Better than the Lego coup. Like the Queensland saw.
It, love It, Love it Underdogs.
We just do something dogs, I think for the benefit of this podcast, can we just put our state bias.
I know we're drawing the line straight down the middle here.
As one of the greatest New South Wales players.
You were one of the greatest Queensland players. Games for you delivered as a few.
That's why, hence why I only played full games. Yeah.
I do a lot of talking points around both teams, right, Like I think the Queensland team is pretty much picks itself at different stages. Billy's got this culture that he's driven for a long period of time. The Munster injury, it was almost was there that Dinner was going to jump straight in. He's got origin character ristics written all over him. The Hammers back in form, Reese Walsh at fullback.
They're probably a little bit thin with no Tino and no Flegler, probably a little bit light in the front row. So yeah, but Harry Groan on the bench, dynamic and selling Cobo.
Thing that's interesting it is it is was sell and sell On is just one of those guys and he can win your series.
Well I think Selwyn been on the bench. Like I think, if you don't put an outside back on the bench, you run the risk of hia injury to someone in the outside back. So there's a little bit of cover there.
But if you remember when Ponger was playing well and everyone's talking about it's going to be a resal Ponger, I think Billy was trying to think of a way how to get Ponger and Reese into the same team, and maybe he devised a plan where he goes, you know what, actually Sell and Cobbo could do this, probably a bigger body, so I'd be really interested to see its cover number one. But let's say everything's fit and healthy. He just might have a plan for Cobo to come in and do something.
It's interesting. So I didn't think about that because we've spoken about this before. We said, can he go with the Harry Grant ben Hunt combination at but still have Rehys Walsh and Pongner And we immediately thought probably not. I said, yes, did you really?
I did? I want to be on the record, I.
Want to have a look at this.
But I think he might have hatched a plan and go on, Actually, you know what, I'm going to revisit that.
Who else can do it?
Coops the big one. No day for Feeder.
It's surprised just about everyone. Why got no idea? But you know, personal opinion. I like Peter Kurra. I really like he's in the extended bench. I think he has got origin written all over him. If you're the argument is can David play any minutes? Does his fitness levels? Does it play a part? There's a couple of ways you can look at it. I really like what Peter
ker brings to a team he's delivering this year. The other one you could have used is this is probably the way I look at it is you start Ruben Cotterer in the back row and you put for Feeder on the bench. Your first interchange is Ruben Cotta goes to the front row and that replaces someone and then David Feeder on. He plays forty fifty sixty minutes there. But Billy I know he sits in his little chamber at home and watches every game.
So there's a reason why.
I think it's a respect for Madge too, why he didn't pick him. I think if there's one air of his game with Dave, it's probably his defensive application roxall diamonds. Yeah, and I think that Billy. I think it's a wrap for Madge him having a look at it. I remember the twenty you play first one in the com two thousand and seven two thousand and seven competition, him hatching a plan for anthy Wa maote remember, and I think the Billy would look and go. Madge is very good at this.
And the other thing too, is you think about not that this would have come into Billy's selection process, but New South Wales had definitely gone down a character discipline, toughness, consistent sort of personality, trading their team, and maybe the way that Dave comes in and out of contest. Billy thought, oh, you know what, I need to stick to my guns.
Here. One more thing just there talking about Bill. It's really funny watching coaches come into state of origin and the high pressure environment of state of origin, and most of them come in sort of fairly white and bubbly.
All the jokes.
Yeah, but I reckon the only one that hasn't that I haven't seen it was mal like you mouse, He gets, well, I've seen Billy. The press conference yesterday morning on Monday morning is Billy had prickly, you know, like, because there's always going to be journalists there that aren't probably they're being sent there that aren't hardcore ragularly fans, and you're going to get questions that are naive and you know I and oftentimes you get coaches they'll just float with it.
Billy just it was just a bit of an edge to Bill.
Yeah. So Origin coaches sit there twenty four to seven and know everything about their team, and they might get a couple of questions that end up being a little bit off script or whatever, and they do buy it.
The other thing, too, is Origin.
Is a beast with how much exposure it gets, so a lot of people want to know and ask questions. The thing about Bill is the one that I noticed is I think Kevin Walters said something about Reese Walsh in terms of he's so dynamic that he needs to iron out a couple of those rough edges and said he needs to take a chill pill. And one of the questions was you're going to tie Reese Walsh up and say no, chill, take some chill pills in camp, and Billy, through his own experiences that live wife fullback,
said no, I want Reese to be Reese. There is no chill pills going on with Reese, and I understand it because.
His words were no pills in this camp.
Well I said chill.
Pills, which I thought it was a little.
Now I think that Rehys Walsh could be the guy, like if you look at everyone in this both teams, like he has got the biggest ceiling of the game, Like he can just do things that not too many other players have. So the last thing Billy wants to do is say, hey mate, I want to clip your edges here. He wants him full throttle and everyone else will worry about the other stuff.
