Flagship Episode w/ Josh Bolling (2/7/26)

[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

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[00:01:05] Hey there, welcome to SharkCastPod, a podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the world of mighty Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. My name is Sam Shinazzi and OG from 2015. This is our flagship show and we got Josh Bolling back, the best Sharks analyst in the entire world. He's back and he's brought to you by Dyson Logistics, the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Port Hacking. Jason Hawes at Crips & Crips Real Estate and we drink our coffee at Mr. Paisley's. Josh Bolling, welcome back. How are you, sir? Very good, mate. It's been a while. It's been a couple of weeks.

[00:01:34] A lot of ups and downs with the club, but I'm glad to be back on. Great to have you. We're going to get through some sharky chat tonight and I thought we'd do, Josh, because we've neglected it slightly. We're going to start with some mail, then we'll get through everything Cronulla related, so stick with us. But I'm going to start with something a little bit special and I do encourage people to do this.

[00:01:57] Some people find it too much, whatever, but on our website, sharkcast.com.au, you can leave a voicemail and it's super easy. You hit the button and you just talk basically. And a fellow called Ted left us a message and I'm going to display it now so people listening will be able to hear it. People viewing will be able to hear it too. And here comes Ted.

[00:02:18] Hello, I just wanted to say hello since the last time I sent one of these, which was when the Roosters beat us at Central Coast last year when they were depleted and we were red hot. And it was a week before the bomb, we got flogged, but it was a good game. I went, took all my family, took all the kids, it was there. All the kids first game and they watched us get flogged, if you remember. If you don't, that's what happened. So I just wanted to catch up on a few things sharkies for me since then. So we went to the next game at Central Coast, which was the game against the house where we should have beaten one lot, but we only just beat them, which was fine.

[00:02:48] Before the game, the kids, there was three of them. Favorite player, Nico, Jesse, Ronaldo. That's each of their favorite players. After the game, the three players that come over and sign things, get photos, say hello to the kids, Nico, Jesse and Ronaldo. Every single game I've been to with any of the kids, Ronaldo has made a point of coming to Santa Claus. Legend of the. So after that game, we went down to the Newcastle game in Sydney, in Cronulla. So we live on the Central Coast.

[00:03:13] Me, my wife and her niece stayed down in Cronulla for the night. The niece loved it. Stayed at Quest, went to the beach the next day. Best beach in the world. Well, second best. Soldiers Beach. Cronulla Beach. Beautiful. Went for a swim in the ice baths. It was freezing, but it was really nice. I just made a point when we were driving home. The wife's like, why do we have to go to this Mr. Paisley so badly for breakfast? I was like, well, we're going there for breakfast.

[00:03:42] There's no, that's what we're doing on the way home. We get there and it was like this cool little joint. Walked out the back. It was really nice out the back. There's an out the back spot. Awesome. Really nice spot to have our breakfast. Good food. Great coffee. And we seen Alex Johnson there, which was awesome as well. That was a great trip. Fast forward again. Titans game. First round. 20 minutes before we kick off. Wife goes in for a C-section. Like a, yeah, like a cesarean.

[00:04:09] So like all week joking going, you can come at any time, baby. Just not this time. Just not this. And 20 minutes before. So I'm not live. Turning my phone off. Don't get, so I'm not missing the game. Everyone ruins the game for me. But still got to watch that. It's my little baby. It was pretty good. We've had him all year watching all the games. Dressed me sharkies gear. It's been a pretty good year so far. Go to the Sharks. I hope this actually works. That was Ted. And good news for you, Ted.

[00:04:39] It works. So the world has now heard your mail. So appreciate that. Now you don't have to keep it as long as what Ted did, but happy to do that. We chopped it up a little bit to make it a bit more listener friendly. But Ted had some great days out watching the Sharks. He met kids, met the favorite players, of course. My favorite bit obviously was when he made the wife go to Mr. Paisley's and then had a great time. And Alex Johnson was there because he's there more than I am. Really appreciate it, Ted. Hope the little bubber is doing well and the whole family is doing well. But that was kind of feel good, right, Josh?

[00:05:08] I thought a good way to start the show. Feel good. It's cool. I wish we could get some more audio mail. It's really interesting to... We can. Yeah, we should. So people should send it in and everyone go to Mr. Paisley's and make them millionaires. Yeah. I mean, they're already millionaires. You have to take me down there one time. I'll take you anytime you like, my friend. You would love it because it's all your favorite players hang out there basically, including Alex Johnson. So thanks for that, Ted. A bit of other mail to get through. This one hasn't been edited, unfortunately, but it's from Brock.

[00:05:38] I think Brock wrote this to us after the Roosters game. He's super not happy. I respect that. He talks about the notion of winning a premiership in the last dance before a bunch of them have to leave. And he's wondering if that's more of a myth than an actual belief. And because they're not performing like a top four team. And he also questions this, Josh. We'll get your thoughts on this. Why did Fitzy change a winning team?

[00:06:06] Braley and Nico should have been brought back after the bye. I believe we would have won otherwise is what Brock is saying. He's got a whole bunch more here. He's not happy about things. He's not sure about the rest of the season. In fact, he loves listening to the podcast. He's wishing us good luck for the rest of the year. But I feel like Brock will be back once we bounce the Broncos. But onto that point. So let's get back to the Roosters game. And this episode will be a little bit all over the shop. I heard it all week leading up to it, Josh. Don't play Braley.

[00:06:36] Don't play Nico. And I, my personal opinion was no, no, they're fit. They're perfectly fine. Play them because they're the better players and they're in the squad and the whole thing. People, including Brock, are saying that if you'd left it how it was, so with Nephi and Hoheppa and with Beryl, then we would have won the game. I think we lost the game in the forwards as in the middle forwards, aside from a few other things which we'll get to.

[00:07:06] Are you okay with Fitzy playing those two guys against the Roosters? Yeah, I totally understand the sentiment because I was probably like that at the start of the week. Like, I'm just like, is it worth the risk before the bye? If they do it again, it's, you know, it's another four, five, six weeks. But at the end of the day, if your best players are fit and healthy and ready to play, they have to play. Yeah. And they got through the game, so it's clear that they were obviously fine to play. I did think Blake looked a little timid. I'm not sure if that you felt the same.

[00:07:36] I just thought he didn't look 100% confident in maybe not necessarily the arm, but just generally. I felt like he maybe was playing a little bit not to get hurt. I just, I didn't feel he was playing to the level he was before he got injured. I did have people say to me he wasn't himself. I personally didn't see it. I'm not disputing that. If someone like you is telling me that, then I believe you. But I didn't feel like, A, it was the problem and B, that was the case.

[00:08:06] But that's just my opinion. Yeah, I don't think it, I don't think it would have probably mattered if he was playing at full 100% finish. I think we were completely outplayed. I will say that we just, we got Ashley Klein again. Was it Klein? Whoever it was, we got smashed by them again. And I know you're not a big fan of, you know, the ref's excuse. But I just think we're getting absolutely pasted by the referees this year. And it shows in the data that we're the worst penalized side by a mile.

