Flagship Episode w/ Jardian Ormsby (20/5/26)

[00:00:01] The Royal Motor Yacht Club Port Hacking is a hidden gem of the Shire, situated on the banks of the beautiful Port Hacking. It's a great place to catch up with friends, celebrate your birthday or any special occasion, and they always show the NRL live on the big screens. The RMYC Port Hacking, proud sponsors of this podcast and big supporters of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. Check out their website rmycph.com.au

[00:00:26] They've got a Facebook page, or you could go old school and call them on 029523 9300 And all you people back in the Shire, turn your porch lights off because we're coming home with a trophy.

[00:00:55] Hey there, welcome to SharkCast Pod, a podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the entire universe, galaxies, worlds, whatever you want to say. We are the best and this is SharkCast Pod. This is SharkCast Pod, brought to you by Dyson Logistics, the Royal Motor Yacht Club and Port Hacking and Jason Hawes at Cripps and Cripps Real Estate.

[00:01:22] When I get my coffee, I get it from Mr. Paisley's. As you will see in the upcoming part two, Hindsight Nico Hines documentary series, filmed exclusively at Mr. Paisley's. Anyway, we're not here to talk about Nico Hines too much, although we'll get into him soon. On the other end of this line is a good friend, wise man, an all-round legend, hasn't been on the show for a while, been brushing us, but he's back, Mr. Jardy in Ormsby. How are you, sir? I'm doing okay.

[00:01:51] I've been slowly dying a little bit with all sorts of illnesses that can't be justified, but no, I am definitely glad to be back and excited to. It's great. Yeah, and there's a specific reason why, which we'll get into really soon, and people who are watching and not listening will have a spoiler there and we'll get into that real soon. But what have you been up to? What's going on? How's your world? The world is good.

[00:02:16] There's a lot of stuff happening at KO and Binge HQ, and definitely with Fox Sports, there's enough work there to keep us super busy. And look, I can't wait to be able to share with people what's exactly going on in our space, but everyone should be really excited about the future of streaming. I'll say that much with what's going on. So that's keeping busy. And in between all of that, we've got a team that we follow that takes us on the roller coaster up and down week by week. Today's a good week. Yeah, we're up. We'll unpack.

[00:02:45] Yeah, no, all is well. Excellent. Great to hear. We're going to do a bit of a traditional episode here and get through a bunch of stuff, but why don't we start with the game on the weekend? So last Friday, we kicked off Magic Round prior to the, oh, sorry, after the Women's State of Origin match. Next day, Friday, 6 o'clock, Sharks won 38-16, a big win for the Sharkies over a pretty hapless Dogs.

[00:03:12] I thought we saw a pretty all-round performance there, Jardine. I know some people were down on the second half. I was quite up on it. I thought it was fine. I know we lost technically in the score, but I thought from a playing point of view, they never stopped trying, never stopped playing. 95% completion rate. Everything was kind of going along. They were just sort of jogging along, keeping the dogs out of it. But overall, I was super happy with that performance. As you said, it's been an up and down year. But what did you make of the game against the dogs? I thought they were really, really strong.

[00:03:42] And I understand and agree with your sentiment there about the second half. But there, I think one of the differences between the second half that we saw and the second half that has existed in recent weeks is that this second half never felt like it was out of control. Whereas there have been half second halves this year where you could tell that the momentum had changed.

[00:04:06] I think specifically of the Roosters game, like you could almost feel back in round six when they came out in that second half, you could feel that momentum swinging and how that game was destined to get away. This never really felt like that despite being in an arm wrestle for a good 30 minutes there. Yeah, for sure. Some breakout performances. Your boy Ronaldo was just elite coming back after, well, he hasn't played since last November. And I thought, I thought Jessica O'Him was great.

[00:04:35] I thought Nico Hines was great. And I'd throw in Will Kennedy as well. But above, above that, just a really great team performance across the park. Bench was used well. We saw Huberpuru start his first game, which is a bit of a switch to how they were named. And he was pretty impactful from a hooking point of view. So, yeah, some breakout performances. But your boy Ronaldo just lighting it up. He made me search the word.

[00:05:03] Like I was searching for a word that would properly describe results or things that can simultaneously mean everything and nothing all at once. Because this weekend's game felt like something that was everything. And at the same time, perhaps nothing as well. And I think a big part of that was the return of Ronnie.

[00:05:23] Like I had a moment talking with my brother about thinking about like when was the last time that we at our club have had an outside back who meant that much to the game and to the team? Because like he came in and it felt like a different team when he was out there. What was your answer with your brother? Is it Ben Barber or are we going back further? Oh, like Ben Barber was there. I mean, we're going back to premiership years. So, yes, that was Benny Barber there.

[00:05:52] We went back a little bit further. Like just players who when they were there, it changed the dynamic of the whole thing. Like outside backs went like when they were there. Yeah, you felt like something else could happen totally contradictory to the week before. And they just it's like a different attitude that they have, which is we've spoken about this many times in the past.

[00:06:13] Like with Ronnie, he's one of those players where I feel you 110% have to take the very little bad that comes with him to expose the much larger good. Not just for him, but for the team at large. And I think that was on display. He came back so good and kind of better than we all could have hoped. He looked at 100% whether he is or not. I'm not sure. Hopefully he's not, but he and like hopefully he's got more to go.

[00:06:41] But just all guns blazing brought out really great attitudes in the whole team. The defense was a lot better on his edge with Ramian, who also returned and had a great game. It should be pointed out even just across the park. We spoke about on the Monday show with Britain about Britain Nicker are defensively like the attitude Rinaldo brings is crazy like and he doesn't miss anyone both positively and negatively. So yeah, great stuff from him.

[00:07:10] Jesse Colquhoun continues to impress everyone week in week out. I mean people are talking origin. I think we're a bit premature there, but he's just a fantastic player. The longer he plays the better in a game, whether he's going to be a lock, whether he's going to be a prop. We'll have to work all that out moving forward. But he just continues to impress. Yes. Let's go to your boy, Nico Hines, because on our group text, you can be, you're probably, you don't have a Nico Hines island.

[00:07:39] You know, you don't have an apartment complex for Nico, but you are, you know, you certainly support him. And when he's good, you praise him. And when he's not, you don't. But I thought he was pretty good on the weekend. I thought he was pretty complete game from Nico Hines. And, and when he is in that form, like it's very hard to deny how impressive and important he is to the team as well. And he was on one that particular game all over the field, both sides of the ball, just absolutely on one.

[00:08:07] And, and when he is playing like that, this team doesn't matter where they are in the ladder. They can be any single team on any day, inclusive of the Panthers at the top. I truly believe that, like get him on the right day. And the team can just move in so many different directions there. 110%. And on this particular day, I thought he was super impressive.

[00:08:25] But if, if let's just say some strange comet hits the Parramatta region and other few, a few other regions, then Laurie Daly was looking around thinking, all right, what's going to be Nico? I think it would have actually been okay and worked out well if he had turned up to the upcoming game, the way that he did against the Bulldogs. Like he was fantastic. As a podcast, we have to be careful because on Mondays, Kieran talks about big foot. He talks about UFOs.

