“It’s Like Cheating”: Richardson Blasts PNG Tax-Free Rules

How fair is it that the NRL, which runs a competition, has two horses in the race?

You know, I want a Kenny Blitz your daily hit of NRL news, Kenny.

Who did you play Darts last night?

Yeah, I played Darts.

Went all right, actually.

Yeah.

I reckon in my weekend state it took all the nerves out of the...

Yeah, right, yeah.

Standing up at the Oki, yeah.

Maybe the maybe the fact you're off the beers, too.

What a help, a little bit.

Could have helped, yeah.

Yeah, a little bit, maybe later on in the game.

The night it did.

No, we'll see.

Oh, well, good to have you back, mate.

We talked, we've seen to talk about that every week last year.

Oh, mate, last year?

Yeah, updates.

Well, last time we played, they're undefeated.

So we've won a couple of games often, but too good for us.

Very good.

Or I will, let's get into the footy.

Richo has blown up and said that,

Puff and New Guinea are like cheating the salary cap

with the concessions they're getting.

Yeah, well, yeah, yeah.

The 4S now began, hasn't it,

with all of what's happening with Lewi gone there?

Everybody's sat back, there's a big avalanche of opinion

about the advantage they have.

To be fair, Warren, we've been sort of,

we banked on this about this last year

when it was first announced.

It was always going to be an unfair advantage.

I find it so rugby league, though,

that the club sat back last year.

This is the deal we're going to put the Puff and New Guinea.

We're going to give all of you clubs

every one of your four million dollars.

It's part of the licensing agreement

to bring them in as a franchise,

or franchising agreement.

To bring them in and you're going to get four million dollars

for it and this is what's going to happen.

The club said, beautiful.

Put the four million in their pocket,

waited till they saw in their first player

and now they're bitching them on and everywhere.

Now, that's not to say they aren't valid.

It's just that they had their opportunity

before they took the money and they took the money.

I think even with a tax-free benefit of Puff and New Guinea,

people didn't expect them to sign somebody like Lewi.

Well, they were always going to get somebody.

That's the part about it.

Look, if I want to sit down and look into my crystal ball,

I think the Puff and New Guinea franchise

will be a disaster, okay?

I really do.

Now, at the moment,

we are all riding high on this sugar hit

from the game about signing Lewi and how great it is.

He's going to go and build a nation.

Well, this is a nation in Ferdinand Stakes

where 80% of the population is,

adult population is unemployed, okay?

If you look up Puff and New Guinea,

Puff and New Guinea unemployment rate,

which I did today,

it says about 2.6, 2.8% or whatever.

And I thought, well, that's actually not that bad.

But that's from the 10 to all the 15 to 20%

of people who actually work.

Yeah, right.

80% of the adult population don't work

in Puff and New Guinea.

Yeah, right.

The other thing you've got over there

and this is all going to come out,

come to play,

use down the track, okay?

Is the wide-scale corruption that is over there?

In government,

which is copies $60 million a part of

from Australian federal government.

And also the corruption that's in business over there,

which will come into play when third parties,

you would imagine,

start to come into play in rugby league.

That's how it will affect us.

Then you've got the other issue of the,

you know, the resort slash compounds, okay?

You know that, you call them compounds

that goes back to the Cold War,

Russia days.

So you can't call it that.

But they call them resorts over there.

But my understanding of it is

when you go over there,

you're in your resort,

if we want to call it that.

But if you want to go to another place,

you've actually got to basically get in your car

and travel there by car,

and then go in the gates there.

It's like the security escort.

Well, the security escort,

because there's pockets of these compounds,

you can't just think,

oh my god, if I walk today,

get up and just go walking around,

put more of me and have a look around

and see what's there.

You just can't do that.

Now, where this is going to affect football players?

One, they all love meeting for a morning coffee.

Yeah, true.

So where are they going to get?

Where they're going to go?

They're going to have one coffee shop,

maybe two that they can go to,

which will soon run out of,

yeah, it's a pill after a while.

They won't run out of coffee beans.

They won't run out.

That's where it is.

Well, that's the truth.

But the other part to it is also,

then you think, okay,

they're going to bring their families there.

But now, my understanding is,

according to the annual,

the players have to spend 185 nights per year

in Papua New Guinea,

which is going to be harder than it sounds

when you consider the fact that they're not going to want to get there too early.

They're going to want to get out of there as soon as the season's over.

