The Year That Was 2016 - Rd 10 vs Knights w/Ben Harlum Plus a Bonus Old Episode Surprise Rd 10 Review!

[00:00:01] The Royal Motor Yacht Club Port Hacking is a hidden gem of the Shire, situated on the banks of the beautiful Port Hacking. It's a great place to catch up with friends, celebrate your birthday or any special occasion, and they always show the NRL live on the big screens. The RNYC Port Hacking, proud sponsors of this podcast and big supporters of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. Check out their website rmycph.com.au

[00:00:26] They've got a Facebook page, or you could go old school and call them on 029523 9300 Back in the Shire, turn your porch lights off because we're coming home with a trophy.

[00:01:06] Welcome to SharkCast Pod, a podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the world, the mighty Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. This is our recap, re-watch, year that was 2016 series, and this is the 10th episode. We're a little behind, but we're going to get there. Don't worry, we're going to lift that title at some point. As a spoiler for our younger listeners, sorry about that. And on the other end of this line is a very great man, good buddy of mine, and someone who goes above and beyond for this franchise that we call SharkCast Pod,

[00:01:35] or as Luke Lewis calls it, the SharkCast. Ben Harlem, would you like to describe and inform the world where you are right now? Not specifically the exact point of your room, but whereabouts are you? Yeah, I'm hidden in a corner of a hotel room. So I'm in the Bahamas at the moment, Sam. So I packed the microphone and we've propped up. And you know what?

[00:02:02] The great thing is, is that the first thing I did was turn on the TV. And, you know, when you get to a hotel, you want to make sure that they've got the right channels and everything, right? Absolutely. Well, you know, the first thing I saw was they had Fox Soccer Plus, which anywhere in America, I mean, technically Bahamas is in America, but that's okay. We're using American TV, would have all the NRL games and it had one of the NRLW games on replay.

[00:02:24] So I'm all set for whichever the next game, whether you're listening when we put it straight up and it's the Dragons game, or maybe you're listening in a couple of weeks and it's going to be a different game. I'm just going to leave it a bit generic for whoever is listening right now, but I am a bit pink at the moment. So I apologize a bit too much time in the sun today, Sam, but here I am for you. You look good.

[00:02:45] You look good professional as always not putting a date on this show and also going above and beyond for, as I said, this podcast and something that, you know, Josh Bowling, Gary Dover, Clinton Maynard, the whole crew, Kieran Fraser, they could all learn from you because they're not taking microphones away on holidays unless I'm mistaken, but that that's who you are, Ben. And I appreciate it. Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate the kind comments. Look, as you said, we're round 10.

[00:03:14] We have a lot to go. It's a great, great thing to rewatch all of these games. This is probably the game that we've been most looking forward to, right? Mm. Yeah. It brought back a lot of memories. Just before we go on, we want to emphasize it. I'm terrible at geography. Whereabouts is the Bahamas? Oh, okay. So it's just, it's just sort of near like Miami and Cuba, I think. Gotcha. So like at the bottom end of America, and then it's, it's only a couple of our flight from Florida.

[00:03:42] But yeah, so it's, you know, I'm technically on Paradise Island. Um, if that helps you in any way, Sam. Here I was thinking I was down at Willowville the other day thinking that was Paradise Island, but you may have beaten me there. Well, on some days it is Paradise Island. All right. So I can tell you where Paradise Island was in 2016. That was Hunter Stadium on Sunday, the 15th of May. And as you said, historic day for the Sharks at the time.

[00:04:10] And a lot of fun was had. Now we know that prior to NRL, whether it's the first game or the second game before there is the NYC. And we like to cover that just briefly to keep all of our listeners and viewers aware of what was happening at the time. On the NYC, if you don't want NYC is it was essentially under 20s national competition. It was on TV. It was a bit of a big deal. They had real contracts. It was kind of fun.

[00:04:35] And a lot of the people you hear about in these team lists or someone at least have risen to a lot of prominence for, for both clubs. Now it is the early game, Benny, 940 AM because we got the cup game at about 1130. So 940 AM. Wow. Referee is Drew Ultram, who is still around doing things today. Okay. And for the mighty Sharks, we have the best fullback in the competition now.

[00:05:04] I'm not sure how he was going back then necessarily, but it's Will Kennedy at fullback. And his little mate, Sione Katoa on the wing. We got Bessie, Tuamaga and Lockie Stein in the centers with Josh Tuolaga, the other winger. Little Jack Williams, so not Jack Williams at Parramatta now, but Little Jack Williams and Rhys Davies of the halves. Your forward pack is Teppa Thuava, Captain Jaden Raley, Jamin Joloff, Jess Savage, Ashley Nisbet and Jaden McDonough.

[00:05:32] Your bench is the opera singing legend, Daniel Vasquez, Brock Illich, Zach Faulkner and of course, Billy Magoulis in 17, coached by Boma Morris. And on the other side of the world, we have, of note, Nick Meaney at fullback. We have a lot of guys here I don't really know to be fair. Yeah.

[00:05:59] There's a Sam Stone, but not Sam Stone Street, unfortunately. Sam Stone Street was probably like three years old or something. Yes, but Sam Stone was a good player. Oh, there's a Tanua Brian who went on to do some things as well. Zach Hosky on the bench, Tom Starling on the bench, Basami Solo on the bench. So a few guys there that have played NRL and coached by Todd Lowry, who may be at Melbourne in the system there now. Am I wrong? Is he at Melbourne doing things? I'm not sure.

[00:06:29] I'm not sure. But what I can say, Sam, is that there's probably a reason why we don't really know many of those Newcastle players. And that's because all of the young kids are in the first grade side. That's a very good point. We'll get to that almost straight away. So I will tell you, though, that the young Knights beat the young Sharks, unfortunately, 30 points to 10. Will Kennedy did get a try on the day, but a pretty comprehensive win to the Knights. So well done to you.

[00:06:55] However, that would not last for very long, especially when we got to first grade a couple hours later. So, so, so. What can I tell you, Ben? It's a two o'clock kickoff at Hunter Stadium, as it was known then. Yeah. The referee is a Henry Perinara, former Shark, one of my favorite Sharks, in a, you know, kind of cult figure kind of way. I love these time with the Sharks. Okay. And it's the, the world of the double refs. So Matt, Matt Noyan is there.

[00:07:22] And touchies are Ricky McFarlane, Dave Ryan, senior referee. For some reason in, in brackets, it has Bathurst. I think because it's Indigenous Week, maybe. Ashley Clawin. Okay. And I can't tell you who the other officials are in the box just yet. I don't know. I know Ben, Ben Galea, maybe Ben Galea was one of them. Okay. Yeah. And, and there was someone else as well. I remember them saying at the start. So night's not going terrific.

[00:07:52] Sharks are on a massive streak. And there is still 16,150, I'll say locals who turn up, but there is a pretty big shark crowd there as well, which we'll talk about throughout. But not a bad crowd for a team going pretty bad for the last few years. And that's synonymous with Newcastle. We know that. We respect it. We love it. It's awesome. So congrats on getting out there. Unfortunately, what you're going to see is, I'm not going to use the M word.

