Post Game Livestream: Rd 1 vs Penrith from Las Vegas

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[00:01:10] Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Hey there, welcome to SharkCast Pod, a podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the world. Possibly not the best club in Las Vegas, although pretty good hit out for the boys. This episode, post game is brought to you by Dyson Logistics, Royal Moodyear Club in Port Hacking, and Jason Hall's Crips and Crips Real Estate. We're doing a bit of weird stuff here with tech. If you could see what I could see, you'd be laughing your heads off. But my name is Sam Shinzi, OG2015.

[00:01:40] I'm coming to you from a room in Las Vegas, where I've been the past week reporting on the greatest club in the history of the world. Who lost tonight, spoiler, 28-22 in Las Vegas at the beautiful Allegiant Stadium, which we'll talk about no doubt throughout this live stream.

[00:01:59] And I would like to know what you guys and girls thought of the game, most importantly, but also your experience at the ground, if you were lucky enough to be there. So, Sharks lose 28-22. It's a bummer because they played well enough to win the game. There's no doubt in my mind about that. And they came home pretty strong. So, one of those games already that they will look back on and think they should have won.

[00:02:30] I'd love to know if you thought they lived up to the hype of the game. Did they bring their best on the world stage? And I'd love to know just everything you thought. Now, we've had a few comments already on this platform. Big Red Dev is looking forward to a live victory song by Yishina as well. It'll come, just not tonight. It's not going to surprise you. I saw a lot of positives, but there is also negatives to talk about. And I'd love to talk about it with all of you. Christopher says,

[00:03:00] Shouldn't you be out at Resorts World in the beers and having a punt? Mate. Well, the night is young. It's only 12-12 a.m. here on Sunday. So, Dub Corsez, Pretty good hit out. Champion didn't get the win. I would have preferred Sione over Stone Street. I think that's a great thing to talk about. Sione versus Stone Street and what Stone Street did good tonight, what he didn't do as good tonight, and what we missed from Sione. So, I'd love to talk about that. But it's definitely one of the things I want to talk about.

[00:03:30] Now, just bear with me, because I'm going to have comments on two different pages I'm going to manage. But I love it. I love you guys being here. It was fun having the team back. And I'm really glad that they put on a show enough for us to see that things are going to be a-okay. First comment of the night, Benson says, We did good, but not as good as I thought. That's fair. Running through the stats. Thank you for that, Benson. Appreciate it. I'll leave that up for a little bit. So, we had more possession.

[00:03:59] We had 52% of the possession. We completed fairly well. Better than what they ate. 38 of 45, which is 84%. Six line breaks to five to Penrith. Nine offloads in the game. Four to them, five to us. Ran for about the same amount of tackles. Missed tackles, we had less. We had 23 missed tackles. That's pretty good. They had 30. And we got seven penalties to their four. They made 14 errors. We made 12. There were some round one kind of errors in there. We'll talk about that.

[00:04:29] So, overall, the stats kind of relate to me. That it was a very even game. I think Penrith had the upper hand in a lot of ways for most of the game. But I thought that there were times where we were dominant. I mean, we started really well. And we finished strong. I know they scored the last try, but we finished strong. Deeb, our friend, says our defense was slow moving compared to the Panthers. Yeah. Having watching it live in the stadium. Had really good seats. We'll talk all about the stadium experience in a little while.

[00:04:55] But having watching the game live, Panthers, for most of the game, rushed in well. Managed the 10-meter line really well. The kick chase was phenomenal, as you saw. It got less and less as the game went on. But for the most part, it was pretty good. Lee has the call of the night. And this is what it is, unfortunately. We sob into our Budweiser beers. But it clearly, I'm going to say, was clearly the difference.

[00:05:25] And he's a great player. He's a champion player. Benson says, I'm still proud of the boys. Yeah, it was great effort. Handman says, I wasn't at the ground, but I thought they played well. And AFB, Rabian, Trindle, and Braley played well. Miller, Tarlo, goes down with a gifted penalty of the Panthers. Yes, we'll get to that. Thank you, Handman. Lee, I think you might have just missed me read out the stats. So you can go back and listen or watch later on. But the stats were pretty even. And in some cases, we were better. Only missed 23 tackles. That's...

[00:05:54] Tim says, thanks for the coverage over the week. Bummer that we lost, but I feel like they did us really proud. Liam Martin is a beast. And did so much damage for our kick return. Thank you, Tim, for tuning in and everyone else. It's been a really awesome week. A lot of fun. It's actually been, you know, a bit of a grind as well. So, but a grind doing this is a pleasant grind, I have to say. Liam Martin is annoying because he's really good. He's also a tad over the top with his aggression and gets away with a fair bit.

[00:06:23] But it's a great player, no doubt. Danny says, not disappointed with the game, but I feel we need a few more games to gel. That's fair. I mean, I thought they looked at times pretty good clinically. I think a big thing for us, and I don't know if people are going to agree or disagree. I think the limitations on the width of the field particularly affected us way more than them. I felt like we ran out of room a lot. Did well to score 22 points against Penrith.

[00:06:52] The moment they scored in ages against them. But I think if we have the proper field, maybe things are a tiny bit different. Not sure if you agree with that or not. Danny also says, Katoa would have made a difference. Not saying we'd win, but Stone Tree doesn't get involved enough. We will get to that, my friend. Thank you. Steve says, the shape looked decent, clunky, but you can see how little the attack will be. Stupid mistakes, poor goal on D cost us tonight. I'm not happy about the result, but I'm not worried at all. That's pretty fair. Pretty fair. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:07:21] This one, we will get to this subject. I'm just getting through the comments now. Steve says, the Ronnie Brunning plosion was unforgivable, especially for a 100 gamer. It's wise words. Luches, I'll take that game. But the last time we had the Panthers was a completely different game. Vastly improved. Yeah. So I was at the game with Josh Bolling and we agreed that for all my analysis over the last six months that we should have won that brilliant.

[00:07:49] Tonight was a game that we really should have won. And I think we were way better this time around. Luches says, you're Duncan bud. What's that about? Have a whiskey for me, brother. Well, I've been drinking what I would call acceptable beer all week, my friend, but I was, um, came out from the stadium, got a bite to eat and a drink. And this was pretty much limitations where I was at. So I don't have any whiskey on me, but you know, I feel like game like that needs one and

[00:08:18] we'll be catch up and cure him later on. So hopefully that might happen, my friend. Uh, there was an incident with, it was at Ken McInnis and the captain challenge. I have no idea being alive in the ground. I have no idea if someone can explain that to me. That would be fantastic. Uh, Steve said the bench outside of Talakai didn't have the impact we thought it would. Uh, Tsukyu has to be a better option than Atkinson or Ueli. Uh, Steve, I probably need to watch the game back to analyze that stronger, but I thought, I thought the bench was okay.

[00:08:48] I thought the forwards were okay. I didn't think we were dominated. So, wait and see on that one. Uh, your boy Josh, what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas. But I can confirm because there were hundreds of witnesses that Josh had a massive night on whatever last night was. Friday night for us, Saturday night for you guys. And he did well to get through today. And he's got an early flight tomorrow.

[00:09:15] So Josh has been invited on the show, but I don't think he's gonna join. But that's where he is. I may have sent the text that you sent to him. Uh, my brother David says, what's the most full American thing you've eaten? Uh, been pretty good Davey boy. Just, um, through circumstance more than anything. So nothing too crazy. The best thing I've probably had is Shake Shack, which is one of their better burger joints. The night is young. I've got tomorrow as well.

[00:09:42] So, he might have an update on that situation with the food. The food's been good. But yeah, it's been a pretty sensible trip as far as that kind of thing goes. More just to, due to kind of circumstance and timing. Uh, Tracy says, thanks for bringing the vague experience to those of us who couldn't attend. It's my pleasure. It's absolutely, uh, I love doing this. So I'm glad that I could be here. Appreciate that I could be here. There are different reasons and factors getting me here, which is awesome.

[00:10:11] And it's my pleasure, Tracy. So I'm glad you've enjoyed it. Uh, if you get onto our socials and follow us all over those places, you'll be able to see a lot more as well. So if you're not there, please do so. Just looking at the match again, let's go through a bit of the game and then we'll get back to some comments. And like I said before, if anyone really wants to call in or join in, I think there's a way for you to do it via that link in the first comment.

