Catching Up With Kieran Over Coffee About Cronulla (24/8/26)

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[00:01:05] Oh, g'day, good morning, welcome to SharkCast Party Podcast, dedicated to the Garrida Sporting Club in the history of the world. The mighty Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. My name is Sam Shnazioji, 2015, 12 seasons of podcasting. Having a ball, no better ball than yesterday, game day. Beating the Titans up in Titan land, doing a post-game show, emoting. Emotions were all over the shop, Kieran, as you can imagine. But we got the two points, which is the most important thing to do.

[00:01:31] And we're here to discuss everything on your show, catching up with Kieran over coffee about Cronulla, brought to you by Dyson Logistics, the Royal Motor Yacht Club and Port Hacking. Jason Hawes of Crips & Crips Real Estate. We get our coffee from Mr. Paisley's. Kieran, good morning, how are you? I am feeling very, very happy, mate. That first half was not great viewing, but the second half was definitely a lot better. And, geez, if it continued the way it was in the first half, today's podcast would have been very different, wouldn't it? Yeah, absolutely. They had a job to do and they did it.

[00:02:00] And you could see on the field, from the TV point of view at least, they were getting frustrated. But I never thought at any point that that was going negatively as far as their emotions. It was almost like they knew the rut they were in. I didn't see like a lack of leadership. Like I thought Nico and a few of the boys were really rallying them. And whilst there were emotions that looked negative, like, oh, bad pass, drop ball. They gathered it all together.

[00:02:30] Thankfully at halftime, it was only eight point deficit. And Fitzy got them together and the whole crew worked out in the second half. Second half from pretty much early on was all us. So really grateful they did. They got that done because yeah, otherwise it would have been season ending. You would think the top four is still alive. It's getting a bit bizarre. We had the Roosters lose to the West Tigers. So, I mean, we know our meltdowns, the fan base, when we lose the dragons, the Raiders, which I understand and I agree with and I relate to and I participate in a little bit.

[00:03:00] But I mean, Roosters, Premiership favorites losing to the Tigers. That's got to be up there with Sharks, Dragons if we're going to get comparative. Yeah. I mean, I don't think anybody saw that coming yesterday, but that result really helps the Sharks because now they have to beat the Dolphins now to stay above the Dolphins and get a home semi. Whereas this game could have been a rest game potentially for a lot of those players. So now that's really good for us.

[00:03:26] And the Roosters are going to try to a really strong team and hopefully they beat the Dolphins and then we can sneak into the fourth position. And then we'd get the Roosters, which would be fantastic. I think the Roosters could lose two games. We've got South's last in that big derby. They always play South's be playing for something you'd think. And then we could end up on 38 points with a very similar for and against. So things could get a bit weird.

[00:03:52] Although the only kind of difference there is they are playing the Dolphins who are between us. So that would make things a bit different too for the Dolphins. And it's also going to depend on what the Warriors and Panthers do as well. So the Warriors have got two games at home. So that's very much very friendly for them against the Knights and Manly. And Penrith have the Bulldogs and West Tigers. So you would assume both those teams are going to collect four points and that's probably going to be your top two.

[00:04:19] And then I would assume even with the Roosters winning potentially two games, the four and against will keep them at third. So potentially you'd be looking at a trip to New Zealand and New Zealand wouldn't have left NZ for at least sort of three weeks at that point. So yeah, it's going to be interesting, Sam. All right, let's jump to Cooper Cronk's remarks at the end of the game. Let's keep it respectful because he's my colleague. So don't get me sacked here. And we'll just have a topical talk about what he said.

[00:04:46] Basically, I think I'm correct in saying he thinks that we should finish fifth rather than fourth to have a better run through the finals because he thinks we won't be able to beat whoever finishes in first. Therefore, if we play fifth versus eight, win that way, he's just essentially saying we're better off that way. It kind of shocked me. I appreciate the honesty. I appreciate the opinion. I don't really agree with all of it. I understand where he's coming from.

[00:05:13] I think if we sort of take our shock glasses off, I understand what he's saying. What were your thoughts when he said it? Well, I think that really just plays into the idea that the Sharks are a confidence team and that they'll need to get a win in the finals in week one. And then you're better off playing a potentially a battered side who's just gone off a real big battle. That's what happened last year when we ran into the Raiders in the second game. However, I don't agree with it.

[00:05:39] I think you need two bites of the cherry and I think that you needed to put yourself in the best position to get a week off. And I think we haven't had a buy in a long time as well. So it would actually be really advantageous for us to go either to Penrith or New Zealand and then get a week off if we could get the job done. If we don't get the job done against one of those two teams, and those are two potentially of the hardest matchups in the league, you'd be looking to face the winner of the fifth versus eighth anyway.

[00:06:04] So that could potentially be the Dolphins or the Cowboys or the Knights or South. So it's I prefer going for the week off personally. That's my big thing. And I don't mind us being on the road and being the underdog as well. I think that plays into us better than us playing at say the SFS against the Cowboys. Oh, look, any day of the week, I'm taking fourth spot over fifth. I completely know what he's saying. I think it came out a bit weird because we just won the game. Everyone was really happy.

[00:06:32] He sprouted this big opinion, which I don't know if he thought about it or not. I'm sure he stands by it. But anyway, that's Koops. He's on another level himself. Now, a lot of people are unhappy with the performance yesterday, Kieran. I was unhappy with moments in the game, periods of the game. Started well, great second half. Do you think those criticisms are fair? Are they over the top? What are you thinking? The first half was just very frantic for me.

[00:06:58] And it just felt like they could see opportunities to score points. And we saw it with Katoa going over from a forward try. And it was just like a very panicked sort of situation that I saw out on the field. I was texting you saying even Braley looks like he was just jumping at shadows a bit. Not that it's a confidence thing. More so just they didn't have that focus and that sort of switched on mentality that looked like they were missing.

[00:07:26] So I thought Braley had a bit of an interesting game in that first half with some passes that really weren't his style of play and passes. But I think then you've also got Puru who is not a Braden Trindle player, but he's a sort of similar sort of player. But Nico's got to play a different role. I just thought it was very disjointed in the first half. And thank goodness that Sif Italico came on because that's when everybody got into gear.

