Madge Silences Doubters, R2 Preview w/ Sean O'Sullivan

G'day and welcome back to County Blitz. As you would have known Paul Kent's off for

a couple of weeks still recovering from his cancer treatment. So we've had some special

guests in and today we're lucky to have the great Sean O'Sullivan from the Canterbury

Bulldogs. Sean, welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, good to have you mate. So you're just back from Vegas. How are you feeling?

Yeah, good now. I'm a bit jet lagged at the start and took a couple of days to recover

from the big night after Sunday night. So yeah, it was good. It helps that we flew business

class too. So very good. No complaints for the up and relaxed mates. So your club's got

the buy this week. How does that week look for you? What's the difference in a buy week

compared to a normal week? Yeah, so yesterday we had a really big session. That was our

game day for the week and we get two days off into a big Saturday and Sunday session

to prep us for that Canberra game. So it doesn't look too dissimilar like we were playing

because, like I said, yesterday was quite a big session. So have a couple of days off

to recover now and all our focus goes into Canberra. So you come off yesterday's game at

yesterday's practice. Do you feel like you're a better game? Yeah, 100 and 10%. Yeah, it's

the standard that, you know, Ciro pushes that training and especially because, you know,

we had like 21 days or something since our last game from Canberra to obviously the

drag and so we really wanted to have a high standard of training, especially this week

and, you know, there's no excuses. We've, you know, we're all recovered from Vegas and

yeah, we're all ready and ago. So as a club and as a player and a club, do you prefer

to have the buy mid season to recover? I mean, it's a luck of the draw, obviously, but

do you think it makes a difference? Honestly, for players, I honestly think, you know,

you just kind of, you just take them as they come really. You know, you probably looked

at it at the start and go, oh, you don't really want to buy round two after Vegas, but,

you know, now, now looking at it's probably done as the world of good, you know, we've come

back, we've able to have a couple days off and then kind of get our, get our rhythm

back in our training and our sleep patterns and then ramp out our training for a couple

days off and then into a normal week. So it's probably coming a good time. Yeah, good.

Your first year at the dogs, what's the expectation there when you come in? Like when you change

from a club, you come into the dogs, how you sold on the team or how you sold on the

club. Well, I think first of all, you know, you have a lot of trusting what Kevin

Sarato's done there every single year. The Bulldogs have gotten better. You feel like they've

kind of woken up that whole Bulldogs army, so to say. And so, you know, walking in, you definitely

think that it's going to be a club that's that wants to be competitive and he's going to be

competitive. So for me, anyway, you know, you really just want to add to that every single day,

you walk into those into into those walls. And yeah, for me, it's just about every single day,

trying to get better, learn the system, feel connection with your teammates. And, you know,

obviously you can set goals or, or whatever as a club and as a team, but I think for us,

just about getting better every single day and, you know, where we end up will be up to us.

Yeah, excellent. Mate, what have you noticed when you've come to the club? Obviously, there's

some strong characters there, like Critter and, you know, and also Lucky Galvin, right? Who was

under the microscope last year? But what would have you thought about? Let's start with Critter.

What's your first impressions? First thing Critter was, I've obviously been away from him for three

years. And when I walked in, he destroys that he's taken in leadership is just like, I've never

seen anything like it. Yeah, he's, he's a leader made. He's got everyone at the palm of his hands

when he speaks. Like he just nails it every single time. He got a little handshake with him.

Yeah, I've got a little handshake with Critter. So I got that one done early on, but he's,

he's unreal. Yeah, he's a, he's a natural born leader. He does it on and off the field with

these actions and also with his mouth too. So no, he's, yeah, he's unreal to have.

What I like about Critter is he just looks so strong, right? Like he just looks such a prey out,

man. So strong. You're seeing walking out there, you think, how the hell can this guy lose?

He's a specimen. And like he's got a little, he's got some swagger now about him too. And,

you know, he'll, he'll let everyone know about it too. So, you know, that's the confidence that he

gets from the prep that he does. And he gets that from every single day because when he comes into

the chain, you know, he wants to get better. He's not satisfied with where he's at. And yeah,

it definitely rubs off on every single person at the club. Yeah, awesome.

Mate, talk to me about Lucky Garland. What's your first impressions there? Because obviously,

he was under a lot of pressure last year. He's had the off season with the dogs.

Um, what's he like as a player as a bloke? Mate, so I think the first thing was for me,

um, you know, coming to the club was I didn't want to judge Lucky before I actually got there.

So, you know, when I got there, obviously sent him a message. And yeah, we caught up. And

they're not training. I, I honestly, I love him. Hey, he's, um, he's such a good kid. He's

refreshing. He loves football. You know, he doesn't take things too seriously. He just wants to come

in, get his work done, have fun with his mates and smile. And, um, it's actually really cool to say,

you know, I think, you know, you can have people that take things really seriously and, and

Lucky's not one of them. And I actually think it probably helped him last year going through that

media storm that he went through. Um, and he's been super impressive. He's, uh, he's super confident.

He backs himself and he's super fit. So, uh, what we see right now from Lucky Garland in, in four,

five years time, it's, yeah, he's not even going to be recognizable. He's just going to get better

and better every single year to be fair every single game. He's just going to get better. So,

yeah, I'm definitely, um, like in what I'm saying. And yeah, he hasn't scratched the surface. That's

for sure. Excellent. There's also another young player that Mitch Woods, who, uh, has big wraps on him

as a future star. We've been impressed with him. Yeah, you know, Woods, I, I feel quite sorry for him.

