Speaker 1: Victories for both Wigan and Lee. Things looking bad for Hull,
Speaker 1: left c for the Bradford Bulls and Lee Rhino's their
Speaker 1: Cup campaigns came to a close defeating Cast Saints turned
Speaker 1: their stripes Keith, Lee, gool and Oldham could not have gripes.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the thirteenth episode of Super League three sixty
Speaker 1: year podcast, primarily about the top tier of British rugby league,
Speaker 1: but we can go in any sorts of directions. My
Speaker 1: name is Lee Addison and my name is John Davidson.
Speaker 1: What do you think of that poem this week?
Speaker 2: John? That was very good, mate, It's very good.
Speaker 1: That was a combination of myself and James Varley because,
Speaker 1: like clockwork, he sent me his poem for the week,
Speaker 1: but I was in transit from Canberra because I've been
Speaker 1: deep in the bush this week, John, So that was
Speaker 1: a combined effort between myself and James Varley. For those
Speaker 1: who are expecting the Rugby League Coach Podcast in this slot,
Speaker 1: do not fear. That will come out a little bit
Speaker 1: later today Monday, the sixteenth of March in Australia. That
Speaker 1: is I'm a coach in Australia and that's why I'm
Speaker 1: using the data ahead of when Johnny is recording because
Speaker 1: Johnny is an Australian journal but he's in the UK.
Speaker 1: And you can read the description or listen to old
Speaker 1: pods to find out a little bit more about us.
Speaker 1: This podcast being aired on Ashley Rugby League, Rugby League
Speaker 1: Coach platforms as well as a Rugby League Coach YouTube
Speaker 1: as well, so if you subscribe to those you won't
Speaker 1: miss a thing. Also thanks to Rugby League dot Com,
Speaker 1: not to be confused with Rugby League Coach dot com
Speaker 1: Rugby League dot com who are also taking this recording.
Speaker 1: So John I've been deep in the bush, like I said,
Speaker 1: and let me tell you something straight off the bat,
Speaker 1: and tell me what you think about this. On a
Speaker 1: drive from June to Nerandra, which is a couple of hours,
Speaker 1: all I saw was AFL posts, no Rugby league posts.
Speaker 1: When I drove from Mirandra to Young all I saw
Speaker 1: was AFL post and Rugby League post. The only place
Speaker 1: I saw rugby league posts was at the clubs I visited,
Speaker 1: one of them, the young Jerry Pickers. I've got their
Speaker 1: polo shirt on now and please know that the any
Speaker 1: views I'm expressing a mine and mine only and not
Speaker 1: those of John Super League three sixty all this polo
Speaker 1: shirt and wearing. But it did worry me John when
Speaker 1: I saw that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean definitely.
Speaker 3: I think the AFL has been going on for what
Speaker 3: probably twenty or three years, that they're very very good
Speaker 3: with their odds kick program and in getting you know,
Speaker 3: putting money into councils across yoursells and queens and in
Speaker 3: building you know, they're building their sport. I think they've
Speaker 3: they've been fantastic at doing that. And yeah, I mean
Speaker 3: it is a concern for rugby league. While obviously we're
Speaker 3: taking well we're restarting the Bears in Perth and the
Speaker 3: Storm have had a good presence for a while. You
Speaker 3: can definitely argue AFL is the more national game because
Speaker 3: they've got you know, South Australia, they're very strong in
Speaker 3: WA and they're going into Tasmania, aren't they. So it's
Speaker 3: participation is massively important. And you could argue with inflated
Speaker 3: hours by putting in your touch footing in tag even
Speaker 3: though you know there are forms of rugby league you
Speaker 3: can say, yeah, I think I think you can't overstate
Speaker 3: how important participation is at that junior level.
Speaker 1: Also, the Sydney Morning Herald ran a story the first
Speaker 1: week of the NRL and the AFL saying wow, while
Speaker 1: the NRL were in Vegas, AFL was in Western Sydney
Speaker 1: because they were they were pumping a lot of money
Speaker 1: and effort into their look. I mean, I'll briefly, I'll
Speaker 1: briefly cover this because I'm going to go into more
Speaker 1: detail on my Rugby League Coach podcast. And also this
Speaker 1: is called Super League three sixty. But the issues, the
Speaker 1: issues still carry over, particularly because the NRL is fraternizing
Speaker 1: with Super League about potentially taking over.
Speaker 2: I won't add it described to me.
Speaker 1: And I tend to subscribe to this theory that the
Speaker 1: AFL is like China in terms of how China have
Speaker 1: built their economy up over many, many decades. Basically, and
Speaker 1: we all blink and we're all using Chinese products or
Speaker 1: so many Chinese products. Our clothes made in China, etc.
Speaker 1: A lot of manufacturers use China because it's cheaper, cheaper,
Speaker 1: quite frankly to use things from over there. So their
Speaker 1: economy has grown and grown and grown over the years,
Speaker 1: and they're playing the long game. And that's been compared
Speaker 1: to AFL's strategy, rugby league strategy under the land Is
Speaker 1: in particular, has been compared to make America great again,
Speaker 1: make rugby league great again. And if you think about
Speaker 1: Peter Velandi's approach to a lot of things, bringing North
Speaker 1: Sydney back back to one referee, pushing for the Ashes,
Speaker 1: pushing to get Britain and England as a strong opponent again,
Speaker 1: these are all yearned for the past, I think for
Speaker 1: eighties and nineties, and a lot of his rhetoric, particularly
Speaker 1: when it comes to talking about the AFL, is very
Speaker 1: similar to what used to go on in those times.
Speaker 1: So when you travel to America, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you've ever been to say New York or Philadelphia, you
Speaker 1: do feel like you're going back in time a little bit.
Speaker 1: It's old, it's dirty, it was built over two hundred
Speaker 1: years ago, a lot a lot of the things there.
Speaker 1: You go to Asia and a lot of things brand new,
Speaker 1: and you feel like you're coming into the new world. So, look,
Speaker 1: I think there's a little bit of that goes on
Speaker 1: with rugby league. I've got to be honest, So I
Speaker 1: truly believe we need to spend a lot more on
Speaker 1: development and not just money. It's not just about money.
Speaker 1: It's a bit like the NHS in England, right, you
Speaker 1: just put some more budget that way and don't deal
Speaker 1: with the issues. The solution to meat to both England's
Speaker 1: woes and many of the the worrying signs I've seen
Speaker 1: in Bush, Australia is long term development.
Speaker 2: And this.
Speaker 1: John tweet of the week and if you want to
Speaker 1: tweet with John or ex with John Johnny D Davidson
Speaker 1: as the tag tweets of the week, I've decided from
Speaker 1: John is Jack Byrd one of the n r l's finest,
Speaker 1: coming over Geez Louise at his Comedy Gold commentary. Who
Speaker 1: who said that?
Speaker 2: Mate?
Speaker 3: I believe that was Kevin Brown on Friday Nights BBC
Speaker 3: commentary of Wakefield's win over later Ones.
Speaker 1: Jack Byrd is not one of the n r l's finest.
Speaker 1: He could he couldn't.
Speaker 2: That was that was That was my point. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I don't know if Kevin was being somewhat facetious or
Speaker 3: he was trying to talk up Jack Murder know much
Speaker 3: about John, honestly don't know, but yeah, it just made
Speaker 3: me chock because yeah, I think I think Jack Burd's
Speaker 3: last REP games were in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: Or twenty seventeen. And yeah, he's a solid first grader,
Speaker 2: but he's not the NRL's finest. With all respect to him,
Speaker 2: Kevin doesn't manage him, does he? Not that I'm aware of.
Speaker 1: In the NRL right now, they'll be clamping down on that,
Speaker 1: So careful Kevin. Rugby League t Sweet of the Week
Speaker 1: and also doublingers Lee's laugh this week Kyle am or quote,
Speaker 1: must be something going on in Huddersfield Town Center this
Speaker 1: afternoon unquote. I just love the I love the cut
Speaker 1: of that jip. Put it that way. He did a
Speaker 1: video of Huddersfield ground. What's it called these days? It's
Speaker 1: not the Michel Pine q a Q stadium a Q. Well,
Speaker 1: nobody was a queuing outside by the look of it,
Speaker 1: because it was rather sparse. And this was in reference
Speaker 1: to the crowd at the Huddersfield versus Hulkingston Rules Cup tie.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us a little bit more, John about
Speaker 1: what might have been going on there because we have
Speaker 1: got it as a news item, so we might as
Speaker 1: well talk about it now.
