Where Does Commentary End and Character Assassination Begin?

Here at two Good Sports.

We would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we record this podcast. There were innerie people. This land was never seated, always was, always will be. We are the pride of Queens.

You need to start again, you need to say, I mean, we just lost fifty percent of the listeners.

No, no, we haven't. No, we haven't, Jelly, because we're going to a decider.

All right, I'm taking it.

Hello, and welcome to too Good Sports. It sports news told differently. I'm haby Jermy and Georgie Tunney is off ahead. I've lost my mind because we wrote them off. They're flat track bullies over in the West, usually the Blues, but the Morons have done it. They've forced a decider in state of origin DCE out Tommy did and in who knows if that was why they did it. But my god, also Western Australia sought your weather out.

Oh I can't, I can't tell me, for this is a bit of a spoiler to our chat ahead, dear listeners. But I have concocted an axis of evil from the night and an axis of good from the night, and we'll see where Perth weather falls in that later on, but before we kick off our origin chat, we have so much other sport to talk to you about as well.

Good sport, bad sport. Tell me what have you got for us? So this is a little bit belated because I don't know. We had the Prime Minister on the podcast last week, so I didn't get a chance to talk about my good sport bad sport.

Then also elbow massive good sport listeners. He was here for two hours.

Yeah, he really was.

And if you listen back to the EPP you can tell where Georgie and I are like, we really need to move this on, and he keeps going, keeps going, and we only want to move it on because we're very aware that I don't know, if you haven't seen him in the last couple of weeks, he's been brushed by Trump, there's been different things going on in his life. We were like, he's been and he was the one that was like, no, have we got more to chat about?

He tried to find videos of himself kicking a Sharon.

That's right, that's right for us to enjoy and Albo come back.

We'll see him find him.

Definitely, he's a friend of the pod. Honest he's a friend of the pod.

But something that we unfortunately did have to glaze over because Ah needed to give the PM ample times was the French Open and what was unbelievable results in two parts. Firstly, the men's final, Yes, was one of the greater games of tennis that you'll ever see. As much as I don't know about the dubious drug sing, I love Yannick Sinner.

It's hard not to like him because he's a runway model.

Jelmy, it's because he looks like he modeled for Berbury in the early two thousands.

No, it's honestly's Eddie Redman life.

He is the opposite of Arena Sabolenka in that he is so humble when he loses. Yes, and again, if you squint at Corlos Alcarez, you're like, oh, still.

A Spaniard winning on clay? Is that hello? Hello Dahl?

Is that you?

But I love the stat that they were literally the exact same age to the day as when Nadahle won his fifth Grand Slam, as when Alcoraz one to the day to the day, and again, I love tennis people because they're nuffies and they find these things out. I mean, who even knows that? So firstly Alcaraz or Sinner.

Oh al Choraz. Actually I do quite like Sinner. But in terms of watching I have had the pleasure of watching both of those athletes on court in the stands, and Yannick's just a little bit boring because he's so good, like he's so good and he like he just but he.

He's very lark.

He's very long limbed, very.

Long limbs, so I'm never seeing any volleys. I'm never really seeing him straight like Alcaz because he gets his arms out. I was actually with you and you're like, wow, guilty enjoy he's running around, you know what I mean. It's a little bit more high stakes. There's a bit of we really enjoy it. You know.

I'm obsessed with that. So yeah, I am team Alcoraz.

Neither of those my good sports okay, but sorry. My good sport though, is cocoa gol And this is why we love her. So did you know this? This is leaning into fun fact territory. The trophy they hold up at the French Open and that they kiss and all of that.

They don't get to keep what. Let's I just want to fridge joke in or rolling garows. And this is a trophy that you guys see, the one that we teake pitchers with, depressed with and all that. But actually, if you don't get to take this home, this stays with the tournament. And I'm gonna show you, guys the one can take home.

It's a lot smaller. So that's just the one we take home.

