PostGame Livestream Finals Week 1, 2026 vs Cowboys @Allianz Stadium (12/09/26)

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[00:00:56] Hey, how you doing? Welcome to SharkCast Pod, a little late night, Saturday night.

[00:02:06] SharkCast, Sharks win Week 1 of the Finals. We live to fight another day. Decent performance, they win 26-16. Late night SharkCast, of course, because out of the stadium, not many facilities to be used. A few drinks afterwards, a bit of a burger. Travel home and thought I'd get this recorded as a podcast, but then thought I'd go live for a few of the late night lunatics that may be up.

[00:02:33] Feel free to dial in. Not sure how long we'll be here for, but you're welcome to dial in, or just leave your comments, whatever you like. We have a little fun. We'll put this together for a podcast for the morning for all the people who won't be watching or listening, which is incredible, because you should be up. You should still be having a good time here, and I've already got someone calling in, which is awesome. I'll get you in a sec, Blair. Sharks win 26-16. A crowd of over 17,000 people.

[00:03:03] Whether that's completely accurate, I'm not here to dispute that. The lower bowl looked pretty full. It was a great atmosphere. So if you didn't come, you missed out. Let me just bring in Blair here, so I won't keep Blair keeping waiting. So I'm just going to bring in Blair, who's a good mate of ours. Hi, Blair. How are you? Yeah, not too bad, Sammy. Not too bad. I've lost my voice, eh? Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

[00:03:30] Ah, no. I'm all good, mate. I'm all good, but I'm back in Penrith now. Oh, nice. From the game, and mate, what a win. What a win against Cowboys. That's just pure effort there, pure effort from the boys there. What about Braden Trindle, huh? Oh, he's definitely... One thing Fitzy's right about, he brings a lot of confidence from Nico, and you know,

[00:03:58] Tricky just being tricky, and you can clearly tell there was a different energy from us tonight. And like I said, there was some cause there. I wouldn't say cause, but I thought there was some part of the game, I thought, oh, Cowboys might come back. But you can clearly tell there was something there with the boys where they've gone, you know what? Enough's enough. Don't let these boys come in, and we got the job done, and we're on to next week.

[00:04:23] So, whoever we're versed next week against Chookies or Penrith, mate, I'm just happy that energy's back again. And like the energy was there last week with the Melbourne game, but like I said, you know, that was a lesson to be learnt. You can clearly tell we've learnt from last week, and mate, oh, what a win. What a win for the finals, man. Good opportunity up there. Yeah, I was going to say, for those who didn't make it, do you want to describe what it was like?

[00:04:52] Because it was pretty fun. Yeah, mate, look, wherever the media are and social media say, mate, it was so good to meet up with Sharky supporters up there. They all come down from the Shire and support the boys. And each time, let's just say Cowboys messed up, like they dropped the ball. Yeah. Everyone was clapping and cheering. And there was just this, look, you can clearly tell everyone was happy to come down there tonight.

[00:05:19] And even before the game, you can just clearly tell there's people there who want to see Sharky's get up, go all the way. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. Like, look, there can be negativity, right? I completely understand. Let's just say we lost tonight. Everyone would see the negatives, but like at a day, you can clearly tell we're trying to fight, right? Yeah.

[00:05:43] Like these guys know, this is their last sort of dance together and that's the energy that we've been missing the last couple of weeks. So it's good to see it's back and, you know, hopefully bring it into next week. And yeah, like I said, mate, just sort of being there and getting the crowd going as well. And, you know, see the crowd just getting into the, to the shark's fever, as I say. And, oh yeah, mate, I'm happy about it. I'm really, yeah, I'm really happy about it.

[00:06:11] Um, and like I said, I'm back in Penrith now, so I'm probably going to come up wearing a shark's jersey, but I'll just tell them, mate, we beat the, we beat the Cowboys. Everyone would have rid us off. I guess like, I know we were the favorites, but a lot of people were saying, oh, Cowboys could do the upset. So you know what? We, we, we, we, we beat them. I'm happy about it. We move on to next week. See how we go. For sure. And, uh, hopefully I get my voice back for next week.

[00:06:38] I'm very, like I said, I'm just happy to be back out there and sport the sharky. So I love this. I love this club, man. Like. Well, we're now, we're now, um, we're now three weeks away from the end of the season. So for everyone who's saying they're no good, this sort of thing, like we're hanging around, we're, we're, we're going to cause a bit of trouble. So, um, you know, as you said, yeah, through scissors next. We'll see who we'll find out less than 24 hours, who we're going to be playing. But, um, yeah.

[00:07:07] Hey Blair, thanks for calling in, man. Look after that voice. We need you back loud and clear next week, please. Yeah, I need it, man. I'm starting to sound like James Maloney, mate. All right. We're going to rest his voice up, but I'll see you next week. All right. For sure. Get home, get home safe. All right. Thanks for calling in. Thanks, man. You have a good night. All right. Thank you. That's Blair. Legendary Blair. Some great comments coming in. So appreciate that everyone on both the Insta and the socials everywhere else.

[00:07:35] Uh, Louise said very happy sharks, which is awesome. And Kieran is home safe. Darby's there. I saw Darby out there tonight. Uh, Jack was sitting with us. That was awesome. Uh, we met so many nice shark cast listeners tonight. And that's why, um, even though I want to do this and I love doing this for you guys and girls, I feel like there's an obligation because everyone was so nice to us tonight. Uh, I think it was Brett who was buying me beers at the ground. I'm not sure if it was Brett or not. I'm terrible with names.

[00:08:03] He knows who he is, but thanks to everyone for, uh, for joining a late night podcast. Uh, GTR photography says it was a sea of black, white, and blue tonight. So happy my son and I made the trip down to watch. That's awesome. That's so good. Uh, Jay Brew 68 says more minutes for Talakai. He was the best player. He was really good. He was so good. I, the whole time we were just like, I can't believe he's going. Why are we letting him go? Uh, some comments over here when you get to Trish is up, up. Hey Trish. I saw you at the venue beforehand.

[00:08:33] That was cool. I saw Lewis. This isn't going to be, I saw people, but I'm just, uh, I hope I'm getting paid overtime rates. Good to see you tonight. Good to see you Lewis and your dad, Mark as well, of course. Sorry it was so brief. I made this dash. So we were sitting, uh, it was Kieran and Dave and Jack and a few other people sitting. Kind of near where they ran out, I guess, on that side of the TV side, I guess.

[00:09:01] And, uh, a lot of Sharks fans obviously across in the Sharks sections as well. So I made my way over there to see my brother and my nephew. And by the time I got there, I was like, oh, I've got to go back to the game starting. But I saw all these amazing people along the way. So it's definitely worth the trip around. Great stadium, by the way. Holy cow. Wes says, hey Sam, up up. Hey Wes. Good night in Japan tonight. Oh, beautiful. Beautiful. Uh, Jay Rick says, good result.

[00:09:31] Lots of ball at the start and they'll line no points. Yeah, that's very well said. Luckily they didn't put their heads down. Cowboys gave us many chances that we won't get in every game. Definitely left some points out there, Jay Rick, especially in the first half. And I wasn't completely comfortable with that. Uh, we had some disallowed tries, some turnover tries, some tries we just kind of bombed. So I felt like the scoreline maybe even flatters the Cowboys a bit more.

[00:09:57] I didn't think we ever ran away with the game, but it was never out of our reach either. So yeah, good points about the leaving. Yeah, about the ball in the opposition 20, not scoring some points there for a while. Troy says, stressful for half the game, a solid win to start our run. Absolutely. Uh, Wes says, was a tad clunky, but we live to fight another day. Too much class in the end. I think it's very well said. It wasn't perfection.

[00:10:26] Like the attack wasn't as scintillating as it has been this year. But, uh, they got the job done. That's the main thing. Uh, Troy says, the more minutes for Sifit, the better. And we saw him play early on when Katoa went off with a concussion test. And I think that's when Telekai scored his amazing try. And then he was more used from the bench. So he was unbelievable.

[00:10:54] Probably our best player out there. And Jarek says, I'm going to miss Sifil. Sifar, future dude says, cancel Sifis Perth contract ASAP signing for life. I mean, I would, if I had that power, I would do it in the heartbeat. Wes said, uh, that's my brother. This is all out of control. My brother says, any injuries? Uh, I'm not sure, Dave. Uh, we, we left the ground and we had a drink and a burger and just came home.

[00:11:22] So, uh, our listeners and viewers might know more than what I do, but Trindle's got to be hurting, man. That last tackle that he made that was crunching tackle turnover. Man, he felt that one. That's one brave dude. Uh, future dude says, cancel. Oh, we did that one. Yep. Uh, Wes says, Sifil is absolutely enormous for us tonight.

[00:11:49] Trish says, Reed Marnie is a grubby little man. I'll tell you what, he's got a lot of anger in him, doesn't he? He was just, every time I think Nico kicked the ball in that first half, he was in his grill fighting. And even when they didn't have the fight, he was just in his face the whole time. And I get that that's how some people play, but he really just crosses that line every time. And I just have, yeah, I have no sympathy for that loss for him because he was, as you say, Trish, very wisely, grubby little man.

[00:12:18] Uh, Craig says, good win. Hope we have plans to replace Talikai with someone as good. Oh man, the Talikai thing burns, doesn't it? I think we all knew that anyway, but it's actually coming into fruition. Now, uh, Drew says, Riley Jones was great defensively for his second game. He's only going to get better. I agree, Drew, but I thought there were some lapses in the second half that were a little bit worrying, but I'm not dropping him or anything.

[00:12:48] I just think he's got to do a bit more study and a bit more, uh, contact there. But overall, like impressive for his third game or whatever it was. So absolutely. Uh, Benny Harlem has joined, which is awesome. Hey Ben from New York City. If you're not working, dial in. And Hannah is there. We saw Hannah before, which was great. Uh, Wes said no injuries mentioned in the presser by Fitzy. He said that's, that's good, I guess. Yeah.

[00:13:21] Jarek said, love Ronnie's reaction when Reed Graham did. Yeah, that was, what about, um, in addition to that, Jarek, what about Rinaldo's hit at the end towards someone on one of the outside backs? Just crunched him, stopped it. It was amazing. I thought Rinaldo was really good tonight. Trish says, Fitz said Tricky was fine after them, just copped a burner. I'll tell you what, Trish, he copped about 45 burners in that game, but that's good to hear. That is really good to hear. And we saw him right at the end.

[00:13:48] We were sort of close enough to see all the players and he didn't look like he was in too much trouble. He was quite happy with everyone. Uh, cheers to Jesse Colquhoun who came up into the crowd and, um, my nephew got a photo with him, which was cool. And great turnout. Like, I don't know. So when I say great turnout, like congratulations to everyone that turned up and, and came to the game. Like, it was quite easy for us down here.

[00:14:16] We got on a bus and took us there and we made our own way back. But, um, it was really worth the effort because the Sharks won. They played well. Technically there were 17,000 fans there. Whether that's completely true, I'm not sure. But, um, uh, it looked okay when you were there. It didn't look full house, but it looked okay. So, I can see Mark's trying to call in Mark.

