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Season 5- TFRY Soars with Eagles Overseas Part 2 (MLR Preview)
29 Plays3 years ago
It's a bunch of those annoying American rugby fools and they're talking all about their little league. Yes, it's an MLR preview special with our special guest, Bill Baker, the man behind Eagles Overseas and the Eagle-Eyed Podcast. This episode of course is all MLR all the time as we discuss the bottom of the barrel, the cream of the crop and all the in between. Catch up with us with a beverage won't you?
Check out the Eagle-Eyed Podcast, wherever you listen. https://eaglesoverseas.podbean.com/ @EaglesOverseas
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 Guest Appearance
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 gambled that. Collusion! Collusion!
00:00:27
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the fantasy rugby yanks. My name is Jared. I'm Ben Glauser. With us today, we have a guy that needs no introduction. He is the host of eagle eyed podcast. He's also the man behind Eagles overseas. We have with us today, the good man, Bill Baker.
00:00:42
Speaker
Yeah, you guys. Hello. Hello. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you for. Yeah. Yeah. Classed up for a little while here. Like we're talking about in the pre pre show. Yeah, I didn't really dress up for you guys, but that's all right. That's all right. We're we're always overdressed like we are. We are those overdressed guys at games and stuff too. Yeah, exactly. We're the ones in the flannel hoodies and with the jerseys underneath and can't miss you too.
00:01:08
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, when it's the two of us, it's really hard to miss us, especially in the spring, early spring games when we're both rocking our hoodies. Yeah. Plus we're usually just in the way, generally. So it's hard, it really is hard to miss us.
Major League Rugby and Chicago Team Insights
00:01:27
Speaker
So today we're, we're, this is a special, like we, like we said on, um, on the earlier pod this week, we're just talking to MLR. There's nothing else going on here. So, um, nice MLR preview show. So let's, so let's crack into it. Um, we'll go, we won't show too much bias because if anybody could guess for three seconds, this is a free Jack's contingent all around.
00:01:49
Speaker
Right. Three for three. We will go through, do our best alphabetically. And I think appropriately, in many ways, we'll start with the new team, which is out in Chicago. But it's kind of like all the Gills players thrown into one one pod at this point, with the exception of a few. Billy Meeks is the first name that comes to mind for them. And that in itself is scary because, you know, he's pretty good. Well, well, actually, not too scary because he hasn't he's not there yet.
00:02:18
Speaker
He's not Billy Meeks apparently is having some visa issues as such. So he's the last time we checked. He was like out in California. I don't know if he's having visa issues and how is he still in the country? But yeah, I mean, I think he'll be in that roster this season at some point and when he does show up. Yeah, you know what? I guess it's kind of like can Chicago hold on the first however many weeks.
00:02:38
Speaker
You know, obviously they're still scary with Luke Cardi and Bryce Campbell though. I mean, that's true. Yeah. When you got Bryce yet in centers, you know, captaining the team and, you know, you got Michael Baska coming back from France. You know, I'm not sure how big of an influence he's going to have right away. I mean, Luke White's there as well. And, you know, I haven't, you know, Baska hasn't really wasn't really playing for ruin. Rwanda can never say the name of that club.
00:03:02
Speaker
He hasn't really getting a lot of playing time and maybe he's already been back in the States before that But before they announced but but but he could be their wild card as well. Yeah, I mean he's starting Yeah, Pascal so they're throwing him right in there. Yeah He was good enough to get over there to begin with so right
00:03:20
Speaker
It does say a lot, you know, so he's probably still pretty good. If you get a few training sessions with him, you got to believe that you just nod and go, OK, my mind's made up. This guy's in, you know. Yeah, yeah. Well, and you know, with Chicago, this isn't your normal expansion team.
00:03:36
Speaker
No, I mean, luckily they if it wasn't for LA and that that other team that went under. Yeah, thank you. It wasn't for those teams, two teams going on, or it would have been just kind of an expansion draft. And each team would have put up two or three players available, and then they would have gone high in the college draft. So this is not this is basically, if you ask me, almost an all star team pulled from LA,
00:04:00
Speaker
Austin and a couple of the clubs you know they're gonna be good it can they win it all yeah i don't know the good coaching staff these aren't new coaches to the league also so you know and it's in chicago i mean i assume you guys have been chicago it's it's a it's a big rugby town i'm surprised they haven't had a team until now so it's yeah you know in the stadium they're playing on the stadium has a heated
00:04:20
Speaker
pitch, man, the heated pitch. Yeah, they have for the fireplace, right? Yeah, it's a good it's central to the country, too. It's not like some of these that are they're all, you know,
00:04:39
Speaker
We're up in the corner, or there's, you know, plenty of a of rugby on the coasts but yeah
Challenges for Dallas and Houston's Potential
00:04:45
Speaker
it's good to get something you know in the middle really middle of the country. Yeah, it's good to have, especially because as you said, and as Jared said Chicago supported, not one but two super rugby or Super League.
00:04:59
Speaker
teams like it's a big area for rugby every time I used to try out for the Maccabees um the trials were in Chicago it's it's a it's vibrant there so I'm happy to see that they'll they will get fans that's excellent um you need to get some in Philly though because that's another big rugby town that doesn't have it but we'll let that go yeah one another good thing about Chicago is the um
00:05:21
Speaker
prices to fly Chicago aren't that bad. No, you know, even in the worst times of the year. I mean, I flew out for the the Ireland New Zealand game years ago and happened to be the parade week also for the Cubs. And I think it cost me like 220 or something like that to fly around Chicago. So that's good, especially if we want to go watch the free jacks on the road, you know, find the San Diego or flying to Seattle isn't that bad this time of year. But yeah, I know. But it's doable. Let's put it that way. Yeah.
00:05:50
Speaker
Yeah, I have friends in Chicago. So I would, I would have a place to lay our head. Ben knows them. And we all know the song we used to work in Chicago. Exactly. We all used to work in Chicago. Exactly.
00:06:03
Speaker
So needless to say, I don't think they're gonna end up as Dallas did last year. I think that's a pretty easy statement to throw out there as we thought. They're in the West though, if I'm not mistaken, which makes sense only because if you're picking a city to fly out of in terms of ease, Chicago or New Orleans, Chicago wins. They are so much easier to fly out of and to get to other places. So financially it made sense too. So it doesn't sound like it makes sense, but it does.
00:06:33
Speaker
So yeah, at least I'll give them a lot. They made that decision correctly, at least. So we have Chicago. Where do you want to go next? Um, these Dallas, Dallas sounds like right. Let's go right down the line. Um, so Dallas improved hopefully this year. Yeah.
00:06:55
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know guys. They're going to be bottom still. Yeah. In my mind, I mean, you know, they have some good back row players, you know, Adrian Bousin, Boysen Boysen, I never get these names right. Yeah. Kenrado, you know, these are quality back row players, but just just think, you know, they did sign some newer players in this office that aren't American qualified, because remember, last year, they really had a lot of these American players, which I loved personally.
00:07:20
Speaker
But it just, it felt like they just weren't competitive. They just weren't in the, shouldn't have been in this league. And they had a lot of other issues, as you know, with difficulties with players, with injuries, that bridge clash and a lot back then, that kind of thing. Beautiful, beautiful state in the plan, way too big for rugby, but it's a beautiful location.