[00:07:50] Yeah, I mean him, AFB, Cam McInnes really in that second half led them the way forward through the middle. AFB was unbelievable. Like that was vintage. That was why you bought him. That was him proving he's worth the big bucks. And it was still a different sort of AFB than younger AFB. It was still beast-like, but in that kind of, I don't know, that mature kind of, don't mess with me, but I'm still the guy.

[00:08:19] But I'm just an old, like there's a difference between the way Talakai runs and the way AFB runs. How does he always beat that first guy with that step? Every time. He's so agile and just so hard to get a proper touch on. And I thought you saw it in the pregame when he had the players in the circle and he was sort of laying down that message. I think you also saw it from Fitz when Fitz takes out McInnes from the starting lineup and he put in Hazleton. So he went with size and aggression. And I think AFB kind of felt that.

[00:08:47] It was like, all right, this is what we're going to do. And I thought those big three did a nice stint in the first half. I thought they play well. And when they came on in the second half, I thought it really helped us as well. So personally, I think there might be something in there with playing the three boppers together. But maybe he just needed a haircut because he was all business yesterday AFB, wasn't he? Yeah, he was.

[00:09:10] The coach in the press conference said in a bit of a joking matter, I'm not sure what I'm going to do next week as of in regards to how they started yesterday with McInnes on the bench and Tom starting. So that was an interesting sort of remark. He did mention Cam had some stuff going on. I can't remember quite what he said. It might have been away from the field. It might have been injuries. I can't remember. There was a reason why it wasn't just the size thing, but everyone could see that it works.

[00:09:39] So I was pretty happy with that. I was super happy for Cam when he came on because he scored a great try. He played really well. Very direct. I thought he dropped it. And there was one point when I was watching the replay at first. I was like, oh, no, he's dropped this, hasn't he? But thank goodness he didn't. Sione Katoa, some amazing moments in that game. One obvious highlight. Not the perfect game from Sione, but certainly one that reminded us of his strengths. I thought that his runs were pretty good.

[00:10:08] Got us out of the tough yards. You know, a million tackle busts, all that kind of thing. His numbers look good. Defensively, I think him and Haradi are not the greatest combo. And I sort of put, I put blame on both of them. It's not one or the other, I don't think. And I think even with Nikara there as well, I don't think the three of them are the perfect combination. Now, it's going to be the combo you see moving forward into the finals. We know that.

[00:10:36] But I think that's the biggest thing for me yesterday was that edge defense. So Sione, Haradi and Nikara, they got to sort that out. Otherwise, teams will go nuts on that. It was a, there was vulnerabilities there. And you saw it and you never like to see a winger get pantsed like he did on one of those attempts where he just fell to the ground and was in no man's land.

[00:10:59] So the try hopefully will bring him back some confidence and then play into other areas of the game because he would be feeling like a million dollars because that's everywhere, that try. Like that's on every highlight show, all the news and it's going viral. So it was a fantastic try. It was one of the greats. I will say though, as a staunch Katoa fan, I was displeased with his performance up to that point. I thought he'd had one of these more quieter games and the errors I thought were costly at the wrong times.

[00:11:29] So for him to get that try, I thought was fantastic. But I think the best part from that try is the other man on that edge as well was the fact that the game was still in the balance and it was still close. And Nico took the line on and threw balls like he did. I thought that was a really good sign for us because in the past, he has been criticized rightly or wrongly for going into his shell after things don't go our way. And things weren't going our way in the first half. We saw it at the end of the first half, how frustrated he was.

[00:11:57] So I think the other man on that edge deserves some credit there too. But he also deserves some blame as well for some of the defensive stuff because a lot of the time when those things happen, it's happening much further infield than the actual winger spot there. Yeah, it definitely is. It definitely is. So it's not a Katoa defense thing necessarily. We will get to Nico. Tell me about the Katoa disappointment because I saw like a drop ball at a play the ball which he's got in him.

[00:12:22] I didn't personally take a lot more out of that negatively, but what else did you see? It was also one of the, I think it was their first try, I believe it was, or maybe it was their second. But there was one very bad read there in defense where I thought compounding on top of some of the other errors that I had saw, I was just getting a little bit frustrated and thinking, you know, I missed the old Tongan fisherman. And then he appeared out of nowhere like Superman flying from the sky. So again, hopefully that can sort the confidence out. Yeah.

[00:12:52] I mean, run meters were good. Tackle bus were good. I know that stuff is just black and white sometimes. And I appreciate that. But I didn't think that the try was the only good thing he did. I think he had a much better second half. Maybe I think they all did. Nico Hines was terrific. One of the great things I love was they had that disallowed try to Nico from the bomb. It was a bit more than that. It was actually a really good try disallowed. He was offside by, I don't know, a foot or something minor-ish.

[00:13:20] And we all thought it was happy days and they disallowed it. And I thought this could be a moment where they all, including him, go back into his shell, but he didn't. He started throwing the ball around. I think they realized with respect that the Titans are really not in a good place right now. And I think there was a bit of, not embarrassment, but just a bit of, we know how to do this. Let's do it. There was a mentality in the second half where I think the leaders stood up. I thought Braley had a great game.

[00:13:50] Kennedy was busy. Second half. Kennedy was busy. And I thought Nephi Peru, so I thought he had a pretty disappointing first half. Very clunky. Looked like he hadn't played much. Looked like he didn't have much reps with the team. That whole thing. So it made sense. But I was a little concerned with Nephi in the first half. In attack particularly. But second half, he just looked a lot better. His kicking was decent. Yeah.

[00:14:19] And he played his role. And I think, you know, like some of those were from like a bad Braley pass. It wasn't all on him. Yeah, absolutely. But he certainly didn't, he certainly didn't look comfortable. But second half, he did. And that gives me a lot of hope for the next two weeks because I was a little bit, uh, is it Pollard time? What are we going to do here? Is, is someone else going to, you know, but I thought he was pretty good second half. Yeah. I thought the second half was really good. And the Titans did make him a spot player in defense as well.