It's like many replica of the triphy. And yeah, I guess to compare.

It's really small.

Reference She's put it next to a bottle of water and it's all like small. Sorry, I've got distracted by the private She's just casually on a paj which of calls you.

Are like, so they may count with the trophy. Tennis players, they kiss it lot, they look it, they do all the things they have to give it back. Sorry, who's licking and never.

Try it with a coffee cut again.

She's on a private jet, so I don't feel so sorry for her, and the fact that she's chosen to film this on the private jet also sliding scale.

But I'm with you in good sport territory because Coco is showing us what life is like as one of the athletes. This is the next gen, this is what they do and this I adore her for it. She also, fun fact, forgot all of her rackets in the first game of that tournament.

You had to remember that. She walked unto the court and is like, ah, God, damn it, this.

Bag is empty. I didn't bring any rackets.

Guys, help help me. Do you know who wouldn't do that?

Alchoriz because he counts them five times and put them into numerical order.

But how's that?

Oh my god, it's amazing. And also this wasn't planned, but my good sport bad sport for this week is a little bit of both. And it's also tennis related. Yeah yeah, god, we're just absolutely telepathic. So from the French Open, we moved to the US Open, and the US Open is doing something new with its doubles draw, and that is essentially making it more palatable to the

That, which at one point was ASHPARTI by the way.

Yeah yeah, So the reigning champions in the women's doubles of the US Open, based on their singles ranking technically may not even qualify for the doubles draw of this year's tournament because their singles ranking is so low. But they won the doubles last year, if that makes sense. However, as a sports says Koreas doubles players, that's the thing.

So as a sports lover, I think it's a bad sport.

As a tennis fan, there's talk of one of the pairents being an aaomia saka and.

Curious, which also you want to pick two pole of personalities like I'm just here because I love tennis, okay, and Nick's like fuck everyone?

So how does that actually is that tennis? What I'm here in my basketball shorts?

I mean, it's both good sport and bad sport, because I do think all sports are looking at how they can be more palatable to an audience, i e.

Trying to do their T twenty version.

They are, and they're changing this game. They're not going to advantage points, They're making their actual sets shorter. It's a it's going to be rapid fire.

Ten And if you've ever gone to tennis, especially at night session, and been like it is three am, the players look tired. Everything about this needs to be quicker that actually checks out. I mean, I I can't wait to watch. I love the US Open anyway. I think the crowd are awesome. There's always someone sculling something.

Yeah yeah, and there's always a fight the celebrity, the tennis player and someone in the crowd.

It's amazing. And the celebrity spotting is I'm I mean you don't. I mean I like the wimbled and fashion like I love watching how To Cratic. Everyone goes to have their strawberry and cream. But we love the US Open and it's just one of those slams that, for whatever reason, I think it just is a bit rock star.

And it sounds like they're trying to make the doubles match it.

A little bit rockstar. The performance of the Queensland Maroons.

There it is.

And by that I mean at times poetic, at times, our stresses we get into it.

Next it means a lot ah to be able to captain this team and walk out, sorry run out with his team and the obviously the pressure and and all the criticism that Billy Slater's been getting for us and we're this guyd We played for him tonight. He deserves everything. He loves Queensland, loves his group and I'm as proud of our boys to turn up for him because there's been a lot of speculations in media and we need to turn up for our coach to nine and we fucking did.

Wefen did Yes. That was the Queensland skipper, Cameron Munster in his first match as the Queensland skipper and he's got one hundred percent success right and he was Player of the match. Well done sir.

He also done one hundred percent success rate at swearing in the postmatch as captain. Tell me you're not used to making a captain address without telling me. It's one of you boomed out over the stadium and you drop an FM.

It's one of I mean, we're going to go on a tangent already de listener, but it's one of my favorite things. When you compare like a rugby league Grand final and an Ossie rules Grand Final and you do the lap of honor with whatever team has won. You've got that poor reporter there being like how many times am I just going to have to ignore the fact that you have sworn on national television and in rugby league it's literally every second word in Ossie rules you might get one and.