00:07:37
Speaker
Yeah. And it's so beautiful. They shoot that Major League Rugby commercial every year in that play space at the beginning of the season commercial where Woohooly becomes the face of MLR, which was last year. But, you know, they have good coaching. They have these quality players, but they just don't have a lot of veteranship. You know, like when you look at Houston,
00:07:57
Speaker
or San Diego, just not a lot of veterans in the team. So I just, I just don't see them going far or winning many games, if any, to tell you the truth. I hope they do. I do. I hope they do. I don't, I don't like to watch a league where someone is completely out of every game. It just, that sucks. Agreed. I totally agree. It's, yeah, it's hard. It's hard just to watch a team like that. It's
00:08:21
Speaker
I had a, um, a colleague that went to the game and said the experience was great. And said, yeah, the team's trash. I mean, if you're going to get one, right, you better get, you gotta get one, right. So at least I got one, right. Yeah. And it took the free jacks, like they had that, you know, the, um, the year like that, but I mean, they weren't really even in the league yet. So.
00:08:42
Speaker
You know, it's hard to give them that kind of grace because it's like, you know, when, when we had like what tag leader is the 10 and we're just getting crushed every match. It's like that same kind of thing. Like, okay, it's a fun experience, but this team.
00:08:56
Speaker
Isn't that good? And at least I wish that Dallas had invested in the team the way Mags and the ownership did here. Well, what year was that for the Free Jacksman Tigers? Was that before the MLR? Wasn't that during the... That was like the pre-MLR phase. Yeah. Well, that was the Cata Cup and whatever else was going on back then. And then there was the eventual canceled season where they weren't very good either. They only had...
00:09:22
Speaker
But they won the first game. But they played well, yeah. They played really hard. Didn't they beat like, I don't know who it was, in Vegas with the crazy... No, they beat New York like in Vegas, something like that, with the crazy kicks. I was at that game in Seattle, the last game they played before the season was over because of COVID. And I believe I brought COVID back with me. Sorry, guys.
00:09:41
Speaker
But I was there. My buddy has season tickets right there on midfield line, first row, right behind where Mags and those guys were sitting in the ownership box. So I got a chance to talk to those guys. But because of Seattle, one of the places, they gave the freejacks a lot of ideas of how to run in-game entertainment.
00:09:59
Speaker
which they do, as you guys know, they do great. Yes, right. And a lot of cool stuff coming up, we can talk about later if you want. But Seattle has been doing that really well from the beginning. And I had a good chance to talk to one of the owners also when I was out there. And he's just like, yeah, I mean,
00:10:11
Speaker
If we don't put fans in the seats, then why we here, you know, that kind of thing. And totally it's a business. Yeah, it's
Free Jacks' Ambitions and Key Players
00:10:17
Speaker
a goal. Yeah. And they have a good team. And it's a, it's a New England, Northwest area is also another hotbed for rugby. So yeah, yeah, that was, that was a great experience. Yeah. And Dallas though, um, to bring it back to where we were. As Jared and I say, when it's just the two of us, that's why there's two of us.
00:10:39
Speaker
It's disappointing that they're not learning those lessons and I'm not sure what they're doing. Hopefully they're entertaining the crowd when they can off between whistles because on the other side of between those whistles, it's not going to be that good.
00:10:55
Speaker
And it's such a mixed bag that they have or had at least last year too, in terms of, you know, I mean, no disrespect, but they have Christian Adams. Christian Adams wasn't even somebody that Free Jacks wanted to keep. Yeah. Right. So, you know, that's, but then they have some cool people that can return there. So it's like,
00:11:14
Speaker
You know, what are you going to do? Like those are those are great ideas, but also those are also players. Probably that's probably a player beyond beyond this time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A couple good players. I mean, you know, I'm at a hundred toward us. Yeah, I mean, a couple of players like Campbell, John, John stone, like the column. You know, they've got quality players. Just you is that they just don't have that veteran leadership that I think the team needs.
00:11:39
Speaker
Right. Yeah, no, I, I just, I totally, totally agree. No argument on me. So yeah, and you're probably right. It's probably, there probably won't be far from bottom, unfortunately. And that's just gonna hurt, but it's, it's just facts. So, you know, uh, Houston who made the playoffs last year,
00:12:01
Speaker
by hook or by crook. They got there. It doesn't matter. So there's only two Texas teams now, so at least we can live with that old fact. I like some of the stuff they have. Dyer is always really, really interesting to me. I thought he was one of the better players for the US, despite how shite we were. There's
00:12:27
Speaker
There's lots of like, but then there's kind of a matter factor to a point too. So what are we doing here? Well, you know, you look at, I, I'm actually really excited about a few of those players in that team. And I think, yeah, Houston did lose a little bit, you know, Marsa Brockey left. Um, you know, he was older, but I think he was a hell of a leader in the clubhouse and on the field. Uh, and, and Kristen Dyer, I think.
00:12:51
Speaker
uh, owes a lot of where he is now to someone like Marcel Baraki. Uh, and I love watching, like I said, I love watching Dyer play. He's phenomenal. They got, they got a new guy, uh, called Henco, Henco. So, yeah. So the back row player, I think he's just, you know, hopefully he gets back into favor with USA. He kind of fell out with Gary gold.
00:13:12
Speaker
But another guy who I think is going to be really shining for Houston look out for is Danny Barrett. Danny, I think really came over to MLR to really fight for a spot on the USA roster in the Repiage and for the World Cup, not happening. So maybe this less pressure of him.
00:13:29
Speaker
working as hard as he could to get to that level off his shoulders will help him become more of a rounded player in Major League Rugby. I look out for Danny Barrett. I think he's going to be a lot of fun to watch and I hope to see him hit people like he did in the sevens tournament, you know, where he's like laying out all blacks or black ferns where they're calling them and uh, Malon algebraic. And these are, these are not new names. These are guys who established themselves already USA or, or MLR and look for algebra to play really well.
00:13:54
Speaker
I am disappointed in Danny Barrett that he's just now really focusing on 15s too. I think he's been one of the, and I love him. I think he should have been playing 15s all along. I think he's probably, he's more suited to it. And, you know, it's fun to watch him, you know, rec shop on the sevens pitch, but I think he also
00:14:17
Speaker
the overall emphasis on physicality kind of detracts from what actually is effective sevens. So I think he looks for guys to hit and it's like, I know he's good at it, so it works, but I didn't think it helped his development as a player. I don't think it helped some of the other sevens players as a development either.
00:14:38
Speaker
Not to completely rip on him, but I just think this is his game and he should have been pushed in this direction. And maybe if that had happened, you know, three years ago, maybe we're not in this as a, you know, we're not out of the World Cup. Like he could have been a major component to us making it. Oh, he could have, could have. And, you know, I can't blame the guy. I mean, he was a star.
00:14:58
Speaker
you know, HSBC star out there. I mean, why wouldn't he keep going on that? Hopefully he made a few bucks out of it. You know, no one's getting rich in USA to be seen. So no, hopefully he was able to keep the lights on at least to put it that way. But you know, outside of those guys, I think you really need to keep an eye on who is it? Oh, she was using scrum half name or fly half name.