[00:08:53] Now you're talking about magical comets. So we're getting a bit out there on the track cast, which is fine. I'm all for that. Magic round looked like a lot of fun. I'm yet to attend one. Maybe next year, you'd be the one. I was super glad that we were first. Spotlight was on us. We stood up to it. We got through it really well. Don't think there's any injuries. There's no suspensions. It was all very positive. The turnout was unbelievable.

[00:09:18] You can see in the background, if you're watching, if you're listening, I've got the new retro jersey hanging up proudly. That looked unbelievable, Jardin. Now, can we go there? Can we have that? Yeah, let's just go there now. Yeah, let's go there. There's no plan here. So the jersey looked unbelievable. Great success for the club off the field. So a bit of, hopefully a bit of pay-a-la there. Who knows? A bit of cash-a-la. But yeah, tell us about where it stands for you and tell us.

[00:09:46] You're a jersey guy, so tell us what your thoughts are. I love my jerseys. There's definitely levels and tiers to this whole thing. And I thought when I saw the photo release of it, like, wow, we're in business here. Like, this is a phenomenal, phenomenal jersey. It's good memories that are associated with it from the past. And so when I saw it, I was super excited. That photo of Will standing in front of Peach, the painting of Peach was just like, was made for me in my life.

[00:10:14] Give me a million of them right now. Yes. But then when you actually see it and you see the players running out in it, like I'm hearing from people at the game that they had seen the photos, they had seen all of those things. And then when they saw them run out and it was like a whole level of, whoosh. Like it was, and then again, I, my brother went and had a look to go grab one online and there were no more online. So great problems to have. I'm in that category too, Jardin, where they ran out and I popped.

[00:10:44] I was like, oh, now I get it because I, yeah, I was also like, that picture is amazing. I want to get a photo of that. I want to frame that of Will Kennedy. And even there was one of Nico as well, which I don't think came out till later on with Nico looking up at the peachy sign and a peachy photo. But when they ran out and that blue just hit and it's, to be honest, it's not even my favorite kind of blue.

[00:11:06] I'm more of a sky, I guess I'd say I'm more of a sky blue, but it just looked ridiculously good on the players. And then you saw a lot of people in the crowd, a lot of crowd shots, obviously of Magic Ground and, and people had their, they'd done their work. People had either gone to the retail outlets or they'd ordered with the sharks and the sharks had sent them out in time. And there was an, and, and Kieran who was there said there was a number, like there was lots and lots of New Jersey's up there.

[00:11:33] And so you saw it in the crowd, you saw it in the field. They played so great in them. They played like when, when we went up to get that bomb for the first Trindle try, it looked with mannerisms and everything. It looked like our boy D dot peachy going up for a ball. Like it was like, it's finally coming true. Like we'll count it is finally becoming David peachy. And so yeah, fantastic stuff. I mean, so where does this rank for you as far as jerseys in sharks history? Is it, is it top five?

[00:12:02] Is it, let's take a typical ranking hearing system, Sam, like you've got your S tiers, your ABCDs. It's like, I, not everything can be an S tier. Your S tier has to be reserved for your absolute grails of jerseys. And for me, the hoops jersey will always be the grail. Like give it to me in any variation. Like I don't, I'm not specifically talking about one hoops jersey. I'm just saying the hoop at large. Like that's, I feel like that's the identity of the club for me. It's got a lot to do with what I grew up with.

[00:12:31] That was it. That's definitely S tier. I also think that the Pepsi jersey, the 98 retro, like I've heard other shark, I've heard other fans, not sharks fans say like that is the late nineties in, in summary. Like I would call that an S tier, but this is probably right next to that in terms of home jerseys. Like I would put this in an A tier.

[00:12:54] I'd put it one tier below that one, but right up there, like probably my third favorite along with the, um, one of our other retros with the V as well. Um, going back to the very early Cronulla days, those would be in my S and A tier.

[00:13:09] So this was up there like, and, and the way that they played, like when I saw this Jersey for the first time went on its re-release, I immediately bet went back to that game at shark park where we just absolutely obliterated the nights in a way that, uh, like I have this memory of my head of us just destroying them in this Jersey. Oh, one or two or both. Both actually. Yeah. Like in this Jersey.

[00:13:35] And that for me was a memory associated with this Jersey. And it was kind of cool to be sitting there with my son who's going through that same experience with this Jersey, except his team on the receiving end is going to be the Bulldogs. He's going to associate this Jersey with that Bulldogs smashing the same way that I still see this Jersey and think of the time that we ran the nights off the field. Um, and peach almost putting the ball down, um, in the swamp.

[00:14:02] He ran so far into the end zone there that, that it was thing. So all in all amazing Jersey shout out, Barnsley shout out everyone who was involved in the decision-making for their shout out to the players for winning in it, which is kind of artificially boosted the value of it, but I'm totally there for it. A tier Jersey. Give me 5,000 strong rumors and suggestions. They'll be playing in it one more time this year at home. I'm not sure what the game is. It'll be later in the year. So stay tuned on that.

[00:14:30] It's not confirmed officially, but that's the word going around on the street. So that'd be great from all sorts of avenues that you look at it and angles that you look at it. It's going to be exciting as a, as a Jersey guy, you must be impressed with all the magic round coverage because there were other Jersey's from us and obviously other teams like just, it was it's Jersey city. I think us thought the Titans smashed it out of the park. Oh yeah. Their retro crushes Jersey.

[00:14:58] Unfortunately, not so much on the field, but I thought that was great. And I think teams generally are just starting to lift their Jersey game a little bit over the last couple of years. There's still a little bit of, you know, trying to fight against capitalism and how many jerseys do we actually need everyone in order to create like a moment. But there's definitely some that have come out in the last couple of years. I thought the Titans absolutely nailed that assignment with that one. They're right up there.

[00:15:24] And I'm not sure if you're across it yet or if people are across it, they will be soon enough that I believe this week Penrith are playing in a Jersey and it's a, I think it's a late seventies Jersey, but it's specifically dedicated to a former player of theirs. And a player who went through great hardship, he was injured on the field, ended up in a wheelchair most of his life and ended up working at the club. Everyone who knows who I'm talking about knows the guy I'm referring to. And I believe he's passed on now, but they're playing in a Jersey specifically dedicated to him.

[00:15:53] And the Jersey looks unbelievable. Obviously the meaning behind it's incredible. And I'm not suggesting this is anything other than like from the heart, from the Panthers, because I believe that to be true. But the clubs are finding different reasons and ways to represent days gone past.

[00:16:08] And you can see it from social media accounts that people have, and they're all pretty top notch about jerseys and, and, and, and, you know, trades and selling and just on display, like historic bits of merch from years gone by. And like, everyone has a history, every club's got even a team like Gold Coast, who hasn't been around that long, both past and present. They got a history.

[00:16:32] And so I think there's a way for clubs to really lean on that and get something out of it, both commercially and even just from a representative point of view, you know, where we're in their gear. Like I'll dare say this Jersey is being worn a lot more than the current one in the street this week. It's happy days for the clubs. It's a great, like jerseys are a great storytelling tool. They always have been like initially they're probably just practically what you need to be able to take the field.