[00:08:21] What you're going to see is a comprehensive win of the locks we hadn't really seen before, really. And let's stir up some team cards. Now, Benny, you're dressed, so it's okay. But these do go for a few minutes. They won't be up for a few minutes. Just giving you that old warning. Thank you. I think I've got it right. Let's go with the home team first. Out of respect, here come the Knights, and we'll read it out for people listening. We love our listeners, and we love our viewers too. Dane Gagai is at fullback.

[00:08:49] A fellow I don't think about much, but boy, he sure did entertain us. Akila Uate is on one wing, and Corey Dennis is on the other. Now, a bunch of brothers are playing in this game, and this is Sione and Pat Matayutia. How do you pronounce it, Ben? I'm just going to take your lead. I think it was Matty Utei, because it was always rhyming with Matty Utei. I think it's Matty Utei. And the halves are Brock Lamb and Jack Coggo, who I believe is still hanging around in

[00:09:18] premiership circles. Well, at least hanging out at Penrith. This is Jack's debut. Is it really? Okay. His debut. Gotcha. And we have the props are Daniel Saifidi, Danny Levi, Jack Stockwell, and pretty good back row of Tariq Sims, Jacob Saifidi, and former Shark, I believe at this point, Jeremy Smith, the hard man. Yep. Benches, Tyler Randall, Corbin Sims, Mickey Payer, and David Barner.

[00:09:45] So a lot of injuries there, particularly, yeah, halves and forwards. So it's going to be a tough one for the Knights, but let's throw up our beloved Sharks. Here they come. Up, up, Cronulla. Here they are. And it's a team you know well. Ben Barber, Sasaya Fecky, Jack Bird, Gerard Beal is starting in the centers. Gerard Beal in number four. So that was planned. Valentine, the future homes on the other wing. Maloney Townsend of the halves.

[00:10:14] Fafita Ennis. And in 16, of course, Matt Pryor, Luke Lewis, Wade Graham, Paul Gowen. So that is almost what you would consider full strength if you don't have Ricky Letelli in there. He's on the bench in 14. Sam Tangatizi, Chris Hyington, and Captain America, Joseph Polo. So we can see Jason Becquia is not there as well, Ben. Yep. Good catch. Yes. Yeah. So Captain America back there. So pretty good team though.

[00:10:44] They're rolling. We had Brisbane last week at home in a pretty fun match. Full house. That was fun. And it goes without saying, if you haven't caught up on these episodes prior to this one, go back at your leisure and Ben and I go through the first nine rounds. So that's the team lineups for those two. Shane Franigan is our coach. Of course, Nathan Brown is their current coach. Brownie. Yeah.

[00:11:12] And two very different sides. Obviously, we're on the streak. The streak is well and truly going. The Knights had just lost 38-0 to the Roosters. And then spoiler alert, it means that in this game and the previous game, they end up losing 100-0 combined. So that's obviously really good. And then you've got seven Newcastle players under 20. Cogger and Brock Lamb are Newcastle's youngest halves pairing in history. And then Nathan Ross was supposed to be in the side.

[00:11:40] But then he does his hamstring in the warm-up. And that's where Corey Dennis comes in to make his debut as well. So it's a shambles for Newcastle in 2016, particularly round 10. Remember how exciting everyone felt when the Ross dog was out there? Yeah, he was like a cult figure for a couple of years. Yeah. He really was. Yeah. He was like the Wolfman for Manly. Ross dog was a bit of a cult figure for a few years. Absolutely.

[00:12:07] I know some of your favorite commentary is in this episode. And it actually comes nice and early. But there is some great commentary throughout. We should point out that it is our man, Joel Kane, Gary Belcher, and Andy Raymond's back, which is a lot of fun too. Not accompanied by an ex-player. So Andy has a lot of room to move. And he's going to need it near the end of the game when everyone is scrambling to make the game interesting for everybody that aren't Cronulla fans. And it just comes across as he's so professional.

[00:12:35] And I think he's missed to this day. He's got his own successful podcast series. We sent him a shout out to that. But I feel like it was a bit of a premature ending to his broadcast career, at least. Like he's still had the runs on the board. That's another story for another day. So during the first set, Jack Bird gives away a penalty. And Gary Belcher, and I love Gary Belcher, great player, pretty good analyst.

[00:13:04] He says he thinks it's important for the Sharks. He thinks it's important for the Knights to score against the Sharks some point in the opening 20 minutes. So he goes early. He goes, look, guys, if you're going to win opening 20, which is the first quarter of the game, we need something from you. Okay, cool. And they have the chances. They do. They do. We'll get to that. We'll get to that. On commentary, our man, Joel Kane, a man known to discuss births and children.

[00:13:33] He runs through the three sets of brothers playing for the Knights in the opening minute. And that's kind of cool. That's all. I always like that kind of thing. So as you hinted at, it's all Knights for about five or six minutes. And we don't say that lightly because I'm not suggesting the game would have gone another way, but it could have been 6-0. They might have had a bit of momentum. It may be the scoreline margin. Narrows a little bit because they had all the ball. And Dan Gagliar almost scores in the first.

[00:14:01] Yeah, he comes so close, Sam. So close. Yeah. And this is surprising because you're watching it back 10 years later. You're like, it's going to be from the minute. And it's not. It takes a little while, a tiny little bit. And we'll talk about that as well. Now, this is where some great Joel Kane commentary comes in. And we're only two minutes in. Joel Kane declares the Sharks need to finish in the top two to win the comp.

[00:14:31] You don't want to leave your state in week one. Quote, you don't want to leave your state. And Canberra, that's not our state. No. He's looking ahead, bless him, but he's also a little worried. Yeah. Because Brisbane are number one on the ladder at the time. We end up equal with them and Melbourne at the end of this game. But yeah, Canberra, as we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, you know, they come out of nowhere at the end of the year. But no, we have to finish in the top two, Sam. Yes.

[00:15:00] Sounds like a lot of people talking in 2026 as opposed to 2016. Oh, there's a lot of similarities going on. Now, Andrew Fafita, who, to be fair, historically had a pretty bad play the ball style, like for years and years and years to the point where we were like, hey, you got to stop. And to his credit, he did. And it became less of a problem, particularly that year. However, he does muck up or play the ball early on. And the quote from the commentators is, that's a major problem in his game.

[00:15:31] That's not a top two play, as in what we were just talking about. Got to finish in the top two. Well, that's not a top two play of the ball. You can't play the ball like that. Andy Raymond is back. He quotes. And this is where I've said to you a bit dramatic. If I'm Coach Flanagan, I'm very concerned about the opening four and a half minutes because Luke Lewis has made an error. And it's like, okay, well, there's a few errors here. Play the balls. Yeah, I get it. Gary Belcher chimes in with there's no line speed in the Sharks defense.

[00:16:01] It's all amazing in hindsight. It's my favorite piece of commentary from this year up until the grand final. Now, I've noted that the commentators sound like they're on a Shark Energy drink binge. Like, they're hyped. They're ready to go. They want this to... I guess maybe they thought that, okay, we've gotten the Newcastle game. It's not going to be that good. We've got to start this with a lot of energy to keep everybody entertained. Maybe that's it.

