Yeah.

Uh, obviously winning a comp as well.

Um, but yeah, it, it's two weeks to try and fix, like, the PR stuff.

The, the whole- The way it all worked out too, Monday to Wednesday with the presser and stuff like that, it was a bit bizarre because even R- take away Reynolds' comments, even the facts, like the fact that they sorta didn't put a united front up to do it, 'cause it's a, it's a bit of a farewell week.

Last game at Suncorp for the club.

Um, yeah, hopefully they got two weeks here to try and make it right.

Uh, maybe they do a bit tonight.

[laughs]

Mm.

Uh, especially with like players that are coming off that, um, that you really can't afford to lose, uh, in terms of the future of your salary cap and club.

Um, yeah, I love this approach.

I think, I think it's, it'll, I think it'll work in their favor.

I think, um, you know, not that, not saying that these things aren't true.

They, they would ab- absolutely be true.

Uh, and you can see that from the way they, you know, they treat him and talk about him as a person off the, off camera and stuff like that.

Yeah

Um, so.

I, I actually agree with Tommy too.

Like I think, uh, in the context of the year, like they're sitting pretty comfortable at third.

They're two points clear from the Sharks, who, if they lost that tight game against the Knights, they would've been four points clear at third.

Uh, I think they're in a position, I think they're kind of where they wanted to be, where they're in the four.

They don't have a, like a, compared to Penrith and a couple other teams, like Warriors, for example, they haven't got that pressure on them from other clubs.

They're, they're always, you know, they're the team to look at every year.

Yeah

Yeah

...

he, he got him to do those, those ... devilishly torpedo kickoffs, which were just bizarre to do.

But, um, I'm sort- more so talking like just distance-wise.

Like, if you're watching the NRL this weekend, for people listening, like having a kicker, and it sounds so like, "Oh, that should be easy to do," but it's not always the case.

Having someone that kicks it and it lands like sorta on that try line, you know, right in between the 10-meter and the dead ball line, consistence- consistently to keep that opposition team, you know, inside their 50.

The amount of times, like front rowers, they're always aiming that first carry to try and get across the 20.

Yeah

Mm.

I don't think anyone's critiqued him as a human being though, Matty.

I think everyone's made it very clear that you...

Look-

Yeah

...

I think we've tried to separate Lau- Laurie the person from Laurie the coach, and Laurie the person, mate, everyone loves Laurie, right?

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Mm

Mm.

Like, that's what Billy's so great at for Queensland.

Billy, like, even if someone has a off game, whatever it is, like, there's always, the way he portrays things and the way he chooses his team selections and has to sever some ties sometimes, it's always, there's always a way.

Like, even look at the way Reece's thing was handled.

Like-

... try involvements matter.

Yeah.

I think you're right.

Yeah, there's some intangible things with rugby league that, yeah

... yeah, yeah.

But like Channo said before, there is, it is a game where you are an attacker, a defender.

There is so much going on, fatigue, all these sorts of things that...

And that's why I think Wayne has such good longevity.

He's always just kept it simple and kept it, kept it less about the opposition and more about yourselves as a team and getting you- yourself right, is because of the fact that...

And, and some teams have been really, have been successful, like the Melbourne Storm, at analyzing opposition teams and finding little parts in the game that they can exploit, right? But very much so, some people can lean into it too much.

Repeat.

Yeah.

Uh, 'cause even if he's getting, you know, some first-class information from the bunker, uh, for him to go ahead and do it himself after someone probably gets a better view of it.

Like, personally, I thought, at the time, I think he's done the right thing in terms of looking back on it now in retrospect.

I think it sort of aged fine for him.

But at the time, getting that, that information from the bunker and the fact that there was any question whether there was contact with the head, whether it was just a head clash or not, I, I personally thought that, and I'm not, and I'm a New South Wales person, that if it was 10 in the bin, everyone would've went, "Fair enough."

100%.

And, and that, and that, it's hard because then if you're gonna try and just get him to spend mental energy more than physical by throwing out a threat out there, it's almost like whoever their halves are, they need to tee up their halves to either combo on one side so they do have a double threat, um, and then Teddy can maintain, like, his strength through the middle.

It, it's a tough one because I just think that it works so well for Queensland just because of the, the, the threat, the whole spine.

... it's just tough.

It's a, I, I agree with you there.

I, I actually feel bad for him just 'cause, well, one, expectation's a crazy thing, and as you said then, they were coming close to first last year when he switched over.

And, uh, obviously, not just Doggies fans, but fans across the league will then create this expectation.

Like, I look at a guy like, at the moment, Joey Walsh, who, um, I know it's a different situation, and he's probably a year behind in terms of, um, Galvan's career in terms of games.

I think Galvan's played nearly 50 games or he's touched it now.

And, um, but, like, a guy like Joey Walsh, when he c- whenever he comes in and plays in first grade, the last couple games he's played this year, the amount of fun and carelessness he's playing with, looks like he's really enjoying it.

Yeah

Yeah.

I, I, I look at Trent and I think to myself like, Billy's obviously seen something this year.

