Speaker 1: Here at Two Good Sports, we would like to acknowledge
Speaker 1: the traditional owners of the land on which we record
Speaker 1: this podcast.
Speaker 2: There were innerie people. This land was never seated, always
Speaker 2: was always will be.
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Two Good Sports. It's sports news
Speaker 1: told differently. I'm Abby Jelmy and Laura Sperway is joining
Speaker 1: us again this week and I must admit you are
Speaker 1: the sportiest of all sports this week because I turned
Speaker 1: on my TV on the Saturday night and saw you
Speaker 1: doing Boundary for the AFLW and thought that's strange. She's
Speaker 1: got to be in Sydney tomorrow for the NRL Grand Finals,
Speaker 1: so you've had a very sporty weekend.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it apart from sitting on the side of
Speaker 1: an oval in the rain, the glamorous side of it all,
Speaker 1: but it was still a good game, you know, to
Speaker 1: be a part of it. I love doing the AFLW
Speaker 1: and the NRL Grand Final. It's a different spectacle. It
Speaker 1: is a different beast. And I use the term beast
Speaker 1: because you had to go out and find super fans.
Speaker 1: Oh look, and they were in the pubs of Western
Speaker 1: Sydney with a vengeance and I was able to chat
Speaker 1: to a few of them.
Speaker 2: Look, they're very passionate and it's good to get.
Speaker 1: A lot of purple wigs involved there are it's good
Speaker 1: to get them before the game. That's when you strike,
Speaker 1: because after the game it can be a very different story.
Speaker 1: It can be very messy and guards are needed. But
Speaker 1: it was an incredible Grand Final and we're going to
Speaker 1: break that down in our deep dive with Penrith, going
Speaker 1: back to back to back to back, something that we
Speaker 1: may never see in the modern era because they just
Speaker 1: are an incredible team. And of course for Storm fans
Speaker 1: we're going to get into the bunker as well.
Speaker 2: But we're going to.
Speaker 1: Start off with our good sport and bad sport and
Speaker 1: my good sport, Laura like, there's some things in sport
Speaker 1: that just hit you in the solar plexus and you go,
Speaker 1: how special is this? And to watch Jerome Hughes, just
Speaker 1: after he was announced as a Dalian winner, be serenaded
Speaker 1: by the Harka, which was led by Will Warbrick, It's
Speaker 1: one of those things in sport that just can't be replicated.
Speaker 1: It's so special.
Speaker 3: We'll have a listen now, and that concludes our coverage
Speaker 3: of the twenty twenty four Dallian Medal.
Speaker 1: I wan unreal, so good, unreal, and of course we
Speaker 1: know about the Harts. It's spontaneous and it's led by
Speaker 1: the Maori players in the room, and they're all from
Speaker 1: different teams, they all come together. But my favorite quote
Speaker 1: quote was from Justin Rodski, who's the CEO of Melbourne Storm.
Speaker 1: He said, I absolutely shit myself because this call came
Speaker 1: from nowhere and no one was expecting it. You can
Speaker 1: hear the presenter they're just wrapping up the night being like, look,
Speaker 1: we're done. And also you can imagine from our perspective
Speaker 1: in a TV control room, I hope they didn't have
Speaker 1: a hard hit because they're probably going, hang on, we're
Speaker 1: meant to be done. And there's a two minute song
Speaker 1: in there that we didn't factor in. But it's just
Speaker 1: the feeling. And again, if you haven't seen the footage,
Speaker 1: please go online and have a look. Because Jerome Hughes
Speaker 1: welling up as these players.
Speaker 2: Dance in front of him. It's just so special. It's
Speaker 2: absolute chills.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been in a room where they've done this,
Speaker 1: where we were siting.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: So I hosted a Storm function and will Warwbrick did
Speaker 1: the same thing, and poor Justin Rodsky was at the
Speaker 1: front table again.
Speaker 2: So Justin Rodsky got another.
Speaker 1: Shock because someone roaring next to you when you're not
Speaker 1: expecting it.
Speaker 2: I feel like, is the place on fire? What's happening? Yeah,
Speaker 2: And it's just the intensity, the look in their eyes.
Speaker 2: It is p electric.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's electric, and it just gives you these goose bumps.
