They've been doing it all day sir!
Two Englishmen in Australia, talking sports and life in a new country
They've been doing it all day sir!
Beers, snacks and Vegas: England's all round struggles and the NRL is back with a bang!
In this bumper episode of 'They've Been Doing It All Day, Sir,' hosts Ben and Chris cover everything from edible items they miss from back home to all things NRL in Vegas! This weekly recap includes England's turmoil in the ICC Champions trophy, the excellence of the Penrith Panthers, a review of the weekends Vegas fixtures and a look forward to the rest of round 1 in the NRL. Be sure to tune in and see if Ben can redeem himself after some terrible takes from last weeks tips! #nrl #podcast #nrlinvegas #footy #theyvebeendoingitallday #sportspodcast #nathancleary #crickettournament
Hello and welcome to another episode of They've Been Doing It All Day, sir. I'm Ben. And I'm Chris. And this week, it's back. The NRL in Vegas. So let's get stuck in. How's your week been, mate? Yeah, it's not been too bad, actually. Been looking forward to having another episode on the go. Really enjoyed last week. Really enjoyed the process of getting us on camera, filming it for the first time, and getting ourselves up on YouTube. So that was all good. Had a fairly quiet weekend. Took the kids to Luna Park, actually. First time I've been to Luna Park. Awesome. It wasn't too bad. Bit outdated. We saw this Vegisaurus. uh light show or vegasaurus um screen show okay my favorite one was banana raptor but yeah how was your how's your week been
SPEAKER_01:um quite a quiet one to be honest mate nothing nothing to write home about um bit of a weekend is just watching watching sport nothing nothing mental um did not go to lunar park so a little bit different from yourself in that that regard um but not just a just a quiet one for a change um which isn't always too bad so yeah let's get stuck into it
SPEAKER_02:indeed be Greg's Sausage Roll
SPEAKER_01:um something that i really do miss you can't just pop out to the mall over here and just grab a a quick sausage rolls esque thing because it costs you about eight dollars from a boutique bakery
SPEAKER_02:you're not far off actually i did have a sausage roll from the cafe opposite roseville train station the other day
SPEAKER_01:i think it's eight dollars scandalous absolutely scandalous and then you've got you've got something that looks like greg's in baker's delight and you go up and you're like oh here we go and then everything in there's freezing cold and you're like well this has just killed my mood um so yeah that's that's probably the first thing it's just the ease of being out and going oh actually i just want a quick snack dive into greg's sausage roll steak bake depending on the year a festive bake as well if depending on, as I said, if it's around Christmas. But yeah, that's the one that I always say straight off the bat is a Greek sausage roll.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I suppose for me, the savory side of things, pork pies. Or scotch eggs. I know you probably can't get them over here, but it's something that I don't know I don't feel there's this the pick-and-go supermarket culture like being able to sneak into boots or M&S or Tesco's or anything like that and just picking up something really quick But I'd say yeah little savory snacks along those eyes mini cocktail sausage is the one actually
SPEAKER_01:that Mildew's on a thing over here are they? They're not something that I you can just pop into Woolies or Coles and just grab a$4,$5 meal there. Again, you're looking at$8,$9 just for a wrap. I
SPEAKER_02:went into Woolies earlier at lunch, or it's Woolies or Coles, it's one and twos, they're both Robin. And I went to the sandwich section looking for something that was of reasonable value. And there was nothing. I was like, oh, I might as well just get a salad from one of the shops outside or something. But savoury, yeah, sweet. What's your selection of sweet choices that you miss?
SPEAKER_01:Well, another thing I'd add on, it's similar to your scotch eggs and pork pies. I'd say fish and chips as well. That's something I've not had... a good portion of fish and chips over here. It's the
SPEAKER_02:chips. It's like every single fish and chip shop decides to use frozen chips. Fries, yeah. And
SPEAKER_01:I don't get it. No, nor do I. The one near us, the fish is okay. The fish is nearly there. The batter, there's still a little bit to be left desired for, but it's just the chips. They're nowhere near. You can't make a chip putty out of them.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's like they don't make the effort to peel the potatoes or anything like that. It's just, let's get a bag of frozen potatoes and chuck them in. But on the sweet side of things one of the
SPEAKER_01:first things i noticed massively when i moved over here was the change in dairy milk chocolate oh
SPEAKER_00:yeah
SPEAKER_01:it it was almost one of those moments where i wanted to put it just straight in the bin It was like a very bitter, bitter taste to it.
SPEAKER_02:I think it's got something to do with the additives of the heat, like the melting point of the chocolate and trying to keep it preserved. There's something different in that, but it certainly does taste different. You've actually, in saying that, galaxy, chocolate, minstrels, those sorts of sweet snacks, they are, then again, you can't just pop in and get a grab bag or something. And the term lollies as well, calling it pin lollies just doesn't make sense to me.
SPEAKER_01:No, no, no, no, that's where you get them. But then you flip onto the fruit pastels. You can't just get a small bit of fruit pastels. And then if you do go down to the international aisle,
SPEAKER_02:you're
SPEAKER_01:looking at$5,$6 for just a little roll of fruit pastels. And you're like, hang on a second. I'm not paying that, which is another thing I had. And then I also had proper cordial. I don't know if you've had like the... Like the pop from over here and it just, no round trees, double concentrated summer fruits.
SPEAKER_02:I know what you mean. I think they, last time I was back in the UK, they ended up with like quadruple concentrate. Yeah, it's put like a drop in it and it tasted like you're actually sipping pure sugar syrup. But I know what you mean. The cordial is very weak out here. I think my wife puts in about, drop and in order for me to get the flavor that I need I need to put in like half a pint or something so yeah fully on that but on the liquid side of things one of the things that I do miss for sure is a decent pint of Guinness that's I know it's not a snack or it could be deemed a snack but yeah I tell you what the quality of the Guinness out here isn't the greatest and that's one thing you long for in a pub but um yeah what's what's your thoughts
SPEAKER_01:on the Guinness out here oh it's dreadful it took me When I last went back home, I think I landed at six o'clock in the morning, which, you know, for some is a little early. And then I got straight off the plane. I was playing rugby. And I think I was at the club for about an hour, halfway through the first game. And I was like, sinking pints of Guinness. And I must have had about, I had a fair few. in a very short period of time because it just tasted so good. And it's just the difference of it. It's massive compared to what we were drinking over here. Saying that, there are some good places that do Guinness over here.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I did the Stone and Wood brewery tour actually up in Byron Bay. And we were talking about kind of different beers and different flavors. And one of the things that you were speaking about is it's due to the water and the pH of the water over here is completely different to that in Ireland. And even though they've tried to replicate the... the recipe by adding certain things, there is definitely a difference in taste. So I think that's one thing I do miss. But what's the best pint that you've experienced, pint of Guinness over here that you've had? There
SPEAKER_01:probably, it's probably two places that are very close to each other in Circular Quay. With Fortune of War, there's a good pint of Guinness. And then just up the road from it, Frank Mac's.
