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West Tigers Podcast Episode number four hundred and thirteen. Joined by Stephen Declan on a Wednesday. I was gonna say a Wednesday night, Declo, but we're doing a very family friendly time today five point thirty pm. We're recording.
Yeah, well, yeah, Barry relate to record podcast at twelve o'clock at night, and you know the people that have nombals like to be dead by that time, So I appreciate everyone moving beot to five thirty.
I think it's great for my sleep. Harbits, thank you.
I don't deny that, Declan, but I do know that you told me that there's a rugby game on tonight. Apparently I don't really follow rugby, but what's on?
Yeah, the British and Irish Lions have started their turn to Australia, so I'm very excited for that they're playing the Reds today eight o'clock kickoff, So it's good. They's change your place where I'm going into a rugby game expecting my team to win. So I can't say that I'm not excited for it. But yeah, that's where we're.
At the moment.
I think you think the Reds all win.
No, I don't think the Reds will win.
I'm going for the Lions and I think they'll they'll do Persca on them, so.
Well, I'm sure that'll be a huge game. I can't say I'll be tuning in, Steve. Do you do you deal far off the rugby league and cricket landscape or not really sport?
No, not at all, not at all these days. I used to I used to enjoy rugby when I was younger. I'd get up for the you know, if there were test matches on the middle of the night, that sort of thing. But I haven't for a long time. They've just changed the rules and it's just so boring.
I don't think anyone knows the rules in rugby when the ref blows a penalty. But this is not a rugby podcast, boys, it's West Tiger's midweek podcast. We will preview the Bruster's game and we'll try and do Yoddi's quiz at the end as well. But we've got a fair bit of bit of stuff to get through. Mike, there was a Michael Chammers article that got that dropped about three o'clock this afternoon. I'm just going to paraphrase some of that and going to get your guy's reaction
to it. The headline was West Tiger's promised things would change, but it's starting to look like the same old story. Chamis rehashed some old quotes from Shane Richardson when he joined the club, which was basically saying clubs win premierships when they bring through their juniors. We have to make it clear to everyone. We're not a recruitment club. We're a development club. This club and I'm parafer this let players go around seven years ago and we've never recovered.
He then goes on to talk about a bit about talent the Silwell, which we'll go into later separately, but the Chambers article focuses on the fact that Marshall has basically backed Appy Kirasaur a strong relationship with his senior players, but in terms of selecting coaches, he's rarely looked outside.
He's sort of inner circle in terms of players that he played with in two thousand and five, and there's a feeling in the dressing room, according to Chambers, that the coach favors certain players or there are different clicks developing, and perhaps the Tigers have compromised their long term future in terms of backing Benji with some of these signings rather than looking at the long term. The last bit
was interesting. I mean, it's easy to be flippant about it, but he actually describes the fact a couple of weeks ago that apparently I'm trying not to laugh when I say this, that Marshall actually tackled Adam Dewey and maybe sent him crashing to the ground, and there was an altercation after that, And the fact that he regularly joins in a post sessions plays for the reserve grade team against first grade team, which is I think has been well known over the past eighteen months, and that there
is a concern that he doesn't know what sort of behavior is well, where the line is between being a player and being a coach and what's acceptable. Steve, I start with you on this one. A few people text me and said there's going to be a big investigation in the West Tigers. I've got to be honest. I
didn't get any great revelations out of this. Looks like he's rehashing some old quotes and basically Benji Backs's senior player, Shakarra, what a horrible thing to do as a coach, and riche backs Benji even though Benji's not right all the time, and Benji likes to join into the training. They were my four main points I got.
Out of it.
Yeah. I think Chalmers maybe sat down this morning and there wasn't a lot happening and thought, well, what can I write about regarding West Tigers because that'll always get some attention. And he's put together, you know, the main points of what's happened over the last couple of weeks and turn it into another article. And how he got his mate the Mole to put all those socials out saying breaking news and huge story about to drop and
all this rubbish because it was it was. It was rubbish, right. There's stuff in there to discuss, for sure, but there was nothing earth shattering, There was nothing groundbreaking. It was just, in my opinion more clickbait from a journalist who had nothing better to do?
Declan, did you learn anything from the article?
No, not really except that, as you said, you know, HadAM do got forwarded by Benji Marshall. That was the only thing I really took away from that. But yeah, I said in the group chat before that I'm not a huge fan of make Couch. Honest, I'm not really a huge fan of any Rugbyley journalists. I just think the whole environment is so toxic and if you but to get them on side, you have to give them access, and if you don't give them access then they absolutely
go at you. They attack your character. This is the second like kind of big article that Michael Champs has wrote in relation to Benji not being a good coach. He said that that was the reason why Galvin ultimately decided to leave the club was because of like beers that Benji Marshall wasn't a good coach. And I think the thing that's extra kind of slimy about it as
well is they always draft. They always draft the article as someone else is saying it, when it's probably just their opinion or maybe they've talked to someone I don't know, but like it's quite clear that that's Champis's opinion that he doesn't think that, like Benji Marshall is a good coach, and he just kind of weasily tries to make it seem like it's not coming from him, it's coming from someone.
Within this club.
He doesn't name anyone, like it's an anonymous source, and I just I don't respect that at all, Like it's just crazy in a like in a professional environment you can just write anything you want and you don't have to back it up at all, Like it's crazy to me, Like coming from a legal background, I just find that like golf smacking. So yeah, I didn't really learn anything in relation to it. I think we all know these kind of elements of Benji's coaching have been out there.
I think it's probably fair enough to like attack his record as a coach, because at the end of the day, that's what he.
The win game.
But to just see all this stuff about how he joins in at training and like he runs plays, I just don't really see how it has anything to do with us winning and losing on the weekend. Like I'm sorry, Like if you want to see he's a bad coach then go for it like there's plenty of evidence.
This season of us struggling and I was making mistakes.
But I don't see why the media is obsessed with going back to this thing of him like picking up a ball and running drills of training.
It doesn't make sense to me because.
They take the one story Decline that maybe three four six months ago someone wrote and it got a bit of it got a bit of momentum, and they saw that that story got momentum, so they just rehashed the same thing over and over and over again in the hope that it will also their story will pick up momentum. Like how many times have we heard this stuff about Benji Marshall been involved in training, Like I've heard this before.
You know, Brad Arthur, Michael maguire used to do the fitness with the players and beat a lot of them, So what right? Okay, there needs to be separation from player and coach. Absolutely there does, but that doesn't mean the bloke can't get involved in you know, hands on sessions out on the field.