00:15:21
Speaker
It's coming to me, it's coming to me. Yeah, yeah, David, David Coateser. Coateser, okay. Oh, yeah. Keep an eye on him. I think he's going to be a hell of a playmaker for them. And I think, you know, with the tannums, I think we'll talk about later with Seattle, a couple of the teams, there's some really big midfield tannums. And I think Houston could generate one here with, with Dyer, we're on the centers for Houston. So look at that, that connection between those players.
00:15:45
Speaker
Yeah, very interesting. I'd be interested to see if they do, in fact, get back to the playoffs. You know, a lot of people were like, oh, they shouldn't have been there. It's like, well, we can talk about that for a different day because it's a much longer conversation. But yeah, I think it's going to I think it's going to be an interesting storyline to see if they can get back there. Yeah. Alphabetically, we now come to our good good friends and our favorites, the free Jax. And
00:16:14
Speaker
I'm hopeful that we can get back to where we were last year, but honestly, I don't care if we get the number one. See, I want to get to the fucking final. That is the number one thing. Yeah, I really don't care how we do it. Yeah. And my concern is, as is everybody's, how do we replace Waka? Yeah. Well, it's walking off the door. Yeah. And a lot of right. Not just the ones he scored, but the ones he set up to. And yeah.
00:16:42
Speaker
Yeah. What, what, where do we go from here? Like that, that is making me, um, a little bit nervous. Um, well, who was the fly half an hour feeling for him? That would take a look at him. They just named, uh, yeah. I just want to go look at their team. I think, was that the one that they put in to start this week? Oh yeah. There. Shoot. I didn't even, I don't get that whole thing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:02
Speaker
Uh, yeah, you're right. I mean, that could be a huge loss connection for the free jacks, you know, it's as, as good as they were last year. I think they're going to be really good again this year. I think they're going to surprise teams again. Um, and again, it's going to be really important for them to come out tonight against Nola with a victory. Uh, very disappointing last, not last year, but the year before that to lose against Nola, um, I feel with Lassa, but I, I, I believe, uh, you know, losing, losing Dougie and voting are not good. Uh,
00:17:33
Speaker
Those are two big guys to lose, but I really feel like Mitch Wilson is going to be a wild card here. He, he, he gained a lot of respect from other coaches when, with his performance with USA overseas, uh, down with the Falcons and then with reppierge. And what I mean by that is it's many of the guys I talked to once they get to that international level, the club level slows down. So I think you'll see him out there on the pitch, much more confident and relaxed because it's going to, the game will be slower for him.
00:18:00
Speaker
Yeah. And that's not a disc by anything on the leagues itself. It's just the way it is at the international level so fast. And Jared and I talked about that all the time because both of us have, you know, every time we've stepped up a level, because both of us have played at lower levels and worked our way up to fairly high levels. Yeah. Every time you go up, it's like if you play a little bit back down, you're like,
00:18:20
Speaker
Oh, this is really easy. Yeah, it gets easier on the other end of it. And sometimes it's even just like a like, like I said, when I was trying out for Maccabees, the first time I went was just a weekend. And I came back like 10 times the rugby player I was when I when I went to it. Of course, I'd only been playing a year and a half, but it's it still like works the same way. Yeah, you're absolutely right. And so the one thing that I'm extremely nervous about
00:18:46
Speaker
and I think Jared will back me up on it. So please, if you could talk us off the ledge with it or me off the ledge with it. I don't know if Jared's up there next to me. I'm probably holding your shirt collar. Can we please be done with Kyle Siqueira? He does not belong on a, like every time I watch that, that the team, there's 14 guys who belong on the pitch for the free Jax and one who clearly does not.
00:19:14
Speaker
And yeah, every time, every year we sign new props and sign new props and they still throw him out there. But he's doing something, I hear you, but he's doing something the coach is like, you know, and he has, if he asked me, he's not flashy, obviously, well, he is flashy, but not the flashy we want. He's not. Right, right, right. And I've never seen a guy jog so awkwardly off the field, you know, after yellow card or something.
00:19:40
Speaker
We all love him, obviously, but you're right. He's broken enough to get to this level to start games, and I felt like he did well filling in for injuries last year, but then he kept going. They kept him in there. I think there are other props that could really bring more to the team than Kyle.
00:19:59
Speaker
But he is doing something like he started the playoff games. He's starting this game tonight. And he's gone head to head with some really good props and held his own. He just makes me nervous in the loose. As I've said a couple of times, you know, probably 90% of the line breaks that came in towards in the middle of the field against the free jacks went through his channel. He has this tendency to come off of his defensive responsibility and as a prop.
00:20:26
Speaker
And speaking is a prop. It's like that's the one thing you can't do because like you already are kind of a lie, a defensive liability just because, you know, and it goes for him, obviously, too. He's a little bit on the bigger side carrying a little bit of extra padding around there. Yeah. Yeah. You already move as well as right. So you're already most of the time when you're making a tackle, you're making it against someone who's a little bit more athletic than you.
00:20:51
Speaker
And so you already have to focus more on your guy and to come off of that just adds that much bigger of a hole. So I'm I'm almost like I'm not sure if they watched if they're watching that defensive film, the coaches and see in what I'm seeing happening. So I guess he's doing something that they like, you know, it's there. There are actually there are way too many. What do you want to call it? Single tooled props out there. You know, honestly, if you go to the international stage, T.T. Lampazatelli is actually kind of a single
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah i will probably best me outside of what he does in the pack you don't seem right with the ball you don't really see making great time no he doesn't do that right now that kind of stuff you know you are hookers or else is some of the props even do they carry the ball and work involved so cause that kind of guy so there's something going on when they pack down where he's doing it right.
00:21:38
Speaker
And he's able to keep the scrum up, let's say, off the ground and not getting penalized for that. So I think maybe it's his stamina is there for the team to keep up with him. And he's able to not penalize the scrum. And he's able to keep it stable from the front. And the guys, Lars and everyone else behind him were able to trust him and use that to push the scrum. So maybe that's it.
00:22:00
Speaker
Maybe, I mean, yeah, I'll like, I'm just hoping that I, that, and I, you know, I've heard that he's been improved, I guess, but it's easy to say. Well, local guy, you want to cheer for local guy, right? Come on. Right. Well, we have Davidovits. I like, and there's really a lot. I really do. I really do. We have every reason to not like Davidovits, because he's with Mystic, he's like a born and bred Mystic guy. And yet, no, he's actually a good guy. We're all on board with him.
00:22:34
Speaker
I don't know, like we have our local guy. Let's do the one who's good. Put me in coach. The one guy that we got that somebody else just decided to not pick up while that was available was Ben LaSage. And I'm really excited to see him out there. That gives us quite a few centers to mess around with as well. And none of them are low quality. They're all high quality from
00:22:54
Speaker
So yeah, it's a little bit of a...
00:23:03
Speaker
Well, I remember all those guys. Yeah. Yeah. So. Oh, yeah. We have a plethora of good goodies. It's definitely somewhere in the midfield. And I'm really excited about that. And we can. JP and Balacana. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we love Poland. That's not that's not a thing. Yeah. And I know. And when we got Balacana last year, I was like,
00:23:28
Speaker
We knew he was kind of a good player on a meh team the year before and I was wondering, was that the team? Was he just better in comparison because the team was so meh? And the answer is no, he's actually quite good. And it was fun to watch him destroy people in front of him and obviously run over for tries. So I look forward to many more of those. No, it was fun out there. I love watching him making those runs up the sideline. He really is fun.
