Speaker 1: A two in three sixty revul League from every angle,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Makers, and we are back in
Speaker 1: three month stretch Street. It's Vegas two point zero continues
Speaker 1: right here on Fox League. I'm're on a little earlier
Speaker 1: today because the NRL fan fest. He's on the saffoon.
Speaker 1: Actually can see they are piling in and joining me.
Speaker 2: The Great Jordan Kallis.
Speaker 1: That's between the journal Australian Michael carry Arnas and Dave Riccio.
Speaker 1: I need to take a double look here because I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure I saw this suit jacket last night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so let what's down? This break on the floor
Speaker 3: of Circus Circus Casino.
Speaker 1: Really the great Prenon Reid, He's left it on the floor.
Speaker 1: That's a sea. I picked it up. You looking good?
Speaker 1: You look better than breeding put it that way better.
Speaker 1: How has Vegas been, Mick? If you have you enjoyed
Speaker 1: it since you've been here?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been awesome. I'm going to look at the
Speaker 4: people behind us and the anticipation building into this weekend game.
Speaker 1: It builds. How about you?
Speaker 5: God, did you enjoyed last Yeah? I survived another twenty
Speaker 5: four hours in Vegas. But it's it's starting build in
Speaker 5: it like you've since that the occasions just around the corner.
Speaker 1: So very excited. Well, let's get to some footy and
Speaker 1: we've got some breaking news. Actually, I want to get
Speaker 1: to the journals straight away. Dylan Brown some speculation around
Speaker 1: his contracts. Will he stay, paramatter, will he go? What's
Speaker 1: the latest information?
Speaker 6: Yeah, Brath Look, this is certainly a significant story as
Speaker 6: far as being one of the stories of the preseason
Speaker 6: and in.
Speaker 3: His relation to Dylan Brown's future.
Speaker 6: We know that he has those clauses in his contract
Speaker 6: at Paramatter that have this situation where he can get
Speaker 6: out at the end of this season, and it's the
Speaker 6: Newcastle Knights coming in with a ten year offer, ten
Speaker 6: year offer of thirteen million dollars bro thirteen million dollars.
Speaker 3: One point three a season for Dylan Brown.
Speaker 6: Now, I can tell you for the first time of
Speaker 6: this entire process, the Eels are getting nervous.
Speaker 1: Well they have to be. Let's let's just get back
Speaker 1: to that guild. Ten years, one point three million dollars
Speaker 1: a year, yep, to go to the Newcastle Knights. I've
Speaker 1: already got Kleon pomer who's the highest paid player in
Speaker 1: the game in the game. How are they going, how
Speaker 1: are they going to be able to afford it? And
Speaker 1: is it worth it?
Speaker 4: Well, they can afford it, Brath because if you look
Speaker 4: at their cap, they get a bit of free space
Speaker 4: next year. So they've been hamstrung a little bit of
Speaker 4: the Newcastle Knights by an inability to move players on
Speaker 4: or get rid of some players that are on significant money.
Speaker 4: We saw Daniel Safeedi leave at the end of last year.
Speaker 4: They've got Jackson Hastings off contract this year. He won't
Speaker 4: be reassigned. Jaden Brayley won't be resigned. Adam Elliott's on
Speaker 4: a significant deal as well.
Speaker 1: He's also off.
Speaker 4: Contract, as is jack Edington. So you add that up
Speaker 4: and it's significant money.
Speaker 1: Let's get back to PARAMOUNTA. Why are they nervous? Can
Speaker 1: they match the offer? Can they get anywhere near it?
Speaker 1: Do they want to keep him? What's the situation with them?
Speaker 6: They're sitting at around a million dollars a season the
Speaker 6: Eels and now you feel as though that's a fair
Speaker 6: enough offer. And I've got to say I agree, I
Speaker 6: agree totally. As far as we're Dylan Brown has got
Speaker 6: to in his career and what we've seen so far.
Speaker 3: I think that's fair enough.
Speaker 6: But when you start to expand on that contract over
Speaker 6: a ten year period, it's a significant difference a million
Speaker 6: compared to one point three And that is why they did.
Speaker 6: They know Dylan wants to stay at the Heels. They
Speaker 6: know that, but do they Well, he believe that, you
Speaker 6: believe it. I believe he wants so he was.
Speaker 5: So you think he's worth of breath, right, he's he's
Speaker 5: a five A players in your position. Yeah, he's twenty five.
Speaker 1: Now, the reality is you've got to play overs for halves, yes,
Speaker 1: today's game, because there's a few and far between quality ones.
