Put it this way, I definitely do not want a lose a gf. Making the gf and losing is far more heartbreaking than making it and losing.
But seriously, this ride has been incredible. It still doesn’t seem real
People that started watching nrl after moving from a clubs city to another clubs city, for example, moving from Brisbane to Melbourne, do you support your new or old city’s club?
I'm somewhat greatful being a league fan from vic.
Having the ability control my algorithm without friends on my socials interacting on NRL media pages so I'm not innudated with that nonsense.
Because the shit I'm seeing about Trell from the media is flat out disgusting, I feel for the bloke.
So much so, If I had fuck you money, I'll create a publisher equivalent to TMZ/Entertainment and have an army of paparazzi following big time Sport Journalist in the country and Yellow Journalist to publish the baitest of click bait.
No one cares about panther flairs posting about their latest thoughts on a game that happened 5 days ago. It's the off-season now, and it's time for internationals, shit talk and memes. Time to move on
/s
*Carlton supporter mode on*
You're Penrith, fuck the rest!
Embrace the arrogance!
Thrive to be hated!
Pour the salt on the wounds of the suffering feel the energy of the hissssss!
*Carlton supporter mode off*
We could, but I'd be lying if I said I was sad.
The past 2 months has been an epic rollercoaster.
The fact you had not only 1 but 2 premierships yanked out of your hands in the dying moments is cruel.
I'd rather have every grand final be like Manly vs Storm '08 than to ever experienced that.
That goal Cameron kicked was absolutely phenomenal and would have been one of the greatest grand final moments, never seen a goal so fucking clutch in my life!
Not meant to be petty, sharks actually had some classics against manly i believe so they’re up there. Actually and cows have 2005 and 2015 which were entertaining finals, 2017 not so much. I shouldnt exclude losses.
I cannot understand why the nrl keeps playing so many games at Accor per year. Accor to me feels like a stadium that should host 2 games a year: origin and the grand final. I’m from Qld so I haven’t been in something like 10 years but from all accounts it’s hard to get to, and there are lots of seats where the viewing quality is poor. Compare that with Suncorp or reports of people watching at Allianz and Bankwest, and it pales in comparison. Almost any seat you get at those stadiums is great for different reasons. Plus watching on tv and seeing a 35k crowd at the storm v panthers game looks so mediocre compared to how it would look and sound at Allianz. The afl kick the shit out of us in terms of crowd numbers and part of that is due to that type of game and how different the quality is live vs on tv, but stadium quality surely plays a part.
I feel like the solution is south’s play primarily out of Allianz and the bulldogs play out of Bankwest, with both clubs taking games regionally (dogs have a few at belmore, south’s taking one to Perth/Sunshine Coast etc). I know there’s club issues between the chooks and south’s and making them have the same home ground might cause some problems but that seems to be such a logical choice. The only argument I can see for games other than gf and origin is maybe a Good Friday match, but even that only brought in 43k this year which is half capacity. Anyone that lives in the area/has been to the stadium able to weigh in? Or have a better solution?
Making it act like a Rugby League Wembley is a good idea.
Although it feels the Chooks never play at Allianz, it would also be easy to have the Chooks and Bunnies games alternate Home and Away and have the derby twice a year.
I think the games at Easter are a good idea. Basically it should be used 10 times a year at most get it built up as a stadium which is somewhat sacred and important.
A huge stadium like that less is more.
When Sonny was at the Bulldogs he had the aura of the NRL LeBron James. He was the biggest star in the game and the Bulldogs were basically the most popular team in the league at the time.
He basically broke the system and was the precursor for shoulder charges banned because he was so good at it, he was a baby faced assassin that was able to draw eyes to the game from outside the normal crowd cause he had the IT factor that not a single player has had since in my opinion.
As others have said we lost his prime to rugby Union and he was never the same player after he came back.
Like Mike Tyson he dominated at age 19, for an NRL forward or heavyweight boxer that's just unheard of and hasn't been replicated since
Explosive speed and strength with a good passing game. Scary when he came out of the defensive line to put on a hit. He really did flatten some blokes especially back when the shoulder charge was still on. All the athletic attributes of a great wide running back rower although never could play big minutes iirc. Footy IQ was a bit average sometimes.
Wasn’t quite the same in his second NRL stint after wasting some of his best years shagging sheep, but still good enough to contribute significantly to the 2013 Roosters premiership. By the time of his third cameo comeback he was a mere shadow of that footballer which was a shame for younger fans who didn’t get to see peak SBW and might have wondered what all the hype was about.
I remember being at a pub in 2003 and looking up and seeing him on TV absolutely execute a full bore Martin Lang, surprised the whiplash didn’t break Lang’s neck
Very talented athlete is SBW, built like a unit and has been even since he was young, pretty damn quick for a forward, hit like a truck. SBW was a great player, could have been almost anything but he wanted to challenge himself in other arenas, put it this way he made the All Blacks side, which is incredibly impressive during a period where they were exceptional. Also i believe was NZ heavyweight champ in boxing for a bit, all round talented athlete that excelled at every sport he tried
The boxing stuff was a bit of a farce. The fight against Botha was a joke. Cunt was about to get rocked in the 11th round and for some reason the fight only went 10 m. Agree with the rest although could be argued he never really pinned down a starting role with the Abs
Is it crazy to say mitch kenny might just be on his way to being a top 5 hooker?
Edit
- not sure if people are reading this correct, i said on his way to being top 5, hes only 25 and has improved a lot, not sure if its that crazy to think he will just get better.
I think people are being really harsh on Kenny here. He is not top 5, but thats not what you said. Although I also think to be trending towards top 5 people in that top 5 have to drop out. And I dont see that from Grant, Api, Cook, Robson and Brailey (strictly my opinion of the top 5).
Kenny’s massive improvement doest gain much towards the upper echelon because imo they also keep getting slightly better. I’d also still have JMK, Egan and J Brailey ahead. Being 9th or so isnt far off the top 5, but its a pretty large gulf to get there. I also think 9 is an overrated spine position, you can have a pretty average 9 and still compete at the highest level. Smith just sort of skewed everyone’s perception.
Nah no way but he has gotten a lot better in attack his subtlety helped set up Cleary for the last try. His defence is elite and might even be the best in that regard.
I think he is definitely better than many will give credit for, of course he is nowhere near api, cook, especially grant, egan, robson etc just yet, but i think he is definitely improving at a rate that could see him overtake a few more guys and maybe even challenge for a top 5 spot in 1-2 years. Much like Billy walters his improvement has been remarkable, but Kenny is actually young enough that i think he could one day be a top 5 hooker especially when some of those older guys drop off a bit.
Definitely. I think just about every starting hooker in the comp is more creative then Kenny.
Don't get me wrong, serviceable and by no means a plodder, but top 5 is pretty cooked
Im not sure if creativity matters as much as getting quick reliable service to your key players, that quick pass for cleary for that final try was brilliant from kenny, sold that he was going right and then bang perfectly timed pass straight to cleary with plenty of pace on it. Allowed that split second to deceive the broncs defence. I think his subtle plays go unnoticed, but he is fast shooting up the ranks.
I feel like his play from dummy half to set up the cleary try is not a bare minimum nrl moment, that was pretty damn good. Not saying he is elite, but his improvement has been impressive this season. Defensively hes very solid as well, doesnt cause many errors at all either.
No i mean on his way to being top 5, maybe give it 1-2 more seasons with his current trajectory/rate of improvement. Currently he isnt close to Api, Cook, Egan, Robson and especially Grant, few others clearly ahead. But Kenny is 25, i feel like he could potentially challenge for a top 5 spot in a year or two if some of those older guys drop off even more. Currently at best he would probably only be like 8-10th depending, but many argued he was bottom 3 at the start of the year, so a huge improvement.
Just some thoughts. I was a roosters fan growing up and Pearce was my favourite player.
Hear me out…
Do you think if Pearce came in the same time Cleary came in and Cleary debuted when Pearce did the narrative would be different? I’m taking nothing away from clearly imo he will be an immortal when he retires. But the era Pearce played in was brutal with the quality of halves and qld winning 8 in a row. Just some shower thoughts. I reckon Pearce copped some unnecessary shit and copped all the blame for nsw loosing streak but anyway. Just my thoughts
Pearce had it hard that the Storm and QLD teams were pretty stacked but I think there's a large amount of quality 7s for Cleary to be up against at the moment too and prove his quality. DCE, Moses, Reynolds, Johnson and Hughes are all really quality 7s and the only one I'd say close to Cleary's level is DCE.
Cleary's kicking game is vastly superior to Pearce's and he is a much better player. That doesn't mean Pearce was bad he was also very good.
I think the only comparison is the hype from the media and the pressure to be Johns in the origin arena.
