Speaker 1: West Tiger's Collab Podcast, Episode number four. We've got Rob,
Speaker 1: Steve Stratton and Gary Watson in the house tonight. Coach
Speaker 1: of Del Haj, We've given him the night off, but
Speaker 1: he'll be back next week in studio after the Tigers
Speaker 1: take on Manly next Sunday at Alion Stadium. Tonight, the
Speaker 1: boys will be diving into all things Adam Dewey. We're
Speaker 1: going to do a deep dive on the West Tigers roster,
Speaker 1: including our spine, our outside backs, our forward pack and
Speaker 1: our depth comparing it to other NRL clubs. And we've
Speaker 1: got some spicy buy selling holes. But Rob Bashara, did
Speaker 1: you enjoy it the bye week as a West Tigers fan?
Speaker 2: I loved it.
Speaker 3: I know it's boring not having a Tigers fan, but
Speaker 3: it's very stress free. So yeah, I'm not going to
Speaker 3: deny I did enjoy it and I kind of needed
Speaker 3: the break after all the podcasts we did last week.
Speaker 4: Agree Steve, No, I didn't watch a lot of footage
Speaker 4: this weekend, mate, and I had to say after the
Speaker 4: win last week, I missed not watching the Tigers this
Speaker 4: week and I'm chanting to get to to get to
Speaker 4: Aliards next weekend.
Speaker 1: Garyt could be the middle of December. It didn't be
Speaker 1: one of the West Tigers to play. When you mate,
Speaker 1: I won football seven days a week. I want the
Speaker 1: West Tigers playing seven days a week and anytime they're
Speaker 1: not playing, I yeah, it was a boring weekend for me.
Speaker 1: Performances off a win and off a bye over the
Speaker 1: past couple of years haven't been great, Rob. What's your
Speaker 1: confidence level heading into next Sunday against Manley? On a
Speaker 1: scale of one to ten, ten being the nives, I'd.
Speaker 3: Probably say a four, and that's not due to us.
Speaker 3: Was actually quite impressed with Manley the other night. Airline
Speaker 3: speed was really good. They've got a really potent back line.
Speaker 3: Cohla is in rare form. Even one of their guys
Speaker 3: off the bench, Bullymore, he.
Speaker 2: Was on fire. He ran one hundred and seventy eight meters.
Speaker 3: So they're still having a crack and they took it
Speaker 3: to Canberra for quite a period of that game and
Speaker 3: they're winning what twelve ten I think at one stage.
Speaker 3: So just because Manly are playing well, if our forwards
Speaker 3: can match them, we can win.
Speaker 2: It's just a matter of whether our forwards are.
Speaker 4: Up to it.
Speaker 1: I bet it's comfortably at Brookvale a couple of months ago, Dave.
Speaker 1: But different picture. Now Buller's back, Drave's back, it's almost
Speaker 1: full strength Tigers.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think what Rob saying's right. If they're a
Speaker 4: fast back line, if they beat us in the middle,
Speaker 4: they can get around us. I'd say. But you know,
Speaker 4: for me, I'd give them about three chance of next week,
Speaker 4: and that's because I just don't know what Tigers are
Speaker 4: going to turn up. You know, if they turn up
Speaker 4: what they did against Canterbury, where every chance, if we
Speaker 4: turn up a little passive and our fulls don't get rolling,
Speaker 4: then we'll get smashed.
Speaker 2: That's the next step of the progression in Gary backing
Speaker 2: up a good performance with another good performance.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Eddie, you and I have spoken about a number
Speaker 5: of times on a number of different pods this year
Speaker 5: about our inability to back up a win, and each
Speaker 5: of our wins we've had this season, we've followed it
Speaker 5: up with a really poor performance. So even the game
Speaker 5: that we won against Saint George you wouldn't call a
Speaker 5: good performance. So I think it's really crucial for this
Speaker 5: team to actually that little bit of a relax. They
Speaker 5: take that little bit of a breath they take after
Speaker 5: a victory. We've got to eliminate that from our club.
Speaker 2: You still think we can make the eight, it's a
Speaker 2: slim chance.
Speaker 3: I mean, prior to the weekend I saw the odds
Speaker 3: of three hundred and forty or three hundred and fifty
Speaker 3: to one into one hundreds. They should be about one
Speaker 3: hundreds now. So we do need certain results to go
Speaker 3: our way. Next week Brisbane are decimated, but the Dolphins
Speaker 3: played awfully. They play each other this week Canterbury play
Speaker 3: the Roosters. Roosters are in cracking form, but Canterby' is
Speaker 3: a different beast. The most important part of that equation
Speaker 3: is us speeding manly. If we can do that, we
Speaker 3: still keep ourselves in the hunt, and then we're still
Speaker 3: within range even you know, when we go the week after.
Speaker 2: To play the Cowboys at Leichhart.
Speaker 3: So I'm not giving up. Because our season has been
Speaker 3: over in May for three years in a row. I'm
Speaker 3: hanging on to that little branch.
Speaker 2: Off the water. Four.
Speaker 6: It's a little branch.
Speaker 2: Well it is, mate, it is, but it's three times better.
Speaker 2: It's a twig.
Speaker 3: But we've gone from point three of a percent to
Speaker 3: about one point two percent, So I will take that
Speaker 3: right now, and it's better than zero percent in May.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but how good is it this year? At least
Speaker 4: we've got a team that's having a dig right this
Speaker 4: time of year. Last three years, like the performance has
Speaker 4: been horrendous. So these team are going out there every
Speaker 4: week and given one hundred percent and we haven't seen
Speaker 4: that in previous seasons. And you know, we are still
Speaker 4: a chance. I'm not confident because I just don't think
Speaker 4: we've shown for a very long time that we can
Speaker 4: put back to back to back consistent performances. So I'm
Speaker 4: really not very confident. I think it'll all come to
Speaker 4: a shuttering holt when we play camera. But we're still
Speaker 4: there at the moment.
Speaker 5: Eddie's had us in the spoon race all year and
Speaker 5: I kept on saying to him, I'll worry you're about
Speaker 5: that with three weeks ago in the season if we're
Speaker 5: if we're still in that position, I'm not really going
Speaker 5: to change that. When looking at this as well, like
Speaker 5: we've got to win four in a row from here.
Speaker 5: We won our last game, so that's really five in
Speaker 5: a row. We haven't won three in a row in
Speaker 5: a long time, so I'm not going to put any
Speaker 5: weight into us being a semi final chance at this point.
Speaker 5: If we get a week out, two weeks out and
Speaker 5: there's still a possibility, then I'll have a look at
Speaker 5: the list that everyone's kind of made.
Speaker 6: Up and they're checking off with what has to happen
Speaker 6: for us to make the finals.
Speaker 5: I'll worry about that if it gets a little bit
Speaker 5: more of a chance than what it.
Speaker 1: Is like going to the roulette table and getting sixteen
Speaker 1: red or blacks right in a row.
Speaker 2: Rob Mate, it's maths, I mean, still a chance.
Speaker 3: Like Gary saying he'll look at it in three weeks left,
Speaker 3: why not look at it now with four or five
Speaker 3: weeks left.
Speaker 2: What's the difference, Like, it's still a check.
Speaker 3: Let's just go week by week if there is Like
Speaker 3: put it this way, if the Dolphins beat the russ
Speaker 3: last night, it was over as far as I was concerned.
Speaker 3: So as long as we get through week one week
Speaker 3: at a time. I'm looking at three results this week
Speaker 3: and we'll reassess the week after.
Speaker 1: It'll be interesting if we knock off Manly and the
Speaker 1: Cowboys Seve, which I think are two winnable games, and
Speaker 1: then at the moment, Brisbane on eleven wins with massed injuries.
Speaker 1: Roosters and Dolphins are both on ten wins, and I
Speaker 1: think Manly are on nine wins. So if we get
Speaker 1: to ten and twelve, it makes that camera game really meaningful,
Speaker 1: which will help our chances in that game.
Speaker 4: I assume, yeah, if we turn up and play good
Speaker 4: footy week and beat Manly, we can beat the Titans
Speaker 4: and we can beat the Cowboys. Absolutely. The one that's
Speaker 4: going to count as the one against Canberra. Whether we've
Speaker 4: got the firepower to beat Canberra if they come prepared.
Speaker 4: But the thing is right playing came back and you know,
Speaker 4: if they get first or second wrapped up, they might
Speaker 4: lose a little bit of intensity. Yeah, might catch them
Speaker 4: on off game. The question Eddie is have you given
Speaker 4: up on the fact we're going to get the spoon?
Speaker 4: Are you willing to admit that that's gone?
Speaker 2: And right you obviously weren't listening to me on our podcast.
Speaker 1: I think I announced officially that we're not going to
Speaker 1: get the spoon, So my goals have shifted. Probably I'm
Speaker 1: not going to go as far as rob but I
Speaker 1: think avoiding the bottom four would be a successful season
Speaker 1: and two wins from four on the way home.
Speaker 2: I'd more than be happy with that.
Speaker 1: But he's the big news of the week, Adam, do
Speaker 1: we re signs for two years? Ruman to be around
Speaker 1: four hundred k per year? Before I get because.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have a fair bit of debate and discussion
Speaker 2: on this.
Speaker 1: Boys before I get that, I want to know one
Speaker 1: word to either describe do he's re signing or do himself?
Speaker 3: Rob My, one word is irresistible. His form has been irresistible.
Speaker 3: He gave the club no choice but to offer him
Speaker 3: an extra year and to sign him. None of us
Speaker 3: thought he was going to be with the club any
Speaker 3: longer unless he was in a back up position. Now,
Speaker 3: depending on what Benji wants for the rest of the year,
Speaker 3: he's a serious chance of being a starting half, not
Speaker 3: just for this year but the start of next year.
Speaker 4: Am I one word for him is tiger. He's a tiger.
Speaker 4: He loves the club, he loves the jersey. He's come
Speaker 4: out publicly this week and so he loves Benji and
Speaker 4: what Benji in the club have done for him. He's
Speaker 4: supported the club. He wants to be here, you know,
Speaker 4: and for so long we've wanted players that actually want
Speaker 4: to bleed for the Jersey. We've got one. So for
Speaker 4: that reason alone, I'm glad. Whe I agree with Rob
Speaker 4: his form has been outstanding this year. I want to
Speaker 4: see it be consistently really good for a long period
Speaker 4: of time. But the fact that he wants to be
Speaker 4: at the club and he's probably i imagine, has taken a
Speaker 4: bit less money to stay here says something to me.
Speaker 2: Gary is the biggest AD hater on this table. You
Speaker 2: bought him with you today, I.
