Some sides of the moment I think are benefiting greatly from doing less.
I don't know if doing less is the right term, but put it this way, less long winded, structured said pieces. Less sideways like.
What's required at the moment, as opposed to just playing this elaborate player.
As opposed to go and let's take three to the far post.
Four, it's more like go forward, go forward, and then reacting off that.
Tiger is the best example, and we spoke about them last week.
They started the game coops that every time they got a little bit of momentum.
They just go sideways.
They pushed the ball at the edge, they get excited and try to create through width. As the game started to go on there you can see them now starting to actually find their style more doing.
Less, keeping the ball through the middle.
When toroll May goes forward and creates a momentum, hey take another one.
It's going to make us more dangerous.
Let's have a look at some of this what I'm talking about here on the game of the weekend, and you see Leui just keeping the ball double drop under, keep things nice and tight in the middle.
His may, he's just been enormous. He goes forward.
Let's not go sideways yet, yeah, bird, he goes forward, and then the silver scoop goes over and scores and you look very very basically.
Basic, but it works for him.
It's scored points afterwards, just in a simple form like there's two ways you either make meters and score points. One you ford momentum to shift, or you shift to create space, and then the forward momentum. But at some stage you have to take advantage of what you've created with. It's a fast ruck, and you know, to the Tiger's point that is it's basically three hit ups for a crash over from whalf That's what it looks like. But it's death by a thousand cuts. Ford momentum, quicker play
the ball, forward momentum. Quicker play the ball, and then all of a sudden, the silver first person to make a decision, realizes that he's got the opportunity.
And I think the sides, and I think that what it feeds into there is that the sides who are doing less keeping the ball more through the center field, because let's face it, with the fast rucks in twenty twenty five, the defensive vulnerability is in around that middle.
And you can do a decoy play like not that close to the line, but say that's in around midfield, three runs targeting a big, slow middle forward and then have your footwork come back through the middle. For example, Lewis could turn a pass back inside for during buller. You take advantage of guys have made three tackles in a row twenty minutes at the end of their stint. So there's another way where you sort of target someone look like you're going away, but you can come back through that middle.
There's some really crucial combinations starting to form with the Tigers.
The one two dummy half.
Punch of Da Silver and Appy Corus, how.
Has been enormous.
Da Silver has been fantastic, But the other one, the really big one.
Leui and Galvin.
On the weekend they took another step towards I think you're starting to really find their football together and it was a try.
If you have a look at.
Operating in tandem and the fact that Galvin takes them on here right and you watch the numbers that gathers, this is how seven and six should play. Lewis recognizes where.
The ball needs to go.
The line has been shortened right up I know where it's got.
To get to, and that's seven and six.
Wilson operating as a combination in the same play, still operating as a combination.
The unspoken part about that, Yes, Galvin running and getting the ball to the threat in the vulnerable area, but the combination of Happy Chorus and Leui, that ability to move the other side of the ruck but then still pass back is not easy to do. That is because they spent time penrith That is repetition at training, and that is the reason why that happened. The ability for Leui to recognize their short on the one side, but
then to be on the same page. How many times do we see that and a ball hits a deck or a dummy half turns around and just ends up running the ball because he can't get the pass to his half back. So, yes, good play, but I reckon the understand of Corus how they're tremendous.
You didn't talk about sharks in a second before we do. Dolphins gone through a difficult period. But Isaiah katoa beautiful little sequence on the weekend. If we just have a look at this, coops and starts with the inside ball like these are like a mirror play because he goes inside on that little strain ball that's yu Blake's used to call it. So he creates the dent, mate Marshall.
Marshall key picks up, makes twenty meters. Now watch this because first he's on that inside strain ball again, look a tiny little glance book out for the tunnel ball. Just that little deception he just set, tiny little look in. They just squeezed in the dolphins and made him vulnerable top.
End half back player. That's got rep play written all over it. That is not something you just think of. That's something that you react to and practice over and over. And the pass to throw the long ball the farm worth, yeah, that is very difficult to do. Like the inside look you know, condensed defenders and then throw a rocket pill through the full back hit the.
Center like Isaiah is he twenty one?
Yeah, early twenties, mate, And like that team is struggling at the moment, but that kid has a big future. Like he just glimpses of what his half back player has been over his start to his career. Like you could cut it up and say like that is that's a kid older than what.
