Speaker 1: Welcome to the Billy Slater Podcast.
Speaker 2: All thanks to tab We are on location this week
Speaker 2: at Camp Morone on the Sunshine Coast as Billy Slater's
Speaker 2: Morones prepare for State of Origin two next week across
Speaker 2: the country over in Earth.
Speaker 1: Big week ahead, How are you, Billy.
Speaker 3: I'm good, Thanks Salty, thanks for bringing the podcast back
Speaker 3: into camp.
Speaker 2: Yeah, on the road, which is fantastic. Yeah, so we're
Speaker 2: looking forward to a big week ahead, no doubt. You've
Speaker 2: got the squad named just you made a point last
Speaker 2: week about change, and it's not just about personnel, it's
Speaker 2: about approach.
Speaker 1: It's about what players do differently. So what's your feeling.
Speaker 2: Overall before we talk about the squad overall heading into
Speaker 2: camp this week?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, probably a little bit of that has actually
Speaker 3: been really honest about Game one and.
Speaker 4: How we played and some of the actions within the game.
Speaker 3: So, you know, we'll do that over the next couple
Speaker 3: of days and make sure that we're really clear about
Speaker 3: some of the things that we do need to change
Speaker 3: within our game, and then and then we'll go after
Speaker 3: it over the next nine days.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that's the process from here on in.
Speaker 2: As far as the whole week is concerned. One of
Speaker 2: the features of the week is a fan day GIMPI
Speaker 2: found when you guys were playing and talk to you
Speaker 2: and your teammates a lot. It was just a great way,
Speaker 2: particularly even after a loss, just as a reminder about hey,
Speaker 2: this is this is who we're playing for and you'll
Speaker 2: see people come from far and wide when you head
Speaker 2: up there on Tuesday.
Speaker 3: Yeah, through your playing day, Salty like things come and
Speaker 3: go and memories and all that sort of stuff that
Speaker 3: there's not a whole heap of memories that are vivid
Speaker 3: in your mind, even that the playing stuff on the
Speaker 3: field sometimes comes and goes. Whereas whereas these memories have
Speaker 3: gone to the rural areas, they're the things that really
Speaker 3: stick in my mind mine from from my playing days,
Speaker 3: going out to long Reach, going to Bunderberg after the
Speaker 3: floods and camping on the showgrounds where where they camped
Speaker 3: through that flood period, Like just those things I vividly remember.
Speaker 3: So go into a region like Gimpy, like that's really
Speaker 3: exciting for us this week, and it's exciting for the
Speaker 3: people of Queensland and the region of Gimpy, but but
Speaker 3: for us as as Queensland is to go and connect
Speaker 3: with who we're playing for. Is it's really important and
Speaker 3: we've obviously got a I don't know what are you?
Speaker 3: Is it a Gimpian, a Gimpian in tins Or, Malawi
Speaker 3: who grew up and played for the local club in Gimpi.
Speaker 3: And you know, I'm sure teen is really excited to
Speaker 3: get up there, back to his hometown.
Speaker 1: Absolutely on the squad.
Speaker 2: I think I know you pretty well and you delve
Speaker 2: into every selection.
Speaker 1: So deeply.
Speaker 2: You care for these players, your captain up and for
Speaker 2: the last, well ever since you've been coach is Daily
Speaker 2: Cherry Evans, How tough a call was it to leave
Speaker 2: D d C out of next week?
Speaker 4: Look, it's it's hard. The call was hard.
Speaker 3: The decision was the right one, I know that, but
Speaker 3: the call was really hard because because you're right, I've
Speaker 3: got a great relationship with Daily, started off by being teammates,
Speaker 3: and then obviously you know the coach and the captain
Speaker 3: and and the half back. And the first thing I
Speaker 3: will say is is Daily has done so much for
Speaker 3: this Jersey. He's done so much for this state. He's
Speaker 3: done so much for this group of players. But it
Speaker 3: comes to it and for all of us at some stage,
Speaker 3: and no one's played at an age that day, least
Speaker 3: played this at this level like that.
Speaker 4: That is something that you know he will be remembered for.
Speaker 3: And although he was disappointed when when I made the call,
Speaker 3: look he.
Speaker 4: Took it with great character, great respect.
Speaker 3: And we actually had a pretty good conversation about his
Speaker 3: origin career and what he has done and how proud
Speaker 3: he should be. So, yeah, although it was hard, it
Speaker 3: was the first call that I made.
