Curbs.
After round one, I asked you this question, box A, box poo and box A. You got Penroth, the Broncoes in.
The storm box Pe, you've got everybody else. And I said, what I want to give box A box?
I think we tell them to about a dollar twenty five dollars thirty.
Box A about three ninety four dollars for box B.
Been a couple of changes.
I think there's been a few changes. Penrithoft to a slow start. That doesn't worry me. I've lost faith in the Panthers. Kranulla haven't come on like we thought. Manly wildly inconsistent has been the dogs in box.
P Yeah, dogs can jump into box A.
They are.
They are doing all those little things defensive, suffocating the opposition and it's helping their attack. Like the energy I think. I don't think I've seen a better kick, chase line or aggression in terms of the way they go about it. Super fit and they can outlast the opposite. That was I thought the first three wins are doing all the basics. Well, went up another gear against the Sharks, but Newcastle were just almost stuck in a corner.
They wouldn't do anything.
Yeah, they were totally suffocating them and coops. You can see there's certain aspects of the game that they've looked at history and based themselves. Like you can see they're playing with that bit of macho dogs of war mentality, but it's some modern day dogs of war.
I said this on the show last night.
It's not like a big pack that's going to intimidate with their size and power and really burning up.
It's just a fast moving pack of hyaenas. They're all over you.
And the players are listening to their coach because at halftime against the Knights, Cameron Cerrella said they wanted to play more direct and get in the long game. Reed Marney comes out, kicks early. In the first set, they chased down, they score two tries through the middle. Reed Marty was the key that second half when your team is sort of wondering which style to play, if you kick early, it forces everyone to kick chain it almost
gets them if anyone was hesitating. The early kicked forced Dogs into the hard parts of the game, and it's like it's like Newcastle were playing in a confined space.
Things changed pretty quy apressive.
Like you look at the start of the season, Dogs for top four.
That five dollars.
I mean talking a lot about gam but it's just it's symbolic of where they sit.
I think we said about the Dogs that the only thing is can those players that had the best year of their career go again?
Yeah?
The answer to that is yes they can't.
Yes, Well shows that the desire in the team because that a really good win two weeks ago against the Sharks and they were just all over them, beat them with aggression and after the game they were really sort of up on their taes and celebrated and I thought themselves. Can take a little bit for them to get back to worth and go again. From that first set in Newcastle where they swarmed all over them wasn't a problem.
You remember the Surrealdo was the architect of what Penrith did for four years, called it five years, and he took a little bit of blooding to get the Dogs on the same page. But I'll tell you what, he is one smart defensive coach because he's got history and he's doing it now with a completely different group.
Well he's been out of Penrith now his third year going in. But the effect of cameras eraldo in some ways just seeing it now, Coop, because as you know, like with a coach, he went in there and this side has gone on to win all these titles. He he was instrumental laying down those defensive principles and I think we're just seeing now what a loss that has been.
Well, he hasn't had the influence on those two three year players that have come to Penrith. There may be the ones now that are sort of missing the mark comes to defense Penrith.
As I said before, I haven't lost faith in Penrith. In mind, They've just going to make the eight.
They make the eight.
Yeh, yeah, they make the eight.
They win games when it's important, and they started the season a little bit slow.
But you know they're going for five in a row.
They've got to be some effect once the season starts to take form.
I'm so confident that they're going to pick up.
Combinations will start to form.
What do you thinks contribute to where they're at the moment terms of playing away from home?
Thing is it's a big one.
Yeah, as you know me going out to Penwrith Park Pendoth Park, it's a furnace, hard played, hard place to win.
They run on the field. Hell's bells.
It's like close in huge crowds all the time.
I think pen have always had. They went in Vegas at the start of the year. They can win it a call that they can win anywhere. But there's one thing that's hurting Penrith at the moment in our game. We're all cheap. We follow trends, right. Penrith with their attack have been turning a lot of players back underneath.
And the reason they've been doing that is to find that pocket of space just near the ruck where defenders don't come up, and they had a lot of success, and then other teams are now copycating that approach and whenever are teams of training. Now they're practicing against that
drop off play back to the ruck. And I'm finding now when Penrith are doing that, coaches are saying instead of the first or second defender off the ruck coming up and going sideways straight away, what coaches are saying to because they're going to drop the player back underneath, go forward.
Yes.
So when Nathan Clear would run across the field a couple of years ago, there would be a pocketive space back near the ruck where that drop off player would come through it chasing him and now when he does that drop off play, those first and second defenders are going forward first, closing off the space and they're not getting that forward momentum from that play.
That's interesting.
A little later, we're going to try Casey McClain's shared on the weekend, which shows the effect of that, because if you're not chasing from the inside and you're going straight, that can leave you vunderable on the edge, and you see he took advantage of that over the course of the weekend. It's interesting about combat coops, right.
