Speaker 1: Holly team and welcome into your finals edition of Between
Speaker 1: two Posts. It was a good weekend if you're a
Speaker 1: Brumbies fan, you know what, it was a good weekend.
Speaker 1: If you're an Aussie rugby fan. Be course, we've got
Speaker 1: one team still tracking in their hope for a title,
Speaker 1: their first since twenty twenty twenty twenty four, two thousand
Speaker 1: and four. Morgantinually James Hall, has it really been that long?
Speaker 1: Twenty years? Longer twenty one years into Brumbies one?
Speaker 2: I think so?
Speaker 3: Look yeah, look, I mean they've been in a number
Speaker 3: of finals since then, but they did everything they could
Speaker 3: on Saturday night to get the job done, be alive
Speaker 3: for another week. So yeah, really good performance from the bus.
Speaker 4: Tough to win. Kevy aren't there? You know? Like are
Speaker 4: there and there and thereabouts?
Speaker 5: Every year the Brumbies, every year we think are hick
Speaker 5: on the Reds or the TARSI going to move up?
Speaker 5: They're still the standard bear in Australian rugby.
Speaker 1: I did the odds with Morgs before the match closed
Speaker 1: out between the Blues and Chiefs the other night, So
Speaker 1: we just use bookis odds to try and calculate the
Speaker 1: likelihood of having the Brumbies host the Blues in the
Speaker 1: the final, right, so we needed the obviously need the
Speaker 1: Blues to win. The other night you need the Brumbies
Speaker 1: to win, and then this week we obviously need Brumbies
Speaker 1: and Blues to both win as well. Ninety to one.
Speaker 1: It was, so the first two legs are ticked off,
Speaker 1: two to go this weekend. Fellas before we preview, what's
Speaker 1: the come, Let's sink our teeth into that cold Oh
Speaker 1: my god, that cold canbra night where it was three
Speaker 1: degrees that kickoff felt like about minus two down.
Speaker 4: They see what was out?
Speaker 5: The gloves were out Panel Atkinson, Ferguson Shepherd two of
Speaker 5: the three war gloves.
Speaker 4: Who do you think you had the gloves on?
Speaker 2: Atkinson Shepherd?
Speaker 4: Yeap are soft ass?
Speaker 5: No wonder that was so bad at Phinishy this year.
Speaker 5: No resilience those two.
Speaker 1: I've got to give the game some context. So the
Speaker 1: way it was shaping up was it was going to
Speaker 1: be rubber between the Brumbies and the Hurricanes. What all
Speaker 1: of us desperadoes wanted was to have something on the
Speaker 1: line in the game. We wanted some feelings and vibe.
Speaker 1: So that meant that the Blues need to beat the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: So closing stages of that game sideline, the Hurricanes are
Speaker 1: lined up around Morgues and the rest of the crew.
Speaker 1: Morgs here it is as you're watching the final try
Speaker 1: getting out with Pete among A Jensen and is this
Speaker 1: when so two to two was held up? What's this?
Speaker 5: This when like so this is like management from Hurricanes
Speaker 5: going what's happening?
Speaker 4: What's what is that? Is that? Is that crawling? Is
Speaker 4: that they happened on the advantage. It's still on.
Speaker 5: They're going to come back and Peter among A Jensen there,
Speaker 5: you saw it as soon as that tries scored and
Speaker 5: given he's better go warm up, this game means a
Speaker 5: little bit more.
Speaker 1: We lose them, they're on our way to mad Monday. Okay, fellas,
Speaker 1: So I mean this match was such a good game
Speaker 1: of finals, given they were low scoring the two games
Speaker 1: that preceded it, and they've just come out throwing haymakers
Speaker 1: at each other. Rub And loves the first man to
Speaker 1: go in, and you're watching you think this Canes back
Speaker 1: line is immaculate and Kevy they were so good with
Speaker 1: his first dry.
Speaker 3: Oh, their ability to move the ball and they're off
Speaker 3: floating through the tackle is just impressive. And I think
Speaker 3: they have, you know, the last back half of this
Speaker 3: Super Rugby season, I think they've been probably the form
Speaker 3: team and you know, you didn't want to play them
Speaker 3: become finals, but the Brumbies the whole type five. I
Speaker 3: think for the Brumbies this game really stood up, particularly
Speaker 3: on I think in that first half it was sort
Speaker 3: of a bit of ying and yang, whereas the Hurricanes
Speaker 3: were using the balls, spreading it wide and the Brumbies
Speaker 3: just went back to their you know, their core game,
Speaker 3: the mall, the scrum, tight forwards, carrying the ball hard
Speaker 3: and it was all square after sort of twenty two
Speaker 3: twenty three minutes.
Speaker 5: But if you're the Hurricanes today Monday and you're reviewing it, well,
Speaker 5: you know, if you're the coaching staff, if you're want status,
Speaker 5: you know, but you have to that's your job, right.
Speaker 5: Clark's in there, is in the game because if you're
Speaker 5: a head coach in superb you are a statist. He
Speaker 5: can't be disappointed with the way his team played.
Speaker 4: Do they played well?
Speaker 5: They played the best version of themselves tactically smart got
Speaker 5: to the edges on the Brumbies when the Brummies were
Speaker 5: trying to come up and close. You know they'll be
Speaker 5: disappointed they couldn't hold maybe one moll out. They win
Speaker 5: the game like a couple of tiny things. But it's
Speaker 5: one of the best losing performances in an elimination final
Speaker 5: life scene.
Speaker 1: They were excellent, so so good the Canes. So too
Speaker 1: was Alan Abletowa, who scored his eighth try the season,
Speaker 1: and we had to bring up the stats stack again
Speaker 1: after he went over man because when you reveal it,
Speaker 1: you will see that his previous ten years of Super Robi,
Speaker 1: he had only scored four tries total. This year he
Speaker 1: has gone through the roof Cavy wild stuff.
