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Danny Weidler, Adam Pengilly & Charlie White are back for Triple M NRL's The Journos for a big episode. But it's been an even bigger week on the Northern Beaches! Anthony Seibold sacked, an unexperienced Kieran Foran parachuted in, the ownership has been called into question and Jamal Fogarty taking a big swipe at the club's management. Both journos also put the Penn family's role into the spotlight! Brisbane Broncos and Fox League have had crisis talks to solve the coverage of Gorden Tallis and Michael Maguire, did it go well? And Weidler shares some past stories of his own mediation talks which includes James Graham dancing with a grandma??? The Bulldogs selection headache just won't go away as who's the best halves combination? Where does Stephen Crichton fit best? And does Lachlan Galvin deserve the criticism he gets? The Saints crisis gets worse but what happens now? Victor Radley's suspension is coming to a shorter end than thought and the Wests Tigers owners are looking at expanding their sporting portfolio with a combined effort with English football side Queens Park Rangers to buy Central Coast Mariners.
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The NRL is on Triple M, and we've got all the goss behind the scenes news on and off the field from press conferences to inside the locker rooms.
It's a tough game to play. It must have been a very good chance.
On Triple M, this is NRL Daily.
Welcome to Triple M, NRL Daily on your Wednesday, which means the journals are in two journals that go head-to-head every Sunday.
There's a great Danny Wydler, Adam Pengeley, how are you?
The great Adam Pengeley, too, please.
Yes, I said that.
That's just an Adam Pengeley.
Well, great, the great Danny Wydler and Adam Pengeley.
The great covered both of you.
You are hosting too many podcasts. You're getting confused.
How many are you doing now, Charlie?
How many podcasts are you doing away?
I think the appearance is just in the general rugby league media sphere.
Six to seven a week, I think. Something like that.
Just trying to do my best.
Eddie, everywhere. That's what we're calling it.
I've got another name for it, but I don't think I'll use it.
Well, outside of me, there is plenty going on in the world of rugby league.
We'll obviously start with Manly.
You two both obviously covered this over the weekend.
What a crazy situation.
Yeah, look, it's not good if you're a Manly supporter.
But I guess it was a change that had to happen because you could just sense that
there was no way that Anthony C. Bold was wanted by that club.
And I think I've said in other places, it goes way back to the fact that Tony Mestrov
was no longer his bodyguard, no longer his support guy.
That's when Manly, if they were if they were a half well run club,
that's when they should have really taken action when Mestrov was out.
After Mestrov went and stuffed up the whole daily cherry oven thing.
He'll never say he did, but he did.
I mean, making it off on live TV says it all in my books.
Never has that happened before.
And I think that that's where the beginning of the end for both Tony Mestrov
and Anthony C. Bold was when that whole thing went down
and went the wrong way for the club.
There was no way Tony Mestrov would continue as the boss of that club
for whatever reason he left.
I don't know, but there was no way he could.
And once Tony Mestrov was out of the equation,
Anthony C. Bold was going to be the next to go because the currency, Jason King,
who I think is actually a very confident individual and a good operator.
And he seems to be a sensible guy.
And once he was there, he had no love for Anthony C. Bold,
no relationship in terms of employing him.
So there was no way that there was no emotion involved in Anthony C. Bold leaving.
No one wants to see a coach lose his job.
And I hope Anthony C. Bold got a reasonable payout out of manly
because they did sign into it to your extension.
He's probably entitled to something out of that because I know
that our clubs have clauses and limit the payouts on contracts,
especially a club like Manly who sat coaches for fun.
So yeah, I think that it was the move that had to happen.
I still think his madness had happened when it did happen, though, Danny.
Well, a hundred percent agree with you.
They were going to make a move on Anthony C. Bold.
But that's manly.
But had to happen at the end of last year.
It had to happen at the end of last year.
Giving a coach only three games into this season and then saying you're gone.
That was an absolute awful performance.
But I thought the other two games they weren't that bad.
Against that rooster's team last week, they completed it 90 something percent.
So they're always going to struggling that game.
What did you think when Scott Pence said I was zero in three,
would you want to be zero and six?
I mean, I think he was worried about Anthony C. Bold actually winning games
in the next few weeks and having to keep him on.
If I'm being honest.
Well, yeah.
But what if golden point they lost that, you know, into camera?
And what if they're arguments like they'd won one or what lost two?
Has Anthony C. Bold got a job today?
Is that...
I reckon there's a chance he still does.
How fragile and how poorly run is that club if that's the case?
Yeah.
And you said it all, Danny.
They've churned through not only coaches, but CEOs.
How many CEOs have been in that joint in the last 10, 12 years?
It's been absolutely crazy.
So one interesting point that I think you referenced in my reference
in your column earlier this week was about the money they've pulled out of the club.
They're trying to save costs.
And yes, it is true they've had a few significant medical retirements
with guys like Lachlan Coker, Brad Parker, Josh Alley.
Josh Alley.
And that's...
And they've done the right thing and paid those guys contracts.
But the point that I wanted to make is,
is the NRL looks after clubs better than they've ever been looked after in the history of the game.
What is it?
Do they get $18 million?
They get $5 million over the salary cut, basically.
Yeah.
So if you, as soon as you open the doors for the new financial year,
you have $5 million ahead.
It becomes a reasonable thing to own, doesn't it?
It's never been a better time to own an NRL club.
Well, look at Maddie Johnson, Gordon Tellers.
They've become involved in the Titans who, you know, they're not flying are they?
But obviously, it feels like it's less of a risk.
Of course.
Because in the old days you'd say,
if you want to lose money by a football club.
That's right.
But not now.
No, well now.
And that's...
I wonder whether...
And I don't have knowledge of this.
We're just talking about the way that they're getting money.
And the pens are getting the money from the NRL.
I wonder whether they're hanging on for the next sort of TV deal.
Maybe.
Yeah.
It's probably not a bad idea.
And maybe that's when they moved to silver.
They put their...
Another relative on the board, didn't they?
Yeah, it's got pens on, I think.
It's got 24 years.
What's doing with that?
I haven't spoken to Scott about that specifically.
Yeah.
But certainly it seems like it's...
They want to continue the lineage down the line.
And they might be in it for several years yet.
I just wonder what the Manly Fans think about the ownership of the club.
I think if you read comments, you find out.
Yeah.
I wonder if they're just frustrating.
I feel like it's in the right place going on the direction.
I heard Brent Reed say yesterday he thinks there's other people who are in for a manly,
who are willing to buy that club and take it off the pens hands.
But they've held on to it for a long time, Danny.
I don't know if they're going to give it up any time soon.
Now, I was chasing a story last year that there were people within the Manly organisation
who didn't want Penn to be the chairman of the club.
Now, I have...
Yeah.
I was robed blocked on it.
I was...
Denials everywhere.
But the people telling me should...
They were saying something's going on within that board.
And he's still there.
So maybe the male was wrong.
But I don't think it would be a bad thing if he wasn't chairman.
But would he stand down?