[00:14:45] Maybe just, uh, connect your phone and everything. And you, it's pretty easy to work out. Hopefully you can work it out. And I'll pull you on whenever you're ready. Uh, Prancer says, can we afford to play Raleigh Jones next week? Telekine, Katoa were the best today. I just don't know what you'd do, Prancer, O2, replacing Raleigh. I know why you're saying that, but I don't know if Telekine in the centers is the answer. Gabrielle's not available.

[00:15:16] Um, so I don't know. I understand where you're coming from. Now, Mark, I saw you just tried to call in. Appreciate that. Um, I think you've just got to sync your phone with your microphone and camera. It's, it seems easy to me. I apologize if it's not. Um, but just, if you want to call in, just keep trying, man. We'll get you on, hopefully. But yeah, Raleigh Jones, I mean, I'd love to hear everyone else thought about Raleigh Jones. I thought he was pretty good up until a few moments in the second half. Uh, and the Cowboys outside backs are really good. Let's not forget that.

[00:15:48] I think at this point without watching the game back, I'm willing to roll again with the same team. That's my initial thoughts. Shucks win 26-16. JJMM21 says, Siffer, Tall Tom and AFB, the strong game. Tall Tom was terrific, yeah. Tricky was incredibly courageous. Love watching Niko bag a solo try.

[00:16:17] The Niko try was fun. That was good. Little salute as he went over. And Tricky was just unbelievable. And I'm guessing on TV you might have seen it, but if at the game you're watching off the ball, there were moments where Tricky was trying to release the ball, trying to pass the ball, not get caught with the ball, and he got smashed. He's actually actually touched probably three or four times, and he blew up to lucks at his outside men and inside men, whoever he was trying to reach.

[00:16:47] And you could see, we were talking about it afterwards, probably it was a quarter on how many tackles he wanted to be involved in, both defending and with the ball. And obviously with the ball, the less the better. So that was quite fascinating to watch him just absolutely instruct the other guys to take the ball off him. But really courageous performance. Like, especially good. Daniel says, Good to see the boys get up.

[00:17:16] Honestly, why don't they whoever he's like us? Yeah, there were some pretty interesting decisions in that one, Daniel. We had a family in front of us, including Katie and mum, dad, and I think sister from memory, and they were disputing whether the refs liked us or not. The thing I don't like about the footy nowadays is the ref just says something.

[00:17:47] Oh, there's Mark. Hey, Mark, I'll bring you up in a sec, buddy. The ref just says something, like plays on, and then gets a call and stops the game and that kind of thing. So anyway, let's go to Mark. Mark's been trying to get on. Hey, Mark, how are you? Good, mate. How are you, Sam? I like your jersey. Oh, thank you. People listening, not watching, he's got the American style hockey jersey on. Hey, where'd you watch the game today? Just on my couch. I'm in Brisbane.

[00:18:17] Awesome. What'd you think? Yeah, I wasn't stressed. I kind of always felt we're in control of that game. Yeah, a bit clunky, as someone said earlier. But yeah, overall, I didn't feel like it was getting away from us. Yeah, absolutely. I kind of agree with that. And I thought towards the end, if the Cowboys had scored maybe a bit sooner, they could make a game of it. But yeah, they weren't good enough. We were defending pretty well.

[00:18:45] Tell me what you liked out there, whether it's players or style. What impressed you out there? Ah, defense is a big improvement from previous weeks. Siffel was killing it, like, especially in that first half. Like, yeah, like, pretty much they couldn't bring him down. He was making 10 meters post-contact easy every run. So, yeah. Trendle's kicking was good. Yeah. Yeah, just pity about the disallowed tries. The Adam Fanua-Blake one from the front, I can see that.

[00:19:15] But when they showed the back angle, he was definitely always going to go across. I guess this is because he moved his shoulder a bit more, made it look a bit more exaggerated. But yeah, overall, forwards are pretty good. Yeah, they definitely left some points out there, Mark. Like, yeah, from disallowed tries to bomb tries. So I think the scoreline flatters the other mob a little bit. Like, I'm not saying we were amazing tonight, but certainly the better team and got it done. I'll tell you what was fun, and it kind of happened right in front of us at the stadium, was the Katoa intercept.

[00:19:44] And I didn't really think he would have the motor, but he was good. He got there. It was great. Yeah. No, yeah, he looked, the last 20 meters were a bit dicey, but I actually thought he was going to get run down. But he kept it going, and then he dived. So good boy. Yeah. Got it done. Yeah. So 100 tries as a shark, so that's awesome that he got to do that before he goes to the Cowboys. I think for me, Mark, the big thing is we just lived a fight for another day, and I think it's one week at a time.

[00:20:12] And we were already talking, so pre-game we watched the NRLW game, but prior to that we had the NRLW game on. And when the Dolphins rolled the Warriors, we were like, okay, so week three we're going to play, and we're working it out, we're going to play at Suncorp. And so I'm not going to go that far in advance. But for me, the big thing is I'm super happy we just lived a fight for next week, and it's all about next week, and it's one of two very good teams.

[00:20:41] And I'm just stoked that we have the chance to go to a prelim now. You know, this week it was all about get the job done. Next week it'll be the same one week at a time. But I'm really happy as a fan that the season's not over. I know that's a very obvious statement, but that's my big takeaway from the game is that we're still going. Like there's only, am I correct in saying six, what will it be next week? Four teams. You do the math. Yeah. It'll be six teams.

[00:21:10] Yeah, it'll be four in the next weekend. Yeah. We're going to be one of the last six teams. That's awesome. Yeah. It'll be good. I probably would have preferred the Warriors. I think we'd probably stack up a bit better against them. Interesting, yeah. But we'll see how it goes. Yeah, yeah. I think we were just thinking location-wise it's probably easier to go, well, it is easier to go to Suncorp and play the Dolphins.

[00:21:36] But I mean, whoever you play in week three is going to be ridiculously hard anyway. So one week at a time. Do you think it'll be Roosters next week for us? What are you thinking? Yeah, surely it'd have to be. Sam Walker out of that team, he's so unpredictable. So now basically, yeah, look, Hugo Savala's got a big kick on him. His short kicking game's not that great. But last year he played a game against Brisbane and basically, yeah, his long kicking game killed them.

[00:22:05] And yeah, they ended up winning that one when they weren't meant to in Brisbane. So yeah, I guess we've just got to make sure if they do get through, we don't keep getting pinned back in our 10, try and get into their face a bit. But yeah, Jesse, Jesse was actually doing that tonight, just changed down the kickers. And then, yeah, one of their kickers put it out from the pressure. So yeah, see how we go. I thought that we rolled down the park really well for most of the game and particularly the first half.

[00:22:33] We were just like, I didn't recall too many times that the Cowboys had too many chances. I know they were down there a little bit, but it seemed like we were down the other end, which is where you want to be a lot longer. We didn't quite capitalize on that. But I was very impressed with field position for most of the game and the kicking game as well. And if they can bring that into next week, I mean, Roosters, I think, were a shot.

[00:23:00] But I think it's a lot closer than people might give us. Penrith is obviously going to be an uphill battle. But I'm not going to say it's impossible. So if they can improve on this week, I'll be very interested to see how that goes. I think it's because, just looking at some of the stats real quickly, like the missed tackles look pretty okay. Like everything looked okay. And obviously you can play better than okay. But there was nothing too alarming tonight.

[00:23:29] So if they can improve on having Trindle back, Raleigh Jones slipped off a few tackles towards the end, but mostly was okay. If he can improve on that, assuming he's in the centers, I really give us a shot this week coming. And that's not me being too homerish or whatever. I think that they needed the hit out last week to have the hit out this week. And then hopefully you roll on from that. Yeah. Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully.

[00:23:54] But I feel the game we play tonight would go pretty well against the Roosters with Penrith because of their system and their defensive way they play. Basically, it just forces us to have to kind of change how we play, rely more on offloads, which we don't historically do a lot of. I mean, we're capable of it. We have like, you know, Vanua Blake, we've got Oggie. So it's kind of like, yeah, you can have to kick early because they're pretty much just waiting on you to get the fifth tackle.

[00:24:22] So yeah, it can be done, but it's going to be very uncomfortable. So that's why if we get them, you know, it's better to get them early, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, how we played today and like with the enthusiasm, the defense, I think that would be better suited towards how the Roosters play it. Then again, you know, they've got Marky Mark on the wing. Yeah. So yeah. There's no real easy route from here on in.

[00:24:52] No, there's not. And that's okay. Like it's not, it shouldn't be easy. You know what I mean? Like I think that as fans, we rely too much on like, oh, we're going to play the Roosters, but they're missing their halfback or we're going to play Penrith Roosters. They're going to beat each other up. It's all going to be okay. It's like, no, like, I mean, yes, but also no, we're just going to have to play really well to, to beat these teams to get where you want to get. So it's a cool place to be, man.

[00:25:20] I know we all wanted to finish fourth because maybe, you know, maybe you get the win and you have the week off. That's not reality now. So we're in the best place we can be. And it was a good atmosphere out there tonight, Mark. Like they had seven. How was it on TV for you? Was there a vibe or not really? It looked all right. When looking at the players, when basically after the tries, it looked up, you can see it's pretty empty up the top there. But from what I was hearing from other people that I know down there,

[00:25:49] that wasn't even open to get tickets there. So yeah. So it was all right. Yeah. The lighting and that looked pretty cool. Was there much commentary on that at all or not really about the crowd? No, they didn't really, they didn't really bring up the numbers until at the end they'll do an interview of Nico and he goes, Oh, I think it was like, I saw 17 and he was basically saying, look, we can get 15 at shark park. I don't know. We probably, yeah. He was pretty much like, yeah, you know, we could have played at home and you know,

[00:26:16] maybe people could throw us a bit of money our way to help us with the situation. So yeah. Well, you know, good on him first and did it at work. So we'll see. Yeah. It, it, it was pretty, like it was better than I thought the vibe because the lower bowl was mostly filled. It was probably, I don't know, at least three quarters filled and pretty vocal. Obviously we had the majority of support. There was maybe a bay of Cowboys fans. That was kind of it.

[00:26:43] But I think that seeing them play in that big time stadium, it gave us some big time vibes. And I honestly have no problem playing there. Like I prefer shark park too, of course, but I think it's next best for us. It's not that it really isn't that far to travel to all the people who kind of thought it was too far. I think that's a bit of a stretch to be honest, but yeah, obviously we'll play there next week. If we play the Chooks, if we play the Penrith,

[00:27:11] you would think it'd be the Parramatta complex. I don't think they'd be the Parramatta complex. Yeah. Do you get down to many games, Mark? What's your story? Not really, mate. I've got a little boy at the moment, so I don't really get out much. Gotcha. Yeah. A lot of TV. Yeah. I was trying to get tickets to that Dolphins game, but I tore my kneecap off, so that didn't work. So yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:41] How did that? A tree landed on me. Oh no. My God. Yeah. I had a gum tree out the back and breeze picked up and you hear a snap. And yeah. So it actually didn't even hurt. It's just, you kind of like, I felt my knee just go, my leg just go limp. And then I'm on the ground. I'm like, oh, have I dislocated it? Yeah. And I looked down and I'm like, oh no, I can get my fist in there. So that's completely up. And my knee was up in my cord. So yeah. Oh man. And when was that? A while ago or? That was April.