Speaker 2: Meters gain for those tries a question total he's been.
Speaker 3: He's in good for I think you know he's critical
Speaker 3: for the Wallaby success this year. He's been that good
Speaker 3: and that important for this run beside, but looking forward,
Speaker 3: we need him on the park and hurt when he
Speaker 3: wasn't there.
Speaker 5: You know, we always try and look for the why
Speaker 5: and that how why is that?
Speaker 4: Why had he never scored more? But why now is
Speaker 4: he s called double?
Speaker 5: A decade worth of tries like we've seen, how good
Speaker 5: he is close to the line.
Speaker 4: But it's not like he just learned it.
Speaker 3: No, do we think that there's more a big man
Speaker 3: let's goal kicking from penalties, so there's more opportunities that
Speaker 3: you're in the twenty two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe so teams, but he's finish.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but no one has.
Speaker 3: Spending more time. So you's seeing more forwards scoring tries
Speaker 3: because teams are spending more time in the opposition.
Speaker 4: So the only real change is the dropout law.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so he's there, like you know before, if you
Speaker 1: got held up, you just came back.
Speaker 5: He had a five moved to strom. Now it's a
Speaker 5: massive turnover. Maybe there's much more emphasis on how low
Speaker 5: that body. He seems to be pretty much the best
Speaker 5: in the comp almost getting lower than defense.
Speaker 3: Like and like the defensive onne where you've got to
Speaker 3: stay behind that last minute like that makes it really
Speaker 3: hard to.
Speaker 4: Pretty much impossible to legally defense.
Speaker 2: Yeah it is.
Speaker 3: I mean you've got to bend it and if you
Speaker 3: miss it by millisecond, Gonza, it's impossible to stop.
Speaker 1: So he gets about to fourteen fourteen, and then right
Speaker 1: on halftime the Brummy's get a chance to take three
Speaker 1: and take the lead at the break, they choose not
Speaker 1: to and it was so amusing to see the reaction
Speaker 1: of coach Stephen Larkins. A little flick over the top
Speaker 1: from Lonigan just missed the chasing Tommy Wright. So Steve
Speaker 1: Larkins in the box, we can't really shot to him
Speaker 1: and the arms across and he looks real pensive and
Speaker 1: Good says, no, he's on board with this? I said,
Speaker 1: is he? Is? He good? He doesn't look like he's key.
Speaker 1: But then they construct again fellas this rolling moll. What
Speaker 1: are they doing well with this rolling more to give
Speaker 1: themselves a halftime lead.
Speaker 3: Well, I think the core game for the Brumbies, for
Speaker 3: almost as long as I can remember, has been with
Speaker 3: Stephen Largan as a coach, has been around belt, around
Speaker 3: the mall. So I think the ability to get the
Speaker 3: player up and down and get the front of your
Speaker 3: mare set is the key to morning. If you get
Speaker 3: that front guard set, the depth and get the ball
Speaker 3: along which you see here Billy Poll, it makes it
Speaker 3: really hard to defend. And then you see the backs
Speaker 3: coming in and adding the X ray. But it all
Speaker 3: starts with the guys up front, where Billy Poyd does
Speaker 3: well to finish it there on the left hand side
Speaker 3: that should go to the guys. I think's Nick Frisce
Speaker 3: Slipper all to that front core piece of you more.
Speaker 3: If you can get that right with no dis option
Speaker 3: where it makes it very hard to defend legally, and
Speaker 3: that's what they did, and they get the ball long,
Speaker 3: then you can't have the swimmers through on the ball.
Speaker 3: It becomes that edging edging, edging, and then the Canes
Speaker 3: got to put players in. Billy Pollard picks the gap,
Speaker 3: picks on the nine.
Speaker 1: Good footing gives him a twenty one to fourteen lead.
Speaker 1: And then Morg's early into the second half, early ish
Speaker 1: in the second half, after turning away the Hurricanes and
Speaker 1: dodging one with duple c Kerith his hands tragically for
Speaker 1: the Canes going missing on him.
Speaker 2: I've never seen these.
Speaker 1: Such a crazy is a good play. We'll talking about
Speaker 1: him in the post game soon as well. But then
Speaker 1: a little bit of magic from the Brumbys sets up
Speaker 1: a handy lead.
Speaker 5: It's the world's easiest Mackram. It is the Champagne Rugby
Speaker 5: Union moment of the week. It's a two phase play
Speaker 5: and as much as Stephen Larkham tries to facetiously deny it.
Speaker 5: It's one hundred percent plan. It's even the switch here.
Speaker 5: Everyone's thinking Valentine needs to carry and that's the change up,
Speaker 5: changes the point of contact and Robbie's he's in his
Speaker 5: slot to Alima gainst their late as his role.
Speaker 4: Noel runs the one at the back and then just
Speaker 4: through the middle.
Speaker 5: It's absolutely perfectly replicated what they would have done a
Speaker 5: Norton cross as Kevy on the training Paddy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, and I think you can see. I think
Speaker 3: there was one earlier in the Crusaders.
Speaker 4: Twice one week one a few weeks.
Speaker 3: Against against the Hurricanes, and it's probably just it's the
Speaker 3: slight of hand of that inside runner taking the attention
Speaker 3: of who is it the number five there, I think
Speaker 3: for the Canes, and just the late run where right
Speaker 3: comes in late, you know in division. Late is just
Speaker 3: such a great piece of work. And the ball from
Speaker 3: Bobby Valentini is nice, just a little one.
Speaker 4: Handed inside, just the way they use Valentine.
Speaker 5: So if you're opposite Valentini, your third defender, So it's
Speaker 5: a three man forward shape that we see Valentini square.
Speaker 5: He's got the tip option on the outside, he's got
Speaker 5: inside support if he needs it usually just to clean
Speaker 5: out and obviously the poll parts out the back to
Speaker 5: Noel a laser which we see fifty times a game.