[00:14:48] They were trying to get their back rowers at him all game. And I don't know if you noticed it, but we fought a little bit of fire with fire. And we put Tommy Hazleton out on Jaden Campbell a few times to try and get Hazo out wide as well, which I thought was pretty cool. But I did notice in defense, he was targeted, especially close to the line, which you're going to get as any young half in the game. So, um, hopefully he takes the experience out of that. And he comes back next week because I don't know the news on Trindle, but I can't imagine we will see him back in the next two weeks.

[00:15:16] I think he's probably first game will be in the finals to give him the best chance of recovery. So let's see what he's got. Yeah, for sure. He made, I think 33 tackles. He missed maybe a couple, like it wasn't anything bad at all. So they were definitely targeting him. His biggest weakness in his game is his defense, but thankfully yesterday, nothing too disastrous. So I think I said it in one of the pods this week that he's rising up from the park.

[00:15:44] He's a park footballer with, when he plays in the park, when he comes plays with the big boys, it's time to be a big boy. And he's got better people around him, better coaches. When I say better people, I mean better players. And, and usually that will lift someone from New South Wales cup to NRL. So I was happy to see that he went pretty good, especially the second half. A little concern the first half. Uh, Nico Hines was really good. I thought that he showed all those kind of frustrations in the first half, which we've seen for five years now on and off.

[00:16:13] And it always worries us because when he gets a bit frustrated, the noise in the head can get a bit busy. But second half, he was completely fine and pretty actually calm, cool and collected, which was great. So not sure what happened at halftime, but something happened that, that a good talking to, but, um, yeah, avoided disaster. So I'm not walking away going, Oh, what an amazing performance, but I'm happy that we turned around a halftime lead. It's only the second time we've done that this year.

[00:16:42] It was an eight point lead. So that's pretty good. Uh, very warm conditions up there, Kieran. We know this firsthand from people who were there. So a lot warmer than what it probably looked like on TV even. So those conditions come into play playing without our five eight playing without our center. That's a pretty big deal. So I think we're missing Jesse Ramian big time and we will until next year or whenever we fill that gap. And, and let's talk about my Winnie Hirati.

[00:17:07] I thought that it was his best game in this recent batch out of the other two, but the other two weren't that great. So there wasn't really a high mark there for him to pass, but I thought he was better. And if he can fix that defense up, that's all I really need out of him. The rest will sort of come still a few catching passes. I need to see. He bombed that trial early on with a forward pass, which was a very simple one that shouldn't have been bombed. So wait and see on that.

[00:17:37] I know people are waiting for Michael Gabriel. I watched him play in cup. He wasn't very good to be matter of fact. I don't mean to be disrespectful. There were some okay moments and there were some not so okay moments. He's not beating down the door to get an NRL right now, Kieran. And I think that may be a problem for the coaching staff. That's me talking, not the coaching staff. I think if there's an injury again, he'll probably pop up, but I just can see some hesitation there as to why you might not throw me.

[00:18:04] And particularly at this time of the year where every game is must win now. Must win. Yeah. There's only two weeks before the finals and Hiroti has been with this squad for a number of years. He's filled in to different roles in this team for a number of years. So they have a level of comfort with him that Gabriel is not going to be able to jump over in the next two weeks. So I think Hiroti is going to be there for the rest of the season.

[00:18:27] I would have liked to have seen Gabriel get a shot in whatever way that looked, just given the fact that we sort of had a month before the finals with Jesse's injury. And we don't really know what Gabriel has got at the first grade level, but fingers crossed that Hiroti can step up and not get injured himself because I think we might be in a bit of a pickle if we get to the finals and we have to throw in a rookie for his first game, because that's not going to be an ideal sort of environment.

[00:18:52] K.L. Iro with a breakout game over 200 run meters, a bunch of tackles, good in defense for the most part from memory and really getting them forward. I thought Ronaldo was great and some big meters for AFB, big meters for Colquhoun, Wilton, Hazleton, Billy Burns, probably the one who had more of the quieter games. I guess he played the least minutes potentially was Oregon Kifusi because Talakai, I think played that maybe that whole second half.

[00:19:22] He was there very busy, thank God, because he was amazing. So I think that shows that the coach sometimes doesn't play by his rule book and his black book and go, okay, the alarm goes off, let's get him off the field. People are obsessed with the fact that that's what he probably does. I don't think there's anything like that happening. But we know that Sif has been the one that doesn't play many minutes this year, but yesterday he did. He was in great form and Kifusi was the one who sort of played fewer minutes. So I guess that's just part of the team. That's how it goes.

[00:19:51] It might change in week in, week out. So we move on. We're still in fifth. We had some good results. Souths and Newcastle both lost. So we're kind of safe in fifth for the moment, as depressing as that is. But we are pushing for fourth. Fourth is still realistic. It really is. We just need to win. And we got Parra this week. It's all about Parra. Forget about Storm next week. Buy your tickets, but don't worry about the Storm until we get there because we got Parra this week.

[00:20:20] Parra, a tricky team. They can go close on days. If Moses gets a beanies bonnet, he can put on a bit of a show. They got a lot of injuries. And we should beat them. Like, we really should beat them. But it's their home game. Maybe it's their last home game. Maybe it's Old Boys Day. I've got no idea. But they'll be playing to win the Parramatta Eagles. Parramatta are just such an awkward side because they don't give up. And they'll throw a fight in there. And they've got some hardworking players who might not be the most skilled.

[00:20:49] But a player like Jack Williams goes there and stands out because that's kind of what they're trying to build and the culture that they're trying to cultivate. But I don't fear anyone from Parramatta. It'll be interesting to see if Sam Rani plays. I thought he's always one of their better players in the centres. He didn't play on the weekend, so I don't know if he's out for this week. But there should be no issues this week. However, I think Craig Fitzgibbon touched on this. Like, we're playing teams that have nothing to lose at the moment.

[00:21:18] And that is a dangerous position to be in because they're going to throw everything at it. You've got players playing for positions and futures as they go into the offseason. There's guys that know they've only got probably two games left of the season. So they're going to be giving everything that they've got to impress the coaching staff before the end of the season. So I don't like these games, but what can you do? This is the end that we're dealt at the moment. And we've got to go to Parramatta.