Speaker 1: I think for the age that he's at right now,
Speaker 1: his best foot he is ahead of him. He's only
Speaker 1: going to get better. But for that money on a
Speaker 1: ten year deal when you haven't won a premiership is
Speaker 1: big money. But I'd be willing to take a risk
Speaker 1: if I'm Newcastle. I'm looking at Kaylen Pommer, I'm looking
Speaker 1: at how good he is and at the moment he's playing,
Speaker 1: he'd be close to the best player in the game.
Speaker 1: Now add one of the best halves in the game
Speaker 1: to that combination. In the spine, you're going to hurt
Speaker 1: it's going to hurt you everywhere else because you know
Speaker 1: most of your CAP's gone on two key players. But
Speaker 1: if I'm Newcastle, I'm doing it. I think I think
Speaker 1: he's well worth it. But then put its paramounter in
Speaker 1: a tough situation about the.
Speaker 5: Ten years though, like we see fifty percent of them
Speaker 5: worked in Dally, Jerry Evans and Jason turn Maloll, ten
Speaker 5: years is too.
Speaker 3: Long, Lordy Braith me, this is a risk beyond all means.
Speaker 6: As far as I see it as a desperate play
Speaker 6: by a desperate footy club that's trying to get a
Speaker 6: significant signing and you keep raising Kalum Ponger, I think
Speaker 6: it's an additional play to keep kylem Ponger. Kaylen wants
Speaker 6: good players around him right now. The Knights are losing
Speaker 6: more than their signing.
Speaker 4: They need good players around him right because otherwise they're
Speaker 4: going to waste Kaylen Ponger's best years. He's a Premiership
Speaker 4: you know, he's an elite player. He's a number one player,
Speaker 4: pop paid player in the game, and if you don't
Speaker 4: surround him with good talent then you've just wasted his
Speaker 4: best years. So ideally, I'm sure the Newcastle Knights wouldn't
Speaker 4: want to give him ten years, but as Braith said,
Speaker 4: that's what they need to do to get him out
Speaker 4: of the paramatter.
Speaker 1: From this point of view, right, if they're trying to
Speaker 1: sign Dylan for ten years, Kaylen's there's already speculation whether
Speaker 1: he'll stay or go, So if they're going to sign
Speaker 1: him on ten, they'd have to try and upgrade and
Speaker 1: extend Kalen at the same time, going next in two years.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but they can't do that on the provisor that
Speaker 4: Kallen might leave, right, But Adam Dylan Brown helps their
Speaker 4: case to keep Kalen. Right, that they need Kaalen to
Speaker 4: co how how they're going to win a comp They're
Speaker 4: not going to win a com do.
Speaker 1: This break right to get that money means you've got
Speaker 1: to run the team. Definitely, that's right. He's got it,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt.
Speaker 6: About But both have you seen anything in Dylan Brown
Speaker 6: that suggests he's a half back, and not only a
Speaker 6: half back, a half back to can steer acide with
Speaker 6: a rookie five eighteen Fletcher sharp that's going to be
Speaker 6: the scenario.
Speaker 1: It is you said it before, David. You know it's
Speaker 1: a desperate play from a desperate club. But I like
Speaker 1: I like Dylan. I think I think he's got I
Speaker 1: think he's a great player as well.
Speaker 3: You know, he's not worth one point three million dollars.
Speaker 6: Everyone knows that if Nathan Cleary's for't get him, who
Speaker 6: do they go for?
Speaker 3: That's the issue.
Speaker 4: They're just they'll be treading water to night. So they've
Speaker 4: got to go all in make a play and they
Speaker 4: need a circuit breaker.
Speaker 6: There, Mick, you just rattled off all the players that
Speaker 6: they need to let go and have to let go
Speaker 6: because they've paid over for they find themselves in this
Speaker 6: cap issue.
Speaker 3: Yet they're about to make a play for ten years
Speaker 3: on a player that has shown no.
Speaker 6: Significant elite quality as a half back, of which they're
Speaker 6: attempting to sign.
Speaker 4: There's no doubt, Dave that in the last two years
Speaker 4: he hasn't kicked as much as we all thought he would.
Speaker 4: I'd suggest right he was the best twenty two year
Speaker 4: old in the game at one stage. He's twenty four. Now,
Speaker 4: he's played one hundred plus games. He's about to hit
Speaker 4: his sweet spot. And if I'm the Newcastle Knights and
Speaker 4: the way that roster is at the moment, I'm doing that.