Speaker 1: And it's hard to get that feeling on a TV broadcast,
Speaker 1: I think, but it's.
Speaker 2: It's how I audio. So thank you for playing along.
Speaker 1: With Well it's powerful enough that I think you still
Speaker 1: get a sense and I love that they do that,
Speaker 1: and I think everyone gets wrapped up in those moments,
Speaker 1: so they're really special to be.
Speaker 2: A part of. Absolutely, And what's yours? What's your good
Speaker 2: sport for the week.
Speaker 1: I'm going to indulge you in Georgie because I'd like
Speaker 1: to say you are both my good sports for your
Speaker 1: Australian Podcast Award nominations, so well deserved to.
Speaker 2: Both of you.
Speaker 1: I know this is your passion project. Yeah, I know
Speaker 1: you don't do it to get the accolades. I don't
Speaker 1: even know if you knew that you could get nominated
Speaker 1: for your podcast, but you have, and I just want
Speaker 1: to say huge congrats.
Speaker 2: To both of you. It's great to listen to.
Speaker 1: It's nice to be able to sit here for a
Speaker 1: little while and have some fun myself.
Speaker 2: But well done to you both. You do so much.
Speaker 1: It's really kind and yeah, it's certainly not something that
Speaker 1: you set out to achieve. And Georgie and I thought this,
Speaker 1: this whole concept up of two good sports. It's the
Speaker 1: better part of a decade ago when we were both
Speaker 1: sports interns going there's no sort of listened to sport
Speaker 1: the way that we talk about sport, and it took
Speaker 1: us a decade and finding iHeart to get it off
Speaker 1: the ground. Yeah, but to be nominated, I think we're
Speaker 1: the best new podcast, best sports podcast, and also best hosts. Lol.
Speaker 2: Will take that, the best, will take that. Whoever's the judges.
Speaker 1: Your check is in the mail, I promised, but no,
Speaker 1: it's Yeah, it's just a joy. And as you well know,
Speaker 1: you get into sport because you want to talk about
Speaker 1: the moments.
Speaker 2: That move you alat the hakka.
Speaker 1: So it is really really nice to be acknowledged in
Speaker 1: any way or more the point that people are listening
Speaker 1: and enjoying it, so thank you so.
Speaker 2: Much, but you actually had a bads.
Speaker 1: I'm going to I'm gonna circle back to the sport
Speaker 1: because you had a bad sport from last night because
Speaker 1: I heard it in the broadcast and thought surely not.
Speaker 1: And it's back to Jerome Hughes and he was booed
Speaker 1: after losing in the Grand Final. So this week, or
Speaker 1: I should say now last week, he's the competition's best player.
Speaker 2: He won the Dali m Medal. He's been rick stocked.
Speaker 1: Six points because he was suspended, which is a whole
Speaker 1: different system from the AFL.
Speaker 2: But he must have won by a landslide yep.
Speaker 1: So he's been recognized as the NRL's best player.
Speaker 2: Everybody knows this.
Speaker 1: Leading up to the Grand Final, he's in the Melbourne
Speaker 1: Storm side that are minor premieer is for the year yep.
Speaker 1: And doing those post match interviews when you've just lost
Speaker 1: a Grand Final is crap. Oh I'm being asked to
Speaker 1: do them as a journal is crap. It's the shortest
Speaker 1: straw that you can ever pull. When they're like can
Speaker 1: you go get the losing captain, You're like, oh did
Speaker 1: you say winning?
Speaker 2: Sorry, my headphone's breaking up. Did you say winning? But
Speaker 2: the booing?
Speaker 1: I just thought it was unnecessary. So he's doing this
Speaker 1: interview on the field. Obviously it's still very fresh. It's
Speaker 1: on the broadcast, but it gets put on the big
Speaker 1: screen in the stadium so all the fans can see
Speaker 1: him being asked about being disappointed and losing.
Speaker 2: And then you just hear this booing and I thought,
Speaker 2: is that what it is? Yes? Is that what they're doing?
Speaker 2: Is that what they're doing?
Speaker 1: And I feel like in my mind that's what I heard.
Speaker 1: And I just thought, you know what, you don't need
Speaker 1: to rub it in. No, the result's not going to change.