And it is a fact that there's no doubt about it, but it's not an excuse.
Paramatta they shared Belmore Oval for a number of years with the Bulldogs.
They both played out of Bellmore. When after the eighty one Grand Final they burnt.
Cumberlan Oval to the ground because that's what you do when you win a camp.
He just straight to the ground and and they're building param in a stadium again and so they had to play to Belmore.
They won eighty three. You're still able to get it done.
I think Penrith.
There's not necessarily one thing that's happening with there's a lot of little things, and they've doubled down in Nathan Cleary, Isaiah oh and Edwards, and when Edwards misses or when Nathan misses, there's just another bit of lag that they have to pick up. But I'm with you. I think once they get sort of sort of eight ten weeks in and Ivan gets control of those fundamentals that have made Pendrith great and their list is healthy, there's just
a bit of pressure on Nathan. Hard to say, one of the best players the game is pressure, but if he's unhealthy for a big chunk, that's going to hurt them.
Well, great players put pressure on themselves, so they coops for all instance. We looked from the outside and said, I yeah, it's I'll be okay. But for him, within him, you can imagine he's out there today doing extras getting.
Himself back on top. Well under paramatter.
We said before that how hard they've been defending, how hard they've been trying, that they're going to get They're going to get their reward, and they got it a great signing from him going to be Dylan Walker. Like I thought I thought yesterday they were struggling. Their attack was clunky when he came on the field operating, you know, through through that center.
You saw that the change immediately. Let's have a quick look. He's first set of six.
How he comes on the field and straight away you see the fact. Almost immediately the tempa picked up because he's got this great he's got a great run threat. He's at his past decision is very very good, and this was this He is going to be invaluable for Dylan Brown and Dan Hawkins and Mitch Moses when he comes back and in this result end up getting a try in the left hand corner and Dylan Brown no coincidence.
When Dylan Walker came on the field, suddenly Dylan Brown started to find his best football.
I agree.
I think sometimes when you don't have dominant traditional ballplayers, ballplaying thirteen can help ease the load a little bit. Learn a little bit about Dylan Brown in this period that when he's first receiver, he's very square and runs the football, which is effective at when he gets it together. When he starts going sideways, it doesn't work for him. But when he's out at the back of shape and
Walker's that first key, then he's naturally. Moving on to forty five, he looks more comfortable, whereas I don't think Mitch Moses needs Dylan Walker, but it would help, there's no doubt. But I don't think Mitch Moses needs a ballplayer middle to control the way that he plays, because it comes to him quite naturally.
That they certainly need him. Now, yes, you can see the difference.
Dean Hawkins, we had a little discussion about this where we're disagreeing on this one slightly. I haven't seen a bloke really soon a bloke hit a ball so.
Sweetly as Dean Hawkins. But you're saying, but it is an unusual drop.
It's not the results. It's the unnecessary movement of the hand that I feel like could be tweaked. But he's kicking the ball well, so don't change it. It's a little bit like if your analogy is the Gulf Swing, it's a bit like Jim Firick.
You know Jim Ferick, don't.
You wouldn't know if he popped up in the seed.
So there's just a little bit the wrist there. He just moves the ball slightly, but he's got good purchase on it. So I understand where you're coming from there. But just one thing to tweak up the technique a little bit, but done a good job.
Cowboys last two weeks they've got the balance right in their football, you know, pouring more energy into their defense, making less errors an attack. And then I starting to get back towards his to his true form what we expect.
Of the Cowboys are so hard to get a good read on. Like when they're bad, they're bad. When they're good, they are good. And it seems to be when they have a physical mindset and the defenses right, everything else just comes off the back of it.
There was just I like that.
I haven't seen this from Peneith for a long time, but they were just there gaps through their defensive line, and the Cowboys took advantage of it. Like perdue drink water there is robson, it just went. I think they were very direct in the way they played and it helped them.
Yeah, we said before about the case of McClain try and I'm using this as an example.
I'm looking at and I've sort of just come across this.
I saw this play the other day Penrith in the last thirty months, and some of the plays and sequences so similar to the two thousand and five West Tigers and the fact that Nathan, and this is really interesting you said that before, is the fact that they're not solving the problem from the inside. They're not chasing him hard. But again that leaves you vulnerable. And this is a great way to street shorter defense. You see him there like he's says, tripped for short by that.
Yeah, it's beautiful ballplaying. Some good halfbacks like Benji and Sean have done it before. When you hide that ball, that angle of Clifford just lost track of the ball. Benjam Marshall one of the best, and I can see it like the double show and keep going can strip you defensively, but got to be careful once you start going two sideways called often you are losing a lot of full momentum.
I think you, I think are training. When you see teams start to playmakers start to do a lot of that, it's so easy to get into that algorithm and start doing I think you're training. It's important that you sort of level it up with nice straight football.
Yeah.