Speaker 3: Well, I was at I was at the Huddersfield whole
Speaker 3: our game the week before, because that's the beauty of
Speaker 3: the Challenge Cup.
Speaker 2: It always seems to throw out.
Speaker 3: You have these teams who end up playing each other,
Speaker 3: you know, four or five times in the season. It's
Speaker 3: always seems like Wigan and Warrington played each other at
Speaker 3: a cup and I think it was last year Leedings
Speaker 3: and Helens played each other one week and and the
Speaker 3: next week it was Leedings and Helens and there was
Speaker 3: I think it was maybe five and a bit thousand
Speaker 3: last week and it's dropped even more. And Haddersfield a struggling.
Speaker 3: They've been a very poor team for a.
Speaker 2: Number of years.
Speaker 3: They're trying to leave their stadium because it's too big,
Speaker 3: but they and their owners trying to buy the stadium
Speaker 3: at Halifax, but he also wants to build a new
Speaker 3: stamem Ahttesfield hasn't got cancel approval for that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: The Giants just they have they've had They've always had
Speaker 3: a small fan base and it just seems like the
Speaker 3: people of Huddersfield aren't really that interested in going to games.
Speaker 3: I can remember seven or eight years ago they even
Speaker 3: opened their gates and you know, anyone could get them
Speaker 3: for free. And I think they've only got to separate
Speaker 3: for that. So, Yeah, Huddersfield are in a massive hole
Speaker 3: with a ton of injuries, bad performances. Yeah, and I
Speaker 3: think a lot of people in the game are kind
Speaker 3: of who aren't Haddersfield fans clearly aren't happy with them
Speaker 3: and we would like to see them replaced by London
Speaker 3: or another team. There's not a lot of love for Hattesfield,
Speaker 3: and you know, they've had the same administration, the same
Speaker 3: ownership for a long long time and they can't seem
Speaker 3: to drag the club into the twenty first century.
Speaker 2: But they are unleashed the giant. Yeah. Unfortunately, what the
Speaker 2: leash was holding.
Speaker 3: Up to and where they're unleased too, and what the
Speaker 3: unleashing process involved isn't isn't.
Speaker 1: As clear as predicted on the Super League three sixty
Speaker 1: podcast The Crowd.
Speaker 2: What was the number?
Speaker 3: I don't think. I was just having a check before
Speaker 3: we started. I don't think it's been announced. I think
Speaker 3: it was sort of speculated something like three thousand and three.
Speaker 2: And a half.
Speaker 1: And what was the Super League game the week before?
Speaker 3: I think it was maybe, off the top of my head,
Speaker 3: maybe about five and a half.
Speaker 1: But that's also season tickets and yeah, well that's.
Speaker 3: Also when you put a whole kr I think might
Speaker 3: have brought two thousand yesterday and maybe one thousand or
Speaker 3: fifteen hundred the week before. So when you look at
Speaker 3: it as.
Speaker 2: You know, just purely home fans, it's pretty pretty bad.
Speaker 3: And you might be to explain as betterly being a
Speaker 3: lovely pomme that you are. But I don't get the
Speaker 3: because I got in trouble some whole car fans of
Speaker 3: having to shrug me because I just guessed how many they brought,
Speaker 3: and you know, my eyesight's pretty bad, and it was
Speaker 3: a guest. I had no idea, and I think I
Speaker 3: got it quite wrong. But it wasn't an attack on
Speaker 3: the support. But clubs in England are very very proud
Speaker 3: of how many they take away.
Speaker 2: It's a source of pride.
Speaker 3: We take two thousand away to this or you only
Speaker 3: take it's a weird kind of dick measuring thing. I
Speaker 3: don't really get why you know that's a big source
Speaker 3: of pride. I mean I think the more important thing
Speaker 3: is how many. Well, the more important thing is a
Speaker 3: how your team actually goes, not about you know, how
Speaker 3: big a hand. But it's also throwing out your home stadium,
Speaker 3: because you know how many take If you take thirty
Speaker 3: away fans or three thousand, you don't. You don't build
Speaker 3: a business as a club on how many away fans
Speaker 3: you get.
Speaker 1: As an Englishman, like you said, and somebody's come through
Speaker 1: the English educational system for better or worse, there is
Speaker 1: an overarching scene that we sort of get immersed, did
Speaker 1: I think, which is the whole rule Britannia thing, great Britain,
Speaker 1: ruling the waves, take back control, you know, all those
Speaker 1: kinds of things, right, And if you look at Britain's history,
Speaker 1: there's been an awful lot of invading. We've done a
Speaker 1: lot of invading and not been invaded for about three
Speaker 1: hundred years or something. So murder and colonization, that's right,
Speaker 1: that's right. So I think there's something in the English
Speaker 1: psyche which is we are going to go to their
Speaker 1: area and try and take it over.
Speaker 2: I really do.
Speaker 3: And you're also said in soccer, doren't you it's like
Speaker 3: the European away Perhaps.
Speaker 1: It's yeah, yeah, so no, that's a bit of a
Speaker 1: deep answer, But I honestly think there's there's there's something
Speaker 1: tribal in it. Quite frankly and whole and and and
Speaker 1: the way. Fans are a lot more vociferous in the
Speaker 1: UK too, in football and rugby league.
Speaker 3: It's a cultural thing. It's the kind of a badge
Speaker 3: of aurador, you know. We I'm from Carlisle and we'll
Speaker 3: go and sleep on withouth away. While in Australia you're
Speaker 3: not getting the people from towns will find out in
Speaker 3: Melbourne for you know, get a few.
Speaker 1: But we've driven down fifty minutes down them sixty two
Speaker 1: to come here. We've driven twelve minutes from Wigan to
Speaker 1: Saint Elan's to get here.
Speaker 2: But you haven't driven thirty five. No I have this week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you flew, flew and then drove that I've done.
Speaker 2: I've done.
Speaker 1: At least he took a soft option. I've done, mate.
Speaker 1: Look out the way my car is traveling. We've got there.
Speaker 1: I've done about eleven hours driving since Wednesday, so I've
Speaker 1: done a fair bit. Socials popular lee of the week.
Speaker 1: It's not really a pop I've been. I must have
Speaker 1: been too nice, really, but I did say after after
Speaker 1: a few drinks on Saturday and watching the Dragons with
Speaker 1: some poor fella who was a dragons fan, Kale his name,
Speaker 1: and his mood just got worse during the last twenty minutes.
Speaker 1: His head was dropping as the Saint George getting beat
Speaker 1: by Melbourne all of a sudden, and I just posted
Speaker 1: I think the Dragons need a new recruitment manager, and
Speaker 1: a few people corrected me they've just got one Daniel Anderson,
Speaker 1: So to be fair, he's got some work to do,
Speaker 1: Daniel Anderson. But people will quick to remind me Johnny's job.
Speaker 1: You're a bit worried about journals who cover games off TV.
Speaker 2: It's just a growing trend across the across the sport. Look.
Speaker 3: I think all newsrooms, all media outlets are struggling for money,
Speaker 3: you know, struggling to get our dollars and to stay afloat,
Speaker 3: and there's less journal jobs around it. But there's just
Speaker 3: also a lot more journals who just do games off
Speaker 3: TV and kind of pretend they're at matches. And anyone
Speaker 3: who's worked as a generalist will tell you can't cover
Speaker 3: a game to the same degree or to the same
Speaker 3: accuracy if you're on TV watching at home.
Speaker 2: Then if you're out there see what happens.
Speaker 3: You talk to me about the game, you speak to
Speaker 3: the coaches, afterwards you have follow up questions like it's
Speaker 3: just it's just a the different thing, and I think
Speaker 3: it kind of deceives the reader to pretend that you
Speaker 3: are there. Though I understand if say you're in the
Speaker 3: UK and you're covering ah, well, if you're riding, say
Speaker 3: a report on the dragons in Melbourne miles away, but
Speaker 3: you know, if you're in Wigan and there's a game
Speaker 3: in Huddersfield and you know or holding.