Speaker 6: Did bringing with me.
Speaker 2: There's no AD hate here ever.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Look, my word is consistency. I agree his form
Speaker 5: over the past month has been really good and I
Speaker 5: would say probably our best player over the last month,
Speaker 5: so that can't be tonight. I'm really happy about the signing.
Speaker 5: I think the club got it right. But what's really
Speaker 5: important over the next twelve months is to get that
Speaker 5: consistent football from Adam Dey. We've seen great games from
Speaker 5: him in the past. We need to see that week
Speaker 5: in week out.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 1: My word was footballer and you might think, well, Eddie,
Speaker 1: you're going down and I live there saying that, But
Speaker 1: I compare him to a good cricketer and I spoke
Speaker 1: to Steve on Wednesday about it. Good cricketers that are
Speaker 1: all around us. It can bat bowl field like Adam do.
Speaker 1: He has proved this year. It can be an adequate center.
Speaker 1: He's good at locke, he's good in the halves and
Speaker 1: he could be definitely good in the fourteen.
Speaker 2: So I think it's big news for the club.
Speaker 1: But clear, like I watched him on social media and stuff,
Speaker 1: Rob and all the reaction from Jerome and Tito and
Speaker 1: Happy and the boys, it's clear he's respected and he.
Speaker 2: Is a leader in that club. He's the leader.
Speaker 3: And I said it the other night on the last podcast,
Speaker 3: I did, we need more leaders in our club, not
Speaker 3: just better football players, and he's one of them. And
Speaker 3: he's made his voice heard so loud the other week,
Speaker 3: you know, playing Canterbury. At halftime, he formed the huddle
Speaker 3: and he was laying down the law and barking instructions.
Speaker 3: Like I said earlier, he's imposed his will on the
Speaker 3: team and that's what we need. We want someone that
Speaker 3: wants it, and he wants it so badly.
Speaker 1: I'll see He's gary a little bit about it, Steve,
Speaker 1: but he is a pretty divisive player. It reminds me
Speaker 1: a little bit of Robbie Farah, not so much for
Speaker 1: his ability, but Robbie Farah was divisive in his last
Speaker 1: couple He's among Tigers fans at least if you read
Speaker 1: forums and that do he's been in the past couple
Speaker 1: of years. But you think he's growing into a player
Speaker 1: that's sort of, you know, ninety percent like by the fans.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think that's the same with anyone. Right, As
Speaker 4: you get a little bit older and your mature, you
Speaker 4: start to learn how to temper back your natural personality.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: I've always said your greatest strength is your greatest weakness,
Speaker 4: and his greatest strength is that he believes in himself
Speaker 4: and he's got strong opinions and he's going to back
Speaker 4: himself for that. But that can be your biggest weakness
Speaker 4: because you can get out there and shoot your mouth
Speaker 4: off a little bit, and that can turn people off.
Speaker 4: So I think he has got a bit of a
Speaker 4: history of doing that. But I think he's learning when
Speaker 4: to talk, when to not talk, and what to say.
Speaker 4: He's still going to be a little bit prickly, that's
Speaker 4: his natural personality, but you know, he's developing into a mature,
Speaker 4: grown up man now. You know, he's not a young kid,
Speaker 4: so he's probably learning how to navigate all that.
Speaker 2: You've been harsh on his weaknesses in the past, as
Speaker 2: he rectified this.
Speaker 6: Year, Yeah, some of them.
Speaker 5: Definitely, the biggest problem I've probably had with him in
Speaker 5: the past is lacking effort areas in defense, and I
Speaker 5: don't think you can say that about him this season.
Speaker 5: His effort areas and he showed that last weekend with
Speaker 5: that chase down for the last try that he now
Speaker 5: he's stopped from the Bulldogs. So I think he's worked
Speaker 5: really hard on those deficiencies this year. So yeah, the
Speaker 5: effort that I was worried about in previous season is
Speaker 5: definitely much better.
Speaker 2: Now, what's his best position, Rob right now? It's half?
Speaker 2: I mean as a center. He does a great job defensively.
Speaker 3: He hasn't got the five power or the thrust to
Speaker 3: be an attacking threat to the opposition, but he does
Speaker 3: a job defensively. I kind of disagree with what the
Speaker 3: boys have said about consistency this He actually think he's
Speaker 3: been in our top five players and been very consistent,
Speaker 3: but certainly in previous years he hasn't been consistent. And
Speaker 3: we're all worried about his acl ever recurring again. But yeah,
Speaker 3: definitely half for me. He wants the ball, he wants
Speaker 3: to drive the team, and he's happier when he's got
Speaker 3: that ball and being the man he wants that stigma
Speaker 3: of being the go to guy.
Speaker 1: Say it's his best position, Steve, but is that where
Speaker 1: he should start in Round one twenty twenty six?
Speaker 2: Half back?
Speaker 4: I'm still a little bit undecided, to be honest, like
Speaker 4: I'd still probably lean towards utility being his best He
Speaker 4: can play it so and he can play it half,
Speaker 4: you can play at Locke. I don't know whether he's
Speaker 4: shown the consistency to be our starting half, but then again,
Speaker 4: as has Fein who done that as well. Probably or
Speaker 4: not right, so it may be a toss up. I
Speaker 4: think he can make it a go at Lock, but
Speaker 4: can he defend at Lock for eighty minutes every week
Speaker 4: for a long season. I'm not sure about that. And
Speaker 4: the other question is Fanny's played some of his best
Speaker 4: football when he's started at thirteen, so is he worth
Speaker 4: going there? But can he sustain that? I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think there's a lot of questions to be answered
Speaker 4: through the preseasons. I'm sort of not, not one hundred
Speaker 4: percent sure where it's starting.
Speaker 2: Last four weeks are big for him.
Speaker 6: Gary.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't think he has his name on a
Speaker 5: position for next season at this point. And he's played
Speaker 5: one week really at seven in that starting role this season,
Speaker 5: and he performed really well last week. I thought he
Speaker 5: had a really good game in seven. But we're seeing
Speaker 5: him have really good games in the halves in the past.
Speaker 5: A game against the Broncos three or four years ago,
Speaker 5: he was the best on field by a long way.
Speaker 5: He may plays around him better, but then you have
Speaker 5: other games where he will run the ball too often himself,
Speaker 5: he won't set up his outside men, and that's what's
Speaker 5: really important for him now, and that's I think that
Speaker 5: contract value is about right. If he was signed based
Speaker 5: off the form he showed last weekend, if he was
Speaker 5: showing that ninety percent of his games, he's an eight
Speaker 5: hundred thousand plus player. But the reason he's at that
Speaker 5: four hundred thousand mark is he doesn't show that every week,
Speaker 5: and the history of his game is that he will
Speaker 5: have those stand out, those blinder games, but you'll also have.
Speaker 6: Some poor games.
Speaker 2: Are you saying history day this season or is that
Speaker 2: over four or five years.
Speaker 5: That's over four or five years. And as I've said,
Speaker 5: I think his performances have been much better this season,
Speaker 5: but he still has to show in that halves role
Speaker 5: that he's that guy week in week out to do that.
Speaker 6: And I hope you.
Speaker 4: Know what I reckon he's shown, and I think we
Speaker 4: can agree on this, is that he's got to be
Speaker 4: closer to the ruck.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 4: His days of starting at center, unless we're desperately short
Speaker 4: in the centers, for example, are gone, right, So he's
Speaker 4: got to be half back or he's got to be
Speaker 4: lock for next year. I think that's it, because when
Speaker 4: I said to utility, I didn't mean put him at fourteen.
Speaker 4: I mean he's got that value that he can play
Speaker 4: multiple positions. Where's the best one. So I think we've
Speaker 4: got Lui, We've got Fanum, we've got a lock in
Speaker 4: at six, seven and thirteen. It's just what that combination
Speaker 4: looks like.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was just going to say, don't forget he
Speaker 3: played behind a beaten forward pack in my opinion last week,
Speaker 3: Wait till we get a forward pack that's going forward.
Speaker 3: And further to those last four or five years, who
Speaker 3: did ad him have outside him the last four or
Speaker 3: five years. This year he's got a gun back line
Speaker 3: and we're getting some strike coming in and hopefully Macasine
Speaker 3: he's there next year, Tailor's there. Now, you've got dream Buller,
Speaker 3: You've got a class finisher into Ruver, So I think
Speaker 3: he's got better weapons outside him now. But to be
Speaker 3: able to do what he did last week on the
Speaker 3: back of team that was getting beaten in the second half,
Speaker 3: that's what stood out. If we get some more depth
Speaker 3: in those forwards and get a better pack going forward,
Speaker 3: he will be better for that. So I think we'll
Speaker 3: be better next year with him.
Speaker 5: He definitely can't be our utility. He can't be our
Speaker 5: fourteen on the bench because I think and that's not
Speaker 5: a knock on what Adam provides. He's I think he's
Speaker 5: the perfect fourteen for some clubs because he can play
Speaker 5: with those positions. He can play out in the backs.
Speaker 5: He's played on the wing this season, so he's played
Speaker 5: at full back in the past. He's played in the centers.
Speaker 5: He's played at six, he's played at seven, and he's
Speaker 5: now played at thirteen. A great guy to have in
Speaker 5: your bench as a utility. Player, But I think we're
Speaker 5: happy is at his career right now. We need someone
Speaker 5: most weeks who can fill in and do twenty minutes
Speaker 5: in that hooker role. I don't think Adam can do that.
Speaker 5: So I think he needs to over the next four
Speaker 5: weeks and over the offseason, he needs to own one
Speaker 5: of those positions of the seven or the thirteen to
Speaker 5: Otherwise he'll still play a lot of football, but otherwise
Speaker 5: he's your first guy backing up and coming in when
Speaker 5: you get an injury in one of those positions, which
Speaker 5: means he'd play a lot of football regardless. But he
Speaker 5: needs to own one of those positions over the next
Speaker 5: over the next six months, he's got.
Speaker 6: To get that worked out.
Speaker 4: Are any of you guys concerned about his ball handling,
Speaker 4: his ability to feed? You know, I agree with what
Speaker 4: you're saying, Robert. We've got this fantastic back five all
Speaker 4: of a sudden developing in our squad that are going
Speaker 4: to need space and they're going to need good ball.
Speaker 4: One thing that concerns me about him is his ability
Speaker 4: to give that good ball, you know, even that passing
Speaker 4: through to Bull you know the other day he almost
Speaker 4: stuffed it up, right, Yeah, in fact, he did stuff
Speaker 4: it up, went forward right, And I've seen a lot
Speaker 4: of times him not throw a ball because he doesn't
Speaker 4: seem to get himself in the right position, you know,
Speaker 4: against the defender to actually draw him it and throw
Speaker 4: that ball.
