#38 - NRLQ is BACK, and the NSWRL finals picture is taking shape.

Covering all things QLD footy, NSW cup & a look at the finals picture for Harold Matthews and SG ball 

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Transcript

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And gentlemen, welcome back to the short ball podcast for another week of Pathways Action. We've got a big old show today. Less talk on Ash G Ball and Harold Matthews this week, more talk on the Queensland sort of side of things. But yeah, we'll cover all that sort of stuff. We're approaching finals in the New South Wales rugby league competitions. So a little bit more chat about the finals picture. And then yeah, a lot of performances, great performances over the weekend to cover that I got to catch. I was still watching games earlier this morning, so um yeah, a lot of footy watched over the weekend and over the last couple of days as well. Been very, very, very busy. Um, but a type of week where you just got to bite down on the mouth guard and grit through it for me this week. Um, but then yeah, the long weekend coming up, so should be uh pretty good there. Um we'll start off with our performances, uh, players of the week in each sort of competition that I cover in depth, and then I've got a couple of Queensland performances I wanted to talk about as well. Um, we'll start off in SG ball. Lucas Butler was my SG ball player of the week. Uh he had 37 tackles, he was huge defensively. Um, just his effort on effort, he's always sort of been like that the last couple of years that I've watched him and Harold Matthews and now SG ball. But um he he started this game with a really slick bit of ball playing. He also scored a try later in the first half. Um 37 tackles, two line breaks, a try and a line break assist. He was awesome through the middle for the Manly Seagulls, high work rate, and and was a big point of difference in their attack as they got up 30 points to 18 over the Dragons. So um, yeah, huge performance there from the Manly Lock. Um, Howard Matthews, the player of the week, it wasn't really hard to go past this guy. Um, you know, there was a couple of performances that went close. Kingston Finale was a good shout in in the uh Magpose game. I actually had him written down um at one point and then went back and looked all through the performance and went, nah, this guy's got it. It was Liam Martin um against the Central Coast Roosters, three line breaks, three tries, 218 metres and a try assist. He was awesome for the Paramount Areels in this game, um, and he took out my player of the week there. Then uh upper twiddle, he was the New South Wales Cup player of the week, and he was the Pathways player of the round. We'll talk about him a little bit later on when I talk about Anarell debuts and all that. Um, but yeah, he had four tries, 225 metres, he had seven tackle breaks and five line break involvements on the attacking side of the ball. He was untouchable in this game. Uh yeah, he he was you know in everything good that Parramata did on the attacking side of the ball, and yeah, he he covered the Panthers to shreds there. Um up in Queensland Cup, probably not the performance of the round, but just a performance worth highlighting, especially for you Dolphins fans. Um a guy coming through the grades that I think's got a heap of ability. He's still only young, but but going really well in Queensland Cup, and that's Brian Poigneu. 16 runs, 168 meters, 76 post contact, four tackle breaks, four offloads was a big thing. He was dominating um into contact, and his defense as well was really good. He had 23 tackles without a miss and and no errors as well, on top of that. So four offloads, zero errors is a huge stat um for a guy who can play back row and center. Um he's played both throughout this year so far. Um, he looks like a very promising um young sort of edge player coming through the grades at the moment for the Dolphins. I think he's still only 18 or 19. He can play in that Queensland on 19 side, and he will play in that side. I have zero doubts about that. Um, he's a super talented uh player coming through the grades at the moment, is Brian Poigneau. Um in Jersey Fleg, Rex Bathingswaite, he made his return. Um, I imagine he'll be back in um in SG Ball this week. Let me actually have a look at that um because like I uh do every week, I forget to check team list. Um, I'm a little bit busy. Team list, roosters, is he back? Yeah, he's back in SG Ball this week. He returned to Jersey Fleg and put up a huge performance. 205 metres, two line breaks, two tries. Um had a couple of try assists as well. He was enormous for the Roosters in this game. Um, you know, they they got the job done pretty comfortably over the Manley Seagulls, as they did in pretty much every grade. Um, but yeah, he was enormous in his return game was Rex Bathing Swaite. Um up in Cyril Connell, Calvin Harris Tovita was my player of the round up there. Two tries, three try assists, two line breaks um against Townsville. His first half I posted about during the week, he was a 10 out of 10 in that first half was Calvin Harris Tovita. He's Broncos signed. Um, I keep sort of forgetting to mention that when I talk about these Queensland players, what actual NRL club they're affiliated to. Um, but yeah, he is a Broncos signed uh 17-year-old halfback. Um obviously the younger brother Chanel Harris Tavita, he's been killing at Nasuri O'Connell every single time I've watched him, he's just impressed me so much. Um, and yeah, he did that again. His first half in particular, he was a 10 out of 10 there. Second half a little bit quieter. He also threw an intercept to start the half off. Um, you know, he wasn't bad by any means. He he did have that one mistake in terms of the intercept, but uh it was definitely his first half where he just put Townsville to the sword, putting them to bed. There was a little bit of you know job done in the second half, a little bit from Winner Manley as a team. Um they let Townsville sort of creep back into it, but they got the job done 28 to 18, so they'll be through to the grand final, but I'll talk about that in a second. Um in Malmininga Cup, I've got four performances here that I wanted to talk about. So, first one Dolphins versus Clydesdales. Adam McSherry, a guy who was up in North Queensland. Um, I cannot remember, I think he was playing for Ignatius, I want to say, up in uh North Queensland in the school boy system. He won the um award for the best player in that um Aaron Pain trophy competition as a 16-year-old, he won that award. Um he's now down playing Malmaninga Cup for the Dolphins. He had an unreal game for them. Uh he had a couple of line breaks, he just looked very damaging every single time he touched the ball. He looked like he was going to shred the Clydesdales apart with with nearly every touch. Um, he had a couple of really good try assists as well. Um, he's a guy to watch up there, the number six Adam McSherry. He's a guy I've had my eye on for a little bit of time after you know the Aaron Payne Cup campaign where um he he lit them up that season in while he was still in year 10, I believe. Um so yeah, he's gonna be one to keep an eye on there, Adam McSherry. Um, two guys from the Bears. So usually I just do sort of one Almaninga Cup player to watch or whatever. I've got a couple here because there were some huge performances over the weekend, some guys that you need to follow. Seth Gundry, he's a guy that I had um really high raps on uh a couple of years ago. So I made an Australian under 17 side um probably two years ago now. Rex Bathingswaite was in this, um, you know, there was a couple of other guys in there um that I'm forgetting off the top of my head, but um, guys are doing really well now, whatever. Um, guys were killing