Local Derby Flagship Episode with Nathan Brookes (SEN Radio/Agenda Setters TV/League Life Podcast)

[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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[00:01:10] Real SharkCast where we don't just go, how good was KL era? Haradi shouldn't be going to the Titans. Anyway, you play with the dogs, everyone's beat the dogs. You still got issues. You and your team, you both got issues. Particularly when you get to finals. Ain't that right boys? Anyway, yeah the derby, you've been talking about the derby.

[00:01:39] If you lose a derby, move to Perth. Oh that's right, Perth already have a team. Anyway, boys what are you going to say for yourself? Love you Sam. Alright, I thought that would have hammered you too like I just did. Anyway Shnaz, ever since the League Life podcast finished, you've been average mediocre. And I think it's because you're going solo.

[00:02:07] Anyway, it's 2am and I don't know why you responded in a text. Yeah, good bye. Goodbye. Nah, you guys actually played pretty good. Anyway, oi Jesse Ramian, legend. There he is. Hey there, welcome to SharkCast, a podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the world. The mighty Grinnell Sutherland Sharks. My name is Sam Shnazzi. This is Derby Week. One of my favorite weeks of the year, if not my favorite.

[00:02:36] And we are joined by another favorite of ours on TV. He's known as the lesser known couchman for those people listening on the audio side of things. It's Mr. Nathan Brooks. He's from SEN. He's from the Rugby League agenda setters. He's from all over the place. Thanks, Brooksy. How are you, my friend? Very good. Far out. That was interesting listening back to what was, I feel, Sunday morning, 2.05am at the Star in Brisbane during Magic Round.

[00:03:05] That must have been... Or better than that. That must have been another night, Brooksy, because this was Saturday morning after the Friday night game, Sharks-Bulldogs. There you go. I don't even know what day it was of Magic Round. The whole three days merged into one. Yeah, no, that's right. Yeah. Couldn't it be back? How many of these have we done, Shnaz, for the Derby? Not League Life Inclusive. Yeah. Oh, maybe one each year almost. Yeah. There's a good chance. Maybe two.

[00:03:35] I always want to do three, but you guys never make the finals, which is ironic because you're listening to me in that video about the finals. Yeah, I know. Anyway, let's talk about your TV show, Rugby League Agenda Set. Yes. The agenda set is 7.30 every Monday night on 7 May, and you can catch it. It sort of moves around on the 7, the mainstay, the flagship station. Yeah.

[00:04:02] But started this year, the AFL version started last year, and Channel 7 decided to do a rugby league version. They've got the Rugby League World Cup this year. They've got the rights to that. So they put the hands of the show in mind, yours truly, to run the show as one of the producers that oversees the show. And we have a great lineup. We've got Luke Keery.

[00:04:30] We've got David Riccio, friend of the show here at the SharkCast. Former Sharky Aaron Woods and Corey Parker. So the four of them, each Monday night, we go through all the big stories from the weekend. More what's going to be, you know, like we don't really go and review the games as such. But we talk about the stuff that people, water cooler, talking about during the Monday, Monday night. What's newsy?

[00:05:00] And what's going to be making news for the rest of the week? What are we going to be talking about leading into the round? So we've got some little segments that are a bit of fun, like the stocks where Luke and Woodsy will buy, hold and sell things from the weekend. We, Cos will have his call on some topic in rugby league and really delve into some of the big talking points. And it's great because you've got the analytic side of Luke. You've got the looseness of Woodsy. Corey's so passionate.

[00:05:28] And Dave, one of the great journos in rugby league. So great mix. Our show, every Monday, I suggest you check it out. You can go on 7 Plus, the app, and go through all the first, I want to say 13 shows, Shnaz, that we've done so far. Has it been 13? Yeah. We've had some good guests. We've had Craig Bellamy at the desk when we were in Melbourne. We had Laurie on the weekend. We've had Betty. We've had Tommy Dearden. We had Willie Peters, incoming P&G coach. Yeah.

[00:05:58] Oh, you guys are legit. So yeah, we've done some good chats so far. You're competing with 360, you're competing with 100% footy, and you're going well, man. I watch it every week. I usually record the Channel 7 version, which is around 9.30 most weeks. And I'll watch from about 9.45, 10 o'clock on demand, I mean. But yeah, I definitely recommend everyone to tune into it. It's awesome.

[00:06:23] I think the good thing about it, Shnaz, like regardless of the competition and ratings and whatnot, is that there's three decent rugby league shows on a Monday night that, and you've also got, you got Maddie and Cronk on Fox. Yeah. You've got NRL Tonight. You've got The Run Home from 5 to 6, which is sort of the first crack. Another show that I've got my paws on. But yeah, you've got plenty of rugby league content on a Monday now.

[00:06:51] And back when we were younger, what did we have? We had the newspaper. We had rugby league week. We had rugby league week with the ratings. So it has moved and, you know, the big rights deal coming up for 2028 in play at the moment. There'll be some, it's funny, look, the Channel 9 wanting to go solo with Stan. Stan's growing. Their version of KO. It's a ballsy move.

[00:07:20] And I don't think the current lineup is going to be the same for 2028 in terms of 9 having the three games and Fox having all of the others. I think there will be a change. I think Channel 7's involved. Amazon's involved. Like there's a fair few players this time around. Just on that Brooksie, and we are going to get to local derby in a second and sharks in front, so don't freak out. But just on, say for example, if Channel 9 got it, they'd get around that by saying

[00:07:49] we're free to air three games a week or whatever. And the other six games are on Stan, which is our subscription. And in reality, Channel 9 would own it all. That's cool. Yeah. That would be a big one. Nine Entertainment Group would own it all. Stan is theoretically your KO and your Fox Sports, right? Yeah. So that's where the move would be. And Nine can then have the free to air arm and also have the subscription arm. With the anti-siphoning laws, like that's pretty key, right?

[00:08:19] And they can provide both angles there and still have origin, still have finals, still have big games on free to air. So all Australians can access it. So yeah, it's an interesting one. From a radio point of view, do SEN have to do much at the moment? Like do you pitch things at the moment or do you wait? No, radio is different. Oh, it's different. No, radio is different. But like I think this is an interesting time, right?

[00:08:44] Because if it is like Nine sold off their radio arm to tap media. And so that's, you know, with Triple M and Channel 7 merging as well. SEN has a relationship with Channel 7 and Fox with the content that they're providing. So I think it's going to be an interesting one. And who knows, there could be, I think there was a rumor and it's just what I, you know,

[00:09:11] you see things on social media and we'll talk about one of them tonight because I wanted to get some clarity around something that was floating around today. We didn't do it on the run home. But oh, it's floating all right. And it's something we've floated about on multiple Derby podcasts. It's not true. It's not true. Anyway, well, I'm hearing Channel 7 sort of wanted a WA specific right so that they can broadcast all the Bears game on seven in Perth, which is something that, you know, the NFL,

[00:09:40] NBA, MLB, NHL, I'm just naming sports leagues right now, but they do it right. Like if you go for the Portland Trailblazers or the Carolina Hurricanes or the LA Dodgers, you've got your local rights. This is another way of making a lot of money. And that's the way the Dodgers sort of made the money to be able to get Shohei Attani. So that, I know it's a salary cap league and all that, but it's, that's something that no doubt Peter Volandis will be interested in.

[00:10:10] Andrew Abdo is leaving. So I'm guessing PVL is running everything. So he's got a, already got a relationship with seven with the racing. Um, I think, I think it's going to be, this is just, it's going to be an interesting situation. And to see whether who comes out on top and what sort of a realm we've got for, for a 19 team league in 2028 is PNG coming in. From a selfish point of view, I'd like Fox to obviously still have a lot to do with it.

[00:10:38] But from a PVL point of view, he must be just licking his lips going, look at all these companies lining up. Cause you do have your Amazons and your apples. Like they'd all be interested somewhat. Okay. Some might just sort of poke their nose and go, Oh, we'll have a look. But there's, there is genuine competition now. Yeah. He's going through so much chapstick. The amount of lick lipping is going on in PVL's office at the moment. On that note, let's get to the local Derby.

[00:11:04] It's going to be the 57th local Derby because the ones before the merger don't count 57. No, of course they don't. 57 since 99. Yeah. What's the, I'm guessing like, don't get me wrong because I feel like the last five times we've done this, you've said the Sharks have won all but one in a streak. It's like eight of nine, nine of 10, 10 of 11, 11 of 12. Oh yeah. We did get the last one. Yeah.

[00:11:30] And up until the Broncos win, that was our last win. We're aware. We're aware of what was coming up. Oh, we're aware. So Kramer. 10 of 11 now. 10 of 11. 10 of 11. There we go. So we ended the streak. Hayden Buchanan debut from memory at Coggera there. Okay. I'll take your word for it. Yeah. All right. But yes, you guys are now going for two games in a row. What a great joy that must be. How are you feeling after the game? It's always the one. Yeah.

[00:12:01] Ah, good. Good. I think it was, it was a nail biting finish for Dragons fans. I think. Yeah. There, I don't know. There's stages of different things. Right. And I don't know. I'm, I'm in, I'm in stage like 14, um, where you've seen every possible outcome. Yeah. You've seen every possible start the Dragons have had. Um, and most of them, they just haven't really been in the hunt.

[00:12:28] Um, I think the last one was sort of the storm game, uh, where they were leading at the 60th minute and then, yeah, just, just the, the, the, the, the been falling apart. They just haven't been able to play 80 minutes. Um, coaching change, obviously a big, um, talking point this year with the Dragons. Um, but I want to like, I'm pretty optimistic person and I'm, I like to look at the positives, but man, this young forward pack, it was great to watch on Sunday.

[00:12:56] And you can tell what Dean Young's done in terms of giving them a run and just, you know, not, not necessarily starting Laurie or Emre Gula or even Luciano Le Lua didn't get on the field. Um, and Jaden Sue has been out obviously, but yeah, how may sell a like all those guys that are somewhat, um, veterans in the forward pack didn't really contribute that much compared to what the couchman, Stuart Egan, Loco Pacific Tonga did.

