Speaker 1: Leeds Saints and Hu k Are lost. One act of
Speaker 1: foul play could come at a cost Mikey Lewis Simbon
Speaker 1: for tripping someone up with the Broncos in town for
Speaker 1: the World Club Cup. Warrington's win put a smile on
Speaker 1: Sam's face, but it's currently the Dragons who sit in
Speaker 1: first place. Halifax Panthers have gone to the wall. Will
Speaker 1: there be more clubs who will soon take a fall?
Speaker 1: The first round of Super League has been and gone.
Speaker 1: Here all about it now with Big Lee and John
Speaker 1: Welcome to the ninth episode of Super League three sixty,
Speaker 1: a podcast primarily about the top tier of British rugby league.
Speaker 1: How are you Johnny?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: Well that was I have to say, great, great poetry there.
Speaker 1: I'm getting better each week. I'm going to do about
Speaker 1: every week. Now you're sent about heart. People will think
Speaker 1: I've married to a man or something.
Speaker 2: I'm not. I'm very anything wrong with that. You can
Speaker 2: marry anyone you're like, then, no offense. You know I'm
Speaker 2: a man.
Speaker 1: This weekend, John, We've probably just had a a podcast
Speaker 1: canceled now for that for what I've just said. But
Speaker 1: all the events looked good, didn't they? At Super League.
Speaker 1: It was a great weekend I think for British rugby league.
Speaker 1: Not many people are as critical of British ruble league
Speaker 1: in general as you are I and we get criticized
Speaker 1: a lot for that. But at the same time I
Speaker 1: was so happy for the game. What's all this weekend?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think a few people have said
Speaker 2: best opening round of super legue either. I'm not seen
Speaker 2: all thirty one rounds even though I am not old,
Speaker 2: but look, it was a fantastic round as you said,
Speaker 2: just great to see everything from Thursday nights open to
Speaker 2: the games on Friday, the games on Saturday, and even
Speaker 2: the cast came just gone past. You know, cass were
Speaker 2: very good, big you know, sellout upsets, some great trials,
Speaker 2: a bit of controversy, bit of drama and everything. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean more more of the same place it was. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it was probably the best opening super League
Speaker 2: good hope for so it's fantastic to see for me.
Speaker 1: For me, it was all the events look good. I
Speaker 1: mean when I think back of opening rounds of super League,
Speaker 1: obviously the very first one when Paris played Sheffield managed
Speaker 1: to get the win. All the events looked good. It
Speaker 1: was great crowds and that's all we ask for, isn't it.
Speaker 1: We don't care that stadia are small at times. That's
Speaker 1: rugby league. People don't care about that. We just want
Speaker 1: to see what we've got maximized. We had a record
Speaker 1: crowd in Warrington that's more than half a century. They've
Speaker 1: broken a record that's over half a century, best non
Speaker 1: Derby crowd for a decade. In Hall it was house
Speaker 1: full sign everywhere. In terms of the football played, I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously over time I will be doing more and more
Speaker 1: analysis videos and of course we've spoken regularly about the
Speaker 1: caliber of signings, et cetera. But in terms of sporting
Speaker 1: theater it was it was definitely excellent. I mean all
Speaker 1: games were something in the region of twenty points to
Speaker 1: eighteen or sixteen or something like that. So I guess
Speaker 1: my question to you, John is how has this happened?
Speaker 1: Is it just a freak that it's all happened this
Speaker 1: weekend or have you seen things on the ground that
Speaker 1: have made this happen.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's a good question. I think. Obviously, you
Speaker 2: know there is the rap changes which has spent things
Speaker 2: up a bit. There was a lot of penalties, I
Speaker 2: know a lot of people complaining about the refereeing, and
Speaker 2: obviously there are variations between you know, what is considered
Speaker 2: penalty and six again what isn't. But I thought it
Speaker 2: was just great contest. Look, first game around the season.
Speaker 2: Everyone's prepared months for this, like everyone every team, every
Speaker 2: player is going to be out for it. Most teams
Speaker 2: will have, you know, at least seventeen fit players, so
Speaker 2: they're not carrying injuries like their will throughout the season.
Speaker 2: And I think what happened with York and whole KR,
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure Brudford and Louise were already pumped
Speaker 2: up and really good for their for their games, but
Speaker 2: he probably just gave a bit more confidence to them
Speaker 2: as well, just you know the fact that hey, you know,
Speaker 2: we might have been a championship team, but we can
Speaker 2: we can match it with with the example of York,
Speaker 2: the best team in the competition last year. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it just did had a bit of everything. You know,
Speaker 2: There was there was a bit of drama off the field.
Speaker 2: There was you know, John Wilkin speaking out very bold
Speaker 2: about Saint Helen's. You know, we had some fantastic tries
Speaker 2: like the weather, and then this is a factor obviously
Speaker 2: for anyone missing Australia. Weather in England it's rain every
Speaker 2: day this year, so what are we for about six
Speaker 2: weeks and it is also bloody cold, and I think
Speaker 2: in Catalans in the south of France there was something
Speaker 2: like one hundred and eighty degree wins or something before
Speaker 2: it was a midfield but some of the skill on
Speaker 2: show that the underarm off fload to set up on these,
Speaker 2: you know, the physicality of that was was brilliant and
Speaker 2: you know Kaye Taylor Ray stepping around like it had
Speaker 2: a bit of everything. So it's exactly what you would want.
Speaker 2: I think people say this a lot as well, but
Speaker 2: you know, so often things off the field that let
Speaker 2: the sport down, but the players in regular league very
Speaker 2: rarely do, yeah, let the sport down. So they did.
Speaker 2: The players did their part, and I think the fans
Speaker 2: also deserve credit because they did their part as well.
Speaker 2: They turned up even in pretty ship weather. They turned
Speaker 2: up in the Ansiel. I was at the York game.
Speaker 2: The atmosphere there was fastic. The Warrington game on the TV,
Speaker 2: that atmosphere looked a bit, looked great, at Lee great
Speaker 2: a whole you know, just everything just came together. I mean,
Speaker 2: whether there's a bit of luck in that, I guess,
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: But has there been any different marketing from the game?
Speaker 1: I mean, you live in the country.
Speaker 2: I mean there's a new ad campaign, but I don't
Speaker 2: think there's been There's not been an increase in ad
Speaker 2: budget or anything like that. And if anything, I think
Speaker 2: in terms of national newspaper coverage and maybe mainstream coverage
Speaker 2: has probably been less. But look, I think all the clubs,
Speaker 2: really like Warrington, have put a lot of money into
Speaker 2: their stadium and you know, setting up that first game,
Speaker 2: and you know, Lee and Wakefield did a lot to
Speaker 2: sort of you know, the fan experience of their game.
Speaker 2: So I think everyone's working hard to maximize what they've got.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it just all came together, and you know,
Speaker 2: it's been it's been fantastic. There's so much, so many
Speaker 2: talking points from all of those games. I'm sure we
Speaker 2: won't better cover them all in this pod.
Speaker 1: Some some so called journalists that you've expressed the reservations
Speaker 1: about in the past I won't name, decided to say
Speaker 1: that it was vindication for the fourteen teams being brought
Speaker 1: into super He called that one a bit early.
Speaker 2: Some people have suggested just on that, just on that,
Speaker 2: I think I think colleagues team that's said the same. Look,
Speaker 2: I would say it's round one, so you wouldn't know,
Speaker 2: you don't want to go to early.
Speaker 1: There's been shot results in the opening round of Super
Speaker 1: leau quite regularly. I mean last year we had a
Speaker 1: one nil victory. Yeah let me let me yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, and that was fantastic from me, And I
Speaker 1: wouldn't say that. I mean, that was an upset of sorts.
Speaker 2: But Lee, you know, been a top team for a
Speaker 2: couple of years now, so it wasn't the biggest episode.
Speaker 1: I think the result that the score line was the upset. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: of course.
Speaker 2: But look, you know, I don't want the expansion of
Speaker 2: fourteen teams to fail. That's I want to see the
Speaker 2: game thrive and grow and get bigger and more popular.
Speaker 2: That's that's why I, you know, do what I do
Speaker 2: and push for change and you know, you know, critique
Speaker 2: things because I'm passionate about the sport. I wanted to
Speaker 2: see it do well. It'd be great with the fourding
Speaker 2: teams can do. But I think people either criticizing or
Speaker 2: having questions about it they are valid because you know
Speaker 2: there's there's numerous voices when they're valid. But yeah, let's
Speaker 2: let's judge accurately at the end of the season after
Speaker 2: twenty seven rounds to see how it is. But look,
Speaker 2: it's a fantastic start and that, you know that should
Speaker 2: be celebrated. Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Lee Addison.