But I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying. Boys, I will say Declan, I generally agree with you your wide premise there that analists. I don't have a lot of time for a lot of them. I will say that Michael Chammers is one I do. I don't know the guy at all, never spoken to him, never met him in my life, but I will say he stood up to feel Good in that one a couple of months ago. And I think generally he's pretty fair and he's accessible to the fans at least on his his social media stuff,
which a lot of them are not. I know Steve's had dealings with ones in the past that won't even reply.
You don't agree, well, just on that Fell guild thing, like everyone says that make Chalmers stood up to him, but in the actual interview he qualified his opinion by staid that, oh you're a Fell. No, you're you're three steps ahead of everyone, like you obviously knew what was happening. So he was clearly like sucking up to him.
But that's that's sometimes that's the tactic to, you know, give someone a compliment then having them down. That's a fairly that smart play for me.
But that's like the level the expectation we have on these journalists to like ask journalistic questions that have integrity, Like it's just so low that like he like he asks Bill Goold a non softball question and then everyone just like appraises him for being some sort of like
like emblem of like journalistic integrity. Wouldn't in actuality like he fair played too, we did ask a question, and like he asked it to someone who's on the same side of the Fairfax News Corp. Like feud, So like credit him for that, but I wouldn't say like he put him on the spot or like he really he roasted them in a way that I think other like if this was another sport from another country, like Goild
would have gotten so much worse. So I give him a little bit of credit, but I don't give him a ton of credit like a lot of people do. I think that I agree a little bit with you.
I think he's.
Better than a lot of other people, but like there's still things that he writes that I have a problem with, And I don't think he should be someone who like people just like, oh he's the good one, you know, like Michal Champion, he's gonna because he's just he just plays the same game as everyone else. Like it's just like you gave me access. Otherwise I'm going to flog you in my articles. And that's the scene as all of them.
In my opinion, they.
Fired up Declan tonight. I love this second and he's back. He's back, and he's fired up. Steve just breaking down little bits of the article I want to touch on. Look, we're all if we're all going to be prisoners of quotes we made eighteen months ago, we'd all be dead and buried. So I don't want to hammer Shane Richardson for the fact that he came in and he said that, you know, premierships are won through local juniors, and you know, we want to make it clear to everyone we're not
a recruitment club, We're a development club. But I just I don't really understand that line of recruitment club development club. I think we need to throw it out and put in the bin because surely the good clubs I think I mentioned in a few weeks ago just have to be both. They have to be ruthless, they have to be balanced, they have to be winning clubs. And I think unfortunately with some of these quotes, and I don't want to hammer him, but it sort of backed him into a corner.
Yeah, I think you're right. Look, I think if you're a development club, it goes without saying that you are still going to recruit from the outside. I just think that, you know, like I think that the problem with all these terminology is in the actual meaning of the terminology right now. And so if you're a development club, it
doesn't mean you don't recruit. It just means that you mix your squad with outside players and inside players, I would say, And that's the same I suppose if you're if you're a recruitment club, you know, it's just what
you do more of. So I think you're right. I think you're a you know, with rich O I said the other day when we all said it on the pod, we were dumbfounded, right, we were dumbfounded with the Silver situation, and none of us seem to be able to understand or see reasoning as to why he was let go so early, you know, considering the position that's left us in, which which has made the fan base quite volatile. Really, but we don't know the whole situation. I'm not going
to bag him over the Galvin situation. I've said before, I think he handled the Galvin situation pretty much spot on. I don't know what else he could have done. I don't know what else the club could have done in the Galvin situation, So I think to use that against him pretty poor. The DA Silver, Yeah, I've got questions about that, but I don't know. You know workings either.
Well, let's go straight to the DA Silver quotes that Rich I think put out a day or two ago, and will circle back to maybe Charmer's article on a little bit on Beggie's future, but declan Some of his quotes were basically, I told the family we would not hold him back if we re signed Appy. The kid wants to play NRL and I think he can. We had to make a decision for the betterment of the club. We want to win games now, but we don't want to string him along for another two or three years
waiting to play first Raid again. Oh stress, These are not direct quotes. It's paraphrasing a lot of his quotes. He said, there's too much money for a in our hooking ranks. I think that would probably be understandable to be spending one point three to five million on two hookers and having a backup hooker on considerable money for
next year. This is the big one for me. By letting him go, it gives us a little bit of extra money in our cap, or we save a little bit of extra money this year, but we save a significant amount of money next year. This was the best decision for all. You were fired up about this a couple of days ago, and I think for the same
reasons that we were. Not that the fact that Talan won't be here in twenty twenty seven, but the fact that he's being he's already training with paramatter and he's gone and he's out the window, and the fact that Rich has come out and the best he could offer for me is that we're saving a little bit of money in our cap this year. Is that going to wash with fans? And is that fair enough for he?
I don't think it'll wash with the fans, And I think that's fair enough as well. I think that's a poor excuse to spin what's happened, because I understand that we think that happy is the best option going forward, like even though he's a little bit older, we think that we're the best chance of winning, and on that basis, we're not going to resign to Silva, and unfortunately to Selva made it pretty clear that he wasn't happy to
play second fiddle to Happy. I think that's incredibly disappointing on its own, considering he's only a twenty year old local junior coming through.
But that's for the Birds now. Unfortunately.
The thing that I just don't understand is that why is he going now, Like like we are the only club in the NRL that would do this, like give away a perfectly good player who can play first grade like at the June at Dirty Deadlight. I don't know any other club that did it if you look at all the other outgoings from clubs, their fringe news cirpowers
Cup players that the clubs was brilling to release. Look at Newcastle, I mean, like with it Capers, Paul, I mean he's leaving next year, and like we made inquiries about getting them like app before the June thiry deadline because we like, obviously he's coming next year, we want to get him early. But then Newcastle were just like, well no, because you know he helps us winning this year, so we're going to keep him. And I just don't
understand why why we've done this. It's insane we've and now we've got trust and hope starting nine against the Roosters again, that like is absolutely must win if you don't already believe that the season is over.
And it's just crazy, like to.
Save like a little bit of money this year, like fair enough, released him next year, Like I trust the coaching staff to make that decision. If they don't think he's going to be like a long term benefit for the club or at least short term next season, that's fair enough. But just to release him for nothing when there's so much pressure on the club.
And then what really annoyed me.
Was the quotes about how from Richison about how you know, like it was a good thing because they were honest with like talent, honest with his family, like did right by him.
Well that's great for Talent, you know.
