Flagship Mailbag Episode with Josh Bolling (30/4/26)

[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 to all you people back in the Shire, turn your porch lights off because we're coming out with a trophy.

[00:01:05] Hey there, hey there, welcome to SharkCast Potter Podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the world, the mighty Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. My name is Sam Shinazzi, this is late night podcasting with Josh Bolling, but it's only late night for him and I. I'm not sure when you guys and girls are going to hear or watch this. And this is SharkCast Pod brought to you by Dyson Logistics, the legends of the Royal Motor Yacht Coat and Port Hacking, and Jason Hawes of Crips and Crips Real Estate. And we are here to talk all things black, white and blue.

[00:01:34] And as a disclaimer, Joshua, we've got a bunch of things happening this week on and off air. We've covered the Cowboys game quite concisely. We're going to skip that. We're doing a flagship episode, but we're going to skip that mostly. Obviously, there'll be things about that in what we're going to do. And what we're going to do is really focus on the mailbag because it's thick and flowing. And we'll touch on everything throughout that.

[00:02:03] So a less traditional flagship episode. We do have a preview episode coming out with a good mate of mine, Coach Adele Hage, who has been part of the West Tigers coaching system. He's now up north in Queensland. Hell of a guy. And you're going to love that. It's already in the can. That'll be out in a day or two. So that'll be a major preview of the West Tigers coming to Ocean Protect Stadium. But for now, Joshua and I are going to talk about your correspondence.

[00:02:31] Although I did want to say this, Josh. It's all doom and gloom and shark land. We can't win. We can't make a tackle. But I'll tell you who can. And that's the Tarsha Gale Sharks. They are through to the grand final. They're first since 2018. And they are led by our hero, Andrew Fofita, who is their coach or one of. So if you want to get behind the Tarsha Gale Sharks, they're playing at Lecquart over 1.30 on Saturday. You can go to the ground. You can watch it on Bar TV.

[00:03:01] And they are hopefully going to come back with the trophy. They're coming off a win against the Knights, I believe, last weekend. A very close match. So we're super proud of those girls and everyone involved in the club. And especially our friend, Big Bob, Andrew Fofita. We also send our respect to the competitors from the Sharks playing in Thursday night's Origin Match. Women's Origin Match.

[00:03:29] You can watch that on Channel 9, I think, at the very least. I think our friends at KO and Fox will have it on later on. Probably on ABC Radio, that kind of stuff. But a lot of Sharks featured in that. But, Josh, let's go to our mailbag because it is heaving. And Rhys got in touch during the game against the Cowboys last week, Josh. He got in touch via sharkcast.com.au. He said, I'm watching this Cowboys game. Why can't we tackle?

[00:03:58] And that was the note. So moving on from that, Lisa was in touch. And this is awesome. So she said, I was listening to Blake Austin talk about the Sharks on SEN radio. Wondering what you think about his comments. After listening to a clip of Fitzy calling our players attitudes after the game, calling out their attitudes as to what the problem is, Blake Austin said, I don't like it. I don't think it's attitude.

[00:04:27] If it was attitude, they'd be the only team struggling defensively, which they're not. Lots of teams are struggling. I know Craig Fitzgibbon is an attitude, energy, effort type of coach. I think they need to look internal and say, whatever structures we've got right now are not working. Don't put the blame on the players and say you need to move quicker, run faster. I think there's enough evidence now that the old systems aren't good enough.

[00:04:54] He needs to be careful because he's almost come out and said the defensive structures we've given them are fine, but it's all up to the players and they're not doing their job. I also think there's enough evidence that you just can't defend the way you used to. No team is good enough to give away set restarts and end up on their trial line. If you're going to end up there, you could have done it with conceding less than that. So Craig needs to look internally.

[00:05:21] I think it's a bit of a cliche to say we need to try harder and be better. There's too many games this year when their defense hasn't been up to scratch. So that was from Blake Austin and it was pretty respectful. I don't know if it came out respectful, but it was pretty respectful the way he said it. Lisa says, when I first heard Fitzy's press conference, I agreed about the attitude thing, but after hearing this and calming down after the loss, I realized it's probably more nuanced. What do you think? And so that got me thinking.

[00:05:49] I know it's got you thinking, Josh. I'm like what Lisa said when the coach said it's an attitudinal problem. I went, oh yeah, that makes sense. But then Blake Austin very wisely says all these words about it's got to be more than that really. Do you think it's somewhere in the middle? What are you thinking, Josh, about our defense and the reasons why we're conceding 20 plus points six weeks straight? It's a lot to unpack.

[00:06:18] It's a really good letter because there's a lot of moving pieces to that with Austin and the thoughts as well. But it's hard because there's times where it looks quite solid and we've repelled teams for a number of sets. And we've had to do a lot of that this year with the amount of penalties and six agains we're giving away.

[00:06:39] And I think that's probably more the issue that I have and that I see personally is that sustaining any amount of consecutive sets is impossible this year. We see a lot of teams that you can hold out a set or two, sure. You rally around force and error or something. But when you're giving away so many – and we've had this issue in the past where we thought we just don't help ourselves with making errors coming out of our own end,

[00:07:05] dropping the ball off a kickoff, instantly putting yourselves under pressure, gassing yourselves, and then you have no – there's just not enough in the tank to keep going. And when you're making 18 tackles sometimes on your line, a team is going to find a hole or there's going to be someone that's too tired to make a cover tackle or whatever. And that also in turn affects your attack. And I think – I just think that's probably where I'm having the issues with.

[00:07:31] I think the structures and all that, at the end of the day, you make a tackle, you don't concede a try, right? Like I know it's a very simplified version, but making 18 against good attacking sides with a team where Scott Drinkwater's on and Tom Dearden and the center, what's his name? The freak. Perdue, Chester. Perdue, Chester. So like you just – and with the injuries we had and the new systems we've had, we haven't had a – again.

[00:08:01] Yeah. There's a lot there. You're right. You're right. I don't mind what Blake Austin is saying in this example if that was the case. Like if that was exactly like that, you'd be like, oh, yeah. But now you bring up things like the most penalized team. Our set restarts are not too bad, but they're still there. Yeah. There is the new combinations over the past month. So that is a number of factors.

[00:08:29] So, yeah, it's hard to know where the truth lies. I'm going to be very interested in how we defend this week against the West Tigers, to put it bluntly and to put it very obviously, because I feel like there might be a big shift this week defensively. And if there's not, then I think we can really start to, you know, sit and worry about stuff. I'm not saying you worry now that that's not relevant because it is.