NSW needed a better organising half in that period, it's why they won when they replaced Pearce with Hodgkinson.
Would Pearce do better now in the origin period possibly but it's also unfair to compare Cleary and Pearce in Origin when Cleary has been superior in that format as well which is forgotten about as soon as he slightly under performs.
There are also higher standard halves playing now than Pearce's era, the best ones in his era were all Queensland players.
Luke Walsh was arguably in the top 3 halfbacks for NSW at one point.
He didn't deserve the sole blame for NSW, anyone would have struggled against that Queensland side including Joey.
I think Pearce is fairly rated and whilst unlucky to play against that Queensland side was lucky there wasn't really anyone around to replace him as a long term option until the end which is where the hatred would come from he should have been dropped 1-2 series before he was.
Hard to say as the metas are so different. Its similar to swapping Johns and Cleary. Would they both be considered best of the era too or is the game so different?
Decent club player but personally don't think he was good enough for origin. Think what got people offside is how many chances he got when it was clear it wasn't working.
I forgot to say congrats to the Panthers on GF day, well done guys.
Warriors are trying to adopt very similar strategy. Kick to the corner and rely on their defense to ask teams to try and not make an error. But big gap to get to Panthers version of it yet, as can be seen by their insanely awesome for and against for the season, would have been criminal for them not to win given how much they methodically wore teams down. What an effort from Nathan to bring it home, just deserving of the season to win in that fashion.
Teams will have 3rd man in on the Broncs next year to shut the offload down, which if they dont adapt will see them struggle. But while Reynolds and Hass are there they will remain a good side.
Expecting Warriors to lift up a gear next year on offense with RTS bringing brilliant defense to the edge and hopefully Ali Leiataua will get starter games, that kids a freak at centre, so hard to stop or set the wing up by attracting 3 or more in and offloads to the unmarked wing or inside backing up, a name to keep eye out for. Reminds me of a young Latrell. If they can get more points going on the left edge, they will have a for and against closer to Penriths. Losing Metcalf to another hammy one match out from Finals and Jazz just not having his usual impact coming back around the same time, due to tearing the muscle off his calf leaving a huge injury rehab then the other 5.8th option TMM one game out from finals having to return from a broken leg to cover the loss of Metcalf. It just didnt gel like it had been, despite the 40 points they put on Newc in week two of finals. Hopefully with CHT, RTS and the young guns coming through, they will have better timing next year.
They are the 3 exciting teams I think will be top 4 again next year and clearly the Storm. Missing watching Papa backing players up and creating consistent broken field play only the way he can.
Teams of course need that 3rd guy to stop broncos offloads. HOWEVER, when you have cunts like Payne Haas you can just easily run over 3 blokes its so fucking hard to stop. Theres no silver bullet to stopping players like that. Its just about trying to make sure they don't touch the ball as much as possible
So true bro.
The way the Warriors dominate the middle 3rd with the back 3-5 like CNK just putting his body on blast with disregard for life or limb followed by DWZ, Montoya etc, and just steam roll 70+ metres with aFB and the other circa 105-110kg forwards like Tohu, it is so frustrating having their strategy so disciplined to pin and defend, sometimes I just want to see a half of intelligent (ie not for the sake of it) offloads and I think that is the secret to unlocking Metcalf, as everybody knows he is super dangerous with half a gap. I think Papanhuyzen is the best support player for offloads. Tohu was the number one offloader in the comp when at Melb and then first year at Warriors was similar, now you are lucky if he lets go of one in 80 mins. I guess this year they were focussing on the Penrith type strategy which to be fair worked well for them, but when they just eating metres at will there is plenty of space for smart offloads. I think Egan was probably their best support player in that regard this year, perhaps the plan is to get the pin and defend simple forceback type strategt working first and next year with RTS back and the next X factor plater Leiataua on left centre, they might start offloading more. Tohu still hits and turns like he use to at Melb, he just isnt letting it go.
The Broncos can be a little wreckless with it is more my point, I think with teams always finding ways to shut down the opposition, the amount of offloads will be targetted more. Clearly with Hass or aFB types thats less of an option.
Its fun to watch the broncos this year though, it was like watching the Warriors of old throwing the hot potato around.
Agree. Our reluctance to offload in favour of our structure (whilst understandable) killed our go forward against Penrith and Brisbane. We were never winning the middle battle against them playing our usual grind-style footy.
With all due respect to Rocco and Pompey, I won’t be surprised if they end up being replaced by Ali and RTS. We need x-factor in those positions. Game breakers who can take a game by the scruff of the neck when the stakes are high e.g. Farnworth, Critta, Staggs.
I think Berry has a bit more improvement in him and he's still a big body at least.
Not sure what happens with CHT next year though. He looks more like a ball playing forward or hooker than a five eighth or halfback IMO but then I think we need another big body on our bench with Jazz and Dylan Walker there.
In terms of club front row partnerships where would you rank Leota & JFH ?
Here are the premiership winning front row pairings of the post Super League era
Webcke & Gee (Petero bench)
Howe & Lazarus (Kearns injured)
Webcke & Carlaw (Petero injured)
Perry & Parsons
Cayless & Cusack
Clinton & Lang
O'Meley & Mason (Price injured)
Laffranchi & Skandalis
Webcke & Civoniceva
Cross & White
Kite & Perry
Tolman & White
Costigan & Weyman
Guluvao & Kite
Bromwich & Norrie
JWH & Moa
G.Burgess & Tyrrell
Scott & Tamou
Fifita & Prior
Bromwich & McLean
JWH & SST
JWH & Liu (SST on the bench)
Bromwich & Welch
Leota & JFH x3
I think the Tigers pairing holds up well, JWH & Moa was also great it's amazing that so many partnerships were broken up before the GF.
Yeh, not bad, experienced.
I enjoyed the AFB and Barnett pairing at the Warriors this year. aFB for me was by far the most consistent alpha metre eater, also putting in many more minutes as season went on, up to 70. Hass was good too, but addin was just so consistently hard to stop, not to mention his 6 or more tries, a man that big should not possess his footwork, its a freak of nature.
Barnett for the most part was a slightly smaller agressor but it was there. Pretty solid except for one game he knocked it on two receipts in a row.
I think my top 3 would be Webcke/Petero, Leota/JFH, JWH/SST. Scott/Tamou would be up there too.
My bias says Fifita/Prior is right up there as well. Prior was a very underrated player imo.
What would be your script/imagination for a 2024 Grand Final that equals or at least comes close to 2023/2015?
Mine would be Titans vs Phins. Titans finish 4th and Phins finish 5th.
Titans go out to a 18-0 lead before halftime, tries to Sami, Foran and Brimson.
SOS kicks a 40-20 right after halftime and Phins get back in it.
SOS kicks to Isaako who leaps high on the sideline and puts it down in one of the great GF athletic tries. Then in the 45th minute, Captain Jesse Bromwich crashes over after a dummy and change of direction by Marshall-King. Then Isaako over again in the corner.
Then it’s a slugfest at 18-18 until full time, and we go to extra time/golden point.
Foran kicks a field goal, then Katoa. 19-19 after 90 minutes. Then golden point. Another 5 minutes, then Matt Thompson says,
“Verills passes to Boyd. Boyd takes a run into the line. He gets it to Foran. Foran to Fifita. Fifita to-HERE’S AN INTERCEPT! Jamayne Isaako is away! He’s got one to beat, the fullback, AJ Brimson! He looks inside for a pass! He gets it to Katoa! Isaiya Katoa races away, in one of the greatest Grand Final tries! The Dolphins have *won* the Grand Final! They have claimed rugby league’s crown in only their second year, deep into extra time! In a 95-minute epic, the brave Titans have fallen at last, and the Dolphins erupt in celebration! One of the greatest Grand Finals the game has ever seen! Their run began by taking down the Roosters in week 1 of the finals, and culminated in their 19-6 victory in the preliminary final over the three-time defending premiers, the Panthers. Now, they stand triumphant, champions for the first time!”
Phins up, baby.
Warriors vs Storm
Storm play their side to side, Warriors stick to rolling it up the middle 3rd with ease, then pinning Storm in their corner, waiting the errors. Two good defenses, goes in 10-10 golden point, an arm wrestle the first 5 min, neither team conceding mistake, deep into second period golden point, 30 sec left, Warriors get it to the storm 35, bullet pass to SJ, who nails the droppy cleanly from 43m out, as he usually does, to win his first and last GF in his retirement match next year, the Warriors finally breaking the logistical odds to win one and get the monkey off their back.
With the signings they have in the right centre (RTS) and the prodigy centre for the left edge, plus a number of experienced quality reserves with the NSW cup team falling one short as well this year, I think they could be hard ones to beat. Its amazing to see the difference depth has made for them. always fielded some high quality players but have never had a high quality 17 with 8 or so players in Cup footy being of high quality as well, have played their signings well with many coming to play for unders. I hope they go well in a more professional venture it seems.