[00:21:40] And we have to put it in a good performance because if we have the yips against Parramatta, that's going to feed into the game against the Storm. And the Storm will have a lot of emotion. And the Storm will not want to end the year on a loss given what they've gone through. So this is a really important game for us. And they need to get the job done. Otherwise, the saxophone will be getting louder. Yeah. I like what you said, the hands we've been dealt. It's actually the cards we dealt to the rest of the world, my friend. Like we put this on ourselves.

[00:22:10] We lost two games. We're very winnable. Absolutely. I know you know that. It's just that phrase is kind of funny. We can tell the world, I think it's official, that the dream won't come true. The drums have stopped beating, unless you're in PNG where they're beating very loudly right now. The witch's hats, the cones. What is it? What is the thing that we... The tinfoil hat. The tinfoil hat is off.

[00:22:37] Our friend who writes to us every week, even he's got his tinfoil hat in the corner. Won't be out for a little while because Joey Manu is all but signed with the PNG Chiefs. Bless. Good luck to him. He will not be a shark forevermore, you would think. Well, I was like a desperate man sitting in a hotel chair this morning. And I was thinking maybe there's a chance for 2027. However, it doesn't seem like that's going to be likely because I did see that he's going to be in Japanese rugby for next year as well.

[00:23:05] So that officially ends the Joey Manu pursuit that I have completely made up in my own mind. And I stand by it. 100%. It was happening. It was on. And then Chamis and PNG got into him with tax-free dollars. And you can't compete with that. However, I will say, given the fact we haven't rushed into the Michael Gabriel business at the back end of this season, and I know he's had some injuries and things like that, I still think with the amount of players that we have going out the door, I still think we're in the market for an outside back.

[00:23:36] And that's not based on any information that we have or anything like that. But it's just looking at the quality of squad that we've got and the fact that we're going to have essentially Stone Street coming into the Katoa spot. And there's a center spot there that's open. And we have a ton of good young players there. But the question is going to be, will those young players be ready for round one next year? I'm not sure about that. You might have a Leo Jacques coming into one of those spots. Well, I mean, he's going to be definitely competing with Stone Street for the wing spot.

[00:24:04] So given the size of that young man and some of the highlights I've seen and some of the things that I've heard and read online, he potentially could be in the mix. But it would be fantastic if he kicks on. Could you imagine if we got our own Joseph Suwalehi? Wouldn't that be great? Our own Marky Mark. Didn't have a happy game yesterday, but anyway, that's not our problem. I agree with you that we would probably be looking for an outside back. Are you thinking like a 50-gamer, 100-gamer kind of guy?

[00:24:32] Well, I think the club has obviously got three centres on their books that are younger players. So we're talking about, is it Preston? I can't pronounce his name. One of the centres in the under-20s. Nakora Williams. Yeah, Michael Gabriel. So there's three very highly rated centres. And if you look at junior representative teams and things like that, they're three players that have heavily featured in their age groups that they've been available in when they were under those set of rules.

[00:25:01] So obviously the club is looking in a different direction and each player has their strengths. But I do think from an experience standpoint, because you are losing Katoa as well, you are losing Karate as well, you are losing Sifatalakai, who we have played in the centres this year. I think we have to be out there picking up someone that's got, you know, 50 to 100 sort of games. I don't know if we'll be able to get a representative tier player.

[00:25:27] I did see that our club got thrown up there in the mix for Bradman Best for 20-28. I don't think that sort of thing is going to be realistic, especially for 27. So we'll have to wait and see. But I just look at the back line that we've got, and KL Iro will be our second most experienced outside back. And he's only got, what, 50 games or so? And then Stone Street's probably got about 30. So big drop off in experience from losing, you know, 100 game players like Ramian, Katoa.

[00:25:56] So I think we need something. The Bradman Best thing probably doesn't work financially for us, right? Oh, I think he would go for too much money. Just given the fact that he's a great player and does have some links to Sydney with his partner, being Jeff Fennick's daughter, who I think lives in San Susie. Jeff Fennick does still. So not too far from the Shire if he wanted to jump over the bridge and get to training and be close to some family in Sydney. But I don't think that he's the type of player.

[00:26:25] And when I say that, I just don't see us going out and spending, you know, close to a million dollars on the center. I know I was talking about Joey Manu for a while there. However, Manu's older. Manu has a connection with the coaching staff. I thought that was a potential just because it was so out of the field. And it wasn't necessarily a direct bidding war that Bradman Best is going to stir up. I think Manu would have had a very select number of clubs he would have considered, maybe New Zealand, the Roosters, PNG, potentially us because of the connections that we have with him.

[00:26:54] Whereas I think Bradman Best might be the type of player that will go to the highest bidder, just given the past when he's gone off contract. Surely he's labeled a marquee player, yeah? I think so. And if you remember a few years ago, the West Tigers put in monster bids for him and really drove the price up. So he has been on a lot of money for a really long time at the Knights. And I don't think this contract is going to be any cheaper. But I will say when you factor in all the players that we have coming off contract in 2027, like the Britton Nkoras,

[00:27:23] and potentially you do move a Billy Burns into that spot and save yourself some money, we will have even more money, I think, available to us after 2027. So we're going to have to spend the money somehow, Sam. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't think it's even going to be close to a thing for us with Bradman Best. But I will say this, the more I thought about it, the more I quite liked it. I think it's... The centre is a position where if you can get someone who's really good at it, it's very advantageous.

[00:27:53] So I don't know if that's the way Fitzy thinks. He's got a lot of money tied up in the bulk of the spine and one of our front rowers. So we'll wait and see. But there are lots of young guys coming through, as you said. So let's not diminish that fact. Lots of really good young guys. They're probably a little bit away. But I'll say this, in New South Wales Cup, there was some outstanding performances from our mate Rolly Pollard. Big Felix Fartili is looking really good. I think that he could probably be one next year that gets some first grade time.