[00:13:25] And he's, he's persisted with that forward pack since Anzac day, his first game. And I think that's what reaped the benefits. They were quick. They were, they were running, uh, they were own in the middle. It was great to watch. It was just, could they hold on? And they did at the end by winning by four points. There probably was another Broncos try in the offing there. Sure. I feel like Gajewski bombed a try, but yeah, it's great. It was great. It's a big relief. You could see the relief on the players at full time.

[00:13:54] It was great to see. And it's always good beating the Broncos that, you know, particularly for the St. George Dragons fans, it is still, as fans have that link and, um, yeah, it just, just good to win up at, um, Suncorp up at Lang Park and get the two points and sort of start this new era, whether it's Dean Young or not. This is a new era with these young guys. And that's, that's such a, such a key and, um, awesome situation for the season.

[00:14:21] They're our only win, but by God, it was good getting it up there against the premiers. We will talk about the team a little bit later on, but you've already highlighted your big plus and that's that forward pack, which he has picked. They're all young pups and they're going pretty good. Uh, I kind of do think it'll be Dean Young moving forward. I think that, um, who's the other, uh, who's the other chap from, is it South right now? Uh, Ben, Ben Orby.

[00:14:47] So untested somewhat at the top level, obviously there is, uh, who's the old paramedic coach? I've lost my names. Brad. Bradley Arthur. Brad Arthur. Um, and Matt, you know, he's, he's decent, but I don't know if I think I feel like if Dean Young can jag a few more wins, I feel like they're just going to give him a like two year deal and go, look, do your best. It's interesting with, cause of the recruitment the dragons have had over the past month or so.

[00:15:16] You know, you feel like, you feel like some of it has been, um, uh, the decisions have been made because of like Scott Drinkwater having played under Dean Young at the Cowboys. Yeah. Definitely. Or, you know, Dean Young chatting to Luke Metcalfe to, you know, ensure that he, you know, he'll be the seven going forward. Um, that, that's where it's sort of like, if it, if this is the case, you may as well

[00:15:41] make this, make, make the call, you know, we've just seen it this week with Kieran Foran. Albeit he's won seven of the nine games he's been in control of Manly and it was probably, they, they asked him to come coach. So he had all the leverage in the situation. Yeah. I think maybe they just picked a loss against you guys to make the job, um, his because they chipped off 200 grand. I don't know. Like, you know, you're only seven to nine, you know, it was eight, nine.

[00:16:09] And he'd probably be the richest coach in the NRL. And Scott Penn's like, Oh, he's got, I want him to be our coach for 20 years. It's like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. He's coached nine games and you want a 20 year deal. Um, yeah, it's, that's the, that's a sort of going to be a storyline for the dragons this year. If he doesn't, um, sign a deal during the regular season that who will be the edge in, in 2027.

[00:16:34] And you look at the, you look at the list only Todd Payton's the, um, coach currently that's off contract. Shane Flanagan's available, but, um, I doubt he'll be the coach. Um, but yeah, like there's, there's not that many options there. So it, you assume Craig Bellamy might be in his last year too. Um, Wayne Bennett's one, got one more, uh, year in his deal, probably unlikely to move from South or take another role.

[00:17:03] So it's a bit of a watch this space. Unfortunately, we just got to ride week to week, um, with who will be leading the side. And the impressive thing was too, Shnaz. So, um, no New South Wales cup team for the Broncos. Right. So Willie Talow was in Canberra with, uh, the New South Wales cup team. So Dean Young, I think had Tom Eisenhooth and Ben Cray, who's the head of football operations as his coaching staff.

[00:17:29] He had a, he had, you know, he had his, uh, blue shirt and yellow shirt, but like, I thought it was impressive. That was a sneaky, impressive thing with, um, Dean basically being the, the coaching staff there on Sunday. So might say a bit more about the Broncos rather than the dragons at the moment with them having lost four straight now. Yeah, of course. Of course. Now it is good though for the Derby because it means we know you guys are going to turn up. You're going to be hungry for another win.

[00:17:57] Uh, the sharks know they can't take you too lightly now, which is good from our point of view. And, uh, yeah, so you guys got us last year in round 23. It was a bit of a disruptor for us because we were traveling really well and we traveled well after that. Bit of a hiccup in the road, a bit 2016 ish. Brooksy that loss in, uh, at Cogra. So, um, yeah, I, I, I'm looking forward to the Derby. What's your vibe? And as far as Derby's go, there's a bit of, bit of feeling in this one, I think from

[00:18:25] the fans and yeah, for sure. I think you're right with that, that win, you know, the win that the dragons had has changed the dynamic of it. Imagine if, if the dragons hadn't won, you could say from a sharks perspective, they'd be like, let's thump them. But also to the God, we don't want this to be their first win. Absolutely. And it was the dragons last win, right? Like that was, it was a pretty big weight for the dragons where they re-signed Flanagan

[00:18:52] and got the win against Cronulla and then subsequently lose 15 straight. So that, that to me is probably a thing for sharks fans where it's like, oh, it would have been great, but you didn't want to be the team to, to be the first loss. You've got the good, you've got the good record barring last year. So you'd be confident going in, but you're missing a couple of your stars. So it's a bit of an all over the place sort of scenario for sharks fans.

[00:19:19] I feel, but dragons fans will like, there'll be, you know, you, you, you feel more confident going to shark park this week or ocean protect stadium. Sorry. The OPS and just making like, make that a bit more of a vibe where it's not, you're not feeling awkward. You're not, you're not copping barbs from, um, Barbara in one Oh four, you know, like, but that's the thing. Like the dragons fans, like I'm, I was talking about it to a few, um, of my colleagues at SEM.

[00:19:49] Like I haven't worn this dragons cap in a while, Shnaz. And that's the thing that dragons like there's some staunch dragons fans that who are, look, I consider myself a solid dragons fan, but I'm not anywhere near the guys that turn in week in, week out, Cogra and win and away games. They fly up to Brisbane. Like they've got the banners. They are the, they're the lifeblood of, um, the dragons. Not these like guys that yell at the camera on Instagram and do all this crap.

[00:20:16] Like they are, these are the guys that go out every day. They don't post on social media. They're the ones that are going to be going up to Cronulla stadium and feeling proud to wear the stuff. They do it every week. But yeah, like for me, like, it's like, damn, I haven't really had that much reason to be able to, to wear the merch, to enjoy the merch because it's just such a been such a tough time. You're copying it. There was even, I was talking about the levels of where dragons fans are at.

[00:20:44] Like, like there was an element of like, yeah, we're going to lose. It's all good. Like, you know, you're just hoping for a bit of improvement. Like you, you'd already just got to the stage where, um, you hadn't, you know, you, you knew there wasn't going to be two points, but you just didn't want it to be a blowout. You didn't want it to be 50 or 60. Like I've been the last three Anzac days and they've been diabolical. What's the record? It's not good, right? It's like 240 to 10 or something.

[00:21:10] Yeah, it was, I think it was a 48-18 and, um, uh, what was this year? 64-16 and a 50. It's just, it's just really tough to, to watch the team and watch other fans, young fans. Like not many dragons or Steelers fans have, or, um, St. George Illawarra fans had gone through a win, a losing streak like that. It was, it's the worst, the worst that I've ever seen. I mean, it usurped a Steelers losing streak.

[00:21:40] Um, but I was too young to say that, but it's just, it's just nuts to, to see where the team's at. But this is like going back to what we're talking about. I think dragons fans will feel a bit more upbeat going into an away game and going, we can win this. Absolutely. And, and the sharks do have some key guys out. Yeah. We haven't exactly been amazing every week, week in week out this year. So obviously we're gettable.

[00:22:06] And I, yeah, I just think I like, I I'm confident that we're going to win, but I'm also not naive enough to go. So if we're off our game, you guys will make it very, very interesting. There's no doubt in my mind. You'll do that. If we're off our game, I think we're on our game, which should be comfortable enough just because of where I see the rosters and the experience together. But, uh, it's a derby man. And I'm not going to say the cliche that the ladder doesn't matter. Cause it does matter. I'm kind of sick of that one that forms out the window. It's not at the window.

[00:22:35] That's a ridiculous statement, but it is a derby and there'll be a bit of, a bit of fire there and, uh, it's going to be a good one. Now, uh, why don't we just go through the teams, Brooksie? We'll just jump to a little bit of a graphic for you as well. Oh, well, look at you go. This is awesome. I don't think you've had a graphic before. We didn't have it at the Chinese restaurant. Definitely. There was no graphic. There was a menu. There was a menu, which had numbers down one to third day. Now we don't have a Chinese restaurant.

[00:23:05] That's a whole other story. We'll get to that stuff later. I was wondering why I didn't get the invite to the Chinese restaurant. Um, no restaurant here. No restaurant. According to some guy on some fanatic's website, we don't even have a ground. But we'll get to that later on. Oh yeah, that's what I was alluding to. Okay. Do the teams. Yeah. Here we go. Let's go. Oh, yes. George, right? So, um, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

[00:23:35] Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I've made an error, Brooksy. Yeah. I've made an error. Here's the error. We all do it. That's the graphic. That's the graphic. Um, let's go to the Sharky's one. This one will stay up for a lot longer. Don't make any jokes about that. Cause it's a family show. Here we go. Now we're missing KL Iro at the moment, but he is on the extended bench. So he might come in from up my weenie. We're waiting to see on that one. Yeah. Nefi Beru's playing again. Nick goes out for a few weeks.

[00:24:04] Um, Blake Braley's out, which breaks our heart. Jaden Beryl name there, but we think how he might come in to start, but wait and see on that one. And the bench, this is really interesting. What, what happens on this bench Brooksy? Cause you've got telekai burns, Colquhoun, Hazleton, but they need a backup hooker. So I think one of the first three going to miss out. Is there a world where it's if a telekai, is there a world or is it tall Tom? No, surely Cam McInnes will slot into hooker. I don't know if he will.