Speaker 5: Rob Valentini carries every single time. The genius is in
Speaker 5: the change. You show the same picture and you just
Speaker 5: show a slightly different variation. Crusades have done it, Island's
Speaker 5: done it. We've seen teams do it. But but the
Speaker 5: fact that it's Valentini is such great deception because if
Speaker 5: I'm opposite him and third, all I'm thinking about is
Speaker 5: blinkers on. I've got to tackle this guy. If I'm
Speaker 5: the tip guy, I've got to tackle Pollard as a
Speaker 5: tip I'm just vision square. We've got a good defensive line.
Speaker 5: We've all done our job, and suddenly the picture changes
Speaker 5: and it is an untouched try.
Speaker 3: It used to be something you do always on the outside.
Speaker 3: It's the old I think where the insights and slider
Speaker 3: the third end comes on the inside.
Speaker 2: It's just doing that on it.
Speaker 3: Doing it on the inside is just a nice touch
Speaker 3: from the Bruns, and as Mark said, a couple of
Speaker 3: teams have been starting.
Speaker 2: To do it.
Speaker 1: So it's do you know what I felt for? In
Speaker 1: that passage? You play Flanders He's landed the shot of
Speaker 1: the last five years on Bob Ballatin. He become the
Speaker 1: first man a stop in front of has hammered him
Speaker 1: and then pops up and goes got him and goes, ah, shit,
Speaker 1: what happened? I did my job? Where were you?
Speaker 4: Bloats?
Speaker 1: So that makes it twenty eight to fourteen, and that's
Speaker 1: a handy lead, obviously, as you both know, in a
Speaker 1: qualifying final. But then Sullivan hits back this the outside
Speaker 1: in line here was just so pretty to watch. Is
Speaker 1: there anything better outside in at pace?
Speaker 5: I just just because it's such a blind spot to
Speaker 5: come from, it's so effective. And then even to square
Speaker 5: up through the line and get outside of Rhyma who's despairing.
Speaker 5: So what happens often is you come back hard against
Speaker 5: the grange TV. You'll know because anytime there was space,
Speaker 5: Kevy didn't want it right. He just wanted to run
Speaker 5: into the teether box. So he come back hard against
Speaker 5: the line and off and you go into the next defender.
Speaker 5: But he comes through and almost wants a reverse j
Speaker 5: line back out.
Speaker 4: It was brilliant.
Speaker 3: It's difficult because as you're so close to the line,
Speaker 3: you're watching the ball, you want to get off the line.
Speaker 3: The little bobble there at nine, he comes up. They
Speaker 3: were all looking to try and stop him, and he
Speaker 3: just you get outside iron outside I and you just
Speaker 3: miss him.
Speaker 1: It was good foot which brought it back to a
Speaker 1: seven point marchin. The Brummies then get another opportunity to
Speaker 1: take points with twenty two to go to make it
Speaker 1: a ten point leads say, ah, we're kicking the line,
Speaker 1: thank you very much. I mean, this was a throwdown
Speaker 1: three the way that Nah was hitting him the other night.
Speaker 1: We're going to catch up with that man on between
Speaker 1: two posts extra tomorrow. So they go to them all
Speaker 1: and then it's your old mate, Kevy, it's your good
Speaker 1: friend James Slipper off the tap play. Eventually.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Look, I mean I think at the time of the
Speaker 3: game you're thinking, you know, if I'm put your head
Speaker 3: on as a captain, I'm probably taking the three there
Speaker 3: just to get two scores ahead. But I guess it
Speaker 3: showed the confidence, the ability. I think Steve they just
Speaker 3: wanted to build pressure down in that zone, which they
Speaker 3: felt they didn't last time they played the Crew the
Speaker 3: Hurricanes and slips doesn't score many and not many from
Speaker 3: far out but I think again he's he's been so
Speaker 3: good for the Brahms and he's going around again.
Speaker 5: It's got one, Alan got one and Pollo got too. Yes,
Speaker 5: so there's a lot of captain's question for you. So
Speaker 5: I got a feeling that the Brumbies early on worked
Speaker 5: out that this was going to be a straight out
Speaker 5: shootout and the multiples of three probably aren't enough, and
Speaker 5: that proved right a couple of times there As a captain,
Speaker 5: do you sometimes go look to me like that was
Speaker 5: almost a compliment of the Hurricanes, like three points is
Speaker 5: not enough.
Speaker 4: We've got to keep going. Do you feel that in games?
Speaker 3: I think you have to, but you're always got to
Speaker 3: look a where the key is, Like those were right
Speaker 3: in front. They're gimmes, right like you definitely three points?
Speaker 3: You know you used to always look and sit there
Speaker 3: and go, well, you know what of the odds of
Speaker 3: kicking it, you work out where your kicks and go, well, look,
Speaker 3: i'd rather kick it to touch because there's a chance
Speaker 3: he's going to miss this.
Speaker 2: They're gimmes.
Speaker 3: So I think building points and momentums are big thing
Speaker 3: in games now, and the ability to hold and build
Speaker 3: in the twenty two is key for teams being successful
Speaker 3: in this competition so far. So I think that certainly
Speaker 3: to your point, marks plays into it. But you know,
Speaker 3: I think when we'll talk about the Chiefs game, I
Speaker 3: think they probably kicked too much for gold. They probably
Speaker 3: should have gone for touch more and Bilk scored. They
Speaker 3: sort of went into themselves and just tried to chip
Speaker 3: it over.
Speaker 5: They go for penalty goal those two times they lose
Speaker 5: the bun.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, it's not that simple, but you know.
Speaker 1: And as you say, the Carrians were playing such good
Speaker 1: for the toss. He scored again late, but it wasn't
Speaker 1: enough to get the result men, So the Brummies go ahead.
