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Season 5- Episode 25- Our Brains Are Squishy (Super Rugby Preview & Premiership Round17)
29 Plays3 years ago
It's the first of a few monsters upcoming from those American rugby knuckleheads. On this episode we sit down and preview Super Rugby Pacific as it kicks off this coming weekend. We look down the comp, team by team, the likes, dislikes and predictions of who gets to the top of the pile. Then of course, we are back into the Premiership for round 17 (51:38), we cover everything happening in the West Country, the Midlands and so much more. Kick back, get a tall glass and come along for the ride with us!
Check out the TFRY Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyRugbyYanks
Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar, and #AskTFRY.
Send us your thoughts for the show and questions for upcoming shows via e-mail fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com. Of course we welcome feedback via e-mail, twitter or by rating/reviewing the pod on Apple Podcast.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcasting Reflections
00:00:02
Speaker
It is The Fantasy Europeans. My name is Jared Dyke. I wanted to say it's stupid and let's move on, but then you kept going. I'm Ben Glauser. I don't like any way anybody handled that. Collusion. Collusion.
00:00:27
Speaker
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It is the fancy with me. Thanks. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. I've become a professional at saying that in the last week for pods. And this is, you know, if you count last Thursday, this is five pods a week. Right. Like God. So give us.
00:00:46
Speaker
Give us some slack if our brains are a little soft. Yeah, if we're going to be a little mushy, so get over it. Yeah, just get over it. How's your beer, Jared? Yeah, how's your beer? I'd have a beer.
Gratitude and Listener Engagement
00:01:00
Speaker
Share us on your favorite podcast app, Download Rate Review. Thank you to George for sharing our draft episode.
00:01:07
Speaker
Indeed. Hopefully people found some use out of there. Thank you, George, for being on it. Yeah, thank you, George, of course. There was one thing I said that I think I have the answer to.
Rugby Player Transfers and Impact
00:01:18
Speaker
The Blues Front Road did lose one piece. Yes, they lost to a new coffee, as you and I were just talking about a minute ago, which from a fantasy perspective is not a big deal from a from like a real life perspective. It's huge. But he's one of those like
00:01:33
Speaker
Dan Cole types where it's like scrum to scrum, scrum to scrum, you know, give me the ball. I'll fall forward. That's about it. Yeah. You know, I'll make my tackle. Yeah. He had a promising start to his career, but just never didn't really quite, it plateaued. Let's put it that way. Right. I mean, that's the thing. He's a, he's a very good player, but only for specific things. And that's, you know, that you're going to plateau at that point. If you, if you couldn't develop really an attacking,
00:02:00
Speaker
ability and you're, he's, he's limited. That's just how it goes. Right. But he's great player. I would take him on my team any day. Yeah, he'd be, yeah. You wouldn't say no to him. No, no, no, no, no.
Rugby Weekend Overview
00:02:15
Speaker
Speaking of, um, speaking of George, uh, by him, uh, coffee or beer, uh, like us, he's probably very busy this week. We've got a lot of cops going on. We've, we're kicking off, um, super rugby. We're back into, uh,
00:02:30
Speaker
Six nations like we are everywhere. This is going to be pretty well pretty wild weekend and thankfully I've only got one thing to do. Let's watch the rugby except like I'm going to get interrupted by one thing but I love about that. I can live with that I think we were going to have a match this weekend but I thought with only one practice and you haven't done any. So I don't think it's gonna happen. So hopefully I'm.
00:03:00
Speaker
As always, there is no discrimination here on this podcast, nor should there be in life-worn sports.
Mental Health in Rugby
00:03:06
Speaker
Uh, I'm more, I'm back into the mental health thing and you know, we talk, we can, first of all, I do want to check rainbow laces that, that is always a great thing. Um, is there still issues with English rugby in, you know, the whole idea? Yes. Cause we know that they have issues with trans and so on and so forth.
00:03:26
Speaker
So I do want to at least acknowledge that there's some attempt to try and it's not just, you know, they don't just say it and they're, you know, this is a nice little campaign that they do and everything goes towards, um, benefit benefiting those types of charities. But, uh, for me, I'm back on the mental health kick because we had, we had a, we had a politician here in the U S that voluntarily checked themselves into a hospital for depression and
00:03:55
Speaker
Of course, the really dumb people are giving him shit for it. It's like, right. And it's like, he's depressed because he's one of the only people in that area who wants to do their job, certainly in the Senate. And like, yeah, I'd be depressed, too, if I had if I realized that, oh, my God, these people really don't care. Like, I think he was going there thinking.
00:04:18
Speaker
that it would be one way and suddenly, and it's like, no, it's not. And things you wanna get done, people are just like, no, fuck you, I don't wanna do it. And it's like, they don't, cause they don't take it seriously. Yeah, that's pretty depressing. And you know, right. Oh, he'll be fine. Cause he has, he does have a really good support group and all that. And they all care, so. But yeah, there is too much of a stigma on it. It shouldn't be a,
00:04:47
Speaker
Oh, he's we know, like, I can't remember who was saying it. But it's like, if you're physical therapy, and if you're mental therapy, like, you know, if you get hurt, yes, playing sports, you don't rehab an ankle. Yeah, if you're if your mental health is in trouble, sorts of things. Yeah, if your mental health is an issue, then yeah, you need to rehab it and take care of it and address it because it's, it's taking more people than we would when the most would care to admit.
00:05:17
Speaker
And it's not just, you know, people that die by suicide. It's also people that, you know, are so mentally broken and they just go to substance abuse, whether it's drugs or alcohol. Or they just stop in general. Yeah. And they just give up on life. Waste away. Yeah. Yeah. So there's so many ways. There's all sorts of ways. Yeah.
00:05:45
Speaker
Yeah. So it's, it's not just one thing, it's many things. So yeah. Um, good on him for checking himself in and taking care of himself and he'll be better for it down the road. And so will his, his family and his part and, and his, you know, and his job really. Right. Yeah. And if you need help, get it. 100%.
00:06:03
Speaker
Don't be ashamed. And if you need to reach out, then find someone to reach out. Shit, you can reach out to us. Yeah, if you reach out to us, you really need help. I agree with that. I agree with that. But we are better than nobody, that's for sure. Better than nobody, by far.
00:06:23
Speaker
Either way, find a friend to reach out to and talk to. You surely have someone and if you don't, like I said, we will happily listen.
Podcast Promotion and Rugby Stats
00:06:38
Speaker
All right, let's go to, oh yeah, we have our Patreon. I forgot about that. Our Patreon, yeah. If you haven't checked it out, we do have the super rugby stats from last year up there for free. So if you don't subscribe, that's okay. We put that out there for free so that you can kind of see, get an idea as to what's coming in the next couple of weeks once we have a good sample size.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah, boom bust will be up tomorrow. I got about halfway through it and couldn't finish it in time to post it today. So, uh, it will be up tomorrow. Promise promise. It'll be an entertain. We've done the last and the next week's going to be real fun. Cause, uh, it's gonna be a lot.
00:07:21
Speaker
There's a lot going on. All three competitions. Do you do anything for the for the M.L.R., too? No, can't recall. Nope. Nope. I don't know. Well, not quite like a tea, thankfully, in terms of that. You know, it's major. I think it's played in that is like those knuckleheads over and pickums and. Yeah. Well, then those the other. Yeah. Dumb. Yeah. Yeah. Which is weird. Yeah. Whatever.
00:07:50
Speaker
Anywho, let's go to Super Rugby Preview. We'll start with our teams and jump through hoops as we go. So the Blues, let's start with the Blues. So Blues, last year they finished top of the regular season table, but only came in second. They just didn't turn up in that final against the Crusaders.
00:08:16
Speaker
Probably more of the same. Oh, absolutely. They're going to put up points. They're going to be problematic. No doubt about it. They didn't really lose much. And they got they got to plot to back. So that's a huge that's just a huge weapon that they they didn't have. Certainly not, you know, at the end of last season, that would have helped in the final. Yeah.
00:08:44
Speaker
If I if I recall correctly, I don't think he was there. I'm pretty sure he'd already left, but I think so, too, because he's just such a force. And I was like, oh, fuck, I'd even forgotten about him. Yeah. When I saw his name, I was like, oh, yeah, he's he's back. So they're going to be good. You know, like two of us a check having another year under his belt. Hello, Clark, having like even in an off year when he's not playing at his best, he was still a fucking problem. And to lay as a fucking problem.