[00:08:35] And like the plus and minuses of the penalties is we're like 15 worse than the next, the second worst team. Yeah, but if you want to talk circumstance, we did have a winger losing his mind for three times in the game. Yeah. And I actually, I always respect someone who keeps talking their crap when they're winning or losing. And I love that flash. That's not in dispute. What I'm saying is he did give away a few penalties and they probably were justified.

[00:09:03] Of course, yeah, with him, for sure. But I kind of love that because someone had to step up to these team and he was doing it on his own. No one went with him, which that's the more disappointing part is not that Ronaldo lost his head and, you know, no one backed him up. Like when he was getting like staunched by five blokes, it just didn't feel like anyone was in there trying to help him out. And he was trying to inspire the side and he got left on his own. I think that's probably where the head was lost was like, okay, he just spiraled because he was on his own against six blokes.

[00:09:33] But obviously you'd want him to keep his head, but you don't want him to lose that either. You're going to get that from Ronaldo every now and then. I just don't think we can take him out of the equation of Klein penalizing us a lot. But because like Ronaldo didn't give away 10 penalties, but if he gave away three, I'd suggest maybe he influenced two or three more in discipline and how that comes across. Maybe it's marking on square. Maybe it's a few other things.

[00:09:59] The boys are a bit revved up, but I just thought we played pretty negative in a lot of ways from penalties, from drop ball, from that kind of thing. We didn't, I didn't think we played terrible. Like I thought that we were in it for three quarters of the game, but the general vibe that Ronaldo carried, I kind of felt the same way in that it was just chaos, but not in a good way. And, and I'm not blaming him for a loss.

[00:10:27] I'm saying that I think that he influenced the penalty count, put it that way. Oh, definitely. I just, it's just frustrating that it's every week, every game. Yeah. The flip, the flip side is, and I acknowledge that, that Klein didn't see the Roosters doing too much wrong. And that's probably not how it went down. That's usually typically my issue is like, I'm fine if we get penalized for doing the wrong thing, but you're watching the Roosters do the exact same plays. Yeah.

[00:10:56] With the leg pull really like that got me out of sorts in the lounge room. Like we did a leg pull in the first half, absolutely a penalty or six again. And then the Roosters do it in the second half or vice versa. And it's literally way worse than the one we did. And there's, and there's no call. And like, those are just momentum killers or like, you know, getting penalized when you're pinning down a side and then they get out there and they score. Like those are massive game changes and it's, it's, you're seeing it across the NRL.

[00:11:23] I mean, like, like the Simi Sasagi for the intercept for the Raiders on the weekend, like that's game changing. This is like, there's got to be better than that. And it's really hurting the product. What I would say to you, Josh, is, did you think that our forward pack won the battle in that game and deserve to win? You know what I mean? Like there's ways around that conversation, you know? Of course not. And it's look again, it's never the referee's fault you lose. You deserve what you get, you get what you deserve. Right. And we didn't, I don't think we played well enough to win at all, but those things don't help.

[00:11:53] And that's the difference between losing 20 to eight or, you know, 18 to eight and still being in the game or, you know, those, they're just crucial mistakes consistently. And we seem to be getting absolutely hammered for it every week. Yeah. It's going to be interesting in the last sort of 10 weeks or whatever, because we are conceding the most we're receiving, I think the second fewest. The coach has said a few things from time to time. Which he doesn't often do. Yeah. And I'm sure he's addressed it privately with the NRL and it's not anyone's business, but he's how he does that.

[00:12:23] So I don't think he's just letting it slide, but it'll be interesting to see if it keeps happening. I mean, we're heading up to Brizzy and we'll talk about that soon. And it's going to be hostile because they are more than desperate to win. It's going to be interesting to see what happens there as far as how we're officiated, I guess. Yeah. Penalty Broncos. There was a lot of complaints from Sharks fans, particularly in our post game show. And I appreciate that. I'm not blind. I do see it. And I have Josh texting me every three seconds about it during games.

[00:12:53] But then I'm watching with my own eyes, seeing like a man capitulate on the sideline in the number five jumper and bless him. You know, like, I love him. I'm a huge fan. I'm with you. I don't want him to change. But I do think in games like that, Josh, where you're losing the game and you're losing the battle as well. I think you just need to, you don't have to reign it in. But he was almost double downing. Like the worse it got, the worse he got. And it was like, I don't think that's how it's supposed to go. I think the worse it gets, you step back just a little bit.

[00:13:23] You can keep being lippy. You can do all that stuff. And don't make too much of it because we both agree. It's not the reason we lost. But I do worry about him doing that in a huge game in September. And then that would have different ramifications for him, for the team, for the fans. I just don't want to be in that situation. And we were down last year at the Roosters game and him and Marky Mark had it out and it was great. It was not quite like what we saw the other night.

[00:13:51] It was a bit more just footy, really good footy between both of them. And Ronaldo probably won that night 2-1 or whatever. But I'm okay with that kind of thing. But I think if we see what we saw the other week against the Roosters, I don't really want to have too much to do with that, to be honest. And it's nothing to do with like him being a bad footballer or a bad person or a bad role model or any of that stuff.

[00:14:17] I just don't see us winning games week in, week out if one guy's doing that. If the whole team's doing it, that's a different story. I can get on board that. I can get on board the Sharks of last year after the Brisbane loss where we turn into these bad asses. I can get on board, and I can't believe I'm saying this, the Penrith kind of vibe of 23 or whatever. I can do that. But they have to do it as a collective. It's not just having one guy out in the wing doing it. That's kind of my point too.

[00:14:45] I completely agree. I think it was probably in the moment I was just glad to see someone stick up for themselves and not take it back with that. And all your points taken of like that he went too far, completely agree. It was just like I was disappointed in the response from the rest of the side that no one was like, all right, well, let's go with our spark, our guy who's getting pasted. And then when he gets a chance to make a line break, he drops the ball cold.

[00:15:13] I was disappointed, I guess, in the way that he performed after showing so much bravado. Yeah. And I take nothing away from his opposition because he was unbelievable and most people would have struggled against him. I get that. But I just thought Ronnie didn't walk the walk necessarily. It's one game. Yeah. I've made too much of it. Let's move on to Neil's correspondence. He said, it's been a strange year. Not sure where we stand. Are we a top four side?

[00:15:43] Are we a fringe top eight team? He then says, I imagine it's hard for players to adapt on the run with a constant six agains. He says, discipline's costing us games. So we've addressed that. This is one you're going to like. This is one you can open a can of. He says, why fits? Why? Is a common question regarding the departing Sioni Katoa selection over Sam Stone Street. Neil thinks it's because Fitz wants to give the popular Tongan fishermen one last chance to rise to the occasion and hopefully leave as a premiership winner.

[00:16:13] Stone Street's next man up proven he won't let us down. However, he's still a bit raw. That's interesting. He said, enjoyed your podcast with Kieran. Very entertaining. Actually, we'll come back to that as well. So Neil sounds like he's okay with what's going on with the winger situation. I'm okay with it. I think you're okay with it, but talk us through that.