Yeah, you want to bloke out there. He's going to go and try to win the game, not lose it.
Well, and you look at New South Wales many and they've gone down that whole character discipline thing and don't really have that genuine like out and out start compared to Reese Wald that.
Maverick. You could just do something out of nothing. It's a good look in Queensland. Excuse me. New South Wales side. I like it. It's a fit side. It's a gutsy side, tough side side that can play for eighty minutes. It's a very Queensland side.
I definitely think he's made a few statements with my own his choice, like the obvious one Teddy and Edwards right, honestly, they're both so so good they could be in the one jersey and you wouldn't sort of go oh yeah, I get it sort of thing. But he's definitely made a statement with I think with Teddy out and put Edwards in. The Other statement he's made is Ken mc ginnis. Yeah, Like he puts his head in places we don't put our feet or anything, right, and he's trying to from
the outside looking at in. This is me guessing with no intel the outside looking in. I think McGuire's gone, Okay, I'm going to survey a few people. They think about the OROQ New South Wales team and they go, well, we want some tough, tenacious, character driven guys are never going to let the state down. And he's stuck to his mantra and then he's gone for those type of players we spoke with.
This last week, and you having Isaac starting the game in particular with J JR. Voievitch and Isaiah can be problematic because they both play a similar role and the ball will go sideways more than you really want. And he's done that. He's put Isaiah at fourteen. Start with McGinnis. Look to bring Isaiah on once a bit of the cut and thrusters out of the contests. Use McGinnis a little later.
For Robson, the McGinnis peek at starting is purely get your best defensive team on the field to start the game and then if they get to a lead, get your best defensive team back on the field.
That's mcinness's role. He will tackle himself to a sense or the other. And from a Queenslander, the guy that I fear the most in New South Wales team is paynhuss I think he's a genuine star of our competition. What he has been through, what he is, what he's playing. He's so so good and not too many players playing the front row that I feel like has the keys.
To success in their football team. I think it's Payinhause and this team for me.
Is that young bloke has not been given enough credit for how he has held himself with what he is enduring at the moment, and.
He hasn't Like you're going to critique pain like he's dominated the NRL every time, but he hasn't truly truly dominated an Origin game. And I feel the way that this game or this team, the style that New South Wales will play. It'll be high percentage, it'll be tough, they'll do all the basics really well. They'll fight over a five cent piece on the floor. But then paint House has the game breaking ability. One thing that he will like is having no Tino opposite him, because Tino
went after him all those times in Origin. Ken Patrick Kerrigan be that guy that goes after his mate. But as a Queenslander, I fear a little bit of what a paint House can do.
Robson ahead of Happy. It's interesting. It just shows you what currency May is going to put in defense. That's a clear one, a tough, hard nosed player. If we go back for a second on Dylan Edwards, and as we said, it's not knock on t Desco's ability or any insinuation that Teddy's starting to go back. You haven't done or you haven't Dylan Teddy. Yeah, I take Dylan because look, I don't need to say it again, he's just been close to the best in the last three
I think I like a Bed Dylan coup. When you're picking on when you're peeing on character. I really, I really like players whose careers were I don't think I'm going to say on the brink is right, but have endured in their career, has been challenged, They've endured tough times in their career, and they've been old to scale. They've basically been able to scale their game back and then rebuild it. Because the people who do that, they when they come out of it, they understand themselves. They
understand their own game. They understanding their strengths and their weaknesses, how to big build firewalls around their game. That's like they're just they're very aware of their own game. And if we go back and the reason I say that, people forget, like five years ago, Dylan had the yips. He was a man, he was struggling. I went out and watched one night at Penrith and he was playing New South Wales Cup against South Sydney and a few times the ball went in there and our kids, not
one occasion he ran away from it. But the way he has bounced back and become close to the best player in the game shows his mental toughness and his intelligence.
I agree tipcat to him as a former New South Wales halves great that helped Queensland win a few games.
Yeah. Confidence in lewit heines he got a lot of confidence.
Yeah, no, no, I do particular Leui has been playing in the last the last couple of games have given me a great encouragement around Leui. We spent last week on a as far as from a football suspective, a technique perspective, he's stepping and accelerating more, which has got him as opposed to stepping and restepping as giving that thrust back in the game, but also how he's relished having no Nathan as part of the reason. I think
he's probably taken. He's gone away. So I've won three comps here, maybe chance that I'm going to win four. Then I'm going to move away a little bit and I'm just going to show you guys, you know, really stand by myself and show how good I am and I can run aside, he's done that in the last couple of weeks.
A huge amount of pressure on them because if McGuire has gone down this path of kick picking a tough, defense orientated team they can keep this close to make it a dog fight.