it back then. Um, but yeah, it's uh there was one sort of sticking point. I had Rex Bathingswaite on the wing in that side because I wanted this Seth Gundry at fullback. He's come out this weekend against the Northern Pride, he's had four line breaks, 306 meters, and two tries. He was enormous in this game. He's a guy to keep an eye on. Um, you know, uh Rex Bathingswaite's a better fullback, um, but he's a guy with enormous talent, Seth Gundry. Um, I'll sort of unfairly put the Rex Bathingswaite comparison next to him there, but that was sort of how highly I rated him, was enough that I wanted him in that Australian under 17s mock side that I put together, so much so that I was willing to push um Rex out to the wing because Rex had played wing as well, and um he played a fair bit of wing in Harold Matthews that year and can and could kill it out there. Whereas, you know, I wasn't sure if Seth Gundry could go out there and handle it, and I wanted both of those guys in my team, so um, but yeah, he he's a gun, Seth Gundry, um, up at the Burley Bears. Ronan Byford as well, he's a guy whose work rate has been really impressive since moving up there from the Warriors. He's got a couple of handling errors in his game. Um, probably needs to tighten that up, but he again topped their tackle count. He had 40 tackles in this game, two tries as well, looks really good with ball in hand. Um, yeah, he he's his work rate has been enormous for the Burley Bears this season through the middle. He's a guy to keep a close eye on as well. They signed him from the Warriors Howard and Matthews side from last year, and we obviously know how good they went. He was a guy that impressed me a lot in that side over the course of the year. He was one of their best players, in my opinion. Um, and yeah, he he's close watch up there at Burley Bears. Um and then the last one from Malmaninga Cup, Tyler Pereira. I've highlighted him before. He's playing up at the Ipswich Jets, he's in that Queens and a 19 side. I don't know if he makes that side because as I've mentioned before, it is a very, very tough side to crack. But he could not be putting up better auditions at the moment. He had, you know, a masterclass earlier on in the season to win one of my Pathways players, players at the ranch. He nearly could have won it again this day. Four line breaks, 232 metres, two tries. He was immense against the magpies. Um, and yeah, he he's been killing it. He had a couple of weeks off. I don't know whether he was injured, suspended, whatever it was, um, but he hadn't been playing for a few weeks, and and yeah, he's um returned to that fullback position for the Ipswich Jets and absolutely killing it. So guy to watch up there, especially in that Queensland under 19 setup to see if he does actually make it through to that. Looks like there's a very hot field though, um, in terms of you know competition for spots to make that side. Um, but yeah, we'll see how all that goes. That's a wrap on all the performances that I wanted to highlight this week. Um, I'll move on to Cyril Connell finals. I won't spend too long, too long talking about this because I have covered it a little bit through the week um on Instagram. But um Devils, they beat the Falcons 44 points to 12. Boston now is my best on ground. It was a pretty tight uh contest for that award for mine. Um Boston now got it because you know there was just some moments where the game needed to be taken, and he just um he just yeah, he put put both hands on it. It was um a good first support play try. He looked electrical whenever he touched the ball, and then he scored a really sensational individual try off a little bit of broken play. I believe it was Tane Crampton who who looks good as well, got an offload away to him, and then he puts a little rubber kick in behind, noticing the fullback's out of position, goes through, scores it himself. Uh, that was an awesome little play there, and that sort of I think that broke the Falcons' heart um at that point in the game. Uh so yeah, he was enormous. The fullback, he looks super electric. He's a guy to follow up there for the Devils. Um, the forward pack, they were really elite in this game. Um, I think Lenton Funaki and Cruz Molo looked like a really dangerous combination. Funaki looked like he was bent on the lineback every single time he um had a carry, got a couple of nice offloads away. I think he had one offload that went astray, but apart from that, uh he was really damaging for them through the middle. Cruz Molo as well. I thought both sides of the ball, he was just intense. Um his contact was great, uh, and he's a guy that I want to keep a close eye on as well because he was in that Queensland 15 setup. I think they all go to Wavell as well. Wavell's gonna have a dangerous side this year. I'm really keen to see how they go because you know, based on the names that I'm hearing coming through Wavell at the moment, they could be right up there in terms of state final contention, even national final contention, um, especially with the record that Queensland have had the last few years in those national finals. You know, paddy's have gone through and looked super dominant down in New South Wales and then met the Queensland side, Keeper, and PBC over the last two years and been dispatched. Very interesting to see where Wavell uh sort of saddles up uh amongst those sorts of teams. Um, but yeah, they look very strong just based on the team team lists and based on the on the names of the players that I'm hearing are up there. They might be a little bit young. Um, I'm not sure what they look like in terms of the top. I think Charlie Webb's still there from New South Wales. He obviously is a Queenslander though and plays his school footy up there. Um, yeah, and you know, a lot of these guys from the Devil side are from Wavell as well, I believe. Um, but I'm just starting to talk a little bit of rubbish now. Um Hayden Matters, the halfback as well. I thought he was really good for uh the Devils as well. Um organised quite nicely and had a couple of nice touches as well. Um from the Falcons, I like that Cash Bennett. Um Nick Tucker came on last week and he gave him a good rap. I'm I'm a big fan of him based on what I've seen. Um, you know, it sort of went a little bit downhill uh in the second half later and on that second half when the devils just started to put points on, but he looked really good whilst the Falcons were still pretty competitive in this game. Uh Winner Manley, they beat the Blackhawks 28 to 18. I sort of touched on this game a little bit. I won't speak too much about you know the points that I made while talking about Calvin Harris DeVita. Um but just other guys that looked quite good in this game. Barry Tacolo, um the fullback, he looked really good, as did Bill O'Watt. And I think they're two plays to follow there. Um for the Townsville Blackhawks, Hayden Bamford out in the wing. He scored a couple of tries at a couple of line breaks. He looks like a promising outside back there for the Townsville Blackhawks. Errow Gunn James, really good as well. And Manua Dow as well had some really nice touches. I know I've sort of spoken about these guys a little bit over the past couple of weeks, but um, yeah, that they stood up for mine um in that second half. The first half was just a ride-off of the Townsville Blackhawks, realistically, win them were just all over them, 28-nil at half time. Uh, but then in the second half they got to show a little bit of what they could do. So um, yeah, a couple of guys there that sort of um stood up a little bit for the Townsville Blackhawks. Uh, but yeah, Winner Manley, they just looked too clinical in that first half. I'm really keen to see how this game goes between Winner Manley and Devils. I know Winner Manley beat the Devils earlier