Speaker 3: Does that worry you, doesn't worry me. I think he's
Speaker 3: just got to decide what sort of half he wants
Speaker 3: to be. He's always been a run first sort of guy,
Speaker 3: and really whenever he passed the ball, it was always
Speaker 3: that long cutout past that and offul over on the
Speaker 3: right wing. So I think if he just gets finds
Speaker 3: that balance, I think will be better for it. But look,
Speaker 3: he did have one bad game at half when we
Speaker 3: played paramattat the second time, but in my opinion, the
Speaker 3: game he had against the Roosters, the cameo against Many,
Speaker 3: and then the game against Cannabury, he's been good. So
Speaker 3: he's had three and a half games really at half
Speaker 3: and two and a half have been really good. I
Speaker 3: thought the power game was poor, but to be fair,
Speaker 3: that was his first game and that was what rounds
Speaker 3: five or thereabouts around something like that, So seven I
Speaker 3: think it was was at seven Okay, so round seven,
Speaker 3: So there we'd had all his games at centers. It
Speaker 3: was his first real crack at half since the trial
Speaker 3: against Paramatta.
Speaker 2: I think it's clear that he's a half.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's a great half like compared to
Speaker 1: the rest of the NRL, but I think he's probably
Speaker 1: too slow for the outsidebacks. I don't think he's powerful
Speaker 1: enough to play in the forwards at lock. And I
Speaker 1: think the fact his kicking game is footy IQ and
Speaker 1: his personality suits being in the halves. Like Gary, he
Speaker 1: really wants to be half. And I think that's probably
Speaker 1: why he knocked back the Dragons, because I think the
Speaker 1: Dragons were going to offer him lock and I reckon
Speaker 1: trying to get into Adam do his head. I reckon
Speaker 1: he thinks I can beat out last two for that
Speaker 1: seven position.
Speaker 6: Now one hundred percent.
Speaker 5: I believe that's the reason Eddie he doesn't want to
Speaker 5: be thirteen, so I will give him credit. In the
Speaker 5: interview when he signed, he did mention he's happy to
Speaker 5: play thirteen, and I've never heard that from him before.
Speaker 5: And he said he'd work out over the off season
Speaker 5: where with Benji where he best fits. But in regards
Speaker 5: to his passing game, that Steve Raised a minute ago.
Speaker 5: He has two options when he really plays in the hars,
Speaker 5: and it is that long ball, that long cutout ball
Speaker 5: to the wing, but he also does do a short
Speaker 5: ball in traffic. What I think holds back his passing
Speaker 5: game a little bit is he's a little bit of
Speaker 5: an awkward runner. He has a little bit of an
Speaker 5: awkward style as he engages the line, and I think
Speaker 5: at times it takes players a while to learn how
Speaker 5: to run off him because the ball doesn't come at
Speaker 5: the same time as it does from other halves, because
Speaker 5: he's got that kind of step that he does at
Speaker 5: the line, and he plays through contact. And what I
Speaker 5: do want to see is him starting to give nice
Speaker 5: early ball to players outside him and creating space for
Speaker 5: players outside him. I think that's his biggest weakness in
Speaker 5: the Hearts is instead of being the guy who wants
Speaker 5: to throw that last part, that money ball all the time,
Speaker 5: I think at times he's just got to create space
Speaker 5: for other players to do that, especially if he's going
Speaker 5: to be playing in the seven. A big part of
Speaker 5: the seven role now is actually just creating space for
Speaker 5: the player outside you for that five to eight playing
Speaker 5: outside you to then throw the ball that's the money ball.
Speaker 4: And especially going with the center pier that we're likely
Speaker 4: to start with. Now I may and tell, are they both.
Speaker 6: Both like early ball early ball?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 5: So I think that's really crucial in his development as
Speaker 5: a half and they're the things I'm looking for if
Speaker 5: he's playing in the halves over the next four weeks.
Speaker 5: That's what I'm looking for most. I don't want the
Speaker 5: glory plays that he had plenty of them last week
Speaker 5: against the Bulldogs. I want the players where he's creating
Speaker 5: space for his outside man, where he's allowing Lui to
Speaker 5: actually throw that money ball because he's giving him nice
Speaker 5: early bare he's held defensive defenders off him. That's his
Speaker 5: role at half back and that's what I want to
Speaker 5: see over the next few weeks.
Speaker 1: Putting my cynics hat on just for a second, Rob
Speaker 1: and I can be a cynic carriers. You never know
Speaker 1: me no longer playing for contract. Any concern there.
Speaker 3: Not a concern at all. He's a Tiger through and through.
Speaker 3: He's a junior. He's professed his love for the club.
Speaker 3: He shann't it on the field with his actions and
Speaker 3: that's all that matters. So I've got absolutely no concern whatsoever.
Speaker 3: I'm just not sold that he'll be a good lock
Speaker 3: because if he's really going to batten down that lock position,
Speaker 3: he needs to bulk up and he needs to do
Speaker 3: thirty plus tackles a game.
Speaker 2: I don't think that suits Adham.
Speaker 5: And that lockroll. You want someone who Yo Yoh's the
Speaker 5: prime example. That's the stereotypical lock that you're talking about.
Speaker 5: He's a good ballplayer, but he's also a danger to
Speaker 5: run the ball if if you have the right sort
Speaker 5: of game, yoa can run for one hundred and fifty
Speaker 5: meters if he needs to. And that's what I don't
Speaker 5: think Adam do he can do in that role. He's
Speaker 5: not a guy who can push out those big meters
Speaker 5: that that's sometimes needed by that thirteen.
Speaker 2: Okay, boys round the table quickly. One word? Where does
Speaker 2: he start Round one? Next year, three, six, seven, thirteen
Speaker 2: or fourteen up to Benji?
Speaker 4: But if it's me seven, if it's helped to Benji,
Speaker 4: I think it'll be thirteen.
Speaker 6: I'm still undecided at this point, Like.
Speaker 2: You want to say fourteen.
Speaker 5: No, Look, there's a possibility that if he I don't
Speaker 5: think he's as I said, earlier. I don't think he's
Speaker 5: the right fourteen for our club. I think go somewhere else.
Speaker 5: He's a great fourteen. I think there's still a possibility
Speaker 5: that he's playing as a backup. I hope to see
Speaker 5: him in either seven or the thirteen, but I'm undecided
Speaker 5: on that at this point.
Speaker 1: All Right, let's do some a bit of a roster
Speaker 1: deep dive boys before I get into our spine and
Speaker 1: comparing it to some of the other clubs in the
Speaker 1: nral of US. The boys to sort of rank it
Speaker 1: where they see it against all sixteen other clubs. But Rob,
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you this is basically a yes
Speaker 1: or no. I've just gone through the off contract players
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five. Yep, you tell me yes or
Speaker 1: no if you'd resign him, and the boys can chime
Speaker 1: in and if they disagree with anything. Josh Felady no,
Speaker 1: Madame Er no, Naden definitely no stains. Yes, but he's
Speaker 1: gone apparently England.
Speaker 2: Is it England? Same club as Fatah and Brandon Tuomoth No.
Speaker 1: Okay, twenty twenty six is a bit harder. I'll give
Speaker 1: you three words on this one. You could say no,
Speaker 1: you could say fifty to fifty if you think it
Speaker 1: depends on form, and then a friend friend the coach,
Speaker 1: he'll be on the line later hopefully, and or you
Speaker 1: could say extension if you'd extend him right away.
Speaker 2: The fifty extension.
Speaker 1: Okay, you're only allowed maybe two fifty fifties, but this
Speaker 1: is These are the guys off contract at the end
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 6: Jack Bird.
Speaker 3: Fifty to fifty because of his age, fifty fifty because
Speaker 3: of his age.
Speaker 2: I like Jack Bird. I'm in the minoritady there. It's
Speaker 2: the only final extension. Tristan Hope, No Kitler, Lily, No,
Speaker 2: I haven't seen enough. Luke Luluy fifty to fifty, but
Speaker 2: he's shown potential. Heath Mason fifty to fifty, leaning to know.
Speaker 2: Solomon Sukura, haven't seen enough of him, but no. Drel Skelton, Yes,
Speaker 2: extending Tony Suka fifty fifty staffa.
Speaker 3: Tire extend if he keeps bringing that Valentine Holmes for
Speaker 3: him and he squabbles the.
Speaker 4: SD with what Rob said, No, I agree hundred percent
Speaker 4: with all that.
Speaker 3: But does Gary agree that's the important got to find
Speaker 3: something there. Come on, you've got to pick on something No.
Speaker 5: I actually think you nailed it. I think we did
Speaker 5: the same thing on the West Hogaest podcast on Wednesday.
Speaker 3: I might have been harsh on Suka though, because he's
Speaker 3: doing a job. He's doing a job, but he's nothing.
Speaker 3: He's like a no Fruels player.
Speaker 4: I think I think I think that was the one
Speaker 4: that I was going to debate. Actually, i'd be saying no,
Speaker 4: because like we've just signed a couple of blokes, they're
Speaker 4: going to sit underneath the top seventeen that you wouldn't
Speaker 4: call dynamic, right as back rounds. We need a dynamic
Speaker 4: back roller, right, we need to kick out. We need
Speaker 4: someone like that who's going to punch through out wide.
Speaker 4: We still haven't got that. We do really with Feynu.
Speaker 4: He's good for Samuel, Yeah, he can do it. But
Speaker 4: that's it, really.
Speaker 1: Okay, boys, our spine. I've come up with a really
Speaker 1: dynamic rating system here Gary. It's probably never been heard
Speaker 1: of before, or it's out of ten, but a five
Speaker 1: is a well below average spine. Six is slightly below
Speaker 1: NURL average. I'm going to call a seven a decent
Speaker 1: spine or NRL average, So that's about eight or ninth.
Speaker 1: Eight is a very good spine. Nine is elite and
Speaker 1: ten is a superstar spine.
Speaker 6: Are you saying you're rating only goes from five to ten.
Speaker 1: You can go lower if you wish, if you wish
Speaker 1: to be nasty tonight, you can. But on a scale
Speaker 1: of one to ten, where would you rank our spine.
Speaker 6: I think it's about that seven. It's about that NRL average.
Speaker 5: I think it's at the start of this season, I
Speaker 5: thought it was a lot higher, but there's still question
Speaker 5: marks around who's playing in that seven, and for me,
Speaker 5: until those question marks are solved, I can't go any
Speaker 5: higher than that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's got the potential to be very good.
