She's a big game for Peddrick this week.
Coops Magic Round on Sunday against the Broncos.
I thought they were back.
Against the US, and we spoke about some of the penh like traits, but again, unmanly. Look, they're just they're trying to do the same things. And to be fair in their defense, it's held them up for a long period of time. But just trying to replicate the same thing with some players not being able to do it as well or required to the level is forcing some of their better players to try and do a lot more. And they look a little bit like, not not out
of answers, but they look very frustrated with you. They are trying hard, but it's just not turned that.
I mean, you think about all the things that are underpins this, Like we can talk about things every week, but you know, in themselves, I'll be questioning will Ivan to be questioned.
Okay, motivation the.
Fire and the belly, because the fire in the belly is not an eternal flames. Sometimes you know it's subsides. Now, this is this is a scene that it's going for five comps in a row. It's been remarkable and the amount of football they've played. But there are certain things coops that we have spoken about for quite a while that we've seen slowly creeping into the game, and we understand as playmakers. Sometimes he can get into certain habits and we've spoken about this, and I'll talk about Nathan
specifically here, but we've said for a while. I find those cross shapes like that, I find them dangerous. Now what I mean by dangerous is you're not in the short I'm talking about what it starts to do to playmakers in the long term.
What actually starts.
To happen is you start to get into that mode of going across and you start if you're not careful, you start to lose your upfield.
Punch when your hips are east west, for example, as opposed to north south. But you become less effective as a course player. Right, So whether you can run across field four or five times doesn't matter, but you need to assay stage, get your hips back to square, to the defensive line, and then be able to move.
That's one aspect.
The other part to Penrith is they've won four in a row because of their defense, and I feel like on the weekend the right side of Manly went after that left edge of Penrith.
Now their right edge.
Penriith's right edge defensively is Martin, Cleary, tungueor and Alamody experienced guys who have done it before. Their left edge is to Lungy, McLean and Jenkins inexperience and manly went after it.
Now. I think what might.
Need to happen at Penrith is maybe move a couple of players around. You're not moving Nathan because he's the right sided player, but you might have to move Tongue or Martin just to balance it out until sort of comes back. But that's one thing that I reckon Penrith probably need to do.
The food you suit, the frustration and attack that is producing errors and then the errors at the moment they're unable to absorb.
Their defense used.
To be able to they didn't have the errors, and now they weren't.
They were able to defend the errors too.
And it is it is trainspotting what we're talking about. You know, as playmakers, you know that, you know, as you said before about the hips I always found. You know, we at Newcastle in the mid ninety we started playing a lot of those shapes, dropping under, dropping under and suddenly I found myself I lost matfield punch. I'm playing sideways all the time. It took a fair bit to
correct that. And one of the things that was important to me is on reception outside, foot up, catch early, and do not let this shoulder roll across, because as we said that, when the shoulder rolls across, you can't go back.
Now the shoulder rolls, it means the hips are out of position.
So it was little cues like that trying to get that little bit of punch back into the game.
The reason why we talk about hips as well is if I'm trying to go down the field and my eyes follow my hips, I will see a lot more in what I can run, pass or take on. If I start turning sideways, I'm then losing a big chunk of what I can do on the inside.
Whether it's a pass.
Or a right foot back inside depend on which side the field you are. So yeah, a couple of things there, but they're they're easily fixed.
For someone like Nathan, you.
Can most yeah, yeah, because I think how you adjusted, how you fix it. You don't fix it on the run during the game. It's something that you have to get to training. And you run certain drills to go okay, let's get the squeness. And some of those drills you do were like the ones that we used to do years ago, as simple as throwing hats out ABC ruck ABC and actually start to fill yourself getting the targets for fender square and.
Then on flip side, they're becoming predictable. Because we spoke about this before, is that defenses now aren't going sideways when they drop off front it comes, They're going forward to stop that forward momentum. Uh.
I tell you what the dogs, the Broncos. Broncos really impressed me, you Madges. Some of the things that they've.