SPEAKER_02:I got recommended Fortuna War actually by someone from work earlier. So haven't had one there myself, but Frank Max is definitely a good one. What about yourself? Molly Malone's always in Surrey Hills, always seems to serve us up a pint of Guinness. I don't know if that's because we go in there when we're either half cut or just for happy hour, which they do an incredible happy hour between five and seven. But We've also had some absolute shockers. We're not going to name the venues that we've had the shockers in because one of them might be our regular one and we don't want to put any bad names out there. But I've certainly been served up some pints of porridge. Some shockers, absolute shockers. Absolutely horrendous. But I mean, because of that, I haven't really been drinking Guinness much. No, it's completely changed. As of late. And the direction of travel that I move in now is more of the lager side of things. When I'm just looking for a drink, I'll probably have a Toohey's New or I don't know. If I'm feeling fruity, I'll go for a bolt or XPA,
SPEAKER_01:which is headbanging gear. That's what I drank the other Saturday. it just hits you the next day. You're absolutely crippled by it. And especially going down the avenue of, like I said, that I don't eat and waking up the next day, you're crippled by it. But it's just so good to drink. It's such a session drink. Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:it's very nice. It is a very nice, smooth, flies down the gullet. Disappears. Flies down the gullet. And next thing you know, you've spent over a hundred bucks and you're feeling like an absolute, in an absolute state. And especially the next morning as well, the hangovers it gives you are a worry. But let's start as we usually do. Chelsea-Birmingham updates. What have Birmingham been up to over the last week?
SPEAKER_01:Just... I don't really want to say it because we're dominating League One at the moment. All right, here we go. Which is just how most of the season has been. We've not conceded at home into 2025. Isn't this since... In the league, that is.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but isn't it since Burnley's owner, what's his name, JJ Watt, put out the... Was it Birmingham's goalkeeper?
SPEAKER_01:No, no, no, it was Burnley's. Oh, it was Burnley, I'm getting it mixed up. He's like 12 games... sheets in a row which is crazy so
SPEAKER_02:what did he say he said if you keep a clean sheet from now until the end of the season I'll come back and play for the Bengals Bengals that's what it was and he's I think he tweeted the other day said better get in the gym better get in the gym because it's 12 on the spin but yeah so obviously Birmingham in great form
SPEAKER_01:yeah beat Orient last Wednesday 2-0 they had an early red card which was very similar to the sending off in the in the Man United game Man United Ipswich jumped in quite high up the shin yeah It was the guy
SPEAKER_02:that had the howler for the United game. It was the guy that had the howler with Anana, wasn't it, at the back that got sent off? Yeah, I think so. I can't remember
SPEAKER_01:his name. But they had a red card in the first 20 minutes and it just kills the game then because Orient just went to 10 at the back and just tried to stop everything. Ended up winning 2-0 though, which is good. And then we beat our... top of the table rivals Wickham at the weekend Saturday Saturday night which was which is good one 1-0 absolutely dominated the first half Adams
SPEAKER_02:Park was just down the road from where I used to live back home just over the Chiltern Hills was Wickham yeah Adams Park so not too far
SPEAKER_01:from where I was local boy
SPEAKER_02:yeah but didn't support I'm obviously born and raised in West
SPEAKER_01:London so that's why I support Chelsea but but yeah beat them beat them 1-0 again they had a red card just before half time it was Seems like the refs are on the payroll at the moment at Birmingham. Tom Brady's just funded them. It makes a change. No, but it was Ethan Laird sort of knocked the ball forward. It was a good 10, 20 metres for both players to run towards the ball. Laird got there first, nicked it away, and then he's arrived half an hour later and just completely taken it out. Personally... I thought it was a yellow. I didn't think it was malicious enough to be a red. But then later on in the game, their striker went up and just cleanly elbowed one of our center backs in the face, like was looking at him in the hallway and just chinned him. But he only got booked. So swings and roundabouts. And now we're 12 points behind. clear at the top of the league. It was still a game in hand.
SPEAKER_02:League over. Might as well promote you now. Are Paddy Power paying out yet? That's when you know you've been successful because I think they're paying out on Liverpool winning the league, which
SPEAKER_01:is absolutely bonkers. Didn't they pay out on Celtic winning the league after game one or something like that? Something ridiculous. But yeah, how are Chelsea getting on?
SPEAKER_02:Do you know what? First bit of success in ages. Beat Southampton 4-0 the day after we recorded the last podcast. They were on at 7.30 in the morning. So I was like, oh, I get to actually have a watch of this one. Yeah. 3-0 up at halftime. Pedro Neto was stealing the show. Goals and assists. Cole Palmer was missing sitters left, right and centre. Those who had him in his fantasy team as captain, which I didn't. I kept in Salah this week. But they're probably screaming at the TV because he missed so many sitters. But good to see Chelsea get a couple of goals. But it's against Southampton. arguably one of the worst teams at the moment. In fact, the worst team in the Premier League at the moment and quite possibly one of the worst teams the Premier League's
SPEAKER_01:ever seen. Found your level there then, haven't you?
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's the worrying thing. But on the positive, we've got Leicester up next in the league. That's it the weekend, which hopefully we'll be able to get back-to-back wins in the league. But we go away in the Europa Conference to Copenhagen. So the boys are away in Denmark, I think, on Thursday morning. So... or it might be Friday morning, one of the two, whichever way it works. Conference is usually on Thursday in the UK.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, it'll be Friday morning.
SPEAKER_02:It'll be on Friday morning, so we'll see how that goes. I know Karl Palmer's been activated into the European Conference team, so it's a competition we should win, but with the form that we're in at the moment, who knows what's going to happen. But a bit of positivity. Let's hope we can get some momentum going. Still haven't got a striker, and Kunku did score at the weekend, but I don't know. Chelsea just... You never know what you're going to get with them. I think... Yeah, let's see how it goes. Let's keep an eye on them and see what happens. But talking of teams that are in absolutely terrible form, let's move on to the ICC trophy. And do you know what? I'm going to own something now. I think I understand why people out there might have opinions about England fans because last week I sat here and I think I said, all we've got to do is beat South Africa, which actually was the third game we were playing. We were playing Afghanistan the next day. obviously went on the assumption that we were going to beat Afghanistan. And we got turned
SPEAKER_01:over. I've been very pessimistic the whole tournament, to be honest. There's a lot of cracks starting to show within this England team, and I genuinely don't know where they go from here.
SPEAKER_02:No, it's a difficult one. I mean, look, Archer had Afghanistan, what was it, 37 for three in the power play. And you're thinking, here we go, could topple them. And then all of a sudden Zadran out of nowhere, just from opening the bat in 177 off of 146 of a strike rate of 121. He's just put on an absolute show. The things that have been highlighted, which we've kind of spoke about and touched on already, is that England are so one dimensional with their 90 mile an hour fastballs. They're getting clipped and slapped about all over the place. I think Jamie Overton was expensive when he came on. And yeah, there was no plan B. It's worrying when Liam Livingston is our best bowler with stats of five overs for 28 runs and two wickets. I think that's...