[00:16:30] Yeah, it's a hard one, man, because I'm clearly biased to Sioni, but it's through the, I think it's through what the lack of what I see from Sam is more so like if, if he was like playing lights out and he was like undroppable, I wouldn't give a toss. Like the better player should play regardless of who it is. But I just, I think they're probably at the, at similar levels of performance where they're both doing some good things and they're both doing some crap things in different departments of the, of the game.

[00:17:00] Like I think Sioni's runs and the tackle breaks and like the, the second phase play he kind of creates for us is like really important. And it like, there's a difference there completely. I think very obviously with what Sam brings in that department, but then Sam's lightning and like it was, he just has pace that Sioni doesn't have. He's taller, jumps higher, like all those things. And it's, so it's a difficult one.

[00:17:25] I mean, I wish we could just put them both in one body and they'd be the perfect winger, but it's horses for courses. I think like you're going to get good and bad from whoever you play and that's just the way they are. I mean, that's, that's the winger position, isn't it? Like you're never going to, they're always going to get plastered for jamming in or dropping a bomb or something like it's a thankless job. Yeah. So Neil says perhaps Fitzy's playing him to give him a chance to go as a premiership winner.

[00:17:51] And I think, I think that's a little ambitious, but I think that he's on the right track in that it's one last chance. It's one last, there's 10 games to go. And I guess he's probably thinking that Sioni won't lose them games or grand finals or whatever. He's just going to be more good than bad, et cetera. And maybe there's some merit in that. Maybe, but I also think that he's in Fitz's mind, he's picked the player that he thinks is at the moment slightly better. I agree with you there.

[00:18:21] And he did, he dropped Sioni the same way, you know, like he, like Sioni didn't come out of the team through injury. Like he stayed out of the team through injury, but he was dropped for performance. Yeah. And I think he's now done it with Sam. So I think, I don't think he's really particularly probably happy with either of them. Well, here's the thing, Josh, my mail is, and you can take this, how you want, and you can dispute it, how you want. I personally, from what I've heard and what I'm analyzing in my head, I don't think Sam is dropped.

[00:18:48] I think Sam did a job, did it pretty good, been rewarded with a three year deal. Go back, work on your craft, come back when we need you. I don't think it's a drop. I understand he's not there. Yeah. But I don't think he's been dropped in the way Sioni has been dropped. Oh yeah. No, the way you've phrased that actually makes a lot of sense. Like I think Sioni was dropped for like, you were, you were bad. You can't play first grade this week.

[00:19:16] Whereas I think Sam, yeah, it's probably more of those things like, man, you're going to get your time, but you got three years, you got another off season to earn that spot. You're probably going to start next year. So just, you know, keep plugging away. I think he's playing pretty well in cup, like scoring tries and running for a billion meters. So it's like, it's far from like panic stations for me. I just think either way, you're going to get good and bad. I just, I think the one thing for Sam is that we just don't create any space for him to actually use his pace.

[00:19:43] Like how many, have we seen him get given a clean break to run 50, 60 meters? Like we haven't given him that chance. Not in a direct clear path. It's always been like, you know, a millimeter of touch or whatever. He's chased a few people down, but like that's, you know, we want the ball in his hand. Oh, look, I think he's going fine. And, but I do think there is a bit of, and I think Fitzy is more that way inclined than say a coach that just brings in heaps of kids.

[00:20:12] I'm not saying he's Shane Flanagan. He's probably somewhere in the middle, but I think he's more inclined to, you know, go back and learn your craft some more and, and, and then come back and there'll be a spot waiting. So. Yeah. You don't want to throw six kids in at once. Like, I just don't think that's the approach when people say, you know, throw the toys out, you know, like. Unless there is a widespread illness or something that'll never happen. Of course. Like. Now, uh, he gives praise to our episode on Monday with Kieran. It did get a bit kooky for about 10 minutes.

[00:20:40] I've thankfully had mostly only positive praise and doesn't mean we're going to do it every week, but we let Kieran out off his, off his leash a little bit. And I happened to mention something and we're only going to just touch on this right now briefly, cause we've done a whole lot of TV stuff already, but we can talk about later, Josh. But I did mention to Kieran that recently I discovered, uh, the original, I'm talking original, original Twilight Zone series, which is, I'm guessing from the. The sixties, maybe like it's black and white, like it's, it's pretty old.

[00:21:10] You might be all over it. And I knew about like remakes. There's a Stephen King film. Like I've, I know what it is, obviously the show, but on Fox still, they show it like every day. And I just happened to see one episode and it really stuck with me. And I was like, Oh, series Lincoln or whatever. It's pretty groundbreaking. And I'm not breaking news here for anyone that knows what I'm talking about. But Neil has also been enjoying that. And I just thought I'd raise that with Neil. So there's one more bit of correspondence.

[00:21:39] Then we'll get to more regular shark stuff. This is from Jonathan and Jonathan wrote this to us the morning or during a time after the loss of the Roosters. He said, I've been in a lot of thinking about the loss of the Roosters. He said, I don't blame the ref. I don't blame Nico. I don't blame any particular players. I'll call it a hangover from the Warriors game. One of your callers, Pete said something similar.

[00:22:03] And he says, what I would have done, not due to form, but I would have given some players a rest and blooded some young players. Just before the bye, I would have been a good time to try it. For me, it's more about player rotation due to fatigue, but not form. That is from Jonathan who calls himself Knuckles. So essentially addressing the fact that maybe there was a physical hangover from that game, which I'm sure there was because it's been noted how physical the Warriors game was.

[00:22:33] Like it was out of control. And Jonathan saying he would have arrested. I don't know who he said, but some players and brought in some other players. And I don't really go along with that. But what about the idea that Jonathan thinks the loss was more about fatigue and a hangover? And I asked some of the players that, and they didn't really want to agree with that at all. They just sort of brushed it off. And I guess they would know more than anyone, but it did look a bit like that, right?

[00:23:00] Like they, we, we didn't even go close to winning the forward battle. Whereas the Warriors game we did, but they bashed the crap out of each other. Yeah. I mean, I think there's definitely something, you know, like it's the travel as well. You got to think that's, you know, it's a small thing. Like, yeah, three hours on a flight and I'll boo hoo. But it is, it, it all adds up in the end, you know, shorter weeks or longer weeks and travel. Yeah, exactly. Like less, like less sleep than the opposition. Like they're all those little things.

[00:23:28] And I guess you could also argue that the Roosters were coming off six dudes or whatever playing origin. So it's, you know, it goes both ways. Jonathan for that really appreciate it. Did you want to talk any more about the Roosters game, Josh, or are you done? I'm pretty, I've, I've wiped that from the memory actually. Look, I watched it back a couple of times over the last couple of weeks, but nothing like I would normally do because it was just a frustrating watch from the refereeing to the discipline.