Done with their attack really impressed me in the fact that they're up against the Bulldogs side who are a smaller pack, and their defense, like the way they defend a fast moving defense and they almost a swarming defense. They operate like hyaenas make sense and you go okay, So if you're a smaller pack, you've got to control the ruck.
Right to beat a big sidelight Prisbane.
And the really thing that I've found clever that Madge did was using his big guys off playmakers like Adam Reynolds went across quite a bit and dropped Willison off and blokes like hass That actually got them one on one tackles and allowed them to punch through little things like that. So that just been manufactured, those one on one tackles.
Yeah, I think Michael maguire did a lot of the work during the week from Monday to Friday to win this game for his team. Dogs have been up for a long period of time and that fast moving defense. What he did was find the pocket that is stepped back, get big bodies to go through that pocket, play the ball quickly, then tack them on the next one, not try and necessarily do it on that one. So it was like a shot shot mentality from the Brison Broncos.
And when Milcol Mguire's teams play well, they are physically aggressively ready to go from the go from the start, and they were.
When we see the difference like the week before.
The guy that really symbolized it for me was Bennie Hunt because the week before, Bennie would have gone off and go, jeez, I didn't know I could play that bad, do you know.
What I mean?
He was really frustrating himself and there's no doubt through the week Madge that he gave him a ticklub because there was a little moment in the game. It led up to a try, there was a loose ball and Mate Ben Hunt just come out of nowhere and come up with it. It wasn't a fifty to fifty ball, it was a seventy to thirty. He had a thirty percent chance of coming up with he found a way to get it.
It's because Madger probably hit him in the rest of the players between the eyes. I like what the Dogs are doing. They've got their identity and they will win a lot of games this year. But the key thing for the Dogs is when a big pack of forwards like the Broncos all the Melbourne Storm. Can they stop that big pack and win a big game? But that will ulderly be the storyline of the Dogs the whole year.
And the other thing too, Mate, is for the Dogs and there's some young players on that side. It's managing the hype and the excitement because with every win, the excitement is just rising and the expectation rises with that, and suddenly people have gone away from saying can the Dogs, Can the Dogs make the finals again? To well can the Dogs play top four to now? Can the Dogs win the comp? And that's for young players. It's a feel bit to take on.
And I think they've got the game style too, it's just that managing that and the physicality battle. They've done it, but can they do it for a month up against Let's say they've got to beat Brisbane and Melbourne to get to Grand Four.
That will be the challenge for them.
Talk about a couple of young players of the course of the weekend. Firstly, the most obvious one who's been spoken about more than any other player in the last two weeks, like a Galvin.
What's happened there?
Apparently some contracts.
Stuff going on yes yesterday he went out there likehard Oval speaking of people are.
There the.
Bronx cheers going on a little bit jeering at the start, but that started to side set up at try early. Showed his mental toughness yesterday.
Some other people are off contract this year too.
They I like how Galvin delivered because a kid his age handling everything that happened, He didn't hesitate like he actually went and was directed at the game that tri assist there. He was just his excitement to be a part of it is something that he should hold on to. The one thing I will say is that there was talk around him and during the week about having grievances
with Benji's coaching or whatever. I can tell by the way that this kid plays that he doesn't with respect think deeply about the way he plays.
He just does.
For example, he'll get the ball on tackle one and just kick it without any context of what else.
Is going on.
There's a couple occasions of the weekend, but that first try that he set up like it's just doing.
Things when he wants to do things.
He's very very effective at it, so very good performance for a kid that most other people in his position would be stand out of the contest from word go went straight to it. It's a feather in his cap.
Actually, yeah, let me speak about this last week.
He's of course not a seven, but he's not exactly a pure six either. He does remind me of a hybrid, almost like a six thirteen, because for me, he looks like a player. Well, here is a player seven playing through seven. No, I don't see him as a seven.
He's got When Monster arrived as a young kid, he just did things and we've spoken about this. As you develop as a young player, particularly as a half, when you just do things and someone comes up to you, so how do you do that?
And you and I just did it because I ran the ball right.
