Speaker 1: How are you doing.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the fourth episode of Super League three sixty.
Speaker 2: My name is Lee Addison.
Speaker 1: And my name is John Davidson.
Speaker 2: And one of us has got their TV in the background.
Speaker 2: Is it me? John?
Speaker 1: I've not got a TV in the back. I've got
Speaker 1: a window, I hope.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, maybe people are commentating on the football outside
Speaker 2: your window. Happy happy new Year from us both. I
Speaker 2: think I had my TV on two percent right and
Speaker 2: Arsenal playing Liverpool and I need to keep an eye
Speaker 2: on this because City dropped some points the other day.
Speaker 2: So happy new Year from us both, no doubt. Happy
Speaker 2: new Year to you, John.
Speaker 1: Yes, Happy new Year. I mean it's what the eighth now,
Speaker 1: So we're on the last.
Speaker 2: Night, Yeah, nearly twenty twenty seven. Super League three sixty,
Speaker 2: by the name, as the name suggests, by its very title,
Speaker 2: is a cast primarily about British Rugby League and Super
Speaker 2: League in general. But we do and we will include
Speaker 2: some NRL when that gets going in particular, and we
Speaker 2: do end up in all sorts of directions. John, you're
Speaker 2: an inscrepted scribe. Is that word? Intrepid? Scribe?
Speaker 1: Intrepid?
Speaker 2: You need to wake up, don't.
Speaker 1: Yes, I am at times.
Speaker 2: You're popping up everywhere at the minute.
Speaker 1: Right, I'm like a bad smell.
Speaker 2: Right, that's right. Tell us some of the titles that
Speaker 2: you pontificating the written word on.
Speaker 1: Ah, the Ipaper, the Guardian, League Express, Rugby League Hub
Speaker 1: dot Com, Long Raids and sometimes another podcasts such as
Speaker 1: The Fort.
Speaker 2: You sound really enthusiastic about it too.
Speaker 1: I just tell you a little nap.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah this. This podcast has also been aired
Speaker 2: for the next couple of episodes on the Ashy Rugby
Speaker 2: League and the Rugby League Coach podcast platforms, as well
Speaker 2: as the Rugby League Coach YouTube one, so if you
Speaker 2: subscribe to those you won't miss a thing. What's that
Speaker 2: you're drinking? John Cafee, we're both on the I want
Speaker 2: to know when I'm not doing the morning shift and
Speaker 2: you are. I've been doing this for quite a while
Speaker 2: now and it took me eight months ago. Johnny. Can
Speaker 2: we please swamp if you want you to associate your
Speaker 2: business name with this or the Rugby League Coach Podcast,
Speaker 2: please reach out. I consume drinks constantly. That's why I
Speaker 2: asked you about your drink. I think it's my version
Speaker 2: of smoking drinking water on the Rugby League Coach podcast,
Speaker 2: john My water usage has been sponsored by the Global
Speaker 2: League Network, which is basically a place where coaches and
Speaker 2: players can meet. And I should finish that sentence because
Speaker 2: coaches and players could meet to do all sorts of things,
Speaker 2: but they're actually there to hopefully line up with clubs
Speaker 2: and opportunities. And we have lots of segments, don't we
Speaker 2: on this podcast too, which people can sponsor. Bear in
Speaker 2: mind it took me two years to get a water sponsor.
Speaker 2: Let's not hold our breath. I'm an Englishman originally who's
Speaker 2: lived in Australia a long time and coach some NRL
Speaker 2: clubs and things. And you can get me at Rugby
Speaker 2: League Coach dot com dot tey you admin at Rugby
Speaker 2: League Coach dot com. To tear you is my email
Speaker 2: at Rugby League Coach on Socials, Johnny.
Speaker 1: I'm a journalist. I'm a strangeruralist who's been living in
Speaker 1: the UK for the last thirteen years writing about rugby
Speaker 1: league for no longer.
Speaker 2: Me and get you though part of you in the eye.
Speaker 1: Yes, Johnny d Davidson and on book at John Davidson
Speaker 1: Journalists right.
Speaker 2: Were both We're both a bit sleepy. You're sleepy at
Speaker 2: eight thirty at night, I'm sleepy at six thirty in
Speaker 2: the morning. So let's let's liven this up now with
Speaker 2: fuller caffeine. Salford have dropped out of Super League. Their
Speaker 2: old club has been disbanded, a new club has been
Speaker 2: formed and they've got a CEO and looking at the reports,
Speaker 2: they could have anything between four and eight players. So
Speaker 2: they're playing about a week and a half. So is
Speaker 2: it fair to say that the new coach, Mike Grady,
Speaker 2: the CEO round brilliant and the players that's the team
Speaker 2: so far and they just need to find a few more.
Speaker 1: I think. I think they've got more than they've announced
Speaker 1: and I think that definitely will have seventeen for that
Speaker 1: first game. What is basically, I think in eight days.
Speaker 2: From the recording of this podcast. Yeah, so Arsenal playing Liverpool.
Speaker 2: So if you're wondering what day is it, it's the ninth
Speaker 2: of January and Australia won't be that yet in England,
Speaker 2: but it is.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's the eighth of January and they start this
Speaker 1: season on Friday at home on the sixteenth against Oldham.
Speaker 1: So I suppose to Ryan really about a week or
Speaker 1: so ago. And obviously he's a player well known to
Speaker 1: solf Affairs because he was playing for them last year.
Speaker 1: But he's obviously hung up his boots to be the CEO,
Speaker 1: which is an interesting choice for him. And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, some people criticize him because obviously I think
Speaker 1: he's thirty three, never been a CEO before. But I've
Speaker 1: known Ryan Ryan for a while and I think he's
Speaker 1: quite a quite a smart guy, quite articulate, understands sort
Speaker 1: of the game and has worked as a football as
Speaker 1: an agent women's football. So he's also done two degrees
Speaker 1: in sports management and directorship, I believe. So, yeah, he's
Speaker 1: trying to put together a squad. They've hired Mike Graid
Speaker 1: year's coach, who was the women's coach at Sulfurs, coached
Speaker 1: North Wales and South Wales and be assistant a witness
Speaker 1: and Rotchdown and a few other clubs, so it's a
Speaker 1: big ask. I think. Look, I think I'll get pumped
Speaker 1: by Oldham. We've also just tired a new first team coach.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll go to that soon.
Speaker 1: Came down yeah in the first in their first game.
Speaker 1: But look, I think, you know, Sulfur fans. I'm sure
Speaker 1: I hope have a bit of a realization of how
Speaker 1: the season is going to be. It's gonna be very
Speaker 1: hard season for him.
Speaker 2: Let me let me unpack some of that. As a
Speaker 2: born and bred soulf Audian. First of all, I'm full
Speaker 2: of admiration for the new ownership group and the new
Speaker 2: CEO and the coach keeping the club going.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: That's that's I want to put that on record. That said,
Speaker 2: I was concerned about the appointment of Ryan Braley or
Speaker 2: indeed any thirty three year old who just to finish
Speaker 2: playing and just started in the sea or roll straight away.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm pretty sure if they did a bit
Speaker 2: of a detailed search they could have found somebody with
Speaker 2: some experience of managing a business that's just starting out,
Speaker 2: which essentially is what it is now. I know it's
Speaker 2: in rugby league, and I know that that rugby league
Speaker 2: has its own ecosystem if you like. But it was
Speaker 2: just another example of jobs for the boys, a little
Speaker 2: bit for me, and I'm and I'm not critical of
Speaker 2: Ryan Brilliant anyway. I actually wrote about him in my
Speaker 2: book Rugby League Coach thirteen Game Changing conversations to transform
Speaker 2: your coaching. Did you notice how I did that there?
Speaker 1: Job?
Speaker 2: But yeah, it was good. But so I've always been
Speaker 2: had a passing respect for him because of his Super
Speaker 2: League and Championship endeavors, and he's been a little bit
Speaker 2: unlucky with some of the clubs. He's turned up hat
Speaker 2: and and everything else and that and that, and that
Speaker 2: speaks volumes to me that he doesn't you know, he's
Speaker 2: not going after the quid all the time him. He's
Speaker 2: he's digging in and helping the game. So I'm not
Speaker 2: criticizing him. I just think that it's an example of
Speaker 2: jobs for the boys a little bit. Also, fans have
Speaker 2: to remember as well the CEO of a club like
Speaker 2: Salford right now, I mean, how many staff will he
Speaker 2: have on the beef him.
Speaker 1: Hanpeful? Yeah, you know, And the realization is that the
Speaker 1: budget that Salford will be on and they'll be one
Speaker 1: of the smaller clubs in the well it's the second tier,
Speaker 1: but it's effectively the second and the third tier because
Speaker 1: they've merged together. So it's a very small budget. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's a.
Speaker 2: Speci title might have been general manager or something.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they'll have a handful of employees, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe a full time employees. That's just the reality of
Speaker 1: second tier rugby league in the UK. Then there's no
Speaker 1: illusions about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be a tough year for them,
Speaker 2: and I guess I guess the other question that we'll
Speaker 2: ask here is why they're still playing at the ground
Speaker 2: because I believe the budget for the ground is quite
Speaker 2: significant and I can't assume that they're they're very cash rich,
Speaker 2: and I mean I think Salford fans would follow them
Speaker 2: if they played at Folly Lane or a Salford Roosters
Speaker 2: which used to be echoed honestly, quite frankly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an interesting one. I think, Look, they they
Speaker 1: want I think the issue with the stadium, it's probably
Speaker 1: the best stadium in the championship now and look it's
Speaker 1: a great stadium. You've got corporate, you've got all that.