[00:08:57] But I think Tigers are coming to town. It's an amazing test against us, even though they're missing a bunch of players. They're going to be all energy and all gusto. And if we can sort of hold our own there, it'll look a bit differently, I think. And there's a bunch more letters we could get to, which, believe it or not, is about defense. So we thank Lisa for that. She's an awesome listener of ours, and we really appreciate her words.

[00:09:24] Stephen says, our discipline and ball handling is very ordinary. It's been an ongoing issue for years. The defense seems slow. We can't wrap up the ball. Our attack seems slow. Now, there's a point here which I want to come back to. And he says, our attacking play in the attacking 20 is very ordinary. And he does explain things like crash plays, and he goes on to say a few things. But I want to come back to that. He also says, I understand the game has changed, but I'm sick of hearing it's too hard to wrestle back momentum once you've lost it.

[00:09:54] I'm just guessing that if we were more disciplined and didn't drop the ball as much, that would go a long way to halting the opposition's momentum. He then says a few more things which we'll get to. But on the attacking play in the attacking 20, very ordinary, I'm pretty sure if I look at my numbers that we have the best try scoring ratio inside the opposition 20.

[00:10:21] And to simplify that, it means we need the least amount of tackles to score a try compared to all the teams in the comp at the moment. So put us in their zone, we like to score. So I just question that a little bit, Stephen. But you do explain that you're not happy with crash plays and that kind of thing well. So from the naked eye, it probably looks a bit like that.

[00:10:49] But if you're just talking us being in that opposition 20, we're actually pretty good at the moment. But anyway, he says the season is over for us, given what I've seen so far. It's not an individual player issue with the entire squad and coaching staff. It seems they don't have the desire or will to win. Maybe it's a we'll wait and see, a wait for it to happen attitude rather than let's make it happen. I hope we can turn it around.

[00:11:18] On the Cowboys game, I can't remember a worst defensive effort in recent memory. Very disappointing and hard to watch. That's Stephen. He's very disappointed and I get it. The year's not over. Sorry to tell you that. We're only getting to round nine. We need to improve on everything that you've said. I'm interested in this, Josh. So I don't believe it to be true what he says about they don't have a desire or will to win.

[00:11:44] But the we'll just wait for it to happen attitude versus the let's make it happen attitude. That's quite fascinating. Yeah, it is. I mean, again, it's a tricky one because you look at the performance as a whole and you say, disappointing, not good enough. But we did fight back and we did come back within two points. And the game was there for the taking when we tried to drop the ball pretty much going to score under the sticks.

[00:12:11] And I'm not saying we're going to win the game, but that is a massive turning point because I think they go down not very long after and they go bang, bang. And then the game's over. And who's to say that we wouldn't have done that because we were actually starting to play some really good open footy, like a good brand of football as well. And it was coming with ease. And then it just, it's like that momentum thing that he's kind of spoke about where he's not sure he believes in the losing momentum and how to get it back.

[00:12:41] I do disagree with that a little bit. If you look at the games across the season and even this round, like the round that just passed, nearly every game besides probably two of them are blowouts. Do you know what I mean? Like when teams are just getting on top and just powering through the middle and getting repeat sets, like the Tigers win by 19 points. Broncos win by 20. Roosters win by 46. The Souths win by 42 and so on. Like every game.

[00:13:10] Once good teams get on roll, it is hard to stop. Like I'm, I was kind of with him, like the ebb and flow of the game was still in a good space. I don't think it is. And that's not to discredit what everyone's saying about it. So we are playing poorly. We are struggling. We need to do better. But the game, I think the game as a whole is struggling with trying to keep even contests. And we are the worst at that at the moment. And that's why we're struggling to win games.

[00:13:37] However, still staying in them because I think we are still a good side in there. We are still almost, still, we're nearly there on being able to be competitive week in, week out. But the rules, I think, are a factor in this season across the board. And I can't stop thinking about that. I don't know, does that sound like an excuse? I'm not sure. No, no, it's a reason, not an excuse.

[00:14:00] I guess when I say Stephen's quote, we'll just wait for it to happen rather than let's make it happen. That goes back to what we've talked about, about someone grabbing the game by the horns. And because when we're down by two, and yeah, I take your point, there was a drop ball that could have gotten us across the line, so to speak. But I still don't see guys putting their hands up to be the hero in the game when the game's on the line.

[00:14:29] Now, I don't know if that's what Stephen's talking about, but that's what I see when he says that quote. I think that's what he means. Yeah, not to put words in his mouth. But I do think we've never been a team like that and have been successful not needing to have a guy like that. Now, in the big moments in a prelim, in a grand final, sure, you absolutely need that. But we're a team that is balanced quite across the board in terms of effort and who puts in and who gets us across the line. It's never always just Nico. It's never always just Trindle. And I thought we saw that in the comeback.

[00:15:00] Like, Nico had a couple of good tries, a couple of good runs. Iro, despite I thought defense level was awful, was still in position to create and to finish chances. And we saw that with Kennedy was, had a few good moments. Teleki scored two great tries. Yeah, I don't disagree. I don't disagree. I just think maybe when they got ahead for the last time, someone just, I know it's like putting someone on the spot.

[00:15:27] But I think you need someone like that to do it. And I don't, I'm at a loss as to who that is. And it's, I think it's what, for me, it's the thing that when the knock on Nico, when we were losing finals and he had three try assists and we were scoring 20, 30 points. 34 points is enough to win a game. But I'm not saying it's him. I'm just saying someone. I'm saying someone. And you're right. Like, you know, 20 points should be enough to win a game. Like, as in conceding.

[00:15:56] But, and scoring 34 points should absolutely be enough. So I, I get all that. That's why this situation is so weird and complex. Michael, BigMig81, is a long time listener. An awesome dude. He wrote to us on the X and he said, what are your thoughts on Wilton, Teague Wilton? How many weeks do we give for him to get back to his good level from injury? I felt a little bit underwhelmed by him so far.

[00:16:28] And defensively, he seems to be off missing five or six tackles a game, not his usual standard. What are your thoughts on that, Josh? I don't really know what to make of Teague because I think he absolutely has to play. I think he's such a good player and such a good talent and leader in this team. But the stats don't lie as well. It's like they tell a pitcher that he is missing, you know, two, three, four, five tackles a game.