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and you've got Joe Root not bowling a fair amount of overs. And you know you're in a struggle or in a hole when you've got... Joe Root having a bowl, a fair amount of overs. Fair to him, he can do all right with a
SPEAKER_02:little spin. He very nearly won us the game with a bat as well. I mean, you look at, again, our opening, Phil Salt goes cheap. Jamie Smith, who got promoted to three, has not scored double digits, I think, the whole tournament, which, in fact, in a while, which is terrible. Few people got starts. Again, the future Don Bradman, Harry Brooke got 25, Joss Butler 38, Overton 32. Overton's dismissal was so silly as well. He tried to, I think it was sweep. When he had a chance of just guiding it home with the amount of runs we had left. And yeah, Joe Root nearly got us there with 120. So you'd take sort of
SPEAKER_01:out of that, you look at, as you said, Butler, Duckett and Root as like a good start. Because within ODIs, you'd say like mid 30s, early 40s is a good start to then kick on. And then everyone around it has just failed again. England have been two big scores away from having a massively embarrassing tournament. Well,
SPEAKER_02:it showed in the next game against South Africa. You take away Joe Root's score and we get bowled out for 179. Same
SPEAKER_01:with Duckett against Australia. Yeah, it's very true. And everything now that's sort of come out. Against Afghanistan, they put on a good score, I said, and England had the chance to be able to chase that down, but It
SPEAKER_02:was chaseable as well,
SPEAKER_01:and that's the biggest thing. Which is really frustrating. And then you go to England, South Africa, and they knocked it off in 30 overs.
SPEAKER_02:So, yeah, went for nothing. Jamie Smith, Duck, Brook 19, and they chased it down in, what, under 30 overs. That's pretty embarrassing. But before that game... Joss Butler resigned as England captain. Who's going to be England captain in the future? Who knows? There's not a Ben Stokes-esque figure in the white ball setup in order to take England forward. I mean, who could be potential replacement for him as captain? You
SPEAKER_01:look at Root, but I think he's going to be too busy with tests to then if there is an ODI elsewhere for him to be able to do that. Similar with Ducat. I think Ducat is probably the only one. He had a little bit of captain experience with the Welsh fire thing. It was in the 100.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And that's... He's played
SPEAKER_02:quite a bit of international cricket as well, like in terms of coming over here for the Big Bash League. He's played in the IPL.
SPEAKER_01:He's travelled with the short ball game. Yeah. And with Butler resigning before the game as well, it's sort of one of those where having a bit of a swan song... It was a nothing game. But at the end of it, because of... But at least put up a
SPEAKER_02:fight. I think that's the biggest thing that was frustrating from it. Bowled out for 179. Absolute dross from everyone. And it kind of sums up where England are as a white ball cricket team. Like you say, if no one makes a big score, then there's always a collapse. There's always low single-digit scores in there. And we're completely outclassed. I actually think Bangladesh probably would have beaten us if we was in the other group as well. So I think we were... quite comfortably the worst team in the tournament in terms of just overall performance. Like, all right, there's a few individuals that did all right, but a horror tournament, a horror show and a big turnaround needed. But India, Australia, that's tonight. That should be starting as we're recording, which will be an interesting one. India convincingly knocked over New Zealand, which I think cements them as favourites
SPEAKER_01:for the tournament. Watching the first part of that innings, I thought... New Zealand were going to rattle India.
SPEAKER_02:When they had them, what was it, 47 for 3 or something
SPEAKER_01:at one point? Yeah, I was like, this is... I think it was even like that. It was 33 for 3 and I was like, this is looking... tasty who we sort of forgot about the kiwis and and and then i reminded
SPEAKER_02:myself actually this was still only a group game so there wasn't really my all right it would have shaped who they played in the semi-final but
SPEAKER_01:they were both already through but then when you sort of turn it on in the morning and it was just like india ran away with it again and you're like ah okay uh yeah they're they're such a they've got everything um but it's very it just seems that the look of australia is
SPEAKER_02:very much... You reckon they're going to
SPEAKER_01:do it? I don't know. They've got to the semifinals by playing one game and getting a result in one game.
SPEAKER_02:They had a bit of batting practice against Afghanistan, I think it was. They managed to get... Or was
SPEAKER_01:it Afghanistan? I think it was South Africa.
SPEAKER_02:One of them, they managed to get their... One of them batting. They managed to
SPEAKER_01:get half a... I don't know. It was the other way of result. Sorry, it was Randolph against South Africa and they got their... they started batting against Afghanistan. And then the rain came and it was a no
SPEAKER_02:result. So yeah, managed to scrape through. And I think if they don't chase down 351 against England, do they get through? No, probably not. So it's one of those, but it is what it is. England are terrible. Australia, India in the semifinal.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm going to go for India. Yeah. And... I think South Africa and New Zealand is very close to cool. I don't know how to separate them two, to be honest.
SPEAKER_02:Either way, I think whichever one wins from that is going to get turned over by India in the final. We've said it pretty much all the way through that we think India are going to win the tournament. We did say Dark Horses, Afghanistan, they did, I suppose, cause a mini upset in terms of beating England, but England the biggest underperformers by a mile.
SPEAKER_01:I wonder where that final will be played. Because India haven't been playing... I don't think India have been playing in Pakistan for the tournament. And it's been... I think they've been based and been playing in Dubai. I may be incorrect for that. So that would be interesting to see if India do get for the final, if it gets moved to Dubai instead of... inside there is a lot of
SPEAKER_02:talk around it being geared up for india isn't it the fact that they're playing in dubai yeah well i think other teams other teams having to fly to dubai when they fly back to pakistan it's all a bit yeah fishy it seems like the icc definitely want an indian name on the trophy due to the size of the audience that are out there but yeah i think they also take up a massive portion of the funding as well so it wouldn't surprise me if things are geared that way but yeah
SPEAKER_01:india but they have been classic well yeah yeah we can try and bring in all these conspiracy theories but india have been very good
SPEAKER_02:they've actually bowled pretty well batted pretty well it just all depends how they go under pressure this is the biggest point where india crumble when there's a bit of pressure so we'll see what they do but it wouldn't surprise me if they walk away with a trophy trophy next week but it's back it's back it's back it's
SPEAKER_01:been back yes
SPEAKER_02:the nrl is back this weekend we saw saw four teams from the nrl return to vegas and we had what two teams from the super league and we had a women's international fixture take place at the allegiance stadium in las vegas which by all the sounds of everything was an absolute party everyone seemed to have a good time it does look and it does look unreal there i kind of regret that we didn't go last year with manly all right it's one of those ones where at the time you're like oh you don't know how it'd be how much it would cost but you look back and like we've missed
SPEAKER_01:out on one could have been a lot of fun
SPEAKER_02:let's go through a few of the fixtures then so it kicked off at 8.30am on Sunday I think it was over here with the Super League fixture Wigan Warriors against the Warrington Wolves yep the Warrington Wolves led by Sam Burgess did you manage to watch that one a
SPEAKER_01:bit early on the Sunday watched pretty much the end of it Wigan absolutely dominated I can't remember the name of him but they the commentators were going on about Wiggins halves Bevan French that was one of them yeah and how well they just demanded and sort of controlled the game so yeah it's a good advert to be able to get the Super League for sure over here and sort of showing it's very big as we've discussed within sort of the northwest of England they were able to pull in big crowds I'm
SPEAKER_02:pretty sure a lot of the northwest came over and sank a lot of pints a lot of in the
SPEAKER_01:stadium yeah and It is behind the NRL as a league, which is understandable. But it's great for it to be able to get more of a global... audience and be able to push that side of things as well. I
SPEAKER_02:think that game would have highlighted a lot of talent as well for the NRL in terms of like being a feeder league because there's talk about the NRL potentially purchasing or clubs purchasing clubs or the league purchasing the league. It certainly could provide as a platform to get more eyes on the Super League to move over to Australia because the earning potential for players over here is enormous compared to the UK. But I think what helped was the surface that they were playing on. It's a solid It's just a class surface that speeds the game up and I think Wigan were more prepared for it and a lot of people predicted it might be a close game but they blew them out. I think they were 42-0 up at one point. They seem
SPEAKER_01:to be playing like they did last year. Again, just sort of kicking off from that win in the Super League last year. They're a solid outfit and it always seems to be them or St Helens who are fighting at the top normally and throwing a little bit of the Leeds Rhinos as well every now and then. But And I didn't really watch much of it. What about yourself?