And then during the season,

there's going to be multiple days where they're traveling

to play away games.

They get there a night or two before,

depending on what city they're in and their airlines

and when they can operate.

They might have two, three, sometimes four nights in a week

out of Papua New Guinea.

So that's going to be a problem.

But then you take your kids over.

They can't just go down the

oval and have a kick around.

Just can't do it.

Because it's outside the compound.

So it puts your major pressures on families.

And a huge pressure.

And then beyond that,

you've got the situation,

what if you've got your late-year-old or 10-year-old kid there

who wants to play footy?

He wants to be like that.

He wants to play footy.

They don't have organ on a sport,

like we do here in Australia.

So it's going to be all these things are going to come up

later down the track.

And we're all going to sit back and we're going to go,

oh, shit, this isn't what we thought we were getting.

This is all about grabbing that $600 million off the federal government.

I dare say in 10 years' time,

or 12 years' time after their 10th season,

there's every chance that they just go to court.

It all falls over.

There'll be different government in by then.

You imagine that won't be as keen to

extend the deal.

We don't know what's going to happen to the pub in New Guinea,

come by then.

We don't know how much money has got to be robbed from the system

between here and there,

given the corruption that does go on.

That's big picture.

Right now, the rugby league world is awakening to the fact

that this franchise has the ability to put together a roster

that could just blow everyone's socks off.

It might be a long bow, can't he?

But just reading before he came on about live golf,

probably being all over.

And this has got a bit of a live golf stench to it, you know?

That has.

The money grab and then it runs out.

Look,

pub in New Guinea weren't even a serious franchise threat

until that $600 million arrived on the table.

And as I said, it was initially dangled in front of the bears

and the Pacific nations, Tonga and Samoa

until the federal government pivoted and put it to,

it said, we'll do it,

but it's got to be for pub in New Guinea.

And that's where it all changed.

And the inner role for that moment on,

all the checks and balances that went into putting together

your bid is they were basically just rushed through.

And let's also remember this Warren.

pub in New Guinea are a country that basically has no

infrastructure like Australia.

It's completely different.

They are starting from scratch.

They are starting.

They have got a long look person to see

as an extensive knowledge of pub in New Guinea.

But can't find the point of the end of a football.

No, 40 knowledge.

Okay, she didn't, she's not a football expert.

Catherine Harris, the chairwoman, again, very, very astute

businessman.

She was on the commission for a while,

but she hasn't been in and around rugby league.

And then you've got Michael Shammers,

who has been in and around rugby league,

but in a vastly different role.

So you've got three people who are all

new to their job for various reasons.

So that's going to be a problem for them.

Now, let's look at red cliff dolphins.

They had what, a hundred-year history

and all they're about.

Why don't I have it in years?

But many, many years, they went back to the 50s and 60s

and all that playing as red cliff in the Brisbane competition.

They had tens of millions of dollars in the bank.

So they had a, they basically, the whole operation was ready.

They just needed to upscale a little bit to go into the NRL.

They came in with Wayne Bennett as they were in Oral Coach.

They sat down there with Wayne Bennett.

They got Jesse Bromwich, Kenny Bromwich,

Kaffircie, so recognised international.

So they got Young Katawa,

who's a future superstar of the game.

Now, only four seasons in there yet to make the playoffs.

So a well-established club.

Well-established?

Who had everything already there for it?

All they needed to do was just basically go out and get a roster.

Now, they weren't given any help

like the, the, the, the trees have been given.

But, certainly, they had every other, every other area.

They had well handled and they are still finding their way

in the NRL.

Good point.

And we're sitting here thinking, now I know it's depending,

we don't know the roster the chase is going to have.

But we're sitting here thinking this is going to be this booming success now

because of the tax-free money.

There is so much more that it's got to go and do this to make it successful.

But the venies they're going to have,

I don't agree with it because I think it's too much.

But, given everything they've got to count out,

it might, it might be the leveling of the playing field they need.

Yeah.

Given everything else because there's no doubt

that six months into the first season,

12 months into maybe even players will start,

a multiple year deals will start to sit down and go,

I've had a gutful of this place.

I cannot stay here in this compound.

It's like sitting in jail.

I guess you end up going stir crazy here because you can't get out.

You can't just, you can't get out and explore the area.

Richard came out and said that Louis didn't go for the challenge.

He went for the tax-free money.

Well, Richard was the one that got into the tiger

and saw and had as an intimate knowledge of how that negotiation went.