Speaker 1: I'm obviously British sounding person who's lived in Australia for
Speaker 1: two decades. I've been a rugby league coach in this
Speaker 1: country at pretty high levels for a long time. John,
Speaker 1: you're a journal in the UK and instead of us
Speaker 1: going you know through the whole rigmarole that can just
Speaker 1: listen to some old podcasts or read the description. I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to make this pod intro shorter, John, because
Speaker 1: it was the longest in history. It's still being aired
Speaker 1: on the Ashes Rugby League podcast and the Rugby League
Speaker 1: Coach podcast platforms, as well as the Rugby League Coach
Speaker 1: YouTube too. The idea is we want you all to
Speaker 1: come to Super League three sixty and the Rugby League
Speaker 1: Coach YouTube for that. Let's give our contact details out John,
Speaker 1: so I'll go first admin at Rugby League coach dot com.
Speaker 1: Dot au is my email Rugby League coach dot com.
Speaker 1: Dot tay you is my website at Rugby League Coach
Speaker 1: is my social media handle.
Speaker 2: John. You can get me on x Johnny D. Davison.
Speaker 2: You can get me on a Facebook at John Davidson
Speaker 2: Journalist and on Patreon at Rugby League hub dot com.
Speaker 1: Longreads John's tweet of the week, which I am the
Speaker 1: committee for. It is a narrow mind which cannot look
Speaker 1: at a subject from various points of view? Would you
Speaker 1: like to elaborate on that, John, I.
Speaker 2: Mean it was a funny week, obviously I had a well,
Speaker 2: it was basically a double boat spread on the Bradford
Speaker 2: Bulls and their return of Super League and the state
Speaker 2: of Honzel Stadium on was online on Thursday and in
Speaker 2: the paper on Saturday. That story didn't go down with
Speaker 2: a lot of There was some interesting feedback. I think
Speaker 2: journalistic turd was probably my favorite. But the point, I guess,
Speaker 2: I mean a lot of the people who simply have
Speaker 2: a problem the article hadn't actually read it, because if
Speaker 2: I had, they know I'd interviewed a Bradford fan who
Speaker 2: was very positive and complimentary about oddsall and obviously the
Speaker 2: head coach Kurk Haggerty, who was obviously complimentary about Oddsall.
Speaker 2: I also interviewed Adrian Land, the coach of Lee who
Speaker 2: played at Odsall in Well around two thousand and two
Speaker 2: thousand and one, and if you actually look at his quotes,
Speaker 2: he was he was happy, he wants to see Bradford
Speaker 2: do well, He's glad they're back, but he wasn't that
Speaker 2: complimentary about the pitch at Onsall, which is his opinion.
Speaker 2: You know, look, people are allowed to have opinions. Lye
Speaker 2: thing about Bradford's return. Yeah, it shocked a lot of
Speaker 2: people that they finished tenth and you know a lot
Speaker 2: of legitimate questions there about the RFL buying odds All
Speaker 2: from them for a million pound twelve thirteen years ago
Speaker 2: and then them selling it back to them more recently
Speaker 2: for what was reported I think around two undred and
Speaker 2: fifty grand. So they are all legitimate questions. And my
Speaker 2: point is you can't just ignore things that are happening.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of people in rugby league who just
Speaker 2: want to if anything bad or questionable happens, I just
Speaker 2: ignore it and want to focus on the positives. I
Speaker 2: prefer to live in the real world and looking good
Speaker 2: and bad me do.
Speaker 1: That's why we get on the Bradford fans seem to
Speaker 1: be particularly touchy. Now, I know a lot of people
Speaker 1: from Bradford, and I've met many from Bradford and the past,
Speaker 1: and a lovely band after the Jamie Pope can't know
Speaker 1: they're a lovely They're a lovely community.
Speaker 2: But they must be.
Speaker 1: The touchiest people on Facebook and Instagram when it comes
Speaker 1: to comments about their team, they are very precious.
Speaker 2: I understand a little bit in the sense that well,
Speaker 2: they went through three administrations and for a period there
Speaker 2: they were arguably the biggest club in world rugby league.
Speaker 2: You know, they were winning World Cup challenges and Super
Speaker 2: Hi Grand Forms and Cups and you know, producing great
Speaker 2: players like saying versus et cetera. And there's been a
Speaker 2: fair fall, but yeah, there is a there is a
Speaker 2: contingent out there who were very touchy. But I'd have
Speaker 2: the same with virtually every club, whether it would be
Speaker 2: hol of c said Helen's Toronto fans were particularly touchy.
Speaker 2: But look, I know some Bradford fans and they're great
Speaker 2: people and they share some of my thoughts as well.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we we move on. Play on.
Speaker 1: Jack Oh Hastings will talk about what he did a
Speaker 1: little bit later, so we don't need to elaborate on
Speaker 1: that but at the moment. But the Rugby League tweet
Speaker 1: of the week was from at John A one eight
Speaker 1: hundred two three eight two, who said, in reference to
Speaker 1: this issue, he said, shortest honeymoon period since Henry the
Speaker 1: h got a new act for Christmas.
Speaker 2: It's not bad, that's pretty funny. Actually to preach the
Speaker 2: you're going to preach the comedy.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. Socials pop at Lee of the
Speaker 1: week zero. I am a very popular person at the moment.
Speaker 1: I've had I've had so much, so many comments on
Speaker 1: my socials lately of people agreeing with me and adding
Speaker 1: to my thoughts.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's.
Speaker 1: May maybe this same wave as what's helped super League
Speaker 1: be such a good product this weekend.
Speaker 2: Who maybe I'm on that it's usually Aussie blokes wanting
Speaker 2: a camera and bash, isn't it? That's right?
Speaker 1: Maybe the moons and the universe are moving in a
Speaker 1: certain way. Questions James Varley our Friends said whether the
Speaker 1: NRL should invest in a franchise in South Wales. Right
Speaker 1: from grassroots community up to a Super E club. Rather,
Speaker 1: I should say he asked this. The rugby passion is
Speaker 1: there and rugby union is in a terrible state in
Speaker 1: Wales at the moment, so John Wales are on the
Speaker 1: knees rugby wise. Should the MRL seize this and decide
Speaker 1: to try and do something in South Wales?
Speaker 2: I don't think the NRL, just from looking at from
Speaker 2: a business case, I don't think they would ever invest in,
Speaker 2: say one club and not have a say in how
Speaker 2: you know, the wider game has been run. That doesn't
Speaker 2: seem like a smart decision to me. There's been a
Speaker 2: few people over here obviously for those who don't find
Speaker 2: rugby union in Wales, Rugby union's being perhaps it much
Speaker 2: like a training rugby union, or even worse than them
Speaker 2: in a massive hole for a few years, ever since
Speaker 2: they beat the Wallows in the twenty three World Cup
Speaker 2: and now they're cutting franchises their clubs as well. But
Speaker 2: insane that I don't think just you know, well, the
Speaker 2: RFL doesn't have any money who invested Wales To put
Speaker 2: it mildly, but I don't think you can just engineer
Speaker 2: rugby league in Wales like Obviously it's a small sport there.
Speaker 2: There are some people into it, but we've had the
Speaker 2: Crusaders and Super League before they went bust, what was
Speaker 2: it about thirteen years ago, forteen years ago. I think
Speaker 2: there need to be a whole kind of strategy for Whales,
Speaker 2: which would take a long time. You can't just whack
Speaker 2: a club.
Speaker 1: In there, so it would need it would need another
Speaker 1: Darren Lock here and Grant we sure.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah. I mean there's only one semi professional
Speaker 2: club in there, that's North Wales Crusaders West Wales which
Speaker 2: was Southwest before that went bust a couple of years ago. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they don't get big crowds. There's not a huge you know,
Speaker 2: Wales as a rugby league playing nation if you remember
Speaker 2: from I guess even the mid nineties when they did
Speaker 2: well in the World Cup. But before that was because
Speaker 2: of all the rugby union players who were coming across.
Speaker 2: But that doesn't happen anymore. So I think it's a
Speaker 2: bit pie in the sky in the short term. I'm
Speaker 2: the sky.
Speaker 1: James David Right, how does the NRL Sky Sports deal work?
Speaker 1: Do they pay extra on top of Super League or
Speaker 1: is it included? And so that one, John, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think right now super League is on Fox Sports
Speaker 1: and KO in Australia simply because News Corp have the
Speaker 1: rights to it in the UK. But I say that
Speaker 1: apparently it's not on TV, it's not on Sky Sports
Speaker 1: in New Zealand, so you probably know more.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, News Corp don't have the you don't want
Speaker 2: to ownership of Sky in the UK anymore, so that
Speaker 2: was that changed a couple of years ago. I think
Speaker 2: I don't know for sure, but my understanding is it's
Speaker 2: just sort of some reciprocal agreement. I don't think they
Speaker 2: get it they pay any money for the rights.
Speaker 1: Who owns News Corp in England?
Speaker 2: Now that's a very good question. Off the top of
Speaker 2: my I don't know, but obviously.
Speaker 1: With the I think it's do Zone over here now.
Speaker 1: I think, yes, there's designer owned Fox, but it is different.