He's been doing age, Yeah, he's producing pretty good players.
Queensland I think, yeah, yeah, the half back play great way from cart but the Sharks, Maddie I thought. Craig Fitzgibbon summed up what Trindle and Hines are after the game tremendously well. There is a lot of noise around Nico rightly wrongly. I don't particularly care. But if you've got halves that have a team first mentality, a selfless approach to the game, I'd take that halves pairing over someone that wants to be dominant main man, wants to
win a deli and all those things. Because we've spoken about this a thousand times when you and your brother were playing, when I was playing with some different halves, when one half is on the other one sits back and says, you know what you go And then when he's a little bit off and out one other one, the other half steps up and takes control of the play. What Trindle and Heines are doing right now that they sit probably below the Peneriths Melbourne and Brisbane in terms
of recognition, but they're humming along beautifully underneath. And if that halve's pairing can continue to do that, like Trindle kicks two forty twenties. Nico Heines goes, all right, I'm going to step back a bit here, let Trindle go. But then when the game's there, hind season opportunity goes, no, give me the ball. I'm on, and then Trindle steps back. That is a good operation because I remember when I
got to the Roosters. We struggled in twenty eighteen, and I spent majority of my career sort of attacking a three ind defender with the Bakraa and Billy Slater around. Tried to get that same look at the Roosters, but realized Kiri Tedesco they run east west quicker than most players we had in the competition. I had to change. I had to become a sort of a condensing of the few middle defenders to create space for these guys to play it off way more laterally, so my attacking
didn't actually end up on the edges. It became more in the middle of the rock, creating space vi Kiri and Tedesco to do it. So I really liked that mindset what Trindle and Heindes are doing, right.
I really like about the Sharks, and it took me back to the really early days of the Melbourne Storm eight ninety nine was at times it was almost like a five man kick return, like with the Melbourne Storm and those like ninety nine. You knocked the ball down field and the centers would turn and their centers would turn an end just sprint back and join a five better return. I remember saying to Robbie Ross one two was a fullback in the side, like, how do they
do that? And he goes, you know, like as far as fitness and keep it up, he goes, yeah, they've just got him at he that's what.
He tells him to do.
And I thought the way they combined there was they really worked well as a combination on kick returns. Some of the beauties like Row and Maltalo did a couple of crackers on kick returns.
To explain why teams are getting plays back behind the ball and kick chase is if the opposition kicks a ball down and puts eleven players in the defensive line, the poor old fullback is just running back against eleven players. So the more you can get behind the footy, I the wingers in the centers to put sort of doubt in that defensive mind. And they did a number of times. The Sharks of the weekend, their ability to sort of isolate one on one users spoon acceleration. Yeah, very good, very good.
The only thing about the Sharks I've got coops is I still want to see more killer about them. Like on the weekend there was an opportunity for them to really drive it home and the second half like that. You can't boat the top teams. You can't win a competition playing forty minute football. Hassen Carrigan Broncos. I haven't seen a better yardish combination. Has is just he is
having a phenomenal start of the season. In some ways, it's save as shadow the fact that I think Pat Carry is playing the best football of his career.
But that you know, if you talk it like it's funny.
I was watching Has and what's become a trend in the game, becurse of the speed and the rucks through the middle is the small thirteen. Yeah, who's built like a brick Shitthouse, low center of gravity, got good foot spured and good footwork. In a lot of ways, pain Has is that player, Like he has all those attributes. He's got a big center of balance, he's fast, he's got good footwork. The only difference he is his one hundred and twenty kilos. He is just devastating at the moment.
Yeah, Like the Broncos have the perfect ingredients like powerful forward pack, smart halves, athletic outside backs and when Paynehass and Carrigan put it together. I'd love to be Onnam Reynolds of Benhart because you're going to create momentum. And we just spoke about with the Tigers. You could shift to the to the outside, or you could play straight back through the middle with Reese Walsh.
Like you can actually you can sit there.
They are a guarantee, right, guarantee go forward, so you could sit there.
You know we're working with the combination.
You say, listen, coops, after this play, we're going to put this on because you know you're going to have momentum.