Speaker 2: And that's the difference, isn't it between the call is hard,
Speaker 2: But then you as coach and one of the selectors
Speaker 2: along with Darren and Jean, a confident now that you've
Speaker 2: made the right call because you look at Tom did
Speaker 2: and you've been singing his praises on this podcast for
Speaker 2: this year and a lot longer.
Speaker 1: He's in some sort of form, isn't.
Speaker 3: We talk about earning your opportunity and earning every opportunity,
Speaker 3: and it's nearly more the fact that Tom has really
Speaker 3: earned this opportunity to play in the seven Jersey.
Speaker 4: You know, That's that's what I feel.
Speaker 3: Is is the overriding decision behind this is that you
Speaker 3: know he definitely deserves this and he has earned this
Speaker 3: and he works as hard as anyone.
Speaker 4: He'll do whatever it takes for the team.
Speaker 3: And we saw that in game one, and now he
Speaker 3: gets his opportunity to play in his favorite position.
Speaker 4: And it's his time.
Speaker 2: It was his reaction because he's very he doesn't show
Speaker 2: his emotion a lot, is a very measured individual.
Speaker 1: But what was his reaction?
Speaker 3: Yeah, he might he might have been a little bit surprised,
Speaker 3: But that's the humility that Tom has.
Speaker 4: And you know, but the thing in his own humble way.
Speaker 3: He expresses his confidence. You know, he's he's going to
Speaker 3: do a great job no matter where you put him in. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he's he'd be excited about the opportunity, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: Another phone call that you made was across the Tasman
Speaker 2: the Kurk Capewell, who's always done a great job when
Speaker 2: when all upon he's played about twelve origins now as Kurt.
Speaker 2: But the reason for bringing him back into the fold.
Speaker 3: His habits, the habits that he that he has in
Speaker 3: every game that he plays.
Speaker 4: It doesn't matter what team he's playing for.
Speaker 3: He's a team first player. He can play multiple positions.
Speaker 3: So yeah, that that phone call was the only phone
Speaker 3: call that I made early in the week, given that
Speaker 3: the Warriors were coming over from New Zealand to to
Speaker 3: play the Sharks on Saturday afternoon. So yeah, I wanted
Speaker 3: to give him the best preparation and the knowledge that
Speaker 3: he was going to be in the squad, and so yeah,
Speaker 3: he was the phone call that I made early.
Speaker 2: You've always said that you keep an eye on every
Speaker 2: player that is eligible to play for Queensland, and a
Speaker 2: lot of people might have just disregarded Kirk. Okay, here
Speaker 2: he is. He hasn't been picked. That means it's all over.
Speaker 2: But you're watching everyone, aren't you.
Speaker 3: Absolutely every Queenslander that takes the field in the NRL
Speaker 3: I'm aware of and I make sure that I watched
Speaker 3: them thoroughly.
Speaker 4: I watched the habits of their game.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter whether they've played three NRL games or
Speaker 3: three hundred NRL games. It's my job and my responsibility
Speaker 3: to understand what habits they bring to their footy team
Speaker 3: and if they're the best person for the position in
Speaker 3: this Queensland team, well they're considered.
Speaker 2: Another person coming to the squad is Ezra Man, who
Speaker 2: was brilliant on Saturday night.
Speaker 1: He's had a couple of really good games three games.
Speaker 2: Backing now into his into his season, he's been on
Speaker 2: the edge of the squad for some time.
Speaker 1: Hasn't he.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he was a member of this squad a couple
Speaker 3: of years ago. And yeah, he's a wonderful player. He's
Speaker 3: a wonderful player. And since he's come back, you know,
Speaker 3: he's really helped the Broncos create a bit of spark.
Speaker 3: I actually believe that he could play multiple positions. I
Speaker 3: think he's physically talented enough to do that. So yeah, no,
Speaker 3: he's a welcomed inclusion into the twenty men squad.
Speaker 1: When do you decide on your seventeen?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that'll happen tomorrow.
Speaker 3: So we'll work out how the seventeen his position, to
Speaker 3: sit down and talk to the coaches, and then tomorrow
Speaker 3: lunchtime we'll announce. You know, what the the eighteen men's
Speaker 3: team is going to look like.
Speaker 1: Because he got Kurt Man, for instance, he's playing today.
Speaker 2: You need to see him get get through today and
Speaker 2: what he'll join the squad tonight.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he'll come in tonight.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's the only member of the squad that he's
Speaker 3: playing today, So you know, conscious of him and his preparation.