[00:28:10] The operation was first of May. So yeah, six weeks of no walking with a two year old running around. So that was interesting times. Yeah. And you're back on your feet now. You going all right? Yeah. Back on my feet. I can walk. Yeah. Getting into the physio now is more about building the muscle back up. So yeah. Oh man. Well, I hope you healed. Well, that happened. We're on that, we're on that wind streak. So it was actually pretty good. So I was feeling pretty good that way. Yes. Kicking back watching the sharkies. That's pretty cool. Yeah.

[00:28:39] Pretty much man stuck on the couch. Who's your favorite player of all time? All time. I'm actually old enough to remember Eddinghausen. Oh yeah, I remember him. Yeah. Yeah. That's your guy? Pretty early on. Yeah. And I used to enjoy watching Peachy, but it always used to kind of upset me to get dragged down by the jersey all the time. But have you seen how big his jersey was? His jersey was so big. It was massive dude. Yeah. I can't really say much.

[00:29:09] This would probably be the same kind of thing, but yeah. Yeah. I liked Noddy as well. Like when he played, like he come to us, you know, we tied first that year and you know, our squad wasn't really anything compared to Manly's in Melbourne. So yeah, he did a lot of good work with the roster that really, you know, didn't really back him up a lot. So yeah. He was good. Yeah. All right, Mark. Thanks for calling in. Appreciate it. Anytime you want. Call in. Don't be a stranger. Yeah.

[00:29:36] And yeah, get that knee healed up and might talk to you next week or so. Will do. All right, mate. Have a good night. Thanks, Mark. That's awesome, Mark from up north. See you. The dream is to have like a late night shark cast because I'm a night owl. So this is kind of fun for me. So if you want to call in for a bit, I'll be up for a little bit. Oh, Miss Millgate's watching. Big Nico Hines fan. Scored a good try tonight, Mills. Now let's get some more great comments here. Sharks pathways.

[00:30:06] Our good friend said up, up. Sharks and jets. I've even covered that. So Newtown jets had an amazing win. Charge forward. Choo. Field goal time. Jersey flag lost. I'm sad to say. And we wish them all the best for the future. And the NRLW team won, which was great. Local derby at Alleynacht Stadium. So congrats to our friends at the NRLW Sharks team. Now Katie has joined.

[00:30:34] I think Katie was sitting in front of us today. I'm pretty sure. Pretty sure. If that was you, Katie, let me know if you're still watching. Harry said, Harry said, I thought Riley Jones was pretty good. Uh, Purdue was a super difficult matchup. Uh, I thought his footwork was really good. Just slipped off that tackle at the end. Big body for the high ball too. Up up. Yeah, that's well said. I'm going to roll again with him. I am.

[00:31:02] I just need to tighten that up a little bit. But it's his third game of NRL. Like, come on. It's all cool. Uh, thanks Alley for following us. Appreciate that. And hope you're doing well. Sharks win to fight another day. How good. Chief Brody says, decent night out. Refs aside. We're still a work in progress, but good progress. That's very well said. That was what I saw tonight. Uh, the attack was a little bit clunky at times,

[00:31:31] but I guess Trindle's been out for a month and they're working out how to do it again. Wes said, Riley made a rookie mistake with the old chestnut of someone preventing him to be a teammate and delivered a beautiful ball. Yeah, there was the offload. So I think that's what I'm thinking of. There was the, the awkward offload that turned into intercept and there was a missed tackle on the try. But I'm not here to like send the guy on the river. Like he was terrific for his third game of NRL. There was some really good stuff.

[00:31:59] And I'm confident that he's going to be the guy for the next few weeks. Daniel says, I truly think if the sharks get the roosters next week, we can get the job done. I think that's true. But here's what I don't want us to do, Daniel. I don't want us to write off hope if it's the other mob. If it's the other mob, they're going to be bruised and battered. And they're going to be, I mean, obviously they're going to be annoyed and peed off.

[00:32:27] But nothing's impossible. And you saw what? At our best tonight, we were really good. Long runs. Kick, kick chase. Like there was a lot of good stuff there. Williams 2.0 said, choo-choo, get out of Sifu the Tank Engine Talakai's way. Need to improve 20% next week minimum. Need to be near perfect. Yeah, I mean, Williams 2.0 is bringing the truth there.

[00:32:56] I mean, I didn't have a percentage on it. I'd have to think about the percentage, but I'm not disagreeing with you. But I like the near perfect thing. And when I'm looking at some of these stats, I don't hate what I see. But we could definitely improve on it. So I think it looks like we missed 27 tackles, which isn't too bad. And we completed, if I'm looking at it correctly, 31 or 37.

[00:33:25] Now, we can improve on that, but that's still not horrendous. We made half the errors of the other mob. We still conceded more penalties, it looks like. But yeah, I agree with you. Definitely need to improve, my friend. Definitely. Lush, who I saw at the event before the game, said, what a night.

[00:33:54] And I probably didn't get to spend enough time with my friend Lush, but it was still good to see him being his company, got a hug. And it was fun at the pregame. I want to thank everyone who came along. If you heard the info on this show, or maybe you heard it through the Sharks, or maybe you heard it through Shark Cage. There was a whole bunch of people hanging out at this place called Watson's, which is just a big kind of pub-like place, big outdoor area. And it was a lot of fun.

[00:34:23] It was a good turnout, a lot of black, white and blue. And then they walked a bit towards the city. Sorry. The city being the venue. I'm lost to words because I've seen a dear friend of mine pop up here. Here he is. All the way from New York City. We are alive, Ben. We are alive. How are you, Ben Harlem? What's happening with you? I have lots of questions for you. You can see a leftover Toblerone that I must have smashed earlier this morning.

[00:34:53] That's good. It's always good. Let's get that out of the way. You don't need my snacks in this shot. They're important things. You really live a good life, Ben Harlem. And I respect that. Toblerone? Yeah. Yeah. My poor neighbors were woken up multiple times this morning. That wasn't ideal. You were just like, Talakai all night. Talakai! Talakai! I really was. I really was. What a performance by Talakai. Why are we letting him go, Sam? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

[00:35:21] I was thinking about it all night. I was saying it to the people I was with, which included your mate Kieran, our friend Jack, and Dave, and a few other people. And I think Katie was in front of us. And I was like, why are we letting him go? It's one of those ones where me and Fitzy just don't see eye to eye. You know, everyone thinks I'm in love with this man, and I am. But we don't see eye to eye on that. I can tell you that right now. Yeah. It's just really unfortunate. Questions for you. Okay.

[00:35:50] So what was the vibe like in the stadium compared to other games at Allianz against the Cowboys? Was everyone sort of on edge, or was everyone sort of confident that they were going to get the win? No, I don't think on edge. Probably somewhere in between what you're saying, without being a cop out. They were a bit like me. They thought they'd get the job done. You couldn't guarantee it, but it wasn't a lot of nerves.

[00:36:18] And the actual environment and vibe was mostly pretty good. There were a few times, I'm talking a few in 80 minutes, where it got really quiet. It was kind of a bit, not eerie, but a bit like, oh, the crowd just sort of went to zero for a second. Bless you. Bless you. Double sneezer, huh? Yeah, double sneeze. But mostly the vibe was good and vocal.

[00:36:48] And I was actually impressed that that many people came out, given what I'd heard during the week from official channels, and given what I'd heard about all the negativity from our own fans. Now, I don't know, Benny, if 17,000 is exact on the mark, but having said that, the lower bowl was pretty full. Like, it was probably more than three-quarters full. So that kind of equates to almost half of the stadium, which would be 20,000.

[00:37:16] So, you know, 95% Sharks fans was a bay of cowboys, bless them. But it reminded me. I heard it multiple times, Sam, on the TV coverage. I heard, and it could have been a pre-recorded cowboys chant that they were piping over the PA, but I heard a cowboys chant. They were loud. Definitely. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. They were down our end of the field, and there was at least one whole bay. Maybe more. Maybe I'm underselling it.

[00:37:45] But I remember the chant going up. It wasn't deafening, but it was there. But I was just impressed with all the Sharks fans. We did a thing beforehand at a pub nearby, and there were a lot of fans. We caught the bus in, Kieran and I, and there were like maybe, I think someone at the Sharks told me there was like 10 or 11 buses. That's good. Which equated to, I think, around 1,000 people.

[00:38:12] I'm ballparking there, but I think it was our friend Luke who does game day, and he was like, yeah, 11 buses. And that was just a small portion, obviously, of people going in. There were free trains. People drove. People Ubered, the whole thing. So 70,000 people, I think, is ultimately a success. I wouldn't have thought they were going to get more than 11 from what I was hearing.

[00:38:39] Yeah, anything under the capacity of Ocean Protect would have been a disaster for them, for sure. And it would have helped our narrative. 17,000 is pretty good. And really, if you, like I saw someone was posting that like, oh, 28,000 last night for an all Sydney finals game, which calling Newcastle Sydney is a bit rich. But if you take away all the Newcastle fans, I mean, really, honestly, how many South fans would have there been?

[00:39:03] It was probably an even sort of split of Newcastle and South fans, maybe a tiny bit more in the favor of South because it was closer. Probably would be close to 17,000. Yeah, because I heard rumors of around 15,000 Knights fans being there. So that's what I heard. So, yeah. Yeah. So really. And also people forget first week of the finals is so tough because if you're like a Penrith fan, right? You, you do you, do you pay your money to go to the game tomorrow?

[00:39:31] I was just telling our friend Jack about that. I was talking about the, no, I'm going to wait for the prelim. Yeah, you're going to wait for the prelim. You're going to save your money up for a grand final. Hopefully if you're like, if you're a Warriors fan, it's different, right? Because you want to try and get in there because you don't know if you're going to be able to get in. Um, to the next couple of games, but first week of finals is always a bit weird unless it's like in an in demand stadium, like Mount Smart is at the time. I'm sure, um, the Newcastle stadium would have sold out.

[00:40:00] Um, yeah, and we would have obviously sold it out. Yeah. Yeah. What else you got for me? Uh, well, who was your best on ground? Was it Talakai? Cause I thought, um, Cole, whom was really good in the beginning. And then Talakai came on for Katoa and he was quite unbelievable. I think it's Talakai for the impact and the change in the game that he made both in that instance, coming on for Katoa and also throughout the game. I do think it was him.

[00:40:30] However, I don't know what it looked like on the TV, man, but Trindle, I mean, I'm trying to think of a braver effort. Like he looked busted when he came on, like when he ran on. And I think whatever his first touch was, he was like holding it really bad. I was like, oh man. And it happened the whole game. And it, the last tackle he made with the tackle turnover where he smashed the guy and he reeled out of it. And it looked like it had popped again. He was trying to do all these things with his shoulder.