And he could probably carry that into this negotiation with some ideas.

So we'd be, I think, well pressed to listen to what Richard said in many ways.

I know Louis can't come out and say that.

He's acknowledged that it was part of it.

But certainly, I don't think anyone thinks he's gone there

for the challenge.

Do you think Puppy New Guinea coming to

regularly headquarters today, rubbing fields, nose in it?

What did you think of that?

I thought it was a bit weird.

They came today and it's backfired on.

It was the first rule of the state that made media wise.

They came to that the NRL headquarters to basically announce

Louis to basically use it as an opportunity.

Let's remember the NRL own the Puppy New Guinea Chiefs.

They also own the Perth Bears.

That's another problem.

The overreach from the headquarters,

who basically, they've got two separate boards

that are making decisions for their club.

And the NRL, when they get an inkling,

just basically go into the club and say,

look, I think you're going to do this.

To the point, they're actually making appointments.

It was the NRL that got shameless to Puppy New Guinea.

Not the Puppy New Guinea board that got in there.

Yep.

It was the NRL that got Malm and Inga to Perth.

So they've been guarding the assistant case.

The NRL got in to Perth against Mal's wishes.

So the overreach from the NRL,

that's also going to be fascinating to witness

through the next few years is just how that operates.

And then you've got the whole issue of

how fair is it that the NRL,

which runs a competition,

has two horses in the race.

Once again, you've just got to sit there

and you've got to go, well, where's what's fair?

Well, I think the thing about Perth is,

you would have thought if the NRL owned them,

they'd be in a better position than other clubs,

but the fact they couldn't sign players until November 1st,

the game was already over for them.

Well, that was the start of the day.

That was the NRL's way of trying to be fair

and giving the appearance of being fair.

And they thought Mal would bring in an advantage there

that Mal's capacity as a former Australian coach,

the origin legend, all that would have this appeal,

which it hasn't transpired that way.

So that's the big issue there.

But the clubs have all sat back, said nothing,

copped their 30 pieces of silver,

and now they're sitting there and they're going on this ain't fair.

Now, the poor old bears, they've just been left behind.

They're going to struggle because every player now that's looking for a change,

they're already, you're just listening to player interviews this week.

They're not talking about going to the bears.

They're talking about whether they've got their choice or not.

Okay, Kenty, let's keep moving.

This weekend at Henson Park 3pm,

we've been reached out by Alistair.

Alvi, who wanted to let us know about the Tommy Rodonikas cap,

the new town jets playing the West Magpies.

I want to ask you, what was Tommy's best club?

Oh, look, Tommy's a legend of both clubs to be fair,

but he had 11 years at West Magpies.

He got to, I think, 69 was his first season there,

and he paid till 79.

They never got to a grand final.

That guy, I think, 79, so his name got beaten to preliminary final, actually.

He might have got beaten by Manley or someone.

I can't remember who it was, anyway.

They got beaten, I think, the week before the grand final,

after winning my premiership.

I know that, or 78.

Anyway, but the other part to it is,

Tommy got new town to a grand final.

So he's a club legend for that because they hadn't been in the group.

Well, they made it, yeah.

They had a grand final since 445 with Frank Hyde.

So how do you go from West to Newtown?

Seeing how he got him over,

seeing how he got him over, John Singleton got him over

because he needed someone.

He needed someone that changed things at Newtown.

But seeing how he was the advertising guru at that time,

and he had an answer in Newtown.

It was bankrolling and Newtown were on their knees.

They were struggling to stay alive.

And he got, seeing how he went and got to Tommy,

and spoke to Tommy about getting him over.

And this is when West lost all those players.

So Tommy and Grimo, Grady went to Newtown

and Ray Brown, John Dory, and Les Boyd all went to Manly.

So West got decimated in one year.

But the great story about Tommy was in 1980 when he got there.

They were, and they were,

Newtown were the lovable losers.

They were like, the them and the bears were always

competing for last spot, so to speak.

Anyway, about 445 rounds in.

They're playing Paramata.

And they're getting bashed up.

Tommy splits his head open.

And he got this big cut.

Anyway, they go off.

And this is Paramata who made the, what,

the 76, 77 grand finals.

And they had the young Brett Kenney and Sterling

and all that on their way up.

Ella Grath, all those sorts of guys were on their way through.

And then it's your cronon and price never going around that.