Speaker 1: But I think they're paying their rent and obviously they've
Speaker 1: got officers there as the business. But the rent for
Speaker 1: matchdays is something like one hundred and seventy grands for
Speaker 1: the year, so that is crazy, like that is really high.
Speaker 1: Whether they went to more Lane, which I believe is
Speaker 1: Sulford City. It's a very small ground. I think there's
Speaker 1: like housing around it, so it's not probably the best
Speaker 1: or most professional. But yeah, I mean that's a fair point.
Speaker 1: I think they've obviously looked into and thought, look, we
Speaker 1: can afford that, we need to be there. The council
Speaker 1: sort of always public it comes out and says that
Speaker 1: they want to support the club and the sport. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the stadium is a bit of a millstone
Speaker 1: around the club's neck, without a doubt. It was for
Speaker 1: the previous running administration of the club in Super League
Speaker 1: after I left the Willows and it is a big
Speaker 1: millstone around their neck. Now that's you know, there's no doubt.
Speaker 2: I can see the men do not like of Swinton
Speaker 2: where they play. They're still called Swinton what they play
Speaker 2: in Bury kind of finger So I'll do something like that.
Speaker 1: Long budget of Swinton. You know, they're not going to
Speaker 1: be Bradford in the Championship or Toloose or London. You
Speaker 1: know we can we'll probably talk about London later, but
Speaker 1: London have signed a load of NR old players and
Speaker 1: P and G internationals and they're owned by Baron Lockyer
Speaker 1: and you know, they're coached by a former South Sydney
Speaker 1: head coach. They're not on anywhere near that kind of budget,
Speaker 1: so there's got to be that realization. But if you're along,
Speaker 1: you know, Sulford, what we're around one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: odd years and if you're a Sulford fine, and then
Speaker 1: the club goes bast and you've got something to support,
Speaker 1: then that's surely got to be better than nothing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we will.
Speaker 2: We will stay on the Championship while we're there, and
Speaker 2: even though this is called Super League three sixty, we
Speaker 2: will get to the super League soon. Because a little
Speaker 2: bit different to Australian fans, English rugble league fans tend
Speaker 2: to take an interest in all levels of the game,
Speaker 2: don't they that that tends to be the reality in
Speaker 2: terms of the Championship. What else has happened this week?
Speaker 2: Oldham played Keighley in some kind of joint training session
Speaker 2: a poll session last week and stole their coach and
Speaker 2: brought them to Oldham. Brought him to Oldham.
Speaker 1: Yeah I imagine that's still in from that session. But yeah,
Speaker 1: Sean Long, who's who's a name of a lot of
Speaker 1: people will remember from his Saint Helen's and Great Brita
Speaker 1: days he left. I think it was September. It was
Speaker 1: towards the end of last year. Anyway, left Oldham and
Speaker 1: he's gone back to rugby union to coach at the
Speaker 1: Harlequins and they haven't had a head coach since then.
Speaker 1: They've got Mike Ford who's their director of rugby. But yeah,
Speaker 1: they've just announced Alan Kilshaw while I broke the news
Speaker 1: the other day as their sort of first team assistant coacher.
Speaker 1: He's left Keith Lee to join Oldham and Oldham as
Speaker 1: of I'm trying to think when the new owners came
Speaker 1: in probably eighteen months to two years or so ago,
Speaker 1: quite well resourced. They've got, you know, big ambitions, big budget.
Speaker 1: They've got a load of ex Super League x NROL
Speaker 1: players in their range. You know, Jack Walker's just Simon.
Speaker 1: I've got Josh Trent Water who played throughout Super League
Speaker 1: and for Saint Georgia, and La Warren was a Manley
Speaker 1: junior youngst others. So yeah, I think that'll be one
Speaker 1: of the clubs to beat in the Championship. I'll be
Speaker 1: pushing for the for the title this year.
Speaker 2: All them a coach Josh rinkwater Manly for a little bit.
Speaker 2: I just want to mention Kilshaw for a while because
Speaker 2: he's had a few clubs now and he left Oki
Speaker 2: in Queensland about two weeks before the season last year
Speaker 2: to Wonder and that ended up creating an opportunity for me.
Speaker 2: I'm like, if you're like a pseudo, well, I'm a
Speaker 2: coach consultant for the place right because we put in
Speaker 2: a young coach that that that needed some support. And
Speaker 2: I know Alan, so I'm going to defend him as
Speaker 2: well as as acknowledge what other people might say. So
Speaker 2: obviously the forum started to blow up. He's moved again
Speaker 2: and he had an issue, didn't he when he was
Speaker 2: in England when he worked at Swinton. I've heard Alan's
Speaker 2: story about that, and I believe it was it was
Speaker 2: sent in a different direction, and you.
Speaker 1: Know, around the noose, around the noose.
Speaker 2: And yeah, all I'll say to Alan, who if you
Speaker 2: like as a friend, this has to be his last
Speaker 2: move for a while. He can't keep he can't keep
Speaker 2: doing this. I mean, I know, I know he will
Speaker 2: have his reasons and I know that this is rugby
Speaker 2: league to an extent, but you know, soon soon there's
Speaker 2: going to be no clubs left for him to hop
Speaker 2: around kind of thing.
Speaker 1: So it's look, I think if you look at if
Speaker 1: you look at Keithy, to hold them while they are
Speaker 1: in the both as soundition, the two clubs of different
Speaker 1: size and all them obviously a much more attractive proposition
Speaker 1: as a club. But yeah, I think if you're any
Speaker 1: coach in terms of your CV, you want some longevity
Speaker 1: in certain positions.
Speaker 2: Uh, I mean, regardless of the reality, people talk and
Speaker 2: people make their own assumptions, right, So there's people who
Speaker 2: made their own assumptions about the new thing, which was
Speaker 2: helped by some questionable stories coming out, made their own
Speaker 2: assumptions about Okayiman's put Okey into context into oneber their
Speaker 2: budget for players, and the budget in the competition for
Speaker 2: players will be more than an awful lot of the
Speaker 2: championship clubs, like this is the caliber of the competition
Speaker 2: and so and the rugby league world is a small
Speaker 2: world too, So I hope I'm coming across here with
Speaker 2: Alan about Allen in terms of actually caring for his outcomes.
Speaker 2: So like, I don't I'm not criticizing the guy, but
Speaker 2: he's got to be careful and I know, it's closer
Speaker 2: to home for him and everything else. But you know,
Speaker 2: if he leaves Oldham sometime in the next year, he's
Speaker 2: going to be hard for clubs to employee because because
Speaker 2: he moves around some much and I'm something who's moved around.
Speaker 2: But uh, you know, yeah, I can't do it.
Speaker 1: I think. I think just on the on the news thing,
Speaker 1: I mean, my understanding was it was not actually him
Speaker 1: who who created that. And then another another take on
Speaker 1: that is there was a massive for out about that.
Speaker 1: It was quite controversial, wasn't it. But you know, coat
Speaker 1: teams target players who are injured all the time. It's
Speaker 1: sort of it's the brutality of the game. You know,
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of worse things done in the sport.
Speaker 1: But obviously he's had a favor of success in his career.
Speaker 1: Got Rochesdale promoted in the Championship over to Loose who
Speaker 1: were you had a much bigger bad budget, did well
Speaker 1: in Hanslet, so you know, it did well at Serena
Speaker 1: Crocodile's back in Maquie, so he could be you know,
Speaker 1: it could be great appointment for for Oldham.
Speaker 2: And they'll be working under Mike Ford. I mean it
Speaker 2: seems to me that Mike Ford has a title of
Speaker 2: director of Rugby and that, but he is genuinely directing
Speaker 2: the rugby and I assume because of Allan's title, Mike
Speaker 2: Ford will be the one that signs off the team sheets,
Speaker 2: planned some of the training if you like, or the
Speaker 2: direction the training goes in at least. And it's an
Speaker 2: interesting model. And I do also think that could be
Speaker 2: part of the reason why it took them so long
Speaker 2: to get a coach, because so many coaches wouldn't want
Speaker 2: to work in that realm. They'd want the full control.
Speaker 2: So very interesting on the championship still, I mean, this
Speaker 2: is a really interesting thing, and I know you're going
Speaker 2: to talk a bit about it in the Job in
Speaker 2: Johnny's Job later, But the Championship has basically amalgamated two divisions,
Speaker 2: so it starts in a week's time from the launch
Speaker 2: of this podcast, so the middle of January probably ends
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty nine. This season because they have to play,
Speaker 2: there's going to be a big difference, isn't there between
Speaker 2: the top teams and the bottom teams who are going
Speaker 2: to be the top teams in that championship.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's a really it's a really different
Speaker 1: because of the Championship and the league. W have merged
Speaker 1: and we've had Bradford to loose and York go up,
Speaker 1: who were the three biggest teams in the Championship there
Speaker 1: Now in Super League it's a really wide open division.
Speaker 1: So you've got the teams that I think will be
Speaker 1: at the top. There will be Oldham, there will be London.
Speaker 1: Then you've got you know, Halifax Witness. There's probably a
Speaker 1: couple of others who could compete Sheffield. Excuse me badly,
Speaker 1: but yeah, the really interesting one, I guess the biggest
Speaker 1: one left there is London. They had that takeover by
Speaker 1: Darren Lockyer and Grant Weischel to Queenslanders. I mean obviously
Speaker 1: Darren needs no introduction, but they took over the end
Speaker 1: of last year. They signed Jason Dimitri as the coach
Speaker 1: and went on a big signing and marketing blitz. Obviously
Speaker 1: they wanted to get in the Super League, but now
Speaker 1: they're set the sights on effectively dominating the cheap.
Speaker 2: How many teams are in the Championship now, I thought.