I'm sure that he's feeling really good about the situation now because he got exactly what he wants. But now the club is in trouble and Richardson's employed to represent the best interest of the club and that includes in the short term. And I think just like I'm just piggy back on Steve's point as well, where every year we just seem to release players just to free up
salary cap room, and I understand it. This is like a bad contract, like it's an old player like who is probably not performing on the period.
But we have genuine need for him.
And not only that, we've given him to a Western City rival in the Paramatta Eels, and we've given Galvin to the Bulldogs. And as Steve said, I understand why the club would want to get Galvin out as soon as possible, so I don't hold a grudge against him for that, but talent there didn't seem to be a problem with at least keeping him till the end of the year. I just don't understand, and like it just seems like we're here to like to help other clubs
at this point. And I made the joke on and the group chart, like maybe the penwidth for what define her brothers? Like why not just give it to him because we're just in the business of helping out other teams, because Paramatta are going to be in the same possession for us, potentially fading for the Wooden Spoon.
So I just don't understand why we would give them a leg up.
But literally nothing, well is there any is there any tape left. That's that's a rant and a half deck long. I've forgotten what I was going to say. No, I haven't, just on your point about giving him up for nothing. And I agree, mate, And and I agree with I empathize with you that the level of frustration coming through your voice because we were all the same the other night in the pod. I think we had a chance on that pod to sort of get that frustration out,
and you haven't as yet. So I do agree with you one hundred percent. The only thing I can say is that it just can't be for nothing. There must be some we don't know and we're not privy to.
You know.
And I don't know whether this is the club's inability to manage young talent properly, but perhaps his attitude of if you're going to resign happy, I'm going to walk Coming from a bloke who's played I don't know how many first grade games he's played, not many, With the experience that he's got, maybe that attitude permeates through everything he does and maybe the way he's around the group, and it would seem to be more damaging if he stays than if they let him go. Now I'm just
throwing things up here. I don't know. I'm just throwing up as a possible plausible explanation because I don't understand. I don't believe that we could give him away for nothing. There must have been something.
I mean, I completely I completely accept the point that if he's living, he's a young player, there's no point keeping him next year to develop him for another club. Therefore, he's done a lot of money and we should release him.
But I just can't.
Understand why we're getting rid of him like right now, Like why he had to go right before June thirty with no material benefit to us, because like, realistically most of his sally would have been paid anyway. So I challenge that, like if we actually save that much money on the cap. And then the second point is this is just a prime example for the other young players that you know, if you want to leave, then like
the Tigers will just accommodate you. Like I know that it's true that there's nothing, like our contract doesn't mean much these days in the NRL, and that's true across the board in every NROL team. But I do think the better clubs have a do a better job of
missaging these kind of situations. So now that I don't know, like say someone like Macasini that the young center coming through, like if he just blatches it next year in five grade and then he's just like, well I see myself at a like a higher club, then you know he's got the blueprint to like just get out because he's he's learned that behavior from the other young players coming
through that he no doubt has connections with. So it's just it's just bad precedent all the way around, no matter how you look at it.
And Steve sort of tricky one because it's it's very easy to lump on and and you know, group them together. Galvin and the Silver both gone for nothing. The West
Sydney Rivals, I think the fan base. I don't want to speak for everyone, but generally there was you know, half a pass for Shane Richardson in regards to the Galvin situation because it was so toxic and it was created by their camp, and perhaps he was hamstrung legally, and I'm sure there were things behind the scenes that he can't say that would maybe embarrass the club or embarrassed Benji or embarrass someone that he just can't say. But this one, for me, he's not getting as much
leeway with because the quotes are there. It gives us a little bit of extra money in our cap. Not only do we save a bit of money this year, but what is like we didn't get it? Someone come through the door for June thirty. We had a couple of players sneakily added to the player profiles who I assumed have gone up to top thirty contracts because you have to fill your thirty on a Monday morning. Maybe they're trying to upgrade a couple of players for this
year who've got the shits. I don't know, but for me, that was a little bit wishy washy that reason from Richo. It just didn't seem to hit. Yeah, I'm not a salary cap expert. None of us are.
No, no, no, that's for sure. I think Joel made this point before. He said the other night in the pother the thing that was upset him the most was not what happened, but the way it happened and the lack of communication, and maybe the fan base does need
to be communicated to more openly and transparently. Richo has said to us in the past that he wants to be honest and transparent and open and he you know, he talked about membership numbers and how you know it wasn't as honest as it could have been, and he wanted to be more honest about it. Well, maybe we do need not saying he's been dishonest at all, but maybe he does need to be more transparent and more open with the fan base. And I think you're right, mate.
The fan base have given him and the club a lot of slack. We always do. We always give the club a lot of slack and support. We bounce back pretty well. But as I said the other night, it just doesn't take much for the fan base to turn because it's just been disappointment after disappointment. But I do want to I do want to flip the narrative just
a little bit. And again we've spoken about this before, not this year so much, and I agree we all have a right to be angry and dirty with what's happened with Galvin and the Silver and I'll go back to Stefano as well, but I'm going to bring up the point of again, at what point do we as a club take a responsibility for the fact that all
these people want to walk out the door. At what point do we say we need to develop a culture of winning and win more football games than we do, and a culture and an environment where these young kids believe that they're in the best place or one of the best places in the NRL to develop their game and to succeed. Because we've been losing for far too long, and we've been losing talent for far too long, sometimes generational talent. And you talk about developing players, we develop
them and if they're any good, they go. And there's a history of that. You cannot deny that. It's a fact. We bring players in and historically the vast majority of them underachieve. Now I think that's changing. I think the people we've brought in this year for the most part of doing great playing great football. But if we keep losing, what we see it happen again with these recruits with more in this year, are going to start looking at greener
past us else elsewhere. We'll ask you, guys, do we need to take more responsibility for the way our rostera looks?
I mean absolutely.
I think just as like a kind of macro point, I think that now that we've had a few, you know, tough games and a few injuries. Just how the lack of depth is just completely exposed that we just don't really have enough first grade players in the top thirty squad to compete. I think it shows that, you know, absolutely the squad needs to be better, and that falls on the management of the club, but just on talent himself.