Speaker 1: The Canes bounce out. I wanted to touch on the
Speaker 1: postmatch interview, he's the closing stages. Now it goes and
Speaker 1: whips it in a touch, so they bank their spot
Speaker 1: the closing stages of the game. So post game rather
Speaker 1: where good justin Harrison interviews doeople see careefy, how good
Speaker 1: that little exchange was, How great that little bit of
Speaker 1: insight was that they both shared. It's a shame that
Speaker 1: the Canes got to bounce out. It's a shame that
Speaker 1: had to be losing the other night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Look, I mean Griffy himself is what
Speaker 3: a player, what a guy that But look, I think
Speaker 3: it shows you what it means to play in this
Speaker 3: sort of finals appearance. And as you said, like both
Speaker 3: teams mores touch on it. Canes can certainly hold their
Speaker 3: heads high for that performance. It was sort of tough
Speaker 3: to have to be a loser that night, and probably
Speaker 3: up until about two minutes before they were about to
Speaker 3: go warm art, we're probably thinking.
Speaker 1: We're going through anyway.
Speaker 3: We're going through anyway, so it doesn't matter about the performance.
Speaker 3: We get another crack next week.
Speaker 5: They could have won the comp probably maybe scrum deep
Speaker 5: in but back line, back road, the line out pressure.
Speaker 5: I put the Brumbies under the brand of rugby. They
Speaker 5: played the ability to kick as well when they needed to.
Speaker 5: Later on the next couple of weeks they kept going
Speaker 5: talk about not wanting to play someone.
Speaker 3: We wonder how much those injuries early on in the
Speaker 3: year hurt them. That they made a late run in
Speaker 3: the comp that got them to where they were. I mean,
Speaker 3: they dropped some games early on that they probably when
Speaker 3: you look at they probably should not have if they
Speaker 3: picked them up. They're sitting you know, third, second home
Speaker 3: game and game in Wellington, second crack at it probably
Speaker 3: if they lost top.
Speaker 4: Two is important?
Speaker 1: Well, when are we going to? When do you want
Speaker 1: to talk? Should we talk about it now? In this segment?
Speaker 1: Is this where it sits best? So we want to
Speaker 1: get to it after Chiefs Blues. Let's go now, shall we?
Speaker 1: You're cool? Okay? There's been some constant The right term
Speaker 1: is consternation around the final setup. Now. I think it's
Speaker 1: ridiculous all of us up about it now because the
Speaker 1: rules of beating place since the ball was kicked the
Speaker 1: start the season, which dictated that there would only be
Speaker 1: the shuffling of the seeds at the back end, which
Speaker 1: meant that if you finish first, you drop into the
Speaker 1: second seed, but if the second seed, when you go
Speaker 1: up in the first seat, which is kind of a
Speaker 1: little confusing. But anyway, despite that, we knew that, and
Speaker 1: we also knew that if you finish first and you
Speaker 1: lose your first week, if you lose your first week,
Speaker 1: you cop andel you still get to host the semi
Speaker 1: final the next week. Why did I'm just trying to
Speaker 1: work out why no and push back on it, or
Speaker 1: why this wasn't highlight early because it doesn't for me
Speaker 1: as a fan watching scene quite right. So I think
Speaker 1: if you lose back of the queue, you go where
Speaker 1: do you see it? Are you okay with it?
Speaker 2: Keevy? I'm okay.
Speaker 3: The in the consens of where we are now, I
Speaker 3: think this I reckon. My view is that we could
Speaker 3: do the final system a little bit different, where one
Speaker 3: and two get a week off. Okay, three plays six
Speaker 3: and five plays four yep, straight knockout.
Speaker 1: They then go to it and then one would play
Speaker 1: the one would play with lowest.
Speaker 3: Rank gotcha, and then basically always at home and they win.
Speaker 3: That you've got one less game to got to one
Speaker 3: less game to make it.
Speaker 2: To the final.
Speaker 1: So I think, yes, okay, that's your compromise. Where do
Speaker 1: you sit on this whole finals conundrum?
Speaker 5: Well, I think I think one the big point you
Speaker 5: make is everyone knew the rule exactly start. Everyone has
Speaker 5: first ever been beaten before since the days of top
Speaker 5: four and maybe went to top eight when the crusade
Speaker 5: from fourth.
Speaker 2: They might have gone to South Africa and one over.
Speaker 4: There they beat the lines over there, first place lines.
Speaker 1: I think the Lines might have been first anyway.
Speaker 5: Anyway, So one it's it's like, it's not something you
Speaker 5: think is going to happen, and then the defending champions sneak.
Speaker 4: In the sixth.
Speaker 5: But I reckon it will put it this way, it
Speaker 5: won't be there next year. I couldn't imagine it'll be changed.
Speaker 1: Why did none of the clubs push back on it initially?
Speaker 1: So you actually think it's a fair run.
Speaker 4: So I don't think many analyze them much.
Speaker 3: Won't think about it though for exams, we not know.
Speaker 3: You're right if you're saying the weight it was. So
Speaker 3: if the Canes won against the Brumbies away, yes, they
Speaker 3: finished fourth. So how many points behind the Chiefs were they?
Speaker 3: I think two three games in the season they lost,
Speaker 3: maybe less, A long way behind. They then would have
Speaker 3: hosted a final. No, they wouldn't have, No, because no
Speaker 3: Chiefs still host. No, they would have they would have.
Speaker 3: If you're saying that in the way we want it
Speaker 3: to be the way we want to be. The Canes who
Speaker 3: finished fourth, who lost three to four games behind.
Speaker 1: You can't lose week You can't lose Week one and
Speaker 1: host you want to.
Speaker 5: You can't have double like an extra chance and keep
Speaker 5: having you want.
Speaker 3: To keep you want to keep pushing for the team
Speaker 3: to finish top two, because otherwise later in the season
Speaker 3: you can pull the brakes off. Doesn't matter as long
Speaker 3: as we finished top four West sweet man.
Speaker 4: If you finish top two, you get a second chance.
Speaker 4: You can lose.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 4: Hurricanes lost, They're out.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 4: That's the difference.