[00:16:31] They've been downing the Shark Energy leftovers from 2015. Absolutely. Now, it's all the nights. And it includes a bomb try from the kick. The kick goes up to our left. There's a bit of spillage. And they just can't score. But again, they're pretty close. Yeah. Two huge chances in the first six minutes. Yes. Now, seven minutes in, a Valentine Holmes try.

[00:16:59] And as a spoiler, he's going to get a few here. Yeah. Luke Lewis grubber. It's a miracle put down. A lot of speed to get there. It's a put down that I think our fans will remember. However, Henry Pernod is not sure. We go to the video refs. We see the four screens. The commentators are sure. And then this bit really intrigues me. The video ref doesn't know Valentine Holmes's name. Now, he's been playing since 2014. He's scoring tries. He's the superstar of the game.

[00:17:29] He should also have the team list in front of him as well. He's not out there running around. Big league, whatever. And the quote is, the Cronulla bloke grounds the ball. The Cronulla bloke. That's crazy. Crazy. The Cronulla bloke grounds the ball. Okay. It just makes it even more impressive, to be honest. He's not on the Shark and Easy Drink, the video ref. I'm assuming, is that the voice of Klein? I couldn't quite tell it was. It is the voice of Klein.

[00:18:00] Now, Sam, do you think, I would dare say, this is probably one of Val's best tries. Like, it's millimetres inside the dead ball line. I know we all remember it, but you look at some of his highlights and you obviously mentioned the one intercept try that we see over and over again. But, like, this, I think, is an underrated Valentine Holmes try. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Amazing put down. There's millimetres there. And the fact that he got there on time is incredible. So, yeah, I do think a lot of our fans would remember it.

[00:18:29] That's his sixth season of the try. Sixth season. Sixth try of the season. Sixth try of the season. Need another coffee, my friend. Or a Shark Energy Drink. Maloney gets the conversion wrong. He misses. Zero from one. They're four nil up. At this point, Joel Cain references our spirit fingers and the movie Bring It On. I didn't realise that he was such a big, you know, Kirsten Dunst fan. I'm a big fan of cheerleading.

[00:18:57] I love a cheerleading movie. And also, to give a bit of context to some of the things that we're going to talk about throughout this, we've just had city country and we are right in the thick of origin selection. So, there's going to be some real interesting quotes coming from the commentators. And fun facts, I know you're going to talk about Val a bit later around this time. Absolutely. Now, Ben, if people don't know what you do for a living, you work in radio.

[00:19:23] You work at a pretty well-known New York-based radio, for want of a better word, radio station. Yeah, sure. Have you met Kirsten Dunst? You know what? She did come in. There was a film last year called Roof Man, which ironically is actually playing outside my hotel room at the pool party at the moment that they've got for some of the kids. They're playing movies. They've just done Super Mario and now they're doing Roof Man. I think it's more of an adult.

[00:19:52] And Channing Tatum was in that movie and we had Channing Tatum on our show and then Ms. Dunst came in and did another show. So, I have met her. She hasn't been on my show though. But yeah, so there you go. Big fan. Big fan. Always have been. The 11th minute Maloney forces a dropout and that comes from Fecky and Beal absolutely destroying one of the Matayutai boys. It's a good kick chase.

[00:20:23] They're on despite what the commentators are telling you. They're going pretty good. They're a little bit clumsy, a few pushing passes. But I'm personally not worried watching this game as much as the commentators were pretty worried about this. Now, they turn down the two points. There's a penalty in 12th minute. And they think about it like, nah, let's play on. It's like, all right. Ennis is asking. Ennis is going two points? Two points? Anybody? Two points? And yeah.

[00:20:53] Yeah. But they're not wearing the jerseys from what I can tell. And there's just a bit of paint on the field, a bit of artwork. And they didn't mention it, to be fair. Like they make a lot of it. They make it known. Yep. And Barb mentions it a bit later. Yeah, they do. But pretty chilled introduction, so to speak, to Indigenous Round.

[00:21:15] Yeah, compared to what we'll see this year with the Indigenous Round jerseys and the Titans looking like Cowboys and Cowboys looking like Titans. But that's the jersey podcast for another day, Sam. Yeah. And that's not a shot. That's just showing how far we've come, which is awesome. Absolutely. Huge progress. 70th minute. Ben Barber try. Barber bird to Chad. Chad kicks ahead after making a line break.

[00:21:43] And Barber and Val are having a race to see who can score. And Barber wins this one. It's noted the Sharks had never lost when he scored a try, which I think you've raised before as well. It's 10-0 because Maloney gets the goal one from two. Pretty good start. Yeah, great start. Andy Raymond comes in and tells us Gal has an injured right ankle, but will play on. Yes. And then in my second favorite piece of commentary is that Gary Belcher then says,

[00:22:11] Paul Gallin, it could be 48-0 and Gallin will still stay out there. Sam, remember that quote. I wonder if that score line is going to equate. Well, you can tell me when we get there. All right. He then discusses the spine, Gary Belcher. And I love this part of the commentary because he starts talking about the spine like we've never heard of that terminology before. And I don't hate that. I don't hate that because there are people who probably have never heard it.

[00:22:38] And also, it doesn't hurt me when he says it. But watching it now 10 years later, I'm like, what the hell are you doing? And so he says something like, and the spine has been injury-free. And he goes, the one, the six, the seven, the nine. I was like, okay. Thanks, Gary. That's a good way to say it. Now, another Valentine Holmes try down the middle. He's wearing bright orange boots in the 22nd minute. Ennis to Gallin. So Ennis from dummy half.

[00:23:09] Short pass to Gallin who passes back inside. One of those classic sort of Billy Slater Melbourne tries for want of a different example. And Vals off, runs off. It's his sixth career double at this point. Up 16-0, two from three for Maloney. Happy days. And it's not long later where he gets the hat trick, Valentine. With some phenomenal work from Ben Barber. He makes the break. He sort of draws in the winger in the center, that kind of thing.

[00:23:38] And another great put-down for Valentine in the corner. At this point, Joel Kane's believing. He's on the believe train. Yeah, he changes tune quite quickly. Very quickly. And the quote is, the Sharks fans have waited a long time and they're now saying, why not us? And so this is a definition, a term that we will hear throughout. And the closer we get to Titletown, the club takes it on officially.

[00:24:07] I believe they did get it from, you can tell me, Ben, they got it from someone in America. Why not us? That wouldn't surprise me. I can remember the video that I think Bo Ryan does the narration for, right? Cal wasn't available. Yeah, well, you know. Dan McPherson was shooting neighbors or something. So I'm going to get Bo Ryan. Yeah, that's right. Got to find someone. But yeah. They did take it from somewhere, I'm sure, which I don't have a problem with, like it's fine. It wasn't the Chicago White Sox, I don't think, but something like that.

[00:24:37] Maloney then goes for the goal and he moves the signage. You know, they've got like the sort of padded signage on the ground. Yeah, it's like a triangle. They still have them inside, that sort of stuff. It's like a triangle. And every now and then you see a kicker sort of go, hey, I'm going to move this and it's not a big deal. However, Joel Kane, a great goal kicker himself, he questions whether kickers are put off by this. And then he puts a shout out to my boys and girls at the lab. Makes a bit of light of it more than anything, but the kick goes over and it's a good kick.