Would he go allow that?
Would he...
It doesn't feel like a wood.
But I don't think it would be a bad thing if he was no longer the chairman.
Considering how the clubs last ten years have been.
And also considering the fact that, you know,
I don't know whether the decision-making process even now is good.
I mean, I do like the Jason King appointment.
I think that's...
That is probably one of the better appointments that club has made in recent times.
We're about a year and four in appointment.
Look, I think four and is a future coach.
He's now becoming our coach.
I was on air with Tony Squires on Saturday and on Saturday Scrum.
He said it's almost a captain coach.
Is it yours?
It's a throwback all the way.
It feels like it.
Well, I think the Hello Sport boys were saying that,
and they're manly tragic, don't they?
They were saying that is it the first time that the current coach
is maybe a better 5-8 than you are 5-8?
It's been hard on Luke Brooks, right?
But, you know, if all of a sudden,
here and four and turned up and said,
I'm going to have to have a game this week,
it wouldn't be the worst thing for Manly, would it?
No.
I agree with you.
I think Kirin...
We both know Kirin.
He's a smart guy.
He's an intelligent guy.
And he's got all the makings of being a future coach down the line.
But what happened to the days of doing a long apprenticeship for five or ten years?
What about Craig Fitzgibbon?
How many jobs did he knock back until he thought he was actually ready to be in a real head coach?
I just worry they're setting him up to...
I don't want to say setting him up to fail,
but they're not making it easy for him by pitching him into this situation.
Well, I think it's a PR move.
And this club is, you know,
all of that optics, you know,
there's building on the hill to get rid of Seabold and the rooster's game.
And I knew, I think we haven't set it here or somewhere that...
But the Cherry Evans return was always going to be a flashpoint for that club.
And look at what a flashpoint had turned out to be.
So, I think the Kirin thing is,
there's no doubt he's got ability to be a coach.
Is he ready?
No, I don't think so.
Do you think he's ready?
I mean, like, after three games as an assistant.
The fans might be happy now,
but if they lose the next three or four games, are they going to be happy?
They might get a good bounce back in here.
And, you know, there is a romantic side to me that says,
I wouldn't be great to see Manly go on a run and Kirin form become...
What's himself in the frame?
The next...
Well, I think he's in the frame.
I think he's...
I think he's legitimately in the frame.
I think he's job-friendly.
Well, if they start performing,
they're going to have an uprising of fans,
they're going to have an uprising.
They listen to their fans.
They listen to their fans.
Old boys.
Like, Kirin's popular with the old boys.
Let me tell you, like, he's part of that, you know,
he's the only person at Manly,
he's remained friends with everybody.
He's rugby league Switzerland.
He's managed to be friends with Cherry Evans
and Chokwapmo.
And, you know, they were warring at one point.
He's managed to be friendly with all of the Fultons.
Everybody who fights amongst everybody at Manly,
he's managed to be okay with them.
So that's a skill in itself.
And, you know, he comes from a very impressive background
of where his father was a big time
and may still be a big time executive
with companies like Woolies
and the Walmart's of the world.
And he's obviously, you know,
some of those smarts have been passed on to Kirin
because he can handle any situation.
So, look, it's not unheard of.
I don't think it's out of the question
that he could suddenly perform
and be a good first grade coach.
He's doing a press conference right now.
He's probably saying he never wants to be a first grader.
But I have no doubt that he's got the ability to do it.
And he must think that as well to take it on
or to redo it.
Yeah, yeah.
I admire him.
I admire his courage to stand up and say,
you know what?
I'm going to have to crack at this.
But back to your point about being rugby league Switzerland, Danny.
Don't forget,
this club showed him the door a few years ago
when he was still playing.
He wanted to keep playing for Manly.
Yeah.
And they showed him a door when he signed a deal
with the Gold Coast Titans.
So, for him to come back and be on good terms
again with that club is quite incredible.
I want to ask you about Joey Walsh
because I found it fascinating in your column on the weekend
that part of the decision
around getting rid of Anthony Seba
was Scott Pan and Anthony Seba
didn't see eye to eye on, you know,
whether Joey should play.
Yeah, I haven't seen enough of him, Charlie,
to be honest, to make a proper assessment on Joey Walsh
where there's going to be the next big thing.
I speak to good judges and they say,
yeah, this kid's the real deal.
He's going to make it at some stage.
But I had a bit of mouth from a couple of people
connected to the club saying that there was a conversation
between Scott Pan and Anthony Seba
in the last couple of weeks
where Scott Pan put Anthony Seba
out saying, listen,
if you want to shake things up a bit,
let's put Joey Walsh on the bench.
And...
So the owner is now picking the team?
Well, I don't think he was picking the team.
He was definitely suggesting to Anthony Seba.
He was suggesting to Sebes that he thought
it might be an idea to chuck Joey Walsh on the bench.
I actually rang Anthony Seba
to asking about this.
He didn't want to comment it.
And I understand rightly.
So that's his progative.
I rang Scott Pan and he admitted
that there was a conversation.
And he said something on those lines.
And at the end of the conversation,
he said, OK, if you got a plan for him,
that's fine.
You have to coach no problems.
But certainly that was a top
of your conversation between the chairman
and the coach in the final couple of weeks
before Sebes was showing the door.
How do you reckon that makes the current house feel?
How would...
Well, I was intrigued by Jamal Fogodis.
That's what I'm wondering.
That's what I'm wondering when a part of that
was a reaction to what you wrote.
Well, let's play that press conference,
because we got the audio here.
The whole pre-season since I came here,
we've brought in everything that Sege was about.
What the attack coach, defense coach,
the whole staff upstairs
we've brought into everything that they were about.
It's just unlucky with the results that we had.
And there's only three games left.
We still have 21 games to go to turn our season around.
And I thought, you know,
to be sacked after three is pretty harsh.
If I was the owner of an organisation,
I'd like to see him have an opportunity
to turn it around.
He's not out there missing tackles
or knocking a ball on and stuff like that.
Yeah, he was strong boys.
Ballsy.
To say what he said
with Jason King standing next to him,
it's maybe the comments that, you know,
that you wrote on Sunday might have fired him up.
But obviously, he came there to play on the sea bowl, didn't he?
Of course.
And you could imagine,
at the end of last year,
he was weighing up whether to state the raiders
on a reduced steel compared to what he was going to get it mainly.
And I'm sure in all his conversations he had with mainly,
a lot of them with Anthony Seabolt
about the plans for going forward.
And now, he's probably walked out on a team
that most people think was sort of around that premiership window
and the raiders to go to a club
that looks like they're going to struggle
and they've shown the door to the coach who recruited him
after three rounds into a three-year contract.
I understand why he's frustrated.
I understand why he's frustrated.
And actually, I admire him,
speaking his minds.
That was really gutsy
and good on him for doing it.
That Jamal, he's gone up in my books now
as an individual,
as a strong voice in that team and that club.
That was really admirable what he did.
And that should be encouraged in our game.