Speaker 1: And this guy who is the stand up player of
Speaker 1: the competition, I mean, no one really deserves it, but
Speaker 1: this is the guy dislikes him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, anyway, I thought booing.
Speaker 1: I just think of all the good things that you
Speaker 1: can learn from sport, I think booing can get in
Speaker 1: the bin.
Speaker 2: I just don't think it's necessary.
Speaker 1: But my goodness, me did Panthers fans have a lot
Speaker 1: not to boo about last night because it was an
Speaker 1: unbelievable formance and we're going to break it all down next.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: The Penrith Panthers, all the pink Panthers as we shall
Speaker 1: call them, with their beautiful guernsey last night in the
Speaker 1: NURL decider for twenty twenty four, have put themselves in
Speaker 1: rare air by winning four consecutive premierships. You actually have
Speaker 1: to think, Laura when you say back to back to
Speaker 1: back to back, to count them on your fingers for
Speaker 1: just how ridiculous this dominance is. And it's something that
Speaker 1: you have to think back to Saint George in the
Speaker 1: sixties for this level of dominance that we've seen in
Speaker 1: the National League for the NRL, and then since the
Speaker 1: inclusion of the salary cap in nineteen ninety, they said
Speaker 1: it would never be done. The Roosters managed to go
Speaker 1: back to back in a couple of years, but no
Speaker 1: one thought that we would see a team with this
Speaker 1: level of dominance. And that was what was on display
Speaker 1: last night in the Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm
Speaker 1: because they just and in the words of Ryan Pappenhausen,
Speaker 1: suffocated them. Their defense was a pink wall and you
Speaker 1: were just watching a team where you think this dynasty
Speaker 1: could continue to roll on and all of it. At
Speaker 1: the helm is the Clearies, Ivan Cleary and Nathan Cleary, how.
Speaker 2: Would you go being coached by your dad?
Speaker 1: Look, if he was that good as Ivan Cleary appears
Speaker 1: to be, and I was that.
Speaker 2: Good you went with Ivan Cleary? Well, what I was.
Speaker 1: Saying is they're both obviously very good at what they do. Yes,
Speaker 1: And that makes it easier to put up with, don't
Speaker 1: you think if you're like, well, I accept that you
Speaker 1: know you're good at your job, and hey, I'm pretty
Speaker 1: good at my job.
Speaker 2: So let's just meet in the middle. Show we It's
Speaker 2: pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1: But what is remarkable is that the Storm had such
Speaker 1: a prolific season and such a strong finals campaign that
Speaker 1: they actually went into the game favorites. Yeah, and I think,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's warranted. They'd beaten the Panthers
Speaker 1: twice in the home and away season. The last one
Speaker 1: was a very narrow wind, but they had beaten them twice,
Speaker 1: and both sides had some sort of slight injury concerns
Speaker 1: going in. I think ultimately though, you know, the Grand
Speaker 1: Final is played in Sydney, Yes, and that is to
Speaker 1: Penrith or if they were a new South Wales side,
Speaker 1: and it is to their advantage.
Speaker 2: Yes, And I think that does make a difference. Did
Speaker 2: you notice that with the fans and the ratio heading in.
Speaker 1: I was surprised by the amount of Melbourne Storm fans
Speaker 1: I saw. I thought it would be more skewed, but
Speaker 1: you know, I was told it was a pretty even split.
Speaker 1: I think there was probably slightly more Penrith fans, but
Speaker 1: there were more Storm fans than I thought there would be.
Speaker 1: But I also think that, you know, you can look
Speaker 1: at it from either way. There are either people in
Speaker 1: Sydney that are anti Melbourne so they just go, we're
Speaker 1: supporting the Sydney team, yes, or there are people that
Speaker 1: are just anti Panthers over. We're Australians and we don't
Speaker 1: like people that do well for too long.
Speaker 2: We don't like it well.