Speaker 2: You don't go, but you're particudally there. I don't think
Speaker 2: that's a great look personally.
Speaker 3: And I think in the end we all suffer, whether
Speaker 3: it be you know, the reader or the sport, the discourse.
Speaker 1: Generally the after the hooter that we do, and this
Speaker 1: week we're going to do after the hooter after Thursday
Speaker 1: night's game Wigan versus York York. So you're going to
Speaker 1: be at the ground that day, okay, So that will
Speaker 1: be our That will be our fourth after the hooter.
Speaker 1: The first one we did was after the World Cup Challenge.
Speaker 1: This one you'll be at the ground, but the last
Speaker 1: two you've been at home. So just in the interest
Speaker 1: in the interests of transparency, I would always adds a report,
Speaker 1: and what do you do when you're at home?
Speaker 2: Well, the game. Yeah.
Speaker 3: The difference is I've done probably a handful of games
Speaker 3: in terms of matchroports off TV, but I don't think
Speaker 3: I've ever.
Speaker 2: Pretended or claimed.
Speaker 3: And you see how some people use social media or
Speaker 3: what they write about the impression that they are actually
Speaker 3: at the stadium. Now, yeah, I don't think that's right.
Speaker 3: You know, if you're at home, you're at home. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I don't think particularly with the after the hoods. You know,
Speaker 3: it's my lovely spare room. It's not it's not the
Speaker 3: brick community stadium.
Speaker 2: It's not any Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think what I'm saying is, if you're writing something
Speaker 1: that night, how do you write it?
Speaker 3: Well, I mean watching, as you know Lee, watching a
Speaker 3: game from a pressure room or from a stadium is
Speaker 3: very different to watching at home on TV. And in
Speaker 3: a way you could say you actually get better, better views,
Speaker 3: better at the angles, you get replays, you get commentary
Speaker 3: of all that sort of thing, and you might not
Speaker 3: always have the best advantage point from stadium, but it's
Speaker 3: actually in the post match and in the press.
Speaker 2: Conference and actually the ability to speak to players.
Speaker 3: And coaches and actually ask specific questions, which you cannot
Speaker 3: do if you were sat at home. Now, what people
Speaker 3: do is they take the you know, the the fox
Speaker 3: questions that might go to a coach or a player
Speaker 3: or Sky etcetera. Ands up. But you can miss many things.
Speaker 3: I'm just trying to think of I kin'd of think
Speaker 3: of a specific example, but I mean, actually I can
Speaker 3: think of a good example. I was at York and
Speaker 3: Keith Lee on Saturday and Liam Harris went off very
Speaker 3: right at the end. Actually I don't think it even
Speaker 3: went off, but Mark Applegarth revealed in the press conference
Speaker 3: that he had Grade two hamstring strain. You know, he's
Speaker 3: going to be out for a couple of weeks, and
Speaker 3: that's a really he's the half back for York and
Speaker 3: that's a really big blow. But if you weren't at
Speaker 3: the game, you would have just written, you know, your
Speaker 3: fifty six to ten win, nothing and another one Sam
Speaker 3: would He went off which I thought was an HII
Speaker 3: and didn't come back, but he'd actually had a poke
Speaker 3: in the eye and they were a bit concerned letter
Speaker 3: and send him off to the hospital. So the only
Speaker 3: reason I found this is out because I interviewed Mark
Speaker 3: Applegarta after the game.
Speaker 2: You can't do that when you're said at home, can
Speaker 2: you No?
Speaker 1: I mean part of your job, I think is about
Speaker 1: the quality of the fourth of state that we are consuming,
Speaker 1: and I think I think a quality fourth of state
Speaker 1: is very important. But also I think it pertinent to
Speaker 1: bring up the changing nature of how people are consuming things.
Speaker 1: So you'll be like me, you'd have looked at I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I'm going to mention an RL again, but Broncos versus
Speaker 1: Eels the other day, it just looked like a basketball
Speaker 1: game to me. Do you score, we score? You score,
Speaker 1: we score, you score, we score. And I think one
Speaker 1: of rugby league's greatest things in my lifetime has been
Speaker 1: the balance between scoring and not scoring. So in soccer
Speaker 1: there is a big cry of emotion when the ball
Speaker 1: goes in because it's quite a rare thing in a game,
Speaker 1: Oh sorry, rare err In basketball, they score, we score,
Speaker 1: you score, we go. Rugby league has been somewhere in
Speaker 1: the middle of that. But now in the NRL in particular,
Speaker 1: it's creeping up now. People of our age and older
Speaker 1: in particular don't necessarily enjoy that as much. However, younger
Speaker 1: people and the biggest indication I always think you have
Speaker 1: to look at what is happening in the bigger sports.
Speaker 1: Apparently the English Premier League now are starting to worry
Speaker 1: about people's ability to watch a full ninety minute game,
Speaker 1: and they're looking at the stats have gone down. I mean,
Speaker 1: the stats are coming from a far higher place in
Speaker 1: the first place, So it's it's it's hardly troubling times
Speaker 1: for the English Premier League. But people aren't consuming full
Speaker 1: games in the same way they're getting them in social
Speaker 1: media clips. They're watching minis, they're watching shorter versions. I
Speaker 1: know I've done a bit more of that lately with
Speaker 1: Man City because of the time differences. So so bringing
Speaker 1: it back to your thing when we're reading match reports,
Speaker 1: I honestly believe as well that a lot more people
Speaker 1: don't care as much about that detail, and I think
Speaker 1: so much of it, so much of the consumption is
Speaker 1: just it's just screen grab or SoundBite or or just
Speaker 1: with' through how did Huddersfield go on?
Speaker 2: Yeah they got beat again? Right? Who scored? Right? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Thank you? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Percating one hundred percently And I know, you know several
Speaker 3: national newspapers who don't really include match reports anymore, or
Speaker 3: had no interest. But I think you don't get the
Speaker 3: full context or the understanding if you're not having on
Speaker 3: the ground talking to building people, building your contacts, speaking
Speaker 3: to people, you know, whether we fans, coaches, trainers, are
Speaker 3: the journalists, players, whoever? It's yeah, it's it's why you
Speaker 3: know we have war correspondence and they're reporting from war zones,
Speaker 3: aren't they They're not reporting from.
Speaker 2: Also John also John.
Speaker 1: It's like saying, you know, if we if we go
Speaker 1: too far down one path, i e.
Speaker 2: Everyone just wants short form stuff.
Speaker 1: They don't some people still want books, which is very
Speaker 1: long form. So I mean, you're right, But at the
Speaker 1: same time, it's just going to get harder and harder.
Speaker 1: If we do Johnny's job in five years, it won't
Speaker 1: be a job. It will be a one two, a
Speaker 1: round house and upper coat and a and a count
Speaker 1: count to ten and try and beat the count kind
Speaker 1: of thing, potential knockout because he's just getting further up,
Speaker 1: going further and further down that down that trend. And
Speaker 1: still people will still want long form content. People will
Speaker 1: still want detail ten and that's what you offer. That's
Speaker 1: what Massquod offers etctera. So it's it's you need to
Speaker 1: keep doing basically.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's a place for both. But I
Speaker 3: think you are right, like consumption trends in terms of
Speaker 3: young people, his shorter attention spans and they want you know,
Speaker 3: I think you know, Match of the day their their audiences.
Speaker 3: People probably fordying up. You know, people in their twenties
Speaker 3: or teenagers aren't watching sitting now watching an hour and
Speaker 3: matching day Match of the day that they might watch
Speaker 3: two minutes of the best goals or clips. And yeah,
Speaker 3: we're seeing that trend across all sport and all media.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 3: So it's definitely something to be aware of, and I
Speaker 3: think that's why you see a lot more well TikTok,
Speaker 3: isn't it his short form video Instagram? You know, there's
Speaker 3: a massive trend towards video as well. So Rugby League's
Speaker 3: got to find I guess it's own a niche that
Speaker 3: in that space.
