Speaker 1: In the same week, Donald Trump's speech at Davos faces
Speaker 1: claims it was outlandish and crazy. We look at some
Speaker 1: of the outlandish and crazy from Super League spin doctors
Speaker 1: this offseason. While everyone seems to be joining Trump's Board
Speaker 1: of Peace, the RFL seemed to be losing members of
Speaker 1: their board left, right and center. And also while Donald
Speaker 1: Trump brought a blast from the past in terms of
Speaker 1: Tony Blair on his Board of Peace, hoping to reignite
Speaker 1: past glory, it's got a set giants of them the same,
Speaker 1: haven't they. John with Ralph Rimmer, who's back on their
Speaker 1: fold with a remit for change. More of that in
Speaker 1: Lee's laughter. Welcome everybody to the sixth episode of Super
Speaker 1: League three sixty. My name is are very tired because
Speaker 1: I'm doing the morning shift again and I could have
Speaker 1: done with another two hours sleep, Lee Addison, what's your name?
Speaker 2: And my name is John Javison.
Speaker 1: This is a podcast primarily about rugby league in the UK.
Speaker 1: It's called Super League three sixty, but such as a
Speaker 1: nature of the sport, we often end up in different directions.
Speaker 1: But we'll also dedicate a little bit of time each
Speaker 1: week to what's going on in Australia. If you are
Speaker 1: interested in getting in touch, please my contact details Rugby
Speaker 1: League Coach dot com. I use the website at Rugby
Speaker 1: League Coach on Socials admin at Rugby League Coach dot
Speaker 1: com dot au is the email Johnny. Do you want
Speaker 1: to just quickly run through your contacts if anybody wants
Speaker 1: to talk to you, or why anybody wants talk to
Speaker 1: you or don't know you wait your mates up?
Speaker 2: You can get me on Exit Johnny d Davidson and
Speaker 2: on Facebook Get John Davidson, the Journalist.
Speaker 1: This podcast has been aired on the Ashes, Rugby League
Speaker 1: and the Rugby League Coach podcast platforms, but I'm noticing
Speaker 1: so many more of you going over to the Super
Speaker 1: League three sixty one. Thank you because eventually that's the
Speaker 1: only one I'll use and means less work. If you
Speaker 1: subscribe to those and including the Rugby League Coach YouTube
Speaker 1: where we put this as a full video with my
Speaker 1: tired eyes and John's fresh eyes because he's been drinking
Speaker 1: his coca by the fireside, then if you subscribe to
Speaker 1: all those things, you won't miss a think I'm an
Speaker 1: Englishman who's coached at NRL clubs, and a few other
Speaker 1: things in Australia for a long time. It was the
Speaker 1: anniversary this week actually, and I'm very tired. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I mentioned that yet, John, Who are you?
Speaker 2: I'm an Australian journalist who's been running that sport for
Speaker 2: a good no one nearly two decades. Not yet.
Speaker 1: We've got a new segment this week. It's called John
Speaker 1: Davidson's Tweet of the Week. At seven thirty am Brisbane time,
Speaker 1: on the twenty second of the first twenty six you
Speaker 1: tweeted or xed. Burners are becoming even more brazen and
Speaker 1: obvious these days. They don't even bother with pretense? Are
Speaker 1: the good old days? What did you mean there?
Speaker 3: John?
Speaker 2: It was just a response to a tweet put out.
Speaker 2: Obviously we're going to talk about in the podcast. But
Speaker 2: I watched the London Broncos opening game of the season
Speaker 2: against Witness Vikings. Now the Championship doesn't have a TV deal,
Speaker 2: but they London decided to stream their game live on YouTube.
Speaker 2: I think there was about eight thousand or so people
Speaker 2: who watched it live and it had about sixty five
Speaker 2: thousand views in the sort of three days since. And
Speaker 2: I just put that out, thought that was interesting. You know,
Speaker 2: a decent audience. In the last video that London had
Speaker 2: out of one of their games was against Bradford, which
Speaker 2: had been watched by three hundred and sixty five people
Speaker 2: at the end of the season. Now a lot of
Speaker 2: people got upset about that or tried to climb up
Speaker 2: their own people from P and G watching, or it
Speaker 2: was an attack on Bradford. It wasn't really any of
Speaker 2: those things. And it is funny how people can misconstrue
Speaker 2: things or.
Speaker 1: How dare people from P and G watch a game
Speaker 1: if they were I mean, I'm sure their eyeballs are
Speaker 1: worth the same as anybody else.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean, but that's yeah, that's neither here
Speaker 2: nor there. I'm sure there were lots of people watching
Speaker 2: or in the UK, probably some people in Australia. Definitely
Speaker 2: some people on the P and G, but more than merry.
Speaker 2: As you said, you know, people from P ANDNG can
Speaker 2: buy shirts or merch and.
Speaker 1: You know, quite a lot of Australians are interested in it.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to take take a break from the
Speaker 1: World Club Challenge preview analysis to do the London Broncos
Speaker 1: from that game because of how many Australians are interested
Speaker 1: in it, so people should look out for that in
Speaker 1: the next couple of weeks. I sent the YouTube video
Speaker 1: to somebody yesterday who was interested in the London Bronc
Speaker 1: holes and he wanted some rugby league to watch. So
Speaker 1: the next segment is the Rugby league tweet of the
Speaker 1: week or thread of the week. I'll decide this week
Speaker 1: it's a thread. Rob Tickle tweeted to Steve mascowd Rob
Speaker 1: brother of Tess. He said, also, pretty much every import
Speaker 1: player that arrives in the UK immediately remarks that the
Speaker 1: in stadium atmosphere is far superior. Away fans are a
Speaker 1: massive contributor to that. Steve replied, nice atmosphere doesn't pay
Speaker 1: the bills. Martin Morrell said, I'm a bit confused what
Speaker 1: you're actually what you're actually advocating for, Steve, and then
Speaker 1: Newie Roosters wrote, he's saying that TV cash is far
Speaker 1: more important than a bunch of plunkers eating pies in
Speaker 1: the stands, and then Martin Morrel replied, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: just stating the obvious, but that's not what Steve was
Speaker 1: talking about originally, and it really does show I little
Speaker 1: he knows about the UK game, he basist way too
Speaker 1: much on the premise, Well, it works in the NRL,
Speaker 1: so that's all you need to do. Lazy work. And
Speaker 1: then Newie Roosters, who has a hashtag lol at South's, replied,
Speaker 1: the only thing that doesn't work is everything you've done.
Speaker 1: You enjoyed that? Didja? Third new segment is Socials pop
Speaker 1: at Lee of the Week. So was it the one
Speaker 1: before Christmas we talked about Jamie Peacock getting arrested. I
Speaker 1: believe it was, yeah, And I had a I won't
Speaker 1: say yeah, a senior moment. I just couldn't remember if
Speaker 1: Jamie Peacock had played for Bradford. Just for like thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: I couldn't remember, and I said to you he played
Speaker 1: for Bradford, didn't he? Or words to that. EF fact
Speaker 1: just so happens that that's in a clip that's gone out.
Speaker 1: Some of the responses to that Tommy Saxton on Facebook,
Speaker 1: who also has poor grammar skills, it must be said,
Speaker 1: absolute nonsense. I've watched Oh no, sorry, this was too
Speaker 1: this was to an analysis Clipper did. Absolute nonsense. I've
Speaker 1: watched a lot of your videos and in all honesty,
Speaker 1: I've heard better from my junior coaches at half Acres
Speaker 1: and I Recired cool Bank, thanks for boosting, thanks for
Speaker 1: helping me earn by watching videos, thanks for watching Tim
Speaker 1: Shanes or yeah oh sorry. So anyway, that Jamie Peacock video.
Speaker 1: Liam Jacquelin said after seeing that video, stopped watching after
Speaker 1: did he play for Bradford as well? Rugby league podcast
Speaker 1: and the guy knows nothing. That's obviously the message on.
Speaker 1: So if you want to be a rugby league and cyclopedia,
Speaker 1: you need to know if Jamie Peacock played for Bradford
Speaker 1: twenty one years ago. Two others said similar. Sean Curley
Speaker 1: Kirkley sorry not Curly said, did he play for Bradford?
Speaker 1: Are you series? I think he meant serious. You can't
Speaker 1: be doing an RL podcast at your age and not
Speaker 1: know that. I'm glad he knows my age. Alan McKnight said,
Speaker 1: if you did not know he played for Bradford, how
Speaker 1: can you talk about rugby league? So that is the
Speaker 1: measure John, So everybody, if you want to be known
Speaker 1: as well known at rugby league, you need to know
Speaker 1: Jamie Peacock played for Bradford and left them twenty one
Speaker 1: years ago. I mean I don't know about you but
Speaker 1: I've done a few things since then, John, including to
Speaker 1: the other side of the world. And I don't remember
Speaker 1: Jamie Peacock playing for Bradford. I just forgot in that moment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I've read most of his book written by
Speaker 2: previous guest, and he started his career Bradford and one
Speaker 2: several trophies. Beerfore maybe on the lead.
Speaker 1: So I don't know about you. I don't walk around
Speaker 1: thinking everything about twenty one years ago all the time.
Speaker 2: Well, clearly you need to think more about Jamie Peacock.
Speaker 2: You're yeah, you've lost your wife.
Speaker 1: I know I know a guy called Luke Thompson. I
Speaker 1: assume he's not the proper place for Wigan. Wrote sent
Speaker 1: me an email John about our pod. He said, all right, mate,
Speaker 1: that's how you start. That's how you say it in Manchester.
Speaker 1: But I don't know if it's from Manchester. Just listen
Speaker 1: to your Super League three sixty pod about the RFL
Speaker 1: taking over the NCL. Just wanted to put my point
Speaker 1: across as someone who played it, played in it for
Speaker 1: nearly twenty years, retired now at thirty six, but played
Speaker 1: up until last season at houl Dockers. The top two
Speaker 1: divisions are thriving in the in the NCL and the
Speaker 1: RFL have kept these two divisions as national. They've replaced
Speaker 1: NCL two and three with regional divisions, which for me
Speaker 1: makes sense if I was thirty playing with a young fan,
Speaker 1: it would be a lot easier, less travel and not
Speaker 1: full days away, even though we love them. Since amateur
Speaker 1: rugby league changed for some of there has been a
Speaker 1: massive decline in player numbers and over the last five
Speaker 1: years there's been a lot of games called off and
Speaker 1: points deductions due to teams traveling from say Hull to
Speaker 1: Cumbria with twelve players. And it works out it's a
Speaker 1: cheaper to bay the vine than for the bus and
Speaker 1: it says for me in the NCL lower leagues it
Speaker 1: makes perfectly sense to regionalize them hopefully keeps participate as
Speaker 1: participation up. Unless games called off, you can still get
Speaker 1: promoted to NCL via a playoff. To be fair, the
Speaker 1: RFL they do send out questionnaires to NCL players and
Speaker 1: coaches at the end of every season. I think this
Speaker 1: is what they have come up with to try and
Speaker 1: help with it. A lot of players I've spoken to
Speaker 1: are thirty plus and love the idea. Can drive to
Speaker 1: Leeds from Hull and still play or to cast etc.