Speaker 1: Well, this is a good point. There's twenty one at
Speaker 1: this stage. Now Featherston are in. But Featherston went busted
Speaker 1: at the end of last year and the RFL there's
Speaker 1: one group bidding to take that license. The RFL has
Speaker 1: still not decided or approved a transfer to this new group.
Speaker 2: Now that john I've got that in Johnny's jab and
Speaker 2: all your caffeines kicking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think. I think the point is, though it's
Speaker 1: controversial on that. Mark Campbell, who was the owner of
Speaker 1: Featherston when it went is now part of the new
Speaker 1: group wanting to take on the license. So how does
Speaker 1: that work? Do you know what I mean? You? You
Speaker 1: you you run a club and it goes bust, and
Speaker 1: then you, you know, start a new company, wipe you
Speaker 1: you are, that company's liquidated and you wipe the debts
Speaker 1: and then you move on and start up a new
Speaker 1: company and then effectively take on a license.
Speaker 2: It doesn't we're doing We're doing great advertising for RULL League.
Speaker 2: We've started with a club that went bust and is
Speaker 2: now trying to now got six players. We then talked
Speaker 2: about a cult who keeps jumping ship. Then we're talking
Speaker 2: about a club that's going buston but he's still in
Speaker 2: the championship. And now I'm going to switch it to
Speaker 2: Super League and something happened around tessing you in the
Speaker 2: last seven days.
Speaker 1: Yeah that was yeah, not a good one that came across.
Speaker 1: I was sent to me on Saturday night.
Speaker 2: You broke that, didn't you? I think I did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well I broke in the sense that I was
Speaker 1: the first journalist or media outlet to write about it. It
Speaker 1: was all over Facebook, Twitter, social media etcenta. Effectively, the
Speaker 1: story is it appears as though his partner had used
Speaker 1: his Instagram account to publish a series of stories which
Speaker 1: were alleging physical abuse and psychological abuse from his partner,
Speaker 1: alleging that he'd been unfaithful and then you know, physically
Speaker 1: harmed her and that she was leaving the country and
Speaker 1: returning to Australia. So that was Saturday night Sunday morning.
Speaker 1: Those have been deleted from his Instagram account. He also
Speaker 1: then later deleted his Facebook account and his Instagram account.
Speaker 1: And I went to the club for a comment. I
Speaker 1: went to the RFL for a comment. Now, usually RFL
Speaker 1: is not that proactive on these things, but it was
Speaker 1: interesting that on a Sunday morning, it took them forty
Speaker 1: minutes to come back with a comment and the comment was,
Speaker 1: we're aware of this. We won't be making any further
Speaker 1: comment now. Lee didn't make a comment until yesterday. In
Speaker 1: this comment, this statement that the club made has been
Speaker 1: i would say, pretty heavily criticized by well basically everyone
Speaker 1: on social media. And I think it's a really interesting
Speaker 1: case study because obviously the NURL and you could say
Speaker 1: other sports deal with these kind of things, player misbehavior,
Speaker 1: domestic abuse, whatever you want to quit this thing off
Speaker 1: field issues very differently. Obviously in the NROL they come
Speaker 1: down very hard and they've got an integrity unit, but
Speaker 1: it's very different in Super League, in the British game.
Speaker 1: In my experience, most often clubs will just ignore it.
Speaker 1: They will hope it goes away, there will be no investigations,
Speaker 1: another sort of way that they look at as they think, well,
Speaker 1: if it's not before the courts or a police matter,
Speaker 1: then we won't say anything, we won't touch it, we
Speaker 1: won't do anything. So effectively. Can read out the statement
Speaker 1: from Lee, but they said the club is aware of
Speaker 1: social media activity of concern for one of its players,
Speaker 1: accounts that of tesse Knew. Club owner Derek Beaumont said
Speaker 1: the club can confirm that the players agaunt was access
Speaker 1: externally and without his knowledge or consent and deleted a
Speaker 1: short period thereafter. We were instantly aware of this as happen.
Speaker 1: As a club, we have policies and procedures and employer
Speaker 1: play wilful manager who is a qualified counselor. Our first
Speaker 1: put of call in these circumstances is to ensure the
Speaker 1: welfare of our player in any external party that may
Speaker 1: be involved. This was immediately initiated, having since personally spoken
Speaker 1: with Tezi and Kiana individually at length, and then our
Speaker 1: player welfare manager and head coach, and completely satisfied they're
Speaker 1: both being fully supported. I can also confirm there's no
Speaker 1: official complaint to the club, We're going to player, nor
Speaker 1: to any relevant authorities to that in. The club will
Speaker 1: make no further statements about the matter and would welcome
Speaker 1: supporters trust in the club's processes and findings.
Speaker 2: So I would summarize that as nothing to see here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you could read between the lines there.
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting the way they've dealt with this
Speaker 1: and that they waited what four or five days to
Speaker 1: come out with it. They've sort of pointed out there's
Speaker 1: no official complaint to the club, nor to any irregarding
Speaker 1: testing or any player relevant authorities. That doesn't mean they
Speaker 1: can't or shouldn't act. They don't mention an investigation, they
Speaker 1: don't mention any potential suspensional discipline against the player. I
Speaker 1: think it's just generally not a good look. And I
Speaker 1: think the comment about we would welcome supporters trust in
Speaker 1: the club's processes and findings. What do you make of
Speaker 1: that lead what's your take on that?
Speaker 2: It says to me that they understand that what the
Speaker 2: statement that they're putting out could create more questions. So
Speaker 2: in other words, leave us to it, please trust us.
Speaker 2: And the reason it will create more questions is because
Speaker 2: there's some doubt as to what's gone on. Still, it's not,
Speaker 2: you know, we're we've still not had had an explanation
Speaker 2: as what has gone on.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, we don't know the facts of circumstances.
Speaker 1: All we know is that there's been an allegation of.
Speaker 2: Made and innocent, toil, proven guilty and all that kind
Speaker 2: of thing. They did infer that his social media account
Speaker 2: was hacked.
Speaker 1: Yes, I would have you know, it appears to be
Speaker 1: by his.
Speaker 2: Partner, So why not just why not just you know.
Speaker 1: I think I think the interesting thing is though that
Speaker 1: the club says just trust us, will we'll deal with it.
Speaker 1: I mean, in your experience Lee, in professional sports, particularly
Speaker 1: in rugby league, would you say it would be right
Speaker 1: to trust clubs to deal with these things.
Speaker 2: Not when one of the players is quite talent.
Speaker 1: No, I mean that's almost laughable in the sense. But
Speaker 1: you look at the the Ben Barber situation at Canterbury Bulldogs.
Speaker 1: You look at I use it, you can, I can
Speaker 1: use a Lee and isn't this is not a go
Speaker 1: at Lee but well.
Speaker 2: Lee, Lee Leopards, not Lee Abbison, but.
Speaker 1: Yes, Lee Leopards. Two years ago Zach Hardeker got downe
Speaker 1: for drink driving the second time he went to court, etc.
Speaker 1: This was a week before the season over Againt Hasfield.
Speaker 1: He played in that game. Now, Blee never said if
Speaker 1: there was any discipline or you know they pay, you know,
Speaker 1: they stuck to pay whatever. Now, obviously drink driving is
Speaker 1: different to allegations of domestic violence, and I'm not saying
Speaker 1: there should be a black and white way you deal
Speaker 1: with all these things. But you can't just rely on
Speaker 1: clubs just to go and we'll deal with this properly.
Speaker 1: Because more often than not in my experienced clubs.
Speaker 2: I think the Rugby Football League, the Rugby Football League
Speaker 2: need a system. If they want the image of the
Speaker 2: game to be squeaky clean, then the Rugby Football League
Speaker 2: need more power or more balls to try and deal
Speaker 2: with this situation. Because I'll tell you, I'll tell you why.
Speaker 2: Number One, you're innocent will proven guilty. Okay, that's a
Speaker 2: fundamental tenet of our society. Supposedly, but quite often rugby
Speaker 2: league players and sports stars in general or can be
Speaker 2: guilty before they're innocent because of the news leaking out. Okay.
Speaker 2: So the reality is testing new will get a different
Speaker 2: kind of hearing to anybody who's not in the sporting
Speaker 2: realm because he's testing you will it will be aired
Speaker 2: publicly in a way that Joe blogs down the street
Speaker 2: won't have. Okay. And secondly, there is a culture in
Speaker 2: this world at the moment, and I'm not suggesting this
Speaker 2: has happened in any way, shape or form, but I
Speaker 2: do know this has happened to players in the past,
Speaker 2: and I know it's happened to people with different profiles
Speaker 2: that are reasonably high. There are people who extort people.
Speaker 2: There are people who create scenarios, yes, to get some
Speaker 2: financial gains. So testing you is innocent until proven guilty.
Speaker 2: And the other thing I don't agree with John is
Speaker 2: double jeopardy. Okay, So it's not job. It's not Rugby
Speaker 2: League's job necessarily before we look at how it looks
Speaker 2: and the sniff test, right, it's not necessarily Rugby League's
Speaker 2: job to or Lease Centurion's job to act as a
Speaker 2: court of law, or or to clean the streets up. Okay. Now,
Speaker 2: every organization, in my eyes, has a right to decide
Speaker 2: the type of people they employ. I mean, there's there's
Speaker 2: there's there's organizations out there that only employ pass criminals
Speaker 2: to help rehabilitate them and whatnot. Right, So every organization
Speaker 2: has a right to keep on their books who they want. Okay.