Speaker 1: Holders Phil Giants defense has a short attention span. Anyway,
Speaker 1: News items, something you sent about Jackson Hastings and Steve
Speaker 1: Massquad the story on him.
Speaker 2: Can you elaborate on that please?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's it's a bit of a plug
Speaker 3: for massacud story really I think it was at the
Speaker 3: season launch for Super League and just a really good
Speaker 3: long form interview basically from Justin Jackson Hastings. And he
Speaker 3: is quite a polarizing character. I mean, for he's always
Speaker 3: you know, he's been written about a lot in Australia,
Speaker 3: he had a very successful first in in Super League,
Speaker 3: went back to Australia and now he's obviously come back
Speaker 3: to England. And yeah, he's just a polarizing character. It's
Speaker 3: interesting to get his thoughts he thinks. You know, I
Speaker 3: think I think that the headline quote was the media
Speaker 3: hate me, but it is. Yeah, it's just a sort
Speaker 3: of fascinating. You know, he's pushing back on how he's
Speaker 3: been portrayed. But you know, when you look at certain facts,
Speaker 3: he has been at a lot of different clubs and
Speaker 3: there has been a lot of reports of falling out
Speaker 3: with teammates. I've interviewed Jackson before. He's always been good
Speaker 3: to interview. He's quite a look guy and I think
Speaker 3: he's a real talent. You know, I think he on
Speaker 3: his day he's you know, he's got all the skills.
Speaker 3: But in saying that also, you know he's had a
Speaker 3: somewhat checkered career at times. So yeah, it's just a
Speaker 3: just a fascinating yarn that I would suggest people go
Speaker 3: ahead and read.
Speaker 1: I don't know Jackson, but I do like people who
Speaker 1: are honest and raw. And I think I've got enough
Speaker 1: and I think you have got enough mental bandwidth to
Speaker 1: understand when you're dealing with somebody like that.
Speaker 2: Okay, ye.
Speaker 1: And I find it a little bit interesting that he
Speaker 1: fell out of favor at Sydney Roosters when Mitchell Pierce
Speaker 1: was the halfback, and he fell out of favor at
Speaker 1: Manly Seagulls when Daily Cherry Evans was the halfback. I
Speaker 1: find that very interesting. And both Mitchell Pierce and Daily
Speaker 1: I'm not accusing them or anything, but they had massive
Speaker 1: influence clubs they were at and half backs. It's the
Speaker 1: golden It's the golden position, isn't it in a team?
Speaker 1: And if a potential other golden boy is in the vicinity,
Speaker 1: then there's every reason that the minute he blinks in
Speaker 1: the wrong direction, somebody might complain about it. I mean,
Speaker 1: we only need to look at again how some of
Speaker 1: the leagues are coming out about the Brisbane Broncos because
Speaker 1: Madge maguire might be training them.
Speaker 2: A little bit too hard to win a premiership.
Speaker 1: The sense of entitlement there, so so there's a bit
Speaker 1: of that. He then went to England, very popular, very
Speaker 1: popular at Salford, very very popular I think at Wigan,
Speaker 1: although Wigan can have a little bit of ego in
Speaker 1: and around their place too well.
Speaker 3: I my understanding as he fell out with John Bateman
Speaker 3: and and maybe you know some other Wigan players and
Speaker 3: you know the talent Wigan was successful.
Speaker 1: But also Wigan. I always think of Wigan as the
Speaker 1: repub look of Wigan. You've got to sort of fit
Speaker 1: in with them, not the other way around a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I did live in Wigan and had a very
Speaker 1: happy time in Wigan. And then he came to Australia
Speaker 1: West Tigers under a coach who was in his seventies
Speaker 1: by then and probably wasn't wasn't used to quite as
Speaker 1: much to this opinionated person.
Speaker 2: And who did the target sign from Wigan.
Speaker 1: Jackson Hastings and John Bateman and John Bateman. And then
Speaker 1: he went to the Knights under a coach who was
Speaker 1: very structured.
Speaker 2: Adam O'Brien started very well.
Speaker 1: He started very well and then apparently some women didn't
Speaker 1: like his girlfriend or something like that, or well.
Speaker 2: That's that's that's reference.
Speaker 3: There was a report about that has referenced in mascot story,
Speaker 3: but I think there was also a report about here
Speaker 3: he was told, you know, he was going to be
Speaker 3: playing reserve gride and he just left the left of
Speaker 3: training field and look, you know, I'm sure Jackson's got
Speaker 3: his and take, but yeah, yeah, it's just he is
Speaker 3: an interesting character and I like the fact that you know,
Speaker 3: he's prepared to talk. He's very he's very open and look,
Speaker 3: he's a character and that's what you know, we need
Speaker 3: more of those in the sports. So you know, whether
Speaker 3: whether people like him hate him whatever, you know, that's
Speaker 3: we need the heroes and villains, don't we in our
Speaker 3: in our sport. And I'm sure for you know St Helens,
Speaker 3: if he if he can keep playing, well, you'll you know,
Speaker 3: be much loved at that club.
Speaker 2: I think it's Sulford.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of love for him at some of
Speaker 3: those other clubs that he's played at.
Speaker 2: Perhaps not.
Speaker 1: Who cares if he wins trollph is with this team
Speaker 1: he got salted to the grun final. Did we get
Speaker 1: to did Wigan get to the ground final.
Speaker 3: It was the twenty twenty Grand Final was one by
Speaker 3: jack with the you know, the the crazy try at
Speaker 3: the end. So yeah, yeah, there's lots of stories out there,
Speaker 3: but you know, Jackson, I think is pretty determined, you know,
Speaker 3: to make the best of his time at some hells
Speaker 3: and be interesting to see how it goes.
Speaker 1: Now, Wakefield didn't pay their power bill.
Speaker 3: Yes, quite a remarkable thing. I think when the news
Speaker 3: stand opened, what was it two years ago? I think
Speaker 3: they played Wiggan in the pre season friendly and this happened.
Speaker 3: But I can't remember another time when six minutes into
Speaker 3: a game which is on the BBC Live on the BBC,
Speaker 3: and the power goes out and it was often twenty
Speaker 3: or twenty five minutes and you just didn't know.
Speaker 2: If they worked out accord.
Speaker 3: Ah, well, it's just a power out adage. I don't
Speaker 3: know if it was a technical fault. I think it
Speaker 3: was a technical fault, but yeah, the fact that the
Speaker 3: team sort of had to go back into the sheds
Speaker 3: and then warm up again. Look, I don't think I'm
Speaker 3: not saying it contributed anything to their loss, but I
Speaker 3: don't think Brad Arthur was too impressed and you know
Speaker 3: that result from Wakefield. You look at the form going
Speaker 3: into from both teams. You know, Leeds were quite red
Speaker 3: hot obviously, you know they've been to Vegas, but they
Speaker 3: were putting in big scores. Wakefield had been I think
Speaker 3: two wins from from four games, but not being great,
Speaker 3: being a little bit below Park. Yeah, a huge result,
Speaker 3: huge result for Wakefield. You know, for I'm sending a
Speaker 3: conspiracy theory here, John. I once once for a big
Speaker 3: game at Ipsfurred State High School, there was a lockdown
Speaker 3: bell or an evacuation bell in the middle of one
Speaker 3: of my training sessions, which happened to be the day
Speaker 3: before a.
Speaker 2: Big semi final.
Speaker 1: So I quickly turned it into there was some kind
Speaker 1: of bomb hulks from the opposition school to disrupt our
Speaker 1: training session, and the boys fell for it and we won.
Speaker 2: That sounds like your own version of.
Speaker 3: Wayne Wayne Bennett before the what was it ninety two
Speaker 3: growing far Brian Smith.
Speaker 1: I've done plenty of those kind of things. Internationals women's changes.
Speaker 1: There's been some changes to the international game.
Speaker 2: Yes, I spoke to the International Rugby League. They've been
Speaker 2: talking and looking at this for about a year, but
Speaker 2: they've eligibility criteria. So that.