00:23:52
Speaker
Yeah. And you mentioned earlier, actually, what you're saying now, losing Bodine and Dougie, I think my anticipation is, you know, TK, the coach's staff are going to concentrate maybe working more off the forwards this year was a well-rounded team last year. I think we're gonna see more play from the forwards. I mean, Joe Johnson, I hope this is his year, his year, you know, love, love Joe. I'd love to see him in the USA uniform. Who knows with with Scott Lawrence, the new coach,
00:24:19
Speaker
You know, Larson, he's a workhorse, you know, good leader in there, you know, we talked about, we in like, University of New York name, right? We got a strong, you swore, we got a strong fucking pack.
00:24:33
Speaker
Right. Absolutely. I'm excited about them. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I'm okay. Like, I don't want to lose fife. But as you mentioned, you know, we've got balacana, we've got Mitch Wilson. Yeah. There's there's other talent there in those centers, Bastra, Vanderbank. See how Jones goes to later today. There's talent there. And it's like, okay, if we lose a, you know, a Dougie fife,
00:25:01
Speaker
that frees up a little bit of salary space for another player who can provide value and, you know, more depth or whatnot. So that I'm okay with. And hopefully that the Patras is just a drop in replacement for Waka as far as just a distributor. If he can run with it, even better.
00:25:22
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm still expecting big things out of this club because it's there. There's so much talent there. And it's largely a lot of the same guys. And they do it right too from the front office down. They do it right.
NOLA Gold and Old Glory DC Analysis
00:25:33
Speaker
So it's, you know, if you ask me, it's just no reason why they shouldn't be in contention again this year. I like what you're saying there. Yeah, I do too. I do too. How about there? Let's look at the guys at the plant tonight. Nola. Um,
00:25:49
Speaker
A lot was expected of them last year and not a lot of it came good, honestly. Funny for me, obviously there's the natural rivalry with Old Glory and the ironworkers, whatever.
00:26:07
Speaker
Um, I hate Nola. I love this because it is, it seems like it is a little bit of a rivalry between the teams too. And it's like one of those, like it's not natural. It's it's because of interactions we've had with them.
00:26:23
Speaker
So, um, it's one of those like, Oh, we know this isn't an earned hate between the two. Yeah, I'm looking forward to tonight too but I'm also. Yeah, I'm interested to see how they do I want them to be it. It also means I want them to be a challenge I don't want to, you know, just see how we did the last game of the year last year. Yeah, play them.
00:26:42
Speaker
No, this will be a challenge. That was because they were out. They knew. That was all about Cam Dolan getting his 50th cap that game. They are a quality team. I don't see them having that extra oomph to get over the top and get up and beat everybody. And by the way, this Nola hate goes way back further for me. I played all my club rugby all in Atlanta.
00:27:05
Speaker
and we would play NOLA Gold back then and we would do those teams. We didn't like each other. I mean, the team we hated the most was one of our cross-town teams. Of course. But anyway, just like you guys in Mystic River else. But we enjoyed our trips to NOLA, you know, always in that area going to party and stuff.
00:27:24
Speaker
Yeah, we never liked that one. But with that said, I do like Cam Dolan. I'm a big fan of his. I do like the fact that he moved the second row. He's better positioned for him. That keeps him playing. Yeah, I think it is too. At least on the international side, that gives more time for guys like Reichert and Fanada Schultz not to really get going. But you look at Moni in the back row, Harley Wheeler on the wing, and Cam. Of course, Dougie Fife. I haven't looked too deep into it to see why he's not playing today.
00:27:52
Speaker
I'm annoyed by that. That makes me hate him more. First off, it's disrespectful. You play a guy against his old club the first time you're playing him again. And second off,
00:28:07
Speaker
He's, you know, you got like, why'd you sign him then if you've got, if you think you got better guys or something, unless he's hurt. So it's one of those like, it's weird to say I hope he's hurt, but at the same time, like that's going to be the reason. Yeah, absolutely. I agree. Yeah. So I think I don't think their pack is as strong as it used to be. You know, they did pretty well against us.
00:28:29
Speaker
I think it was I think last season season before that we had Deena Waldron in our show on our Twitter spaceshow. And there was a play where they had a short line out, which was clearly not thrown in straight and they scored a try shortly after that. And I asked him about it and he says, I don't know you're talking about. I think the referees got it right. You knew we knew. Yeah. Winking a nod on that one. But I don't see them having that strong of a pack. I don't see them have that strong of a backfield.
00:29:00
Speaker
You know, again, you look at, you know, JP, the police, you know, great center, you know, Aaron Matthews might hopefully he might get some good quality time this year, but no one really stands out for me in this team, you know, other than say, Dolan still leading from from the pack and a couple there, you know, the front rowers that are decent players, a tool, those guys. But yeah, I think I'm in the middle. They're going to finish middle of the pack till it's true. I can't seem to do it too much. Is is Yona playing in this game?
00:29:28
Speaker
tonight. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So former Brumby's guy. Keep your eyes peeled on him. He was a problem for teams down there. So I would suspect he's probably going to be a threat today as well.
00:29:40
Speaker
Hey, just a backtrack to free jacks real quick what we do I'm really impressed with all these otaka players that You know that TK has brought up. I'm can't wait to see what they do. Yeah, even though no names. Yeah Yeah, no, it's it served us. Well that that region so I'm not gonna question it for a minute. No Oh, the other thing about Noah is I think they're stadium-shaped
00:30:04
Speaker
But oh, I do too. Oh, the field is terrible. The old baseball field. Oh, gross. The players like it. Actually, some of the home players actually like it. But that's weird. I don't like them more now. Also, also. Cam's haircut sucks. Yeah, fine. That flop thing going on.
00:30:27
Speaker
I got that one in there last year and he heard me. It was great. Oh, nice. I was like, well, you're dumb. You acknowledge me. Now I have you. I never let it go the rest of the match. There you go. What do you do? What are you doing? Don't acknowledge me. What's wrong with you? Can you find one thing and hammer away at it? Well, they were having a bad day anyway. It was a bad day. It was. It really was. You're not wrong.
00:30:55
Speaker
Let's go to our old friends down in DC, the Old Glory. Just to tell us back, my old friend. Man, I gave him so much hell that first time around and he was such a great sport about coming up. He's fun to watch, though. Danny's fun to watch. Yes, he is. Oh, yes, because he knew it. Yeah. And that's the thing. Like, he knows we're razzing him because he's good. I had to try and get inside his head. I knew he was going to destroy us if I didn't. Yeah.
00:31:20
Speaker
That's how it is. They have our old friend Q down there as well. So that's, you know, disappointing, but also it'll be good to see him when he comes back. Schultz is obviously a problem for every day. I don't want to tackle that guy either. No.