[00:28:24] Yeah, a bunch of the Sharks contracted guys were really good. So that's positive news. And the Jets are qualifying for the finals. So I think everyone but NRLW within the system is going to make the finals. That's a good thing for the club from a culture and development point of view. So that's good. Hey, let's have a bit of fun, Kieran. Let's look at what's happening in Round 26, Round 27 for the teams above us and around us. So we have – let's have a look here. Very ad lib.

[00:28:55] On Friday, we have Penrith v. Canterbury at Combank Stadium. That's the one in Parramatta. And that's do or die for the doggies. So that'll be important for their fans to get out there and harass the Penrith fans. And Penrith are fighting for a lot, yeah? So that's a pretty big one. You would think Penrith would probably do it, but he can't rule out an upset, especially one that's already happened this year. We have Souths up at the Titans 3 o'clock game. We have the big one.

[00:29:24] Most important to us is 5.30 on Saturday, Roosters v. Dolphins at Allianz. Now, not sure about Tedesco. Any word on him early in the week, Kieran? I haven't heard anything about Tedesco, but I think they've now kind of had their hand forced that they will have to play him. I don't think they have the option to rest him now given the fact that this game is going to be so important. They will not want to finish third. Like, they will not want to have to go down to Parramatta and play Penrith or go to New Zealand potentially.

[00:29:54] So I think they're going to have to play him. They're going to be so annoyed they lost to West Tigers with all respect. So Cowboys vs. Tigers doesn't really affect us. Then we have in New Zealand, okay, Sunday 2 o'clock, Warriors v. Knights. Knights were tremendously disappointing at home on the weekend. Who did they lose to, Kieran? Do you remember? Who did the Knights lose to? Yeah. The Knights lost to Manly. They got smashed. Manly. Yes. That was very disappointing.

[00:30:22] On All Boys Day as well, which is a big thing for them. Yeah. So that was an interesting little move there. Pulling a little bit of a shark maneuver there, losing it home when you shouldn't. Then we have us versus the eels, which is also very important to us. And then the week after, last regular season round, Dogs Brisbane. So Titans v. Dolphins Friday 6 o'clock at Dolphin Land.

[00:30:48] So the Finns are traveling from their little town down to the Gold Coast. You would think they get the job done. The big one as well. Oh, it's actually a big Friday for us. So then we have Souths v. Roosters at Allianz. And that's obviously always epic. Both teams will be playing for something you would think. Well, there's rumors that that's Latrell's return game as well. So if Latrell is back, then he obviously really does lift Souths.

[00:31:18] And that's always got some spice in that game. So I love that they keep that game for round 26. It'd be good if they put it in like round one. And 26 had a bit of a bookend. They should do rivalry rounds more. Next day, Saturday week, Warriors v. Manly at Warrior Land. So you'd think Warriors will do that. Yep. And then we have the Storm. That's kind of all that affects us. Penrith v. West Tigers last round, last game of the year at Combank. I mean, we saw it yesterday, but I can't imagine Penrith losing to that.

[00:31:48] Does it look like the Warriors are going to finish first? Is that what we're saying? I think so. I don't see the Warriors losing between now and the end of the season. So maybe Penrith second, and then it's between us and the – Well, we won't get third, will we? We can't get third, can we? No, no. I don't think we can get third. Look at the for and against for the Warriors and Panthers. There is one point in the point differential between them. Amazing. Excellent.

[00:32:15] So it's going to depend on who wins by more and all that type of stuff. So it's really up in the air who's going to get third, like a primary team. So they're all on the same points, the top three on the same points. So really, Penrith still can finish first if they win by bigger margins. Well, they'll win by two points, and then they'll overtake the Warriors if they win by one point, right? So it's very tight there. But they play Canterbury West Tigers, whereas the Warriors play Manly and Newcastle in Warrior Land.

[00:32:44] So you would expect the Warriors win. Bigger wins. Yeah. Yeah. So Warriors first, Penrith second. Roosters most likely third. Sharks fourth, hopefully. So we're going to New Zealand is what we're saying, which is what you predicted all along. A very fresh New Zealand side because they will have had three weeks at home before we would rock up there.

[00:33:10] I'm just saying we both play on the Saturday night, so there's not as if there's an advantage in terms of potentially what it would look like the next week. The Panthers play on Sunday. I don't know if that means anything, but turnaround-wise, maybe that's better for you. Can you imagine the hoopla, the storylines, the betting margins? Not that we talk about betting on this show until someone sponsors us about it. But can you imagine that hoopla when it's one versus four over in New Zealand? It's the Sharks going over to New Zealand.

[00:33:39] And, oh, you don't want to be that team that goes to New Zealand. Oh, they haven't got a chance. Oh, Nico's going to wet the bed, the whole thing. Like, I'm ready for it. I understand it. Trindle return. Yeah, we'll just keep showing that. Trindle field goal and the Kennedy field goal save. We'll just keep saying that on the repeat. Every time you say something, we'll show you that on repeat. Let's go. I think it's... For that to happen, we have to win two games. Yeah. And we've been saying for this period over the last five weeks,

[00:34:08] for the last three weeks, we've been expecting them to win these games. And they've only came out with one win. So it's going to be hard. The fact we don't have Trindle makes it harder. Absolutely. But there is a real opportunity there for them to do it. And I think that if I'm Craig Fitzgibbon, I am feeding into that narrative. And Chad Townsend talks about it with James Maloney on that podcast where Flano kept saying all year, we don't want to go to Canberra. We don't want to go to Canberra. And the players were like, we don't care if we go to Canberra.

[00:34:37] We know we'll knock them over down there. And what happened? They got Canberra. They lost Gal before the game. Wade Graham goes down with an injury. Kurt Cable has his heroics. Matt Pryor becomes Superman. So anything is possible. And I think you could... As a coach, I think you would really be buying into that narrative of going to New Zealand, us against the world. They should move it to Eden Park or something like that just to get more people. I wonder when they're going to go over there. And we're just spitballing here, everyone, so don't freak out.

[00:35:06] But we're just spitballing. I wonder when they're going to go over. Because that's... They always plan that stuff meticulously. And they have reasons why they do this and don't do that. I wonder what night of the week it would be. I know minor premiers sometimes get favours as to when they play timeline-wise. But then they do like night-time football. Well, they would probably have the preference for the Saturday night slot at 6 because that's 8 o'clock over in NZ. So that gives them prime time.