Speaker 4: I don't think I think it's going to take another
Speaker 4: season of playing together and settling on the positions before
Speaker 4: you'd start to get us into the elite category. I
Speaker 4: think it's got the potential to get there. But at
Speaker 4: the moment, I think we'll start the season by saying
Speaker 4: we have got very good spine with a preseason under
Speaker 4: their belts.
Speaker 1: Which I did say in preseason obviously was puffing his
Speaker 1: chest out he said we've got the best spine in
Speaker 1: the game. There's been a change there with Galvin Gorn
Speaker 1: and ad and Latu coming in. So what would you
Speaker 1: rank it?
Speaker 2: Rob? What number?
Speaker 3: I gave it a night, but Steve took my word potential.
Speaker 3: It's so exciting and let's just take out we don't
Speaker 3: know who the seven is.
Speaker 2: If you just go on Buller Leui Korusow, that's a
Speaker 2: very good spine.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but you need to know who that seven is.
Speaker 3: But if the seven is decent like Adam is, I
Speaker 3: wouldn't say he's elite, but he's decent. That's good enough
Speaker 3: because he've got three other players. One's one four grand finals,
Speaker 3: one's one three grand finals during Buller, let's hope wins
Speaker 3: a Grand final with us at some stage in his career.
Speaker 2: Two premiership winners in that spine. I mean, it hasn't
Speaker 2: got us into the eighth this year, Gary, but could
Speaker 2: it be different next year?
Speaker 5: One hundred It could be different next year. I don't
Speaker 5: think the changes we need to make at our club
Speaker 5: are around who's in the spine. So we need to
Speaker 5: make a decision about who is at the club, who's
Speaker 5: going to fill that seven role. But I think we
Speaker 5: need to give them a little bit more help in
Speaker 5: the forwards. And if we give them a little bit
Speaker 5: more help in the forwards. I think that's definitely a
Speaker 5: spine that will get us into the top eight. But
Speaker 5: you know what does concern me, which can impact our spine?
Speaker 5: I reckon and that's who plays fourteen, And I mentioned
Speaker 5: it on a couple of pods before that. I'm just
Speaker 5: so worried about Hope going into fourteen starting the season
Speaker 5: next year. Appy cannot play eighty minutes week in week out.
Speaker 5: He just can't do it. He gets busted by two
Speaker 5: Thursday of the season, he's gone. He needs to play
Speaker 5: limited minutes. So we need someone impact for at fourteen,
Speaker 5: and I just don't know who that's going to be.
Speaker 1: I was going to say Rob the backup spine. I mean,
Speaker 1: Tito's done a good job at fallback, and you've got
Speaker 1: Jock Madden there next year, but that number nine backup
Speaker 1: role is probably concerned.
Speaker 2: It's a big concern.
Speaker 3: But looking at the roster right now, if nothing changes,
Speaker 3: it's got to be Lart too faint, or at fourteen
Speaker 3: he can maybe feeling a little bit of hooker for
Speaker 3: Appy and then when Appy comes back on he can.
Speaker 2: Move into the lock roll. It's not a great fourteen.
Speaker 2: I either though he's not.
Speaker 3: But he's e can tackle and no offense to Tristan Hope,
Speaker 3: he catches people.
Speaker 2: He's not a good defender who starts at lock. Then
Speaker 2: Robbie Adi's at seven and Latoo's fourteen. That's up to
Speaker 2: rich Ot to sort out in the off season. They're
Speaker 2: not at the club now, you think.
Speaker 3: I don't think they're at the club now, And I
Speaker 3: don't think it's fair to say Lato is going to
Speaker 3: play eighty minutes and start as a lock. I think
Speaker 3: Lato's going to play a similar role to what Dylan
Speaker 3: Walker is now for Paramata, coming on after twenty five
Speaker 3: minutes or so and hopefully playing the rest of the game.
Speaker 5: What I do think we have going in the next
Speaker 5: season is really good depth at that role. Madden coming across,
Speaker 5: Andrew's coming across, and Is Andrews, isn't it. It's not Walker,
Speaker 5: So I think those guys coming across. We have Taruvera
Speaker 5: who can fill in at fullback. As you said, that
Speaker 5: depth around those positions I think is really strong. So
Speaker 5: that's something we're doing a really good job of improving
Speaker 5: over the last twelve months.
Speaker 1: Jerine Buller Rob we've spoken about him at length over
Speaker 1: the course of the year.
Speaker 2: But do you think he's in that top eight fullbacks?
Speaker 1: Adele sort of said he's about seventh or eighth on
Speaker 1: runs on the board behind them.
Speaker 2: But he's probably not. But he's the only fullback I want.
Speaker 3: I love him, I'm sticking with him, and I'm backing him,
Speaker 3: so I don't care who is better than him. But
Speaker 3: there are things he can do that other fullbacks can't do.
Speaker 3: And there's not a weakness in his game right now.
Speaker 3: He can only get better at that passing game. But
Speaker 3: he's great under the high ball. He's great defensively. Our
Speaker 3: attack looks so much different with him. He makes other
Speaker 3: players better when he's on the field.
Speaker 4: Used to be able to say that he goes missing
Speaker 4: a little bit in games, you know, And I don't
Speaker 4: recall thinking that since he's come back from injury or
Speaker 4: as much this season, he's not going missing. He's much
Speaker 4: more involved. He's on the ball more. So. Yeah, I agree,
Speaker 4: there's not many players I'd swat for him.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's better fullbacks in the company, there's no doubt
Speaker 5: about that. But the thing you get, he's so important
Speaker 5: to the way we play, So I actually think he's
Speaker 5: he's our most important player attacking player in our club.
Speaker 6: At the moment.
Speaker 5: Our attack completely falls apart when he's not out on
Speaker 5: the field. So though there are better fullbacks around, there
Speaker 5: are better fullbacks in the competition. He is so important
Speaker 5: for the style of football that we play, and as
Speaker 5: soon as he's out, our attack looks very pedestrian.
Speaker 4: I'll tell you one thing I would like to see him.
Speaker 4: We saw it more from Taruva when he popped in
Speaker 4: at full bat there for a few weeks. I want
Speaker 4: to see Buller come in and go through the middle
Speaker 4: a little bit more.
Speaker 6: He does.
Speaker 4: He's very good at coming out on the edges, but
Speaker 4: he doesn't involve himself through the middle, and often we
Speaker 4: need that. We need that momentum through the middle. We
Speaker 4: need that little burst of energy through the middle that
Speaker 4: a fast, quick legs can give you, and I'd like
Speaker 4: to see him doing that more.
Speaker 5: He doesn't have the ability to do it in the
Speaker 5: same way that Daruva does it. Charuva can do hit up,
Speaker 5: so he can be a damaging ball runner, and Buller
Speaker 5: just doesn't have that in him. He doesn't have that size.
Speaker 5: What I would like to see him do in the
Speaker 5: middle is a little bit more support. Play through the middle,
Speaker 5: kind of like Bret Hodgson used to do at times
Speaker 5: when he played, And I think Brett should be a
Speaker 5: really good assistance to developing that in Buller. I want
Speaker 5: to see him sniffing around and following through a forward
Speaker 5: or following through someone like Terrell May who who is
Speaker 5: leading the NRL in off loads. If you've got Buller
Speaker 5: following him around, sniffing him around him a little bit
Speaker 5: on those early tackles, I think there's an opportunity there
Speaker 5: for him to play through the middle.
Speaker 1: I've just picked out some young ascending fullbacks. Rob It's
Speaker 1: probably hard because you know we're probably all a little
Speaker 1: bit biased. But if Keanu Kinney from Paramatta, Ko Weeks
Speaker 1: and Duram Buller we're all.
Speaker 2: On the market. Now, who do you think would go
Speaker 2: for the most? If I'm the Sea over the club,
Speaker 2: I'm taking dream Buller.
Speaker 3: Every k Ko Weeks is brilliant. I'll give you my
Speaker 3: opinion on k Weeks. He should be half and he
Speaker 3: probably I think he was a half that's moved to fullback.
Speaker 3: Just watch Ko Weeks under a high ball, Guys, he's
Speaker 3: still all at Sea. He's all at the under the
Speaker 3: Everything else he does is brilliant. He's exciting to watch.
Speaker 3: He can score a try out and nothing. He doesn't
Speaker 3: have it under.
Speaker 2: The high ball yet. He's a liability there and we're
Speaker 2: going to take advantage of that.
Speaker 1: In three weeks, I'll just pick out some random spy
Speaker 1: and Steve and you can tell me. You can just
Speaker 1: say better, worse or even the Broncos, Ben Hunt, Adam Reynolds,
Speaker 1: Ezra Man Reese.
Speaker 4: Walsh at their best better, Yeah, at the moment, none,
Speaker 4: they're better on goes.
Speaker 2: They're a little bit hamstrong at the moment.
Speaker 1: Pardon the pun, Manly, Gary Lachlan Croker, Jamal Foggy. This
Speaker 1: is for twenty twenty six. Luke Brooks and Tom Travoyvitch.
Speaker 1: Do we have a better spine than them? Rob, I'll
Speaker 1: go to Sharks for you. Break Blayley at nine, Nico Hines,
Speaker 1: Brayden Trendle and Will Kennedy.
Speaker 3: Depends who you talk to, that's a pretty good spine.
Speaker 3: But ours has the potential to be better.
Speaker 1: Steve, the Cowboys, Reed Marny playing nine next year, Jake Clifford,
Speaker 1: Tom did and Scott drink Water Gary, the Dolphins is
Speaker 1: a pretty good hot one. Jeremy Marshall, King, Cody nicorema
Speaker 1: Isaiahataha at half back and.
Speaker 2: The Hammark fallback.
Speaker 6: I have them better at the moment.
Speaker 1: Roosters next year, Rob the Sombrero's back out. They've Gotryce Robson,
Speaker 1: They've got DC, They've got Sam Walker and Tedesco.
Speaker 3: It's officially better, but Robson it's just a one trick.
Speaker 3: Pony is origin player. He's just a tackling machine. He's
Speaker 3: got nothing in it.
Speaker 1: And Steve last one. We'll do Parramatta tellon to Silver
Speaker 1: had a bit of a shocker today. Mitchell Moses. I
Speaker 1: don't know who's playing six for them? And a fallback.
Speaker 4: No, I think we're a bit of spine. But Mitchell Moses,
Speaker 4: when he's on, he can do the job of all
Speaker 4: four of them. Really well.
Speaker 1: Let's move to the outside backs, boys, So outside backs
Speaker 1: will go centers and wingers compared to on that rating system.