Speaker 4: If you said to Newcastle would you like to not
Speaker 4: give him a ten year deal, I think they'd agree
Speaker 4: they don't want.
Speaker 1: To do that.
Speaker 6: The other key thing is, guys, is it's the kiss
Speaker 6: of death to all those young rookies coming through. There's
Speaker 6: no half back in the lower grades of the Knights
Speaker 6: that's going to stick around given it you've just signed
Speaker 6: Brown on a ten year deal. Yeah, but it's a
Speaker 6: sharp through twenty eight. There's an opportunity to play outside.
Speaker 6: Dylan Brown felt as Shaps still got his l plates on, right,
Speaker 6: We're not sure if he's going to.
Speaker 1: Be the long term answer? Is this just a smart
Speaker 1: plan from the management of Dylan Brown though, you know,
Speaker 1: like they're put him out there early that the email
Speaker 1: was sent out. His price tag's gone up. If he
Speaker 1: wants to stay at Paramatta, he could just end up
Speaker 1: landing there and landing there in the end and getting
Speaker 1: a hell of a lot more money, which is a good,
Speaker 1: good work by his management.
Speaker 4: Is that going to happen because Paramatt, as Dave said,
Speaker 4: they're not going to give you more money. They're not
Speaker 4: putting any extra years on that contract. Right, It's a
Speaker 4: smart plan in the sense that he's got that offer there.
Speaker 1: It's just going over seven years now.
Speaker 5: I'm with you, Gordy, and I don't like any long
Speaker 5: term deals and all these, especially if you haven't won
Speaker 5: a comp Yeah, I think it's the time the game
Speaker 5: stands up to the manager's ten years. For that, there's
Speaker 5: way too much and clubs and clubs shouldn't be bullied
Speaker 5: into it.
Speaker 3: Correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 6: It's the same management company that looks after Jason Talmalolo, who,
Speaker 6: as we know, Will So secured a ten year deal
Speaker 6: at the Cowboy.
Speaker 1: All right, we've got some breaking news that has just
Speaker 1: come in actually with one of our penelists. Let's take
Speaker 1: a look at this. The great part getting kissed by
Speaker 1: Nick politis a break? Is that a Greek tradition? Is
Speaker 1: that for a Greek it actually is? It's the kiss
Speaker 1: of death? Or so it? Douz might not be around
Speaker 1: too much longer. Anyway. Let's get to the footy. We
Speaker 1: love you Bus all right and Nick as well. Let's
Speaker 1: get to the foot Let's get to the footy. Brandon Smith,
Speaker 1: what's going on with him? The Roosters they're in an
Speaker 1: estrange position at the moment with their trials and the
Speaker 1: players injured. But Brandon Smith, what is the actual situations
Speaker 1: that stands right now?
Speaker 4: He's won't be the Rooster's beyond this year.
Speaker 1: I think we're all come pretty go this year.
Speaker 4: Well if something immediately, if someone came for Brandon Smith,
Speaker 4: the Rusters will say thank you. Right, he's on eight
Speaker 4: hundred thousand dollars. He's not going to play to the
Speaker 4: mid point of the season though, break that's the issue
Speaker 4: coming off the back of us. True that acl So
Speaker 4: if you're a rival club, you're not going to touch
Speaker 4: him this year. Well, he's not going to play. He's
Speaker 4: going to take some time to find his feet again.
Speaker 4: So that's the issue for the Roosters. They're going to
Speaker 4: have to wear that eight hundred thousand dollars this year
Speaker 4: on their cap.
Speaker 3: This is designing the Rooster's, no doubt.
Speaker 1: Great.
Speaker 6: I'll probably say they don't, but it's pretty clear that
Speaker 6: it hasn't worked out with Brandon Smith.
Speaker 1: And I don't agree with you, Dave. Like everyone knows,
Speaker 1: I've played for the Roosters. I support the Roosters, but
Speaker 1: when they signed Brandon and you know it was I
Speaker 1: thought it was a strange one. You know, because they
Speaker 1: were looking for a genuine nine. I said it at
Speaker 1: the top. I've got criticized for I got criticized for
Speaker 1: it because I thought they're paying too much money for
Speaker 1: a guy who is an established nine. So, you know,
Speaker 1: I think, and you've got to call it how you see,
Speaker 1: I think the rooster's recruitment and retention really a couple
Speaker 1: of question marks out of a couple of signings, and
Speaker 1: he's one of them. I think they just got it wrong.