Speaker 1: Bizarrely, I think the reason why there are so many
Speaker 1: Storm fans is because Storm have done so well, yeah,
Speaker 1: for so long. So Craig Bellamy has been at the
Speaker 1: Helm for twenty two years, which is just unbelievable when
Speaker 1: you think about that as a coaching record, and his
Speaker 1: legacy is one that will live on for so long
Speaker 1: because he's been offered ridiculous money to coach elsewhere, but
Speaker 1: his loyalty to the Storm and The fact that he
Speaker 1: keeps getting these players from different teams that aren't getting
Speaker 1: an opportunity of playing in the seconds and then turns
Speaker 1: them into these Grand Final players in a star team
Speaker 1: is remarkable. It was his tenth Grand Final appearance and
Speaker 1: it was the last time that the Panthers played the
Speaker 1: Storm in twenty twenty. That was the last time they
Speaker 1: lost a Grand Final twenty twenty. Think to where you were.
Speaker 1: It's just such a long time of dominance. And there's
Speaker 1: a quote from Nathan Cleary where he essentially says they
Speaker 1: were men and we were boys in that Grand Final,
Speaker 1: and I just thought, I'm never having that happen to
Speaker 1: me again.
Speaker 2: And it hasn't. It hasn't since.
Speaker 1: But the big question after the discussion we had there
Speaker 1: is the attendance. Now, it would be remissive me as
Speaker 1: someone who on this podcast, Let's be honest, is not
Speaker 1: usually the NRL expert not to bring in a bit
Speaker 1: of AFL flavor. So Dan Gorange just had a bit
Speaker 1: to say yesterday afternoon where I went, surely, not, Laura,
Speaker 1: this can't be true.
Speaker 2: Let's take a listen.
Speaker 4: I'm really just struggling to wrap my head around and
Speaker 4: how the NRL Grand Final is tonight and it's not
Speaker 4: sold out. How am I supposed to get behind it
Speaker 4: when your own fans can't even get behind it. Look
Speaker 4: at all the seats. If this was the afl'd be
Speaker 4: sold out in ten minutes. We would sell that bitch out.
Speaker 4: There are seats galore. Can't even give the tickets away
Speaker 4: in the NRL. Don't compare the codes anymore because you
Speaker 4: can't even sell out a Grand Final. And I'm trying
Speaker 4: to do my best to get behind it, but you
Speaker 4: can't sell out the Grand Final. Got a problem.
Speaker 1: Firstly, I love what that man is doing for AFL media,
Speaker 1: but it's a.
Speaker 2: Really valid point.
Speaker 1: So yesterday afternoon you could buy yourself a ticket to
Speaker 1: the NRL Grand Final and as we know, with the
Speaker 1: AFL Grand Final at a stadium with an extra twenty
Speaker 1: thousand capacity, it sells out in ten minutes.
Speaker 2: And they are like hen's teeth.
Speaker 1: So what is you got Peter Blandy's who's the head
Speaker 1: of the NRL saying it's the most popular sport in
Speaker 1: the nation.
Speaker 2: Can that be true? I don't think so. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just I mean, obviously the Grand finalists were only
Speaker 1: decided a week out. That's not new though, interstate side
Speaker 1: going into Sydney. I mean, we just had to interstate
Speaker 1: teams play the AFL Grand Final here in Melbourne sellout.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think there's a couple of factors. I
Speaker 1: think the interstate side was one. You mentioned Penrith fatigue, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that would be there. That would be there. Like I said,
Speaker 1: we don't like people to do too long for too well.
Speaker 1: I think we too well for too long.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: We spoke last week about the prestige of the MCG.
Speaker 1: I think that Homebush has the opposite. Yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: want to go out to a core stadium like it's
Speaker 1: just granted, it looked spectacular on the broadcast last night.
Speaker 1: It did, and that atmosphere looked amazing. But I also
Speaker 1: think what perhaps could be a bit of a hold
Speaker 1: up for the NRL is that the Origin is actually
Speaker 1: a bigger, better spectacle. So for us, the Grand Finals
Speaker 1: the pinnacle of the AFL, whereas State of Origin seems
Speaker 1: to have a different level of that tribalism and that prestige.
Speaker 1: Well you can maybe, yeah, you can just get more
Speaker 1: people on board with the State of Origin because it's
Speaker 1: a whole state against a whole state totally, so you're
Speaker 1: not alienating anyone there. If they're NRL team's not in it,
Speaker 1: you're going, Okay, I'm from this state, so I can
Speaker 1: get behind this team.
Speaker 2: But I mean, it was still a very good game.