Speaker 1: Just wanted to put a point across to support it.
Speaker 1: Really keep up the good work. I thought that was
Speaker 1: great that guy, that guy first of all, excellent points
Speaker 1: thinking about things making head of communications at the RFL.
Speaker 1: Please because that's more than you've heard from the RFL
Speaker 1: I think as to why. So yeah, that's really good
Speaker 1: context from him. I really appreciate and like I said,
Speaker 1: like I said, get in touch with me at Rugby
Speaker 1: Lee coach on the Socials and admin at Rugbyley Coach email.
Speaker 1: John's journalist at something but was it.
Speaker 2: Journalist dog John Davidson at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: Salford had their first game last week, So for those
Speaker 1: who don't know Salford, the old club went defunct and
Speaker 1: there was a Phoenix club. It was bad news and
Speaker 1: good news at the same time. It was a bit
Speaker 1: like following Donald Trump. Really in the morning you're ready
Speaker 1: to end it all. By the afternoon what was all
Speaker 1: the fuss about? And it was a bit like this.
Speaker 1: Today Salford were folded. The High Court folded them and
Speaker 1: then and then in the afternoon there was a few
Speaker 1: options for Phoenix clubs and one of them won out
Speaker 1: and there was a very good event in so well
Speaker 1: on the outskirts of Salford. I should say when they
Speaker 1: played Oldham in their first game last week, John.
Speaker 2: Yes, I was there to see a bit of history
Speaker 2: made forty four nil to Oldham, which look, when you
Speaker 2: consider everything that's gone on, Salford was still recruiting players,
Speaker 2: you know, a day or two before I think they
Speaker 2: had one training session together as a team and Oldham
Speaker 2: I've got quite a big budget, a number of ex
Speaker 2: Super League Q Cup players, et cetera. But I think
Speaker 2: the occasion was really important. There was a crowd of
Speaker 2: around five thousand, which is probably more than Salford were
Speaker 2: averaging last year in Super League. It was a really
Speaker 2: good atmosphere and I think it was a bit of
Speaker 2: a celebration that the club is still going. Obviously it's
Speaker 2: a new club, but that there is a club calling
Speaker 2: itself Salford, and yeah, it was a bit of a party.
Speaker 2: It was a great atmosphere. There was a bit of
Speaker 2: a scare when an Oldham fan had a heart attack
Speaker 2: in the first half in the game was stopped for
Speaker 2: about twenty eight minutes. Luckily he seemed to be okay,
Speaker 2: and he was off to hospital, so you don't see
Speaker 2: that every day. But yeah, it was great to see
Speaker 2: Salford back at it. And look, it's going to be
Speaker 2: a very tough time for them, you know, long season,
Speaker 2: they're not going to win many games, you know, and
Speaker 2: it might be five years so they're back in. Say
Speaker 2: the league might be ten, might be twenty, who knows.
Speaker 2: But if you're a Salford fan of any age, you've
Speaker 2: got a team to support and I think that's you know,
Speaker 2: that means a lot more than the winning on the
Speaker 2: field at this point.
Speaker 1: And I also think forty four l I mean, compared
Speaker 1: to some of their score lines last year, that was
Speaker 1: a bonus too. Losing forty four nil.
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean Oldham sort of took a while
Speaker 2: to get going in the first half. They definitely stepped
Speaker 2: up again in the second, but look it was again
Speaker 2: they're always going to expect to win. Oldham will be well.
Speaker 2: I think they finished fourth last year and with the
Speaker 2: three teams leaving the championship, Oldham will be pushing for
Speaker 2: the title. They'll be up there with London and probably
Speaker 2: one or two others. So you know, they did what
Speaker 2: they needed to do, but but you know it was
Speaker 2: it was a Sultord story and yeah, just great to
Speaker 2: see them still go around and obviously wish everyone at
Speaker 2: the club, the owners, the CEO, et cetera, the best
Speaker 2: of luck in the Neeavos and.
Speaker 1: When it was critical of the CEO appointment the other
Speaker 1: week because it was a job for the boys type appointment,
Speaker 1: everything I've seen from the CEO, Ryan Breeley and the
Speaker 1: ownership at Sulfurd looks really good. I can't fault them
Speaker 1: so far. They they're visible, they're they're busy on social media,
Speaker 1: their stuff looks good and they've managed to get a
Speaker 1: crowd of five thousand, so so far, so good. I
Speaker 1: just know it's just going to be a tough rold ahead.
Speaker 1: London had a similar crowd at their home and we're
Speaker 1: going to talk again about London and Johnny's job later.
Speaker 1: But again, positive positive stuff on on the southern end
Speaker 1: of the island, and let's face it, I mean rugby
Speaker 1: league ultra positive. Really, two reborn clubs for different reasons,
Speaker 1: one in the North and one in the South and
Speaker 1: getting more than some superlight clubs get.
Speaker 2: Quite frankly, yeah, definitely, I mean the amount of the
Speaker 2: amount of headlines and traction that London have got, I
Speaker 2: mean ever since down Lockyer and his business partner Grant
Speaker 2: West School took over, has been huge. In the last
Speaker 2: couple of weeks. I've got a story which is you
Speaker 2: know you can read online now in the ipaper tomorrow.
Speaker 2: A feature they've been in The Observer, the Guardian. I
Speaker 2: think down Lockey was on BBC four the other day,
Speaker 2: on Sky Sports today. Yeah, the amount of traction on
Speaker 2: Instagram and Facebook and everything has been huge. So they're
Speaker 2: really really pushing the club, pushing this rebuild, and they're
Speaker 2: you know, they're making all the right noises. Obviously a
Speaker 2: very good crowd. They've got a documentary being made about
Speaker 2: the club this season, they stream their first game. They've
Speaker 2: got you know, great sponsors, Rebok, Cash Converters come on board.
Speaker 2: They've obviously, you know, got basically a whole new team
Speaker 2: led by Jason Dimitri the former Souse coach, you know,
Speaker 2: and they've got the only full time team in the championship,
Speaker 2: so they should walk that division. So there's lots of positives,
Speaker 2: but look it's the first game. They've got a long
Speaker 2: way to come. But yeah, again, it is a positive story,
Speaker 2: much like Salford and hopefully under under Lockier and the
Speaker 2: new administration there, they can keep building and you know,
Speaker 2: really get Rugby League firing in London.
Speaker 1: Will My analysis videos that have done on teams have
Speaker 1: had a habit of influencing what's happened the week after
Speaker 1: at various levels of the game, john including the highest.
Speaker 1: So when I start analyzing the Broncals, maybe the opposition
Speaker 1: will see some weaknesses the connect sploit. That's all I'll say.
Speaker 1: So London should pay me to keep quiet. York came
Speaker 1: from that division and they're preparing for a year in
Speaker 1: Super League. But they've only had one preseason game and
Speaker 1: we're beaten in that. Who did you play?
Speaker 2: I played hardest field on I think it was Saturday,
Speaker 2: went down twenty two to four. Look, I mean you
Speaker 2: can look into you can put a lot of value
Speaker 2: in the preseason games or not. At the end of
Speaker 2: the day, the result doesn't really matter. I was up
Speaker 2: in York last week speaking to Mark Applecarth and the
Speaker 2: owner Clint good Child, and you know, they were very positive,
Speaker 2: confident about the new season, obviously excited. York's never been
Speaker 2: in Super so it is a new market. But I
Speaker 2: think there's no escape in the fact that it's going
Speaker 2: to be a hard season for them. They've obviously they've
Speaker 2: they've switched from part time to full time. They've done
Speaker 2: some recruitment, but they don't have the full sky money
Speaker 2: that that all the other clubs except to Loose get.
Speaker 2: They only get I think it's about six hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty pounds instead of the sort of one point three,
Speaker 2: So they aren't, you know, unless they're their owners tip
Speaker 2: in that actually when they can't recruit to the same level.
Speaker 2: So it's going to be, Yeah, it'll be it'll be
Speaker 2: hard for them. But again I think it's it is
Speaker 2: exciting that the new market. Anyone who's been in York
Speaker 2: would probably say it's a fantastic city, you know, very
Speaker 2: big for tourism, and it's a new market for the sport.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's going to be fascinating. They play whole
Speaker 2: Car on their first game, so it's a pretty difficult
Speaker 2: round one. But let's let's see how they go. They
Speaker 2: they dominated the championship last year. They lost the ground
Speaker 2: five to loose, but I finished top, so I think
Speaker 2: they deserve to get their shades.
Speaker 1: Well, let's listen to that audio now that you recorded
Speaker 1: with your coach, Mark Applegarth.
Speaker 2: I mean obviously you can talk. You can talk, you
Speaker 2: can talk about the new BAB if you want or
Speaker 2: leave that out, but obviously yeah, yeah, I mean obviously congrct.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Probably not a lot of sleep, but you're prepared for
Speaker 2: a new season. It's another exciting thing for no.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much.
Speaker 5: Yeah, obviously welcome the new edition in absolutely come out
Speaker 5: a good time.
Speaker 6: Forfault season, miss any game, Yeah exactly, But yeah, it's
Speaker 6: pre seasons, pre season.
Speaker 5: I think every coach will be same at moment. You
Speaker 5: you know, you're getting into your squad, how you want
Speaker 5: to play, what you want to be perceived about, and
Speaker 5: the main thing is getting everyone fit and firing and
Speaker 5: connection as a team.
Speaker 4: And you know everyone's applying theirself in a great manner.
Speaker 5: And we're at that stage of preseason now where everyone's
Speaker 5: just ready for the games to begin and and begin
Speaker 5: that journey of the twenty twenty sixth season.
Speaker 2: You said before that I guess having that one only
Speaker 2: one preseason game, I guess explain that because sometimes will
Speaker 2: had three, sometimes will have two. I guess you've got
Speaker 2: to think you're the only one Superage had one.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, As I said, I've done preseason in the past,
Speaker 5: well we've had three or four, and I mean last
Speaker 5: year we we only had one.
Speaker 7: End.
Speaker 5: Personally, I just I like to build up throughout the year,
Speaker 5: and I think with all tough the sport is these days,
Speaker 5: you know, if you if you're looking at your top
Speaker 5: twenty two to twenty three players, I think one of.
Speaker 4: Two games is probably, in my opinion, all you need.
Speaker 5: We've been training tough, and we've been you know, we've
Speaker 5: been doing what we need there and I think naturally
Speaker 5: you want to see him in the competitive element, which
Speaker 5: preseason friendly will bring against an opposition that don't know
Speaker 5: your calls, and then what sort of shape you're gonna
Speaker 5: you're gonna pull in that so there'll be a good
Speaker 5: run out for for us on Saturday versus we just
Speaker 5: field you know, and they're not.
Speaker 4: We've got the.