[00:23:57] I mean, our drop ball and that kind of thing wasn't too bad, but they just, like, I thought they were in it for like 60 minutes, but there's a part of me that just wants to say they were never in it, which isn't true. But that's just a part of me feeling like we just couldn't win that forward battle at all. Did you ever think we were going to win though? Like I think after like 10 minutes, I was like, I just don't think we're in, like, I don't, we're in it, but I don't think we can win it. The end of the first half, start of the second half was pretty good for us.

[00:24:26] And it gave us a bit of a glimmer. When they were in our 20, we kept them out for quite a while, but then a few things just kind of happened and then the next score, I think it was 14-8 for a while. Then as soon as they scored, I was like, yeah, it was over. Yeah. And that's troubling because what we can take out of this is that it was our lowest scoring game potentially all year or second lowest and it's maybe second lowest. And it's the most we've conceded in probably five or six games.

[00:24:55] So a lot of the kind of points like that around the game are not exactly positive. I just hope that they take from that going into our last buy for the year, which I think is important thing to note is that they really took advantage of that and said, okay, this is our last, you know, reset basically until finals if we make it.

[00:25:15] So it's like, I really hope that they use that time wisely and figured out how they're going to play for the rest of the year and what the style of play and how they want to be for the rest of the year. Because I think we've seen that the last three or four years. We've come around this time in the next two weeks is kind of when we flick the switch. So I'm like, is this going to happen again? Well, we had the infamous Brisbane game last year. Exactly. I don't know what round it was, but it was around this time.

[00:25:42] It was a bit later maybe, but sent everyone crazy. And from there, they were a really great breakout team. So I did speak to a bunch of the guys this week. I haven't got the interviews out, but I did ask them each. It was KL. It was Trindle. It was Jesse Colquhoun. And it was Jesse Ramian. And I asked them each about, there's no more buys. Is it go time? And they all agreed it was go time. And they seemed refreshed and ready to go.

[00:26:11] And the attitude all seemed good. And it did seem like last chance saloon. I did ask, I think, Jesse Colquhoun about the fact that I think one of our first people addressed it in the mail today about, you know, last dance and people leaving. And are we talking about it now? And they were like, we're not talking about it, but we know it. And you might talk about it with a player that's leaving, but it's not on a big blackboard or anything at the moment. It's more just they know what has to be done.

[00:26:39] So, and talking to Ramian, actually, he was really impressive. He'd spent the week in regional communities doing a lot of charity work. They do great work in the indigenous community. And he basically gave up his time to help these guys and girls out and met a lot of people. And I think he hit sort of like four or five communities over four or five days. And I said to him, point blank, I said, I reckon you got as much out of that as what they did. And he said, yeah, I did.

[00:27:08] Like, it was really great to be back on my own turf and be able to give something back to these people who look up to us. So, they all seem like they're in a good place. Let's just hope we see it on Saturday night because we need to win this one. And we'll get to the Brisbane game very shortly. Josh, we've got NRLW starting Thursday night. So, depending on when people hear this, a lot of people hear this on Thursday day probably. But we're not going to go into that for two reasons. NRLW has been covered on a bunch of episodes this week and last week.

[00:27:37] And also, the fact that this episode will be old to a lot of people once they have already probably watched NRLW Thursday night. However, I'm very excited by it. And what are your expectations for the team this year, Josh? I think with this team, you're always expecting, excuse me, like you're aiming for that top four, right? It's just, it is a little bit of, it's hard to get too excited because you just feel like it's Broncos, Roosters again.

[00:28:05] But the NRLW, it's just so ridiculous. Those sides are stacked and you're just like, is everyone else playing for third at this point? Unless something goes catastrophically wrong. But I'm still pumped. Like I watch, I try and catch every single game because I think it's getting better and better every year. So, hoping the girls can rip in on Thursday and get the season off to a good start like the men did. Yeah, it's important to start well Thursday night against the Knights. Knights are pretty good, but I think we should get them.

[00:28:35] It's a short season, so you've got to start well, that's for sure. Also, a bit of love for the grade below that, the Harvey Norman Women's Premiership. They're back at our beautiful stadium on Saturday. So, check that out if you are free. They did lose to the Steelers last week. So, hopefully they can turn that around. The other thing, a quick shout out, NRLW today. They released a new website, Josh.

[00:29:04] I got a sneak peek of this last week and it's very interactive. It's awesome. It's just NRLW Sharks specific. And there's lots of storylines about how these athletes are sort of like superheroes. Everything they go through to get onto the field. And you'll love it, Josh. There's some cool art. There's some cool kind of, they're all superheroes. And you'll love it. So, check that out when you can. It's the NRLW Sharks website.

[00:29:28] I do want to also say that our friend Donnie Rogers is playing a gig on Saturday night at Lefty's in Brisbane. It's a five-minute walk from Suncorp. He's not starting until the Sharks finish their game and we all sing up at Cronulla. So, if you're in Brisbane and you've got time off after the game, sing the song, head to Lefty's. It's a five-minute walk from Suncorp to this pretty cool venue. And our mate Don Rogers is playing a show.

[00:29:57] He'll be playing all night, I imagine. And he's trying to get a bunch of Shark stands there to have a bit of an after party. So, that's our bit trying to help him there. And let's go to the Broncos game, Josh. It's a big one. They're getting pretty desperate. You know, we don't like playing in desperate teams. But I also am a big believer that if you're a better team, you'll just win the game no matter what the circumstances. So, I'm not too fussed about refereeing.

[00:30:24] I'm not too fussed about who Madge puts in the team and what he does to the team this week. It's more just it's about us going up there. I look at the team list. The team list is fine. So, it's one to seven as you'd imagine. And we've got, at the moment, Hazleton, Beryl, Colquhoun in the front row. And you'd think that maybe Pep might come in there and swap for Beryl. You've got Billy Burns, Tigg Wilton, and Cam McInnes in the back row.

[00:30:50] And the bench is Hojepa, Oregon Kofusi, Sifitalakai. My mate Big Tukug might get a shot, I reckon. And Marwini and Harrison Hassett has also been named on the bench with extended bench of Nephi, Sam Stone Street, Liam Eysen. I think you can kind of rule those guys out. And then you look at the other mob, and they're missing some guys. Thank goodness. They've got Hayes Perrim at the back. Dean Mariner back to be fair on one wing. He's very, very good.

[00:31:19] Their halves are Tom Duffy and Ben Hunt. I think this is where we get them, and I hope I'm not wrong here. But the forward pack of Va, Semu, Corey Pax, Preston Rickey in the front row. The back row of Brendan Peacura, Jordan Rickey. Now, Xavier Wilson is listed, Josh. You got any info on that? What's going on there? I think they got clearance for his HIA. They got the exemption, so apparently he will play. Okay. So he's playing.

[00:31:49] That's not good for us. The bench is Blake Moser, Ben Tolte, Jaden Hunt, Jesse Arthurs, Josh Rogers, and Luke Gale. So they're really sort of, without being disrespectful, struggling to get household names onto this bench. They're missing a lot of guys. This is where I want to see a lot of injuries. They've got rep football. To be fair, we're missing three of our best players too. Yep. I want to see us put the foot down, foot to the throat.