They're like, well, like, sorry, didn't me do?

Sorry? But yes origin two we are off to a decider twenty six points to twenty four Queensland over New South Wales, and I tell you what, I lost years of my life.

They decided just not to score.

Oh my goodness. Jeremy sent me in teggs halfway through the first half, which.

Was nobody make any sudden movements because we've been here, except it was the Broncos, and I literally said to you, I'm like, well this is done, congratulations.

Next minute the Panthers decided to panther and when Nathan Clear is involved, you just never know. You just never And they were coming Georgie, but they're kicking game.

Let them down again.

Oh I score more tries and lose.

What a fantastic segue by you, Because I did tease at the start of this podcast. I had an access of evil and an access of good. Now this is obviously through the eyes of a one eyed Queensland are so my access of evil? Number one? The Bunker, what are you doing that decision late in the game, which nearly cost the Morons the win of Kayl and Ponger knocking on which it wasn't the ball went backwards?

Are you blind? Are you blind? Bunker? You're on the list.

That's number one another axis. Angus Crichton and Stephen Crichton. You're great players. I've had enough of you. Stop being so good for your South Wales. Okay, access ofero point three Perth weather, tell me what was happening?

People think that Perth is sunshine all the time. When it rains, it buckets.

I will say though, for this fifty seven thousand people that were there to watch in horrific conditions like it would have tested my allegiance to even day night. I was like, this is desired, I'm going to even see. But the spectacle itself was great, like this was a thrilling origin game.

This speaks more largely to my opinion about sport.

It starts so goddamn late, Oh my god, and AFL I haven't.

Seen and this is lifting behind the veil. So two good sports listeners. If you could keep it between us, that'd be awesome. I haven't seen the end of a football match this year.

Last night included. I have small children that wake up at all hours. If I get to nine o'clock, I'm like, the eye starts drooping. I start going like, I actually AFL goes for four hundred hours.

It does, it really does.

And then last night, obviously because it's of the time difference, they don't start until eight o'clock. Wolf Mother's playing and I'm like, this should be the second half. I'm so tired.

Where is that and where is the stated?

Someone someone begin I know, I know, it is late.

It is really really late, and especially for those spectacle pieces like even the NRAL.

Finals together later and later and later and later.

Yeah, it is difficult. It is totally difficult. And for them, though at least in Perth it was earlier. Yeah technically so maybe that's why they had such a good turnout. But it I think as an advertisement for the game, it was a good one for rugby league. I think it passed. I think it passed, which brings me to my axis of good in the twenty six to twenty four point victory for the Maroons.

Nathan Cleary's dodgy hamstring.

I was good, and yet he still had that beauty full try or he ducked and weaved.

I was awake for that.

He was taking off him. He can find space though, Oh he can find space. That was like a little warning bellot. I thought, it's.

Happening again, and you're also taking do you know who you shouldn't.

Let's sneak up on you Nathan Clary.

Honestly, because he was injured. Is the only way that the Queensland Morons did not lose that in those final moments, because.

You didn't win, you didn't lose.

We didn't lose. We held on. We held on because Nathan Cleary's hams. To everyone's like, do you actually think he's injured? I was like, can you see the full layers of strapping on that right hamstring. I mean, I'm just putting it out there that I think maybe it's a bit tight, and that is a great thing for Queensland fans. My other access point in the axis of good, the kicking hex continues. So from game one, Nathan Cleary

New South Wales scored five triest the year four.

Yeah, it's something they really do need to look at because it cost them the game last night. And then my other access point, Tommy did and he had to be put in as the halfback. Billy Slader has copped a lot of criticism about that, the dumping of the Queensland captain daily Cherry Evans. Tommy did and repaid that play last night. He was very, very good, very strong. I'm excited for the next years that we will see him in the Morons.