in the season, 32 points to 22. Um, I think on paper, you know, based on what I've seen of both teams, I probably like Winner Manley's team slightly more on paper, but that Devil side, the the points that they put on in that Falcons game, I think they've just got the ability to score points at will. Um very exciting team. The the spine's really sharp, the the forward pack I've mentioned them. The forward pack is an age up though, which does, you know, factor into calculus a little bit in these under-17s comps. Um, there is a lot of you know, bit of grown man strength, or not grown man strength, like um a little bit of that strength factor that goes into especially Harold Matthews. Like you've seen the Warriors win the last two Harold Matthews comps because they're bigger and stronger and more physically capable capable than a lot of these other sides. Uh a lot of their forwards that they've relied on have been, you know, top age players, and I think that's a really good rule of thumb when looking at who's going to win these 17s competitions, who's got the most top age forwards that are that are big, strong, physical, dominant, all those sorts of things. And you know, not to say that the Devils forwards aren't that, but they are just young. Um, so that you know comes into calculations as well that they've got some players that next year, and Cyril Connell could feature very heavily again. Um, that's it for Cyril Connell finals. Um move to the NRL Q, which starts this week, kicks off Thursday, 5.15 pm. I will be covering this competition in depth, uh, as I did sort of last year, covering and watching every single game. Uh, you know, it's only four teams, so two games a week, so it's not too hard. Um, and you know, lucky for me, they don't play every single game on a Saturday, so which is a part of what makes covering SG Bournemouth Matthews so hard, is you can't really split the workload because every single game's on a Saturday, so you have to watch Saturday and then watch replays all Saturday, and then you get to Sunday, you watch one or two games and watch the rest of the replays. It's yeah, this is a lot easier to follow. Um, and especially, you know, people ask me, well, I don't do Jersey flag, it's for that reason because of how much I'm already covering. Um, whereas I can throw an around Q in the mix because it's two extra games and one of them's on a Thursday, so uh yeah. This will be good to follow. Dalphon Dolphins v Cowboys, they kick us off this uh Dolphins vs. Cowboys kick us off on Thursday. This Hub's matchup is going to be one to watch. Now the Dolphins they were unbeaten last year in the NRL Q series, and it's you know not the same team, but there's a lot of the same players featuring again this year because they moved from under-20s to under-21s. Rumors going around that the winner of this competition will go on and face the winner of the Jersey flag competition, which will be really exciting to see. Um, yeah, and you know, there's 12 rounds this year, there's a grand final, it's gonna be awesome. So, yeah, uh the the the halves combinations, really interesting watch here. Toby Batten and Noah Fiend for the Dolphins, two quite good plays there, and then for the Cowboys, Taj Lateo and Zach Hurdigan. Zach Herdigan, obviously, a few of you would have heard of up at the Cowboys. He's been smashing preseasons over the last couple of seasons, over the last couple of years. He's a guy, you know, fitness plus all that sort of stuff. I just think he's a good footballer, very fit, um, you know, good off the mark. He's got some slick ball playing. He looked really good in Queensland under 18s a few years ago in the schoolboys competitions and all that. So I think he's gonna be one to watch. He's done a lot of really good work in Queensland Cup over the last two years as well. Taz Lateo, tall, number six. He's you know played for PBC over the last couple of years, and just uh a really solid player there. Um, you know, he was he wasn't signed to anyone at the end of last year, and then he nearly made the Australian Schoolboys side. The Cowboys then rightly snatched him up, and he's been doing quite well up there as well. He's been playing for the Tansville Blackhawks in the Almaninga Cup. So, yeah, two guys to watch there, and then Toby Batten, he did make that Australian Schoolboy side as a seven. He was really good in that carnival. I've highlighted him a few times this year playing up uh for the Devils or the Yeah, playing for the Devils. Um and Riley Lavity have formed a really good combination up there, and yeah, he joins with Noah Fiend, who's in that Queensland emerging squad for the under 19s. He played in the Trolls as well for the Dolphins, so he's a really promising half coming through the grades there, and he played NRLQ last year and looked really good in doing so. So, yeah, it's gonna be a really interesting matchup between those two halves. I think the Dolphins forward pack looks really, really promising in this game. I'll just pull it up as I get baited into clicking onto an ad, as the these sites tend to do. Um that sounded mad where you know I'm talking about the QRL site. Um, yeah, so Dolphins forward pack. They've got Elijah Rasmussen and Lewis Simons up front, two very good players. Lewis Simons played Origin on the 19s. Elijah Rasmussen, I think, is going to be a really handy player for the Dolphins. Um, I think he could debut at some point this year. I had him down as you know, Dolphins probably top choice for their rookie of the year. Um, Zach Garten in the back row with Balen Donald. Zach Garten, we obviously know how good he goes, and Patrick Calahi at lock, Mitchell Rogers off the bench, handy player, Carter Ford, very handy, Charlie Dixon, very handy, and Michael Hunissett. Umissett, yeah, really good bench depth, really good forward pack. I I think they could over overwhelm the Cowboys a little bit in this one. Cowboys have got Caden Lards, Xavier Kerisk, Basing Kira, so they've got handy players as well. Um Talon Tole off the bench. They've got a solid forward pack. I just think that Dolphins' forward pack's probably just that level above, and then you go, you know, you got Sangster Fagoda and um and Kalani Lavender as well in the centres. Kalani Lavender playing in the centres is interesting, but I think he's good enough to do so. Brooklyn Sabine as well, a guy probably not a lot of people have heard of, but I think he's quite talented himself. He was playing at ROQ last year and really caught my eye. He was playing in the halves. Um, he had a couple of really huge performances for the Dolphins in that competition. I think uh he could come back better this season for them. Uh we'll move on. Titans Broncos 4th of April. So on Saturday, uh the key matchup I wanted to highlight in this one was the fullback battle. Mayhana Pauling, who was with the Warriors, then moved up to the Titans. He was in their SG ball side last year. Um, and Seth Gundry for the Broncos. So obviously I spoke a lot about him before. I don't need to go into too much more depth with him, but he's obviously made the jump to NRLQ now uh after you know playing for the Burley Bears thus far this year, and you know, contracted the Broncos, obviously. Maehana Pauling, he's a little bit of that Reese Walsh style of fullback, looks like him, plays like him, like him, you know. I look at him and Jai Calligan to compare up to another person coming through the grades in that sort of same age group, and they they both look very similar. Uh Maehana Pauling's got that ball playing ability, sort of skips to the outside of his defender and and is able to throw that long cutout ball. He plays short as well, very electric with the ball in hand. Um, he can, you know, have an error or two and whatnot, but I think you allow that because he does