I mean, he would have been at the club since he was thirteen years old in terms of some sort of like development pathway, So he's been with the Tigers
for a really long time. And it's kind of scary to me that someone who's been in the pathways from Campbelltown could just so easily leave, like pretty much like the saga, like it was bubbling away in the background for a while, but like just how quickly it happened where he's just well, I'm gone now because I've got a better opportunity and what Like Chamis talks about how local juniors you bring through local juniors in that one premierships and a big reason for that is that local
juniors come through, they have a connection and add infinity with the club where they're willing to stay and takes slight unders like look at the Permier system. Look at Manly back in the day as well with their players Brett,
the Stuart brothers. But with our players it's kind of the opposite, where like they come through because it's in their best interest with Galvin with the Silva, but then as soon as they hit first grade at that young age, it just seems that there's just no kind of like willingness or like desire to like turn the club around. Like as a very individualistic point of view, and I'm not in their heads, i don't know their perspectives. I'm not going to come down to critically on them, but
it's just really alarming Steve. And it's just to your point that we have to look at our pathways and like how we brought these players through and ask why do they feel this way? Like why are they so willing to jump ship at the first opportunity, Like why don't they want to turn this club around? Why don't
they see themselves long term with this club? And I think we probably know a lot of the answers, but I think it goes a lot deeper and probably like it requires the kind of access that we don't have as to why the Selva we're so eager to leave like immediately it turned out.
Well, yeah, I think you're right. I think we probably do now. A lot of the answer, a lot to a lot of it is success on the football field, right and corecting a successful club. That's the answer. But I think if you want to talk about macro, the macro sort of it is our society, right, It's the society we live in, and I think there are less and less young people willing to work hard to turn something go around and chain because we live in a society in an era where you can get so much
instantly without a lot of effort, right. And I'm not saying people don't put effort, and people do, but you can achieve and get what you want quickly in this world, whereas maybe twenty years ago that wasn't the case and people had a mindset of heads down, bums up, work hard to achieve. I think we're losing that mindset and therefore if a better option presents itself, they take it. Now. You know, someone my age, I find that really hard
to grasp. Someone your ace declone probably finds it easier. Someone ten years younger than you would find it easier. Still, I reckon that's probably a bit philosophical for our godd.
But if you look at where talents when like he went to the Eels though, like it's not like they're a sure thing to be a top four team within the.
Next That's true for years and the Recid as well.
He got a good offer.
But like, I just it's crazy because with Galvin, like he ultimately it made like as much as I hated the situation, it made sense because like the bill Dogs coming first, you know, like Surroud is a great coach. I think Jason Rows has proved itself to be a great like a good coach as well, maybe not great yet, but like it just doesn't seem like it's a better situation for him. So maybe you're right, and maybe it
was just money. But yeah, I'm happy to hear Steve's philosophical points on a Wednesday night.
I will say, Steve might be a little bit of a rent I'm going on. But you mentioned, you know, young people a little bit different. I think that's that's fair and that's common knowledge across all walks of life at the moment. But you mentioned, you know, should we look at our environment and what we doing for young players? The short answer is yes. And obviously winning and success and the brand helps, but how do clubs start winning, like look at the Melbourne Storm. I know they're the outlier,
they're not the norm. But you've got Tyrone Wishart there, You've got Jonah Pezant, You've got Harry Grant. I reckon. All those guys are in their early twenties that could have been playing first grade at Week of Clubs three or four years ago and could have wanted everything. But the standard of excellence there makes them think differently. And obviously they've got Craig Bellamy. They've been winning for twenty years, so they've got a huge advantage in that regard. But
how did they create this? You know, I listened to Stefano, who I hate. I can't stand him. I think he's been average this year. He couldn't even make his flight for Origin, so well done. But one quote he said was the difference between the two clubs. And I don't think he was trying to pile on us here was he was amazed by the amount of selfless players at
the Melbourne Storm. Now that is not for me, something that is that is something that is ingrained in them when they go there through the environment that they have. And I don't know how we get that, whether we have to ask some of our coaches to spend a few months at the Melbourne Storm or something. But it's clear that in the top, top clubs they can withstand some of these pressure from younger players or keep them. We can't.
Well, what they've created stems, what they've created over a generation, right, stems from some outstanding decision making over those years, all the way back to choosing someone like Craig Bellamy, you know, and then they get the right players into the club, you know, Like I don't like pump them up too much because they did get all those players in the club for four years because they cheated. Let's not forget that. They seem to want to forget that, but let's not
forget the fact they cheated massively for four years. But apart from that, they've just made the right decisions time and time again with the right people and the right jobs, with the right attitude. And that's how you create that culture. And you're right, you know, people come in and if you are a little bit self centered and a little bit selfish and a little bit about yourself, then everyone else around. When everyone else around you is not, then
you've got to change or leave. It's as simple as that. And they've created that that the majority think that way. I saw this greatthing. I think I've said this before on their wall in the Gymish, you know, like talent gets you, Talent gets you into this room. Hard work keeps you here, you know. And that's their mindset right, that everyone works hard. Doesn't matter how talented you are. You work hard, you know. And that's going to roll off on blokes like Stefano, but it is and he'll
get better because of it. We don't seem to be able to make those decisions. I haven't been able to historically.
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Last one on Richo Deckland, does he need to say more to the members because he's been very bullish about members first, and Joel made a good point on Sunday Night. He said, the goodwill of some of the fans, the rusted on ones, even the diehards, the tide's starting to turn back to that really toxic negative talk from a couple of years ago, where I think Steve made the point Sunday night. Look, our memberships don't automatically cancel and
we get refunds. With eight rounds to go, we still have to go to games or support the team, So why.
Not?
Why are you giving up on the season? But can you, maybe richer explain to us a little bit more in detail what the grand plan is without giving up your races or what your cards are.
Yeah, I think there's that balance, Like at the end of the day, you could put lipstick on a peg, but it's still a pig at the end of the day. So with the Disselver situation, like it's just bad. In
the Galvin situation, it's just bad. So you can try and spend it however you want, You can communicate to the members however you want, But the end of the day, it's an elf for the club, And I kind of understand how you wouldn't want to jump at every single obstacle to talk to the media or talk to the fans when something bad goes wrong, because then you'd be talking to the fans every single week.
That's what lay in exactly.
Yeah, I made it worse because like people just kind of trying to what you're saying it in the day or they don't believe you and you you.
Lose credibility in their eyes. So I can understand that.
But at the same time, I can also understand job put Joe's point of view, where like what as the strategic decision? Are we still our development club if we've lost all these.
Young local juniors?
The Magpies didn't have great seasons in ISSUESO how MAT's s year, Like what are we doing with that?
Like what's the home ground situation?
Like for like after that kind of thing with Campbelltown can Soil, Like what's happening there?
So I would I do kind of see.
Where guys like Neck and Joel are coming from, maybe asking from registering for a little bit more. But at the same time, I'm not that critical of them because I think the more he says, the kind of lets people listen, if that makes sense, Well.