[00:10:41] But he scored first, uh, a try to Jesse Ramian. And that was in the fourth minute. That was really exciting. Sweet passing from our halves. And then Penrith went on a bit of a roll. With tries to yo in the 27th and Tongo in the 29th. That was pretty annoying. Then we hit back with Britton Nikara, the fabulous Britton Nikara and Trindle converted at half time. It was 12th time to them.

[00:11:11] So definitely in it. They scored in the 49th minute through Dane Laurie and Alamo a few later. Boy, yeah, they had a pretty good game. Cleary of course is kicking everything. And then Kyle Eros scored a try in the 59th. Trindle converted it. One of the highlights of the night, our new boy AFB showing what he can do in the 69th minute. Just a powerhouse. He's obviously the modern day version of Fafida, which we love. Trindle converted. We were within six with 10 to go. And man, just wasn't good enough.

[00:11:41] Some errors and that kind of thing. Dane Laurie with the try towards the end. I want to talk about try. It was a fantastic slash horrific. Ammons has a grew the field size outside backs. We've had the advantage, but that's just how it is, right? We can't complain about that. We knew about that for months and months and months and months and months. Yes, I agree. Benson agrees me about, about, uh, William Martin being annoying. Uh, Steve Arch is watching the presser.

[00:12:09] I think he said the coach and camera asking me about the lost challenge. Uh, Luke says, have I done the monorail? Well, and I have, that was, I think our, our second day here. Maybe, uh, Gary Dover and I were bucking up together, which was, that was an experience. Boy, I'm just kidding. He's an angel. And, uh, we're trying to get around without paying the Ubers so much. So, he discovered the monorail, which was right near where we were.

[00:12:39] And it was fun. Really fun. Uh, John says, congrats on the great coverage throughout. Enjoy your podcast. Thank you, John. Appreciate it. Very much. Lee says, there was a good balance between Tricky and Nico. And I agree. I thought Trindle had the better game, but I thought there were some great moments from Nico as well. We'll talk about pros and cons there. Uh, Lucius Rothen, about I have B. Dana says, not sure if you're dressed. Dana, um, I don't know about the challenge. I think the coach is asking about now at the press conference.

[00:13:09] And I'm sure you'll hear more about that. Maybe from our friend, Deborah here. Thanks. I hope you're well, Dana up where you are. And we might have a guest here. Let's see how this is going to work. Dave, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Can you hear me saying? How you going, my friend? Yeah, I'm good. How are you? Good, mate. Well, the system works. Kinda. How was your night? Oh, pretty good. Pretty good. Uh, watch the game. Um, I said, I said that the defense line, I mean, there's some positives.

[00:13:39] There's some negatives. I mean, you can't take away from that. I mean, they performed well, but in those clutch moments, that's where the Panthers win their games. And we have to get better. Yeah. Yeah. We, we just, it's a great, it's a great point. Uh, on our group chat, private group chat that we have with all the hosts.

[00:14:04] Uh, there's already a few asking what, uh, why Nico wasn't stepping up a little bit more in those moments. And I, I agree with that. But I also think Trindle was doing pretty good, except for that one kind of bit of the emery held the ball. So maybe they're leaning on Trindle a little bit much. I'm not sure, but you're right. It was there to be. I mean, it was there to be had, right? It was there to be taken.

[00:14:26] Oh, they probably have never had a better chance to beat them in the re in recent history where we had those opportunities and we didn't, we didn't take that chance. And where Cam gets tackled, like what, two meters from the line and AFB is, is sitting right on his shoulder. I mean, should have that been AFB taking those hit ups near the line? I mean, that's what we've got him for. He'd already scored a try, uh, similar.

[00:14:54] And I think Cam is such a great player, but you don't want him hitting up near the goal line. That's, that's AFB's role. You know, they're little things, but they're little things that when you play these, you can get away with making those mistakes, playing a team in the bottom eight, but not these guys. Yeah, absolutely. And there was a bunch of incidents tonight, Steve, that they couldn't and didn't get away with. And off the top of my head, uh, dropping the ball from a kickoff.

[00:15:24] I'm not picky on Nico, but he was the one there. Uh, Blake Braley kicking the ball out, a fall from a kickoff. Trindle not finding touch. Say again, sorry? Trindle not finding touch on the penalty. Absolutely. And there was a chance towards the end, I'm pretty sure with Ramion to Stone Street and he would have scored. And they're the moments you need to ice. I thought, thought generally like they lifted for the occasion and it was there to be one at the end. That just didn't go our way.

[00:15:54] But I mean, what's your overall emotion after the game? Are you still pretty hopeful about the season? Do you think the season's over? Like how you feel? The season's not over. Uh, we can all, we've all done risks, uh, slitting through games. We've all done that. The question is, can we beat them? They're the, they're the, they're the bar. And you can say we went close. Great. Then we'll have a quick look at them.

[00:16:24] They had one trial. Edwards and Cleary didn't play that trial. They had Garner in the centers. They had their winger go down and they still won. So we can talk that we were close. We had that, uh, decision, uh, towards the end of the game to go against us, but no one has said from our side, how about Cleary's 40-20? That was a 40-20. If they, if that was being ruled, they could have scored. So you've got to say, we're always looking at things.

[00:16:53] Oh, we were unlucky on this, but how about what we were lucky with? Yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. So run me through the 40-20 when Will Kennedy flicked it back. The replay suggested he was, he was out. He was out. His foot was on the line. Yeah. Right. Okay. Yep. And that's where also to, we've got to get smarter with challenges, Sam. There was the challenge they made. Remember when Ronaldo went up to catch the ball, he knocked it. He come off his leg.

[00:17:21] They deliberately gave away a penalty, Penrith, because they want the challenge. Right. Then they can challenge. And then it goes back and finds out where, I've never seen us do something like that. And they also did one important thing. They targeted Blake Braley in attack. He made 60 tackles. That wears him out when we've got the ball.

[00:17:44] That's a move Flano did in the 2016 grand final against the Storm, where we directed all our attack at Cameron Smith to wear him out. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I mean, I'm looking at 56 tackles with, yeah, three runs for 28 meters. I'm not sure about line engagements, but yeah, he was busy. That's the sort of stuff the TV coverage must show a bit more from where I was. But yeah, busy boy, that's for sure. Four misses for 56 tackles.

[00:18:15] Yeah. I mean, Penrith are always going to, like a good champ. They're, what, one of the best teams that ever existed. So, I appreciate everything you said. But you asked the question, can we beat them next time, I think, or what will we have to do? Don't you think tonight showed that we can beat them next time? Or are you still a bit undecided on that? I'm still a bit undecided is that when it comes to the crunch, they have Cleary. Right.

[00:18:42] And he's, and you've seen even that second try of theirs, that kick, it was just like, there was no, nothing going on and bang. Yeah. That's a defend that one, isn't it? It is. It is. And that's him. That, until you figure out a way, well, basically, you can't stop him. What you've got to do is take him down from playing a nine out of 10 to a seven out of 10 performance.

[00:19:07] You're not going to make, he's not going to have a bad game, but you've got to try to minimize his influence on the game. Yeah. Yeah. I thought tonight if they targeted him in, well, just with kick pressure and that kind of thing, I thought that we were a good chance. But yeah, it's just those moments. It's like in the prelim with the 40-20 and I mean, how do you stop it? I don't know. Do we just have to get better? Well, I think a prime example would be the kick chase. Have a look at the difference.

[00:19:37] And again, it might be the way Cleary kicks the ball, but Liam Martin would give Will Kennedy what? Not even a meter to move. When we put the kicks in, Dylan Edwards probably would have five meters to move. We had some kicks that did push him back, but those kick chases, then we were on the back foot. How many times were we coming out of our 10s and they've got us pinned down there? Those, that's, I mean, that is one, trying to keep them as far down the field before they put a kick in.

[00:20:05] But also two, how do you build your team to stop that happening? He's great. I mean, Cleary is probably the best halfback I've seen. Let me run you through the last try. It was right where we were sitting. It was from a scrum. So Penrith had a scrum on our 20s. So they were 20 meters out from our line.