Speaker 5: Challenge Cup before the whole Car game in round one,
Speaker 5: so you know, I think that's a sufficient build up
Speaker 5: for us leading into our amazing Super League season.
Speaker 2: And you've got that home game against who are start
Speaker 2: season be a massive game trouble winners, and I think
Speaker 2: the reports were hold one of the easier.
Speaker 1: Are you fast?
Speaker 4: You play every team twice exactly?
Speaker 5: You know, I think it's a bit of a defeated
Speaker 5: stattitude if you if you're already worrying about that sort
Speaker 5: of jazz. You know, we we've been banging the drum
Speaker 5: to being super League now, you know, ever since I've
Speaker 5: come to the club, and.
Speaker 4: You know, we feel we belong there. If we belong there,
Speaker 4: then it doesn't matter who you play, does it. You know,
Speaker 4: we enjoy that challenge.
Speaker 5: You know, book Cars the standard bearers at the moment.
Speaker 5: I thought they had a fantastic year last year. Obviously
Speaker 5: good mates were Willy to you know, and then speaking
Speaker 5: to Willie Anam, he's got the healthier respect for our
Speaker 5: team and we've got a healthy respect for ok Are
Speaker 5: And as I say, we're really looking forward to locking
Speaker 5: ons with round one.
Speaker 4: And you know, as I say, every week made the
Speaker 4: best team win on on the.
Speaker 2: Day and your team is obviously going to be very
Speaker 2: keen to for that game, which is also a good
Speaker 2: prep for them to find the Broncos.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's I mean, we're both We've only got the
Speaker 5: Super League and the Challenge Cup to look forward to,
Speaker 5: you know, and then OKRs in a bit of a
Speaker 5: different format to us that they've got to make sure
Speaker 5: that the peaking for that World Club Challenge as well
Speaker 5: are there, so you know, let's not be around the bucks.
Speaker 5: They'll be looking at us as a as a stepping
Speaker 5: stone to Brisbane, you know, and we'll be wanting to
Speaker 5: set our town for the season by you know, putting
Speaker 5: in the great performance against the car.
Speaker 2: And York in Super guess people expect.
Speaker 5: We just want to give the city a team that
Speaker 5: the brother John you know, I'd love to see here
Speaker 5: telling you that we're going to be a good season,
Speaker 5: is going to be winning the treble.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 5: We just want to give the City of York team
Speaker 5: that they're proud to get me outed every week and listen,
Speaker 5: there's going to be some fantastic eyes this year, you know,
Speaker 5: and I'm.
Speaker 4: Sure there's going to be a few super punches as
Speaker 4: well that are going to hurt.
Speaker 5: And I'm just looking forward to locking arms with some
Speaker 5: of the best teams in Email and then sure that
Speaker 5: you'll belong there.
Speaker 4: It's as simple as that, you know, we we want
Speaker 4: to be a Super League team for a long time
Speaker 4: to come.
Speaker 5: And you know, we're just really relishing the challenge every
Speaker 5: week of I'm suring.
Speaker 7: What we can do.
Speaker 2: And obviously you experience at Wakefield, Yeah, you've coached at
Speaker 2: that level before, a big learning experience. I guess the numeralis.
Speaker 2: But that will doubly help you because you've you know,
Speaker 2: you've been in an environment and you know what to expect.
Speaker 5: Yeah, i'd probably say I learn. You learn more about
Speaker 5: yourself in phases of adversity, don't you. Then you do.
Speaker 5: I don't know how many games with one last year
Speaker 5: than in periods like that. You know, we say all
Speaker 5: along it's a statistic character. I'd like to think that
Speaker 5: I have myself in a in a really positive manner,
Speaker 5: you know, for myself when I can look in the
Speaker 5: mirror that I knew I stayed true to my own character.
Speaker 5: And as you've just said, there are some really valuable
Speaker 5: learning lessons. And you know, every every season is different
Speaker 5: for different things. Obviously that year at Wayfield or a
Speaker 5: stadium getting built, and you know, limit a budget on
Speaker 5: certain things. And I've walked into York and he's got
Speaker 5: a fantastic, facilly, fantastic training ground and.
Speaker 4: Fantastic old Yeah, very humble and.
Speaker 5: You know, a different text circumstances completely and you know
Speaker 5: I'm not one for reading headlines, and all I do
Speaker 5: know is that Clint's provided the best back in that
Speaker 5: we can for our maiden year in Super League, and
Speaker 5: that's all we can ask for him.
Speaker 4: We'll be doing everything we can every week.
Speaker 5: To to go out there and make this city proud
Speaker 5: that they've got teenior super League.
Speaker 1: How do you you're back with Lee John on Super
Speaker 1: League three sixty? Is that vodka? John? No, it's just
Speaker 1: water tonight. In terms of their result in the trial,
Speaker 1: in the friendly match, I think friendlies as they call
Speaker 1: them in England, trials as to call them in Australia.
Speaker 1: They can mask so many things. I remember once coaching
Speaker 1: a Manly See eagle side in a trial two weeks
Speaker 1: before the competition and we got beat ten tries to one.
Speaker 1: Played the same opposition in round one and beat them
Speaker 1: sixteen ten or something. So trials are different because if
Speaker 1: you get a player with a little niggle, you teck
Speaker 1: them off the field. Your trial, different combinations. There sometimes
Speaker 1: isn't even goalkicks, so that even that's different. Also, the
Speaker 1: interchange rules are different. You can bring fresh interchanges on
Speaker 1: all the time. So yeah, look, York shouldn't worry too
Speaker 1: much about the result of that game. What they do
Speaker 1: need to do all things considered, though, is they need
Speaker 1: to start the season really well. So they need to
Speaker 1: get a few wins up early. They need to be
Speaker 1: about fifty percent I think by round four or five
Speaker 1: or six, Round four five or six or should that
Speaker 1: be six seven, round six seven, I don't know. And
Speaker 1: if they are fifty per win record about round six,
Speaker 1: they there's a good chance they won't finish bottom of
Speaker 1: the ladder. Now I don't know. How do we know
Speaker 1: how important it is not to finish at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the ladder yet, well, you would be league the
Speaker 1: only sport in the world where nobody knows the rules
Speaker 1: before thee it is.
Speaker 2: Going to be the IMG system again, so obviously on
Speaker 2: film performance is an element, but it's not the only element. Look,
Speaker 2: I think a successful season for York will be not
Speaker 2: finishing bottom.
Speaker 7: Bye.
Speaker 2: I think that'll be in the more than four Now
Speaker 2: they may not be, but yeah, they're an unknown quality
Speaker 2: match like really to lose and brad I mean Bradford
Speaker 2: haven't been the super League I think for ten years
Speaker 2: to Louse had a single season a couple of years ago,
Speaker 2: but it is I think people probably underestimate the jump
Speaker 2: from part time a full time all from Championship super
Speaker 2: League and the two clubs that have done it most
Speaker 2: successfully in recent years have been Wakefield and Lee, and
Speaker 2: that's because they've both basically had a lot of money
Speaker 2: and recruited strongly.
Speaker 1: And super League Before.
Speaker 2: Wakefield, Wakefield had been in Super League for a long
Speaker 2: long time, obviously had a new owner come in, pumped
Speaker 2: in a lot of money, new new stands, et cetera.
Speaker 2: And Lee had sort of yo yo, but you know,
Speaker 2: had really recruited a lot of players. You know, got
Speaker 2: in Adrian Lamb as a great coach, Chris Chester as
Speaker 2: director of rugby, and had that kind of infrastructure around.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it definitely takes money as well as experience too.
Speaker 1: On one of the anomalies I've seen in the Super
Speaker 1: League competition is because their pre season is essentially one
Speaker 1: month shorter than the NRL one possibly six weeks if
Speaker 1: you really want to get into the nitty gritty and
Speaker 1: measure it is ultimately athletic development and recuperation isn't the
Speaker 1: same in Super League Okay, so every year that happens.
Speaker 1: It doesn't help the English footballers full stop. But what
Speaker 1: it does mean is that teams go into the preseason
Speaker 1: with different levels of conditioning, different levels of fitness, and
Speaker 1: some of them go in undercooked because they try and
Speaker 1: build it up as the year goes on, because they've
Speaker 1: got better at managing this truncated this long sorry, this
Speaker 1: long season that ends sometime in twenty twenty nine, not
Speaker 1: sorry in October. And therefore you when teams look at
Speaker 1: the Super League sides in the next couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: particularly at Wigan because they have the hoop jerseys, make
Speaker 1: it look worse. Sometimes the players look a bit heavy
Speaker 1: in the early rounds of Super League and it's literally
Speaker 1: because they're at different stages of their conditioning and because
Speaker 1: it's not that much time in the off season to
Speaker 1: do it. And what will happen is if your are
Speaker 1: in a good place conditioning wise, they've got to really
Speaker 1: target some of these early fixtures to try and get
Speaker 1: some what we would occur what we would categorize as
Speaker 1: shot results, right, and that if you have looked at
Speaker 1: the history of Super League, that happens sometimes, I mean,
Speaker 1: do you remember the opening round last year, Lee played
Speaker 1: Wigan and the score was two nil or something, and
Speaker 1: I thought they played one nil. I thought they played soccer.
Speaker 1: And that's because they've probably not done as much ballwork
Speaker 1: as they should have done, not done as much work
Speaker 1: on their combinations and skill levels. They're just you know,
Speaker 1: they're essentially halfway through the preseason and the season starts
Speaker 1: so and you've got to give players rest too. So
Speaker 1: this is something that York can capitalize on. And if
Speaker 1: they're in a state of readiness, particularly in the fixtures
Speaker 1: against the likes of Bradford, Huddersfield, Castleford, anybody who's been
Speaker 1: in those lower reaches, if they can target them, they
Speaker 1: could end up getting themselves in a really good place
Speaker 1: by round six, round seven, round eight. I don't know
Speaker 1: who they play, but if they can get into a
Speaker 1: good place when the year gets tough for them, they'll
Speaker 1: have some points in the in the bank. And that's
Speaker 1: what you've got to look for. Another director departs of
Speaker 1: the RFL. As I mentioned in the pre amble, who's
Speaker 1: this director that's left and how many are left? And
Speaker 1: they're a mess, aren't they? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I mean it's it's the director of people in culture,
Speaker 2: so a victorious and nicol As you've been there about
Speaker 2: five years. Yeah, I mean, I think the governments of
Speaker 2: the RFL and the kind of the culture at the
Speaker 2: organization there's been under criticism, under attack, everyone to put
Speaker 2: up for quite some time. She's sort of the latest
Speaker 2: in a in a long line of departures from the
Speaker 2: governing body. Obviously the CEO, Tony Sutton left in September.