And I think that the fact that he did it with Jason King
on his shoulder is even better.
I'd like to know what's said afterwards,
whether they...
Well, it'll be interesting.
Interesting enough,
there's a conversation
had between CEO and Halfback,
but...
But, you know, what he's entitled to say that?
Of course, he's.
He's entitled to his view.
Because we were hearing,
I mean, all the talk has been,
the players are off seats.
The players don't like what he's game plan,
all that sort of stuff.
And you hear whispers of it.
I haven't heard anyone come out and say that, though,
in terms of an actual player to say it.
So I'd be interested if we ever hear that.
Yeah, it's easier to say the players are off the game plans,
but look what that again is.
The roosters in the second tackle of the game.
Look, that's smart coaching.
And he's probably playing
to what he thinks he resides strengths
as speed out wide.
Yes, I think there's got some deficiencies in that roster,
definitely in the middle of the park.
But, you know, you look at Steve's record
and he's not perfect in our old coach.
Let's be honest.
He's made mistakes over the years.
But if you look at his record,
every club he's coached,
he's taken them to the finals.
He's taken south to the finals.
He's taken brown coach to the finals
before it all employed it obviously,
and clearly didn't end well.
He's taken mainly to the finals.
A lot of coaches would be happy
to take three neural teams to the top A.
What you said even about the fact...
Look, I'm...
The fact that he actually came back
from the Broncos.
That's right.
Because the stuff he had to wear
there was disgraceful.
The social media stuff,
the rumours in your window was awful.
And the impact it had on him and his family
was really bad.
And the fact that he managed to bounce back
from being let go by the Broncos
and to eventually take him mainly to the finals.
And last year,
was it 12 and 12?
Like, it's not a horrible year.
But you could...
Yeah, I think that he deserves credit
for at least resurrecting his coaching career.
And I think you'll get another job
as an assistant somewhere or in rugby union.
I mean, he's very close with Eddie Jones.
I mean, really close to Eddie Jones.
And I think that, you know,
Eddie would find a path for him somewhere.
Well, I'm not saying he'll work with him,
but he might recommend him somewhere.
So there's...
He has got a future, Anthony C. Bolton.
You know, I don't know,
particularly well as a person.
I'm not that tight with him.
But I can say that I've had a number of conversations
with him, not about the manly team.
But, you know, we've all seen Wendell sail
again through a few things,
having a few struggles.
And that's Anthony's best mate.
And I'm pretty close to Wendell as well.
And we would have conversations about, you know,
Wendell, what can be done to help him out
at times when he's been through difficult times.
And to me,
and that says a lot about Anthony C. Bolton,
that he wants to try and help out one of his mates
in a difficult circumstance.
And I'm not speaking too much out of school
when I say that, you know,
even after he was let go by manly,
he was more interested in talking about Wendell
and seeing how he was.
And so it says something about him as a bloke.
And he's copped a lot publicly, Anthony.
And again, I've got no reason to defend him or...
I think the right decision was made.
I think he had to go as coach.
But as an individual, he has got character
and qualities that, you know,
maybe aren't as seen widely
because he's copped a hard time
from a lot of manly fans and people.
He's a great fellow.
Anthony, I worked with him over the summer
on the rugby league roundtable
and absolute champion,
great fellow, you know.
And I think he's got the right attitude around this.
I know last year, everyone takes the piece out of him saying,
we all die eventually.
So I genuinely think he has that, yeah.
I genuinely think he has that mindset of like
what will be will be and it all will look out.
The final thing on manly,
this yarn around Frank Penisi,
is this just absolute nonsense?
It's hard for you, Adam, isn't it?
No, I'm happy to talk about it.
What Bulldog wrote on in Monday's telegraph
was an opinion column.
It was an opinion.
And I actually think he's opinion about trying to get Frank Penisi
to be a great figure for manly.
He's actually correct.
Was it opinionals?
No, no, no, no, no.
His first column was definitely opinion.
And then he wrote.
I'll say that.
Yeah.
But is it a chance of happening?
No, I don't think it's going to happen
in a million years, let's be honest.
But I think what Bulldog was saying is right,
he's saying he's the type of guy who would come in
and try and help this club.
But I think Frank's...
Well, Gus could be a good one.
Gus would be great.
That's not going to happen.
Craig Bellamy would be amazing.
Yeah, but I mean, I get,
I think manly are exploring it.
And manly are going to look at the option of it,
which just says, it says a couple of things to me.
The first thing it says to me is,
manly are delusional as a club,
because it's not going to happen.
Well, it's not going to happen like,
I mean, it takes one phone call to Frank Penisi,
and Frank will tell manly,
or he's flattered,
he'd be flattered by it,
or manly, or Adam, or me,
that, you know, it's not going to happen.
And I think that's been widely established.
And that's not having a shot at Bulldog,
because he's going on the information
that manly are giving him, right?
They're saying, we want him.
The second thing it tells me is,
they want, obviously the best they can get,
which is good to aim for.
And it might indicate that they're willing to go
with a coach who's not as experienced,
because someone like Frank Penisi is ultra experienced.
I mean, he's as good as it gets in the game,
isn't he, Frank?
So it says to me, well,
okay, maybe they're looking at,
maybe someone who's not the most experienced person
as a coach,
because you're going to need to put someone very competent,
who can shake the club up,
and then smooth it out very quickly,
in order to,
for that club to succeed,
and that he could work with a,
for example, a Kiran Foreign,
or a Matt Ballon,
who haven't coached,
or a Michael Enders,
or Michael's experience.
They're all experienced guys,
but they haven't had that first grade run,
like a Brad Arthur has,
who, you know, he would be the safest choice for Manly,
just to put him there,
because he knows what it takes to turn a club around,
and he's been there,
he's done that,
he's got the manly history,
all that.
So he's a safe choice.
The interesting thing though,
is when it's all going down,
and even on the night when I broke the stuff,
I was hearing that,
what the part of,
the reason Seabold knew he was gone,
was because he'd already been told Matt Ballon had the job.
Now, I don't know if that's right.
I don't know if that's a fact,
but that's what,
that's what Seabold was,
of the, under the impression of.
I heard it whisper over the weekend,
as well, that Matt Ballon was prepared to come within a month,
to Manly.
Okay.
So the Bronco's going to let another assistant go, Charlie.
I imagine, yeah.
Imagine catching himself.
Good old days.
Him and Trent Barrett.
Yeah, just the dream of him.
Good old days.
My question.
You can go to your best.
My question around Matt Ballon then,
is basically,
if he was prepared to come in a month,
but they've committed to Keir and Forron for the year,
is that tell you that Matt Ballon is not the front runner?
Have they committed to Keir and Forron for the year though?
In theory,
they say he's going to be there for the year,
but I mean, you can always moving back to the beer,
the assistant,
but I know that I can,
I can promise you,
Brad Arthur would be here next week,
if the opportunity came up,
and you reckon Michael Ennis wouldn't be,
you know, the dragon's next week,
if that opportunity came.