00:09:15
Speaker
They've got everywhere, every position. They could throw out pretty much anybody. And that back row is unreal. Front row's pretty good, even without Tui Nukuafe. There's no weak spots on this team. Yeah, it'll be surely a semifinal or a final or bust, for sure, for their sake. Yeah. Oh, they need to get back to a final with this roster. Yeah.
00:09:44
Speaker
Yeah, won't be shocked by any means whatsoever. All right, and then let's go to the Brumbies. Seems to be forever one of, if not definitely Australia's top team to represent into the into the playoff. They also didn't change a ton.
00:10:11
Speaker
Which means continuity and all that, but you still feel like they were a couple pieces missing from getting it over the line last year. So yeah. And I wonder if Ben O'Donnell is someone to watch here.
00:10:30
Speaker
Cause like, you know, he comes over from, from, um, Ireland where he really couldn't get a sniff at the national team. So it was like, okay, well that's not going to happen. And that's cool. I'll go back to Australia. Um, like what, cause they have a couple good back three players, but like your head's kind of a Jag. So it's one of those, like if he can fit in there, that would be huge. So like, to me, that's like the key.
00:11:00
Speaker
You know, especially after they lost Tom Banks, um, yeah. Like if he can slot in there, like that, that's. That would make it, you know, for as a good frontline potential starter, that would be good. Otherwise they're going to be in a little bit of trouble because they just are missing. You know, as we talk about the blues being pretty like a wagon, almost these guys, there's decent starting. Um, you know, they can put out a really good 15 potentially, but.
00:11:30
Speaker
23 is still looking a little tough Yeah, it'll be growing pains. I think and they'll they'll be losing some many too Yeah, yeah, I like I liked him a lot. I thought he was playing really well the last couple years. Yeah This is still I mean forever there will be a team to never go asleep on like don't don't ever think of that You know that in that way they'll they'll always bite you if you don't take them seriously because it's still
00:11:59
Speaker
some good stuff that they have. They definitely have some some developing pieces that like a lot. I liked Nick Frost last year. Yep. They have a decent contingent at hooker that's not named follow finger. So that's good. Right. That helps them a lot. Yeah, I think lonergan's becoming
00:12:22
Speaker
If he can take one more step forward, then he will be without a doubt the starting line over Nick white. No question. So and that and that in in general for the Brumby's will be good and benefit them wholly because Nick White is just not.
00:12:37
Speaker
He's not doing it anymore. He's not. I know he's a lot of many youngs of Australia. Right. He's becoming that very quickly here. And yeah, it's something to go past him. It's a little bit better. But yeah, right. Like it can't be passed him. He's if, you know, if they're going into, you know, that's been a big problem with Australia rugby in general is that their lack of nine
00:13:01
Speaker
So when Nick whites your starter then right an international level you're kind of you know, he could do all right at this level but that's just me It should be yeah, I don't disagree. Yeah. Yeah, so with yeah with a 910 of lonergan and Lola CEO like You have to be excited about the if you're a Brumby's van for sure. Yes. Yep Especially if lonergan does in fact take head and shoulders you know the lead over over white and the Brumby's
00:13:32
Speaker
The Brumbies do one thing. Well, it's defend anyway, like they're, they might not score a bunch, but they're not going to let you score too much either. And they're going to keep it tight. And, you know, if they have enough to like kind of choke you out, they'll do it. Right. Yeah. Totally agree. Totally agree. So again, probably a home home quarterfinal for them again. But then after that it's going to be.
00:13:57
Speaker
Maybe yeah, I mean like maybe pass that you know, I don't know because I just don't know if they get Beyond that like you said they do right? All right, then compete well in Australia. I don't see I don't always you know, they're gonna struggle against New Zealand Because you know, they're just not as good as a lot of those teams Mm-hmm. Yeah agreed agreed agreed agreed Let's go to your guys
00:14:27
Speaker
Chiefs. Chiefs. D Mac back. D Mac back. Which I know is not your favorite thing ever. No, I kind of like them without him better than he. Damien McKenzie is, you know, the way we've been talking about Stuart Hogg. I feel the same way about McKenzie. He's he's passed his sell by date, and unfortunately, they really like to use him.
00:14:55
Speaker
you know, whenever they can. And I'm just not, he's only 27, but he's already, he's like, he might as well be 37. I don't get it. So maybe, and hope maybe, maybe Tokyo, maybe Japan helped him. Maybe it was a little bit, you know, get some shit out of his system and put him in form because he needs it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that's going to get too argument out, too much argument out of that.
00:15:21
Speaker
We have so much talent everywhere around like that. That's the other thing is like, because they have so much talent in the back line. He's got to be able to distribute. If he's playing 10. Yeah, I do agree with that. And you hope you got to pursue. I think your best line is probably bring it 10. Yeah, I agree with that. I would say you have to assume that. He's going to be the second distributor out the back at 15 and not outright 10. If he's outright 10.
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah. I think they'll find problems with that. We've seen how troublesome it can be for some fullbacks to go to 10.
00:16:00
Speaker
Right. Right. It can be very trouble. Right. Alex Goode is a huge example of that. We'll talk about it later. But same thing like that. He's there's too much of a I want to make a move and take a run. And it's like you don't do that as a 10. You want to distribute. You want to distribute first unless you see something and then you go. But the instinct is too much to I want to make a play. So yeah, keep him at second receiver. I'm I love it. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, you don't have
00:16:30
Speaker
Um, Warren Gatlin here though, he's now he's gone. So it's going to be down. Clay McMillan is now the man in charge. Um, I mean, this is one of those things for it. It's like, yeah, if you do a halfway decent job as a coach, this team will be just fine. There's two veteran players, like that, you know, they, you know, some guys going for their last run, you know, Peter Gus is going to be leaving, um, a bunch of the backs are, um,
00:17:02
Speaker
And, you know, we have Brody's leaving like this. There's a lot of guys who are, want to, want to put in a good shift here and have a good, um, you know, finally. Yeah. If basically this doesn't work, it's absolutely on the coach. Gotcha. Cause you can tell me like, you know, a back row of Sam Kane, Jacobson and Peter Gus. If Bashir keeps getting better, if he can be anything like his brother, I mean,
00:17:33
Speaker
They've got so much depth that locks you. They could always slide Vai out till six, like. Yeah. He's one of those guys that can do that. I would say. Right. I'm excited about this team, but it's really going to come down to how they defend. And as you said, the coaching. Yep. Yep. No argument here. And then of course we have the perennial champs crusaders. Uh,
00:18:02
Speaker
And they, they actually added to this team too, which is wild to think about. They have added, uh, Willie Heinz, which might isn't, isn't like otherworldly, but at the same time, like considering that the, their nines in the past have not been super duper like bring hall is now he's gone, but like, that's all that's been there and drumming like that's, those have been their nines for a long time. And now you have somebody that potentially could.
00:18:32
Speaker
be a little bit different and a little bit of a game changer. And he, I guess he played pretty well for, um, for Canterbury in the NPC. So there's, there's a lot, there's some good things here going on with that. And then, yeah, you still have the rest of the rest here in this team. You know, you have white lock, you have, um, you know, you have Richie Mo, you have,
00:19:00
Speaker
Well, Jordan, yeah, Scott Barrett, you know, David Avili, Goodhue, just, yeah, Feinga and Nuku, Braden Ennar, like, this is Tom Christie, who I thought was really good last year for the Crusaders, like, yeah, Godspeed, everyone else. Ethan Blacketer, I almost forgot, like, yeah, this is another team that's probably gonna make the final, honestly. I don't know how they don't.
00:19:28
Speaker
Exactly. That's the thing. Like if they, how do they not? Like shame on them if they don't have to be perfectly blunt. Right. And well, and then they have the biggest good. They're too well coached. They're too much of a machine. Yeah. And you have the biggest X factor in the whole thing, which is razor Robertson. Like, well, he's a wonderful coach and I don't, I don't get it. He's a high, he's highly sought after in many ways. And most people are banging down the door to make sure that he ends up
00:19:57
Speaker
uh, you know, at headquarters for the all blacks. So yeah, I don't, I don't get it either. I think he, I think I, I get the way New Zealand used to do things. It hasn't worked this time. They're a little late. Again, they're a little late to change at this point. You have, yeah, it's, it'd be just as bad as putting it in charge at this point. Oh yeah. I, I'm just, I don't get how like.
