Speaker 2: win last week it sounds but they're done.
Speaker 1: They are entering, in my opinion, Coop, the most challenging
Speaker 1: era since they came to the company.
Speaker 3: Ninety eight. They came in, you.
Speaker 1: Know, historically they've had a production line of talent just
Speaker 1: coming through.
Speaker 3: I don't know where they are at the moment.
Speaker 1: Give an idea, you know, I mean five years ago
Speaker 1: Sunshine Case Falcon Side had Tina nick A, Ryan Papenhous
Speaker 1: and Harry Grant in it, you know, and then the
Speaker 1: East Tigers the other affiliate, you know, Billy Walders and
Speaker 1: Scott a drink Water and they've just had so much
Speaker 1: coming through.
Speaker 3: I don't know where they're at at the moment. On
Speaker 3: top of that, you've got the monster situation.
Speaker 1: Who could be they've given him the ability to negotiate
Speaker 1: with P and G and the Craig you know, the
Speaker 1: Craig Bellamy era coming to a close soon.
Speaker 3: Firstly, do you think Monster will go to P and G?
Speaker 3: Do you think you'll leave Melbourne?
Speaker 2: You have to ask the guy that hosts this through
Speaker 2: sixty show that we're on Fox, Ley Logan. I got
Speaker 2: no idea. I'm very surprised that it is an option.
Speaker 3: I was, yeah, I was, really I was.
Speaker 1: I was really surprised by how Frank Craig was after
Speaker 1: the game, just said it gave you my blessing.
Speaker 2: Which says that it says that it's more likely than
Speaker 2: not lot Unlike, if that makes sense, this is a
Speaker 2: strange year for the Melbourne Storm, Like, could you envision
Speaker 2: that Craig Bellmeo the course of his coaching career has
Speaker 2: only missed the finals once because of the salary cap year,
Speaker 2: and in potentially his last year coaching, his team's not
Speaker 2: going to make the finals. I think it's because of
Speaker 2: two things. I think One, we've spoken about this before
Speaker 2: on the show. Losing back to back Grand finals mentally
Speaker 2: hurts very, very hard. You can get yourself back off
Speaker 2: the canvas after one, but after two, like it would
Speaker 2: take a lot of resilience and a lot of mental
Speaker 2: strength to be able to do that. So I think
Speaker 2: that hurt them at the beginning. And then the second part.
Speaker 2: Melbourne Stem have always based their success around defense, right,
Speaker 2: and the two crucial parts around a good defensive team
Speaker 2: is the back row position and the center. The reason
Speaker 2: why the back row is crucial because it connects the
Speaker 2: middle forwards to the edge and if that back row
Speaker 2: defends well, that determines what your edge does. And they've
Speaker 2: had inexperience in the back row position all year. Good players,
Speaker 2: but inexperience, and then you move their center position. Well,
Speaker 2: the reason why that's crucial is they're the ones that
Speaker 2: make the decision we're either going to go outside in
Speaker 2: and stop the ball or we're going to go backwards
Speaker 2: and lay off. Yes, they've had inexperience in those two positions.
Speaker 2: So the fundamental the basis which they've built on has
Speaker 2: always been Grant Munster hues. But they haven't been able
Speaker 2: to influence the center of the back row position like
Speaker 2: they have previously.
Speaker 1: And what accentuates that even further is the rule change
Speaker 1: the six again and how fast the rucks are.
Speaker 2: They were still playing sideways at the early part of
Speaker 2: the year, which hurt them. Then when they caught Fiums
Speaker 2: started playing well, Harry Grant became their best player.
Speaker 1: But even defensively coop like you know, you were just
Speaker 1: talking about the edge of defense there and they make
Speaker 1: a defensive misreads.
Speaker 3: Now, if you.
Speaker 1: Can solve the you can of those problems a lot
Speaker 1: of times from the inside out, if you know what
Speaker 1: I mean by controlling the speed of the play of
Speaker 1: the ball and slower and it Melbourne have been the
Speaker 1: greatest side we've seen rapidly history be able to do that.
Speaker 1: They just because these current rules and six again in
Speaker 1: the speed of the ruck, they just aren't able to
Speaker 1: do it. Craig Bellamy's final coaching season, you think it
Speaker 1: will be.
Speaker 2: Ah, Look, a couple of years ago I sort of
Speaker 2: told Craig that he should retire, like that was my advice,
Speaker 2: and ten years ago was not because he has to more,
Speaker 2: because there's nothing else to prove, right, And he kept coaching,
Speaker 2: kept coaching because he'd loved having influence on young men
Speaker 2: about their football career in life. And I think he
Speaker 2: gets energy from these young guys right now, all of
Speaker 2: a sudden with his health situation, I would encourage him
Speaker 2: to go on because you know, being around young guys
Speaker 2: with energy, like he still gets something out of it,
Speaker 2: like it's motivating. So I don't think like if he's
Speaker 2: he should stay on coaching, right, whether it's head coach
Speaker 2: or some capacity. I don't think the Melbourne Storm are
Speaker 2: going to walk away from him. But I'll tell you what,
Speaker 2: Like if he had have thought that this is his
Speaker 2: last year, it's a last year that he would not
Speaker 2: play finals, and then the record he's got against Wayne Bennett,
Speaker 2: and Wayne Bennett was a coach to basically put the
Speaker 2: nail in the coffin for him when he didn't play finals.
Speaker 2: It's been a strange year for the Melbourne Storm on
Speaker 2: a number of fronts, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Be right, you know what to what do blakes like
Speaker 1: Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett do if they're not coaching?
Speaker 2: Well, ask Wayne why is he still coaching? I guarantee
Speaker 2: this because he likes positive on that note
Speaker 3: Means make