Speaker 1: I'll start with you, Gary, my famous rating system with
Speaker 1: five being well below NROL average and nine being elite
Speaker 1: and seven being right in the middle.
Speaker 2: Where do our outside back sit.
Speaker 5: At the moment? I've got them right in the middle.
Speaker 5: I've got them at seven as well. There's too many
Speaker 5: questions around those centers as well. We need to get
Speaker 5: Taylor May signed up. We don't have him long term
Speaker 5: at this point in time, so it's really hard to
Speaker 5: include him in that. Adam Dewey apparently is going to
Speaker 5: be half back next year, so we don't have him
Speaker 5: as an option. I ever and Taller, who I think
Speaker 5: has had a really good season. I thought he's last
Speaker 5: month all before he got injured at start to fall away.
Speaker 5: So I'm going to give it a seven, but Taylor
Speaker 5: May needs to be in that to have it at
Speaker 5: that level.
Speaker 2: It's almost the strength of the same rob the outside
Speaker 2: backs looking at next year.
Speaker 3: It is, but it's just lacking a little bit of speed.
Speaker 3: That's the only thing lacking. Defensively, I think it's a
Speaker 3: very good back line, but the speed is an issue.
Speaker 1: Can we afford Steve to go looking for another spot
Speaker 1: in the outside back So you think it's going to
Speaker 1: be more a couple of forwards.
Speaker 4: No, we need We need a middle, an elite front
Speaker 4: rower for next season. That's got to be number one
Speaker 4: priority above all. I still think we need a back
Speaker 4: rower as well.
Speaker 2: Macasini starting the back line next year.
Speaker 5: Gay, Yeah, quite possibly. I didn't mention him. There is
Speaker 5: a there is still a chance at center. I do
Speaker 5: worry a little bit about Tailor and Makassini both being
Speaker 5: left centers. Yeah, that's a little bit of a concern.
Speaker 5: So he could could make his way in on the wing.
Speaker 5: But depending what we do at center, how Tower is going,
Speaker 5: there is an opportunity there for him at center as well.
Speaker 2: What about you Macasini starts next year. I know we're
Speaker 2: looking at the crystal balls a lot here tonight, but if.
Speaker 3: He doesn't getlooded this season, probably not, but I'd love
Speaker 3: him to be there, all.
Speaker 1: Right, boys, the forward pack obviously looking at now front
Speaker 1: row and the back row and the lock position rating system. Steve,
Speaker 1: I'll start with you. Out of between five and ten.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're below average one. So according to your system,
Speaker 4: what's going to be about a six?
Speaker 2: Well below just below?
Speaker 4: No, I think we're well below five. Yeah, I've already said,
Speaker 4: like I'm worried about you know, we don't push through
Speaker 4: the middle consistently. Lot. Torell may work, his work rate
Speaker 4: is amazing, but he doesn't he doesn't push us through
Speaker 4: the adline consistently here where he needs help doing that,
Speaker 4: and we don't have that. Our back row is non
Speaker 4: effective at all. I don't know that the guys coming
Speaker 4: in are going to be more effective. Like Fainy Whizz
Speaker 4: for sure, he's a good back row, but that's it.
Speaker 4: And we still don't know who our lock's going to be.
Speaker 4: And I also mentioned hook a lot. We've got happy,
Speaker 4: but when a happy, he's not on the field. Who
Speaker 4: we got so our full pack still needs a lot
Speaker 4: of work.
Speaker 1: I think you and Gary lockehorns on the forward pack
Speaker 1: maybe or you disagreed with something he said. He said
Speaker 1: we weren't a bottom four pack currently.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was one of your questions to Gary last
Speaker 3: week and he said we're not. I think we've got
Speaker 3: the worst forward pack in the colm. And that's not
Speaker 3: disrespecting Terrell may Happy corus our what.
Speaker 2: So one can do.
Speaker 3: But you guys discussed on West Tiger's podcast and you said,
Speaker 3: who walks into another first grade team? And by your standards,
Speaker 3: you only had those two gentlemen being in the starting team,
Speaker 3: and you had so Fanner and you had Fanua Ballet
Speaker 3: being on the bench. So four out of yeah, basically,
Speaker 3: ten is not a good sign to say that they're
Speaker 3: not a bottom four pack.
Speaker 5: Look, I think the biggest problem with our forward pack
Speaker 5: we need two more players at least. I think those
Speaker 5: other guys elevate if you get someone Tito's announced he's
Speaker 5: going to market at the end of the season. If
Speaker 5: you've got someone like that and.
Speaker 2: Putting into.
Speaker 5: You scared me. Yeah, he announced he's going to market
Speaker 5: at the end of the season. If you put someone
Speaker 5: like that into our forward pack, I think that elevates
Speaker 5: everybody else. I think that elevates Terrell May to a
Speaker 5: different level. And that's what we need. We need that
Speaker 5: world class middle who can run the ball with aggression,
Speaker 5: who can disrupt the defensive line and can get everyone
Speaker 5: else playing against the defensive line that's on the back foot,
Speaker 5: and that's what our pack lacks at the moment. If
Speaker 5: you add that to our pack and guys like Terrell May,
Speaker 5: Sam feinu Kay, Pierce Paul, they all benefit from that
Speaker 5: and they all become much better players. And that's what
Speaker 5: we need to do over this offseason.
Speaker 4: We've got too many guys in our pack, and not
Speaker 4: just at our top seventeen, but our backup pack as
Speaker 4: well that when they hit the line, they drop what
Speaker 4: they've been shot by a sniper, right, they just hit
Speaker 4: the line and it's just stopped dead. We need guys
Speaker 4: who can push through that line, fall on their front
Speaker 4: and get a quick play of the ball to get
Speaker 4: us moving. And we just don't have enough of that.
Speaker 4: We need a lot. We need a couple of guys
Speaker 4: who can do that. That can be changed with one player.
Speaker 5: If you have that guy who damages that defensive line,
Speaker 5: who who finds his front on those early tackles, that
Speaker 5: makes a difference to everyone else. So those guys that
Speaker 5: do struggle and do go down really quickly and do
Speaker 5: end up on their back, if they're going against the restraining,
Speaker 5: retreating defensive line, that gets them down the field a
Speaker 5: lot more. It means there's less in the tackle that
Speaker 5: they're coming up against in tacklers, and it just allows
Speaker 5: them to get to get to their front and get
Speaker 5: a quicker play of the ball. So what's crucial is
Speaker 5: signing that one guy, maybe two, who can make a
Speaker 5: difference for everyone else.
Speaker 1: Tino from the Titans, I mean that's a dream, but
Speaker 1: I mean three quarters the leiter him.
Speaker 2: But we've got a war chest. Surely we go all
Speaker 2: out for him.
Speaker 3: If Benji wants him rich, I will get him. And
Speaker 3: he said he's going to be on the open market
Speaker 3: from November first. I think it came out today, So
Speaker 3: came out today. Yes, so hopefully we need him. Our
Speaker 3: forward pack is and I'm not being disrespectful for the others.
Speaker 3: It's just a Bland pack. We've got so many Bland
Speaker 3: players that are similar types of players. They don't have
Speaker 3: that impact. I agree with both Steve and Gary.
Speaker 2: Slotters or is that too harsh. It's probably a little
Speaker 2: bit harsh.
Speaker 3: But Gary makes a point like if you have an
Speaker 3: elite player, everyone works off the back of it. But
Speaker 3: like see you said, we need guys that can just
Speaker 3: do it themselves and not have to rely on someone else.
Speaker 3: Tino is going to get picked for origin, you know,
Speaker 3: like you know, you're not going to have him there
Speaker 3: all the time.
Speaker 2: We need guys that can do it.
Speaker 5: If you're getting you're spending well north of a million
Speaker 5: dollars to get him at the club, and that means
Speaker 5: you have to have guys in your pack who live
Speaker 5: because he's in there. If you're playing over a million
Speaker 5: dollars for a guy to play in the front row
Speaker 5: or possibly in that lock role, which he can play
Speaker 5: as well. Then those guys who are playing around him
Speaker 5: have to be the budget sort of guys because you
Speaker 5: just can't afford to have you can't afford to have
Speaker 5: two of you.
Speaker 1: Correct, Joel speaks a lot rob about like body type
Speaker 1: and physicality, and Poli is probably a bad example at
Speaker 1: the moment, but I think he's the type of Ford
Speaker 1: that is the modern day nurl forward. Like he's small
Speaker 1: to the ground, but he's fast, he's got some footwork.
Speaker 1: Is that the sort of forward We need to look
Speaker 1: at guys that can bend the line a little bit
Speaker 1: at their best.
Speaker 3: We need more athletes exactly like that, even bigger and
Speaker 3: more like the Hall of Semers of the world. I
Speaker 3: know he's playing edge, but he can play middle. We
Speaker 3: need those big bodies. We don't seem to develop them,
Speaker 3: so we've got to go purchase them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, big big bodies with agility. Right, the Matt Lodge
Speaker 4: style player, they're dead and buried, right, you need you
Speaker 4: need your painhast he's huge.
Speaker 2: But style player Lodge Band of the match next week. Now,
Speaker 2: all right, let's let's move on.
Speaker 6: To the coach.
Speaker 2: Let's apply the raining system to the coach in his
Speaker 2: seat moment.
Speaker 4: Want to mention before we do, and that that's Alex
Speaker 4: twel I'd have put him in that category of hit
Speaker 4: by a sniper at the beginning of the season. I reckon.
Speaker 4: He's had an outstanding season this year and his work
Speaker 4: at the line has been outstanding. I reckon, I've been
Speaker 4: watching him a lot and his improvement has been tenfold.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 5: The big thing I give Alex twelve is he's probably
Speaker 5: the guy that runs off happy the best. He hits
Speaker 5: the ball and gets the ball right on the advantage line,
Speaker 5: which Happy absolutely loves, and he just times he runs
Speaker 5: off happy very well. So a really strong season from him.
Speaker 5: I'm very happy to have him in a club at
Speaker 5: the moment. If you had asked me that twelve months ago,
Speaker 5: you might have got a slightly different answer.
Speaker 2: Five's are well below average general coach. Nine's an elite
Speaker 2: NRL coach. Where does our coach run?
Speaker 3: I've got him at six because your definition is slightly
Speaker 3: below average en real coach, and that's basically our position
Speaker 3: on the table at the moment, and that's a big
Speaker 3: improvement on where we've been the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: I think that's a fair assessment, not being too did.
Speaker 2: You go any higher?
Speaker 6: Gary?