[00:35:35] And I've been going to New Zealand for my work for 15 years or so. I've never seen how crazy... I go there about one time a month. This year, not so much. But over the last couple of years, it's insane over there, the Warriors. And five years ago, no one would talk to you about Rugby League. It would always be about the All Blacks. Now, even at the airport, they've got Warriors merchandise everywhere. Like, it is insane. And there's fans at Magic Ground. There's fans in Vegas. I was going to say, their fans are worldwide, dude.

[00:36:05] Especially in Australia. Like, it is chaos. That's why when I've heard like the... Well, they need to play over there to win. It's like, that's baloney. Their fan base is as strong here as what it is there. They sold out a game at the Gold Coast a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't Titans fans. That was Warriors fans. That's right. Speaking of that, shout out to all the Sharks fans who traveled, who live locally in the Gold Coast. I was hearing Sharky shits on the TV. Benny Harlem, Claudia were there, our friends.

[00:36:34] They said that it was just Sharks everywhere. Queensland Josh. Queensland Josh, of course. We don't have time to go through all our friends who were there. But on all the, you know, the posts I've seen online, it's like, wow, we really outnumbered them. And look, I get it's hard. The Titans are going so bad. And I get it must be hard to be a local Titans guy, but sensational outing from the Sharks fans. Like it came through on the telly. That's for sure. The only thing is that we should have probably worn the black jersey.

[00:37:03] Just because sometimes when I was watching it, the light blue versus their darker blue, it was a little bit hard to see. If you're going to talk about temperature and heat, please. I was going to. It's not a thing. Is it a thing? Google it. Is it a thing? Don't wear your black shirts out in the sun. Well, that's what everyone says. I'm going to see Metallica and they're playing at four o'clock in the afternoon. I've got to wear my gray Metallica shirt. You're talking to a guy that got married on a 39 degree day in formal attire. So the heat doesn't really bother me that much.

[00:37:33] But I did look at the temperature during the game. And I do get that if you were in the sun, that would have been a really annoying game because if you're in the shade, it would have been okay. But I looked at the temperature during the game because I was looking at the crowd and half of them were in T-shirts and then there was other people in like jumpers and like onesies. And I'm going like, what's going on? Like, what's the temperature? It was 20 degrees that set. So. Yeah, but what about in the sun? It must have been. Yeah, the sun probably would have been about 24, 25. I don't think a jersey being a different color

[00:38:01] would have made too much of a difference at that point. Plus with the new technology in the jerseys too, like they're so breathable. I mean, George Costanza could really have fun with redesigning these jerseys and what colors that they wear. But the two blues, I just thought was a clash. I liked seeing it. That's my favorite jersey. And I was okay with it. I got to say. So that's what's going on in Sharkland. We've got the Eels this week at Eel Land. I think it's a four o'clock kickoff.

[00:38:30] It's definitely a danger game. So we've got to be up for it. I liked moments in the Gold Coast game. I thought we started well, we finished well. We came back from a deficit. I thought we saw leaders stand up, which we don't always see, man. We didn't see it against Canberra or the Dragons, really. Was there a moment on that, though, Sam, that stood out for you? Because there was for me. You go first. When Sifataleca dropped that ball, he was absolutely steaming at himself.

[00:38:59] His next two runs were beyond impactful, and one led to the AFB try. Talafi, his first run that he took where he just ran straight into it. It was either Morin or one of the halves or the hooker, and the little guy went flying. Then you saw Fanoil Blake. He stepped up too, and he was just like, I'm going with my cousin. Those two cousins completely fixed that game for us because they cracked the SH word, and they said enough is enough. And that from Talafi after an error was, I thought,

[00:39:29] the real highlight for me. I do think he needs to be on the field as much as he can, and it's probably one of the small criticisms I've had of our coach. I know our coach cops a lot from our fans, and that's fine. Like, do it respectfully. I don't really care. He's a big boy. But people know I quite like what he does, but I haven't said to him, but if I ever had the moment to say it to him where he wouldn't take offense to it, I would say, man, what are you doing with Sifataleca?

[00:39:57] Because he's a guy that I would have on the field for so many minutes. He's got such a big engine. He never gives up. And you saw it yesterday. That was peak Talakai. He still got it. And I'm glad he still got it. And you're right. He and his cousin went nuts. I thought Nico showed some leadership in the way he plays. Yes, yes. Like, the way he played was really direct. He's still getting caught in the fifth a bit too much for me with too much pressure on Nephi, but Nephi stood up for it, so that's fine. That's not a criticism.

[00:40:26] But sometimes when he gets tackled in the fifth, I kind of go, oh, I don't know if that's the plan. But that's a me thing. I thought Braley stood up with his jinking runs, going for penalties, the whole thing. Yes. And in those moments, and then Cam McInnes as well, I thought, and he's a guy who our fans either really love or just go ship him off. And I thought he had a really strong stint. Maybe he's a bench guy now. I don't know. I can't tell you what the right thing to do is.

[00:40:54] It seems to work better that way when we've got the big boppers on the field and then he comes on and rips and tears in his own unique way. It also gives you that halves coverage that people were screaming out for because that is the play that they do if there is an injury to one half. So it's Braley, McInnes, and we do the one-half model. So Cam gives you that flexibility on the bench. So we'll see what happens this week. It's going to be fascinating to find out. Kieran, got anything else to report before we get out of here? I was just considering whether I want to drive out to Parramatta, but I think that's just way too far for me.

[00:41:23] So I'll stay with the family and watch it on the TV this week, I think. Well, we could have someone else drive us out there. Yeah, mate, if you want to drive, mate, I'll head out there. I'll be very happy to be there. But I've got to check with the family to see what I've got on this weekend because I know I do have some stuff coming up. So that's another reason why I would like a week off because I'm going to be away the second week of the finals for my daughter's birthday. So I really want to know. No, no, no, no, no. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you dropping on this now? Yeah, I haven't told you about this. So her birthday is on the 17th of September every year,

[00:41:52] and there's been days where we've had her birthday party, and then we've gone to go to the Souths game. Hey, my fellas on the 12th. I can relate. My fellas on the 12th. Then the next year we played, I think it was the Cowboys game where we got so much television time, became international celebrities. Yeah, we went viral. And then the next day was her birthday party, and I was very hungover. Our friend Dave turned up and dropped his daughter off and left. It's like the coward that he is. So I had to deal with 20 kids for the hangover.