Speaker 3: And I use the example of Tasmin Strange, who is
Speaker 3: an Australian with an English mother and I think also
Speaker 3: with Kiwi heritage, so eligible for at least three countries,
Speaker 3: and she had played for the Mary All Stars. She's
Speaker 3: also now eligible to play for England. And so basically,
Speaker 3: if you're a player, a women's player, maybe you've played
Speaker 3: for Australia, but you're also eligible for England, you can
Speaker 3: change not during a season, but after a year period
Speaker 3: to another country. So they've made these changes basically to
Speaker 3: kind of help on broaden the pool in the women's game,
Speaker 3: because as you know, the women's game in rugby league
Speaker 3: has been dominated completely by Australia and New Zealand really,
Speaker 3: but at this point in Australia, I think there's been
Speaker 3: six World Cups. The last three in a row have
Speaker 3: been won by Australia, three before that one by New Zealand.
Speaker 3: England was was it ninety two to four? I was
Speaker 3: at the game, but it was horrendous last year in Vegas.
Speaker 3: So with the Women's World Cup coming up at the
Speaker 3: end of the year, the hope is, you know, there's
Speaker 3: a lot of there's probably quite a lot of players
Speaker 3: who are as you know, you know, the movement between
Speaker 3: Australia and New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, you know,
Speaker 3: maybe eligible for Samoa and New Zealand or New Zealand
Speaker 3: and Tonga, Australia Fuji, et cetera. So we may see
Speaker 3: some movement in those national teams and hopefully much like
Speaker 3: we've seen in the men's game, with Jason Tamalolo Andrew
Speaker 3: Fafieda Caylen Ponger being the most recent one, we will
Speaker 3: see some defections which could actually be greater, will be
Speaker 3: you know, much more of a benefit for the whole
Speaker 3: game and makings more competitive in the women's game.
Speaker 1: I just think it's rugby league finally arriving in the
Speaker 1: twenty first century. I mean, so many of us are
Speaker 1: fruit salads now, we have so many different ingredients in us.
Speaker 1: So it's just the nature of it that we've had
Speaker 1: a Challenge Cup this week and John we've mentioned Wakefield
Speaker 1: and Leeds that was a shock result Wigan thirty Bradford six.
Speaker 1: I that probably puts Bradford where they are in the
Speaker 1: Super Leaguer thing. So I know that I know that
Speaker 1: it was a Challenge Cup. But there's been a lot
Speaker 1: of excitement rightly so about Bradford Bulls, but they're still
Speaker 1: a long way for them to go, and I think
Speaker 1: quite frankly, they've gone to the top team in the
Speaker 1: competition right now, in the super League competition, and we're
Speaker 1: going to put on something of a score line there.
Speaker 1: That said, when we look at the fixtures for next week,
Speaker 1: there's a chance that Bradford can still continue their their
Speaker 1: great season in Super League. So hopefully Wigan haven't dented
Speaker 1: Bradford's confidence too much.
Speaker 2: John, Yeah, no, I.
Speaker 3: Think the interesting thing from the Wigan perspective is obviously
Speaker 3: I lost Bevan French to injury after the to lose winning.
Speaker 3: He's going to be out for something like four months,
Speaker 3: which is with dry Field also out for quite a while.
Speaker 3: That's horrendous for them. They're arguably the two best players
Speaker 3: in Super League you fallback and your six. So they've
Speaker 3: drafted in a very kid, I think a twenty year
Speaker 3: old Noah Hodkinson and I think he, you know all
Speaker 3: accounts did very well on Aboo, so you know they've
Speaker 3: got Jack Farreman in the is the young sixth pairing
Speaker 3: with Harry Smith and they've got a young, young fallback
Speaker 3: and you know we can continue on. So I think
Speaker 3: Bradford there was also a couple more injuries in that game.
Speaker 3: They've they're injury accounts melting. And then we look over
Speaker 3: at St Helens and cast and I think Saint Helen's
Speaker 3: you know, a good win for them, but also a
Speaker 3: few injuries there. I think Daryl Clark, it just seems
Speaker 3: every game at a moment in Super Leagal Challenge Cup
Speaker 3: has got injuries. So the way the way we're gon,
Speaker 3: we're going to have you know, Andnder Aidings playing by
Speaker 3: the end of the year.
Speaker 1: Or dust the boots off. York fifty six Keighley ten.
Speaker 1: So contrary to what I've just said about Bradford, more
Speaker 1: confidence for York. Gul scored ten against Warrington who's scored
Speaker 1: seventy eight, so they're unbeaten. Run continues. Huddersfield twelve or
Speaker 1: KR fifty two, not too dissimilar an outcome.
Speaker 2: To the Super League game.
Speaker 3: Actually, John No, it was just you know, how to
Speaker 3: fill out some more injuries from that game a week ago.
Speaker 3: So I think there's something like sixteen players down, you know,
Speaker 3: I don't even know if you could put a bed
Speaker 3: on this, but you know, Hoker I would have been
Speaker 3: overwhelming favorites.
Speaker 2: And as I said in the last podcast, I mean
Speaker 2: they will get a win, but I really struggle to
Speaker 2: see where Haddersfield get a win at this point of the.
Speaker 3: Season with not only with so many players out, but
Speaker 3: it was also just such a drop in confidence.
Speaker 2: And yeah, the.
Speaker 3: York Keighley game, much like Goole Warrington. You know you've
Speaker 3: got full time teams against part time teams. It's only
Speaker 3: going to end one way. It was interesting with York obviously,
Speaker 3: and then the result was never a doubt, but Mark
Speaker 3: Applegarth was indifferent because he thought they could have put
Speaker 3: on a lot more points. He wanted to see more.
Speaker 3: But yeah, with that injury to they're half back and
Speaker 3: potentially the center. That's certainly a blow for York because
Speaker 3: they don't have a lot of depth in their squad
Speaker 3: at all, obviously being a promoted team. So they go
Speaker 3: to Wigans right Thursday night, and that'll be a really,
Speaker 3: really a way trip for them.
Speaker 1: One thing I was thinking when I looked at the
Speaker 1: Wigham score line is one thing Matty Pete has to
Speaker 1: be careful of And it's just reminded me of what
Speaker 1: you said about Mark Applegarth, is rings such a long
Speaker 1: season because the English season is ridiculously long. It starts
Speaker 1: three weeks or four weeks before the NRL and finishes
Speaker 1: one week after every year and no bys, not buys,
Speaker 1: and a cup competition thrown in two yep. It's very
Speaker 1: hard to keep yourself up every single week and to
Speaker 1: give one every single week, and whether he wants it
Speaker 1: or not, and it is his job to be the
Speaker 1: barometer of this, I suppose, but Mark Applegarth probably witnessed
Speaker 1: some of his players realizing that they had this game
Speaker 1: and just going a little bit less emphatically wigging on
Speaker 1: the other hand and putting people to the sword. And
Speaker 1: Matty Peet's got to be careful because this obsession with
Speaker 1: with being your best every week, sometimes teams struggled with that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I don't think really any team, and
Speaker 3: you look at the Broncos last year, they certainly weren't.
Speaker 3: You can't beat your best every week. Obviously, you know
Speaker 3: you're trying to be at your best, but you're not
Speaker 3: going to be a ten out of ten every week?
Speaker 2: Are you?
Speaker 3: But I think the difference for me with that weekend
Speaker 3: score and the York performances. Obviously, York were against a
Speaker 3: championship team, and I think they scored three minutes in
Speaker 3: and then you could basically sense it, you know, York
Speaker 3: instead of starting to play direct, you know, in how
Speaker 3: they would against the Super League team and you know,
Speaker 3: do the hard work first, you know, play through the
Speaker 3: forwards and then get them, you know, find the space
Speaker 3: out wide. They were trying to throw it around and
Speaker 3: score off every set, and I think Mark got a
Speaker 3: little bit frustrated that because I thought, well, you know,
Speaker 3: we our breaking tackles with relative ease, and just thought
Speaker 3: we don't need to you know, we don't need to
Speaker 3: get into an arm rustle. We just need to throw
Speaker 3: the ball around them will just overpower them. And in
Speaker 3: a way they did that. But that's obviously not how
Speaker 3: they're going to have to play against Wigan or Warrington
Speaker 3: or any of the other games they're going to out
Speaker 3: this year. So it's interesting that York didn't rotate, you know,
Speaker 3: a lot of their players. They're basically had a full
Speaker 3: straight team much the week before after Vegas. Really no changes.