Speaker 5: I could possibly get him to seven, but again you're
Speaker 5: talking about potential. I think the changes he's made at
Speaker 5: the club have shown and not really concrete until the
Speaker 5: last couple of weeks. The game against the Bulldogs changes
Speaker 5: the outlook on our season quite a bit, and I
Speaker 5: think that changes the outlook on Benji Marshall quite a bit.
Speaker 5: If we turn around and lose the next four games,
Speaker 5: then I think you're looking at it a little bit different.
Speaker 5: So my opinion on Benji throughout the season has kind
Speaker 5: of bounced around a little bit based off how our
Speaker 5: form's going. At the moment, I can give him that seven,
Speaker 5: but it is coming off the back of a game
Speaker 5: where I think I finally seen a really good game plan.
Speaker 5: If we disappear without a trace over the next month,
Speaker 5: then I'll probably change that again.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, Steve, if you were just ranking the
Speaker 1: coaches from one to seventy, and he'd probably be down
Speaker 1: the bottom just based on experience. But the fit for
Speaker 1: our club I think at the moment is a good one,
Speaker 1: and he's been able to recruit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree with both. You would have him down
Speaker 4: the bottom. But he is the right guy for the group.
Speaker 4: We've got the mainroine. There's no doubt that the players
Speaker 4: play for him. They love him, and he's got to
Speaker 4: have something to have that. So I think he's a
Speaker 4: good head coach and I'd put him in the decent
Speaker 4: two good category. At the moment where I'd knock us
Speaker 4: back a little bit is the coaching group. I think.
Speaker 4: I think he needs better people or different people under him.
Speaker 4: And I don't know who does what as assistant coaches,
Speaker 4: but I just think he needs some experience and some
Speaker 4: strength in analytics underneath him. And I think then the
Speaker 4: coaching group would be stronger and that it'll help Benji.
Speaker 6: But it seems he's making those decisions. Yeah, well, so
Speaker 6: take a little bit of that.
Speaker 4: That needs to be taken away from him. We've a
Speaker 4: decision we've.
Speaker 2: Sort of done to death the last few weeks. Rob
Speaker 2: talking about his assistance.
Speaker 1: But say, you know, we get to the end of
Speaker 1: the year and we win ten games, what do you
Speaker 1: think Benji's biggest priority is heading into an offseason. Is
Speaker 1: it upgrading assistant coaches, Is it improving the roster or
Speaker 1: is it everything.
Speaker 3: Well, if we finish with three out of the next
Speaker 3: four games as wins, then he's probably not changing anything
Speaker 3: because he've hit the season, you know, like hit the
Speaker 3: line strong as they say, so he probably wouldn't change anything.
Speaker 3: But if we have a poor month, he's got to
Speaker 3: consider that and I think that's got to be a
Speaker 3: little bit of a tap on the shoulder from Richo
Speaker 3: as well. He's got to say, mate, I know you've
Speaker 3: got to have people you want around him, that you
Speaker 3: trust and they're good blokes, but we're not getting the results.
Speaker 3: And just like we're making our opinions now, all our
Speaker 3: opinions are based on what we see on the field.
Speaker 3: We don't like see you said, we don't know what
Speaker 3: they're doing there at the training and who's in charge
Speaker 3: of what, So we're just going off results. And if
Speaker 3: we're purely going off results, we need to win the
Speaker 3: next three out of four games.
Speaker 5: And to give him some credit, like a lot of
Speaker 5: people to talk about us needing more experience in the
Speaker 5: coaching and there's a lot of people who talk about
Speaker 5: us needing experience coach, and then you have a look
Speaker 5: at someone like Das Hasler, and you have a look
Speaker 5: at the season the Titans are having and the squad
Speaker 5: they have. There's no way I can rank Benji Marshall
Speaker 5: below someone like Derez Haslar at this point in time,
Speaker 5: because that squad should be a top eight squad every
Speaker 5: single season, and greed for them to be where they are.
Speaker 5: There's serious questions asked about that coach.
Speaker 1: I think those last four games, Steve, are really important
Speaker 1: because I remember two thousand and nine. I don't know
Speaker 1: how many of our last eight we won, but I
Speaker 1: reckon it was about six. And the last game I
Speaker 1: think we beat the Bulldogs, who are the minor Premier,
Speaker 1: is twenty eight nil in the last game, and twenty
Speaker 1: ten we come out and made the top four. So
Speaker 1: I just think momentum is a thing, even if it's
Speaker 1: carrying on from one season to another.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, mate, and I think the supporter base I just
Speaker 4: totally sick and tired. I have seen a limp wristed
Speaker 4: end to the season from our football team. We've seen
Speaker 4: it for years and we don't want to see it again.
Speaker 4: I don't think we're going to see it. I said
Speaker 4: it at the beginning of the pod. You know, I
Speaker 4: think this team have got something about him and they're
Speaker 4: going to give a hundred percent to the death of
Speaker 4: the season and the season still alive, right, the season
Speaker 4: is still alive for us.
Speaker 5: Benji Marshall, that's the one thing he has instilled at
Speaker 5: our club is that level of fight, and I don't
Speaker 5: think that can be not denied anymore. I think there's
Speaker 5: been plenty of opportunities this season where our players could
Speaker 5: have could have given up or could have turned their
Speaker 5: toes up, and it could have dwindled away into another
Speaker 5: season like we've seen the past couple But there is
Speaker 5: fight in this club and I think a lot of
Speaker 5: that does come from Benji and players Benji is brought
Speaker 5: into the club.
Speaker 4: I think. I think the inclusion of guys like Leui
Speaker 4: and Taruver have helped a lot too.
Speaker 5: I think those guys he's brought into the club have
Speaker 5: added to that culture at the club as well. But Happy,
Speaker 5: he's been here for a number of years now and
Speaker 5: you can't question his fight. But it didn't really elevate
Speaker 5: us and it didn't really save us from those poor
Speaker 5: seasons Paul finishes to seasons.
Speaker 3: That fight also, as great as it is, and as
Speaker 3: it shows what respect Benji's got that he can get
Speaker 3: everyone to play for him. At the same time, it's
Speaker 3: actually damning of Benji because if the players are giving
Speaker 3: one hundred and ten percent each week, that just goes
Speaker 3: to show that our game plan, our strategies and what
Speaker 3: have you have been failing. Because if the strategies are
Speaker 3: right and you've got players willing to bleed for you
Speaker 3: on the field, and we've got the talent there now
Speaker 3: I know the forward pack's not the greatest. That sort
Speaker 3: of bothers me because if you just said he's not
Speaker 3: getting the best out of him and there's upgrade, they're
Speaker 3: giving their all, but they're not doing.
Speaker 2: It the right way.
Speaker 5: I've been terribly critical of Benji and our game plans
Speaker 5: this season, but there's been a lot of games where
Speaker 5: we've been in it. We've been in the fight, and
Speaker 5: we haven't known how to get away of the exactly.
Speaker 5: That's not necessarily a coaching issue, I think quite possibly
Speaker 5: is sides get used to losing, and we have. I
Speaker 5: know we've brought in guys who have been winners at
Speaker 5: other clubs, but we still have a lot of guys
Speaker 5: who have gone through the past five years and the
Speaker 5: past three years of Wooden Spoon, and sometimes it takes
Speaker 5: a little bit longer to turn that side of stuff around.
Speaker 5: And I'm not going to say I haven't been called
Speaker 5: Benji Marshall's coaching and of the strategies and of our
Speaker 5: game plan, but I'm hoping that we're now starting to
Speaker 5: learn how to win games. We're starting to learn how
Speaker 5: to fight in games. And it's not just the fight anymore.
Speaker 5: We know how to finish off a game and get
Speaker 5: it one. That's what that's really what needs to change
Speaker 5: between this season and next season. Have a look at
Speaker 5: those close games we lost earlier in the season. You
Speaker 5: pick up half of those two point games that we lost,
Speaker 5: and we're right in the hunt for the eight.
Speaker 6: We're probably sitting in the top eight right now.
Speaker 5: And that's what we've got to do better next season
Speaker 5: is finished those sort of games off, and I'm hoping
Speaker 5: over the last month that's what we're going to see
Speaker 5: from the voice.
Speaker 2: I've got a bit of a wild prediction, Steve.
Speaker 1: It might be a hope rather than a prediction, but
Speaker 1: I think if Benji gets next year right, so they
Speaker 1: come seventh, I think he could be here for the
Speaker 1: longer than Tim Sheens was his first hint.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well I don't think he's going to be in
Speaker 4: a hurry to want to go anywhere else, so he's
Speaker 4: going to sign him, yeah, regardless, So I think from
Speaker 4: his perspective, he'd be locked down and yeah, if we
Speaker 4: finish in the top eight this year or next year
Speaker 4: we improve again, I think he's going to be there
Speaker 4: for a while. What are you laughing at? I'm not
Speaker 4: letting it go.
Speaker 5: I know you're not letting it go. I'm not even
Speaker 5: looking at top eight. But I'm very pleased you're You're
Speaker 5: hanging on tight to.
Speaker 6: What Steve will.
Speaker 1: This is an unfair one, boys, but we're going to
Speaker 1: do it because it's a bye week so it's a
Speaker 1: bit of fun. So I'm going to just give you
Speaker 1: two coaches' names. The last one is going to be
Speaker 1: Benji Marshall, and you tell me, if you were in charge,
Speaker 1: who you'd rather have coaching our team next year. Michael
Speaker 1: Maguire or Benji Marshall.
Speaker 2: Robin Benji Marshall, sorry, Madge, every day of the week.
Speaker 1: Mate, Steve Todd Payton or Benjie Marshall. Benji Marshall Gary,
Speaker 1: Andrew Webster or Benjie Marshall.
Speaker 5: That's a really tough one. I'm probably taking Andrew Webster.
Speaker 1: Rob Anthony Sebold or Benji Marshall, Benji Marshall, has Steve
Speaker 1: or Benji Benji, Ricky Stewart oor Benji?
Speaker 6: Why are you giving me all the hard ones? I'm
Speaker 6: taking Ricky.
Speaker 2: Stewart, Shane Flannagan a Benji Wow.
Speaker 3: A hybrid of both would be perfect. A hybrid no comment,
Speaker 3: no comment, you can comment if you don't agree.
Speaker 5: No makes for better listening. We've got a history of
Speaker 5: Shane Flanagan. I'm not a shame. Flanning despises doing well
Speaker 5: with a not a full swing. I still don't want him, Okay, drug.
Speaker 2: Cheat According to Gary, never get no second chances or
Speaker 2: third chance. So you don't want Bronson Cherry at the club.
Speaker 5: No, Look, do we really have to go into Shange Flannagan.