[00:42:22] So September football is dangerous for me, Sam. That was a good 12 hours of our life, I've got to say. That was a fun 12 hours. The pre, the during, the post. That was fun. The post. We went for a drink after the game. We never do that. Post was good. I want to remind you that our colleague, Mr. Premium Economy, Ben Harlem, is in the country. He's in the city as we talk, and he's going to the Parramatta game, and he's going to want to expect to see us there.

[00:42:49] Well, if he can get his chopper to come and pick me up, I could go down to maybe one of the ovals around here. Speaking of the ovals, did you see the local football results and Chad Townsend making the grand final and Fafida getting sent off after leading 14-0 at halftime? I didn't know the second bit of the story. What did he do? Mouthing off? Skullduggery, I think they'll put it down as. And I think it was one of those things. I didn't see the whole game, but Andrew Chains at the gym that I train at, so there was some stuff, jokes that were made there.

[00:43:19] About him this morning, but he wasn't there to defend himself. So I actually don't know what he did. I just saw a video of him getting sent from the field. Was it 3 o'clock yesterday? Is that when it was? Or was it Saturday? I think it was Saturday. And the local grand finals down at Sylvania, I think this Saturday at 3 or 4 o'clock. So a few guys I know, we're going to head down to that as well. So it'd be good to see Chad get it up. It's a pretty impressive story. It is impressive. What annoys me is when I see all of my friends posting photos from the game,

[00:43:49] and they didn't let me know they were going. I saw a bunch of people going like, I'm here, this is the best thing ever. I'm like, what? Why am I not with you? I know. And we've got young kids, right? So our weekend, it just goes up in a puff of air. And it's one of those things where my mates are sending me videos from the game. I would have gone to that, especially the one that was across the road from Shark Park. I think they said they had 4,000 people there. So it's great to see what they're doing for the local community because it's creating a lot of banter around the place. So it's great.

[00:44:19] What about the Chad? The Chad's announced a live show for his podcast, which you and I are going to go to. We've already got tickets. I urge people to get tickets because it'll sell out pretty quick. It's a premiership podcast. I saw one of the posts about someone scoring a try. Someone scored a try and Chad kicked the goal to win it or something like that or to go up by four. And someone's like, is Chad going to talk about the try from a double knock on and a double move? People were just giving it to him on his Instagram. So I thought that was great. That's okay. He's up for the bants.

[00:44:49] I mean, he's having a good year, Chad. Yeah. And it's great to see the interest that he's done for local football and the fact that they didn't have a first grade team before. Now they've got a guy like Stuart Mills in the front row and all that type of stuff. So you can actually watch the games on YouTube too. I don't know if you knew that. Okay. I didn't know that. I haven't seen Stewie lately on his Insta. I follow his Instagram because he's one of my favorite players of all time. But when I found out he was playing prop, my mind wandered a little bit.

[00:45:17] Your mind wanders from scrawny Stewie Mills to a prop. And I was like, okay, it's been some years. But then someone went, no, no, no, no. He looks amazing. He's built up a little bit. He's just playing prop. And I was like, okay, that's cool. That's awesome. Well, to be fair, it was kind of like a prop in the center's wingers, but with speed. And that was his playing cycle, just driving straight through the line of defense. So, yeah, it's great to see the fact that they've done it. Were you at, I don't know if even you were of age,

[00:45:46] were you at the infamous trial match against Manly where he had the 12 to 15 minutes of brilliance and then broke every bone in his body the next second? Were you there? So, I was not there, but I was following a lot. This is before, like, they would put it all on television or radio would even cover it. So, you had to sit online. So, I was sitting on the League Unlimited forums pushing refresh and getting the reports of everything because people were, like, live streaming in a sense, but they were typing up, like, updates, things,

[00:46:15] what were happening. And it's like this Stuart Mill kid has just scored again. Like, this kid's a freak. He's the next DT. You know who was there? Yeah, old mate Sam Skidazzi was there with my brother and a few other people. And so, the hype on this kid was already through the roof. Like, he had come through the grades. It was like, oh, Stewie Mills is going to play. Ah, so exciting. He comes out, the blonde hair. He looks like Rick Burke part two or whatever. I remember he chased down someone. So, he had the speed. He chased down someone.

[00:46:44] I think he was playing. I'd have to confirm this. It was either fullback or center. It was a very good center. He chased down someone, you know, like a 70-meter chase. It was like, wow, this is pretty good. And he scored a – I think he scored one try or he almost scored a try, had a line break, all this in, like, 10 minutes. And then he scored a try from close range. But then he legitimately, like, I think, broken kneecap, broken ankle, like, all the one movement.

[00:47:13] And he got carried off. You've never heard a more quiet atmosphere ever in your life. Because, like, this is it. We found our guy. Like, we legitimately thought we'd found this guy. And then he disappeared for, like, a year and a half because of the injury. Came back, had a great debut and the whole thing. But played out of position, unfortunately. He wasn't a winger. He played a lot of wing. But that trial game, I was there, man. And it was true. It was as good as what people say. I will never forget that.

[00:47:42] But even his NRL debut after the injuries. Yes. Do you remember it was a Channel 9 game and Gus was like, this guy even looks like a Cronulla player. Yeah. Did he get a double? I don't know. I can't remember. He had a wow of a game. I think his first touch – if it was not first, it was second. But the first, second touch was the 60-meter line break. And he actually got run down by someone who would come to us. I don't think it was Todd Carney.

[00:48:09] One of the roosters who came to Cronulla within a year or two is the one that tackled him. I remember that. He's definitely scored a try from a bomb. And he had an amazing debut. It was wonderful. You know, Gus did his thing and went nuts. But, yeah, I mean, it was a very exciting time. And I always have a lot of respect for him. You know, he was a good dude off the field. Just loved the Sharks. Him and Chad were the Yarrawara boys. And a lot of injuries even throughout the rest of his career. Went to Brisbane for a year maybe.