Speaker 2: So Lease Centurions have obviously decided at this juncture testing
Speaker 2: you can keep training with us and playing with us. Now,
Speaker 2: the positive of that is that is that testing you
Speaker 2: could be innocent and so therefore is not being is
Speaker 2: not being punished before that fact. The negative if you like,
Speaker 2: or the sniff test if you like, or the failure
Speaker 2: of the sniff test, is the fact that there is
Speaker 2: something that's happened. There is something that's happened, whether it's
Speaker 2: been created or has happened, and he's still there. And
Speaker 2: I think that's the I think that's the governing body's
Speaker 2: job to look at. Because in the NRL, what would
Speaker 2: happen is there's a no fault stand down policy. Okay, now,
Speaker 2: the it's not great, the no fault stand down policy,
Speaker 2: particularly when the media get hold of it. So I
Speaker 2: used somebody like Jack de Bellan, who actually got found
Speaker 2: in a court of law to have not done what
Speaker 2: he was accused of. So for two years he lost
Speaker 2: his he lost his right to practice his his his
Speaker 2: work is his profession at the level he needed to. Now,
Speaker 2: whatever the wires and wherefore was of that case. So
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about that. And as we know, the
Speaker 2: legal system is a complicated thing. But essentially the truth
Speaker 2: is somebody has stood down and was found not guilty,
Speaker 2: and that's the that's the false thing on the other side.
Speaker 2: So lookles and should lee leopards and their moral compass
Speaker 2: is one thing, okay, but the RFLS is a mother
Speaker 2: and the RFL and any governing body should act like
Speaker 2: basically their ship shouldn't stink. They should be untouchable in
Speaker 2: many ways.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: They they provide referees that stand in judgment on a game.
Speaker 2: They they they protect the laws of the game, the
Speaker 2: referees each game. So the RFL has to protect the
Speaker 2: integrity of the game in England too. So I don't
Speaker 2: know what what involvement have the RFL had on this?
Speaker 2: Have they had any involvement? I mean if they did
Speaker 2: have involvement, what would they do? What powers have they got?
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're not said, they're not they're not saying essentially okay,
Speaker 1: So it seems to be history will say that they
Speaker 1: generally do nothing or they don't get involved, which.
Speaker 2: And an another thing, right testing you and so many
Speaker 2: other players that are knocking around they're from Southeast Queensland.
Speaker 2: And I worked at two big rugby league schools in
Speaker 2: Southeast Queensland and at one point we tried to get
Speaker 2: Testing new and spoke with his parents and everything else.
Speaker 2: So there's a human being in there, right, And and
Speaker 2: what what happens in schools and what we tend to
Speaker 2: do and part of the lessons that we give children,
Speaker 2: if you like pupil students, is you do make errors,
Speaker 2: but you are toned for them. And one thing that
Speaker 2: happens in a school system is you know, you might
Speaker 2: get suspended for three days or you might get suspended
Speaker 2: for five days, but you actually always end up coming back. Now,
Speaker 2: what I'm trying to say here is that a school
Speaker 2: has a moral compass as a rule, right, but it
Speaker 2: takes an awful lot for the school to say that's enough,
Speaker 2: you're not coming back. In rugby league, we tend to
Speaker 2: go from one extreme to the other. We tend to oh,
Speaker 2: he's done something wrong, sacking forever not. You know, at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, Lee Centurions Lee Leopards might
Speaker 2: be a club that's a bit like a school that
Speaker 2: has a different approach to discipline issues compared to a
Speaker 2: really strict school. Now, at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: you've brought up two examples of Lee Leopards keeping players
Speaker 2: in where there's a little bit of a smell i e.
Speaker 2: Drink driving and potentially domestic violence. The reality is they're
Speaker 2: a club that doesn't that that isn't doing double jeopardy
Speaker 2: basically that if the law of the land allowed Zach
Speaker 2: Hardacre to be on the street and operate, then why
Speaker 2: should he be punished again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I totally get your argument, and you know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of that I agree with. I think
Speaker 1: if you're a professional sports sportsman, if you're on a pedestal,
Speaker 1: you're on TV, you're being paid, you know it's not
Speaker 1: it's not unfeasible to expect a higher level of behavior
Speaker 1: or a fact that if you're a role model, that
Speaker 1: you're held to a certain standard. Now, in saying that,
Speaker 1: I think the key point is their allegations. We don't
Speaker 1: know if he's guilty of them or not, and you
Speaker 1: are right and until proven guilty, but I think this
Speaker 1: is something that needs to be looked into. There needs
Speaker 1: to be an investigation, and having dealt with the NRL
Speaker 1: Integrity Unit last year, my experiences, they do a very
Speaker 1: good job investigating these things and looking into them properly
Speaker 1: and then coming up with either a punishment or a
Speaker 1: finding and whatever it is.
Speaker 2: Do you think Tess would have been stood down in
Speaker 2: the NRL based on what you've what's come across your desk.
Speaker 1: I think well, I think it's probably likely would have
Speaker 1: been stood down. I think there would have been a
Speaker 1: lot more pressure on Lee and the RFL by the
Speaker 1: media if it was in the L and I think
Speaker 1: there's definitely there's definitely a massive difference in the NRL
Speaker 1: compared to superlue in that in the NRL there was
Speaker 1: a realization that you may lose sponsors and fans and
Speaker 1: hurt the image of the game by not acting when
Speaker 1: these things happened. While in Super League the Championship whatever,
Speaker 1: and there's countless examples from white Haven and other clubs,
Speaker 1: and you could go on and on Albert Kelly when
Speaker 1: it was at Hull of c that they just kind
Speaker 1: of bury their heads in the sand. My point is
Speaker 1: that you know, there's obviously Lee Leopards, their brand and
Speaker 1: what they want to do. Obviously that's their decision. But
Speaker 1: the RFL runs Super League and they should have you know,
Speaker 1: they should effectively go we we're the governing body, we
Speaker 1: need to look into it, into this and decide whether
Speaker 1: there should be a sanction or not. But they won't
Speaker 1: do that.
Speaker 2: And I think that's it. I mean, I mean, I
Speaker 2: guess to summarize my take on this, people can decide
Speaker 2: whether they want to support Lee Leopards playfully Leopards work
Speaker 2: at Lee Leopards, sponsorly Leopards based on this and and
Speaker 2: other things. But you know your your club is your
Speaker 2: should show your value, shouldn't it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, I don't want to go down a whole
Speaker 1: kind of rabbit hole. But what I found interesting was
Speaker 1: perhaps the reaction on social media compared to previous instances
Speaker 1: like Ben Barbara and other ones, where I think in
Speaker 1: general in the UK there's maybe more of an not
Speaker 1: an acceptance because I think that's probably unfair, but just
Speaker 1: a lack of understanding of the impact of this, not
Speaker 1: only just on the potential victims, but for the sport,
Speaker 1: for the competition, for the club, et cetera. And I
Speaker 1: think that Mason Greenwood incident at Manchester United has maybe
Speaker 1: open some people's eyes or change some people's opinions because
Speaker 1: obviously he didn't go to jail Diddy, and obviously people
Speaker 1: can look up that if they don't know about it.
Speaker 1: But there's things that potentially are quite harming or quite
Speaker 1: damaging that aren't necessarily result in jail time. But whether
Speaker 1: we should someone should be punished for them is a
Speaker 1: different argument, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So look, we'll move on from it because release
Speaker 2: seemed to be so you went to whole KR training,
Speaker 2: so the English Champions and we're only a few weeks
Speaker 2: away from uh World Club Challenge. John, This this this
Speaker 2: podcast will bit weekly soon and we're going to have
Speaker 2: to record it earlier in the week. Aren't we really
Speaker 2: picked for it to not age very quickly?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, we might have to record it at the
Speaker 1: end of each round.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe on a Monday morning your time or something.
Speaker 1: No, we won't be doing that. I did crowding before
Speaker 1: New Years. I was very lucky to get an invitation
Speaker 1: and it was well, it was a bloody freezing uh
Speaker 1: and c and be so should I say? It was
Speaker 1: really interesting just to see whole ka in action, how
Speaker 1: hard they train, the variety of exercises and jewels that
Speaker 1: they do, the speed in which they do them. You know,
Speaker 1: it's very professional. Yeah, it was. It was great to
Speaker 1: see a lot of a lot of use of the ball,
Speaker 1: a lot of skill based off you know, you get
Speaker 1: an understanding of how they want to travel last year
Speaker 1: and you know what, they've become one of the top
Speaker 1: clubs in England.
Speaker 2: It's funny, you know, John. When I was at Manly Seagulls,
Speaker 2: a team that you support, I was privy to an
Speaker 2: awful lot of what Des Hasler was doing in training
Speaker 2: with them during their premiership winning years and grand final years,
Speaker 2: and it always felt like training was a big event.
Speaker 2: It was intense, there was a lot of energy put
Speaker 2: into it. The staff were prepared for it. They took
Speaker 2: a while to set it up, they took a while
Speaker 2: to pack it away. Everything they did was scrutinized, it
Speaker 2: was it moved quickly. It felt like training was a
Speaker 2: genuine event. Around the same time, I also did some
Speaker 2: work for the new South Wales Rugby League and I
Speaker 2: had to take some talented juniors for camps and stuff,
Speaker 2: and we actually went to a few other and R
Speaker 2: clubs at the time. I remember we went to South
Speaker 2: I remember we went to Paramatta and I remember vividly
Speaker 2: thinking at the time that the difference in intensity and
Speaker 2: energy levels from what I've seen at Manly compared to
Speaker 2: Paramatta themselves. I thought at the time, I thought Manly
Speaker 2: going to go close in this premiership this year based
Speaker 2: on just based on that, okay, just based on that energy.