Speaker 3: You know the squad is what it is, and then
Speaker 3: you know tonight tomorrow morning will assemble what our team
Speaker 3: is going to look like.
Speaker 2: Billy with that, and you know you've got the players
Speaker 2: that come in. How important is it for you to
Speaker 2: keep everyone upbeat? And so this is this is a
Speaker 2: fresh start now? Is that part of what your your
Speaker 2: messaging is to the players as well?
Speaker 1: Hey, this is this is a.
Speaker 2: Game to you move on pretty quickly from from game
Speaker 2: one day?
Speaker 4: Good question, actually, because.
Speaker 3: You do need to be confident, you do need to
Speaker 3: have clarity about where you're going, but you need to
Speaker 3: know where we went wrong as well.
Speaker 4: And what we didn't get right.
Speaker 3: Like, we won't be sweeping anything under the carpet, that's
Speaker 3: for sure. It's not about just forget everything and just go, oh,
Speaker 3: let's just try and build this again. It's it's about understanding,
Speaker 3: you know, why we didn't play our best footing and
Speaker 3: what contributed to that and what we have control over
Speaker 3: in that. So that'll be the first thing that we do,
Speaker 3: and then and then from then on, it's it's about
Speaker 3: it's about chasing our game. You know, I just feel
Speaker 3: that we haven't we haven't chased our game collectively enough
Speaker 3: over the last couple of games, so that'll be the goal.
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Speaker 2: Billy Reese wells actually have for the Broncos against the Titans.
Speaker 1: Was he close?
Speaker 3: It was great to see Reese back and great to
Speaker 3: see the way that he performed. Like there's always consideration,
Speaker 3: like whenever, whenever players are playing in the NRL and
Speaker 3: their Queensland as they're considered, and especially a guy like Reese,
Speaker 3: because you know he's been so influential in this footy
Speaker 3: team in the past, so you know you're always thinking
Speaker 3: about it and you're watching those players, and you know,
Speaker 3: there was no player more proud than than or no
Speaker 3: personal proud than myself watching him come back and perform
Speaker 3: the way he did.
Speaker 4: But at the same time, yeah, you've got to think
Speaker 4: who is best.
Speaker 3: For the position, and you know, we've got great faith
Speaker 3: in the fullback that we've got, so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Kaylen comes in with that big moment under
Speaker 2: his belt, now doesn't he On Thursday night Golden Point
Speaker 2: he scores the match winning try for the night. So yeah,
Speaker 2: so all of a sudden he comes in up in
Speaker 2: about two does after some positivity.
Speaker 1: At club length?
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, and that was a good moment for him
Speaker 3: and his team. Obviously their first half wasn't wasn't great
Speaker 3: and there to come back from that takes a fair
Speaker 3: bit of character from the footy team and you know
Speaker 3: he was front and center of that.
Speaker 4: So I'm sure we're coming with a bit of confidence.
Speaker 2: Well, Billy, time to talk about three players that will
Speaker 2: have the most powerful impact in Game two and this
Speaker 2: is brought to you by Ampole Powering, Australia's own sporting nation.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: The first player he made his origin debut in game one,
Speaker 2: and that's Robert Soyer.
Speaker 1: You know how big a fan I am of Roberts'.
Speaker 2: Love calling him play and he was magnificent, wasn't he
Speaker 2: in game one?
Speaker 1: So that he really belongs at this level of the game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he was great.
Speaker 3: You know for a young twenty year old like to
Speaker 3: be as mature as he is.
Speaker 4: Off the field, he's got.
Speaker 3: Great humility, he's a humble young man and he's got
Speaker 3: great respect. And then on the field, he's got really
Speaker 3: good habits. For the inexperience that he does have, the
Speaker 3: habits are exceptional, so he's done a really good job
Speaker 3: in growing those. The roosters and Trent Robinson have obviously
Speaker 3: contributed and helped him do that. And then there's the
Speaker 3: there's the top end talent on top of that, so
Speaker 3: it'd be nice to actually, if we get our game on,
Speaker 3: we can unlock a little bit more of that top
Speaker 3: end talent and help him bring his game out.
Speaker 4: But I love the fact that he.
Speaker 3: Has locked into the team environment, he has locked into
Speaker 3: what the team needs and playing his role within that.