So I think that,
the way I talked about the Forron thing being a PR,
a good PR,
it also just buys him time.
Because, you know,
no one,
the best thing for Keir and his,
no one is expecting him to do really well,
apart from Keir and the players,
I'd imagine.
And if anything does,
it would happen.
Well, it's a bonus.
And if it doesn't,
it buys him a month or so
to get,
because there's a board meeting today,
there's a board meeting at Manly today.
And I don't,
from what I was told,
I could be proven wrong,
it wasn't going to be to a point in you coach,
but it might be talking about the pathway
towards getting a coach there.
So,
yeah, interesting.
You didn't want to go on six.
Scott Penn though,
so if they do go on six,
you know, maybe that changes things.
I might be able to be a coach.
Yeah, you know,
so I'm happy to put my hand up if necessary.
Yeah, I know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, he may as well.
I'm running, running out of options.
Yeah, yeah.
The, um,
it just filed a thing on Scott Penn.
Is he wealthy enough to be a,
a private owner?
Does he have enough money?
Is that a bit of an issue?
Right.
Like he's obviously not prepared to sell the club.
No, he's business has been very successful for a long period of time.
Family business, isn't it?
Yeah.
He lives in New York for most of the year,
like in a, you know,
nice place.
Um, he's not,
he's not,
he's not lonely in New York.
I've been not far from there.
He's tight.
He's not tight.
Yeah.
Um,
so I,
I think,
I don't think money's a massive issue for him,
at the point about,
uh, the amount of money that I have to put into their juniors every single year.
And I understand that.
And he's a burden on the family and,
and the club's private ownership.
But,
but if you sell it,
sell the club,
if you can't do,
if, if you want to run an annual club,
that's what you have to do to get success.
You have to do that.
You have to put the money in.
That's where the chalk does my head in.
I mean,
he's in the lucky position.
Well, I know they're putting in money.
I know it's,
but if you're worried about their expenses and people are trying to buy that club,
people want to buy that club.
They've knocked back off.
I know people who have made offers.
And they've made what they consider to be really good offers.
And the pen just dismiss it.
So, you know,
I think that you can't work cake and eat it.
You know,
you've got to, if you're in for it,
get in there and spend the money.
The best way to make money,
Danny,
is win.
Yes.
When you win,
you'll start making money.
Absolutely.
Let's talk the Broncos,
because this was from your column on the weekend, Danny.
Interesting.
All right.
The crisis talks between the Broncos Crisis Management Guy,
Grunt of Williams.
Yeah.
Grunt of Williams every episode.
He must eat his own podcast.
Could you get him on the buy round here?
No, we should get him in here one week.
We should get him in.
Yeah.
He's a fascinating character.
He's looking for a room to work in, isn't he?
Yeah.
Yes.
What actually happened, Danny?
Well, from what,
these crisis talks took place even before they took Gordon's name off the door.
So, imagine how big the crisis talks were enough.
But, yeah, they,
look, I think that part of spin doctors job is to, you know,
try and smooth out issues.
And he went straight to the source.
Grunt Williams and had a meeting with Steve Crawley and said,
well, I think they know each other from their channel nine days.
And it was just a couple of our balls having a chat, you know,
about how to,
why things were happening, they were,
the way they are on, on Fox.
Because, you know, Gordon hasn't missed the Broncos and Madge,
and Adam Reynolds and others.
And, you know, so he wants to find out why and try and,
try and work out a way forward.
And these, you know, it doesn't always guarantee anything, does it?
I mean, I know that, I think Gordon is sick of being the villain in all this too.
I think, you know, he would like not to have to be always criticizing the Broncos,
even though, you know, it's his decision to do that.
But I think he wouldn't mind a break from just having to hammer them all the time
and even see them, see them do pretty well.
You know, he, he says it's not personal with Adam Reynolds.
I don't, I think that he's, he's very attached to Kevye Walters,
so that leads to the Madge comments.
But in terms of, you know, whether it's exceeded or not,
well, I haven't noticed whether they've been hammering the Broncos as much,
but winning does help.
Like Adam said before, they've had a couple of pretty significant wins.
You know, even your mate since Ben Tio left, your friend, Charlie Tio over there.
Charlie Tio.
Yeah.
Yeah, your friend, since he left, their defense has been good.
Would you agree with me, Charlie?
But they haven't changed the defensive.
No, they, they, they, they, they, they, they said, they said they were,
I'm going to change it if exactly exactly which is, they're happy with their defense.
So they're happy with their defense.
Ben was there for the Melbourne game as well.
That's well, yeah, they end the blue before it did.
Yeah, but they still, he was there on game day.
Yeah.
He spoke on Triple M last weekend, didn't he?
He did, but he can't really say anything at the moment because they still go through the process.
So it was, it was, it was, it didn't really, he didn't really say anything.
Okay.
Well, I'm sure that when he does, it'll be with, with Charlie.
I mean, you know, there was a rumor, Charlie before he left, and I put this to you off here,
that the Broncos were of the belief that he'd lined up extra shifts with Triple M.
Right.
Yeah.
The wire to his, a, alleged blow up, not, well, not there was a big blow up.
Yeah.
So they, they were Broncos were very suspicious.
No, but that's not, that's not true, is it?
That's not true at all.
I chased him from my column last week.
It was funny.
I got hammered in the comments last week after the show because someone called me the bent,
the bent here, spindle.
Charlie T.
Charlie T.
Charlie T.
Yeah.
I love it.
Yeah.
But like, so Danny, you wanted to speak about some examples though.
Oh, the crisis talks you've had over the years.
So look, in the, in the job as a journal, you are always treading a fine line.
Like, right now, I was just on the phone to someone this morning who was saying that,
um, they're surprised that I was fed at the dragons last week because, you know, I'm supposed
to have it in for the dragons.
Uh, like, what?
But every club thinks I've been called a manly hate of this week.
So you're basically any big story, your, the journal, you know, whether you've got,
whether it's right or wrong, people form an opinion of where you're at.
And you have running for people all the time.
I mean, I've had, I've had to have, um, lots and lots of meetings with people like, I had
some weird ones over the years.
I had, um, I'd have a conciliation meeting once with Anthony Bell, uh, who is, is the owner
of ghosts over the boat.
Over the boat.
Over the boat.
No, I wasn't over the bars over here.
Over some of the things I was saying about his relationship with Michael Clark and Lisa
of the things.
And we had a, like a proper, made a proper meeting.
I don't know what they're called.
Those means we chucked in a room and there's a person in the room with you.
And it didn't go very well.
Mediation.
A mediation.
A mediation.
It led to more problems.
Did it really?
Yeah.
We didn't go in there with a good attitude about, I want to talk this out.
I'm just going to like, just, just not, not overly great.
But I think, I think at one point, the mediator was out of the room.
So it didn't go so well.
But it's been others where, um, sometimes on a big story, you can, you know, the club might
get involved and find out why you've said that.
Why stories happen?
It was a story at one story I remember from years ago.
And I actually wasn't the, I don't think I was a reporter on it.