Then you're going to have to have a point of difference. It's got to be Leui and it's got to be Heines.
Guys, Okay, here's something for with nik because this is a real is a huge series for Nicker, it is his career. What would you what would just say to Niko?
For Nico Hines up until the week against Penis, he absolutely did everything right and Jerome Leue what he's done the last two weeks super super impressive. But what I would say to Nico Hines is your mental state or your mental temperament in this game is what's going to get you to the finish line. Don't try and win it in the first ten or fifteen minutes. Make sure you're driving this team, getting in good positions, and when you see that moment in the sixty eighth minute, don't
hold back for it. Because if he tries to win it and play this fancy style of play, it's not really him. In the new South Wales team, he might be able to do that at the shaft, he's got everything around him at origin. When you come into REP teams, you've got to get people on the same page quickly. And the key for him is to make sure that he has an opportunity to win this game late, not lose it in the first twenty minutes.
Do less good, Yes, do less.
Let paint ass go listen off the leash and just kick your team into good positions for first fifteen twenty minutes.
And it's probably another reason why Madge has gone right, let's go Isaiah in the fourteen so we do less early and probably and I think as well, is okay, Let's let Niko find his rhythm. Don't hear him out there competing with the football with other people. Let him find some rhythm and then brings Isaiah on later.
And if I was to give a little bit more advice, I'd be saying, when Spencer land YOUU comes on, follow him like that guy, I think he'd be wound up.
Yeah. Now he's a powerhouse.
He's a players.
Joseph, look, I like the selection. I do, I really lot the selection. I don't know a lot about Joseph. I admire him as a player, as an athlete, but as a person. I've walked past him sometimes and said hiya, He's generally ignored me. So he should Yeah, absolutely. What makes him tick? What sort of young bloke is he?
Very well mannered, very respectful, He's a very good young kid, got a great work ethic, good thirst. I would invest in Joseph Swally. I would like I get the rugby deal, Like that's something that I would do because I think this kid's got it. I think he's got it in bunches. And he could definitely be the best player in the A team or the game at some stage, depend on whatever he's doing. The thing about Joseph is this whole thing he's going to rugby.
Some people think, well, if he's not.
Committed, then you know what, Like go watch him play, see what he's done, and he bleeds rugby league right now for the Roosters And as a Queensland person, I would like you not to pick him because he's a extrovert. Introvert from course probably sits in the middle, like I think he's very respectful, so an introvert that way, but when he's comfortable in his environment, he's got a swagger, but he's got confidence that sits underneath there, like all the good ones that says you know what.
I particularly care what you say about me.
I believe I can do this strong in the gym, oh mate, He's a beast like I think every young kid these days is that's probably a difference between when you were playing in the forties and being back.
These young bikes are strong, bigger bouf.
When I get under the bench, person, I don't need no spot.
What do you got on there?
Fifteen two people, a couple of cherries other side. Okay, let's talk with the NRL coops. Most disappointing performance of the weekend the Raiders, right, yep.
Reason being is we've spoken about this DNA, the grit, the grind and never beat themselves. The first minute was obvious they weren't there to physically play hard Graves and Spencelen you were just charging off the kickoff and skittling defenders. And then Victor Radley runs through basically untouched. And I just thought, after what they delivered last week at Magic Round, there was a poor performance, a.
Lot of young guys on the side, and you get that, you get the big performance flaid By. Sometimes you can have a stinker from mine. It's crnulla and Coops, it come off, come off.
The week of praise you spoke about it.
It's Coops. It's a challenge and people go, oh, that's it. It's absurd. You know, the people encourage your people good you know it should be bored and give you confidence. But in a sport like rugby league, you didn't need to be off that much and just that praise, praise, more praise just can weaken your resolves.
So if the Sharks are your most disappointing performance, the Panthers are my most impressive. Because I'm kicking myself for not reading that leading into that, because we were all about the Sharks. How good do they go? And they
deserve to be there and you don't think that. Ivan clear went back after that victory, went back to Penerith just dangled that little carrot, said, you know what everyone's saying, the Shark's the best team in the comp how about you go out and show the rugby world who is? And it was a powerful like Lui was great, Edward's terrific. They really flex their muscles and I kicking myself, I didn't see it.
No wonder they're looking at four winds in a row. Because Coops, even your great sides of Melbourne storm, to go back to back is not just a test on how you are physically and your ability to change the game. It's the biggest test is you desire and your heart and to want to get out and do that. They're one three in a row and they get they drop one game against against the Warriors.
I had go to the bin for a ten minute period.
Yeah.
I mean like there's a lot of things that we all should have picked up on and then said, you know what, they're going to go to Shark Park and they're going to deliver a state.