[00:32:18] I don't need to see a 40-point win. If I see one, I'll be super stoked. I just need to see a win. I don't care if it's by half a point. A half-point field goal, that'll do me. But I do think no matter what the circumstance, whether it is an extra time, foot field goal, or whether it's a 40-point win, the foot and the throat has to happen. Because they're there. They're on the ground going, please don't hurt me. This is must-win for me. This is non-negotiable. Don't care how it's done.

[00:32:47] If we play absolutely horrifically and win, I don't care. But this has to be two points. And I've been pretty positive on the year, and I think we're a good side. I think if we lose this game, it's going to turn. The dial's going to go up to 11. Media's going to smash us. Everyone's going to smash Nico. It's going to be, Trindle should be the seven. Nico should be full. That's all going to come out. The fans are going to turn.

[00:33:13] So the team need this for points as much as they need it, probably for morale, and just to keep the Wolves at bay for another week and keep them on Brisbane. Yeah, and we don't want to look too far ahead because we're looking at one game at a time here tonight. But we are going back to Brisbane next week to play the Dolphins. And the Dolphins are a top-four team. Flying. They'll probably be a top-four team.

[00:33:40] And they're a thousand times better than what Brisbane are with their stars or without this year, and particularly this week. So we want to bank up some points to then get the confidence to go to Redcliffe. And I'm not saying it's not winnable because it is winnable. But this week is a lot more winnable. You also just want to bank. Like what we just did, we came off four or five wins in a row. Then you can kind of, in an unfair way, you can cop a loss.

[00:34:09] And you go, okay, we've got five. You can take one. You're not going to win every game. You just need to win enough so then when you do drop those ones, it's not the end of the world and you can reset all that sort of stuff. But we should not be losing to this Broncos team. Like I think it would be pretty embarrassing, to be honest, if we do. And I am worried about the baby Bronco, you know, that thing. Oh, yeah. It's there. It's happened to us and it's happened to many others.

[00:34:35] The thing that you don't want to get into with this team this week is you don't want to have a close game. You don't want it to go to Golden Point. You want to be ahead by 10, 12 points each time. I look at it like the Canterbury game. We played the Magic Round. That was beautiful. Like they just had a lead the whole way. The dog sort of had a little sniff. We kept going. I think we score early and keep maintaining that and keep a 10, 12 point buffer. They won't come back. Yes.

[00:35:04] If it's a four point, but if it's a four point buffer, then you got a problem because the crowd's going to be going nuts. You know, you probably see Madge on the sideline for the first time in his career. Like weird stuff's going to happen. Young kids start to believe all that stuff. And it's not a Cronulla thing. It's a rugby league thing. It's not a Cronulla thing. That's when the underdog wins. It's happened to us when we're the underdogs in some crazy situations. Just go back to 2014 if you want to see those things.

[00:35:30] So it's certainly not 100% win for us. But I do think if we can keep a bit of distance, I think we'll be A-OK and probably win by a bit.

[00:35:44] If it's back and forth, if it's shootout, if it's anything less than six to eight points, say for the game or say for the final quarter, then I think I could probably put myself in a worrying position. Until that happens, I'm not going to worry too much. But when that happens, and even if that happens, like I said before, you still got to put the foot down, get that field goal, win the game.

[00:36:13] It doesn't, as you said, it doesn't matter how you do it. And we're as guilty as anyone, Josh. Hundreds of thousands of Sharks fans were as guilty as them to analyze every little moment of every game. And we actually like doing that. However, we also concede that sometimes it just doesn't matter. And we look at 2016 and there's games where they played terrible and they still won. And that's what got them to the top. Just win. At this point in the season, you just got to win.

[00:36:43] It really reminds me of like that Rabbitohs game last year, the one that was mentioned earlier in the pod, where we were awful. It was one of the worst games of footy I've ever seen. But we won. And in three weeks, you don't even care about that because you look at the two points on the ladder. And that's where I'm at with this game. Like last week, the week before, I really wanted to see a good performance and win. Whereas now it's like with this kind of game, I'm like just get the win.

[00:37:10] But next week, you know, against a better team with Blake and Alt-Light back, then it's got to be okay. Now we've got to see performance again. Like I'm always giving them a free pass to just win and get out. Yeah. We do have to reinforce the fact that we're missing Fenua Blake, Blake Braley and Britton Nicker. So it's not like we're on easy street here, but compared to the opposition, we kind of are.

[00:37:34] Now, our biggest weaknesses this year, Josh, are defending each side of the touchline. So insert whatever winger you want there. And there's been different guys all year, to be fair. I would imagine what, at least four of them. So looking at their back line, not so much the wingers, although Dean Mariner is a very good winger. He's back after a long break of injury. Thankfully, old mate, the other fella went for a bit of a drink and a drive and he's not going to play for a while.

[00:38:05] I say that because I assume none got hurt. However, their centers, Katoni Staggs and Shibasaki, both origin players, both good on their day. Staggs in particular. However, we've got Jesse Ramey in there. We've got Kale Iro, who on their day are very, very good defenders on their day. Looking at that back line, is that where you're a little concerned?

[00:38:35] Staggs, Shibasaki, are you cool? No, Staggs. I was spewing that he got dropped from origin because he loves the game against Cronulla too. He always just seems to, you know, he's been really good this year, I think, at club level. He just seems to find something where it's like, it's like Herbie, Farnworth. They just have like the game of their lives against us every single time they play us. I did read something that apparently the Broncos were absolutely bashing the crap out of each other at training and that it's been really intense and Staggs was just chopping blokes in half.

[00:39:05] And I know that's, you know, that's puff pieces and stuff, but that's playing in my mind. Like he could just score a hat trick and win them the game, you know what I mean? And safe tries and set them up. So I am really worried about Staggs. I don't know who is it, would Iro be marking him? He would be because he's left, Staggs is right. Yeah. So that's a big, big job for Iro and he's been pretty poor. I got to say defensive this year for the most part. I haven't been overly happy.

[00:39:32] I would say on and off he's been poor. I wouldn't say for the most part. That's just my interpretation. But for me to say he's been poor is shocking because he's been amazing defending for two years now. When I did speak to him this week, he did say he loves playing at Suncorp. He said that they're looking forward to the big atmosphere. And I think that he'll be pretty, from what I can tell, I think he's pretty on. So hopefully that carries across.

[00:39:58] Again, as you said, this year it's been a bit shaky with Iro, which is unthinkable based on the past two years. Thomas Duffy, Ben Hunt in the halves. I mean, I take our halves over their halves. Duffy's young, whatever. Hard to judge. Ben Hunt on his day can still do things.

[00:40:26] But I do think if you send traffic his way, he'll miss tackles for starters. And I do think if you put the kick pressure on him, he's not as accurate. So I'm not too phased by the halves, Josh. But that's where you need Beryl, Hojepa, Britton. Not Britton. Billy Burns. Just to really stay on a hunt for the whole game. Like if you hammer him, I think you'll cave.