offer so much an attack, and by way of his agility and speed, you know, him coming up against Seth Gundry, who's obviously killing it at the moment, and highly, highly talented player up there. I think this is going to be an awesome battle between the uh fullbacks. This Broncos back five is stacked. So obviously Seth Gundry, wingers C.S.I.A. Pues, and Oliver Pattson. C.S.I.A. Pues has been playing at South Slogans Magpies. He is a freak. Um he was playing, you know, who'd he played for last year? Was he a Kibra? No, I don't I don't think he was at Kibra, or he might have been. He might have been. I'm not gonna get stuck on that too long, but he was School Boys last year in school boys, he was killed. Up there, I think he was at Keeber actually. Um, and then the centres, Philip Coates and Joey Tapusi. Two really good players there. Philip Coates have obviously highlighted a lot. He's the younger brother of Xavier Coates. He can play both centre and wing. He played Queensland and the 19s last year, like very, very good players. Um, and you know, the other um outside backs here have been stars in schoolboy systems coming through the grades as well. Um, yeah, it's it's a really good side. This Broncos side, the back row, Jet Bryce, Jamal Shibasaki, and Tupol Francis. Like, it is a very good lineup, this Broncos side. They've got some elite forwards coming through, and then you look at the the Titan side as well, and they're not short on forwards either. Bodie Sharpley, Queensland rep, Isaac Harrison, been an elite schoolboy player for a while. Jalen Tawa Tawa, apologies if the pronunciation is wrong there, but these are very handy players. Zach Cumbermong off the bench as well. Like, there's you know, there's talent in this Titans forward pack. Harrison Hill at number nine looks a very handy player. Jet City has been killing it up there for the Tweed Seagulls, and he killed it in a troll for the Titans early this year against the Knights as well. I think this is gonna be a really, really good matchup between these two sides. I just like that Broncos lineup that slight bit more. That back five and that forward pack, they're gonna make some serious meters, and they've got strike weapons all over the park. Ken Bukowski can sort of organise them around from nine. Bailey McConnell's been a really good player for the um you know through the system over the last couple of years. And uh he played in the preseason trial that the Broncos had, I think, against South Logan, where you know Tupac Francis scored in that game, Antonio Verhoven, Philip Coates, they were all really good in this game. He was another standout in that game, so make sure you watch him closely this week. Alright, let's go to uh I'm gonna pull up the ladder for SG Ball because I want to talk about the finals picture. So the top eight's locked in, like, oh no, it is yeah, it is done locked in. So there's a four-point gap between eighth and ninth. So that is done and dusted. It's just about the order now in which they settle. There's a two-point gap between first and fourth, um, and then the storm and roosters play each other as well. So that is huge for the top four. Um, you know, and you got the Eels there who'll probably be hoping that the Roosters can knock the Storm off, because then you know, if Roosters beat the Storm, Parramatta can sneak into the top four. Um, Seagulls have got the Central Coast Roosters there. Um, so yeah, they you know bet barring an upset against the Central Coast Roosters, and you know, they've been playing pretty good footy over the last couple of weeks, Central Coast Roosters, so don't discount them. Um but barring an upset there, they should hold on to their top four spot, and Rabidos Tigers, similar story there, they should hold on to their top four spot. But you know, the Roosters are locked in into the top four. Um, and you know, if they win, they lock in the minor premiership. If they lose, they would need results to go their way, they could still lock in the minor premiership there. Um down towards the bottom of the of the top eight picture, Bulldogs and Knights there on the same amount of points. Uh Bulldogs have got the paramedia reels, so they need to beat them to know try to try and secure a home fall. The Panthers have got the dragons, so if they win that, they lock in a home final. Parameter reels, like I said before, they can make the top four by beating the Bulldogs, but they need results to go their way. Um, and you know, if results don't go their way, they're locked for a home final regardless of what happens. So oh well, you don't really get home finals anyway. Just you know what I mean when I say that top half of the bracket um that they're in. Um but yeah, you don't I don't know if you get home finals, you might in the first couple of weeks. But last year, I I'm pretty sure last year they had um they had neutral venues or they had certain venues which you go to, yeah. Because in the prelim, Parramatta played rabbido's at Redfern, even though it was meant to be a Paramatta home game. Anyway, um got off on a little bit of a tangent there, but yeah, so the top eight's locked in, there's just changes in order to come, um, and obviously a few big matchups there. Um, if I had to say I I think the the Eels probably do make the top four. I think they beat the Bulldogs, and I think the Roosters beat the Storm and the four and against is obviously favouring the Parramatta Reels, so I think they make it there, which would be a shame to see the Storm drop out of the top four, but then they I I think they'll versus the Bulldogs in week one of the finals. I think that's a winnable game for them. Um, and then I think you'll see Panthers versus Knights in that six vs. seven. Um, I think you'll see Roosters claim the minor premiership with the uh Parramatta Reels. I'm gonna say we'll finish fourth, so you get that grand final rematch week one of finals, and then Rabbidos versus Seagulls is a huge clash. Seagulls will be looking for redemption there. That is, if it goes the way that I think it will. But yeah, that's the um that's the only thing there. SG Ball, in terms of a game that I wanted to highlight, so I'm not obviously I had a bit more Queensland Cup and I've had a bit more Queensland and New South Wars Cup stuff to speak about this week, so and performances, so I just wanted to shorten up SG Ball and Howard Matthews. I just wanted to highlight single games, especially because a lot of the games at the moment are pretty meaningless and they're pretty average to watch as well, to be completely honest. But um, yeah, Knights vs. Raiders was the game that I wanted to highlight. Mel Nonu and Toby Winter, they were locked in this game. Uh Toby Winter looked super dangerous every time he touched the ball, he scored a try, had three line breaks, big meters. Um, you know, he he was really damaging in this game from the fullback position. And Mel Nonu, he scored one of the great trials you'll ever see on the wing, and he also had another ridiculous long-range try. He was awesome for the Knights on the wing. And Caleb McCrae as well through the middle. I think he's been huge the last couple of weeks. I think him and um Bo Hill really stood out to me against the Panthers last week. Um obviously couldn't highlight them as much in a losing side, um, you know, considering, you know, talk a lot more about the winning sides and all that sort of thing, but um that dug a further hole for me. But anyway, you get what I'm trying to say. Um, but yeah, he this week really impressed me again. Um, I think he went to another level as well. Um, yeah, he he uh he was really good for the knights through the middle in this game, found a couple of nice offloads, his work rate was high. Um, and yeah, I like him as a footballer, Kayla McRae. I think he's gonna be