Speaker 1: You should never get the host if you lose. I
Speaker 1: don't reckon, I don't reckon.
Speaker 2: But neutral venues?
Speaker 1: Where what's that?
Speaker 4: Lord?
Speaker 2: How island? Is that?
Speaker 1: What? He goes? That? In between here and over there?
Speaker 1: Where else? Is here? Between here?
Speaker 5: And call the mythical TASMANI and afl Stane that won't.
Speaker 4: Be built the.
Speaker 1: Love that Luke Burgess, Yeah, cheering, it's a good watchers
Speaker 1: going to see a bit of virgo on standsport in
Speaker 1: for months. It's absolutely not a wingd I just I couldn't.
Speaker 1: I mean, even like our colleagues were going, hang on
Speaker 1: but wait no, but then but.
Speaker 4: Really, but it's something that no one really looked at.
Speaker 2: No, but really just a couple of high.
Speaker 5: Level execs camera who only worked it out when the
Speaker 5: Blues one.
Speaker 4: They were really really.
Speaker 1: Yeah, anyways, it is what it is. It'll be tough
Speaker 1: for the Brumbies over there in Chiefs Town, who'll be
Speaker 1: smarting after dropping that game. We're going to get to
Speaker 1: that game in a second. Firstly, we need to touch
Speaker 1: in on the Crusaders and the Reds. My my wife,
Speaker 1: she has a term for games like I went bore
Speaker 1: out with Yas the other day on Stan loved it,
Speaker 1: naughty naughty. Anyways, she says, this is a gong show.
Speaker 1: This was a gong show and when a teams it's
Speaker 1: a blowout. It's twenty seven il at one.
Speaker 4: Stage we want to be gonghim red kind of like that.
Speaker 1: It's a Canadian term, gongim gong show. I mean, where
Speaker 1: do you where do you pick? Apart this game from
Speaker 1: the other night, it looked as though the Crusaders just
Speaker 1: played smarter, wet weather knockout footy.
Speaker 3: Well, look, the Reds didn't fire a shot until in
Speaker 3: the second half. I think ultimately they were beaten to
Speaker 3: the punch. The Crusaders were just too good. They pressured
Speaker 3: the ball out the back, particularly defensively for the red
Speaker 3: so they couldn't get their sort of phase played going.
Speaker 3: They were defensively disrupted at the breakout breakdown and just
Speaker 3: I think didn't really start playing the brand of rugby
Speaker 3: they wanted to play until probably sort of fifty fifty
Speaker 3: five minutes and by then chasing a game in christ
Speaker 3: It is just.
Speaker 2: Too hard, you know.
Speaker 3: And look what thirty straight at home finals games at
Speaker 3: home the Crusade the one I meant you wouldn't want
Speaker 3: to have me going there for a final thirty.
Speaker 1: We'll get to that record. And second, can I ask
Speaker 1: you both conditions like that, why by they playing any
Speaker 1: rope in your half? Why try and run it from
Speaker 1: sixty out in the same way they did which led
Speaker 1: to the first try. The second try they just got
Speaker 1: put under the pump after some refereeing decisions that could
Speaker 1: have gone easily could have gone either way. So why
Speaker 1: try and run it from sixty out in weather like that?
Speaker 5: I think the first salient point is no scrum, no win. Okay,
Speaker 5: that's big. And then from there, if you're the Reds,
Speaker 5: if you want to play that style of football against
Speaker 5: the Crusaders, you're going to lose. That's if you shine
Speaker 5: and play that brand against that brand Crusaders versus Reds,
Speaker 5: Reds lose, So you have to do something different. You've
Speaker 5: got to win collisions which I didn't. You've got to
Speaker 5: get fast recycled. That's your point of difference. You're not
Speaker 5: going to be able to OutKick. Take's not box kicks
Speaker 5: not his thing right, and then tactical kicking across the
Speaker 5: board compared to what the Crusader's aid out there.
Speaker 4: You don't win that.
Speaker 5: Okay, find a battleground that you can win. They didn't
Speaker 5: completely outclass never in the game. The Crusaders, they're thinking
Speaker 5: about next week. By the fifty to fifth minute, this
Speaker 5: is a French they'd say that they've sort of passed
Speaker 5: a quarte like, so they've sort of missed their season here.
Speaker 5: The Reds, this is a season that they will rude.
Speaker 5: They look back and go, well, we dropped that one there,
Speaker 5: could have won that one tight. Then we finish outside
Speaker 5: the top two, three, we're in trouble and then you
Speaker 5: know you're outgunned. It's a disappointing season in them for
Speaker 5: the Reds.
Speaker 1: That Fiji game will be still crushing. They might imagine
Speaker 1: that miss line out late that cost them that win there.
Speaker 1: But we talk about the Crusaders thirty to zero at home,
Speaker 1: so they've never lost a finals game at home. Can
Speaker 1: either of you. Kevy, you love your sport internationally, so
Speaker 1: to you, Mogs. Can you think of a team worldwide
Speaker 1: who has a playoff record like that, who have never
Speaker 1: ever lost a match? Do they exist at home? Do
Speaker 1: they exist some of.
Speaker 4: Your neutral venues? Now, there's not many that have that record.
Speaker 2: I mean green Bay maybe.
Speaker 1: I mean you're talking about it all conquering. You needed
Speaker 1: team that had won four or five years straight, wouldn't you?
Speaker 1: Maybe Sidney UNI through the two thousands here in Sydney.
Speaker 1: Lots of those are neutral venues, correct, You're right, I
Speaker 1: don't know vantage. Yeah, it's like, is the most impressive
Speaker 1: playoff team any sport anywhere in the world the Crusaders
Speaker 1: thirty zero?
Speaker 4: Because I'm just trying to think of a better sporting
Speaker 4: team anyway. Yeah, who's better over over five year period accompassed?
Speaker 4: It's not many.