You know, he's had a very interrupted preseason. Um, you know, he's had a couple of heavy problems now.

And, um, you know, so he's just trying to get his body right, really. And, uh, Woods, he loves

his footy and, um, yeah, he's obviously a super, super confident kid and, um, he's obviously got

big wraps on him. But, you know, at the moment, he's just definitely just trying to get his body right

because, you know, maybe not going to be a NRL player like right this second, but he's going to have

a big career ahead of him and, you know, a long career. So just, yeah, just trying to get his body

right because, you know, when he gets, um, he's opportunity wants to take it with both hands. And

I'm sure he will talk to me about Matt bird. What do you learn from him as a kicker? Um, you know,

he's probably the best kicker in the game. Maybe nice and clear as well. But

I want to ask you what you think of, or what you've learned from him since you've been there.

I also want to ask if the NFL clubs was a genuine interest or is that all just make the

relationship? I don't know. He's my bus buddy, Birdo. So he's, uh, he's probably feeding into the

he's probably doing extra couple of bombs down at Raiders when, when we were down there. But,

man, he touched the roof. Yeah, he did. He hit the roof at training. He was crazy. And he wasn't

even trying his hardest. He, he's got the biggest boot I've ever seen. And I have learned a couple

of things from him. We're doing some talkies after training. Just the way that he positions the balls

is just so different to how a lot of, um, a lot of kickers do it. You know, everyone seems to do

it flat. Whereas he tilts the ball up. So yeah, I don't want to let too much to be secreted out

out of his bag. But yeah, he's definitely got it on lock. And he could like, Birdo is another one

like he could do whatever he wanted. Whether it's in, you know, NFL doing those kickings or

anything in, in rugby league, he could do whatever he wanted. He's that talented. So yeah,

the world's his oyster. So make critter, Birdo yourself. You're all from Penroth. What's in the

water out at Penroth? How come what? How come everybody's so good for me? Yeah. Hey, Penroth. I don't

know. Honestly, it's probably because when you're little, you're getting run out. I was about 40 kilos

and I'm playing against people 100 kilos. Yeah, what is going on?

But honestly, it's obviously a super talented area. And yeah, you obviously have to train hard

to out west. So I think it just instills a lot of good habits in you. And you know, you can take

them wherever you're, wherever you are in life. And whether that's football or yeah, outside of

football. So yeah, definitely starting off in those under 12s or 13s development. Yeah, they

flogged you. Yeah. Excellent. I mean, there's so many players out west, right? So you have to be

at your peak performance to actually even get a look in. Yeah. There's so many players,

competitors, but last question about the dogs. You've been in a couple of clubs now. And people

talk about the Bulldogs passionate fans. Why are they so passionate? Have you felt it? Yeah, I've

definitely felt it. You know, you're getting stopped social media always blowing up. And it's

actually unreal, you know, as a player, you want to feel connected with your fan base. And,

you know, you want them to be supporting their team because at the end of the day, that is their

team and that's their passion. And fast, we want them kind of to live through us in a way, you know,

you want to make them proud. And yeah, that's why at the end of the day, you know, last night when

we're getting flogged, we want to impress them. And you know, we want to win for them and for the club

and for the fan base and the members. So yeah, it's, it's awesome to see. And yeah, they're definitely

a passionate bunch, but wouldn't have it any other way. Very good, mate. Well, let's, let's start

talking a little bit about the footie this weekend because there is a lot going on. So the Broncos

this afternoon, well, it's been announced that they've snared Mitch Barnett on two years with the

Broncos, apparently a little bit less money than he was offered at the, at the eels, but they threw

in the third year as a bit of a kicker. Too much against Mitch Barnett? Yeah, I've played against

Mitch Barnett. And obviously, since he's been at the Warriors, he's just taken his game to a whole,

whole another level and he's played for, you know, he stayed in his country and obviously he's

coming back from from ACL Reco, but yeah, it doesn't seem to be slowing him down just with what

the boys have been saying we've been training and his work ethic. So, you know, it's a great

signing for the Broncos. Obviously replacing pain. He's a world-class front row probably the best

in the game really. So, yeah, the Broncos will be happy. I know my mate Reese Walsh will be happy

that they've got a good front rower coming there to protect him. So yeah, it's unreal for the Broncos.

Mate, tell me when, when something breaks like the painhouse news breaks as a player, what,

what happens? Does that blow up amongst your group chat? Yeah, obviously, you know, I think we're

all just fans just like everyone else too. So, especially when news from other clubs breaks,

you're just like, this is crazy, you know, I don't think anyone really expected or saw pain,

you know, leaving the Broncos and then going to South Sydney, which is another powerhouse club. So,

yeah, Wayne got his man, but yeah, definitely the boys are all talking about it very good.

Mate, the interesting thing about Mitch Bonnet going to the Broncos is obviously there's been a lot

to talk about Magi McGuire and how he pushes the players, etc. But, you know, he's got, he saw

Mitch Bonnet, right? Who's probably the number one player on the market at the moment. And also,

there was a story in today's paper that about peasant going to the Broncos to train under match,

which probably flies in the face of everything that's been said against Madrid, something that he

pushes players too hard. You got to thought on that. Yeah, well, obviously, you know, success also

has a toll and, you know, they won the comp last year. So, you know, obviously, you know, at Pantyth,

we weren't training easy either. So, you know, to win sometimes you have to push your body in your

mind, you know, towards limits. And, yeah, matches obviously got a lot out of that group. But,

yeah, I don't think he would be too flustered worrying about what other people were saying,

because, you know, at the end of the day, the proofs in the pudding, he's a two-time winning

premiership coach. And, yeah, if they're all my dealings with him, he's actually a really smart

man with his football, too. So, yeah, I know a lot of the boys are extremely happy up in Brisbane.