Speaker 3: But I think you know this better than me being
Speaker 3: a coach. But I think coaches generally don't like to
Speaker 3: change winning teams, do they.
Speaker 2: They like to keep that consistency.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but again I mean over time, I've learned that
Speaker 1: you do have to just to keep people in your
Speaker 1: club or team fresh, to keep them engaged. Catalans didn't
Speaker 1: ease up it by the look of it against Oldham
Speaker 1: fifty eight nil. I don't think. I don't think the
Speaker 1: win is a shock. I think the size of the
Speaker 1: win might be though.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I haven't seen any highlights.
Speaker 3: Again, but again that's a part time team.
Speaker 2: Having a look.
Speaker 3: I think cat Land's got the win against Loe last week,
Speaker 3: but after a couple of very bad performances, So for them,
Speaker 3: they'll be happy. They'll be very happy with that. And
Speaker 3: again it's a new spine that you know, four players
Speaker 3: have never played you know together before this season, so
Speaker 3: they've had what four or five runs as a spine,
Speaker 3: you know, Stains and Sexton and Dodd and well Cruise
Speaker 3: leaving joined very very late. But they've got the the
Speaker 3: French shock there as well, so you know it'll take
Speaker 3: time for them to gel. But yeah, good a good
Speaker 3: score and be interesting. I think we've got the Cup
Speaker 3: draw on Tuesday morning, so quarter final stage. You know,
Speaker 3: I don't think, to be brutally honest, if you're a
Speaker 3: super League team, you don't actually have to win that
Speaker 3: many games to actually win the Cup. You only really
Speaker 3: need three four wins, and sometimes you need to play
Speaker 3: three super League teams, So what tries are thrown?
Speaker 1: The two interesting games to me, and that's why I've
Speaker 1: saved them to last, were Cast Saints and Lee Hull.
Speaker 1: So let's go with Cas first. I have access to
Speaker 1: the Facebook groups of a lot of these clubs, and
Speaker 1: Cast fans are really unhappy as a rule because Saints
Speaker 1: were a little bit under strength, but Saints still beat
Speaker 1: them Matt Castleford thirty two eight, and I do think
Speaker 1: for Ryan Carr, the chance to roll Saints in a
Speaker 1: Cup game at this stage would have been a great
Speaker 1: phillip for the rest of the season. So what I'm
Speaker 1: discussing sublimmely here is different coaches can use the Cup
Speaker 1: for different means, And you know, Wigan and York could
Speaker 1: have used it to rotate the squad a little bit.
Speaker 1: Cass could really have used it to kickstart their season
Speaker 1: to get a lot of confidence, and that's quite a
Speaker 1: significant score against some thirty two eight and Saints were
Speaker 1: missing some players.
Speaker 3: They were and then you see Ryan Carr, I didn't,
Speaker 3: I wasn't out the game, but he was very unhappy
Speaker 3: with the referee. Yeah, the lack of the video referee
Speaker 3: the Cup games, which you know isn't great, but yeah,
Speaker 3: some specific decisions. So it hasn't been the greatest of
Speaker 3: starts forecast. I don't think they've been terrible by any meanings,
Speaker 3: but yeah, I think I think that was obviously a
Speaker 3: disappointing result, a disappointing performance from them. Again that you know,
Speaker 3: they are a very new spine and they've lost their
Speaker 3: fullback for the season, so they're going to have to
Speaker 3: change that around. But they're going away to Warrenton this
Speaker 3: Saturday and Warrington are undefeated.
Speaker 2: That's going to be difficult.
Speaker 3: You know, one win from what you know, if they
Speaker 3: lose that game, one win from five rounds is not
Speaker 3: an out.
Speaker 2: Of the Cup.
Speaker 3: Is not a great start for Ryan Katy if that's
Speaker 3: what Look, if they knock over Warrington on Saturday, you know,
Speaker 3: that would be a tremendous result.
Speaker 2: So we'll see what happened to that one.
Speaker 1: The big game I think from a Super League perspective
Speaker 1: was Lee and Hull and it ended up Lee sixteen
Speaker 1: Whole Left C six. These are two teams that have
Speaker 1: had a poor start to the season quite frankly, and
Speaker 1: the winner of this is potentially going to have more
Speaker 1: confidence going into the next few rounds of the season.
Speaker 1: The loser is looking at a tougher stretch and Whull
Speaker 1: Left Sea have come out on the wrong end of
Speaker 1: this one. Your thoughts on that, John.
Speaker 3: Yeah, again, I've not seen any highlights of clips of
Speaker 3: it is that we all sort of have seemed to
Speaker 3: have come off whole. The fan base is not very happy.
Speaker 3: Jake Arthur really hasn't made much of an impact. There's
Speaker 3: always a new half pack at the club. They have
Speaker 3: got quite a few injuries, but you know Lee are
Speaker 3: also struggling, So yeah, I think there's a lot.
Speaker 2: Of unhappy people from the Black and.
Speaker 3: Whites after that result, and for Lee, you know, a
Speaker 3: bit of respite after what has been a pretty.
Speaker 2: Tough bar round one, a pretty tough start to the year.
Speaker 3: There's obviously things the chairman, it got confirmed this week
Speaker 3: my exclusive from last weekend has left the club. Mike
Speaker 3: Latham obviously Chris Chester left last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you would, you would? You know that the signs
Speaker 2: are that all's not well, at least off the field.
Speaker 1: Lee questions, we didn't really push hard this week because
Speaker 1: last week we had one thousand and I've been one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've got I've put it in from Gavin Quinn, the
Speaker 1: same one.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's the one.
Speaker 1: Any more Englishmen linked to the NRL in twenty twenty seven,
Speaker 1: that's one for you, John.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've not.
Speaker 3: I've not heard any specific new names. I've not had
Speaker 3: an update on the Mikolai Aleedski one.
Speaker 2: Now. I know Perth were very very keen for.
Speaker 3: Him and that he does have a get out curse NRL,
Speaker 3: so I don't know if there's been any movement on that.
Speaker 3: That would be a big one if per over the line.
Speaker 3: In terms of other players, there hasn't been any other murmurings,
Speaker 3: but I know Perth are looking very closely at Super
Speaker 3: Leigue in particular. You know, Adrian Lamb spoke to me
Speaker 3: and said, how you know he'd been chatting to Malmaninger,
Speaker 3: obviously very close mate of his. You know they worked
Speaker 3: from the ex train coaching stuff for many years and you
Speaker 3: know you look at the depth of talent across the
Speaker 3: n r L, which you know Lee, you know, with
Speaker 3: two new clubs coming in, they will be looking at
Speaker 3: Super League for players. And you know, the money that's
Speaker 3: on offer, even you know a minimum or an average
Speaker 3: wage in the.
Speaker 2: RL is very significant. So you can completely understand how
Speaker 2: it would be a law for many English.
Speaker 1: Players honestly turn Perth or P and G into a
Speaker 1: demi English franchise.
Speaker 2: Well, it's not going to, I think.
Speaker 3: I think with the English links with Perth with w A,
Speaker 3: that would have been the obvious choice, but that's not
Speaker 3: going to happen. I think P and G it makes
Speaker 3: sense that they will look, you know, if it's not
Speaker 3: Adrian Lama's coach, but they will look to a lot
Speaker 3: of P and G, either players who were born or
Speaker 3: raised there or with heritage so he use over.
Speaker 2: Coaches Edwin A. Papees.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I think Cooper Bias just resigned with gold
Speaker 3: cos hasn't he but those kind of players because you
Speaker 3: will need a local link. You can't have thirty you know,
Speaker 3: ossies playing for P ANDNG. You need you need some
Speaker 3: locals in and I'm sure they will. I'm sure they
Speaker 3: will and there's a lot of talent obviously coming through
Speaker 3: the ranks in P and J.
Speaker 1: We can play York on Thursday to fixture for York
Speaker 1: that you'll be there. We'll do after the hooter after that,
Speaker 1: after that game. We've spoke a little bit about that already.
Speaker 1: I accidentally, instead of writing to lose, wrote Toronto versus Saints.