Speaker 2: There's been numerous other people. The head of media, Andy
Speaker 2: Wilson left after the ashes. Obviously, Sean Wayne was left
Speaker 2: more recently, and I understand there's been other you know,
Speaker 2: more junior staff as well, in the kind of logistics
Speaker 2: in the in the events team. So it's not been
Speaker 2: a great well, it's not been a great eight months
Speaker 2: of the RFL has it looked. Let's be honest, when
Speaker 2: you look at the chairman being forced out and then
Speaker 2: a whole board you know, other directors quitting and a
Speaker 2: whole board sort of effectively having to be rebuilt, and
Speaker 2: you know the sporting Sport England questioning the governments and
Speaker 2: saying you know you need to do this, this and this.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's another it's another sort of worrying thing
Speaker 2: at the RFL and who are looking for a new
Speaker 2: CEO and a new chairman. And whether we get you know,
Speaker 2: the same old faces that we generally get, or we
Speaker 2: get new people with new ideas, we shall see. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean usually these things painting out here you would expect.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think there's any problem with the
Speaker 1: RFL doing a clean out, and whatever they're doing, I'm
Speaker 1: going to hold judgment a little bit. It depends what
Speaker 1: comes now. So they've changed the fall back of the competitions.
Speaker 1: People have been cleaned out one way or the other
Speaker 1: by their own choice or by being pushed. Well, that's
Speaker 1: all well and good. That's all well and good. Let's
Speaker 1: see if it's better now. And the big stain on
Speaker 1: the RFL for me is England got beat three nil
Speaker 1: quite significantly in the Ashes. At the same time, we're
Speaker 1: announcing fourteen teams in Super League, not twelve, bringing three
Speaker 1: new sides in a couple of teams don't get the
Speaker 1: same funding and the overseas allowance goes up to ten players.
Speaker 1: So they can't, on one hand say they want England
Speaker 1: to be successful, on the other hands, say we're going
Speaker 1: to allow more Australians, New Zealand as papping New Guineans
Speaker 1: and Tim Bucktooons into the Super League. So I think
Speaker 1: what it is, John is we've seen this movie before.
Speaker 1: We know, we know some of these things probably aren't
Speaker 1: going to be great, but it's probably pertinent for us
Speaker 1: to just you know, let's see how to go. But yeah,
Speaker 1: talking of England, Brad Arthur seems interested in the England job,
Speaker 1: or is he? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Look, I think it'd be briiner for Brad to to
Speaker 2: apply and put his hand.
Speaker 1: Up for every job lately. Yeah, well, you know he's
Speaker 1: not like Leeds, is it not like that city?
Speaker 2: I think he likes Leeds. But look, we said this
Speaker 2: in the in the last podcast. It's an attractive job
Speaker 2: coaching England, you know at a World Cup. You know,
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be a short term of
Speaker 2: appointment and he'd be well placed to you know, he's
Speaker 2: got a foot in both camps and then he's had
Speaker 2: a huge amount of NROL experience and also Super League
Speaker 2: experience now for the last two years.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think he'd be a good change. This
Speaker 1: leads me into the next section. Media watch and Willie
Speaker 1: Peters was soon named as the favorite, wasn't it for
Speaker 1: the for the England job? And then a few places
Speaker 1: ran the story of Barry McDermott picking his coach for England.
Speaker 1: He wanted Brian his namesake, no relation. What they all
Speaker 1: omitted from their places though, was the fact that he's
Speaker 1: a former Island international. So I had a little giggle
Speaker 1: at this, because you know, Barry is very much entitled
Speaker 1: to past opinion on whoever he wants to be the
Speaker 1: coach of anything. And also he's a Sky Sports punned it,
Speaker 1: and he's an old teammate of McDermott in the past,
Speaker 1: I think, or foe. He is also a friend of
Speaker 1: mine Barry. But and he made a great case. But
Speaker 1: the football equivalent, the soccer equivalent, would be Roy Keane
Speaker 1: passing opinion and being pumped everywhere in the news and
Speaker 1: saying I want my mate, I don't know, Gary Neville
Speaker 1: to be the coach of England, like it's None of
Speaker 1: them mentioned the fact that Barry actually played for Ireland. However,
Speaker 1: little known fact, John, did you know he played for England?
Speaker 2: I would have presumed he played for England and Great Britain.
Speaker 1: He did play for Great Britain, significantly, and I think,
Speaker 1: I think what what tickled me? And the reason I've
Speaker 1: sort of put this in is it goes back to this, Yes,
Speaker 1: because Barry played for Great Britain. Many people have run
Speaker 1: this story and ignore the facts he played for Ireland
Speaker 1: and this is an England team, and people just interchange
Speaker 1: the two whenever it suits them, England and Great Britain,
Speaker 1: don't they.
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, I think, not knowing explicitly, but
Speaker 2: I think Barry probably considering himself an Englishman with Irish heritage.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know, he did play for Ireland a
Speaker 1: number of times. He played for England in one of
Speaker 1: two games in the nineteen ninety six European Championships and
Speaker 1: played off the bench in their thirty fourteen win over
Speaker 1: Whales or they want anyway. One player said it was
Speaker 1: twenty four to fourteen and they said thirty four. So yeah,
Speaker 1: he did play for England. But that was a time
Speaker 1: when England was almost seen as the reserve side for
Speaker 1: Great Britain basically, or the not the same side. Wayne
Speaker 1: Bennett suggested that Sam Burgess and James Graham package, and
Speaker 1: then Graham backpedaled a bit and actually also anointed Brian McDermott,
Speaker 1: and I think Sam Burgess is trying to distance himself
Speaker 1: a little bit from a job too. John.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think I think we did speak
Speaker 2: about this, and yeah, I think Sam Burgers would be
Speaker 2: a good grinding an assistant role, but look the job.
Speaker 2: He's got a massive job on his hands at Warrenton
Speaker 2: and he was very close to getting sacked last year,
Speaker 2: so I don't think it would look good, at least
Speaker 2: publicly if he was out there saying, look, I want
Speaker 2: the England job, Give me the England job, because his
Speaker 2: track record after two seasons at Warrington's not crash hot.
Speaker 2: He had a great first year, but the second year
Speaker 2: was was pretty bad. So yeah, let's let's see how
Speaker 2: he gets on with the Wolves in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: Oh, somebody has started on me on Facebook too. Mark
Speaker 1: r d says, let me just this is this is
Speaker 1: hot off the press. The clip when's the last time
Speaker 1: you saw a play? Oh bull? And then and then
Speaker 1: a emoji of a turd? God know what you are watching?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 3: That was.
Speaker 2: He's got some great face. And then.
Speaker 1: On another video he went, wow, so insightful. I'm going
Speaker 1: to reply to him just like you are. Was it
Speaker 1: Kipling who was a great writer, It was, you're right
Speaker 1: like Kipling there, you know, he'd be like what you
Speaker 1: went to the Leaderino's media day and we've got some
Speaker 1: audio of that while playing a moment. But they're at
Speaker 1: risk of losing players to the n r L, or
Speaker 1: they have lost some players to.
Speaker 2: The n r L.
Speaker 1: Get mixed up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, obviously morgan gannon will be turning out for
Speaker 2: the Warriors this year next year.
Speaker 1: He's gone this year, not next year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, morgan gannon will be fine for the Warriors
Speaker 2: in what a month or so. They've lost James McDonald
Speaker 2: and Harry Newman to Perth for twenty twenty seven and
Speaker 2: I know Jared O'Connor has got two NRL clubs who
Speaker 2: are very interested in him. He's obviously off contract that
Speaker 2: Leads at the end of this year. It's quite surprising,
Speaker 2: considering his performances for Leeds and how long he's been
Speaker 2: the club that they haven't tied him down before now.
Speaker 2: But yeah, there's a bit of competition for him. I
Speaker 2: think Person one of the clubs that are in for
Speaker 2: Jared O'Connor. But my inclination is that he will probably
Speaker 2: stay in Leeds. He's had a baby, well, his partner
Speaker 2: had a baby last year. I think he's pretty happy
Speaker 2: at Leeds. But yeah, the NRL clubs are definitely you know,
Speaker 2: smelling some blood in the water with the Rhinos and
Speaker 2: they're getting a bit decimated.
Speaker 1: Jared's propaganda machine remainds were just like that of his
Speaker 1: father twenty odd years ago. Don't worry, So I'll say,
Speaker 1: I'll I'll tell, I'll tell the same. So a lad's
Speaker 1: going to be challenges this year next year or is
Speaker 1: it rebuild time?
Speaker 2: Yeah? No, I think I think there will be challenges
Speaker 2: this year. Look, they've got a they've got a good team.
Speaker 2: They should have been in the I guess what you
Speaker 2: would call the preliminary follow last year they just had
Speaker 2: that brain explosion at the end against Helen's. So I
Speaker 2: think that will be there and thereabouts, probably in the
Speaker 2: top three four. I don't know if they're good enough
Speaker 2: to knock off Hulk or Wigan in a in a final,
Speaker 2: but I look, if Jake Connor has the kind of
Speaker 2: year that he had last year, you know with Brodie Croft,
Speaker 2: they've got you know, some good some good backs there,
Speaker 2: some great forwards, they've definitely you know, and Brad Arthur's
Speaker 2: really improved them as as a team, so they should.
Speaker 1: Be up there. So our intrepid journalist John went to
Speaker 1: the Leeds media day. You're going to hear in order
Speaker 1: Calum Watkins, Presley Castle, Jared O'Connor and Jeremiah Mattuita. And
Speaker 1: for those watching Callum Watkins and Presley Castle is an
Speaker 1: audio clip with just a picture of those two players.
Speaker 1: But Jared O'Connor and Jeremiah Matita. Is that how you say?
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I'm not sure whether it be Matatia.
Speaker 2: I like the form over Newcastle and.
Speaker 1: Spelling John, the journalists might have spelled it wrong in
Speaker 1: the message to me, I'm.
Speaker 2: Not sallow and so I'm not I'm not sure of
Speaker 2: the exact pronunciation.
Speaker 1: Well, Jared and Jeremiah they've got videos, so if you're
Speaker 1: watching on YouTube, you're not going to be looking at
Speaker 1: playing pictures.
Speaker 7: All the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: As a off season, Christmas in a massive, massive view
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah, it's been good. Nice little break with the kids.
Speaker 4: And family, which was good, had a good year, enjoyed it.
Speaker 7: It was.
Speaker 6: Obviously we're playing in the Ashes as well, didn't think
Speaker 6: that would happen. So yeah, it was pretty good to
Speaker 6: go through that and play internationals again, which was great,
Speaker 6: but to get that time off and spending time in
Speaker 6: the family has obviously been the most important.
Speaker 7: So it's been good.
Speaker 2: How do you look back at twenty twelve considering you know,
Speaker 2: you've I mean, this is a respectful.
Speaker 1: Way you've been around the wall, You've changed a.
Speaker 2: Lot in your career, You've had a lot of seasons,
Speaker 2: but what happened at Salford You've come back to lege
Speaker 2: great form, you're playing in ashes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like a bit of a rollercoaster.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it has, and I think sometimes it happens sometimes it's.
