Speaker 1: Nine podcasts.
Speaker 2: The NRL season is here for the best time in sport.
Speaker 2: Tab has the best app in sport. Tab We're on.
Speaker 3: You win some, you lose more. For free and confidential support,
Speaker 3: visit Gambling help online dot org dot you.
Speaker 4: Ask us.
Speaker 2: Isaac, what's been your assessment on Wayne Bennett's performance this
Speaker 2: year considering all the injuries and challenges he's faced.
Speaker 1: Outstanding? Absolutely outstanding.
Speaker 4: She whiz.
Speaker 1: They've faced some hurdles the South Sydney side, haven't they.
Speaker 1: But you know he's there for a short amount of
Speaker 1: time and they look like a Wayne Bennett club. They
Speaker 1: look like a Wayne Bennett team, don't They hard to beat?
Speaker 2: They look a formidable unit this week, although they travel
Speaker 2: to Canberra to take on the Raiders in a record
Speaker 2: breaking game. But I think, like we touched on earlier,
Speaker 2: they've got so much talent and that's if they can
Speaker 2: finally get them all back and fit, they're in the mix.
Speaker 1: Is what his managed to do is keep them in
Speaker 1: the fight. Yes, where are they fifty to fifty at
Speaker 1: the man? He's kept them in the fight and on
Speaker 1: the edge of the eight and they've easily got the
Speaker 1: best part of their season in front of them now,
Speaker 1: and they've got some artillery to come, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's you know, they had some terrible news earlier in
Speaker 1: the year with injuries, but they've been able to get
Speaker 1: a few back, and now they're buying a few players
Speaker 1: for next year too. He doesn't muck around. The old
Speaker 1: coach usually.
Speaker 4: Got next year a couple Oh, scuttle butt, scuttle.
Speaker 1: But yeah, but I won't say it until it happens.
Speaker 4: We'll get me a quote.
Speaker 1: There's no need for me to say it until it happens.
Speaker 1: I'm not a journalist.
Speaker 2: This is where experience as a coach is absolutely paramount
Speaker 2: in dealing with a situation like he has with South
Speaker 2: with this injury crisis.
Speaker 4: He hasn't panicked, not at all. Sit there, six and six,
Speaker 4: he's probably happy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, probably a couple there they could have won. Probably
Speaker 1: a couple where they could have lost, but they won
Speaker 1: to in a row with a point by a point.
Speaker 1: Latrol won one for them. Yeah, But that's what he does.
Speaker 1: That's what his teams do. His teams just they gnaw
Speaker 1: away and now away and then and then one day
Speaker 1: they turn around and they're at full strength and they've
Speaker 1: learned their they've learned what sort of football team they'll be,
Speaker 1: and they look like a wayn Bennetts side and Wayne Bennett'
Speaker 1: sides are hard to beat. They're fit, they don't make mistakes,
Speaker 1: they've got good defense, they play with plenty of spirit,
Speaker 1: they play for the eighty minutes. They're hard to beat.
Speaker 1: It's pretty simple. He hasn't changed that for forty years.
Speaker 1: You know, he's not really a strategist. He's just about
Speaker 1: getting the best out of individuals and having them play
Speaker 1: together as a team, and the spirit that they have
Speaker 1: and they never give up attitude, and you know they
Speaker 1: base their game on defense and ball control and then
Speaker 1: individual flare. And when they get individual flair, well then
Speaker 1: that's when the Cody Walkers, who's played very little football
Speaker 1: this year in your Latrell Mitchells, who hasn't played a
Speaker 1: lot of football himself, really come to the four and
Speaker 1: in big games they can make the difference between winning
Speaker 1: and losing. He pulled it out from on the weekend
Speaker 1: again against the Warriors who are around number two. They're
Speaker 1: on sitting second on the ladder. So yeah, he's done.
Speaker 1: He's done a great joy as he always does. He's done.
Speaker 1: He set up the Dolphins really well. He's done a
Speaker 1: great job. He's had success wherever he's gone.
Speaker 2: Thanks Isaac, I'm glad your relationship has been repaired to
Speaker 2: the extent that you can send us questions on ask
Speaker 2: us how much will Mitch Barnet's injury cost the Wars
Speaker 2: and New South Wales as Alec.
Speaker 1: It's a big loss. Disappointing for him, disappointing for the
Speaker 1: warritarz so the Warriors, and very disappointing for the Blues
Speaker 1: because he was mighty in Game one.
Speaker 4: He's tremendous.