Speaker 1: How people will be will be pining for that fixture
Speaker 1: to loser hosting Saints. Look, I Saints have basically if
Speaker 1: you look at their fixtures, they've had one big win
Speaker 1: one week, then the week after they've lived a few points,
Speaker 1: one big win one week. So I don't think this
Speaker 1: is unwinnable for to lose. I think I agree as
Speaker 1: clear as they've had a week off because they didn't
Speaker 1: enter the Challenge Cup.
Speaker 3: Exactly exactly at home, Saint Helens are going to travel
Speaker 3: over to France. There'll be nice and arrested. Saint Helen's missing,
Speaker 3: I think Daryl Clark, and there was another injury from
Speaker 3: the Bradford game missing. Maddie Lee's missing, Jack wellsby Jacob
Speaker 3: Host broke his leg in the in the Bradford game
Speaker 3: the week before. Look, I think to Losa. That's a big,
Speaker 3: big banana skin for sn Helen's look. I think if
Speaker 3: so All's go there, get a good win, that shows
Speaker 3: that they're going to be a top four team this year.
Speaker 3: I think if they lose that game, you know they're
Speaker 3: still there's still question marks around them. So a really
Speaker 3: good test and I think for to lose, i'd be
Speaker 3: nicking their lips of that one.
Speaker 1: I agree. Bradford Bulls hosts the Huddersfield Giants. I can
Speaker 1: only see one result. Quite frankly, it shouldn't be Huddersfield
Speaker 1: Giants should be thinking we've got to try and target
Speaker 1: this game from a promoted team. If Huddersfield don't win
Speaker 1: at Bradford, we cannot We're not going to If they
Speaker 1: can't be a multi tide, who's got to be.
Speaker 3: I think with you know, fifteen or sixteen players out
Speaker 3: out of their thirty man squad, yeah, I don't give
Speaker 3: them much change. I Bradford have got a few injuries
Speaker 3: as well, but Bradford at home or the way the
Speaker 3: Giants have been you know, playing not really been able
Speaker 3: to do the basics.
Speaker 2: You know, the defense is poor. Yeah, I can only
Speaker 2: really see a Bradford Bradford.
Speaker 1: Win and therefore Bradford's Bradford's form line in the Super
Speaker 1: League won't be bad at tot will it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they've done They've done really well.
Speaker 3: I think out of even of the three promoted teams,
Speaker 3: I thought Bradford potentially might struggle the most, but they've
Speaker 3: been very, very good. And I think, as I said
Speaker 3: the other week, you know, Kurk Haggerty is a really
Speaker 3: talented coach and I like the way that they play.
Speaker 2: They don't you know, it's.
Speaker 3: Not a five drivers and a kick grinding stuff, try
Speaker 3: and move the ball, to try and attack from deep.
Speaker 3: There's a few you know, trip players and things growing
Speaker 3: in there and it's it's quite exciting to watch.
Speaker 1: Well they can solidify fifth. They're currently in the final spots,
Speaker 1: so all power to them. Wakefield versus Lee Again, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure which Wakefield team is going to turn up
Speaker 1: because they've been a bit scratchy, but yeah, I think
Speaker 1: I think Wakefield defeating Leeds, even though there was that
Speaker 1: twenty minute hiatus, I think that just tips them over
Speaker 1: the over the to the positive side of where their
Speaker 1: season is going. Because they've not been awful. Wakefield they've
Speaker 1: just they've just made life hard for themselves basically, so
Speaker 1: I would fancy Wakefield in that fixture, but Lee are
Speaker 1: going to be a bit more confident after what happened
Speaker 1: well we described against All Left c.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely I agree with that. Like I think, I
Speaker 3: think Wakefield's slight favorites. I think their pack was very,
Speaker 3: very good on Friday against Leeds. Tom Johnson back is
Speaker 3: a big in for them and Jack in Field has
Speaker 3: been making his mic got mad of the match on Friday,
Speaker 3: So yeah, I'd be tipping Wakefield in that, but you
Speaker 3: know Lee again, them getting back in the Winter circle
Speaker 3: is a big boost for them as well, so it
Speaker 3: should be an interesting one at the Diy Kitchens.
Speaker 1: Stadium, Warrington host Castleford. Unfortunately I can only see one
Speaker 1: result there based on the conversation we had a few
Speaker 1: minutes ago, so it gets a bit tougher for Ryan
Speaker 1: Carr and the lads. I see this as a potential
Speaker 1: banana skin for whole. K are going to the Catalans
Speaker 1: and I see it as a banana skin because OK
Speaker 1: have done an awful lot of traveling in the last
Speaker 1: few weeks and they were they were highest kite mentally
Speaker 1: in terms of performance for the World Club Challenge. They
Speaker 1: then had the trip to Las Vegas where they flopped,
Speaker 1: come back, had a down to earth moment against Udthersfield,
Speaker 1: and then if it wasn't enough, they had to go
Speaker 1: to just Field again the week after, and now they
Speaker 1: have to go to the south of France, so again
Speaker 1: a real potential banana skin.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean going to play Catalans and Katlens is
Speaker 3: never really an easy game, but you're right, it's another
Speaker 3: bit of travel. Look, I think you know a whole
Speaker 3: the you know, Willie Peers will be drilling into them,
Speaker 3: you know about how important this game is and to
Speaker 3: keep their performances going. Have had the two wins now
Speaker 3: back to back against Haddersfield, but the Dragons will be
Speaker 3: much much tougher. Test should be a really good game
Speaker 3: this one, and I think you know, if you're the
Speaker 3: Dragons and if you can knock over the defending champions,
Speaker 3: that you know is a sign that they're there, they
Speaker 3: could be the real deal as well.
Speaker 1: All left c and leads lead will be angry after
Speaker 1: last week.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, Brad Arthur really sprayed his team. I think.
Speaker 3: The dropping the ball because they would have been a
Speaker 3: big chance for silver and a cup and half see
Speaker 3: a struggling massively, so you would expect a reaction from
Speaker 3: the Rhinos. That would have been a shock on Friday,
Speaker 3: and I think I think a Leeds win is what
Speaker 3: you know, would be most favored.
Speaker 1: The Wakefield game may have been impacted by a twenty
Speaker 1: odd minute stoppage for a power outage. The South's game
Speaker 1: away to the Roosters was interrupted by a twenty minute
Speaker 1: stoppage because Alex Johnston went and brought the Australian record
Speaker 1: for try scoring. I thought that was a great moment
Speaker 1: john I thought it was brilliant.
Speaker 3: It was, yeah, it was. It was fantastic. I was
Speaker 3: watching live on TV. I must have been. I wasn't
Speaker 3: full Wayne Bennett, but I was thinking before the game
Speaker 3: the pitch invasion as it needed, you know whatever, not
Speaker 3: trying to be a wealser. But once you had a game,
Speaker 3: I thought it was great. It just cracked me up
Speaker 3: that the first fan who got Alex Johnson was a bloke,
Speaker 3: a Roosters fan in ninety Chucks Jersey.
Speaker 2: I like that because Alex Johnson's a very likable guy.
Speaker 3: And you know, look opposition teams hate, you know, fans
Speaker 3: hate opposition teams or whatever. But it wasn't a club record.
Speaker 3: It was a what seventy odd.
Speaker 2: Year game record?
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, And you know it was just it was
Speaker 3: just a fantastic moment. I think if you if you
Speaker 3: love rugby league, it was a great moment. I'm an
Speaker 3: unfortunately these days, I'm a manly fan and I'm not
Speaker 3: a I'm not a big fan of Souse, but I
Speaker 3: was great to see him.
Speaker 2: Get the record.
Speaker 3: I thought it was a great moment. And I thought
Speaker 3: these absolute idiots attacking the Prime Minister trying to say
Speaker 3: that you know, he was trying to get in some
Speaker 3: sort of glory. He's actually a South Tragic, Like he's
Speaker 3: such a South Tragic. Then they got kicked in what
Speaker 3: was at ninety nine. He was on the committee to
Speaker 3: get them back in, Like he is a real proper
Speaker 3: fan and he, you know, wanted to be a part
Speaker 3: of it. I don't I don't see a problem. You know,
Speaker 3: Chief you want to if you want to find him
Speaker 3: five grand, I'm sure he's got five grand to play
Speaker 3: it up. But I thought it was I thought it
Speaker 3: was great. I think, you know the fact that the
Speaker 3: NRL hasn't find anyone was also the right call and
Speaker 3: it was just great, great moment for the sport.