We saw Adam Reynolds last week do the double drop off with good tempo and hiding changing his speed.
But you can't do double.
Drop off for double drop off for double drop off, if that makes sense. Yes, there needs to be a variation of like like anything it's good.
About exception made some good old fashioned trains body. We're going to do a little bit here, old school playmaking. Been talking about this. We spoke about last year Sean Johnson going up getting your target defender and then just delaying an extra half a second, which makes it so hard for a defender who's trying to make a decision. That half a second probably feels like half an hour.
You see that just and it's just minuscule, just that little weight and hit short and there's a couple of players doing it really good at the moment without making a Nathan Cleary fest. You know, I've been watching him a little bit. There's been a little change in how he played ball. Plays see that there like nice little clever ball, but he's having a long look at the at the short play. Does one here in a second McLean's it is a little bit late on the play.
But again the lake mate, we showed isaakatoa last week. He does it.
He's just I reckon, he's the best in the league doing it at the moment. Going up to Jason Smith pause, hit short.
The principles of it are basically going fast to slow. So if you get your target defender as quickly as you can and then you slow up when you get in the eye line like this, paint Hass tends to lean in when he doesn't have to. But if Carto just went at the same speed, I'm pretty sure painehas would slide off. Yes, evolved, because you go fast, you get in his eyesight, then you stop and lean in. That pause, as you said, makes a defender lunch and it creates that.
It's almost like they could reach out and grab it.
A little bit of bait to a defender that wants to go. But and then you just delay the past.
Another example here the first try from the Titans on the weekend. You watch Jaden Campbell and this is just just a tiny little adjustment here. What's this catches warp and you see Herbie. Herby's going to slide when you see the other angle, it's going to slide on it. And last second, that tiny little pause, mate, Herbie bites that's in your see it here again.
Wait, I'm going to slide. No, No, he's just paused on a.
Little double pump at the same time. Yeah, good ballplayer from jading Cami. I think, while we're on the train spotting thing, what about Sharks first Raiders the last minute.
Finish of the game. Enjoy? What about Ricky jumping up and down?
The press conference could have been very different.
Here's one for the people out there. So I think it's trindle of the Sharks. They did the right thing, But I'm actually going to argue that there's something better you could do here. Ran the ball into the corner, put it in a position where it takes them absolutely long way of scoring that trying the match winn play for a minute and a half. What the Sharks do is they run the ball and get tackled. That is
tackle zero, right. What I'm saying is maybe Trindle gets it and puts in a little grubber kick, lets the Raiders dive on it, jumps on him, tackle one, he goes down, The Raiders go down the field, and they score on the fifth play. So what we're saying is actually on they have the four plays and they're fifteen meters further away from the try line. So yes, it's the right play to run in the course of high percentage one. But when it's down to that time on
the clock. Take an extra tackle, do the little kick and actually dive on them for tackle one.
Because we don't think about that that's been attacked. It now where teams rather than risk the seven tackles is just sort of wander over.
But you're right your hand them an extra tackle.
I'm not saying kick it for a repeat set. I'm literally just kick it a meter in front, like in the corner. Let them dive attack, jump on the other one.
Where do you think South Sydney make the Joe Gray full back Latrell left center work beautifully. A lot of injuries meant Latrell had to get up a little bit of playmaking in the halves.
It was jeez. I thought they were I thought they're fantastic.
One of the better wins South with the carnage that came into the team plays out of position. Sullivan came in with that. Sean go, Yeah, he did a good job. I really like.
What Wayne did.
A lot of people said that Latrell should be fullback, but he's wholehearted. That Ji Gray wholehearted like he was so good and well Latrell he probably will be moved back to fullback at some stage when they get at the trucks. But I'll tell you what Latrell stood up in that moment they needed. But Ji Gray was tremendous.
Joey, I'll ask you this, Coops. We've spoken on this a couple of times. The speed of the rucks now, the speed of the game, the vulnerability that sits in the middle of the field. I think this and what we've seen in turn is the smaller, diminutive fullback starting to become in vague as opposed to the Gi Latrell, big powerful one. It's like the smaller blokes at the moment seem to be a lot more effective through that middle field.
Yeah, there's pros and cons. Look, you get the best player for the best position. I think Jie Gray. Look, if you're trying to pros and cons of it all, the guy is energetic, he's great, He'll run for twenty carriers and won't shirk his responsibility. But if you were to isolate him ten meters off the line off a high kick and have Tom Travoyvich come through, Tom's jumping over the top, yep, right, the Trell Mitchell is powerful
one on one like he will beat you. But if you keep the ball in play for long periods against Latrell and move it left to right while he's at fullback, you will catch him out at some.
State, make him unnecessary running.
Yeah, so there's no doubt that's our game is brutal, but our game can be a game of chess as well, when you start working through x's and o's.
I tell you, I think about saus Coops.