00:31:37
Speaker
Well, thank you. Yeah, I think you really got to you got to look out for on that team. You really got to look out for their loose forwards, especially like Cory Daniel. Again, that whole that whole game slowing down for him. In fact, played well with USA Junior Seau on the wing. Just love saying his name, but Penny Lusaka, you know, they've got some decent quality players in that team. But again, this is one of these teams that reminds me of Nola. I don't think they're going to win it. You know, I don't think they're going to lose either. It's just going to
00:32:05
Speaker
they might do enough to upset somebody, you know what I mean? But you mentioned Danny, Danny, he's fun to watch. I mean, haircut and all, he's just good. And I can see why fans are really
00:32:18
Speaker
can see this team doing well, but I just don't see how they can do it with this roster. Doug Frazier, obviously at center, he can do well, he can do some damage in that team. But again, it's just, I don't know, these teams don't really stand out to me as a full club of quality players like Seattle, San Diego, New England, New York, those teams.
00:32:39
Speaker
Who's who's sporting 10 for them these days like they've They didn't they have some young kid that they were trying to push that towards the front that was gonna be either a ten or a fullback So one of the newer signings is you know what Tito Diaz No, you played from last year too. I can't remember. Oh, did he? Okay. Yeah. Oh the one you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, I can't tell them they're paid their website right now. They don't their roster is even
00:33:07
Speaker
Not a little rusty. A little dodgy on there.
00:33:10
Speaker
Which which team announced a roster that has like, you know, 26 players on it? Isn't there a limit of 23? Was that Atlanta? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was the kid I'm thinking of off the top of my head. He's apparently a part of this thing, but they think he's going to be good. So I guess maybe that's somebody to keep your eyes peeled on for lesser known people out there. Yeah, I just I feel like that
00:33:39
Speaker
Oh glory strength is going to be you know, they're they're loose forward play the set plays there, you know, like I said, Anana Schultz, I think is is going to be the next Samu Manoa for us for USA. That's a lot. That's a lot to put on him, but I just I just love the way he played out there for us. He was one of the bright spots of the of a not so great. Yeah. Yeah, we won't cry much more about that right now. We'll move on, but
00:34:05
Speaker
Keep them moving. Yeah, but they do have some good leadership in there. I mentioned threatened. You know, he's still playing or still around. Yep. You know, he brings a wealth of knowledge. Dabulous, you know, good knowledge there. Michael.
00:34:18
Speaker
You know, she, you know, oh, and she, so, you know, who knows, you know, it's just, yeah, I'm actually, I'm just, I'm trying to think of one player that I think will stand out this year. And it's, it's probably the, any of those back three players or back row players. Sorry. Back row. Yeah. Yeah. I'm picking up what you're putting down on that one. Well, let's go to Atlanta because
00:34:42
Speaker
So do you have a hard time not rooting for Atlanta sometimes, Bill? I like good rugby. Good cop out. I want to see a good game. I want everyone to have fun. Yeah, everyone gets an award here. It's...
00:35:08
Speaker
Yeah, and Atlanta is another team that was right there last year that gave everybody a run. I don't get the rebrand, honestly, but that's what it is. But they were fine with what they had.
00:35:21
Speaker
Some good stuff, just the same Davidson's there again. That Scrum half-hose is a pain in the fucking backside. Ullman, yeah, he's annoying to play against. There's no doubt about that. So it's going to be, I'm very intrigued to see which direction they go up or down. Yeah, I think they're going to stay put where they are. I don't, I don't really see a lot of improvements in the last year and they've,
Rugby ATL and New York's Strengths
00:35:48
Speaker
you know, the fans aren't happy with them as you know, with the branding. Yeah, Amanda Windsor, white, their CEO GM, whatever is on our show also when she you know, she she laid it out there, she put a lot of blame on herself for not letting the community get more involved that kind of dealing. She's also someone that didn't really
00:36:07
Speaker
work in rugby at all. Her brother played for my former club also for a little bit. So she's learning, maybe learning on the job. We do things as a community here. Yes, exactly. But looking at players, Will Leonard, their center, one of the one of the strongest players in the league last year. Their other center, Tay, another player who's going to do well. So their midfield is strong.
00:36:33
Speaker
Of course, Matt Heaton, their back row is decent as well.
00:36:37
Speaker
Harley Davidson, I just think one of the best names in the league. Yeah, yeah. I remember hearing that back for at when he played in CRCs. Yeah. And like, OK, all right. Let's say he was good. And it's like, OK, well, hey, you better be back it up, man. Back it up. Look at, you know, I'm actually it was on not to see Ryan Reese starting this weekend, but, you know, he could be a quality player again for them this year. And of course, Billy Billy, he knew
00:37:07
Speaker
Another again, there's a lot of really good back row players in the major league rugby. And they're not chasing damn, you know, they got they got some damn, they got they've got some depth there. And then I don't really talk about props much in this league. And we did talk about Kyle, but the hookers mainly will talk about because they score tries. Or can screw up an entire game with their lineups, as we found out. Yeah, the
00:37:35
Speaker
I think they're, I think they're halfback combo actually is one of the better ones in the league though between recent hosts. Like that is, and they're different and they're slightly different styles too. And we know his can scoot. Um, and Reese's obviously plays the way he does. So it, it, it's probably one of their strengths, you know, apart from their midfield, as you, as you said, so that's,
00:37:58
Speaker
That's, that's a good start to at least give you, give you a chance. I'd say, you know, you're, Ben and I were talking about six nations. Like we saw a half pack play kill teams in, um, six nations this past couple of weeks. Oh yeah. Well, Barney wasn't, it wasn't just as guilty. Yeah, he was the ball. You know, you know, one thing that Lana has that, um, could help or actually not help is they have this new seating, um, the terrapin deck or something like that in one of the end zones, tri zones.
00:38:28
Speaker
And it's one of these deals, you get a ticket, free parking and all you can drink.
00:38:32
Speaker
Do they realize these are rugby fans? Do they realize what they're doing? They're about to just run out of beer in two seconds. Does it come with an Uber ride home? Right. Oh, I'm not driving to that one. No way. It comes with parking? Why do you need the parking? That's actually a good question. Who's the poor sap that gets stuck to be DD during that? Oh, God, I know. If you're not the DD, then don't drive.
00:39:00
Speaker
but they're trying to do better with fan involvement there too. So you know how it is. You get the fans behind the team and they can play a lot better. Generally speaking, absolutely. Do we have to talk about these guys?
00:39:15
Speaker
New York depending chance. Can we just make fun of their name for a bit? Ironworkers. They're trying way too hard here. Ironman. Let's just go with Ironman or something like that.
00:39:32
Speaker
You're up at four syllables, and I'm sorry, but like. Rejects is two, at least. Yeah, exactly. Rejects done. No, at least they could have gotten they could have gotten rid of the rugby part in the beginning. It's still rugby, New York ironworkers, which is just way too much. Yeah, that's right. There's a lot of New York ironworkers. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Silly voice. I mean, it would make sense. Like this is a very South African name, you know, like got like five or six names tagging along in there. But yeah, it's New York. Would make sense.
00:40:03
Speaker
Well, I'll jump I'll start off with this team because you guys know what you're gonna want to talk about them so I will They're gonna be tough they're gonna be one of the toughest teams to beat and and they didn't lose a lot and they gained a few players Nick so that is gone But he can't eat it really wasn't that impactful last year Nate breakley is the new captain. He's always strong and in the pack
00:40:28
Speaker
Centers are gonna be wicked tough for this team. Was it Futai and Jason Emery? Ed Fidell, I mean, come on. I think he was a, was he the leading point scorer last year, I believe? He's the leading try scorer. The leading try scorer, you know, the Butcher, Dylan Foster in the front row, scores tries. And I think he's gonna be more dangerous this year because their new field. He used to live walking distance from the old high school field they played on.