[00:20:28] And they shifted the attacking shape right before they fed the ball where Stone Street was the lone defender on the right of the scrum. He saw a short side change and they called him over us. He was essentially defending at five eights. And they do the hit up from the scrum to the right of the scrum. He gets tackled and they immediately swing left where he's not there, not through any fault. No.

[00:20:56] And it was so, like I was right in line with it. And that was the match winning try to Dane Laurie. But you watch that back on replay from the scrum and it is perfection. And it's pretty annoying. And I think that it's not so much Stone Street should have done better there. There just needs to be better communication. Because at that point, the game's on the line. You got to do better. So that's how good they are. That's it. And they also targeted the winger who's got the least amount of experience, which is smart football.

[00:21:26] That is smart football. And that's how you play. And Stone Street will be a good player. But they set him up. And that is right. They are a very smart team. Everyone knows their role in that team. And we're, look, I must say we're getting there and that next man up. But their next man up comes in at a level that's, let's say one level above us. And we've got, and that's not knocking us. That's every team.

[00:21:54] Whoever they bring in is like one level. And how many players have they lost? Yeah. Yeah. And it was a great time to get them. So that's why it's also pretty annoying that we lost because, you know, round one, they're getting their act together. There's new guys there. There's a center. There's a second rower. There were ways to win tonight. We kind of went close. I thought that started really well. Let me ask you about some positives. What is your takeaway from the game that was good? AFB.

[00:22:23] That he can, we can get on the back of him. That try. He's, he is damaging. And up the, up the middle, they've got to be following him. There's got to be someone. One of the backs is always going to be sniffing around because he's going to pop a pass in our own half and we're going to be away. So he, he was key. I think Blake Braley, a lot of work in defense. I mean, that stymied his attack. Yeah. I like that. Ramian, Ramian looked well. He looked great.

[00:22:51] I mean, Ramian, he was probably causing the most issues of any player out there. And remember Ramian, he was busted in the back end of the season for us. So that didn't help us at the end of last season. Iro, he looks like he's come as good up as well. So there's positives there. It's just, you know, it's frustrating when you lose to them. I'd rather put it this way. I'd rather lose to them than if we were playing one of the other two teams and lost to them.

[00:23:19] Uh, because they are, as I said, they're the bar, you know? Yeah. Yeah. You've, you've got to beat them, but there's positives in there. Yeah. I know the bench to me, Talakai, he looked good off the bench. I don't know. I don't know the combination of the bench. I don't know. I actually thought when I looked at their bench to our bench, we could have made some impact. And that didn't seem to come on. Uh, so looking at the bench, the three big boppers. Yeah.

[00:23:49] They only had about 50 meters each in run meters. Uh, a couple of tackle bus each, nothing dramatic. I mean, I didn't think that we lost the ruck or anything, but I see what you're saying. I think it could have been a bit better. Just on AFB, uh, one try, almost 150 meters, which is pretty rare in the past few years for a Sharks prop.

[00:24:12] Uh, I think he had about 55 minutes and once he got 25 tackles, one miss. So, pretty good hit out. And I, I saw enough out of him tonight. Even if you take away the try, which was unbelievable. Take that away. Yeah. He's still making eight, nine, 10 meters run. He's dragging guys with him. As you say, you need to chase, you need to follow him because the offload there is there. Um, I thought it was pretty funny.

[00:24:38] His first touch was like that crazy offload and we lost 20 meters, but he'll probably never do something like that ever again. But, uh, he was good. Like he, he did enough for me tonight to go. That's a positive. The other guy I want to talk about with you, Steve. Well, I got you and I'll throw up someone's comment here. Where are we? Uh, a friend Darby said this first round wasn't too bad. Kennedy was awesome. So I thought will Kennedy was our best player.

[00:25:05] Uh, looking at his figures, ran for a hundred meters to tackle bus one line break assist. And I'm going to say at least a trial to saved. Um, I thought he was great for a guy who's allegedly under pressure. What did you make of will Kennedy tonight? I'm not the biggest will Kennedy fan. Sure. He played, played okay. Uh, he, he defended well. I mean, there was nothing wrong in his defense.

[00:25:34] Um, he, to me, I mean, the kicking game of Cleary shut him down. So he couldn't really offer a huge amount in attack. So he did his job. I, I, I wouldn't say like, everyone has a, you know, I wouldn't say that, that it was the best player out there. I thought it was, I thought Ramian, but except for that pass at the end. But I see, I don't know whether we can win a comp with him at fullback with our spine, Sam. That it's one of those things.

[00:26:04] Elaborate. I think with the spine we've got, I think Braley, you need something. I classify Braley is one of the top, say four to five hookers in the game. So he ticks one box. Uh huh. So Trindle has come on and I tick Trindle is a quality player now. Nico, I, I've got my concerns. Yeah. In a big game.

[00:26:30] And then I say, well, if you've got a concern over a half, then I've got a concern over a fullback. Now I've got a concern with half of my spine. And that's the thing. And so I look at the Panther spine, you've got Cleary tick, Edwards tick, Kenny tick. They've got a concern over one Jack Cole. That's it. So, and then they've got a player to come in for him. So, and you look at the spines of teams and I sort of go, I don't know. It's like, he may step up with AFB.

[00:26:59] I mean, does, does AFB bring everyone up half a percent? Does everyone improve from being a seven player to a 7.5? I think so. I think it's possible. That's right. So tonight, Nico Hines ran for about 50 meters, had an offload, one line break assist, one try assist, a couple of errors, made 23 tackles, one miss.

[00:27:23] Uh, Trindle had two try assists compared to one for Nico and had to make a lot less tackles. Uh, yeah, I'm, I wasn't overly disappointed in Nico. I, I, but some of the boys brought me back into it with, you know, where it was in the last 10 minutes. But, uh, for a round one hit out Steve, I, I mean, I hear your concerns. They're all very, very warranted and, and you know, your stuff.

[00:27:51] Um, I'm interested in this Will Kennedy thing though, because I thought he was, but it was pretty good. He did save that try. He did save the try and the commentators were arguing, should it have been a try to Penrith? So when you see the replay, you'll see the Fox, um, Fox commentators arguing, did he knock the ball out of the hand? Should it have been a try or not?

[00:28:12] I also think he had one, one, uh, before that, maybe the first, on a second half where Liam Martin was running at him full steam ahead and he kind of slowed him down. It was a missed tackle, but he slowed him down. I thought I saw enough out of Will Kennedy tonight to go, I don't really have a problem, but you know, can you get a better one? I'm not sure. I think we'd say on that, but I, I, I hear a lot from people about what you're saying about. You're not sure if he's the guy.

[00:28:43] So, I mean, he's off contract. What would you do? Would you move him on and then either bring up the young kid or would you look to buy someone else for a similar price? So what would you do? So then, well, you're looking at the next season. You've got to say, well, Ison's going to be there for a couple of more seasons. Um, you'd have to see him in first grade before you're going to decide if you're going to see re-sign Will. So Fitz is going to have to make a decision at some stage.

[00:29:10] Uh, if he believes Kennedy's the fullback for the remainder of the year and Marina, the window is open, then you've got to re-sign him. Because why would you then go, he's the fullback for a chance to win the premiership, but come the end of the year, we're going to move you on? That wouldn't make sense to me. You'd be, if Ison's playing fullback by round eight or round 10, then it's time, obviously they've decided in the background to move him on.

[00:29:35] And then you're going to have to have a backup to Ison because you just can't have what a 20 role is your fullback and no one covering. Definitely. So that's, that's right. You've got Dan Atkinson's moving on. And there probably would be some in the cap to get someone, you know, of what we're paying, paying will. And we're not going to be able to get, we're not going to be paying a mega dollars to bring a fullback in considering we've just paid for AFB.

[00:30:00] And I think what Hazleton could be staying because there's nothing coming up to say he's leaving. Yeah. That seems to have gone quiet. So it's, it's how much money you've got in the cap. I mean, the key, yeah, I think we just got to see four, five, six weeks, how we're traveling. I think that's the key. And also too, if you move, so if you drop will this year, if they let's say hypothetically, they did Sam, you would then have Sam Stone Street as an inexperienced winger because Katoa was out for months. You've got Ero really any second season.