Yeah, free Like Adam Reynolds could get really tricky with it, like he could say Rono Carrigan and has just drive two tackles around. I'd put re Swash out on the far left hand side and as pain House starts carrying the football, send Resquash all the way out the outside back to my inside and look like you're going to throw the ball out of the centers and just step
back in straight through the the middle. Forwards that have to have back to back tackles on one Carrigan then painhasse and then if you throw a dummy like you go into the outside, they're going to clip. You go to sleep for half a second through that middle. I'm straight back through.
Let's have some of the great artish combinations over the years, personally contemporary one Brian Totter and Dylan Edwards. Yeah hard when they go on one and two, and then at the back end of those sets you've got Fisher, Harris and Liota over the last four or five years. Go back in time, a great one two punch used to be Bradley Clyde Glenn Lazarus. Clyde would actually get back behind the ball and take play twos and then you'd
have Laso later on in the set. Sarah and Blocker were great, like Siro was just you know, this huge man at the time, biggest guy in the league at the time. He'd take the yards, play quick and then Blocker would get on the right and Blocker had beautiful soft hands and skill awareness.
A lot of Benny lies off the back of that too, right.
Well, the two you know you speak to people almost of the half, the playmakers, the half and five a for Balmain in those days was Blocker and Benny and then mate, you've got and you look at it down back in the day when you know, to see how Sydney boys were flying, they win competitions. If you got the three Burgess boys, you got George, Tom and Sam. Like you have a look at that Grand Final, Sam
and George working this combination. I usually thought George should have got the Clyde Churchill medal, but that's for another day.
The only other sort of team that could match what Edwards and Fisher Harrison Liota in time would be the Broncos Lottie Takiri, Wendel sailor and put on the top of that web ce Simla Seba. Yes, but that is pure domination through the yardage game. Most games you play and you talk about, you know, the Broncos set it up.
One of the tactics I found very interesting from the Cowboys, and part of the reason why they're three losses in the row is their detail and ability to want to defend and their fifth played defense, particularly Drinkwater on Adam Reynolds and Ben Hunt. There was vision there. Ben Hunt gets this kick right, It should have been perfect in a triscoring situation, Drinkwater is out of position when you're going into a game doing movements like this, sees bodies turned.
This is play three off a set tap. Adam Reynolds has coordinated this to know that drink Water is not paying attention. And if Ben Hunt gets this kick right, it's try time. Drinkwater turned back. Eight is a space and he goes for the kick. Here drink Water is clocking off when he has to work, and it's hurting the Cowboys at the moment. And there was another time a little bit later with Adam Reynolds just straight through
drink Water here today. If there's one thing that Adam Reynolds gets right when the fullbacks in the line is the early kick. Drink Water missed that kick by a meter. It's because he didn't work early enough and fast enough early on. So I think there's a couple of things going wrong with the Cowboys at the moment. But if you're going to play against Adam Reynolds, one thing you must do as a fullback is you've got to be on in fifth player. He picked him apart.
On the weekend, he's kicking as beautiful on the weekend. He's one of those players. Dally chi Evens is another one.
He did it again against the Raiders weeks well.
He gets like those two blokes.
I see them sometimes wander the line, particularly Daly, and he goes it almost puts them. They put himself sometimes in a culder sack, but they still find the right kick.
It's ruthless, it's relentless. But with your kicking game as a halfback, if the open position have a chink in the armor and they show you a queue to it early on, you just keep going back to it daily. Jerry Evans did it against the Raiders. Big kick, last play, footsteps down, drop ball, except big kick, footsteps that. It
just kept coming. It's very effective. And when you come up against a smart halfback and you spill the ball or you're out of position, you better fix it quickly otherwise are going to keep coming.
Cowboys were a lot better, a lot better. But yes, oh and three yeah manly before we talked about the dogs and par and a straight talk made manly.
It was very a very manly performance. Again, back home put Raiders to the sword.
Yep. So for twenty the first twenty minutes they had an ample amount of possession and struggle to score points. Then the sinbin happened and they just turn it on. When Manly get hot. They are white hot compared to some teams. Terry Evans outstanding, Ola Clartu intimidatingly scary. But again I think the Perseca injury is a big thing for me only Yeah, I did too, Like they have the best attack in the comp when they put it together.
But if they want to beat Brisbane, they're going to need a big forward pack to stop carrygan at Haas they want to beat Melbourne, they're going to need someone to stop Nelson and utah Wa Kamano and losing Prosecca is going to go a long way to hurting that.
Just from that you just said about Nelson dispartment memory and then I too.