[00:17:00] Nowadays, they, they tell stories. They, they tell everyone what it is that you stand for, what it is that you care about. And the more that teams, the better a team uses a Jersey to tell the story rather than to try and influence the bottom line. Although both are great. Like you do, you take care of the first and the second will take care of itself. Like I really actually loved that in this Jersey and we're talking, I know it's maybe going overboard on the Jersey talk, but I loved the white box around the Aramax. I did.

[00:17:30] I'm sorry, because that's that. I think of the LG. I think of like aesthetically it's yeah, maybe it's not necessarily the best aesthetic thing there, but it, it invokes a memory. And I think like jerseys can be just like everything else in life. Like there's the old adage that people don't remember what you tell them, but they remember how you make them feel. And Jersey's like this Jersey, like, I don't remember all the details of the original one. I don't remember who was on the shoulder sleeve, but I remember how that Jersey made me feel.

[00:18:00] And so when you bring it back and you give it to me and you give it to me with modern logos, it invokes those same feelings. Again, I think they smashed it out of the park. Am I correct in saying it's a different blue? I mean, I, I haven't gotten my one yet, so I haven't been able to hold out. I definitely have my original ones in the cupboard. So I'm looking forward to comparing, but I mean, maybe. Unless maybe like the original, you know, that people have on and they're displaying them online.

[00:18:27] Maybe the colors have changed a little bit over 30 years or whatever. But my point is, if it is even slightly different, it's still been accepted because they've done such a knockout job overall. And I could be wrong on that. We've got a bit of mail, but let's just go straight to something from Michael. It's about jerseys. And then we will get back to football as well. But Michael said on the Anzac Jersey question. So someone asked about Anzac jerseys a few weeks ago, and then Michael's replied.

[00:18:55] And he said he thought that maybe the club might be leading to rather than a perceived cash grab in inverted commas for another Jersey. Maybe the club's going to try and make it more of a meaningful approach and maybe have something to do with a player or a player's family historically, you know, representing as a soldier or whatever. And leaning on that.

[00:19:20] He also suggested that because we weren't playing at home, there was not necessarily the need to have the Anzac Jersey for sale at least. But he did say in the end, my view is they should honor the occasion regardless, which, and I completely respect that. Anzac jerseys for you, Jardine, are they a must? Are they necessary? Even from a playing point of view, forget about the sale of it. Are you for it or against it or in between? What's your thoughts on Anzac Day jerseys?

[00:19:48] I mean, let me start with my thought on Anzac Day, generally speaking. Sure. Anzac Day is my favorite holiday of the year. And I think as someone who was born in Australia, but with deeply, deeply Polynesian roots. Like Anzac Day is that one day where I get to honor what I think it means to have been born and raised in Australia by parents from New Zealand who, you know, moved over here, saw opportunities and who raised us to actually embrace both the land that we live in right now.

[00:20:18] And to honor the fact like in my home, like we will sometimes talk about if our kids were ever good enough to play rugby union at the highest level, my expectation, my want for them would be that they would want to represent the Wallabies because Australia is home for them and they've been raised in Australia and they should honor that. But they should also be very proud of their origins and their ancestry and of their multicultural. And so for me, Anzac Day means a lot. So I actually don't have an issue with Anzac Day jerseys.

[00:20:46] And I think it's quite, quite nice to like, it's not for me to judge whether everything is a cash grab. It may be. It may not be. I mean, there are some things that I can see as I'm going through KFC or McDonald's in 1am in the morning and I look at the board at what's available and I can see things on the menu that are a cash grab and they work against me every time. However, so like this happens all the time and like, it's not for me to judge what teams intentions are when they do these certain things, but I love them.

[00:21:16] I can't always afford them, but I, I respect the jersey. I would love to see us do it. I do have to say that when it comes to rugby league, my favorite, like way that people, a team has done the Anzac jersey. I actually really respect the Roosters approach to it, which is they have an Anzac jersey, but it's the same jersey every year. And I, I quite, I quite like that.

[00:21:41] Like there may be some different logos, but ultimately like it's, it's honoring the sacrifice of many, many people whilst also saying, but like, you only need to buy this once and then like, you've got it. And so I get how the economics of all that might not necessarily work, but I quite like that the Roosters did that. And in, in an era of my life where I had much more, much more time than I currently do.

[00:22:07] I think I even remembered drawing how you could actually take the Pepsi jersey and kind of swap out that big Pepsi logo for a poppy and turn it into just like our Anzac jersey every year that, that is worn. Like you probably only need to buy this once. And then you could turn up every year on an Anzac day with it. I would love the club to do something like that, but no, I'm not opposed to jerseys, Anzac jerseys. I quite like what you're saying. The one off, it's your one, you know, forever more, so to speak.

[00:22:36] If you want to buy it, you buy it once, but you know that every year that'll be what they're playing in. I quite like that idea. I'm not a huge admirer of Anzac day jerseys from a commercial point of view. I appreciate, and I know a lot of our listeners like buying them. And so I understand that. It's just not for me. And I'm with you. I think that the more simpler jersey that still represents what we're trying to get across, I think is better.

[00:23:01] Like there's been some absolutely, in my opinion only, and I'm not going to mention them, tacky, stand by that word, tacky Anzac day jerseys. For sure. I agree. But there's been some really good ones as well. So I'm not, I'm not putting shade on the day. I'm not putting shade on the amazing people that have done amazing things for all of us. It's more just, I don't want to get away from what the day actually means. I like the way that a bunch of clubs do it. I don't like the way a bunch of other clubs have done it. Maybe they've learned from that in the past.

[00:23:32] And I, I would prefer it to not be a hugely commercial thing. But as I said, there are people that want to buy these things. And so I don't have a problem with that at all. Uh, I think it's just how you do it. Like, like anything, like with the jersey behind me, the new jersey, they did it well. With Anzac day, it's the same thing, but, but a touch more special. Like you gotta, I think it'd be respectful to everyone involved. And even if it is a commercial thing, can we try and figure out a way to take some of those finances,

[00:24:00] some of the gains and put that into the, you know, put it closer to the cause there? Like I would love that. That is something I get behind. Yep. Now that's from Michael. So we appreciate that Michael. And he's all for, he's all for honoring the occasion, which I am too, to be fair. Like I'm, I do want it on the occasion. So sharks, I think we're just out of the eight. We're hovering around the eight. We've got the week off, which is great.

[00:24:28] We come back for what I believe is your favorite matchup in NRL. Is that correct? We've got Manly coming to town next week. I think that's your favorite matchup from memory. I mean, to me, I still call Manly my greatest enemy. Yeah. Like I know that the dragons will be some, like, I, I kind of feel like the dragons are the geographical. Sure. But for me, Manly, I'm getting into the eighties with my, uh, of Manly, uh, around all that stuff. I'm, I'm still thinking about. Yeah.

[00:24:57] No problem there at all. Uh, anyone who was of any age would understand that we don't like Manly at all. Where do you think the sharks sit at the moment? Jardine? I mean, obviously incredibly inconsistent. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel and we'll get into very shortly why you've named yourself, what you've named yourself on the TV, but no Blake Braley, no Cam McInnes. So no captains on the weekend.