00:20:24
Speaker
how he's that much better than any other club coach. And he is, it's not fair. I don't, like, with, cause like with Belichick, there was always like, oh, it could be Brady. And yeah, you know, but like they have, they have too many good players, but every team in this, certainly in the, they've all got good players. And like their nines haven't been anything special.
00:20:54
Speaker
Like I don't, I wouldn't be like jumping over, you know, to get like Brad Hall or Mitchell Drummond on, even on Iris who did have those, that you bring them one of them. Okay. But you bring it someone else. And yet they're still just a fucking wagon.
00:21:13
Speaker
Yep. And it doesn't matter. Like even when Moong is not playing, when Burke is playing, there's still, it's not like anything changes. It's just that, okay, that's one massive threat gone, but there's too many other massive threats and they use them so well. Yeah. It's just not fair. So. No, it's, it's kind of, it's kind of right. Definitely rooting for them to lose. It's just like, yeah. Fucking.
00:21:41
Speaker
Nobody wants they're not gonna they're gonna be in the final. I know I wouldn't be surprised if it's blues crusaders again Yeah, a little bit snoozer We'll see yeah, I will say the last time So on the last World Cup cycle when we're going into Japan we got two or three wonderful finals
00:22:05
Speaker
to go into that warm-up period towards the World Cup. And the one final that we got that was garbage was the Super Heavy final. I remember that very, very vividly because I was like, huh, we were really spoiled with finals here. So I guess we were going to, the lie averages were going to eventually catch up with us and we were going to get one bad one.
00:22:29
Speaker
Was that the last South Africa versus New Zealand final with with Yankees? I remember there was that was that I like way your year. That's a year. That was a year before that final was one of the last years we saw the headquarters. Oh, right. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So that was that. Let's go to one of the.
00:22:57
Speaker
Not some newcomers, but newcomers, uh, the Virginia drew, uh, you know, what, it was what we expected last year. They were, were they bottom or their second bottom? I think they're a second bottom. They're a second bottom because Moana was last by two points. There you go. So there's, we saw some really good things last year.
00:23:22
Speaker
just the same. We saw some superstars being born with, you know, the likes of Revolvo and Mira Mira and Vota and, you know, Tootsie Tello played himself into some shirts and, you know, Circuit of Edda I thought was pretty damn good too.
00:23:39
Speaker
Yeah, it was great. So for what it was, it was great. And we can only hope that they just take a step forward this year, pick up some more wins and become a bigger problem to play against. Yeah. At the very least, they were entertaining as fucks. You know, can't knock that. And Franklin Mani was off last. Like Franklin Mani had trouble sticking with them like they were just at a different level. And I think that'll even out too. And he's going to be much more of a force, I think this year, I hope.
00:24:09
Speaker
And they'll need them to, if they want to, they want to win more. Of course we're hoping yeah I'm excited to see like they got better as the year went on, which is we respect of any team but especially a team like this, where that's their first year they could always go south, you know, it'd be like okay we suck, and just get down on themselves but they
00:24:29
Speaker
They stuck around both teams. Um, both of the new Island teams did and not sure what to expect exactly, but I, I know it'll be a lot more dangerous than it was last year. Yeah. Yes. Indeed. Yes. Indeed. So, uh, here's open. He was helping. Yeah. Highlanders always seems to be for, for the Highlanders just.
00:24:59
Speaker
One or two things missing. So one of the, one of the things missing was always one or two things missing for the Highlanders. And that is like, probably as a, as a Highlanders fan, you gotta be frustrated as hell and just be like, uh, are we ever going to get this around the corner? Cause this never feels like the line. And they're, they've got some good talent, but nothing like,
00:25:26
Speaker
Oh man, like, you know, there, except, you know, Aaron Smith's been excellent, although he's kind of on the downside of his career, but they have, you know, some talented players around him too, to fill in. They don't, I don't like any of their tens all that much. Right. I don't know what Freddie Burns is doing there. Exactly. Vacation. Right. That's all I got.
00:25:53
Speaker
But yeah, I guess that he's going to come in to mentor, you know, Mitch and Marty. Mitch, maybe Marty's an old man. So, no. Yeah. But either way, they need something out of this 10 position. Mitch was all right, but it's got to be better than that. Yeah. Serviceable. And they have this kid, Cameron Miller. He'd probably be the one that I would say they need to get an arm around and get somebody to talk to.
00:26:21
Speaker
They have a similar problem to what the Crusaders have, except the Crusaders don't have the problem because they have more than enough talent plus their play covers up what little holder is with their nine. Here, it's a different story. They don't quite have the ability to cover up the less than desirable 10 shirt that they've had lately. So maybe the kid Miller plays brilliantly, who knows? Losing their Reki last year was hard.
00:26:49
Speaker
So yeah, hard to possibly his return. They're going to have to they need him because. Shit, they got him like Jonah Lowe's. He kind of disappeared. At times, do I kind of guard and bash up? Was he hurt? I don't remember. Like I just remember them having. He was OK. He wasn't great. Yeah. But like having an Iraqi there who's a game changer will open up space for everyone else and make them that much better, too. So Lowe's in addition to he came over from chief, so.
00:27:19
Speaker
Oh, okay. He was coming. Oh, he's new. Yeah. And, well, he's been okay for Chiefs. I mean, he was not been like... No, he hasn't been. I agree with that. I can still do that. So, sorry. Yeah. I just remember him being meh. Like, it was a wrong team. I was like, yeah. Wrong team. Right player. Wrong team, but same thing. Is that like... It's like meh player going to a team that needs more than meh. They do. They do. That's not wrong. That's not wrong in a lot of ways. Because, like, is Lowe better than Connor Garden and Batch Up or DeWye?
00:27:49
Speaker
Like I'd say kind of that same if the wise on his game he's probably of those three that you just named I'd say the wise probably the better But that's just me I I don't disagree with that I don't disagree that at all and that's kind of scary because I guess I guess one of them is gonna have to play 15 so that there's like, you know for position or the three positions for four of them, but It's only one of them. I really like they'll just six got Gregory at 13
00:28:16
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They were doing that a lot. That's another problem, right? Yeah, that's that way too much. Or 12. He was at 12. Almost worse. Almost worse. Yeah, I know. Almost worse. Anyway, are we on to your team yet? Yeah, we're on to my team. We'll go with it. Hurricanes. So there won't be any T.J. Yeah. Well, there's no T.J. for a while, but I'm actually
00:28:46
Speaker
Oh, I feel like it'll be okay to with Jamie Booth, who I believe will be the guy that fills in for them. So and then really it's because there's no bat Connor. There's no Jackson Garden Bash up. He's gone.
00:29:01
Speaker
I'm really interested to see who takes this 10-shirt. I really am. I think Morgan is the front runner, but to say that that's, you know, completely bang on is wrong. And, you know, we still have Jordy who's like just, Jordy and Artie can patch up so many holes. They really can between the two of them. They really can.
00:29:25
Speaker
You know, I like as I've I've heard on more than one occasion from most people that artist of AI would make most people's back row if they're picking it like hand picked like that's not I mean, I there's yeah, there's nobody I would want more that he'd be my first pick. Right. He's just absolutely he's an absurd back row too many levels.
00:29:51
Speaker
So yeah, I'm really fascinated by that. I'm fascinated to see who else in the forward steps up. We saw a lot of flashes from certain players. You'll say Lava Sure, TK Howden was a big one. Thankfully, in my opinion, thankfully leaving Dewey in the dust. And if they've all taken another step forward and Dewey hasn't gotten any better, then that is only good for the Hurricanes. And if Dewey got better, even better, you know?
00:30:19
Speaker
But honestly, I don't see it happening. So to see these guys, even Flanders, I would take at this point right now. And that says a lot. Right. Right. I find Flanders a little bit almost of a jag. But Duplasee's career fee is only 25.
00:30:33
Speaker
Right. About to be 26. So it's not as though he's, you know, late career, he could just be having a poop because he's a kid still, as you know, for technically you can play for another 10 years. So he's like, that's, that's, that's, and I, that's why I agree with you. I want him to, because when he's good, he's so good. And he just has been not good. Right. And we talk about,
00:31:01
Speaker
We talked about Brumby's having like a real good stable hookers. Canes have Amua and Coles. And as long as they're both healthy, like, yes, I can throw in, you know, a secondary kid to get them some time. But really, those two need to be your one-two choice. And really, they're 1A, 1B, just a matter of who's healthy and who's on form.