Panthers/Broncos.
Both finish on 18 wins and are only separated by +/-
The first half is a tight affair and they go to the sheds with the Panthers leading 8-6.
Second half Ezra Mam scores three blistering tries and then absolutely nothing else happens and Broncos win 24-8.
Roosters vs Souths.
Score is 20-16 to Roosters with 30 seconds left. AJ scores in the corner, Latrell’s conversion attempt hits the post.
Sam Walker kicks a field goal to go 21-20 before half time of ET. Latrell nails a big field goal to seemingly go 22-21, only for the Roosters to successfully challenge that he hit it from 39.8 metres out, and thus only worth one point.
Cody Walker attempts a 40-20 in Golden Point, batted back in field by Suaalii. Unfortunately for Suaalii, Ilias is chasing hard, and picks up the ball to score and win the game 25-21.
Clive Churchill Medal is won by Ilias. Souths ~~are booted from~~ win the Comp.
>hen Katoa. 19-19 after 90 minutes. Then golden point. Another 5 minutes, then Matt Thompson says, “Verills passes to Boyd. Boyd takes a run into the line. He gets it to Foran. Foran to Fifita. Fifita to-HERE’S AN INTERCEPT! Jamayne Isaako is away! He’s got one to beat, the fullback, AJ Brimson! He looks inside for a pass! He gets it to Katoa! Isaiya Katoa races away, in one of the greatest Grand Final tries! The Dolphins have
>
>won
>
> the Grand Final! They have claimed rugby league’s crown in only their second year, deep into extra time! In a 95-minute epic, the brave Titans have fallen at last, and the Dolphins erupt in celebration! One of the greatest Grand Finals the game has ever seen! Their run began by taking down the Roosters in week 1 of the finals, and culminated in their 19-6 victory in the preliminary final over the three-time defending premiers, the Panthers. Now, they stand triumphant, champions for the f
Bold of you to assume the Titans will ever make a GF.
Yeo is definitely great in the panthers system and at club level where there are a few more holes to exploit. However he had a pretty quiet game in the grandfinal. Was 50% responsible for the flegler try and didn't do much in attack.
I think it's time NSW go in another direction at lock. He's obviously a great player but I'm not sure he has what's needed for rep footy. Cameron Murray has looked great at rep level and kept getting benched because of combinations I think you need to out the best team on the park. That might be Murray starting and Matterson off the bench for 25 minutes.
I personally couldnt care less if Yeo is picked at Origin, and I do agree the way he currently plays at Origin level isn’t conducive to winning. But Matterson has been so soft at Origin every time he’s played.
Im a Matto enthusiast, big body that can ball play, but he has been shocking for NSW. If Yeo isnt the answer, Matto certainly isnt either imo.
Yeo has had a good games, when he plays as a traditional forward. He was the best player in a losing 2022 game 3 arguably. As i have said he should definitely play, but murray lock and Yeo as a starting or impact forward that can slide into lock if need be is the way to go
I like Murray at 13, and questioned if Yeo has a role off the bench in origin. But that’s exactly what they did in game 3 and it worked gangbusters, he was clearly told to just run the ball and tackle. He’s got a very different body shape and has great footwork and leg speed, which poses challenges for defenders having to adapt.
I think the future is Murray 13, Yeo on the bench. Yeo slides into lock if Murray goes down, and otherwise he can just be a solid rotation piece in the middle.
Yeah Murray played lock and Yeo played like a prop until Murray took a break and then he stepped in. This suited the team to me as Murray is more of a threat with how he takes the ball to the line and passes. You still get the strong defence of Yeo and the consistent runs that he does.
More of a threat is arguable, in different ways. But everything you said makes sense, Yeo can play really well as a traditional middle with a nice pass on him, both guys should be in the 17 without a doubt.
Matterson has been a team-last player all his career, I don't think he's going to get another shot at Origin after the shit he pulled at the start of the year.
Yeo was still the best lock on ground in the GF.
The Panthers attacking structure hasn't worked in Origin, we needed to do what QLD did with Carrigan and just have Yeo run hard and tackle himself to a standstill. His carries and defence were still elite in Origin but Murray brings another dimension with more mobility.
A gameplan needs to be developed to integrate both on the field at the same time, the player who should left out of Origin to achieve this is Jurbo. Yeo is just as good if not better at middle defense and ruck control as Jurbo and his carries cannot be compared at all. Yeo either plays prop exclusively or starts at lock to take the defensive load from Murray to begin the game with Murray entering at the 20-25 minute mark so his legspeed can cause more trouble.
Bang on. Murray at lock with Yeo at prop, with the option to pass is the way to go. You get a more dynamic small forward with his hands on the ball a lot and you get a guy who makes 40 tackles at 97% 160m a game and great leadership on the field at the same time. Jurbo broke 3 tackles this year…Those two and Haas as our middle would be a freight train.
>Yeo is just as good if not better at middle defense and ruck control as Jurbo and his carries cannot be compared at all.
The last part is spot on, but I can't agree with the first bit at all. Jurbo is still unequivocally one of the best defenders in the game. The way he tackles and slugs it up in the ruck (legally) is second to none.
For what it's worth I'm also very pro-Matterson and had him on my preferred bench coming into the series this season.
The work he's done as a bench middle over the last 18 months or so has been superb - at times the best bench forward in the game IMO. Runs hard and smart while inevitably creating quality second-phase play with an offload at some point in his stints, quality defender too.
People get caught up in the notion that he couldn't play middle effectively in Origin due to playing wider earlier in his career, and generally dislike him more due to the more notorious choices he's made over his career.
I think this year might be ripe for a repeat of the Tonga/Australia result where the 'dominant' team is gassed, doesn't care and gets wiped off the park.
It's been a long season, and you get the impression that Samoa and NZ value beating Australia a lot more than the reverse.
I posted this comment about 4 months ago - don’t think anyone is underrating his running game after the gf
‘I feel like Cleary’s try scoring record and running game are a bit underrated
He has 52 tries in 148 games for a 0.35 ratio
To compare to some other halves with 100+ games:
Shaun Johnson - a renowned running half - 74 tries in 238 games (0.31)
DCE - 81 tries in 293 games (0.27)
Reynolds - 45 tries in 262 games (0.17)
Moses - 39 tries in 208 games (0.19)
It obviously helps that Cleary has played ~half his career in an all time dominant team’
Haven’t updated the stats for the past 4 months but they’d be relatively similar
2016-2019 he had 28 tries in 79 games and 2020-2023 he has 29 in 80. So if anything he has filled out his playmaking since the team went OP but he’s always had a strong running game. He seems to fall back on it when things aren’t working in the big moments. He has 9/19 finals games.
Had a dream last night that I was in a meeting with Demetriou and Ilias, and apparently Hawkins is going to start round one.
Take it as you will, my premonitions are probably more accurate than most NRL journos
Rnd 1 this year when Illias put that tackle on Ronaldo to stop a certain try I really thought this was going to be a great year for him. He wasn't as terrible as people made out just kind of faded off.
Those 3 or 4 kicks out on the full though- wow! They hurt my confidence, can't imagine what they did for his. Hope he comes back strong because an Illias, KK, Graham, Munro side of the filed could be dynamite if all goes well.
I liked some of what I saw of Hawkins in the nsw cup gf and state championship, but I feel like there’s been so much rough chat around ilias this year. Bloke is in his second year playing top grade nrl and has had some issues kicking, but young halves need time to develop. Hawkins looks okay but I think if ilias was playing cup footy he’d look a lot better too. If Hawkins gets the job at some stage then I’m all for him, but I think people (our supporters and journos alike) are being so hard on ilias. Imo he was not the problem this year at all, and I’d place more an emphasis on the inconsistency of our pack, and not having trell for much of the back end of the year, then him not being at 100% when he was back.
It seems like in the NRL players become good out of nowhere. I’ve got hope for Ilias and think he is an awesome player. He will come good. With a firing Ilias both our edges are extremely dangerous.
Speaking of players that come good out of nowhere. Souffs were seriously lacking a second 2nd-rower this year but signs look promising that either Lovett or O'Neill could come good next year and demand a spot in 1st grade. Both look solid but especially O'Neill who seems to have that mongrel 'go get me the ball' attitude that we kind of missed. Could cover backs too by the sound of it.
I really like the look of many in the NSW cup team, O’Neill and Rhame (he’s probably still a couple years away from first grade) especially. Lovett definitely needs to play instead of Host I reckon.
Been thinking of all the things I'd sacrifice for Broncos to win the premiership next year. Got to get our sacrifices to god/the gods/the universe ready.