[00:24:34] He's played, played seasons at hooker. I know that. The dragons. I think he's your option. I think definitely an option to slip into hooker. Hey, the Bulldogs haven't been playing with a hooker for like 15 weeks. Book dish. Um, it's all good. Okay. Okay. Well, that's, that's the sharkies. Oh yeah. I suppose you don't really, yeah. The halves, maybe Billy Burns. Does Billy Burns slot in there? He's quite the utile. He could. He could. He could. I just, I just.

[00:25:03] It's a, it's a good side with, uh, with injuries and, um, like you're missing two of your, you're probably missing your two biggest, um, salaries there with Blake Braley and, oh, uh, that is two big losses. Now let's leave that there and let's go to your dragons.

[00:25:29] I'm just going to refer to them, uh, from the NRL website because my little graphics only, um, a five second one. I thought it was a couple minutes. Can we just put it up for five seconds? I'm going to see how many players I can go through. Wait, let's go. Go. Go. Gutherson, two, Sully, Holmes, Fionnay, Atkinson, Flanagan, Pacificy Tonga, Cook, Couchman, Orr Egan, Amy Stewart, Ryan Couchman, Jacob Little, Josh Kerr, Luciano Leilua, Blake Lorry, Lycan King Tonga. Oh, technology. One more. Just give me one more.

[00:25:58] Emre Gula, Torrell Sloan, Jaden Seward, Nathan Lawson, and your new coach is Dean Young. Now, will Seward come in, do you think? I mean, see, yeah, I'm, I'm not sure. I, cause why would he be named? He wasn't fit, right? Is that right? Or was he suspended? No, he was suspended. Yeah. He, um, I think he tried to take Talis Duncan's head off from memory. I don't know. It was, uh, late in that South loss. Um, but yeah, he's back. And like I said, Luciano Leilua didn't get any, uh, game time last week.

[00:26:26] I, I am all for these young guys playing as many minutes as possible. Um, if I can go the distance, if I agree, if the couchman's can play 60. Is Luciano, is he the chap that's been told he can move on? Or are we making that up? No, Moses Sully has been told he can move on, but Luciano Leilua is off contract for 2027. So, right. That's that. There's a, there's a list of players there.

[00:26:52] I think there's 21 dragons under contract for 2027. Yeah. There was a retention freeze of the players that were off contract and Damien Cook ended up leaving. Uh, Matt Fionnet is going to England. Jaden Sewell is going to the Eels. So there has been a bit of movement in, uh, the last few months in terms of, um, those players. But yeah, it, I think that looking at the team lists, um, and I'll beat the dragons very quickly.

[00:27:21] Uh, the, the depth in the sharkies is quite, um, admirable. Uh, I'm a bit jealous and that's, and that's why like against Manly without Nico and then you, what, you played the last 25 without Blake in the side. At least I think, yeah. Felt like that. Um, at least, but yeah, that, that you held on against the team that's on fire, like one of the best teams of the last two months.

[00:27:50] So I think that's good, but dude, I was thinking about it today and this, we watch it every year. We talk about the potential of the sharkies. We talk about, you know, they're a finals team. There's no doubt. They're a finals team. It just, and like to my point about the finals thing, it isn't necessarily the fact that you don't make the finals.

[00:28:12] It's being able to in this era, in this, um, Fitzy Nico, um, era, like being able to get past those top teams and getting the grand finals. And that's like, it's no, I take that point. I take that point. The only thing I interrupt you and say is that no one gives them much credit for last year where they beat the Roosters at home. Roosters red hot favorites. They beat Canberra away. They were red hot favorites. Then went toe to toe at Melbourne for like 60 minutes.

[00:28:41] Like to me, I understand there has to be a next level at some point, but to me, I'm also not going to go. That was a rubbish effort. Like the effort was there. They just didn't get the job. No, it's not a rubbish. I'm not coming from, it's a rubbish effort. I'm just thinking that it's like you guys are playing to your potential. There's no doubt. And you, you, you, you're winning, um, you're beating Raiders and Roosters, like

[00:29:08] two quality teams, but it's like the next hurdle. Like it's like, look, we're not even, you know, hurtling, you know, like that's the thing. Like, and this is just coming from a, a neutral respect. It's like you want some certain players to be going to the next level. Like you've seen in other teams where, um, teams have made great runs, have got to grand finals. Let's say Michael Morgan is an example. Yeah.

[00:29:36] Um, when the Cowboys went, came from eighth and made the grand final. Yes. The storm were probably a bridge too far that year, but they'd had a great run and they rode off the coattails of Jason Tamalolo. But Michael Morgan had a outstanding career best month, you know, to get there. And you just sort of with the sharkies, you sort of like concerned that I feel like some of those players are the, they tap out, you know, at, at where they play and they don't go to that next level when it counts. Yeah. And I love watching, I love watching Will Kennedy.

[00:30:05] I love watching Braden Trindle. I think they're fun players to watch. Fanoa Blake's been great. I remember we were waxing lyrically about how good he, Blake Braley's going to be off the back of the likes of an Adin Fanoa Blake. And we've seen it like he's arguably the best hooker in the NRL. It's him and Harry Grant, right? Um, but yeah, it's, it's, I just, I just want to see him sort of just, um, take it to the next level, even if it's like not this week, I don't want them to punish the dragons,

[00:30:34] but they need to punish teams. Like they need to, they need to give me something like the Panthers have done, like the Storm have done, like the Roosters can do, um, to make me feel like they're a premiership contender. And that's, and that's, I think like this is a big game for Fitty and your boys without Hines and, and Braley to see like, who wants to step up? Who wants to take it to the next level? There's probably some guys there. I don't know.

[00:31:03] Like then you've got a couple of guys leaving too, but like there's spots there to be had like Colhoun's been great. I thought he's had a great season, like, um, outside looking in and knowing he's from the gong. Um, but yeah, like, I just want to say, I just want to say him do it. Like I want them to prove me wrong. Cause it's yeah. I think, I think we're all, we're all with you. We're all with you. This year has not been good. It's been very on and off.

[00:31:30] I think we're going for three wins in a row this week, but it's been a hard slog to get there. It's been very one week on one week off. Very frustrating stuff. I feel like they might've turned a corner, but then they do have major injuries now. So it's hard to see how that's going to pan out. But, uh, yeah, I, I always stick up for a while at will Kennedy Brooksy because he's so maligned within the fan base and outside of the fan base, although probably less so outside than him, which is kind of funny.

[00:31:59] But whenever I talk to someone who's played the game, coached the game, I will dare say an expert on the game. They are nothing but full of praise for will Kennedy. And that's how I see him. That's how I, and I'm not saying he's perfect. I'm not saying you can't get someone better, but he's on chump change, man. It's quite embarrassing. He's on chump change. He plays his heart out every week. He's in our top three best players every week. And I really like what he's doing. It's my belief. He's going to get another deal. It might be a two year one. It might be one year. I'm not sure.

[00:32:29] It's my belief. He's going to stick around, but you're right. Like I agree with you, your sentiment. They do need to step up to another level at some point. I don't know when that point needs to be, but they need to do it at some point. I agree. Do you think, like looking at some of the team selections this week, like I'm interested to watch Dan Atkinson against his former team. Yeah. I felt like he wasn't utilized too much during 2025 with the Sharks and rightfully so.

[00:32:57] You know, he was leaving and you know, that utility spot was his and he'd come on like when there was injuries. I know he had that awesome game against Melbourne. Him and Talakai, I think it was, that came on and did a job on that right. Was it on the right side? I think he did get dunked on as well by Coates. I think we mentioned that last year. Yes. But, but he, he at stages this year lost total confidence and you can't, you couldn't blame him.

[00:33:25] He had so many like, at the start of the year, it was like great kicking game against Bulldogs. Like he, he provided this next level that the Dragons hadn't had in recent seasons. You, you, you, well, since Ben Hunt left, sorry. So he had someone that could do the long kicking game. Then he was firing cut out trisists like against the storm early in that game. Yeah. And then just, it just went to shit. Like for lack of better words.

[00:33:52] And you could see, he was so down and it was like, God, this is like Lewis Dodd areas at some stages, but he's picked himself back up and he had a cracker against Brisbane. And no doubt he'll want to parlay that into a great game against his former team. And, and Colquhoun, like probably in the Dragons system at some stage being overlooked and getting the opportunity with Fitzy and the Sharks and, and he's just moved up the pecking order.

[00:34:20] You've seen a few of your forwards leave and it's like, he's been able to come in. And even like when, was it last year when Fitzy dropped Nicker up an origin player, a New Zealand rep. And he, him and Billy Burns came in and stepped up, you know, whether it was Billy starting and him getting a bench opportunity like that. He, I'm sure he'll be up for a big game. And Cam McInnes is last like hurrah in the NRL. For some reason, I don't know how Perth didn't pick him up.

[00:34:47] I don't even know how the Dragons weren't interested in getting an experienced forward member to, to really like, he's there, he'd already been there. He was under Mary. Like, you know, he left shortly after, shortly after Hook was announced. Um, cause did his ACL obviously signed with the Sharks. Um, but yeah, what a veteran presence that he's had, not only on our club, but on your club. And he'll want to be, he'll want a big win here. The one you're leaving out is, uh, young Kyle Flanagan. He'll be fired up.

[00:35:17] He's a, he doesn't take fun again. He's been named at seven. He's always under a barrage of insults from everyone for whatever reason. Uh, I've got a lot of time for Kyle off the field. Um, a terrific guy on the field. I feel like, I feel like there's ways to go in his game obviously, but he's nowhere near how most people look at him as a halfback. Like he's a competent halfback. Um, I think the sacking of Shane Flanagan was the best thing for him.

[00:35:42] Like with the Dragons fan base, like, and the fact that, you know, he was, he was sort of the constant, right? Yeah. And the funny thing was, what did, what was Dean Young's first move? Bring Cade Reid in. Like a, like an untested young player. It was sort of like, I'm gonna, I'm not doing it for you, but I am doing it for you in a sense that you've been copying all this nepotism claims and all this stuff. Your dad was coaching. He was coaching. He wasn't performing.