[00:25:26] And two guys who make a million tackles each, they go out in the big stage. We do admit the dogs weren't very good, but really put it to them. Sharks were under a lot of pressure to win that game. They did it easily. Where do you see us currently going into the origin period? I have a lot more confidence now having seen Pudu get out there and do his thing than I did before. Like before I was like, oof, no Blake, no Cam. This could be ugly, uh, at that position.

[00:25:53] This could be, there's a lot of missed tackles that are, there are a lot of tackles that are going out the door now. Yeah. But having seen what we saw on the weekend, I think that really arrested my anxiety around the ability for other people in the team to step up in those particular positions or any position. So I actually feel off the back of what just happened there, which happened in a stadium that, you know, we have mixed results in.

[00:26:17] We can, I have a lot of confidence actually in the team's ability to step up and to, to do what they need to do. I think that they will take care of business against the team. I think, I think having Ronaldo back and in the, just walking into that form, um, makes it, makes a world of difference for them. And you know, my expectation is I, that they will come out hard. They'll come out fast.

[00:26:42] And I think what we're seeing is that if we don't come out hard and fast, then like we have a problem. Like we're like second half is not being friendly to us in many of the games that we've played, but, um, no, across the board, I feel quite confident about the people that will be asked to step up. I thought you mentioned it at the top of the show, Sam, I would have, if you hadn't, I thought Jesse was Calhoun was amazing. Jesse Calhoun just absolutely steps up in ways that I think can be underappreciated.

[00:27:11] If you're not looking for that type of 1% stuff that he brings to the table. Um, I know in a previous episode, um, going back to last year, uh, when we were talking about Jesse and, and it felt like there was this enormous gap. It felt like the last time I had seen Jesse, he was, he was Bruce Banner. And then last year he came out as the incredible Hulk.

[00:27:34] And this year he, he can really, he's starting to just become a monster everywhere on the field when he's on and borderline hard to leave off the field now. Oh, definitely. And I'm not completely comfortable with this reference, but I have done it a few times, so I can't be that uncomfortable with it, but he is stepping into, shall we say characteristics of our good. Goat. Now I'm not saying that he's going to achieve that.

[00:28:00] I'm not saying he's even close to that, but as far as characteristics go, big minutes, big meters, good tackling. Uh, he's probably less lippy a little bit, but, uh, that's why I can see him almost doing that gallon thing where you named it prop, but you're playing local vice versa. And it solves a few issues there as far as your bench, because you know, you can get big minutes out of him if you need to, maybe you don't want to, maybe you want to preserve him for the next 10 years. I'm not sure.

[00:28:29] And just have him do a certain amount, but yeah, he's, he's just hard to stop. Like he's, his run meters are great. I mean, I'm making this up, but he looks to average sort of eight to 10 meters a run. Um, good defender. Uh, and there's a confidence and an ease at which he does this. Like he just, nothing, like nothing phases him.

[00:28:49] I know just from having chatted to him off the field, he has this vibrant kind of personality and he's, he's kind of like the new kid who hasn't lost the charm of being an NRL player. And I hope he never does. He's only early into his career, but he's legitimately happy being where he is, but he's also not taking it for granted.

[00:29:15] He's got that kind of, he's got that kind of intelligence about, I'm really lucky to be here, but also I've kind of earned it and let's go. And see, I mean, I do think, you know, touch wood, no injuries ahead. He's really, he could probably achieve whatever he wants, you know, for the sharks and for the, for wherever else he plays. I think it's a totally fair comparison.

[00:29:37] There've definitely been times when I've seen him and thought to myself, wow, he looks like someone who has the game of someone like Gal with maybe the head of someone like Wade Graham on him there. So he's kind of like a bit of a mash of putting those two, if you, if you were to bring those two people together and put them in a player, like Jesse might actually be what that player looks like on the field there, which again, incredible for the club. If that's what he morphs into is like some sort of hybrid of those two there. Yeah.

[00:30:06] But I also have noticed as well, Sam, and I look for things like this when the team is playing, like when a person is out on the field, I'm always keen to see, and I'm always looking for how much trust the person on either side of them has to make a play.

[00:30:24] And you can tell when Jesse's out there and you're looking at the person on the right and left of him, those people are not coming into cover or because there's enormous amounts of trust that he will make the tackle that he will make the play. And that, that isn't the case for every person that's playing in that position. And I thought we saw, I watched all but one game of magic round this year and you could see all over the park where people just did not trust their inside man to make that tackle.

[00:30:50] So they've come in and then that's led to a whole plethora of things, but Jesse is not one of those people. And you can tell that, you know, on either side of the ball, either with or without the ball, the people who are playing outside of him tend to have a bit of an understanding, almost a telepathic understanding of what he's going to do and what he's capable of. And they'll anticipate that and work to it, which again, I think we're super lucky right now to have Jesse in the form that he's in. Absolutely. And it's a credit to him and the club. The coach had a lot of faith in him early on.

[00:31:20] He really sort of picked him out early when he came to the club and, and he's, we're starting to see some of that. It's only early days, which is very exciting. So the next few, well, the next month, Jardim, we have, so after the buy, of course, we have Manly at home. We have the Dragons at home. So two great rivalries right there. Then we have the Warriors away 530 on a Saturday. And then the Roosters away on late game on a Sunday.

[00:31:50] So it's not the easiest month. And I'll even throw the local derby in there because, you know, the challenge is to get past those guys no matter what. So I like it though. I think it's, we will, I hate this term, but we actually will see where we're at. I think after this month of footy, as far as our team, and then we go to another buy. So a good four week block there to see where we're at.

[00:32:12] And, you know, if we can jag two to three of the four games, if not all four, but if we can jag two to three with two buyers either side of that, I think we're in a pretty good place as far as the ladder goes at the very least. And then you sort of work on the run home, but let's get to it. We've been avoiding this the whole time. I don't know why, probably my fault. You were the first person in the history of the world to earmark Blake Braley for state of origin football. And it was years ago.

[00:32:41] And on top of that, you said when he gets there, it will make him and the club finally be able to have a tilt at winning the title. And I know we've had chances in the past to do that under Blake and under Fitzy, but you kind of said, and now it's on you, Jardim, because you kind of said once he plays. So we're on our way. So we're all incredibly proud as a fan base of the three guys selected.

[00:33:09] And we'll talk about all three, but Blake Braley, man, it's time. Blake Island, there's no more vacancies as your sign says. We're all out. We're all out of vacancies here. I am super excited for him. I'm super proud of him, despite not really knowing him. Like, it's strange that you can be so proud of someone that you don't actually know, but I'm so proud of, you know, the way that he's gone about getting to where he is. The consistency that he brings to the game.

[00:33:36] And like, there has been an evolution in him that we needed to see. And he's brought that evolution. I felt as though maybe he got the timing wrong on it in a sense, because last year he just came on at the end so hot. That if origin was happening in September or October last year, every single person in the world would have had him as the number nine New South Wales player. Now we're like, you know, 10 rounds into a new season or like whatever it is.

[00:34:04] And so we've had like, Rhys Robson's had time to maybe get himself back into that conversation. But like, take nothing away from Blake. He did what was expected of him. I think Fitz has been amazing for unlocking that level in him that needed to happen. And, you know, I don't know that you win a premiership as soon as he becomes an origin player.