[00:25:05] And three from four, we're up 22-0 after 26 minutes or so. At this point, we see the Sharks faithful in the crowd. And this is a trigger for you and I to give a lot of praise and love to our listener, Trish, who wrote to us after the last episode. I think it was the last one. And we're always like, where's the trumpet guy? And we always question who and where and all this sort of stuff. But Trish has all the answers. So with respect, let's go through it real quick.

[00:25:31] She said the trumpeter's name is Peter Rice. I've got the giggles here. Peter Rice, affectionately known as Bubbles. That's why I had the giggles. So Peter Rice, the trumpet player, phenomenal job. The drummer is Glenn Mead, a local musician who now lives up in the North Coast. And then she says the CWSC had one megaphone, as did the Shark Tank. So if we're getting our definitions correct, Ben, the CWSC, we kind of all know.

[00:25:58] They were one of, if not the first official kind of group. Big numbers to start with and, you know, still going, respectfully. But they were a huge deal around then. And the Shark Tank, I believe, were the people who were behind the posts. So they had their separate kind of group. Kind of similar to what the Shark Cage are doing now, but a different entity. And respect to everyone. We don't want to get into the politics there. But she says they each had a megaphone.

[00:26:29] So the Shark Tank and CWSC. She then says Lyle Gorman, who was the CEO at the time, provided megaphones. And the CWSC also had a sound meter that they took to every game. Interesting. I hope we're not breaking kayfabe too much here. And the club wanted to record what sort of noise was coming out of the supporters bay. And that's a question to you, Ben. Why?

[00:26:58] Are they going to say, you're not loud enough? Or are they going to boast and go, we are the loudest? Like, why would Lyle do this? Yeah. Yeah. Like, did he threaten that he was going to, like, take away their megaphone privileges if they don't get over, like, 95 decibels or something? Yeah. That is really fascinating. I'm really happy. I think it could go either way. I think it could be like a, you guys are doing well, but you need to lift.

[00:27:26] Or it could be, hey, Daily Telegraph, look how loud we are. It could be one of the two. Yeah, absolutely. Lyle's pretty out there. So that was going on. She also points out that Reefy, the mascot, was a fellow called Warren Hutchinson. And MC Hammerhead was David Nines. And I think I've met these gentlemen before. So that's, and they would, of course, become folklore at full time when the scenes happen.

[00:27:56] So there you go. Now, thanks to Trish for that. Appreciate it. Andy Raymond says E.T. once scored five in a game, the most for the Sharks. And then the quote is, if I had money left in my account, I'd have a sneaky $10 on Valentine. He's already got three. Yeah. And if it was 2026, a huge ad would come up with someone saying, think about what you're about to lose. But it's 2016, so we can just make these comments.

[00:28:25] It's all good, Sam. And that makes me wonder, has Andy blown his money or is he just responsible? Like myself, it's like, you got five bucks in there, spend five bucks. That's right. Set a deposit limit, you know. All right. Know what you could be buying instead. 33rd minute. Feky gets a try. Quick exchange of passes. The halves to Barber to Beal to Feky. And he goes over in the corner. Maloney, four from five, 28 nil.

[00:28:53] And you mentioned last week, sorry, Sam, like when Feky made a couple of breaks and he was fast. Is that, you know, the Feky that I sort of remember? And that's not the Feky I remember. This right there, that try where he is like just barreling over the opposition player. That's the Feky that I remember. And that was like classic Feky right there. He just has the ball and he's like, I don't care how many nights are in front of me. I'm just going to run straight over you. There is a point where Joel Kane goes through the weights of the players. Oh, yes.

[00:29:22] He talks about Feky's weight and size and height. And he points out that the same measurements a certain time ago would have been a back rower. Yeah. And he's not wrong. Like he's, there's a lot of Feky. There's a lot of him. So, uh, it's 28 nil at halftime, but there's a little scuffle. And the quote from the commentators is no surprise to see Michael Ennis in it. He's in there. He's looking for a bit of action.

[00:29:48] So the other thing that really got to me when I was watching this last night, the quote from Joel Kane. And we say this with love. We love Joel. We love everyone. A bumbling start to the match eventually clicked in the gear. A bumbling start. Like, come on. Bumbling. Bumbling. I like how Andy goes, maybe not as, maybe not technically as good as they might've hoped. I was like, how far up are we, Andy? Jeez. Okay. Thanks, guys. Do you think maybe once you get into that commentary box, you do hit the energy somehow?

[00:30:16] Your body just goes, you're on air and you're like, all right, let's go. And they're so hyped. And then someone drops a ball and they're like, what are you doing? You dropped the ball. I don't know. There was a weirdness to this call where they really thought, unless they're doing the whole, the Knights are still in at pitch, which is actually no other thing. Maybe not doing that, but they really were talking down the Sharks start to the game. And we're talking like five minutes, like five minutes. Yeah.

[00:30:44] I mean, you know, well, maybe just because we're Sharks fans, so we're used to a slow start occasionally in games, right? As someone said to me this week, that was his experience maybe. And that's what he, that's what he produced. So all love to Joel Kane to that. Now we're back on the field to the second half. And before I get to that, Ben, do you remember where you were for this game? Were you, where are you watching? Who are you with? I was watching. I was watching it on the Foxtel at home. Yep. Okay. Beautiful.

[00:31:13] 46th minute Beal with a line break. And then we have runs from Ben Barber and Fecky. It's a really strong set. And then 47th minute Valentine gets his fourth try. So 47 minutes in, four tries. You think he might get 10. Yep. Of course, at some point someone had to say it. And I think it was Joel saying it's Valentine's Day. Yes, it is. One of the classics. Barber cuts loose and he runs quick. He's running diagonally.

[00:31:42] And then a flat, but fair ball to Val who scores. Brings it round close to the post for Maloney. Five from six, 34-0. We're starting to relax here. And then something came to my attention from Joel Kane, I think it was, which I'd forgotten about. But I remember at the time it was this huge deal because you need to know, Ben, that I was and still am. And it's timely this week with the Derby. Valentine Holmes' biggest fan. I was bigger than his family, than his friends.

[00:32:12] And his girlfriend at the time. I was his biggest fan. There's no disputing it. You hide that well, Sam. Wow, I didn't realize up until this moment. Wow. Great work hiding it from everybody. Being his biggest fan, I forget things like he broke my heart. He went to play NFL. He went to the Cowboys, went to the Dragons. It's not in my mind. All I think about is long-range tries, lips in the corner, the bleach blonde hair, hanging out. That's what I think about with Valentine Holmes.

[00:32:39] Perhaps I forgot, and quote, that he was in the Naughty Boy corner. Yes, he was. Because in the Queensland camp, I believe there was a – was it curfew? Is that what it was? Yeah. So it was in the Emerging Origin Players camp, and it was him and Cam Munster. They were the two main ones, and they broke curfew the previous year. So in 2015, they attended an Emerging Origin camp, and him and Munster, and then a couple of others apparently, broke curfew.