Speaker 3: You've had sort of dynasties in different sports that have
Speaker 3: been three to four years, but it's been to drop away.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the AFLs and the NRLs, the and the big
Speaker 5: finals in big sports in Europe they go to neutral
Speaker 5: venues at home.
Speaker 4: And all the venues.
Speaker 1: Yes, So you both make good points.
Speaker 4: It probably talks a lot about the advantage of home
Speaker 4: ground ugby.
Speaker 1: They've had a lot of it. We talk about the
Speaker 1: season not hitting the heights at eighty two for the Reds,
Speaker 1: but can we talk about some of the players who
Speaker 1: are either emerged or who have some minted their spots
Speaker 1: at the top level across twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3: I think Harry Wilson's been good and I think you
Speaker 3: see when he wasn't there the impact he makes for
Speaker 3: the team. So I think he was good. I thought
Speaker 3: he was pretty good again on the weekend. I mean
Speaker 3: we can touch on that little deaf kick that he
Speaker 3: puts in for frasement, right, I mean, that's just a
Speaker 3: for a number eight to do that in the seventy
Speaker 3: fifth minute tied legs. It's pretty good. Like I mean,
Speaker 3: it's just pretty good good stuff. So look, I think
Speaker 3: he's been good. I think they've missed Josh Fluke. I
Speaker 3: think the last two weeks he's been back. I think
Speaker 3: he's been again that sort of glue in the back
Speaker 3: line that helps him. Whether he gets to a Wallaby's
Speaker 3: level will be interesting to see. But him missing since
Speaker 3: round three I think hurt the Reds in the back line.
Speaker 3: So I think those two have been very good.
Speaker 1: Do you think Fluke when we see him in the
Speaker 1: Wallaby squad's surely long term?
Speaker 5: Definitely, it's probably not yet twenty three at the moment.
Speaker 5: He's starting from behind as well. You mentioned yes, it
Speaker 5: was like John Campbell, a bit like that, Harry will
Speaker 5: something even like he needs.
Speaker 4: A block of training. Now he's going to be firing.
Speaker 5: He came back quick. You watched the last twenty minutes
Speaker 5: of both of his games recently. He blew out and
Speaker 5: still went on ticker. He's going to be wonder watch
Speaker 5: when he gets a little block of training. Campbell and
Speaker 5: flew The other ones just behind, you know, have to
Speaker 5: play some army. What are they going to do with him?
Speaker 5: Those sorts of guys Anderson, I thought's the one that's
Speaker 5: probably improved his stocks. The rest of them at the
Speaker 5: Reds this year. We love take, we love phrase, we
Speaker 5: love Harriett. They're all the ones.
Speaker 4: The usual suspects.
Speaker 5: Had a better season, but it was tough on the weekend.
Speaker 5: But he had a better season when they needed him to.
Speaker 5: They still haven't replaced two part scrum time. It's always
Speaker 5: been their achilles heel had a lot of injuries in
Speaker 5: that position which I had.
Speaker 3: For Australian rugby. You got two parts. Tell us you
Speaker 3: know you're going to have to Whether you slip her there,
Speaker 3: I'm not sure, but.
Speaker 4: Even slips is trying to retire.
Speaker 3: He can't kept in front row is a challenge for
Speaker 3: austral rugby across the board.
Speaker 1: I was start to see Flute resign. I think long
Speaker 1: term he's going to be a phenomenal their name for
Speaker 1: the Wallabies. As for me and Brill, yeah, brows be
Speaker 1: next time. He's he's a genuine presence. Now he's a
Speaker 1: backgrower and as a super rugby player, he's got he's
Speaker 1: got some go about him. And again, long term, I
Speaker 1: can't wait, and is going to have to be in
Speaker 1: that squad. Surely if we got on form from this year.
Speaker 1: You don't reckon, I reckon. I picked Fessler.
Speaker 5: You'll be back just after the Reds game. Okay, maybe
Speaker 5: that Australian New Zealand game. You've got to play in
Speaker 5: one of those two? Okay, straight in mate, you think
Speaker 5: so gosh?
Speaker 1: He started to start the fairs and then pull out
Speaker 1: on the bench, gets to line out throwing working. Okay, hooker,
Speaker 1: is what's your core role set peace, then let's get
Speaker 1: the footballer after Okay, gotcha noted? I'll tell you what
Speaker 1: what a game?
Speaker 3: You know? I think you just got to make sure
Speaker 3: he's got the mileage. He's come back from a bad
Speaker 3: hamstring strange.
Speaker 1: So you just haven't even can I haven't even considered
Speaker 1: because we haven't seen him.
Speaker 4: He's just got a window around window like.
Speaker 3: Whether he plays for the Reds, I don't. I think
Speaker 3: that might be a bit early for him. But game, yeah,
Speaker 3: you live. He's got to have to play the CG
Speaker 3: or the AUNZ game.
Speaker 1: Gotcha.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they'll have to have some coverage in the squad.
Speaker 3: But I think if he's fit and they're comfortable with
Speaker 3: the work he's put in, I think he's starting.
Speaker 5: Taking a square to sixty if you want. I got
Speaker 5: every Australian player in camp if you want.
Speaker 1: Also in a scrumline at obviously brings Davy Precky the Porkster,
Speaker 1: right back into proceedings Blues Bee Chiefs, so we touched
Speaker 1: on how exciting this was to watch from the field,
Speaker 1: to play in Canberra. From the combox in Canberra, it
Speaker 1: was a doozy. The Chiefs put themselves out to a
Speaker 1: thirteen point leading is go job down by how many
Speaker 1: in the animill this be? And then the Blues picked
Speaker 1: open a little scene, pick picked at it, turned it
Speaker 1: into a gaping hole, and then away they went. They
Speaker 1: charged through it to score too converted Trice to win
Speaker 1: that game, to the delight of the Blues fans who
Speaker 1: made the trip down. The Battle of the Bombays. We
Speaker 1: worked it out so it's the Hills, correct, that separates
Speaker 1: the two, so they now the Bombay champions for the moment,
Speaker 1: the Blues fell as, where do you want to start
Speaker 1: with this game? I mean, I don't ever know. I
Speaker 1: don't ever know how to commence.