one to watch as they move sort of through the flag systems and all that sort of thing. Um I thought Kai Anderson for the Raiders, he was nearly the best player on the park in a losing side. He had a couple of mad try savers, his effort on effort was awesome, um, and he scored a try earlier in the game as well. So I thought the Raiders fullback was elite, but I mentioned that on Instagram as well. Um let's go over to Harold Matt's um and look at the finals picture there. So we've got the Knights there up top, they're not locked in to the minor premiership, but if they beat the Bears, they will be. I expect they probably will. Panthers have got the dragons, um, so I expect they'll lock in a top two spot there as well. Steelers vs Warriors is going to be an interesting game, but Steelers should um get the job done there. Rabidors vs. Tigers, similar story. So I think that top four is pretty much locked in. The only change that can happen is if Parramatta win and one of Panthers, Steelers, or Rabbidos lose. Uh Panthers doesn't matter. Panthers would need to lose by 30 and Para win by 30. But if Steelers or Rabbidows lose and the Eels win, they can sneak into the top four. Um, but I don't think that'll happen. I think the order will just stay as is. Um, you know, the only change that might happen is Rabidos could jump the Steelers if they win. Um, they need to win by 22 points more than what the Steelers win by. Um, so I don't know that that's gonna happen. Um, in terms of the top eight picture, though, it's a lot more interesting. I'm gonna sort of blend my two talking points, Rahald Matthews, into one. The Belmont Tigers are on a roll this year. They started off 0-4, they've won their last three games in a row and done it in really interesting fashion. Um, you know, they pumped the Warriors last week, 30 points to eight. They were awesome. Um, and you know, they've got the Rabitos, they could upset them, you know, and open the door for the Eels to make the top four. Actually, that would be really interesting if the Tigers are able to beat the Eels. Because then, you know, if they win the Tigers, their four and against is good enough to jump the Bulldogs if the Bulldogs lose to the Eels. So if Eels and Tigers both win, they both open opportunities for themselves to make it into respective top four and top eight, um, which would be a really interesting storyline to see, in all honesty. Um, I kind of want to see that happen with all due respect to the to the Bulldogs and to the Rapidos. Um, I've wrapped both those sides up deluxe this year, and I think the Bulldogs missing the top eight would probably be a shame. But the story of the Tigers this season, like their game, I'm gonna pull it up so I can talk about it a little bit more. Their game last week against the Warriors was clinical. James Kerr's bit of revelation for them on the wing. Scored three tries in this one, four line breaks, had a huge performance. Um big, strong, powerful. He's trying cutting back against the grain was really good. He had two really nice finishes for each other tries. Um, Thomas O'Royan, he's obviously been a gun for the last two years in Harold Matthews. Uh yeah, he's killing it. They've got they're they're powerful, they're big through the middle. I've been saying that for a number of weeks. They are missing some of the guys that they had at the start of the season, but you know, even like Sasayonga, Oscar Matuna, like these big, strong, powerful middle forwards. Hamish Malone, I think, has been really good for them through the middle as well over the last couple of weeks. Mateo Riapina Dunn looks like a really talented player as well at six. They've got a very handy side, this Balmain Tiger side, and they have caught fire the last couple of weeks. So let's have a look at their results over the course of the season. Balmain Tigers. So they started off, they they lost to the Central Coast Russians 34-16, they lost to Parramatta Reels, lost to the Magpies in a big way, lost to the Storm, and the Storm are right down the bottom. From that point, um, they didn't beat the Warriors last week. I'm losing my head because I've been thinking about the Magpies and Tigers beating the Warriors in Flag and all that sort of thing. So they beat the Warriors, that was their first win of the season, that was in round six, 24 to 22. Then they beat the Seagulls 20 points to 10, then they pumped the Bulldogs 30 points to eight. The Bulldogs are in finals contention. Um so yeah, that that was an awesome performance from them. Now they got the Rabbitos, that's the toughest game on the run. But look, if they can get the job done there, they regain the services of C O L E Yongi. He's on the bench there, he's a very good player. No Valtongi comes back as well. So you've got Noel Valtongi, Sasaya Ronga up front, and C O L E Yongi to come off the bench. That's a good forward pack to match it with. You know, Rabateau's got a really good forward pack themselves. Xavier Sulavale, Louis Moanu, just uh Josiah Manafort uh Manua Fatoa. Apologies with the pronunciation there. Anthony Mylongi through the middle, Jaden Bishop has been really good, Toako Sampson's been really good, even the bench, you know, Mehmet Virol, Leah Bahame, all these guys. Rabidos have been good this year. They're in the top four deservedly so. But the Tigers, they've got a big enough forward pack to match it with them. So that's going to be a really interesting game. And, you know, for the sake of storylines, it'd be really good to see that team make the top eight. All right, let's go on to New South Wales Cup, and I've got a full page worth of notes for this, so this should be good. Um, but I'll try and rattle through them as quick as possible. Warriors, they got up 29 points to 28. I've spoken a lot about this game over the week, so I'm gonna keep it short in terms of our detail. Bishop Neal and Luke Hanson, they clutched up in this game. Bishop Neal's two tries were awesome, 17 years old. He's a freak, I don't need to say much more. Luke Hansen as well. Um the IQ in this moment to the play's broken down a little bit. 18-year-old Jack Thompson has a ball in his hands, stays composed. Luke Hanson's probably yelling at him to get that ball. Bang, goes straight back to him, takes a shot, he's set up 25 out, straight in front, and there's going to be next to no line speed because the ball's gone outright to Jack Thompson first. So really good composure and IQ from both of those halves in that moment. Um, and yeah, Luke Hanson obviously clutch enough to just knock it over, wins the game for them 29 points to 28. I thought it was a really good performance from the Warriors. Hazen Mellers, he looks awesome. I highlighted his signing to the Warriors. Um I highlighted his signing to the Warriors a little bit earlier in the season and late last year as well when the signing first happened. He's first four weeks for the Warriors, he's been probably the best outside back in the New South Wales Cup competition. He's an aerial threat. They're using him like Zach Lomax was getting used at Paramount last year, where they're just going, every single kick is going straight over to him, and he's putting heaps of pressure on, and there's a result coming from it nearly every time he does it. He's making line breaks down the outside, he's quick enough to finish him. Um, he's come up with a nice couple of really nice finishes as well, came up with a couple of try assists, making line breaks, passing back to the inside support players, all these sorts of things. He looks like a really well-rounded, good skill set sort of guy. He's been good under the high ball, obviously, both sides of the ball. Um, so yeah, really top quality winger there for the Warriors is Hayes and Mellers. I think they've got a good one there. It was good, good, astute