[00:16:54] Whether they are, you know, the real missed tackles that are leading to a try or if it's shooting out of the line. Like the fact is he is missing a lot. And his meters seem down. Like I know he, like when I watch him, I feel really comfortable with him there and I think he's playing well. And maybe it's because we're losing and we're all kind of negative at the moment that when I look at the stats and I maybe watch the game later, I'm like, maybe it's not as effective as it feels at the time.

[00:17:22] But I don't feel like he's like he's an issue at all at the same time. I don't think he's any part of the problem really. I don't, you never feel like, oh, it's like Teague's just let in a, you know, maybe he did on the week and I'm forgetting. But I've never really feel like he's a linchpin of the, of the defense like falling apart. Yeah.

[00:17:41] The only thing I'd say on that is aside from any kind of blatant one-on-one misses from our outside backs, I know that even with last week, everyone is down on our outside backs defensively. But I've got to confirm from so many different rugby league experts.

[00:18:02] So I mean that genuinely, I'm not saying that in a smart aleck way, that it starts, it starts earlier in the field. It starts to your right or to your left in the field. It's not just the center missing. It's not just the winger running out. Like it's, it's not even sometimes just the half. It can start with an edge forward. It could start early in that. It could start in the middle.

[00:18:27] But I'm just saying in this instance, I feel like both of our edge back rowers, I'll say Burns and Teague because they played the majority of it. They have been found, I think, out a little bit communication wise, I'll say. Like they can both tackle. I think that for me is the only kind of thing I would question about Teague at this point. I'm with you. I think he's in my team and I like what he does.

[00:18:57] I love the attitude. I've said that a million times. But I do think he needs to lift a little bit, particularly just sometimes with that defense and the communication and the timing because it can lead to a domino effect. And that goes for both sides. Yeah. And look, at the end of the day, it's only speculation. We're not out there in the field hearing the calls and who's trusting who and who isn't. But it does look like that.

[00:19:27] I'm more looking at, for the left edge particularly, I'm seeing a lot of things in Tricky's defense that I'm not liking. It seems like he's very much of a mind. And so correct me if I'm wrong. Is he next to Teague? Yep. Yeah, because Bill is with Nico slash Nicola. There you go.

[00:19:44] But it just seems like sometimes it looks like, and look, again, I'm not out there, but it feels like Tricky's defending in his own world sometimes where it's like he's just shooting out willy-nilly or he's jamming in or he's sliding out too far. Like it seems like there's a lot of him on his own just thinking he's just going to try and shut things down without communicating with the rest of his edge. And I could be completely wrong just how it feels to me.

[00:20:11] So that could work two ways in relation to the Teague conversation. It could be leading to Teague doing things he wouldn't normally do. Or, to be fair to Trindle, it could be because of Teague. We're not sure. Of course. And also, I think, look, the middle has to take a massive accountability for some of the try, like the two dummy half tries, right? Like straight to the middle. Yeah, yeah. Like AFB just standing behind the play of the ball. Where, like, that try just doesn't happen if he gets back into position. Yeah, there's no... Is he too tired? Is he not?

[00:20:41] Is he on the field for too long? Like these are all things like they all... Yeah, there's no... When it comes to defense, there's no real strong points. No. I will say, though, and we forget about it. No, it's just a little thing we need to think about is that... That sort of 15-20 minute period second half against the Roosters where they really did hold their own until it was too much. So they can do it. But let's see what Brock says. As Brock says Fitzgibbon was saying it's an attitude issue.

[00:21:10] He's going to fix it. But Brock thinks it's a structural problem as well. The game's gotten faster. No need for the bigger players. We need faster players and smaller guys coming off the bench rather than four big boppers. And I have to say my whole routine about four big boppers is out the window this year because of the way the game's played. Just as a spoiler, as an asterisk next to my name, that's for sure. The Sharks need to tap some players on the shoulder.

[00:21:39] Now, he wants to bring in some X-Factors. And he's talking big dude. He's talking Herbie Farnworth. He's talking those sort of people who we love. But I don't know how realistic it is. But he is also on that mindset that the game is just moving on without us. He said he's hoping the team can turn it around and go on a bit of a streak. And then that will sort of put all the doubters at bay. And he says up, up. So that's from Brock.

[00:22:08] We appreciate that, Brock, very much. There's a bit more like that coming. So we'll keep moving on. Thanks to the pod and all you do. Love hearing the opinions from the guys on the pod. Always gives me food for thoughts. We thank you for that, Sharky Pete. He said, having said that, I'm pretty sure I know what's happening right now with the club. I suspect there's some kind of alien involvement in an invasion of the body snatchers kind of thing.

[00:22:38] I suspect that us and the Tigers have been transplanted on each other's bodies, with the Tigers now being one of the best attacking teams in the comp, having a back five to do the hard carries and kick returns. Halves are taking in turns. They have great games and world beating forwards, including a skillful running hooker. We, on the other hand, have now locked in the Tigers' tradition of ninth on the ladder and look like missing out on finals football.

[00:23:01] My only hope is that when we see each other face-to-face next weekend, the whole unholy body swap will collapse and things will return to normal. I'm off to get a new tinfoil hat to protect myself at the game on Sunday. Up, up, Sharky Pete. That's almost in your category of, you know, TV and film there, Josh. Yeah, it is. It is. Have I met Sharky Pete? I'm not sure if we've met him or not. He sounds like a character, that's for sure. We might have.

[00:23:31] We definitely, I don't think I've met Noah because it's his first time writing in, but a long-time listener. So we give Noah a shout out. We love first-time listeners. Sorry, we love long-time listeners, first-time callers. Thank you very much. He says the Sharks have potential, they have experience, and they're good enough. Why can't they be a team that strings together a bunch of wins?

[00:23:55] He thinks a clean-out is needed because the team this week that they've named is frightening. Speed is the answer. The time for now is change. How much worse can they go? So he's suggesting Riley Pollard, Hojepa Puru off the bench when the forwards are tired, rather than two big, slower props.

[00:24:24] He also questions some decisions this week about Colquhoun and Burns, which we might get to later on. He then says, build the roster with you younger guys like Pollard, Gabriel, potentially even Felix Vartili. This is, I think, down the stretch. Still looking for an X-factor, either center or forward. So he's doing a bit of purchasing. Also says, I'm not sure if I want to go to the game or not.

[00:24:52] I've got tickets, but I don't want to waste my time if it's to watch them lose. I've had enough of them losing, especially home games. We've won two out of three at home, to be fair, Noah. I think that's a bit harsh. And if you've got tickets, I would go because it's going to be an awesome game. On your earlier point about the clean out, when you say how much worse can they go, here's the thing. We're four points off leading the comp.