Speaker 1: It's not the sort of Rupert Murdoch Lochlan Murdock situation,
Speaker 1: which obviously the Murnoch's, particularly Locklan Murdock I'm not even
Speaker 1: sure if he still does. But he owned the Brisbane Broncos,
Speaker 1: didn't he and strong links with Rugular But that's not
Speaker 1: the case anymore. I think it's just a reciproable agreement
Speaker 1: because super League ratings in Australia would be I mean,
Speaker 1: particularly because of the time difference is kind of non existent.
Speaker 1: They're not They're not a raiding content, so I don't
Speaker 1: think there's really any money coming in for them. Trent
Speaker 1: ninety four on ninety four W Trent ninety four w
Speaker 1: on Instagram. It was a bit late with this message
Speaker 1: because we've already planned and we're about to record this one.
Speaker 1: But he said, would love a full nerd breakdown of
Speaker 1: the super League strategic review documents in the next Super
Speaker 1: League three It's sixty episode and he said, try and
Speaker 1: record it next Thursday. It didn't realize we changed to
Speaker 1: your Sunday night. A shame it dropped the day after
Speaker 1: the podcast came out. I found section K France, Wells, London, Scotland,
Speaker 1: Island Overseas relationships an expansion particularly interesting. What could this
Speaker 1: look like and how could it be achieved? So are
Speaker 1: you well, first of all, we're not nerds? Are we
Speaker 1: John or are we?
Speaker 2: I think I'll probably I was probably called that in
Speaker 2: high school.
Speaker 1: I think I'm a Yeah, I think I might be
Speaker 1: a nerd trapped in a rugby league player's body, old
Speaker 1: rugby league players body. That's something we might do, might
Speaker 1: get kap plan back on, maybe Broxton.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it will be good. Look, I think I
Speaker 2: obviously read through when it came through. It's not really
Speaker 2: it's not a plan. It's more of a wish list.
Speaker 2: I mean a lot of the to be fair, a
Speaker 2: lot of the stuff has just recycled the old ideas.
Speaker 2: It's not really a lot of you know, it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, have a plan for France and Wales and
Speaker 2: Scotland and London. It's like, yeah, I mean that's great,
Speaker 2: but what is the plan and who's paying for it?
Speaker 2: And you know, like having Nine's rugby League, which we
Speaker 2: already went down that path and then that kind of
Speaker 2: died off. Moving the Challenge Cup from Wembley, I mean
Speaker 2: that's been talked about for a long time. Having a
Speaker 2: charity shield game between the Super Grand Floorals and the
Speaker 2: Challenge Cup. I believe that's been done before. So yeah,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of stuff in there that's just really
Speaker 2: more of a wish list. But how is it going
Speaker 2: to be going to be achieved and who pays for it?
Speaker 2: Kind of the questions that there are no answers for.
Speaker 2: At this point, we.
Speaker 1: Might get the merge together. News wise, I think the
Speaker 1: big one out of the weekend is that mikey Lewis. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I could potentially miss the World Club Challenge Las Vegas
Speaker 1: for the trip he did late in the York Night's loss.
Speaker 1: When is the disciplinary hearing.
Speaker 2: Well, usually they released the charges Monday, usually early afternoon,
Speaker 2: and then obviously if he is charged and he fights
Speaker 2: the charge, then they'll be here on Tuesday night. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Usually with the trip it can be a red card.
Speaker 2: It was a yellow on Thursday, and it could be
Speaker 2: a one or a too much band. I will be
Speaker 2: quite surprised, And I'm not saying there's any conspiracy theories,
Speaker 2: but recent history would tell me I'd be quite surprised
Speaker 2: if he gets banned for the World Cup Challenge. I
Speaker 2: seem to remember Harry Smith two years ago Wigan played
Speaker 2: Cass just before they played Penrith. I think it was
Speaker 2: Luke Rooney, but anyway, Harry Smith picked up the fallback
Speaker 2: and dumped him someone on his head at least out
Speaker 2: of the horizontal. I think he got simp in for that.
Speaker 2: He received no baan, which it was fairly dangerous, much
Speaker 2: more dangerous than a trip, I would say, trying to
Speaker 2: spear someone on the ground or accidentally experience again, shall
Speaker 2: we say so? Yeah, I'd be pretty surprised if Mikey
Speaker 2: does get banned, and even if he is given a
Speaker 2: one game he miraculously gets off. I won't be won't
Speaker 2: be that shot.
Speaker 1: Saint Helens. A week is a long time in rugby league.
Speaker 1: A week ago they flogged working to look good, to
Speaker 1: be honest in terms of attack. Now Jack Wellsby has
Speaker 1: picked up an injury that could at least be a
Speaker 1: few weeks. Jackson Hastings went to the sideline and mimicked
Speaker 1: as if he was going to climb over and attack
Speaker 1: a fan, and was certainly arguing with a fan or
Speaker 1: fans for for a length of time. Mike Rush, the CEO,
Speaker 1: was also announced he's leaving and his association with the
Speaker 1: club that he.
Speaker 2: Has. Somebody's anounced it then, no, no, well, that story
Speaker 2: has been written. I'll point this outly because I was
Speaker 2: hearing about this last week. I approached Mike Rush for
Speaker 2: a comment. He denied he was leaving his role. I
Speaker 2: also asked the medium manager who's denied that he was leaving.
Speaker 2: Now the rumors have continued. There's rumors that it's going
Speaker 2: to be announcement on Monday. This is all kind of
Speaker 2: related to the Mark personval issue and a bit of
Speaker 2: a power strugg the club. But we will see how
Speaker 2: it plays out. But yeah, things are all not well
Speaker 2: at Helms. Shall we say there is no smoke without fire? John?
Speaker 1: Since we lasted a podcast Halifax folded Now we're about
Speaker 1: nine days I think since we lasted the podcast, because
Speaker 1: we're going into the Sunday review mold so that it
Speaker 1: comes out on a Monday.
Speaker 2: That was a real shock, m it was.
Speaker 1: I've done a little bit of analysis, John, And if
Speaker 1: you look at the professional structure, is there thirty five
Speaker 1: professional teams?
Speaker 2: Now? If you take Halifax down, I think there's thirty four?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, okay. The three teams that have folded have
Speaker 1: basically been in position twelve, seventeen and eighteen on that
Speaker 1: if that was one big rugby league table.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, the thing is that you're not including if
Speaker 2: you go back another three and a bit years you
Speaker 2: also had Cornwall, West Wales and London Scholars to.
Speaker 1: That as well, and they were at the bottom end
Speaker 1: weren't they There were all League One clubs yet, but
Speaker 1: what's but they were at the bottom end of League
Speaker 1: One is my point. Yes, but these guys Featherstone, Salford
Speaker 1: and now Halifax. In Salford's case they were in Super League.
Speaker 1: In terms of Halifax, they were going quite well last year,
Speaker 1: so they've obviously spent some money. Featherstone the same spent
Speaker 1: some money in the past to achieve good things on
Speaker 1: the field. Yeah, so there's a pattern there with all
Speaker 1: three of those clubs.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, there's there's individual circumstances for all three,
Speaker 2: so I wouldn't put a blanket thing over And obviously
Speaker 2: with Salford I've written about that numerous times over the
Speaker 2: last twelve months. If you have a look at my
Speaker 2: free lngread with Paul King. I think that goes in
Speaker 2: a lot of detail. But the Halifax example, I did
Speaker 2: an exclusive probably eighteen months ago, and they were they
Speaker 2: owed quite a bit of money in rent to They
Speaker 2: don't own their stadium Machae, it's owned by the Calderdale Council.
Speaker 2: They owed a fair bit of money in rent and
Speaker 2: that winding up order which eventually sent them bus last
Speaker 2: week was actually issued in twenty twenty four and they
Speaker 2: had phoned under the radar. But the common theme I
Speaker 2: think you could say lee is the TV deal for
Speaker 2: Super League. So pre COVID, say twenty nineteen, it was
Speaker 2: forty million a year. Now that meant one point eight
Speaker 2: million to all twelve Super League clubs and then quite
Speaker 2: a big chunk went to the championship in League One.
Speaker 2: So at the top of the championship it was determined.
Speaker 2: Funding was determined on how you finished on the table,
Speaker 2: which I always thought was madness because not every club
Speaker 2: got the same amount and it wasn't fair. But the
Speaker 2: top clubs were getting half a million now because the
Speaker 2: TV deal was almost gone, But it's about twenty one
Speaker 2: and a half million at the moment. Those clubs who
Speaker 2: were getting half a million are now getting one hundred
Speaker 2: and forty thousand, and then the lower end clubs are
Speaker 2: getting twenty thirty grand, but they're still spending. Like the
Speaker 2: wages for part time rugby league for players is crazy
Speaker 2: in England.