I think he needs to be a little bit upfront, you know, about what's happening currently. I absolutely don't think he needs to address the question of how we are development club or not. Of course we are. And this has been the problem with the club in the past, is that we just seem to flip and flop from one from one strategy to the next so quickly. We've got a strategic plan that was well put together and
was publicized and it's there for everyone to see. And we are a development club and that's the line of the sand that we need to keep going down. We need to forward to that path. We need to keep going down that path. Now, if we're not doing well that well, then we need to do it better. We need to do it at a standard of excellence, right, not a standard of Joe average. But that is the strategy, That is the strategic direction of the club, and that needs to stay in place. There's no need for that
to be questioned or change. The only question is are we doing it as well as we can?
Well, I don't know. It's just it's a tough one.
So you can't like because it's been like three years since, like Tan Shines came out with that speech, about how we're a development club, and I accept Eddie's point as well that it's kind of it can be seen as kind of a nothing comment because at the end of the day, like all clubs recruit and they develop as well.
But I don't know, I just think we've kind of lost their.
Way a little bit this season with Galvin being gone, like to Selvin being gone. If you look at most players playing against the Bruses this weekend, I don't think any of them are local juniors except maybe alex Seyfarth.
Yeah, but it's not the strategy. It's not the strategy that's wrong, Declan, it's the execution of the strategy.
That's what I'm saying.
I think we've lost a way though, and I think that's where I would like him to clarify, if that makes sense, and like where potentially we went wrong, because like we have jump ship a lot, but like the success in the juniors and that kind of pathway from like flip from like Matt's to SG ball to fly the Cup to first grade, there's clearly something not working in that development process because I think at the moment we'll bring players we're too young they are, and when
they show any kind of promise the contract for how it gets resin and then when they have a better option to just leave. And I just I'm wondering if we are kind of throwing these players and without opportunity too young. I just seen kind of how Galvin and just Selver manage the contract situations.
Just back to the Chambers article for a minute, Steve, before we preview the game. Benji Marshall and Shane Richardson, we've we've touched on the last few podcasts whether they maybe need more manpower around, perhaps a general manager of football or different assistant coaches. But the dynamic between them, to me at least, seems like they're still very much aligned and they're trying one hundred percent in the best interest of the club to make the best decision. Like
you said, it's the execution of it. But things in the Chammas article like you know Appy or Appy in Jerome are really tight with Benji, Like that's not a revelation, of course, you should be the tightest with your two captains, Like it's emerging for stuff there.
Absolutely that's a leadership group, right and the young players have got to suck that up. But I would have more sympathy, though I didn't really because I thought it was a winge. But I'd have more sympathy for the comments made by Clamor and Bateman last year when they were saying if there was validity to them saying, hang on,
we've played one hundred games the first grade. Here, no one's listening to us, and this young bloke who's eight and he's been listening to I reckon, there's more validity in that. But if Benji's havn't closed door meetings with Appy and Jerome Luai, then to the people that aren't in that room, tough because they'ven't the right to be in that room.
What do you think. I won't ask you for predictions for a few deckline, but say, you know, we lost every game for the rest of the season. Should that be the end of Benji? Or should Benji be under no pressure heading into twenty twenty six? Given you know how Tidy is to a lot of this.
Stuff, I think that for me, I would be sticking with him for next season, just essentially for the reasons you just said, because he is so tied to the roster, and if you sack Benji, I think you have to reasonably come to Gretz with the fact that if you sack him, then players like Loui and players like Terrell will realistically be evaluating their options. Not to say that they will leave, but I think that becomes a reasonable prospect.
And then the other part of it is if you sack Benji, like who like who's going to come in and like you look at them and say, like, a O, there a dead set improvement, Like I could see them doing a really good job, because I don't see anyone at the moment, Like, like people were talking about Willie Peters and maybe I'm just ignorant, but I did sit don't know anything about him, and maybe he do a
good job, but I'm not sure. Like the only person that I would be like, yeah, I could definitely see why they would do that is if they brought someone like Todd Paeron in, who like he has kind of that experience as a head coach, he's had success, but then he also has that connection to the club as well.
But everyone else is on the market at the moment.
I just think you'd kind of be at risk of repeating the kind of old mistakes of like hiring a Mic Potter or a Jason Taylor or Mega maguire, you know, guys who have baggage that they'd bring to the club, and then we'd be making mistakes that we've made in
the past. So I would be definitely given Benji until next season to turn it around or like to see how it goes, because if we're still in the same position next season, then like it's probably worth the calculated rest that you lose some of these guys.
But for now, I don't think it's worth the risk.
One more on the attical steam. I promised before a move on, before you've hit me out of the head with a baseball bat. But and this is speculation. This is Jamma's speculation, so it's not necessarily true. But it's something I've spoken about a few times over a couple of years. I think he's got to be careful with how much he joins in training. Like I just say that from a point of view, I'm only an assistant
coach a to create club. But I think there's a line between being an assistant coach and a head coach. And I know you have to be true to who you are. You can't change you know who you are. But I just get you know, if he's joining it at training and he's setting up tries and then you know, if he's following something like Adam doing and then there's a scuffle or there's a verbal altercation after that, that is not a line that a head coach, for me,
is acceptable. And again I stress this is speculation out of an article, but I think that's something where he is learning on the run and there's insinuations there that he wants to be one of the boys. And he was one of the boys when he was a player. Bengually, he wasn't necessarily a leader for me. Maybe he did late in his career, but I think that's something that perhaps a senior experience assistant coach could talk to him about on the side, which I don't think he has there at the moment.
Yeah, I think it's a pretty damning comment that's been thrown around that he just wants to be one of the boys. We don't know that everything when we listen to him in his press conferences. You know, I think he's set himself apart more so this year than he has last year. I think he's headed in the right direction. I will say I think he's he's too forgiven of his players publicly anyway. But as far as that line in the sand, look, as long as that line is there,
I think your behavior what you do is okay. Like like, if he gets involved in the ball runs and he tackles Atam, do it because Adam, do he step the wrong way or you know, maybe deserve to be tackled. If he can do that and get in and show him how to run plays and this and that, but he can still draw that line in the sand. He can still then pull the player in to his office the next day and give him a golf or tell him his sands aren't what they need to be, or
tell him how he's been dropped to reserve grade. This is how he needs to improve, and do that honestly, respectfully and transparently. If he can do all that, then there's nothing wrong. The problem occurs is if he's playing tip with the guys before training and having a great laugh with him, and then because of that they don't take him seriously and he can't get them to listen to him and do what he says and respect his opinion,
then there's a problem. And only those on the field with him know whether that's the case or not.