[00:25:19] So I'm pretty sure the coaching staff and the players have not given up on the year. But it's needed to turn it around, and it starts this Sunday against the West Tigers. I take your point. You're very disappointed. But I really don't think that they're playing for next year at the moment, no matter what you think about that. He does say, this week it's a win or goodbye to 2026. We have two more difficult games to follow. I hope the coach knows what he's doing and prove us. Doubt is wrong. Good luck, Sharks.

[00:25:49] Hopefully we can all be singing after the game. So he's still got some hope and some love in his heart. But he's looking for change, Brock. Noah. Sorry. Noah. I'm getting so confused. We're awesome listeners. Josh, you are more on the negative side than positive side sometimes compared to me, although not compared to Clinton Maynard. But even you can see that the season is very much alive.

[00:26:16] Like you said, I mean, we're four points off first or equal second. You know, like, sure, if we lose three more in a row, I would be excited to ring the alarm bells. But just the way the season is, like I've said, like it's so up and down at the moment. Teams are losing games they shouldn't or winning games they shouldn't.

[00:26:36] You know, it doesn't take – like the consistency this year is going to be so crucial for teams because you better shoot up or down very quickly until round 20, you know, round 15, round 20. When teams settle after Origin. But like I said, if we win two in a row, like we're back in the A and we're fit and foreign and Jesse Ramian's back and all the – like all of a sudden things are pretty good. So it's – but we do have to win pretty soon. Yeah. And just on the whole, there's hard games coming up.

[00:27:05] It's like we're just doing one game at a time here, Noah. Like I can't be worried about South next week. I'm worried about West Tigers this week. I'm putting everything I have to win this week against West Tigers. That's it. Like we're not doing that whole block thing like we have in the past. It's just – it's too hard. It's too – the competition is way too open to go, here's a four block window. We're going to win three out of four. It's not suggesting they won't aim to win those games, but it's one week at a time, right? Yeah.

[00:27:35] I mean this year every game is hard. You know, like every team this year, like honestly besides the Dragons, you could be like, oh, I completely understand why that's hard. I mean beat this team. But even when you get to the Dragons, when you get to the Dragons, it's going to be hard because you don't want to be the team that loses to them. So there's always – there's going to be something. And you're right. Melbourne losing six in a row is really weird. Thanks, Noah. John says, I've become a new listener. I'm really enjoying the podcast. How good is this, Josh? You know, we're branching out even more, which is great.

[00:28:06] I was listening to the post-game show after the Cowboys lost, listening to all the callers' opinions and ideas where we've gone wrong. It got me thinking that the Sharks' problem this year is the same as the Storm. With the off-season rules, we haven't been able to adapt. The back five, taking the hit-ups, et cetera. Like a few teams this year, we've been caught with our pants down. So that's from John. We appreciate you, John. Thank you very much. Keep listening. John just taken two of my notes that I had written down. So well done.

[00:28:36] Do you want to elaborate on those? I just think like the changes mid-preseason have killed some clubs that have built their side around the way the rules were presented for the last few years. And so I think like as much as we haven't adapted, for the NRL to just mass change, unless they mass change, you know, like they made some pretty critical changes to the rules and how the game is going to be played.

[00:29:00] And we've seen teams who have struggled for years now, all of a sudden have benefited from these changes. And we're seeing sides like Cronulla and Melbourne and Canberra, all these sides who have big forward packs and relied on set plays and set resets and what is it? Like game resets, like with slowing the game down. All those teams are now getting crunched. And we're seeing teams like the Tigers and the Warriors and South who play fast, have a lot of forward pack. They're all benefiting from that.

[00:29:31] So as much as it's easy to say like, oh, the club's done this and that and we've built the wrong side. We built the side for how the rules were and we've been shafted halfway through a preseason. And again, it's not an excuse for how they're playing, but it is a massive reason in my opinion. Yeah, I agree. I agree. I think it's very well put. I agree. Jay 4, another new listener. Huge fan of your podcast. I listen to every single one I discovered you earlier this year. So thanks, Jay 4.

[00:29:59] Jay 4 is a bit of a Newtown Jets expert and he gave us a New South Wales Cup report. Now, I did watch this game live and fascinating for a Sharks fan. When I say live, I mean on subscription TV. Jay 4 confirmed that Katoa left the field early in the second half and we've since found out there's an ankle situation there and he'll be missing for, I would say, some weeks. It's not going to be a month, I don't think, but Katoa will be out for some weeks.

[00:30:30] Isten did play for 40 minutes as we, I believe, broke the news last week. Didn't play too bad at all, he said. Made a great line break. Taj Ford will be hard done by when Liam Isten starts playing 80 minutes because he was brilliant in the second half and he was. So both our fullbacks, both halves were just dynamite. Hoheppo Puru absolutely killed it, played the full 80, had his hands on the ball a great amount of time. The Sharks have lacked a ball-playing lock for a long time.

[00:31:00] Colhoun is shaping up well, but Puru is currently on that aspect alone at another level. So thanks, J4. I really appreciate your insight into the Jets. And yeah, having watched the game myself, all that is accurate and more. And yeah, Hoheppo Puru is, he's too good for New South Wales Cup. He's got to play, man. He's got to play. Yeah. I assume it'll be off our bench.

[00:31:29] But I also sort of think, I don't know, I can't know what his contract situation is, but I feel like someone will grab him at some point. Oh, definitely. Yeah. And it's almost like, I don't know if it's a good comparison. I'm not talking player-wise, I'm talking impact-wise. I look at Sasagi at Canberra, just a guy that we didn't really predict would have this breakout year. Yeah. Give him some time, and he's like their key figure.

[00:31:59] I'm not saying that Hoheppo's going to do that for us, but Hoheppo is just really handy with the ball. I've compared him to Captain America in years gone by in 2016. He's just that good body, but silky enough hands to play. Back row could possibly play as a 5'8 or something if you want. He's a bigger body than that. But yeah, interesting. Like he definitely wouldn't be out of place coming off the bench. And everyone's talking about it.