[00:48:39] Yeah, he went to Brisbane. Do you remember the heartbreak of that? Remind me. So basically he had some injuries and he was kind of in and out of first grade. And he just – it wasn't working because the body was letting him down. The talent was obviously there. But the injuries were stacking up. And he just couldn't nail down a spot because of the injuries. And then Chad went to the Warriors and he went to the Broncos. And then they both had those sort of comments that came out about the standard of training and all this type of stuff.

[00:49:06] And all the Sharks fans went ballistic about them and said, nah, nah, nah. Yeah, but then I think Mills ended up coming back to Sydney. And I think maybe playing like the Illawarra comp from Brisbane because he was sort of saying how badly he didn't like living up there or something like that because it was so hard. He definitely did a bit of – he did some regional, I think even captain coach maybe or something like that for a bit. Terrific fella.

[00:49:30] The hype around him was like nothing I've ever come across because there was one – like in the mid-2000s, it was all about Keith Galloway, Russell Aiken, and David Simmons. And I've referenced this before, but people were saying Galloway is the next Gordon Tallis. Simmons is the next Darren Lockyer. And Aiken was like the next Andrew Johns. And like there was that Reece Lundgrove was in there too. And they're like this guy is going to be something to do. Respect to those guys. But honestly, like these players were the best players in their age groups.

[00:49:58] And there was a club of our club where we needed hope. And like New Brown is somebody that I see around all the time. And like I've never actually said this to him, but I want to say one day like you gave us so much hope, New, when you were in the 20s and we were so bad in first grade because we're like this is the guy we can get behind. And Stuart Mills, I think I've never seen anything like it. And he fully deserves it because everything that I had read about him and what I saw was an absolutely phenomenal player. So it's such a shame. You know what?

[00:50:27] He played for his favorite club. He lived the dream. I dare say you got to check every now and then. Like he's okay. He's living a good life now. He's got a happy family, the whole thing. He's on the verge of a premiership. I think Tupu Subgoa plays for Joey's who they're playing against. And I don't know if he's injured, but I've seen him named in the halves occasionally. So I think... In the halves? Yeah, he's been playing like number six, number seven. I saw Fafita got named at number six one week there as well. I don't think he quite played at six.

[00:50:56] But yeah, it's pretty funny to see. But yeah, Fafita plays in the back row when he plays in the local league. He sits down on an edge and just bullies people. We love Fafita. We love Fafita on the Shark Cast, as Luke Lewis calls it. Oh man, local footy. You know what? This is all... Well, it's partly responsible because of Chad Townsend driving that on his pages and on his YouTube, the whole thing. Like, I think it's awesome, man. I get a lot of grief from people going, you love Chad Townsend. It's like, you know what? I do love Chad Townsend.

[00:51:25] I don't have a problem saying that. Do I love, love him? No. I'll tell you a little bit of a story. And if this gets back to him, he'll laugh. This is as recent as yesterday, okay? This is my life, my awkward life, Kieran. Let me in behind the pages. You know about it, but the rest of the people don't. So I messaged him about something that's not relevant to what we're talking about. And he wrote back and said, thanks. You know, appreciate it. Da-da-da. Really short message. We don't message much.

[00:51:51] And then doing something on my messages, and I accidentally clicked like his message again. And then all of a sudden, this is on, I'll say a social media platform. It says like there's a call happening. Like a call's happening right now. And I'm like, what's this? This is weird. Am I calling Chad Townsend right now? How do I hang up on this? And I couldn't like end the call on the certain app that I was on. I was like, oh, this is not good.

[00:52:21] This is, we're going into weird territory here. Now I do love, love him. This is, I don't want to call him. What's going on? Like I got out of the app and then I went back into the app and it looked like the call was still ringing or whatever. And I did something as simple as, I think I deleted the message or something and it stopped. And I went, hey man, that was a prank. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to call you. I didn't even know I could call you. Haven't heard a response back.

[00:52:51] You should, yeah, pocket dial. These things happen. But I know. He's cool. My picture might be at his gig when he does the live gig and be like, don't let this guy in. Well, he was another player that came through with tremendous hype around him. And yeah, he was the only local junior in the team that won a competition for the Sharks and lived an absolute dream. So credit to him. He's lived a life that a lot of us would have absolutely dreamed of. But his live show is going to be great. There's some good guests there. So looking forward to getting down to that.

[00:53:20] Yeah, it's going to be a fun one. All right, Kieran, let's get out of here. Sharks play the Eels this week. Buckle on in. Another roller coaster of a week. We'll look after you on the SharkCast. And who knows? You might see us out west. You might not, but you might. I know Ben Holland wants to see us out west. I want to check the stadium out one day. So look, it's a 50-50 chance at this point. It doesn't matter to our listeners and viewers. They're just here to hear us talk about UFOs. Hang stuck on us when the Sharks go bad.

[00:53:51] Yeah, that's okay. That happens. That happens. We'll have a beer together. It's all right. The best was when a guy sprayed me walking out of Shark Park one time. I can't remember which game it was, but he went into me like it was my personal fault. Like I was part of the coaching staff. And I just remember, I couldn't stop laughing. I was just standing there. This is the best ever. Like, I'm so sorry that that's happened. Yeah. We meet a lot of nice people, we have to say. Oh, we meet great people. The best. They spray me more. Even the ones who aren't great, we still appreciate it. So we're out of here.

[00:54:21] They're the best. We love it. We love the Shark Cast. All right. We're out of here, Kieran. Let's go out with a bit of a song to please all of our people doing the admin behind the scenes, which is me. I'm Bob Cronella, and we'll talk to you all real soon. Let's go. Shark Cast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. He's an expert in the Caring Bar region and has his eye all across the shire.

[00:54:47] Lifelong Sharks fan and supporter of this podcast, if you're looking to buy or sell in the region, the person you need to be talking to is Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Hawes, Crips & Crips Real Estate.