Speaker 1: You know. I think he's a great kid, and I
Speaker 1: think he can do well. Else we're playing lock in
Speaker 1: my opinion, but you know, and he can. I think
Speaker 1: he can be a great player for a lot of
Speaker 1: other clubs. Who could really do with him at the moment?
Speaker 1: And who are the clubs that any clubs that are
Speaker 1: interested in it?
Speaker 3: It look no, not at these stage.
Speaker 6: But remembering he's coming off at ycl Bright, so no
Speaker 6: club's going to jump into a player that's still in
Speaker 6: a recovery phase.
Speaker 1: Could he go back home to the Cowboys where he started.
Speaker 4: His career, Well, he came out and said he doesn't
Speaker 4: want to go back to the Cowboys, said that he
Speaker 4: said that only didn't.
Speaker 5: Tell Wayne that he was going to go to Redcliffe.
Speaker 5: He did, and he told a few other clubs he
Speaker 5: was going to go to them.
Speaker 6: Paramatta were also connected to Brandon, but I made inquiries
Speaker 6: there and certainly there's no interest whatsoever.
Speaker 1: There's a lot going on at the roofs of Spencer Menu.
Speaker 1: Now the rumors just won't go away. I'm hearing that
Speaker 1: they are rumors. But you guys may know more than
Speaker 1: me that he wants to move on. This has just
Speaker 1: come to light over the last few weeks. I've heard
Speaker 1: it's just speculation. Can you guys, is there any truth
Speaker 1: to that?
Speaker 4: It's it has done the rounds to the point where
Speaker 4: rival clubs have reached out to Spencer and his agent
Speaker 4: to get to gauge an interest if he would be
Speaker 4: able to move on, and at the moment they're saying no.
Speaker 4: So there has been this snowball of in your windows
Speaker 4: surrounding Spencer land who there's no doubt about that, to
Speaker 4: the point where clubs have gone we take him.
Speaker 3: You know, clubs would sign him.
Speaker 1: But who, Well, look, I asked the question, you know
Speaker 1: you got to know, you've got to know a couple
Speaker 1: of coming. Well, you look at the clubs that would
Speaker 1: you know he's got to Dragons. They just signed cool.
Speaker 3: I agree, Gordy the Dragon.
Speaker 1: You look at the board, that's a third am ah, Well,
Speaker 1: what are you going to play as a power forward.
Speaker 3: He's a middle fencer.
Speaker 4: Spencer had played there, You've got you know, he's close
Speaker 4: with Karen Serrato at the Bulldogs. But you go back
Speaker 4: to the Penrith Panthers. With James Fisher Harris leaving the club.
Speaker 1: You know what, he actually really good for the trade.
Speaker 1: He'd be perfect moving.
Speaker 6: Look, as far as I'm aware, and I think we'll
Speaker 6: see on the on the back of that kiss from
Speaker 6: Nick Politis, we'll see Buzz conduct an interview with Nick
Speaker 6: in this in this weekend's Telegraph.
Speaker 3: But that is wrong with the Roosters, right, Nick May
Speaker 3: leaves Spencer.
Speaker 1: They don't normally lose their talent like this. The Roosters.
Speaker 5: They have been, you know, the mby of every club
Speaker 5: like the Roosters have been, you know, the silver Tails
Speaker 5: for a long long time.
Speaker 1: They don't see me panicking now. They must have something
Speaker 1: up their sleeve or they believe in the players. He
Speaker 1: got coming through. But the real concern was that trial,
Speaker 1: because you looked at the result, and you looked at
Speaker 1: the team that they had on the field and there
Speaker 1: was only what one or two maybe players that were
Speaker 1: missing from their top squad. And I know a lot
Speaker 1: of the Roosters fans in these and some of are concerns.
Speaker 6: Absolutely there is and you know it that this has
Speaker 6: been viewed as very much a dip year for the Roosters,
Speaker 6: and I think every fan those I think the game
Speaker 6: knows that the Roosters doing for a tough season and
Speaker 6: anything better than that will be a surprise.
Speaker 1: All right, Thank you, journals that you meet. Thank you
Speaker 1: Dave loved the jacket. All right, let's get down to
Speaker 1: Lara Pitt, who is with the crowd.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we're Backbrape, and I am so impressed what an
Speaker 7: awesome turnout we have already we are ours away from
Speaker 7: the event before the main event on Saturday, and of
Speaker 7: course talking about of course is a sharkis fan yelling
Speaker 7: out there. I'm so impressed with the fan turnout. They
Speaker 7: are here, of course for the fan fest tonight, which
Speaker 7: was enormous last year, and we're expecting it to be
Speaker 7: bigger and better this season. The red carpet has already
Speaker 7: been rolled out all the teams are going to be
Speaker 7: here tonight. There'll be DJ's, there'll be band performances. I
Speaker 7: think they're ready for a rugby league party.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Have we got any.