Speaker 1: Mind you, it's a representative team, so you just go
Speaker 1: out and there's no salary cap. You can just go
Speaker 1: out and get another top line front row and there's
Speaker 1: plenty around Stefano who took Amano. She's keen playing good
Speaker 1: key on Kalama tonguey. I think Keon should go and
Speaker 1: he's been terrific, you know, But I think Stefano was
Speaker 1: in the camp. Wasn't he the first one there? So
Speaker 1: Laurie will probably stay loyal there, I'd imagine. But yeah,
Speaker 1: Mitch Barnett and what is he now thirty one years
Speaker 1: of age, play Origin football at the back end of
Speaker 1: his career like that, and he's doing really well with
Speaker 1: the Warriors. Warriors got some good kids coming and they've
Speaker 1: still got James Fisher Harris, which they haven't had in
Speaker 1: previous years. I think they'll accommodate. Okay, obviously he's going
Speaker 1: to be missed and sorely missed, but an injury like
Speaker 1: that at this stage of front rower's career is not
Speaker 1: a good thing.
Speaker 4: Jimmy wants to know who Sam Walker replaces in the halves.
Speaker 1: Well, I think he'll play seven. I think he'll play seven,
Speaker 1: and I don't think it'll take too long for him
Speaker 1: to get back to the position. They're probably just giving
Speaker 1: him a run this week. Roosters are going along nicely.
Speaker 1: They've got some really good young players there. We spoke
Speaker 1: about this in the offseason and sort of proving as
Speaker 1: the year's gone on. Yeah, there's still all this scuttle
Speaker 1: about day Cherry Evans coming to the club. We've spoken
Speaker 1: about and I don't understand. But Sam Walker, I'd imagine
Speaker 1: once he's proved himself and had a run under his belt,
Speaker 1: he'll probably come back in the number seven jersey.
Speaker 2: So how's this for a scenario. Yeah, Queensland lose Game two,
Speaker 2: series over. Cherry Evans is left out of Queensland team
Speaker 2: for Game three, replaced by Sam Walker. Terry Evans comes
Speaker 2: to the Roosters and takes his spot at number seven
Speaker 2: of the next year.
Speaker 4: What are you saying, though, Well, that won't happen. Yeah,
Speaker 4: marked that. Then the tape place.
Speaker 1: That won't happen? Why not it won't happen.
Speaker 4: He might not play game to you.
Speaker 1: Why do you throw up things like that?
Speaker 4: Why would that not happen?
Speaker 1: How ridiculous? Well, if the series is you as we
Speaker 1: give him playing this Cup this weekend, he left three
Speaker 1: games under his belt. He's not playing Origin three. Please.
Speaker 2: Rick Martin sounds like a hop star from the sixties.
Speaker 2: Given the Panthers' ability to.
Speaker 1: Rick Martin, Ricky Martin.
Speaker 2: Ricky mart We're getting some celebrity submissions this week. Given
Speaker 2: the Panthers' ability to grind out wins even when they're
Speaker 2: not at their best. Well, they haven't won that many,
Speaker 2: but they well they've won four. Now is their championship DNA.
Speaker 1: Four and a half. That one point that could be
Speaker 1: very crucial at the back end of the year, could
Speaker 1: be very well. I could keep them out. You've got
Speaker 1: to make it work for you.
Speaker 2: Is their championship, DNA is still the best in the competition.
Speaker 2: I don't know what that means, but Ricky Ricky is
Speaker 2: big on that well.
Speaker 1: If I ranked the probably top five or six performances
Speaker 1: of any team this year, they rate in two of them. Panthers,
Speaker 1: even though they're down where they are a couple of
Speaker 1: their performances this year, we're outstanding and we know they've
Speaker 1: got got it in them. You know they get through
Speaker 1: this Rep season. If they can get through the Rep
Speaker 1: season and keep ticking off wins over the next few weeks.
Speaker 1: The hard part is in previous years there've been well
Speaker 1: placed coming into the Rep season. They've been able to
Speaker 1: rest their REP players. It hasn't been as draining is
Speaker 1: what it's going to be this year because they're going
Speaker 1: to have to keep backing up. They're not going to
Speaker 1: be able to rest them. They're going to have to
Speaker 1: back up after games to keep this role going. And
Speaker 1: luckily they did on the weekend. They wouldn't have beaten
Speaker 1: Paramatta without them. So they need to keep that going.
Speaker 1: But they're hardened. They know the way, they know how
Speaker 1: to play finals football. If they get there, then everyone's
Speaker 1: going to have to work hard to beat them. We
Speaker 1: know that they've got that in their ding.