Speaker 1: It's much more than especially at the top end that
Speaker 1: was pushing together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and those clubs I don't know much about
Speaker 2: Halifax specifically, sorry, but I know with Featherstone because I
Speaker 2: wrote a lot about them. They were paying wages they
Speaker 2: could not afford, they were not paying pensions. Players at
Speaker 2: Featherston had told me they never got paid pensions and
Speaker 2: they had numerous debts accumulating. And Featherston also got I
Speaker 2: think it was two million quid from the Wakefield council,
Speaker 2: you know, the same as Castleford and Wakefield did. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's just bad financial mismanagement. But the whole structure, Championship
Speaker 2: League One structure and the sustainability is just off the
Speaker 2: charts in terms of what the crowds they get and
Speaker 2: the interest in the competitions and the players what they earn.
Speaker 2: It's just not It's never been sustainable. So could you
Speaker 2: predict more? Can you predict more that will be in peril?
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say predict predict more because obviously there's been
Speaker 2: issues around hold them. But they did pay their winding
Speaker 2: up petition last week. Did North Wales sort their issues out? Well,
Speaker 2: that's a really interesting one because obviously there was allegations
Speaker 2: that players weren't getting paid. Seems to have gone quiet.
Speaker 2: They're obviously playing the season. But I do think that
Speaker 2: the current system there isn't just there isn't enough money
Speaker 2: or enough fans or enough interest to sustain you know,
Speaker 2: the current system. I don't. I don't think this kind
Speaker 2: of full time and then almost full time, a little
Speaker 2: bit part time, and then very you know, minor part
Speaker 2: time works. I just I never thought it has with
Speaker 2: what was thirty seven clubs which is now thirty three clubs. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think unless the TV deal goes up, we could
Speaker 2: be in for more pain in the coming months.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's talk some football. The York nineteen Hulkingston Rovers eighteen,
Speaker 1: the newly promoted side that we believe OKR may have
Speaker 1: asked to play before the World Club Challenge, ended up
Speaker 1: getting the chocolates. I have done an awful lot of
Speaker 1: analysis on Hulkington Rovers in the off season, and I've
Speaker 1: got to be honest, based on what I saw, they
Speaker 1: didn't seem to do much different to what I outlund
Speaker 1: in LISVID. And of course, when the videos I analyzed
Speaker 1: tended to be the Challenge Cup Final and the Grand Final,
Speaker 1: when they were basically at their in theory peak with
Speaker 1: that rustiness as well that you get in the first
Speaker 1: game of the season. Ok I looked a bit average
Speaker 1: John and it doesn't look good for the World Cup
Speaker 1: challenge based on that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there was a few things that went obviously,
Speaker 2: you know, York were fired up their own home, you know,
Speaker 2: their debut and Super League. It was pissing down with
Speaker 2: rain and the weather can be a bit of a leveler.
Speaker 2: Hokkoir lost in Hadley in the warm up and then
Speaker 2: Jess Litton went off for Hia second third minute in.
Speaker 2: But yeah, they worked, they looked they were rossy. Look,
Speaker 2: York's defense early on was amazing there through everything. Hulkau's
Speaker 2: attack was for me, was a bit one dimensional. They
Speaker 2: just tried to barge through the middle and you're defended
Speaker 2: that really well. But look, Holka I came back into
Speaker 2: the game and at what eighteen six, with twenty minutes
Speaker 2: to go, that had the game won essentially, and then
Speaker 2: there was a massive brain explosion from like e Lewis,
Speaker 2: he tripped Lean Harris, the York half back. There was
Speaker 2: no need for it, and that sent them down to
Speaker 2: twelve men and then they scored two tries and look
Speaker 2: they just yeah, they took their chances. It was a
Speaker 2: really strange game in that way. But look, it was
Speaker 2: a fantastic result and you know, you've got to York
Speaker 2: is just such a great story, like you've got to
Speaker 2: be happy for them, But yeah, it was pretty disappointed
Speaker 2: in whole Car. Yeah, they'll need to and I have
Speaker 2: no doubt that will be better against the Broncos, but
Speaker 2: that will need to lift several several notches to have
Speaker 2: a chance of beating the Broncos.
Speaker 1: In this week's analysis video, were actually going to look
Speaker 1: at some of the ways that the tries were scored
Speaker 1: and how they were conceded, because what many coaches will
Speaker 1: be doing this week, John is looking at their opposition
Speaker 1: this week and seeing if one edge is slightly weaker
Speaker 1: than the other, if they were conceding tries in the
Speaker 1: middle of the field in terms of you know, around
Speaker 1: the forwards, if they were conceding breaks in the middle
Speaker 1: of the field in terms of near the halfway line. Therefore,
Speaker 1: I've done a bit of analysis in and around that.
Speaker 1: Now York got a little bit wrong on their own
Speaker 1: goal line, and that will be a worry for them because,
Speaker 1: like you said, whole k R were very direct and
Speaker 1: whole k R's tries were basically forwards falling over the line, right,
Speaker 1: So so I mean, I don't know if you should
Speaker 1: be conceding those tries at the top level, quite frankly.
Speaker 1: And a word of caution for all those excited by
Speaker 1: to lose Bradford and York your first game. If you don't,
Speaker 1: if you don't win your first game, or don't play
Speaker 1: well in your first game, then it's only going to
Speaker 1: get harder from there. Basically, in terms of whole KR,
Speaker 1: one of the things I picked up during the off
Speaker 1: season is when they are defending, particularly particularly in their
Speaker 1: own half, they can be too aggressive sometimes, John So
Speaker 1: sometimes you have to just make a tackle, particularly on
Speaker 1: you've got one goal line, and if you are too aggressive,
Speaker 1: that leads to things like coming out of the line
Speaker 1: trying to hit someone. So Joe Burgess, for example, got
Speaker 1: one very wrong for York's first try. He didn't need
Speaker 1: to come out of the line. There was a couple
Speaker 1: of occasions too where players came out of the line
Speaker 1: to try and hit someone and it just led to
Speaker 1: breaks or tries. And I guess when they play Brisbane
Speaker 1: this week, they've got to be smarter than that. They
Speaker 1: absolutely have got to be smarter than that. Now I
Speaker 1: know they have to be physical on paying hests. But
Speaker 1: at the same time you've got to make defensive plays
Speaker 1: that have a less less margin for error, so in
Speaker 1: other words, less chance of failing and okay, getting that
Speaker 1: balance quite wrong, I'm finding and if they don't fix
Speaker 1: it very quickly, and Brisbane attack clicks and Brisbane have
Speaker 1: done what many World Club Challenge teams from Australia have
Speaker 1: done when they've won, they've had an opposed session a
Speaker 1: week before. Because this is something I analyze quite significantly.
Speaker 1: I like to see British teams playing Australian teams. It's
Speaker 1: my favorite thing, like the Ashes. And basically some Australian
Speaker 1: teams come over and I remember stories. I won't name
Speaker 1: the team, I won't name the coach, but I can
Speaker 1: tell you a story that during a World Club Challenge
Speaker 1: game Wants the coach, resplendent in Hawaiian shirt, decided to
Speaker 1: have an abolution on the main concourse halfway halfway through
Speaker 1: the first half, not on the main concourse, in the
Speaker 1: toilets and the main So so that is a that
Speaker 1: is a sign that some of them come on holiday
Speaker 1: as well. But Brisbane Broncos are preparing properly for this
Speaker 1: and there's going to be a big week for whole
Speaker 1: KR but don't worry, we'll go back to that soon.
Speaker 1: The Catalans twenty four Huddersfield ten. That was probably the
Speaker 1: only crowd john that wasn't full house signs or nearly.
Speaker 1: There was a few empty seats there. But jeez, it
Speaker 1: was persisting down in south of France.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think obviously it was. It was rainy,
Speaker 2: there was a huge amount of minor and I think
Speaker 2: they'd been like weather warnings in in Perpunon so and
Speaker 2: you know, in fairness not not having a crack at Huddersfield,
Speaker 2: but they probably don't take a lot of fans either,
Speaker 2: so I think it was it was seven thousand and
Speaker 2: something in their average last year was nine in a
Speaker 2: bit thousand in Generally you get more away fans when
Speaker 2: it mops up and we move in the summer. But
Speaker 2: I thought it was quite an entertaining game. I just
Speaker 2: felt defended quite well earlier. But it was some lovely
Speaker 2: play from Catlaiins. I think the player of the match
Speaker 2: for me was the center. I'm just trying to remember
Speaker 2: his name, Solomona. I don't know actually how to pronounce it,
Speaker 2: but for tape. Yeah, he destroyed I think it was
Speaker 2: tanau Mille on numerous occasions, scored a try, set up
Speaker 2: a try and outrageous offload. Charlie Stains looked good at fullback.
Speaker 2: Obviously he's a winger, but he's playing a fullback. And
Speaker 2: Lewis Dodd had some lovely player and so did TV
Speaker 2: Sexton and will be back in the NRL in twelve months.
Speaker 2: So what exactly Catlaians after a pretty shit twenty fifteen,
Speaker 2: we'll get banned on YouTube. Sorry, pretty average twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five they needed then they played well, the well deserved
Speaker 2: the victory the Dragons.