[00:40:55] And I'd probably be going even 10 times harder at Duffy. I don't think he's a very good footballer at all, personally. I know there's some talent there and he's playing first grade for a reason. But I remember we played him, I think in his debut or one of his first games a few years ago when he played for the Cowboys. And I think we almost got him hooked or he got dropped the next week. He was terrible. So I hope that we just really pressure him, like cut down his time.

[00:41:21] That's the thing, like that's why the Maroons are so good against New South Wales is because they give Cleary no time, no space, pressure decisions. And Tom Duffy and Ben Hunt are not, you know, Nathan Cleary and Mitch Moses. So I'd be like, and like you said, the pressure on Hunt kick-wise as well. He's got a kick out in the full in him and he can make an error, like he can throw a stupid pass.

[00:41:48] So I'd be really onto those two more than most. Because if you don't, he's also got a 40-20 in him. He's also got a try assist in him. So yeah, it's a dicey one there. But I would, yeah, I'd just have, I'd pretty much probably say to Billy Burns, it's your job. Just do it. So Xavier Willison worries me a little bit. He's a terrific footballer. Jordan Rickey on his day is terrific. Now, is Preston his brother or not related? I don't think they're related. Okay.

[00:42:18] Do we know much about Preston Rickey? Have I been watching him? What's going on there? He's okay. Like, you know, he's 28, so he's come through late. Okay. You know, he's fine first grader, but there's nothing that overly worries me. Like you said, like Xavier Willison's the one that was, again, spewing that he got that clearance because he's a pain-hearse 2.0 in the making. He's good. He's real good. I do like our bench of Hoheppa, although we think Beryl swapped for him.

[00:42:47] Oregon Gafusi, Sifatala Kai, Tukuhai Tsipua. Now, Tukuhai Tsipua is the mystery man here because assuming he can... He can go in first grade like we've seen him go. I think he'll be great, especially in a game like this against lesser guys. If it was him against Payne Haswell, I mean, I'd love to see that aid because it'd be like a King Kong movie or whatever, but... But, you know, he's a pup compared to him.

[00:43:14] So, I like the fact that he's playing against not as established first graders. I think that out of all the bench players, if it goes to plan, and hopefully it does, I think Tsipua will play the smaller minutes out of the rest of the guys, which I think is fair given the fact that he's barely played first grade for a while.

[00:43:37] I've spoken to him off-air, but good chats the last few weeks, three or four times. He's a terrific fella, and he's really amped. So, I'm assuming he's going to play. He may not. Something else may happen. They may play funny buggers. I don't know. But if he does get in, I'm excited about what he can do. I don't know if he signed a new deal, but there's the intention there that he will stick around. He's still super young, and he's just got the body of...

[00:44:07] I don't know, of a freak. Like, I've barely seen a body like this. So, he's got it in him, but I'm kind of excited by Kifusi, Talakai, and him getting on the field. And I'm looking to Talakai. I'm looking to him for that kind of Melbourne away breakout game of two years ago. I think that... I think it's time we see Talakai shine. I'm the same as you.

[00:44:36] I think that could be not the make or break of the game, but it could be something that if we're a little bit behind, that gets us back in, or it could cement the lead. Like, I just... I wasn't so sure about Tookes at the start of the week, but the more the week's kind of going on, the more I'm, like, really pumped for it. And it could be just a game where if it's loose in the ruck, he could really cause some problems and, like, pop some offloads and maybe a crash over trial. Like, I'm kind of starting to get that vibe that if he... This is his first chance in, what, like 15 weeks?

[00:45:05] He has been out of the... Like, maybe since round one or two, he hasn't played. So, he should be chomping at the bit and absolutely rip in. Did he play this year? I can't remember. Did he play? I think he might have played the round one against the Titans. Okay. I can't. I think he's played this year, but it wouldn't have... It would be, like, months since he's played first grade. I know that there has been some injury. I know that in Cup recently, he's been playing bigger minutes and playing pretty good. So, I think it's all going to be, for him, match fitness.

[00:45:35] If he can hold his own and not get puffed or whatever... And again, I say this from a match point of view, match fitness point of view, because he's not... Like, I talk about it probably more than I should, but there's not an ounce of fat on this guy's body. Like, he's a huge guy. But from what I can tell, he looks fit as anyone. So, it's not about that. It's more about match fitness. Yeah.

[00:45:59] But we do see him from time to time in first grade over the last couple of years, and he looks a bit puffed after sort of seven or eight minutes. If that's the case, get him off the field. Like, just whatever it takes. I'm not telling you he's going to be the best player out there. I'm telling you I'm happy for him to get a shot. But if ever a player plays with potential, then look out. It's a bit like, I don't want to compare them, but I will. It's a bit like Franklin Pele. And he had sort of poor discipline on the field. We know that.

[00:46:29] But similar kind of bodies, although I think Tsukou's fitter and possibly taller. But same kind of beast-like attributes. If Franklin Pele lived with his potential, he'd be a top five forward of all time. If this guy lived up to the way he looks, it's similar circumstances. So, throw him out there. See how he goes. If it's not working, take him back off. Yeah. That's my only request.

[00:46:58] He just needs to give us 15 good minutes. You know, maybe less. Maybe 12 good minutes. Just to give, you know, to give tall Tom and Jesse. Like, they can both. Like, Tom can pump out 40. Jesse could probably play 80. We know he probably can. He probably wants to. But, like, I want him on there for 60. Probably this week is pretty important, I think, to keep that middle locked. And pair him with Kifusi. Like, when Jesse comes back, I'm putting him with Kifusi.

[00:47:28] And they will, like, that middle will be locked. And then we've got some offload options there, too. And then you just bring on that. I want to go the one-two punch, but maybe it's almost like one on, then 10 minutes later, bring the next one, and it goes again. So, whatever way it fits. It should work. And for those who don't know much about Tuku, and I'm not suggesting I'm an expert in the subject of Tuku, but he's a great student of the game. They love him down there. That's why they want to keep him. There's a lot of potential.

[00:47:58] You know, there's not a trace of badness in him off the field. Like, they love him. Carries himself really well with the club. Loves to learn. Loves feedback from the coaches. So, he's still growing, still learning. But, at the same time, you don't have a 20-year lifespan as an NRL player to get it right. You know, at some point.

[00:48:24] And he's probably looking at the next two or three years, I reckon, for him. If it doesn't happen, then maybe he goes to Super League or goes somewhere else or whatever. But he's still got a good window there of just being a young guy. But, in my opinion, he looks ready to go. And the attitude is definitely a good attitude. It's been a good attitude when he hasn't been picked. He's been playing cup. Really good attitude for a guy. So, that's what's going on there. The other guy I'm interested in this week, Josh, and it just dawned on me.

[00:48:54] And it's a lot of pressure to put on someone. But, he can certainly handle the pressure. I think we need something special out of Cam McInnes. Yeah? Yeah. As a leader, as a captain, but also as a middle. Like, I think he really needs to get some quick play of the balls. Get some go-forward happening. I don't want to see him get pushed back too much. We know he's a tough human. I think the break's been good for Cam. A couple weeks off.