Speaker 1: Oh it was amazing, like the quality of the foot
Speaker 1: like it was amazing to watch. And again Penrith's defense,
Speaker 1: the Storm just kept crashing against this wall and there
Speaker 1: was nothing they could do about it. And that final
Speaker 1: score of six to fourteen actually doesn't give you an
Speaker 1: indication of just how good the Storm were. They were
Speaker 1: leading early in the game, but against anyone else that
Speaker 1: Penrith's side would have embarrassed them, which wasn't the case.
Speaker 1: But there was a controversial moment that has awoken a
Speaker 1: good sport from wherever she is in Milan because Georgie
Speaker 1: sent me a voicemail to play on this show, Laura,
Speaker 1: because she went, I just cannot believe this, and of
Speaker 1: course it involves the Bunkers.
Speaker 2: So here is our resident other good sport. George on Jorn.
Speaker 1: Not bonjour, dear listeners, I've still got my accent game
Speaker 1: going strong. Jelmy, I hope you're laughing, But greetings from Milan,
Speaker 1: Jelmy and Laura. Firstly, Laura, you have done such a
Speaker 1: brilliant job in my absence. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: filling in for me. But of course it would not
Speaker 1: be NRL Grand Final week without my two cents. And
Speaker 1: let me tell you, I have a bank worth of
Speaker 1: thoughts about the bunker.
Speaker 2: Oh what a system, What a flawed system.
Speaker 1: That's a bit of a spoiler. How on earth was
Speaker 1: that try given a no try? Melbourne barging over at
Speaker 1: a key time in the game early in the second half.
Speaker 1: If that try was awarded, it could have leveled, if
Speaker 1: not put the storm in front on the scoreboard. Now,
Speaker 1: the on ground referee said that the player Howarth was
Speaker 1: held up.
Speaker 2: I definitely saw ball on grass.
Speaker 1: But I have also seen a new released by the
Speaker 1: NRL because they had so much pressure and criticism, being like,
Speaker 1: what the hell how could you award that a no try?
Speaker 1: And that vision that new angle does actually appear to
Speaker 1: see how hold held up over the line. But you
Speaker 1: know what, that doesn't fit my narrative, so down with
Speaker 1: the bunker. The system needs an overhaul anyway. This is
Speaker 1: just further proof of that. Once again, things need to
Speaker 1: be fixed in the third official game in the NRL.
Speaker 1: But look, nothing was actually going to stop Penrith. They
Speaker 1: are just too good and Mary Fowler's boyfriend continues to
Speaker 1: prove that he's an immortal and waiting Lea Martin was amazing.
Speaker 1: It pains me to say this, but this team, this
Speaker 1: Panthers team is unlike anything I've actually seen in my lifetime.
Speaker 1: I've watched a lot of NRL. They are incredible.
Speaker 2: Well done Panthers, there go, I didn't choke on it.
Speaker 1: Well done, well done, And anyway, see you next week,
Speaker 1: two good sports.
Speaker 2: I'll be back. I've missed you. Wow, your favorite Italian correspondent.
Speaker 1: And just for the few that don't know Mary Power's
Speaker 1: boyfriend Nathan Cleary.
Speaker 2: That is the only way that George refers.
Speaker 1: But you can see the enthusiasm hasn't been dampened by
Speaker 1: the kilometers of distance, and you just knew that she
Speaker 1: was going to find a screen. But it is a
Speaker 1: really interesting question that she poses there because we have
Speaker 1: the same again with the AFL with the ARC that
Speaker 1: there are apparently forty different cameras that they get access
Speaker 1: to and they make decisions, as was the argument last
Speaker 1: night based on footage that isn't showed to the public.
Speaker 1: So if you're the public and you're seeing a shot
Speaker 1: and it looks like the ball hits the turf in
Speaker 1: a downward motion over the line, you're like that for
Speaker 1: my very basic knowledge is a try And then they
Speaker 1: quickly find this different footage, which supposedly is what the
Speaker 1: decision was made on. Why are we just not seeing
Speaker 1: what the decisions based on to eradicate all of this controversy.
Speaker 1: Maybe they just can't get it on the broadcast, like
Speaker 1: you never know where they're fishing this thing from.
Speaker 2: Well, they're watching it in real time, but maybe they
Speaker 2: just can't roll it out, or maybe they don't want to.
Speaker 2: Maybe they just go, we just need to make our decision.