00:31:20
Speaker
And that's it. And then, you know, I love who you want to get minutes to how you want to bounce it out. Like if you want to give old man, you want to play for 30 minutes. Right. Exactly. 20 or 30 minutes. Yeah. Give them give them some time. Yeah. And then and then the midfield, I'm really excited. Like what I saw last year, there was a lot of good. Who steps up is the question.
00:31:40
Speaker
because there were a lot, all these guys had flashes of brilliance and things that excited me. And which one of them puts on the shirts 12 and 13. Cause I really don't want you to play midfield. I really don't. I'd like him back at fullback and just let him be there. Cause he'll, he's, he, he's a problem for everyone when he's back there. Yeah. And I think the whole like try to play him somewhere else. Cause that's where they might want him to play in a, um,
00:32:10
Speaker
What do you call it? International play. They're in the All Blacks. Like, come on, come on. File that under, not my problem. Right. I'm sorry, we need him to win, and we already have some centers. So, no. No, like, yeah, definitely file that under, not my problem, man. No, thank you. So, I'm hopeful of... Although it was Will Jordan's injury.
00:32:31
Speaker
It's possible he you know, it could be a long term. Who knows? Yeah, so You know at this point you might want to order so be ready to play full back Absolutely. I would say as well Yeah, so I'm hopeful we can get a home home playoff game. Finally. We haven't had one for a little bit Get over we've come very close against the Crusaders a couple times. I'd like to
00:32:54
Speaker
you know, with a line against them and it's all going to be down to can the pack develop another step forward because there's some great pieces and the talent level and ability that was shown last year by most of the back line needs to just, it needs, you know, eight, nine guys to put their hand up and say me, I have this shirt, you know, and that'll, that'll make them a little bit more dangerous as a club.
00:33:24
Speaker
Fingers crossed. Don't feel great about the way, about where and when we're starting, but we'll get to that. Hello with it. Uh, rebels. Okay. Yeah. We'll get there in a second. Um, rebels. Yuck. Just like, I want them to be better. Of course you want them to be better and they should be better. They have so much talent. Although.
00:33:55
Speaker
kind of. Although we like we'd be remiss because we have to bring it up at some point. But um, they did sign for next year. 10 yellow tupo. So that'll change but not this year. So that's, that's more good news for Australia that tupo is not going anywhere as anything. You know, it really is.
00:34:24
Speaker
but like they don't, what are they, the rebels, like their whole pack is kind of, it's very meh. Like none of them stand out. I'm like, right. There's none of them are like, Oh, I want him on my team. It's like, you know what? If I miss, if, if, if that person gets drafted between my picks, okay, then I'll pick someone else and not, you know, it's, and that's just in the pack. That's, that's problematic because like,
00:34:51
Speaker
You need some playmakers, you need some splash players. Yeah, they have, they have Mafi now. Mafi came over from the Reds. Um, I think we also played the best in that pack and pro, and I think he got some looks in the gold shirt. So deserved, but really like he was a good player on a pretty bad team if we're, if we're honest. Right. So we'll see what.
00:35:16
Speaker
It's gonna, you know, we got Carter Gordon is gonna obviously be in charge of the 10th shirt more than likely. Monte Iwanis in, we'll see what he brings. Don't Joe Powell anymore, so that problems out the window now.
00:35:45
Speaker
Yeah, he was there last year. Was he? Okay. Yeah, he was. Yeah, I'd say
00:35:53
Speaker
I'd say if you're going to really root for anyone in that nine shirt, you want to be titled because he's, he's still fairly young. Oh yeah. They're going with Sarovi. That's like, it's because he's been there a little bit, you know, but yeah, he has. Can't find the young man's age.
00:36:14
Speaker
Hold on. He's I know he's not very old. He's fairly he's 26. Okay, so that's always 27. They're not that no, I thought it was older and I thought Tuttle was younger. Yeah. So at this point, either one, whoever wins is like your class in case of emergency nine. So right. Yeah. Okay. Now let's go to Pacifica.
00:36:42
Speaker
another team that we were very excited about last year and lived up to the billing for quite a bit of it, you know, but just needed a little more experience to go along with that whole thing. You know, so, uh, they lost, um, okay. They lost Kata and Stowers. Yes. So.
00:37:06
Speaker
That's huge, because those were some fucking... Yeah, Bennet's in the sign. They're side stowers. And Kata's, we know he's on Exeter. Yes, we did know that. I was about worrying about stowers. Yeah, I guess he seems like he's gone. Okay. Let me confirm that. I'm using a website as a website as I can get. Yeah, right.
00:37:34
Speaker
I agree. I agree with that one. Yeah, he's in Benetton right now. Oh, yes. Okay. Well, there you go then. How about that? There's still a lot to like about what's going on with this. You know, you have the likes of Inari and Chemucheni in the ninth spot. Tabatabana was a revelation last year. He was brilliant for them. He really was.
00:38:03
Speaker
a little bit of Yeah, like, just not not quite what you thought you were getting when you saw him. But man, he was he was something else for sure. You know, they have capo obviously capoose seen some, he's seen some days though, he's he long on the tooth. I think most people would agree with that. So like,
00:38:27
Speaker
Drew, we're hoping that they just take that step forward and they become harder to beat. And they, you know, they continue to play the type of rugby that makes them who they are, but we just want to not see such a shit kicker team, you know? Yeah, I think they'll be all right. They've got so many players who can just run with them. Like they're going to be dangerous. They're going to have fun. And they improved too, because they got more cohesive towards the end of the year. So it'll happen. I have a little bit more.
00:38:56
Speaker
Um, I've been a little bit higher hopes for Fiji than, than Moana, but I don't have, I'm not very down on Moana. I think they'll take another step forward. Yep. Um, we're ties, you know, they've been busy. Do we miss the reds?
00:39:17
Speaker
But oh yeah, I'm just going by the order they have it on the website here. It's okay. It's a New South Wales probably. Yeah. Okay. Yes. That's my yes. Things are starting to make sense now. Yeah. It's, it's, they were not, they were better than I thought they were going to be last year.
00:39:44
Speaker
I don't think that, I think that's the same for a lot of people. Got into, got well, they were well into the playoff, like we got a court, got into the quarterfinal, which is again, not a place that a lot of people expected. So now we're looking at, you know, maybe they start to challenge the Brummies and the Reds for those top Australia spots. I think they actually finished ahead of the Reds last year, didn't they?
00:40:11
Speaker
or nope. Yes, they did just yeah, they did 3035. Yeah, so but with that, they still want to, you know, they want to take that next step and shoot higher. They have some really good things. I like Parecki a lot their hooker.
00:40:30
Speaker
And they got Lot 2 as well. So, number two for like, without a doubt, like, yeah, definitely not the one. No, no, no. But that's like, now you've got to back up and you don't lose a lot when Parecki has to come out. Fuck that. And Lot 2 can, you know, it's the same as we were talking about with the Kanes. It's like, if you need to start Lot 2 and give Parecki like a little bit off, you can do that too.
00:40:56
Speaker
You lose a bit, but you don't lose a huge amount. Lots who need to stay away from the cards. I mean, there's one problem. Well, yeah. Yeah. And we know we have some something really awesome with Nodolo coming in and he's going to provide some entertainment at the minimum, you know. But, you know, we have.
00:41:18
Speaker
Will Harrison and Ben Donnell in there. We are, I don't know about that. You know, the ones I'm trying to say over here. Ben Donaldson, that's the word. There you go. I got there eventually. I liked Isaiah Parise a ton last year. Me too. I thought he did some great things. He did. He got some... And Nwakuna Nawasi is back, is back. Yes.
00:41:42
Speaker
He was not himself even when he was playing last year. We saw him at the international level, like he's ready. So I'm looking forward to see what he could do here too. Yeah. And we talked about like game slows down for people in those positions after that. So it'll be interesting to see that. Gordon, I think he might be Australia's best nine when he's on form. So hopefully he gets more. I'm not going to argue. It's like it is either him or Tate.