Speaker 5: Well, the early part I would have thought was exactly
Speaker 5: as you would have thought. The script was a bit
Speaker 5: of ill discipline from the Blues. Chiefs physical like this.
Speaker 5: They just bashed each other. We saw that Hurricanes, but
Speaker 5: we saw their crusaders step up physically, or probably five
Speaker 5: or the six on the weekend stepped up. Breads were
Speaker 5: maybe just below. But this was physical in the middle,
Speaker 5: and it was the Chiefs that were more accurate, and
Speaker 5: that's why they could accrue the three points. Both teams
Speaker 5: played it like a final should be played in that
Speaker 5: regard and the turning points will come later. But in
Speaker 5: terms of the way the Chiefs managed the first period
Speaker 5: of the game, they could have blown it away earlier.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I think it was interesting that it wasn't
Speaker 3: a tri scord to like fifty fifth minute, like it
Speaker 3: was sort of that close. And you know, as you said,
Speaker 3: the discipline, but I mean some of the some of
Speaker 3: the tries or the bomb tries. I mean I think
Speaker 3: we're looking at one here. I mean, if this how
Speaker 3: Ratama lets this go, he's good. I mean how it
Speaker 3: was so good he's looking on twice as well.
Speaker 2: It's not even like.
Speaker 4: Could have been the greatest try assist of all time.
Speaker 2: I mean the outside banana kick.
Speaker 5: Like off the left, but also the read the ball
Speaker 5: off the kick. It wasn't off your players run sixty
Speaker 5: and then well cross one end of the.
Speaker 2: Box and then Bowden Barrett just says I can do
Speaker 2: it myself and then.
Speaker 4: Well the barrel.
Speaker 5: One's interesting is so tactically when he's going out of
Speaker 5: burden Barrett, you can see he's thinking, I've just got
Speaker 5: to get possession and the conditions.
Speaker 4: Will slide me over.
Speaker 5: It's hard to talk technique with one of the greats
Speaker 5: of all time. But just elbows together, body elbows together,
Speaker 5: just elbows together, and just get lucky.
Speaker 3: Two cheese boys probably could have hit on suspicion there
Speaker 3: when he when he goes to tell it through.
Speaker 5: I tell you, I'm sorry foremost and we just saw
Speaker 5: it there vern Cotter's cap. Have you seen the way
Speaker 5: you treats his cap? It comes off, brubs his head
Speaker 5: with it. I reckon, I get slammed. Yeah, I think
Speaker 5: justice for Verncotter's cap because it's been through the ring
Speaker 5: of this year. It's got at least another week to
Speaker 5: get well.
Speaker 1: Speaking of bomb tries, Clark, I mean, I cannot believe
Speaker 1: one of the best try scorers in world rugby has
Speaker 1: not ice that one. It doesn't end up costing them,
Speaker 1: but they're down by third d they get the penalty
Speaker 1: vantage and they run advantage anyway. You just don't. I
Speaker 1: mean ninety I reckon, I've got Radamor at ninety eight
Speaker 1: times out of one hundred, he ice is at body
Speaker 1: ninety nine. Clark's ninety nine point nine nine. That's to infinity.
Speaker 1: How has that happened?
Speaker 4: We just got a good piece of it, did he
Speaker 4: was a defender.
Speaker 1: Again, I think it was fin now.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just got a really good piece tackle for tackle, yes,
Speaker 5: forget anything else.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So then there's the tri scored by Eklund, and I,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't care who wins that game, obviously,
Speaker 1: but if I was a cheese fan, I'd be happening
Speaker 1: to close the look and no one because it kind
Speaker 1: of looked like he sort of has two or three
Speaker 1: goals to get across the line in the same way
Speaker 1: that dou did later and was denied. So that try
Speaker 1: stands Fellas, and then it comes down to the beer men.
Speaker 5: But even leading into that seventy five minutes, Chief's eternality
Speaker 5: goal to win the whole thing.
Speaker 4: So I got that one right.
Speaker 1: Yes, because he's got goes out on the left eilbow
Speaker 1: does anymore?
Speaker 4: Is that it happened from there?
Speaker 5: It's that knee thrust and the double double. Yeah, so
Speaker 5: he actually, yeah, he didn't need to do that the
Speaker 5: ones he did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, eighty two minutes. Fellas traveled about eighty I just
Speaker 1: can't see that. Eighty fifty four, Okay, So eighty fifty
Speaker 1: four Gussy Gardner, who had a terrific night, I got
Speaker 1: to say, was so good creating the drama and explaining
Speaker 1: all this on the way through. So then they've got
Speaker 1: the pell advantage and then they're just like we were.
Speaker 1: Obviously we would have a crack at it. And did
Speaker 1: you think I mean there was a sense of inevitability
Speaker 1: around it wasn't there?
Speaker 4: Well, you look, you sort of crowded around that screen.
Speaker 5: Everyone knew it was coming, especially a couple of times
Speaker 5: it was penny vantage too, and then you know that's
Speaker 5: a brilliant carry reach out finish it, and then.
Speaker 4: Crucially where you score it.
Speaker 5: It was you didn't want to go out into the
Speaker 5: fifteenth if you want to score out there much as Barrett,
Speaker 5: you're back.
Speaker 4: Him to kick it.
Speaker 1: Incredible scenes that cold would have been their shirts eye cold,
Speaker 1: and then body had to click over the conversion to
Speaker 1: win it. And obviously Blake this has been such a
Speaker 1: strong point of their game in twenty twenty five. They've
Speaker 1: meant without the bells, without the whistls, without shifting it
Speaker 1: why they're the narrow seeing the competition statistically. So yeah,
Speaker 1: as you both said, you knew that if they got closed,
Speaker 1: they're going to take a ton of stopping.