Speaker 2: And people talk if you go to Storm training, they
Speaker 2: talk about the intensity of their training for example, and
Speaker 2: I'm sure some of the top clubs that are regularly
Speaker 2: at the top that can be that that can be
Speaker 2: attributed to them too, So no really good insight. And
Speaker 2: if you'd have gone training at Salford or Featherstone you
Speaker 2: might have got a game. You might play fullback for Warrington.
Speaker 2: Because Dufty is leaving.
Speaker 1: He is, yeah, I mean it's not a big surprise.
Speaker 1: You know, there was some disciplinary issues turning out later
Speaker 1: training and whatnot last year and he got dropped. It's
Speaker 1: interesting that I think he had a quite close relationship
Speaker 1: with Sam Burgess. But obviously, as we all know, Warrington
Speaker 1: season went down the toilet last year and they've been
Speaker 1: looking to offload him for some time. I think there
Speaker 1: was there was originally rumors about York then Weirdness, even
Speaker 1: potentially London, but he has gone back to Australia without
Speaker 1: a club, so yeah, I think for Warrenton, he's obviously
Speaker 1: been one of their key and best players for a
Speaker 1: couple of years now, so a loss a blow. You know,
Speaker 1: we're interesting whether they look to recruit someone to replace,
Speaker 1: and they've got Kay Taylor Ray, who's a Kai Taylor Ray,
Speaker 1: I should say, who's a young fallback, really quick feet,
Speaker 1: exciting young player, so he obviously he's got the number
Speaker 1: one shirt, so it's good to see. I guess Warrington
Speaker 1: giving an opportunity a young kid. But yeah, I think
Speaker 1: the dufty thing. It's a bit of a Martin line
Speaker 1: in the sand, I think for Sam Burgess because my
Speaker 1: understanding is last year Burgess was very close the players.
Speaker 1: You know, he's obviously very young coach, isn't He didn't
Speaker 1: retire that long ago. I think he's only thirty five
Speaker 1: or so. He was very close to the players. And
Speaker 1: then last year, obviously things unraveled and a few of
Speaker 1: the players, shall we say, mucked up, and then I
Speaker 1: think he tried to come down hard on them and
Speaker 1: that didn't really work because you can't switch between being
Speaker 1: the player's best mate and then you know the roof
Speaker 1: and kind of you know, you know this much better
Speaker 1: than me managing a group.
Speaker 2: Well, after they got flogged by Wigan in Las Vegas,
Speaker 2: he was video dancing on table somewhere in Las Vegas, So.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's another that's another perhaps not a
Speaker 1: great look. So he tried to rell that in mid
Speaker 1: season and it hasn't worked. Now he was close to
Speaker 1: being sacked Burgess, but he's escaped the knife for now.
Speaker 1: But I'll tell you what if Warringtons start the season poorer,
Speaker 1: you know, if they lose four or five games you
Speaker 1: know early on, you know, won't be a surprise Sam
Speaker 1: gets back.
Speaker 2: So sounds similar to the England cricket team John players
Speaker 2: getting pissed and.
Speaker 1: The difference for the England cricket team. I think the
Speaker 1: Warrington and as arrogant as the England cricket team. What
Speaker 1: did they say was the worst Australian team for fifteen
Speaker 1: years or something?
Speaker 2: Well it statistically is.
Speaker 1: Well statistically they just won the Ashes for one so yeah, statistically,
Speaker 1: statistic clear up your class. Yah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well you've offered one statistic and I've offered them other.
Speaker 2: I mean, I want to win an Ashes by by
Speaker 2: fiddling with snickel, then you you can be happy with
Speaker 2: those those those wins. That's fine anyway.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think what Warrington, it's an interesting
Speaker 1: place at the moment. Yeah, there's definitely pressure on them
Speaker 1: to to start the season. Well they've not gone all
Speaker 1: out with the recruitment. They are trying to use their
Speaker 1: academy and their their local juniors. So yeah, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1: But yeah, Dufty's gone. I don't know. Can you same
Speaker 1: pre servicing in the NRL? I think the knock on
Speaker 1: drafty when he was at Saint George la War and
Speaker 1: he didn't really play much of the Bulldogs did he?
Speaker 1: But was that he's a great attacking player, but defensively
Speaker 1: not good enough in a bit Rocks and Diamonds.
Speaker 2: As soon as we finish this podcast, I'm ringing the
Speaker 2: Okie Bears president.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's gonna end.
Speaker 2: That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Mate.
Speaker 2: I didn't say I was going to ring him about
Speaker 2: Matt Dufty, did I. You're a journalist, mate, you should
Speaker 2: have been all about the facts and RL news. Perth
Speaker 2: Bears are finally announcing some players. Nick Meaney apparently is
Speaker 2: close to a long term deal. Tyron wish Ark could
Speaker 2: be close to putting pen to Bay Paper. They've got
Speaker 2: Josh Curran, which I think is a good signing Liam Henry.
Speaker 2: Where did Liam Henry play and win a premiership? Was that?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: And they've also got Tolby Sexton in twenty twenty seven,
Speaker 2: so they've all of a sudden put a team together,
Speaker 2: or get close to putting a team. Yeah. I think
Speaker 2: they have as many players as Salford.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've got some better players than Sulford, but they
Speaker 1: still I think they've still got a lot of work
Speaker 1: to do. I mean they really need, they really need
Speaker 1: a spine like Toby Sexton. He's an okay player, you know,
Speaker 1: he's around half pack, but he's not you know, monster
Speaker 1: is he He's not well. Look, I mean duftely needs
Speaker 1: a club now, not for at all, but yeah, they need.
Speaker 1: You know, they've gone all out for for quite a
Speaker 1: few players and missed out, so they do need. They
Speaker 1: need some big fish apparently.
Speaker 2: Mean he's going to be fullback and goal kicker.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, I think media was great for Melbourne.
Speaker 1: I think he was the Dogs before that or Newcastle,
Speaker 1: I can't remember. It didn't really stand out much. But
Speaker 1: you know he's gone to Melbourne and done really well
Speaker 1: in crabelling system, so credit to him. But they, as
Speaker 1: I said, I think in the last podcast, if I
Speaker 1: was there, I'd be going all out for Papas and
Speaker 1: for Lomax and.
Speaker 2: Loawmarks might end up at the Storm well.
Speaker 1: Obviously the latest reports is that PARAMOUNTA won't release him,
Speaker 1: and to be fair, if I'm paramount. I wouldn't budge
Speaker 1: now because you know they took him in for the
Speaker 1: Dragons a year before and I think it was a
Speaker 1: bit a bit harsh what happened with, you know, getting
Speaker 1: the release far through sixty and that falling on his face.
Speaker 1: So look, if you're the Wallabies, they should be all
Speaker 1: over that Lomox. But also for the Perth Beers, I
Speaker 1: think you know, he played Origin last year and he's
Speaker 1: a very He's one of the best wingers in the world,
Speaker 1: so I'd be getting him. I'd be signing him up Away.
Speaker 2: Moves clubs a lot, was that, Lomas.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't like people who do that.
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, I can't, can't. I can't judge too much.
Speaker 2: I've moved clubs too. But there's just there's a limit
Speaker 2: to Johnny's job. RFL. I won't repeat what you put
Speaker 2: in the text.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I think we touched on a little bit
Speaker 1: earlier with Featherston.
Speaker 2: Still no caffeen kicked in now are you ready to go?
Speaker 1: I'm fired up. Still not made a decision on Featherstone.
Speaker 1: You know, a week or so before they don't have
Speaker 1: an owner coach players Salford. They didn't. Actually, Sulford couldn't
Speaker 1: register their coach until the fifth because the RFL were
Speaker 1: away on holiday with a Festive break. So I think
Speaker 1: that means Salford will only get four maybe five training
Speaker 1: sessions before they own us. So that's a great preseason,
Speaker 1: isn't it. The eighteen eighteen ninety five Cup, which is
Speaker 1: it's kind of like the Second Division Challenge Cup for
Speaker 1: people who don't know. That hasn't been announced. The fixtures
Speaker 1: is that on? When's it on? No one seems to
Speaker 1: know it's going to be moved away from Wembley the final,
Speaker 1: but this announcement of when that's happening. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: the RFL and you know, we can We've talked about
Speaker 1: the Tessy Newer thing. RFL's just made a statement said
Speaker 1: we're aware of it. We're not making any more statements
Speaker 1: Like is that good enough in twenty twenty six? I
Speaker 1: don't think soainly. I think they need to lift their game.
Speaker 1: They need to get on the ball, they need to
Speaker 1: be more proactive, They need to be held accountable. Why
Speaker 1: aren't they Well, there's no one really to hold them
Speaker 1: to account. You know, I try and do my best,
Speaker 1: but there's hardly anyone who does that, so look, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's just the way the sport is in the UK. Sadly.
Speaker 2: So I've just done some googling on me dog and
Speaker 2: bowl because i'm this merging of championships, League one, League
Speaker 2: two whatever they cald. It seemed to be a bit
Speaker 2: rush to me, and I don't know how much strategy
Speaker 2: is behind it.
Speaker 1: Well that's the RFL to a T twenty one teams.
Speaker 2: How many rounds?
Speaker 1: Well, the fictional list is quite convoluted too, so I think,
Speaker 1: if I'm right, everyone plays each other once and then
Speaker 1: they've worked out a system of how you finished last
Speaker 1: season so that you would play. You're either ranked in
Speaker 1: the top tier or the second, so then you'll playoff.
Speaker 1: I don't know how many games it is, but a
Speaker 1: set amount of extra games against the top teams if
Speaker 1: you want the top teams, or one of the lower
Speaker 1: teams if you're in. But the fact is you're going
Speaker 1: to have, you know, an Oldham against I don't know,
Speaker 1: Newcastle Thunder or Keithley or someone, Yeah, I mean the Salford.