Anyway, out of that,

at half time, Tommy's got always blood pouring down his face.

And the doctor's trying to stitch him up.

And while I'm riding the coach is trying to talk to the players.

And Warren's educating the players.

You've got to do this.

We've got to tackle three.

We've got to get to the fire place.

All this sort of business.

Tommy got up, pushed the doctor out of the way,

walked to the middle of the dressing room,

pushed Warren out of the way,

and just got his hand just dragged all the blood

down all over his face.

And he said, bleed with me.

And he said, that's what he said.

He said, bleed with me.

And the players just really are half

and nearly fainted from the blood.

They went out and second half come back,

big parameter.

And from that moment on,

West Newtown were competitive.

Wow.

From that, that was, that was when Newtown believed.

Because Tommy said, bleed with me.

And not long after that,

Warren Rhyme went to Johnny Lewis,

who was a back then he was on the committee of the Newtown

the Up Jets.

And he said, you know, back then you had to

submit your team to the committee and the committee

of say, yeah, you can have that.

So Warren gave you Johnny a look,

which Warren got his team.

Well, whoever you want it.

Anyway, that a quick chat.

And Warren says that Akai,

Johnny said, yeah, that's okay.

And he said,

anything else, he said, yeah, one more thing, Warren.

He said, well, say, he said, man, you got to lie off Tommy.

And he said, what do you mean?

He said, man, you're always in the Tommy,

you got to lie off him.

He said, mate, fuck Rodonigus.

He said, whenever we win,

he said it's Rodonigus.

Whenever we lose, it's Ryan.

Yeah, right.

And Johnny said, yeah, but Warren,

you taught him how to play footy.

Tommy taught him how to win.

Yeah, wow.

And that was, that was the magic of Tommy Rodonigus.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Yeah, very good, very good story.

All right, we want to talk a little bit about the footy,

which starts tonight.

Obviously with the women's origin,

let's talk a little bit about Reed Marnie,

who returns to face the Bulldogs this weekend.

Yeah.

After Acrimonius departure last year.

Oh, it's a strategy.

Well, yeah, he was obviously offloaded last year.

Went to the Cowboys in the beginning of this season,

running to a few of the Bulldogs every in Vegas.

And a few terse words were exchanged.

I'm glad to believe.

Yeah, right.

So there's no love loss between Reed Marnie and the Bulldogs.

I'm really looking forward to how they come up

against each other this week,

because he'll tear right into a Marnie.

And the one thing about those concert players

were, and it got that bit of niggle in it,

and it got that bit lip in all the rest.

Yeah.

They know the soft spots of plays.

They know the thing that, you know,

some bloke you give it to him about his hair,

and he gets upset.

Yeah, some bloke's run around a little bit of a porch,

and it's the same.

He's like, geez, man, you got some back guts on, yeah?

You know what I mean?

And they know those little buttons to push to try

and just provoke people.

And the good ones are very, very good at it.

Reed Marnie's good at it.

No, I think it'll be a really fiery game.

It's a fascinating game.

The Cowboys are actually traveling all right after

and they also are opening two games.

But since then, they've turned around,

they've gone pretty well.

Then you've got the ball logs

who are just all over the shop.

They are, I think they're struggling for answers.

I think they have an idea of what's wrong,

but they don't want to admit to what's wrong.

And certainly, publicly, they're not admitting to what's wrong.

Well, they say it's defense, right?

They could say it's defense.

And if you look at their attack,

their attacks just right off.

And the big concern from it is,

they're getting up the field.

But when they're getting in the opposition 20,

they're unable to break through.

So they're unable to provide any deception

with their attack to full of defense.

That's the halves, primarily.

Or to your dummy half, as you spawn players.

And they've got Bailey Haywood at dummy half.

It's not running straight.

You've got, and then I'm obviously going to Galburn

and Burton at six and seven.

Well, they're six in the NRL

in being tackled in the opposition 20,

but 16th in tries.

So that suggests they can get there,

but they can't get out of the line.

That's it. And that's like I said, that's your halves.

And that's the problem that they got.

Now, they don't want to admit that,

given everything that's happened

in the past 12 months with Lockwood Galburn,

with the tinkering that's been going on at the club,

they don't want to admit to that.

I don't think they want to give it the fuel

for it to become something bigger than what it is.

Because they are much like a dragon's crowd,

a bulldozer's crowd once they get their teeth into something,

very hard for them to let go.