Speaker 1: I wanted to mention Lewis Dodd because he did some
Speaker 1: great things for Catalan's first try, sort of shimmy across it.
Speaker 1: Wore were like a completely different player to the one
Speaker 1: that was at South Sydney and he looks liberated. And
Speaker 1: I know he's had a contract extension before the season started,
Speaker 1: so good on him. Good to see him back on
Speaker 1: his dancing feet. Huddersfield defense, like I said, I'm on
Speaker 1: this same of looking at where they were weaker, looked
Speaker 1: absolutely labored in the middle. I mean, I know the
Speaker 1: field was wet and slosh here, but it looked tired
Speaker 1: and it was frightfully out of shape on the edges,
Speaker 1: particularly the right edge, which I think was Fatarpe and Milne.
Speaker 1: I think, is that right?
Speaker 2: So yeah, right?
Speaker 1: So what happened? What happens John? When players know that
Speaker 1: the opposition center or people on that side of the
Speaker 1: field have got it over them physically, they tend to
Speaker 1: over over indulge in terms of trying to fly out
Speaker 1: of the line. And I guess this is what I'm
Speaker 1: referring to in terms of okay, are they need a
Speaker 1: bit more composure? Well, Huddersfield lost all composure there and
Speaker 1: whoever playing them this week, I think we'll be having
Speaker 1: a real go at that edge before this field. Warrington
Speaker 1: twenty four Saint Helen's fourteen. I mean, it's so interesting
Speaker 1: this Sam Burgess is a coach under pressure and all
Speaker 1: the offseason noises were how much better Saint Helen's were
Speaker 1: going to be an attack? Instead it was Warrington's night.
Speaker 1: It was a sellout, it was a dominant win and
Speaker 1: like I said, a week is a long time in
Speaker 1: rugby league. One thing about Paul Rowley sides John and
Speaker 1: have analyzed his sides from when he was coach of Salford.
Speaker 1: They tend to be a bit looser, in significantly looser
Speaker 1: in defense than they are in attack. I think they're
Speaker 1: a bit too heavily leaned in attack, and based on
Speaker 1: round one, this could be an issue the right edge
Speaker 1: of Saint Helen's I think it was Robinson mister tackle
Speaker 1: for one try, uh Sailor mister tackle for the second tries.
Speaker 1: When Wendell Sailor's son Tristan was a speed bump for
Speaker 1: much of the name it was that would suggest why
Speaker 1: he's been used at fullback.
Speaker 2: It was well. The the interesting thing I found was
Speaker 2: that he was at six with Hastings at seven, and
Speaker 2: they had Joint Lomax on the back as a as
Speaker 2: a backup hooker. Johnny Lomax is a fantastic footballer, but
Speaker 2: he's not a hooker, so that that was really odd.
Speaker 2: And Sailor's not six for me, so obviously Wellsby is injured,
Speaker 2: so Saylor you would think will be at fullback this
Speaker 2: weekend in round two. But that dynamic just didn't really work,
Speaker 2: and I think the Saints attack was it wasn't wasn't great.
Speaker 2: I mean, I had one try, which for me was
Speaker 2: a definite try. I think they know the video referenced
Speaker 2: under that one, but I don't think it changed the
Speaker 2: outcome of the game because I think Warrington were well
Speaker 2: deserved victor victors.
Speaker 1: To me, smart coaches tend to put a team out
Speaker 1: early in the year that's better defensively because your combinations
Speaker 1: tend to take a while to click. And this seems
Speaker 1: like a team that's been put out there to attack
Speaker 1: from Saint Helens. And if you're going to go out
Speaker 1: to attacks straight away, you needed to click straight away basically,
Speaker 1: otherwise your defense is going to be under more pressure.
Speaker 1: And like I said, I mean I thought they were
Speaker 1: technically a little bit poor, a little bit too spread
Speaker 1: in d so many of their players were mixed up
Speaker 1: between if they had to come up and in or
Speaker 1: up and out. And these are all similar things I
Speaker 1: saw under Rolly at Salford. So it's been a it's
Speaker 1: been a chess chastening, chastening week, I think, chasing week
Speaker 1: for Saint Helens, and it'd be really interesting to see
Speaker 1: what they do this week, cause I think they have
Speaker 1: to travel to France.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they they're playing to lose. I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: Actually, I'll look up the I think it's Catalano. I've
Speaker 1: got the fixtures at the end and we'll talk through them.
Speaker 2: So I think.
Speaker 1: I think whoever they play the the coach will be
Speaker 1: looking at their the Saint Howard's right edge, which will
Speaker 1: be the attacks left.
Speaker 2: Now they've got They've got Lee at home, which is
Speaker 2: a tough game. Oh why where did they guess front
Speaker 2: from Lee twenty six leads fourteen? Your thoughts on that,
Speaker 2: John Well, I was watching the Warranty game which was
Speaker 2: all at the same time, so I've only seen a
Speaker 2: few clips. But yeah, look like Lee we're really good,
Speaker 2: deserve their victory. Leads had a few injuries now Jake Connor,
Speaker 2: which is you know, a massive miss the main of steel.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, look like I think Lee are
Speaker 2: a very good team and they have been for a
Speaker 2: couple of years. You can't you can't write them off.
Speaker 2: And you know they scored a one an amazing try
Speaker 2: just to lock a lay and the ability to keep
Speaker 2: the ball alive and play what he sees in front
Speaker 2: of him. So yeah, not a not a massive surprise,
Speaker 2: I would say, but obviously for Leeds a disappointing start
Speaker 2: for them for everyone.
Speaker 1: Leads were a bit soft in the middle for the
Speaker 1: first two lead tries, just going up a little bit high,
Speaker 1: but then so were leaf for both Leeds first tries too.
Speaker 1: It was it was one of those games a little bit.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the crazy try from the start of
Speaker 1: the second half from the kickoff.
Speaker 2: That was I think it was jack Usia. That was
Speaker 2: just embarrassing. I mean imagine if Brad Arthur had here,
Speaker 2: he would have been pointing out that was that was,
Speaker 2: that was, That was under ten stuff for me.
Speaker 1: And the Leeds fans were singing testing new is see
Speaker 1: your next Tuesday apparently, and I think that was happening
Speaker 1: to Jack o' haytings as well at Warrington and that
Speaker 1: might explain some of the taita te with the fans.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the testing ewy think. I mean, look, it's probably
Speaker 2: going to happen every week. And they gave him the
Speaker 2: match I think the league club as well. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's an interesting approach, let's put it that way.
Speaker 1: I should have mentioned this year in the Warrington Saint
Speaker 1: Helen's review jack o' hasting's talking to the fans as
Speaker 1: he did, and what what do you make of that?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean he's come out afterwards saying get it
Speaker 2: exactly right. There was something about you know, he was
Speaker 2: worried about his partner and his child, and you know
Speaker 2: there was a fan rejected from the Warrington fan ejected
Speaker 2: from the stands, and other people have said, you know,
Speaker 2: he was copying abuse. Look, it's a difficult one. Obviously,
Speaker 2: if he's partner and or child were in danger then
Speaker 2: you can completely understand it. But it's probably not a
Speaker 2: good look for you know, he was obviously upset and
Speaker 2: angry for a week time by the footage, and you
Speaker 2: know trying jumping into the the stands is not a
Speaker 2: good look either. I spoke to officials of the Warrington club.
Speaker 2: They weren't aware of it, so I don't know if
Speaker 2: any Warrington fan actually was ejected. But yeah, it's not
Speaker 2: a great It's not a great start, is it. Under
Speaker 2: I thought he ran the ball a lot, you know,
Speaker 2: try to throw a lot of dummies but got caught,
Speaker 2: got tackled with the ball, and hands a lot. Probably
Speaker 2: tried to do too much and overplayed his hand at times.
Speaker 2: But look, he's obviously he's played at Wigan, he's played
Speaker 2: at Salford. You know he's going to be a target
Speaker 2: for opposition fans, opposition players, but yeah, just everything, everything
Speaker 2: you know, and then you look at the John Walken
Speaker 2: comments after the game. Everything went wrong for Helens on
Speaker 2: Friday night.
Speaker 1: My favorite try of the week I think it was
Speaker 1: the first try that whole FC scored a great, whole run.
Speaker 1: I think you tweeted about it. So basically the Bulls
Speaker 1: conceded two tries very early around around their heart with
Speaker 1: people just screaming onto the ball and running great lines.
Speaker 1: I think you've tweeted about it. That was my favorite
Speaker 1: try of the weekend. Actually, I love to see a
Speaker 1: back rower or a center just coming onto the ball.
Speaker 1: Bradford have got some real issues on their edges and
Speaker 1: that will only get worse if they've got injuries, because
Speaker 1: I think they picked up a couple of injuries as well.
Speaker 1: So you try and control the middle, and then if
Speaker 1: you don't control the middle the edges, the edges get exposed.