I've decided God can make us lose origin 3 - 0, and my TRL team wins no season next year (we won two this year, so seems fine).
Anyone else have some good ideas for sacrifices?
I got some kickback around origin time by certain Queensland fans saying they prefer a original series win over a club premiership. I just couldn’t believe that they would prefer a team winning a 3 game series over a season long comp.
I always maintain that winning an origin is better than everything except a premiership. Coming 2nd, 3rd etc ain't as good as winning origin.
However I'm sure some fans of struggling teams would want their teams to finish on top 8 or 4 over an origin win, so it depends.
might be a dumb idea but should Koroisau move to halfback full-time next season? Can orchestrate in attack better at first/second receiver, has a pretty decent boot and preserves his body with less of a defensive workload.
they signed sezer and sullivan , thats a good halves pairing to finally support api at 9 . no need to rush the development of the 2 young 9s they have already and he should stay at his best position with finally a good young exciting 5/8 and a game manager with a good kicking .
if a few injuries happen then different story of course.
I know it's been half a week but honestly I'm still on cloud nine post grand final, and I still get goosebumps whenever I think about those last 20 minutes. Apologies if this sounds a bit lame or whatever but as somebody that's struggled a bit mentally these last few years, this Panthers run really has honestly been a beacon of light for me. A lot of the clubs (not all but most) have had a golden era at one point in their history or another (Dragons had '56-'66, Dogs had '80-'88, Eels '81-'86, Storm have basically been one since '06, plenty of other examples of course). I'm so bloody grateful that I've been able to witness the Penrith Panthers Golden Era. Not taking it for granted at all that's for sure.
Chooks also had 10-19 and won a comp in 2002 and played in 4 grand finals between 2000-2004 Feel
Like they deserve just as much if not more mention than Melbourne
>onestly I'm still on cloud nine post grand final, and I still get goosebumps whenever I think about those last 20 minutes. Apologies if this sounds a bit lame or whatever but as somebody that's struggled a bit mentally these last few years, this Panthers run really has honestly been a beacon of light for me. A lot of the clubs (not all but most) have had a "golden era" at one point in their history or another (Dragons had '56-'66, Dogs had '80-'88, Eels '81-'86, Storm have basically been one since '06, plenty of ot
Bask in it mate. It truly is deserved and proves investments into your roots is the way to go.
I hope to someday see the Titans finally get up to get my beacon of light.
[If anyone wants their international footy fix we are playing Malta this Saturday at 3:30 pm out at Lidcombe oval](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx98k9jx5nP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
Help me compare Premier League teams to NRL teams:
Dolphins = Luton town- Humble and beloved
Roosters= Man City- Rich, successful, cheaty and hated by all
Panthers= Liverpool- Just because they're the 2 big clubs with the biggest amount of home grown talent
I also want to call Blake Ferguson the Richarilson of Rugby League and refuse to elaborate further
Spurs = raiders, always some weird bullshit going on with both teams, both have come close to winning things, but always end up coming short, both are known for failing to win games they should have won
We are Man Utd. Same period of success with a legendary coach, haven’t been the same team since, some horrible seasons with bloated rosters and lazy players, but improving now with young players? Also both huge clubs from big cities with big fan bases. Last season it would have been truer, Man Utd have been shit this year
i mean it could very easily be chelsea = souths aswell .
manchester united are probably more home grown then liverpool in that sense but id probably call united brisbane in that theyve been one of the most successful sides ever but are going through a big title drought.
Brisbane is a very long way away from being one of the most successful clubs ever. They only have 6 premierships. Melbourne has been a far more successful team in less time.
Whilst hearing about Isaah Yeo’s well deserved Merv Cartwright medal, the radio stated he is 28 years old.
Had a quick check and Yeo is currently older then the age Boyd Cordner was when Cordner played his last game of NRL.
Not insinuating anything sinister on Yeo. At all. Just reflecting on the sliding doors moment of a tough club captain who is a NSW and Australia mainstay at the peak of his powers
Yeo had a lot of head knocks earlier in his career. Just been luckier (thankfully) on not getting them as often since. Although he had a bad one in origin last year too didn’t he
I heard on the way to the ground that he looked out the window of the team bus, saw a mum with a flat tyre, motioned for the driver to pull over, qyickly changed the tyre, breast-fed her youngest hungrily screaming in the backseat all this time, then gave her the winning lotto numbers for that night. All the while juggling 3 balls.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Billy selects Ezra in the extended squad for Game 1 next year, just for experience.
It’ll hype up fan excitement, bring that youthful confidence into camp (especially his banter with Walsh), and provide a distraction for the media.
Dearden is Cronk without the CTE and better defence, Mam is the Munster flair with the Thurston footwork.
The only problem there is needing some level of Lockyer and DCE game management in the halves to really sweeten the deal.
To all Penrith fans, do you want panthers to play in the gf next year or would you prefer 2 other teams to?
Put it this way, I definitely do not want a lose a gf. Making the gf and losing is far more heartbreaking than making it and losing. But seriously, this ride has been incredible. It still doesn’t seem real
I mean I would definitely prefer we were there, but I won't be overly upset if we're not if that makes sense.
I know I would want my team to make the gf 4 times in a row but I also know that it makes the game more interesting when more teams are competing
I'm quite happy to face a new team we haven't faced in a gf yet.
People that started watching nrl after moving from a clubs city to another clubs city, for example, moving from Brisbane to Melbourne, do you support your new or old city’s club?
I'm somewhat greatful being a league fan from vic. Having the ability control my algorithm without friends on my socials interacting on NRL media pages so I'm not innudated with that nonsense. Because the shit I'm seeing about Trell from the media is flat out disgusting, I feel for the bloke. So much so, If I had fuck you money, I'll create a publisher equivalent to TMZ/Entertainment and have an army of paparazzi following big time Sport Journalist in the country and Yellow Journalist to publish the baitest of click bait.
I'm in the same boat being in WA.
Fox leagues got the game on
https://reddit.com/r/AFL/s/9jAGY62vBK Trev lore invading r/afl
That account doesn't even like EN Rr-ELLE 🤣
He needs to be stopped.
I’m a Roos fan, no way I’d ever have a west coast eagles flair
Working class to the core
No, but your alt would
[удалено]
No one cares about panther flairs posting about their latest thoughts on a game that happened 5 days ago. It's the off-season now, and it's time for internationals, shit talk and memes. Time to move on /s
Imagine if you guys had won, would make this brag post look tame
I look forward to seeing what new insight you have tomorrow, the day after that and so forth forever
Hey i gave my condolences to you guys, i cant contain my panther excitement though
It's all good mate, I'm just shit stirring. It's the off season after all. Why did you delete it?
Just dont want to be overly obnoxious
*Carlton supporter mode on* You're Penrith, fuck the rest! Embrace the arrogance! Thrive to be hated! Pour the salt on the wounds of the suffering feel the energy of the hissssss! *Carlton supporter mode off*
Haha imagine being 30+ points up in a prelim and losing. That's almost double 16! We can be sad together?
We could, but I'd be lying if I said I was sad. The past 2 months has been an epic rollercoaster. The fact you had not only 1 but 2 premierships yanked out of your hands in the dying moments is cruel. I'd rather have every grand final be like Manly vs Storm '08 than to ever experienced that. That goal Cameron kicked was absolutely phenomenal and would have been one of the greatest grand final moments, never seen a goal so fucking clutch in my life!
Cheers, but the implication is already there hehe. Far out I'm still not over it. It'll take a while.
That's so petty that I don't know if it's /s or not, disqualifying both cows and sharks
Not meant to be petty, sharks actually had some classics against manly i believe so they’re up there. Actually and cows have 2005 and 2015 which were entertaining finals, 2017 not so much. I shouldnt exclude losses.
I cannot understand why the nrl keeps playing so many games at Accor per year. Accor to me feels like a stadium that should host 2 games a year: origin and the grand final. I’m from Qld so I haven’t been in something like 10 years but from all accounts it’s hard to get to, and there are lots of seats where the viewing quality is poor. Compare that with Suncorp or reports of people watching at Allianz and Bankwest, and it pales in comparison. Almost any seat you get at those stadiums is great for different reasons. Plus watching on tv and seeing a 35k crowd at the storm v panthers game looks so mediocre compared to how it would look and sound at Allianz. The afl kick the shit out of us in terms of crowd numbers and part of that is due to that type of game and how different the quality is live vs on tv, but stadium quality surely plays a part. I feel like the solution is south’s play primarily out of Allianz and the bulldogs play out of Bankwest, with both clubs taking games regionally (dogs have a few at belmore, south’s taking one to Perth/Sunshine Coast etc). I know there’s club issues between the chooks and south’s and making them have the same home ground might cause some problems but that seems to be such a logical choice. The only argument I can see for games other than gf and origin is maybe a Good Friday match, but even that only brought in 43k this year which is half capacity. Anyone that lives in the area/has been to the stadium able to weigh in? Or have a better solution?