So at the moment, I think they're trying to just keep that

outside noise down while they're working on their attack internally.

But certainly their attack is a problem.

Now, the Cowboys, the Cowboys, they've been out okay.

So it's got to be a good game.

It's a weekend.

This weekend, Warren, a lot of teams, I think,

have got to, it's going to basically put up a shut up time

for a few of them.

Yeah, their seasons are pretty much getting on the line.

Yeah, the bull logs are getting close to it.

Melbourne certainly are at that point.

Canberra are at that point.

And I would even go as far as, say,

Kronulla, another top eight side from last year.

They're also almost a situation critical too.

They're, I think, 11th at the moment.

And just not traveling as well as what people would hope.

Why do you think the sharks they get much?

Press.

They're just a vanilla club, to be honest.

Fitz is the world's nicest bloke.

He answers every question intelligently.

He doesn't give it, he doesn't leave any loose drinks for someone to pull

and say, okay, what's going on here?

The players,

yeah, are fairly bland as well in many ways.

And they're just not interesting.

I like, the most interesting guy there is Adden Fennel,

Blake, like I quite like watching him play

and how he handles himself.

But he's sort of almost an anomaly out there.

Yeah, Blake Braille is well-sensed.

Blake, he's their young captain.

But he just, you know,

Cameron McGinnis is honest as a day.

As long as you'd love to have him sitting beside

in any team fight out.

But again, it's just what do you get from him?

And they can't get catch far other.

But they're just, they're just not an ex,

they're just not a team that, I know,

lots of, lots of anything up inside you.

Kent, you talk about Adden Fennel,

Blake, you get a little bit of a tip for you.

I've heard that he may struggle to make

the New South Wales Origin turn.

I've heard he needs a big few weeks

to make the New South Wales Origin size.

So there you go.

All right, match preview time.

So now it's time for this.

Game starts in two.

Gotta be quick.

You need something quick.

I got something blistered.

Fire for 25 from points bet.

It's like hot sauce, but for sport.

Five taps and it's on.

Yeah, that's hard.

Aw, thanks, babe.

Five for 25, only available on points bet.

Yeah, that's built differently.

Imagine what you could be buying instead

for free and confidential support.

Call the number on the screen or visit the website.

All right, Kent, we're starting off with our

match previews.

Tonight's obviously women's origin.

New South Wales $28 paying at

Queensland $3.70 up in Newcastle.

Dry track first in a while.

It's been supposed to be raining every game.

The rainmaker, don't they?

So plenty of points scored.

Do you got a tip for me?

I'll back Queensland on that on that market.

Look, New South Wales are deserve it.

Favourites.

Queensland go rookie halves pairing.

And but the truth of it is, Warren,

that they're coming back to play

and it's their first game of the season.

They haven't played any club games.

What do you think about that?

I think it's ridiculous.

Yeah.

But the hard part is where do you put the game?

It's not an easy place to situate a game.

Without minimising or reducing,

it's, what's the place of the game?

Statue.

Statue.

Yeah, you know what I mean?

So you can't just stick it on as a

before a club game somewhere else or anything like that.

It's got to be standalone.

But it's unfortunate for the women that they have to do.

They have to play a game like this.

Without even playing a club game.

Now out of that,

you know, Millie Elliott actually is fascinating.

She's come back from having a baby

and she's coming into origin.

Yeah, well, the first time in history,

that one's going to happen like that.

Her first game after the childbirth is going to be

an origin game.

No minkin' say they did that.

That's true.

But I think at that sort of price,

well, whoever's fittest and we don't know,

whoever's fittest will win the game.

The match fitness is going to be the cool issue.

New South Wales got the combinations.

That's why they're favourites.

But I dare say that at that price,

you'd back queens end to be fitting that they'll be fighting

until the 70th minute on that.

In Friday night's first game,

the dogs play the cowboys.

We talked a little bit about that.

Kick out, obviously, out.

I like the cowboys there.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, look at dogs.

I'm sick of just trusting teams that are going to get

fine their feet.

We're eight rounds in now.

We've had eight rounds.

Nine rounds.

This week.

And we're still waiting for some teams to find their form,

find their consistency.

You're going to go broke if you keep waiting around for that.

So cowboys are just much better

placed at the moment.

I think to really go out and do that to get the win.

And then in Friday night's game,

the dolphins $60 pay the storm $2.40.

Tyron Wishart takes out from Jerome,

who uses that with the concussion.