But, um, was after Bulldogs, Mad Monday, when I think they lost to the rabidose in the
grand final.
I must have been too forward.
Yeah.
I think was after that.
And back then, we, as a, as a media, we'd be more interested in Mad Monday.
And I think they seem to have dropped off a bit.
I don't think there is bigger story these days.
No.
So we sent a camera and reported Jane as a party out to Bulldogs headquarters, which is
well out now.
And there was stuff coming out of the Bulldogs rooms, which were interpreted at the time as,
you know, being not nice to Jane as a party as a female reporter.
We then did a story on it and all hell broke.
It became a big, like just a big story.
I don't, you know, I don't know if you remember it or not, but it was a big deal.
It was a big deal at the time.
And there had to be a, without going to the nitty gritty over, there had to be a, uh,
a, uh, mediation, mediation hearing.
Where I, I wasn't there, which is unusual.
Uh, I don't know if I reported and did that story on it.
I can't remember.
But I know there was a mediation.
And at the mediation was, um, uh, the Todd Greenberg was there as a boss of Bulldogs.
John Brady, his spin doctor with the NRL.
Oh, yeah.
No, John Brady, the NRL spin doctor was there.
Uh, Shane Matiski, who was the acting CEO for the NRL at the time,
because I think they were in between bosses.
I think Ray Dib was there.
Uh, Dez was there.
So it was always heavy hitters.
Darren Wick, the boss of, uh, Channel Nine news was there.
It was all the heavies going, uh, Jeff Brown as well.
He was a boss of nine.
Um, he's a, you know, quite a well known lawyer and big Melbourne identity as well.
Um, and it was, it was always heavy hitters just going at each other.
And look, eventually what came out of it was a story that, you know, they, they,
I think they largely agreed to disagree.
Um, but the Bulldogs argument was that they weren't having a crack at Jane as a party,
but they were instead joking about, uh, an old video that, um,
that involved Charlie's good friend, James Graham.
And that was why those raucous noise coming out of their headquarters.
Yeah.
Um, and I don't, the video, uh, and the, uh,
the, the, one of the Bulldogs sponsors at the time, even when it did a story of the
Harold, I think it was or the telly and said that it accused Channel Nine of having,
uh, special listening devices in the room with the Bulldogs players.
And that's how we knew things were going on.
Oh, what sort of budget does he think we have?
Like, we're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
We're lucky.
Okay, but we're lucky.
We're lucky.
I'm not sure what she was doing with the بتable, but she was doing well for the explanation and
I was off, uh, Charlie's good friend.
Jam, up, uh, in a pub at St Helen's.
Somewhere, from years ago, dancing with a, with a woman, uh, an older lady, uh, I think
she was a bit young.
She's been well, not gonna say that, and she looked old up.
And she was more interested in, uh, dance with jam, or, the, the, the jam put on some
his maybe his dancing style and the grammar. Yeah. And so that's on YouTube if anyone wants to
see it. Uh, what's it under? I just search James Graham aka jammer. Okay. And you're not a good
one. And that's what showing it with Curtis is going to put the video on. Okay. But so then we did,
we actually did a story showing the video on nine users to explain the bulllock side of things.
And for I remember doing that story. And well, I think I did. And I just remember that was a,
look, in a difficult and a tricky situation. That was a pretty fun story to come out. Yeah.
Like to show jammer having this day. I don't know what James ever thought of it. And
I'm sure you'll have a response somewhere on one of these many, many podcasts. Yeah. Well, he's,
he's obviously seen the funny side. He, uh, because I told a movie to talk about that. He had a laugh.
He's like, ah, so that was a good spin off out of a crisis meeting that led to a good story for us.
But you sometimes get, you know, it's just like the, the listening devices story came out.
I don't know how Jane feels about to this day. And I hope I'm not taking it too lightly,
because she at the time, it wasn't pleasant for her. Yeah. And I'm not trying to take,
make light of that. However, I just want to explain that, you know, what goes on in the background,
because lots of things do, you know, in, in media that people don't get to hear about or see.
Did you cover the other Bulldogs mad Monday story? Uh, this was a current, what you know,
I feel this is post Jimmy Gray. There was when I'm there at the, they're at the venue in the
rock. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. I wasn't a fan of what, uh, the, was it photos?
They were indoors. And then obviously, I think Adam and I had to score a try. So, you know,
the classic, yeah, getting naked and, well, that was, and that's when the telegraph
were accused of having cameras in trees. I don't know if that happened or not. But there were photos.
And that sort of thing. But yeah, I, I wasn't a fan of that because, I mean, we, we sent a reporter
along on that occasion to cover what they're doing on Mad Monday. We didn't put a listening device,
you know, in a room or, you know, anything like that. And the players were coming out and we could
see them that way. And there was no, I don't think there's any nakedness in that situation. No, no,
I should. The, uh, it's changed over at Clubland. They don't, like this Mad Monday, we used to have
stories. Doesn't happen ever anymore. Clubs manage it really well. They seem to, I mean, look,
I don't want to jinx us, but they seem to, um, but like we used to get invited into some of the
madman, like Paramatter would always do it this certain pub. And they do, they'd have a dress up
and whatever. And we'd, we'd be allowed. They'd say, okay, come in for five minutes instead of
standing outside and get a couple of shots. And you'd agree, you'd agree that you could go afterwards.
I mean, I remember, um, after Penrith, one their comp, one of their comps in COVID, um, I was up
there on the sunshine coast and, uh, we're outside the pub where they were celebrating.
And look, and we'd been living in their pockets to a degree during that time, like we were covering
a lot of their stuff. And, uh, Cameron Cerraldo said to me and my cameraman, um, look, yes, you can come
in. Um, and yes, you can get a couple of shots. I've been said, it's okay. The player said, it's okay
as long as you, you know, is you leave fairly quickly. Um, and the only thing is what they want
to me to scullaby. Did you do it? No, I don't, you know, drink. But they gave me some dodgy
funny looking. I don't know what they said. I was not alcoholic and whatever. So I just sculled
that. I would have went to the bathroom and just said, put the most horrific mix. Exactly.
What happened? I think Cerraldo may have made it. Yeah. I was instructed what was going.
Did you get through it in the end? We got the shots. Oh, did I drink the drink? Yeah, it's awful.
Yeah. Yeah. Something. Oh, my cameraman had to scullaby for me. So that was the price of our yarn.
Beautiful. Good stuff. Boys, take a break. We'll back shortly on Triple M and our old daily.