Speaker 8: Part of our sport, you know, at the time, and
Speaker 8: unfortunately obviously with the Solf the situation which is looking
Speaker 8: like it's going on up now, which is good and positive,
Speaker 8: which which I'm really happy with people.
Speaker 6: That I've gone in there and trying to help the
Speaker 6: club as best as possible.
Speaker 7: So I really pleads with that.
Speaker 6: And obviously the year was obviously obviously up and down
Speaker 6: in terms of that and being able to be giving
Speaker 6: an opportunity to come here. It was some of that
Speaker 6: I took with both hands and I had to try
Speaker 6: and make the most of it because I remember playing
Speaker 6: them in the first couple of rounds as fought and
Speaker 6: you're also playing them before. There's something about this team
Speaker 6: that can do something special. So I've got given the
Speaker 6: opportunity to come back or took with both hands, and yeah,
Speaker 6: I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 7: It's it's been great, and that's been awesome with his coaching.
Speaker 6: And obviously as a gloat and all the lads as
Speaker 6: well off there played with a few a while back
Speaker 6: Altous played against them as well, so all great lads
Speaker 6: and all want to do really well for this club.
Speaker 7: So yeah, glad to be a part.
Speaker 1: Of it as a sulted local.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you must be happy at the club has restarted
Speaker 2: and there's going to be a presence there and you
Speaker 2: know for all the next Calum Watkins's and the kids
Speaker 2: in a local area can have a pathway.
Speaker 6: Super Yeah, absolutely, and I know it's it's it's early
Speaker 6: doors is in it. It's going to be some tough
Speaker 6: situations that they have to go through and make some
Speaker 6: tough decisions. But then they spoke about obviously Ryan spoke
Speaker 6: about being transparent and being honest and they will certainly
Speaker 6: give that one hundred percent, and you know the fans
Speaker 6: will respect that and support them as best as you can.
Speaker 6: You know, it's a it's a great bunch of fans
Speaker 6: that are really passionate about their club.
Speaker 7: And I've been a part of that as a.
Speaker 1: Young kid as well, have been through ups and downs
Speaker 1: as well, So.
Speaker 6: I'm so glad that there's something there in place that
Speaker 6: they can that they can push forward with and there's
Speaker 6: a lot of positivity there. And they've got the game
Speaker 6: on the on the Friday night and I'll be there
Speaker 6: supporting as well.
Speaker 7: So yeah, it'll be excited to go.
Speaker 2: And looking back at the Rhinos, I just passing Ryan
Speaker 2: they I think you and him are probably the last
Speaker 2: of the Golden Yeah, it must be, you know, yeah,
Speaker 2: I guess you can pass on that. You and him
Speaker 2: can pass on that lineage to that that's next crop.
Speaker 2: And there's a lot of exciting young players coming through.
Speaker 6: Yeah, especially here, it's it's massive. You know, everyone's coming
Speaker 6: in full time as well or of the academy. My
Speaker 6: lads are playing, are playing and coming in full time
Speaker 6: and training and you know they're getting our experience from
Speaker 6: those guys and they're getting pushed by the coaches at
Speaker 6: the same time we did, you know, back then. So
Speaker 6: the likes of me and Harlick and obviously give them
Speaker 6: that kind of advice and experience that that we go
Speaker 6: through because we're all doing the same things. We all
Speaker 6: training and pushing ourselves hard. It's about doing the little
Speaker 6: things and you know, you know, to talking, you know,
Speaker 6: talking with your actions and you know that's something I'll
Speaker 6: pass on to the younger lads.
Speaker 7: And yeah, it's very exciting, isn't it.
Speaker 6: You know, Chev has done a brilliant job in terms
Speaker 6: of happy to bring up them their young kids as well,
Speaker 6: and some blazes as well as working hard to you know,
Speaker 6: to to retain them guys and once to get the
Speaker 6: opportunity here they you know, you know, they can make
Speaker 6: the most of it. But the fact that they're in
Speaker 6: their full time road now put something the best place
Speaker 6: to to when they do get the opportunity, they're ready.
Speaker 2: And for lads, I mean, looking back at the end
Speaker 2: of that season and she put it to bed, but
Speaker 2: what happened, Helen's you know, absolutely crazy ending. It was
Speaker 2: a good season for the club. That imagine everyone was
Speaker 2: still kind of what the hell happened in that last
Speaker 2: ten minutes and yeah, you know you were you were
Speaker 2: two games from going final.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 6: And I think that's just a learning, I guess, a
Speaker 6: learning from the group. You know, the way we play
Speaker 6: is it's very exciting, and I know it's bringing the
Speaker 6: best out of.
Speaker 7: The players that we've got on the team.
Speaker 6: And you know that we can be be anyone on
Speaker 6: our day and when we are playing hard to beat,
Speaker 6: and then that's what we're want to be known for. So, yeah,
Speaker 6: he was obviously devastating losing that game, but we've had
Speaker 6: to put that to bed straight away. And we did
Speaker 6: that coming into pre season, which is which is good,
Speaker 6: and we addressed it and they'll put it to bed now.
Speaker 6: And it's a new journey in a new season now,
Speaker 6: So something that we're really looking forward to and looking
Speaker 6: forward to get stuck into.
Speaker 2: And you look, you're looking back at last year in
Speaker 2: the squad that you have, it seems like you guys
Speaker 2: can be really challenges this year up there with the
Speaker 2: whole guys and the Wiggins and yet really pushed for trophies.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and that's that's the game. I think that for
Speaker 7: every club. That's the game to get to.
Speaker 6: To fight for silverware, to play for and to win
Speaker 6: silver air and to be successful as a team and
Speaker 6: then as a group. And you you've got to go
Speaker 6: through journeys, You've got to go through you know, different
Speaker 6: adversities through through the season.
Speaker 7: It's a new year. It's it's an opportunity for us
Speaker 7: to get better and better as a group.
Speaker 6: And I would say every team is going to get
Speaker 6: better from that, and then the teams that come up
Speaker 6: as well, they're going to provide a big challenge as well.
Speaker 7: So yeah, it's it's exciting for for for super League
Speaker 7: and for us.
Speaker 6: It's just about being the best that we can to
Speaker 6: movie teams what we're doing training in terms of how
Speaker 6: we prepare for games and put ourselves in the best
Speaker 6: mistress position to play at our best and.
Speaker 7: We'll see how we go from there.
Speaker 2: Chat. I guess that last season and got an issue.
Speaker 2: Obviously it's massive you making your debut.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how was it?
Speaker 7: It was?
Speaker 9: It was a will window, to be fair, I've said,
Speaker 9: I said to quite a lot of people that have
Speaker 9: asked me a similar question that you know at the
Speaker 9: start of the year, I wouldn't I would never expected
Speaker 9: to know, to play seven super League games if you
Speaker 9: have asked me, so you know it was. It was
Speaker 9: obviously the best shame in my career so far, and
Speaker 9: you know I'm looking to build on that even further
Speaker 9: this year to you know, kind of top it. But yeah,
Speaker 9: I know it was.
Speaker 4: It was a great year.
Speaker 2: And what Yeah, I guess what has Brad said about
Speaker 2: this season coming? You know, what does he expect from you?
Speaker 2: What had a role?
Speaker 1: Does he? Does? He say you're playing?
Speaker 9: Yeah, well, you know, without putting too much pressure on me.
Speaker 9: You know, he said that a lot, but you know,
Speaker 9: he just wants me to get more games. Something about
Speaker 9: this year, you know, learn from the lads around me,
Speaker 9: and I think, you know, taking everything that's being said
Speaker 9: to us by the coaches, you know, which is which
Speaker 9: is what I want as well. Ultimately, you know, I
Speaker 9: don't want to get too far ahead of myself in
Speaker 9: a sense where you know, you know, I'm letting it
Speaker 9: go past me and stuff. So you know, I want
Speaker 9: to grounded and I want to learn and play as
Speaker 9: many games I can the share.
Speaker 2: I guess it must have been a bit of a
Speaker 2: world when you know, been eighteen and then you played
Speaker 2: on TV. Yeah, and I remember I asked Brad about
Speaker 2: your twenty season and gave you massive wraps.
Speaker 1: You know, he's really impressed with you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I guess that transition from academy and reserves to
Speaker 2: super League geah.
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's you know I thought at the time, you know,
Speaker 9: it was it was a big step up, you know,
Speaker 9: looking back at it was it was easier than I
Speaker 9: thought because you know, I had the right lads around me, Yeah,
Speaker 9: the right coaching staff, and I think I was in
Speaker 9: the right environment and team, you know, so I am
Speaker 9: really grateful for that. And you know, the trust that
Speaker 9: Brad's given me to obviously, like you say, debut at
Speaker 9: eighteen and then go on to start at eighteen against Okay,
Speaker 9: you know it's He's given me a lot of trust
Speaker 9: and faith and that's only given me so much confidence
Speaker 9: and only done me a world of good.
Speaker 2: And your background is it from Bradford original Halifacts right?
Speaker 2: But you did come through West Balwick, Yes I did, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: growing up with Halifax Fain Lates Fain Branford.
Speaker 4: Well, I never really.
Speaker 9: I followed rugby, but I never really supported a team.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 9: What was actually strange, which I don't really tell a
Speaker 9: lot of people that I have a I've had a
Speaker 9: relationship with Jake Connor for a while and he used
Speaker 9: to coach my dad locally, so I kind of when
Speaker 9: he was that whole, I kind of followed him where
Speaker 9: he were and then obviously when I grew up and
Speaker 9: got a little bit older, you know, and then signed
Speaker 9: here at Leeds, you know, this kind of becomes your
Speaker 9: home and you know you support these so I would say, yeah,
Speaker 9: that's how that's how it planned out.
Speaker 1: With you with your dad obviously was a good player.
Speaker 1: Well I think he is.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think he's he's a good player. He never
Speaker 9: made it professionally, just locally, but you know I heard
Speaker 9: a lot to him as well. Yeah, you know he's
Speaker 9: been massive in my development and my journey, you know,
Speaker 9: to get to this position that.
Speaker 4: I am now.
Speaker 9: So you know, I hearn a lot of a lot
Speaker 9: of things. Yeah, And like I said, I wouldn't be
Speaker 9: in this position without him, So you know, he's been
Speaker 9: He's been a great role model.
Speaker 1: Was that Siddle that he played.
Speaker 9: For, Yeah, so he played at Civil but majority was
Speaker 9: of ingden Wurch's my local club where I'm I'm from
Speaker 9: and lived. So you know, since I were young growing
Speaker 9: up watching him plays has been massive in my journey
Speaker 9: in development.
Speaker 2: And I imagine he was a big factor in getting
Speaker 2: you into rugby and obviously teaching you the game.
Speaker 1: And yeah, yeah it was you know.
Speaker 9: He actually he coached me out of Ingden when I
Speaker 9: was a little bit younger. So you know, we've I've
Speaker 9: kind of been with him for a long time in
Speaker 9: terms of rugby, and then when he stepped away, you know,
Speaker 9: he kind of made the decision to step away because
Speaker 9: to help me develop further, you know, because ultimately I
Speaker 9: was comfortable under my dad, and I think for me
Speaker 9: to grow I had to be uncomfortable in a new
Speaker 9: environment and a new team.