Yeah.

And Beliacs finally made some changes.

Yeah, the era is gone.

They've got put him back to the bench.

He just had to.

He had no choice.

He warned him for a couple of weeks.

And players were making the same mistakes.

Hugo Pills come on the wing to make use to boo.

So there's, look, there's

I think a little bit of fresh blood like that.

I think some owners back on his senior players as well.

A simplistic footy style,

which the young, the changes will help that.

But I still can't see them winning.

I just think they're just too far off the game.

The dolphins, you know,

that they haven't been ideal.

But they are certainly there.

They've got some attacking threats there.

And Melbourne's left side defense is just

wafel wafel and the Dolphins are on it.

They're right.

They're right side is their stronger side in attacking sense.

On Saturday, Tyron's $2.80 paying the rate is $2.

Ricky Stewart's gone the opposite way to

Bellamy.

Well, he's kept the same time.

He's still sticking solid with his players.

Rick, but again, I can't, I can't be tipped in the,

well, I don't know, they're tied.

Tyron's the worst team in the comp.

Okay, I think that from a roster point of view

and everything, I know it's not just running last.

But the Tyron's the worst team in the comp.

It's just, I think the rule changes have really benefited.

Yeah, right.

I do. I do.

I think that, you know, and if you want to,

you know, go back to your team, the drag against,

Shane Flanagan paid the price,

I think because of the rule changes,

because Craig Bellamy can't figure it out at the moment.

Yeah, okay.

That's how Flanagan catches his team,

similar manner.

He couldn't figure it out,

but he didn't have the players or the,

or the patients from his club,

that Craig Bellamy's got.

Whereas the team like the Titans,

they like a little bit of fancy free footy.

You know, I mean, just off, off they go,

and free and fancy footy, I should say.

And off they go, they just play,

and they throw the ball around,

and they like to,

a lot of second players and all the rest of it.

And the new style has suited them.

So they could be a danger to the,

the Raiders who are, you would think normally,

this kind of footy would suit them as well,

but they've just got no discipline at the moment of the Raiders.

The minute they get that right,

they're going to start winning games.

Paramount, $2.60 paying the dollars,

playing the Warriors, $1.48,

Jack De Bellamy back for the Eels,

and Luke Metcalf,

named on the beach for the Warriors.

Yeah, but Paramount, I've got a very good record against the Warriors,

and even in recent times.

So I think the game will be fairly close for that, for that room.

I still think the Warriors are a,

they're a different breed this year.

They're just a, they're really sort of hitting the mark,

as far as how to play the football.

They had the odd off week,

but I like how they're handling it.

Paramount can be a little bit up and down still,

but still,

Paramount, if you're a Neal's fan,

you're not without hope.

What about the idea with Metcalf coming back,

and what are they going to do there at season?

I don't know what he's going to do.

He's going to use it.

Harris-Tavita was

sitting up there with the Cowboys this week.

Todd Payton, yeah.

He was seen there having a coffee with Payton,

clearly not just to catch up.

Look, I think that that suggests the writing on the wall

is that

Andrew Webb is going to try and make Tanner Boyd

and Luke Metcalf work as a house pairing.

The problem for the Warriors is that the two games this year

were like, went out and played with each other.

They lost both and they played really poorly in both,

and they didn't seem to gel.

Doesn't mean they won't, though.

It just means they're more a take some time.

But the fact that the other 5-8 in the equation

is off-meeting the Cowboys,

suggests that the long-term plans

have already been articulated at the club.

But I'm still not ready to say that the Warriors

will get it right this week,

but I think they'll probably have enough to get the result.

On the weekend, the rooster's $1.55,

playing the Broncos $2.40,

the rooster's had the same squad for the fourth consecutive week.

It's interesting at this time of the year

to be able to do that

is a bit of a miracle, actually.

It's a luxury that, yeah.

And it's not to be underestimated.

One of the things that really

helps you in your performance and your consistency

is just maintaining your squad.

One underestimate that given the fact that

we'd so used to see and change every week with injuries.

We never really take it into account.

But if you're, and that's the roosters,

like they were on Song last week.

And that was one of the few weeks or year

where they've put it together

from the opening whistles to the final whistle,

whereas in other games,

we've seen them fall behind

or they've got it out in front

and then form a sleep in the up resistance come back at them.

So they're starting to show a little bit the roosters.