[00:30:30] So if you're back five, you would then only have two guys, a hundred gamers. Yeah. Yeah. While you're here, I want to talk about Stone Street versus Katoa. Not so much versus, but we missed a lot of go forward with Katoa tonight. Stone Street did run for over a hundred meters. And he had a lot of that. Well, sorry. Some of that was from that nice run in the right edge early in the game.

[00:31:00] But he clearly doesn't make his, he clearly doesn't make the same meters Katoa makes per run. They're different style players, different shapes. You're getting it. You get, they're just such different players. Now tonight, I thought we missed Katoa. I thought we missed those hard runs. And Sam Stone Street tries his guts out. Like he's a young kid. There's not much of him. He gets smashed every time. He always bounces back for more. So it's not a criticism.

[00:31:29] It's just, they're such different players. But I thought tonight we really need Katoa. Where do you stand on Sam Stone Street? Is he a long-term guy? Is it too soon to tell? What are your thoughts on Stone Street? Well, with Katoa first, you're exactly right tonight. He has that bounce effect, that bounce off player effect. You know, they've got to tackle him. And it might only make, you make another two or three meters. But what you're doing is you're tiring out the defense. Because then you've got to have a second person or a third person come up.

[00:31:59] With Sam, I believe like he's potentially the long-term winger there. Yeah. And what I see is, I actually compare him to Jack Bostock out of the Dolphins. Right. And they talk up Bostock. But in his first season, and this was happened to Sam last year too, to a degree. When he'd get tackled, he'd lose yardage. You know, when he'd bring out a hit up, he'd make the run, go back a couple of meters. He'd lose that. He'd lose the war when he gets tackled.

[00:32:26] But tonight, he didn't actually get pushed back much. He held his ground. Yeah. So I see that this year, that's the type of year you will see. He's not going to be a Ronaldo. He's not going to be a 2-0, 2-0 from Panthers who makes yardage. But he'll make his run. But I don't see him getting dragged backwards. Next year, you would think he would take the next step. And then he makes post-contact meters. Right. And that's what I've seen. That's what I can very much compare him to Bostock.

[00:32:55] He's got more speed than Bostock. But that's what I've seen about him out of the Dolphins. Very, I see there's a similar type of progression. And I think, yeah, he's a potential long-term player for us. I mean, we've only got a small sample size, Sam. That small sample size is a good sample size. Yeah, it is. And he's got a big future ahead of him. Go that way moving forward. On your point about him not getting dragged backwards, that's good.

[00:33:22] And you mentioned next year, for example, it might be later in the year, but maybe next year he's making post-contact meters. But for me, if you're running at the line, he's stop. Yeah. That's not great every time. And it's not every time. No. And I'm not even being critical of him. He's just such a different player. Now, we saw him getting the clear and it was pretty exciting. We need more of that and more opportunities for him to do that. And as I said, we did check the replay, but I thought there was a good chance

[00:33:52] at the end for him to level up the game. It wasn't meant to be. But yeah, no sports tonight, I thought. No Katoa. And I think that that's something that they're going to really need to look after Sam Stone Street. They're going to have to put him in good positions, good situations, and then we'll see the best of him. You've got to address the situation and go, whatever you've got in a player, you've got to work out what's best for him and to work on his strengths.

[00:34:19] So does that mean we change out, we bring out the ball slightly different when he's playing? You know, it's the same as an attacking kick because if he's height Sam, we should be putting bombs up to support him where when you've got, so we've got Ronnie and Katoa, you normally target the bombs towards Ronnie because if he's height. But when you've got two tall wingers, then we should be able to go, okay, if Ronnie's marked up against some guy who's level height, but Sam's not, let's go there, but we wouldn't do that for Katoa.

[00:34:48] So we've got to be thinking that way. Yeah. I'm pretty sure that, did they even kick to him once? Because it was all just going to Ronaldo. That's right. And Ronaldo doesn't always jump for the ball. We've got a different tactic there. It's letting it drop and the Panthers were letting it fall as well. Sorry, sorry. I apologize, Steve. I meant the Panthers. Did they kick the Stone Street? No. Which was, maybe because, but okay, let's have a look on that side of the field too, Sam.

[00:35:18] They had Dane Worry and Luke Garner. Yeah, fair enough. Yep. So, and Cleary might've been saying, I've got a winger. And also too, he's got Liam Martin near out near Ronnie. So, and Liam Martin, even though it was the back row, he's quite good in the air. Thanks Trish for that comment. Garsley Ten said, should AFB need, should be getting more than 54 minutes in the future? Kofusi only got 30 tonight.

[00:35:46] I thought that, I thought that AFB could have played a bit longer in the second half. They brought him back, I think with about 20, 25 to go. Maybe in the future if he's, but he's all good. I would say bring him on in the 50th minute maybe. But again, I thought the forwards were, were pretty good tonight. I thought that we did enough, even with the guys off the bench, we didn't really lose that ground. So I was pretty happy with that.

[00:36:13] Andrew points out there was some lazy efforts by tall Tom as well as, I think it was AFB. But looking at some of those tries that we conceded, it's not end of world stuff because occasionally forwards get lazy. You mentioned the kick, Steve, from Cleary, which was pretty hard to defend. We talked about the one at the end, which was just genius. I didn't think our defensive systems were bad for a round one hit up. What are your thoughts on that?

[00:36:44] No, I think that 28 points never looks good. But overall, we held, we held pretty well. And remember, they conceded 22 as well. And that's above theirs. Maybe it's to do with the field as well, Sam. I mean, that's, it's hard to toss. Remember, shorter field, not as wide. Does that affect the overall points? Because you've seen in the first game, there was lots of points scored as well. Yeah. But it could depend on how you play the game, right? That's right. And they said it's a fast track.

[00:37:12] That's what they kept talking up to commentators. So does that affect, because most games here are played with a bit of juke. We all know most games are more nighttime games. So that could have the effect. I mean, look, if we concede only 28 to the Panthers, I'm okay. Yeah. It'll be when we come back and play the Cowboys in two weeks, have it pulled up. That, and I agree, AFB could do more minutes, but I think it's horses for courses, Sam.

[00:37:40] You know, if we're going well, let's not have him out there. You know, if we've got a game well and truly won, I would be saying, you conserve those five minutes, five minutes. It's all going to help at the back end of the season. I'm one of these people to go, if you can conserve, same with Blake Braley. If we can conserve him at certain stages, let's do it. But yeah, I think overall, I mean, I'd rather, a bit of all the teams who, if you're going to lose by six points, you want to lose to six points to the Panthers. Well, let's flip the coin.

[00:38:09] Do you think we would have beaten most other teams, maybe aside from the Storm tonight? I reckon we would have, yeah, we would have had them all covered, basically. Yeah. Storms, except you never played the Storm round one. Even the Panthers lost to the Storm round one last year. Well, if you play the Storm round one, you're going to lose. That's right. Just put it in. So that means for certain on Sunday, next Sunday, Parramatta's going to win, because we've just said that. No, no, no.

[00:38:33] You can, I'm not suggesting anyone gambles anything, but you can have a friendly, verbal bet with your friend and tell them I know better. Melbourne are going to win. That's just a fact. Andrew has any info on Dykes and I don't have any on him. I believe he's just training to get better. Hey Steve, let me tell you about the stadium. Have you been to Allegiant Stadium? No, I haven't been. You know, last time I was in Vakes was in the early nineties.

[00:39:00] So no, I've never, I'm assuming it's a little bit better than Shark Stadium. I wouldn't say better. It's different. Different. It's crazy. Like it's overwhelming. Thanks to Andrew for the info on Dykes. It's, it's, it's overwhelming in the sense that, you know, I hadn't experienced anything like that. I've been to a few NFL stadiums, but nothing like that in recent times. And everything about it just works.

[00:39:29] It's, you walk or you can get in drive there, but you can walk there from the strip. It's like 25 minute walk. Pretty easy. And once you're there, it's really well organized. There's, there's a little bit of security, but nothing crazy. And then you're basically inside. You can't get back out. Uh, but everything you need is there from food to drink to facilities. It's all there.