Speaker 2: So yeah, and he has to be very proud of,
Speaker 2: you know, what you've achieved so far and the pathway
Speaker 2: that your own.
Speaker 7: Now.
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know as all my family, you know, they
Speaker 9: mean a lot to me. It means so much and
Speaker 9: the sacrifice, you know, a lot of things for them,
Speaker 9: you know, so that I could be in this position.
Speaker 9: So yeah, I think proud is an understatement. And you know,
Speaker 9: whatever journey I go on, you know, I definitely like
Speaker 9: them to be on my side, and.
Speaker 2: I know, there's always the terrible headlines and the social media.
Speaker 2: But your first name, I guess a unique first name.
Speaker 2: I'm guessing it has got nothing to do with Elvis.
Speaker 4: I've asked that before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the only stupid as Yeah.
Speaker 9: But it's got all to do with Elvis, surprisingly, So yeah,
Speaker 9: it's pretty unique.
Speaker 7: I don't think.
Speaker 9: I don't figure I really know anyone else called Presley,
Speaker 9: So I usually hate when I'm a bit younger, but
Speaker 9: I don't mind, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well it makes you stand out. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: Jared ready for another season? Was a big one for you.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to the next one.
Speaker 10: Yeah, really exciting thing, especially now everyone's getting a bit
Speaker 10: fed up a pre season, but went early there and yeah,
Speaker 10: I think everyone's just really excited to get going.
Speaker 1: It was a pretty dramatic game to lash. Have you
Speaker 1: got over that size game?
Speaker 2: Not quite.
Speaker 10: I'm still not actually watched the game back far from
Speaker 10: when we've got to review it. But yeah, I don't.
Speaker 10: I don't know if we'll ever quite. I think it's
Speaker 10: it's fielders all going into that care anyway.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, it's probably probably the worst way to
Speaker 2: win the season, isn't it. Look you guys looked down
Speaker 2: dustin for the next semi and then yeah.
Speaker 1: There's yeah it was, but not much we can do
Speaker 1: about now. But you can tell that.
Speaker 7: I'll see everyone's come back a.
Speaker 10: Bit hurt, but review that and yeah, we're just pumped
Speaker 10: the ready to go.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was a good season for the club.
Speaker 2: I guess with the roster of that you've gone with
Speaker 2: Brandy Charge, you can really challenge for those tops.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay on wigging and challenge for choices.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think especially after the last two years where
Speaker 10: we've not made the topic, because it's sort of put
Speaker 10: us back in the right direction and we're the top four,
Speaker 10: top four team again. Kabous to get them top two
Speaker 10: spots this year because it's be good.
Speaker 2: I'm easily got it, but we fell off. But even
Speaker 2: if you came fast year, so hopefully we'll sort of
Speaker 2: get this year. I don't know your contract, Chy and
Speaker 2: you talks in a clown, Can you tell anything about
Speaker 2: where that's ad or yeah?
Speaker 1: Your future just talking to obs.
Speaker 10: Always been in talkatily the whole time, and there's been
Speaker 10: some interests coming from elsewhere.
Speaker 1: Well, just starting and trying to get hopefully get sumer so.
Speaker 2: I know you've been in a club for five six years.
Speaker 2: It's quite a long time, made over one hundred appearances.
Speaker 2: I think I guess that your preference would be decided
Speaker 2: if you can work, because you'll have the farm in
Speaker 2: the city.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent.
Speaker 10: It's been It's been good to me, Alou when Witness
Speaker 10: went into administration, and I'll say it might have been
Speaker 10: playing championship, which would have been a completely different stories. Yeah,
Speaker 10: they actually took a took a chat on me and
Speaker 10: so come from the having been so really grateful and
Speaker 10: it's as one of the best clubs, if not the
Speaker 10: best club in the world.
Speaker 1: So yea with us and I think been a month
Speaker 1: away Vegas. Yeah, have you've been before? And how much
Speaker 1: are you looking forward to that?
Speaker 2: Plan?
Speaker 1: The legis training I've never been for.
Speaker 10: As soon as we got announced who I was watching
Speaker 10: loads of videos on YouTube of all what's there and
Speaker 10: looking at all the stuff from last year when the
Speaker 10: clubs went a really excited things. There's not really many
Speaker 10: opportunities that you get like this when you when you play,
Speaker 10: so definitely won't take it for granted.
Speaker 2: Jeremiah, how are you finding I guess love from the
Speaker 2: other side of the world and pre season in the.
Speaker 1: Nice cold now it's good. Obviously, it's the training isue
Speaker 1: weather here.
Speaker 3: Different to having hot preseason and then cold creature, so
Speaker 3: a bit hard on the lines, but it's been pretty good.
Speaker 2: And you've come over from from Queensland, from the Cowboys
Speaker 2: system and the Cadies and the q CAP.
Speaker 1: I guess what was the appeal of the lout Leeds.
Speaker 7: I guess.
Speaker 3: The coach I've bread after we talked and he was
Speaker 3: really had. He talked to me about having a break
Speaker 3: future and obviously learning things off.
Speaker 4: Him and what he thinks I could bring to the team.
Speaker 7: So that that's probably what what I mean people got
Speaker 7: coming into for.
Speaker 2: The Rhinos fans, I guess who haven't seen you play,
Speaker 2: probably didn't see you in boxing that I guess, what
Speaker 2: can you What can you bring to the team.
Speaker 3: My aggression, I think for everyone I take or thinks
Speaker 3: he plus boss mine, so that's why I think I
Speaker 3: can really bring to him, especially my size. So okay,
Speaker 3: that's the big attraction for these fans.
Speaker 2: Come watch and you've got coach player and custardson down
Speaker 2: in Mackay obviously a former leagues player today, give you
Speaker 2: an advice or talk to you about about comings of
Speaker 2: the runners.
Speaker 3: No, so I shouldn't tell him until I actually got
Speaker 3: placed off obviously going to comment.
Speaker 7: He just told me that's a great club and he
Speaker 7: looks looks.
Speaker 3: Towards to me being he's always a great free non
Speaker 3: club and I see his club.
Speaker 1: So that's for me.
Speaker 2: And you've got a trip to Vegas round two. Have
Speaker 2: you been in Vegas before? Looking forward to that.
Speaker 4: Now, I've actually.
Speaker 3: Was my first time moving on to the country, said,
Speaker 3: Vegas be a new experience for me, So hopefully over there.
Speaker 2: And you've had any chance to sort of watch the
Speaker 2: NRL and Super League in Vegas enough alleged stadium playing
Speaker 2: in the NFL ground, Yeah, I always.
Speaker 3: Watched it, watching the last year for the last few years,
Speaker 3: and that's pretty pretty cool to actually just do his standing.
Speaker 2: Foot in a really a great stadium.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you're back with Liam john on Super League
Speaker 1: three sixty, Angus Crichton and Mark nowanganesa man. No agase,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be playing Rarah in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 2: They are, I mean the Angus krat one. I don't
Speaker 2: think anyone's really surprised that this has been ongoing for
Speaker 2: what two years, you know, I think he was. I
Speaker 2: can't remember which GPS school he came to. Everybody he
Speaker 2: played union league as young stratink.
Speaker 1: I've got a new incin in my head for some reason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Cameron Murray might have been Newington, or
Speaker 2: maybe they both were Newington. But he's always He's always
Speaker 2: been a dual co kind of player in the sense
Speaker 2: that had the education in both codes. I think he's
Speaker 2: always you know, he grew up wanting to play for
Speaker 2: the Wallabies. From the league point of view, it is
Speaker 2: a shame because I think, you know, he's been one
Speaker 2: of the best back robbers in the world the last
Speaker 2: couple of years. Very good in the Ashes, Scott's College,
Speaker 2: Scott's College. Yeah, but I mean good luck to him.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 2: The Wallabies are going to have a very strong NRL contingent,
Speaker 2: aren't they. Obviously with so I Ee and Tom Wright
Speaker 2: the former mainly fallback. Looks like Zach Lomax won't be
Speaker 2: going to union. He's trying to find his way back
Speaker 2: into the NROL. But Paramounter, well, that was the other
Speaker 2: one I was going to bring up.
Speaker 1: I mean, Zach Lomax is twenty twenty six is Ben
Speaker 1: Hunt because as we've said before, John that that wasn't
Speaker 1: rhyming slang by the way it was. It was a
Speaker 1: reference to the fact that bent Hunt dominated the media
Speaker 1: landscape in a couple of off seasons, because it was
Speaker 1: a willie or won't he And again it speaks to
Speaker 1: this changing media landscape that a reference often that there's
Speaker 1: less journalists now, so when the senior ones go off
Speaker 1: for the summer break, there's less junior writers and less
Speaker 1: junior hacks trying to get some tried to get some news.
Speaker 1: So they just recycle, recycle, and just pick on one
Speaker 1: thing and recycle it and recycle it and get whatever
Speaker 1: goodly can. And this year is the summer of Zach Lomax, unfortunately.
Speaker 1: You know, Monday, it's Zach Lomax's is going Tuesday, is
Speaker 1: staying Wednesday. He clipped his toenails Thursday, got his hair
Speaker 1: done Friday, you know, so it's this is the summer
Speaker 1: of Zach Lomax, unfortunately in Australia. So no offense to
Speaker 1: Zach Lomax. I mean, what's interesting about Zach Lomax. The
Speaker 1: public look at him as someone who contract hops and
Speaker 1: you don't have to go far to see that opinion. However,
Speaker 1: his manager was on a podcast recently and said, well,
Speaker 1: Zach Lomax was promised this at his first club. I'm
Speaker 1: having another senior moment. He came from Saint George and
Speaker 1: he did. He was told he was going to be
Speaker 1: at Saint George's full back, and then they took other
Speaker 1: options and ended up on the wing. And then he
Speaker 1: went to Paramatta to play full back under Brad Arthur.
Speaker 1: The coach got moved and Clint and and when Clint
Speaker 1: Gutherson left, he still didn't get full back. And so
Speaker 1: from from that, I think he wanted center a parent matter.
Speaker 1: But he was right with Clem Gartherson, and that was
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons he went.
Speaker 2: To Yeah that's right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry mom.
Speaker 2: Again, there's always there's always two sides the story. I
Speaker 2: think his manager was panning out that the Zach is
Speaker 2: a player who likes different challenges, he likes to test himself.
Speaker 2: From that, it's perfectly fine. Obviously he wanted to go
Speaker 2: to R three sixty. That didn't happen, and that was
Speaker 2: the other beat up that we had for several months.