00:40:54
Speaker
Yeah, now he's got the deal with traffic, which means he's probably going to kill somebody when he gets the pitch. You all die. I know exactly. Someone's going to die today. I spelled his name wrong once and he made sure I knew. Look out for one of the latest signings, Ty Walden.
00:41:17
Speaker
Yeah, now we all buy highlander her. Yeah, yeah, you know, yeah, we know about them growing center. Um, they're not going to be easy to be, you know, there's no reason to say they won't be in the finals. Also, you know, they have just as good a chance anybody, um, but strong team, new coaching staff, but not new to these guys. Um, they have a chance again to, to win it, you know, it's, it's, I hate saying that.
00:41:38
Speaker
You know, again, chance when Gluske, I think is one of the best props in the league, you know, he gets his hair and all. And usually not sad to see the back of him. And like even the worst part of them is that, you know, even if they're just like close, you know, about six or seven weeks in the season, they'll just find like three old all blacks and.
00:41:59
Speaker
Right. And by the championship. What a joke that was. Well, yeah, I know. No kidding. Yeah, I pick him up and they go. Sam Windsor loved it. I'm sorry. I keep on the joke. What once the night was on, he's just like, he's just he's fun to talk to, by the way, if you guys get a chance. I'm sure he was. But that combination he has from, you know, from the scrum half to the centers is just it's deadly, you know.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah. They're not going to be fun. I know it's not going to be fun at all. I never die. That doesn't mean I like it, but never die. Which is why I have to make fun of their name. That's all we have. That's all I got. That's all we can do. That's all we can do. Stupid. Well, we're beating you by 20. Shut up. Shut up.
00:42:44
Speaker
Hey, I am a big fan of Moni, though. No, that's the wrong team. He's on Nola. Never mind. Try again. Try to be nice. Let's go out West Coast, San Diego. I've had a small spot in my heart for a while because our old friend Tony played for them.
San Diego's and Seattle's Contender Status
00:43:02
Speaker
And they just got better, which is not fun. No. No. They brought back the right guys.
00:43:22
Speaker
You know, I think he's on the done side. But as you mentioned, he's he's got that leadership. He's played at the highest levels. So certainly someone who can can, you know, gel a team to Blair Cowan's there now been around the world and see, you know, see a lot. He brings quite a bit into that team as well. So I still like Tamalo. I can't wait. I totally miss that. But yeah, yeah.
00:43:33
Speaker
brought in some other guys like bleh. I don't like it.
00:43:52
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And you mentioned you mentioned high level play. I think everybody on this team has played for an international side at one point. It seems like it's a stacked roster. And if you ask me, they're the pick to get to the finals at the West.
00:44:05
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I digress. Uh, you know, my, I was back. Will hooli is back from injury. He's, he's ready to go. Uh, you mentioned Tamalow. Obviously I'm a big fan of his also. I think he's underperformed his entire career. Uh, but I think he's, I may be growing up. I don't know. Maybe, um, you know, you have a lot of experience. Maddie, it's a still plan. Otzberger. Um, I mentioned that, uh, uh, the new, you know, uh, Mason Sylvia, you know, this, these are all quality players. Um, there's there now. Yep.
00:44:35
Speaker
uh maddie's fryer you know it's just it's it's a stacked team guys and they're playing in a in a beautiful stadium snapdragon yes yeah i was hoping to get out for that match next week but it's just working out no and also get up to the sevens well actually flights are actually pretty cheap and i looked a couple months ago but and also just shoot up to la for the uh the usa sevens the us sevens yeah yeah but you look at that like jason higgins all these are this is
00:44:59
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I'm just blown away looking at this roster is like, I guess the weather alone in San Diego is a huge trash. Yeah, just yeah, just as much as New York City, it draws all these other people, you know, just not the weather. So the different reasons. Yeah, definitely. It's gonna be Yeah, it's gonna be very. That's gonna be not fun team to play against. I'm not I'm excited to see how we stack up against that next week. But like,
00:45:30
Speaker
If we don't play well tonight, I'm going to be very terrified about that next week. No, we got to win. We got to win tonight because I feel like they don't win that game against San Diego and it won't. It will be a good game. I just don't think they pull it off. Not this early in the season. I'm not sure we can. We we managed that last year. Well, didn't we? If I remember right, the wind streak starts after San Diego. Yes, yes, yes, yes. We like those.
00:45:51
Speaker
But yeah, no, I always kind of look at them with one eye. I have one eye on San Diego just in terms of...
00:46:00
Speaker
Are they going to be able to finally get over because they come close a couple of times? But yeah, yeah, this might be their year and I'm I'm not looking forward to having to play them. Nobody wants to play against Mona. Let's be real. No, let's be honest. Let's just have the best record league again. So we have a final at home. That would be nice. And again, have New York not signed multiple all blacks going into the playoffs a week. Yeah, or two games or something. Yeah, exactly. But. Well, let's see.
00:46:30
Speaker
Well, so Seattle, um, as we talked about a team very similar to us and the way they they've built their community and the way they do their day, but also solid team too. And there's some, I love giving Seattle fans a little shit now and again, when I can. Um, we're, we're in that group with our, with our, with our friend Ryan, he's, he's someone we can, um, give a little bit of business to when, when, when to call upon, uh,
00:46:57
Speaker
I'm looking at this team and that's probably the Western Conference final, I think, Seattle and them. It's in the conversation, yeah, I'd say.
00:47:08
Speaker
Yeah, Mooney Hams out there, freaking little patties out there. They got Dan Creel out of South Africa there, like, yep, JP Smith. Yes. Thank God they got rid of that idiot, Malcolm. Excuse me, Mac. I'm sorry. I couldn't stand him.
00:47:28
Speaker
Reno Herbst, I like him a lot. Ben Landry was someone I was really disappointed we didn't get to see any of here in New England because he signed right before the fucking lockdown happened. I was like, no, he didn't come back. And then obviously Hiting, like just, yeah, that's not fun. So yeah, this is gonna be a tough team too.
00:47:49
Speaker
Well, you look at, you know, Martin Isafo, there's their fly half Ali Tumu. Ali Tumu has had, he had the most meters kicking last year, which I don't know is a good stat or not, but he had 2000 more than second place kicker. And that was, that was Bodine. But it was just, you know, and he did say that his sport hated that.
00:48:13
Speaker
I'm going to say that the wild card for this team obviously is Reichert. I don't think people would say also because of his band.
00:48:25
Speaker
recently, yes, performance enhancing drugs, as they say, sometimes they don't come back as strong because of those. But I do think he's got a lot to prove. Hopefully his attitude is kind of gotten better. That was an issue for him at one point, and becomes the leader of that team. He could be and he could be just as strong as Fontana those other number eights. You mentioned Connor Moynihan. Yeah, I love that signing for them. JP Smith, you know, they've got a lot of quality there also, you know, it's
00:48:50
Speaker
The San Diego, like you said, San Diego, I can't talk, San Diego, Seattle, the two teams that come out of the West for me. And, you know, again, there's so much there with, you know, even like Ben Mitchell and, I mean, who else was on that team? Like you said, Ben Landry. He's a guy I'm actually surprised is still playing. I liked the guy a lot, but he's been playing a long time. And they still, yeah. And I think they still have Manoa and Dorotel listed on their roster for some reason. I thought they were retired.