[00:39:55] And we were, uh, sitting on the maybe 30 meter line and they, rather than having just like a food and drink outlet, like, like 20 to the side. And that's kind of it. And you sort of make your way to the nearest one. Your section has its own facilities, food, drink, toilets. And so your section might be two bays and that's it. No one can get into that. You can leave it, but people can't get back in.

[00:40:23] And there are lineups for anything. I mean, you might've had three people in front of you for a bite to eat. Seats are fantastic. You got drink holders. You're very close to the action. I'm pretty sure there's not a bad seat in the house. It's a dome, dome roof. It was unbelievable. Like I understand not every team can have this around the world, but if you ever get the chance to go to the stadium, uh, just terrific.

[00:40:51] And I think the club will learn from this. I think the club will be there and go, okay, we can't have this, but what can we improve on? Because we are worlds away from Cronulla and that stadium worlds away from shark stadium. And I just have to say to Lush, you've given me a wrestling spoiler. I'm going to come around and put a figure four leg lock on you, my friend, but I appreciate you.

[00:41:21] Because I've actually watched some of those, uh, they show you stadiums in Europe, the soccer stadiums or football stadiums. And there's some that I believe that we could mimic in a way, uh, of course on a smaller version and Allegiant would be the same type of thing. We can't afford that, but the stadiums that we could possibly do that at a boutique and, but I mean it's, it's getting government funding or, or does the NRL get involved and say, we want to build a boutique one.

[00:41:47] That is, that works, you know, for the area. Yeah. Yeah. There's a bunch of different things you can do. I'm not suggesting in years we can match what I experienced tonight. I don't expect that, but I think my, my takeaway is we can learn from it and we can improve what we have, even if it's small bits at a time. Um, Um,

[00:42:17] It doesn't have to be a huge thing. You do things in, in inches, you know, you improve something. Cause what I'm still hearing, I used to be a season ticket holder in the eighties down there. And that's how old I am in the eighties and nineties. And I'm still hearing that, that toilet block in the right hand corner is still there. Still the same issue. Has it improved? The one down from the Peter Byrne stand and you go, right. Yeah. I thought I might've knocked it down, but I'll take you out for it. I don't hang out in that area.

[00:42:44] So, um, yeah, that shouldn't be there if it's there. No. And one quick thing before I go, I say, apparently you're going back in a couple of weeks for WrestleMania back to the stadium, back to Allegiant Stadium. Oh, a different version of me is doing that. This version of me is not. Unfortunately, uh, it would be a lot of fun. Uh, I'm a little bit out of date. I'm about a week or two out of date with what's going on there. Although Luce just gave me and then I put it up by accident, what he wrote.

[00:43:13] But, uh, no, no, I'm heading back home in a couple of days. Uh, I think all being well, Kieran from the show is going to, he and I and a few other guys are going to go to, or guys and girls, I should say, are going to go to the NHL tomorrow. The, the, the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Yep. Uh, cause it was actually ironic. There was something that come up during the weekend. I just thought it was funny.

[00:43:40] Uh, one of the players I think from the Knights, uh, was given a Raiders jersey from Corey, uh, Corey Horsberg gave him a Raiders jersey to Thomas Hertel. He was a former shark. Yeah. I used to follow the NHL. He used to play for the San Jose sharks. So you're up to date with the El McPherson story. Yeah. And when, when you guys were talking about, I'm thinking it has to be El, it had to be no one else, but El. So yeah, I remember. Yeah.

[00:44:10] Yeah. Um, I, I can't say much more than what I'm going to say now, but something else has happened with someone else. And I think you'll hear about it, but it's something good. It's something positive. That's what we want to hear. But I, I, they, they, they met someone else and they're waiting for the approval to announce it. But I can't say much more than that. I'll probably get in trouble saying that. I hope it's those private equity groups. Sorry. It's not the private equity groups who are going to build us a mini stadium.

[00:44:39] Oh, I don't know if they've seen those guys or not, but that's not what I'm referring to. It's a little bit more pop culture heavy amount. I'll say. Okay. That's, that's how we'll get our stadium. What's that? But it's great. That's how we'll get our stadium. We need someone like the private equity group guys to move in and do it. So. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. But no, overall. No drama, Sam. You have a great trip. Safe trip home, mate. Enjoy the, uh, the NHL.

[00:45:03] And you probably know the results of the elimination chamber who, and, uh, I won't tell you then. I don't. I just, I won't tell you. Thanks for jumping on. Always feel free to do so anytime. And anyone else is able to. Thanks man. I'll just check. Thanks Steve. That was Steve. Great to hear from him. And anytime you guys want to jump on, you can do that. And as Steve shown, you don't have to show your face. You can just have a chat.

[00:45:29] Uh, Cody says this, any chance we're back in Vegas next year? Look, you never say never. Right? I don't think they will. I think it'll be someone else. But I know for a fact that the club has enjoyed it. Uh, from all aspects, from exposure, from the experience, from the fact that it's just fun. Like you can't deny that. And they showed tonight their heads are on. Like tonight they didn't lose cause you know, they were in Vegas. They lost to a better team.

[00:46:00] So I would say no. But I think that if they get the chance to come back, I really think they will. And I would recommend if you're a fan and if you, you're obviously a fan. I would, I recommend if you could get the time and money to do it. It's been a lot of fun. It's been, it's been a really good experience. Uh, so, Garsley 10 says, the 12th near the hill are gone, which is what I'd heard. Steve, so if you're still listening or watching. Darby says, what does Kieran do for a job? He's always traveling.

[00:46:30] Well, spoiler in that we're hoping to get Kieran on the show tomorrow, Monday. It won't be the morning, but Monday coffee episode. If we do, we can talk about this. But until then, uh, I believe he's a sales person of some sort, but you know, someone of a like business type. I won't say a high role. I don't think you want me to say that, but just, uh, yeah. Excuse me. Copy on podcast is not cool.

[00:47:00] Um, works in sales Darby and it's business related stuff. I don't know anything about, but he travels a fair bit and he's very good at his job. He's been fun having Kieran around. It's been fun. Garsley says, what's the bench like when the team is healthy? That's a good question, man. I'd be still looking at Tuku at some point. I really would. I liked the guys tonight, but that guy was fine.

[00:47:28] But I don't know if I'd have him there unless we needed him to cover someone. But I thought the, I thought the bench was fine. But this leads to this question. If Toby wasn't injured and we talked about this on the walk home from the stadium, because I don't see him necessarily taking any of the positions tonight from the three middles. Definitely not Dalekai. You would think it on Hazelton. So it might be a thing between him and BHU. BHU tonight. I thought he was all right.

[00:47:58] I thought he was all right. I need to watch it back. But I think that Toby's going to have to earn it. I'm not saying he can't, but he might be doing it. Great question though, hey man? Now look at this. Cody is a man who is thinking out loud. Good thoughts. Hope my internet's all right there. Magic round in Vegas round one for last year of the five year deal. All seven teams. All 17 teams bar one. I think it's, I think it's doable dude.

[00:48:29] I'd probably see if I could do the five years and then get on the sixth year the new contract. It would take a lot of effort, a lot of organization, but I think it'd be a blast. Like there are so many people here to watch the footy. The crowd was, what was it announced? It was 45,000.

[00:48:51] And I have to say by the end, there was probably 10% left of the teams that weren't the Sharks or Panthers. Which is understandable. Such a long day. The music's blaring. It's pretty intense. But I like it Cody. I really do. And you also think that Tsuku makes the bench before Toby Rudolph. So that puts him back a little bit more in your opinion. And Ghastly says do it when we have 18 teams. Yep. Pretty cool.

[00:49:20] I'm going to do some player ratings shortly, but there's so many of you just saying really nice things. And for some reason the instant gram, as I call it. I need to check the message over here, which is totally fine. Totally fine. Jay Bruce says we were the better team tonight, but need to sort our edge. Yeah, I agree with that. Do I agree with the better team? Thought it was pretty even. But I thought we did enough to win. Hello to the merch king, Barnsy, who is watching. A lot of merch out here, man.

[00:49:50] A lot of merch. Paui says, I think people are overreacting. We took the four-time defending premiers to the absolute limit. A couple of terrible calls against us. The game stinks of round one, 2016. Up, up. We like that. I'm with you. I thought I wasn't. The only thing that disappointed me was probably some of the errors.