signing from the New Zealand Warriors. I think for the Magpies, Charlie Murray, he is flying for them. Um through the middle, gets through a shitload of work. His ball playing's really good. I think he's a guy to watch there. I think he could probably get a call up into that first grade side sooner rather than later. And he obviously killed it in the preseason trials as well. Did Charlie Murray? So he's a guy to keep a close eye on. And Javon Andrews, he's on fire as well. I think he's probably the next up number six at the club. You know, if Adam Dewey didn't play out, I think he's a really good like for like replacement to Dewey in terms of the body shape and size and what they can do with the ball in hand. Adam Dewey's probably is a better player at the moment. Um yeah, Javon Andrews has been killing it. He came up with a nice try in the corner in this game. He had a couple of classy touches, he put in a little death kick in behind for a try. So yeah, he's he's doing some really good things. Javon Andrews, big body, can handle the contact. He's got a good kicking game, great kicking game, even for a big man. Silky hands as well. I think it's super underrated. Um, how good his hands are for the size he is. Like, obviously, you'd look at a guy that's you know 6'4, 6'5, whatever he is, and able to, you know, run the ball. You'd think that's a ball running 5'8, but he he's got some really deaf touches in him with his kicking game and with his hands. He's yeah, he's a really good player there, Javon Andrews. Um, I'll I'd like to see what his ceiling can be. Seagulls versus Roosters, 18-44. I read that out the wrong way around. 44-18. The Roosters win. Um, Junior Ponga in this game was untouchable. 20 tackle breaks and 250 meters near enough. Unreal performance from him out on the wing. A lot of Roosters fans saying, look what happens when you finally put it on the wing. And yeah, sure. Um yeah, he he killed it. He was unreal. And and that shows the levels between first grade and reserve grade, and and what you're looking at in terms of you know picking somebody out of reserve grade to come up. You need to uh you know show show a lot of ability in a lot of little areas to be able to step up. Because you know, guys like Juju Punker, they come back from first grade and dominate, and it's not the first time I've seen it happen, um, and it certainly won't be the last time. Uh Cody Ramsey, he's going very well at the Roosers New South Wales Cup. I'd love to see him get back into first grade, it'll be a hell of a story. Uh, I don't know whether he can get back at the Roosers. Maybe if James Sedesco misses any games, he he'd probably be the next called up there because he is killing it in New South Wales Cup and he does deserve a shot. Um Joey Walsh, another great display in a losing side. Happens a lot to him. And I've posted about Joey Walsh a lot where he's had these mammoth games, multiple tries, multiple try assists, like he did on the weekend, and people always go, Oh, he's losing, he's losing, he's losing. You could chuck Joey Johns behind some of these manly sides at the moment, some of these manly forward packs at the moment, and he wouldn't be able to win games for you. I don't know what you want the the kid to do. He needs to be playing first grade as soon as possible. I'm surprised Foz didn't pull the trigger straight away, but he you'll pull it next week. I have of that I have no doubt, um, because he's a proper special talent. I'm gonna get into a debate about Harves debuting in a second. I'm gonna speak about it more so to do with another halfback that I've highlighted a lot over the last couple of weeks. But Joey Walsh, he is uh a very, very special talent. He needs to be there. Umde side because he is too good for this New South Worlds Cup side. I don't think it's helping his development getting beat 44 to 18 every week despite putting in huge performances every single week. So um it'd be best to get him into that first grade side, in my opinion. Um, lots of people saying, Oh, you don't want to put him behind this manly forward packet going a good so he's doing the exact same thing in New South Worlds Cup, but that's not helping his development, doing the exact same thing but down a grade, so he doesn't get used to the pace of first grade. Anyway, um Bulldogs vs. Knights. Bulldogs got up 32 points to 28. This was a good game. Uh the back rowers looked great in attack for the Bulldogs. That was Lulas Grozamy and Logan Spinks, both of them in attack looked really damaging, points of difference out wide. Um, a couple of missed tackles from the pair of them that I thought were a little bit sloppy, but um, yeah, in terms of their attacking capabilities, unreal. Joseph Tuapa, he pulled the strings in this game for the Bulldogs. He was the best on ground, in my opinion. Um, had a lot of uh nice touches, you know, putting putting those back rolls through holes and um, you know, just opening up space for his outside men generally. Uh I thought he was a really good performance in this game from Joseph Tuapa. Um, Jack Underhill as well, huge in his effort areas through the middle. I thought he was awesome. And you know, the stats sort of backed it up, you know, 14 runs, 130 metres, whatever he had. Um, but yeah, I just thought there was a lot of moments in this game where he just made that extra little level, jumping on loose balls and and all that sort of stuff, line speed, his defense, all these sorts of things. He was really good through the middle for the Bulldogs Jack Hunter Hill. I think he's a guy that will play first grade. I think he's just too um, you know, sort of loved at the club to not. Uh he done some awesome things in Jersey Fleg a couple of years ago when they won the comp there. Um, did they win it? Yeah, they won it. Uh two years ago, I think it was. He was a player of the match in that grand final. He was aren't real Jack Underhill. And I think he's a guy over the last couple of years who's really building a name for himself and is going to be a guy, I think, who plays first grade. I think he's got too many good little areas in his game that that you know uh are showing up in New South Wales Cup at the moment consistently, and uh areas that I think are gonna show up in first grade when he does get that call up. Uh Francis Manu Leilua, he jump drops down to New South Wales Cup. Was awesome through the middle for his side in this game as well. He's just, you know, at his absolute damaging best. I think he's gonna spend more time in first grade than Cup this year, is Francis Manu Le Lua. Dragons versus Bears. The Bears got up 32 points to 14. Um Jake Toby, he was electric out of the back in this game, 230 odd metres, uh, a couple of tries, whatever. He had some really um damaging moments that that that tore the dragons up, and and he was a major difference in this game. Um, you know, it was a pretty dominant performance. Kobe Thomas, I thought he's been really good through the middle for the Bears so far this year. He was really good last year as well, Kobe Thomas through the middle. He could be another guy like a Ben Tolte, you know, an older guy that gets plucked out of these reserve grade sides and can do a job off the bench. I think he's a really consistent performer. It's Kobe Thomas, he's you know, a big body, gets through a heap of work, has that upside as well to him. I think he's another guy that could be that sort of Ben Tolty sort of guy that the Bears uh that the Broncos plucked up out of reserve grade. You know, he's a little bit on the older side in terms of you know, you're not looking at him like a young prospect that could be the next future superstar, but he he does a job, Kobe Thomas, and and every single week he seems to do that same job and that goes without a lot of recognition, really. I