We said before one of the things that is cup to their good starts that he has been the young guys coming in and elevating themselves. Jamie Humphreys perfect example. Liam LeBlanc has been good. Tell us Duncan now is getting back to his best form. But a young bloke he he brought well, he's not so much a young.
Guy, but the guy brought from the Dolphins. Lachlan Hubner, he played third on the weekend. He's fantastic.
Yeah, workaholic, physical, He's got that sort of Wayne's always had that sort of protective middle four that just works at Plath at the Dolphins. Tony Carroll the Broncos and fits that mild whatever than they.
Do with the harps Coops.
So, Bud Sullivan, you think that Jaden Sullivan are going to seven give them.
What he did? What about what about six?
I mean does lewid Is Lewis Dodd back playing at the moment might get his chance? He could be or do you think that would you look together Latrell in a six.
I'd put Latrell at six because the way you keep Joe Gray and the team is you have to find a spot for Latrell. Now when the game is an balance against the roosters, Latrell moved to five eight. He was defending the centers but played as a five eight. And if Latrell, say plays full back, or let's say he's plays centers and touches ball ten times, he will do something let's say six times out of ten. If you give him thirty touches at five eight, you're going
to double his input. So I would I would move la Trail to five eight. I think it's a good way of getting the Trell more responsibility, keeping Jie Gray in the team and getting him to have an impact on the contest.
We've spoke a lot about Dally tree Evans and the Melbourn's your old mo mate.
The Melbourne Storm was just were incredible.
I thought, you know, they say face at the end there, mainly those three JASP because it was on the way to be at least sixty points.
Melbourne Storm flew out of the blocks, mainly wrestled a little bit back and then Melbourne just with class at accelera and we sort of sat here with the DC sort of noise and things like that. If I was a prospective buyer in this situation, sit back and see how this unfolded. Four to six weeks mainly played paramatter or due respect to Para.
They were at the class.
Of Melbourne, obvious, and we're going to find out if Daly's got the ability to handle what's going on personally. Galvani as a group that we've said has the potential to be top four and win more games. They played at home where they are ten to twelve point different team and got beaten, comprehensive belted. So I think there's still some stuff to play out on the impact of what Daily's doing at the moment, and we're about to find out.
We're about to find out big time.
And we said, we spoke, we've spoken about the importance of pure sevens, experienced playmaker, you know, as far as the Dali manly situation and were critical of the fact that you didn't get off of the contract, so on and so forth. But the Broncos what separated West Tiger's with our Jerome Lewe really had a dig Ultimately, in my opinion, the thing that separated both sides were Adam Reynolds spent hunt, the experienced playmakers.
Yeah.
I think the Tigers tried hard and came up with a game plan early on to try and score tries off kicks, and Luckie Galvin got amongst it. But then once the heat game, the senior playmakers took control of that. Adam Reynolds was a two point field goal before halftime, then the chip and chase straight afterwards, and.
Just one of his best, one of his best in Broncos Jersey mate Dolphins from my Queensland sides did a lot of similarities. I thought the way the Dolphins played to the way that the Warriors adjusted their football Vegas Warriors in Vegas pushing the ball to sideways and necessarily trying to always get their attack on though to formulated they scale things back, they'd wagh Egan more the focal point. The has played more of a running game, and I've got to say I thought the Dolphins were just about
where it was almost like same game plan. Well it wouldn't have been the exact same, but you know the same principles. During Marshall, Key more involved kato a more running than passing.
This week you have Christian Wolf a rap here because cool, it's going to a first year coach, because he is, but he's done it in Ellen's before coach Owen four to start the season, there was an error confidence about
the Dolphins before that game. We spoke to him and he spoke about just doing the same thing but being more diligent, being more aggressive, and we spoke about how the spine of the Dolphins cart I I'll get to tick because we've mentioned some of his ball playing contribution the sign but the rest of them haven't really had an impact.
Like Hammer very quiet.
Cody had a great year last year, but it hasn't hit the scoreboard as much. But the forwards started to dominate the ruck the Dolphins I'm talking about, and the spine played their best game this year. I think Christian Wolf deserves a lot of creditsuse I think a lot of coaches might have pulled the trigger on a change or started sort of talking with a little bit more pressure in the way they spoke to the media. But he handled himself very well and it was a big
part of their first victory. And I thought the spine went.
Thrific, really really goods. Just to finish with I just I mentioned this on the show last night. It was terrible news come through Malcolm. Really, who's you.
Don't get many bigger legends on the game than Malcolm diagnosed cancer the spinal cord, so he's you know, he's got a fight ahead of him. But said last night, if you want a bloke who may can get through the is, it's Malcolm Coops. I've never met a more mentally tough man in my life. And yeah, maybe we send our best to Malcolm and the.
Family and a lot of love from Al had this
Thanks man, mm hmmmmm