[00:40:59] And I, apparently he's okay. He's the early message we're getting, but that was a brave performance, dude. And you saw Nico play a lot better with him there. That was, we kind of assumed that, but to actually see it and go, oh, okay, that's the key to Heinz is Trindle. He scored that great try. He was pretty good. The attack was a little clunky at times, but, um, so maybe Trindle as well gets a bit of a tick. I thought Ronaldo was really good. Mm-hmm.

[00:41:27] Um, no one stood out in any kind of negative way for me. I don't think. I thought Cam McInnes was kind of pretty involved when he's, you know, I'm not being smart, but he's short, kind of tough running. Um, I probably wanted more running from Blake Braley. Okay. I didn't get it. I didn't get it, but I thought overall he was fine. But what do you think? I thought AFB in the, in the last probably five to 10 minutes when Cowboys were just like, okay, let's just throw anything at them.

[00:41:54] And it was very much like chaotic and AFB was like really following up with, with tackles to that. He could have just let sort of go through and, and see if someone else could, um, could clean up the mess. He was cleaning up, um, a lot and like really sort of following. It was in the middle and he was just following who was making breaks, who was offloading, shutting things down. And he really impressed me near the end where he obviously would have been gassed like the rest of them.

[00:42:20] Um, and when you've pretty much won, you can, um, you can maybe let a couple of, um, of the quick Cowboys players run through. Um, so he impressed me near the end. It is funny. And I don't want to insult any of your coworkers, um, or ex players for the sharks, but, um, but, but your bosses and, and Mick Ennis, you know, they love a bit of a narrative when they're commentating. Right. So if they pick up on a loose thread, they'll really sort of pull at it and go for it.

[00:42:46] And it was very funny when Trindle, probably the second time he was clutching at his shoulder, like Mick was really going on about, Hey guys, like, Oh man, he's really struggling. This is a big effort for him or whatever. And I'm thinking, Oh man, what, you know, this is going to be bad. And then he puts in an awesome kick, makes a tackle. We get a try off it.

[00:43:05] And it's like, Oh, there's no issue whatsoever, but it's just very funny that he looks like he's busted, but then he was running into contact and that where it's like did and nothing. The only player that really made any impact for them was drink water in a positive and a negative way. So it was very funny to, to hear Vossi and Ennis like see Trindle and be like, Hey, something might be wrong here. But then he would just prove them wrong and, you know, kick and drink water would lose it. We'd score or he'd go into contact and not shy away.

[00:43:34] It was a very brave effort from him. Did the camera follow him much? Yeah. So obviously Channel 9 had the feed. So they're in charge of all the cameras, right? You know that better than I do. And so they did very much whenever after a bit of impact, he started going for his contact. They'd have the little inset screen and they'd be showing tricky there, you know, with the trainer or sort of, you know, trying to, to, to make sure that it wasn't too bad. So, yeah, they did.

[00:44:00] They might not have followed him on the main screen, but they definitely were checking up on him throughout the game for sure. There was at least, I want to say three, four, five times where he got caught with the ball and he got up and played the ball and he absolutely sprayed Iro, I guess, Ronaldo. Oh yeah, he met up as well. And cause obviously he didn't want to get touched with that ball. Like he didn't want to get tackled at all. Like that was the plan. Yeah.

[00:44:28] And early on it happened and he was like blowing up. And then you, you, you, as a fan, you immediately knew what he meant. He was like, what the hell are you guys doing? Run onto the ball. Yeah. Yeah. And even for the, was it for, it might've been for the Ronaldo either try or no try with a little chip kick for Iro. One of the, maybe the Iro no try. One of those ones where the, uh, Trindle caught with the ball.

[00:44:58] He got tackled. It went to Nico to the right and they just came straight back to where they were short side kick. And in that moment, Trindle didn't even see what was happening cause he turned his back in spraying one of the players. Oh yeah. Yeah. So, so they'd obviously had a deep plan on how to do this and it pretty much works, but there were those moments and that could have gone pear shaped because of the way they were hitting him. But it was actually reassuring to see.

[00:45:27] It was like, they're on here. They know what they're doing. They know what they need to do. And Trindle's not holding back. Like he's just, he's all in. Um, and I thought it was a, you know, I don't know if it was cronk grand final performance, but it was close, you know, cause it meant a lot. Like this is, this was, this was do or die. And, um, yeah. So really good stuff. Um, Benny, just let's just hang on and get through a few comments. You cool with that? Yeah.

[00:45:57] There's some good ones as well. Kim's, Kim's got an update about tricky as well in there. Oh, great. Uh, so grunge most of fuzz said sharks at career had a great vibe tonight. Final trial for Nick. He got a fun vocal reaction from the room. It was a great try. Um, and says, I know that Cronulla sharkies would win cause Hey, the best team in the world. They saw our end point. Yeah. Our friend Luke said, got back to quest at will aware base. He's from Melbourne. Incredible win. Great night.

[00:46:24] Um, how much would it have better been OPS? I believe he's referring to ocean protect stadium. Uh, he says, I genuinely believe the scoreboard flattered the cows. Do you agree with that? Cause I sort of hinted at that as well, Ben. Yeah, no, a hundred percent. Um, so many disallowed tries. I wouldn't even say missed opportunities. I just felt like that. Um, we just had a lot of possession down their ends. Like, I mean, the stats back that up. Right.

[00:46:49] But yeah, dubious decisions and all of their stuff was given off forward passes. The, the NFL was yesterday. Um, I don't know why we were ignoring forward passes today. There were a few calls today, Ben, and I'm sure you saw it better than what I did on the TV where, where the referee made a decision or didn't, and then reversed it or didn't reverse it. There was a lot of overruling going on from inside the year and it really, that thing

[00:47:18] starting to bug me a lot. Yeah. There was one forward pass where bossy even mentioned because he said, Oh, they're pulling up for a four pass. Cause he, the ref stopped in the line as if he was going to call it and then sort of chased his tail and kept going to award the try. And it was like, come on, dude, what are you doing here? Yeah. Yeah. That was definitely one of them. Mitchell says, I love Sione. He's slowed. He has slowed a lot or he's always been stuck in third year. I think it's more stuck in third gear than he's slowed down. What do you reckon, Ben?

[00:47:47] I remember as a, as a young fellow, he was, I watched him through the grades and through NYC and it was always scoring tries and electric. And then I remember he played first grade and I was like, he probably should have scored that try. It was like, you know, game three or whatever. So I think he's always had that kind of, maybe he's quick over a short period. I don't know, but he did well today cause I didn't back him in there. Yeah. That intercept was pretty good. And it looked like he was just about to maybe get caught at the last minute, but he got there. So yeah.

[00:48:15] Actually, that actually happened right in front of us, Benny. We were sitting. Where were you on TV? That's what I was looking out for you. I thought this was going to be a repeat of the last Cowboys game and you and Kieran would be mugging every shot. We were like two rows back, but a little bit, it was elevated sort of, we're right above the Cowboys dugout basically, like literally above their dugout. Oh, okay. And I think if you watch that replay, if there was an angle from that side, I'm not sure if there is, uh, you'd see it cause right in front of that intercepts. That was kind of fun. Okay.

[00:48:44] Uh, Lucy's asking about breakfast at Mr. Paisley's tomorrow. I mean, it's already tomorrow, my friend, so I can't guarantee it, but shoot me a message and we'll see what we can do. Alex is good to meet me tonight. Good to meet you, Alex. Uh, Ben, I met a lot of your fans tonight as well. People were asking when we're doing another, uh, premiership look back and I said probably next week. So stick with us. Um, yeah, I met a lot of good people. I had people buying me beverages and things, which they didn't have to do. You would have been a celebrity on the bus, Sam.

[00:49:13] The people, uh, did they pass it? I know it was free, but did they have to register for the Sam and Kieran, uh, alien conspiracy express to more park or we were pretty, we were pretty low key. Well behaved on the bus, but once we got off the bus, uh, things heated up, but, um, bus was fun. Bus was cool. Like it was a great initiative and like we got there and I thought, uh, cause we were like a tiny bit running late and I thought, oh, well, there'll only be like 30 people on the bus or whatever.

[00:49:42] But there was this big line of, and it was all really well organized and there was, yeah, I think all up 11 buses. I think it was like five when we went and maybe an hour later, five more. So yeah, that was cool. That's great. Uh, Wes says in a weird way, I want to play Panthers to prove a point and make a statement. And I completely understand that. I just think that's super risky business, but if that's what happens, then let's go for it.

[00:50:07] Um, Mark says, oh, that was Marky Mark five. I didn't realize that's who it was. Mark was on the story. How about his story? A tree came down. How am I supposed to follow that? That was unbelievable, Mark. Tree comes down and your knee falls out. Yeah. That was crazy. Uh, he said, forgot to mention Nick had a pretty good game. His kicks were on point. He should have two tries with Kale dropping the ball and being offside. Yeah. That was a bit, uh, unfortunate. Yeah. We definitely have a magical camera out of nowhere, Mark.

[00:50:36] What was going on with that? We've just introduced this camera. Now is that, is that the angle? The bunker can always say that we never was able to see. Was it, is it spider cam? Is that what spider cam is? It was, it looked like, no, it was above spider cam. It was almost like it was above it. It was, and they used another for a replay for one of the tries. I don't know, but no, it looked too, it looked too fixed to be a drone. And this is where I was a bit dubious about the, the offside call that almost felt like it was a bit behind as well.

[00:51:03] It didn't look like it was, you know how camera angles can, um, can mess you up a tiny bit or whatever. Um, but yeah, the, the random camera angle out of nowhere. Okay. Oh, Mark later, Mark has clarified and said he, he thinks it was a drone. So I'm going to, I'm going to believe you, Mark. It did look a bit off. It looked a bit weird. Uh, chief Brody said a hundred percent Cowboys fans were about cheering saying that I've got a Cowboys flag left on the side of the road at Moore park. If you want it.

[00:51:32] Uh, Kim says up, up, fun and noisy March, the stadium, 17, four to nine people could have had it at shark park. Great meeting you at Watson's. I, yeah, I met Kim as well at Watson's. That was cool. I met Kim. He had a little chat with me. Um, there was a bit of a March, Benny, a bit of a March. Yeah. Our friend Kim with the drum. Uh, it was a good turnout. It was a good turnout, Benny.

[00:51:58] I couldn't put numbers on it, but I would say maybe 500 or a thousand, maybe 500 people were like walking as one singing this. Oh, they started singing the song and we were like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Don't sing the songs. We've won the game. But yeah, it didn't matter in the end, but, um, no, good turnout and great to meet Kim. Thanks, man. Um, uh, Kim said as yes, Kim said tricky is fine. He came up to the shark supporter bay for, uh, for photos.

[00:52:29] So Ben at the stadium, have you been to Allianz stadium? I've been there once since it's been redone. Yeah. Right. So amazing place. And admittedly, Kieran and I were in really good seats. And I have to point out to the naysayers, we paid for them. We got them. Very well done. There was no love from anyone. You waited in the queue. But we just happened to have, happened to have good seats.

[00:52:53] And they happened to be sort of near, I guess it looked like players, family and friends, basically like, you know, Stone street and the lower graders were like right near us. Yep. So after the game, we're just sort of hanging about talking, singing the song or whatever. And then Jesse Colquhoun appears like in the row in front of us. And he's getting his photo taken with like, I guess, family and friends or whatever. He's just hanging out. Yeah. And then AFB comes up and I was like, this is crazy. And then so Trindle must've gone to the other side and done that over there.