In five years time, I think this young man is going to be more more footy, IQ aware. He's going to be able to work through like months is doing now to explain exactly how things unfolded. So I think there's heaps of opportunity for Lockie Galvin in five years time. I wouldn't be putting the shackles on you. They couldn't play half back. But yeah, I understand where you're coming from.
Before we talk about the Sharks and that sort of crazy golden point period, I just want to talk with another young player the Warriors. Halasinma, that young guy who's been coming off the bench. He actually started, I think the other night.
This guy, my god, he's got some natural ability to this play.
And there's a little thing he does here right there, talk about train spotting stuff. This is just a little thing, but the level of his skill away. He plays the football coops and he plays it. He's a left hand carry, but he jumps up and he plays the ball, he carries it with his left hand, he plays it with his right foot. Now that this is only at only a little thing, but do you know what I mean? Like it that takes that.
Takes a lot of skill to that, a lot of skill and coordination.
It does.
But they played on Anzac Day.
You probably had Anzac Day breakfast beers that games at eight o'clock at night. Are you watching that?
I just think something like that, coops.
I just find that. I just find that fascinating. That doesn't have to I'm really showing myself a bit.
All the things you can pick up on a rugby leaking field.
It amazes me.
I get there sometimes and even like I see a right foot to play the ball with his left foot and I, god, that's clever. And when I saw this Jumblow do this, I thought, my goodness, that's clever.
Let's watch it again.
Let's watch it again.
Right, that's pretty a good pick up.
From I know.
But you are right about two up and business oh, by the time the time all seams play the ball, by the time the third game came around, two got some interesting points on the Melbourne.
I can't wait.
It make the sharky. It was it for him?
It was well under the tig's really important win for them. But the Sharks look back fit to me the other day and you know, just just that composure in the last ten minutes.
Yeah, And it's hard to teach this as a game management thing because you almost have to deliver it by trial and error. Be comfortable with losing to be able to handle victory, if that makes sense. But as a rule of thumb, like when you get to the ten minute mark in a tight game and you feel like you're struggling to score points, you maybe try for the try and if you don't, set back in the middle and just take the shot, start ticking over that school board.
If you get inside five minutes, take the shot whenever you can. Don't finest the ball sideways, because the more passes you add, the more risk comes into play, and then you lose your opportunitie. So I just feel like Fitzi and the Sharks in terms of that spine. I don't know why people, while you pass the ball one way, move the other way and then put yourself under more pressure. Rule number one, if you're in the position with the best shot, take it back yourself back yourself. Don't worry
about the result, focus on technique. But then if you do get pressure, you have to have option too. I understand that, but that's the easiest course to victor is get the ball the best kicker and kick the ball.
W was your sweet spot, coops, because there's a certain area, Like I thought, a couple of times they took the ball too far to the lone like.
A crowded nicker. Never gave Nicko enough time.
I reckon the sweet spot is around that twenty meters twenty twenty five meters.
I think there's two parts to it.
Yes, you don't want to be inside ten, so sort of ten meters off fifteen meters off, so you're.
Kicking the ball twenty twenty five meters.
One thing I used to work inside thirty meters is you don't get an extra point for kicking at four hundred rows into the ground. All you need to do is kick it straight between two sticks, So keep it simple. Don't sort of bend it out to the right and sort of big hit it with a big three iron.
Just poke it over and get it there.
The other part that is probably key is teams need to get their best play the baller to run at the play before the show. Don't have the lethargic front rower. I get there be sloppy play.
The ball.
For Storm Slater was really good because you had footwork and speed. At the Roosters it was Boyd Cordner good carry on the short side and left hand side the field and kick the ball to the right hand side of the post. There's a couple of things at the Sharks and to be fair, the Tigers need to work through scenario.
There was a couple of interesting setups. So there was the one with the Tigers where they literally threw the ball back thirty or something to Adam.
Dewey curbs the Melbourne Storm, like we talk about them all a lot spine, but I don't know my time RABA League, i've seen a side play so straight the spine in combination.
And I'm just an example here with the set and an example that the more they get, the more they get forward, the more momentum, the straighter they play. And you'll see here Anderson just sort of pokes his nose and this is where the role starts. So he gets forward finally, and the next guy forward punches through and the next one right, playing real straight again and then look the foots in the door, mate, But you know they're not going to push. They don't worry about pushing
the ball sideways. The more momentum there is, the straighter they play.