[00:33:06] So he actually was not eligible for Origin. Now, he could have got picked if, like, there was an injury crisis or something, but Queensland said that they weren't going to pick him or Munster because of it. Slap on the wrist. I do remember the breaking news, my phone going off, my mate Newman giving me a lot of grief. I remember a lot of that, and me thinking the worst, going to the worst, going, oh, my God, what's he done? Oh, this is not good. And you have to remember that at this point in my life,

[00:33:35] we're down at the club, like, twice a week. We're doing media stuff. We're going to training. We're living like rock stars. It's amazing. Like, I'm not saying I'm awesome. I'm saying I'm fortunate. And I'm around these guys, and Val's just this sweet dude who's a bit cheeky, a bit very confident, you know, very confident young man, but I never would have thought he'd break curfew or even drink alcohol, you know what I mean? So this was news to me. How could this be? My little boy, Val, you know? So it was quite shocking at the time.

[00:34:06] But they smoothed it over real quick. He got picked eventually. Don't worry. He made up for lost time for Queensland. I'm glad that Joel brought it up because it was, it was a thing. It was a point. Now, we go to the 49th minute, and Paul Gallen's getting pretty creative in all sincerity, and he's setting up line breaks and really getting clever with his passes. And you see a Chris Hollington line break, which is not a common thing.

[00:34:34] I think he's made a few in his time, but it's not like you think of Chris Hollington over a 40-meter kind of gap, right? No. Is it like the fastest that he's ever, ever, ever run? I'd have to look it up. It'd be top five for him. Yeah. Top three. Maybe. And so he almost scores. They stop him. Then in the 51st minute, I think a try which made a lot of highlight reels. Not that it was an amazing spectacle, but just I remember this try quite well.

[00:35:02] Luke Lewis scores from a Maloney kick. It's just across the field. No one really goes to the ball, and Louie kind of leaps up and gets it sort of AFL style. Yeah. And it's near the post, six from seven for Maloney. They go up 40-0 at this point. 40-0, we're making sort of like number plate jokes. Manly was in 08. They got the license plates, 40-0, like we're thinking about merch and all this sort of thing. And there's still 29 minutes to go, so who knows what's going to happen here. Well,

[00:35:32] we do. At this point, Sam, Joel Cain, as Maloney kicks the goal, says, and I quote, if there are streamers on the field, you kick it 100% of the time. Now, it's notable the set before, there were a lot of streamers. I can only think it was something maybe at halftime, unless it was just a bit of a gust that brought it out. But a lot of old school streamers that you would see, and Belcher mentions it, sort of like in the 80s, the grand final, that kind of thing. And that real,

[00:36:02] that real, is it paper? I don't know, that real thin material of streamer, like you can picture it. Real thin paper, yeah. Yeah. And there's a lot of it. Like I noticed it before I said anything. I was like, you don't see that very often in this era. And then there must be someone around the goal kicking area, and that's when he brings it up. So he is stretching a bit for content here, because it's only, to be fair, they're not really hammering Newcastle, because of the circumstance, the player's missing, et cetera.

[00:36:31] So they're not really honing in on the, this is their worst loss ever, or that kind of thing. They're going pretty easy on it, which is nice. In this day and age, I don't know if they would, but Newcastle are trying, it should be pointed out. Like they're not, they're not hopeless out there. It's just that the juggernaut is rolling, and they haven't got the troops. So it's not like they're dropping the ball. It's not like they're missing a million tackles, but when they miss them, it kind of matters.

[00:37:00] So it should be pointed out. And they win the penalty count as well. There you go. Now, 56 minute, a brilliant Valentine Holmes, 60 meter line break. They then catch and pass to the left. So he's down the right. They go left through the hands. Fecky gets another try. At this point, and I love these stories,

[00:37:30] Joe Kane brings out the Newcastle wet dressing room, away shed story. And you've heard this 45 times, depending on your age, maybe less, but back, back from 88 through to probably, I guess, I don't know, the early 2000s. Newcastle were well known to hose down the away dressing room. I'm sure other teams did it, but Newcastle always mentioned, and you get there, and it was a small, damp, wet dressing room in winter.

[00:38:00] You couldn't run around, and they couldn't do anything. It's just hopeless. And you were shivering. And Joe Kane brings it up, because if you don't know, Joe Kane used to play for West Tigers, and he had quite a career himself. So Maloney misses the goal. And we're at 48 nil. I believe that's correct. And then we see... 44 nil. Oh, is it 44 nil? Yeah. Have I jumped ahead here? Because we get to 50 soon. Okay. Just ignore me.

[00:38:30] I've got written down the score wrong. At this point, though, Gallon does leave the field. There you go. Gary Belcher, you were wrong. It is going to be that score, and he is going to get off. I mean, it's... He was close to it. He's about six minutes early and four points off, but it's 44 nil, and Gallon does go off, which is just so funny, because in what world are you going to start the game by saying it could be 48 nil, and Gallon could be good off. And the next minute, it's 44 nil, and Gallon is getting a rest.

[00:39:00] It's just so funny. Gallup and the trooper he is, he hits the bikes, and he's on the bikes for the rest of the session, which we'll get to. So, but he's okay. You'll find out, and we'll tell you how you find out, but he's, he's, his ankle's fine. Like, he's, he's going to play on. So, play on next week, I believe. 63rd minute, Barber comes off, and so Valentine, the future homes, goes to fullback, Ricky Letelli comes on the field, goes to center, and Gerard Beal goes to wings. So, Flano is just, for seeing what's going to happen in the future,

[00:39:30] and despite my protests on the episode, you'll hear after this one, directly back in 2016, about, New Brown should be on the bench. No, no, it's Ricky Letelli. So, Ricky comes on, there you go. 65th minute, Luke Lewis try, Chad Townsend down the middle, with Fafita sort of on edge, almost a second row kind of edge, passes to Bird, back inside for Luke Lewis, the second row, 50 nil,

[00:40:00] happy days, Maloney gets, seven from nine, so we're at the 50 now, this is pretty cool. Pretty good. Did you notice that it's at this time, where Joel Kane, actually I think makes the craziest call, in his commentary, and he says, do you think that Luke Lewis, could play five-eighths, for New South Wales? Did he say that? He says that, which is just hysterical. Laurie Daly, has a long list, do you think Luke Lewis, could play five-eighth, and Gary Belcher, very politely goes, oh he does, I think Laurie does have a big list, Joel,

[00:40:29] but I don't think Luke Lewis, is on there for five-eighths, maybe Chad Townsend, might be on there instead, and it's like, really? That's an interesting call, you're going to suggest, that Luke Lewis, could play five-eighths, for New South Wales. It's like saying, that you want, Nico Hines, to play a lock, or something. Now, what a concept, 69th minute, a Wade Graham try, Wade has been kind of, not spoken about, but he's had a really good game, and, yeah, just,

[00:40:58] everything you can imagine, like, hard in defense, energetic in attack, and a few kicks here and there, he's been really good, so, when you're playing in a team like this, it's, you can't get to them all, right? And, and I think Wade Graham, that's right, he's almost under the radar, at this point, because I don't think he's played, for the Blues at this point, is that the talk, maybe? It would be around this time. Maybe he gets picked, but they're like, oh, he might play, he might have an origin career, ahead of him, I'm like, okay, yeah, he might, but that's sort of how,

[00:41:28] under the radar he was. He scores a try, in the lead up, Andrew Fafita, destroys Jeremy Smith, with a hit up, and, you know, we all know Jeremy Smith's, like, the hardest man ever, but that was kind of cool, he offloads to Maloney, who almost scores, and then Ennis from dummy half, sort of spins around, and it gets Wade close in, 56 nil, 8 from 10, for Maloney. We have a Chad no try, in the 72nd minute from a kick,

[00:41:58] and that's thanks to the video ref, and camera six, they decided, nope, no try. The video refs in this, weren't too dominant, there wasn't a lot of use, which I thought was, was refreshing. Benny might have a, emergency alarm here, or something going on. And we're back. You're good?