[00:53:23] And Colquhoun took a photo with my nephew, which was awesome. And it was, it was one of those things that you sort of see on TV or you might see it like random sporting events. And she go, Oh, that's really intimate. And then tonight it was kind of like that. You were there. It suited the vibe too, because even though it was 70,000 people, which is really a lot of people, you know, there were not long queues. There were not like everything was well organized. There was never a rush for anything. We put it that way, you know?

[00:53:51] So you didn't get any half price chips or anything like that. You were too busy posing for photos with Kim and everybody else at Watson's. Well, yes and no, I didn't get the chips, but, um, we actually went back to Watson's afterwards and, uh, we had, we had burger and chips at like 10 PM. It was unbelievable. Like that's living a life too. I'm almost like Ben Allen. You're living a good life here. So that's right. With your Toblerones in that. Yeah. That's good. Now talk us through the Toblerone.

[00:54:20] Is that an Australian chocolate or not? No, it's like a, isn't like a, I always imagined when you go to, when you go to like a, like a, not a Broadway play, but like when the production of Wicked would be at the Capitol theater or something that at the bar, there would be all your wines and that sort of stuff. And you, and there would always be a Toblerone. So I just, like 45 bucks or whatever. Yeah, of course. And I would, so I associate a Toblerone with like a, um, with like a going to, yeah.

[00:54:50] Or a Swiss is it or something like that? Yeah. I think so. So, and then in Coles and Woolies, they sell the big, huge ones, but they're dangerous. Cause you, you know, you get through them, but yeah, I felt like a Toblerone. So I had a Toblerone. It was delicious. When was the last time you had a Toblerone approximately? Well, I'm sorry. Before tonight. No, no, no. Before tonight. Okay. Um, it's been a while. The white chocolate Toblerone is actually quite good. Um, we are available for sponsorship if the Toblerone, um, company would like to. It made in Switzerland. It says.

[00:55:21] Okay. So look, we're not going to, this is, we're not going to turn down Swedish money or chocolate to be fair, but we will also, we will also give a, a cry at literally you and I will cry for Nestle white, white chocolate Milky Way, Milky bar. We'll get my words. Milky bar. I've had a little few. Um, but, uh, uh, now is Nestle related to Coca-Cola at all? Have they emerged? Have they merged at all? Yeah.

[00:55:50] Coke kind of owns things. Yeah. Coke owns things. No, Nestle, I know Nestle, uh, owned by another company, I think. Okay. Well, whether it's Coke Zero or Nestle or Toblerone, please get in touch with us, sharkhustpod.gmail.com and, uh, I'm sure that your email won't go to spam. It'll go straight to me and we'll, uh, we'll talk business. Uh, Mark is talking drones. Yeah. I believe. Mitchell here says, uh, Toblerone, Switzerland, 1908. Mitchell knows what's up.

[00:56:19] That's a long time of making chocolate and they've done it very well to be fair. Now. They have. Let's go over to our friends on the Insta. Jay says, four wins in our last six finals matches. That sounds pretty good. I like that. And he said, Siffa was so, so, so good. I didn't think the way we played tonight was up to the level of any of the three finals games we played last year. However, it was a good game to blow out some rust. I agree.

[00:56:48] Um, Jake says, nice to meet you tonight, brother. Thank you, Jake. Great to meet you too. You met so many people. There was a lot of meeting going on and I really appreciated it. That's so nice. People were really nice tonight. It was amazing. No one was saying like, stop doing what you're doing. It was great. Who's going to say that? You're not the nicest person ever. There's people, there's people out there who sort of think I'm a jerk or whatever. That's a, that's a whole other podcast. That's a summer series podcast. Um, no, I had a great time. Met a lot of really nice people.

[00:57:18] And it just, it reminded me tonight, Ben, that, um, as smaller club as we are and a smaller fan base. And when I say that, I'm not saying that we're insignificant. I'm not saying that we're tiny, but we kind of are officially, I guess the smallest club in the NRL, right? We could be. There's an argument there. Sure. Yeah. And someone has to be, to be fair. But tonight, I mean, I get reminders every day. Like people write to me and go, I love the Sharks. They're the best.

[00:57:48] And like, you know, cause that's the line of business I'm in. But tonight there was just this really almost community feel of like, we're all in this together. We really need to win. We think we're going to win. And when we won, it was a lot of fun. The Katoa, uh, the Katoa Intercept was a lot of fun, but it just reminded me how much people love this club. People of all ages, literally behind us, Ben, there was a couple, a younger couple and they had their newborn.

[00:58:17] The newborn must've been five weeks old, dude. Oh. In Sharky's gear. It was like, oh, um, families all around us. It was actually really kind of friendly event. Yeah. Sometimes the finals get a little bit, uh, a bit skew-iff. At least everything I saw tonight was really kind of above board and no issues. I know it was a very one-sided, one town team kind of vibe. Next week's probably gonna be a lot different, but, um, it did remind me though, I'm a bit long winded here.

[00:58:44] It did remind me of just how much people love this club. So there's a lot of negativity this week. I know you're across a lot of it, but people don't want to go to the games. People saying we shouldn't have a license to be in the NRL. People saying we shouldn't have a home ground, all this sort of stuff. Tonight was completely positive. Like it was, it was all positive. So I took a lot out of that and it just reminded me that a lot of people like this club, man. A lot of people.

[00:59:10] Look, and full credit to the 17,000 that showed up and however many of them were Sharks fans because like people don't understand that when, when the stadium is getting bashed all year round and people say it's not up to stand. It doesn't have enough toilets. The lines are too long for beers, blah, blah, blah, and all that sort of stuff. Then it turns around at finals time and it's okay. Well, it's not good enough. So you're going to have to go here or whatever, like that sort of negative press.

[00:59:37] Like I can totally understand if someone goes, you know what, for the cost of tickets, the cost to get there, I know free trains or whatever, but like, you know, it is an effort, especially if you've got a five week old kid that you want to bring the whole family or you need to organize babysitters or whatever, or you're like Lucian, you're driving all the way from Melbourne and that sort of stuff. Right? Like I can totally understand if someone's like, you know what? TV coverage is so good. Um, let's just stay at home or whatever, but full credit to everyone that turned up and made the effort. Cause like, that's unbelievable to go.

[01:00:07] And you're right when it's a, when it's a feeling like that, when it's all positive or whatever, like how good it shows. It shows how cool the club and the supporters can be when everything can be so positive and you're not just feeding into the, Ooh, you have to go to more park. You're not good enough. Yeah. So I saw a tweet from, or some sort of post from, uh, we'll just say his name cause we don't have any beef with him.

[01:00:34] And I actually technically might be a colleague down the line somewhere, but, uh, Brent Reid posted something about, uh, something like shame on the people who didn't come tonight because of the protest vibes. It sounded like he only got wind of the protest tonight when he's at the game. Cause he wrote an interesting article during the week, basically sticking up for us for three quarters of the article saying it's not our fault. We need government help all this stuff.

[01:01:04] But the headline unfortunately was the last line in the story, which said, if sharks fans don't turn up, they don't deserve to have an hour or a license. And of course that gets the big, the big, um, headline to his, and to his defense, the writer of the article with that sort of stuff, 99% of the time never picks the headline. That's always a solid or something else, but it was a quote. If you're saying it was the quote in the article, it was the last line essentially. So he did write it. Yes. And I don't actually have a problem with him writing it, but you're right.

[01:01:33] And saying that he didn't spread out that message. They just grabbed that message and ran with it. And obviously it works because we're talking about it days later. However, tonight, and I'm not going to go look at it, but there was a tweet and it basically said something like, I have the, I have the tweet if you want it. Yeah. What's it say? Okay. So, and I quote sharks, so-called fans who couldn't be bothered making the trip to Allianz stadium should hang their heads in shame. They were pathetic. Their team needed them and they apparently stayed away as a protest. What a joke. Right.

[01:02:01] And so now you've read it in your dulcet tones. It makes a lot more sense to me. I don't disagree with it. So I don't disagree with what he's saying. But I also think that, I guess, I guess I read it and went, there were 17,000 people there who did turn up like what we're talking about, but he is actually right. So it was an interesting talking point. A lot of people talked about it at the pub beforehand going, oh, Brent Reid wrote this stuff about us.

[01:02:30] And I had to go, hey, did you read the article? And a lot of them hadn't to be fair. And I actually side with him. Now you said that like it is. And I said that during the week during episodes, which you would have heard. I was like, it's like, I understand where you're coming from. It's a ridiculous sentiment to have. I think, I think it's half and half, right? If you, if you, for whatever reason, couldn't be bothered going or didn't want to go or chose at the last minute not to go or whatever. That's completely fine. Right. Absolutely.

[01:02:58] If you stayed away as a protest, like that's not going to mean anything, unfortunately. Now, the people that there was another tweet over in the week that someone suggested, oh, well, why don't you screen the game at Ocean Protect Stadium? We all go there instead. That sort of thing, which is fun in theory sort of thing. Right. Cute. But yeah, it's half and half. Right. Is that you don't, I personally can't blame anybody that, that goes, okay, well, we're going from five minutes down the road to Woolaware or it is a bigger effort to go to Moore Park. Completely reasonable.

[01:03:28] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And what a good effort, because it would have been the same if Manly were playing and they had to come all the way to Allianz or honestly, like if the Panthers had to had a home game at Allianz, you know, in week one, I would be curious how many fans would show up. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:03:51] And our mate, Rickio, had a point, I think on one of the radio shows today, he was saying basically that most Cowboys finals games, particularly week one, week two in Sydney, I think he had the stat was have never drawn over 16,000 when they're the visiting team. And so he's suggesting it's a Cowboys thing, not a Sharks thing tonight for, I'm paraphrasing.

[01:04:15] And I sort of, I would bite back a little bit on that and go, no, no, there's people who genuinely aren't going because of what we've just talked about. But just to be clear, Ben, I'm, I'm with you. I, if someone says to me, I can't afford it, I've got to look after my kid. I, whatever reason I'm, it's none of my business. Like you do you, like your life comes first. I'm only critical of people who are going, it should be a shark park. Therefore I'm not going.

[01:04:43] I'm not even mad at the people who go, oh, it's too far for me to go. I'm not going to go. Like that's none of my business. But if there's, and we saw it online with real names and faces, people going, screw this. I'm not going because it should be at ocean protect stadium. It's like, that's not a thing. That can't be a thing. Well, the other thing is, and this is, I don't, um, the argument of you're locking away.

[01:05:09] And I know Wesley's got a comment, um, about you're locking, you're locking, you're locking out members. That's obviously a narrative as well. Well, I mean, police clubs, a lot of the time, the most amount of money they're going to get is if they up their membership. So if you can say, if you become a sharks member and easy, no, no, no, no. I'm just going to say, if you become a sharks member, it means that you will, you have access to the finals games at shark park and you won't get locked out because you get that.