[00:36:13] And you will be the bench person. You'll be able to come on if, um, if need be. And through injury to Cade Reid, he's got his opportunity again in first grade. And I think it's been a great process for him. He hasn't started. He hasn't been getting Dallien points as such, but God, that alleviates a lot of pressure. And, you know, like you were mentioning there, like, this is a great opportunity for him to, you know, set up a couple of tries, like show his NRL worth, whether he's got one more year left at the Dragons.

[00:36:42] But I'm, I'm, I'm guessing he's going to get the same Moses Suli treatment, particularly with Luke Metcalf there with Connor Watson coming to the club for the year as well. Like that, you feel like that'll give him a stopgap to be able to recruit someone, um, to partner, um, or not to necessarily partner Atkinson and, um, Metcalf, but to provide a bit of competition and, and probably someone that can play multiple positions like a Connor Watson type that can come in in 2028. So, look, I, I, I feel for him.

[00:37:11] Like, I, you know, I definitely was feeling a bit of angst towards Kyle, like as, as a fan, like, um, professionally, like you can see that he's probably gone. I've gone through a lot and copped a lot on social media, whether he's read it or hasn't read it. Um, I'm assuming, I'm assuming he's assuming that, you know, there's stuff out there about him and why he's getting a run and it's not necessarily on performance, but it's because of the surname. But yeah, I, I, I really want him to have a, I want to see him get a Dallian point this week.

[00:37:41] I want the guys, the judges to be able to go, I think he deserves it. He's had a cracking game. He's made tackles. He's, he supports well. Like he's been involved in tries. He's made big plays. Like, that's what you want to see. And Atkinson did it last week. Maybe it's his turn this week. No offense. No offense to Kyle, but the way that they're judging this year, he might just get a point anyway, just for whatever he does. He might get a point. Tyrell Sloan. Yeah. Earlier in the year. We have left out one gentleman who always likes playing at Shark Park and that is Valentine, the future Holmes.

[00:38:11] He's back, baby. And there's Valentine Holmes. Sometimes another great story in this derby. And, you know, like we've talked about Cale being 2.0 Holmes. It would be great to see him. I don't know. They wouldn't be against each other. Yeah. They're both lefts, right? But hopefully, um, Dean Young will be like, we're going to do what the people want. And I'm shifting you to the other side today, Val.

[00:38:38] Even if we can get a photo opportunity afterwards with, you know, the Sharks media, just get them together. Photo on them. Just the Spider-Man meme, you know? Like they're just pointing at each other. But yeah, there is some great stories. Like there's some good people that are connected to both clubs, like whether they played for them or grew up in the area. So yeah, Val, um, he's, he's had a much maligned season. Let's put it that way. Defensively. And even in an attack like you, he's, he's probably had his worst season.

[00:39:08] It's fair to say. I think so. He dropped from origin. He actually had a really good game last week against the Broncos. How was the, um, the tap down kick, Shnaz? What did you think about that when it happened? I- It was technically the game winning try. I, I, I still love the guy, man. I, I, I'm all in. And I, I can't believe the way some people talk about him. I understand he hasn't had a good year. I get it. But the bloke's a champion. Like, I just don't write off champions. Now there is one more story we haven't talked about yet, Brooks.

[00:39:38] You got my little video. You ready? Yeah, let's go. The podcast people will be able to hear it. It's just a still. I'm confident this will work. Let's go. Following the match, Shark CEO, Peter Gow, dining at the club restaurant, ripped a dragon supporters jersey off him and cut it into pieces with a pair of scissors. He took the jumper off and then he proceeded back towards the front desk and got a pair of scissors and cut up the jumper in front of, what I don't know, Sammy, to the seat from the restaurant. 200 people, I suppose.

[00:40:04] Former Dragons forward, Barry Beath, attempted to intervene and was punched by Gow. And he was a man of a car to do what he did. That really got my back up and that's how the incident all started. That is the greatest moment in Derby history. I'm sorry. Nothing will ever beat it. And now we've got the audio grab forever more, my friend. This is podcast producing right here, Brooksie. This is it. Very, very good.

[00:40:29] I feel like you're trying to tell me something like you want a job on agenda setters or the run home Mondays to Wednesdays, 5pm on Fox League. It's your story. It's your story, mate. I don't know. No, it's good. I'm impressed. I'm very impressed. That is for our younger listeners and viewers. They always hear me talk about the scissors and the cutting up. That's an actual news grab that I found online and I've clipped it up.

[00:40:55] But yeah, that's how deep the passion runs. I think you haven't told me like, cause see, that's something that you've taught me over the years of rugby league history. But I don't think you've ever told me the great rhyming slang legend of Barry Beeth. It was punched in the, I wonder if he was punched in the Barry Beeth. Oh, right. Was he in the Fox Mulder or?

[00:41:25] I mean, yeah, there's, there was, who was I? I met. So we've been doing these great white interviews where, um, former shark rates and it's been amazing. Like we've interviewed Dan Staines and, uh, Phil Bailey, like a whole range. Jonathan Docking, Glenn Coleman. Dockos coming on the show. Haven't done Glenn Coleman. Anyway, point is, who was it? I was talking to someone and they were, they were, we've had Hatchie. They were there. Alan Wilson. Have had Al. Yep. You're ticking them off.

[00:41:56] Craig Diamond. No Craig Diamond. Anyway, I was talking to one of these guys and they were there. They saw it happen. They were like, It's going to be eyes monger. Sorry. I love eyes monger. One of the greats. Speaking of former great sharks. Bronze, eh? Feeding France, eh? Let's open a can of worms here. Cam Serraldo. Is he rubbing you the wrong way these days? He was one of my favorite players.

[00:42:23] Imagine you're in the bunker and you just go like, oh shit, we've just got another email from Cam Serraldo. Hey, oi, create a rule. Anything from Cam Serraldo goes straight to the bin. I can't believe he's like, oh, I'm going to write an email. Yeah, I'm going to write an email. Apparently a good guy. I'm not putting anything on his personality. No, of course. Great player. Respectfully, of course. I think it's because every week these press conferences are getting worse.

[00:42:52] I feel like he needs to get Riccio or someone involved where they give him the media training because I don't think he's got it. I don't think it's that. I just think it's, there's an issue with the dogs, right? Yeah. They don't know who to blame and I feel like they're deflecting. And I think Gus is probably the one to blame, but they can't blame Gus.

[00:43:18] And so it's like, oh, the board supported Cam Serraldo to spray the reps. And it's like, yeah, of course they are because there's been a few bad decisions at the dogs in terms of player turnover, persistence of picking players in positions. Like, I just feel like it's a mad deflection as to what the real issue is. I agree. I agree. I'm just not cool with the deflection. A couple of weeks was okay, but last week was just over the top.

[00:43:48] It was like, come on, bro. But that's what, that's what clubs that are highly underperforming do. They make excuses as to why the club's not where it should be. And this is a team that, you know, was in, you know, was leading the comp last year. Yeah. That was, should have been deep in the finals. They went loss, loss. That was bouncing straight sets. Yeah. And that's, that's the, they haven't, they haven't been able to, to play the football

[00:44:15] that we were told they were going to play from the people that aren't to blame at the moment. And that's, and that's, I think a lot of league fans can see the, it's very transparent, like what's going on at that club. It is. And Cam's in a tough position because he's the coach. I'm, I, no doubt he, what his fingerprints aren't on the recruitment of the club. His coaching methods might be under scrutiny. Are the attack under scrutiny? Yeah.

[00:44:45] And they brought in Adam O'Brien as an attack coach who was sacked from the Knights and the attack hasn't been anywhere near where it was last year. But they did get rid of Sexton. They got rid of Marnie. They brought Galvin in and with Burton as a halfback, but probably more of a 5'8". They've had Bailey Haywood as a hooker and now Kurt Mann's been subbing in as a hooker. I've heard pundits saying they had terrible non-NRL service was said on Vossi's show on Monday out of hooker. Like coaches can see that.

[00:45:13] Ben Gardner it was, for those playing at home. Like he's watching it. He's analysing his opposition for next year when he's the Perth assistant coach. So like that's, that's clear. Like the decisions that are being made in team selection aren't of a team that are going to challenge for the premiership. So Deacon Crichton's probably playing busted. You can see it in Origin. You can see it in the dogs. Like he's not where he needs to be. He's still making big plays, but like that's, I think the dogs are in a, you know, and I

[00:45:41] know this isn't the kennel podcast, but. Dog cast. Dog cast. Get a dog up, yeah. It's an old joke. Sorry. Dog cast. Shut up your dog. Yeah. Like, no, it's, it's, yeah. It's. All right. Let's, let's, let's move on to something. I want to play a new game. I just thought of. What's doing? Why are we talking about the dogs? Edit that out. I want, I want, I want. I want Brooksie. He's a nice guy. Anyway, he's Brooksie's what? Yeah. Continue.

[00:46:11] Brooksie's neutral thoughts on sharks players. Okay. Neutral thoughts. Okay. So what are we doing? So I'm going to say someone and I just want your thoughts on how they're going and maybe some scenarios. So for example, I'm going to be, I'm going to be, I'm going to be, I'm going to be Sam Stone street. I want to be honest, whatever that means. Yeah. Like brutally honest. Yes. Sure. Sam Stone street. How are you, what are your thoughts on him?

[00:46:35] And to end the question or to end your answer, would you bring in Sione Katoa for him or leave him as is? Well, it's interesting, right? With Katoa going to the Cowboys, I think, I think you've got to keep Sam Stone street there. Like, look, I love the Tongan fishermen. I love his Instagram account. I love what he's all about. I think he's a great human. I think he's got great stories. He's a great winger, but I think Sam Stone street's your future. Right. And as a local kid, he deserves the spot. I think he's playing really well.

[00:47:05] I think he's filled in admirably for when Ronaldo was out. I think he deserves his opportunity there. And I think this is going to be your winger in 2027. So it ticks a lot of boxes there. Sione is a great foil to have like in terms of if something goes wrong with the other two. So definitely put him in your eight to start the round and see what you've got with your bench. Maybe you do put him on the, on your six man bench. But yeah, I think it's a tough situation for Katoa. Stone street's your guy, I reckon.