[00:42:28] All good. Good. So, I was saying, the video refs, they weren't too, in your face in this game. No, no, they were pretty decent, look, they only went up, like, one foot twice, or something like that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Apart from, the Cronulla bloke, that was probably the most egregious thing, that happens, from the video ref. It's probably in the history of video refs, to be fair. That's right. So, we then go to Andy Raymond on the sideline,

[00:42:57] and he's talking to Benny Barber. Now we're doing interviews, we're just filling time, let's get to full time, guys. Yeah, and it's great to hear Benny talk, he definitely is a great speaker, and he mentions Indigenous Round, the form of the team, and I think from where they go straight to Paul Gallon, yeah? It's like a double interview, is that right? They do, they literally go straight to Paul Gallon, it's like, oh, this guy, we should see you got a couple of tries, hey, let's go over here. A bit of funnies going on there from Andy, and that was cool, it was great, Gallon seemed like he was in good spirits, and pretty happy,

[00:43:26] full of praise from Maloney in the team, so that was kind of cool. 74th minute, so we're just willing Val on now, to equal the record, right? Yeah. And then somehow, he doesn't score. Like, Tangatizzi has this amazing run, it's probably worth going back to watch, just for that, this probably 30, 35 minute run, it's just, no one's going to stop Tangatizzi. He passes it to Chad, to get tackled, and then Val, is right there, and he, I think he, Val sort of, he turns to go,

[00:43:57] back, but he should have just gone straight, and he was like meters away from scoring. There's a few chances for him to score, he doesn't do it. Fekie then scores, and at this point, Gallon, the conversation is continuing, Paul Gallon, on the sideline, and the revelation is, at 62 nil, Maloney gets nine from 11, the revelation, and it was, I think I remember this now, in hindsight, the team on the Saturday, at captain's run,

[00:44:27] made a pact, to not let the Knights score a try. Gallon says this. Crazy. What? Huh? And I'm like, oh, okay, well, you believe in yourself, and Knights aren't going, well, I get it. I guess the fact that it was 62 nil, he probably thought he could say it, go, well, you know, it was almost like, I think he, there was a part of him that sounded surprised, and obviously it's Gals, a part of him kind of like, probably knew it would happen, but that's a pretty ballsy statement. Let's not let them score a try. Yeah,

[00:44:55] to admit that they said it in captain's run, I know they asked him afterwards, you know, oh, you had a bad season in 2014, do you feel bad for them? And he's kind of like, yeah, but we had a job to do, and obviously the job was not to let them score. Yeah, yeah, there's not a lot of, there's not a lot of sympathy there from Gals, because he has been there just prior. Yeah. So, we're up 62 nil, the famous scoreline, we're defending like premiers, there's a no try to gag eye on the bell. Yeah, it was crazy,

[00:45:24] because he almost scored in the first minute, and then he was almost, almost breaking that duck at the end, but thank goodness that they ruled him to be no try. Now, again, watching these games is so, is so, you know, helpful for us to remember, because speaking of breaking and gag eye, he breaks down and starts crying, and I'm not even kidding, and people will remember this from the day, but if you weren't watching a younger viewer listener, and it's no, we're not making right of this at all,

[00:45:53] but Dane gag eye, just from the emotion of, it's obviously not scoring, but the fact that it's 62 nil, they're on such a bad run, like everything's pretty bad in Newcastle. And he starts crying openly, and then, I think it's Tariq Sims, one of the Sims boys, you know, genuinely tries to console him, and it's, it's only a few moments, but unfortunately, well, I say unfortunately, but it was captured by the, it was captured once by the camera, you think, okay, but then they sort of went back to it, it was like, there's that fine line between emotion,

[00:46:23] and ratings, and give the guy a break. And I remember it was a bit of a headline, I think that it came back to sort of, was there some mocking of it, maybe from the player in the, in the future? I don't know, but it was quite the moment, and that, that was kind of bittersweet for me at the end, I was like, so happy, and then, I'm going to do this with Ben tomorrow, this podcast, and I was like, oh man, that's a real downer. Yeah, that's right, he's literally crying, yeah, but I, I think there, I think there, there might have been like a,

[00:46:52] something in his family, or whatever, that might have happened recently, and obviously, you know, he's a young player at the time, but he's got all of these kids, that he's probably trying to lift up, and they probably would have went to so much effort, for Jack Cogger's debut, and all this sort of stuff, and it really is just a, a very, I don't know, what am I trying to say? It's a very clear indicator, of how bad that season is going, for Newcastle. Yeah, yeah, and I'm,

[00:47:21] I'm sure that that was part of the, back page news, that was like, Sharks unbelievable, then it was like, picture of him, and like, so, and I, I quite like Dan Gagel, so I felt, I felt a lot of empathy for him at the time, and definitely last night watching, and I was like, oh man, I've forgotten about that, but that's, that's a tough one. So Sharks win 62 nil, there was, I believe in the following weeks, some merchandise available, Ben. Oh yeah, you could get a, you could get a framed print,

[00:47:51] celebrating the, celebrating the victory, yeah, absolutely you could. Which is, very interesting, and, I know this year, with the Dolphins, record breaking win, 66 nil, people were asking, and the club were like, uh-uh, and I think it's, a superstition, but also a kind of respect thing, like going, we're probably, like, let's just keep moving on, you know,

[00:48:21] like maybe the end of the year, you might acknowledge it, we recorded our biggest win, here's a plaque, you can buy it for 30 bucks, whatever, but, but at the time, Gorman, and Adam Barnes, and everyone else down there, they were, they were charging, and, yeah, that's right, it was a sign of the merchandise to come, as you know, Ben, come September, and October, man, the trade was ridiculous, and, uh, that was, that was one of the indicators, that we were doing something a bit different that year, the,

[00:48:51] did you get some? Did you buy it? No, did I buy the commemorative plaque? No, I didn't buy the commemorative plaque, I'm sorry, Sam, I wish I could have had it here, so I could show you, but no, I do remember. I wonder who of our listeners, I can probably pin it down on a few, but I wonder how many have it, because, yeah, if any of you have it, like take a photo, let us know if you've got it, like, is it next to your 2016 premiership sort of gear, and stuff like that, I want to know. I think it was limited, maybe, to 100, or whatever it was, yeah,

[00:49:21] so that's where we're at, we were making merch out of historic wins back then, and, there's more to come. There's more to come, so, Sharksman 62-0, we're absolutely entrenched in that top four. Well, we're equal first on the ladder with Brisbane and Melbourne at this stage, so, yeah, we are there. We're 10 rounds in, so we're not even halfway there, but people are still kind of believing, and, uh, next week we have Manly at home,

[00:49:51] and we don't have a good record against Manly, we've already lost to them this year, which I believe was made mention on the commentary, and, uh, we've got a Saturday, I'm assuming Saturday night, but, a Saturday game against them coming up, which Ben and I will talk about in the near future, um, but how are you feeling at this point, Ben? 62-0, what are you, what's, what's young Ben thinking? This is it? How can, yeah, like, how can you not enjoy that? Like, what, what a win. That's one where just at halftime, you can just sort of sit back and just,

[00:50:21] and just enjoy the rest. Um, yeah, things are going good at this stage, like, 10 rounds in, and this, I don't think we ever, or any of us sort of thought that the streak would become what it became, but like, just to have this period where here we are, um, around origin and we're just, we're dominating. But then you look at the ladder and, and Brisbane are dominating and Melbourne are dominating just as much, but it just feels like that we did it in such a different way. That was, um, uh, I don't know. So unique to, to this year. Yeah.