Speaker 7: Panthers fans here? Panthers fans? Yeah, well, there were plenty
Speaker 7: of them at the fan hub a Resorts Well. Today
Speaker 7: they were lining up out the street just to get
Speaker 7: a glimpse of their favorite players. We were lucky enough
Speaker 7: to catch up with their premiership winning half back and
Speaker 7: believe me, he's zeroing in on defending another title. Nathan,
Speaker 7: this is crazy, a huge turnout of support for your premieres.
Speaker 7: What do you think of all this?
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's mental, honestly, It's like, never would of gender this.
Speaker 8: Hadn't even been out of playing Vagas and having this
Speaker 8: sort of turnout. So yeah, it's just it's awesome.
Speaker 7: You've had fan base before, you've won grand finals and
Speaker 7: the Penalith support back home is enormous. Did you actually
Speaker 7: expect it to be like this?
Speaker 8: No, not really, to be honest, Like I knew there
Speaker 8: were fair fe Aussies coming over, but even just all
Speaker 8: the English fans just added the atmosphere and the line
Speaker 8: was that long at like nine am like two hours ago,
Speaker 8: so it's it's yeah, it's just crazy.
Speaker 7: Now. I guess you had an idea of what you
Speaker 7: thought Las Vegas would be like you watched it play out.
Speaker 1: What's it been like?
Speaker 7: Has anything surprised you since you guys have settled in.
Speaker 8: Not really, It's just unbelievable, Like what a place to
Speaker 8: play an r L game. And you know, as the
Speaker 8: week goes on, it's just building more and more. A
Speaker 8: lot more fans coming in now, and yeah, it's cool
Speaker 8: to be able to do these sort of promos and
Speaker 8: give back to them, and it's all building up towards
Speaker 8: Saturday night. Now.
Speaker 7: Someone told me it's Dad's ivans first trip to Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: Have you shown him around?
Speaker 7: What's he been up to?
Speaker 8: I think yeah, he had fun the first few nights
Speaker 8: here and then yeah, he's been locked in on getting
Speaker 8: to win. And it's actually his birthday on Saturday night,
Speaker 8: so hopen to get a win for him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you can celebrate after hopefully.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 7: Now the players have a Chocolate block schedule, but I've
Speaker 7: seen them seeing some sights as well. How they filled
Speaker 7: their time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just trying to take it all in.
Speaker 8: You know, it's obviously a business trip for us, but
Speaker 8: you still got to enjoy it for what it is
Speaker 8: and just race and all Vega says, so much Solfa
Speaker 8: and so much to sea and yeah, the boys have
Speaker 8: been doing all sorts of things.
Speaker 7: Now it is two competition points and the title defense
Speaker 7: gets back underway this weekend. How have you guys reset
Speaker 7: and got yourselves motivated to climb that mountain all over again?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think just not thinking too much about going
Speaker 8: after our fifth premiership. It's more so just the one.
Speaker 8: Everyone starts on zero points and you've got to build
Speaker 8: those wins. And this weekend's no different. Obviously, Sharks are
Speaker 8: hungry and they're a great site, so we know we're
Speaker 8: going to have to be We're gonna be up against
Speaker 8: it and have to play our best foot and just
Speaker 8: build as the ear goes on. So I'm really excited
Speaker 8: for it because.
Speaker 7: There are more faces lost this season and that's what
Speaker 7: everyone's talking about. Can you do it again? How is
Speaker 7: it that you guys are able to rejuvenate?
Speaker 8: I think just drawing on the new energy that comes
Speaker 8: from the new players. At the end of the day,
Speaker 8: there's not many guys on the side that have actually
Speaker 8: been a part of all those premiership teams. So people
Speaker 8: want to taste their success and they're hungry to just
Speaker 8: get better. And that's a common feeling amongst the group,
Speaker 8: is just that that are sort of earning for growth
Speaker 8: and longing for it and trying to get better each day.
Speaker 1: And I think you know successive bipokes of that.