00:49:16
Speaker
I thought I would do. Yeah, maybe they are. Maybe they'll come back. They don't seem to. Well, yeah. I don't see them anyway. So, yeah. Yeah. By the way, I'm out there as well. Yeah, exactly. But if we get a chance to shake some of Minoa's hands, do it.
00:49:29
Speaker
It's the size of your head. Yeah, OK. I have. It's huge. I saw him at the 15 World Cup. Yeah. Oh, nice. I have a picture of he and I. It was and who else? Taku and Gwenia. I have a picture of him, too. Yeah. Yeah, dude. He came over and his hand was broken.
00:49:48
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it's just like like I and I knew because I think that was the year he signed over in France. I was like, Oh, they're going to be pissed that you know that nice friends don't like it when you get injured away from the club. They hate those clubs hate when that happens. Not that a club likes it, but like right. Those clubs really hate it. They just don't like it. So, yeah, I know I like I really like Seattle as a as a rugby town, too. So.
00:50:15
Speaker
that this has always been like not exactly a second team, but someone who I look at and say, yeah, I like when they are doing well. Yeah, it's a fun place to visit to, obviously, the city and and the Starfire, I think it's called, is a really cool place to see games. So for every reason possible, I would like to have the free jacks hosting Seattle. Yeah, but not this year. We're in Seattle in June, beginning of June, I believe. Right.
00:50:43
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. Ben, maybe we maybe we start looking at the tickets. Maybe. Maybe you can look at that one, too. I'm not going to say no to that. No, I mean, yeah, I'm I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't visited any of these other games at this point. Grant.
00:51:07
Speaker
New York's moves all the time. So why the fuck am I going to look at look at that? Yeah. Right. But I couldn't even drink at the one last year. There was no alcohol that last year. I heard about that. Yeah. Because it was at a high school. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that never stopped people. Yeah. It didn't stop us in high school. No, it did not. Legally, we can do it. Technically speaking. Yes. Let's go to our friends up north. Toronto.
00:51:34
Speaker
Pass. Just kidding. We can't do that because we're going to get in trouble in our group there too. Trust me. We're all going to get in trouble for that one. It's polite. It's Canadian.
00:51:47
Speaker
It's always a question of how do they start because we know they'll at least finish fairly strong because they get their big homestand at the end of
Toronto and Utah Warriors' Outlook
00:51:56
Speaker
the year. But it is always a question of can they start well, and obviously the year of COVID, which sucked ass for them and I felt really bad for them.
00:52:04
Speaker
It's always how well does this team start? If they start with a couple wins on their, on that big, long load trip, then they're in, they're in good shape. If they can't manage to get any, or only one, then they're in deep shit. Yeah.
00:52:19
Speaker
Well, that, that, uh, that halfback combination is, is nice with Malcolm and Shepard. Um, but if I'm sitting here saying that's it, then they're in trouble. There's only so much they can do, you know, um, uh, back row, uh, Lucas, uh, rumble rumble. I think it's called he's strong too. But again, out of that, I think it's the talent falls fast in that team. Um, but not sure about a lot of the new signings for them.
00:52:44
Speaker
But I think we have most of the best Canadians playing for the free jacks now. No, that seems a little mean to that. I mean, that Travis Larson kid, he's good, but that's only because he's Josh's brother. Right.
00:53:03
Speaker
We still got the better one. And Josh basically recruited everybody for us, I think so. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you know, he had a hand, like, especially getting no Carmen to come to play for us. Like, that was definitely Josh Lars. And he's like, yeah, so you know how we like to play with each other on the Canadian team? You should come to you should come play with me in New England. Let's go. Hey, whatever it takes. I'm not I'm not I'm not mad. I'm not sad. I'm not complaining. Yeah, but overall, I just.
00:53:32
Speaker
Like you said, like, I like, I like some of the stuff they got, but I don't love it. There's nothing exciting about this team to me. Yeah. It's solid. Yeah. Watch him. Watch him beat the free Jax. Well, I know. They beat us up there, but that was also the week that we sent basically the shags up there. Wasn't it? Maybe last year. I think the last year they sent the B side. Yeah. That was the year we sent the B side that we sent.
00:54:02
Speaker
What's the spot, the big tall pasty wet ginger kid? A 10, I can't remember his name. Oh. I can't remember, yeah. Clearly he was that good. He was a lookalike. Oh no, what's his name? Oliver.
00:54:21
Speaker
Ollie, no, no, no, no, no. Oh man. That's going to annoy the crap out of me. It is. I'm already frustrated by not knowing his name. I'm tall, lanky fly half that we had. I can't remember his name. Okay. That's going to annoy me later. I'll hit it'll hit me later. But anyway, yeah, we didn't send a great team up there, but we also didn't play well. So, um, so hopefully that doesn't happen again this year and we can beat them. We did beat them down here. I remember that that was, was that the, that was the opener.
00:54:52
Speaker
We're not mistaken. It was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was a good one. Ben. Well, that's when I missed. Yeah. Yeah. That was when I was like, nope, not going in this weather. You fucking. Yeah. I've done that. Don't worry. I've done that too. But it was the first.
00:55:11
Speaker
first game and I was like, yeah, now I'm good. Well, last year there was a match. It was where it was sideways wins. It was like 20 degrees. I went with a Irish friend of mine, another buddy to a bar in Dorchester. It'll come to me. We watched some Six Nations and we looked out the window and was trying to go to the game and go, that was the opener. Was that the opener? Yeah, because I remember watching the Six Nations and getting in the car. Yeah, we stayed in the bar.
00:55:39
Speaker
I don't blame anybody for that, but I'm no, I'm also stubborn and stupid. So, you know, I do, I do it. I'm just like, whatever. I, I also knew I was missing a couple of matches that year already. So I was like, all right, I gotta get my money. I'm not screwed around with this. So, um, none of that, none of that, please. And then Utah, Utah is not going to be strong this year, are they?
00:56:04
Speaker
Watch out. That team, like in the middle of the pack, that could have some bite. I don't know if they make the playoffs, but they've got some time players. I mean, if LaCique can stay healthy, have a full year out of them, if Mika Cruz is there. Lance Williams is a hell of a back row player. Caleb McEnany, I never say his name, on the wing also, you got Mika and Caleb on the wings.
00:56:31
Speaker
He just is so, well, they have this front row player, Prop Taveri, who looks like he's about 600 pounds, but fit dude. And it's like, we might see Kyle go against him and that might be fun.
00:56:47
Speaker
But look out for him. I think Utah does well as an organization. Beautiful facility there, beautiful view. Yeah, I think they do a really good job in the front office where I tend to think a team like that will have a better chance of succeeding or getting more adversity.