[01:05:37] Like what a financial incentive that is to be like, oh, well, we missed out last time. So we better sign up and be a member. So when it comes back to it, we can, um, we can do it. Now, can I ask one question? Hypothetically, let's say that it was, um, uh, dolphins got in fifth place and they had to take on South's nights, Cowboys or whatever.

[01:06:02] Do they get their home final at the KO stadium at Redcliffe or do they have to go to Suncorp? They'd have to go to Suncorp, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think that's different market though. Like I think, I think most teams are going to draw in Queensland. Like, like we're already planning on week three, pre them against dolphins in Queensland. Sharks are going to have like 15,000 fans there who just live there.

[01:06:28] Well, we talked about how good the turnout for the Titans game was that it felt like it was a sharks home game because there was so many fans there. So yeah, it's just that Cowboys thing where it's too far for them to travel on. Such short notice, especially for week one. And you're not, as Ricky O said, um, that you heard it's like, you can only get a certain amount so far in the, um, in week one. Look, it's, it's at the end of the day, it's a beat up and the club needs some money from the government to fix up the stadium.

[01:06:55] And it sounds like that maybe, maybe the NRL are really pushing for it, which would be great. Yeah. Yeah. And Nico in his post game even sort of was asking for help. I think he's sort of in that zone where he knows that he's the face of the sharks. And if he asks for it, maybe it'll help 1%. Like, I don't know. But, um, yeah, the, the, the, the storyline here is well on the 70 and a half thousand people who, who made it along. And it was a really good night, like terrific night.

[01:07:21] Um, what did you make of just the general way we played Benny? Like we've talked about the clunkiness, which we kind of understand. Yeah. Next week you're less clunky. I mean, defensively I was pretty happy. Like I know there was some moments, but I thought defensively they were pretty good. Yeah. Kicking game was really good. Yes. And, and yeah, the attack in parts was good. I thought we dominated as far as forwards and the rock and that kind of thing.

[01:07:48] So I walked away pretty happy. And I think they definitely bombed a few tries, had some turn disallowed, but what did you make of just the gameplay itself? Well, I feel like that if you compare it, I would say that they were, especially at the beginning were very nervous, right? They played like that. They were a bit tentative that you didn't want to do something wrong because the Cowboys could, you know, run away and, and get the first try. And then you constantly, then chasing your tail. Right.

[01:08:16] And I compare that to the dreaded power game where we also played very nervous at the start. And, but I think we were light years ahead of that nervousness or the nervousness of the Titans game. And yes, I know that there's different lineups, different people in the spine because Trindle was out of that sort of stuff. But I feel like we just, we eased out of it and, and I, that's the best that they've played in a fair while. And there's so much room for improvement, which is understandable because they all got a rest

[01:08:45] last week and they've been playing with disjointed combos, right? Poor Katoa has got, um, got new people every second week. Um, it's just, uh, I think that, um, I think that they, they really, they played very well considering the circumstances. Does it mean that they have to go to a different level if they're going to play the Roosters, which is what I'm assuming is going to happen next week? A hundred percent. But, um, I agree with the, the comment that you, um, read, I think from the Instagram where

[01:09:13] they're not playing as good as they were in the finals last year though. Um, yeah, but it's just those little things that, um, don't let the, don't let the ball bounce when they're kicking and that sort of stuff. But, you know, well, or I'm, I'm curious, were you okay with them taking the two to begin with? I was surprised by that. I felt like that was very much a sign of the nervousness. I was okay. Like they obviously had the advantage early, but I just loved it when I looked up after that try, it was eight nil. So I liked that. Yeah. Like it works.

[01:09:43] Especially when it works. There's no, like we were talking about that and there's no real way to kind of like, like there's no wrong answer. Like you, you get the two points or you go for the try and didn't get it. Like there's no wrong or right answer in that period, but I was, I was okay with it. Um, and I think it's finals footy and you just don't know how close these things are going to get. Like they got within what was it? End points in a pretty game that we pretty much dominated.

[01:10:10] So one more try there into the scoreboard, at least a little bit more hairy. The three point buffers kind of help you. So yeah, I was cool with that. It was interesting. They look like they were going to tap and they looked at the sideline and Mark got caught up the two, like right in front of us. So, um, now Jake says, Ooh, this is interesting. Jake says, what's your thoughts on only two of the boys coming over to the supporters bay to say, thank you, bruh.

[01:10:37] So, uh, I'm usually, I usually have an opinion on this stuff, Jake, just because I don't know. Like it's, it's a tough one. Cause I was watching the body language afterwards and I'm always pretty obsessed with how people react, especially our club to a finals win. Cause we don't have them a lot when they do like 2016. I was obsessed with watching the psychology of like, how hard are you going to celebrate after that Canberra game? You're going to do a lap of honor. Don't do that.

[01:11:06] After the Cowboys prelim, do not do a lap of honor. Just thank everyone and get the hell out of there. Your lap of honor comes to the grand final. Um, that's not what, um, Jake's talking about, but I, with stuff like this, like they have media commitments, they have family and friends who are probably not in the supporters bay. Like I'm not making excuses. I've always said, if I was in charge of any club or especially this one, I would kind of make it a thing. Like go over there, give them a wave.

[01:11:35] If you don't want to high five them or sign stuff, you don't have to, but everyone go over and say, thanks. So I'm with you, Jake, that they probably should, but there are reasons why they don't. They're not doing it to be nasty or whatever. And if you think about it tonight, there were like, what? About 16 and a half, maybe more sharks fans in that, in that stadium. And yes, there was like a very vocal supporters bay over in Bay 33, but there's a lot of sharks

[01:12:03] fans all over that field. And the coach wants them off the field and rehabbing. Like Tricky was the last one off, Benny, I'm pretty sure. And he's the one that's carrying the shoulder and he's busted. And I wasn't comfortable with him doing that. I was like, get the hell off the field. Like go get some rehab. So Jake, I sympathize with you. I know it doesn't take much for someone to go, hey, thanks for coming down, but I'm also not going to ever be angry at them. And I hope that doesn't sound too mean towards you, Jake, but yeah. What are your thoughts on that, Benny?

[01:12:33] I'm probably, I think that I'm on the side with Jake. I think that, and it could just literally be that, and you know, the, the, the team that works behind the scenes of the sharks are, it's a smaller team. We say it's a small club or whatever, and they're probably all stretched in with the amount of stuff that, you know, the same person that probably should be saying, Hey boys, like need you over, let one, you just don't forget before the coach needs you go into the shark space and make sure that we've spread you out or, you know, you almost need sort of a

[01:13:01] air traffic control to be like, uh, you know, Ford's over here and Nico's over there and Trindle will get you in the, in the sheds, but Brails, you go over to the sideline or whatever. Um, but yeah, it's something that need, that definitely, if you're going to make the effort to go out there, especially when we've been talking about it so much during the week, um, that just a, a simple, um, a nudge to the players to just be like, Hey, don't forget before the coach does need you soon and we need you for the media or whatever, but like

[01:13:28] make sure that everyone shows the right appreciation and that sort of stuff. Yeah. And I've often thought of it, like, I know it looks a little bit. I don't know what the word is, Benny. It looks a little bit forced or a little bit kind of, I don't know. I don't know what the word is, but in soccer, when they come over as the whole team, they do the bow and the wave at the end of the support of Bay, like that's obviously more positive and negative.

[01:13:55] I don't think you're ever going to really see that the whole team go over and, but I think that I'm with Jake. Like I didn't mean to sound like harsh, but there are like, I can tell you right now, we're sitting near the players, families and that kind of thing. Cam McInnes, AFB, Britton Nicker, they came straight to the families and looking for their kids. They weren't going to the support of Bay. Now that's not a crime, but there was a reason why they weren't over there.

[01:14:19] So, I mean, you know, I can talk to a few people at clubs, if we can do something about that, but I'm with you guys, like you deserve a clap and a thanks for coming out. Whether it's more than two players. Yeah. And with the soccer, like, I mean, I was there for a couple of the world cup games and like the soccer is have a team manager that is that person. That's like, okay guys, like make sure you're going over the support of Bay and make sure you just need that. You just need a couple of people just to be like, Hey, don't forget, especially when

[01:14:48] you're in a different, you're in a foreign stadium or whatever. You're not used to the setup of Allianz or whatever, but yeah, I agree with Jake. I think that effort to go out there should be acknowledged for sure. I mean, and, and, you know, Ben, you work in the media, like people are grabbing these guys to talk to them and it's not just give me Trindle, give me Hines. It's like three, it's like what? Two or three radio stations. There's two TV networks. They're grabbing players. We've got Rob Willis. We've got our new friend Teddy Roker.

[01:15:18] There's a couple of guys out there who help facilitate that, but they're also doing other jobs as well. And footy players are footy players and it's not their natural instinct to just be at war for 80 minutes, then go around slapping hands. I will say this. Sifatalakai was out there, I think the longest, more than Trindle, and he was doing his best to facilitate everyone. They're really good with giving the boots and the jerseys away. But anyway, Jake, appreciate you calling in, brother, and hopefully next time you get

[01:15:47] what you want. Wes says scoreline could have looked a bit better. Nico hit the wood on two occasions and missed the other one. Oh, they had the hard one from the sidelines. He had three misses there. So that would have taken us to 32 points to 16. Looks a lot better. Definitely some disallowed tries. Some other tries I should have scored. So not great. Jake is saying, okay, Jake's going to reply. It shouldn't be like that, though.

[01:16:17] It's five minutes of your time. We traveled. It should be a given. Yep. I'm on your side now, Jakey. So that's cool. Can I just ask, just Jake, we should also flip it to the positive and ask who were the players that came over and we should give them a shout out for doing it as well. Yeah. Let us know. And he said there's a lot of people who put in the time of the supporter side of things and they sort of get left behind. And I hear from those people and I agree, Jake. Like you've sort of talked me around a lot. Like I agree they should do it. Well done, Jake. Yeah.

[01:16:46] I'm just telling you maybe why it didn't happen, I guess, more than it shouldn't happen. So I'm with you. It definitely should happen. As someone who's a supporter, I would love it when they go around and give everyone a cheer. It's great. But there are reasons why. Absolutely. But I certainly take your point. But we get that a lot, you know, especially from interstate people, Ben. Like I was, you know, I live in Melbourne or, you know, insert whatever city or state and they didn't come over and it's like, well, yeah, that sucks. I'm with you. Like it sucks.

[01:17:15] But also, I guess, Ben, the reason I always fight back on this one is it's like, you know, my kid wanted a photo with Nico and couldn't get one or just sometimes the parent, it's usually a parent, has too high an expectation of what's going to happen at these events. You know what I mean? Sure. I understand. Is that fair? Yeah, obviously. But like, you know, everyone wants to make sure that they get in the best experience,

[01:17:42] especially if they're traveling the time. Jake's sent in Ronnie, Tricky and Braley. So we should actually really give a shout out to those three, especially Tricky because he had every reason to go straight back and start rehabbing that shoulder. And if he came over to the supporters bay, full credit to him to do that. That's pretty cool. Thanks for that, Jake. Appreciate it. Did you see that last tackle turnover with a minute to go? And did that camera stay on him? Because he was like barely able to, he was like a Frankenstein or something. Yeah, it was.