Speaker 7: Every step of the way of your success, you've had
Speaker 7: your ome Luwai and the Halves alongside you. It is
Speaker 7: a huge change, Like how are you feeling about all
Speaker 7: of that personally and starting a new chapter with a
Speaker 7: new Harves partner.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it is a big change and obviously going to
Speaker 8: miss him, but accepted it pretty quickly. We obviously knew
Speaker 8: sort of pretty early on last year that he was
Speaker 8: moving on and happy to send him out the way
Speaker 8: we did. But now it's to be able to doing
Speaker 8: that new combination with Tolly this weekend, and yeah, I
Speaker 8: actually find that really motivated and exciting for me to
Speaker 8: bring a young guy in and try and help him
Speaker 8: reach his full potential.
Speaker 7: Jack Colly, is where you've gone this weekend? You've got
Speaker 7: blaster Langy here. I guess how do you see that
Speaker 7: playing out throughout the season with options up your sleep.
Speaker 8: Well, I think it's good to have options obviously competition
Speaker 8: for that spot, and it is very important one. But
Speaker 8: Colly's been great through the whole preseason and had a
Speaker 8: fair bit of taste first grade last year, and yeah,
Speaker 8: I think he's going to get better and better. And
Speaker 8: obviously Blaze is there too, so yeah, we'll see how
Speaker 8: it goes. But I'm excited to play with Polly this week.
Speaker 7: And what about the experienced heads with you out there,
Speaker 7: Dylan Edwards, and we know how important ISAEO is to you.
Speaker 7: How are their mental state going into another season and
Speaker 7: trying to chase that five peek?
Speaker 1: Yeah, just really excited.
Speaker 8: I think, you know, I think it's a great opportune
Speaker 8: for all of us as leaders, given that Rome and
Speaker 8: Fisher both left and they were, you know, leaders of
Speaker 8: the side, when they step up even more and help
Speaker 8: these young guys come through.
Speaker 3: And play their best.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's exciting for us and.
Speaker 7: The band beest tonight. That is what is the centerpiece
Speaker 7: of the week. Have you been told what to expect there,
Speaker 7: because I mean, you think this is huge, It's next
Speaker 7: level out there tonight.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I don't know I'm trying to have too many expectations.
Speaker 8: I've heard from a few people it's pretty wide. And
Speaker 8: we got to go down and see free once Tree
Speaker 8: on the weekend. Even just seeing like our advertisement up
Speaker 8: on the roof was pretty sick. So I can't imagine
Speaker 8: what it's going to be like tonight.
Speaker 7: Lastly, before we let you go, it was, I guess
Speaker 7: a big relief for rugby league fans, not just Panthers fans,
Speaker 7: to read in the paper that you're not going anywhere
Speaker 7: that rugby union, no matter how much throw at you.
Speaker 7: You love your league. When we're looking at your goals
Speaker 7: and your standards, what does that look.
Speaker 1: Like for this year?
Speaker 7: What do you want to achieve with so much already
Speaker 7: ticked off the box?
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, I'm not a massive goal set to
Speaker 8: be honest. I try and just tick off little goals
Speaker 8: each day and trying to get better each day. And
Speaker 8: I still feel like there's a lot of growth for
Speaker 8: me and I find that really excited and motivating. And yeah,
Speaker 8: rugby leg has always been my passion, So yeah, I
Speaker 8: just want to get better and hopefully have a relatively
Speaker 8: injury free season would be nice. But yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2: Beautiful, thanks so much.
Speaker 7: I can will let you back to the fans.
Speaker 3: Cheers, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: What a class act. Nathan clearly looking very relaxed. He's
Speaker 1: so classic, you know that the way that he plays,
Speaker 1: for the way he handles himself off field. He's Rubbie
Speaker 1: strumers that he's going to go to rugby Union and
Speaker 1: he's looking for a five peet, which is huge, joining
Speaker 1: me beginners.
Speaker 9: Nice to be here, brek A.
Speaker 1: You're enjoying it, Yeah, enjoying Vegas.
Speaker 2: Fantastic and beautiful second year. Yeah, great to see Nathan
Speaker 2: just in that Spirit's great that he's going to obviously
Speaker 2: get on the field on Saturday here. Obviously some concern
Speaker 2: with that shoulder over the summer, but great news for
Speaker 2: the game that Nathan Cleary was playing. He's had a
Speaker 2: little spell to today.
Speaker 1: He did talk us through this apparently he left Vegas.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's just great. To Mary Fowler, oh wow. Yeah,
Speaker 2: a little bit of downtime, Yeah, a little bit of
Speaker 2: a break before the game.