Speaker 2: We don't care about letting all of you see it.
Speaker 2: We're just going to make the call.
Speaker 1: We sit in our call and we're happy with it,
Speaker 1: and then is it you know, the uproar, and then
Speaker 1: they go, Okay.
Speaker 2: Here it is. You can see it and you can
Speaker 2: see that we were right.
Speaker 1: And I think most people have acknowledged that that was
Speaker 1: the case, but at the time it confused the commentators.
Speaker 2: The commentators were saying Andrew John's was adamant.
Speaker 1: And when you've got Animaltol saying that's a try all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, I'm.
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, that is a try. I agree, Joey, I agree.
Speaker 1: But something I found really interesting was that the head
Speaker 1: of the NRL referees was really on the front foot
Speaker 1: by getting access to that footage and showing it to
Speaker 1: all the senior journalists, so before they got to the
Speaker 1: press conferences, before they went that was certainly a try.
Speaker 1: They got to see this footage and go, oh, well,
Speaker 1: actually no, it wasn't. So it was really strategic from
Speaker 1: them and clever from them because they obviously just saw
Speaker 1: the fire or the storm, if you will, coming their way.
Speaker 1: But it is such a disappointment when you feel like
Speaker 1: there is a turning point and it comes down to
Speaker 1: technology and not sport.
Speaker 2: Isn't it.
Speaker 1: Well, I think that was a turning point in the
Speaker 1: game because had that been a try, and it wasn't,
Speaker 1: so we know now that the result is what it is,
Speaker 1: But had it been a try, then that's a big
Speaker 1: momentum shift, and momentum shifts are so crucial in these
Speaker 1: big games. Full the side that has the momentum and
Speaker 1: that can be what wins you the game or in
Speaker 1: this case, the Grand Final.
Speaker 2: But that's the way it went.
Speaker 1: I mean, these two teams, these were always going to
Speaker 1: be the calls that separated things, I think on the night,
Speaker 1: because they're both so good that there has to be
Speaker 1: these other things that prop up in the game, these
Speaker 1: little spitfires, these little controversies that become these moments that
Speaker 1: shift things either way.
Speaker 2: And that wasn't the only one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, everyone expected low scoring, as you mentioned, and
Speaker 1: everyone expected a close game, and you mentioned that it
Speaker 1: wasn't the only controversy.
Speaker 2: Do we call that a bite?
Speaker 1: Is that a bite if someone shoves their arm in
Speaker 1: your mouth camera monster?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Also the fact that we're talking about biting again. Every
Speaker 1: time we talk about NRL on this podcast, biting seems
Speaker 1: to come up. What I mean, it's if you're in
Speaker 1: a position where you've got to you know, someone's telling
Speaker 1: you you've bitten them.
Speaker 2: You think, well, why am I in this position?
Speaker 1: I'm playing a sport that doesn't involve my mouth being
Speaker 1: anywhere on someone, so I don't claim defamation. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is the most watched game of the year and
Speaker 1: you said you bit me. It gives pre school to
Speaker 1: me stamps foot Yeah, don't you think like I didn't
Speaker 1: bite you? And ideally if you could retract that, because
Speaker 1: there are people watching tonight that never watch NRL that
Speaker 1: just believe I bit you, sir, and that stays like
Speaker 1: it does it lingers people.
Speaker 2: Remember bitis Yeah, So I think just like you remember
Speaker 2: that kid that bit.
Speaker 1: Your kids right kindergarten, because I'm coming after I'm coming
Speaker 1: after you. But the NRL has since said there's nothing
Speaker 1: to answer here, and it hasn't been pushed by either side,
Speaker 1: so it has dissipated. And again with all the controversy
Speaker 1: and even with the bunker call, Craig Bellamin his infinite wisdom,
Speaker 1: came out immediately after the game and said, look, the
Speaker 1: best team just won. They choked us, They suffocated us.
Speaker 1: I believe on it. When we played our best, we
Speaker 1: could have challenged them more. But they are the dominance
Speaker 1: in the competition. And I find this so interesting because
Speaker 1: I just think with you know, in the last five years,
Speaker 1: since twenty twenty, we'ves had all these different premieres in
Speaker 1: the AFL because the system is so different.