Speaker 1: You know, we might get aid in your scores, we
Speaker 1: might get one hundred mile scores. The real at League One.
Speaker 1: And I've said this for years in the years and
Speaker 1: I'll say it again. There's no quota, so you can
Speaker 1: have you could be Oldham and you could field seventeen
Speaker 1: Australian Kiwi players, which is madness. And then everyone gets
Speaker 1: different central distribution, so Aldham might get one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty grand and they might be playing a team who
Speaker 1: gets forty grand or playing Sofford who gets no money.
Speaker 1: So it already adds another layer of quality in the
Speaker 1: fact that you've got teams who have a lot more
Speaker 1: money against teams who have no or zero money. So
Speaker 1: is that fair? No, but that's the system we have.
Speaker 2: You know your argument about daylight saving in the mornings.
Speaker 2: If you did morning you'd still get up at the
Speaker 2: same time that you were getting up when there was
Speaker 2: no daylight saving. I'd be the one doing it later.
Speaker 2: Oh well, and you're a bit grumpyge on. You're getting
Speaker 2: tired these nights.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: Something else that's happened is the Rugby Football League have
Speaker 2: now taken over the National Conference League.
Speaker 1: Is that right? Oh? Yes, that's to Yeah, I could
Speaker 1: leak that back to the job. But essentially this has
Speaker 1: been rolling on. This is another thing you mentioned rushed
Speaker 1: or not thought out so effectively. In September, they told
Speaker 1: the National Conference League, which is the top level amateur league,
Speaker 1: so just below the pro professional game, that they wanted
Speaker 1: to restructure the men's amateur game and instead of having
Speaker 1: two national divisions and then regional, they wanted regional all across.
Speaker 1: And the NCL were pretty pissed off about this, threatened
Speaker 1: the legal action, criticize it in the media, and this
Speaker 1: has draggedon for months and months, and now well, I've
Speaker 1: broke the news today that they've the NCL has effectively
Speaker 1: waived the white flag and agreed to the proposal which
Speaker 1: has been rushed through for this year. There is some
Speaker 1: rumors that the nc ALL clubs were worried that they
Speaker 1: wouldn't have referees or insurance because the RFL would pull
Speaker 1: those if they didn't agree to their restructure. I might
Speaker 1: be able to write about that in the near future.
Speaker 1: We shall see if people will talk. But yeah, it's
Speaker 1: another bad look. Really, it looks like the RFL has
Speaker 1: tried to strong arm the NCL and the NCL clubs,
Speaker 1: you know, the likes of Siddele and Kriggleston, and you know,
Speaker 1: strong amateur clubs who produce so many great players across
Speaker 1: the UK. And yeah, the RFL says it's because they're
Speaker 1: trying to halt the decline of participation in the male levels.
Speaker 1: Obviously there's a huge drop off when boys or teenagers
Speaker 1: hit sixteen, you know, give the game away. But the
Speaker 1: fact is this has been happening since at least since
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, not since COVID that the RFL is saying,
Speaker 1: and they've done nothing and then they've suddenly.
Speaker 2: It happens in Australia too, Oh it does.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, it happens in pretty much every sport.
Speaker 1: Like the way modern society is, people aren't playing sport
Speaker 1: through into adult and aren't they. There's you know, there's more,
Speaker 1: Yeah there is. But I think the RFL approach just
Speaker 1: seemed to be sorry to force this way through. Instead
Speaker 1: of talking having a dialogue with the players, with the clubs,
Speaker 1: of the volunteers, they've just tried to force this through
Speaker 1: rush it, which it's pissed off a lot of people.
Speaker 2: The if the NRL were taking over the National Conference League,
Speaker 2: people would be applauding and allowing them through. Because the
Speaker 2: NRL are a competent organization for the vast majority of
Speaker 2: what they do, and they've achieved things, and I think
Speaker 2: there's a very big difference with the RFL taking something
Speaker 2: over with because I'm all for you know, the game
Speaker 2: being streamlined, et cetera, and all for that, but I
Speaker 2: think confidence in the RFL right now is a significant low.
Speaker 2: I mean, in my lifetime confidence in the RFL and
Speaker 2: its administration of the game tends to go from low
Speaker 2: to lower to very low as opposed to high to
Speaker 2: medium to low.
Speaker 1: The NRL run the amateur game? Do RL and the
Speaker 1: cr L run the amateur games? But you are right.
Speaker 1: I think what I've read up and looked into the
Speaker 1: RFL proposal, it makes sense in terms of the regional conferences,
Speaker 1: but the way they've got about it isn't good.
Speaker 2: They probably need they probably need. One thing I find
Speaker 2: about movements of this kind it goes a bit too
Speaker 2: much towards the revolution route rather than the evolution route.
Speaker 2: And sometimes you've got to delay something. So for example,
Speaker 2: I think most rugby league fans would like to see
Speaker 2: something similar as what's happened in Venezuela. I think they
Speaker 2: want to see Peter Velandi's come in and throw Nigel
Speaker 2: war In his team out and do take over the
Speaker 2: Rugby Football League. But the reality is the RFL aren't
Speaker 2: fantastic communicating, so they're probably doing they're probably trying to
Speaker 2: do some good things here, but we don't know them,
Speaker 2: and like I said, trust in them is pretty low
Speaker 2: I think. And they've also done a lot of these
Speaker 2: things quickly, so they've been in the gate. We've had
Speaker 2: this new group running the game, if you like, headed
Speaker 2: by Nigel Wood for six months, and we've already got
Speaker 2: two extra teams, two extra teams in Super League, a
Speaker 2: twenty one team championship. We've had a three nail Ashes
Speaker 2: defeat where nobody seems to give a rats ass and
Speaker 2: we couldn't even paint the field properly, and we have
Speaker 2: clubs going to the wall. And we also have this
Speaker 2: movement where they've effectively, to use your term, strong armed
Speaker 2: the Conference League or perceived so we've strong armed the
Speaker 2: Conference League. Now a lot of those decisions that have
Speaker 2: been made, I mean, a fourteen team Super League, we're
Speaker 2: not going to help the England team win the Ashes
Speaker 2: because allowing ten overseas players at every Super League team
Speaker 2: which is another thing they rush through that's not going
Speaker 2: to help. So those two things acting contradiction. Twenty one
Speaker 2: championship teams, like you said, they could be eighteen ill
Speaker 2: school lines and you know Goliath is playing against David
Speaker 2: and in a few in a few on a few scenarios.
Speaker 2: So look, they've done a lot of things quickly. Some
Speaker 2: of them are probably sensible in their eyes for for
Speaker 2: whatever reason. But I'd love to know what they are.
Speaker 2: I'd love to know why they want a twenty one
Speaker 2: team championship. I'd love to know really why they want
Speaker 2: fourteen times teams apart from this loop fixture thing, right,
Speaker 2: you know, loop fixtures have been turned into the devil
Speaker 2: all of a sudden in the last year just because
Speaker 2: of one or two people complained about them in.
Speaker 1: The loop. The loop fixture thing is a nonsense, and
Speaker 1: you are right. They rushed through the expansions, have never
Speaker 1: really articulated the reasons why enough why they should do it,
Speaker 1: you know, which Wigan obviously spoke openly about and they
Speaker 1: didn't really have strong discussions with their broadcast partner, which
Speaker 1: seems like madness. But the funny thing is that I
Speaker 1: meant I forgot to mention this earlier, but Sean Wayne
Speaker 1: two months since the end of the Ashes and were
Speaker 1: still not had a decision there. So they do rush
Speaker 1: a lot of things, but they're sitting on their hands
Speaker 1: when it comes to the England team.
Speaker 2: They did rules is that they're not going to get
Speaker 2: a fixture of England next middle of next year and
Speaker 2: they're not going to get any training sessions. They rushed
Speaker 2: that through.
Speaker 1: Well, there is there is the hypocrisy that there seems
Speaker 1: to be this belief that France are not worth playing.
Speaker 1: No one wants to watch them, they're not good enough.
Speaker 1: So it's a competition, competition for England. But last year
Speaker 1: there was a week off in set aside for that game,
Speaker 1: but they didn't play the game, so everyone just had
Speaker 1: a week off. So this year there's not enough time,
Speaker 1: so you can't you can't win all the way.
Speaker 2: Are you ready for lease laugh?
Speaker 1: I'm ready. I'm ready for a chuckle.
Speaker 2: Because I want to promote this podcast to directly to fans.
Speaker 2: I've got on Facebook. I've joined some fan groups in
Speaker 2: England like the the Wigan Warriors fan group blah blah
Speaker 2: blah blah blah, and most of them just let you
Speaker 2: in or most of them as year question which team
Speaker 2: just support? Et cetera, et cetera. Huddersfield and Featherston rovers fans.
Speaker 2: You know, you sometimes go to a night club or
Speaker 2: a bar and they don't let you in because you
Speaker 2: might have rubbed your eyes or something like that, even
Speaker 2: though you've the only drink you've had is coke zero. Also,
Speaker 2: in states like Alabama and places like that, back in
Speaker 2: the forties and the fifties, they used you have to
Speaker 2: register to vote in America, and if they liked you,
Speaker 2: if they like the color of your skin, the question was,
Speaker 2: what's one plus one? Yeah, okay, you can vote. If
Speaker 2: they didn't like you and they didn't like the color
Speaker 2: of your skin, the question was, please recite every word,
Speaker 2: every comera, and every full stop and semi colon of
Speaker 2: the first twenty five lines of the American Constitution. And
Speaker 2: then when you failed, no, you can't vote. So and
Speaker 2: trying to get into some of these pages reminded me
Speaker 2: of this, and Huddersfield and Featherstone roles were like Featherstone
Speaker 2: was well. One of the questions they asked me was
Speaker 2: when did Featherstone last win the Challenge Cup nineteen eighty three.