Speaker 5: For me, he led systematic doping raging at a club,
Speaker 5: and for me, you don't put young people under that responsibility.
Speaker 6: I think a player is a little bit different.
Speaker 3: I'm just talking about the technical aspects of coaching, nothing
Speaker 3: to do with the history stuff.
Speaker 2: But I hear us one Steve, Trent Robinson or Benji.
Speaker 4: There's no way I'm over picking Trent Robinson. Benji like him?
Speaker 4: Yeah no, But to be honest, Trent Robinson, Trent Robinson
Speaker 4: with Benji would be pretty good.
Speaker 2: I'll take Trent Robinson with Nik Politis absolutely.
Speaker 1: Absolutely the brown paper bags and going for twenty plus years.
Speaker 2: All right, let's rip into some buy cell holds boys.
Speaker 1: Question number one tonight, Rob Shane Richardson will keep the
Speaker 1: West Tigers playing games at Combat Stadium in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: seven by yourself.
Speaker 3: I'm buying that because I don't think we'll have the
Speaker 3: grounds ready for the corporate facilities that he wants a game,
Speaker 3: So I'm definitely buying that.
Speaker 2: Do you like going I think it's a great ground.
Speaker 2: I hate going there.
Speaker 3: I'm in Paramatta tonight on five minutes from there and
Speaker 3: went It's just not my home ground.
Speaker 2: I want LAIHARDI on Campbelltown. That's just me. I'm loyal.
Speaker 2: Question number two for you, Steve, and I'm sorry, Rob,
Speaker 2: I'm going to butcher this. Steve.
Speaker 1: Did you enjoy the cod celebration last week by the
Speaker 1: Tigers against the Bulldogs?
Speaker 5: Well?
Speaker 4: I mentioned it on the last pot I was on. No,
Speaker 4: I didn't. I want our team to be more disciplined
Speaker 4: than that on old school.
Speaker 6: Now I admit a dinosaurs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm a dinosaur. I'm happy to be a dinosaur.
Speaker 4: As I said to you, I say the same example.
Speaker 4: I want to score a try, I run back to halfway,
Speaker 4: shake hands, kick off and go again. Don't fall asleep, mate,
Speaker 4: that's just that's Melbourn. Storm men, storm, That's why we're
Speaker 4: not making the eighth.
Speaker 3: I think that celebration though, was the fact that the
Speaker 3: game was pretty much over if we kicked the goal
Speaker 3: where twenty ahead, there's nine minutes left that I don't
Speaker 3: think they would have done that if it was in
Speaker 3: the tenth minute of the game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, perhaps perhaps good.
Speaker 1: It's also context, rob like the amount of crap the
Speaker 1: Canterbury have done to us the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: like surroud and knocked us back, gold pinched our young
Speaker 1: five eight five Eight's carried on like a pork chop
Speaker 1: and you get that win. And they're humans with emotion exactly,
Speaker 1: the Canterbury fans. They're a great fan base, but they're
Speaker 1: also they get in your face and I just think.
Speaker 2: Good honus for doing that.
Speaker 3: Steeve's right, we've got to be more professional, we've got
Speaker 3: to be more disciplined. But this was the most emotional
Speaker 3: game for us.
Speaker 2: This was the one game.
Speaker 3: Not only all the supporters, I'm sure Benji without admitting it,
Speaker 3: the players, without admitting it, they wanted this more than anything.
Speaker 3: So that's why that emotion spilled over. Let's hope they
Speaker 3: learned from it and it doesn't happen again. But look
Speaker 3: at the time, you know, being of being e Lebanese Australian,
Speaker 3: I thought it was hilarious.
Speaker 4: Guys. You guys have all played sport right, you know
Speaker 4: what It's like. They were winning twenty eight to eight
Speaker 4: with a minute to go. They can just stand over
Speaker 4: halfway look the canny players in the eyes. That's enough.
Speaker 4: They've killed them. They've gone out there and they've done
Speaker 4: what they've had.
Speaker 2: If you've been over at the club for a decade,
Speaker 2: though we've been bent over for a decade, give it
Speaker 2: to him, give it.
Speaker 3: Time, guys, difference. It's just a straight fingers. I don't
Speaker 3: know why you guys are doing it like you're getting
Speaker 3: having a stroke. It's literally just fighting.
Speaker 1: Apparently last week I got a stroke. According to the YouTube.
Speaker 1: Thanks for putting that fatal up YouTube last week. Question three,
Speaker 1: Gary West Tigers are still an undisciplined side slash club.
Speaker 6: By buying that every day of the week. We see
Speaker 6: it all the time.
Speaker 5: We see it from our leaders, and there's been times
Speaker 5: this year where Drome Lawi has been quite ill disciplined.
Speaker 5: We've got far too many ill disciplined plays in.
Speaker 6: What we do.
Speaker 5: You have a look at what Alex Sayfaff did last weekend.
Speaker 5: He's done a really good job of this year of
Speaker 5: getting the nonsense out of his game, and then in
Speaker 5: one game he just throws it all the way again.
Speaker 6: And we've got to get that out of our club.
Speaker 1: Question four, Rob West Tigers are an undermanned organization. I
Speaker 1: guess I'm talking not on field specifically here, but off
Speaker 1: the field.
Speaker 2: By yourself.
Speaker 3: I'm buying it, but I'd rather not go into it
Speaker 3: too much because it's not very nice. But I just
Speaker 3: don't think we've got the resources that.
Speaker 2: Other clubs have.
Speaker 1: You called it, I think the McDonald's of the Narel
Speaker 1: a while ago, it might have been up for a loss,
Speaker 1: but I.
Speaker 2: Was pretty heated.
Speaker 3: But I just feel it's a club, whether it's whether
Speaker 3: it's players, whether it's coaching, whether it's in certain aspects
Speaker 3: of the administration where it's your first job and that's
Speaker 3: where you learn. And then once you know what you're doing,
Speaker 3: you know someone will pluck you off and take you
Speaker 3: to some other position. So that's why I called it
Speaker 3: the McDonald's organization. You know, we don't want to see
Speaker 3: young kids coming to our club learning their craft and
Speaker 3: going getting pinched by the cannabies of the world.
Speaker 1: So that's why I called it that question number five,
Speaker 1: Steve Robbie Farrer is in our top two players of
Speaker 1: all time by yourself.
Speaker 4: And I remember this cause and some grief some months
Speaker 4: back when we ask a similar question. I'm buying that
Speaker 4: for sure. And you know I'm going by the guys
Speaker 4: that spent most of their careers at the club and
Speaker 4: had the most impact for the club. So you know,
Speaker 4: Benji and Robbie for sure, one and two for me one.
Speaker 4: Benji's one, yeah, Robbie's two. And I've got Chris Lawrence
Speaker 4: right there with him, because i just love Chris Lawrence.
Speaker 2: Oh, this is a good topic. I'll let you speak first.
Speaker 5: No, I tend to agree with Steve. I'm I think
Speaker 5: it's Benji Marshall then Robbie Farrell. What Benji Marshall did
Speaker 5: to this club wasn't just on the field. The engagement
Speaker 5: of fans and especially young fans to our club.
Speaker 6: I don't think anyone else could have done that for
Speaker 6: this club.
Speaker 5: And he's the player at our club who was the
Speaker 5: best player in the world at one point in his career,
Speaker 5: and for me, while he had a little bit of
Speaker 5: an up and down career, in my opinion, I can't
Speaker 5: go past him for being the most influential person we've
Speaker 5: had at this club.
Speaker 3: We're synonymous for the style of football we played because
Speaker 3: of Benji Marshall. I accept that, and that's why whenever
Speaker 3: I refer to Benji Marshall as a player, I talk
Speaker 3: about him as arguably our greatest ever player to meat
Speaker 3: deceiver players, Robbie farre and it's not being biased. He
Speaker 3: gave it every week, every single week. I know some
Speaker 3: people love him, some people hate him. You can't go
Speaker 3: back and actually say Robbie Farah had a bad game
Speaker 3: that day.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I don't think he had the impact on
Speaker 5: how we played. And like I'm not going to argue.
Speaker 3: Everything started from Robbie Farrah. Everything started from dummy Huff.
Speaker 3: I agree one hundred percent. But when Benji Marshall was on,
Speaker 3: we don't lose a game. Like when he's playing at
Speaker 3: that level, he can change a game single handedly. I
Speaker 3: remember being down at Campbelltown one night and Newcastle were
Speaker 3: absolutely pumping us, and in twenty minutes Benji Marshall turned
Speaker 3: that around and won the game.
Speaker 2: And oh, there's no doubt he could do things others couldn't.
Speaker 3: I'm just talking about consistency and longevity like it was Robbie,
Speaker 3: even in those lean years. Robbie was always giving it,
Speaker 3: giving it his all. So and I will say one thing, Steve.
Speaker 3: I know I got the utmost respect for Chris Lawrence
Speaker 3: and he was only there for a short period of time.
Speaker 4: Garethelle is his number three for me. Yeah, that's that's arguable.
Speaker 4: But I'll just go back to some of us earlier
Speaker 4: in the Potterrod. You're talking about Adam. We've been our
Speaker 4: best player by country mile this year, right, And I
Speaker 4: said and said you Adam do we said the top
Speaker 4: of the pod.
Speaker 6: I think he said the last five weeks.
Speaker 2: I said, last five okay, last thing?
Speaker 3: You actually said he's been our last player best played
Speaker 3: for the last month.
Speaker 4: Yeah I did say that, Yeah, but I reckon it's
Speaker 4: because of moments. He's had moments where he's had huge
Speaker 4: impact on our season, right, And I'd say that's Benji Marshall.
Speaker 4: He wasn't as consistent as Robbie fare across eighty mins
Speaker 4: or even across the season, but his moments changed the way.
Speaker 2: Are the biggest anyone saw West Tigers.
Speaker 5: Not just that he changed the game in these big
Speaker 5: moments like there's there's things in twenty years time you'll
Speaker 5: still see.
Speaker 3: And like Garry he won the Golden Boot. What twenty
Speaker 3: ten or whatever twenty won the Golden Boot.
Speaker 1: I'm biased towards Robbie. I think I've told this story
Speaker 1: another podcast rob But as an eighteen year old I
Speaker 1: went down to Camberra in two thousand and four. Robbie
Speaker 1: wasn't playing. He was out with an ebreco I think
Speaker 1: at the time, but the Tigers played in the middle
Speaker 1: of winter at Canberra Stadium.
Speaker 2: Got absolutely pumped.