Speaker 2: Of course, we.
Speaker 1: Also have a salary cap, but we have a draft
Speaker 1: which scatters the cards. It shuffles the deck even more,
Speaker 1: whereas with the NRL, because that isn't their system. The
Speaker 1: salary cap in some way hinders those lower clubs from
Speaker 1: being able to attract and go, you know what, We're
Speaker 1: going to pay you this whopping contract, but come play
Speaker 1: for US West Tigers because I know it's been a
Speaker 1: rough time. It's hard to attract those players when they
Speaker 1: want to be part of a winning dynasty that just
Speaker 1: keeps going.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: Penrith has seen the consequence of that with one of
Speaker 1: their players leaving for the West Tigers. Yeah Leui because
Speaker 1: he was offered a huge contract there which Penrith couldn't
Speaker 1: pay him because they are the side that they are.
Speaker 2: They've got this salary cap and they just they don't
Speaker 2: have the money. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So, and we also see that in the AFL, where
Speaker 1: there are destination clubs ala Geelong, where people notably accept
Speaker 1: less than what they can get off it to go
Speaker 1: to the Gold Coast because of the lifestyle and also
Speaker 1: wanting to be part of that culture. But he was
Speaker 1: also saying it is this team and that's what LUA
Speaker 1: was sort of alluding to last night because everybody knew
Speaker 1: it was his final game with the Penrith Panthers before
Speaker 1: he shifts clubs.
Speaker 2: They've embraced it.
Speaker 1: There's a changing in the guard, isn't there. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: I actually find it interesting how they've handled it. They've
Speaker 1: all embraced it. They've gone, let's send him off in
Speaker 1: the way that he deserves.
Speaker 2: He's been a great player for this club.
Speaker 1: There was no animosity there, there was no one which.
Speaker 2: Is not what you see in all des No, it's not.
Speaker 1: But what will happen is you know, it's been this
Speaker 1: team that's been able to stick together and win these
Speaker 1: four premierships in a row. The team agers, yes, personnel
Speaker 1: move on, so it will change because you can't have
Speaker 1: this group stay together forever. And it appears to be
Speaker 1: this group that has managed this success. But it will
Speaker 1: change and I think that'll probably start to be the case.
Speaker 1: Now you've got one player moving out, but others are aging,
Speaker 1: so there will be a change. But to see four
Speaker 1: in a row, I don't know if that will happen again. No,
Speaker 1: and something that we certainly didn't expect to see. And
Speaker 1: our die hard George said that she never thought she'd
Speaker 1: see in her lifetime either.
Speaker 2: And she said, well done, Panthers, and I salute her.
Speaker 1: I was about to say, I was expecting her to
Speaker 1: gag or swear an Italian, of which there was neither.
Speaker 1: But we do have a fun fact that links into
Speaker 1: all of this, and that's coming up.
Speaker 2: Laura.
Speaker 1: It's time for our fun fact or I'm going to
Speaker 1: go fun facts, because I've got two little ones here.
Speaker 1: And something that we love about Grand Final Week, amongst
Speaker 1: any code is you start to find out little tidbits
Speaker 1: about how clubs operate.
Speaker 2: Don't you hear these great stories in the media. Yes,
Speaker 2: you do.
Speaker 1: And I love what you're about to tell us because
Speaker 1: I think that this explains so much about the Melbourne
Speaker 1: Storm and why they have been able to be so
Speaker 1: successful for so long.
Speaker 2: So I found an article about Craig Bellamy.
Speaker 1: Of course, as we mentioned, the master Coach or belly
Speaker 1: Acres is called twenty two years at the Helm, and
Speaker 1: I think this used to be a secret, but now
Speaker 1: it's in printed in the Telegraph, so you know it's
Speaker 1: not going to be a secret anymore. But basically, when
Speaker 1: he was potentially going to sign a contract with a
Speaker 1: new player to come to the Storm.
Speaker 2: We just take the player out to a cafe, and.
Speaker 1: The player didn't realize that their mannerisms, how they treated
Speaker 1: the staff, whether they said please or thank you you
Speaker 1: was about to define whether or not they were even
Speaker 1: offered a contract. It didn't matter if you were the
Speaker 1: Jerome Hues of that general like if you were the
Speaker 1: best player at the time. It was about your attitude,
Speaker 1: your lack of ego, and how you treated people.