Speaker 2: But then the other question they asked me is who
Speaker 2: is the current chairman? And I don't know if anybody
Speaker 2: could answer that, so I and what's funny is I
Speaker 2: answered Mark Campbell and they've let they've let me in.
Speaker 1: So who was the last chairman?
Speaker 2: So yeah, true. Secondly, the Huddersfield Giants one, my word,
Speaker 2: what did they ask which which Huddersfield Giants players have
Speaker 2: won the Man of Steel Award?
Speaker 1: Brett Hodgson.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's all I've got and yeah, yeah, yeah, Google's good.
Speaker 2: And another one was named five Australian or New Zealand
Speaker 2: players that PASTI presente. Yeah, so it was quite tough
Speaker 2: to get into those two. But you're glad to know, Johnny,
Speaker 2: I've been accepted.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm sure when you when you put in the
Speaker 1: you upload the podcast and the Featherston one and will
Speaker 1: get quickly deleted when there's mine I mentioned, So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of love for me.
Speaker 2: And now the other thing is one of my YouTube
Speaker 2: videos got Russian interference. So a few decades so, I
Speaker 2: mean my company posts on YouTube incessantly and one.
Speaker 1: Of those from Siberia, that's the true.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, one of them one of them violated
Speaker 2: something that's not liked in Russia. So I got an
Speaker 2: email from YouTube and violation and there's all these different
Speaker 2: color things on the YouTube channel. Anyway, it says find
Speaker 2: out more. There's one country where it's been banned, Russia. Russia.
Speaker 2: So it was one of my adverts and I think
Speaker 2: there was some you know, three notes of a song
Speaker 2: from Beyonce in there, and yeah, they've banned it. So
Speaker 2: Russian interference media watch. Well things have been slow, haven't
Speaker 2: the Johnny but Love Rugby League? It must be really
Speaker 2: slow because they did a chat GPT Dream Team. Now
Speaker 2: I'll tell I'll tell you how reliable chat GPT is.
Speaker 2: It's had me coaching at so many clubs. I think
Speaker 2: chat GPT at one point had me coaching at older
Speaker 2: So I can't really criticize Alan Kilshaw if I'm popping
Speaker 2: up at Oldham, even though I've not been to the
Speaker 2: town of Oldham for at least four years. Chat GPT
Speaker 2: dream team included number four Whacker Blake, who played in
Speaker 2: the championship last year. Number eight Alex Walmsley, who's about
Speaker 2: fifty two years old. Number twelve Callepi tanganoa like hardly
Speaker 2: the form of a of a superstar in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 2: I don't think number thirteen was Callum Watkins. What say you,
Speaker 2: Johnny about the chat GPT dream Team?
Speaker 1: I think if you're using you know, chat JBT to
Speaker 1: generate stories, then you really need to find a different profession. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: I just I really have a disdain for that kind
Speaker 1: of clickbait and that kind of you know ten players
Speaker 1: who have had a coffee this week, or you know
Speaker 1: ten players who are taller than two point one meters
Speaker 1: who play or whatever. It's the lowest of the low.
Speaker 2: Well talking of clickbait, well it must be clickbait to
Speaker 2: fans of certain teams. I've done an analysis video on
Speaker 2: Mikey Lewis right and basically at the end of each
Speaker 2: one of these podcasts, I will stick this analysis video
Speaker 2: one for the viewers the listeners. I hope you'll get
Speaker 2: something from this. Most of the analysis will be super
Speaker 2: League and Super League related because it's basically the footage
Speaker 2: can be accessible. I've done Mikey Lewis this week in
Speaker 2: future weeks and do Reese Walsh Pak Carragan players will
Speaker 2: be playing in the World Cup Challenge basically what I
Speaker 2: do want to say at this junk to John And
Speaker 2: then I think this is one of the reasons you
Speaker 2: and I get on. We do look at things with
Speaker 2: a critical eye. We don't just accept things as they are.
Speaker 2: Mikey Lewis gets an awful lot of press and he
Speaker 2: gets bumped up a lot in the camera looks at
Speaker 2: him an awful lot. When I look at an analysis video, John,
Speaker 2: I look at it like a coach. I look at
Speaker 2: it like a coach. How can I improve this player?
Speaker 2: So what things can we add to him? Or if
Speaker 2: I'm the opposition coach, how can we expo exploit the
Speaker 2: weaknesses of this player? And what strength do we have
Speaker 2: to look for? So that's that's the area I'm coming from.
Speaker 2: And I'd love for everybody from OKR, well anybody who's
Speaker 2: a fan of anybody. Really, I'd love Mikey Lewis to
Speaker 2: look at this and tell me what he thinks. Like
Speaker 2: I said, if you're listening, I hope you can get
Speaker 2: something out of this. But if you if you can't
Speaker 2: and you want to watch the video, it's actually own
Speaker 2: unique clip on YouTube as well, which I know, Johnny
Speaker 2: you've shared on your ex so I'll catch up with
Speaker 2: you in a fortnite. John, Where can people get you
Speaker 2: in the meantime Just remind them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they can get me on Facebook at John Davidson
Speaker 1: Journalists and on ex Johnny D Davidson and also on
Speaker 1: Patreon at Rugby League hub dot com and.
Speaker 2: You can get me admin at Rugby League Coach dot
Speaker 2: com dote you email at Rugby League Coach on Socials
Speaker 2: Rugby League Coach dot com dot te you. I hope
Speaker 2: you enjoy the analysis, see you in a fortnite. Hello
Speaker 2: and welcome to the first Rugby League Coach Analysis video
Speaker 2: of twenty twenty six. My name is Lee Addison, owner
Speaker 2: of Rugby League Coach dot com dot A you. Happy
Speaker 2: New Year to you. Were only a few weeks away
Speaker 2: from the World Club Challenge between Hull Kingston Rovers the
Speaker 2: UK champions and Brisbane Broncos the Australian champions, and you'll
Speaker 2: also get to see Hull Kingston Rovers at Las Vegas two,
Speaker 2: which is a matter of weeks away quite frankly, and
Speaker 2: one of the players that has got the highest profile
Speaker 2: at hulk k are as they are more commonly known
Speaker 2: is Mikey Lewis, who you will have seen play for
Speaker 2: England in the halves and also dummy half and at
Speaker 2: fullback briefly in the Third Test. There's been a lot
Speaker 2: of fuss about Mikey Lewis. I'm not going to waste
Speaker 2: any more time. I'm going to share my scream with
Speaker 2: you because look at the headlines that Mikey Lewis has
Speaker 2: enjoyed over the last few years. So as discussed, this
Speaker 2: is the man that we're looking at. Mikey Lewis Hulkingston
Speaker 2: Rovers has some great headlines on the radar of several
Speaker 2: NROL clubs with possible transferred date suggested Love Rugby League.
Speaker 2: A few months ago, Super League Grand Final hero Mikey
Speaker 2: Lewis named in England squad said seven News and it
Speaker 2: says the Kangaroos have a big headache. Well I don't
Speaker 2: remember them having a headache. And also Lewis will light
Speaker 2: up Vegas after inking a new whole kr deal. So
Speaker 2: there's no doubting there's a lot of attention around this guy.
Speaker 2: So let's see if this is all worthwhile. Here he
Speaker 2: is in the Super League Grand Final. This got people excited.
Speaker 2: Here's that left foot step and it led to a try.
Speaker 2: I think that was the try that got him into
Speaker 2: the England squad. Here he is kicking the forty twenty
Speaker 2: in the Challenge Cup final earlier in the year. Here
Speaker 2: he is with a very long dropout where his team
Speaker 2: got some possession back. So the kid definitely has some talent.
Speaker 2: But we as always as coaches, we look for things
Speaker 2: that we can exploit and I'm putting myself in Michael
Speaker 2: Maguire's shoes that kick there. He has a tendency when
Speaker 2: he kicks long to put the ball down the throats
Speaker 2: of opposition defenses, so not very good at finding the space.
Speaker 2: He is better, however, when he does attacking kicks, and
Speaker 2: he tends to wait them very perfectly so that there's
Speaker 2: a good challenge between attack and defense. As a couple
Speaker 2: of examples here of him doing this where Hulkingston Rovers
Speaker 2: definitely were in the fight when it comes to to
Speaker 2: regaining possession and potentially getting some kind of win. Please,
Speaker 2: if you haven't already, consider having a look at my
Speaker 2: book Rugby League Coach, Thirteen Game Changing Conversations to Transform
Speaker 2: your coaching words from James Tedesco, Ronaldo Mulatalo, Matthew Elliott,
Speaker 2: no crush of Khalil and others in that in that book,
Speaker 2: including all the coaching tips I hope you will need
Speaker 2: for your twenty twenty six season. We're now looking at
Speaker 2: Mikey defending. He's the last defender on the left. As
Speaker 2: I have paused this screen, he is number six. You
Speaker 2: will see his legs are actually quite far apart when
Speaker 2: he's defending. And the problem with that is you can't
Speaker 2: change direction at short notice, you if you're in some
Speaker 2: kind of stance like that. And here he gets exploited
Speaker 2: a little bit because he turned in then he has
Speaker 2: to turn back out. You may remember in a previous
Speaker 2: analysis video I showed you an example of the hook
Speaker 2: are rights center doing it really well. Mikey Lewis was
Speaker 2: all at sea there and actually ended up going behind
Speaker 2: his defense pensive line. Warrington seemed to target this area
Speaker 2: a little bit in the Challenge Cup final. Here you
Speaker 2: will see again his legs are open. He's sat in
Speaker 2: the seat as we say it, and therefore he gets
Speaker 2: delayed when he has to change direction and has to
Speaker 2: keep going on the slide, and he's actually late to
Speaker 2: the tackle. So he's somebody that somebody like Rhys Walsh
Speaker 2: or the six and seven for Brisbane. Broncos can really
Speaker 2: target in defense and hold him up a little bit.