if I was an NRO, you know, recruitment officer, I'd be looking at him going handy pickup, like a Ben Tolte was for the Broncos last year. Um, Cade Reed, he was incredible in a losing side. Um, I might as well just talk about it now. I think the chat around debuting young Harves is so conservative at the moment. I sort of frustrates me talking about it because there's a lot of people who have never watched any of these guys play that say no, they're not ready, they're not ready, they're not ready. Cade Reed, he's too small. Sam Walker was 18 years old when he debuted, and he's smaller than what Cade Reed is. Cade Reed's eighty one kilos. Sam Walker was like seventy five kilos, if that. I reckon they put weights in his pockets when he day when he got measured at that. Like this is a guy that is dominating News of Thoughts Cup. I I wanted to see him play full full disclosure, start of the year. I wanted to see him play a full season New South Wales Cup. I said as much in every every single time that I spoke about Cade Reid preseason. I want to see him play a full year of New South Wales Cup first. He's a long-term watch of the club. I need to see his defense against grown men. His defense has been fine, especially for a smaller body. You know, 19 tackles, four missed. On the stats, it doesn't re-well on the stats, that's a normal halves stat line. Optically, I didn't think he was bad. He can do things that no other Dragon's half at the moment can do. He would offer something that none of the current Dragon's halves are offering. I don't think Lycan King Tong has been all that good, to be honest. I love him. I think he's going to be a really good player. He hasn't performed well this year. Cade Reid's outperformed him. Then you look at Daniel Atkinson. He's been a little bit plain. He's their best half option, though. I have no doubt of that. He's been steady enough. He's had some pretty poor moments. He had some good moments. Overall, he's a pass mark. Cole Flanagan, I'm not as harsh on him as what a lot of Dragons fans are. I think defensively he's usually pretty solid. He just doesn't offer much in attack. And you know, Dragons are getting beat in these close grind games. I think you need a game breaker, a guy that can come into this team and is able to put something on. And Cade Reed's that guy. He's 19 years old going on 20. It's not like he's an 18-year-old fresh out of high school. He's played a full year of Jersey Fleg, was awesome in that competition, played, you know, a couple years of SG ball. He's done his apprenticeship, come through the grades. He started off in New South Wales Cup as one of the premier sevenths in the competition. I think he's made two of my team of the week so far. He was up there leading my player of the year tally. He got up, picked up points in this game as well, two points. What was his stat line? Let me get up his stat line. He was in my team of the week this week, despite the fact that it was on a losing side. I'll get up his stat line for you just to hammer home my point about what he is doing in this competition thus far that needs to be noticed. So he had in this game 12 runs for 124 meters. What's wrong with his size there? He's making over 10 metres of carry. Two line breaks, two line break assists, two try assists, three tackle breaks. He is making uh he also had a 40-20 in this game, which was really, really good. You know, 19 tackles for four misses. It's whatever. 395 kick meters. He is doing a lot of things in this competition, the New South Worlds Cup of the first couple of weeks. He was one of the he was my best on ground against the Paramatarils two weeks ago as well. If the Dragons were to debut him tomorrow, I'm not saying that they should, but if they were, I would not be shocked. I think he'd handle it. I don't think, you know, people in my comment section the other day when I posted about it were saying don't debut him until 2028. I think that's lunacy, to be completely honest. He is a longer-term project. I did reply to that. He is a longer-term project. He's a two to three year, he won't show probably his best for another couple of years. But what he will show is something different, and he's and he's closing in on being the dragon's best option in that position. Him at seven, Attention at six, that is very, very quickly becoming their best option. If Flanagan's out for a number of weeks, which I think he probably will be, that was a pretty nasty head knock. I wish the best for him. If he's out for another couple of weeks and liking King Tongi, doesn't grab this opportunity with both hands, Cade Reed could debut in a couple of weeks' time. Flanagan's put out there that be patient with him, be patient with him. Yes, be patient with him. Absolutely. I agree with the sentiment, but we are so risk-averse to debuting young halves when they are showing that they are more capable than the options ahead of them. Joey Walsh has been showing that for fucking a year. Cade Reed for the last couple of weeks in the NRL trials and all that, he is building a case that he is their best option. I'm only sort of ranting in this way just because of the not because of Cade Reed in particular, but because of the sentiment around young halves at the moment, where it's like, you know, Matty John says it all the time. Maddie John's expert in the game. I will agree with everything he says because he is, you know, footy IQ that will far surpass anything that I ever do. He says it all the time, he likes to be patient with these guys. I think fans of the game are just taking that and applying it in every single possible situation without the tiniest bit of nuance. We don't need to be so risk-averse to debuting young halves. They can jump in and they can succeed. It's happened before. There's so many, there's countless examples of it. Jonathan Thurston, Sam Walker, all these guys. Lachlan Galvin debuted fresh out of high school. He's a bit bigger, so I understand that. Um but you know, were they ready? Don't know. Well would they have benefited better from debuting later? Who knows? But debuting it debuting them at the time that they did worked. So I don't see why there is absolutely no chance Kay Reed debuts this year. Anyway. Um, rant of the week over. Um I hope I got through my point. I don't think it was concise, but I certainly think I covered off all of my thoughts in that uh time. But anyway, Panthers vs. Eels, that was 26 points apiece. Upper twiddle clinic. He needs to fix his defense so desperately. He he's gotten the call up to first grade. His his contact is is poor. Um, I need to see that fixed before he can come in and play fullback for the Pamatoreals. Uh he's very inconsistent. Week one, he was the best on the park. Week two, he had a shocker. Week three, best on the park again. I just need him to raise that floor whilst keeping that ceiling because then he will be a very, very good first grader. Um, you know, last week against the Dragons, he was dreadful in that game defensively, he made so many errors in that game, it was a tough watch. I'm being harsh because I know what his ceiling is and I want him to be a successful first grader. Um, and I'm just you know sharing knowledge with fellow para fans about what I think about his game at the moment. He slips off a lot of tackles when they go through, and you know, I heard Blake Austin talking about it talking about it as well. Blake Austin, another guy I I respect a lot in the game, and I respect his opinions. I think he's he's on the up in terms of a a guy covering the game. But he he said um a little bit earlier, talking about Scott Drinkwater, that um, you know, this is what a fullback should be, all out attack, and you know, if the if the front 12 can't stop him, what hopes a little bloke at the back got? But you know, some of