Jesse, and you mentioned the fact that DC was dropped, and I think this began what was not unprecedented, but a continuation of the.

Criticism that we saw leveled at Billy Slater.

And what I do know about Queenslanders is their parochial and they're used to winning Georgia.

Is that fair? That's a fair statement, very fair. So they're going in an unusual.

Form slump and by that I mean they might have lost three in a row. What I heard of that gets you sacked, though he does get so all of a sudden there is this pressure cooker of comments and it's almost like who can say the most outlandish thing

Let's have a listen.

You watch these blokes up north and they say they don't get it, we don't get origin, and they use this pick and stick mentality. Well, really, you've just turned on your skipper. I want to see the real Billys later come out the grub that we know of, because this is a bloke had they got six weeks suspension of luck at over.

Someone.

Oh he's such a nice bloke. Well mate, you've lost. You won your first two series as coach, you've lost last series. You picked the side that we all expecting. So I was win thirteen plus luckily thee didn't play well. You go on in another game if you lose this second series, is that meaning going to get sacked because Kevin Wald's got sacked up the two series losses and he only coached for Yeah.

I mean that's personal. Yes, there's no there's no other way to look at that.

Yeah, I think so. I think so, and you are right Jellmy.

I mean I like Aaron woods He was an excellent stalwart for the New South Wales Blues and the West Tigers and the Canterbury Bulldogs during his playing career. But part of your role when you are a commentator and get we feel this pressure as well, is to make pretty strong statements to get traction and to get eyes on you and to get followers and to build the narrative around certain games. So Woodsy has completely lent in there. Did he cross the line?

I think so? And I think you and I we play in this world. I'm primarily a sports commentator. You obviously we work in sport here, but obviously you work across other things as well. And I think we are seeing more more than ever because of the saturation in the marks of people having hot takes on sport, this need to one up or be better. And also I

And I think those repercussions sometimes aren't they're not your intention, but regardless of that, they kind of become your responsibility because you have said that, right, Like we don't know. Like grub for me is a word that I toss around at the television all the time. It's watching rugby league. You say grub writting rugby league? Yeah, watching is it

I use the term grub.

I was watching the line kicks and it was Simon and Pumba looking for some grub. Because I've never thought about it in any I'm trying to think, I'm like grub when would I ever?

And I'm like, they're going to rustle up some grub and.

You know how they're very see that they look like that is the only reference because grub isn't necessarily an AFL T.

It's a very rugby league term, right, but there's a way in which it is used. I use it as a compliment a lot of times, Like I was calling for Queensland to be grubby going into the second game versus the first because I didn't say I didn't see them showing enough mungrel. Yeah, they didn't have that. They were missing that little bit of fight where it goes into different territory there with Woodsy is you know, he doesn't necessarily know what's going on with Billy Slater right now.

And there was a gap between the statement there by Aaron Woods and what Billy Slater says here, and so Billy Slater has had time to consider this response, and I think you can tell that in what he says. Let's have a bit of a listen to what Billy Slater says when he was asked about these comments.

Billy, you've been called a grunt by Aaron Woods.

Were you surprised by that?

And how did you will see it?

When you hold a position in the media in our game, I feel that's a privilege and with that privilege comes a responsibility. I sit in that position most weeks, and you amplify your voice to millions of people, you're not talking to your mates in the public.

Now.

I know Aaron Woods. I actually ran into him about three or four weeks ago at a footy game and he didn't voice that opinion. Then he actually brought his son over to introduce him to me. When you degrade someone personally in a derogatory manner, you probably don't deserve one of those privileged positions that you were all in. That we're all in. You don't know what people are going through, and although I might be able to handle it, the next person mightn't be. Maybe our last coach didn't.

Strong words there, emotional words from Billy Slater. He does make mention there to former Queensland State of Origin coach Paul Green, who was a legend of rugby league who died by suicide a couple of years ago, was suffering with CT Now Billy has come out since making that statement and apologize because he didn't mean to draw the connection between Paul Green's death and potentially poor mental health based on negative comments in the media. He's made that apology.