[00:49:24] And I think we'll need him to play really well for us to win the game. Yeah, I thought he was really, really good against the Warriors. But, outside of that, you know, as a certified, like, number one fan, I think he's been pretty poor this year. He's been pretty bad. And I think the club's probably been justified in not re-signing him. There was that period where I was like, oh, maybe we should just give him a one year and then he can go, you know, right off into the sunset.

[00:49:52] And it's like, nah, I think he's done. And that's, like, sucks to say and to, like, see it kind of happen because he's been bloody amazing for us, in my opinion, over his Sharks career. But just, yeah, there's some little moments now he's starting to see, like, it's just the game's starting to get away from him a little bit. Still tenacious in defense and making a million tackles and not missing many, but it's kind of everything else around that. But as you said, Warriors game, he was prime. He was elite. Oh, amazing.

[00:50:21] Like, that was, like, he's back. He's still got it. He's still got it. I guess when you get to that point in your career, maybe you can't do it every week. But I'm just looking at that team list. And for the first time this week, he's ringing out to me as someone who really needs to kind of – I need a seven and a half and above from Cam. If he's any lower than that, I'll be disappointed. But also, I just think the team needs it. I think the team needs to see him go forward.

[00:50:50] And, you know, usually when you need him like that, he tends to deliver. Like, it's like, oh, he's been quiet or, like, you know, mass troops are out and he just, like, puts in one of the great, like, all-time knocks. The Melbourne game where he was, like, 5-8 or whatever. Like, one of the best games I've ever seen, like, from a shark in, like, ten years. But I just – I feel like – and this is, like, so pipe dream, but I'm like, I feel like if we, like, made a grand final, he'd run for, like, 170 meters and make 50 tackles. Like, you know what I mean?

[00:51:19] Like, he'd just find a way to get it done. Yeah, of course. And he just can't do it every week anymore. Like, he's had his ACL. He's had his head knocked one billion times. Like – I also think that when Jesse Colquhoun's not going forward against the Roosters, then I probably can't expect Cam McInnes to do it. You know what I mean? I say that from a physical point of view, not from an attitude point of view, but – No, yeah. Yeah. So, definitely an off week for the forwards or most of the forwards against the Roosters.

[00:51:49] All right. So, Suncorp. Now, good record in recent history generally at Suncorp. The last sort of five or six games, we've had a lot of success there. Only once against the Broncos maybe, but against the Broncos specifically, not so good. But we don't mind going to Suncorp. We've got a lot of fans up there. The Brisbane thing is quite fascinating because it could just go one or two ways. And, again, that's not really any of our business. It's none of the team's business. I just think they focus on what they're doing.

[00:52:19] Even when you look at their team list, Josh, if you're doing film on them, for example, okay, well, we can watch Hayes, Perham's last 30 games of Parra or wherever he's been. But from a Brisbane Broncos point of view, it's hard to see what he's doing. And you can definitely study the centers. But look at that forward pack. It's like I think we just need to worry about our game. And then when it comes to their playmakers, put pressure on them. When it comes to the kickers, put pressure on them.

[00:52:50] When it comes to the guy catching the fullback, catching the ball, make sure you guys are down there to smash him. Do all that stuff. Play smart in defense. And I think you win the game. But, yeah, the Broncos thing is just a mess. And that's a difficult – it's difficult for us as fans to see us go into that environment. I think for the players, they don't really care. Like they're not going there thinking we're going to win by a million because they've lost eight in a row. Or seven in a row, I should say. They're the opposite.

[00:53:20] They're like, no, they could flip that and they could win. So they have to be on their game. I can assure you – I know like a quarter of our listeners will laugh and go, well, you said that a million times. I can assure you the Sharks players are not going into this game thinking easy win against the Broncos. There's no doubt in my mind that that's not happening. No. I'm like the players aren't sitting there on a Tuesday night watching NRL 360 going, it's worse than you think at Brisbane. Like, you know, it's like – You sound just like them.

[00:53:49] It's like, yeah, it's like, oh, like whatever you've heard about Brisbane, it's worse. And it's like, it probably is. But like the players don't give a crap about that, man. Like, do you think Nico's spending his Tuesday night worrying about, oh, man, are they going to sack Madge if we beat him? Like, they just want to go and win and get home. Josh, bring the humor. How good. All right, so 7.35 kickoff Saturday night. Broncos hosting our Sharks. It's going to be a good one. Must win is what we're calling it, just because of the nature of the game.

[00:54:20] And it'll keep us in check with the finals and still top four, of course. That's not a pipe dream yet. It's still possible. I think a Roosters win into a buy would have helped quite a lot, but that wasn't meant to be, so we can't labor on that too much at the moment. That'll be an off-season thing should we need to do that. Now, before we go, Josh, you want to tell us about the Muse record? Oh, man. Muse are back.

[00:54:48] So for people who don't know who Muse are, do you want to explain who they are? They are British rock, like super unique. Three-piece? Yeah, they rock, have a bit of electronic, orchestral. They've literally touched every single genre that you can think of. Name it, they've done it. But the last three albums have had sprinklings of good songs here and there, but mostly pretty forgettable.

[00:55:18] And this is their back, man. So back. As a Muse fan of 20 years myself, I got into them the last kind of when they were really the biggest band in the world. This is their best album, their best cover to cover. I haven't been able to listen to a whole Muse album in the last three or four. It's like, yeah, this is a good song. So what's the vibe? Very spacey.

[00:55:47] There's a lot of... When the world falls apart, what do you go to? In terms of the theme, what do you look for to get you through the hard times? Is it religion? Is it aliens? Is it AI? There's a lot of... It's high concept. Let's get Karen in this band. The opening track is like an all-timer. Okay. Like super interesting, like arpeggio, like playing with different time signatures,

[00:56:16] like strings, like metal riffs. Like it's got it all, man. It's really good. I know this is going to be highly offensive to a Muse fanatic like yourself, but the whole time we've been thinking about Muse, talking about Muse, I've been thinking about the band Placebo. I don't know why. I guess because they're in three piece too, right? They get that in Radiohead comparisons a lot. Which isn't bad. That's not bad. And Muse bands. Buttheads. No, but I literally am looking at the guy seeing Placebo going, that's not him.