00:42:09
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Back row is the thing that's interesting most because especially as the water tubs have a listed name, Ned Hannigan lists as a back row. He is such a weird player for me to get behind one way or the other because
00:42:23
Speaker
He's not a good back rower, but he's too damn small to be in second row. So it's like, right. Where do you stick him? And I mean, for me, it's on a plane somewhere else, but that's just that's critical. Yeah. Like I'd pick. Yeah, there's four guys I'd pick ahead of him on this and maybe five. I like.
00:42:47
Speaker
Gamble, I don't know how long Hooper can last. Locky Swinton is a card machine kind of, so that's... Yeah. That is... It's really weird to say with a team with Michael Hooper on it that the back row is a question, but it is. It kind of is, yeah. That's just... And I still don't want Hannigan back there. No, no, no, no, no, no. No, I might take the card machine over him, honestly. Right. That's more good and loose at least, so...
00:43:13
Speaker
Yeah. Another, another big step forward potentially for the war ties. Um, especially as they have some developing players that are coming through and hopefully we see the better of them. Uh, Queensland, the reds kind of fell a little bit last year. He did look like that's a unfair statement either. I know O'Connor was kind of banged up for quite a bit of it. Right. He was playing hurt. Absolutely played hurt. And, uh, uh,
00:43:43
Speaker
Yeah, their back three is not desirable exactly. Fluke played a lot of wing and he's okay. Petaya played a lot of wing. I mean, these are centers that are out there playing wing, you know, allegedly centers. Jock Campbell is okay, but he doesn't have that. He's not a game breaker. Dargoon is a game breaker when he shows up.
00:44:12
Speaker
when he shows up, you know, that's the problem. Like, yeah, you got a lot of open questions. And so what I'm also hearing, I read an article in Telegraph, which, hey, that's as good as, as far as I can tell, that's as good as rugby journalism as I could find. It usually has pretty good stuff. They're saying that, you know, with O'Connor coming back from ankle surgery, that Tom Lina may start at 10.
00:44:40
Speaker
because he had not not because like you know it's obviously the name he's 19 and apparently he's he's he's lit it up in the um in the warm-up matches to the point where it's like they can't ignore it that's pretty wild so that's a wild card if if if he can if that's if all if this is true reporting if this is what is in store for for the reds
00:45:10
Speaker
Um, that, that could be scary. Yeah. Cause again, the same, same thing with the, um, um, the Brumbies, like they've always had a stout defense. They're not going to just fall apart. They have to, their back row is too good for that. Yes. Too deep for that. I agree with that. Um, and their centers are too good for that. Yep. It's really been like.
00:45:33
Speaker
can they attack and that the one year they did really well and the one, did they win the super rugby entirely or just? Just AU, I think. Just Australia. But they were a fucking wag. They would just, you know, they scored two tries at the death, really. Probably had one and then O'Connor actually scored it. And yeah.
00:45:57
Speaker
Yeah, it's just if they can have an explosive attack, watch the fuck out. And it's going to make Tate that much better, too, because he's really good with a running 10 who's like they can work off of each other for some slick two on one type shit. Yeah, watch the fuck out. Yep. Agreed. Agreed. And then finally, the force.
00:46:23
Speaker
Lots of promise to start the year last year. And then eventually fell off the, off the pace a little bit. Look at who they brought in. They brought in so much talent. They have brought in some good names. There's no doubt about that. I mean, Falafang is say what you will about him, but he's better than anybody on this team this year. Yeah. Wow. Okay.
00:46:52
Speaker
Did not, did not pick up that on that transfer. Okay. My fault for Michael Wells, Michael Wells from the, um, coming over from the rebels. Yep. I remember him. Certainly. And it's certainly a defensive type player that they, they really could use. Yeah. That was part of the problem last year. I would say, I think most people would agree with that too.
00:47:17
Speaker
Right. Bryce Hagerty Hamish Stewart, like great Hagerty is kind of, you know, he's, he's on vacation too. I think. Yeah. Oh no, he was coming back. No, he's coming up, but he's coming home for vacation in a way. Um, yeah, he came back. He came home from the tigers. He, he was not having a good time over in England. Right. And Sam Spink. Um, I guess it's going to be, yeah.
00:47:42
Speaker
I think it's going to be him and Hamish Stewart as the centers. Yeah, OK. Yeah, I'm like. Intrigued because like we saw Mattaelli was ridiculous and. You know, no chase to coming. They just added at each level, something good. So I'm I'm excited about that. I'm excited about the force there to me, someone who
00:48:11
Speaker
Where'd they finish last year? They finished ninth. Shit, if I'm, you know, if I'm the Highlanders, I'd got to be looking over my rearview mirror at them, even though they're kind of, they tied, you know, technically, but still. Damn. Still. And even the Waratahs, if the Waratahs slip a little bit, I think the Reds are going to shoot up. I don't think they're going to stay down there, but I think the Taws need to
00:48:36
Speaker
have a mind to, because if the force come good, like that, you know, they, we've seen them progress from that, you know, they, they came up having only played 70 minutes the year before. And so they were gassed at the end of the match to, okay, they can play a full match and it's decent too. Now it's no, they can play and they've got, they're bringing players into, that's scary. Right. So there's one young player on the force that I'm,
00:49:00
Speaker
I think could be a huge key to them taking a step forward. He left his club to join the forest so we could get more playing time, which he's gotten. Now he needs to come good on that playing time. And it's, that's Rhys-Germ-Pasteloa. I really would love to, I like the kid. I like a lot of what he does on the field. Just needs to put it together a little bit more. You can see that in patches, he looks brilliant. And there are other patches where it's like,
00:49:27
Speaker
sure you'll belong on this team, kid? So it's one of those fine balances that you want him to just find and grab ahold of and finally take this role and say, I can be a leader for this team. And with that, because he could be he could be there 10. Yeah, I'm hoping that the last year was more of a this is my first year as a starter in this kind of competition. And
00:49:54
Speaker
You take that, you know, there's a learning curve there and you have to see it first. I'm hoping that that's what happens with this kid because he could be, as you said, he could be excellent. I really want to, and I want him to come good and. Hope so. Yeah. I remember the ones that you see flashes of at first and then obviously come good. It's the ones that you kind of, but there's so many others that you just forget about because they showed flashes and
00:50:20
Speaker
Faded away. Faded away. I hope he's the former, not the latter. It's also got a cool name and I want to keep saying it. Yeah. All right. So final and who wins? I don't see. I mean, I still think it's Blue's Crusaders. Oh, boy. And I think it's
00:50:50
Speaker
Reds and Brumby is in the, in the, in the semis. I think those are, I think those are my, my, my top four teams in the, in the competition. Okay. Okay. Here we go. And I think that, but I think the twist is the blues win it. Well, I would hope that if they get back to that point against the same point of the, they'll finally figure it out, you know, I really would. I really, really would.
00:51:15
Speaker
I don't know. That's a boring take. I'm sorry, but yeah, that's where I am. Might not be wrong. It's not as spicy as it's still alive. England's win the six nations without, without the grand slam, without the grand slam. There's a chance it's not dead yet. Not dead yet. Oh, let's go. Let's do a quick run around in the premier ship here.
00:51:42
Speaker
Yeah, let's go Friday night. We'll start with Bristol and Newcastle.
00:51:48
Speaker
I think the wheels came off for Newcastle when they had to pull their second back off the field. The Carreras came off for the HIA. And he was already off. They had to put Steuben on and Tate. And I was like, oh, is this going to go well with it? No. And it just kind of bled away from them. Right. And Bristol had the bit between their teeth. There's no question about it. They did. Starting with that AJ creation there.
00:52:13
Speaker
picked on his old friend, Greg, and a little bit on that dummy. Yeah, just a little bit. He's like, well, I know you, you're not going to catch me. And Brocklebank was the other person. I was like, yeah, he knew what he was doing. So yeah, that's vintage AJ. It was good to see that a little bit. And my start of the week last week, Harry Randall was just a problem. He was about the place. Yeah, he was about the place, no doubt. Yeah.
00:52:42
Speaker
Yeah. He had more in his tank than, than Newcastle did. Unfortunately, like that's like sad to say. Definitely. Yeah. I don't disagree.
00:52:53
Speaker
The one thing that came more prevalent in this game in particular was the tap and go is being a little lighter on a little bit more because either teams just don't want to trust the line or it's a slick ball. And they're like, fuck that. I'm not about to do three transfers of the ball from me to this guy to this guy to this guy to make sure that we can set up a mall. If we can get this thing close and maybe get over via this alley, then why not?