[00:50:15] Like not finding touch, kicking the ball out the pool, not catching the ball from the kickoff. That stuff matters. It really matters. So, thanks to everyone who's tuning in. It's awesome. I can tell these names over here. Shout out to Archie. Your dad, Archie, as you know, is a great man. I won't reveal who I'm talking about. But your dad is killing it in Vegas in a business sense. I'm not talking about anything else. Your dad, you should be very proud of your dad. He's going great.

[00:50:45] What did you all make of the Rinaldo thing? That annoyed me. Where he came in. I know why he came in. Bless him for doing it to help out Will Kennedy. But there was a penalty every day of the week that he gave away. Can't be doing that. Coach is going to let him know that. Alex said our bench didn't seem to offer much. Last year there were a big difference. So that's interesting. Darby says Tukku over Atkinson. Bronwyn. The team played great.

[00:51:15] Did not fold. Went down. Could have gone our way. Let's see what the season brings. That's a really good point, Bronwyn. Thanks so much. There was a time when they scored the two tries in concession. And I thought they were going to run away with it. When I say I thought they were going to run away with it, I thought there was a chance. But they stood up, the Sharks. G'day to the Shark Cage. Our friends are doing great things on the socials. Andy says, I'm probably late to the party. And comments?

[00:51:45] No, never too late. Mulatalo, what were you thinking? That penalty and the jam in. To let the try kill this. Yeah, it was the jam in wasn't it? The jam in was no good. But as far as the penalty goes, like he, I can't fault him for sticking up for his mate. Liam Martin was doing Liam Martin things and that's not good. You just gotta, he'll know, he'll learn from this. Can be said, rough time, but look at the positives. We look good against premiers. Absolutely. I think there's a million positives.

[00:52:14] Our caller Steve had a little bit of a different opinion, which is of course totally fine. But yes, there was a lot of good things on here. Isaac says, hi, happy with the performance today. Definitely had some silly mistakes, but some really good signs. I think that sums it up really well. It really do. Look at all these people watching. Shout out to Dr. Cam Webb who's a part of the show. Great coverage over the last few days, boys. Thanks, Dr. Cam.

[00:52:44] Let me go back over here. I do want to go through the players, so don't go anywhere. We're going to go through the players shortly. Darby asked a very important question. And I'm trying to think of what this question was. And I need to remember that we're an audio podcast. So it's what was our run out song? I didn't hear it. I heard the Panthers. And I was waiting for it. We were the away team. I don't know if we had a song. I don't know if we had a song. Some can jump on it. Correct me.

[00:53:14] Half time they did Sweet Caroline. I know people indifferent about Sweet Caroline. I personally like it. It's pretty epic. I filmed that one. I might try and put that up somewhere. Darby says, bring back Kickstart My Heart. Well, they played Kickstart My Heart tonight at a different time. I think it was, you know, 10 minutes before the game or half time or something. And Josh turned to me. He goes, it sounds pretty good through their speakers. I think I put up a shot on Instagram about the speakers. An aerial shot.

[00:53:44] So you can check that out if you follow us on Instagram. If you don't give us a follow. Pan Man says, yep, the Ranallo thing was no good. Cody's giving some praise to us, to our guys at the ET stand. Legendary coverage. The result was the only thing missing. Lock in the cows. Yeah, it's been fun, man. It's been fun. It's been a lot of running around. And then, you know, got to do all the stuff to make it all fancy for you guys and girls.

[00:54:13] But it's a real pleasure. Thanks, Cody. Appreciate you. Garci says this. I can get, I can let Braley's kick in the full go because the field is a bit shorter. Now, I'm the president of Blake Braley Island. But I can't let it go. Because, sorry. I can let it go. It's gone. I need to mention it. Because he's known about this for a long time. And he's practiced this way a long time, both at Shad Park, I believe.

[00:54:44] And today at the stadium, he had some session as well. So, not good enough. You know, people say I'm a positive podcast guy. Not good enough. Gotta do better. Don't do it. Tryndall, kick out the one before. It's not hard. Please do it. Jay Rick says the AFB offload of the first set had me crying. I was too. It was 55% tears, 45% laughter. He made up for it.

[00:55:13] It was bizarre though, wasn't it? Scott says the Penny's defensive line speed and ability to slow down the ruck. It was the biggest difference. Yeah, good point. Don't know if they're just a bit fitter or if they bit us in that area. I think it was a very tough one. Well, the whole thing on the ruck, Scott, is real line ball. Like, watching live on the ground and when you're in line with it, or it's close to where you're sitting. It's long. It could go either way with a penalty or a six again.

[00:55:43] They gave away a bunch of six against the Panthers. So they obviously, they run it pretty close, you know, to what's acceptable and what's not. Paul's right. Blake has done that before. So we don't criticize him much on this show because he's been playing lots out. But yeah, I mean my hero in life, Valentine Homes, used to do it. So obviously he could be a great player. But Hamman says, will Trindle go kick from now on? I'm not sure what's going on there. I'll have to find out.

[00:56:12] Do some investigative reporting. But I think Niko is more reliable. Trindle's good. But I think Niko is more reliable. So, not sure what happened there. Now, looking at the player performances. And I appreciate that this is live from the ground. You know, so you didn't have the replays. There were no replays actually on them. So, I thought Paul Kennedy was close to the best. I thought his defense was great. I had him with almost two try saves.

[00:56:43] There were no errors. Tried really hard. Caught the ball in some really difficult circumstances. So, yeah, I'd give Will a... To be honest, or I'm always honest on this show, I'd give him an eight and a half. I thought he was great. Sam Stonestreet tried hard. Had a nice run down the right hand side. But overall, I would give him a three or six. Jesse Ramian...

[00:57:12] I don't know if I need to rate these guys. Why am I rating them? Jesse Ramian had a strong game. He was really good. We spoke a bit about the opportunity at the end, which could have equalized it with a conversion. Catch and pass, I believe Stonestreet's going to score. So, you need to ice those moments. But I thought Ramian was really good. I thought Cale tried really hard. Scored a try. Both Stonestreet scored a try. And some really hard meters at the back.

[00:57:43] From Cale. And I think he's going to continue to really grow. Ronaldo, I thought, just had some forgettable moments. Some moments he wanted to take back. They're not forgettable. Moments he wanted to take back. I really like the kick chase he does. I thought it was really, really effective with that. So, I want to see more of that. And he tried to get us out of the hard yards as well. But I need to see him lift in defense and also in discipline. Trinnell, I thought, was great. Ran the team round well.

[00:58:11] He got caught on the sixth. Maybe I shouldn't say great. I thought Trinnell was good. He was caught on the sixth tackle at the end of the game. We saw that. It's a bummer. He kicked out. He failed to kick out the touch. Aside from those two things, I thought he was pretty good. Nico Hines. Beautiful try assist. Kicked a bit less than Trinnell. Could have done more. Particularly when he gave him the line. But I saw enough out of Nico that looked good.

[00:58:39] The drop ball from the kickoff. With a kickoff, it just can happen. It's not an excuse. It's not good. He shouldn't be doing it. It's costly. But he looked like he shook that off pretty easy. So, hopefully, that doesn't happen again this year or ever. Faneuah Blake was awesome. Faneuah Blake was fantastic. If you go look on the Facebook, we had a guest join us for the halftime chat.

[00:59:08] And he was a little bit critical of AFB. I said, no, no, no. It's going to be fine. Then second half, he was sitting near me and I gave him a thumbs up. We're all good. I love the way he runs the ball. The step of the line. He was one of the guys that missed the tackle in the ruck for the try. It's going to happen from time to time. He's an older, bigger body. Generally, I thought he was terrific. Bradley, as pointed out by Steve, made 56 tackles. That's a lot of tackles. Kofusi, quiet.

[00:59:37] I don't have his minutes here, but we'll need to see more from him. I don't think he was bad, just to be quiet. Britton and Teague are the right hard. Teague probably more involved with these meters. Both made a whole bunch of tackles. So, that was solid. I thought Captain Cam was really good. I thought his running was good. Made 40 tackles though. No misses. The bench, Dan Eckerson. Didn't do anything wrong. Talco has some good hit ups. And we spoke about BHU and Tall Tom.