[00:32:26] There's more to come, I think, about the smaller size of guys. So maybe it's a next year thing. I don't know. But at some point, if he keeps this form up, he's going to push his way in, I feel. Oh, I think he will be in sooner than later. I think there's going to come to a point where it's like, we cannot carry these three big dudes and have no lateral movement and have no ruck speed, no quick play of the ball. Like I'm envisioning like Jesse Colquhoun almost playing prop,

[00:32:56] starting at prop with McKinnis starting and then Hojepa. I'd even have all three of them on the field at the same time just to see what it feels like. Just to see like, is the defense going to hold up? Sure, Jesse and Blake and Cam can lock down that middle. Let Hojepa just sneak around the ruck. Let him like get in that ball playing, like get Nico and Tricky one pass wider. Or you start with Jesse and Cam and then he's a straight spot for one of them. And then you bring one big guy on to replace that and Phil Blake.

[00:33:25] It feels more balanced, but it could also be an absolute train wreck as well. So I think it's worth 25 minutes to see what it looks like. We need some assurances from the NRL that this is what's going to stick. Because what if we say goodbye to all the big guys and then it doesn't stick? Like it's a crazy situation. Like can't you see at some point the backlash where,

[00:33:52] I mean, I don't know who the big hitter in the media is these days, but, you know, whoever it is, maybe it's Dave Ricky. I don't know. But someone just says enough is enough and goes to town on this story. And the NRL kind of, we've looked at the death of the big guy. And then, and then the reason that he's alive, he's back because yeah. Yeah. We need some assurances before we let go of some of these guys, you know, anyway,

[00:34:22] Steven says, and there's a bunch of Stevens here. So respect to all of Steven. Steven says, Oh man, to make the top four, you can likely only afford to lose eight games. We've lost, we've lost four in the first eight rounds and had a bye. This year is gone for a top four finish. And that means the year is gone for the comp. Best case is prelim from the bottom half of the top eight. I'm just resetting my expectations here. Love the pod. So we appreciate the love for the pod. Appreciate your input.

[00:34:52] I don't think the season's gone. I don't think top four is gone because as I said to Josh, which we're four points off being equal leaders in first. Now there's only so long you can keep saying that as the weeks go on, I admit, but as we've said already, if you win one, two, three games in a row, you, you're pretty much winning the comp. So as in like, sorry, leading the comp, so I'm not a fan of writing off the season. Look at Manly, look at the foz, like absolutely. Look at Manly.

[00:35:23] Yeah. They were like second last when they sacked Seabold, they've won four straight and they're six coming into, like, if they win another one, they're equal second, you know, and rising. And it is that we're, we are six points away off first. We're on eight and camera through on 14, but I mean, they're like, I'm sorry, don't count them. Like there, it's almost. Maybe that's what I was looking at. Maybe. I apologize for that error. We can't edit that out. We can, we're not going to, because a, it would be false. And B,

[00:35:52] I don't want to do that. But thanks, Steven. Appreciate that. Now stats. Our man in Perth, uh, read a whole bunch of stuff to me, but this is what we're going to take away from. Talakai must be first off the bench for a minimum of 30 minutes, a match when he's back in the forwards. Now he's mobile. He's not huge. He fits into the new version of rugby league,

[00:36:20] the three D three year deal over in Perth. Uh, but what do we think about that idea from stats? Uh, the more, the more sift for the better. So, right. Exactly. I mean, we saw on the weekend, how much did we miss that? 190 meters from a back, from an outside guys, get out of here. And I mean, look, that was one of my other points just quickly. It was like all of our outside backs are doing so much work that maybe they are gassed by the time they're defending their line and they're

[00:36:47] getting all these shapes thrown at them and they're all running for 170 meters because the forwards aren't doing it. That theory is around. Believe me. And it's, you can't sort of dispute that, or at least we can't prove it not to be true because they are doing a lot to be fair. And, but just on, on the point of Siffer though, it's like, yeah, I mean, you run a bench of Siffer, Kofusi, Hojepa, and then take your pick of whoever else.

[00:37:16] Like Billy Burns. There you go. There's another mobile guy we can put in the middle. Like that already like seems more energetic and inspiring than, you know, yeah, just three big dudes who like, they're all going to do a job and we love them all and all that. But it's like, we need to just, I think this is the time where it's still early enough in the season just to see if it works. It might not, but it might be exciting as well. It's like, okay, Hojepa is coming on. We're bent down by two tries and then we're going to bring Siffer on with him.

[00:37:46] And then we leave Cam with Jesse out there. All of a sudden you've got this mobility, ball playing, fast play of the balls, still good defensively. Like that's exciting to me. Chad says, I love Talakai in the centers. He's better than Jesse Ramian. And I do love Haradi, but if we had Katoa on the wing, I think we could have won that game against the Cowboys. So some regret there for Chad, but Katoa was dropped, which he was,

[00:38:15] but he's saying that Talakai is better than Jesse Ramian in the centers. That's such a tough one because with the ball in hand, you would say, yep, but without the ball in hand, you'd question that, I think. Yeah. It's, I wish we could somehow combine them into one player. If we could just meld Jesse's like pace and his lateral, movement with Siffa's destructiveness, I mean, it'd be the perfect center.

[00:38:43] You'd give him a million dollars. I love the fact that we have so many different opinions on these guys from so many different people. Like, I think it's cool. Like it's all just opinion. Like, yeah, no one is necessarily right. So we appreciate that Chad. Chris says, did you get NFL Melbourne tickets? I've been a 49ers fan for a long time. I couldn't miss the opportunity. You never know your luck, Sam, the Vikings might come another year. If they find the trip successful, the NFL,

[00:39:13] if there's any plane fuel left, and if it's, if they can afford to fly out here. So Chris getting political at the end of that. Well, I'm just kidding. But, um, I haven't got tickets yet because a bunch of reasons, but yeah, my team's not there. If my team was there, I would do anything. I'd probably borrow, borrow money off Josh to go. Uh, but I'm not, I'm not ruling it out. So hopefully just, you know, circumstances, life, et cetera, come my way. And I might find myself down in Melbourne for it.

[00:39:42] So not ruling it out, but I'm not organized at the moment for it, unfortunately. But yeah, super envious of, of the 49ers and the, who else is coming out? Remind me. No idea. Can't help you. Sorry. Is it the Rams? I think it's the Rams. So pretty envious of that. Um, but you know, good luck to you guys. Uh, it, it'll be a successful trip. It's the tickets are already like through the roof and they're very much

[00:40:12] making money off those tickets and the, uh, promotion will be through the roof. I've actually, you know, what's cool, Josh is, um, this will sort of appeal to anyone listening, no matter what sport they like. They're bringing out a bunch of different people within the game. to Melbourne specifically, which is unfortunate for everyone else outside of Melbourne, but to promote it throughout the year. So it's happening, I think in September, but this month, uh,

[00:40:40] there's a really high profile media personality called Scott Hanson, who does the, uh, I guess Sunday night, Monday morning here show red zone, which is just this amazing show. And he's on air for like five hours or might be longer. And just, they just show live as it's happening moments. And people just, it's amazing. It's the most amazing thing. Red zone. He's coming out to do sort of like a meet and greet talk thing. I think Joe Montana is coming out. One of the best quarterbacks ever. Yeah.