these these moments that Upper's been coming up with defensively uh just haven't been good enough for mine. Um, you know, in terms of watching him, he's a you know, I've turned a positive, a highly positive game. He was a pathways player of the round, don't get it wrong. Um, but yeah, a lot of things to work on there for Upper Twiddle in terms of taking that next step into first grade. Um Jesse McLean, Zachary Clark, they were some of Penrith Panthers' best. I thought Zachary Clark, it didn't show up in the stat sheet after the game in terms of you know what his numbers were compared to everyone else. I had him, I gave him my two points in this game. I thought he was Panthers best on the park. A couple of little effort plays, he made some huge plays in this game, a couple of those little effort areas, his defence was awesome, and just he worked so hard in this game. He scored a try as well. Um, you know, he came up with a key play late in the game as well that that um got Panthers back ahead. I think he's been really good for the Panthers this year. He's probably a guy that could debut this season as well. I think he's been killing it. I think those two, Jesse McLean, Zachary Clark were their two best in this game. Jesse McLean was awesome last week as well. He's been one of the form wingers in the competition over the last couple of weeks. Ronald Wokman, he was good as well. Raiders versus Jets. Uh, Jets won 34 points to 26. Owen Patty is killing it. Um, he needs to get back into this side ASAP, and I won't expand on that. Chevy Stewart, he put up a huge game as well. I think a club needs to sign him because he is you know performing really well over the last couple of seasons in New South Worlds Cup. He improved late last year, and he's continuing to improve this season. His first game out the back, and um, yeah, he was awesome in this one. I thought the um fullback and 5-8 were awesome for the Jets in this game as well. Moen Harodi was the best on ground and target forward. He was a huge performance for the Newtown Jets. Mikey Gabriel, he's a guy that um a lot of Sharks fans are really keen to hear how he's progressing. In attack, he's flying. You could not ask more of him in attack, but again, like Abbott Twitle, could not ask more of those two guys in attack in defense. I just want to see them fix a few things up before they take that next step. Again, just one man's opinion. David Farley, he makes his debut this week um for the dragons on the wing. I thought, you know, a little bit harsh uh to set to two. I think he didn't play last week either, did he? Because Tyrell Sloan replaced him. But um, yeah, I think David Farley will be interesting to watch for the Dragons. Scored four tries in the first four New South Wales Cup games. I don't think you could ask too much more of him. He's had a couple of errors in some of those better games that he's played as well, but you know, you can forgive him for that if he's offering as much as what he offers in attack. Um, you know, hopefully he does that. Um, you know, he offers that same level in attack uh and you know minimises the errors. I don't think he's gonna cut them completely out, especially in a debut. But um, if he offers that same level of attack, he'll be interesting to watch for the Dragons. Antonio Verhoven, he jumps into Jersey 19 for the Broncos. Huge. Really like this move from Madge McGuire. Um, just you know, get the young blokes some experience in first grade because he's gonna be a long-term player at the Brisbane Broncos for mine. And Apple Twitle, he's also named in Jersey 19 for as much negatively as what I said about him before in terms of his defence and his consistency and all that sort of thing. I am excited to see him in Jersey 19. If something happens where he's required to come onto the field, I think he'll he'll light it up in terms of you know, he'll be exciting when he has the ball in his hands. Something is always happening around him. Um, you know, he's a guy that I highlighted a lot through SG ball and all that sort of thing. New South Wales Cup, he's been killing it so far this year. Pre-season trolls, he was awesome. So um, yeah, keen to see how he goes. Simeon Lafay, he's gonna take a big jump over the next few weeks, in my opinion. Foz has come in, gave him Jersey 17. You know, he debuted last week in uh Jersey 19, 13 minutes. I want to see him play more minutes. I think he will. Um, I think he's gonna be a guy over the next few weeks that takes a huge leap because you know, big body, middle forward, very strong in contact. Um, something that Manley are missing desperately at the moment. Um, questions Who has the biggest potential between Cade Reed, Joey Walsh, and Mitchell Woods? At the moment, I'd probably say Joey Walsh. Um, you know, uh Mitch Woods, he's just been unsighted over the last sort of 12 months. You know, when he has been in, he's played well, but hasn't played enough games in New South Wales Cup yet. I think in terms of his potential, he's obviously got a really high ceiling, but what Joey Walsh has has shown in Cup, if that translates to NRO level, he could be absolutely anything for that Manley Seagull side. I've got probably got Walsh on top. Cade Reed and and Mitch Woods, both sort of similar, where they're a bit smaller. Very exciting. Mitch Woods kicking game is really good. Cade Reed is right up there as well. Um, Cade Reed, I don't know if he's a little bit more creative. They're probably the same. Yeah, I I think, you know, it's a good question because the three of them are on very level pegging. I I'd probably if you force me to rank them, I'd probably go Walsh Woods Reed. I think that'd probably be my order based on what I've seen, you know, mostly in from what I've seen in the world's carp. If you if you'd asked me, you know, three years ago when Cade Reed was was playing with Lycan King Tongiar and the Juniors, and you had Mitchell Woods coming through Howard Matthews and SG Ball and all that, and you know, I hadn't heard of Joey Walsh until um sort of back end of 24, I want to say, when he was carving up for Union. Well, I've got a little bubble popping up there, that's mad. Um I don't know if that's actually seen on YouTube, but I just put my thumb up and then like a little fucking bubble popped up there anyway. Anyway, losing my mind here. Um yeah, Joey Walsh I'd only sort of heard of when he was playing in the Australian Wallabies under 18 setup. So yeah, if you'd asked me a few years ago, it'd be Woods on top, clearly. Um, but yeah, I think at the moment I'm most excited about Walsh. I'm probably next best Woods, next best Reed. And I'm really keen to see how Woods goes when he comes back. But those are three really talented halves coming through the grades there. Um next one, who's your tip for NRL Q and why? Um my tip is the Dolphins and why because they won it last year and it's very similar teams, and their forward pack looks enormous. Haves look really good. I think it'll be between the Dolphins and the Broncos. They're my top two seeds. I think Dolphins would win the grand final between those two. I think their halves really, really strong. Uh strong, but but really high quality players. Um, you know, that that Broncos side is is stacked on paper. I think Dolphins last year, the fact that they went through undefeated was really promising for them. Broncos lose a couple of players from last year. They do gain a couple of really talented players as well, but they are on the younger side. Um, but yeah, I think they'll be a good competition. I think Dolphins Broncos are my top two seeds. I think Dolphins number one, Broncos number two. All right, we'll wrap it up there. Um make sure you tune in next week. Thanks for listening once again. Follow all my socials and all that, and we'll see you on the next one.