SPEAKER_02:No, I didn't see. I watched the first 30 minutes, I reckon, then had a few things I needed to do on Sunday. But, oh, yeah, obviously I went to Luna Park on Sunday. But, yeah, I thought, I mean, I thought it was just a good spectacle to get people involved. The crowd were incredible. They were chanting. And it kind of brought a familiar feel of the English chanting, that mob mentality. You could hear the songs in the stands. And I saw a few things on social media. around in the concourses beforehand and like they were giving it to James Graham calling him every name under the sun when he walked over so it just gave that little bit of feel from back home which was good yeah
SPEAKER_01:and it's that is that difference and we have discussed it previously with how it is sort of away fans the league rugby league does have that sort of football mentality to it how they do separate fans and they do have chance for the players and the team and that's something that you could look at within the NRL and would be really good. Cause not manly, it's only manly, manly. Yeah. Great. There isn't like a, there isn't a channel about Alakawatu or DCE or Tommy Turner. Yeah. Like there's, there's scope for that there. Um, and trying to think of one off. It's not going to happen in, in, in the moment, in a couple of minutes, but there is that scope to be able to do that. And I think if that was to be introduced, um, it could make atmospheres even better over here. Yeah. Which is something we've touched on previously in a fair few times. So, yeah. It was good. It was good to see. Good to see. And then moving on to the other game. England don't seem to be doing very well against Australia. In any
SPEAKER_02:sport. And look, I'm not... The women's game, it was good to get exposure on the women's game. 100%. But... I've been listening to a few podcasts about it this week, and one of the things that I wouldn't have even realized is that the NRLW doesn't start until July, like around the state of origin time, which this time this fixture's happened is poor. Australia absolutely dominated England, winning 90 points to four, with England getting a consolation try at the end. So if all conversions were made as well, it would have been like 112 or something like that. And I... great to get eyes on the fixture but it was a case of professionals against amateurs in England set up. I think it will give England some thinking around how do they develop the game further because the NRLW over here is a very strong, very strong league. And some of the athletes that have come out of it are absolutely phenomenal. But I don't think it's done well in terms of promoting the female game because it seemed like a lot of people switched off when they saw how much of a blowout it was. Don't get me wrong, my wife, we were sitting watching it in a pub where we were I love seeing women playing sport on a big stage, but the interest dwindled when it was 40-0, like after, what was it, 30 minutes or something like that. So if they were to do it again next year, which I think there's talks about reducing the kind of fixtures, there's got to be a way that they can do it to make the game more competitive. Maybe sort
SPEAKER_01:of Australia, New Zealand, because they're at a pretty equal level. level as you sort of saw in the Pacific Championship something earlier back in the last year yeah it was you could just tell as you said the setups between the two from a game perspective was mad and I think there is a massive difference between how women's contact sport down here is perceived as well i think there's a lot more funding and a lot more um around it like the the women's um super super rugby as well i was i was in a is it was in one of the breweries in brooklyn they had i think brumbies versus um i can't remember who they were playing but the quality of rugby was was really good and it again it just shows that sort of level where australia is in in in sport in development um so yeah it would be good to keep it for next year, but maybe have a more competitive match and not more one-sided. Yeah. I think it's the... But then it's the same with the NRL fixtures. You want to have fixtures over there that are going to be gripping because they're trying to sell it to the American audience. Trying to break the market over there. So you want in close games, which you'd have thought the Raiders Warriors, which we're going to touch on in a minute, would have been. Yeah. But it'd be interesting to see how they... go about it for next year I
SPEAKER_02:think the early talks at the moment are to remove the women's fixture reduce it from four to three fixtures or even potentially two fixtures but a suggestion that I heard earlier which I think would be great is obviously the Club World Championship Club World Cup whatever it's called wasn't played this year because Penrith thought that travelling over to the UK was too much of a journey ahead of Vegas which I agree with but Wigan were there Penrith were there Why didn't they just play each other? I know it's a round one fixture and there's competition points on the board, up for grabs.
SPEAKER_01:I think having to travel, yeah, because they have to travel anyway, don't they? Or is it normally two weeks before round one?
SPEAKER_02:They could have their round one fixture. Look, I can't think of the logistics behind it, but I think that's a great platform to then show because the UK teams have won it the last two times and I think it's just a great opportunity to get more eyes on the sport you get the English over you get the Australians over and then you have two NRL fixtures at that time as well so I mean look I think it's a great event I think Vegas is to see the stadium an American football stadium full of NRL fans and different nationalities coming in and getting involved in the sport I think it's only a positive thing and I think it's just need to get it right in terms of timing as well like yeah because it causes a lot of disruption to preseason and everything
SPEAKER_01:yeah it's it's it's a difficult one to to to sort of have there because like you say you've got four teams that are having to travel to to the other side of the pacific to then play and then travel back for, it's a lot of traveling and within a sort of two, three week period and trying to adjust to time zones and stuff like that. And then trying to figure out how to sort of, it's not like the games are in the evenings either. So you can keep them on a certain time zone. It's in the days and stuff like that. But enough about us trying to run the NRL and trying to see how we can run these events better. let's move into the first game uh warriors raiders what did you think of it
SPEAKER_02:well i feel like i'm eating humble pie over here because how
SPEAKER_01:are those predictions looking mate
SPEAKER_02:well yeah i predicted the raiders to get the wooden spoon and it's round one so we can't be jumping to any conclusions at the moment
SPEAKER_01:that's fair
SPEAKER_02:but i was really impressed with the raiders it seems like they've move silent like the g in lasagna when it comes to pre-season preparation um they've just gone under the radar it seems like they've been working hard down in the in the capital just getting their patterns their shapes right yeah getting things right and i'll tell you what they've got speed to burn on the edge and they've got some backs that are fairly explosive so i mean xavier savage interception try for his his second try their third try could absolutely read the Warriors like a book, and he stepped in front of it and just gassed them down the sideline. And at that point, I was like, hmm, have I messed this up? What am I saying? They
SPEAKER_01:were very similar last year as well, though. They have that massive attacking threat. We watched it at Brookie last year when they absolutely dismantled Manly to bits on that Friday night. It's... They could have had two very quick tries. Chris, who scored the first one, I think it's Sebastian. Yeah, Sebastian and Chris did very well to be able to reach for the line in the first instance to get that. And then converted over. And then about five, ten minutes later, ball broke to him. He was like five meters away from the line. He gathered it and then a little bit of a knockback and a drop just before the line. So the Raiders could have been two tries up very early on. And the Warriors just didn't seem to have any answer for what they were doing.