[00:41:10] Very expensive kind of dinner kind of thing, but they're doing all these things, building up to promote the game. So it's incredible. If you like that. So is this a real league game, Sam? Oh, it's a really game baby. First of the Vegas. It's a Vegas type thing. It's Vegas type thing. So it's the second game of the year. First round. I think the first game might be on a, Oh, I'd have to double check it. It's,

[00:41:39] it's either the first game of the year or the second game of the year of the first round. Look, it's, it's all eyes here. And I think it's a, it's something crazy. Like a Thursday or Friday morning. I think the kickoffs at like 10 a.m. or something to make sure everyone can see it overseas. But yeah, it's a real deal. Real deal. And I think the, one of the teams, I'm not sure if it was the 49ers or Rams was quoted as saying, we didn't have traveling halfway around the world to play in our first game on

[00:42:08] our bucket list. And it was like, Whoa, dude, that's not how you promote the game. Okay. Scott says, we're obviously a bigger team than most. We haven't looked fit enough and being conceding points at the back end of our halves. However, he brings up this situation and just hear us out, Josh. We've had three hot weather games. We've lost all three. The dolphins game at home was hot and humid.

[00:42:38] The roosters in Perth was very hot and Townsville was hot and muggy. With the hot weather games all but behind us. Now there's a chance we might see some consistency at the back end of the halves instead of the drop off around the 30th and 70th minute mark. The power game may become more prevalent. Fingers crossed. So Scott's kind of saying it's environment induced as much as PBL inspired.

[00:43:08] Any thoughts on that? Yeah. Some people may poo poo that, but I am absolutely on board with those type of things. Like I think that absolutely plays a factor and it's like you can be as fit as you want, but when it's, when it's hot and it's humid, it, it drains you. I don't care like how much professional you are. Like everyone gets tired. It's human nature. Like I'm tired. Yeah. I'm tired. Just sitting on my bum doing nothing. And these guys are in, you know, 25 degree,

[00:43:37] a hundred percent humidity getting smashed running up and down. Like it does affect you. And I think we've, you know, we've seen coaches say that before, like when they have three or four games in a row and they're short weeks and they're in the, in the heat or travel and all that, it all catches up with you eventually. So I actually absolutely subscribe to that. I'm hoping that if we can get a nice cool Sunday afternoon, that might just be what the doctor ordered to just help. It might be 5% that is the difference, but that could be enough to win a game.

[00:44:07] All right. That's from Scott. Thank you. Brent has been in touch. He says, the more I watch this team, the more disappointed they make me. What is it with this team? We need smaller bodies fresh off the bench to run through the middle. Some more of that, which is very constant in this mailbag. He thinks Riley Pollard will be great for that coming off the bench. We need change, not just dropping Katoa for Haradi. I would play Carl Hoon up front with AFB and Hoheppa at lock. So that's some pretty good stuff from Brent. I don't mind that at all.

[00:44:37] The Pollard thing, I'm finding it interesting because I never would have thought he would be a guy off the bench because he's sort of a traditional kind of halfback, but I don't dislike it. I just not what I envisioned for him. I know Trindle sort of had to go about his trade for, you know, 30 games or whatever it was off the bench. And we were all a bit sort of weirded out by that, but the game has changed to be fair. But yeah, I'm not sure about the Royal Pollard stuff, but

[00:45:08] Colquhoun to prop, I can live with that. Yeah. That doesn't worry me because like when you, if you're playing lock or if you're playing off the bench or front row, you, you're doing the same thing. You're running as hard as you can into the line and you're making your tackles. Like there's no difference if he's wearing 13 or 10 right now for this team, like maybe next year when there's some changes, like, yep, let's get him back there and kind of do that ball playing that he's been doing. But we can have the, we can have our cake and eat it too with this. Now with Cam back,

[00:45:37] and I thought he was really strong on the weekend actually like didn't get a huge amount of minutes, but I thought there was definitely a difference when he came on and I'd love to see a late change of Jesse into, into the starting pack and with Cam, I think that'd be great. Josh, what year approximately did you start supporting this great club? Well, I think I would say it's pretty safe in saying around 2002, 2001,

[00:46:07] 2002 when I was like, I'm a Sharks fan. Okay. So you missed, the great years of this gentleman, but I know you're aware of him. David sent a link to the Fox NRL face-to-face episode with Tawira Nikau, which was on this week. And it's awesome. If you haven't seen it, I think they make them available on YouTube. If you're not a subscriber to Foxtel, et cetera, or KO,

[00:46:36] I'm pretty sure they're on YouTube. I think they do. Yeah. So face-to-face is the episode. So the show's name, Jake Duke is the host and he interviews, usually it's Jake Duke. They, they sometimes you've on, but, but Tawira Nikau's on. So great shark from, I guess, the John Lang era. And then he left to go to Melbourne, won a comp there. He did a bunch in England, obviously New Zealand, but a whole bunch of things have happened to him post football,

[00:47:05] which I won't spoil. If you haven't seen it, most people know about it, but he's had a fascinating life and it's a really inspirational half hour show. There is some good shark stuff in there. It's not shark heavy, but the sharks year is covered a little bit. But yeah, thanks though for that. I had that one recorded and it was not something I wanted to miss. So Tawira Nikau on face-to-face. Steve says,

[00:47:35] 2026 so far has been a disgrace. If you or anyone else can see this current lineup, he's selected being a threat. You obviously have a tinfoil hat too tight. It's confusing your brain. The, the tinfoil hat stuff. It's popping up. Is it something to do with our show or something? What's going on? I don't know. We, is it, are our hats not good enough? We need a tinfoil hat on these. I guess every, every couple of weeks, a tinfoil. I know it's,

[00:48:06] it's a theme that the rugby league world has. I get it. I understand the notion of it, but that's twice. Anyway, not much more we can do this year without the, with the current slow players. However, we can try new things. I saw Liam Isen play 40 minutes for the jets and the kid is electric. There's the speed we need as a fullback. When he's not injured, Michael Gabriel is similar in the centers. Riley Pollard would add speed. From the bench.