And, yeah, I don't think they'll be too concerned about that. They might even use it as a bit of

motivation, especially this week. Yeah, right. Interesting quick story. When I, when Majors training for

coaching New South Wales, I saw him on the Bondite of Bronti Walk, and I said, okay, I made

work good luck blah, blah, blah. And I said, oh, Maj, did you wash last night's game? And he

mentioned two players, and I won't say who they were, but he knew their stats. How many run meters

for these two players? And it was Father's Day, and I was thinking, mate, you've stayed up, you've

watched all those games, and you knew all the stats from all those players. And these weren't

players who got picked, they're free players, which I thought was, you know, pretty good from

from match. Hundreds of percent. You know, coaches the different breeds these days, at the end of

daylight. The amount of work that they put in is second to none. And, you know, their hours that

they would put in, they're not even comparable to players, you know, they're doing stats,

doing films on oppositions and on themselves. They're doing a lot of reviews. So yeah, hats off to them.

Very good. The other news, other signing news is that kind of Watson's potentially considering

a move to Perth. Obviously a great player, a very versatile New South Wales player would be a fantastic

signing for Perth, if there's any truth to that. Yeah, yeah, it would be different. Last I've been

out East, I know he's a he's a true Eastie boy. Conner. He should have. He's got a good rig too,

but yeah, that's a that's a surprising one. You know, I know the Bruce is definitely a hard club

to leave. They treat their players really, really good. And obviously Robbo is a is a great coach,

and they've got a tight knit group down there. So yeah, if he was was to leave, you know, to be an

adjustment going to Perth, and you know, definitely at a startup club, um, would have its own

challenges, but also have its own, um, positives too, you know, you get to be a part of something

new. So yeah, whatever he decides to do. So you did that last year up for the golf or two years,

go for the dolphins. What was that like going to a startup? It's it's something that you just,

it's like mind blowing, you know, you don't have play calls. You have to meet, you know,

plays one to 36. You have to meet new staff, but it's also pretty cool. And the fact you get to

create something and start something news. So, you know, when you're like for me, when I was going

to the Bulldogs, they have their plays. They have their traditions. They have their systems. When

when you're a new player to foundation club, you get to start all that. So yeah, that's pretty cool.

And obviously it has its own challenges too. Don't get me wrong. Like it is hard. And, um,

yeah, hats off to all those boys that are taking the step up to Perth. Um, it'll be a very rewarding

thing, um, if they get it right. Would you consider going to Perth or Pavanigini? Oh, I think every

player at the end of the day, um, it's a business. I think every player would do, you know, whatever they

think is right for, for their career, whether it's in Perth or all PANG. And, um, I think that's up

to every individual player and their family. But, um, yeah, obviously both of those clubs have huge

perks, um, for, you know, for plays in their own different, um, for our states of their career.

Good attacks for your money up and pumping you. Yeah, that would help. But, you know, actually,

for someone like, like me or for a lot of other plays that love rugby league, you know, the

tax-free money would just be a bonus. Like at the end of the day, when we're doing something that

we love, like, you're not doing it for, for the money, really, you're, you're purely doing it for

the love of rugby league and PANG. They love their footy over there too. So that would be awesome.

Mate, sitting next to you, I can feel the love rugby league. It's infectious, right? It's great,

you know, like we're talking a little bit outside. And, uh, it's, it's great how much you love the game.

It's, it's, it's a real kind of, uh, lift for me here today. Mate, I, I want to talk about

Jeroen Bollahoo. There's, there's a little bit in the paper today about he's considering us,

or not considering, but St George, uh, Dragon, I love our dragons are trying to sign him as

potential replacement for Gotho, if things don't work out, the West Tigers. Obviously, he's a

superstar in waiting. Do you like what you see from Bollah? Mate, I love Jeroen Bollah. Um,

I got to play against him when he first started, um, at the Tigers and he's electric, um, you know,

he can do things on the footy field that, that not many people can do and he's super fast and

he's hard to tackle too. So, yeah, I think I've seen a couple of videos if you're even playing basketball

and he can dunk and, yeah, he can do all sorts of stuff. So, yeah, he's obviously a real good

athlete and, um, I'm sure the Tigers will be looking to lock him down because, yeah, he's a superstar.

I think there's an option for next year, uh, in both the club and his favour. So one of them can,

can push that, uh, or Bollahoo could go to the market. Interesting. I was reading about, uh, Bollahoo is,

he's, is it fiance or wife or girlfriend? Anyway, that he's partner's father is Solomon Humona,

which is a bit before your time but Solomon Humona was a great rugby league character kind of,

I don't know, kind of probably early 2000s. He used to have a girlfriend called the Love Machine.

I think there was a Love Machine and, uh, the folks at home will remember that. It was an amazing

period of rugby league because he, I think he was playing for Manly, he went to the drag and

pulled out and, uh, this girl apparently was to blame. So, Google that if you're at home.

Uh, the other, the other player was, uh, Maxisini who is a new West Tigers player. Um, I think he played

at Trinity or Newington last, Newington last year, uh, and Dave Boode while he was still in high school.