Speaker 1: You like that preparation for the game.
Speaker 9: He can do what everyone he wants to go and
Speaker 9: see Mary in San Diego.
Speaker 1: I'll forgo now.
Speaker 9: Is this going to be he's front of the AI
Speaker 9: Blake like he's one of those players. Well, is the
Speaker 9: ten year contract man? Absolutely, you wouldn't even think twice
Speaker 9: about signing for ten years. You know what, whatever's good
Speaker 9: for your preparation that if you say it's good, we're
Speaker 9: going to believe that.
Speaker 1: I agree, he can do what ever he wants the
Speaker 1: way he's performed over the past few seasons. Now, is
Speaker 1: this going to be his legacy year? No, Jerome Lewis.
Speaker 1: Jerome Lewis obviously has moved on. They've lost some key players,
Speaker 1: which they have done for the past few seasons. What
Speaker 1: do we expect from him?
Speaker 9: I think you'll continue to see Nathan improve as a
Speaker 9: football player.
Speaker 1: And that's what he's about.
Speaker 9: Nathan Is, I think more than any other player I've
Speaker 9: ever come across. He is the process driven rugby league player.
Speaker 9: He will work on his own game and we've seen
Speaker 9: that when he's been out of and mister fairban footy
Speaker 9: through injury, Nathan will be working on the computer thinking
Speaker 9: of ways how to break down teams defenses, and then
Speaker 9: you'll put that in practice and then you'll put it
Speaker 9: into a game. Nathan is that short step baby step player.
Speaker 9: That improves constantly. That's what drives this team. That's what
Speaker 9: drives Nathan.
Speaker 1: Brandy, That's what drives Nathan.
Speaker 5: But no one said that you could do two in
Speaker 5: a row or even three in a row, just in
Speaker 5: the current climate, right, How do they stay motivated?
Speaker 9: That is one of the great mysteries, Gordy, because no
Speaker 9: one's been able to do it. And we've had some
Speaker 9: great players, We've had some great teams over the over
Speaker 9: the decades that just haven't been able to do it.
Speaker 9: This is such a special group of players that no
Speaker 9: one's ever come across them, really, But I think it's
Speaker 9: led by the senior players. It is Nathan Cleary, Isaiah
Speaker 9: Dylan Edwards, and then the support stuff like Brian Liam,
Speaker 9: Liam Martin, those players that have been part of it.
Speaker 9: But it is the senior players that drive the narrative.
Speaker 1: Just quickly before we get to me, is he the
Speaker 1: best seven that Penrifth have ever produced?
Speaker 2: Of course he is.
Speaker 9: There's no argument, So thank you for that question.
Speaker 1: We're coming from former great one of the best I've
Speaker 1: ever had. That is number six. All right, Mick plays
Speaker 1: to Lungey. There's a lot of questions around why he
Speaker 1: isn't playing five eight. I think it was Gus Good
Speaker 1: who was pretty outspoken about it. What's your thoughts on this?
Speaker 2: I just think how can we how can we question
Speaker 2: iv and Cleary's decision making is taking them to four
Speaker 2: straight Grand Final wins. They've beurned in four of the
Speaker 2: last five Grand Finals. And he's nurtured some of the
Speaker 2: best talent in our game at the moment, from out
Speaker 2: of those junior rep systems all the way through the
Speaker 2: production line at Penrith. Now we understand that he's had
Speaker 2: shoulder surger out of the summer. Let's not forget Blaize Telang.
Speaker 2: He started two games at five to eight last year.
Speaker 2: He lost both of those. Like he's still so young,
Speaker 2: we don't need to rush him. We know he's such
Speaker 2: a talent and they showed last year that they're willing
Speaker 2: to use Jack Cole in big games played. The World
Speaker 2: Club Challenge year was more than solid. I saw him
Speaker 2: play at Cronulla last year with no Nathan Cleary in
Speaker 2: the side. Players out of that side forty two NILK
Speaker 2: they won. Jack Cole is a player that's so reliable
Speaker 2: and under the bright lights of Vegas, we can't forget
Speaker 2: it's round one, like as much of the hype that's
Speaker 2: around him, and it's great. It comes September, round one.
Speaker 2: It's nice to win. It's not the be all and
Speaker 2: end all of your season. He's nineteen.