That's just the problem I have with people like Charmers because a statement like that, it's just so broad it's impossible to respond because like what can be Benji possibly
do to respond to that? I mean, it's what we said. Yes, he's got he's close to senior players, like every inner old coach would be, I mean, drinking Trent Robinson didn't have a really close relationship with Bod Corner and Jade Hargraves and Jake Friends, like of course he does, and that's why they're on the coaching staff or like hard Graves are still playing, but he probably will be when he retires.
So it's just like rules for different people. Like it just seems and that like what I said.
At the start of the pod, like there's plenty to criticize the club of it, Like for example, Loui goes out against Manly and then like the team plays with just no attacking structure like whatsoever, and like we lose a game, we look terrible, Like that is just an objective thing that he could criticize Benji for because you take one player out of the system and we just
look like a spoon team. Immediately, and that's just not good enough because like there's plenty of teams that if you take a star player, they should at least be able to follow a structure or attack properly inside the twenty meters, but we just weren't able to. And I just it just annoys me so much that like the level of journalism is so low that there's plenty of like valid criticisms of the club that they could go with, but they go with these weird like oh, Benji wants
to be one of the boys, but he's not. He's like, you know, doing jails and training. Like how weird is that?
Like? But it's just like, what are you doing?
There's so much more that you could be saying that actually is nuanced, it makes sense, and there's probably more valid, but they just don't for some reason.
Fair points, Decklan Steve, it suck. Before I move on to the RUSS game, it's such fine margins. Like I was thinking tonight, like if Galvin hadn't dropped the ball over the line against Sous and if Buller hadn't been held up by a legal tackle against Penrith, we would have seven wins. And you know who else has got
seven wins this year, the russ and the Panthers. They're both on seven wins, and you know who's on eight wins, the team that spends you know, fifty million or something on them whatever on that scale of things, where West Tigers was seven eight the Broncos. So it's really fine margins and we're getting hammered at the moment, and unfortunately that is the reality. When you lose six games in a row and you're coming off three wooden spoons, it's
easy to hammer them. And I think some of the stuff we're getting to have it for is probably fair enough, but cheers, it's fine margins. Like if we were on seven wins two of those five losses that were under six points, the talk this week would be a battle for the top eight with the Roosters.
That's a great point, and I honestly don't know where on earth you would have heard that apart from me on the pod two weeks ago. We said the exact same thing. Drop ball over the line and a tackle one half a meter short the line and we're four points ahead. It is a season could have looked so differently. But again, we've got to take responsibility for it, and at the end of the day, we're showing that we don't know had a win, then we're gonna learn how to win.
I feel like I'm the Eddy of this podcast because I just like that. But I completely agree with all that stuff about close losses and then like if we just got like the bets of the ball or the call of a referee, and that's great, But for me that went all completely undone when we went to Brookville
Lovo and just played absolutely terribly. Because yes, you know, like it's all well and good to lose closely to the good teams, but then when you play the bad teams and you play like your worst game of the season ever, for me, you just lose like all credibility that, oh, you know, if we were a little bit luckier, we'd be in the top eight or like pushing for the top eight, because no, these are the games that we always play every season, and we always lose and it's
just not good enough. And yes, there was some reasons for that, like Buller going down, Drome going down. That's two spite really important spinning players, probably two over three best players.
So I'm not necessarily not lost.
It's more than man know, it was just that the pressure got to them and they just played terribly and ruined my Friday night as well, said.
Who would have thought Steve, I'd be the positive one on the podcast. Maybe I'm just playing Devil's advocate in my role as hosts, but I do think that, you know, unfortunately the bad sides all have solid stories, like the Dragons have lost three games by a point, and unfortunately it's like declan SATs because you don't know how to win those close games, and a couple of those close games we're infuriating for me because I don't think South and North Queensland were going any good and I think
we should have beaten them. But let's talk about the Rusters game two o'clock this Sunday at Alian Stadium. Steve, I'm meant to be going to this game because I have friends that are Rusters fans, and I feel like saying to him, look, I'd be happy to go to any Rugby League game except for the Rusters and versus the Tigers, because we have lost eighteen of our last nineteen against the Rusters thirty of thirty nine overall. Before we get into the teams, is there any reason for
optimism this week. It's a much changed team. It's pretty much the bare bones.
Well, if I was to put my optimist hat on here there is if you look at and not so much you look at our to him where where we've been hit for six with with injuries and representation. That's the thing. But some of the roosters, the Roosters team, their back line is pretty.
Strong, apparently twelve first graders. Twelve first graders out of the rooster's side apparently, like I know, you read their back line and it's still a lot better.
Than our Desco and Tubo and I can't even say that Blake's name that the center is just doing with things.
But I'll read their forward back. Sorry Steve to interrupt, this is their forward pack Nafar who white is good player.
Or whatever.
I've got no idea what his name is. Sorry. The hooker Macatoa never heard of him. Front row Egan Butcher back row Fockerty back row, never heard of him. Steep. I think he's a good young player. The lock but
hasn't played much. And the bench doctor Clay journeyman McCarthy never heard of him, Losalou never heard of him, and Va and apologies for butchering about six of those names, but that is an absolute no name, like they are decimated in the forwards, but like it's there's a lot of talk about us having Leu Eye and happy and Buller out and it probably means a lot more when you're a bad side and you don't have much depth. But they are missing a stack, and.
I think I think our full pack lines up a lot stronger than theirs, which which gives us the foundations of doing good things on Sunday. There's no reason that we can't win the ruck on the weekend if we go believing that we can do that. Now we've got to hold to Essco. We've got to hold tupu like for crying out that if he scores a try coming over the top of someone from a kick, I'm going
to scream because we know we're weak at that. We've been wik at it for ten years, right, Can we please do something good training this week to stop him from scoring tries off kicks. But if we can do that, if we can win the rock and hold this go and get up on their halves, you know we're capable of reading this game. Even though we are depleted as well.
Declan, what are your thoughts of the game. Can we win?
Sorry, I don't think so.
I think that the Risters, even though they don't have a lot of players available, you just know that they will play to their capability and He'll get the best, like Robinson will get the best out of those young players. I think they've been doing it all season, Like there's so many guys in that team that I hadn't.
Really heard of before this season.
But the Risters are so good just developing these young players along and I think that lets will be. I think they'll play well. I'm a huge fan of the halfback Atala, He's a really good player. I don't really know a lot about the fore A pack, but I think that I thought that we had a huge advantage against mainly in the forwards last week and that just didn't eventuate anything.