SPEAKER_02:They didn't. And they made some stupid mistakes as well. Like there's talks about Roger Tuivasa-Scheck should have been at fullback. Like for the audience at home, I can't remember. I need to look this up. But he went away from the NRL. I think he went and played rugby union over in... in Europe or Japan, somewhere like that. And then he came back to the NRL and he's a bit of an icon and legend in New Zealand and around the NRL. But he seems like he's a fullback. He needs to be involved all over the place. And him stuck at centre, it seems like they're not utilising him to his full potential. And what highlights that a bit more is Nicol Klokstad. He... He doesn't seem confident under the high ball. And I think for the Raiders' try just after halftime, the ball's been booted in the air, and he should be going up to get it, but instead he sat into it, and he's kind of like nearly got his head taken off one, but also then has... Well, it's been kneed forward, which isn't deemed as a knock-on, and then the Raiders have gone on to score. And I think that put the game to bed, really, that quick score after halftime.
SPEAKER_01:I understand... why he did it though, because you see fullbacks do it. It's so they don't then get picked up and driven over the touchline. I think he was about five, maybe had been five, 10 minutes out. So if he had collected that normally, I reckon he would have been carried over the try line. It would have been an in goal dropout. But just absolutely poor execution on it. And the kick was incredible. It was a 30-meter high kick.
SPEAKER_02:No wind in Vegas as well because
SPEAKER_01:of the roof. The roof was closed. So I think Raiders were just inside the 40 in the Warriors' half. And like I said, it just went 30 meters. Kick chase was incredible, which put pressure on it. As you said, his head would have been cleanly taken off. But I think there's a little bit of an all-round... element to that making of that mistake yeah um but 100 i when i first watched it i was like why why hasn't he gone up for that um why hasn't he just cleaned it claimed it um wasn't there wasn't the best of this you know i don't think that the time
SPEAKER_02:either and look i mean the warriors unfortunately have a week off now to rest up and then they play manly in week two after that performance and manly haven't played at the weekend we're going to talk about them they've got the cowboys at the weekend but i I would feel confident now going over to New Zealand and playing them. Whereas last year when we went over, I think it was a 27-all draw or something last year. I wasn't sure what we were going to get. And again, like I say, they've got time to work on it. But one thing that does concern me about the Raiders, which is something that Manly can't handle well, and both the Warriors and Raiders are Manly's next two opponents. The offloads, the chaotic nature of the Raiders' offload. I think it cost the Raiders' completion rate in this game. They only completed 69% of their sets, which I think potentially could be down to the amount of offloads that they were trying. But they successfully offloaded the ball 17 times, which is bonkers. And I think Corey Horsburgh was one of the... main catalyst of that it seems like every time he runs into contact he's turning his back and trying to trying to get it off and that does cause manly problems
SPEAKER_01:yeah and and one of the other things that that went alongside that i think is starling at hooker um He was just so fast at the base of the rook to be able to get the ball going when they were getting down and completing their stats. And he's such an attacking hooker. They were talking about how he normally started on the bench last year and then came on. He had 127 meters off eight runs, which is showing how much of a threat he is compared to Egan, who is the Warriors. Warriors hooker who had 64 from seven attacking runs. So you're seeing the massive difference in the difference in mentality there from a hooker point of view um which is very similar to sort of the scrum half in in in union um and if you have a dirty scrum half if you have a die okay like you you are going to be creating space and um going to be creating even additional holes within a team and i think that's what what happened with with them as well and that's what starling did incredibly incredibly well on that side of things and The
SPEAKER_02:Raiders back five, they all got over 100 metres in rushing, running metres, with 200 metres from both their wingers in Savage and Tamale. They are frightening stats from... what i well what i deemed as a team that we're going to get the wooden spoon they've just exploded out the blocks now again i think the surface in vegas helps that because of how quick it is be interesting to see how they do on a wet cold night in canberra um but i think i think from that i think they'll be all right like i i've got them wrong i I've definitely judged a book by its cover in terms of not hearing much about
SPEAKER_01:how they were going to go. They just went about the business. That's what you're saying. They were very quiet with what they were doing. And you've got Weeks and Savage who were linking up at times. And it was, even though he's a winger, Savage was coming in and playing centre and making passes. And their interchangeability, I love that word, the interchangeability between the five teams. was was really good as well and the halves had a really good game um strange strange had just a solid game at six he just tackles gets up passes find space just like a gets gets on his arm with his job and i hadn't realized so raiders went off at last at a point last year and they sort of dropped off i hadn't realized how much fuggity is a star on that team. He missed
SPEAKER_02:quite a bit of last season as well,
SPEAKER_01:didn't he? Yeah, which is when the Raiders started dropping off and he just looked really very comfortable. And their link-up play with the forwards and the backs between the two of them, it just looked in unison, which then helps with the confidence in being able to offload. The pick and goes from the base... It's just the communication from everyone holding it all together.
SPEAKER_02:And that's what I actually think the Warriors missed. I think they missed Sean Johnson, who was... a pivotal role in just directing everyone about that voice on the field losing tohu harris as well in the lead like don't get me wrong james fisher harris has come in but this is his first game with them i'm not sure now like i think the what sorry what they've realized now is how much they miss what they had and trying to replace that is really difficult and i just think I don't know. I've got this feeling, though, that they'll somehow turn it on in a couple of weeks' time. They've got the home fans behind them. But, yeah, they've got some tough fixtures coming up.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and just to quickly link back with what you're saying with Fisher-Harris is he is an incredible player, but he's not going to change a game for you. Whereas your likes, your Sean Johnson will. And that's, as you said, that's what they're going to miss. They have brought in another leader, in Fisher Harris, but they're still missing that little bit of creativity, as you're saying, of fixtures. Warriors could be 0-4 by their bye.