[00:48:36] That's like the third or fourth person that mentioned that. Also mentions big, um, Tukuhai Tapu, who doesn't get much mention these days. We need speed. We need new, need new blood. We can only hope for a win this week. Uh, good luck up, up Cronulla. So Steve's still sort of hanging on, but he really wants some changes there. Look, the Liam Isen things are way too soon, uh, for a number of reasons. First of all, Will Kennedy rules. Uh, I know he's not the fastest man in the universe,

[00:49:05] but he rules and he's ruling right now. And Liam's played 40 minutes in like the last few years. So, uh, he's going to take it easy. The club's going to take it easy. He's slotted in to play for an, uh, for 80 minutes this week, the full game. I, I spoke to him again this week and he did sort of say, that's best case. He said, it could be 60 minutes. It still could be a half, but we're aiming for the whole game.

[00:49:35] And the way he said it to me made me really relaxed about the whole situation. Like they're not rushing a single thing. Steve here does want to rush him in and I respect that, but it's not going to happen. It's, I think if we'll get it, if we'll Kennedy was out in two weeks time and Iston played 40 minutes again this week, then 80 minutes next week, I still don't think they'd throw him in. I think they'd think it's too soon, which it probably would be. He needs to really have weekend, week out footy against grown men. And then you can do it.

[00:50:05] So that's from Steve. He's, he's not happy, but he's still holding out hope for a win this week. Somehow. Last bit of correspondence from our beautiful audience is from Lee. And this one's fascinating. You're going to love this, Josh. I did a quick analysis of the team's weights based on this week's team list. So all the NRL teams, he's been looking at how much they weigh.

[00:50:32] The headline is the sharks are the heaviest team in the comp one to 17. So from one to 17 out of all the teams, we're the heaviest. He said, but it's bench driven, not starting pack. Our bench 14 to 17 is the heaviest in the NRL by 25 kilograms. Our starting pack actually ranks 14th. Interestingly,

[00:51:01] the Tigers have the heaviest starting pack. Our backs are the sixth heaviest. So not even close to the heaviest team in the comp. It raises a couple of questions rather than answers. Is the size of our bench costing us mobility and repeat efforts, especially in defensive transitions and contributing to fades late in games? With the game potentially moving towards PVL ball 2.0,

[00:51:31] for example, speed collisions and reloading is Cam McInnis closer to the prototype middle than we think engine fitness leadership rather than raw size. Let's just give Lee a clap right here. Like that is sensational for starters. If only I had my little sounder thing here. Let me, what sound have I got for you? This one. Football. Sorry for the delay there,

[00:52:01] Lee, but I had to give you one of those. Fantastic research. Very well written. And we have the best podcast audience in the world. Out of all the podcasts in the world, we have the best audience. Lee, what do you think about that? So the bench is the heaviest. That's alarming. Yeah. I mean, it, I mean, it matches up with everything we've been saying and all the letters have been saying about too heavy, no lateral movement, no punch.

[00:52:27] Like you can be a Tom Hazleton and run for a hundred meters and he's by no means they've been bad, but you just look at some of the guys that are coming on for other teams and bringing energy and bringing spark and that rock speed and in behind the market. That's the difference I think this year. So how do you equate it to the title? I guess who he says has the heaviest starting pack, but I can tell you from like stats and that kind of thing, they have the most run meters. They have all,

[00:52:55] they tick all the boxes in attack and the second best defense as in the whole team. So if they've got the heaviest pack, I mean, their bench must be super light or something. Well, it's what it's Royce hunt. It's Alex say, Fath and Sione Farno. And usually they've got like that either. Um, Latu Fainu or Jock Madden. So it's maybe a little skewed there with like the, the utility guy.

[00:53:25] But I would also say is like their front row, as big as they are quite mobile. Terrell May is a pretty big mobile dude that offloads and plays massive minutes for no pole. That's true. That's true. He plays 80 minutes. Like he's such a good player. Like, yeah. And they're young and they're energetic and like their, their team is feeding off that, I guess. Like, and. But see now you, now we're getting away from the subject, which is fine, but you're saying they're young and energetic. That's got nothing to do with weight and size.

[00:53:56] But the starting pack is not what he was kind of referring to as the bench. No, no. But I'm just saying like, maybe it's just not the fact that the sharks are the heaviest team or whatever, or too big. Oh, now we're talking about energy and youth. But those are all factors. Like it's not just one thing, right? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Hazleton doesn't like scream energy and like, um, enthusiasm. Does he like comes on and does it like an honest day's work? Whereas like, to be like,

[00:54:25] Royce Hunt's coming on and changing games and scoring 40 meter tries. And, you know, the Alex Safar is, it like does a really good job and he's like, he's tall, but he's, he's quite nimble. That's the only phone who like all those fanos are like terrific footballers. Like they all bring leg speed and like a difference, the difference makers where it's like, we're bringing on Britain Nikara after 60 minutes to try and slot into a back row spot.

[00:54:53] And then Billy Burns has played 60 minutes on an edge is now going into the middle. And Ken McKinnis has played one game in nine months. And yeah, you know, it's like, it's just there. And then Kofusi is like playing pretty well actually this year, but like, is he a difference maker? Not really. And then ULE's like, hasn't played a game. Who else have we got on there? Like, you know what I mean? It's just, it doesn't really, there's not like, Oh, thank God he's coming on. Like we have that in SIFR, I think. And that's probably like it.

[00:55:24] So our mailbags pretty much nailed in theory, the idea that the change is needed and what the changes should be, whether you and I agree or disagree or whatever, like that's what they're screaming out for. Yeah. And that's him. So great. Interesting. Interesting. Thanks Lee for that. That was awesome. Now, Josh, before we go a few things, I want to say, uh, if you haven't got a ticket for West Tigers game, you should grab one. Cause it's on the way to being sold out.

[00:55:53] I got that officially from our CEO, Dino, who I saw this morning to name drop. And, uh, you don't want to be get there on Sunday and have the game of the week be not available to you. If you want to get in to get a ticket now, if you want to go, it's going to be awesome. Win, lose, or draw. Hopefully we win. Uh, it's going to be a spectacle. That's for sure. Uh, I also want to give some love to our own podcast, Josh. What about this?