[00:47:35] Now in the video that opened the show and the audio that opened the show, you were wrapping Jesse Raymond. Was this because you were having beers with him? Yeah. I saw he was talking to, um, Todd Payton and Brent Tate up there. And, um, he was a, he was a good guy. No, no, no, no. No, I like, I like his physicality. Like he's, um, he, he, he, I consistency may be the issue, but, um, I think he's been a great player for the sharkies, you know, like that.

[00:48:02] I think it's probably, I guess the vibe would be, it's disappointing. It was a double blow, like losing those guys. And, um, I think he's been one of the good centers for the sharks over recent years. I think he's complimented, uh, Kale Iroh really nicely. Kale is more of a finesse center. You've got a real destructive center on the other side with Jesse. So yeah. Like I, I think he will cause dramas on Sunday. That's for sure out there, but, um, yeah, it must be, must be tough for sharkies fans to

[00:48:29] see him go cause he's been, been a solid player for you guys. But, um, yeah, what's, what's the, what's this, the word? Cause there's a couple of young guys in the system, right? That you're probably pinning the future on. There's legitimately three to four centers of different ages to say age. Yeah. 19 through to 23 who could go on and play first grade and have careers. The next one off the cab is Michael Gabriel.

[00:48:59] Yeah. But then there's guys like Nekora Williams. There's Preston Lansatu. There's a few guys who played origin under 18s and that kind of thing. And they look really good. So that there's a good depth chart there, but I think people are a little bit torn on Jesse Raymond cause he is such a stalwart. Like he's, his games, uh, I looked at it during the week. He's whatever the game he's at. But he's like, I don't know, 20th most cap shark of all time, which you don't really think

[00:49:29] of, but he's, he's right up there. So, uh, I think maybe the sharks hold the whole fan base are like, we need a, a refresh. We need something to change. Right. And so my thing is, I'm pretty sure the spine's not going to change at the moment. Maybe in a year or two, it might, but it's not going to change. I believe Kennedy be resigned, but you can still have a refresh. So you've got Katoa going, you've got Raymond going. It's two guys on the one side. Usually. Yeah.

[00:49:56] Um, a few other guys might be leaving, but yeah, I think people are a little bit torn on Jesse Raymond. I think he'll be missed, but I think if you've got the depth there too, Shnaz, like let's say, and, and you're saving 200, 300 grand. Yes. Like that's, that's good. Yeah. You might not get the same output, but, um, you've got guys either side, like around him that can, that can assimilate him into the NRL.

[00:50:23] But also if you've got these young guys that are probably two years away, you're giving them an option that, you know, there, there is, there is a chance here at Cronulla to crack the NRL. You don't need to go elsewhere. You don't need to go to PNG. You don't need to go to Perth. You don't need to go to the stinking dragons. Like you can stay here and you will potentially have an NRL career. And that's the motivation that your Williams and was it Lane Satu that you said? Yes. Have that scenario that will keep them at the club.

[00:50:52] And you might need to move Jesse Ramian because yes, he is a stalwart and he's been there ages. And that would probably, you've probably lost a center or two because of that situation. So you probably don't want to lose the next bloodline coming through as Jesse's getting older. So I think it could be a good move. You never know. You want to like, as a, as a, as a fan of a team that's giving these young guys an opportunity and seeing their talents and going, wow, this is going to be great for 27, 28. I can't see that.

[00:51:21] I can't fault the Sharkies for doing the same with their right center position. Yeah. Uh, is Ronaldo Milotalo the Sharks X factor? Oh yeah. A hundred percent. He's like, I love how he gives it to dragons. Um, during this week, it's, um, it's exactly what you want. He says the right things for the Sharkies fan. I think that most dragons fans respect what he's saying in the dark.

[00:51:47] Can I also point out that was, that was like 20 seconds after full time last week. Yeah, exactly. Like that's exactly what you want. It's, it's great entertainment. It's great for the team. It's great for loyalty. It's it's, it's yeah. He's probably more than the next factor, right? He's, he's cult. He's like, he's the, he epitomizes what it's like to be a shark. Like, and that's, that is key. The way he's come back from an ACL.

[00:52:15] Who did he out jump at, um, at, uh, Magic Round? One of the Bulldogs. No, no, yeah. For Shark, Ronson Sherry. Oh, that, that was amazing. Like, it's like, this guy's like, you're just playing NRL for the first time after an ACL. You're out leaping a former shark. Like Sharkies fans like, yes, this guy's back. He's come back early. He wants to play. He doesn't care. Like if his knee's good, he's good to go.

[00:52:43] He played Magic Round and he's going to be there two weeks later against the Dragons. So I go three weeks later against the Dragons. That's great. That's, that's what I want. And I want to see him there because I want to beat Ronald Ronaldo because of what he said. Like he's great for the Derby. He's more than an X factor for you guys. I think he's a quality player. He's a quality winger. It doesn't matter if you lose Katoa and Stone Street might not work out. At least you've got one wing locked down with big Ronnie. Now, can Teague Wilton play state of origin? Or will he?

[00:53:14] I think he's an origin type player. He's good with the football. I didn't ask for cliches there, but I asked you a question. Oh, that was a shout out to the old Laurie jokes. But yeah, I think he can. I think he's good. I think when you guys lost Jack Williams to Parra, I know Jack's more of a middle, but he was playing out an edge for you guys. But I feel like he's sort of another like Holmes-Kaliro sort of scenario.

[00:53:43] Like he sort of embodies the same sort of physicality that Jack Williams did for you guys off the bench. But he's slotted in nicely. You know, you've got so much depth there in your back row. And he's just someone you see like bust out some cracking games. You watch him and you just go, damn it. Like that's a type of player you can fill a good, a competitive roster with. Like you need your Teague Wilton's.

[00:54:12] I see him as an origin player, but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't play origin. But he sure as shit going to be a good player for your team. Like he's going to be a fringe. He's definitely probably on opposed sessions at origin camp. He's the sort of guy you want there. But man, it would be great story if he did. And I think the way he's playing, he's definitely on the trajectory to be in a blue side in the future.

[00:54:36] Now, would you as Shark CEO, would you have kept Sifatallakai or even tried to match the Bears off within reason? Like he did get good money, but where do you see? Because I personally would have, but that's just me. It's a tough one because I feel like you've got that depth.

[00:55:00] And if he's off contract and you've got an expansion team coming in, you're going to likely to lose some of these players. So I would be playing him as a middle, I should point out. Yeah. So let's have a look at your middles, right? So who have you got? You've got Colhoun at 13 as well, right? There's Fanua Blake. There's Toby Rudolph. There is Cam McInnes. There's Jesse Colhoun.

[00:55:30] There's Tom Hazleton. And down the way, we've got Oregon Gafusi. You've got Braden Hammond-Welle. You've got Big Tuku as well. So there's a lot there. But I just love what... I just find this guy almost unique in his own way. And I put that much in him that... First of all, I'd be doing something that... Probably the only thing I don't like that Fitzgibbon does is I would be playing him a lot more. He usually gets like 15, 20 minutes a game.

[00:55:57] I'd be busting him out for at least 50. And I just see him in that workhorse kind of style with a bit of skill. But I'd be playing him as a prop. I think we're short of a quality prop personally. So I would be playing with prop or at least off the bench as a middle. He just doesn't get much time. Anyway, I'm just wondering as a neutral, like... If you were Dragon CEO, would you have made a play for him? I'm...

[00:56:27] As a Dragon CEO, I wouldn't have made a play for him because I don't think the... Yeah, I think when you're competing with Perth, you're probably going to be playing overs to do that. With their salary cap situation. Like, probably... Wrong place, wrong time sort of thing for him in terms of free agency. And I think you guys probably saw that. Yeah.

[00:56:53] And looking at some of the names you've mentioned, you probably... Colquhoun's playing big minutes. You've got Fanua Blake playing big, relatively big minutes in his position. You've got Nickerra Burns, Wilton, Oregon Kafusi is going to be someone that comes off the bench. Tommy Hazleton's just had a bit of a rough injury run, right? McInnes has gone. You've got... You're not re-signing McInnes, sorry. Talakai's going. Rudolph's a question mark, right? Yeah.

[00:57:23] He's openly said he was interested in PNG, right? Like, he would probably do that. I think Shamus is probably savvy enough to be out knowing who's saying this stuff about PNG and having the conversation or working it out. Yeah. I do think that's where the refresh comes from, is where you let your Tobys go and maybe you let another middle go and you... Like, we've got a terrific kid called Felix Fartilli coming through the ranks.

[00:57:52] He's probably no more than a year away and he's a giant dude. Yeah. Kind of in the Hazleton build, but fitter and more destructive. He's really good. But he's super young. If there's future coming through, let me ask you this. As a Dragons fan, do you regret letting Billy Burns go for two bucks? You know what? It's tough because like, if he's there now, like, where are you playing him?

[00:58:21] Like, Stuart and Leilua are on the bench basically at the moment. Like, as of this game. Yeah. Look, he could have done a job, but he's not getting us to finals. He's, you know, he's eating some time, you know, for the young guys coming through. I think it probably was a regretful decision not keeping him there.

[00:58:46] But when you look back in hindsight, it's not like whether we make finals or not. I'm stoked that he got a run and he's become one of the best value signings in recent NRL history for the Sharkies. Yeah. But I think sometimes you're not going to regret that decision. I'd rather see it that Cronulla saw an opportunity, gave him some time and he knocked out a representative player because of the way he played. Yeah.

[00:59:15] And that's just what you need in your club setup. And I think Fitzy enjoyed having that to be able to demote Britain for a little bit. Like, some of those plays that happened down the right side, I think we mentioned it last time. Like, it's just, you're in awe. Like, Niko is a great player. Like, he's such a great attacking player, particularly in your attacking 20. The lines he runs, the angles he's at, it's Niko, it's him.

[00:59:41] It creates so much, like, disturbance for the defensive line. And that's where you're seeing a lot of tries scored on the outside. Jesse Ramian's benefited. Yeah. The wing has benefited. Sione Katoa's benefited. So, yeah, like, I understand what you're saying about Billy. Yeah, it could be like, oh, he's the one that got away. But in reality, it's like, you know, kudos to you being able to get another opportunity. I'm quite happy with what our back row future looks like.