But I'll tell you what,

that Broncos team, even though they are still down on numbers

as far as their health,

what you saw are those young kids.

They've got some good young kids, the Broncos.

And the amount of effort

in their game last week

from scrambling defense,

from just numbers in the picture,

which is a really,

it's a big thing.

Michael McGuire likes as a coach is,

whenever he presses pause on his video,

how many Broncos jerseys does he see in the picture

against the opposition

and doesn't matter where it's attacking with defense.

Yeah, I can.

Particularly defense,

but that's what he looks for.

And that's what we saw a lot of last week

in their upset last week.

Most people like Canary

winning convincingly last week

and the Broncos just schooled them.

And they did it with all these young kids

who just went out and just out and threw them.

Pack Carrigan back from suspension

and obviously Reese Walsh.

There's a bit of talk that Reese Walsh would you believe

it could be the puppy to get his next

big target?

Well, it makes sense.

I tell you what, given this tax-free

screen going on,

how much is Reese Walsh going to make

when he brings all his third-party sponsors up there

and he says to them all,

pay me when I'm in pub in your guinea colors.

He'll make, he'll make, he'll make a fortune.

He'll make far more than dreamer, right?

He's, I feel endorsements

are believed to be at least a million bucks.

That's going to come on top of whatever contract they're

offering.

So he's going to make a fortune if he does go there.

It makes sense.

I don't know if the Broncos are in any

modulating go.

But as we know, the contract's those days.

Maybe that won't have a choice.

All right, on Sunday, three games.

Nights $2.5, playing the Rabadot's $1.77.

Carlton Ponger back.

Yeah.

And Bradman Best.

Yeah, I think the Nights are a good bit there.

It's interesting.

Kenny, you're just talking about players

and keeping the same squad on.

I think sometimes players get underrated

about their ability to play bulk of the season.

And that has been the knock on Carlton Ponger

that he's got so much.

Yeah.

But he's back this week, obviously.

Yeah, he's back this week.

Dylan Brown came back last week wasn't.

And he was, had some really strong moments in the game.

Hopefully, Nights fans get to see a little bit of those two

together now and some football together.

They haven't really, they played a couple of their

opening games, but not a lot of footy together.

But the Nights are a, I think, a fair price there.

The shark's $1.44, paying the Tigers $2.75.

Cameron McGinnis is back full-time now for the sharks.

Yeah.

And Taruva takes over from Bula.

Taruva, yes.

Yeah, Kyle Pierce Paul's missing, though.

I'll see you at the car, I'll see how's missing.

So, half their spine's missing.

Yeah, and Kerala at home.

I think Kerala won their last nine games at home.

So, it is a bit of a graveyard for opposition teams.

That said, they're playing the Tigers side who are playing

some rare football and are playing the perfect kind of football

for the current identity or current style.

Yeah, play the arrow once.

Last game of the day is Panthers $1.25

playing Manly $3.85 in the last game of the day.

Isaiah came out and said that potentially all the Panthers players

are going to market.

Yeah, well, it's going to be fascinating

to see how they handle that, isn't it?

Panthers have been down a very good job.

Their recruitment retention is very good.

But it makes sense.

They've seen one of their former teammates

just win the lottery, so to speak.

And they have been a team that has set the standard for some time.

And not only that,

not only the performance on the field,

we see what Lewi has done at West Tigers

about the standards he has set off the field

as far as training and the levels of professionalism.

Which has lifted the whole West Tigers club.

So that's what he brought over from Panthers.

That's what these Panthers guys will be taking in the market

for a team like,

probably you're going to choose to have a look at.

And they will have enough room still for at least one more.

If not two more players of that elite

salary to squeeze in.

So that's interesting.

The big thing that fascinates me about that game is

I think we'll get a real

good look at where Manly's at.

So Kiran Foreign came in,

replaced Anthony Seabull.

He said four wins on the run.

Dolphan's Dragon's Cowboys.

While respectfully there have been good wins,

none of those teams really have had anyone shake it in their boots.

But the Panthers, how they go against Panthers will give you

a real good idea where Manly at.

Are they going to be a top eight side?

Can they push for a top four spot?

Or they just was a bit of a fool's gold.

After Foreign took over.

So be interesting.

Interesting going for that point of view.

Definitely.

All right, that's it for us this week.

Don't forget to watch us on Sunday.

Thanks, Katie.

Another good week.

Another big one.

See you then.

Bye-bye.

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