SPEAKER_02:It's how the Titans started last year. Only points come in from their bye week. But like I've mentioned, they've got Manly. week two which sorry round two which is actually a two-week rest for them yeah then they got the roosters i mean look we'll talk about our prediction soon they've got the broncos this week and the they are heavy underdogs in the betting markets for that one so potential winnable game against the roosters depending on their bounce back in the show against manly they got tigers away uh over i don't know where that one is but over over in sydney somewhere A winnable game, but we'll see what the Tigers look like this weekend. Yeah, that could be four
SPEAKER_01:losses. I'm really excited to see what the Tigers have got, actually. I'm really looking forward to watching them and seeing what Luai can do and whatnot. I
SPEAKER_02:don't know. I just don't get gassed up too early about the Tigers. I see how they go. But then I've been wrong. I was terribly wrong this weekend because moving on to the next game, I predicted the Sharks win. Now, look. i think it could there was a point where the sharks came back into it where for newer blake yeah he he powered
SPEAKER_01:over the line yeah
SPEAKER_02:he did and i thought oh they've actually brought themselves back into because it was a blowout at one point i was like oh the
SPEAKER_01:parents are just going to run away you texted me and was like ah hang on yeah
SPEAKER_02:and they've come back into it but then just the class of penrith show i mean the panthers are something else yeah they are they are so good um I'm not taking anything away from the Sharks, though. I thought they also
SPEAKER_01:looked good. The Sharks played very well. Like you said, don't take it right. But just from 1-13, they just looked so, so strong. One of the most underrated performances on the field was by Moses Leota. He only played 41 minutes. He just had under 100 meters attacking from 10 runs. He made 27 tackles and didn't miss one in 41 minutes.
SPEAKER_02:It's like Isaiah Papali as well, the guy that came from the Tigers. He was making his debut, came off the bench. I think he replaced Lior, actually. He looked solid, ran some tough carries up the middle and just dragged the pile on. 12 carries, 180 meters, 25 tackles, no misses. It's just they're efficient at what they do. Whatever system they run, whatever they do. And they've got some absolute animals. Liam Martin, I think, is one of the... highest working highest work rate of an individual that i've seen in sport i think he reminds we we often talk about tom curry for england in rugby union about how he just hits anything that moves and his work rate is incredible liam martin is the nrl's version of tom curry
SPEAKER_01:it runs harder than tom curry though
SPEAKER_02:like
SPEAKER_01:i think it should be the stat of how many bodies he left on the floor and liam martin would will be quite high in that from that game it's
SPEAKER_02:the kick chases though he just manages to get himself there flying at legs flying it but throwing his body on the line.
SPEAKER_01:Kennedy had no chance last weekend. Well,
SPEAKER_02:did I message you? He reminds me of Blanca from Street Fighter. For anyone that knows, he's the green whatever he is, character with orange hair except for Liam Martin's got curly brown hair. He hasn't cut his hair since the grand final apparently. They're so good though. Although one player that I thought did look shaky at the start, even though he still had the most run meters for the whole game, Dylan Edwards. There's a few who passes few tips but he's just
SPEAKER_01:class absolute ice man like he just he just as you said had a very slow start to the game um which could be just getting back into it first proper hit because i don't think he played any real pre-season none of them did none of the big names did so you're just getting used to that again trying to judge the ball in a stadium where there's no wind and stuff like that can be a He didn't worry about it, and he returned to his best within a half. He just runs hard. He does. He's so good coming off from the deep attacking kicks, and he's just there as an attacking threat, which is sort of incredible. And it just goes back to sort of what you mentioned there is the blueprint of Penrith. It is regardless of who they lose, it's next person up, and it's like they've not lost anything. anything they've not lost anyone
SPEAKER_02:yeah you look at the young winger I completely forgot his name now but who got knocked out within the first three minutes then Dane Laurie comes on who played a few times last year but arguably I mean he scored twice I believe it was just carries on what they're doing seamless in transition between losing who you'd planned I'm guessing to start on the wing throughout the whole week then someone just comes off the bench after three minutes and puts in a performance and just I think Penrith are going to be hard to beat. It'd be interesting to see what Melbourne looked like at the weekend, but I did question how clear he would react. You don't need to question anything this man
SPEAKER_01:does. You can take this section and...
SPEAKER_02:So he... is just class. So for people that might not be familiar with the NRL, any UK listeners, he is effectively like the Kevin De Bruyne of the NRL. His creativity, his ability to do things that others can't. He's in a very good system like De Bruyne at Man City and he's absolutely incredible. He should have had a 40-20. I think the line judge got it wrong in the fact that Kennedy was actually out. He'd stepped out and then tipped on, so that would have been a massive momentum swinger. He should have had a try as well. I'm not too au fait with the rules, but as I can't remember who it was that was reaching out, the ball got slapped out of his hand, which shouldn't be classed as a knock-on because it was actually... a try-saving tackle, which just means he's knocked it out of his hands and knocked on and clearly ground the ball. And then just his accuracy in his kicking, that kick over the top for their second try. Put it on the plate for whoever was running onto it. He's just run on, strolled onto it through the line and ground
SPEAKER_01:it. Honestly, so good. And just De Bruyne-esque with that, the precision. It was in the in-goal area. He just caught it, flopped down and scored a try. And he is missed. He is absolutely Mr. Iceman, incredible from the tee.
SPEAKER_02:The fan on the side that tried to put him off, he almost just shut him up by slotting it through one
SPEAKER_01:meter off the sideline. Did he only miss one kick, I think it was? Yeah, four out of five you got. There is a massive difference when you're getting the scoreboard ticking by six and four, and it starts to show later within scoring.
SPEAKER_02:But one thing I did love is like a lot of people have focused on it. And this is Ivan Cleary's response in the press conference to people saying, oh, you've lost this, you've lost that. And he goes, I don't care who we've lost. I don't focus on who we've lost. I focus on who we got. And even then went on to reference something about, I reckon we've got five or six Penrith, Hall of Famers in this team. And, I mean, they have Isaiah Yao, Nathan Cleary, Dylan Edwards, Liam Martin, Scotty Sorensen's even there. Like, they've got so many players that are just going to light it up. I mean, the questions arise again, are they going to be able to keep everyone next year? It doesn't matter. It doesn't
SPEAKER_01:matter. Who's next man up? Like, you saw it when they played their third, fourth string against Manly. The blueprint was there. Like the kicking game was very similar. Like the execution is going to be a little bit off because of the talent.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But you can just see what they're trying to do. So whoever comes up is within that, within that. And then sort of talking about clearing and the thing that the sort of the monkey on his back about it is, is he going to be able to do it on a cold Wednesday night?
SPEAKER_02:Cold Wednesday night in Brisbane. I don't think that's something that is a thing, but could he do it at Origin?
SPEAKER_01:Within my short period of time watching the NRL, yeah. He's not performed on, I'd say, the biggest stage.
SPEAKER_02:If he can remain injury-free, if his shoulder holds up and he doesn't get any other injury. He took a huge shot, actually, during the game, right under the ribs. I think it was Ronaldo Monitalo just clocked him. I thought he'd done a bit of damage to his shoulder, but it was just winded. I definitely think that he's got the ability to... He's good in the Penrith system. He's great in the Pembroke system. It's wherever he can translate it. I think he's getting to the stage of maturity in his career. He should be able to. Like I know everything about him, but he should be able to do it. I just want to touch on the Sharks quickly before we move on to our round one tips, the rest of round one. I think Adam Faneuil-Blake was an is an absolute great signing for him. He looks so physical. He got them to try to bring it back to 24-20. He got 190 run meters after 17 carries, and you could tell he was pumped up from minute one. He wanted to prove a point. He's in Vegas. And, yeah, I think he looks a very good signing for them. One of the people that we did talk about in our kind of ladder predictions was Nico Hines. What was your thoughts on how he went?