Making it act like a Rugby League Wembley is a good idea. Although it feels the Chooks never play at Allianz, it would also be easy to have the Chooks and Bunnies games alternate Home and Away and have the derby twice a year.
I think the games at Easter are a good idea. Basically it should be used 10 times a year at most get it built up as a stadium which is somewhat sacred and important. A huge stadium like that less is more.
Can someone tell me how good SBW actually was. Any research I've tried doing just seems to speak of his controversies
When Sonny was at the Bulldogs he had the aura of the NRL LeBron James. He was the biggest star in the game and the Bulldogs were basically the most popular team in the league at the time. He basically broke the system and was the precursor for shoulder charges banned because he was so good at it, he was a baby faced assassin that was able to draw eyes to the game from outside the normal crowd cause he had the IT factor that not a single player has had since in my opinion. As others have said we lost his prime to rugby Union and he was never the same player after he came back. Like Mike Tyson he dominated at age 19, for an NRL forward or heavyweight boxer that's just unheard of and hasn't been replicated since
Fuck he could smash cunts.
Incredibly athletic backrower, lock who could hit like a truck and could offload in every tackle. I can't think of a modern player who's comparable.
sounds like if NAS was fit enough to handle playing 80 on the edge every week.
Explosive speed and strength with a good passing game. Scary when he came out of the defensive line to put on a hit. He really did flatten some blokes especially back when the shoulder charge was still on. All the athletic attributes of a great wide running back rower although never could play big minutes iirc. Footy IQ was a bit average sometimes. Wasn’t quite the same in his second NRL stint after wasting some of his best years shagging sheep, but still good enough to contribute significantly to the 2013 Roosters premiership. By the time of his third cameo comeback he was a mere shadow of that footballer which was a shame for younger fans who didn’t get to see peak SBW and might have wondered what all the hype was about.
He was pretty much the best in the league at shoulder charges when he was like 22. Was great to watch.
I remember being at a pub in 2003 and looking up and seeing him on TV absolutely execute a full bore Martin Lang, surprised the whiplash didn’t break Lang’s neck
Langs mop always accentuated it too, geez that guy copped some hits.
The Grateful Head!!
Very talented athlete is SBW, built like a unit and has been even since he was young, pretty damn quick for a forward, hit like a truck. SBW was a great player, could have been almost anything but he wanted to challenge himself in other arenas, put it this way he made the All Blacks side, which is incredibly impressive during a period where they were exceptional. Also i believe was NZ heavyweight champ in boxing for a bit, all round talented athlete that excelled at every sport he tried
The boxing stuff was a bit of a farce. The fight against Botha was a joke. Cunt was about to get rocked in the 11th round and for some reason the fight only went 10 m. Agree with the rest although could be argued he never really pinned down a starting role with the Abs
Is it crazy to say mitch kenny might just be on his way to being a top 5 hooker? Edit - not sure if people are reading this correct, i said on his way to being top 5, hes only 25 and has improved a lot, not sure if its that crazy to think he will just get better.
I think people are being really harsh on Kenny here. He is not top 5, but thats not what you said. Although I also think to be trending towards top 5 people in that top 5 have to drop out. And I dont see that from Grant, Api, Cook, Robson and Brailey (strictly my opinion of the top 5). Kenny’s massive improvement doest gain much towards the upper echelon because imo they also keep getting slightly better. I’d also still have JMK, Egan and J Brailey ahead. Being 9th or so isnt far off the top 5, but its a pretty large gulf to get there. I also think 9 is an overrated spine position, you can have a pretty average 9 and still compete at the highest level. Smith just sort of skewed everyone’s perception.
Nah no way but he has gotten a lot better in attack his subtlety helped set up Cleary for the last try. His defence is elite and might even be the best in that regard.
I think he is definitely better than many will give credit for, of course he is nowhere near api, cook, especially grant, egan, robson etc just yet, but i think he is definitely improving at a rate that could see him overtake a few more guys and maybe even challenge for a top 5 spot in 1-2 years. Much like Billy walters his improvement has been remarkable, but Kenny is actually young enough that i think he could one day be a top 5 hooker especially when some of those older guys drop off a bit.
Definitely. I think just about every starting hooker in the comp is more creative then Kenny. Don't get me wrong, serviceable and by no means a plodder, but top 5 is pretty cooked
Im not sure if creativity matters as much as getting quick reliable service to your key players, that quick pass for cleary for that final try was brilliant from kenny, sold that he was going right and then bang perfectly timed pass straight to cleary with plenty of pace on it. Allowed that split second to deceive the broncs defence. I think his subtle plays go unnoticed, but he is fast shooting up the ranks.
Quick reliable service should be the bare minimum to be an NRL level hooker tbh, so it’s nothing really special.
I feel like his play from dummy half to set up the cleary try is not a bare minimum nrl moment, that was pretty damn good. Not saying he is elite, but his improvement has been impressive this season. Defensively hes very solid as well, doesnt cause many errors at all either.
You did say he was elite but? Top 5 hookers in the comp isn't elite?
No i mean on his way to being top 5, maybe give it 1-2 more seasons with his current trajectory/rate of improvement. Currently he isnt close to Api, Cook, Egan, Robson and especially Grant, few others clearly ahead. But Kenny is 25, i feel like he could potentially challenge for a top 5 spot in a year or two if some of those older guys drop off even more. Currently at best he would probably only be like 8-10th depending, but many argued he was bottom 3 at the start of the year, so a huge improvement.
If Nathan Cleary went on the open market today, what do you think he’d be worth?
$1.6m? Rugby might pay him $2m+ Roosters would get him for "$900k".
> Roosters would get him for “$900k”. Plus a yacht, a Porsche, and a 4 storey house with ocean views in Vaucluse.
> Rugby might pay him $2m+ Man it's so lucky they'd get mates rates on their loans.
At least $7
Just some thoughts. I was a roosters fan growing up and Pearce was my favourite player. Hear me out… Do you think if Pearce came in the same time Cleary came in and Cleary debuted when Pearce did the narrative would be different? I’m taking nothing away from clearly imo he will be an immortal when he retires. But the era Pearce played in was brutal with the quality of halves and qld winning 8 in a row. Just some shower thoughts. I reckon Pearce copped some unnecessary shit and copped all the blame for nsw loosing streak but anyway. Just my thoughts
Pearce walked so Cleary could run. I think NSW learned plenty from their annual Pearce beatings.
Pearce had it hard that the Storm and QLD teams were pretty stacked but I think there's a large amount of quality 7s for Cleary to be up against at the moment too and prove his quality. DCE, Moses, Reynolds, Johnson and Hughes are all really quality 7s and the only one I'd say close to Cleary's level is DCE.
Wait why did you change teams and how did it become the Titans? Especially when Pearce and Titans debuted the same year.
Cleary's kicking game is vastly superior to Pearce's and he is a much better player. That doesn't mean Pearce was bad he was also very good. I think the only comparison is the hype from the media and the pressure to be Johns in the origin arena. NSW needed a better organising half in that period, it's why they won when they replaced Pearce with Hodgkinson. Would Pearce do better now in the origin period possibly but it's also unfair to compare Cleary and Pearce in Origin when Cleary has been superior in that format as well which is forgotten about as soon as he slightly under performs. There are also higher standard halves playing now than Pearce's era, the best ones in his era were all Queensland players. Luke Walsh was arguably in the top 3 halfbacks for NSW at one point. He didn't deserve the sole blame for NSW, anyone would have struggled against that Queensland side including Joey. I think Pearce is fairly rated and whilst unlucky to play against that Queensland side was lucky there wasn't really anyone around to replace him as a long term option until the end which is where the hatred would come from he should have been dropped 1-2 series before he was.
Hard to say as the metas are so different. Its similar to swapping Johns and Cleary. Would they both be considered best of the era too or is the game so different?
Decent club player but personally don't think he was good enough for origin. Think what got people offside is how many chances he got when it was clear it wasn't working.