Now the Bulldogs boys. It's been a strange start to the season for them that fans expect
them to be competing for a title. The attack has looked, you know, shaky at best. Um,
but what's happening at the dogs down? He no changes this week. Danny or Adam? You can go first
on this guy. I get I get a kiss of being bulldog. Dan has hair, but Adam Peacock just looked
called me. Firstly, I wouldn't throw the baby out with a bathwater with the Bulldogs. I know
their attacks looked a little, well, has looked shaky. Let's be honest. That's not great in the
first few games, but their defense is still fantastic. Looks pretty good. I know they weren't great
against Newcastle last week in the first half. We need to get to the issue of Stephen Christ and
Cameron Cerraldo and what he, what he thinks for that attack. Like I'll watch that game against
Newcastle last week. And I saw the changes that he made midway through the second half,
getting cried and a lot closer to the ball. And I thought, oh, this is interesting. And you
could see that burden had been shuffled out to the centers. Now, I thought Matt burden was almost
their most threatening player last Saturday against Newcastle. I thought he was running the ball
really well. I know it's not going to be a popular opinion, but I think there is still an issue
there with Loclem Galvin at halfback. I think Loclem Galvin's a good player. He will be a good
down arrow player. But is he ready for the full time halfback roll at this stage of his career?
I don't think so. If I'm being perfectly honest, I think he probably could be playing at five-eighth.
And it'd be much more suited to that role. You can see how hard he's, harder he's trying. Like,
he's getting his hands on the ball all the time. He's running the ball a lot, but that team needs
a polished halfback to finish their sets at the moment. And I don't know if he's the right guy
to do that. Well, when we've talked a stack about. I know as you. Yeah. And I'm someone who
defends him. I think that he's got, he's doing a really good things for a 20-year-old. He is, of
course, and that's where I think we've got it. I know that it's hard to put it into context
because they want to win and they want him to be their halfback. But I think 20-year-olds are
going to make mistakes sometimes. They're not going to be perfect. And I think they've got to
write, they've got to sort of stick with him either as halfback or five-eighth. He's got to be
in that side because I think he's going to be a really good player. I mean, you think about
examples of Nathan Cleary as a 20-year-old. He was already doing quite well at Imagine from
memory, but he wasn't, you know, back then he was accused of being too safe. Too safe, wasn't
he remember? Like he wasn't having the impact. And that was his heavy criticism of Nathan back then.
I don't remember Cooper Cronk as a 20-year-old halfback. It was a utility play before. That's
my point. You know what I mean? So at a similar age, Jonathan Thurston was probably still bench
player at that age. And Joey was probably doing well and he's considered, you know, he's the 8th
and mortal, but he wasn't necessarily controlling games and doing that sort of thing. So I think you
just have to put it in the context of if I'm not saying also that Lachlan Galvin's going to be
all those players because they're some of the absolute greats of the game. But I think you've
just got to give him some time. And in this day and age, we live in where there are shows like
this and multiple other podcasts and TV shows on nightly. And it's a talking point. I get it.
And I think the Bulldogs know that it's a talking point too. I was speaking to Cameron
Sarato about this the other day on camera and he said, well, we've just got to, we've got to
cop the where it be club. And there's going to be focus on that. And I've told the players that
there's going to be focus on us and there's going to be, we have to work out how to best cope with it
and because it's not going to go away. The only time it goes away is if, you know, if Lachlan Galvin has
three man in the match, you know, games in a row and then people might be quiet. And obviously
because of the exit from the Tigers and all that sort of stuff. So I think, yeah, I think there are,
there's definitely issues. They definitely have to work out what they're doing. Their attack needs
improvement. But, you know, you and I, if we can see it, Cameron Sarato sees it. So it's
no, it's not a scoop, you know, is it? So I think they need to work on things and they will.
You spoke to Cameron Sarato on nine news about the attacking changes during the night's game,
as well as take a list to what he had to say. In the loss of the nights, it felt like Sarato
was a crew chief tinkering with a spluttering vehicle. You're pulling a lot of strings it felt like,
you know, we saw Pride and Play 5, eight other people move around. Do you like that as part of your
contribution on game day? Not really. We just want to win. So any decision that we make either
during the week or during that 80 minutes is about playing to win. It'd be easy to play not to lose
and make safe decisions. But, you know, I want our players to go and play to win and I need our
coaching staff to think about making decisions that lead to winning as well. And we're going to
apologise for that. Easy for him to make the say, it could be easy to make the safe decisions he's
basically saying. Yeah, he's not going to back away from that. And, you know, he's got the
winning attitude. And he wants to be, you know, I asked him whether he felt his responsibility
almost to tinker as they go like a, like a, you know, mechanic in a formula one thing. And he
he said he's just got to not be afraid to lose. He's got to be have the ambition of winning.
And I guess it's a positive attitude to having he does a lot of work in that area. He speaks to
a lot of people in other sports and that sort of thing. And I'm sure that he's thought about
the process because I think it would be a little bit unsettling to suddenly change someone
out of out of a position. And, but they do train for that. I mean, I know that
Crichton does train at five eight. They train, he trains at four back. I'd imagine Matt
Burton would train at four back in Senno as well as five eight. And maybe Locke, I don't,
I don't know that for a fact, but they would change. They would train all the time and be ready for
scenarios. You're right on the weekends. Can I trace you definitely staying at the docks?
It looks like it. Yeah. He's been off at a two-year deal. They were hoping to wrap it up
early this week. I don't think at the as the time of recording. I don't think we've seen a
result in that yet. But I'd be surprised if he didn't stay. Does that put a line through
Bula going to the dogs? He would think so. You'd think so. They can't afford to be having
kind of Tracy. He wouldn't be on a huge deal. Obviously, kind of Tracy, but it'd be it'd be enough.
He'd be on five, five, nine, five. I'd five, six, maybe. Look, he's a utility.
They've got a few of them. He could suddenly play Senno Wing. He don't know, but I haven't,
I haven't actually gone down that path that heavily on the Bula thinkers. The money there
for him to stay at the Tigers is big money. I think if the Tigers take up the option,
I think it's 900 plus. Is that that's big money, isn't it all? Am I?
That night's good coin. It's good coin. For where he's at in his career.
But as we discussed on last week's pod, if he takes up the one-year option or the club does,
then his new manager's not getting the cut. Yeah, okay. Yeah. So that's obviously part of it.
That's part of it. Yeah, but I think it makes it harder to get him there, doesn't it?
Yeah, because I mean, if you're the Tigers, if you lose Bula, you could probably go get a
wheel Kennedy for seven around that. Wheel Kennedy wouldn't command seven. So then you can get,
if you think, Wheel Kennedy and Dream Bula, is there much of a difference between those two?
In the long-term there is. In the long-term areas. I mean, Bula's got quite a lot of upside,
doesn't he? I'd agree with that. Bula's got a lot more use in front of him and probably a
higher ceiling too. Wheel Kennedy's a solid player, but I think Bula's got. The sharks have never
rushed to sign him, have they? He's always. No. And they've never rushed to sign him long-term,
either. Last year he had to take a pay cut, just to stay for one more year. So that's,
Wheel Kennedy's sort of been living contract to contract at the moment. Just back to the Bulldogs,
the fans are not happy with what's been going on this year. Even has gone so far where they post
the team sheets yesterday, and they've had to turn the comments off because they got death threats
for the players on the comments of the team sheets. That's a poor reflection on the people doing that.