Obviously, he's a superstar in the way. There's an interesting story that you might consider

going back to rugby. What do you think about the lure of rugby at the moment? Because a lot of

players have recently signed. Yeah, I think the definitely, it's a change of, of the guard with a lot

of those boys because now, you know, instead of going to petition brothers or Westfields or

Hill Sports, a lot of those boys are getting scholarships to go now to rugby union schools. So,

I think a lot of rugby league players, you know, at 14, 15, are starting to go to rugby union

schools and get scholarships because that'd be crazy not to, you know, get world class education

and then go get to play, um, rugby union for their schools. So it's definitely interesting

seeing, you know, this next crop of talent, like I think Izzy Katowel played rugby union. Obviously

Makasini did. Yeah, there's heaps of those boys like Will Panicini. They all played rugby union.

So it's going to be interesting, but, you know, I think, you know, talking to boys that have played

rugby league and rugby union, I don't even think it's close. So, yeah, I think there might be

obviously a little bit of a lure, but yeah, I don't think it's going to be too, too, too hard to

handle for rugby league because our sport is just so good. Yeah, I think the other thing to consider

is the, the new broadcast deal is coming up and super rugby clubs, there's four super rugby clubs in

Australia. They have $5.5 million as their salary cap. By the time Perth comes in next year,

there's 18 clubs, which with 11 and a half, so they've got twice the salary cap five times the

teams. And as well, there's a new broadcast deal on the horizon. The salary cap, the, the

broadcast deal for Australian rugby at the moment's about 40 million, about 42 million dollars a year.

It's 400 for rugby league. And the new contract, which comes up in two years, they're saying it's

going to be 800. Yeah. So we're talking kind of five times the salary cap. So the lure of rugby,

I think, maybe short term, maybe rugby world cup, because after that, the money in rugby league will

be phenomenal. You've got to hang on for a few more years. 100%. I think that's hats off, you know,

to Vlandis and Abdo, what they've done there. They've, they've got our sport in a really good

position. And, you know, this next broadcast deal is, is imperative for, you know, the future of

rugby league. And, you know, hopefully players can definitely get a slice of that. And we'll

definitely see their wages improved. So, yeah, I definitely don't see rugby union, definitely

in the long term future being a problem to that. Maybe the short term of the world cup. But

yeah, the, obviously, the interesting thing is how it plays out because, you know, if we're

doubling the sum, doubling the salary cap, we're talking about two million dollar players in

rugby. Yeah. No, it's going to be interesting. And I think a couple of those young boys that

are starting to come through to, I definitely think they've got their eyes on that. Very good.

Oh, over the weekend, there was a few incidents which drew the, the wrath of the fans. And,

the NRO have come out this week or the RRO have come out this week and said that clubs were,

were notified of a few rules or all the referees were going to concentrate on a few things.

Is that what happened this week with you? Yeah, I think everyone got, every club got a little

memo about what they're going to, you know, try and lock down for the weekend. But, you know,

from clubs and plays point of view, I think it's just so hard just because, you know, you're finding

about like new rules after Christmas and then you got to try and implement them. You don't have

a lot of time to set, you know, your standards in your training in the way that, how they're going

to interpret the rules. So, definitely think it'll be a couple of weeks or even some months that

plays and coaches will take to try and catch up with these new rules and they're two handed,

kick one and then tap it. People are doing one like, it's just going to be hard for plays to adjust

because, you know, it's a, it's second hand like memory really. So, yeah, it's going to be,

it's definitely going to be an adjustment. So, just run me through what happens at club level,

when the NRO come to you and say, these are a few things we're going to be discussing. So,

how does that work from a club perspective? You're all in a big room. They talk about it. How does that

be discussed? Yeah, definitely. Well, yeah, I think when the new rules came in,

Sero got us all in our video room and just outlined what each new rule was and how that is going

to change things for us. Especially, especially, definitely, the six to go from 20 metres there

instead of it being a blow penalties. I think that's just going to see, you know, games,

just getting especially even faster now. It's not going to be the stoppages of where

halves can go talk about what sets they want to run. You know, it's going to be six to go and then

just got to get into free-flow footies. So, yeah, teams have got to adjust to all of that and still

get their game on. So, yeah, it's going to be interesting times. So, so in the modern game, right,

which is sped up considerably from probably from your junior footies days. As a half control on the game,

when is the opportunity when you actually see what's happening on the field and and have an ability

to then pass that onto the players outside you? Well, I think, you know, definitely it's every

single play really. You've got to have your eyes up. You've got to be communicating to your nine

and to your outside guys. But I think everyone has a role in that. It's not just halves, you know,

the you talk about Stephen Criden. He's elite because he's also one of the loudest people on the

field and he's talking from outside in. So, you know, I think every individual player can help

can help each other really out there. So, looking at little cues from the opposition. But, yeah,

we're just how fast the game is. Just got to capitalize on them because momentum is a massive

thing in the rugby league right now. And, you know, when you've got it, it's really hard to lose it.

But then when you lose it, it's hard to get it back. So, yeah, it's definitely very important.

You've got to call on on that the kickoff rule that they were discussing whether the team

who can see it should get an opportunity to decide. You've got to, yeah, well, obviously, you know,

they're trying to make it like the American sport like with NFL where, you know, if you score,

you kick it off to the opposition team. So, you know, for us, I don't know. Sometimes I just think

our game, you know, is so good. So, why do we always want to keep changing it? But, you know,

that's not up to me and I'll just do whatever I'm told. But, yeah, it's definitely interesting.