So who knows what they're going to bring.
But also there's probably not much expectation on us as well because we did lose that gaming as finally, so maybe that will take some of the pressure off and we'll play better.
But I'm not confident at all.
Steve lots of changes to the West Tigers team let's go through the one to five and the changes to RuvA goes to fullback, Stains onto the wing, and Lukela Lilly to centners. What do you like out of that?
Well, to at fullback, I think it's okay Stains. That was pretty critical of Stains early in the season. I've got to say he proved me wrong with the opportunities he's heading first grade. He's actually brought the ball back out of trouble quite well, so I think we'll get you know, I know we'll get a handle percent if it from Tower. I think it's a great football skelt and I think that is, you know, really advantageous for a springs the ball back hard that literally in the
centers isn't unknown for me. Apparently he's played there a few times but nothing significant, So you know, we're weakened a little bit, but it's still it's still a decent back five.
Your man Decklin, he's back at six where he belongs and dey.
Yeah, I mean I think someone saying in the group chat, I think we're just going so bad against Manly that when he moved to Sex he just looked like our best player, which kind of shows exactly why we were struggling. I don't know, It's just I think it's a it's a safe option because I think, you know, like he's probably got the highest floor in terms of the potential options, like you kind of know what you're gonna get from them, Like whether it actually leads to points, I'm not sure.
I'm also a little bit concerned as well, because you know that article from Channis that mentioned Adam Dewey Adam do he is now contractor to Isaac Moses, So as like as he leaking stuff, does that you know, like messed with the dynamic of the team.
I don't know. I have very low expectations of it, but you know, I.
Aloe that I do like Loly at center though, I think that's probably has like like a really good possession for him at the moment while he does try and develop his ability onto the high ball and it kind of brings out all the stuff he has good at.
So I'll be interested to see how he goes in that respect. But yeah, just morale is very low at the moment.
And in case you were wondering, and I'm just like, I just we're just at that point of the season.
I think forward pack is pretty much in tax Steve except for obviously no happy and no talent of silver. So you know, welcome back to first grade Tristan Hope.
Yeah. Well, he's just gotta play a simple, great game. Let's let's be honest. He's he's not a he's not a first grade player. He's reserve game player that can fill in when needed. I suppose would be the nicest way to describe him. He's just got to play very simple game. He's got to give good, clean fastball to his forwards. The thing that concerns me most with Hope at nine and also having Fayn Whu sort of still beginning his journey at seven, is just the organization who's
going to be talking. I suppose it's going to come a lotdown to Dewey. I remember early in the year, I know it was a trial or I think it was a trial do he played five eight and I think Galvin was playing half back, and they played out of their skins and Dewey you could see that Dewey was just helping Galvin, sort of mentoring him on the run on the field, and it brought out the best in both of them. So I'm hoping that they're going to have eighty minutes together that Dewey and Faynu can
sort of click like that. I think Feynu will have to run a lot, you know, use a lot his individual skill, you know, to create opportunities for us. He was to wait and see what.
Happens Benny Elias Deckler. I'm not gonna let him get away with this, he said. And I'm digressing here, but he said, Talent de Silver is already the sixth best hooker in the game. I thought, what a load of dribble. Like, honestly, I think Talent's going to be a really good player. But he said his defense has been spot on. Like he just obviously doesn't watch the games. He's just clickbait, isn't he.
Yeah, I mean I would like to see Benny Elias's list so that we could probably examine it a little bit closer. But yeah, it's just a strange, Like I think we're the only club where we just get a lot of heat from the X players, Like I know the Broncos went through it as well when they were doing badly. But it's just a particular kind of cross
the Tigers have to bear and obviously Elias. You know, he's like paid for his opinion, and like the more he says crazy stuff like that, the kind of more attention he gets, which is ultimately good for.
His like media reputation.
But yeah, I just disagree with that, like wholeheartedly, because he's not even like the most minutes that Talent played that season correlated in our highest losses with the storm and then also like mainly and I'm not saying that's Talent's fault, but like he definitely has a lot to work on before you'd even con said him as a fast, greed starting hookut. So yeah, I'm not sure what he was talking about there.
I was, I was obviously a great player be any last, but I don't I don't think he's even a fan of the club, Steve, I'm sorry, And he's not an ex player of the club. He's an ex player at Balmain, and the way he talks, I just think it's pathetic some of those ex players he called him ex players.
But well, he got his chance in a last year, didn't He should have came back into the fold and was supposed to be on a be incredibly supportive but it didn't last long.
No, I didn't the bench, Steve. We've got Charlie Murray, Alex Safer, and Tony Suka. I'll be a little bit surprised if Benji doesn't push back to starting. I didn't think that worked last week with Paul starting because she only been going great guards that first fifteen to twenty minutes.
Yeah, and I think Fane who should start. I think he's one of our most improvement and also most consistent players all year, so definitely would start in pole. Coming off the bench would will be good. I think Sea Father this is the best spot for him if he's going to be in the seventeen, is to come off the bench and play in the middle. He's not going to bring a whole lot of impact, but he will he will do a job. I think our our four interchange players sort of match up pretty favorably with their
in turn. I don't think they're going to have any more impact when they come on for their team twill what ours are going to It'll come down to how well Murray and Suka play. I think I think we know what we're going to get from Fanu and Seafa. It's whether Murray and Sugar can hold their own when they come on and play.
Jack Bird on the edge declan, I mean it's it's hard for Benji because if he if he drops Bird back to the bench, they'll say, well, he's had three back rounds in three weeks. But I kind of I think at some point this year maybe tiny Suka might get a girl on that age.
Yeah, I just I'm just not a fan of Bird starting in the back row.
I can I can see the theory, like why you'd think that, but I think he just doesn't really have the physicality that those back rowers require, especially the way we're playing, where like like the back row needs to be able to like have a head up, and I just don't think Birds carry is where it needs to be to be starting in the four pack. And I actually think Soukar has like greatly like surpassed my expectations of how you play this season, and I thought we've
played quite well. So I just don't see why, like if like we're struggling with injury, then I don't see why they wouldn't play them. But yeah, I'm sure there's maybe like a technical reason. Maybe it's the wrong side of the field that he's used to play and then they're a little bit worried about that, and plus Bird has that bit of experience. But yeah, I would be starting to car because I don't think that Bird's got the kind of attributes that are required to start for a pack at the moment.