[01:00:08] All three of them. Pretty similar games. I thought Talco was the most effective out of them. I think that bench will get better. If you persist with that, then throw in a Tuku or someone else. I think it will get better. Cody says, on the Budweiser's. Get the Modellos. Mexican beer is the way to go. I have to say, I'm not trying to defend the use of this particular beverage on the ship. Because A, I shouldn't be drinking and potting. And B, I shouldn't be showing that brand online and whatever.

[01:00:35] It's my first one that I've had of this particular beer. So, I'm not getting cranky, Cody. I appreciate your thoughts. I'm aware of the deliciousness of Mexican beers. And I appreciate your concern actually. Thank you very much. Ghastly says, this I thought Trini could have kicked in a couple of plays. Instead of running and passing. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Thanks, Cody. I appreciate that.

[01:01:05] It's first round. I know that it feels like I'm looking for excuses. I'm not. It's just factual. First round. Played what? Half a game of a trial. It looked really good. Let's see how we go against the Cowboys. Bounce back from that. They've got a week off. Then it'll be, yeah, essentially just under two weeks they'll play again in North Queensland. Trish says bring Toby back in place. Yep. He might get a shot there.

[01:01:34] See how it goes, Trish. Thanks for your support. Really appreciate it. Hope you're well. If anyone was at the game and wants to have a chat or jump, send a comment about the experience. Like the experience was so good. I think I'm underplaying the experience. The bathrooms are awesome. Now, without getting too personal, I'm not a stall man. Don't like the stall. These stalls had doors on the side of them. Almost half doors. Brilliant. Great ground. Fantastic. Just think the boys got a real kick out of playing there.

[01:02:04] I heard the fans had a good time. The Sharks were well represented there. I'm not sure what the figures were of the 45,000 that were there. But I don't know. I would think, yeah, I'm not going to put a number on it. That would really well represent tonight. That's for sure. Chester's watching. Hi, Chester. Hey, buddy. Hope it's not bedtime for you yet. Probably let us stay up and watch Dad talk about the Sharks. Do not worry, my son.

[01:02:32] The Sharkies will come back nice and strong. And Chester is off to see Green Day tomorrow. It's his first proper rock concert and I'm not going to be there and my heart breaks. But Chester is going to see Green Day on Monday. Well, one of the stadiums at home, which is the smallest stadium. Anyway. Hi, Chester. Again. Hey, buddy. Hope you're well. Sharks lose 28-22.

[01:03:03] Disappointing. So close. It'd be amazing to be, you know, on two points right now. It'd be so good. I thought they didn't have to win. Just got to get rid of those stupid errors. There's some really bad ones, you know? You're on that big stage and you can't find touch. You kick the ball out in the fall, you drop the ball from the kickoff. The team will acknowledge that. The players will acknowledge that. It's okay to talk about it. Only one roll ball turnover. It wasn't ours, thankfully. And Trish is correcting herself with the spell check. No problem at all.

[01:03:32] Trish, I know exactly what you mean. There you go. Thank you so much. I've heard good things about his comeback, Trish. I've heard that he is pretty dedicated to getting back into the top grade. He's a top team. Not going to... Not going to... Not going to... Not going to Las Vegas really, you know, creased him a bit. It bummed him a little bit. I can understand why now I'm here. It's great. Great play, it's great time.

[01:04:02] So, yeah, told me to be back. It's just a matter of how you fit him into the team and where he fits and that kind of thing. Great question from Hamman. Do any of the Aussie stadiums compete? Ah, top of my head I'm going to say no. The closest would be Allianz and Moorpark. It's quite modern. It's a similar seating style. Kind of steep seating. Nothing crazy, but you're close to the action.

[01:04:31] Modern technology, you know, score a try, lights go out, music goes on. High on entertainment. Facilities are great, as I said. But I don't know if it even matches that, to be honest. It's just really, really good. Trish also says a great point. Chissie Colhoun's not too far behind when Toby's back. So, yeah, we've got some good middles coming back. And that's a great thing. Where does Jesse fit into this whole picture?

[01:05:01] So, I know I say this a lot. I know I've thought this a lot, but we actually have a good... When everyone's fit, amount of depth in the middle. So, it's just a matter of how you make it work. But I did, in all this Vegas whirlwind. Forget that Jesse Colhoun's not too far away. Colhoun, I should say. I've got to say thanks to people that came out last night.

[01:05:28] So, last night we had what I would call was going to be a small gathering at the Tilted Kilt bar in Las Vegas. Immediate shout out to PK. I know he listens with his son Jack and I don't know if he's watching right now. Actually, he's probably at the bar having a good time. So, he's not going to be watching this. But he'll catch up. But he organised for it to be such a great venue for Sharkstead.

[01:05:56] And I said to him, you know, we'll come to a live show. And it wasn't really appropriate to do that with the venue. As in they were keen, but it just... It wouldn't have worked out that well from an audio point of view. But we wanted to have a gathering with listeners who are over here and people that live here who like us. So, we just set up a time and date and we had a lot of people turn out.

[01:06:20] Now, from all the videos you've seen, I have to point out that the entire crowd is not there to see us. But there was a big group that came along that was awesome. And we met people from all walks of life. People who live here. People who moved here. People who travelled to see us. Brought their children. There were several children in the house. And we met just some really beautiful people that said beautiful things. So, thank you so much for that. Really appreciate it.

[01:06:51] And if you're ever in Las Vegas, go give them a dollar or two of business. The Tilted Kilt. And again, a shout out to P.K. and his son Jack. P.K. especially. Super helpful. He's online a bit on the Facebook groups. And I got his back story. And he's just a really beautiful dude. So, hopefully he hears this at some point. And he knows that I appreciate him. Cody says, off topic, but do the Vikings want to sign Sam Darnold again?

[01:07:21] I think they're inclined to not do that based on a few things. His contract as well as his finals, the finals of game performances. And I think that JJ is going to, JJ the quarterback, is going to be healthy and ready to rock. So, you don't keep Darnold as a backup, I don't think, for that amount of money. You've got Daniel Jones there. I'm not a huge fan of his work, but our coach can obviously do wonders. So, I don't think it's going to happen. But who knows? It's a crazy world, the NFL.

[01:07:50] It's a lot of fun being here in the States because the sports coverage is ridiculous and there are stores around with the gear and stuff. But, not sure, Cody, on that. He did say this though, I had my workmates in Texas watch all four games that were stunned by the women's test. We haven't even spoken about that.

[01:08:14] And it is Shark related because Tiana Pitani and Quincy Dodd played in the team of the Jilla Roos that was at 90 points. Was it 90-0 or am I making that up? It was 90-0. No! No, England scored at the end. I apologize. They scored at the end and we all went nuts. Fantastic performance. We spoke about it on the Boom Rookies podcast.

[01:08:41] If you haven't listened to our episode, I put it up in our podcast stream and you can go listen to... Thanks Cody, at 984. I did a show with the Boom Rookies, great podcast. They do just general rugby league. And we predicted it would be a big score, but no one predicted 90-4. Yeah, I felt for the English team. But yeah, I hope your friends in Texas enjoyed that. Scott says, AFB's post contact meters were higher than any of our forwards.

[01:09:11] Run meters except fatigue. That's wild. That is super wild. I don't know, have I got that here? What have you said here, my friend? He's post contact meters we have at 64 on the site I'm at. So, yeah, I get what you're saying. Yeah. It's close. That's for sure. He was great. I thought he was great. And I'm stoked that we're going to get to watch him. Hopefully he stays healthy for the four years.

[01:09:39] It's a big game changer, especially I think these first two years. Thanks, Scotty. Appreciate that. I understand that. But yeah. No, thank you for that, for clarifying that. I thought he was really good. I really did. And we can just clean up that middle defense a little bit. But as I said, big guy, move around in the middle. You're going to miss a tackle here or there. Yeah, he was tops.

[01:10:03] Hey, this is really fun talking to all you guys and girls from Las Vegas. It's just fun in general. I could be at home. It's fine. Now, the color spot says, best stadium I've ever been to by far. No Aussie stadiums come close. Everything was comfortable and flawless. I think that might be Nicole saying that. Yeah. Yeah. It was one of those things that you sort of need experience, no matter how much we want to talk about it and how glamorous we say it was, et cetera.