Speaker 2: And I just went that is incredible. I love that.
Speaker 1: And then on the flip side, when you were watching
Speaker 1: the Grand Final last night, I just kept thinking and
Speaker 1: I actually said to Kane, I was like, they the
Speaker 1: Storm looked really tired. The Storm looked a lot more
Speaker 1: exhausted than the Panthers. And now it comes out in
Speaker 1: the wash that there's a rule at the Panthers it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter how tired you are. You're not allowed to
Speaker 1: put your hands on your hips, and you're not allowed
Speaker 1: to arch over like you're tired. You're not allowed to
Speaker 1: physically show exhaustion. And there's all these different little fun
Speaker 1: facts that come out. And also apparently I love this
Speaker 1: to build their concentration or their ability to keep concentration,
Speaker 1: they were given a bowl of rice and told to
Speaker 1: count the grains at Penrith, It's worked. Can't you imagine
Speaker 1: boss going here, you go and you can't get distracted?
Speaker 2: No, I mean no, no.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think what the equivalent to that would
Speaker 1: be in our profession. Maybe waiting at scans, which I
Speaker 1: do have to do, waiting for someone to come out
Speaker 1: limping with that scenario currently. Also at the Giants of GWS,
Speaker 1: they were given brown rice and white rice that was
Speaker 1: mixed and they had to separate it. So this, I reckon,
Speaker 1: this is something that's come from the nf NFL and
Speaker 1: trickled down like it's probably going to be in a
Speaker 1: ted Lasso episode at some point. But I just love
Speaker 1: those little stories and those little things where you go,
Speaker 1: well that actually that's what builds success, that's what gets
Speaker 1: people to come along.
Speaker 2: It makes sense the tide sign, so, doesn't it.
Speaker 1: Because if you're looking at the other team and you're
Speaker 1: battling and they look like they're not tied, even if
Speaker 1: they are, and both sides would have been tied with
Speaker 1: the way the game started, both sides would have been tied.
Speaker 1: Very few stoppages, people coming on and off but if
Speaker 1: they're not hands on here, head down, stuck in the
Speaker 1: big ones and.
Speaker 2: All of you are, You're looking at them, going, how
Speaker 2: are they They're not going to stop here? Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: a mental thing. It's that mental game where you're like,
Speaker 2: how much more have they got in the tank? I'm cooked?
Speaker 2: So I can see I can see the strategy behind
Speaker 2: that one. You know, I'm going to put this on
Speaker 2: you because I just thought about it.
Speaker 1: Now, which of those two would you either want to
Speaker 1: separate a bowl of rice at the start of.
Speaker 2: The season and be allowed to show that you're.
Speaker 1: Tired, or would you go, you know what, stuff the
Speaker 1: rice and I'll learn how to not because when I'm tired,
Speaker 1: it's all.
Speaker 2: Over my face.
Speaker 1: I was going to say the same thing there is.
Speaker 1: I am terrible, Give me the rice, give me the rice.
Speaker 1: Fly a stairs.
Speaker 2: I'm over. I'm over. So yeah, I don't see how.
Speaker 2: I mean, clearly there's a different base level of fitness here,
Speaker 2: but I don't see how I would be able to
Speaker 2: disguise that. And you know what, like where details people
Speaker 2: here we are? I could maybe hack the rice for
Speaker 2: a bit, you know what.
Speaker 1: Maybe we can do it as some sort of two
Speaker 1: Good Sports bonding day and we'll see how we go,
Speaker 1: but that remains to be seen. But thank you so
Speaker 1: much once again, Laura for joining us. You have had
Speaker 1: a gargantuan a couple of days of sport and you
Speaker 1: have been, as Georgie said, absolutely sensational. We've loved having
Speaker 1: you and yeah, you're just a joy. So thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us.
Speaker 2: It's been fun. Thank you, you're the best.
Speaker 1: And now we're both about to drive to work and
Speaker 1: talk about more sports, so that works. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Too Good Sports and iHeart production. You can follow
Speaker 1: us on Instagram at two Good Sports Podcasts. We'll catch
Speaker 1: you next week when our favorite Italian George returns, but
Speaker 1: until then, be a good sport