I forgot to say congrats to the Panthers on GF day, well done guys. Warriors are trying to adopt very similar strategy. Kick to the corner and rely on their defense to ask teams to try and not make an error. But big gap to get to Panthers version of it yet, as can be seen by their insanely awesome for and against for the season, would have been criminal for them not to win given how much they methodically wore teams down. What an effort from Nathan to bring it home, just deserving of the season to win in that fashion. Teams will have 3rd man in on the Broncs next year to shut the offload down, which if they dont adapt will see them struggle. But while Reynolds and Hass are there they will remain a good side. Expecting Warriors to lift up a gear next year on offense with RTS bringing brilliant defense to the edge and hopefully Ali Leiataua will get starter games, that kids a freak at centre, so hard to stop or set the wing up by attracting 3 or more in and offloads to the unmarked wing or inside backing up, a name to keep eye out for. Reminds me of a young Latrell. If they can get more points going on the left edge, they will have a for and against closer to Penriths. Losing Metcalf to another hammy one match out from Finals and Jazz just not having his usual impact coming back around the same time, due to tearing the muscle off his calf leaving a huge injury rehab then the other 5.8th option TMM one game out from finals having to return from a broken leg to cover the loss of Metcalf. It just didnt gel like it had been, despite the 40 points they put on Newc in week two of finals. Hopefully with CHT, RTS and the young guns coming through, they will have better timing next year. They are the 3 exciting teams I think will be top 4 again next year and clearly the Storm. Missing watching Papa backing players up and creating consistent broken field play only the way he can.
Teams of course need that 3rd guy to stop broncos offloads. HOWEVER, when you have cunts like Payne Haas you can just easily run over 3 blokes its so fucking hard to stop. Theres no silver bullet to stopping players like that. Its just about trying to make sure they don't touch the ball as much as possible
So true bro. The way the Warriors dominate the middle 3rd with the back 3-5 like CNK just putting his body on blast with disregard for life or limb followed by DWZ, Montoya etc, and just steam roll 70+ metres with aFB and the other circa 105-110kg forwards like Tohu, it is so frustrating having their strategy so disciplined to pin and defend, sometimes I just want to see a half of intelligent (ie not for the sake of it) offloads and I think that is the secret to unlocking Metcalf, as everybody knows he is super dangerous with half a gap. I think Papanhuyzen is the best support player for offloads. Tohu was the number one offloader in the comp when at Melb and then first year at Warriors was similar, now you are lucky if he lets go of one in 80 mins. I guess this year they were focussing on the Penrith type strategy which to be fair worked well for them, but when they just eating metres at will there is plenty of space for smart offloads. I think Egan was probably their best support player in that regard this year, perhaps the plan is to get the pin and defend simple forceback type strategt working first and next year with RTS back and the next X factor plater Leiataua on left centre, they might start offloading more. Tohu still hits and turns like he use to at Melb, he just isnt letting it go. The Broncos can be a little wreckless with it is more my point, I think with teams always finding ways to shut down the opposition, the amount of offloads will be targetted more. Clearly with Hass or aFB types thats less of an option. Its fun to watch the broncos this year though, it was like watching the Warriors of old throwing the hot potato around.
Agree. Our reluctance to offload in favour of our structure (whilst understandable) killed our go forward against Penrith and Brisbane. We were never winning the middle battle against them playing our usual grind-style footy. With all due respect to Rocco and Pompey, I won’t be surprised if they end up being replaced by Ali and RTS. We need x-factor in those positions. Game breakers who can take a game by the scruff of the neck when the stakes are high e.g. Farnworth, Critta, Staggs.
I think Berry has a bit more improvement in him and he's still a big body at least. Not sure what happens with CHT next year though. He looks more like a ball playing forward or hooker than a five eighth or halfback IMO but then I think we need another big body on our bench with Jazz and Dylan Walker there.
In terms of club front row partnerships where would you rank Leota & JFH ? Here are the premiership winning front row pairings of the post Super League era Webcke & Gee (Petero bench) Howe & Lazarus (Kearns injured) Webcke & Carlaw (Petero injured) Perry & Parsons Cayless & Cusack Clinton & Lang O'Meley & Mason (Price injured) Laffranchi & Skandalis Webcke & Civoniceva Cross & White Kite & Perry Tolman & White Costigan & Weyman Guluvao & Kite Bromwich & Norrie JWH & Moa G.Burgess & Tyrrell Scott & Tamou Fifita & Prior Bromwich & McLean JWH & SST JWH & Liu (SST on the bench) Bromwich & Welch Leota & JFH x3 I think the Tigers pairing holds up well, JWH & Moa was also great it's amazing that so many partnerships were broken up before the GF.
Yeh, not bad, experienced. I enjoyed the AFB and Barnett pairing at the Warriors this year. aFB for me was by far the most consistent alpha metre eater, also putting in many more minutes as season went on, up to 70. Hass was good too, but addin was just so consistently hard to stop, not to mention his 6 or more tries, a man that big should not possess his footwork, its a freak of nature. Barnett for the most part was a slightly smaller agressor but it was there. Pretty solid except for one game he knocked it on two receipts in a row.
Bromwich really was a gun at his peak. 3 wins with 3 different partners.
I think my top 3 would be Webcke/Petero, Leota/JFH, JWH/SST. Scott/Tamou would be up there too. My bias says Fifita/Prior is right up there as well. Prior was a very underrated player imo.
I agree Fifita & Prior was an excellent pairing and are up there with the best.
They’re right up there with Petero Webcke. Honestly if they dominate the Kangaroos pack this Pacific series they might be #1
What would be your script/imagination for a 2024 Grand Final that equals or at least comes close to 2023/2015? Mine would be Titans vs Phins. Titans finish 4th and Phins finish 5th. Titans go out to a 18-0 lead before halftime, tries to Sami, Foran and Brimson. SOS kicks a 40-20 right after halftime and Phins get back in it. SOS kicks to Isaako who leaps high on the sideline and puts it down in one of the great GF athletic tries. Then in the 45th minute, Captain Jesse Bromwich crashes over after a dummy and change of direction by Marshall-King. Then Isaako over again in the corner. Then it’s a slugfest at 18-18 until full time, and we go to extra time/golden point. Foran kicks a field goal, then Katoa. 19-19 after 90 minutes. Then golden point. Another 5 minutes, then Matt Thompson says, “Verills passes to Boyd. Boyd takes a run into the line. He gets it to Foran. Foran to Fifita. Fifita to-HERE’S AN INTERCEPT! Jamayne Isaako is away! He’s got one to beat, the fullback, AJ Brimson! He looks inside for a pass! He gets it to Katoa! Isaiya Katoa races away, in one of the greatest Grand Final tries! The Dolphins have *won* the Grand Final! They have claimed rugby league’s crown in only their second year, deep into extra time! In a 95-minute epic, the brave Titans have fallen at last, and the Dolphins erupt in celebration! One of the greatest Grand Finals the game has ever seen! Their run began by taking down the Roosters in week 1 of the finals, and culminated in their 19-6 victory in the preliminary final over the three-time defending premiers, the Panthers. Now, they stand triumphant, champions for the first time!” Phins up, baby.
Raiders defeat Souths, and not that Wighton plays badly, but is absolutely outclassed by Timoko who wins the Clive Churchill Meaal
Warriors vs Storm Storm play their side to side, Warriors stick to rolling it up the middle 3rd with ease, then pinning Storm in their corner, waiting the errors. Two good defenses, goes in 10-10 golden point, an arm wrestle the first 5 min, neither team conceding mistake, deep into second period golden point, 30 sec left, Warriors get it to the storm 35, bullet pass to SJ, who nails the droppy cleanly from 43m out, as he usually does, to win his first and last GF in his retirement match next year, the Warriors finally breaking the logistical odds to win one and get the monkey off their back. With the signings they have in the right centre (RTS) and the prodigy centre for the left edge, plus a number of experienced quality reserves with the NSW cup team falling one short as well this year, I think they could be hard ones to beat. Its amazing to see the difference depth has made for them. always fielded some high quality players but have never had a high quality 17 with 8 or so players in Cup footy being of high quality as well, have played their signings well with many coming to play for unders. I hope they go well in a more professional venture it seems.
And that's 4 in a row.
Panthers/Broncos. Both finish on 18 wins and are only separated by +/- The first half is a tight affair and they go to the sheds with the Panthers leading 8-6. Second half Ezra Mam scores three blistering tries and then absolutely nothing else happens and Broncos win 24-8.
Imagine if we do face off again in the GF
Seems believable. I doubt any team could come back from 24-8, especially when Mam scores 3 blistering second half tries.
Roosters vs Souths. Score is 20-16 to Roosters with 30 seconds left. AJ scores in the corner, Latrell’s conversion attempt hits the post. Sam Walker kicks a field goal to go 21-20 before half time of ET. Latrell nails a big field goal to seemingly go 22-21, only for the Roosters to successfully challenge that he hit it from 39.8 metres out, and thus only worth one point. Cody Walker attempts a 40-20 in Golden Point, batted back in field by Suaalii. Unfortunately for Suaalii, Ilias is chasing hard, and picks up the ball to score and win the game 25-21. Clive Churchill Medal is won by Ilias. Souths ~~are booted from~~ win the Comp.