[00:50:51] Yeah. Definitely go back and watch it. Uh, if you don't have time to watch the whole game, watch the highlights and you'll see some great tries. And I imagine some great highlights, uh, uh, pretty silly to pinpoint anyone down now individually. They're all terrific. Uh, you know, I said, we didn't talk about way Graham in our notes, but he was just great. They're all great. Uh, they're firing. Uh, there was, yeah, there was a Mick Ennis out in the full kick. He was going for a 40, 20 kicks out in the full. Like it wasn't perfect. That's for sure. But it's 62 nil. You know, maybe Andy rain was right.

[00:51:20] Maybe we weren't technically, uh, playing well, as good as we might have hoped, but Hey, we won, we won. So it doesn't matter. Right. At that point, we're already up by 30 or something, but that's right. Now, as we've done with the last two episodes, I think it's been been at least one. We're going to throw on an old episode. So what you're going to hear via the podcast applications, or if you're watching on the YouTube and you can see Benny and I now, hi everyone. And what we're going to do is it'll go to in a minute when we, if we say goodbye,

[00:51:49] it'll go just to a still an image. And you'll hear an old episode from 2016 with Adam Newman and myself. And if you don't know what that means, uh, Adam was, uh, my first and longest podcast partner. We started out together eight years of having a bunch of fun. And so what you've got is the half an hour audio of the episode. We did every Tuesday night and we did it post this game. See what you're going to hear is a rap of the Newcastle game, like Benny and I just did, but it's actually in real time.

[00:52:19] So it's the Tuesday hour for the game 10 years ago. The audio is not as crisp. I sound younger. I probably look younger. I sound pretty chill. I sound like I've, I've not had my coffee from Mr. Paisley's. I don't, I missed the places. It wasn't a thing back then, but I haven't had my coffee from wherever. So, um, go easy on that. Don't need too much feedback on that, but it's a lot of fun. Uh, and you'll, you'll, uh, hopefully enjoy it. If you don't just turn it off, Benny and I is the feature here. So that's all good. But a lot of people have requested that kind of thing.

[00:52:49] So it's a throwback episode, literally. And that's, what's going to appear anytime soon. Uh, Ben, what's the plan now after recording a podcast in the Bahamas, I'm going to say that's a first for you, right? Yeah. First for me, I'm going to have to get, track down some aloe vera and put it on my face and my, uh, and my arms. I'm going to say you, like you, you may not be feeling it, but you look, you look okay from here. You look all right. that's good. Okay. Now I feel okay. It's just that, uh, there's always something last time I was here,

[00:53:18] it was my neck that I forgot to put sunscreen on today. I put on sunscreen, but, um, I guess when the UVs index says it's going to be 11 extreme, you sort of need to reapply some, but no, I'm just a, just a tiny bit pink. We're okay. It's what temperature are we talking? And I need Celsius, not Fahrenheit. Damn. Oh, I don't do, I don't do Fahrenheit. Disgusting. Um, it was, uh, feels like 38. Um, that was the feels like, and it was like 32 or something officially. Okay. And is it party vibe? Is it,

[00:53:48] is it like a little Florida? Like what's, is it? Um, what is it? Well, like I'm in the Atlantis resort, which is like huge. So there's so many different pools and like in beaches and man-made beaches and then the real beach and that sort of stuff. Um, it's more, I assume if you, I think there's a nightclub or something around here, I think, but it's more sort of just relax vibes, relax summer vibes. Gotcha. Okay. Well, as we said, next time you won't be in the Bahamas,

[00:54:15] you will be at Southern Cross Group Stadium, as was known back then. And the Sharks will play Manly. It's going to be a tough game. Yes. But again, we need to win because then after that, we've got the bye. So we'll see what happens there, but we've got Manly next game. You and I will record that as soon as we can and get that out to everyone. And we appreciate everyone watching and listening. And you got anything else to say, Ben? No, I can't wait to hear this episode with you and Newman. Yeah, it's going to be fun. So stick around for that.

[00:54:45] And we'll talk to you all soon. And we'll say bye to Ben from the Bahamas. And thank you so much for your time, Benny. It's above and beyond, as I said at the start of the show, like some other people could really learn from this. Ah, well, thank you for having me in this random hallway next to the bathroom. It looks like I'm in a random hallway next to the bathroom too. All right. So we're both in hotel rooms, actually. I can only wish. I can only wish. up, Benny. Happy Bahamas Day to you. And everyone else, stay tuned for the old episode of SharkCast from 2016. Newman and I talking everything Sharks. Up, up.

[00:55:49] SharkCast! And as usual, I'm joined in the locker room by my fellow Sharks nut and good mate, Sam. How you going, mate? Top of the morning to you, Newman. I'm loving these boys in the black, white, and blue. We're sitting in second spot. The best attack in the NRL, but we'll get to that. Everyone get in touch with us. SharkCastPod at Gmail is the email address. We're on Twitter with the same Twitter handle, SharkCastPod. We're on Facebook. You can listen to this on SoundCloud, iTunes, or just come to the locker room, hang out. Let's get into it, Newman. We are absolutely everywhere,

[00:56:18] aren't we? And the official records from last weekend's game will read that we beat in record fashion, a hapless Newcastle Knights, 62 points to block. And that rockets us up the ladder to second position, only behind first on four and against. So it is, we're now talking record season territory. I can't remember the last time we were going this good, Sam. It's unbelievable. Mind-blowing.

[00:56:48] So happy right here. So the current winning streak, Newman, is the best since 2002 when we won 11 straight. That was a very special year. We got to the prelim final, so we're definitely on our way to something special. But you're right, what a weekend. 62-0. We all felt sorry for Newcastle in the end, but you know what? We can only play what we're given. I was very impressed with the way they were relentless. Around the 60th, 70th minute, like they were unstoppable,

[00:57:14] just making meters at will and scoring and blowing opportunities. And it wasn't one of those games where I was like out of my seat, just yahooing, but it was just impressive. It was just sit back and enjoy, wasn't it? Yeah. I mean, it was quite bizarre to actually watch a Sharks game and 10 minutes in, sort of just put your feet up and relax and then, all right, the boys who got this. Yeah. There was a lot of talk, Newman, during the week before about how we were going to win by so much,

[00:57:41] but that was coming from people who I don't necessarily listen to when it comes to rugby league. You know, I listen to certain people who I respect and admire. Like me. I had it like you and a few others. And I just had a feeling that it probably wouldn't be a 60 point win. I thought it might be a 20 point win. Pretty happy when it got to 18 nil pretty quick. And it was what we needed. And the fact they went on with the job meant we jumped up to second place, which is a really great place to be. And I thought everyone just played really well. They all did their roles really well. I thought the bench was really good.