00:53:21
Speaker
So once and you know, I have been a major poopy pants on the pick and go. But
00:53:30
Speaker
because it was being done wrong. And that's what I need to remember is that just because it's not working doesn't mean that it's being done the right way and it just doesn't work. Now they're tapping it and they're running at an angle. It's not just, I'm going to tap it and run right into the person right in front of me. They're actually running at an angle and trying to set something up. And I saw like the one, the play that England ran, they did, it looked like just, it came across like shit. They actually did it two weeks in a row now was something that actually worked for Lester.
00:53:59
Speaker
a little bit earlier this season, I saw somebody did a clip of it and it's like, yeah, you try things, like you have set plays off of it. Like we're going to tap, we're going to attack out wide and then we're going to attack short, you know, fakely we're going wide side and then you hit the blind side and, you know, you can do little things off it. You can get the defense off balance.
00:54:18
Speaker
Right. And so what eventually turned into Bowie's try was as you low move off of the tap and go was Thacker. Oh, that's back door to Bradbury. Bradbury did get tackled. But then eventually I think it was one or two phases later, Bowie was over. Right. So, yeah, you see, if you're if a team is willing to do that type of stuff on tap and go, I see no reason to not employ it. Like just be smart about it. Don't be predictable and right execute.
00:54:48
Speaker
That's what we want in any facet of rugby. So let it go. Class of Bristol to really go for the bonus point. I think that showed something there. They're not, I mean, obviously, Oh, you got rewarded eventually with the ball, basically rolling into Fitz's arms, but Hey, whatever you make your own. Yeah. And.
00:55:13
Speaker
It's just good to see, because I know apparently Pat Lam's job is on the line here. So a good way to start the next part of the season. Yeah. I agree. I agree. And then just down the road, over to the Loster, Quinn's visiting. On the Quinn's, there's a couple of things that are obviously a problem.
00:55:43
Speaker
That back row was my least favorite so far this year for Quinn's, by the way. Yeah. And I know players are not available, so I get it. Right. But, damn, that's an immobile back row. Yeah, not awesome. Wallace is mobile, but he doesn't do anything other than snaffle and poach, which you need. Yeah, that's a true seven. So he's a true seven, but you need your seven to do a little bit more these days. Yeah.
00:56:10
Speaker
And this might be like, you're a fucking idiot type of moment. I don't see Beard as a 13. And apparently that's where he wants to live long-term. Right now, I don't see it. So if he wants to live there, there's going to need to be leaps and bounds made, my boy. Yeah, because that was not a great performance. And Northmore is much more of a natural 13. Yeah.
00:56:37
Speaker
you're gonna unseat this guy in, and I know Marcia is leaving soon, but still, yeah, you're gonna have to unseat Northmore at the very little, at the very least. So, got speed. But, Gloucester?
00:56:53
Speaker
It took them a while to wake up, really, if we're honest here. Take them a little bit. They eventually got there. They had some good moments. I mean, the disallowed resammit try was something that could have happened. It could have come off good. Good bad defense from Allen there. Yeah. Yeah, but that try, though. Oh, yeah. And the setup to the resammit. I mean, that's. Yep.
00:57:21
Speaker
Good Lord. That's what, that's what Gloucester needs out of him. If he's going to play 10, right? We haven't seen a whole lot of that lately. That's what they need. It helps when you have two wings out there. Yeah, generally it does open up space for the 10. Like, you know, when, when, when the teams don't have to defend Johnny May's alley, he's not going to write, he's not taken to the house on you. So just, you know, you know, clear up your occluded up everything else.
00:57:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's going to take it out of you. Right, but having you know resammon and thoroughly out there for as long as you did.
00:58:02
Speaker
I think that was it. Yeah. And, you know, quids got better. Danny care became turned it on in the second half, even though you've actually got pulled, which I raised my eyebrow out of like, really? Yeah. Like just as he was driving this bus, like, yeah, totally kicking this. He just pulling this team along with the right. There were others. Oh, no, that's true. He was, he was good. The whole match. I'm sorry. I was thinking of a different match. Yeah. No, he, right. Yeah. But definitely turned it on in the second half. And yeah, seem to be really getting like,
00:58:28
Speaker
That was a huge moment for me when he came off and I think low came off and that was kind of like, okay, there goes that. That just kind of ended it for me. I was like, this game's over. I didn't see how it was going to happen. And one thing, and not just because the broadcast pointed out, I actually was looking at the numbers and I watched him play again.
00:58:54
Speaker
Seth Atkinson is getting better every day. And he was pretty good this match in particular, but is getting better every day. So he's growing up right in front of us now.
00:59:08
Speaker
Look out. Yeah. I saw somebody say like, okay, bluster in search of any Seb, they can find Seb Blake got over as well. Like, yes, that's true. Yeah, that's true. That is true. Seb's all around. And then they have shit. Don't they have they have one in the back row too?
00:59:26
Speaker
um who hasn't played him. Oh yeah we haven't seen the likes of him for a while if he's still a part of that squad. But he looked good so right get him out there. It's like you got a lottery ticket sitting there give it a shot. Yeah um the we'll see and last two notes from for me the back row for glosser is still very unexciting
00:59:51
Speaker
And we talked about Quinn's not being very exciting. Lovlo does the job that he's been given very well. Yeah, he does. And I'm just not overly convinced about Ackerman and Tui Tui, or Ackerman and Morgan, or any combination like that. They really need to let you back. I know, they need to play him more. And I thought Clement actually made a nice impact when he came on, so I was like, all right, so...
01:00:15
Speaker
I don't understand why you're continuing to go with these two just, you know, these, for lack of these donkeys, these elephants, they're just like, they don't do a whole lot for me personally. It's been a while since Ackerman, Ackerman had like as late as last year was dominant.
01:00:37
Speaker
Yeah, like when you really needed him to be this year, or he's been invisible. Yeah. And speaking, you know, who else has been mad this year is Clark. Yeah, unfortunately, he's been where the hell's he been?
01:00:52
Speaker
I think two carries for nine me. That's not that's not pretty pretty Clark was like, uh, you know, he'd be a, you know, 10 plus tackle, 10 plus run. And if you're like, if you're giving that up because you want to get the ball to two, he, so he 13 times, I'm sorry, you're doing it wrong. Yeah. You got that backwards. Yeah. You got that one crossed up there, guys. Yeah. I, I, yeah, I totally agree. I think, um,
01:01:16
Speaker
I think they got to do something to jazz up that back row just a tiny bit. Yeah, just a little bit. Doesn't have to be in huge, like, you know, clean sweep, just a little bit of punch in there would be good. And in the end, good and good on Quinn's for just getting in there and getting two points in a match that they were very hot and cold in and still managed to do it. So good on them. Got to appreciate that.
01:01:44
Speaker
Uh, Beth and Lennon Irish on Saturday. Yeah, unfortunately, just like, yep. Yeah. Lot, lots of chances.
01:01:58
Speaker
And not enough finishing. And I think that's the story for both teams. Right. I mean, and to me, this could have been so much worse if Simmons, I mean, if, well, Simmons was just the last guy to get a penalty. A penalty, yeah. Although he was one of the middle guys, too, a couple times, I think. To be fair. To be fair. But aside from that hard period,
01:02:27
Speaker
Yeah, that was it. That was that was all of Bath's points. That was yeah, and they couldn't stay disciplined themselves. No, they were. Yeah, that was just not good. So yeah, fair, you know, bath, I thought. Underhill showed up big time, but there wasn't really much else to write. There wasn't much to write home about about that that effort from bath. Now that their attack almost vanished in the second half like yeah.
01:02:53
Speaker
And they had some moments, but still, like, it was very, very barely noticeable. Mm hmm. For the exiles. I this game picked up for them when Paul got yanked, like it did. The bottom line. Absolutely. That is a harsh thing to do to number one. Don't start them like that. That was the thing. Kid Kidney wanted to give Ben White some rest because he's playing a lot and he's going. I'm going back.
01:03:21
Speaker
Um, you know, going back to Scotland this week. So, right. Like this was Powell's game to be like, dude, I can, I can get us through this period and be 32 minutes in. He's like, no, get him the fuck out. Like, bring me in and bring me his head essentially. Like, and Ben White just came in there and fucking wreck shop. Yeah. He was, he's such a difference maker. Yes. He's, he's, he's become.