Speaker 2: R three sixty in the amount of people saying it was,
Speaker 2: you know, this massive threat when really it wasn't. But
Speaker 2: I believe three sixties lasted longer than our three sixty
Speaker 2: on zach Lovak's look. I think at the end of
Speaker 2: the days he did sign, you know, his exit with
Speaker 2: Paramatter is that he wouldn't be going to another an
Speaker 2: oral club without their permission or without their negotiation. So Paramatta,
Speaker 2: who within their rights. People forget you know, what happened
Speaker 2: with Gordon Tallis. I think was it ninety six. I
Speaker 2: think it was ninety six, But basically, when the Super
Speaker 2: League War happened, he agreed to go to the Broncos
Speaker 2: to leave Saint Georgia Lawara, and Saint Georgia Lawara wouldn't
Speaker 2: let him go and he sat out a year, you know,
Speaker 2: And I mean that never happens anymore, does it, Because
Speaker 2: generally contracts aren't worth the paper they print it on.
Speaker 2: But you know, I think Paramatter are within their rights
Speaker 2: to do that. I don't know whether there could be,
Speaker 2: you know, if he goes to Melbourne, be some sort
Speaker 2: of trade where they pick up a player. You know,
Speaker 2: that's what you see in the NBA, in the NFL
Speaker 2: and other competitions. But it's a difficult situation for Zach.
Speaker 2: I mean, apparently he fancies himself as a bit of
Speaker 2: a boxer too, so maybe'll he'll go and fight Nelson
Speaker 2: a few bouts this year and then back on the
Speaker 2: fuddy field in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 1: But you know, I always say, they only do this
Speaker 1: because we're a salary cap sport and they can earn
Speaker 1: whatever they want somewhere else, or if we don't want
Speaker 1: our players to sniff around, pay them more.
Speaker 2: And I have some sympathy to Zach in the sense
Speaker 2: that clubs do the same thing. They'll sign someone on
Speaker 2: a massive deal, not get value from and then try
Speaker 2: and move them on or you know, try and freeze about.
Speaker 2: It happens in every spot Hamson football, happens in rugby league,
Speaker 2: you name it. So it goes both ways. But at
Speaker 2: this point it's it's it's Zach who's who's got a
Speaker 2: lump it? And and PARAMOUTNTA looked to be in a
Speaker 2: strong position.
Speaker 1: I was listening. I was just doing a job, Johnny's job.
Speaker 1: And you want to talk about the fans in the North, Yeah,
Speaker 1: opinions on London and France.
Speaker 2: I'll be I'll be careful to frame up because I
Speaker 2: think today on a on a message board, I do
Speaker 2: love the message boards with people without names or identities
Speaker 2: or anything. But I was accused of spreading propaganda. Will
Speaker 2: actually I mean I think Steve Mascord, me and Steve
Speaker 2: get thrown in together. But as it was an interview
Speaker 2: that Steve did you know the propaganda that they wanted
Speaker 2: to kick the French teams out, which didn't happen, And
Speaker 2: it wasn't propaganda, it was what numerous sources were telling us.
Speaker 2: It's what you know, several clubs had voiced there whatever
Speaker 2: you would like to call it, dislike of French clubs,
Speaker 2: so it's not propaganda. And the similar thing happened with London.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of people and it's not every rugby
Speaker 2: league fan the North, but it is. He would say
Speaker 2: a vocal morority minority is that some of them don't
Speaker 2: want to see let's call them expansion teams do well.
Speaker 2: And you could say London to lose Catalans Toronto previously,
Speaker 2: they don't want, you know, rugby league to they really
Speaker 2: in reality, they don't actually want rugby league to thrive
Speaker 2: in new markets because they wanted to keep it as
Speaker 2: their game. They don't want to expand, and there was
Speaker 2: some of the similar commentary around, you know, the RFLA
Speaker 2: helping London, blah blah blah. The RFLA aren't helping London,
Speaker 2: not giving them any money, They're not giving them any support.
Speaker 2: It's all being done by the Broncos themselves, by Darren
Speaker 2: Lockyer and his group, and they're spending a lot of
Speaker 2: money to do it. A similar case with Toronto. Toronto
Speaker 2: never got any central funding, which eventually was one of
Speaker 2: the reasons why they went under. And now with cat Lands,
Speaker 2: and it's this actually a story that Steve Maskell did
Speaker 2: last year. He interviewed Steve McNamara, who was still the
Speaker 2: cat Lands coach then, and he pointed out how cat Lands,
Speaker 2: which were formed in two thousand and six, they were
Speaker 2: everyone's favorite club, sorry, second favorite club. Everyone loved them
Speaker 2: because they were the plucky little underdogs.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 2: It was a great place to go out beating everybody. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: And then I think it was twenty eighteen my own
Speaker 2: senior moment. I was at the game, but I think
Speaker 2: it was twenty eighteen they beat Warrington in the Change
Speaker 2: Cup Final, and then they made two Grand Finals in
Speaker 2: the space of two or three years, and they started
Speaker 2: to be a top team and you know, tracting players
Speaker 2: and et cetera. And then people started, you know saying, oh, well,
Speaker 2: they've got to put a bond up for the Challenge
Speaker 2: Cup and now we've got to get them to pay
Speaker 2: a million pounds a year to pay for the traveler
Speaker 2: other team. So you just see, there's there's an attitude
Speaker 2: there that exists. And you know, I get that reaction
Speaker 2: from lots of people online, whether they be from trolls
Speaker 2: or burn recounts or whatever. And there is this kind
Speaker 2: of protectionism, shall we call it, for those who are
Speaker 2: you know, outside the heartlands.
Speaker 1: Mat Brexit, mate, get the immigrants out. Well, there's there's
Speaker 1: that in Australia all the time. I'm an immigrant. I
Speaker 1: think we don't get.
Speaker 2: There is an element of that. But if you're a
Speaker 2: rugby league fan, if you're a proper rugby league fan,
Speaker 2: it's quite it's kind of cutting off your nose despite
Speaker 2: your face, Like why would you not want the game
Speaker 2: to thrive in France? In London? You know? And I
Speaker 2: had one person who commented they'd obviously not you know,
Speaker 2: been paying attentional you know, why doesn't the NRL have
Speaker 2: all these teams in Victoria and Wa and everything, And
Speaker 2: it was kind of like, well, if you look at
Speaker 2: the history of the New so well as RL, you
Speaker 2: know they brought in Wollongong and Canberra in eighty two,
Speaker 2: and then they brought in Newcastle and Brisbane in eighty eight,
Speaker 2: and then brought in the Warriors, and they brought in
Speaker 2: First Adelaide and you know some of those clubs went
Speaker 2: past and Super Leigu war and then they've started to
Speaker 2: expand again and doorphans working and person coming in and
Speaker 2: P and g's coming in, so they are expanding it
Speaker 2: might not have been.
Speaker 1: And in the lower grades. P and G have played
Speaker 1: in the Queensland Cup for at least a decade. I
Speaker 1: think now Fiji have played in the New South Wales
Speaker 1: one New Zealand as well. Am I Rundown. I love
Speaker 1: the fact that you mentioned the word propaganda all the
Speaker 1: time because I've actually got the French word for propaganda,
Speaker 1: which is proper gandhi, So that's quite appropriate. That's the universe, John,
Speaker 1: because in Lee's laugh, which can be a haha or
Speaker 1: you're having a laugh. I'm going to talk about clubs
Speaker 1: off season messaging, the stuff that they try and control. Okay,
Speaker 1: so this is this is influenced by Golcost Titans. So
Speaker 1: about ten years years ago, I coached a couple of
Speaker 1: players in one of my jobs in a big elite program,
Speaker 1: and they went to play for the Go Cost Titans
Speaker 1: and one of them, well both of them. One of
Speaker 1: them in particular was let's just say very economical in
Speaker 1: the gymnasium. That's my polite's way of saying. He did
Speaker 1: sweet Fanny Adams, right, and his strength scores weren't anything flash,
Speaker 1: but he was one of those players this, okay, mate,
Speaker 1: you just do what you do and score some tries
Speaker 1: for me in the game.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: He was at Titans that summer and they were trumpeting
Speaker 1: the fact that he'd broken all the gym records at
Speaker 1: the club. This is the same player, And I'm thinking, God,
Speaker 1: either he was secretly training and we didn't know, or
Speaker 1: all the Titans must be lifting polo mints or donuts
Speaker 1: on the end of pencils kind of thing. So I've
Speaker 1: had subtly they have had a look at that every year,
Speaker 1: what's coming out of their club and every year. It's
Speaker 1: how hard the training and everything else. So I did
Speaker 1: a bit of a review of what the clubs have
Speaker 1: been saying over the summer. Okay, interlose. The news is
Speaker 1: actually called actualities in French, which means current events, not novelle,
Speaker 1: which is the French for.
Speaker 7: News.
Speaker 1: York, there was a Sydney Morning Herald article which I'm
Speaker 1: sure they're very happy with, with a suggestion that the
Speaker 1: Australian businessmen are doing the Rugby League's version of Wrexham FC.
Speaker 1: Now that what concerned me when I woke this morning
Speaker 1: was your telling me that Wrexham is actually London. So
Speaker 1: I don't know who's Rexam so maybe they maybe York
Speaker 1: and London should play for the Wrexham Cup. Yeah. Back
Speaker 1: in France, and somebody said somewhere that the current coach
Speaker 1: reminds them of Trent Robinson, not Steve McNamara's who's he's
Speaker 1: probably been the most successful coaching Atalantis Saints have gone
Speaker 1: back to their nineteen ninety six kit design essentially, which
Speaker 1: was when they won the first Super League title. Well left,
Speaker 1: so he responded to their neighbors dominating the game by
Speaker 1: appointing their old CEO again. Bulls seem the braff of
Speaker 1: Bulls seem to have brought the run with the Bulls
Speaker 1: phrase back back into their actualities. They for those who
Speaker 1: don't know, run with the Bulls was a song they
Speaker 1: brought out, oh about twenty odd years ago actually, So
Speaker 1: I hope this person who had got these people who
Speaker 1: had to go at me remember, knows that I know
Speaker 1: the song run with the Bulls, and they seem to
Speaker 1: be using that term again this offseason, no doubt to
Speaker 1: get some nostalgia going. Wakefield started Trinity TV on New
Speaker 1: Year's Eve, so there will be no doubt trying to
Speaker 1: control their messaging and then of course there's a few
Speaker 1: people we might go off message a little bit sometimes.
Speaker 1: Castleford Tiger's assistant Scott Murell praise their new signing, Jimmy Beckett,
Speaker 1: who'd been signed about a week before from part time Featherstone,
Speaker 1: and after one friendly game, tipped him to replicate the
Speaker 1: Super League success of Saint Helen's Alex Walmsley. So that
Speaker 1: was quite a big leap in one game. I'm sure.
Speaker 1: I'm sure the coach and players were happy with that.
Speaker 1: That's quite a lot of pressure and of course Castleford
Speaker 1: dev had to navigate the collapse of the Benadorme Bash, which,
Speaker 1: for those who don't know, with some event that was
Speaker 1: meant to be happening in Benadorm, Wigan. We're going are
Speaker 1: currently in Tenna Reef and the CEO is blogging, the
Speaker 1: CEO Chris Redlinski. I've also no apparently they've got a
Speaker 1: hooker that reminds them of Terry Newton. So yeah, but
Speaker 1: this is what happens, isn't it in the off season people?