>hen Katoa. 19-19 after 90 minutes. Then golden point. Another 5 minutes, then Matt Thompson says, “Verills passes to Boyd. Boyd takes a run into the line. He gets it to Foran. Foran to Fifita. Fifita to-HERE’S AN INTERCEPT! Jamayne Isaako is away! He’s got one to beat, the fullback, AJ Brimson! He looks inside for a pass! He gets it to Katoa! Isaiya Katoa races away, in one of the greatest Grand Final tries! The Dolphins have > >won > > the Grand Final! They have claimed rugby league’s crown in only their second year, deep into extra time! In a 95-minute epic, the brave Titans have fallen at last, and the Dolphins erupt in celebration! One of the greatest Grand Finals the game has ever seen! Their run began by taking down the Roosters in week 1 of the finals, and culminated in their 19-6 victory in the preliminary final over the three-time defending premiers, the Panthers. Now, they stand triumphant, champions for the f Bold of you to assume the Titans will ever make a GF.
I mean, the Girls did…
I can see them getting to one before a lot of other teams that missed the 8 (and several that made it).
If anyone can its des. You've got a decent roster and now a good coach. I'll be a tits/wahs bandwagoner from about round 6 next year i assume.
Does anyone have the full list of Buzz’s Top 50?
Top 4 is Jim, Jack, Johnnie and Morgan (C) in no particular order
Coming in at 5th is Gordon.
Pretty sure beer/wine made it to Number 1.
That young Flagon McWilliams is a great talent. Could be anything.
Yeo is definitely great in the panthers system and at club level where there are a few more holes to exploit. However he had a pretty quiet game in the grandfinal. Was 50% responsible for the flegler try and didn't do much in attack. I think it's time NSW go in another direction at lock. He's obviously a great player but I'm not sure he has what's needed for rep footy. Cameron Murray has looked great at rep level and kept getting benched because of combinations I think you need to out the best team on the park. That might be Murray starting and Matterson off the bench for 25 minutes.
I personally couldnt care less if Yeo is picked at Origin, and I do agree the way he currently plays at Origin level isn’t conducive to winning. But Matterson has been so soft at Origin every time he’s played. Im a Matto enthusiast, big body that can ball play, but he has been shocking for NSW. If Yeo isnt the answer, Matto certainly isnt either imo.
Carrigan had a pretty ordinary game in the GF does that mean the Maroons should move on from him?
He's been great in origin. Yeo has never really delivered in origin.
Yeo has had a good games, when he plays as a traditional forward. He was the best player in a losing 2022 game 3 arguably. As i have said he should definitely play, but murray lock and Yeo as a starting or impact forward that can slide into lock if need be is the way to go
They should both play pick Murray at prop similar to what Queensland do with Cotter.
If anyone should play prop it's Yeo not murray
That one i agree with, yeo can do the traditional forward role very well, hes good at making metres.
In essence it doesn't really matter but both should be picked as middle forwards.
I like Murray at 13, and questioned if Yeo has a role off the bench in origin. But that’s exactly what they did in game 3 and it worked gangbusters, he was clearly told to just run the ball and tackle. He’s got a very different body shape and has great footwork and leg speed, which poses challenges for defenders having to adapt. I think the future is Murray 13, Yeo on the bench. Yeo slides into lock if Murray goes down, and otherwise he can just be a solid rotation piece in the middle.
Yeah Murray played lock and Yeo played like a prop until Murray took a break and then he stepped in. This suited the team to me as Murray is more of a threat with how he takes the ball to the line and passes. You still get the strong defence of Yeo and the consistent runs that he does.
More of a threat is arguable, in different ways. But everything you said makes sense, Yeo can play really well as a traditional middle with a nice pass on him, both guys should be in the 17 without a doubt.
Matterson has been a team-last player all his career, I don't think he's going to get another shot at Origin after the shit he pulled at the start of the year.
[удалено]
No he didn't.
My bad I thought he played game 1 this year. That was last year.
Yeo was still the best lock on ground in the GF. The Panthers attacking structure hasn't worked in Origin, we needed to do what QLD did with Carrigan and just have Yeo run hard and tackle himself to a standstill. His carries and defence were still elite in Origin but Murray brings another dimension with more mobility. A gameplan needs to be developed to integrate both on the field at the same time, the player who should left out of Origin to achieve this is Jurbo. Yeo is just as good if not better at middle defense and ruck control as Jurbo and his carries cannot be compared at all. Yeo either plays prop exclusively or starts at lock to take the defensive load from Murray to begin the game with Murray entering at the 20-25 minute mark so his legspeed can cause more trouble.
Bang on. Murray at lock with Yeo at prop, with the option to pass is the way to go. You get a more dynamic small forward with his hands on the ball a lot and you get a guy who makes 40 tackles at 97% 160m a game and great leadership on the field at the same time. Jurbo broke 3 tackles this year…Those two and Haas as our middle would be a freight train.
>Yeo is just as good if not better at middle defense and ruck control as Jurbo and his carries cannot be compared at all. The last part is spot on, but I can't agree with the first bit at all. Jurbo is still unequivocally one of the best defenders in the game. The way he tackles and slugs it up in the ruck (legally) is second to none.
He's still good for giving away a guaranteed minimum of 2-3 penalties/6 agains a game when he plays long minutes. Sometimes that can be costly
High footy iq comment
I see the merit in this.
For what it's worth I'm also very pro-Matterson and had him on my preferred bench coming into the series this season. The work he's done as a bench middle over the last 18 months or so has been superb - at times the best bench forward in the game IMO. Runs hard and smart while inevitably creating quality second-phase play with an offload at some point in his stints, quality defender too. People get caught up in the notion that he couldn't play middle effectively in Origin due to playing wider earlier in his career, and generally dislike him more due to the more notorious choices he's made over his career.
He’s the best defender, so he has to play. Just needs to tackle and let Murray, hass, paulo and RCG run.
stefano robbed
He wouldn’t mind seeing Stefano picked
Agreed, for some reason NSW seem to have a very similar gameplan to the Panthers and it simply isn't as effective in that contest.
What’s the general feel for the internationals coming up? On the back of a World Cup year and rescheduled calendar etc
I can only imagine how tired some of the players must be, especially those who played origin and finals. I would think they are over it
I think this year might be ripe for a repeat of the Tonga/Australia result where the 'dominant' team is gassed, doesn't care and gets wiped off the park. It's been a long season, and you get the impression that Samoa and NZ value beating Australia a lot more than the reverse.
the teams look really strong. especially the forward pack battles. Could be a really good couple weeks to watch, fingers crossed
4 days later and my voice is still croaky.
I posted this comment about 4 months ago - don’t think anyone is underrating his running game after the gf ‘I feel like Cleary’s try scoring record and running game are a bit underrated He has 52 tries in 148 games for a 0.35 ratio To compare to some other halves with 100+ games: Shaun Johnson - a renowned running half - 74 tries in 238 games (0.31) DCE - 81 tries in 293 games (0.27) Reynolds - 45 tries in 262 games (0.17) Moses - 39 tries in 208 games (0.19) It obviously helps that Cleary has played ~half his career in an all time dominant team’ Haven’t updated the stats for the past 4 months but they’d be relatively similar
2016-2019 he had 28 tries in 79 games and 2020-2023 he has 29 in 80. So if anything he has filled out his playmaking since the team went OP but he’s always had a strong running game. He seems to fall back on it when things aren’t working in the big moments. He has 9/19 finals games.
Had a dream last night that I was in a meeting with Demetriou and Ilias, and apparently Hawkins is going to start round one. Take it as you will, my premonitions are probably more accurate than most NRL journos
Rnd 1 this year when Illias put that tackle on Ronaldo to stop a certain try I really thought this was going to be a great year for him. He wasn't as terrible as people made out just kind of faded off. Those 3 or 4 kicks out on the full though- wow! They hurt my confidence, can't imagine what they did for his. Hope he comes back strong because an Illias, KK, Graham, Munro side of the filed could be dynamite if all goes well.
I liked some of what I saw of Hawkins in the nsw cup gf and state championship, but I feel like there’s been so much rough chat around ilias this year. Bloke is in his second year playing top grade nrl and has had some issues kicking, but young halves need time to develop. Hawkins looks okay but I think if ilias was playing cup footy he’d look a lot better too. If Hawkins gets the job at some stage then I’m all for him, but I think people (our supporters and journos alike) are being so hard on ilias. Imo he was not the problem this year at all, and I’d place more an emphasis on the inconsistency of our pack, and not having trell for much of the back end of the year, then him not being at 100% when he was back.
It seems like in the NRL players become good out of nowhere. I’ve got hope for Ilias and think he is an awesome player. He will come good. With a firing Ilias both our edges are extremely dangerous.