[00:34:27] But I know now that he will come back from that experience, you know, with Noah Blake, with Nikola, that origin experience under their belts. One of the things that people say all the time is that club football really slows down a lot for you once you've been in that origin arena. Like when you've been in the origin arena and things are moving at a million miles per hour, it takes like two or three origin games to properly appreciate the pace at which everything is happening there.

[00:34:55] And, you know, people have spoken about how they've come back to club football and everything is more contextualized about what's going on in the field.

[00:35:03] And I think that either the rest of this season when Blake is back from origin or from next season when he's had time to bring the learnings from that origin experience into camp and establish a new baseline, a better, a higher baseline for excellence amongst the playing group, which he'll have support for because, you know, we've got other people playing origin alongside him.

[00:35:28] And that is when I think there will be a level that another level for the team, not just for him as an individual, but for the team to get up to another space. And I'm super excited for him. Definitely going to be going to it. Like I find that there are players who if they turn up, like I don't care how much the ticket costs them. If they're named, I'll be there. So I will be there supporting Blake and supporting the other boys for game one.

[00:35:55] I'm a little bit nervous about the rest of the team, but like I'm happy about that. And again, I think with like the thing that has always been the question mark on him is we've seen spurts, we've seen flashes and glimpses of what he could be. Was he ever able to kind of take that flash and turn it into his new normal? And I think he's now done that.

[00:36:22] And he's now turned that flash of brilliance from two, three years ago into his new normal. And a little bit like Ronnie, they look pretty good when he's out there on the field. They look like a different team. And he's a quiet leader. Like leadership can kind of swing between really loud people and really quiet people. And we've gone, like he's inheriting a Cam McGuinness mantle where we've had like a couple of very quiet dignity people there. But I'm super excited for him.

[00:36:52] I can't wait. He's the sort of guy as a leader, Jards, where like he's the coolest cat you ever meet, the most laid back guy. And so people might cringe at that when you think of captaincy. But it's also you flip that on the other side. And it's when he speaks and he's serious about – I mean he's always serious. But when he speaks and he's focused on something really important, they all shut up and they all listen. And he has a very direct, stern but still calm way of approaching things. And it's quite impressive.

[00:37:19] And like I know from my chats with him, you can tell when he's just sort of joking around a bit. And then when he gets real serious, you stop and you listen because it's like, okay. Yeah, I think from a playing point of view, we're at the point now where he doesn't need to run the 50 meters every game for us to go, oh, he's on today. Like that might vary from game to game. We don't want it to. Like we'd love him to run 50 every game. But if he doesn't, it doesn't mean he's had a bad game. It doesn't mean he's taken a step back.

[00:37:46] And I think people need to kind of acknowledge that because he played 139 games in a row. That doesn't mean they were all good, but they actually were mostly all good. And they were all trending up. And I've been saying that for a while. He's been trending up since he debuted like back in, you know, whenever it was. I think it was what, 2019 maybe. But that's where he's going. That's where he's headed. And it's a great experience for him. He had the kangaroos experience last year where he didn't get on the field.

[00:38:15] But all you heard from everyone, from the coach through to the players was, man, this kid knows his stuff. He's got a great football brain. He's a proud club man. And he represented his country really well off the field. So it's all positivity. And I'm not a huge origin guy, but I'm super happy for him and for the other guys. AFB, I think, you know, very much a career deserved moment for him. And he's been great for us every week.

[00:38:42] I know he's not, you know, he's not AFB beast mode from when he was 22 years old. But he's not going backwards. He's going forwards. And with Britton Nikara, you know, a guy who's been a bit maligned this year in Sharks sort of fan base quarters, sometimes on, sometimes off. But I think, again, if you look at the career he's had, particularly when you see him play for New Zealand, like he has really good games.

[00:39:12] And I have a feeling he's not going to let anyone down in the Queensland jersey. And like the other two guys, I think he'll potentially get a lot out of it and bring a lot back to Woolaware. Yeah, I'm excited for all of them. They're like, Britt, I don't know if he's in the best form. I don't know how he would judge his current form. But he deserves it for his years of that he has given to the club going right back to when there was an obvious thing between him and Sean Johnson. That's how far back we're going there. And there was an obvious connection.

[00:39:42] And that connection was recreated with Nico and it was recreated with Tricky. And so, yeah, I give him grace on the form that he's in right now because he's definitely worked hard to get to that spot. And with AFB, like he might be a little bit like Gal in the sense of maybe like Gal was good when he was young, but he was really, really good as he got older and he matured and learned how to use his body in different types of ways. There and AFB might be that.

[00:40:11] He might have that around the corner in him. All right, Jars, before we have to sign off from your time, let's get through a bit of mail and I can do a bit of the talking and give your voice a bit of rest. John said, first time at Magic Round, what a performance. Loved it all, up, up. And he also sends me some best wishes. So thanks, John, for that. Neil says, we're a bit of a hot and cold team. I think discipline has a lot to do with it. You can't afford to be on the back foot anymore.

[00:40:40] We can beat anyone when we play well. Great team performance against the dogs. The bye will elevate us up the table. Great to see Ronaldo back. He's the X factor we've been missing. And we talked about that before, Jardin. And then our winger can be an X factor. I mean, in our case, he is. There's just not many of them who, not many wingers who mean that much to a team. But, like, he's that. He's definitely that. Neil has some positivity here, which I love.

[00:41:10] He says, after an underwhelming start to the season, I had my doubts about the Sharks this year. However, it's not too late. We can still be a force. And I love that. I think that, I mean, we're technically not even halfway through the season, right? So, there is a long way to go. We should be doing better than what we are. It's not a disaster. It's not a write-off. There's ways to improve.

[00:41:35] So, we were missing, you know, two of our three quarters for most of the year. So, I love that. He's given us a bit of praise, Jardin. He says, enjoying the content you're putting out. Always a good listen. Love hearing you and your guests and your listeners' thoughts. Sometimes it's amusing. Sometimes it's uplifting. It's always entertaining. So, that's from Neil. Appreciate the kindness, Neil. Thanks for your support.

[00:42:02] Peter says, interesting game. The second half drop-off in intensity was worrying, but we got away with it. My two takeaways was Puru must play each week. And second, oh, here we go, must re-sign Kennedy. We've done all this and we haven't talked about Will Kennedy. We haven't got time for it. Yes, we do.

[00:42:24] So, Will Kennedy, from what I can tell from the media and what they're saying, there is a deal. Actually, from what Craig Fitzgibbon said at a press conference, there is a deal on the table for Will Kennedy. And I would imagine it is another one-year deal. I can't confirm that. But I would imagine it is for around what he's on, if not a tiny bit more. I can't confirm that either.

[00:42:48] Liam Eison is getting better each week with fitness and with skill and talent, but he's had a long time away from the football field. Will Kennedy, more importantly in this argument, is in close to career-best form. I personally am not one to let someone go when they're in close to career-best form. What do you think, sir? Give him two years or even three years. Whoa.

[00:43:16] I'm ready to just end this conversation at this point. Who else are you going to go get, Sam, in the market right now? How many people are you going to go pay $900K to someone who's going to be living up the road from us from next year onwards? If that's the market rate, then I understand. I also have to say that from the very little hard details that we have, but what we assume to be the details of that tabled offer, I also understand why Will may not have signed it yet.