[01:10:33] Like you need to be there. And it's just, yeah, it was really, really cool. Shout out to our friend, Kieran, who we've already talked about on the show. He's just joined the chat. I don't think he's going to join our chat, but he's joined the chat. Kieran was living it up with the big wigs, which won't surprise those of you that know him and bless him for that. And Dave, his travel buddy. A lot of people today had very unique experiences, but I think even people who had the inverted commas average tickets,

[01:11:02] like whatever they were, had a great time. If you caught the ball, you got to keep it. How good's that? So a lot of the merch sold out. Like it was a thorough success. You know, I'm with Dave and Brooks, Vegas rocks. And I think it's worthwhile. Unless they're losing lots and lots of money. I think it's worthwhile to kind of do. Give everyone a turn with the Vegas situation. Shout out to Kim, who is a dear listener.

[01:11:32] And I know she won't be happy that we lost today. I am just fooling around here with the comments and everything. When I say fool around, I've just got a few different screens going on. A lot of our friends at the Sharks zone who just joined, they do good stuff on the social media. Looking at the Penrith team, just for comparison to our team before, look at Cleary. So he converted four out of five. He ran for 30 meters.

[01:12:01] Made 17 tackles, three misses. Kick for nearly 650 meters. If we go to the Sharkies. What about this for kick meter difference? Braden Trindle, 15 kicks of 520. But, Nicko Hines, five kicks for 184. I didn't realize it was that dramatic. So, Trindle really steering the ship there. Nicko ran a bit.

[01:12:28] So Nicko ran twice as much as Braden for three times the amount of meters. So, that might give me a bit of indication of what's going on with their roles there. But their roles can change a little bit. They're both pretty versatile players. Shout out to the legendary Barry Russell who's joined the viewing. And we're going to catch up with Barry next month, hopefully. Have an in-depth chat, which I'll be wanting to do for ages. So, Barry, we respect your work, my friend.

[01:12:55] This video and show will be an audio podcast later on. So, if you want to do that at a more decent time for you at your desired time, you can do so. Sharks lose 28-22. Should have won. Could have won. Could have beaten the four-time champions. Cody says, Cleary is Patrick Mahomes. Nicko is Lamar Jackson.

[01:13:23] So, if you know NFL, you know what that means. If you don't watch NFL, if I can put it in simple terms. Cleary is one of the best ever. Where Nicko is a guy with extreme talent. That could do anything in the world he wants. If it all went right. I think that's fair. To be Lamar Jackson is not a bad thing. And Cody also says he is a Ravens fan. Okay.

[01:13:54] That's good. Thank you for that. I can tell you that our colleague, Kieran, who's on the... Or was watching at some point. Kieran... Kieran thinks Nicko can have the year that his beloved Philadelphia Eagle quarterback had this year. Super Bowl winning quarterback. He thinks Nicko Hines can reach that level with that... Not that style, but with that kind of... No one's backing you to do it at the right time. And then you do it.

[01:14:23] And you prove all the doubt is wrong. So... You know, for Nicko, he's just gonna have to put up with... People talking about him and... His pros and cons. And like I said, I thought tonight he was... He was good. Some really good touches. Particularly for some of those earlier tries. But... Yeah, we need more. Particularly in that second half. There was a nice little chance at the end.

[01:14:52] It's a Hail Mary. But... With a kick to Stone Street. And the kick just didn't quite get there. But... If that was Trindle, I apologize. But... It's round one. For a first hit out, I think that we can all agree... It was more than solid. There's obviously room to improve. But boy... Vanua Blake really just stole the show. Absolutely stole the show. I love the... Ease with which he makes the runs. I love that... Little step he does at the line.

[01:15:21] Watch that in slow motion. Watch that on replay. Watch that with your remote control in your hand. When he hits the line, does little... Thing with his legs. Little shimmy almost. And he's so hard to stop. That try was amazing. I love that try. It was fantastic. I'm gonna go listen to what the coach has to say. I'm going to... You know... Read everything you guys and girls say. And study up on what... Happened and when. And we will get... Back to you with more episodes throughout the week.

[01:15:52] That's for sure. We don't ever stop... On... Sharkcast pod. And we're not gonna stop. Weird message there. Which is fine. Hope everyone's having a good time. Whether you're in Las Vegas. Whether you're back in Sydney. Whether you're in Brisbane. You've got listeners all over the world. I think in 36, 38, 40 countries. Which is unbelievable. We've met a whole bunch of them on this trip. Which has been even more unbelievable. At customs and at... All sorts of places we've run into people.

[01:16:21] It's been an amazing trip. Really worthwhile. And I was weighing up. You know... Is it gonna be worth it if we lose? Of course it's worth it. It's just a loss. I mean... We all wanna win. As I said to my dad today. One team's gonna win. One team's gonna lose. We lost. We march on. We're already thinking about the Cowboys. So... That's just how you do it. It's been a great trip. Can't thank everyone enough for their help throughout. Who've helped me out. Particularly the... The guys and girls at the club. They've really... Allowed me to do a bunch of things that...

[01:16:50] I don't know. They've been really... Helpful as usual. So appreciate all those people. They know who they are. And... Yeah. It meant a bunch of great people. Great people. And thanks to everyone who've helped me... Personally on this trip. It's um... It's been a lot of... Great memories. Great fun. And great times. And we'll... Hopefully make great memories with games coming up. Cowboys in a couple of weeks. I will... Probably wrap it up here as... Our friend Nikki joins. Which is...

[01:17:20] I don't know where you've been. Where you been Nikki? Just joined. But as soon as this video ends... Pretty much it goes into... You can go watch it again. So... I don't know really... What else to... To say here. Except for... Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Didn't. It sucks. We're gonna work out why. And we're going to... Rectify. Because... It's a good team we've got this year. If they choose... Correct those errors.

[01:17:48] And tonight it was a lot more individual errors. I think it was... Was it all individual errors? Maybe compared to team errors. It was individual errors. Get those right. And you're really on your way. Because you're just stopping those silly situations. Where you're defending the line. Where you're conceding drives. A shout out to Steve as well... For calling in before. We encourage people to do that. So next time you wanna do that... Let us know and we'll do that. Until then... We're gonna end the stream. Appreciate everyone. Can't thank you enough... For all of your support. Up Up Cronulla.

[01:18:18] We love this club. The greatest club in the history of the world. We'll be right. We'll be okay. As someone pointed out... I don't know who it was. Someone pointed out... 2016... We lost to the Cowboys. Was it by six points? It was close I think. So... Sorry enough tonight that I thought... We got a team here. And we're gonna be okay. As usual... And I'll pop it up on the screen. You can get in touch with us via this. And why you need to see it. I don't know. But there you go.

[01:18:48] Sharkarspod at gmail.com You can DM us at Sharkarspod. Where we have all of our social medias. We haven't spoken about this episode. Sharkars.com.au Sharkars.com.au New website. All the old episodes. Info the works. You can watch this... On that... Shortly. Sharkars.com Thanks for tuning in. I appreciate it.

[01:19:18] Thanks for letting me talk for an hour and a half. About the mighty crown of self-launch sharks. I might go for it in Kieran soon. And we'll... They out of trouble. That's for sure. From Las Vegas. I'm Sam Chenezi. OG2015. Thanks to our friends at Dyson Logistics. The Royal Midiart Club at Port Hacking. And Jason Halls at Cripps and Cripps Real Estate. We might have some new sponsors coming up soon. Which we'll talk about. I've got to work that out when we get home. But until then... I'll leave this last note with Cody. He's been so terrific with his comments tonight.

[01:19:48] Sharks are contenders this year. Fit's going to lead us back to the promised land. Beautiful words. Up up. Let's go. SharkCast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire. Jason Halls from Cripps and Cripps Real Estate. He's an expert in the Karembar region. And has his eye all across the Shire. Lifelong Sharks fan and supporter of this podcast. If you're looking to buy or sell in the region.

[01:20:13] The person you need to be talking to is Jason Halls from Cripps and Cripps Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Halls, Cripps and Cripps Real Estate. Shut up, man!

[01:20:48] Turn your porch lights off because we're coming out with a...