You talk about communication on the field. Have you noticed a difference without the blue

trainer? Is it made a difference? No, I think people definitely overestimate the blue shirt

on the field, you know, when they're coming on, the game is so fast, you're so tired, the crowd

is so loud, you know, you're hearing, you're not even really hearing anything that they're saying.

And, you know, you're also trying to, you know, attack or trying to defend. So, I definitely

people overestimate, you know, the role of the blue shirt and even what they're doing. A lot of

the times it's just words of encouragement just to tell you to keep going or, you know, get through

the dark place, head you in inside your head. But, yeah, I definitely think that all that kind of

blue shirt and the tactics, it's not as crazy as what people make it out to be. Last question

on footy before you go through the preview, you talked about the dark times in your head,

obviously, when you gasped right, how much of a mental game or how much mental preparation do

you put in compared to your physical, as it, you know, you're 27 years old now, you've learned

aspects of the game. Yeah, well, I definitely think, yeah, mental preparation is everything now

in our game, especially with just the way that society is going in general and it's definitely

something that every club does. I think every, every club would definitely have a performance

psychologist and, you know, they're helping with individual players and learning about, you know,

who they are off the field and what their personality traits are. So, you know, for us, it's,

it was about understanding what groups that we are in and then what groups are, that's how we prepare

for a game. So, you know, how I prepare is going to be different to someone like Max King or

how King in compare prepares for a game is going to be different to burdo. So, I think it's just

about understanding what your strengths are as a personality trait and then bringing your best

to game-dame, making you prepare for that. Okay, so it's match preview time now. Thanks to

Pointsbet who are back for another year. Thanks very much, Pointsbet. Mate, how do you watch your

footy? Do you watch every game? I'm watching every single game. I'm definitely watching them

on TV and then if I have a good mate, I'll, I'll head down to the game. I went to the

Cranuller and Titans game on the weekend. Did you watch my mate, Ajay Brimson? Yeah, they,

they got towered up, but he always tried to support my mate's son whenever I can in the shy. So,

it was a home game for me. Very good. Very good. Very good. All right. Well, let's talk about the

first game tonight. Broncos, old 25, pain, paramedic. As a man to start at five, eight, we've been

hunt going to 14. What do you think about that? Yeah, I think as a man is a class player and I think

when the Broncos are at their best as a man has definitely got a, got a hand in that. So, yeah,

I definitely think as we're looking for, for a massive match tonight and yeah, I definitely

think he's going to deliver. Josh, out of car back. You like Josh? Man, he's, he's unreal. I've

never actually met him individually, but all the boys out the Bulldogs love him. The energy that

he'll bring into that team, they'll just get a massive lift just for having him. It just even

inside that those change rooms in their warm up. And I definitely think they'll be looking

a bounce back. Very good. Just as part of obviously, Cushion plays in the competition. We can't

asking for tips. So, just in case people are asking, no tips. Nothing from him.

To my Friday night, the Warriors, $25, playing the Raiders. Andrew Webster, did you plan to him at

Penrance? Yeah, I did. Yeah, I did. Webby's, he's a great man and he loves his attack Webby's.

So, yeah, they were super sharp. I'm last week. I thought Tener Boyd and Chanel Harris

to Vita probably had two of their best games in the NRL. And I was super pumped, especially

for Chanel. He's, he's such a competitor and he puts a lot into, you know, his body and

to see the game that he had on the weekend. Definitely, no, he'll, he'll take a lot out of that.

Yeah, excellent. I mean, obviously Tener Boyd was, came in last year for Metcalf and was under a

lot of pressure, right? Because they were, I think they're coming forth with something around that

stage and, you know, he got a lot of blind for the drop off, which was probably unfair, I thought,

but he had a stormer. Yeah, he was, he was unreal. And I think people, you know, don't understand,

you know, he would have had a full preseason there. We've Chanel, I think he had a little bit

of a niggle, but you know, Tener would have spent majority of at least three or four months in

that half-packed position. And Webby would have been able to coach him and he would have got a

better understanding for the system that they're running. So, you know, I think Tener will definitely

take a lot out of last week and he'll even be looking to get better and take his game even to

another level. And I'm sure Webby will, will be there supporting him. Ah, Canberra, big Josh

Papali's out with a concussion. Morgan Smith, he's comes in at prop. Mate, what did you think of

Ethan Sanders last week? He was, he was unreal, you know, he was playing against obviously his old

teacher in Jamal Foggedy and for him to kick the field goal, you know, it would have been so good

for him. And I'm sure, you know, him and his teammates, they would have been pumped some with that

win. Like Canberra, just so special in the fact that they can just turn it on whenever they want,

you know, you have had Hudson Young playing on the left side of the field, goes over to the right,

does a chip in chase and Xavier Savage is scoring in the wet. Like, it is just crazy. You know,

they play with no fear. And I think that's something that, you know, as fans, whenever you're watching

Canberra, you know, you're just going to get a real good game because, um, yeah, there's such a

team that plays free-flowing foot here. As, as a footy player and as a fan, there's certain clubs

that you like to watch. Yeah, definitely, you know, definitely think Canberra, one of them

that have tackle break is, you know, Joseph Tapain, he's offloading, Papali's offloading, then,

you know, you have Hudson Young who can just do whatever he really wants. And, yeah, Ethan

Strange is a class player too. So, yeah, that will be a really big match arm over in New Zealand

and then they're looking forward to that one. Mate, uh, then the other game on Friday night,

obviously, is a big one. Uh, two teams who hate each other, Rooster's playing a $1.80

against South's playing $2. Ashton Ward's out with an ankle injury, Jayden Sullivan comes in at

half-back. Uh, and what did you think of South's last week? Yes. Obviously, South's was super

impressive. Um, that left edge of Cody Walker day for Feidel Achilles Mitchell and Alex Johnson,

it's just a strike edge. And, you know, knowing Wayne, he'll definitely have them up bum for this

big game against the Roosters. But, yeah, Cody Walker is just such a class play with what he can do

with the ball. And not many people can do. He just has so much time. And, yeah, I think that's so

valuable for someone like Dave Feidel, who's, who's coming to a new team and trying to find

his place in that. And, yeah, he looked unbelievable on the weekend against the dolphins.