01:03:49
Speaker
so much better as he's gotten more playing time at, at London Irish and, and Scott really, and, and, and, you know, to Gregor Townsend, but if it, because now he's got two pretty good nines that he can pick from with white and when, and when Ali price gets healthy, like, damn, I'm not sure I ever would think of that in Scotland, but Hey, here we are. Here we are. Plus he can brag to all his, uh,
01:04:16
Speaker
teammates, especially his English teammates, about how he got to score a try at Twix. Yep. Always, always, always. The other Saturday game over at the gardens, Saints and Sale. Red cards ruined games. Oh, this game was ruined. Ruined. Ruined. Ruined. Oh, what a game.
01:04:46
Speaker
What a game. And it's amazing because I felt like sale did such a good job, even when they were down to 13. Right. And they had two periods of that and they still did a job during it. They still, I mean, the Ashman one kind of broke their back. Yeah.
01:05:13
Speaker
Not till the end. They fought every last bit of it. It's one of those things. Think of what you could do if you had...
01:05:25
Speaker
15 on the field for most of the game. Because you wear yourselves out. Really, in the end, I think that's what ended up being the downfall. They wore themselves out playing with 13 players for too long a period. They did. It's fucking hard work. It really is. Even if it doesn't show up in that period of being down to 13 on the scoreboard,
01:05:52
Speaker
The freaking, I bet you the heart rate martyrs will tell you otherwise. The GPS is like, they're moving. Yeah, I would bet the farm on that one, no doubt. Yeah. And just, is there a better 10 in the premiership this year than Bobby dupes? Is that the fact that you have to not discount that immediately says a lot because shit.
01:06:20
Speaker
Is this the same Bobby Dupree we've seen? Like... Yeah, it's hard to argue. It really is. This was not the guy who used to fill in for AJ at all. No. This is the guy who's saying, yeah, go ahead, start George Ford over me. See if you can. That's what the fuck he's doing right now. See if you can take me off the field, you know? Yeah. That type of stuff. Really is. I mean, that could pass to Aaron Reed on fucking on the money. Right now, bang on. In his own try.
01:06:50
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that was a good Yeah, okay. She's playing you have to okay. He's playing against Northampton Yeah, I know You're gonna look good. But still what is playing amazing? Really? The only bad bad game I can think of recently That comes to recent memory was his was was the last game he played in bath and that was one of the worst games I'd seen him play for a while. So yeah, really Yeah, it's
01:07:16
Speaker
There's not, he hasn't had bad games and the good games he's had have been superb. So really hard to say like that he, number one, it's going to be really hard to unseat him. Like I know George Ford's back, but damn. It was funny to see him get the face wash though. Oh, poor fella. It's not a personal thing. It's just like, yeah, this is motion. Oh, yeah. It's one of those, it's like,
01:07:46
Speaker
It's like Kung Fu Panda when he rolls and sits on the guy's head.
01:07:56
Speaker
But yeah, it's like what we used to do with Scrum Habs for fun, like just slide. You hit them and you slide on down and they just kind of roll over the top of them and they wake up with a whole lot of mud on their face. Right. Yeah, maybe not the nicest thing to do, but it's funny. Yeah, sometimes. Yeah. So just one of those communication. I mean, he seemed to be okay, although he did get a nice little scrape.
01:08:23
Speaker
Yeah, he's fine. He was in the end camp for a little bit this week. Yeah, he's fine. So to Northampton's credit, this has not been a great team this year, but they have continued to find ways to fight and fight and win and get points on the table to the point they're now in third. Right. Which is pretty wild to think about it.
01:08:52
Speaker
Right. And there's a there's like, you know, fifth is about three points away. It's not like, you know, it's it's within touching distance. But you're so you're not like, yeah, they're down your neck, but they're not like up your butt. You're OK. And you've lost her there. Yeah, you got to keep fighting. But like, right. If you had told me this team was going to be in third the way they were playing defense, I would have freaking told you you're an idiot. But here we are. Mm hmm.
01:09:19
Speaker
Here we are. And a little credit to them. You know, Finn Smith got the shit beat out of him and played for as long as he could. Poor fellow. Yeah. He didn't get the shit kicked out of him, which is to be expected against sale. And that's why, you know, we were both I think he was your start set of the week, right? Yeah, it was. Yeah. And it was a good call because it's like he just, yeah, you don't want to play against sale as the 10. No, it's a miserable existence for a long time. Not nice. But that's hey, welcome to the league. Yes, it is.
01:09:50
Speaker
You're like everybody, you got people's attention. You know, you were in the camp, so everyone's gonna want a PCNO. Yes, absolutely. But the rest of the back line was very good as well. You know, Furbank came off her, that sucked. Yeah. And considering that they had to kind of piece it together at the end when Finn Smith came off, like, okay, all right, pretty good. And this Rory Hutchinson, like,
01:10:19
Speaker
Yeah, Hutch has been, Hutch has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has been, has
01:10:49
Speaker
Yep. During throughout the game and also got the shit kicked out of it a little bit. Yeah. He had a few ouch moments. Yeah. And so certainly one of the guys who like, I'm sure there's a little bit more in it when he was touching that one down than, than just your normal game winning. Amazing. Yeah, absolutely. I agree. A little bit more to it. I agree. So good on Phil Douseman and his staff for kind of putting this team in the right direction. And they are.
01:11:18
Speaker
They're turning in the right way, but as we've seen, things can go sideways very fast in this league right now because of how tight the table is for the most part. And that wraps up our prem talk. So there were no other matches. No, there was nothing else. Nothing else happened. Well, oh, no, I'm sorry. Lester played. Yeah, Lester definitely played. I don't know who their opponent may have been, but certainly for about 60 minutes they played. Yeah.
01:11:46
Speaker
This, this is why I've been annoyed by Mark McCall lately. No. I don't like the selection so much. I don't like the game plan. It's very Eddie Jones, and it's game plenary, and I don't like that. Nope. If you haven't noticed. No.
01:12:06
Speaker
Um, Tizard was, was like, that's
Blues Team Analysis
01:12:11
Speaker
the Tizard I would have been waiting to see. Same. Same. He seemed to be another level. And yeah. And I felt like they wasted his, um, his effort. Shagan didn't get used enough. And I just don't understand. Look. Hmm.
01:12:31
Speaker
They got, they got beat by a bunch of old men because they just kept kicking the ball to them. It's like, these are the experienced guys. Like you're not. Yeah, run at them. Don't let them run at you. Yeah, that's not, they don't want to make a tackle, but yeah, if you let them run with the ball, they're going to have fun with it. Like they still have a little bit of pace to them. They still got a little bit of wiggle and they, more than that, they know how to move the ball because
01:12:55
Speaker
Yeah, they scored some great tries, but only because they had some amazing try assists. Like, and then, you know, secondary assists too. Like they were working well together and you kept giving them the ball that way. And I don't know if Alan Davies just doesn't know any other way to play. Other than terrible. Other than, yeah, like they call pitchers sometimes who take long time to pitch. They call them human rain delays.
01:13:25
Speaker
because it's like, you know, when they stop the game when it rains, right? And so it's like every time you get, okay, it gets the ball. All right. Rain delay. We got five minutes before the next pitch. And it's like,
01:13:34
Speaker
Davies is like that with the ball and then the booting. And it's like, you're making it obvious. They know exactly what you're doing well before you do it, because you're making it too obvious. There's no urgency to it. And again, Goode at 10, I'm down on. I would really rather see Manu at 10 and Goode at 15. Maitland, actually, I thought Maitland was impressive for what Maitland has been. He played really well back there, yeah.
01:14:03
Speaker
I thought he did too. And Shagan
Team Performance Critique
01:14:05
Speaker
didn't get the ball enough because every time he did, he was problematic. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. I mean, the team didn't, the series didn't show up for 35 minutes easily.
01:14:14
Speaker
no and then i was like just go i was so pissed that i was just like just pack up and go home guys right if we're gonna do this for 30 35 minutes in this game we're fucked and that's how it was because look what happened in the second half when they decided to play a bit and show up on defense right fucking hell we gave ourselves a chance that's the other thing is who beat them
01:14:35
Speaker
Mike Brown beat them. Yep. Jasper Visa beat them. Jasper's pretty fucking good. Right. But that like exactly. Oh, no. But I'm saying like those were the like those are the two that you have to stop like them and those three. There is two in Ashton. As much as as they're old, I don't give a shit that they're old. They're still they're fucking squirrely.