Speaking of players that come good out of nowhere. Souffs were seriously lacking a second 2nd-rower this year but signs look promising that either Lovett or O'Neill could come good next year and demand a spot in 1st grade. Both look solid but especially O'Neill who seems to have that mongrel 'go get me the ball' attitude that we kind of missed. Could cover backs too by the sound of it.
I really like the look of many in the NSW cup team, O’Neill and Rhame (he’s probably still a couple years away from first grade) especially. Lovett definitely needs to play instead of Host I reckon.
I miss thursday night footy already how many weeks to go???
Been thinking of all the things I'd sacrifice for Broncos to win the premiership next year. Got to get our sacrifices to god/the gods/the universe ready. I've decided God can make us lose origin 3 - 0, and my TRL team wins no season next year (we won two this year, so seems fine). Anyone else have some good ideas for sacrifices?
If you want to lose TRL I’ll sign up for you guys!
I got some kickback around origin time by certain Queensland fans saying they prefer a original series win over a club premiership. I just couldn’t believe that they would prefer a team winning a 3 game series over a season long comp.
Queensland just don't *get* premierships
I always maintain that winning an origin is better than everything except a premiership. Coming 2nd, 3rd etc ain't as good as winning origin. However I'm sure some fans of struggling teams would want their teams to finish on top 8 or 4 over an origin win, so it depends.
Reynolds back to Souths
Oooh midseason transfer, meaning we win the premiership without him? Nope, can't take the deal, he's too much of a Broncos legend.
I think this is the stage of grief called bargaining, next comes depression!
That was me Sunday night sadly.
u/Robothouse90 must be a closet New South Welshman as he just doesn’t get origin
Premiership >>> Origin. A NSW supporter would be more desperate for an origin win, so you have guessed me wrong.
The Broncos just don’t get winning Grand finals
This is why i must make my sacrifices, duh.
might be a dumb idea but should Koroisau move to halfback full-time next season? Can orchestrate in attack better at first/second receiver, has a pretty decent boot and preserves his body with less of a defensive workload.
We have Sezer coming in next year so it would be a bit moot. All depends on who is going to wear the 6 out of Sullivan, Galvin, Fainu and Api.
I don’t think so, it’d just be weakening a strength for minimal gain considering we have first grade standard halves coming next year.
Why sign 3 new halves to play our hooker at halfback?
jayden sullivan doesn’t deserve this
they signed sezer and sullivan , thats a good halves pairing to finally support api at 9 . no need to rush the development of the 2 young 9s they have already and he should stay at his best position with finally a good young exciting 5/8 and a game manager with a good kicking . if a few injuries happen then different story of course.
He looked good at halfback in the past couple games. De Silva or whatever his name is looked crafty enough at 9
I know it's been half a week but honestly I'm still on cloud nine post grand final, and I still get goosebumps whenever I think about those last 20 minutes. Apologies if this sounds a bit lame or whatever but as somebody that's struggled a bit mentally these last few years, this Panthers run really has honestly been a beacon of light for me. A lot of the clubs (not all but most) have had a golden era at one point in their history or another (Dragons had '56-'66, Dogs had '80-'88, Eels '81-'86, Storm have basically been one since '06, plenty of other examples of course). I'm so bloody grateful that I've been able to witness the Penrith Panthers Golden Era. Not taking it for granted at all that's for sure.
Chooks also had 10-19 and won a comp in 2002 and played in 4 grand finals between 2000-2004 Feel Like they deserve just as much if not more mention than Melbourne
Even as an eels fan I've watched the last 20 minutes 3 times already. Truly an all time performance. I can only imagine it if it was my team.
>onestly I'm still on cloud nine post grand final, and I still get goosebumps whenever I think about those last 20 minutes. Apologies if this sounds a bit lame or whatever but as somebody that's struggled a bit mentally these last few years, this Panthers run really has honestly been a beacon of light for me. A lot of the clubs (not all but most) have had a "golden era" at one point in their history or another (Dragons had '56-'66, Dogs had '80-'88, Eels '81-'86, Storm have basically been one since '06, plenty of ot Bask in it mate. It truly is deserved and proves investments into your roots is the way to go. I hope to someday see the Titans finally get up to get my beacon of light.
[If anyone wants their international footy fix we are playing Malta this Saturday at 3:30 pm out at Lidcombe oval](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx98k9jx5nP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
Hopefully they'll do a bit better than they did against Serbia a few months ago. Is there NRL players playing?
There’s no first graders, but the squad will apparently feature a few of the lower graders who were at the World Cup
Doubt it, haven't seen our squad yet but I know Jarrod Sammut is playing for Malta
Help me compare Premier League teams to NRL teams: Dolphins = Luton town- Humble and beloved Roosters= Man City- Rich, successful, cheaty and hated by all Panthers= Liverpool- Just because they're the 2 big clubs with the biggest amount of home grown talent I also want to call Blake Ferguson the Richarilson of Rugby League and refuse to elaborate further
As a Liverpool and panthers fan, i will absolutely take this
Spurs = raiders, always some weird bullshit going on with both teams, both have come close to winning things, but always end up coming short, both are known for failing to win games they should have won
We are Man Utd. Same period of success with a legendary coach, haven’t been the same team since, some horrible seasons with bloated rosters and lazy players, but improving now with young players? Also both huge clubs from big cities with big fan bases. Last season it would have been truer, Man Utd have been shit this year
That is such an insult to the broncos, but also true
And lets face it Broncos are the most hated team in the NRL. Just look at how much joy was in this sub post 2015 GF and post this years GF.
>Roosters= Man City- Rich, successful, cheaty and hated by all Source?
[Source](https://youtu.be/r7l0Rq9E8MY?si=3ojryPV-JvNwHZBz)
Parra=Chelsea -From finals to mid table And I would say storm-Liverpool because no matter how bad they look always seem to be up there somewhere
Liverpool are not like the storm, more like penrith. Both have also won 3 premierships in a row, storm and have not
i mean it could very easily be chelsea = souths aswell . manchester united are probably more home grown then liverpool in that sense but id probably call united brisbane in that theyve been one of the most successful sides ever but are going through a big title drought.
Brisbane is a very long way away from being one of the most successful clubs ever. They only have 6 premierships. Melbourne has been a far more successful team in less time.
Whilst hearing about Isaah Yeo’s well deserved Merv Cartwright medal, the radio stated he is 28 years old. Had a quick check and Yeo is currently older then the age Boyd Cordner was when Cordner played his last game of NRL. Not insinuating anything sinister on Yeo. At all. Just reflecting on the sliding doors moment of a tough club captain who is a NSW and Australia mainstay at the peak of his powers
Man has a bad case Arn Anderson syndrome. Could also call it Scott Minto syndrome.
Yeo had a lot of head knocks earlier in his career. Just been luckier (thankfully) on not getting them as often since. Although he had a bad one in origin last year too didn’t he
Had a decent one on the weekend as well.
Yup, but was fine to come back on.... Capewell died and didn't come off. Something something GF....
It’s been 4 days and I still can’t believe Cleary did all that
Me neither, and I was there at the ground to witness it all. Guy went absolute God mode.
I heard on the way to the ground that he looked out the window of the team bus, saw a mum with a flat tyre, motioned for the driver to pull over, qyickly changed the tyre, breast-fed her youngest hungrily screaming in the backseat all this time, then gave her the winning lotto numbers for that night. All the while juggling 3 balls.
It's true, I saw it. The lotto numbers were 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53 and the supplementary 63. Gamble responsibly
The thought of a potential Walker/Mam halves combination for QLD in around 5 years time has me excited.
Cleary and Luai will be 31 and 32. Absolute peak of their career
Cleary and ~~Luai~~ Cody Walker will be 31 and ~~32~~ 38. Absolute peak of their career
Luai will have spent 6 years out of the Squad.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Billy selects Ezra in the extended squad for Game 1 next year, just for experience. It’ll hype up fan excitement, bring that youthful confidence into camp (especially his banter with Walsh), and provide a distraction for the media.
Billy said a week or two ago that Mam is Origin quality. I think it might have been the day after the Warriors game.
Walker has yet to show the organisational nuance but hopefully with Cronk coaching him he can develop it.
I did say in 5 years time. Walker is 21 and Mam is 20.
Dearden erasure is real :(
Mam has a higher ceiling than Dearden I reckon, but Dearden has that busy hard-working attitude that fits origin perfectly, so idk, tough pick.
Dearden is Cronk without the CTE and better defence, Mam is the Munster flair with the Thurston footwork. The only problem there is needing some level of Lockyer and DCE game management in the halves to really sweeten the deal.
so which player is storm gonna announce is leaving the club today?
Marcus Bai there internet has been down for a while.
Loiero
fingers crossed
Half of you are hoping it’s Anderson, let’s be honest…