[01:00:11] And, yeah, I hope he aims up against the Dragons and going, hey, this could have just spent $2.50 to keep me. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Another one. Now, Craig Fitzgibbon. I'm a huge fan. The world knows me a huge fan of his. So am I. As a neutral? As a neutral? As a neutral? As a neutral? As a neutral? How do you see him? How do you think he's going?

[01:00:36] Because to be honest, you probably don't hear this, but he cops a lot of flack from some of our fan base. Yeah, for sure. I think there is a lot of flack. And that's like we were talking about the whole next level thing. And I think who's the first person that gets criticized in that? And it's generally Fitzy. Yeah. Fitzy probably cops a lot of it because of the salary that he's on and the team sort of being built around Nico. But at the end of the day, it's the coaching staff, right?

[01:01:03] Everyone goes after the coaching staff when results don't happen the way that the fan base thinks they should go. And it's always on Nico. It's always, you know, those decisions that are made on the field. I don't think the game plan, like, I wouldn't say that you guys have lost games because of Fitzy's coaching style or the things that he's played. I feel like it could be just decision making on the game and it's not necessarily what's being coached.

[01:01:30] It's just the way the playmakers have seen the game. And not to say that any of that attention should be deflected from Fitzy and gone on to Braden or Nico or Will, but I feel like what he's achieved at the Sharks has been great. Like, who did he replace, Shnaz? Did he replace Flano? No, there was a gentleman called Bummer Morris in the coin. John, of course.

[01:01:59] So I feel like what he's achieved since he's been there has been great. And he was, there was clubs that were going for him. The Roosters wanted to retain him as an assistant for sure. And I think the Sharkies have been blessed there. I think sometimes you don't want to look over the fence and see what could have been because it might have been, you might have gone through two coaches by this time. And I think he's instilled a good culture at the club.

[01:02:24] I think you can see there's been some solid wins in the game and he's built around the stars. Like, Braley's flourished. He's been able to bring, they've been able to bring Fanua Blake there to lead that pack and has been pivotal the last, what, year and a half that he's been there. I think the young guys that have come through, there hasn't been like any development roadblock there. Like, they've gone on. We've mentioned Billy Burns, him being able to bring someone in like that. There's only a handful of coaches that can do that. Andrew Webster's one. Ivan Cleary's another.

[01:02:55] Like, Craig Fitzgibbon's another. Being able to bring in players that play, getting paid unders, but play overs. And that's what he does. And I think, I think you should be given more credit than given flack because I think he's got a lot out of the club since he's been there. Yeah, I agree. And had a lot of success. I agree. I agree. I, I, I do acknowledge that we want to go further, but yeah, my whole thing with making

[01:03:22] the prelims and I'm not convinced we're going to make a prelim this year, just as a heads up, but the past two that we made and probably should have made one the year before or his first year, I should say in 22. I think if you're making prelims and you sort of not getting flogged in them, it's not good enough, but also you're pretty close and you've had a pretty good year and you're like a breath away from winning or making a grand final. Like for me, I don't see them as failures.

[01:03:49] I understand the notion that it's not good to lose them, especially two in a row. But the fact that you're there, you're hanging about there. That's where the whole level word comes in because you are a level away, but gee, you're a step ahead than a lot of other teams in the comp. Man, the Panthers won, man. Like they, that year they were just on, you know, and the Storm were a good team. Like they had that grand final sewed up. Like really, like in theory they did. That's what I mean. Yeah.

[01:04:19] And Tui scores that try, the Broncos can't come back from that. And that's the reality of where the Sharks are. And in no way was I meaning that they are not even or 1B. It's this, they just need that next level to ice games to be able to go, no, we can run with you guys. And they just, I just feel like there's those moments where, and I know you've, you've just

[01:04:45] saying there's a lot of criticism for, or there's been criticism for Fitzy I'm sure. I've tuned in multiple times after games. I've seen you pop up on Instagram live and got a bit of a, bit of a heat check on what's going on with the Sharkies and the fan base. And there has been a lot of criticism. There's, everyone's sort of been, you know, thrown in after losses. But yeah, I, I think, I think when you look at it, when you look at the prelims and you

[01:05:13] look at the opposition you've come up against, there have been some high quality performances from those teams. And you've been on the road or you've been coming up against massive teams. And that's, I'd love to see him go and get into a grand final because it, it, it won't necessarily quiet the noise, but I think there'll be a level of respect from his fan base to go, you know what? This could like, this could have been an absolute shit storm.

[01:05:41] You could have had, um, like from my perspective, you could have had Dean Young as your interim. You could have Anthony Griffin in there. You could have had Shane Flanagan in there. And now you're going back to Dean Young as an interim coach in that time, Schnaz, you've had Craig Fitzgibbon. And that's what I think, I think Sharkies fans should probably go, you know what? Let's, we don't need to change things. It's sort of similar to when like Roosters fans get up and about about Trent Robinson and

[01:06:08] you go, man, there's not much out there, you know, like don't necessarily just shake the boat and, and, you know, just bring water in, you know, like it's, you know, that I think, I think you got to ride some losing streaks from time to time. Not 15 gamers, but you know, like there should be a couple of losses that there should be players should be dropped from time to time, you know, create a bit of instability, but good instability in terms of getting people to play at their absolute best and even coach at their absolute best.

[01:06:38] I said it from day one. I had a vibe that he'd be in the John Lang style as in like longevity and wins and that kind of thing. And that's kind of what he's been doing. And hopefully he goes one more than Johnny, but, but I have no problem with that. Like I, that was probably my favorite period being a Sharks fan is John Lang. And this, this Fitzy ride has been pretty good, man. It's been pretty good. Well, what's your, what's your grade on the Fitzgibbon era? Like let's say, let's say you, you, your, uh, Mr.

[01:07:07] Schnazzy's, uh, going to give out his, um, report card for Utah. Um, you know, what do you, what are you giving the Sharky's? It would wait. Sorry. What are you giving the Fitzy era? No, no, no. The Fitzy era. What are you giving the Fitzy era? Sorry. Honestly, the first thing that comes to mind is a B plus. The first thing comes to mind. Yeah. Cause it's a lot of positivity, a positivity, excuse me, some good recruits, uh, change the club on and off the field. He hasn't lost more than three in a row.

[01:07:36] He's a very stable guy and having had some interaction with him week to week, um, you know, out of the spotlight, he's a very intelligent, caring, passionate guy. Like he, he really wants to win. So, uh, yeah. And there's a few faults there. As I said, like, you know, I think sometimes the way he uses some players, I wouldn't do it personally, but it doesn't mean he's wrong.

[01:08:04] It just means I disagree with it, but I think you can. Yeah. I think, I think a B plus for me, I mean, how would you look at it without having started his work as much as what I have? Yeah. But how would you look at it? What would you give him? I'd say like, I'd, I'd say like an A minus because an A would be a grand final. Like he's made a grand final in his tenure and an A plus is obviously you've won a, won a premiership. So I would say he's pretty much done all but that. Yeah.

[01:08:31] And I, I feel like the, you've seen some great individual performances from his players during that time. I think the consistency of the club like deserves the A minus. I think you've got to look at some of the, the other teams around them. Um, I feel like he's, I feel like he's done an awesome job and you know what? I'm not riding it week to week. Yeah. So there's probably those moments where it's like, you know, you're coming down to B minus. You're coming down to maybe a C plus. Yeah.

[01:09:00] Overall, like looking at his tenure and looking at other clubs and looking at what the Sharkies have achieved, I think A minus like it would be, but can totally say a B plus there. Like that's the, that's the realm where he's at. And to, to, for us to say that you can, you clearly see that this guy is a, is a good coach and he's done some great stuff whilst he's been at the club. And I think, you know, it'd be great to see him go to the next level. Now, Brooksy, I really don't want to address the rumor that's going around the internet tonight.

[01:09:29] Cause I want to see, I don't want to give it any life because I, it's not true. And B it really irks me. I'm not going to swear. Like you've sworn already four times in the podcast. I'm not going to swear. It really, it really irks me that someone can have some sort of media platform, whether it be me in my little studio or the fanatics people in their slightly bigger studios and come online and tell the whole world that the sharks aren't going to play at their home ground anymore next year.

[01:09:59] No matter how you feel about the ground, we all know how, for example, I feel about the ground. There's a lot of people who feel the opposite and I get that. Yeah. But when you come on to your show and you say things like there's no bathrooms quote, quote, and then tell your colleague that they're not going to be playing there next year because he's heard some things from different people at the NRL who you won't name.

[01:10:22] And then I get 4,000 messages from fans who are genuinely upset, genuinely stressed, genuinely hurt by the notion that this might be true, which it's not. It really irks me, dude. And that's where I think that the, if you want to call it media, whatever you want to call it, that's where things have just gotten out of control. You can, and then you got other people reposting it. I'm not even talking about fans.

[01:10:47] I'm talking about people like, I'll just say it, the mole reposting something going, the sharks aren't doing this next year. They're not going to play there because the fanatics said it. It's like, what are we doing here dudes? Where is there any fact in this story? Well, that's, but this is, okay. So, so I did mention, um, podcaster stuff. No, no, no. It's fair.

[01:11:13] Like this is, this is as fans, you guys need to know, regardless of what you think about the stadium or you think about a player or a coach or whatever it is, there's always scuttlebutt speculation going around. There is a massive, and look, Shnaz, you were one of the OGs in terms of the podcast realm, whether it was League Life or the Shark Cast or, um, Dragon's Den or Bulldog's Bite or whatever it was like, you always, uh, you've always been there. Yeah.

[01:11:40] Um, the Bruce podcast, you know, any, anything, uh, people want to know about Springsteen, you were, uh, you were dropping it. But, uh, I think, I think the thing is people need to, it's just like any news outlets, whether it's, um, whether you're looking at politics, whether you're looking at sport, um, whatever it might be, like there's going to be some, um, interesting shows doing interesting things to get more people to view their stuff and watch their stuff. Right.