[00:56:23] The million podcast.com have been in touch. They, you know, there's a lot of companies out there who sort of judge podcasts and do, do polls and lists and that kind of stuff. They've done a rugby league podcast, um, best 80 podcasts. Not sure how they came up with 80, but there's certainly enough out there to come up with the whole bunch. Uh, number one, we have rugby league guru podcast. So well done to them. Uh, number two is SEN league. Our friends over there. Number three, triple M rocks. Number four,

[00:56:52] Andy Raymond is a good fella. Great interviews. Number five, triple M again, the catch up show. Number six, Gus Gould. Seven, this week in league, uh, eight, the fifth and last nine, the buy round. Very well respected. James Graham. Number 10. Hey, the shark cast. Let's see. It's just shark cast on here. Thankfully. Uh, so we made it to number 10 and there's lots of other great ones that follow us,

[00:57:21] but we do thank the million podcasts company for giving us a bit of a shout out there. And they, they sent that to us. So we really appreciate that. That's kind of cool. What do you think about that? Josh, you're part of this. Yeah. Well, it didn't make the top eight, unfortunately. So we're missing finals of the podcast. Well, 10 of 80, that's, that makes the final surely. Eastern conference. Um, it's almost a home game. Yeah. You didn't, um, you haven't mentioned that yet. That's really exciting.

[00:57:51] Congratulations to you. Most of all. Yeah. It's nice. It's nice. It's very nice. Anyway. Uh, so Josh, we may not hear from you again. Ever. No, just kidding. Uh, and before kickoff. So, uh, just tell us what's going to happen before we let you go. Oh man. I, I do think we're going to win. I don't know if that's just like the desperation or the,

[00:58:21] the, you know, just trying to rally something in me. I do think we're going to win. I think the bullet out and, and appy out really helps. Peace. Peace. Paul as well. Peace. Paul. It's been really good this year. but they're still going to be tough. Like I wouldn't not be surprised if we lost just because of how the momentum is with the Tigers and how well they're playing. But I've just, I've got to believe that after all the crap that's been thrown around for the last few weeks and how poorly they played,

[00:58:48] play that they're going to be able to come together and pull something out. We'll, we'll wait and see. I, I, I am confident though. Like all, all that being said, I am confident at back at home. Hopefully it's nice weather, big crowd. Well, all 12,000 of us will be there. Um, I hope nothing, you know, things are going to get taken away. If we do win, it's going to be, you did it without Buller and appy and KPP. If you lose, it's going to be the other way as well. So at this point, I don't really care.

[00:59:17] I just want the two points. Let's just settle things down and get back in the eight and we'll go from there. Yeah. When we win, we can't complain about what people say because we've been really off for most of the year. There's no denying that we're three and four and the four hasn't been real pretty. So I've got no problem with someone saying you only beat them because of whatever I can live with. I'll get to sleep at night. That's fine. But, uh, I, the 12, 13,000 people that will be there, there's going to be some, uh,

[00:59:47] orange and black there. Oh yeah. The heck their colors are like they, they travel. They'll be loud. So we need our people to be loud. And yeah, it's going to be a real contest because they're every, they tick every box this year, which actually surprises me because I hadn't really done a deep dive on them until now. There's no reason why I would really, I've seen every game. They've been super impressive, even in their losses,

[01:00:13] but they legitimately are at the top of most categories of numbers, at least both with and without the ball, like without the ball, they defend really, really well. So Benji's got them humming. The trick for them is, and it's none of our business, but the trick for them is they got to do it all year round. And that doesn't concern us. We're just worried about this week, but, but they're, they're legit. Like they're real. I don't know if they're the real deal as far as like grand final,

[01:00:40] but they're easily the form team. Yeah. Easily. Like, and so you said today about us. So, so I want you to say what you're going to say, because I spoke to, I will say an unnamed journalist. Who's a friend of mine just before. And he said the same thing. He said, Hey, did you hear what Benji said about shark about ocean protect stadium? Is that what you're referring to? Yes. Yeah.

[01:01:09] So can you give me some sort of quote? Cause he didn't give you have the exact quote, but can you, it was only a small thing, but it was in the Jerome little sort of thing. And they're like, yes, you know, he's got his backup against the wall bench. He, I feel like the, the better they're going, the snarkier he's gotten in his press conferences. Um, but with that being said, he, he was basically trying to like, I'd love to talk some footy right now. And he's like, we've got to go to shark park on the weekend. What are the hardest places to go in the world? And like a serious footy team and all this stuff. And I was like, man,

[01:01:40] when was the last time you came here, Benji? Cause it's not the hardest place in the world to come to, but yeah. His word. Yeah. The, the, the quote I heard was the hardest place on earth or something, but yes. Yes. So it's good to know that people still feel that way. I guess if you only come here once a year and you don't have it, like we've beaten them a whole bunch of times. We'll go through it in the preview on a couple of days time, but like the record at home in recent times is really good. So when, when Benji was playing,

[01:02:07] they owned us and we know that famous year that he went nuts anyway, but we couldn't buy a win against those guys for a long time. So, but now he's right. Like we've owned them for a while now, aside from if you'd like our games, of course, but yeah, we'll, we'll try and find the quote and play it for everyone. If, if we can't, you'll, you'll see it probably somewhere else, but Benji Marshall fearing ocean protect stadium. How are you glad we're not going to like heart this year,

[01:02:37] but I think that's like a black hole of anyone going in there this year is not winning, man. That's what we need to get back to, man. It's hard because of the limited capacity. It's hard because of just the structure of the place and everything, but we need to get back to that. And, and to be fair, and I said this to the boss this morning, I said, you know what? But when we start playing better, it'll be sold out on the Monday rather than the Wednesday, Thursday, et cetera. So just got to get some wins together.

[01:03:08] Josh, thanks for your time, brother. Really appreciate it. I know you know that, but I wanted to publicly declare it and we'll see you down at the footy. It's going to be a fun one. If people can get a ticket, please get one because it's going to be a great atmosphere. Don't leave it too late because it will sell out. It's on the way to selling out. In fact, so you want to grab your ticket now when you hear or see this and Josh, we'll talk to you soon enough. My friend and everyone else, we appreciate all your support, all your love. Follow us on the socials,

[01:03:38] do all that sort of stuff. You know, the plugs, we're not going to do it right now. Up up Cronulla. We love you. We love the sharks up up. Let's beat the tigers. 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 Karimbar 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,

[01:04:06] 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. Sharkies! Sharkies!

[01:04:25] Back in the shire. Turn your porch lights off because we're coming over the...