And no player should have to deal with that sort of rubbish. Like death threats on social,
like what are people doing with their lives, usually? Like get over yourselves. They're probably
death threats. No, I concur with everything you said, Donnie. And just, just for those fans,
like they play three games within one, two. I know they haven't played great. Let's be on
seven plate great, but they've won two out of three. Try supporting mainly your dragons at the moment.
Big game for them this week. No, Robert. Yeah. Yeah, massive. Big game on Good Friday.
The dragons boys. Their center of excellence. I saw that through the week. That is incredible.
I didn't realize. That's cool. It's such a good facility to build. Yeah, you sent me the,
I hadn't seen it until you sent me that video. And wow, there's no excuse to fail now, is it?
Yeah, they've been doing some really good stuff off the field, the dragons. Like that center
of excellence is just opening up this week. It's going to be phenomenal for them. And let's be
honest, Danny, you travel around all the clubs. You've been a long, long and wind stadium. How
antiquated were they training facilities down there in stadium? Yeah, bad luck. There's a lot of
shocks in the bad old days. It was. Yeah. And I'm glad they finally just get something they deserve
that club. And that's great. Have a great center of excellence. They've got the wind stadium
redevelopment coming in the next few years as well, which is going to make wind stadium a fantastic
venue even better than what it is now, but it doesn't translate to wind, does it? Now, I've noticed the,
the attacks on Flano is starting. Have you seen? Well, certainly the pressure is,
the pressure is increasing. Let's be honest, like it is pressure on every single NRL coach in the
competition. And if you start losing games and you've lost four in a row to start this season,
doesn't matter how long your contract goes for, there is going to be pressure. I watched that game
against the Titans last week. I don't know how I survive to full time. You're the arcane of the
only one. Well, actually, can I tell a quick, funny story? My youngest son is getting right into
his 40 absolutely assessed. And unfortunately, he's fired a bit of his, his grandfather and my
leader is supporting the dragon. It's your fault. And at full time, we still, I said, mate, I'm sorry,
we're coming last right now on the ladder. And do you know what the reaction was? Absolute milk
down. He's everywhere. Seven just turned seven. So, it's a tough household. The ping-a-pong. Yeah,
so he stayed up to watch the entire game. It was, at least in that team, they're trying, Danny,
like you can see this commitment. Sometimes you watch football teams, Charlie, and you'll say,
these guys aren't putting in. But you can tell that team, they are trying. They just lack a lot of
class. They lack a lot of speed. They're like, like class, they lack polish. And that was a tough
watch in the last 20 minutes. Should the heat be on too early? Is it, I mean, he's got the contract,
he's, you know, yeah, but the contracts don't count for much. You could see, he's still had more,
almost two, almost two years to run on his deal and he's out the door. The difference, though,
is the people who put shame falling in in charge, still in charge of the dragons. And it comes back,
I think it comes back to that, that if they get rid of him, it's harder than what happened
at Manly with Sebel. If you're going to get rid of a coach, you've got to have a plan about
what you're going to do next. And I don't know if there's an actual plan there. I'm sure you
probably agree with me, Danny. I believe in Shane Flanagan's coach. I think he's record suggests
that he can, he can coach. Now, he's having troubles with his team at the moment. There's no doubt
about that. There are recruitment in the last couple of years. A questionable. A questionable.
And the way the game's going at the moment, it is getting faster, it's getting younger,
and you need speed. The dragons don't have a lot of speed. We surprised that input,
Kate, read into the team. He's a stats from the weekend. I'm not going to give you a stats, though.
Two line breaks, two line break assists, two trials, three tackle breaks, 12 runs for 120 meters,
140, 20, zero errors in New South Wales car. No, I'm not surprised. That's pretty solid. Incredible.
He's a player of immense potential. I think we've all seen that. And we saw in the trials,
in that one trial, he looked fantastic, but look at his body. Have you seen him? No, I haven't
seen enough of him, to be honest. Talkers through it. He's 19 years old. He's very slightly
built, Danny. He's creative. Like, look, Keri sort of build. Yeah, very similar. Very similar.
I reckon Keri probably even weighs even more than what Keri does at the moment. And Flano has
openly spoken about saying, yeah, this guy's going to be good. He's going to play on a rail, but
I've got a responsibility to develop him first. It's a bit like Joey Walsh at the Seagulls.
If you throw him into a dragon's team that's 0 and 4, playing for their lives the next few
weeks, probably potentially playing for their coach's future. That's a tough start.
Do you think they're playing for Flano's future? I know. Look, I just think he's got the safety net
at the moment. I think he's got the fact that he was employed for a reason. They wanted this
so-called stability. I think it's he's lost eight in a row now. Yeah, they lost their last four
last six years. Which is huge, right? That's, is that worse than Seabes' run that he had? I think
I don't think Seabes have lost eight in a row. Yeah, so I mean, that's a lot, but I think that he's
got the 2016 premiership in his pocket. He's got the fact that he, you know, had a pretty good
time in the sharks, really, considering there is resources as well. And he's also probably got
the fact, and I think it's the head front office who are still supporting him. I'm at a couple of
calls. You see, where was all that? And they're still supporting him. So, whereas I couldn't get
a text message back from anyone at Manly when I was trying to find out if Seabes- Paul is the
best that you sent to Scorpion. Oh, do I need to read it? You can if you want. The reality is,
if they lose this weekend against the cowboys, that's going to be a really bad loss. And Sunday,
the, you know, the blowtorch will get applied to Flano for sure. The worst thing that has happened to
Flano is a type of patents flying. Well, he's won a couple of games. Two and two, baby. Yeah.
He's safe. They've got Keon coming as well, Charlie. Yeah. She too. And Flano was a big part of
that recruitment process to get Keon to come to the dragon. So, that might be a bit of
a bit of a safety note as well. Victor Radley. I do like this text or not. Yeah, go on. What's your
text? It was Wednesday, March 18. I mate. How are you viewing? How are you viewing Anthony Seabold
and his ongoing place as head coach? Are you totally messed up or safe?
Hope all is well. Hope all is well. That was no reply.
Then Friday on the day, I mate just following up my previous texts. Just what I got back.
No reply. No reply. Anyway. Does he have red receipts on Scott Penn?
Does he read the message? Like that means Charlie. Well, yeah, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I know.
You know, sometimes when you message people, you can see if they don't know. I don't know.
You don't know. No, I don't think he does. He doesn't, he doesn't. Okay. Do I have that on when you
touch me? I'm not sure. I have to have a look. Yeah, I'll check. Yeah, yeah. Well, that'll be
concerned if you're brushing, if you're brushing other people's messages. Victor Adley, Danny,
he's an extra week's been taken off the suspension. Is that right?
Funny one. This one is involved. Yeah. Well, they, they hit him hard. And when you look back
now on the whole situation, it might have been a bit too hard. I don't know. Like I'm considering
as much else come of all that stuff. No, not yet. Not yet. I go. Hang on.
Well, I'm just saying it's still going through the quarters and we're going to bring this. Okay.