[01:18:10] And it was, it's one of those where it's like, oh, not the last tackle of the game. You don't want that. I feel like we've had that before then. The last tackle of the game is the one that, um, that ruins it. Uh, but yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They definitely, whether it was the inset camera, there was a camera on him near the end or they quickly went back to it because they realized what was going on. Yeah. That was, that was pretty scary actually. And then we just kept watching him and I was like, I was like, he can't walk. And then he was like, he's walking. And then Kieran's like, he's trying to like pop it back in. And I'm like, oh, I see you saying it popped out. And he's like, I don't know.

[01:18:40] And it was quite a distance away from us. But then he should have, then he started just sort of, he was doing this the whole time, basically moving his arm around for those listening. So, I mean, if the coach said he's all right for the moment, hopefully he pulls up in the morning and we'll move on. But, um, yeah, brave effort from him. I don't think it was spoken enough, enough during the week about the what ifs. What if he does, because the first minute it looked like he was done. I was like, oh geez, it was right in front of us.

[01:19:10] Like, that's it. He's done. I guess they knew better, of course. On the Insta, we have lots of people watching, which is awesome. And Ali says, I was stressed all day. How were your stress levels pre-game, Ben? Um, well, I mean, pre-game, I woke up five minutes before, um, because it was early, early morning. But I watched you and Josh the night before. So I watched last night.

[01:19:39] And, um, and you, you, you basically put it into, um, into words where it's like, we should win. We should win well, but we haven't been playing well. And it's one of those where I would have loved for us to have that sort of bit of arrogance and swagger like we did after the Bulldogs game going into the finals, but we didn't have that this year. And so anything could happen, but it's one of those where you don't want to verbalize the fact that you think that we're going to win well. Um, but there's always that little nerve because you never know what, um, elimination football

[01:20:08] is going to be doing. So yeah, I, I agree with the comment that, you know, you're on, you're on edge the whole game, not even pre-game. Yeah. Cause you know, I, like most fans there, a lot of people were like, how are you feeling? I'm like, Oh, I'm good. I think I'm good. And then I think it was right before kickoff. I was like, well, this could be the last game of the year. I don't want that. So yeah. Especially when you've gone to the effort to you, you're running late, you and Kieran get the bus, you're going, you're meeting people.

[01:20:37] So you're almost distracted by the fact that until you sit down, it's like, Oh no, we have a game to play. And it could be the last time that we see them play this year. Yeah, for sure. And then at halftime, what were we up by six points? Is that right? Approximately. Yes. It was 12, six, wasn't it? 12, six. And I thought, Oh my God, we should be up like 24 to six. And I had that feeling where I was like, well, okay, we're ahead. We're not playing too bad, but we've really left some points out in the field.

[01:21:04] And that was a bit of a problem in my head. And then started. Okay. Second half. So, but there was that feeling at some point where I was like, Oh, this, like, I think when they ran back out for the heart for the second half, I was like, this could be the last time. It might last time. Yeah. Guinness and all the boys. So, um, so I got nervous in those points of, um, the game. Brendan says, I think this might, I don't know if I, I met a Brendan tonight who I don't think I met before.

[01:21:33] He lives down. Um, I think he said in, is it Sussex inlet? Is that a place, Ben? Yeah, it is. Absolutely. Sussex inlet is down the South coast. And if it might, might not be this Brendan, so I apologize, but just in general, then Brendan is popping up and I met Brendan and, uh, I know, you know, this person he, cause he was saying like, he was like pointing out his whole feed. He had kids, parents, it all, he had a whole crew of family there. Yeah. Oh.

[01:22:01] And he goes, and he goes, oh, you'd recognize my mom. We went, oh, okay. And, and his mom is the one is in the official sharks photos at the game every week with like, she wears like a, a hairpiece or a hat or there's something very familiar about her. I think she's a bit older and they always photograph her and she's wearing like a glamorous kind of hat or a wig or something. I was like, yeah. And I knew who she meant, who he meant. Um, anyway, I met Brendan. He was awesome.

[01:22:28] Um, this Brendan says Siffer was at his destructive best tonight. Absolute beast mode, which we, we cannot, um, state that enough. Um, Jake back to the crowd thing was saying, I'm not blaming the players, but the people from the club should know where the supporters are sitting. I've traveled to go say thanks. Yeah. I appreciate that, Jake. Appreciate all that.

[01:22:55] Um, Mark is saying with the shoulder, he was having trouble with the shoulder tape, not the sore shoulder. Is that, I'm not doubting Mark. I think Mark was the one with the leg injury. So he knows about injuries. Mark says that Fitz, he said that in a, in a halftime interview. So that's interesting. So he's taped up. So he's just got trouble getting it free. Which is fair if it's the first time and it's all stiff or whatever, and it's probably ripping at all the hair on your arm and everything. I can see that.

[01:23:24] It might be, or it was a good deflection, but that's interesting. I didn't, I was watching the Fox coverage, so I didn't see that halftime interview. So that's interesting from Mark. That would be a massive deflection if that was not the case. I mean, Fitz, he would know about shoulders, I guess. But I guess the, the, the only thing I'd have trouble believing about that is that it was always after a massive impact that he would do it. It wasn't just like, whatever.

[01:23:52] It was like he got hammered and go, oh, anyway. I wanted to watch in the replay. Yeah. Wes says sometimes the players get sidetracked after wins and losses with adrenaline still going on. I'm sure the players aren't doing it on purpose to avoid fans. It's a good point as well. I agree with that. There's a lot going on. Who was I talking to during the week? It was Riley Jones. And I said to him after the debut, I said, I said, did you sleep? I said, how'd you sleep after the game?

[01:24:22] I knew the answer would be one of two things. And he went, yeah, I didn't sleep. Like I was just awake all night. And my point being is that these guys do these things with their bodies that are crazy. And then they have to wind down. And even when they're the full-time whistle guys, they're shaking hands and they're being interviewed and people want to shake their hands. They're winding down mentally and physically. So it's a whole other being. So I take Wes's point there on that. Sharky's win.

[01:24:50] Now, you think we're going to play the Roosters? Yeah. Well, I mean, look, they're $3 underdogs. So you'd sort of think that they would. I think that matchup suits us better. I think that even though they beat us twice this year, as Kieran has been confident with things, I think that it's a better matchup for us. I think we can probably get them. Whereas, you know, Pemrith has always been tougher. But what I'm hoping is regardless, I hope it goes into extra time and then golden point.

[01:25:19] And I hope they bash each other up and not wishing injury on anybody because that would be cruel. And karma would come back to us if I did that. But I hope that it's a real war of attrition. I hope that they beat the crap out of each other, Sam. But I do think the Panthers, they should win. But Warriors should have won. South should have won. Did you watch the Warriors game? No, I listened to the commentary as I was trying to sleep. But I'm going to watch the replay now.

[01:25:47] I've just looked at how rubbish I look since I've rolled out of bed, watched a game, walked to work, came back and then have joined you on the Shark cast, as Luke Lewis likes to say. Yes. And so, yeah, you obviously wouldn't have seen the Warriors game because you were. We saw a bit of it, yeah. Actually, no, we saw. Yeah, it was on. It was on, yeah. And then Dolphins. Took it to them, yeah. Yeah, I'm concerned that the...

[01:26:16] I did always think that maybe the Warriors, that the bright lights might have gotten to know, just like why Kieran said that he would have liked the idea of the Sharks going to New Zealand, that you could have just come in as a massive underdogs. No one believes in us, that sort of narrative. And good on them because they were losing at, what, halftime or at least for a good portion of the game. And then came back and really just got to them. So, yeah, good on the Dolphins. Can't wait to beat them in a prelim.

[01:26:45] Now, remind us what time was the Sharks game for you in New York time? 5.50. 5.50 a.m. Saturday morning. And it's your weekend, so you're not working on a Saturday. Is that right? Well, I do have a Saturday show. So, after the game, I did walk into work and made sure that worked well and then came back and saw that you were still going. So, that's why I've jumped on. Gotcha. So, I worked on my Saturday show, Ben Plus One. Who did I see you had? Was it this week? I saw a video of someone.

[01:27:15] We've had a couple people. So, last week, I had AJ from the Backstreet Boys. That was it. Those Backstreet Boys, their fans go pretty mental for them. So, those videos went viral. Today, I had a first responder from 9-11 who was a firefighter and went into the North Tower and pretty brave, much braver person than I ever will be. So, his story was pretty amazing. The K-pop artist, Lisa, I interviewed during the week as well. She's from Blackpink and she's a pretty big deal.

[01:27:44] She was in the last season of White Lotus as well. So, it's been pretty busy, Sam. How did you... Did the firefighter have like... And don't get me... I'm saying this as serious as I can. That's fine. Was there another story as in like did he have a book out or like how did you... How did you come across the firefighter guy? Okay. So, because it's the 25th anniversary yesterday of 9-11. So, he is in a History Channel documentary. And so, he opened up and shared his story.

[01:28:13] That's how we came across him and were offered him. And it was the first time in 25 years that he's really sort of opened up about his story. So, he... I saw a lot of that. I saw a lot of that. And it may have been that guy as well. A lot of like stories coming out because of the 25-year, you know, anniversary, so to speak. The people were like feeling like they could talk about it. They were in a comfortable enough place.

[01:28:40] And there's all these like, yeah, documentaries, other things coming out. And what's it like being there on that day? Is it... I mean, obviously, it's very... Is it somber or... Yeah, it's very somber. And like, you know, there's fire departments and obviously police departments everywhere. So, everybody has some sort of service or something going on. It's kind of surreal because like it's like a normal day otherwise. Because New York is so big and World Trade Center is all the way down one end. So, you know, you live your life normally.

[01:29:09] But then you always remember whether it's at night, you see the big lights coming up in their tribute or that. Or you hear something or whatever. It's amazing some of the stories. After 25 years, Sam, you'd think that you would have heard every story that there'd possibly be. But like, I only found out this week. There were two seeing eye dogs that guided their blind owners down the fire escape and that they escaped the towers. I never knew that. There were two blind people that had dogs that guided them down however many stairs in all the chaos. Like, that's amazing.

[01:29:38] I think I'd heard that. But the one I heard today, which I'm sure people are all over, is what was it? It was the guy who, he was a head of security firm for one of the big law firms in one of the buildings. And in like the 90s or whatever, he said, this car park is open for anyone to come in and use it or whatever and do something. Oh, yeah.

[01:30:08] And then after the bomb. Yeah. And then he said, by the way, the next thing that's going to happen is planes. We need to move this law firm out of here. Like, I care about you guys. You employ me. Get the hell out of here. And I think the story was they didn't move maybe. Yeah. I probably get all this wrong. No, no. You're right. You're on the right track. Yeah. And do you want to finish the story? Like, wasn't, and the guy, the guy was in the building.