00:57:05
Speaker
Uh, because of front front office and they have that going on for them. So I think you just got to look out for this team. I wouldn't take them easily. Let's put it that way or lightly. Sorry. Yeah. The deal with Joel Hodgson. And then it'll be interesting to see what he brings to the team after spending many years over, over on the ground. So, um, yeah, it's true. You know, Sanders is still there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Calvin Whiting, uh, there's a strong fly half. So, you know, yeah. Yeah. You've got, there's some quality players there. It's just, you know,
00:57:33
Speaker
It's a matter of them playing like a 15 every day and and you know, being able to get injuries policy. Can you keep going the whole year? Paul Mullins getting up there in age. I love Paul. Good front row player. You know, does he have to take the play? You know, I'll I'll Cleefy. He's had a he was here for a short time. Yeah, yeah. You know, so you got you got some players in play again. It's just can they put it together and as a team?
00:57:56
Speaker
Yeah, the lesser Wilson brother out there as well. Yeah. That's his first name. Lesser. His parents knew right away. Yeah, that's the one next. Isn't he like isn't he like a foot taller than? He's a good. He's just taller than him. Yeah, he is ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. He's six three. He's huge. Wow. Compared to Mitchie, which is like, how did Mitchie end up the way he did in terms of like skill wise and you got the physicality. Well, if you
00:58:26
Speaker
grow up getting beaten up by a big brother for a long time yeah that's true good point good point yeah that's that's true as that is but yeah one of you got the size one you got the the speed and mitchy knows how to use his speed pretty well i'm sure he ran away from big brother a couple times i'll get used to running away from big guys on the field oh yeah okay uh let's go let's do predictions and then we can wrap this up
00:58:56
Speaker
West, we'll start with the other conference that we're not in.
Western and Eastern Conference Predictions
00:59:00
Speaker
We already talked about Seattle and San Diego, probably. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel, I feel San Diego, San Diego takes it, Seattle second. That would be your Western Conference final. And then I believe Chicago runs with the third place position. I wouldn't be sure. Yeah, I wouldn't either. And then for me, it's a toss up between Utah and Houston for that fourth spot. And then Dallas pick up the crumbs.
00:59:26
Speaker
Yeah, it has to be easy. Good luck, Dallas. I mean, I could still see Utah. I see Utah coming anywhere from as high as second to even down to fifth. Like, they're a complete wild card. Other than that, I think you're right. Those are like that order of...
00:59:43
Speaker
Uh, San Diego, then Seattle, um, then Chicago, then, um, Houston, they miss anybody. Uh, then Dallas. Yeah. I agree with that. And then Utah is like, just throw a dart somewhere in there. Somewhere in the neighborhood. San Diego just has way too much international experience in that team for them not to make a run for it. Yeah. I think you're tired to argue with that. Really do. East. Nola wins the whole thing.
01:00:13
Speaker
Game shitty haircut. So I'll jump in here, obviously. And I'm not saying this because we're homers here. I think New England wins the East, but it's going to be maybe a game over New York. New York's going to be right there the entire way, especially like you said, when I pick up four or five current all blacks this time. Right. Right. I've got I got a toss up between rugby, ATL and Old Glory.
01:00:40
Speaker
and around the third and fourth spot and then Nola and then Toronto finishing last. Yeah. Yeah. I do think East and Western conferences, those top two teams are solid. I think it's going to be one of the, it's going to be those in those positions. Yeah. I think you're right. I think there are tiers. It's like New England and New York for the, for the one and two. Yeah. Oh, glory and ATL for, for three and four and Toronto and Nola for five and six. Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:11
Speaker
And it's, it's, it's always unpredictable as things go. Like we, we were very confident going into last year and obviously we're still very confident this year because the team didn't change that much despite the big names we lost. It's, it always feels like it's one, it's, there is a house of cards waiting to come, come down sometimes for any of these teams really. But just for, and for even the top teams, just a little bit at least.
01:01:35
Speaker
You know, I think, I think Utah is definitely one of those houses of cards. Like you move one of those cards out and the whole thing falls apart. Like we were talking about. So it's going to come down to depth or either who's got the best depth or who has the fewest injuries. Like if, you know, if a Utah team can be injury free all year, they'll be dangerous, but they don't have the depth. And then same thing on the, on the, uh, on the Eastern conference, the reason that I really have a lot of confidence in the free jacks is because of their depth.
01:02:05
Speaker
They run like three or four deep at lock. That back row is unreal. They do have a deep bench at prop, as we talked about. And then the backs everywhere. Even their backups from half, Holden could be a starter pretty much anywhere. Almost anywhere in the league.
01:02:29
Speaker
They just signed another kid, too, from New Zealand, I think, as well. They're raving about him, so. Right. They rolled dudes deep. You know, I don't know that and we know that ATL and the Arrows and NOLA don't. And Old Glory, to a lesser extent, but I don't know about New York. If they if they have, you know, one or two injuries, I don't know how they'll respond because I don't.
01:02:54
Speaker
They generally play their top guys. And again, if they weren't, if they had guys, they wouldn't have signed all those all blacks. So that's why, yeah, I'm sure to see how they do. You know, it's funny, this league is still in a stage where location matters more than anything else. Right. So you've got these older players who've had a lot of years playing international rugby overseas, I'll say. And they come to the US and they say, you know what? Yeah, I'll play MLR, but I'm not playing Toronto.
01:03:20
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not playing Atlanta. It's too hot as we get in the season. San Diego, San Diego. Yeah, of course. It's a beautiful place. Seattle. Well, I know, you know, I'm from Fiji. The legend is there in Seattle. And, you know, of course, I go to Seattle, Chicago now. Yeah. Irish, anything Irish, Chicago, Boston, Irish, you know, that whole area, New York. There's a couple Irish people here. A few, a few. I just don't see how Houston and Dallas and, you know,
01:03:48
Speaker
I don't know how they attract players like that. Name alone won't get them there. Right. It's going to be tough in a lot of ways. And that could be the thing in the end of the year. You get a late ad that's a big name and we saw it with New York and not to say that
01:04:11
Speaker
It won't, it could be us. It could be somebody else this year and that'll, that could really took the scale. So we'll see, but, um, I'm looking forward to the season. I'm ready. I'm ready for tonight. I'm ready for, you know, the game in a month. Yeah.
01:04:25
Speaker
go to and sit there and try not to cry myself to sleep because it's so damn cold. But you know, yeah. It's gonna be warm. It's already, it was 60 degrees yesterday. I know. Something's broken around here. I don't know about you guys. I mean, I will enjoy the weather, but it doesn't mean it's not broken. No difference. Both can be true. Both can be true. Cool. All right. Sure.
01:04:52
Speaker
I said, Phil, thank you so much for joining us for our MLR preview, and especially the knowledge you're bringing, especially because I only have so much, as I said, at the outset.
Event Excitement and Future Plans
01:05:04
Speaker
I'm just looking forward to, yeah, then we'll see you out at the free jacks. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I am pumped, man. Let's go. Yeah, let's go, boys.
01:05:14
Speaker
So that'll do it for us. Ben and I are back tomorrow. Like we said earlier, it's a busy week for Ben and I. We're back tomorrow with our good friend, George. We're doing live draft for super rugby. But so if you're keen on that, see you there. If not, we do appreciate you all for listening and hanging out with us. Like Ben said, Bill, thank you for classing up the joint a little bit. We really appreciate you hanging out with us.
01:05:37
Speaker
I'm glad you actually bought everything I said. Perfect. Let's go. All right. All right. Cool. So we'll see you on. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you there. If not, we'll catch you next week and enjoy the weekend, everyone. Have a good one. Later.