And also, for whatever reason, and you and I have both witnessed this, there's this weird phenomenon that happens with some people where they will say to a camera something they would never say if the person was present, Yes, which for me feels like such a weird phenomenon because not only that person's normally going to hear, millions of others might like it's weird that you would be more las a fair when talking to such an audience, and perhaps it's because they don't connect with I often find

Everyone loves Billy Slater.

It's true. It's very very true, including new South Welshman like friend of the Pot Ryan Hoffman. I mean, he was very, very obvious on the pod about how much he loves Billy Slater. In light of his former teammate Aaron Woods's comments, he took to Instagram and said, I get it, it's origin and being a blue we hate Queensland, but this is a rubbish take by Woodsey. One hundred percent question Bill selections his tactics, et cetera, but call on mc grubb is just rubbish clickbait.

Billy's later it was also in his bridal party. There's probably that later you're taken on one of mine.

I wear blue, but he's my own. But you still can't take on Billy.

And I think so I post I re shared that clip of Billy because I deeply feel that if you are going to be a media exactly what he said there's a responsibility and a privilege to it where you, I think, need to permeate a way that you hope your kids would talk. Yeah, in the same way that we say to athletes, whether you like it or not, people look up to you, whether you like it or not, kids in particular, but people consume the way that you talk.

Yes.

And I feel like the personal and unkind is the ones that blow up. It's that shock jock factor.

It's also driven by the media as well, though Billy is only saying that because he's been directly asked the media. He's not there calling that press conference here he had to take on Aaron.

You're telling me Channel seven don't love Cane Corns for taking hot takes. Yes, that's why he's in that pass. But that's why they have a job as well. Exactly, they are doing their job. Yeah, and we see that on a larger scale again, used terms shock jock. There's a million faces that come to mind that have done so well in media by having those extreme takes. And for mine, I'm like, I wonder how much you actually believe in your extreme take or you want to just lean into the caricatur.

But that's neither here nor there.

But I think in this circumstance, when we're talking about comments in sports media, there has to be a level of responsibility to it. And bizarrely this has all led to a galvanizing of the morons going. And you heard that there with Munster essentially going. You took on one of ours and so I wanted to play for my coach.

Yeah, yeah, And he had wonderful words to say in the post match press conference backing that up.

Okay, I've heard you interviewed after the game on the fields, but quite emotionally, we have doing it for a billion sort of the what he's made to the last forty eight hours and the pressure have the last few games. What do it means to you played with him being coached by him? How much did that galvanize the team?

Yeah, when we've got jabs or blokes in the media, having got your coach and like, at the end of the day, he's he's our coach and he's done everything he can and tick the boxes for us, and we didn't perform for him in Game one and he got a lot of sluck for it and a lot of stuff in the media, and he didn't deserve it. And I played with Bill, he's a champion player and champion coach. And when I've had a great relationship with him and still do and we're better, like we're probably almost really

And what does it mean to hear that belly that support from teams?

It has been an event for twenty four hours for you, like how they reconciled it.

And he's ever said to me, no, like it, Like I don't know, Like I know the game, I'm in the game.

I understand it.

Sometimes you know, heeds to get pushed to the boundary, but like, like it hasn't it hasn't influenced how I look at myself and who I am as a person, Like I'm.

Very comfortable question without notice before we wrap up, because we could talk at length even further about this. Do you think that the life of a shock jock and your success is a shock jock is predetermined by you being a man. I think it's also gendered one. We don't see very many women in this space anyway to be able to be afforded to have a hot take. But I think for us.

Say that again, Yeah, I don't.

Think that there is not enough women in this industry that have the platform to be able to have these hot takes and have no repercussions.

Are you implying that there's a sports entertainment network that don't have a single female host?

Yeah?

Yeah, but all they do is talk about sport and not even on their overnight shift even their specialists in wine, which they have one.