[01:30:38] Oh, and they refused to move. He said, okay, well, we're going to do fire drills like three times a year or whatever. And it was like pinpoint and that kind of thing. And then unfortunately what happened happened and he was there and he was getting everyone out. And I think they all got out, his crew, but then he went back to help more. Yeah. So he's, he's responsible. He lost his life. Yeah. He's responsible for thousands of people escaping and, and like the company, because the whole

[01:31:06] companies were wiped out that day. Right. If they had just had their headquarters there, they said that only a few people from that company ended up passing away, which were him and his like second in command that still went in to try and save people. Apparently he called his wife and the, and it was like, don't worry about me. This is where I'm supposed to be. And like, you know, what a hero again, just the bravery of some people. Sorry to, you know, bring it to a downer, but yeah. Yeah. So it's been fascinating to, to have, um, uh, so Pete was the firefighter that was, um,

[01:31:35] on my show and that, um, amazing to hear everyone's stories. Can we watch or listen to these or is this exclusively for subscribers or what's the deal there? Um, probably hard to listen to my interviews because to get the SiriusXM app and all that sort of stuff, just a bit, um, tough. I know he, he was interviewed by 4BC in Brisbane. Um, we shared, um, his details and they, and they ended up interviewing him. So that's all over the socials. So if you do want to hear his interview, he does talk about his experience.

[01:32:00] And then the documentary, if you want to check it out, it's called 102 Minutes Inside the Towers. And it goes for 102 minutes. Cause that is the time between the first plane and then the, the, um, uh, it going. So, um, yeah, but look, any of the documentaries or even just scrolling through TikTok or whatever this week has been, um, crazy with everyone's stories. Um, I do love the fact that the Sandra Sully one gets a lot of, and I'm being very serious

[01:32:27] about this is Sandra Sully, um, kind of videos come up because she was the one in Australia who broke the news. It was live. A lot of us were watching it live when it happened and, um, she gets a lot of people associate her with. Yeah. Her credit is like, I'm a big fan of what she does. Wes says that, uh, he was at windows of the world bar floor 107 two weeks before the attack. Cause that's pretty eerie. Yeah. So windows of the world was the, uh, I don't know if it's a revolving restaurant or whatever,

[01:32:56] but that was the restaurant that as Wes said was, yeah, floor 107 right up there. Um, to bring this back to what we do best. Um, can we, sorry, favorite, favorite, favorite backstreet boy song. Oh, um, okay. I mean some, now this is a controversial one, but I heard during the week, someone said that, um, I want it that way is like the, the younger generations version of sweet Caroline. Like you can't go wrong with, I want it that way.

[01:33:24] You and Josh trying to work out famous Jonas Brothers songs was really, um, engaging viewing as well. I enjoyed that. That was good. Trying to work out. I will say they did sing live. I don't know if the instruments were on, but they were singing live. Um, just to answer that question. I think, you know, like, um, everybody backstreet's back. All right. You know, I like the more upbeat sort of stuff. Do you have a favorite? I do. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I don't know if I was in the, the right headspace for this song, et cetera.

[01:33:53] I don't know what was going on in my life, but I love the ballad. I still. Oh yeah. That's a good one. That goes off. Um, I saw the sphere at the end of last year. Powerful. Yeah. I genuinely say if people don't know, I write songs. I take it very seriously. I, I, I love the art of songwriting and, and don't get me wrong. Like, like all the songs you mentioned are really great songs. Really well written and everything. But something about the delivery of that song.

[01:34:21] Um, I still, which is like, you know, uh, uh, a song about. Yeah. Still loving someone or whatever. Um, yeah, really powerful. Anyway, how about missing Jesse Ramian? I mean, that sucks that he's not out there. Yeah. Really upsetting. Especially when you see how good Talakai is going and I'm going to miss him. I've tried to investigate what the return policy is in Perth, but I don't think we'll be able to get him back. Um, seeing Katoa get to a hundred tries before he leaves. And yeah, it's just upsetting for Ramian who left, came back, um, spent so much time

[01:34:51] in, uh, in Sharks colors. Um, yeah, it's a shame that he, um, he's all done. Um, I saw him after the game amongst the boys when they're walking off and he had that kind of awkward thing. He felt, he looked kind of awkward. He shouldn't. He's Jesse Ramian, but he wasn't sure whether to look up at the fans or whatever. And it's like, no, you can look up Jesse. You're like, you helped us get here. You've been here for 10 years. Yeah. Like we love you. It's all good. Yeah. You can high five people. Don't be ashamed that you got injured, you poor bugger.

[01:35:19] Um, so Benny, we got a big week ahead of us. We live to fight another day, which is awesome. Um, I'm really grateful. I'm really thankful because I, like you, I'm a believer in this team, believer in the coach, et cetera. And I think to go out week one would have been just, obviously it would have been a problem and it would have caused problems. But I also think that they've had too good a year to finish week one losers.

[01:35:45] Like, I just think that you don't win nine out of 11 plus all the other games and then get towed up by the Cowboys in week one. That's not how it was. Of all the teams. Cause like, let's be honest. And honestly, again, not to insult your coworkers again, but Cooper Cronk this week has been going on with the, it's a coin flip, um, trying to work out who's going to win, which I'm sorry. That was so insulting. The, the, the Cowboys have been a basket case since they beat us in the final of Sharp a couple of years ago. They're still living.

[01:36:15] They think that it's 2017 instead of 2027 next year. Um, Todd Payton, no one wanted him and they didn't wait till the end of the year. They re-signed him. He's still living off the fumes of best coach from a couple of years ago. Scott Drinkwalker is going to be a disaster for the Dragons. Um, it's just, they're a complete basket case to lose to them week one of the finals when they conceded 80 points in a game this year. 82 points. Come on now. Thank you so much. Um, yeah, it would have been a complete disaster.

[01:36:42] As you said, it would have caused so many problems if we lost to them. Um, I am looking, uh, it's, we deserve to be weak to, we deserve to be weak three grand final if we play as well as we did earlier in the year. But yeah, we, none of the other seven in the top eight deserve to lose to the Cowboys week one. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's going to be really fun if and when we can win week two, because then we get that lovely feeling that we love where we're like, oh, we're one game away from a grand final. This is kind of fun.

[01:37:13] And like you, like I'm sure we'll get asked the question, like, is it a successful year if you lose in week two? And you probably say it is not successful, but there's also no shame in that as well. Like it's two weeks from the grand final if you want to look at it that way. But I really hope for so many different reasons they can win this week. But for us to all get that feeling of like, oh, things are still possible and to give

[01:37:40] them a bit more respect because there hasn't been a lot of respect in the last month. That's for sure. Yeah. No, a hundred percent. No respect. No respect this week. We won't get any respect no matter who we face next weekend, which is fine. Let's embrace it. No one's worrying about us. They'll consider it a bye for whoever wins or loses tomorrow. Bro, let's embrace it. I agree. And I thought that we shared enough tonight where it wasn't like, like I think Cooper

[01:38:09] Cronk will go, oh, there was some good signs there. I'm sure he'll find whatever else. But I didn't think tonight. I watched the post-game coverage. He said that exactly. He was like, it's not good enough. Yeah, it's not good enough to win next week. And I didn't see enough. They were only barely good enough to win. Oh, he said that? Pretty much, yeah. Oh, Coops. No, I don't agree with that. I think that there was enough there. And obviously, you've got to improve. But I didn't think we took a step back, put it that way. Now, there were times, Benny, and we're going to get out of here in a sec.

[01:38:38] There were times where I was watching the game and I went, this isn't good enough to win week two. So I kind of agree with it, to be fair. But I thought overall there was improvement. And I'm banking on the fact there'll be more improvement next week. And hopefully, we've timed our run. And speaking of timing our runs, Benny, we're going to get out of here because it's super late. What I'll do is I'll let you go and I'll do the big rap because you don't need to be part of the rap. But thanks for joining in. Appreciate you. You would have loved tonight, Benny. I want to do the whole, but you were missed is what I'm trying to say. You were missed.

[01:39:08] And people were asking about you. So we'll do a, when you and I can get our act together, we'll do another game. I think we're up to round 12 or so. So that'll be fun. Yeah. For the 2016 recap. And I'm sure we'll talk to you soon anyway on the Shark Cast. So have a good day in New York and we'll talk to you soon. And we appreciate you jumping on like you do. Thanks for having me. See you later, guys. See you, Benny. All right. That was Ben Harlem. Now we're going to get out here. It's super late.

[01:39:38] I mean, it's not super late, but it's super late. Jake said bump. I don't know why you're bumping, but I appreciate you bumping. All right. So unplanned show tonight. Wasn't sure how we're going to do it. Tried to do it on my phone at the ground and it wasn't looking that great. So got home, still awake. Thought I'd have a chat to you guys and girls and appreciate everyone who's jumped on.

[01:40:07] Obviously, probably less of you than normal given the hour, but appreciate you being on. We'll turn this into a podcast at some point for everyone else. And we'll have more for you throughout the week. Stay tuned to who we're playing. Chooks or roosters. Chooks or panthers, I should say. Let us know what you think. Sharkcastpod.gmail.com. And we'll get to some more episodes for you throughout the week.

[01:40:31] Really appreciate everyone who made myself and other people in Sharkcast feel really welcome tonight at the ground. Can't thank you enough. Just amazing. If you ever want to come say hi and g'day, please do because I'm not the most outgoing guy. I'm a little bit... I call myself a bit shy. People disagree with that. But I'm always going to be friendly and appreciative. So if you feel like I'm saying g'day at the next game, please do. If you don't want to, totally fine. But I enjoyed meeting everyone tonight.

[01:41:00] So thank you so much. And if you can do us a favor and subscribe wherever you're watching or listening, it's YouTube, Spotify, it's Apple, Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, wherever you watch or listen. Give us a subscribe or follow. It's free. And that would be really beneficial to us. And hopefully it makes your life 1% better as well. Sharkcastpod out of here. Hopefully the show was okay. And we will talk to you soon.

[01:41:28] Didn't have a lot of the bells and whistles we usually have tonight. But we just wanted to get the show out to you guys and girls. Wes says, good effort. Wondering if you were coming on tonight. Glad you did. Up up. See you during the week. Yeah. And apologies, Wes, because I did probably say I'd let you all know on social media what I was going to do. And it got to the point where the game was on and I was with people and I was like, I don't want to be rude. And I don't want to, you know, I have to put out messages and that kind of thing.

[01:41:57] I just sort of let it go subconsciously, not on purpose. And then it was just like, I'm going to try and do this while I'm walking back to the area we're going to. And it was just a bit hard. And I just let it go. But I'm glad that I connected with a bunch of you guys tonight. So appreciate you all getting out of here. It's a long winding end to the show of saying thanks for listening. Up up. We live to find another day. Black, white and blue forever. Sharks forever.

[01:42:24] And if you can get to the game next week, whether it's Penrith or Roosters, we encourage you to do so. If you can't, it's totally okay. To Jake, who was asking about the people, the players not going over. I hope I didn't mean to say they shouldn't. They definitely should. I just gave you some reasons why they didn't. Hope you understood all that. Up up, Cronel. Let's go. And what we will do is get out of here with the song because we won. And just remember that the postgame show isn't starting now. It's finishing. Up up.

[01:42:53] The boys in the black, white and blue. Sharks pick you. Sharks. Sharks. Forever.

[01:43:27] For the sharks. Oh.