Speaker 1: But my absolute favorite John and I mentioned alf Rimmer
Speaker 1: in the opener, how he's been brought back to bring
Speaker 1: past glories to this club, Huddersfield Giants, and they've got
Speaker 1: a concept called Giants Giants Unleashed. Now I googled this
Speaker 1: and it's actually something to do with WWE. But I
Speaker 1: had to navigate the internet waters and go back to
Speaker 1: Giants Unleashed in its Huddersfield guys, which is a dynamic
Speaker 1: club wide reset. It's a new energy, it's a fresh
Speaker 1: and shared belief. It's a real focus, it's a complete togetherness.
Speaker 1: It's a momentum. And in a press release on the
Speaker 1: sixteenth of January titled Giants Unleashed, a new era. The
Speaker 1: journey of Giants Unleashed began over a lunch in July
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, and since then has continued to gather pace.
Speaker 1: So lunch in twenty twenty five, are we talking subway
Speaker 1: or was it a piss up and the few ideas
Speaker 1: started flowing? We're talking like a load of white speak.
Speaker 1: That is, I mean, that's that's whoever right that should
Speaker 1: be working for Donald tramp or Castarma and God have
Speaker 1: not finished. Everyone understands the size of the task and
Speaker 1: what needs to be done, and it is that undeniable
Speaker 1: passion for success that is inspirational and unstoppable. This club
Speaker 1: has really challenged itself. Giants Unleashed is a result and
Speaker 1: is a complete change of mindset. We are rapidly transforming
Speaker 1: internally in three ways. Strategically, vision, mission, and business plans.
Speaker 1: It says in brackets, culturally, values and identity in brackets,
Speaker 1: and through increased connect we will bring it says. We
Speaker 1: will will bring Giants Unleash to life and to you
Speaker 1: overcoming months, and it will manifest itself in many ways.
Speaker 1: You will see and share in our successes. Will this
Speaker 1: happen overnight?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: Will we get things wrong on occasion, yes. Will we
Speaker 1: still lose games unfortunately, yes. Will we be criticized along
Speaker 1: the way, Yes, absolutely, but let's be brave and confident.
Speaker 1: Will wee bring them up in Lee's laugh Yes. Are
Speaker 1: we ambitious, Yes, very much so. Do we now have
Speaker 1: clear objectives and direction?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Are we entering an exciting new chapter? Yes? Should you
Speaker 1: be part of it? Yes? Now this sounds I've done
Speaker 1: some analyses. Sounds to me like a souped up way
Speaker 1: of saying. Rather, Umber did a three month review and
Speaker 1: now he's on the board and he's now a director
Speaker 1: for change. I reckon he was at that lunch the Tony.
Speaker 1: He's the Tony Blair of the Board of Peace, but
Speaker 1: he's a big board of change.
Speaker 2: I think the bit that they got me at the
Speaker 2: start when you said about past glories, Now, I think
Speaker 2: hards Filmed won the League Ladies Shield in twenty thirteen,
Speaker 2: but they have one squad before that or after it.
Speaker 2: So past Glories is clutching a bit there. It's doing
Speaker 2: a favorite of heavy lifting.
Speaker 1: And when I go through the attendances, you realize also
Speaker 1: why I went with Past Glories. Their goal apparently is
Speaker 1: to achieve a Grand Final spot within three years. They
Speaker 1: finished tenth in twenty twenty five with twenty losses. They
Speaker 1: need to find a new ground. And the average four
Speaker 1: two and twenty six fans in twenty twenty five, which
Speaker 1: is their lowest average attendance for twenty one years. That
Speaker 1: was second lowest only to Salford who are now no
Speaker 1: longer in Super League, and their attendances have headed south
Speaker 1: every year since COVID basically, and it was dipping all
Speaker 1: but two years before then too, so COVID could be
Speaker 1: a factor, but it's not as big a factor. They've
Speaker 1: basically lost almost three and a half thousand fans since
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight when they used to average seven
Speaker 1: eight hundred and twenty and back in the year two
Speaker 1: thousand they averaged only three thousand fans. But they were
Speaker 1: merged with with Sheffield then and when it googled it
Speaker 1: further like I say, it's a WWE Supercard, whatever that means, and.
Speaker 2: Was so successful that it was nicknamed Shadowsfield. I think
Speaker 2: I've governed had a Field quite a bit of the
Speaker 2: last decade or so, and I think you could always
Speaker 2: say there are a club that's really struggled for an
Speaker 2: identity for a purpose. They seem to have that sort
Speaker 2: of around that pool where innocenario when they had success,
Speaker 2: you know, they finished top and they had you know,
Speaker 2: Jermaine mcgilvrey and Leary Kudo, and they had a lot
Speaker 2: of homegrown players. But they've really struggled to have a
Speaker 2: fan base, to achieve on the field, to connect off it.
Speaker 2: They're in a stadium that's far too big for them.
Speaker 2: They want to move to Halifax, but it's hard to
Speaker 2: see how that's going to help them. They want to
Speaker 2: build a new ground, but they don't have approval for that,
Speaker 2: so they're kind of in no man's land. I think
Speaker 2: the club really needs a whole proper makeover and new leadership.
Speaker 2: But it sounds like we've just got lovely soundbites and you.
Speaker 1: Know, I think that's quite a lot of posturing for
Speaker 1: a club that's got some really scary metrics.
Speaker 2: In terms of the funny, well, the funny thing with
Speaker 2: Audisthood I find is that people always mention it. You know,
Speaker 2: it's the birthplace of rugby league, and you know it's
Speaker 2: also to be a death place. Looking at those figures, well,
Speaker 2: the Georgia Hotel was where the first meeting came in
Speaker 2: eighteen ninety five, but I think it was held there
Speaker 2: not because Huddersfield is a massive rugby league city or town.
Speaker 2: It's because it was sort of in between all the
Speaker 2: points that people were coming from, and you know, Huddersfield Town,
Speaker 2: the local football club, get a lot more fans and
Speaker 2: they've rarely been in the Premier League in the last
Speaker 2: twenty thirty years, so it's yeah, it's it's a place
Speaker 2: where the game isn't thriving and hasn't been for a
Speaker 2: long while. But yeah, the Giants have got a lot
Speaker 2: of work to do, you know, to improve on where
Speaker 2: they finished last year and making a Grand Final in
Speaker 2: the next three years. I really can't see that happening,
Speaker 2: but we'll have to wait and see. But they're unleashed, John,
Speaker 2: they are unleased.
Speaker 1: That's good. They're unleashed. And what was it at the
Speaker 1: start again, it's a dynamic club wide reset, new energy,
Speaker 1: shared and fresh belief, are real focus, are complete together
Speaker 1: as a momentum. So I thought that was the best.
Speaker 1: You do agree with me? That's the winner.
Speaker 2: That is the winner at.
Speaker 1: Martin Sadler said this week he said he should have
Speaker 1: a look at the gambling provisions and see what odds
Speaker 1: you can get for Huddersfield to win the first five games.
Speaker 1: So maybe he's been caught by this proper Gandhi. I
Speaker 1: normally I normally add an analysis thing at the end
Speaker 1: of this podcast. But John, because this podcast is going
Speaker 1: to be quite long with the audio, going to put
Speaker 1: that into a separate YouTube YouTube clip, it's already up there.
Speaker 1: I've done an analysis this week on jez Litton. Basically
Speaker 1: what you'll find John is and I think this is
Speaker 1: possibly indicative for the English game and how it took
Speaker 1: its eye off the ball in the last decade or so.
Speaker 1: There's quite a lot of things in his game that
Speaker 1: he needs to fix, particularly vis a vis tackle technique
Speaker 1: and his position in the defensive line. And he's probably
Speaker 1: England's premier hooker right now, isn't it all right? He's
Speaker 1: by far? Yeah?
Speaker 7: And is it?
Speaker 1: You know he's twenty seven turning twenty eight this year,
Speaker 1: so he's essentially in his peak so great player and
Speaker 1: Brisbane will have to watch him in the World Cup Challenge.
Speaker 1: But you know, when I do these analysis videos and
Speaker 1: what the trolls don't seem to understand on Facebook is
Speaker 1: I'm coming from the point of view as a coach
Speaker 1: or who's coaching against him, or a coach who wants
Speaker 1: to improve him, and therefore you look for things and
Speaker 1: you notice things. And yeah, this this analysis video which
Speaker 1: is already on the Rugby League YouTube, we'll show some
Speaker 1: of these things. But at the same time, I'm saying
Speaker 1: Brisbane are going to have to really what because his
Speaker 1: instincts around the player the ball, you only have to
Speaker 1: put one eyebrow out of play of marker and he goals.
Speaker 1: He's really good at that. So he definitely caught my
Speaker 1: eye in the Super League Grand Final last year and
Speaker 1: I thought he was excellent when he played for England.
Speaker 2: So your DMS building up with angry ok our fans already,
Speaker 2: that's right, that's right. I'll make sure to tag them
Speaker 2: in Busy week coming up? Not too badly, not too bad.
Speaker 1: I mean we're getting there now, aren't we Mean it's
Speaker 1: only a matter of weeks now till the Super League season,
Speaker 1: so we'll be we'll be weekly by then, if not before,
Speaker 1: We've got all ideas for content and whatnot. So this
Speaker 1: podcast is going to get better into it. I mean,
Speaker 1: it can't get much worse.
Speaker 2: So three weeks to the season starts the Super League
Speaker 2: season Challenge cut back this weekend, but yeah, February twelfth
Speaker 2: is approaching.
Speaker 1: So who's playing Challenge Cup this weekend? Any anybody in?
Speaker 2: Lots of people?
Speaker 1: Oh is it still lower teams? Lower grade?
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, there's a mixture of amateur teams with some
Speaker 2: of the semi professional teams.
Speaker 1: Are old and playing.
Speaker 2: I believe they are. Yeah, London are playing I think
Speaker 2: London might be playing Waterhead Warriors. I think loch Lane
Speaker 2: might be playing whole k Are. I know Sheffield are on.
Speaker 1: Whole k Are. I think it's whole k Are. No,
Speaker 1: they won't be in the round yet, will they. I
Speaker 1: think they are.
Speaker 2: It's a bit of a mixture anyway. But it's a
Speaker 2: long list of fixtures.
Speaker 1: We're not going to go well. I was waiting for
Speaker 1: the journalists to rattle out all the fixtures, about two
Speaker 1: hundred of them, aren't they It's exactly. It's the oldest
Speaker 1: competition in rugby league and it's also one of one
Speaker 1: of the few competitions like the f A Cup that
Speaker 1: starts before the last one ends, so because everybody can
Speaker 1: be in it basically all right, have a good week, John,
Speaker 1: Thanks Lee,