Really impressed me the other night was Jack Cole.
Ah.
Yeah, what really impressed me.
About him was how he was able to on the run almost correct his game when Nathan went off the field. You could see he was trying to play the Nathan role. Some of the sequences while he was getting a cross field dum mean and yeah, those players that those little shows that Nathan do that look very simple and basically you see when Jack did it, he just wasn't comfortable and wasn't threatening. And then you know, about ten to fifteen,
it's in. You can see him just go no, no, no, I'm going to go back.
And play the way that I play. And when you.
Consider coops, you know it's fourteen nil. When Nathan leaves the field, he has to take control.
Of the of the team.
He and Isaiah, Oh, Isaiahah was enormous again, but also Blaze come on, Blaze to Langy. It come on at six. So it's not like he had a six alongside him who could help with the organization. You know, he was him and Isaiah that they were having to control all things.
Isaiah was the coming six, if you want to put it that way. Like his touches went through the roof his organization, just through when he decided to pass, run and play out the back. But I really like what Cole did, Like this was probably an opportunity where he could have got stage fright and gone, oh my Maine man's out, but he simplified it he ran the football, he got involved and he actually showed some signs that you know what, actually this kid might have something at the back end.
Jenkins full back.
Yeah yeah, And you know this is what we spoke about this last week. This young you know, the young Penrith side went to Manly against a strong Manly side in the trials, had four points park and put him to the sword.
It's the strength of the system.
And it's also like to win a competition, you need to have a good club, not just good players in your seventeen a good club club. I've done it four years and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time. Man, they like with Nathan going off and everything that happening, like Melbourne were looking good, like they
could have easily ran away with that. But somehow, whether it was Melbourne taking a foot off or actually Penis wrestling a little bit back, you can't do anything but tip your cap to what Penith?
What did the other MEAs how filthy Bellyac would have been afterwards, because for him it would have been an opportunity to strike a psychological blow. But now it's actually I think probably the other way, I'd say Ivan would have went away and go, Okay.
This is this sort of competition between these two this right, Valry, it's going to be around for a bit and particularly this year they're going to play again and again again.
Talking about Rovalry beauty from the eighties and mate, I love this game yesterday, Dogs versus Power.
I just I really enjoyable better Power were better. Power were better, a lot better.
Zachlomax, what thirty two carries in football? Still a few defensive things is renowned for me.
And thirty carries in the season, that's pretty impressive.
Brief yourself. But I thought that.
They got the momentum they got in that second half, they could smell that they could get a win. But like a lot of people have gone with the Bulldogs gone oh, it was pretty good informced by Bulldogs. I think totally the opposite. You go into games sometimes coops, and you have to win ugly or you have to you've got to find a way to win when the opposition is dictate, dictating the terms of the contest.
And we've all been.
In those games where you're going to halftime, you're feeling quite comfortable. For whatever reason, you come out in the second half the energy goes out of football and vice versa. The opposition climb and start going through the roof. And particularly yesterday, Paramount sense they could pull off an upset. And you know, when you've been around the game for a while, you get a gut fill. And I'm watching the game yesterday going Paramo going to piece this for
all their effort, but the dogs won. The dogs hanging there, they defended their asses off and they got the win. That's the difference between the top four years and missing out.
And I think Sireldo would have liked the way that his team put the overalls on and one ugly to put it simple, what do you make of Brown?
I'm going through a mind gown at the moment, A lot's been set about Dylan.
A lot has been set.
We talk about it is because of that contract. Right, if this contract's not around, he probably doesn't get the airtime. But it's relevant, Coops.
There is no doubt people predicted when he's sign the contract. It comes with a degree of pressure, and we are seeing that outside expectation is one of the most difficult things to deal with. And I'm looking at Dylan at the moment. My advice to Dylan would be this is that Just just play, Just play Dylan Brown football, get back to Berne. Just be a run of the football. Don't actually start to think, you know, or start to try to play the football that you think Newcastle need
from you twelve months down the track. You know, don't worry about trying to finesse, don't worry about trying to push the side around the park. You just go out and play to your strengths. You know, at the end of the day, I can see that's just weighing on him.
Coops.
How would you unlock that?
Well, Coops, how I would unlock it?
You can't do that at the moment because of the fact there's no Mitchell Moses and you can't. It's very hard to move a Dylan Brown out of the halves because they're short on halves.