And they're playing, obviously, the Roosters DC and a little bit of pressure, uh, for his performance

last last week. It's round one. So let's not get carried away. But you play for the Roosters.

Was your first club? Was it? Yep. Um, what do you remember from the Roosters at the club?

Yeah, great club, you know, I think, um, the Roosters, I don't think they'll be reading too much into

what happened last week. Um, you know, I think, um, I'm pretty sure I saw a start about, you know,

round one, they haven't had many wins, um, even in the last like 10 years. So I definitely don't

think they'll begin to carry it away. Um, with that and like daily cherry events, such a class

player and he's got so much experience and he would have took so much out of that him and Sam Walker,

um, learning about their combination, how they want to, um, start their sets and finish their sets.

So, yeah, I definitely think he'll be a different Roosters team come Friday night.

Were you there under Robbo? Yeah, I was. I was spent a bit of time with Robbo and, yeah, he's

such a deep thinker, Robbo. He thinks, he thinks about everything, like, yeah, he's, he's a really

good man, Robbo. And he loves his footy and not even just football, but he's always looking outside

in American sports or businesses about how to get better and, um, it's pretty, it's pretty cool

to be a part of. I told this story last year, I ran into Robbo after their last game before the

boy and I was like, yeah, but what are you doing? By the way, Sid made on, I'm going off into the

country. So he went off and he, he hiked for four or five days. No family, no phones just in the

middle of Australia. Pretty cool, right? Yeah. So he's like three weeks to go to the finals. I was like,

mate, how good is that? Just the recharge. I know. Lucky him getting away. Yeah, I might need that.

Yeah. Okay. Uh, and then on Saturday, the first game, it's the first chance we get to see the

Tigers, uh, up against the Cowboys, Tigers, $1.55 against the Cowboys 240, uh, Scott Trinkwater

for North Queensland, nursing and rib cartilage damage that he did in Vegas. Yeah, they're not

fun. They're not one of those. Yeah, no, he'll be getting some needles before the game and,

yeah, they're not a fun injury to have, but yeah, I think they stick around for a while. Yeah,

they do. Especially when you're getting needle, you know, obviously it's sore before and then

you get a needle and you're like, oh, nothing's wrong. You're going out doing whatever you want.

And then when that wears off after the game, you're in all sorts. So, um, he'll, he'll be

around a go though. I know the Cowboys will be looking at bounce back from their round one

performance in Vegas and, um, what better way in life? Yeah, what a state like. You played them in

trial. I know you didn't play them in the trials, but you played them in the trials. I think,

I think that a win, but it was a lot of your young junior guys, right? Yep. Yeah, so you didn't

really see that much from what, what do you expect from the Tigers this year? And the Tigers,

yeah, they're, they're interesting. I think, um, obviously put in Jerome back at six where he's

super comfortable and happy chorus hours, such a good player. Like he's honestly one of the best

nines that definitely I've ever played. Why do you say that? And he's just got so much time and

control and he's craft and he's deception at nine is, is unbelievable. And what he creates for

other players, um, yeah, not many other nines can do. So I definitely think Abbey and Jerome will

be looking to have, have a big year. And it's another year that they'll, their teammates will have

with them and they'll learn about their game too. So yeah, definitely see the Tigers as big

and proofers. Yeah, very good. Uh, then the next game on Saturday, the dragons take on the storm.

Dragons, $2.90 storm, $1.40. Dragons have named an unchanged team. Uh, obviously came up against

you guys over in in Vegas. What do you think of the dragons? Oh, the physical team and big team.

Well, James Stewart, Luke Chanela, Lua, Josh Kerr coming off the back fence. Hey, they were super

big team, physical team. And I thought they competed really well, um, in Vegas. And they're going to

win a lot of footy games just on how they competed. Um, I thought Daniel Ackinson's kicking game too

was, was first class, um, surprising that he had a massive boot. And you know, he was kicking the

ball 60, 70 meters on some sets back into our cage. And yeah, he, um, he changed the momentum a

couple of times with his big boot. So I definitely think the dragons will keep getting better. Um,

and obviously our homes is a class player. So the more that they can get him the footy, the better

they're going to be. Yeah, mate, you grew up at the storm, right? Yeah, your father was,

what was his role there? Yeah, he was the recruitment manager there. So you grew up, what

what age were you down there? I would have been about five to five to nine or ten there. So,

yeah, I got to see Greg English get flogged a couple of times on the running track. Um,

yeah, I'm sure they still trained just as hard. Yeah, right. What, what makes him so special,

do you think? Mate, I think you have to look at Craig Bellamy first of all. He's, he's,

you know, if he's not one of the, but like the best coach that Rugby ladies ever seen, he's

definitely one of them. He's, um, he's first class. And I definitely think he has a connection

with every single player. And they just want to play for him, you know, you don't see, you know,

teams just stay at the top for like how Melbourne have about having a good coach and a good leadership

there. So yeah, Craig Bellamy, Craig Bellamy definitely has a lot to take for that. The thing I

like about Bellamy is the way he develops players, you know, you look at, you know, Jerome Hughes,

who was a fallback, you know, discarded by the goal coach played one game for them. All of a

sudden he's a premier halfback, you know, he's taken him from, you know, fringe first grade,

all played one first grade game to now superstar, right? And then he changes players and he moves

around in different positions. Uh, it's quite extraordinary what he does, right? Yeah. And I think

the best thing about what Craig Bellamy does to me is he puts his plays in positions where they're

going to succeed. You know, he doesn't ask Jerome Hughes to go play, you know, like Nathan or all

like Cooper Cronk. So to say, you know, he changed the way that Melbourne played to go through how