It would have been a bit of stuff with Ivan, you know, the old oh you wouldn't be live that a bit pretty ordinary stuff. I was going to you know, most Yeah, as you said, most oppressive. Couple of special mentions. Love the way the Titans rebounded from that devastating lost, the Brian Kelly situation over the line. I thought they were really really good and the Dog's second half performance was terrific. Really Toby Sexton, I thought he was really sort of super impressive.
Talk since the start a year about Drew Hudson, Toby Sexton and Sirealdo went with it and he showed a little bit of class with a genuine seven on his back, so yeah, he might be there for a bit longer.
Which the origin period. It's always an interesting one of the Orange Men because it so it really helps some sides out others and knocks them around. He didn't think it will help.
Well, you said the Knights are on the upward trajectory, and if you go have a look at their origin period, I think they get the best teams at the right time because there's some by rounds there for them. They get them when they're playing Origin. Off the back of Origin sometimes they get rested. So I think the Knights have I think they've crept into the eight. Might be a beneficiary of what's about to come.
I think the Warriors as well. Yeah, one reason they've.
Both done the same thing, lost their best players and they've all doubled down on the basics and done it better.
Than one of the best football through the simplicity and the other thing about the Warriors are out of the hype too a little bit. They've been good the last couple of weeks of Warriors been. They're back in business. Of course, as far as it's going to be toughest for across the Broncos with the Cowboys going to put a big dent. The Cowboys did, and then I robson to Langey Vale Holmes and.
They're not exactly at the level they want to be at too. But their season this year has reflected a lot of things that they did last year. And if we go back to last year, it was a real circuit breaking for the Origin period. Their origent stars were sort of in and out of form. They went to Origin played great. Ruben Coodor was the best example of it. They all came back and the Cowboys got the season
back up and running, but ran out of gas. So it could be the thing that the Cowboy's best players need. But I think Tom Didon has been sensational for them, Like he has been top three players every week for the Cowboys. This whole captaincy thing, he's really taken on board and he's playing really well as why he was a walk up for months.
Jersey's I'm curious to see Penrith without Nathan and without Jerome to see because you see when they're Isaiaho.
When Nathan goes down, Isaiah's possessions go through the roof. He becomes a distributor and then opens up Lui to play that second layer ball playing stuff.
So I think he.
Is just as crucial as anyone else because that means that they will will have to change slightly. The young rookies will have to come in and play role. Maybe does Mitch Kenny become more centralized. It's interesting to see how they actually play.
And those two big homeres up front, Fisher, Harris and Leota, you watch them go.
Well, that's why I said Mitch Kenny probably comes in.
Not that they centralize their attack often, but maybe they should with Mitch Kenny in because if the wrecking balls of those two you can be the best players, then Mitch Kenny might get an opportunity to play, which we don't often see because he passes the ball as Ao and Nathan most of the time.
Of course, Broncos too, Yeah, the Broncos. Yeah, and they struggled last week. The Bronx like the defense.
They are a good, good team, and I feel like the defense is letting themselves down at different stages, particularly the Titans, and they had this mindset of like, oh, we'll be right, We've got Selwyn, we've got paying Carrigan rees out the back, they'll do something to win it.
But during this period, you're not going to have them well.
This is it keeps if they're in a position at the moment, whereas if the origin period, you know they don't continue well, if they don't go on a bit of a winning run through this period, they're going to come out of the origin period under pressure. Where in the situation, there's nothing worse for in your year and a team, and you'll find yourself in a position right up, we're going to win four of the last five. That can take a bit out of your teak.
And when you lose Adam Reynolds, the last thing you need to be doing is creating bad habits in your defense and your long game mentality for when he comes back. It's a bit like Penrith like they're keeping their habits well. Nathan's away, so they're defending well and but Broncos need to address their defense at the moment.
As far as players of the round, I thought White and looked good in the six. Yeah, straighten them up a little bit. Who's your player of the round?
I really liked.
What Teddy did, to be honest, A camera like he had a lot of noise around his performance, but he was sensational he delivered with a lot of players and things like that. In terms of the other performances I got tomorrow Martin did in New Zealand, there was a moment there that in the second half that without his he created two repeat sets in a row and then come up with a match.
Meaning Tryce Tryst says, so good John.
The young fullbacks coming in the game the Titans, he was, he was class all that. I was going to use the word filling. That's not the right word. But these young fullbacks like Kenni Toolpiky for longer, Lehi Hoppawati was fantastic, blaze, all these young fullbacks that have come in.
And a little bit like you know, like the mold of Ris Walsh. There's small, agile, fast, with footwork and skill. There's a little bit of a shift there. Everyone thought it had to be the two hundred meter game breaking meter carrying fullback for kick returns like a Turbo or a Teddy. Dylan Edwards is probably in that mold, but there seems to be a little bit more of a shift to that dynamic fullback.
He can be