Speaker 9: He's had shoulder shoulder reconstruction which picked up an injury
Speaker 9: playing for Samoa in the over there in England, so
Speaker 9: he's had a very disrupted preseason and you want him
Speaker 9: to be able to work with Nathan and Isaiah oh
Speaker 9: and Dylan Edwards and have a great combination. He said,
Speaker 9: very little time to do that because those both those
Speaker 9: boys have come back from shoulder surgeries, Nathan and Dylan,
Speaker 9: so there's been very little time for Blaze to work
Speaker 9: with the key men. This is round one and Jack
Speaker 9: Cole certainly has been part of this side, and Nathan's
Speaker 9: got a big opinion of him. He's a very good player.
Speaker 9: But Blas Talang, he's at the club for a reason.
Speaker 1: Brandy.
Speaker 5: Every player that Penrith lou seems to go to another
Speaker 5: club and they're great leaders, but you've been able to
Speaker 5: fill their spot. Fisher Harris is one of those guys
Speaker 5: and I've heard you talk about him. There's a presence
Speaker 5: about him, there's this calmness's presence. He's like the leader.
Speaker 5: Have you noticed that. That's a big hold of film.
Speaker 9: Well, there's personalities that are missing too, and Jerome was
Speaker 9: a great personality, yes, but James Fisher Harris was that
Speaker 9: personality that it didn't rely on him doing his talking.
Speaker 1: It was just his presence.
Speaker 9: It's just way looks, the way he trains, the way
Speaker 9: he plays, the way he treats his teammates. And it's
Speaker 9: impossible to replace that.
Speaker 1: It's impossible.
Speaker 9: And we've seen from the Warriors now, and you listen
Speaker 9: to the Warriors players talk through the preseason challenge what
Speaker 9: an impact Jake Fisher Harris has made on them already
Speaker 9: his presence. They speak about his presence and you can't
Speaker 9: replace that, Gordy, but the team has to evolve and
Speaker 9: it'll be different to what it was last year.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you whether they'll miss him where they'll miss him.
Speaker 2: Go to your former captain Breath. You obviously captain clubs too.
Speaker 2: You cannot be the best leader every single day for
Speaker 2: twenty seven weeks. You can't do it. It's so mentally draining.
Speaker 2: And that's why when you look at the leaders at
Speaker 2: Penrith Isao takes the slack at times when Nathan's out
Speaker 2: of the footy side, Dylan Edward steps up and has moments.
Speaker 2: We've seen Leam Martin grow as a leader. But the
Speaker 2: luxury of having New Zealand front rowers mid season when
Speaker 2: so many of your players are playing origin football where
Speaker 2: James Fisher Harris took some great ownership and leadership of
Speaker 2: Penrith through that mid part of the season.
Speaker 5: Heymik, what about your role club the Shafts. Can they
Speaker 5: take it? Can they take the next step? They've always
Speaker 5: been around there, They're super consistent, like they defend well,
Speaker 5: they always get to the business end of the season. Yes,
Speaker 5: but they've never just been able to take that next step.
Speaker 1: Aiden Vanilla Blake.
Speaker 2: He adds another layer, doesn't he to what's already a
Speaker 2: quality footy side. Look, Adam Fanuwell, Blake for me is
Speaker 2: the closest thing that we've seen since Andrew for Feeder,
Speaker 2: and I speak so highly of Andrew. I absolutely loved
Speaker 2: what he brought. He was unpredictable, he was big, he
Speaker 2: was powerful. He could lead the way for run meters
Speaker 2: if we needed him to. He could also drift wide
Speaker 2: and be creative on an edge for Newall, Blake's footwork
Speaker 2: and the way that he can move for a big
Speaker 2: man he's offloaded. His ball playing ability adds a whole
Speaker 2: nother layer and I think it will bring out the
Speaker 2: best in Blake Brayley, who I think is vital for them.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: If you look at where Cronuller at times have fallen short,
Speaker 2: it's because they want to push the ball lateral all
Speaker 2: the time when Brailey's out and direct Pronulla or Robetti
Speaker 2: footy side, and I think Fanwall Blake brings that for them.
Speaker 2: The challenge for Adam Fanuell Blake is to be able
Speaker 2: to maintain the defensive standards that Craig fits given and
Speaker 2: Steve Price set. That's the challenge with the footy absolutely
Speaker 2: takes them to another level. Can he maintain their defensive
Speaker 2: standards through the middle. Let's hope so you look terrific
Speaker 2: in the trials you meet. Thank you Brandy.
Speaker 1: Where to get to break We'll be back after it.
Speaker 1: After it will have Nicko Hines, and Andrew Abdah and
Speaker 1: Blake Brayley as well coming up. Stick Around