Speaker 1: Whole f C have an issue on their right side
Speaker 1: of defense. I think that's what I picked up from
Speaker 1: that game. What did you get from that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, look at that was a really entertaining game. I
Speaker 2: think I was twenty Bradford, we're unlacking not to win it.
Speaker 2: I think it was the try the wanger Blake set
Speaker 2: up in the corner of the way, Bradford was rowing
Speaker 2: the baller and was great to watch. And you know,
Speaker 2: I think that were really credible. Full credit to them. Yeah,
Speaker 2: obviously they didn't get winning. It was it was funny.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 2: Leon Price's son Will who kicked a drop ball, who
Speaker 2: was obviously the son of a Bradford legend. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: then they push on. But yeah, look, I think I
Speaker 2: think Bradford, you know, they competed. They'll be disappointed they
Speaker 2: didn't get a win, but they can regroup and go again.
Speaker 2: You are right. They've started the season before the season
Speaker 2: with injury problems and picked up a few more. So
Speaker 2: it's going to be a hard season for them. But look,
Speaker 2: they can take a lot of heart from for what the.
Speaker 1: Tough fixture, tough, tough, you know, definitely tough reintroduction all away.
Speaker 1: I mean, they'll be Gladys wasn't at the Boulevard and
Speaker 1: didn't didn't they didn't. They look like Penrith Panthers in
Speaker 1: the kit that they had.
Speaker 2: It's a good kit. I like the kid. That's a
Speaker 2: good kid. It's funny.
Speaker 1: Twenty years ago everyone everybody else would have said that
Speaker 1: Penrith looked like the Bradford Bulls. Now it's the other
Speaker 1: way around. There's been a lot changed in that time.
Speaker 1: Wakefield sixteenth to lose eighteen. I always think to lose
Speaker 1: is one of the most unfortunate names. Should be to win,
Speaker 1: should be able to change it. Both defensive edges in
Speaker 1: this game got penetrated. To lose in particular, did concede
Speaker 1: a bit from the middle of the field, actually, but
Speaker 1: they scrambled so well I did. And one thing I
Speaker 1: noticed in this game the both teams were trying to
Speaker 1: push the ball outside the defense because neither defense wanted
Speaker 1: to give an inch. I think the key thing in
Speaker 1: this though, was how many goal kicks on missed man
Speaker 1: both sides?
Speaker 2: Well, I think did sins Iuge hit the post three
Speaker 2: times or something? I mean, he had he had a
Speaker 2: fantastic game, and he was obviously an ex Catalans player
Speaker 2: and really took his opportunity to lose. But yeah, he
Speaker 2: had no luck with the boot, but he was great.
Speaker 2: Olieshow bought the fullback that to loose was fantastic. This
Speaker 2: is just a great, a great game. And I think,
Speaker 2: you know, after what Wakefield did last year, most people
Speaker 2: would have expected and I'm sure the Boockets had Wakefield
Speaker 2: is big, big favorites. But to the loose they scrambled
Speaker 2: so well, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of grit,
Speaker 2: and they got away with the win. And that's that's
Speaker 2: exactly the sort of start that they that they needed,
Speaker 2: will give them a lot of you know, confidence going
Speaker 2: into round two and the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: I remember looking at Oli ash Or Bolt, I'm thinking,
Speaker 1: Geez looks so French, just in his mannerisms and whatnot.
Speaker 2: And I think he's from Witness. He's from Witness. It's
Speaker 2: an interesting it's an interesting just.
Speaker 1: In his mannerisms and the way he celebrated things. And
Speaker 1: and then we had Cast versus Wig and overnight I
Speaker 1: think Wigan were quite comfortable in this actually, and then
Speaker 1: fell asleep. I think Wigan probably controlled the the majority
Speaker 1: of the game in terms of pressure and field position
Speaker 1: and whatnot.
Speaker 2: I think it's a bit hard on Cast. I thought
Speaker 2: Casts were really credible. You know, they made some mistakes
Speaker 2: which they coughed up, some cheat ball, but I thought
Speaker 2: it was really fight to cast. You know that game
Speaker 2: last year. You played that game last year. The probably
Speaker 2: would have been by forty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but Wigan did control it on the scoreboard. I
Speaker 1: mean they went to you know, scoreboard wise Cast have
Speaker 1: scored a couple of late tries when Wigan decided.
Speaker 2: To wid that. Wigan had Kieran sim bind for a
Speaker 2: shot to the head. And look, I think the Wigan tries,
Speaker 2: a couple of them particularly, were just there was some
Speaker 2: bit of Bev and French brilliance there. I think that
Speaker 2: that ability that dry Field has to to kind of
Speaker 2: drift across the field open things up the same with
Speaker 2: French and Exusley was very good on the edges. But
Speaker 2: they probably highlight from for Wigan. It was a Wigan
Speaker 2: of old, probably Wiggan twenty twenty four performance. And Mago
Speaker 2: Patrick Mago he was he was knocking blokes out away,
Speaker 2: carrying the ball really strong, so it was good.
Speaker 1: It was a really good I was going to say
Speaker 1: when he said he was knocking blokes out of the way,
Speaker 1: was this on his way to the ground or.
Speaker 2: Well wouldn't. He's bloody huge so I wouldn't get his way.
Speaker 2: But I thought we were really good. But I think Cass,
Speaker 2: you know, I think there's a lot they can build
Speaker 2: on the cut down there as well. I think Cass
Speaker 2: are in for a better year in twenty twenty six
Speaker 2: than they had in twenty twenty five. Absolute so much
Speaker 2: because I think they only won seven games last year,
Speaker 2: but I think they'll be much improved this year.
Speaker 1: They've got to fix their left edge in defense. They've
Speaker 1: got an issue there. The field was heavy and both
Speaker 1: sides conceded tries late on with somebody waltzing through the middle. Wigan,
Speaker 1: to be fair cast, did have bodies in motion for
Speaker 1: one of their late tries, but it was it was
Speaker 1: a heavy field. Wiggans left edge will be a little
Speaker 1: bit of concern for coach Matty Pete. A bit of
Speaker 1: a news roundup. We've already mentioned Halifax, but there's a
Speaker 1: bit of noise that Adrian Lamb, the league coach, is
Speaker 1: being looked at or potentially linked with the Papua New
Speaker 1: Guinea role.
Speaker 2: The ping G Chiefs. That is not the chief the
Speaker 2: new NRL club for Yeah, I had someone mentioned that
Speaker 2: to me about two weeks ago. I did put it
Speaker 2: to Adrian Lamb at the Super League launch, you know,
Speaker 2: and he well it's not that he denied it, but
Speaker 2: he basically said, you know, he's not he's not spoken
Speaker 2: to them, and blah blah blah blah blah. But look,
Speaker 2: I mean, if you think of Papa, you grew Guinea
Speaker 2: and rugby league. If I can get it out over
Speaker 2: thirty years, I mean, who do you think of? I
Speaker 2: would say probably there's three people standing again a Adrian Lamb,
Speaker 2: Marcus By. Yeah that that that for me would be
Speaker 2: the top three. And of those three, the man who's
Speaker 2: a very very good coach and is you know, maybe
Speaker 2: the most legendary of those status but is Adrian Lamb.
Speaker 2: And his son's also Locker Lamb, the star halfback. So
Speaker 2: I think he would be perfect for that NRL role.
Speaker 2: Whether he takes it or not, I don't know. He's
Speaker 2: done a great job at Lee. He was an assistant
Speaker 2: the NRL for god knows how long and Wayne Benner
Speaker 2: and other coaches. He was a sensational health back for
Speaker 2: the Roosters. I didn't really see him play at Wigan,
Speaker 2: but I'm sure it was good. Yeah. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: think he'd be you know, born and raised in Port
Speaker 2: Moresby before he moved to Queensland. I think at eight
Speaker 2: or nine years old, I think he'd be great for
Speaker 2: the P and G Chiefs, But we'll see on that one.
Speaker 2: I think if there is any movement, he won't be
Speaker 2: till the end of this year because obviously he would
Speaker 2: need I would say, much like melmon Inger, you know,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty seven to recruit for P and G to
Speaker 2: come in in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm wondering if that place needs him all the year.
Speaker 1: You did mention briefly the Super League launch told us
Speaker 1: about that. You did get some audio, but it was
Speaker 1: hard for me to put it into the podcast because microphone.
Speaker 2: It was a good launch, was that there was somewhe ironic.
Speaker 2: It was at the National Football Museum in Manchester, which
Speaker 2: is soccer for those people who don't know, and for me,
Speaker 2: I mean it's a lovely venue. It is funny though
Speaker 2: you wouldn't probably get rugby union launching an event at
Speaker 2: a National rugby League or you know, cricket museum. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but look it was. It was well done. It was
Speaker 2: a great celebration of the thirty years of Super League.