Jerome plays, you know, he's unbelievable Jerome Hughes. Yeah, one of the best halfbacks in the

comp because what he can do, not not many other players can do. And, you know, he has his own unique

style and that's how Melbourne play and, you know, they recruited guys to fit around him too,

which again helps him and they haven't tried to pigeonhole him and they've, you know, let he

strengths come into the Melbourne team and that's what you see when they play and that's why

their attack is what it is. Like everyone's just watching them going, how good is this football

on the weekend? What's on the label? May watch a hot take on how they win 23 first round games in a

row. How is a lot of hard work? Yeah, a lot of hard work, I reckon. Um, and I think I saw something

about Ryan Papenhausen speak about how they don't taper for their trials and then, you know,

say they're feeling a bit yuck for their trials, but once round one comes, you know, they start to

taper a little bit with their training workload. You know, they start to feel good about themselves

and then once round one comes, yeah, you can tell that they're feeling good. Yeah, interesting.

On Sunday, we, I know, sorry, the last game on Saturday night, probably the match of the round

is the Panthers playing the sharks. So Panthers playing Dol 33, sharks are ranked outside at $3.25

despite absolutely smashing the Titans last week. You played the Panthers as well.

Uh, what are your memories from back at Panthers?

Hey, the Panthers club is just such a good club. Um, the boys are, you know, super, super good

guys too. And I say I'm in touch with a lot of them, but yeah, um, I know they'll be looking forward

to this game. Um, they love traveling down it. Are they playing at Bathurst? I'm pretty sure. Yeah,

it's like a home away from home for a lot of those Panthers boys who are country kids. So,

I know Isaiah, yo, we'll be looking forward to a big match there. His family will be able to

come down to the game. So yeah, I know that, um, they'll have this one, um, yeah, circled

in their calendar for sure. What do you think of Braden Trindle on the weekend?

Hey, yeah, they had the ball in the string. Um, I think at half time, yeah, like two tries,

this, um, and a couple of tries too. So yeah, he could do whatever he wanted on the weekend.

Um, I'm sure that's back off of a good preseason for him and Nico. So yeah, they'll be looking

to bounce, um, you know, keep the ball rolling on that and, um, try and get another, another win.

As a, as an elite player, what, what allows you to, right? Well, what allows Braden Trindle

this year to come out and be significantly more confident than he was last year? Is that put

in the work in the office? I mean, that's, uh, the obvious thing. But what else goes into that?

I definitely think, you know, just time spent playing, um, NRL is a massive thing. Um,

now he would have had, he's now had maybe two, three or four years of consistent NRL and he'll

be feeling really good about himself and his place in the team is probably not looking over

his shoulder, you know, worrying about, you know, what's going to happen next week, you know,

now he knows that he's the five A of the canola sharks and he's playing with Nico Hines and

it's probably starting to go a bit more of a leadership role in that team. And yeah, you could

definitely see that come out in round one. And I'm sure he'll be looking to take his game, um,

to even more hide some throughout the year. And yeah, he won't be resting on that. Excellent.

And on Sunday, uh, we kick off with Manly playing a dollar 60 against the Nights 230.

Nights are obviously very impressive over in, uh, Newcastle, or you probably watched it on

Repair because you were, uh, getting ready. Um, what do you think of Dylan Brown in his new club?

Yeah, my dad was super happy after, after their game. He was, he was pumped, but did he sign him?

Yeah, yeah. And he's, he's always loved Dylan Brown. He thinks he's just a competitor and

what he can do with footy, um, in his, in his hands is not a lot of other plays can do, you know,

especially with where this game's going with how fast it is, having running halves out of threats

and he's a big body. I think people underestimate defensively good to write 100% 100% and he's super

fit. And I think we all saw what he could do in, um, that Kiwis, um, to, uh, at the back end of last

year. And he took that into round one. And his combination with Kaelin Brett, um, with Kaelin Ponga

was, yeah, Kaelin Ponga was unbelievable level wasn't over there.

Well, I think everyone knows how good KP is, but yeah, I think everyone needs to get reminded,

you know, um, every so often and everyone was reminded round one, um, he was unbelievable.

It's interesting over that game. I was kind of a little bit higher up on the, on the second level.

And to actually watch the game unfold from that level, it was kind of almost like a drone,

right? Yeah. Let's see. Ponga just the whole time working everywhere.

Right. He's super fit too. And he just wants to his hands on the foot. And I think the way that,

especially in that first 20, we've fled to sharp Dylan Brown and Kaelin Ponga, the way that they

played was, you know, you're not going to see a traditional half or even a traditional five A in

the sense because Kaelin Ponga can do a lot, um, like what a halfback can do. So you're going to see

them in a change roles a little bit. So it's going to be hard for teams to preview them.