[00:43:47] If the deal was good and if the deal was market value, my very little knowledge of Will would be that he'd have signed it. I don't know him as a person, but I assume he looks as though on the very few interactions that I might have had with him on a fan day or something like that, he seems to be the type of person who just wants to be treated respectfully.

[00:44:12] And so I assume that when that contract gets into that region of respectful in terms of years or money, then I assume it's a fast signing there. But that doesn't change the fact that there are definitely some moments there where, gosh, there's something happens and it really, really hurts your heart. Like maybe it's a drop wall that didn't need to be dropped and that maybe no one else would have dropped in that moment.

[00:44:40] But for what he unlocks in that backline and for the trust that the Harbs in particular have with him and defensively, I have to say, I think defensively he's been much improved over the last 18 months, given two years. I like it. I agree with all that. And I think on your point about occasionally he makes a mistake, I think what our fan base needs to realize is that all 17 guys who are named that week are going to make a mistake on the field.

[00:45:07] And some are more important than others, some are more lethal than others. It seems like when Will Kennedy makes a mistake, people take the contract further away. No, no, no. Let me just hold off on this. And I find that utterly ridiculous. If he's making five mistakes a game every week, I get it. Anyway, Brock has been in touch. Brock said, the Sharks do my head in. They put a performance against the Rabbitohs one week and then turn on the Bulldogs performance next. They're hot and cold.

[00:45:35] I've been calling for weeks for Hoheppapuru to play off the bench. He's very happy with how he went. He said it could be the start of our premiership run with him and with Ronaldo and Jesse Ramian back in the team. He was happy that AFB was captain, which was a pretty big call. I think it was the first time he captained for us at the very least.

[00:45:59] And he says, our biggest hurdles, winning after a bye and beating the red hot Manly team who he tips to be in the grand final. I'm not stressing out this week, but I'm worrying about the Manly game, hoping they can play like last week. Rest up. It's going to be a big game. That's from Brock. Thanks, heaps, Brock. So he's happy with Hoheppapuru. We've discussed Hoheppapuru. Now, previously we couldn't win before a bye and we've done that.

[00:46:27] Now we've got a nail winning after a bye because that's been a struggle a little bit. But more to his point, Brock's point about Manly, they're coming to town and we'll get into all that next week, Jardine. But it's a different Manly we're getting this time. Fosball under him and he's already done some of the numbers. His defense with Manly is unbelievable. They're good with the ball. So it's going to be a good challenge. You feeling all right? Short answer, Manly, you feeling all right so far? I'm definitely feeling all right. Like it's a different team. Sure.

[00:46:56] And they've been playing nice for the last stretch, but they've only won one more game than us this season. And we're at home. I expect it to be a pretty rocking Friday night crowd there. So free to air. Let's get this. I'm very confident in them. Will has been in touch and we'll get to this another time, Will.

[00:47:18] But he sent me a piece by a journo called Mike, I think it's pronounced Mike Mihalwood, who does great stuff. I think he's an English lad. A lot of stats and numbers and that kind of thing. He's got a sub stack. So we'll get to that, Will. Thank you so much. It's all about speed of the game. And thank you very much for that. Now, RCB's been in touch. OG. He says three origin selections for the exhibition game you don't like. That's a bit of a dig at me, which I love.

[00:47:46] Blake is well-deserved after a long body of work. He says, I can't fathom what Billy Slater saw in Britain, Nikara, because to be honest, he'd be a target for me to get out of the club early to free up money. But Queenslanders get origin or something. A bit of shade there on Britain this year. But he's right. Like he could legitimately start the game in a late change and be man of the match, Britain, Nikara, because A, he's got it in him.

[00:48:14] And B, that's what that jersey does. The all something killed me there. That's the part that I love. The jersey or something. Five and five from 10 games. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. I see the next two games as must wins, Manly and St. George. And that'll take us to seven and five. And can't disagree with that. Then he talks about the run home. He says, overall, I'm not enamored with any of it.

[00:48:43] The whole competition stinks. The way we play is very hit and miss, but we plow ahead. One would hope with Ronnie and Rami in back, the energy across the board is lifted consistently. He's also hoping that Ronaldo will go past the peach. He needs nine tries to get into second all-time try scores. And a bit more talk about some other lads. But that is from our man, RCB. So really appreciate that.

[00:49:10] I mean, who would have thought Ronaldo on debut at Suncorp, this kid who can't catch a fly, is going to be potentially our greatest try scorer of all time? Potentially a premiership winning. I hope so. For the club. Okay. Now, got a few more things here. Or do we? Maybe we're all done. I think that's all the mail, Jard. If I'm wrong, I will correct that at some point. At some point. Appreciate everyone being in touch.

[00:49:40] Really, you guys and girls make the show go around many times. So thank you so much for that. Jardin, who has impressed you the most this year for the Sharks from a playing point of view? If you want to take Colquhoun out of it, give us a bit more praise for some of the guys. So I can't take Colquhoun? You can, but we'll just say him and then who else? He's impressed me. I have...

[00:50:05] I'm always an admirer of Kael Ero and what he's done there. Just that there's a level of consistency. Like it's never origin groundbreaking type stuff there. But I can appreciate the level of consistency that someone brings and the amount of trust that their outside people have in them because of that consistency. I've really always... I've been impressed by how seamlessly Tricky has kind of stepped into the bigger moments now.

[00:50:34] And actually hunting out the ball and going and demanding the ball there. There's been a step in his game I've felt. Like at first it was, you know, when you're the new dance partner coming in and you're dancing with the Daily M winner. Like there are... You got to pay your dues, right? You got to concede certain things or probably certain players are not going to end up in your hand when you're in that scenario.

[00:51:01] But he's really become quite a dominant and effective half there. And I think he's another one of those players that means a lot to us in terms of a name on a sheet that goes out. So I've been impressed by him as well. And obviously you've got your other people who are super impressive. Blake is a person who doesn't get... I haven't named yet, but like he reminds me.

[00:51:26] I have an affinity towards like people who consistently like just show up. And Blake kind of for me sits in the same bucket. If anyone was to ask me who my favorite, two favorite front rowers are in club history, my answer sometimes surprises people. But my less surprising answer is Andrew Fita is my guy and he's like my prop. But the second one I will always put up there is Luke Douglas. He's the person for whom I just have a lot of affection and affinity for.

[00:51:56] And I grew up in like the Jason Stevens era. And even before that, I grew up with other great front rowers that we've had there. But there's something about those long consistent streets where you may not necessarily be a game breaker in all of them, but you show up and you do things. Yeah. And so for our younger listeners and viewers, Luke Douglas was a guy who much like Blake Braley was breaking records for most consistent games, but he was playing at prop,

[00:52:20] playing a really hard brand of just great football consistently for months on end. A big unit, could play big minutes. A real shame that he wasn't a one club man. Like I don't know the background necessarily what happened there. I think it was just bigger money, but I mean, his career was never the same, but absolute club legend. Like you could throw him to any era and he stands on his own.