Speaker 2: If we looked at the form guide from that game
Speaker 2: on Sunday, how how does the form stack up for
Speaker 2: the quality of that game.
Speaker 1: Well, Paramatta seven days earlier belted Manly, Mainly came out
Speaker 1: and belted Brisbane seven days later. You know, I think
Speaker 1: Panthers had to pull out all stops to win on
Speaker 1: the weekend. I don't think Panthers were at their absolute best,
Speaker 1: but they when the game got in the balance, you
Speaker 1: kind of like they had it under control. Clear they
Speaker 1: were able to they were able to beak it out
Speaker 1: and it was a paramounter, a outstanding They were really good.
Speaker 1: Paramount were great against Manly the week before. They've been
Speaker 1: building up and I think that the things about the
Speaker 1: Panthers is if they can get back to finals football,
Speaker 1: if they can get back to games that are in
Speaker 1: the balance and they come to a high speed, grinding
Speaker 1: football with plenty of ball in play and where they specialize,
Speaker 1: then they've got the experience, they've got the talent, and
Speaker 1: they've got the leaders that can do that where some
Speaker 1: other clubs have to prove that they can do it.
Speaker 1: A lot of clubs have to prove that they can
Speaker 1: do it. There are a lot of clubs in this
Speaker 1: league that haven't done that. They haven't played that sort
Speaker 1: of football. That's why parent the won four comps in
Speaker 1: a row. That's why they've hardly lost any games for
Speaker 1: four or five years, because sides just can't go with
Speaker 1: them when they get it right now. It's not the
Speaker 1: Panthers team of yesteryear. It's not you know that every
Speaker 1: year they've been watered down a little bit and there
Speaker 1: are more kids coming into the side, but they've still
Speaker 1: got the nucleus. I've still got five, four or five
Speaker 1: of the best players in the in the game, in
Speaker 1: the world in that side, and they know how to
Speaker 1: play finals.
Speaker 4: Football and clear it was unbelievable, as he always.
Speaker 1: Yeah him, Brian, Brian, you know, like Dylan Edwards just marvelous,
Speaker 1: absolutely marvelous, and you know, and the other fellows you know,
Speaker 1: like young Kenny and Moses Leoda and Liam Martin, Brian,
Speaker 1: Dylan Edwards, Nathan clipped you so hell are still they've
Speaker 1: got half a dozen of the best players in the
Speaker 1: world in those positions. They can do it. I think
Speaker 1: we were all surprised where they are on the ladder,
Speaker 1: but there had to be a breaking point at some stage.
Speaker 1: You can't be you can't be great forever. They've just
Speaker 1: had a difficult time through the first half of the competition.
Speaker 1: But it won't surprise anyone if they string half a
Speaker 1: dozen wins together, and if they do, they're going to
Speaker 1: be well entrenched in the eight and then they can
Speaker 1: set their sights on finals football. And if we're working
Speaker 1: finals football, there are a lot of other sides out
Speaker 1: there that they've got to prove that they can handle it.
Speaker 1: Panthers will know how it.
Speaker 4: Might be the year a team from outside the four
Speaker 4: winds of the camp could be.
Speaker 1: It's going to happen one day. It will happen one day.
Speaker 1: All this thing you have to make the ford to
Speaker 1: win the comp Well, no you don't. That's just the
Speaker 1: way it's played out for the last twenty years. But
Speaker 1: doesn't mean I'll go on forever.
Speaker 4: Reckon the Raiders and the Warriors will stay intrenched.
Speaker 1: The universe unfolds in funny ways, Matthew, funny world, there
Speaker 1: are no there are no rules.
Speaker 4: Shamous wants to know.
Speaker 2: Do you think the NRL's current disciplinary system, including fines
Speaker 2: and suspensions, is adequately tearing.
Speaker 1: Don't start, do not start. You've put that quick.
Speaker 2: I did it now when I make up the name Shamus, yeah,
Speaker 2: Shamus Wolden.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well that's just a that's just a setup. That's
Speaker 1: just a setup. We'll deal with that one day and
Speaker 1: a whole.
Speaker 4: Podcast, will we.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look forward to that, or I might write my book.
Speaker 2: That's us, Gus. The NRL season is here for the
Speaker 2: best time in sport. Tab has the best app in sport.
Speaker 4: Tab.
Speaker 3: We are on You win some, you lose more. For
Speaker 3: free and confidential support, visit Gambling Help online dot org
Speaker 3: dot au.