Oct 16, 2026 · 25 min · 13 segments
On this episode of The Big League Podcast, Nathan Limm and Chris Reeve dissect the Kiwis' heartbreaking Rugby League World Cup opening defeat to the Kangaroos. What went wrong, what can be taken as…
Nathan LimHost
Chris ReeveGuest
Uh, one of the most encouraging things I think from this game is, is the performance of the Kiwis forward pack.
And, you know, Nick and I talked about it last week and, you know, Nick said it was like the Avengers, you know? [laughs] Their, their forward p- pack is absolute ...
I mean, uh, they dominated the middle I thought, particularly in that first half, and that's what gave, uh, Jerome Hughes, uh, Kodi Nikorima the time and space to set up those plays and to look like their structures were running a lot more fluidly than the Aussies because the, the Aussies weren't, weren't getting those meters as much in the middle.
He was obviously still driving that physicality through the middle and, and getting that sort of dominance there.
he had a few nice touches with ball in hand as well, and I, I think he's a nice little option to have as that link man.
And, you know, to have a guy like that come on off the bench with a potentially tiring defense, you know, that's, that's what you like.
You know, we were [laughs] talking before, uh, in the, uh, the player, the player reviews from the game from a- our colleague Ben Francis, who's a, he's a hard critic.
Um, but I thought, I think they got a-- He gave them a, uh, Hughes got a five and Codie Nikorima got a four, or the other way around, I think.
Um, there were a couple of shaky moments with Hughes throwing an intercept pass, and I think a final tackle play that, that sort of went awry.
Uh, one of the most encouraging things I think from this game is, is the performance of the Kiwis forward pack.
And, you know, Nick and I talked about it last week and, you know, Nick said it was like the Avengers, you know? [laughs] Their, their forward p- pack is absolute ...
I mean, uh, they dominated the middle I thought, particularly in that first half, and that's what gave, uh, Jerome Hughes, uh, Kodi Nikorima the time and space to set up those plays and to look like their structures were running a lot more fluidly than the Aussies because the, the Aussies weren't, weren't getting those meters as much in the middle.
He was obviously still driving that physicality through the middle and, and getting that sort of dominance there.
he had a few nice touches with ball in hand as well, and I, I think he's a nice little option to have as that link man.
And, you know, to have a guy like that come on off the bench with a potentially tiring defense, you know, that's, that's what you like.
You know, we were [laughs] talking before, uh, in the, uh, the player, the player reviews from the game from a- our colleague Ben Francis, who's a, he's a hard critic.
Um, but I thought, I think they got a-- He gave them a, uh, Hughes got a five and Codie Nikorima got a four, or the other way around, I think.
Um, there were a couple of shaky moments with Hughes throwing an intercept pass, and I think a final tackle play that, that sort of went awry.
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