Like, they've had a poor year at Melbourne, but I think Billy's looked at it from two perspectives.

I, I look at Trent and think, one, he's a bit of an insurance policy if the ruck becomes too chaotic, 'cause these guys they've picked to start with are mobile guys.

And if they, if they...

New South Wales dominate early, he might need someone to go on there and sort of get into that wrestle state just a little bit.

Like, he's strong as fuck.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

But you know, but you know what's even better? This is like, you think about Manly back in the day when they, um, towards that, that, that crop they had towards, uh, 2010, right? Now it's, it's awesome to stay with a core group of blokes and, you know, you might take unders to stay with each other and win comps, right? What if you can take more and stay together? Yeah.

That's- Hecky ... that's gonna be, like the thing.

Like, that's where these guys are looking around at each other going, "Look, we love Penrith, that's great, but like, we can stay together and all make double bubble.

Why not do that?"

What do you reckon?

Yeah, it's good.

It's, uh, the thing with it, like, I was there, I was playing 20's with Tommy Starling.

What are your thoughts on the

situation? Yeah, I think it's no coincidence that the Tigers are going really well with this style of footy.

Obviously, Benji thrived in it in 2005.

I think it's just one of those things, too.

Like, coaches don't know how to adapt well.

their coaching styles to these rules still.

I think especially coaches that have been around for longer than the pre-COVID period, like the balance of, I look at the Dolphins as a great example, like the balance of knowing how much to focus in attack and how to counterpunch compared to sitting in your own tent and defending your line for so long.

Oh

And you've heard some of the players say, it's like touch footy out

there.

It's a funny one too, because it actually makes it harder for the ref to have quick play levels.

Like it's under, it's so understated.

I've always thought, go for a 9k run and try and think to yourself and just have a real think about a few things and you'll realize just how hard it is for the ref.

Like they covered like, I think it's eight or nine Ks a game at least, right? Especially the guy in the middle.

And like for them to do their role, especially with the new rules with less scrums, like just play the balls.

and I'm looking at his health, I'm like, maybe it's time for me to walk

do you keep looking at Sandor, a former Melbourne Storm player, when you say that? Because they cheap salary

gap.

I'm just joking.

They've got a great system down there at Melbourne.

The point of it is, if you have young guys coming through before they play NRL, that is just about...

If they're going to be a world-class NRL player, the cheapest you're ever going to have them is within the first two or three years of their contract.

Because once they start playing decent NRL, they're going to be getting...

So it is challenging, but the fact that they're doing this is unbelievable.

So it's not like he was bad at what he, that gives, that suggests he's good at what he does.

That's what I think too.

Like I think if, and you see a lot of it in the competition, you get some assistants go to clubs because the head coach is giving him this awesome rap.

But at the same time, there's one way you can either fire someone or you can just give them a hell of a rap and then they leave and that's the way you get rid of someone.

I do also think that sometimes it doesn't just come down to tactics.

I've seen assistants, and this happens at a lot of clubs, I've seen assistants fight attack versus defence with the head coach about how much time is being prioritised at training towards what their element of the game is.

So they might've been seventh in defense last year, but let's be honest, that side last year were just all out attack and it worked for them.

slur

What are your thoughts, mate?

Yeah, well, I'm mates with both of them.

I'm mates with Gordie and Renault was my, when I debuted, Renault was my captain.

So I'm sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment.

But I do think, I actually listened to Gordie speak on radio this morning about it.

And he spoke about how, It was a sort of a throwaway comment originally.

And I feel like this week it has been built up to a point where it's gotten way bigger than it has been.

throw that back here, what was the contrast between when he was head coach and assistant? Because you know that they're very different and the coaches show up very differently to the

A

big one for me can be...

I was just thinking about just then is...

The thing that Melbourne gets so right is they're never chasing their tail when it comes to their salary cap.

Like, they're always... like a year or two ahead, they're always planning ahead and they don't make bad decisions, whereas probably most of the comp, I'd say, are always chasing their tail and they might get lucky here and there, but... what that allows Melbourne to do is it allows them not only to look for good talent, but the right fit.

Like I remember Ben Eichen talking about what he learnt during his time as, was he football manager at the Broncos there for a bit? And he said he already knew that you had to find driven people and good talent in the positions you're looking for.

But the third thing he didn't know was he said, I think when he came back to 360 for a couple of weeks, he talked about, The third thing was the right fit.

What do you reckon, Jack, mate?

Jack, what do you reckon, mate? Have you got a mic there?

Yeah, I just think it's always going to be bound to happen.

I just feel like Australia, we're multicultural.

I know KP's mum's from Australia, dad's a Kiwi.

I think it's just, and it's only going to get worse with our culture.

I think that it's a great move by the NRL and I think, I know KP personally, he's a very proud Queenslander but he's also very proud of his dad's heritage and I'm glad for him that he gets to be able to express that because he could only really do it through the Maori All-Stars, so yeah, it'd be good.

I can't wait to see him play for the Kiwis if that's the case, but also I can't wait to see him play for the Queenslanders because I know how passionate he is as a Queenslander as well.

He's someone who can be around for a very, very long time.