[00:56:47] Okay. Now, I don't know who Muse is either. A lot more dramatic. Have you seen him play? I've seen them live three or four times. Yeah. Yeah. Like unbelievable live. Yeah, I'm sure. Sound unbelievable. And our man Clinton's in the Muse, isn't he? Or he was an old fan? I think you said he heard the first album, liked it. And then, but he said, the lead singer and guitarist and pianist, Matt Bellamy, bought Jeff Buckley's guitar. That was what Clinton was saying. Yeah,

[00:57:16] he was respecting him for that. Yeah, no, no, they are a good band. I will check that out. I might do that later tonight. Just check out the latest album. That's kind of where we're at, I think with music, Josh, which is how I kind of, a lot of my favorite things that I've discovered, and I'm sure it's the same for everyone, is word of mouth or someone saying, hey, you have to listen to this. I get that's not a new thing. I guess I was going to say that in this day and age where you're getting a notification every three seconds and, you know,

[00:57:44] everything's happening and you haven't got time to do anything, but then you want to go listen to an album, a proper album of like, dare I say, 10 songs, not even like seven to eight songs, but 10 songs, if not more. And, but someone like you says to me, hey, you need to listen to this record and I'll go, okay, cool. I'm going to do it. But I think that's where we're at right now in 2026 or where I am, at least I should say, is I need someone to, cause I'm not reading music blogs that much. I'm not getting music magazines.

[00:58:14] I'm not living the life I used to live. I would like to do all that stuff, but it's a lot easier when someone says, Janaz, listen to this record right now. Like it's a lot easier. It's also that day and age now, where like, everything's either the best thing you've ever heard or the worst. It's like, people are so scared to be like, yeah, it was fine. Like it was a good movie. Like it was like six or seven out of 10. Like, that's not bad. Like everyone's like, this is the worst piece of crap I've ever seen. Or, or it's like, this is the best movie ever. It's like, things can be fine.

[00:58:42] He can never play rugby league again. Oh no, the one, what's, what's the one this week? The worst team ever. The St. George team. We have a worst team every three years to be fair. Like we see a worst team. The worst team in the last three years, probably. Hey, I asked, uh, here in this, so let me know if, if the answer is no, but, uh, have you seen the documentary sky King? Haven't even heard of it. No. Okay. I'll keep it brief. Cause I talked about it on Monday. It's on Disney.

[00:59:08] And it's about a true life story about a guy who was working in Seattle at the airport as a grounds crew person. Uh, he had some mental health issues, decided to get into a plane, like a full big plane, like a seven, three, seven, seven, four, seven. No one was in it. Thankfully he takes off air traffic decide who's that guy. What's going on here? Make contact with him. And, uh, there's a documentary about it.

[00:59:37] The ending is not happy, unfortunately. And it's, you can, people know about the story. Like it's a well-known story, but it's an amazing documentary because what it is, is it's real life clear as day audio from the guy while he's up there in the plane. And there's one or two people trying to talk him down and trying to help him and that kind of thing. They factor that in with some real life kind of far away vision of the plane. Which is just crazy.

[01:00:04] But the other killer thing is they have family and friends listening to the audio and their reactions and them talking about this guy. It's dark, but it's a, it's unbelievable. The fact this happened and, and there's like all this evidence and just hearing him talk through his last moments. Is this the guy that was like, I'll do the barrel. Can I do a barrel roll? Like, is this? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Everyone knows him from that, but yeah, you should, what you, I think you'd like it, man.

[01:00:32] Like when I watched it really late at night, which, you know, I watched a lot of things late at night, but I was watching it going on and if I'm going to be able to like sleep or I don't want to be depressed and not sleep. I need to sleep. But then the more I watched it, the more I was like, no, I'm going to be fine. And I was fine. And, you know, for our younger listeners, I will say, get your parents recommendation to watch it. But it's just a story about a guy who will had mental health issues, but I think he had an episode. Sure.

[01:01:03] And next minute he's up there, the beautiful people trying to talk him down. And, and then it gets to a point where, you know, they've had to call in like the military guys to follow him to make sure he doesn't do anything too crazy. They're ready to shoot him down and they don't want to shoot him down. They're at one point where he's running out of petrol and they just direct him towards some water. So he doesn't land somewhere. He shouldn't land. And it's just like, Oh, but the barrel thing is unbelievable. Like it's, it's the real feel good part of the, of the documentary.

[01:01:33] Like you're cheering him on and it looks like he's about to die. And he just somehow he pulls it off. And then, and the, and the mom says later on afterwards, the mom says someone from the, you know, pilot industry got in touch with me and they said, there is no way that plane should have done what it did. Your son did something that, you know, no one's, it's a, it's a great documentary. Everyone should, if you, I think if you're over 16, check it out. It's about a lot of things. Yeah. It's about how far things can go when you're not monitored.

[01:02:02] It's about looking after yourself, but also this guy didn't want to hurt anyone, man. And then he was just, he's up in a plane and, and, and it's, Oh, it's just something about it. I found quite fascinating, but anyway, thanks for coming on Josh. I know you're a busy dude. Thank you for coming on. We'll get you back on soon. It was great to be back. I, I miss talking sharks. I felt like I kind of fell out the, you know, the bi-week always kind of, you feel a bit distant in the footy because your team's not involved, but this has been reinvigorating.

[01:02:31] I'm ready to go up to Brisbane and. Yeah. Yeah. The two points. And I'll be down at the guy me a trade is if you want to come down and watch. You like. Yeah, it's good. Yeah. Good price drinks. Good poker machines. I will say we don't, we don't do that, Josh. I do say that a lot of our listeners, they, they, they love what we do, which is awesome. And they follow what we do really closely, which is awesome. And I do get messages about where's this guy? Where's that person?

[01:03:00] And I've had a fair few people saying like, where's Josh or Josh doesn't mean I'm from. Oh, people when I'm at a game, where's Josh? Are you guys like fighting or whatever? And I'm like, I'm like, I don't fight. Why would I fight with someone? That's a disagreement, Sam. No, I know. But, but I'm not really a fighter myself. It's just like, well, why would I fight with people that I love? And like, I mean, we, I understand people have disagreements and falling out. It's like, get bad, but I'm like, no, no, he's just busy or, or he's moving or whatever.

[01:03:29] Like it's, he'll be back. So I like being able to answer everyone. It's nice. And it's nice. They care. It's really nice. They care. But yeah, if you're listening and you're worried about that sort of thing, don't worry about it. I'm not fighting with anyone. At least I'm aware of. We talk in our group chat every day. Like all of us, it's just, yeah, that can get a little bit heated. But, but yeah, we do. We do. Thursday night. If you're listening to this beforehand, 7.5 kickoff ocean protect stadium and a real dub. We're hopefully going to do us proud all year round. Saturday, 735.

[01:04:00] NRL at Suncorp. Enjoy it. If you're going up, let us know, tag us in your photos, et cetera. And I dare say, we'll have a few more things happening before that kickoff. Best way to stay in touch is subscribe. Whether it's what you're listening to on the audio side of things, whether you're watching us on the socials or on YouTube, subscribe for free. It's completely free, but you'll never miss an episode. Um, on that note, Josh, say goodbye to everyone. Up, up, Cronulla.

[01:04:27] And let's enjoy the next couple of games. We got, we got NRL dub, depending when you listen to this and we got NRL coming up too. So we'll say goodbye for now. On behalf of Josh, you know, up, up, Cronulla. Let's go. SharkCast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips and Crips Real Estate. He's an expert in the Karemba region and has his eye all across the Shire.

[01:04:55] 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 and Crips Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Hawes, Crips and Crips Real Estate. SharkCast! SharkCast!