Speaker 3: So yeah, he's been a pleasure to get to know
Speaker 3: off the field and a pleasure to be a part
Speaker 3: of his inaugural series as as a Queensland player.
Speaker 2: Another one is Harry Grant and he's going to be
Speaker 2: much better physically this week. Only played the sixty minutes
Speaker 2: coming back from that pretty nasty hamstring injury that he had,
Speaker 2: so how much you're looking forward to him next week
Speaker 2: and probably just following on from that as well.
Speaker 1: So let's speak harder.
Speaker 2: If you if you like the conditions in Perth could
Speaker 2: well be suited to someone like Harry as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe there could be a little bit of rain
Speaker 3: over in Perth as well. I've just been keeping eye
Speaker 3: on the weather there, but that's irrelevant. Harry is a
Speaker 3: very professional person. He takes a lot of pride in
Speaker 3: his performance, and he'd be the first one to put
Speaker 3: his hand up and say that he was blowy standard
Speaker 3: in game one. You're right, physically, he's got a bit
Speaker 3: more footy under his belt. Played eighty minutes on the weekend.
Speaker 3: You know, you'd like to think Harry had been in
Speaker 3: a good frame of wine coming into camp.
Speaker 2: All right, we look forward to seeing him in action.
Speaker 2: Another player I want to ask you about we've already
Speaker 2: touched on is Tom Diedden and his approach to his
Speaker 2: footy and how humble he is he's spoken about that.
Speaker 2: One thing that doesn't get spoken a lot about Tom
Speaker 2: is his toughness as well his willingness to really get
Speaker 2: involved defensively.
Speaker 4: I think he's got a really good balance to what
Speaker 4: his game looks like.
Speaker 3: We talk about his toughness and his willingness to put
Speaker 3: his body on the line and commit himself to the
Speaker 3: tough side of the game, that's certainly there in great levels.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of skill in Tom diden as well.
Speaker 3: You know, he creates things and organizes things in and
Speaker 3: around his area. He does that really well. And the
Speaker 3: other thing he's a really dangerous ball runner.
Speaker 4: So I think he's.
Speaker 3: Got a really good mix to his game and it's
Speaker 3: up to the rest of his teammates to help him
Speaker 3: unlock all that, to move with.
Speaker 4: Him and.
Speaker 3: Build that kind of newity within you know, those key
Speaker 3: positions as well. So yeah, look, he's you know, he's
Speaker 3: a wonderful player. He's you know, he's been a great
Speaker 3: guy to have in this camp and he's a real
Speaker 3: team first guy. So yeah, he'd be looking forward to
Speaker 3: his opportunity.
Speaker 1: Fat has always said, hasn't he, that he loves a
Speaker 1: half that runs the ball.
Speaker 2: Is that one of the Queensland strengths that run threat
Speaker 2: on either side with given what you said about time
Speaker 2: and of course we know what Cam offers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Tom's got a bit of ginger about his hair too,
Speaker 3: so maybe that's a bit.
Speaker 4: Of favor for the Fat but.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, look, you know we all know that any
Speaker 3: player that is dangerous with their running game helps all
Speaker 3: other aspects of their game, and Tom certainly that.
Speaker 2: Just finally, Billy and the challenge. I know you love
Speaker 2: the challenge. You must be just relishing what what does
Speaker 2: lie ahead this week and getting this team up for
Speaker 2: the must win.
Speaker 1: Game over in Perth. But I get the.
Speaker 2: Sense you're very excit about spending this week with the
Speaker 2: guys and preparing them for for next Wednesday night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what an opportunity. You know, we didn't get our
Speaker 3: game right in game one. It was at home. To
Speaker 3: be fair, there was probably a few little shortcuts in
Speaker 3: our game. We can't afford that anymore. We've got to
Speaker 3: take the long road. We've got to go to Perth,
Speaker 3: we've got to go to Sydney. And if we're willing
Speaker 3: to take the long road, well we'll give ourselves a chance.
Speaker 3: So you know, if that mentality is what the group
Speaker 3: takes on, well you know they're a footy team and
Speaker 3: you don't over just yet, we don't give up.
Speaker 1: Well good luck. Look to heading over to Perth next week.
Speaker 1: I'll actually be chaperoning your former number nine on.
Speaker 2: A course on a course on Tuesday golf course.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's rights are good.
Speaker 1: Well, it's a long trip. A good luck billy. Enjoy
Speaker 1: the week and good luck next Wednesday night.
Speaker 4: A sly back