SPEAKER_01:Very quiet game. Yeah. Didn't really do anything to set the world alight. It's Taylor two halves. not as the matches in the position. You've got one who is creating chances out of nothing with kicks and you got another
SPEAKER_02:misdirections looping round. I mean, we're still talking about Cleary. The guy just does it all.
SPEAKER_01:I think going back to that, I think With how their system works and what makes it a lot easier for the likes of Cleary and Cole is Isaiah is the first receiver. So they've then got time to read what the defense are doing, where the gaps are opening up, and what they can do from that. Having that first receiver and those additional couple of seconds makes such a big difference in what they do. But then going back to that, they can create stuff out of nothing. We saw in the 2023 grand final against the Broncos, clearly just turned it on and was creating stuff out of nothing. But compared to Nico Hines, just...
SPEAKER_02:There's talks about him now starting on the bench. Like, that's how disappointed people are of his performance. Like,
SPEAKER_01:from Origin 1 last year to where we are now, he's tapered off so much.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. It's a difficult one because, I mean, look, the Sharks were in the game, like... Yeah, they were. They went up and then went behind, then bought it back. And had it not been for some solid... goal line defending for a few huge tackles and some gang tackles down at the end to stop them getting in. I think we could have been talking about a different result, but I think the class of Penrith kind of just shone. They stopped them down on the goal line and went up the other end and iced it. But the Sharks have Manly over in Perth in round six, so we'll get to see a little preview of the Optus
SPEAKER_01:Stadium. I can't wait to go to the Optus Stadium. It looks like such a great ground to go and watch. The only issue with it being a cricket. cricket oval so the dimensions of how pitch works on them isn't always amazing it
SPEAKER_02:might not look good on TV when we're watching the Sharks Manly in round six but it will look good when we're there at the end of June watching the Lions against the Western Force which is something I'm looking forward to but yeah Penrith ended up beating the Sharks look as good as always Sharks don't look too bad I still think they're looking good for a top four spot but yeah let's look at the round one fixtures that are coming up this weekend and get some tips in let's see how many i can get wrong this week so thursday night we're kicking it off with the roosters and broncos in sydney at the allianz i think i saw earlier that the broncos are dollar 50 favorites and the roosters are three dollars 30 something
SPEAKER_01:yeah that's that's my tip right there is uh is broncos i think they're going to come down with a lot of fire um match is going to have gone in there and and sorted them out from where they were last year. They've got a point to prove. I can't see sort of anything outside of the Broncos whenever I'm being perfectly honest.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think the fact that Broncos are fairly rested from pre-season trials and the fact that a few of their big players only played 20 minutes, they're going to come down full of energy and I think they're going to want a statement win against the Roosters who have been a dominant team over the last God knows how many years. And I think they're really going to lay it down. Definitely got the Broncos in that one. So Friday night, two fixtures. We've got the against the night eagerly waited uh or eagerly anticipated tigers debut now this one 6 p.m kickoff is out in campbell town i am going to preface this with the tigers don't do very well at campbell town there was a point where they hadn't won there in 10 fixtures last year and then they got a victory so who are you going for in this tigers just
SPEAKER_01:like i think the only thing the only issue is I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on the Tigers to perform because everyone's going to have this expectation. And it's the it's the crying effect. It's what happened at the Bulldogs last year. I think myself included are very much expecting that to happen at the Titans. A massive shift of mentality. Yeah. I'm still going to go for the Tigers. Still looking forward to watching them. Yeah. What about yourself?
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna go for the Knights. And my reasoning behind this is, this is the first hit up NRL speed for the Tigers. Are they gonna be well versed enough to know each other? The Knights have played together before. The Tigers have brought in quite a few new players. Jerome Luai had an unreal supporting cast when he was in Penrith. Will he have a similar supporting cast at the Tigers where there is arguably more pressure to perform due to the build up of what because of what Stephen Crichton did last year. I think I mean, happily to be proved wrong in the preseason predictions, I did say the Tigers, I think, could finish as high as 10th. So it'll be a really interesting one. But I just think the pressure might get to them first game of the season. They're figuring each other out a bit. And I think the Knights are going to take it.
SPEAKER_01:Also, Luai's done it without Cleary within a different system as well. He went to origin and...
SPEAKER_02:Surrounded by some of the best players in the state, though. Doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_01:You've still got to link those together in a very short period of time. This
SPEAKER_02:is very true. And then the 8 p.m. game. We got the Wayne Bennett Bowl. I've got on my notes here that it was at the Suncorp, but actually because of a storm or tornado, whatever it is, that's currently rolling into Brisbane as we speak. I read earlier, literally just before we started recording this, that it's been moved to Parramatta. So Dolphins versus Rabbitohs in Parramatta. Who you got in this one?
SPEAKER_01:I originally tipped the Dolphins because it was up there. Now it's down here. And as I said, dolphins don't seem to travel well for some reason. I think I might change that to the bunnies and to the rabbit holes. I just think with Bennett back with game one, there's going to be a lot of players, even though they've got a lot of injuries still, I think that change of venue may shift it to rabbit holes. So I'll be keeping my eye out on where that's being played and where it's played I think will have a big factor of... of who wins.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's a very valid point. I didn't think about the impact of change of stadium and that this, mind you, what is it, Tuesday and the game's on Friday night. So I'm going to stick with the Dolphins just because I think they've got a better line-up. They've got a stronger squad, stronger line-up out there and it'll be interesting to see how the Rabbitohs go, especially with losing a few of their star players for injury. But Yeah, I suppose I didn't think about that, the changing venue. On to Saturday, super Saturday. Now, Dragons versus Bulldogs, 5.30 at Cogger Oval. This game has actually been touted to be the game next year at Vegas, which I think... Again, being two British guys that don't know too much history about the sport, apparently this is quite a big rivalry. Well, I think they've both got the Vs on the jerseys and stuff like that, one blue, one red. There's a bit of history in there from what I'm hearing, but I don't know whether it is a rivalry or not. But I don't know who I'm going to go for in this one. I keep tossing up and deciding between two, but I think I'm going to go for the Bulldogs.
SPEAKER_01:I've gone the Dogs as well. Yeah. I just think they need to... They will, and I think they need to just continue from where they ended last year and just roll straight into it. And I think they will, to be honest. I think they're such a strong team to be able to come back off.