01:15:00
Speaker
And they're still fast and they can play for 80 minutes for once. Like, yeah, if this was like the 17th week that they were doing it, no, no, but they haven't been. So you got to look out for the rest of the old guys who still have speed and they didn't do that. And then the fucking big motherfucker who will just run a bitch over like. Yeah, he runs people over for fun. He sits them all down for.
01:15:21
Speaker
Hey, bro. Yeah, for shits and giggles. And you and you're like not tackling him. You're not accounting for him. You let him, you know, he's running a blockers line and like, oh, yeah, sure. He's the dummy. No, he's not the fucking dummy. He's getting it. He is getting it. Wake up. That dude's getting whoever was back there was like, yeah, I don't want to tackle. I don't want to tackle him either. All right. Well, let's just ignore him. No, national. You got it. Agreed. Yeah. No, that was I don't know.
01:15:50
Speaker
I mean, the word had to come down. Like, I don't know where that word was. Exactly. That's kind of why I put it on McCall almost. It's like, same. If I'm doing prep work, that's the first thing I'm saying is like, okay, we're going to work on, you know, do we line out defense? That's their first option is to get it to Visa in the open. Because that's what we do with Billy.
01:16:09
Speaker
Yep. Did a lot. And they like the, did they not do it enough or did the guys just not get the memo or did they really just not want to put their lives on the line? None of the above, obviously, or all of the above, whatever it is. Right. Um, so that, that like good on them. Good on Jasper, right? He's a great player. Um, and he took it. He took full fucking advantage. Made life miserable for him. Yeah. Hold on. Yeah. Good on, unless you're, I mean,
01:16:36
Speaker
for as poorly as we played, we still came away with a losing bonus point, so I'm not mad in that terms. But I'm more like, okay, we came away with a losing bonus point and having to play it, but play it like dogshit for, you know, a half. And the going for three. That's before we talk about the going for three down 14.
01:16:56
Speaker
Are you fucking good? That penalty did us right there. Yeah. Cause then at the end, if you had gone, if you had, you know, done you the appropriate thing and gone to the corner, cause you're lying out in mall with like really one thing that's been working, like maybe use that instead of your fucking boot. Like you go into the halftime and it's 24 14 instead of 24 10. It's a little bit different story. And then you add eight points to that and it's,
01:17:23
Speaker
you're in
MLR Opening Week Highlights
01:17:24
Speaker
two point territory. And then that last penalty instead of, you know, maybe even the penalty where you kicked it out the back, cause that was fucking great. Maybe that one you go for your point at the posts and you take the lead or something, you know, like, right.
01:17:38
Speaker
It's margins and that was just a bad call. And that's a McCall. That's again, that's what I'm pointing at the coach for that. Like, yeah, it's clearly a McCall decision. Cause they made that decision no matter who's the captain on the field. So right. Yeah, that's getting pretty good. Who the captain, who the kicker doesn't matter. That's been the column. It's like, I don't, yeah, I don't know what you're seeing. I don't know what your analytics are telling you, but they're wrong.
01:18:02
Speaker
Yeah. It's not like we said, it's not necessarily teams that kick more when it's how you use the kick and they're not using it well. No. How frustrating. Okay. Let's go to that. Let's go. Let's go to something less frustrating. Let's talk about opening weekend, uh, the MLR and the opening week too. Yep. It was a good week and it was a wonderful week down in New Orleans for the pre jacks.
01:18:31
Speaker
everybody looked great. And I could not have been more satisfied with the way that went, especially considering how bad the wind was in New Orleans. And that was definitely a win that could have easily given them the lead back if they had played it right. And instead, we just
01:18:50
Speaker
pummeled them on defense, and they didn't score a point in that second half. That was with them having the fucking wind. I was just like, that is impressive defense right there. That is right. And the thing is, like,
01:19:04
Speaker
The way the free jacks were scoring in the first half, it wasn't just, I mean, the wind helped them. It made it a little bit, it made them have to do a little bit less effort because they, you know, they could kick further down. There was a ridiculous kick to the corner that was like literally the corner and it was from ridiculous distance.
01:19:24
Speaker
Petraz was kind of lucky it stayed in. He probably was pooping himself for a second there. But then they would just run on the ridiculous playoff of it that would score from pretty much anywhere. So it's like the plays that they were running, the wind wasn't helping. And even in the group chat, somebody was saying, oh, Poland, his throws are high. And it's like, well, he's throwing into the wind. He's got to put something on it. Otherwise, it's going to blow forward and into the other team. And it's going to sail a little bit.
01:19:54
Speaker
It was awesome in the second half, too. Every pass was a dart that makes it so much easier for the Scrum half. Everybody thinks it's easier to play overall, but passing it backwards with the wind at your back is not easy. No. And they made it look easy. They were so good. They just were so much better than Noah.
01:20:15
Speaker
Yep. And the wind kind of killed them a little bit in the second half, but it also, you know, as you said, kept them out. Love this way. Love it. Love the way they played. Love it. Love everything about it. Patras a lot. Patras. Yes, that's what we were you and I had been talking about. How do you replace Bowdoin Waka? And that'll do it. That was. Yeah, that was a very Waka like performance. Right. And the and as you and I were talking about with Bill,
01:20:45
Speaker
having Reese McDonald makes me feel much more comfortable about the way Patras plays as opposed to, and I finally remember the guy's name, Boyle, as opposed to having Boyle who, sorry, had potential but just wasn't it. No, it was a clear drop off when we had to bring in a backup 10 and. Wasn't good. Reese will be okay. Yeah, I think it's going to be just fine. Yeah. So the whip around otherwise, rugby, ATLB,
01:21:15
Speaker
arrows down in Atlanta 1710. You said you watched that match and it wasn't amazing. No, it wasn't that that impressive. Honestly, either side, it's going to look to Yeah, put much up on on GDC or New York or free jacks. It's not speaking of old glory, they
01:21:34
Speaker
hounded the new team, Chicago, 42 27. And that was a pretty convincing win over there. And, um, really was that, that, that, um, it did not seem like, I don't think it was a 15 point game because it was 42 20. It was, yeah, it was like 42 20 seemed to about right. Um, and then they scored it kind of a garbage time try. Cause that was 42 20. It's a garbage time. Doesn't matter what time the game is. Um, yeah.
01:22:00
Speaker
And then, Legion won
Upcoming Rugby Matches and Predictions
01:22:02
Speaker
over at Snapdragon, their new home, 3317. That was fairly convincing in that way. Utah's not as bad as they might appear either, so just keep that in mind. Seattle beat New York, the defending champs out in Starfire. Good for them. Like we said, they're going to be a freaking pain in the ass. They're going to be a problem. And again, this is the same kind of New York side we saw before they brought in a couple of All Blacks.
01:22:28
Speaker
I'm not really I don't think those are available this year and then I'm okay with it because fuck they that was the only that was the difference and this is not um yeah they're not gonna find scuds not a great team yeah then that makes me happy then you know about the free jacks taking the top spot because it'll be between og and iron workers is uh
01:22:49
Speaker
you know, who battles for second, really. They're not that, I mean, unless Old Glory really took a step forward, which I'm kind of scared about now. They could. They could. We'll find out, I guess. Look good on Seattle. I do like Seattle. I've said that before. I'm not trying to discount them. I'm just, nope, I care more about the ironworkers right now. Yeah. We'll see Old Glory in a couple of weeks.
01:23:09
Speaker
Not this weekend next. I know I'm going to yell at them a lot. Yes, we will. And then Dallas, of course, lost at home to Houston. No shock there. No, no shock there. Dallas was not good. No. Okay. Cool. There's that. Yeah. You think this was a lot? Just wait till next week. Oh, yeah. We'll go faster. We don't have to go team by team. No. And we'll spend less time on certain matches and more on others. So try and balance them out. Yeah, exactly.
01:23:38
Speaker
Try and bounce it out. If you're coming over to the fantasy corner, we got a lot more to share with you over there. So come on over. We got lots to talk about over there. Going right down the lineup of everything. Plus we got a little champion league stuff. If you are not heading over there, great. You got loads of rugby to enjoy this weekend. Go enjoy it all. We hope to hear from you next week. Otherwise, we appreciate you all for hanging out with us. Enjoy it. Have a good one, folks.