Yeah.
So I think that's really good ballplaying there from drum Hughes, because when you're play inside to it doesn't matter who it is, and they create a little bit of rock speed. Once you see a marker down second one being late. Before you get the ball in your hands, your eyes see something inside, so your first instinct is talk about Nathan in his.
North south hips.
If you turn to the sideline, you're going to miss that because your eyes turned right. So I always thought when you play inside, your first look is to play inside again and if it's not.
On, I'm going outside.
And as soon as Jerome Hughes got that footy, everything said to me, he's going to go back inside and the big right foot they just stood off him and he went right foot back.
And what do you think of their performance?
Just like on the weekend, I look at it. I mean it's the last two weeks has been obvious to me. What a whole Harry Grant Love not not just in leadership, but just what he does in there around those rucks.
Yeah, I thought there was once the whole Latrell Ji Gray who's playing where thing worked out and Ji Gray was playing five eight, but defendant left center Jerome Hughes and started getting some early ball out to Nick Minnie. And what that meant is they started going lateral too early. In my mind, what they should have done is that
penetrate through the middle. A couple of short passes then attacked Joy Gray to twenty five minutes into the game or sixty minutes into the game, got him feeling like they're not coming towards me, they're attacking.
And e fact well, and that's the thing, isn't like if you look at the way Harry plays, when the foot's in the door, Harry will scooting start to go. You know, if you're a playmaker, you haven't got a choice. If he's going to you've just got to go straight away. The Raiders that when you win a game like that yesterday, by the way, that that was a bizarre game. As far as the Dolphins concerned, that was just about the best half of football I've seen them play. And their
second half was a bloodger. The Raiders was a thirty point. That sort of win you go away, and that's when that that sort of win gives you that sense that made sense of destiny.
If it makes sense like this could be our Susan.
I think the Dolphins in terms of whisping about Isakah Carte here. That combination with him and Nick rim run that first half, some of the call it nuances, some of the like sort of really cool ballplaying movements to create space for one another was spot on. And then the Raiders in the second half. What Ricky should do is watch that over again, and that is their identity.
They are a big pack of forwards and when they create momentum, do not shift the football, short pass run, short pass run and just bang down.
That front door.
They can play through an opposition.
Yeah, just about as good as anyone.
Given the fact, and we said this numerous times, they're not just a big pack. They're a fast pack.
They're fast and they've all got footwork.
So Jamal will be the key to that because you've got Tarpney, public Harseber or whatever banging down the front door, and he's the indicator that says I'm either going to shift.
I'm going to stay here.
What he needs to do is get Ethan Strange to be running the ball. But then also if he wants to do a little bit of movement, get those athletic outside backs back through the middle again, because that's what they're doing.
A lot of short passes, but get them back through.
So when I say about when they bang down the front door, don't go pass past to go around him. If that shows up, then take it, but you should be going back to where the damage was done.
Now I've got another thing for you, not just the left hand carry, right foot player that you obviously were mocking me about, but there's another one here. Like Maddie and Nicholson who he's burned revelation, you know, he's such the way he can operate with playmakers really really impressive. But like a lot of English back rowers, he's got a great instinct how to score a try. He's a natural try scorer. And there was a moment in the
game the other day. It was the lead up, end up leading up to their first try for the Raiders and Ethan Strains gets the ball on the left right and it's pretty timendous past the far past Nicholson's way out of the other side.
But Nicholson because.
He's got those great score try scoring instincts and he knows how his playmakers work.
You watch and what you start see as.
Strange is making his way back in left foot, left foot, left, and everyone else is sort of sitting back waiting for the next plate. Nicholson senses something and just starts running down the middle of the field and if Stranger would beat one more bloke, he might score Runder the past. For me, It's just a little thing, but it shows me Nichols is not just his instincts, but he's a natural football.