Speaker 2: A lot of ex legendary players there, some old shirts,
Speaker 2: some great mockups of past great players, and yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean I've been to probably twelve thirty launches. It was
Speaker 2: definitely one of the better ones. We even't got a
Speaker 2: few free beers, which is always so nice for the
Speaker 2: poor journals like myself. But yeah, it was good. It
Speaker 2: was It was a good launch, and there was lots
Speaker 2: of people you know, up for interview and yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean I think it flowed well into what we've just
Speaker 2: seen in round one.
Speaker 1: Not to listeners. If journalists say that the launch was
Speaker 1: good they got free beer. Johnny's job this week. I
Speaker 1: think you've already mentioned this. I've got it down as
Speaker 1: fan trolling of John Davidson. So you've been You've had
Speaker 1: a tough week this week.
Speaker 2: I mean it's just part of the course. As I said,
Speaker 2: I think journalistic turd was it was my highlight. I
Speaker 2: think I think I had journalistic ben But yeah, journalistic
Speaker 2: what bend part that was? That was an interesting one
Speaker 2: that was that was a year or two before. But yeah, no,
Speaker 2: look I don't I mean, it's it's I'm not sure
Speaker 2: who's what the reason is for this, but I don't
Speaker 2: choose the images in an article that goes in the
Speaker 2: eye now, I mean that's a sub edit's job. I
Speaker 2: don't generally write the headlines either. And also while I
Speaker 2: do pitch stories and pitch ideas for this one, this
Speaker 2: wasn't my idea. It was. But the point is, the
Speaker 2: Bradford story is a valid story. I know a lot
Speaker 2: of people don't want to acknowledge it or want to
Speaker 2: ignore it, or think that everything's spreaded on. So but
Speaker 2: you know the legitimate questions. So that is the role
Speaker 2: of the media. And if you actually read the article,
Speaker 2: which seems like a lot of people did, they are imbalanced. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but look, people are tired to their opinion. I found
Speaker 2: a lot of the abuse I found quite funny.
Speaker 1: Actually yet journalistic turd Like with feces, with excrement, you
Speaker 1: actually get the truth come out in the bowl. So
Speaker 1: if you've had sweet corn, you'll see it in the bowl.
Speaker 1: So if you've had red wine, guinness, you'll see it
Speaker 1: in the bowl. You know, so on and so forth.
Speaker 1: So I think it's a compliment.
Speaker 2: Lee's laugh.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about fields in Yorkshire, Castleford to
Speaker 1: pitch with like a paddock today. What's been going on
Speaker 1: there during the off season?
Speaker 2: Look, it has been raining every daily, like to be fair,
Speaker 2: doesn't mean anybody has to run at it on me,
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't think they train on the jungle pitch.
Speaker 2: They've got an astroid being built extraor if it's finished.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah it was. It was the look the
Speaker 2: weather has been shocking. Yeah yeah, I mean it's it's
Speaker 2: it's people forget maybe in Australia that Super League moved
Speaker 2: to summer in ninety six from winter Rugby. We're in
Speaker 2: February and February is the following month of winter and
Speaker 2: so we're still quite far from summer.
Speaker 1: I prefer to golf February at the start of the
Speaker 1: end of winter, which ends about ends about middle of June.
Speaker 2: And summer and England usually runs for four weeks, three
Speaker 2: weeks if you if you're like a week in August.
Speaker 2: Lee's laugh as well. This week.
Speaker 1: I only realized this this week that the Oddsel pitch
Speaker 1: at risk of incurring the wrath of the city of Bradford.
Speaker 1: It's only eighty eight meters long than fifty five meters wide.
Speaker 2: It's the smallest pitch in Super League, but it is
Speaker 2: minimum standards.
Speaker 1: So I think I think jewsburries might be smaller and
Speaker 1: in superleg I know, yeah, yeah, I think Jewsbury And
Speaker 1: I'm just saying in general that Jewsburry b is smaller
Speaker 1: eighty eight meters. So in Australia, every pitch is exactly
Speaker 1: the same sact one hundred meters long and sixty eight
Speaker 1: meters wide. So putting this into context, it's twelve meters
Speaker 1: shorter than that. And you've got to feel for the
Speaker 1: poor referees marking the ten because divide eighty eight by
Speaker 1: ten and you have eight point eight.
Speaker 2: I said this to Kurt Hanging at the launch for
Speaker 2: I was doing an interview with him. It could be
Speaker 2: quite an advantage for Bradford because being their home pitch,
Speaker 2: you know, and I'll try and I'll know, you know
Speaker 2: the intricacies and had to exploit it to their advantage.
Speaker 2: So it might be, you know, quite a good advantage
Speaker 2: for them.
Speaker 1: Well you told me that you like the football that
Speaker 1: Bradford played against all the expansive football.
Speaker 2: Well, I like the way they moved the ball. It's
Speaker 2: not the kick, it's you. You can't really do that
Speaker 2: as much on a fifty five meter wide field. That's hard.
Speaker 2: That's thirteen meters less. That's a lot lots of inside,
Speaker 2: lots of inside runners, and I saw and great skills quickenes.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I remember coaching at Jewsbury once and I didn't know
Speaker 1: that the field was so small, and I literally changed
Speaker 1: the game plan based on the field. I just said
Speaker 1: to the players, plow down the middle and.
Speaker 2: What about the hill?
Speaker 1: Surely that yeah, of course, yeah, But eighty eight meters
Speaker 1: length is one thing, but fifty five meters wide is
Speaker 1: quite significant. And you understand now why Bradford built such
Speaker 1: a big side in their glory years because they would
Speaker 1: have had to literally power through teams. And Kurk Haggerty
Speaker 1: will have to be careful with his expansive football because
Speaker 1: he will literally end up on the speedway track if
Speaker 1: they're not careful.
Speaker 2: There's no speedway this year. They've stopped that, so that's
Speaker 2: that's a plus, but there's still a track. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Next week this week big game Thursday, John Friday morning
Speaker 1: in Australia, and we're going to do a quick recap
Speaker 1: pod straight after it aren't we I.
Speaker 2: Can't wait to go to beautiful study Hull and the
Speaker 2: M sixty two even that sentence at all, it will
Speaker 2: be a great game. I'm a big fan of the
Speaker 2: World Cup Challenge. You know, the opportunity to see the
Speaker 2: Erald champions in the flash obviously saw a few of
Speaker 2: their players in the actually is not long ago, but
Speaker 2: you know Rhys Walsh and well we didn't see pain
Speaker 2: Hars the South Sydney bound paid hass. I mean that's
Speaker 2: another element to it. But yeah, it should be a
Speaker 2: great game. And look a sellout at the m k M.
Speaker 2: Seeing whole KR play as the home team in the
Speaker 2: m k M will be will be weird. How much
Speaker 2: do you think that will take away from wal KR. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we myself and Richard share right, asked Eliot Minchella that
Speaker 2: at the launch actually, and it was a living pondering.
Speaker 2: He must have been. It's going to be a strange thing.
Speaker 2: But look, I think the vast majority of fans will
Speaker 2: be there cheering them on, so it'll make them feel like,
Speaker 2: you know, a home stadium, and yeah, look it'll be
Speaker 2: a great occasion. It's really you know, as you said, ok,
Speaker 2: we're not great in around one. If they're missing mikeay Lewis,
Speaker 2: you would think it's mission impossible. If they've got mikey
Speaker 2: Lewis and obviously, if Dean Hadley makes also come back
Speaker 2: from injury and Tom Lamone missed the first game, I
Speaker 2: think he's likely to be back for the World Cup challenge.
Speaker 2: I think it's more of course straight thing, but.
Speaker 1: It'll go one way or the other with okay are
Speaker 1: they'll either get nervous and well believe they've not trained
Speaker 1: hard enough in the off season, or they will get
Speaker 1: the bit between their teeth, come back stronger and really
Speaker 1: go hard.
Speaker 2: I think them I saw them training in the obviously
Speaker 2: they've been training hard. I think so you saw them
Speaker 2: in one training session and now that defines their whole preseason.
Speaker 2: What great, what great observation from you job, Thank you.
Speaker 2: But I think I think you've got to remember the
Speaker 2: Broncos haven't played a game this year, so they're going
Speaker 2: to be They're going to be rusty, it's going to
Speaker 2: be probably cold and wet, and they've also had the
Speaker 2: whole paint hass. I mean, you can't underplay how big
Speaker 2: this painhass thing is now, you know, you know, if
Speaker 2: if reports are true that he went to the to
Speaker 2: the Rabbit Oze and said, yeah, just if match what
Speaker 2: the Broncos are off for me and I'll come and
Speaker 2: sign like that's a fair slap in the face for
Speaker 2: the Broncos, for Madge, for for what they've achieved. So
Speaker 2: the impact that has on the team dynamic. Maybe it will,
Speaker 2: maybe it won't. We won't know until we see them play,
Speaker 2: but yeah, it'll be great. It'll be great occasion.