[01:12:08] So I understand the fanatics have a, have a big, um, big podcast suite of shows at the moment. There's a lot of different people that work on it with different, um, levels and have good acumen in terms of what they've done in media and, and worked in the game. But that's what makes it disappointing. I think, I think that's the thing. Like we on our show, we will do like rumor Tuesday or something and Fletch will do a

[01:12:34] rumor and, um, there's never really too much substance to it. It's more us trying to have a bit of fun. It's like, what noise does the logo make? And we'll just quietly on that point. The other thing that I was inboxed all day about was SEN saying there's a major shark signing happening today. So you're waiting. Uh, just, uh, cancel everything that I've said. No. Um, but yeah, no, I think with the, with the stadium thing, I think you, um, well, you

[01:13:03] know, I'm, I'm sure Dino or someone at the club will address this in some sort of form. Like there, there has been, um, a lot, um, of comments and shares on that stuff. And that's what the fanatics want. They want to get their clips. That's why there's a lot of, um, uh, podcasts with their clips and stuff going out. And this is the place where you can get these sort of rumors or, um, breaking news or whatever you want to call it. Um, and that's the way these podcasts and shows operate. We do it from a radio perspective.

[01:13:32] If we, we see there's a good grab or something that'll get people's attention. Of course, that's what happens. Like I'm, I'm not saying where we're, we totally don't do it. We definitely not immune to it at SEN, but it is, uh, obviously we are a talk back radio show. We want your opinion on topics. We will float ideas and want ideas from the listener, the fan, the NRL fan, the sports fan in general. So all I can say is like, you have a choice in terms of what you listen to and watch and,

[01:14:01] um, what you take and what you think's real. If you're going to believe something off one quote or one retweet or whatever, that's your prerogative. But obviously you want to hear from the source. You want to hear from people. People are going to throw shit up against a wall. I'm not saying they're doing that right now and seeing if it sticks, but that's what's going to happen. No matter what you do, sport politics, whatever you follow. I think this is a case of the club will probably respond to this. I don't see any, like we joke about it, right? Schnaz. Schnaz.

[01:14:28] And I, I love the fact that 800 people turn up to sharks games, but like, but the thing for me is the subject matter is not the point. Right. Obviously. But the thing is like, yeah, if you're going to make a claim like that, like you want to have some legit sources to do it. You want to be able to say like, I'm in the doctor. He, you get any time he says anything, he's definitely doing his due diligence in terms of speaking to the right people to do it.

[01:14:56] And that's why you trust what he reads and what he, what he says. But this is where, you know, if this, if this doesn't happen or the sharks disclaim it, they've done themselves a disservice because people don't trust what they're saying. Well, this is where I get annoyed. Particularly when it comes to news. This is where I get annoyed because there's no, um, what's the word? No fallback. There's no, they don't have a problem tomorrow when Dino comes out and goes, it's not true in the NRL. Oh, they've moved on.

[01:15:26] They've moved on to. Yeah. There's no, there's no recourse. Foz Pines Park tomorrow. Right. It's, it's move on to the next thing. I find that, I find that really distasteful, dude. Yeah. But the recourse is people not trusting what you're saying. Right. And that's where people. But like, that's it. Like, but people love going back to the same things. Like there's numerous shows and stuff that just spruik weird shit. Yeah. And, but people go back to it because they want to be shocked. They want to be entertained.

[01:15:55] It's not necessarily right, but it's, it's piquing interest. It's getting debate. It's causing emotive responses. And that's where we are in the media. That's what a lot of media outlets do. Mm-hmm. And it'd be naive to think that there's like, we're just get, everyone's just going to talk about what's being reported. People need to want to get the jump on other outlets. If they have a sniff of something, there's a rumor that's been speculated, they're going to turn it around on their show.

[01:16:24] So some people choose to do it more often than not, but it depends on your show. It depends where you're at. It depends if you make, if, if there's money on the line, if you want to get sponsors, if you want to get clicks and that's up to the, up to the fan to decide what they think is viable and what isn't. I thought maybe this program with the people on it, we're trying to get across the message that they were kind of, they want to be taken seriously again in this workforce. And they say stuff like this and it's like, it's like, A, I know it's not true.

[01:16:54] And B, at least give me something to make me doubt my own sources or whatever else, which I'm not. But you know what the best outcome of this is too, Shnaz? Is that actually enact some change and something legitimately happens at Shark Park. Because, because I feel like if the league is growing, no, no, no, no. But like, think about, think about this as a, as an angle, right? Like, we've talked about Shark Park for numerous years. They had an opportunity to do it up.

[01:17:23] I think the configuration, if we're grading things, it's a D minus what they've done with that stadium. Yes. But that's not what I'm disputing. I want to see, I want to see the Sharks play there for generations. You know? Yeah. I love the fact that Manly is selling out Brookie. It needs work. Yeah. And you know, the Sharkies are selling out Shark Park, but under a definite restricted capacity as to what it has been in previous decades.

[01:17:52] But that, like imagine, imagine NFL, I know I'm comparing the biggest league in the world now to the NRL. But imagine NFL teams staying in 15,000 seat stadiums. I totally understand that there's only in a couple of circumstances, two teams in massive cities in the US. But we've got nine, we've got nine teams in Sydney, at least 10 or 11 venues, right?

[01:18:19] I want to see Sharks fans being able to turn up and I want them, you know, if it's in demand, I want them paying a good amount to be able to go to those games. Like Manly fans are paying at Brookie, they're paying three figures to go sit in that grandstand at least. But the demand is there and they sell out every game. Those seats are rubbish. The viewing experience rubbish. Going to get a beer and food is rubbish. And it's the same at Cronulla. I'm sorry, but it is.

[01:18:48] And it is the same at Coggera. It's the same at Wynn and other places. Allianz is next level. And I want to see. We know this. Yeah, but I want to see, I want, hopefully, like the recalls of the Sharks get, the Sharks understand where their stadium sits. It's not saying that it's going to be, they won't be playing there next year, but they might go, you know what? We want this stadium to be able to do concerts. We want it to be able to do league games.

[01:19:17] We want junior finals there. We want A-League teams to be able to play there. We want Matilda's Socceroos friendlies, you know. We want, like Canberra's going through the same thing at the moment. Their stadium's garbage. But it's like, this is a billion dollar league. And yeah, the NRL probably needs to like be able to go to the Sharks going, we want you guys to have a boutique venue that 18,000 people can attend and would rather come here than watch it at home.

[01:19:44] But they have the option of the KO membership and coming to 12 games here at Shark Park and not line up 80 minutes for a bit of Red Barista. I completely agree with everything you're saying. And I know you know what I'm saying, but I'm also tripling down that it's not the point. The point, not one Sharks fan is going to tell you about how good the stadium is. And I get that. That's bad. That's a negative. I get that. It shouldn't be the case. I just don't like the fact.

[01:20:12] And it's probably because this guy's, you know, got his, my family in his mouth now. And that's probably why it's a personal thing, but it's like, I could come on this show and just go, some guy called Warren from the Fanatics. His favorite singer is Madonna. And then everyone goes, Hey man, I heard your favorite singer was Madonna and nothing wrong with Donna. She's great. But it's probably not true out of all the artists I pick. It's probably not his favorite. You know, I've just got to send it. Yeah.

[01:20:39] Don't say like a prayer that has, I've found out what the lyrics are with that one. And that's a very interesting. Good song. But yes, I just don't like that kind of cheap, shall we say media. And I didn't think that's what they were angling for. And it's kind of disappointing and that's where I stand. But you guys are right to blow up about and have your say and do that. That sort of comment.

[01:21:02] I guess, I guess I don't like, I don't like the way that a large part of my audience and some of my friends, even, which has surprised me. I'm not being disrespectful to them, but a lot of people who I know who should know better are messaging me going, oh my God. And it's like, there's no, oh my God, just relax. Until the club comes out and says it. Yes. I don't think there's anything to worry about. But like I said, I think hopefully there's a bit of a, hey, this is absolute garbage. What was said?

[01:21:32] This isn't actually what we're planning on doing. But wouldn't it be great by the time 2032 rolls around that we can provide one of the best stadiums in the NRL? Absolutely. Absolutely. And you say like, I just like, I go to Allianz. I love Wynn Stadium. Yeah. I love going down there, but I, and it's not because I live five minutes away from the stadium, but it's like, I would love to see the Dragons play more games there. I know we represent the Illawarra.

[01:22:02] We represent the South Coast. We represent St. George. But I want to see as many, I love Anzac Day in the fact that I saw red and white everywhere and we hadn't won a game yet. Yeah. And it just gives a bit of notoriety. It's like, this is, this is where the league is. This is where the NRL stands.

[01:22:23] Like, yes, it was started in different parts of the city and it has grown out to Cronulla and Penrith and Canberra and Illawarra and then Newcastle and Canberra and Gold Coast and Brisbane. And we're in Auckland. We're in Perth. I want our stadiums to do the same. I want our league to do the same. I want our teams to be able to grow as well. Whilst that's, whilst the league's expanding, I don't want stadiums contracting. I don't want the Sharks fans to have a lesser experience than what Roosters fans have.

[01:22:53] They shouldn't. And that's where like, I hope that some sort of, not necessarily from this, but just, you know, at least gets a ball rolling and you guys get a nice 15,000 seat stadium that represents a past, but also takes you into the future. Yeah, that'd be good. That'd be ideal. I'm glad we didn't give it any attention. Hey, Brooksy, I got a, I got a, I got a wrap. So what's your Derby prediction? Derby prediction.

[01:23:20] I, I have been thinking about it today. And I've listened to a few people. I've been waxing lyrical about these young guys. I've been thinking about no Braley and Hines and what that could do. I'm just, we've just gone through all these revenge games. I'm leaning towards an upset. I'm leaning towards a two point win to the dragons.