It's funny when you're talking about the relationship between halves and back rowers. When you've got a footy IQ smart back rower, they are the time and intent when you go to the line is sending me to perfect every time, which is a ballplayer allows you to start passing the ball around to other people knowing that they're always going to be there, so you can have the big one,
big powerful one, or the smart one. And Maddie Nicholson is that smart footy IQ that time and intent knows exactly what good part of the hole to be in and when he sees reaction, he can see something unfolding and push together.
Hudson on the other side, Yeah, who just continues to fight. Yeah, he's such a dangerous background and coops just something here.
All the high shots.
And as a consequence, there's so we're seeing so much of thirteen against twelve, and there's some sides that you can see as soon as they get twelve they know how to play against twelve.
Others get a little bit lost.
It's just not sort of one size fits all, because if a left winger goes down or sent to the sinbin, it's different how you would attack that position than a front rower going off the field.
For example, Teams need to start attacking weaknesses.
When I mean weaknesses, Let's say a half goes to sinbin and they move a bigger edge back roll to defend three in. Get someone speedy like Rees Walsh or Kaylen Ponger and give them one on one with that back roll.
Who's defending on the edge.
If a winger goes off the field for a high shot and it's a smaller center that goes out there, take the opportunity to shift to that side the field. More times than not in that set, and if in doubt, kick the ball over to them to catch the amount on the fifth place. There's a bit of footy IQ that needs to go into on the flip side. I think if you'll go down to twelve, you can't just wave the white flag, right. You've got to do a couple of things. Just keep this game a chance of
you winning. One, you cannot score point, let points be conceded. Two you've got to control that clock. Yeah, you've got to keep possession. If you give away penalties, you're going to be under pressure. Wind down that clock. But how do you scored points when you're down to twelve players.
That's something that you need to consider because you.
Can't run your same shapes and plays and expect to outnumber the opposition.
We used to crupt down ball boy.
We used to get there sometimes and say, listen, if we're going to slow the game down, saying I'll say something. If we're going to a scrum, for instance, I might just say something which means, when the ball goes in touch, don't give it to the opposition straight away.
You feel free to sort of kick and keep going.
We had all these seconds add up. They do it.
Do you want to hear the other one did? Man, I'll tell you what ballboys said. Some of the things like we see to get there.
I used to get vassalone and put it all over a towel and give us the ballboys to stick this in the back of your shorts if they get a penalty and they kick him out, and.
Just rub a hill miles of things.
One on your home game.
Ask about people in the nineties they turn up to our ground, walk into the dress and sheds, it'd be that much water. We used to get the high pressure hose hose, the roof hose, the whole.
Dressing room out.
The other thing we used to do sometimes when I was I worked as a groundsman there and one day the first grade side I was playing on the twenties, the first grade side, we're playing Saint George who had Ricky Wolford Martina Paire.
So they just said to me the day for the.
Game, all day, just pull out the hose and just just turn the ten meter corridors on this streil just into a complete back in the day, coops. The other thing was it was up to you how deep the d goals were, So like Paramount of stadium because that's Stirlo. It would be like an eight meter ingals. Others would be a lot shorter. But I think we could really mat it was they with the Glory Days, where you really could corrupt the result.
Keep your trains putting idea for magic weekend to see what happens on the fringes of Sun Stadium on the weekend.
Yeah, it's very good. What about man try mate?
I thought it was.
I thought it was the pre planned try the season so far, very very clever the way they exposed.
They set the bait with Tom, put him up early. Here it is we're looking at this here, this is clever man. That's good football.
It just tied and you know what, Hmole just at the very last second, he just dips in a fraction make the play.
That's the attack and the inexperience of that Penrith left. But we spoke to Seabolt after the game and it credited Michael Linnis for.
That right eagle, that one. That Mick was excited.
It was a good try.
It was was very excited about sweeps too, celebrating rockily.
It's one more timely that Oh that's good, that's good.
I got caught out once against Thurston the Cowboys. I ran up past the football and Thurston designed to play exactly like that, went straight through inside choldn' scord.
Wasn't a kid, no no, I goppted it from Bell but thirst and just give it to me. Got you on that one ran pasting his finger up nice?
Could he play the ball left