Speaker 1: If whole KR want to make all left his ground
Speaker 1: feel like home, all they need to do is play
Speaker 1: a rage of songs. The Bradford Bulls play Catalans on Friday. Yes,
Speaker 1: which country are they playing? Are they playing in the
Speaker 1: Republic of.
Speaker 2: Or they playing? Yes, they are that they're playing in
Speaker 2: West Yorkshire. That'll be the first home game and on Sable.
Speaker 2: I think they've playing a big, big event for that.
Speaker 2: A bit tough game for brad because cat Lands I
Speaker 2: think we're you know, they were impressive on in Romance.
Speaker 2: That should be an interesting one.
Speaker 1: I the Bulls have got to target this as a
Speaker 1: win after losing last week for sure, But any promote,
Speaker 1: any promoted team needs to needs to start well. So
Speaker 1: they did start well, they just didn't win on the scoreboard,
Speaker 1: so they need to try and make sure they turn
Speaker 1: this one into a victory. But Catalan looked okay against
Speaker 1: Huddersfield too. Leeds will fancy their chances at home against York.
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I think York will be on a higher
Speaker 2: But as I spoke to Mark Applegarth after the win,
Speaker 2: you know, obviously he's got to be careful that he
Speaker 2: can't let his players go to to their heads because
Speaker 2: they've got twenty six rounds on a common lead. Headingly,
Speaker 2: you know they need to win this game. Look that
Speaker 2: you know they want to win something this year. They
Speaker 2: can't be none from two after round two, so I'm
Speaker 2: not sure they probably back, but they'll they'll be looking
Speaker 2: at you to put in a very good performance to
Speaker 2: get the two points there. A bit disappointing. I think
Speaker 2: this is one of the good things around one which
Speaker 2: helped make it bigger as well as we didn't have
Speaker 2: many games clashing. But we've got three games on the
Speaker 2: Friday night which all kicking off at eight pm, which
Speaker 2: is a real pain in the ass and not great
Speaker 2: at scheduling. It's obviously good for crowds though. It's good
Speaker 2: for crowds, but you've got to think lee that and
Speaker 2: this is I think one of the reasons why the
Speaker 2: NRL doesn't do it is it harns It hurts your
Speaker 2: TV ratings. So if you're a fair I don't know,
Speaker 2: if you're a fan in London and you might be
Speaker 2: in regular league, die hard and watch every game on Sky.
Speaker 2: You can't watch three games that all kick off at
Speaker 2: the same time.
Speaker 1: Problem is if they spread all the games out, then
Speaker 1: some of the fans won't be able to go. I mean,
Speaker 1: imagine how many fans, particularly in Yorkshire are season ticket holders,
Speaker 1: and even at Wigan and Saint Helens season ticket holders
Speaker 1: for Premier League or Championship football side and they to
Speaker 1: play on Saturdays or Sundays. And you know many many
Speaker 1: fans in England enjoy both football and rugby league.
Speaker 2: They do.
Speaker 1: And and I think playing on Friday night is really
Speaker 1: good for crowds because it attended not to be any
Speaker 1: anything else on Friday night.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's also good for corporate hospitality. But
Speaker 2: if you know with football now, which I'm sure you
Speaker 2: do know early it's on in England and every night
Speaker 2: it's on Monday, it's on Sunday night, Friday night, you
Speaker 2: know it's the rarest night is probably Friday, isn't it.
Speaker 2: There's Friday night games on Sky Football now pretty much
Speaker 2: every week. Yeah, but it'll be lower lower t mostly. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I think it's more likely with rugby league fans.
Speaker 2: You know, say you're a Warrington fan, you'll watch the
Speaker 2: World Club Challenge on TV, you know. And if if
Speaker 2: you're a home and your team's not playing on Friday Night,
Speaker 2: you'd probably watch Leeds or Saint Helen's. But you know,
Speaker 2: you have to pick one of those games, and it
Speaker 2: does hurt the overall ratings. One of the reasons Friday
Speaker 2: Night was so good in Just Gone was because cat
Speaker 2: Lands were on at six o'clock on a Friday, which
Speaker 2: I don't think they've ever been for, which led into
Speaker 2: perfectly to Warrent and Saint Helens. So me, for example,
Speaker 2: was a good four Rugby Football League. Make it easier
Speaker 2: for John and everyone else and everyone else.
Speaker 1: Saints play Lee. Yeah, they don't go to they don't
Speaker 1: go to France like I thought earlier. Saints play Lee
Speaker 1: at home. Lee have had a good win. Saints are
Speaker 1: under the coush a little bit massive week for Saint
Speaker 1: Helen's rugby league club.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is. I mean many Lee's already injured, Jack
Speaker 2: Wells be injured for months. Yeah, the kind of issue
Speaker 2: there with Jackson Hastings after warranting game, and obviously a
Speaker 2: lot of speculation about Mike Ross the CEO and what's
Speaker 2: happening behind the scenes. So yeah, a bit of a
Speaker 2: perfect storm for Saint Alden's. I think they will be
Speaker 2: licking their lips at this one and really fancying their chances.
Speaker 1: Saturday's fixtures to lose host Castleford. Castleford will still have
Speaker 1: this game down or something that they can get two
Speaker 1: points from, but having played on Sunday the last fixture,
Speaker 1: them having to travel to France is going to be
Speaker 1: a tough ask for them, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean to lose his first home game, I'll
Speaker 2: be They'll be fired up. This should be a really
Speaker 2: good game, I think. I think will be going there,
Speaker 2: you know, desperate for the win. They won't be going
Speaker 2: there to lose. They won't be going there to lose,
Speaker 2: but won't be going to lose to lose. Okay, let's
Speaker 2: move on.
Speaker 1: I think the fixture of the round, apart from the
Speaker 1: World Club challenges, the Wigan versus Left c game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, should be a good one. I mean obviously not
Speaker 2: we're going down the Challenge Cup. I think it was
Speaker 2: in the quarter final stage last year, which was a
Speaker 2: big shock. We're get at home. I think I'll have
Speaker 2: I think I'll have too much of the tank for Okay.
Speaker 2: Is that based on what you've seen this weekend? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Base basedally just the intent I think from Wigan. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it looked like Field and French were back to their best.
Speaker 2: Uh and they just Yeah, they seem to be a
Speaker 2: real determined purpose from Wigan today against cass And Look,
Speaker 2: I think are a good team and they've got, you know,
Speaker 2: a lot of attacking weapons, but I think the fact
Speaker 2: that the Bradford pushed them so hard shows that there's
Speaker 2: definitely vulnerabilities there that Wigan can can also exploit.
Speaker 1: One of one of the big factors and we will
Speaker 1: talk about this more and more as the year goes on,
Speaker 1: is that whole f C have had two more days
Speaker 1: rest than we can have after after the fixture. And
Speaker 1: I think this is important in the first couple of
Speaker 1: rounds because your body obviously gets a workout it's probably
Speaker 1: not really had after round one, and it also kicks
Speaker 1: in when when the injuries start to kick in as well.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think I think this is going to
Speaker 1: be a tight one. I really do think this is
Speaker 1: a match of the round. And then to round off
Speaker 1: the fixture and once again only one fixture on the
Speaker 1: Sunday and that's Huddersfield versus Wakefield.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Huge game for both clubs. This yeah local derby.
Speaker 2: Both teams obviously losing around one will be really wanting
Speaker 2: to to get some points on the board. Interesting to
Speaker 2: see what sort of crowd Haddersfield get because you know
Speaker 2: they've well they've had a terrible couple of years to
Speaker 2: be to be fair, while Wakefield had a great year
Speaker 2: last year, so I would probably put after watching the
Speaker 2: performances both say I'd say Wakefield ahead of this. You
Speaker 2: know it's like favorites, but you know too have recruited
Speaker 2: well in the off season, so let's see what they
Speaker 2: can do on their own patch. The Giants are unleash John,
Speaker 2: what a bumper episode. That was just a great round.
Speaker 2: Like it's nice to talk about so many great, exciting,
Speaker 2: thrilling competitive things along may continue and obviously a great
Speaker 2: only sort of the highlights for the All Star around
Speaker 2: the Star game looked I didn't see the women's but
Speaker 2: the men's looked great, The highlights was fantastic and yeah,
Speaker 2: rugby league is back baby.
Speaker 1: If you are a coach and you're interested in coaching,
Speaker 1: listen to the Rugby League Coach podcast or go to
Speaker 1: Rugby League Coach dot com to tay you, or follow
Speaker 1: me at Rugby League Coach or email me I'd been
Speaker 1: at Rugby League coach dot com to tay you. If
Speaker 1: you like journalists who winge about things, and contact Johnny
Speaker 1: Davidson where will they get you, John.
Speaker 2: Lee Addison and get me on journalistic BINDI Johnny d
Speaker 2: Davidson on x and Facebook at John Davidson Journalists. Yeah,
Speaker 2: all lovely comments and bends are welcome.
Speaker 1: And for anybody in Bradford John's addresses number four, take
Speaker 1: care of me.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to find the button to end this