Yeah, and I say this, I love is ye and I listen all the time, but it blows my mind that there is not a single female host.

Yeah, but there's also reason like even if.

There was, because the vitriol that would come for them for having a hot take is so different than if it was a bloke.

It's not you have to think of every single second of the day that you are broadcasting. This is the life that we live. It's me I could be here with a full critical analysis with PowerPoint slides about Nathan Cleary's left side step and I would get somebody, you don't even know the game? Did you even play? How would you know? I know, Like it's just I can't have hot takes because I'm not allowed to. Yeah, that is something that I think this conversation is also missing.

My problem is I live in this space, but my want to keep my own peace and not deal with the vitriol that comes with having a hot take has mellowed me enormously, and that I love creating a platform for people like Ryan Hoffman to go off, but even if I enormously agree with him, I almost won't going hard afterwards unless it's in this format with you. Yes, I don't feel like I can be my earnest self still in sport without feeling like the ton of bricks

I can talk about Reyes Walsh getting his head chopped off in an Origin game and maybe probably not the best look when it comes to CTA and everything we're doing with concussion.

Or decigning to get punched in the head.

Yeah, and I will have hundreds of comments being like, you don't even like rugby league? Sorry? What what?

I don't know?

And the sad thing is we're still there, and I think it takes us to be more vocal about it. But that's why we've created this space. And the really nice thing for me is that we and for us is that we created two good sports because it's the space that we wished existed when we were getting into sports media. And by just being ourselves, of which I've directly had bosses tell me that I need to temper my interest to be more palatable to a male audience to be taken seriously.

I e.

If you post about fashion and makeup, no one's going to believe that you know anything about sport. Direct quote that a conversation that happened with me with a boss. We by just being ourselves get the Prime Minister to come in.

That's right, because.

There are people that I don't know their hobbies don't have to include golf and dark liquor in order to know anything about sport. And I think hopefully the audience is pivoting that way. But I think when you see these overt hot takes, you can have them and still be kind. And I think, dare I say it, there is a gendering where women are better at doing that?

Yeah, yeah, there is, there is, and they'll do it in a way and still be called dramatic. And I'm like, if you think that that could potentially be dramatic, let's just rewind every single grab that we have played on this episode.

If women did this, it would be labeled to cat fight. Oh yeah, yeah, cat fight between former play Imagine if this was the Tillies, oh.

One hundred percent, one hundred percent, it would be And look, that's not necessarily what this episode is about, but I think that it's a very very valid point that we raise, and.

If we don't raise it, no one else will.

No one else will, but Queensland heading to a decider. That is the takeaway?

Is that the fun fact?

No, oh my gosh, yes, fun fact. This is a complete deviation and I am so excited to hear well, really see your reaction to my fun fact, I've gone absolutely rogue, dear listener, in a surprise to no one. Okay, fun fact. Did you know that Locke Neil and I might be the same person? Have we been in the same room together? No? Not yet. We both love the

Ash from Pokemon Peak a Pokemon guy.

He goes, who is your favorite television character of all time? Without blinking, Locky Neil aka Georgie Tunney goes Ash from Pokemon Are you joking? No one will ever say that except for me. That's so true. No one would ever say that. What what Lucky Neil, sir? Come on the podcast or can you we're the same person? I don't know. Have you been here the whole time?

HOWE come on?

So arguably one of the greatest players to ever and to you know what, if not for Patrick Kipps getting off that high hit that then meant that he won a brown Low.

He's a three time brown Low medalist.

Locking Neil he's only one two, but he could have potentially won three. So one of the greatest players of all time. And your argument is you must be the same person because you'll like the same anime. Yeah, okay, yeah, I just really wanted to clear that up. Locking Neil and his partner Jules, who's a legend. I'm sure that we could get him on the pod.

I mean, if you want to call it a hot take, I'm happy to.

All Right, we're getting on him.

Should we better go until next week?

Be a great sport?

Look at you