[01:23:49] Two points. And I, I just don't know how it's going to play out. I don't know if it's going to be similar to, um, we talk about Valentine Holmes penalty goal, two point field goal. Just two points in general. I don't know. I don't, I'm, I'm, I'm more leaning towards the dragons get out to a, um, let's say a 14 point lead and, um, you guys get too late tries and make it, uh, I should hope so. Closer. Yeah.

[01:24:18] But look, I, I, I've only got, I'm only going off one game. If that game, if we, if it was last week, I'd be like, God, I just hope you don't put more than 40 on us in the first half. Yeah. Um, I think no Hines and Braley's key. You guys need someone to step up. It's probably a great. You need Braden Trindle to be at his best. You need Will Kennedy to be at his best. I think that, I think that, um, singing the team songs probably.

[01:24:45] Probably giving them a bit of a, uh, pep in their step this week at training. I think Dean Young will want to see some blood. You got another Steve Price, former dragons coach, you know, someone that, um, got dropped from the dragons. Like you've got that storyline. You've got 50, you played the first dragons, uh, St. George Illawarra team. There's so many good stories. I think that's it. It's going to be close. It could be like, it's going to be two points either way. I'm leaning towards a dragons two point win. Fair enough. I did get.

[01:25:15] Who's going to. Oh yeah. I'll go 22. St. George Illawarra. 22, 20. Minus two, 20. Yes. Cronulla Sutherland, 20. I did get wind that, uh, there is a general wind. You're still getting wind. Wait, this show is really going downhill now. I, uh, nothing, no one here as good as the fanatics.

[01:25:40] I, I heard that, uh, the old boys have been invited in general, old boys to, uh, old fellas. Oh, okay. So there might be a bit of, uh, river. Is this the great, the great whites? Yeah. Just in general. I think if you're on that list, you get the email and come on down to captain's run and talk to the boys about the Derby. And, uh, even speaking to, even speaking to Ho Hepper today, who's only been in the club for a year and a half. Yeah. He was talking Derby. He was revved up.

[01:26:11] Yeah. That's it. Well, everyone, everyone does. And look, if you have made it this far in the podcast, I want you to go to sharkcastpod, I think, at sharkcastpod, schnaz, that's the handle. Sure, yeah. And if you were running captain's run, who would be your three players from your respective team? Mate, it's probably going to get 99% sharkies here.

[01:26:36] And to fire up the sharks this week, off the top of my head, I'm going to do my three St. George Illawarra players. Okay. I'm going to do, he did sneak in. He's currently running group seven, Ashton Sims. Oh, yeah. I'm getting him involved. He, he loves the dragons. I know he loves his Seinfeld and he loves the grassroots rugby league, particularly down

[01:27:06] the South Coast. I'm getting him in there. I think he's going to play some Metallica. He's going to drop some George Costanza and he's going to drop some truth bombs to some of the players and he's going to fire them up. Number two, I'm going to go, I'm getting, I'm getting really loose here. I'm going to go Matt Cooper. I think he's, he seems to be unhinged at the moment. Yeah. What was it? Raise the red. Fly them. Come on, man. It's one of the, oh man.

[01:27:36] If I was CEO. He was the first one to do it. He did it in round one. If I was CEO, before I tried to sign Sifitalikai, I would get rid of that rank thing that they've tried to manufacture there. Matt Cooper. I want it unhinged. I just want it loose. I want him to just, it was like Brett Stewart. The UFC zone, Matt. Yeah. Did you see Brett Stewart when Jake Travojevic had his time? Yeah, I did. That was unreal. That was one of the best things I've ever seen.

[01:28:03] If you, you want to go talk to him after the game, you want to look him in the eye and you want to tell him you've played your absolute heart out for this guy. That was amazing. And they went in the one. That was good. Everyone's saying it's Foz. I think it was Snake. This recent run. So Ashton Sims 3, Matt Cooper number 2. Yeah. Number 1, you know what I'm going to do? It's controversial. I'm going to get a current player from this game, from the other team and get Cam McInnes in there just to mix it up.

[01:28:30] And then the new, and then the Fanatics will report on the fact that Cam McInnes was in Dragons camp firing up the Dragons for the game he's playing against them in. We love the Fanatics. So that would be my 3-2-1. Sims, Cooper, McInnes. And give me, in a much quicker fashion, give me your three sharks that you get to rev up. Ooh, three sharks to rev up. Are wives in the rev up? I don't know where this is going, but sure. Okay. Well, I'll have to cross out someone there. Maybe not.

[01:29:00] Number three, I am going to say... And it can't be Paul Gallant. There you go. Can't be Paul Gallant. Can't be Paul Gallant. Okay. You got me there. Just for the... I want to test you a little bit. All right. I'm going to go Gavin Miller, number three. Beautiful. Beautiful. I think he is one of the greats of the club, if not the greatest in the club. I feel like he would be a great chat.

[01:29:28] And I think the stories that he would have of the Dragons back in the 80s would be great. Gavin Miller is my number three. Number two, I'm going a bit wide here. I'm going to go Brendan Cowell. Nice. He could play a former great, which he has done. Yes. And I think he would give a great speech. So, you know, he works in Shakespeare. He's done Avatar.

[01:29:55] You know, who else could do a great speech? Brendan Cowell, number two for me. Now, but before you go to number one, I do have to play you something. I don't think you've heard this. I just happen to have it handy, in all honesty. Here it is. Now, we had Brendan on when his show Plum was on. Yes. Because I legitimately take the badge away from it. It's a, I said it to him. It's a piece of art. Cracking show. Yeah. It's amazing.

[01:30:24] And so we had him on. And then, of course, we started talking about Sharks, current Sharks. And this is what he had to say to me about a certain player. I'm going to play it. Yeah. And he has now said it numerous times since then. So if you see him on the hill on Sunday or wherever he is in the corporates, I reckon this is going to get a go. Just bear with me one sec and here it comes. Here it comes.

[01:31:25] Now, for our audio podcast, we might try and wrap it up a bit better. But he said he was going to put it in a movie or something. He was then enamored with that line about Stone Street. I could imagine Stone Street being an Aussie show that you'd see on binge or, you know, SBS on demand. Stone Street season one out now streaming. You know, Brendan Cowes just going. That's the last time you'll come down Stone Street.

[01:31:53] What are you doing on Stone Street? Brendan Cowell, Stone Street. Season one streaming now. Who's your number one shark guy? Number one. Oh, I've been in Stone Street mode. Yeah. Let me think. Look, it's got, it's got, look, I think, I think. You're stalling.

[01:32:18] It's going to be, it's going to be Marty Lane. Okay. And you know why? Because he's going to show the highlights of him chasing down Rod Wishart. And he's like, you know what? No one thought I could do this. I'm a prop chasing down a winger. Yeah, right. But look at me. Look at what I did. And look at what you guys are going to do. You're going to chase down bloody former Steelers and Dragons on the weekend.

[01:32:48] Love it, eh? I think, yeah, maybe Marty Lane could be three. I like the Brendan Cowell. Oh, that's good. That is good. Yeah. As a former Sharks player, like I thought that was a nice take. But there's so many to choose from. There's so many great Sharks. Like you ruled out Gallon. You're E.T.'s one option. Sparkles McGaw. You know, he could come dressed as his gladiator character. What was his name?

[01:33:18] Cougar? Hammer. He covers Hammer. Johnathan's docking with the headgear. Good mate of mine. There's options. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to go with Brooksie because you'll appreciate this. We made a voice. You'll appreciate this because we do have to go because there is some tech happening, which I'm not liking. But true story. Yep. True story. I played a gig on the weekend at the Cronulla Music Festival. It was really good fun.

[01:33:45] And John docking came along because he is a friend of mine through the show. Yeah. We've become genuine friends. A great, great guy. Yeah. Yeah. My teenage hero, Alan Wilson, who I've interviewed and now, you know, say hello. He came along with Docko and guess who they brought? And it wasn't a player. Guess who they brought? What's the connection there? I'm playing a gig. They've come along. They've brought someone along. Wilson. It's got to be a musician. Yes.

[01:34:15] A really good one. Who's a Sharks fan? And it's not Amy Shark. Oh, you got me. Actually. What decade would the... Well, 80s, 90s, before our time even. But yeah, it's still going. Kate Sobrano. Kate Sobrano? Look, you're close. But Dave Faulkner from Who to Guru. Julia Morris. Oh, yeah. Oh, awesome. Yeah, a little bit nerve-wracking. Fields, Gnaz.

[01:34:45] What is it like when you see someone there that's... You just smile and you look the other way. He's like... But he introduced... I was introduced to him and he was lovely. And so there was a connection already. But it was more like, I'm not going to just look at you and sing for 50 minutes. Oh, that's awesome. It is awesome. I'm well done. You're awesome. We've got to go because I'm worried about his technology now. And also, it's like 4 o'clock in the morning. But good luck at the Derby. Yes.

[01:35:15] Let us know if you come down to the Derby. I will do. I wouldn't mind seeing a few breweries or something. You told me about the little brewery. There is at least one called The Hairy Man. It will be there from 1 o'clock if you're interested. Yeah. Please go watch Brooksy's show, the Rugby League agenda setters on Channel 7 and all the affiliated . Yep. You can watch it on demand as well.

[01:35:38] Please listen to his show, 3 to 6 SEN radio, Monday to Friday with Joel and with Sugar and with other people. Justin Horro. Justin Horro. Former Shark. Yep. Running the tour, former Shark. Now, Brooksy's on the social medias. You'll find him on there. Go find him. He's quite funny. A lot of ha-ha kind of things. And we'll get out of here, Brooksy. Where to go?

[01:36:09] See you, Shnaz. Thanks for having us. One of the greats. Couch fans, good luck with your season. Just not this week. Great. Thank you to the lesser known couchman, Nathan Brooks. Everyone else will be back with another episode soon. Do not fret. We got this. SharkCast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. He's an expert in the Carring Bar region and has his eye all across the Shire.

[01:36:37] Lifelong Sharks fan and supporter of this podcast, if you're looking to buy or sell in the region, the person you need to be talking to is Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Hawes, Crips & Crips Real Estate. SharkCast! SharkCast!

[01:37:02] In the Shire, turn your porch lights off because we're coming home with a trophy.