Speaker 2: He's a very willing defender. Like I said, he will
Speaker 2: chase things downs and the flip side of that, though,
Speaker 2: is that you can drag him out of the defensive line.
Speaker 2: Here he is going a little bit low in his tackles.
Speaker 2: He has a tendency to go either really high or
Speaker 2: really low. Here he is going low again, but that
Speaker 2: was probably a textbook tackle and he killed the ruck
Speaker 2: really well on the back of that. That is rare
Speaker 2: rather than common though in the big games. Here he
Speaker 2: goes higher, Like I said, a very willing defender, no dramas,
Speaker 2: but tends to move very quickly off the marker area.
Speaker 2: Here he backs away and goes really low. So I'm
Speaker 2: going to show that to you again. If you look
Speaker 2: at this defensive line, he's already a little bit behind it.
Speaker 2: All he needed to do was stay in that line. Instead,
Speaker 2: what he did he backed away and this gave the
Speaker 2: opposition number six the chance to target him in the
Speaker 2: defensive line. He ended up pulling off a really low
Speaker 2: tackle and was unable to completely get the root controlled
Speaker 2: on the back of it. So this is what Mikey
Speaker 2: Lewis can be capable of in defense. Here he is
Speaker 2: turning in again, probably a little bit too early, a
Speaker 2: little bit too enthusiastic, and then he went too high
Speaker 2: and got knocked on his backside. So you will tend
Speaker 2: to find this with Mikey Lewis. Now do you notice
Speaker 2: how the wh k R markers aren't square? It happens
Speaker 2: so much in Super League, okay, so don't be surprised
Speaker 2: if it's an English referee if this happens in the
Speaker 2: World Club Challenge. Mikey Lewis is in the defensive line,
Speaker 2: his legs and ice and wide there and he ends
Speaker 2: up planting and luckily for him the tackle comes to him.
Speaker 2: But did you notice how much go forward the opposition
Speaker 2: forward got here? He is defending for England in the
Speaker 2: First Test. Again coming out of the line, didn't really
Speaker 2: need to the ball went outside him. You may remember
Speaker 2: Australia had a bit of joy on the right side
Speaker 2: of the field early in this game. There he is
Speaker 2: missing a tackle. Here he is later in the game
Speaker 2: getting it wrong again, going too low and coming in.
Speaker 2: So certainly something Australian attackers in the Brisbane Bronco side
Speaker 2: can exploit here. He is out of the defensive line
Speaker 2: and he's isolated himself in defense, so a lead runner
Speaker 2: ties him up and the ball goes outside him. One
Speaker 2: of the highlights of the Rugby League Coach offerings of
Speaker 2: the Coach Mentor program. This is our blue chip program.
Speaker 2: If you like, please have a look at Rugby League
Speaker 2: Coach dot comte au forward slash Coach Mentor. In terms
Speaker 2: of our results, twenty twenty six is our fourth year
Speaker 2: of doing this. We so far had eight Grand Final wins.
Speaker 2: Eleven teams were competition runners up. Nine percent of our
Speaker 2: teams finished in the top four of their competition. Every
Speaker 2: single coach and team improved. Let's have a look at
Speaker 2: some of Mikey Lewis's attacks. So coming out from his
Speaker 2: own exit, just setting up, he will literally just catch
Speaker 2: and pass or he will turn the ball inside far
Speaker 2: away from the defensive line. I've not noticed anything with
Speaker 2: Mikey Lewis to suggests it's a great threat close to
Speaker 2: the line with the ball. In terms of his past choices,
Speaker 2: he is with his running, but not necessarily his past choices.
Speaker 2: So he'll do he'll just tip on the ball here
Speaker 2: like that, or he'll turn it inside. You will notice
Speaker 2: him getting to a dummy half a lot as well
Speaker 2: in all the games I've seen him play here, he
Speaker 2: is a second receiver, and at second receive receiver he
Speaker 2: will do one of two things. He'll either pass the
Speaker 2: ball long or he will step off his left foot
Speaker 2: and go into the line. Okay, and we're going to
Speaker 2: see those patterns emerge. There's a left foot step, okay,
Speaker 2: So he either passes long or steps off his left
Speaker 2: foot where he is very good. He's broken play like this,
Speaker 2: instinctive play. His first instinct is to run, and he'll follow.
Speaker 2: He's running and passing instincts. Then when he has time
Speaker 2: to think, I think he doesn't come up with many
Speaker 2: options because when he's at second receiver, he's got nobody
Speaker 2: coming inside him. His outside options aren't fantastically shaped up.
Speaker 2: He labored on the ball for a little bit and
Speaker 2: just ends up passing the most simple pass that achieves
Speaker 2: very little and is easily defended by the Warrington Wolves.
Speaker 2: So I think Brisbane can really deal with him in
Speaker 2: this regard. But this is where he's dangerous. When it's instinctive,
Speaker 2: when it's fast and he just puts in the little
Speaker 2: short kick to try and get an attacking opportunity. So
Speaker 2: when he's at second receiver, we can predict what he's
Speaker 2: going to do. He's going to run at the line,
Speaker 2: or he's going to pass along. In broken play like this,
Speaker 2: when the player is fast, this is where he gets
Speaker 2: better and he looks more dangerous. I think his first
Speaker 2: instinct is to run. Here's another instinctive play where the
Speaker 2: defense isn't necessarily in his face and the team got
Speaker 2: good go forward on the back of Mikey Lewis's interventions.
Speaker 2: There he goes down the short side. So we do
Speaker 2: have a talented player, but I do think that he
Speaker 2: can be very easily controlled by the Brisbane Broncos. When
Speaker 2: he's setting up a set, I e. If his first
Speaker 2: receiver and he's part of a set construction, he has
Speaker 2: a default where he likes to just turn the ball
Speaker 2: back inside for no clear apparent reason. So here you
Speaker 2: will see just turns it back inside, doesn't really do
Speaker 2: much of the defense. That's a default setting for him.
Speaker 2: Halves tend to have tendencies and blind spots, and I
Speaker 2: do think that Mikey Lewis needs to get some more
Speaker 2: variety around him, because here his options run out on
Speaker 2: the outside. He just steps on the inside. And this
Speaker 2: is why I think Brisbane can really control him. That said,
Speaker 2: when the play is loose, when the opposition of going
Speaker 2: backwards when they're retreating, I think he's brilliant and makes
Speaker 2: the right decision. Here Again, I think he did well
Speaker 2: to get some go forward there. He's organizing the next
Speaker 2: play on the back of that. When he gets time
Speaker 2: to think, he ends up just running the football or
Speaker 2: taking the simplest option. Here he comes in the third
Speaker 2: receiver steps back in, So Brisbane can really control what
Speaker 2: he does in that regard. After watching that with me,
Speaker 2: I'm sure you agree with me that Lewis predominantly has
Speaker 2: a left foot step. In fact, that's his only significant
Speaker 2: step if you ask me so. When he is second
Speaker 2: receiver on a line shot, if you like, he is
Speaker 2: likely to pass the ball along or run out of
Speaker 2: the line, including that left foot step. So the way
Speaker 2: to defend against that is number one can keep a line.
Speaker 2: Number two push from the inside so that his left
Speaker 2: foot step back into the defensive line isn't necessarily an option. Thirdly,
Speaker 2: something else you can do is outside where Mikey Lewis
Speaker 2: is looking, so the right center for example, because he
Speaker 2: tends to play on the left, that defender can jam
Speaker 2: in or they can umbrella that and Mikey Lewis will
Speaker 2: then step in. So Brisbane can I think, possibly deal
Speaker 2: with Mikey Lewis quite easily in that circumstance. When he's
Speaker 2: second receiver, if he's involved in the setup of a set,
Speaker 2: he tends to do an inside pass, so that's quite
Speaker 2: readable and Brisbane will be able to defend that on
Speaker 2: the inside. That said, all I've said about is attacking
Speaker 2: weaknesses or his tendencies, if you like. His first instinct
Speaker 2: is to run, and I think he's more dangerous in
Speaker 2: broken play, so when the play is fluid, when the
Speaker 2: defense is moving backwards, when he runs at the line,
Speaker 2: he makes good decisions when he's backing his instincts, when
Speaker 2: he has to think, when he has to plan, I
Speaker 2: don't think he's as good and that's where Brisbane Broncos
Speaker 2: have to be very ware he particularly on the last
Speaker 2: tackle if he gets caught with a ball. A couple
Speaker 2: of times he just done it and went through the
Speaker 2: defensive line defensively is a very very willing defender. That said,
Speaker 2: though I think sometimes he over commits to things. He'll
Speaker 2: go either too high or too low in the tackles.
Speaker 2: Goes too high, sometimes gets bumped off, goes too low
Speaker 2: quick play the ball on the back of that, and
Speaker 2: the other thing you noticed in the clip is how
Speaker 2: he sometimes overslides, the slides past the ball or he
Speaker 2: comes out of the line too quickly. That said, there's
Speaker 2: so much energy about him. Is a very willing character
Speaker 2: and it's certainly somebody Brisbane Broncos have to be careful
Speaker 2: of the next few weeks. You're going to see a
Speaker 2: little bit of Rhyese Walsh and you're also going to
Speaker 2: see Jesse Litton and Pat Carry done as well. In
Speaker 2: the analysis videos. Take care have a look at rugbilly
Speaker 2: coach dot comverta U forward slash coach mentor