Speaker 1: I think it was forty six to ten and me
Speaker 1: and my two mates had our Tigers as he's round
Speaker 1: out our waist in the nightclub afterwards, and it was
Speaker 1: Bronson Harrison, Dean Halltown, Robbie Fair and Robbi Farrah came
Speaker 1: up to have said, boys, you come all the way
Speaker 1: to Camra to watch us get pumped.
Speaker 2: We're going to buy your shots all night, so you
Speaker 2: base your favorite player off. Absolutely. I read that, Robbie.
Speaker 6: I remember I reckon.
Speaker 3: Robbie was half pissed when he said that to you,
Speaker 3: and it started your long relationship with alcohol.
Speaker 6: Mate, Steve.
Speaker 1: Question number six, Gary, conference system is the way to
Speaker 1: go once Enirol gets to twenty teams by yourself.
Speaker 5: That's a strange ue for me because I don't think so.
Speaker 5: I like, I'd like a system when we get to
Speaker 5: twenty teams where you're actually shortened the season and you
Speaker 5: play everyone once. That's what I would like to see
Speaker 5: at that point. I am a big fan of conferences
Speaker 5: in sports from over seas, A big fan of the NFL,
Speaker 5: as you know, and they run conference systems, and I
Speaker 5: think it works really well in those competitions. But I'd
Speaker 5: like to see a system where we play everyone once.
Speaker 2: You're a big NFL fan, I think it'd be great.
Speaker 2: I know, I know it'd be in a conference with
Speaker 2: the Bulldogs, Penrith, parent matter. Maybe they have to throw
Speaker 2: in Perth or something, but you play everyone else once
Speaker 2: you play your division twice. I think NRL's built on rivalries.
Speaker 3: I've been pushing this for years and anyone that's followed
Speaker 3: my Twitter account would know that. I think the biggest
Speaker 3: advantage of it. You get the tribalism. So you put
Speaker 3: all the Sydney teams in a group if you can.
Speaker 3: It might not be like four divisions of five, but
Speaker 3: if it was like two divisions of ten, you're getting
Speaker 3: the Cannby versus Tigers, Saint George versus Paris twice a year.
Speaker 3: The one team towns like your North Queenslands, like in
Speaker 3: New Zealand's, they're going to get the same crowd pretty
Speaker 3: much every week, and those away games there's except for
Speaker 3: New Zealand, you're not going to get many of their
Speaker 3: fans there anyway. So I think if you've got Brisbane
Speaker 3: going to New Zealand and New Zealand going to Brisbane,
Speaker 3: who cares, it's not going to affect the crowd. We're
Speaker 3: going to get so much so many more games where
Speaker 3: we've got that Sydney rivalry, and I'd go further than that,
Speaker 3: i'd have a Sydney champion, I'd have a national champion
Speaker 3: and then they meet in them like a super Bowl
Speaker 3: type final.
Speaker 5: So that's what I don't like about conference systems, and
Speaker 5: it depends how far you go with it. Like a
Speaker 5: true conference system that you have in American sports, you'll
Speaker 5: have your own table amongst your conference, so it's the
Speaker 5: winner of each conference that kind of go through and
Speaker 5: then the ones with the best record. What I don't
Speaker 5: like about conference systems and the system you propose because
Speaker 5: you can't get certain matchups in a grand final, so
Speaker 5: you could never again have a Bulldogs paramount of Grand
Speaker 5: final for example. Correct if they're in the same conference.
Speaker 2: They'd be a Sydney champion who if they played each
Speaker 2: other in that final.
Speaker 6: It would be but it's still not the same thing.
Speaker 5: Is that. I think once you go into a full
Speaker 5: conference system where you're like that, you're limiting who can
Speaker 5: play who in finals football, and I don't like that.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter now, but we do that in cup.
Speaker 3: We get the winner of the Queensland Cup team versus
Speaker 3: the winner of the New South Wales Cup and they play.
Speaker 2: On Grand Final.
Speaker 6: It hasn't worked.
Speaker 2: That has it, It hasn't worked.
Speaker 3: But the point is, I just think you're getting so
Speaker 3: much more of those rivalry games would otherwise.
Speaker 5: Get another wouldn't have another Sydney Grand Final again, you probably.
Speaker 3: Know you would, but you'd you'd have your Sydney Grand Final.
Speaker 3: Then you'd have like your super Bowl type grand final.
Speaker 3: Then you're actually getting double the amount.
Speaker 4: I reckon there's one hundred years of culture that has
Speaker 4: to be undone for what you'reesing to work. Because I
Speaker 4: watched that State Cup final on Grand Final day and
Speaker 4: I'm thinking to the blokes playing, thinking about the blokes playing, thinking,
Speaker 4: so do they celebrate last week or do they have
Speaker 4: to wait?
Speaker 2: They they celebrate the week before they both seem and.
Speaker 4: When they okay, and if they won last week, when
Speaker 4: that celebrate, then come on a Grand Final day and
Speaker 4: then they lose. Are they happy or are they not happy?
Speaker 4: Like it's sort of like this, you're in limbo, but
Speaker 4: that's because that's not what we're used to.
Speaker 3: But you guys are saying that, Like, I get why
Speaker 3: you're detracting from it, but you're making it sound like
Speaker 3: our current home and away system is perfect. We've got
Speaker 3: the worst system now, and it's ruined by state of origin.
Speaker 2: You don't know who you like.
Speaker 3: We beat the Ruses a month ago, and we would
Speaker 3: not have beaten the russ team that was out there
Speaker 3: last night. Okay, they had half their team missing. It's
Speaker 3: just luck of the drawer. You play Melbourne without their
Speaker 3: origin stars or Brisbane or Penrith or whoever it may be.
Speaker 3: So this current system is flawed. I don't think there's
Speaker 3: a right system at the moment, but it's the one
Speaker 3: that I lean closer to.
Speaker 6: I'm not ignoring that Rob.
Speaker 5: That's why I said I'd go to a twenty team
Speaker 5: comp You play everyone once and then you have a
Speaker 5: break for state of origin. You maybe have a little
Speaker 5: bit of a preseason competition, and that allows you to
Speaker 5: then have a fair competition if you're playing If every
Speaker 5: team plays every other team once in the season, that
Speaker 5: gives you a fairer competition you.
Speaker 2: Might be getting. You're going to get it less weeks
Speaker 2: of football though.
Speaker 3: If you've got playing each other once and that's not
Speaker 3: going to be VP rights an't going to want even
Speaker 3: you're getting an extra game a weekend though.
Speaker 5: That's the that's the best system to move forward. What
Speaker 5: we have now is a problem. But speaking about when
Speaker 5: do they celebrate in the NFL, they celebrate four different
Speaker 5: things they can win. They celebrate winning their Vision conference,
Speaker 5: celebrate winning their conference, and then they celebrate winning the
Speaker 5: super Bowl.
Speaker 6: So it does have merits.
Speaker 5: And for a team like the West Tikers, if you're
Speaker 5: in a four team conference and all you got to
Speaker 5: do is finish above those other three teams, I guess
Speaker 5: it'd give us something to win.
Speaker 1: Right, Seven eight nine are scratch boys who cares about
Speaker 1: rugby three sixty and Almond Barnes Steve.
Speaker 2: That's a podcast for another day, I think.
Speaker 1: But let's say number ten rob Rugby League media as
Speaker 1: a vendetta against the West Tigers by ourselves.
Speaker 2: I'm somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 3: But they feed on our failures, that's what they do.
Speaker 3: And because they feed on our failures, we click and
Speaker 3: we've got one of the biggest supporter bases. And if
Speaker 3: we weren't clicking, they wouldn't be riding on the flip.
Speaker 2: Side of that, we're winning, we're probably lapping it up.
Speaker 2: They'll lap it up.
Speaker 3: But even we saw last week we won and they
Speaker 3: lapped it up with the Horde stuff the Horde celebrations
Speaker 3: and all that sort of thing. So they try and
Speaker 3: put a negative spin a lot of times, But to
Speaker 3: be fair, a couple of the journeys are being really.
Speaker 2: Good, you know, the last few days.
Speaker 1: It's funny the relationships in it steve the more you
Speaker 1: sort of watch it. Like for the majority of the
Speaker 1: past sort of decade, I felt like the news limit
Speaker 1: has been really against us, and maybe they hated Pasco
Speaker 1: and Lee.
Speaker 2: Now it looks like they're on side with Richo.
Speaker 1: And some guys like Bus and the infamous Hoops at
Speaker 1: the moment have taken our side this year. But it
Speaker 1: seems to be a game of sort of who you
Speaker 1: know and who you build relationships.
Speaker 4: With absolutely and become more and more so. And that's
Speaker 4: a real stain on the game. I reckon the way
Speaker 4: journos are aligning themselves to managers in particular and pushing
Speaker 4: certain agendas. You're not You're not getting factual reports from
Speaker 4: journals anymore, You're getting their personal bias. In response to
Speaker 4: the statement have they got a vendetta, I don't think
Speaker 4: they've got to do vendetta. I've got a strong voice
Speaker 4: on this, but I don't think it's a vendetta. I
Speaker 4: don't think they really hate the club. I just think
Speaker 4: they know that by being controversial and the more negative,
Speaker 4: the more controvers negative you are, the more controversial that becomes,
Speaker 4: are they going to get more clickbait? They're going to
Speaker 4: get more response, And that's why they do it. We're
Speaker 4: a big club. We do bite very easily, as we should,
Speaker 4: so that I don't think it's a I don't think
Speaker 4: it's any great hatred though.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: For me, it comes down to how our supporter base
Speaker 5: engages with media. Have a look at we're here doing
Speaker 5: a collaboration podcast. Because our fan base are the West
Speaker 5: Tigers fan base engages in this type of content probably
Speaker 5: more than any other club does. That's why they're constantly
Speaker 5: stories about us. And we're really poor at the moment.
Speaker 5: We're like, not at the moment, but historically, like the
Speaker 5: last three years, we've got three windspoons, So they're the
Speaker 5: stories that are available to talk about that.
Speaker 6: They're negative stories, and our fan.
Speaker 5: Base, being how it is, engages with media probably like
Speaker 5: no other club does. And as I said, we're evidence
Speaker 5: of that. So for me, I don't think it's necessarily
Speaker 5: a vandetta. Against the club. I think it's it's that
Speaker 5: news is now a business and we bring in money.
Speaker 1: Schout out to Daniel at the miked up studios at
Speaker 1: Paramatta for hosting us again.
Speaker 2: Boys.
Speaker 1: Let's do it all again this time next week, hopefully
Speaker 1: after Tigers win.
Speaker 2: Have a man, guys, jeers, guys. Thanks, thanks, boys,