[00:52:50] Where do you see Craig Fitzgibbon currently? Are you happy with how he's going? What are you thinking about Fitzy? Let me just start off by saying he is the right person for this job. In my opinion, he is the right person that you need there. And we will judge coaches based on results. I don't think that's groundbreaking. Sometimes those results are good. Sometimes those results are less good. My only thing that I probably want to see a little bit more out of is just how,

[00:53:20] how does, like, I want to see Fitzy shake the tree really hard when people are just not stepping up on that weekly basis. And maybe he does and I just don't see it. But I'm just, I assume that maybe that doesn't happen because when I see the press conferences after some of these losses, I just see a very composed and very all there frustrated, but all there human being. And sometimes, you know, I'm just, I'm projecting my own reactions into that scenario.

[00:53:47] And, and that's not, that's not the right thing to do. And, and I think he's actually, he's a hundred percent the person that I would want in this role right now. And, um, a person that I still have high, extremely high confidence in. And like there, like, like we discussed with Blake earlier and how there was a level that needed to kind of happen for him to get up there. I think the same is true for Fitz. I think there's a level coming in there.

[00:54:16] We, I don't know what's happened to, um, our defense lately. Um, Fitz was always touted as like the mastermind of all that was defensively incredible for the blues during that, um, that period there. And that he was behind all that. And when he, when he first joined the club, I felt like we, we tightened up our defense a lot. We've gotten quite leaky, um, in recent years. And maybe that's just the way the game is going now.

[00:54:46] Um, we've discussed offline in other conversations. And certainly when I was at the NRL working there, one of the things that people would say up and down the hallways from the football department was that like 40 is the new 20 in today's game. Like, like when people put 40 on the board, like it's not really the way it shouldn't hurt the way that it hurt. Like 10 years ago, when, when people would put 40 on you, people will put up 30 points and a half now, um, quite easily.

[00:55:14] So I think I would love to see him revisit the defensive side of what's going on there because come finals time, like that's what I'm really looking at is how tight can you get that defense? And like, I know that in, in basketball is an entirely different sport, but one of the things that I'll remember from coach K who used to coach Duke university was that he was once asked the question around, would you rather win or lose win and lose every single

[00:55:44] week or win at the start, have a lull in the middle of the season and then win on the way into the NCAA tournament. And his response was, it depends on which version of that journey makes my team a better defensive team when it's time to win a trophy. Um, and so like, I kind of feel like that applies here as well. Like, which give me the version of the season that unfolds that makes us a better defensive team, uh, come finals time, which we will be in. I'm confident of that.

[00:56:14] So last year we saw after the infamous Brisbane game at Suncorp, a line in the sand, the whole thing. And from then on, we became the best defensive team in the NRL. So for the second half of the year, more or less, we were the best ranked in all, most of the categories defensively. And we were rock tight. We know that, uh, this year, very up and down some really bad defensive performances. The only thing I'd say in regards to Craig Fitzgibbon is that he's not the defensive coach and people need to sometimes remember that.

[00:56:43] Now, does everything fall under his umbrella? A hundred percent. Is he responsible? A hundred percent. There are other people there whose job it is to specifically work on the defense. And I won't leave the players out of it. The players are contracted to make tackles. So I'm happy for Fitzy to be the guy that gets the blame at the end of the day, but it goes through a lot of hands and eyes and brains at the same time. So it's, it's a real team club thing that they got to work on.

[00:57:13] We've seen some improvement. The West Tigers game was a big improvement or at least the second half in defensively. 80 minutes against Canterbury was pretty good defensively. I think Ramien and Ronaldo back really makes things a lot more secure because there is one specific target where we've been let down on the field and that is now a bit more shored up. We'll see what happens with the Katoa Stone Street battle because I have no intel there what's going to happen when Katoa was fit.

[00:57:43] It could go either way legitimately. Definitely. There's pros and cons both. But I'm a lot more confident now in our defense now that we're getting a more stable lineup Jutz. Yeah. And, and look, I think one of the things that's also true, particularly for the Melbourne Storm, they've, they've kind of been cited as, as the team that represent this better than anyone else is that when it comes to defense, a lot of it is just showing up. Like the coaches have told you, like they've been there and they've kind of said, this is

[00:58:12] what you've got to do if you want to like defend this line. And a part of it is just showing up and honoring the plans that everyone has been talking about in the lead up to that game. And also I think one of the things that I noticed with the really, really good teams is that, and this is maybe true for boxing as well. The really, really good teams can take a punch and on the next set, they've snapped right out of it. They don't like you get to those 40 and 50 point scorelines in today's game because teams

[00:58:41] just can't actually recover from that one try that they conceded. And so that's happened to us. I think we've had teams put back to backs on us and we've, we've really had moments where we defended well for 60 minutes of a game, but that 20 minutes where we didn't defend well, like that's when the roosters are running in like 34 points on you. And so I think defensively, I'm sure the schemes are all there. Maybe it's just that I just want to see them work with them a little bit on the mental side

[00:59:10] of that game of like snap out of it, get over it. Like, yeah, we can see this one. Now we've got to just steal up, put on the steel caps and go out there and just don't let that happen again in the next 10 minutes. And then we'll get through that. We'll get through that period. We'll get through that window of momentum being away from us. And we'll come out the other side. That's, I assume, all I think of it. I think it is more mental because as you say, the plan is there. It's been there off season. They tinker with it. Sure. And week to week, it can change a little bit depending on who you're playing, the players

[00:59:40] you're opposing, but the actual structure is there. And how come it works some weeks and other weeks it doesn't. To me, that's more of a player thing than a coach kind of thing personally. I agree. But again, I'm not removing him from the problems that we've had defensively. I just think that when people just go, he's a defensive coach. He's the problem. I kind of go, that doesn't make much sense.

[01:00:05] Now, before we go, I have a question I've been dying to ask you, dying since about 10, 15 PM, AM, I should say, AM. And I'll probably, we both use the word dying way too much on this episode. So when you see on Instagram or whatever social media you want to pick, when you see social media videos of John Cena and they're like 30 seconds to a minute and it's him in a public

[01:00:33] arena and someone's requested to give him a hug because they've waited 20 years and he goes and does it. Do you tear up at all? Or do you just look past it? 100%. I think I've got a dedicated folder in my Instagram saved. I think that folder is called humanity. And I see those moments. I love them. I save them. I refer back to them.

[01:00:58] I saw one just the other day where it was like, we all know what rage bait is. I'd never heard of what joy bait is. And it's just people who go down the streets and they'll say, Hey, you, you should be arrested for looking so good for looking so good in what you're wearing. And so I'm a sucker for that type of stuff. I love to see it. Did something happen? Did we have a recent one in shark? No, this one's been going around a while, but just before you jumped on, I was just,

[01:01:28] you know, on the, on the Instagram and a John Cena one came up and it's quite a well-known one where he's in a meet and greet and he's got the mic and the first person who asked the question for like the next hour is, uh, uh, army veteran. And 20 years ago, he was at a similar meet and greet and he held out something to get autographed and Cena kind of walked past without realizing.

[01:01:54] And then the guy started, I don't know, he was visibly upset and Cena happened to turn around and see it and he stopped, got his entourage to go back, sign something for the guy. And 20 years later, the guys got the thing with him and he goes, can you come sign it for me? And Cena goes, well, everyone, I'm not going to do this for everyone, but this guy has waited 20 years. He's a vet. Let's go do it. And so he goes out and he hugs the guy and signs it. And someone gives him a pen. That's all very beautiful. And he talks about humanity and stuff.