Speaker 5: Which is why they're dangerous, which is why people were
Speaker 5: riding off. They were always going to sneak in, and
Speaker 5: we kept saying if they make it, no one wants
Speaker 5: to play them. And they proved it and now they've
Speaker 5: got a bit of confidence. They've also sort of they
Speaker 5: got a chip on their shop now after being written off,
Speaker 5: and I think that's driven.
Speaker 1: You know, he's got the biggest ship Arico you want.
Speaker 1: He's chip boy, He's Smiths Chips, He's kettle chips, He's
Speaker 1: all the chips. He's got them all over the joint.
Speaker 1: He's got a point to prove, point and two prove
Speaker 1: in his last roue of the Blues. Before we move
Speaker 1: on to a quick look at some of the other
Speaker 1: bits and pieces around around the grounds, I want to
Speaker 1: give a shout to Cameron sewer Foire who watched that
Speaker 1: game on from his hospital bed the other night. He's
Speaker 1: already overcome Cancas once to make it back on the
Speaker 1: field as a Blue and has been stricken again, so
Speaker 1: he watched on in his hospital room with his partner,
Speaker 1: and the Blues social media team were good enough to
Speaker 1: share some of it. Get well soon, mate, We're all
Speaker 1: cheering for you from this side of the Tasman. I
Speaker 1: thought there's that too, you know you've got that in
Speaker 1: the background. They're playing for the big Fella fellas. So
Speaker 1: who knows what happens this weekend against the Crusaders. Who
Speaker 1: knows how it all plays out? That's the first semi.
Speaker 1: That's Friday afternoon, Saturday night, Saturday afternoon. What do the
Speaker 1: calling from here? Brumby's the chiefs just quickly record on
Speaker 1: a Monday, give us some hope. How does it play out?
Speaker 1: Can they get it done? At the moment Morgans, they're
Speaker 1: four to one outsiders. They're not expected. The ag rhythm
Speaker 1: says no.
Speaker 4: That's probably short as a price. It's tough.
Speaker 5: Look, if anyone's got the game, they've got the game
Speaker 5: to do it right. But we keep talking about there's
Speaker 5: a reason there's home ground and bantage that counts so
Speaker 5: much in Super Robia. Look throughout the history, recent and
Speaker 5: long term. They have a game that you can take
Speaker 5: on the road. They need to get their defense right,
Speaker 5: their first up tackle percentage right. They like to get up,
Speaker 5: get an eyeline, make teams step back inside because they
Speaker 5: got such a hard working forward pack. But they've got
Speaker 5: to get their edge defense or it can get away
Speaker 5: from them. Which it did last time, and then they're
Speaker 5: just leaking a few if it's a tight And like
Speaker 5: I say, look at Gardner right as a ref. He
Speaker 5: did a great job because both teams didn't really need
Speaker 5: speed in the game Chiefs versus Blues. They just wanted
Speaker 5: to belt each other and Gardener was perfect. Chiefs might
Speaker 5: want to get speed in the game against the Brumbies,
Speaker 5: so the style of game it is, I reckon Kevy
Speaker 5: might be important too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think the Brumbies are going to want
Speaker 3: to focus on that type play. They don't want to
Speaker 3: get the width because they would have seen the Chiefs
Speaker 3: looking and see the success the Canes had out wide,
Speaker 3: particularly early on, and they'll be to your point, be
Speaker 3: targeting those shooting, isolate the shooting defender and pick and choose,
Speaker 3: whereas the Brumbies are going to want to core game.
Speaker 3: They're all a lot, they'll shifted a lot through the
Speaker 3: front row type fire is going to be critical for
Speaker 3: them and line out and more.
Speaker 5: I think it's that's the malls that so the Chiefs
Speaker 5: are going to spend all week on the mall defensively.
Speaker 5: So guarantee Larkham's going to pick up a little one
Speaker 5: out the back and the scene maybe one down the train.
Speaker 4: And these sort of things rip and run. So the
Speaker 4: tactical battle too is important.
Speaker 1: Sets up beautifully Saturday afternoon for that match, just mopping
Speaker 1: up some stuff in a nationally very quickly bathbeat Bristol
Speaker 1: Bristol rather in the semi in the prem and I
Speaker 1: mentioned less of el because my check out Stan Sports
Speaker 1: Michael Checker has coached the lesser Tigers through to another
Speaker 1: shot at some sealwear for checks, so well don to
Speaker 1: check and more some twenties news as well, quickly just
Speaker 1: landing on our news thest today.
Speaker 5: Yeah on checks obviously, David Kidwell, Peter Hewitt's there. If
Speaker 5: he perish, he's got a great try. So a bit
Speaker 5: of an Australian theme there, check he wins where he goes.
Speaker 4: There's a bit of a lesson there.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I was the twenty squad that will go to
Speaker 5: Italy off the back of a hugely encouraging TRC in
Speaker 5: South Africa under coach Chris Whittaker. He named his thirty
Speaker 5: man squad the big one is drey Pakia. Now that
Speaker 5: the Reds are out, logically goes back to national hons
Speaker 5: under twenties. He'll be a huge in And what I
Speaker 5: liked was two players got picked from outside of the
Speaker 5: talent id pathway academies Gilfil and Venipolu, so we haven't
Speaker 5: seen them, so it's good to see that the selectors
Speaker 5: were looking at club form and kids that have maybe
Speaker 5: late bloomers. So it's an encouraging thing that is I
Speaker 5: reckon for people that aren't exactly on the pathway.
Speaker 1: Sid Harvey with Ossie experience now as well with the sevens,
Speaker 1: should go well man Tomorrow we are going hard with
Speaker 1: the Brahmis. We've got no a lot of seat lined
Speaker 1: up for Between two Posts. Extra is knockout semi finals week,
Speaker 1: so we will see you all again for your next
Speaker 1: hit of Between two Posts. I'm talking Extra on Tuesday