Speaker 1: The Prime Minister is a genuine, genuine Sales fan. Scott
Speaker 1: Morrison was a bit of a plastic Sharks fan.
Speaker 2: I think it was. It was not a Sharks fan
Speaker 2: at all.
Speaker 1: Everyone Tony Tony Blair was saying he used to be
Speaker 1: a Newcastle fan and I think one of the players
Speaker 1: he mentioned was dead when he went to a game.
Speaker 2: So well. I was watching a Tony Blair documentary All
Speaker 2: the Week on Sheriff. Yeah I saw that. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: but he's to play the head tennis with Kevin Kagan.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. Cool Britannia, Cool Britannia. So he
Speaker 1: really tapped into that Premier League sort of vibe. And
Speaker 1: I think it was Jackie. I think it was Jackie
Speaker 1: Milbourn he brought. I went to watch Jackie Milbourne, I
Speaker 1: think so.
Speaker 3: And I think Bob Hawk you might not remember this
Speaker 3: being an Englishman, but back in the eighties he was
Speaker 3: very good with that.
Speaker 2: With the can't win Australia one and he famously said,
Speaker 2: you give everybody a day off.
Speaker 3: Yeah, anyone who sacks him is a bum and he
Speaker 3: was also famously with Jack Gibson with the third coat
Speaker 3: when Parajuan but albow is a dire hard house man,
Speaker 3: you know, And look, rugby league has benefited a lot
Speaker 3: having a rugby league Tragic as the leader. Look at
Speaker 3: the six hundred million they're getting for PNG from the federal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he doesn't.
Speaker 1: People are just trying to politically point score Penry Penry
Speaker 1: in an era where in the NRL, these games of
Speaker 1: basketball going on most of the time. I've conceded one
Speaker 1: try so far. Other season they look very good. I
Speaker 1: think that's quite ominous.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I only caught a bit of the
Speaker 3: first half against the Sharks. They just look and the
Speaker 3: Sharks are a good team, Benroth just look next level.
Speaker 3: It is scary that that production line and I.
Speaker 1: Mean at the end of a day, same theory though,
Speaker 1: got to be so careful not busting and got too
Speaker 1: much in the opening rounds.
Speaker 2: Are pretty good at doing that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, They've just got that that experience and that talent,
Speaker 3: having the penrith and they're just you know, yeah, that'll
Speaker 3: be up there.
Speaker 1: September to the Broncos lost again officially the the worst
Speaker 1: start to a Premiership defense, I think, or something like that.
Speaker 3: So as your new channel, Damn Britney Spears, didn't you
Speaker 3: leave Port.
Speaker 1: Madge alone, leave Paul made a lot a lot. What
Speaker 1: gets me is the fact that this stuff is leaking
Speaker 1: out of the club.
Speaker 2: Wow, it's rugular league, mate, There's more leagues. I'll tell
Speaker 2: you what though.
Speaker 3: Look, it's been a very bad start for the Broncos
Speaker 3: and include the world challenging there. But I'd much prefer
Speaker 3: to be Madged than Anthony Seabold or Todd Payton.
Speaker 1: Well my point is Manly and Cowboys, which coach is
Speaker 1: going to get the punt first?
Speaker 3: You think, well, well, look, I think if you're going
Speaker 3: up pure on roster, Cowboys have got the better roster.
Speaker 3: But look, I think Seabow was very lucky he didn't
Speaker 3: get sacked last year and they've got the Roosters next up,
Speaker 3: and I can't see him win that game. And look,
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, that mainly performance was particularly weak when
Speaker 3: you consider they lost Ponger and Brown and Newcastle did
Speaker 3: it easily. I didn't see the Cowboys game. I thought
Speaker 3: in Vegas, you know, they were pretty competitive. They weren't
Speaker 3: terrible in Vegas did get beat but yeah they haven't.
Speaker 3: I think was at twenty twenty two they made the
Speaker 3: prelim final, they went deep in the finals. But the
Speaker 3: Cowboys haven't done anything for a long time. So I
Speaker 3: think probably unless there is a big big change in
Speaker 3: either of those clubs as in terms of upswinging results,
Speaker 3: those coaches will be on the chopping bot.
Speaker 1: In mitigation for Peyton. And don't get me wrong though,
Speaker 1: look awful well they've not played a game in Townsville yet,
Speaker 1: including the trials they went down, Yeah that they headed
Speaker 1: south for the trials. They then went to Vegas and
Speaker 1: they headed south for their first game back on Australian soil.
Speaker 1: So but you can't say that about Manly.
Speaker 2: Well that's that is when I say two games at Brookie.
Speaker 1: And the third game coming up at Brookken too, and
Speaker 1: they always they always played better at Brookie, you know,
Speaker 1: the Sunday game today against the night's perfect weather.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I just when you look at Cowboys team, you look
Speaker 3: at that rostar, you know, and they've got they've got deer,
Speaker 3: and they've got drink water, and they've got Hesse and
Speaker 3: Nanai and Tamo. He's just that quardback, there's other players there.
Speaker 2: They're not ringing out, you know. They've just they've got
Speaker 2: Matt Lodge, good go forward, good proper.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've they've got They've got like a very they've
Speaker 3: got a i'd say a top six, top seven, top
Speaker 3: eight roster.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then there'en nowhere near that for a while.
Speaker 3: So yeah, look, I think I think mainly've got some
Speaker 3: weaknesses in the roster, but in saying that, they've also
Speaker 3: got a good enough roster to be at least in
Speaker 3: the contention of the finals.
Speaker 2: And they've yeah, I don't know, finished tenth last year.
Speaker 2: You know, they've just it's just not been not good enough.
Speaker 3: And then with all the off field things with the
Speaker 3: travoieviches with Tom and what happened with DCE the CEO,
Speaker 3: Tony Mestra getting the boot. Yeah, it's not been good
Speaker 3: at mainly for a while. So I think it needs
Speaker 3: to be big changes.
Speaker 2: You've turned this into a madly fan winging podcast, the.
Speaker 3: The the.
Speaker 1: Analysis video this week because I've been delving deep into
Speaker 1: the bush for the last few days and.
Speaker 2: That's my first time you've ever said that.
Speaker 1: That's Johnny, that's it's a bit more sparse than it
Speaker 1: used to be. The I've not decided who to analyze
Speaker 1: yet and he too, john Any ideas super simply Yeah,
Speaker 1: simply so on Zero Tackles Loose Carry podcast. And I've
Speaker 1: got some clips of the Paramatter and Broncos game, and
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the way teams attack with shapes of
Speaker 1: the way halves organize shape around them.
Speaker 3: So I been on Warrington obviously with probably the oldest
Speaker 3: halves partnership in the comp with George Williams and Mark Snead.
Speaker 3: Obviously the young fullbacks has gone injured, so they'll have
Speaker 3: a new, a new fallback in there. And obviously Daniel
Speaker 3: Walker pretty experienced quick out of the rock hooker.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so you know that doesn't necessarily have to
Speaker 1: be this week, depending on what footage I can get
Speaker 1: old But no, no, no, I'm not.
Speaker 2: I don't mean it like that.
Speaker 1: It's just that it depends what I can access, if
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So Warrington attack because I
Speaker 1: did do their defense the other week, and their defense
Speaker 1: has improved definitely structurally anyway, So yeah, that's interesting. So Johnny,
Speaker 1: where can people get You can get me on X
Speaker 1: and Johnny D. Davids and get me on Facebook at
Speaker 1: John Davidson, Journalists on on Patreon at Rugby league dot com,
Speaker 1: Long read, email me admin at Rugby League coach dot
Speaker 1: com dot you, have a look at Rugby League coach
Speaker 1: dot com dot you or at Rugby League Coach on
Speaker 1: socials apart from x which is at RL Coach on
Speaker 1: the Net. Myself and John we'll see you after the
Speaker 1: hooter on Thursday night Friday morning in Australia.
Speaker 2: Take care,