[01:02:24] And I was like, I wonder how, is Johnny going to see right through this or is he going to go? No, that's beautiful. And I'm, I'm very happy with your answer. I'm a sucker for that type of stuff. And I, I always watch it knowing that even if a person doesn't do these things, they've probably got an okay reason for not being able to give a portion of their time there, which is why it makes it all the more impressive to me when, when people do, I actually think like, since we're here talking about this and we're talking regularly, I actually think

[01:02:50] rugby league is a game does really well with, um, with that, with the way that fans get to interact with the players. There's, there's not a lot of other sports where people, young people at full time will just congregate down on the fence line and players will walk around and take, but I was just looking at one last night of Toby at Suncorp. He's got the, the shark cap on and he's taking a selfie with sharks fans. Like he's got the whole thing going on.

[01:03:19] I think, I think rugby league goes, goes pretty good as a whole. And I want to generalize the sport, the competition specifically, but you know who horrific vision of it, who do not do it well is the EPL. Oh yeah, for sure. Like little five, 10 year old kids arms out for a high five and the players have got the headphones on and walk straight past. What? Terrible. Absolutely.

[01:03:46] Since we're talking about this, one of my favorite memories, Sam, will be when we played, um, the Warriors, when I was working at the club in Topol, New Zealand, it was one of our home games back before everyone was really moving their home games away and we played in New Zealand. Um, and at the time, you know, we, we had a few Kiwis in our team, um, at the time that Jeremy Smith was one of the players that was, was with us at the time.

[01:04:11] And I, I will never forget how, um, one of the things that the club had arranged was for, um, they had a competition where in town, in Topol, they had organized, uh, shops dress up their storefronts in black, white, and blue. And whoever could do the best one, you know, won something. I don't even remember what the prize was, but, um, I'll never forget the, the playing

[01:04:38] squad just kind of walking down that street in New Zealand. We're technically the home team, but we're in a whole new country. Like we know the Warriors fans are going to drive down from Auckland into this game and take over the stadium there. But for that one week leading into that game, Topol, like turned into black, white, and blue and the playing squad, anytime someone would come up to them and ask them for a signature

[01:05:04] or they would just go into the store for a great, for like, I don't know, a snack or something like that. Every request that they, they ever got there was met with a smile, no begrudging, um, anything. And that was like at a time when not always the easiest thing for players to kind of give up there, but I was super proud of the way that the boys carry themselves. And it reminded me like being able to see it and being there for the week with the club.

[01:05:32] It reminded me that within this institution that we love and that we gravitate towards, there is in this DNA, like just goodness towards, um, towards people. And I think the club should be proud of that. And I think Fitz does a good job of reemphasizing that. I would say at the moment it's probably peaking because I mean, I see them around a lot in different, in many different guises and they're always at the very least polite. And if they can't do something, they'll let you know really politely.

[01:06:01] But you know, I'm in all walks of life here on and off the clock and I see them taking their time with the fans. And I get a little bit weirded out when the suggestion comes up that, you know, the game's over and they're in a way, they're in an away town and they didn't go up and meet and greet the fans after the game. And I'm like, well, they've got a plane to catch. They've got a meeting to get to. They've already given their time a lot. They've lost the game. If I'm in charge of that team, Jards, I'm like, go over and at the very least, if you,

[01:06:31] even if you don't want to go over and clap the fans, give them a wave, like you need to do that. You need to acknowledge them. And people are going to hate this because I get mail about it all the time, both privately and publicly. The team's under no obligation to take a selfie with you. And I know that's harsh. That is a really harsh thing to say. I don't know if they, if they could take a selfie with everyone that they want, that they would, but sometimes there's no time and people don't get that. Like these guys are on schedules that you wouldn't believe.

[01:06:59] And it's the same when I go talk to them on a Tuesday or whatever. Like sometimes they've got 10 minutes, but sometimes they've got like 30 seconds and Rob Willis or someone will go, you got 30 seconds, dude. Like it's just how it is. So the fact that we do get so much exposure to these guys and girls is, is pretty cool. And you use the word peaking right now. And I think that's, that's a great word to use because like you mentioned it before,

[01:07:28] I really like Nico Hines as a player. Sometimes he does things that really like great me as all players do, but as a human being, like, I just don't know that we've ever, ever had someone like Nico Hines at our club. Who's in the spotlight, the way he is, who is as generous with his time, the way he is. And people close to Nico will say like, this is not out of the ordinary for him.

[01:07:54] Like he's the ice, the human iceberg example of what we see online is probably like a 10th of what he's actually doing in the community. And we just don't even hear about the things. Like I know because I've, I've got friends on Facebook who will post something about how he's just turned up at their place. And I'm like, holy moly. And it like, I love to win, but if I had to choose between like a really, really dominant

[01:08:21] halfback who's a bit of a loser off the field or someone of the caliber of Nico Hines, who's still good, very good, great on the field, but an even human, an even better human being off the field. I'm taking that guy 10 out of 10 times. Yeah. Very well said. And we will give him a plug. He's, he's doing a behind the scenes kind of series. And the second one's dropping this week. You can see the, the teaser for it. And it's mostly shot at our friends, Mr.

[01:08:50] Paisley's in the teaser, which is quite funny. And yours truly appears in the first one, which is quite a shock because I know the camera is rolling, which is the whole point of it. But the premise behind it is, I guess, get to know him a little bit better. And in the first episode, you got to know him a lot better and, you know, whether it's your jam or not, it's up to the viewer, but he's not hiding my anything in this, in this little series. And yeah, he, he does a lot for the community. He's on 24 hours. Like he's Nico Hines 24 hours a day. And that's a lot to take, man.

[01:09:20] That's a lot to take. So how he handles himself. Hopefully, you know, he gets, keeps getting better on the field. Last week he was dynamite. This isn't a Nico Hines podcast, but yeah, we're represented really well at the moment, the club, which they, they should all be proud of. Hey, Jards, you're a busy dude. Thanks for your time. Really appreciate it. I know you have been suffering from a few health issues or one health issue, which you've gotten through well today. So congratulations on that. Hopefully we haven't taken you a step back, but it is your time to shine because Blake Braley

[01:09:49] is playing origin. You called it. You wanted it. You got it. We just appreciate your time, man. I know a lot of listeners and viewers will be happy to hear and see you this week. So make sure you come back again sometime. I will be back much sooner than I have been lately. I'm ready for it. All right. Thank you, my friend. Appreciate you. Thank you. We'll say goodbye to everyone else. We'll do some more stuff for you this week. So stay tuned. Spread the pot around. You know what to do. We appreciate you all. Let's go with a bit of a song. Jards, what do you reckon? Hit the music.

[01:10:18] I'm just handing out a possession to Cronulla in good field position now. Right on the halfway line. Hittinghausen and Green laying it on. Best fun news you've ever seen.

[01:10:46] SharkCast 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. 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.

[01:11:15] Jason Hawes, Crips & Crips Real Estate. Sharkies! Sharkies! Back in the Shire. Turn your porch lights off because we're coming home with a trophy.