Talk to me a little bit about that hybrid idea, you know, in those halves of people talking about

now, right? Rather than a game manager, there's kind of this hybrid Dylan Brown kind of position.

You got a thought on that. Is that how the game's going? Well, I don't know if that's how the

game's going, but I think, um, just say for Newcastle's, um, instance, and we'll talk about

Jerome Hughes before, you know, that's the halves that they've got. So let's go coach them to the

best of their ability and consider the drag. Yeah. Like put them in a position to succeed. So,

you know, trying to get them to be a game, managing halfback and sick them on one side of the field,

probably not going to work for guys like them. So, you know, it's, it's about the coach putting

them in positions to succeed. And definitely you would think that, um, how they play in round one

compared to round 26 is going to be different because, you know, time spent with each other,

they don't learn how they like the footy and positions that they want to get the football in.

So yeah, definitely thing is going to be a work in progress for those teams, but yeah,

it's interesting to watch. You dad obviously, uh, was very smart or maybe had a crystal ball because

he also saw and said it's myth, right? Yeah. And yeah, he's like, he gets his opportunity now with,

we've fletch a sharp doing, he's PCL, so he'll be wanting to take it with both hands.

What do you think? And mainly I thought they'd be unlucky, right? On the weekend. I mean,

obviously they had a bit of a rub of the grain, but talk to me a little bit about Foggy and Joey

Walsh because, you know, obviously Joey Walsh has talked about as the next big thing. Do you know

much about him? I've seen him play a couple of times. Yeah, he's super talented, but I thought

Jamal Foggy, he's like kicking game is just a lead. Got mainly out of trouble so much with that

big right boot. And he even had a couple of tall piece that changed momentum, momentum of the game.

And yeah, he's a super player. And I think he'll bring a lot to that to that mainly team.

He was obviously very different to Cherry Evans, but they just have so much strike in that team with

Chaboy Vick and and Cola out at left stand. He was phenomenal. He's so fast too. What he can do is

just crazy, but yeah, I definitely think that, you know, they'll be looking to obviously try

and correct it a few things like they obviously got out to a big lead against, um, against

Canberra and, you know, we're unfortunate to win that so they'll be looking for a big bounce back.

Very good last game of the week is the Dolphins. Your old team, uh, paying $1.33 against

Titans, $3.25. Let's start on the Titans. They were very disappointing last week. You know,

new coach, players resigned, Tino resigned. Uh, it's just, you know, I don't expect you to

say much about that. But what do you think they need to correct at the Titans?

I definitely don't think they'll be losing their marbles over round one, you know, at the end of

the day, you know, Josh Hanna has come in and he's trying to implement new new systems into the

Titans and they're obviously just going to get better every single week that they play. So,

I think a couple of easy fixes for them, even just like around their mindset of just how they

start the game, um, it will hold them in good stead, um, for the back end, um, of their halves too.

So, um, yes, I definitely think we'll be seeing them much improve Titans team and, yeah,

Josh Hanna will have them firing. Very good. They played the Dolphins your old team.

You got five memories about that? Yeah, you know, I love the boys up there. I've spoken to,

yeah, about six or seven of them this week, um, who's your best mate's up there?

Oh, I'll be angry if I leave any of them. Yeah, I'll be angry if I leave any of them up.

Yeah, but we had a good crew up there. We, um, yeah, we had a good little cooking crew and that

all come over and I'll get to cook my barbecues for them, but I'm, yeah, I like my barbecues.

Yeah, I already got, um, had a couple of the boys over for smoke for some smoke.

Yeah, okay. So, do the dry rubs? Yeah, do the dry rubs, some tomahawks, some

early bites, but yeah, they'll be, um, they'll be rare and ago, you know, obviously,

they can score points to the Dolphins like they've got just such attacking players, um,

obviously with Hemmer and, and Herbie Fein were over there. So, um, yeah, for them, they just

got to try and limit the amount of points to other team scores and they're going to win a lot of

footy games. It'd be, uh, remiss of me not to ask you about Katowah with them. Uh, you obviously

saw him develop as a player and, you know, you're very close to him, right? He's obviously one of,

you know, in your same position. Talk to him a little bit about him, just well close off.

Right. Super kid. Um, you know, he's gone better every single year that he's played and he's

going to take another step in a good direction. Um, this year, like, you know, the Dolphins is

his team now and he's even co-captain there with Tom Gilbert. So, yeah, he's, um, he, he can do

things that not a lot of other players can do. It's the time that he plays with them and the

tempo that he plays with, um, is, is so cool to watch because, you know, as fans, you're just watching

his time and showing in, playing Gowr. He's just got deception and, um, yeah, he, um, he had a couple

nice tries. This again on the weekend and yeah, he'll be looking to get the Dolphins back.

Very good. Well, mate, I love that today. That was really good. I appreciate you coming in. Uh,

chiming in drops tomorrow morning, uh, with Chimes interviewing Cameron McGinnis. It's a great

watch. He, he opens up on his time, uh, at the rabbis and also, uh, I believe, uh, leaving the

drag as I'm seeing it, but, uh, Chimes telling me it's, it's very good. So, uh, Sally, thanks for

coming in, mate. That was excellent. Well, I'd love to try and get you in again during the year.

Done. Done. No, thank you for having me. I enjoyed it. Until, uh, next week. Thanks very

much. See you then. Bye-bye. Chances are you're about to lose for free and confidential support,

call the number on the screen or visit the website.