SPEAKER_02:I think they'll get quite a heavy support there as well, away game, but I think they'll get quite... It seems like everyone in Belmore just... um surrounding areas will just want to get out there just to see their doggies again and just the fact that they finished on such a sour note last year but still such a high in how much they developed i think they'll they'll get good support down there and i think yeah that that'll get them over but then up next the big one the big big
SPEAKER_01:saturday night
SPEAKER_02:7 30 p.m kickoff at brookie oval under the lights I don't know how I feel about this. I mean, obviously, I'm tipping Manny for the win. There's no doubt about that, but I'm not quite sure how I'm feeling about this one. Team list released today. A few shocks in there, actually, in the fact that Benja Bojvic is starting, which caught me off guard a little bit.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think he's someone that we have overlooked and... is what he is. He's a hybrid player in there. He's a very versatile player. Because it happened many times last year where we'd lose a back, he'd slot straight into the centres. And it does then have issues in sort of defence because he's then trying to read the game from a different position and trying to get caught up to speed on the edges. He just gets on with it. He's like Jake. He just... He seems to be at every tackle, just hits anything. He's not a massive carrier, but he's just solid in what he does. And I think that's why we sort of overlooked him because he just goes... Workhorse. And his partner in the second row is Alaquatu. So it's like you can understand why he does go missing. Not missing in the game, but why he does get overlooked in that retrospect.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:yeah I say this to be fair he started a decent portion of games last year so it's just the fact I don't think there's been much made about him with the signings of like I know Takiyaho is in second row but like Chikam Takiyaho Tavanga he's kind of gone under the radar a bit but the fact that Jaz Tavanga is starting at hooker as well I think is a good one it seems like we're going big it seems like physical and Takiyaho is starting as well seems like we're going with size get a bit of power through them early maybe run it straight down straight down the middle through them
SPEAKER_01:run it straight run it straight and then just Let the boys out back. The speed. That is a lot of pace back there.
SPEAKER_02:The speed. We have Kola in the centres. We have Saab on one wing. We have Hoppawattie on the other wing. And then hopefully I'm just touching every single bit of wood going. Every time you watch this man touch a ball, you just hope he doesn't get injured. But Tom Trabojevic starting
SPEAKER_01:at fullback. There's an intake of breath as soon as he goes into contact.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You look at the back five and Ruben Garrick's the slowest. And even to Garrick, the boy can shift. He's not slow. He's always there in support and runs.
SPEAKER_02:He's got good vision as well. When he does make a break, he always knows where to put the ball.
SPEAKER_01:It'd be interesting to see what the partnerships are. Is it going to be... Because at the moment on here, it's got Kola and Saab together, as well as Garrick and Hoppawate. I think that would be a bad decision. I
SPEAKER_02:think it'd be better switched. I think it's a bit more experience with Garrick and Hoppawate. Sorry, Garrick
SPEAKER_01:and Saab. Yeah, because I'm thinking more from a defensive point of view. Hoppawate is a fantastic defender. Kalua isn't. He's solid, but I think that would be a good partnership. And I think Saab's probably our weakest defender on the field against Garrick, who can defend. And this is what I vaguely touched on last week in the sense of Garrick has got a lot of stick, but you can only be as good as your winger when you're defending. And if he's making those choices to come in too early instead of flowing with the man, it clogs you up and you can't do anything. So that would be interesting to see how they go defensively. And that's the only worry I have.
SPEAKER_02:Because I know we can't take anything on preseason, but the Cowboys did look all right in their last preseason game. Their attack did look fairly strong. I think it was on the opposite side to what Saab is. And defensively, he's my concern. But look, he's got pace to burn. When he breaks, he breaks. And he's a massive attacking threat in the air
SPEAKER_01:as well. Incredible with sort of finishing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:as you want from your wingers, just a little worry in defense. Yeah, I
SPEAKER_02:mean, look, there's Tommy Talao as well, who's out injured, viral reports, got a little bit of a hamstring issue. And when he comes back, I think there's going to be competition all over the place for starting. I'm really looking forward to it. We're back at Brookie Oval. I think there was under a thousand tickets remaining as of yesterday. It'll be a sellout and yeah, I can't wait to get back into it. So next week we're obviously going to be talking about that one. But then last game of the weekend. Stormy Hills. Stormy Hills. I checked the odds on this one earlier. I think the Storm were$1.15 or something and the Hills were$5.50. Yeah. Nothing that speaks for itself, doesn't it, really? There's not much more to say around that one. I think the Storm are going to take that one. But it'll be interesting to see how the Eels go, though. There could be cause for an upset. You never know. Like, the Storm could... I think they haven't lost an opening game. And this is a stat I'm trying to remember. They haven't lost an opening game in the last 20 seasons or something like that. So the streak has to come to an end at some point. And you've
SPEAKER_01:got Lomax in the centres. Yes. Yeah. Which for myself, well, Mitch Moses isn't playing for the Eels. I think he might be, I think he's injured. I
SPEAKER_02:see Von Rest coming out this week. I don't know whether, in fact, Dylan Brown might have signed his new contract with the Eels. He's down to start. 13 mil over 10 years. Thanks for coming.
SPEAKER_01:He's a
SPEAKER_02:lot of money.
SPEAKER_01:That's okay. I'll be happy to take that. Looking at the team lists. No, that back five is good. And then you've got Munster and Jerome Hughes in the halves now. It's a... You said it's a Munster win now. It's a Storm win at the Amy Park. Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:it's in Melbourne. Yeah. I mean, yeah. So, to summarise... we've both gone for the Broncos you've gone for the Tigers I've gone for the Knights I've gone for the Dolphins you've gone for the Rabbitohs we've both gone for the Bulldogs both gone for the Seagulls and both gone for the Storm so check in next week to see how we go with those but coming up over the next week it's back I mean we said I got it wrong last week we thought it was we thought it was last weekend but it wasn't it was this weekend we got the Six Nations back and it's the
SPEAKER_01:championship weekend
SPEAKER_02:Ireland could arguably have one hand on the grand slam trophy because all right they've got italy in the last game which both hands on the trophy both hands on the trophy if they beat france but island versus france on uh saturday so sunday morning over here and then we've got wales versus scotland which is almost a dead rubber in terms i think wales are playing for pride trying to i think wales
SPEAKER_01:i think wales could win that game yeah just because of what you're saying with the they're on a resurgence and a new coach trying to make a point that they're not a dead team Scotland may have a little bit more of a different mentality where's that do you know where that's being played it's
SPEAKER_02:in it might be in Cardiff
SPEAKER_01:okay if it's yeah that could be that could be massive for
SPEAKER_02:the England game next week so if England beat Italy who they're playing Monday morning over here then it's all to play for and you can just see Wales causing an upset yeah the week after
SPEAKER_01:yeah I'm gonna back I'm gonna back Wales in that one it'd be nice to see them and they weren't too far away from Ireland as well which is the thing for me and then England Italy in Rome When in Rome? I don't know. It's just got banana skin written all over it. All I can say is England does need to attack. Marcus Smith, every deep kick, he needs to get that ball and run it back. Italy's defence when they were constantly under threat was all over the place because of the pace of how France attacked, how their pace at the Rooks were. If England does replicate that, forget all this box kicking, just run it at them. Create space. England should win. But if England go back to the kicking game, I'm going to go Italy because they're... Can't take Italy for
SPEAKER_02:granted. Can't take Italy for granted either. They scored 24 points in France. All right, they got 70 stuck on them, but it's nothing to be sniffed at. So join us next week. We're going to review those. We're going to look back on the round one of the NRL fixtures and we're also going to preview NRL fixtures for week two. So a lot to talk about, a lot to talk about in this one. Thanks for joining us and we'll catch you in the next one.
SPEAKER_01:Pleasure as always. Good night.