Even though I thought Dean Hawkins was good on the weekend.
Is that if I'm Jason Rowles, I'm thinking about moving moving him into thirteen just to then neck tie him to how he should play, you know, because I just think at the moment, I think at the moment, with all the expectation and the pressure, I don't think I think playing in the halves is weighing.
Heavily on him.
I think going back to playing eight, Dylan, you're playing thirteen.
Just get it there, run the football mate, you know.
And at the end of the day, Dylan's got to consider this is that the Knights signed Dylan Brown, Right, you just play Dylan Brown football. If later next year, whatever happens, whatever they need from you next year, or whatever they want to work you into, that's up to the nights. But at this point, just going back to play Dylan Brown football.
Yeah, I think that's an out for Roles to move him to thirteen and say, simplify the way around the outside noise. He needs his best players playing their best football. There's a team that's under immense pressure and he can put it together. Go watch some highlights of when you're great, like, get some mojo back in your play. The interesting part for me is what does Roles and the Eels do if they're two and six, are thre eight weeks or worse,
no wins? Do they think about next year? Dylan Brown's not in there next year, how.
Do you do that?
That's interesting. I thought about that when he signed. I thought, if this season goes continues to get bad for Paramount and you get two thirds of the way through the season, you.
Say, well, it's what do they do? Do? They decide to experiment?
This is Mitch's team. Bring Mitch comes back hopefully sometime soon, and you start working with those combinations are going to help you be a better team in twenty twenty six. Yeah you like doing hooks, Yeah, like you just work around. There's certain things that some halfbacks have to do, right, but one of the main things that you need to do, whether you're bought there to set up try and score them, is have a good kicking game and make your tackles.
Like it's so simple. Just because you're half back doesn't mean you don't have to push away the other parts of the game. And he's got a decent kicking game, he's a bigger body, but make sure you do that first and then start creating space. Like obviously it's difficult because Dylan Brown's there as well, but you know it's a bit about the same thing, like, just do the fundamentals. Well, but the question is that is that going to win
you the game on the weekend? Maybe not, might win you the game in a couple weeks if you get better at it. But yeah, they've got interesting little period coming up to the eels.
And keep you want to do a bit of a dally M thing?
What do you got thing for three rounds? Give me your top three? Who do you think come Dallym Night is going to be?
Well? Okay?
Three so far this season? My three best players in the first three rounds. Paine Hass it's a no brainer. Second, miss player, I've got two or may. I think he's been a revelation for the Tigers. He's proven to be some sort of signing. And number three. There's a number of players like Munster and whatnot.
I've gone Kaylen Ponger.
Wasn't it his best on the weekend, but he's first to his first two rounds performers were pretty special.
I got I got a four. Is going to win the de.
Yeah, I think I think at the end of the my initial pick was Fanilla Blake my reason. Yeah, yeah, man, he just keeps getting better, Yeah, doesn't he?
You know how old would Isaiah be now.
He's got three in front of him.
Three? Yeah.
Because the thing about it is, I'm trying to get the right term here. You don't get more stupid. Is that the right way to say That's a stupid way to say it. You know, maybe it's perfect, but you don't you don't lose your intelligence as you get older in football, the thing that disappears is your athleticism, you know, and that's and for Isaiah, he's watching the way he plays.
He's getting smarter and smarter the way he uses his players as far as direction is concerned, and crucially, he hasn't a lot lost, hasn't lost a first step speed oring like that.
When you look at who's going to win the Deli and we think a team are going to win a lot more than they lose, and those Harry Grant's crucial. I think there's an opportunity for Harry Grant to really dominate because most people talk about Jerome Hues and Monster and now that Nelson and Stefano were there a good little one two punch for Rock Chaos, Parry Grant might be very influential this year. And Isaiah just touches the
ball more than any other thirteen in the game. And Nathan's health is question at different stages, but he is rock solid and I think pei win a lot of games.
This year, Coops, just I should have said you don't lose your intelligence rather than you don't come more stupid, stupid thing to say.
It's a stupid thing to say from mischief.
We'll just cut it.
I'll tell Scott you just cut that out and replace it.
Just keep it in there.
We'll do. This is the magic you television. Just cut it, just go. I'll tell you what, Coops, Isaiah.
One thing, as you get older, you don't lose your intelligence.
Can you say most stupid? Mm hmmmmmm