So hasn't quite fine-washed yet. Victor Adley's not involved in any of that.
He had no, he had no involvement from. No, he had a Smith's point of view. Yeah. Yeah.
So Victor, back. Look, the roosters got, I remember having to
interview Paul Victor outside the hospital. He's donating money and he wasn't thrilled to be there.
I'd have to talk to me and I think it was Bulldog at the time, but he knew he had to sort of
front and own some of it. And look, I think, I think he served this time. I don't have a problem
with a week coming off at after he made a submission to say is everything, I can say,
say what he's been doing in that time. This was Janie's by the roosters from start to finish.
It was an absolute Janie's management of this situation because they obviously
were happy to get it out there that he was very close to getting sacked. And we know that
he was really close. Everyone knows that. He wasn't really close. If you got sacked,
I'm telling you, on the night, he was hanging by a thread. But they were happy for that to get
out there. Yeah. And then they swiftly moved by imposing a club sanction. Yeah.
Rather than in our real section, it was heavy. You're right, Danny. It was a very heavy
sanction. Yeah. But by doing that and imposing it as a club sanction, they're in control of it.
Yeah. They're in absolute control of the situation after that. And they've slowly peeled it back
a couple of times now. And now he's right to play next week. I agree with you. I'm not against him
coming back to play next week because he has served pretty significant punishment. Let's be honest.
But they've just been able to walk it back ever so slowly over the last few months.
Getting right to go next week. I think, yeah. It's very roosterish, but yes, they've done well.
Is it right? The Robbo saved, saved Radley? Yep. He goes to Nick at the lab now. Nick was offered
because Greg and Nick made the comment about that they wouldn't tolerate that sort of image or
feeling in their club about whatever it was. The cover was exact quote. It was a slap at South
Sydney, a slap at La Trelle and saying, we're better than that, basically. And it had the potential
to backfire on Nick as soon as he said it. And, you know, he was, yeah, Robbo had to
pull him into line and say, listen, Nick, we need Victor. We can't be doing this. And, you know,
I don't think I don't think everybody at the club agreed with that statement that was made by Nick
because I guess they know, you know, what goes on with the young people in society these days.
Yeah. The Tigers is a great story from you, Adam.
Yeah, very interesting one in the column on Sunday, Charlie, about the Holman Barnes group,
the majority owners of the Tigers. And they've had a tumultuous few months, Danny. We put in
those terms over the last three to six months. I've been deep in talks with Queen's Park Rangers,
the English Chairman Chief Soccer Club, to buy the Central Coast Mariners A-League license,
which when I heard about it, I almost fell off my chair and I made a few more phone calls to
to sus it out. And it was confirmed that it was right. Nothing's been officially announced yet.
But yeah, there could be, there could be the West Tigers owners could also have a significant
stake in an A-League franchise as well. It's just, it's mind-boggling, really.
I figured it's fascinating. So QPR, I'm not a soccer guy.
Yep. Well, they used to be a big deal, they were.
Yeah, they were, they were a family league for a lot of years. Yeah. And they're back in the
second tier at the moment. Okay. So they, they own, they could take me through it. They own
the Central Coast. No, they're pitching for the license. The Mariners fell over recently. So
the license stuff for grabs, the A-Leagues are doing the negotiations. QPR are the favourites
to get the license. But yeah, they want to expand their reach and they want a local partner.
Wow. And the Holman Barnes group are absolutely in deep discussions with them about partnering
up to buy the Mariners. So that's why they gave them sort of pay rises.
Well, you know, because they're doing these big deals. It's just a five.
Yeah, they're sporting just a five. They're sporting portfolios expanding, Danny. Maybe,
maybe Benji Marshall can be a crossover coach and do some work with the Mariners or something.
Who knows? Kicking coach. Yeah. Kicking coach.
Some Mariners. Who would lean and Justin, they own the Newcastle, Newcastle,
Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle. Yeah. Yeah.
It's like, they caught the F3 Derby. So the Newcastle Jets were the Mariners. So
Can you follow that up, please? Yeah. Leaping school. He doesn't speak to Mesa.
You haven't had a mediation meeting? No, I mean, a couple of text messages,
but I think we're on great. Okay. Last one before we go, boys, Willie Peters,
the new PNG coach. Great result for our boy, Tammy. Well, he didn't do it. He says he didn't do it.
He says this was a PVL commission. He said he just had to get the deal done.
He was told he had to get the deal done. Yeah. I think it's, look, I think it's a great result
for PNG in terms of the person they've got. The potentially has the coach. I think he's he is
the right person for that job, even though it's, you know, he hasn't done it in the NRL. He's done
it elsewhere. He knows how to win, but more than that, I think I've said this before. He's a good
guy. And it's a case of a nice guy finishing first, I think. And he's worked his back side off
to get to where he is. And it looked huge challenge. I interviewed him in, where is he in
Hull this week? We sent a camera to his house, had a chat to him. And he's selling it well. He's
doing, saying all the right things. And I think it's a significant move for PNG. It's been
interesting that I heard Greg Alexander saying, talking about how PNG doing quite well. And
the Perth Bears are now considered to be the key, the key to left behind the supermarket and
forgot he was there. Like they sort of like, they're a forgotten item almost because PNG is getting
all of this publicity and good positive person. That's largely to do with Chammy. Michael Chammys
who's doing, he's a GM of 40, but he's also been their spin doctor as well. But they've also
got a huge advantage with this tax free. Obviously, Chammy's doing a great job. But if you think
the PNG set up in Perth, the NRL, the ARLC, they're in charge of both, basically. They've given
the Perth Bears Malmonego who has encouraged the NRL for 25 years, a CEO who was a news
exec, basically, with no experience running a football club. I'm not sure he's that popular
over there in Perth. He's not. You hear that he's not. He's not very popular at all here.
But on PNG, they've got tax free. They've got double salary cap almost. And they've got Willie
Peters the best coaching prospect. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's all falling the way
of PNG at the moment. And from what you hear, despite, I've got dramas with PNG in terms of,
I don't think I'd want to live there in a compound or a result, whatever they want to call it.
But players do, players, I wouldn't go so far as saying, knocking down the door, but they're
expressing significant interest on the quiet in joining PNG. And the only real obstacle,
though, with Willie Peters was the Prime Minister wanted Adrian Lamb as the coach. So they had to
sort that out. Yeah. Round of golf with him would have come down. I think, I think,
taking it for 11-8 and said, listen, P.M. This is our guide. Great to see you both. As always,
fantastic show. Adam, you got a big story to chase today. So I'm doing some non-robial
leaks, stuff for another arrow to your Charlie this afternoon. So begining with you to do.
Good luck with that, Danny. And you'll be going back, watching Karen Florence press comments
after this. Yeah. Or into a mediation with somebody else. He's going to text Scott Penn again.
Who gets going to you? Clearly not me. He picked up my phone.
Well, great to see you boys. We'll see you next week. Yeah. Thanks, Charlie.
Triple M Rocks Footy NRL