Hi, boys, Well, stranger things have happened. I got on Sunday night. I said, I convinced this would be fifty or sixty. I've changed my mind on this. I'm not saying we're going to win, but I think this will be a battle this game. Steve.
Yeah, I just want to ask you, guys. The only thing. I mean, you look at having bringing Murray in in the seveneen and we've got I supposedly because doing okay, But why is Kitler literly not getting a run? I'm not getting a chance. So he just says like he's in the he's in the twenty one.
It's only only something you could answer, Steve. I assume if you're in the four Walls of Concord, because my mate who watches State Cup said, you know the games he has played, he always provides an impact. But it just seems like Declan's not a player that Benji trusts at the.
Moment, yeah.
I mean even when he was on the bench four US, he didn't get any game tame.
So there's got to be something to it.
I've heard some like max reviews and about cat and cut, like I think he had a really good like three four weeks, but then he's kind of backed it up with two like kind of perr again.
But I obviously this my own eyes.
I'm not gonna like comment on that, but yeah, it's changed because when I saw him in the Billdogs trial, when he started, he.
Played really well.
I thought that he was going to Definitely I didn't pay it, but yeah, there must be something that the court and stuff hasn't happy with.
I didn't see reserve grade Steve, but apparently Royce Hant had a good game, so I was kind of looking at the bench thing maybe we could do with him. But again I go back to trust and good will and maybe how players train, and I can only assume he's still in the bad books.
Well, it must must be about standards, like Benji has said that all year, you've got to make the standards. If you don't make the stands, you're not playing. But gee, we could do with we could do with his impact at the moment, that's for sure. And I was sorting to GARRYO went out to the reserve grade game on the weekend and he said Hunt had a great, great game in reserve grade and played some decent minutes. So yeah, it's a pretty because we could do with him this weekend.
Quiz time, boys, It's a multiple choice question one, what is our longest winning streak against the Roosters? Decline? Is it A one? B two, C three or D four?
I'm gonna go or be optimistic, Steve.
I was reading the team sheet mates, so I didn't even hear the question. So I'll say, see, we'll see he's correct, Steve. It's the old theory of multiple choice, isn't it went in doubt? Go see that was my theory in high school. Passed me a lot of exams.
So well, some one nil.
We had a time Steve. Question two true or false? The last time West Tigers had a halftime lead against the Roosters was in a season we made the top eight. Declan both true it is false. And I was at this game in twenty eighteen. We led two nil at halftime. That was the Round one game where Tuoy Lola here kicked the penalty goal before halftime. He also kicked the
sideline conversion the winners that game, eight to six. That was in James Tedesco's first game for the Roosters, so that was one of the rare very memorable moments.
Is that all written down? Is that all written down? Is that your memory?
Old memory? Yeah?
Yeah, yeah, that's pretty good.
People say I always bring up the bad time, Steve, but I like to bring up good as well. Question three against which two clubs did Jason Lowry Remember he probably weren't a live deck and he was bald headed Kiwi front rower back in the early two thousands, late nineties. Against which two clubs did Jason Lowry score his two and only rugby league tries against?
Hint?
Both were scored during his West Tigers career. One of them was in the year two thousand. One of them was in the year two thousand and one. I'll give you guys a clue. One of them was against a team that no longer exists. Half of their body still exists, but it's a different name, Other Merger Northern Northern Eagles declan, I remember it his first try and this is written down Steve round ten to two thousand was out at Gosford and his second try. I was at this game
round three to two thousand and one at Campbelltown. It was against the New Zealand Warriors. Game one hundred and forty one hundred and forty two tries, one hundred and forty two games Declan scored before he scored his first try. So that's more than twelve, isn't it. Oh no, maybe I think Thick Twele got his first one. Maybe with one hundred games in not that, don't care. Question four, nearest to the pin as of the end of last season?
What is the average ladder position? Our average ladder position at the completion of the regular season. I mean, you'd think this would be horrible. I'm giving giving a little clue here, but there were a lot of Tim Sheen's years where this side I'd love to run just below mid table. So average ladder position declar was eleven.
Well, I'll say two.
Yeah, Declan was spot on. He took your money there, Steve, he's got eleventh. I was going to say, yeah, who am I? And I'll give you a clue. Boys, nowe A, you're going to get this. That's the clue you're going to get, so I'll read it out anyway for our listeners. I was born in Auckland in nineteen eighty two. I debuted for the Broncos in the year before our clubs made them premiership, so that would be two thousand and four. I played twenty five games there, scoring fifteen tries. In
three years. I signed with our two thousand and six World Club Challenge opponents I think that was Bradford for two years. Returned in the Orld in mid two thousand and nine with our West Tigers. I failed to make any appearances that season. I was touted as our tan Yella Tuiaki replacement prior to the Lotti Takiri signing. I retired at the end of twenty ten, again playing no NRL games due to constant injuries. My name is Tame
twuo Po and Steve. I can't even though I've got a good memory, I don't remember Tame two po no I was.
I got nothing.
Declan, what are you doing for the game this week? If you like me? Have you sort of quit going to games even though I'm going this week? I shouldn't say that, but are you enthusiastic to go to any games before the end of the season.
Look, not really.
I think I behaved and bed the coach. It seems like more of ature, I mean, really negative. That's the podcast. I really should try and.
Be more positive. But yeah, I think it's exactly what you said. It's just the Risters.
They just a lot of teams be us like throughout these years, but the Risters they just really be ours, don't they like they just absolutely have the word over is more than an other team. But you know, we have to be positive and yeah, it's actually a really good grained.
As well or no.
Question, I answered, No, I will not be watching it will be obviously I'll just be having my eyes closed and probably turn it off for half tame.
But yeah, I'll still try and watch.
Steve, you are quite vociferous Sunday about and rightly so. You know, memberships don't get canceled three quarters of the way through the season. How many games you reckon you're going to go to until the end of the year. We do have two of our three like ut which is something I'm looking forward to.
Oh yeah, I'll go to all our home games for sure. I'm not decided about this. Sunday. Yet this I just I just don't want to end up out of the ground and just angry at twenty minutes into the game and fuming because we're so poor. But I think I think i'll probably end. I'll do what I usually do. I'll say I'm not going. I'm not going to go. I am not going to go. Then Sunday more, when I get up, I'll put my gear on and I go. So we'll see.
All right, boys, thank you for tonight, and Declan, I think you are. That's what happens when you're not on a podcast for a few weeks. You've picked up all that anger and you let it out tonight. So I thought you were our man of the match tonight. I thought you were outstanding.
Thank you.
That said a lot of two of us, all
Right, see boys, sid SPI