[00:58:11] You know, when you had like gallon playing half a game prior playing, probably a quarter of a game. I've got a early shower. Barber came off early just to still have that dominance was just amazing. I want to put the, uh, the winning street into some framework. The last time we went eight and two, as you so correctly point out, Sam was in 2002, but in 2002, we had a terrible start to the year. If you can remember. I do. And we finished the year with an 11, uh, week winning spree, basically finished the year.

[00:58:40] I believe that started against the dirty dragons in what, 11 or 12 or something. Yeah. We were down 13 nil. And so it's a little bit of a different context because we've only dropped two games this year. That, that means we're a better team. Exactly. Exactly. And I mean, the club, they won't say it publicly, but they will have eyes on the minor premiership. Now, you know, they want to win the most regular season games. Uh, we don't really look ahead too much. We like to take every week as it comes,

[00:59:07] but we have a reasonably good draw through origin, even though we will lose a lot of players. We have, uh, Monday games after origin when we do have to play and a lot of buys. So as long as we can stay injury free, you would think that they would have eyes on the minor premiership. Now, look, we lose James Maloney, Paul Gallon, uh, Val Holmes, then it's just a different proposition, but we can stay injury free. Yeah. Then we're looking at a really great season. And,

[00:59:35] and what a difference to, uh, sort of this time last team. It's got strike power all over the park. We're able to score tries from everywhere. Our defense, actually, my friend who was watching the game, we've pointed out, who's an astute observer has pointed out. There's a difference in our defensive style than any other club. And I don't know if you've noticed it, Sam, man, uh, instead of wrestling, we tend to drag. So we get, someone will run out of the line.

[01:00:04] Like Matt prior is an absolute champ at it. And, uh, they put a good early hit on and then they'll drag them back. And for feet, there's a champ at it just because you're so damn strong. Whereas teams like Melbourne Cowboys are looking to dance and wrestle. We're looking to just drag them back. I think it's refreshing it. Great. And is, how does that affect the rest of the defense line? You mean, does that mean they have the same amount of time to get ready? Is it the same thing as wrestling, but just not as ugly? Like what, what does that mean? Well,

[01:00:33] wrestling is all about controlling the rock speed. Yeah. so that your line can reset and, uh, your line speed can jump up off your line really quickly because you've got, you're fresh. But this strategy is a bit more simple than that. And it's just like, well, if you drag them back, they're not making any run meters and they're kicking from a worse spot. And genius in its simplicity, we don't do it every set. We don't do it every tackle, but those sets where we can set a really strong line,

[01:01:01] like we've got them pinned in the corner or whatever. Uh, you've been, you'll notice for feeder prior tagger, and they try and drag them back towards their own trial on. It's, it's brilliant to watch. Now our mate, Valentine Holmes had a chance to equal or break ETS record of five games in a match, which he set twice in his career. We thought he was on his way, but, uh, he was stopped twice when he had good opportunities to score that fifth try, which was, you know, disappointing, but at the same time,

[01:01:31] it's not really going to blemish the game or his performance. He was really great. Your mate, Ben Barber was outstanding. I thought he was almost like another half out there, which is what you want in a fullback. I think these days, I'm going to put this out there already. I reckon if Ben Barber stays on the field, we beat the record and Val beats the record. Yeah, it's not a bad point. Neiman, uh, I think Val just has to keep looking ahead and not looking back. No, well, he scored four tries, Sam. And, um, It was great for guys like Fecky as well, getting a hat trick. That's going to do nothing but good for his confidence.

[01:02:00] We know he can be a bit up and down in that department. Captain America had some time. I think all over, it was good just the entire 17 players to know they can play that way. And, and that's a, I say a one-off game. We're playing Newcastle again at home in a month or two, but the majority of games are going to come down to sort of 10 to 12 points if we're lucky. So, they can enjoy that win, but they know it's not a, a weakly thing, you know. It's good to know they can do that, but.

[01:02:26] I've got no history with these traditionally hopeless teams of the NRL era, like, uh, the night, sorry, like the Magpies from 1999 and South very early Mark II versions that were easy beats. I, I can't really remember any of those, but I've got to say this Newcastle team, they offered nothing. And, and I was talking to Rob Willis after the game actually, and we both talked about how Newcastle weren't that bad. Like they didn't drop much ball. They didn't make many errors. The effort,

[01:02:56] the effort was definitely there. That's why I feel sorry for them. It's not like they're not going out there and just stinking it up. They just, they don't have strike power. They have no experience aside from some hard heads and it's just not going their way. They got no go forward whatsoever. Like, yeah. Yeah. So the kick chase was reasonable. They had effort. They had energy. The first five minutes, Newman, they were, and I'm not being a smart ass here. The first five minutes they were in the game and, and we were sort of dropping them all and that kind of thing. And at no point did I think we're going to lose the game, but I thought,

[01:03:26] they're going to make a bit of an effort here, a bit of a contest. And I shouldn't say effort. There was effort there, but, but yeah, you're right. I mean, I do remember teams like Wesley 99 and they were pathetic. Don't mean any disrespect to anyone out there, but, and the South one was very circumstantial because they were just back in the comp and they had some pretty sketchy players as a whole. This is a bit different. There's just a lot of youth slash injuries. So I feel, I feel sorry for the Knights fans, but we've been there. We know what it's like and they'll bounce back in a year or two, maybe, but it's hard times ahead.

[01:03:56] This year's going to be really tough for them. We've really put them away, which is what we haven't traditionally done. It's a sort of game traditionally where we're in front of the bedding by a mile. We've got them shaded across the park. And traditionally we go out there and win that by 10 or, or eight, you know, and it's a scrappy performance. Whereas we were just clinical and brilliant. We've got strike power across the park. The forwards are marching forward. The backs are doing their job. For the first time in forever, we have the best attack.

[01:04:24] So we're ranked first in points, first in tries, second in offloads, third in tackle bus, fourth in line breaks. That's average per game. You know, someone pointed out to me yesterday, you don't win grand finals with your attack, but then I pointed out to them when we're averaging 32 points a match, you know, if we're going to lose grand final scoring 32 points, I'm kind of okay with that, you know? Yes, you need great defense, but you also have to be able to score when you're given the opportunities. Like in any game,

[01:04:53] you get a, like a particularly in a, like in standard NRL close game, you get a certain number of opportunities and you have to convert those opportunities into points. So I don't buy the whole, I only good defensive teams win the grand final. You have to be, have both packages. You have to be able to defend and you have to be able to attack well. And we've always had the defense. Well, I think we're fifth in defense. Like we're still going fine in defense. There's nothing wrong with that defense. So even when our rosters were absolutely rubbish,

[01:05:24] we always had rock solid defense, but now we've got the attacking power and I'll tell you how, you know, we're going good. People are asking questions about our salary cap and saying, how have we got so many good players in our team? That's the last thing we need them talking about. Do you know, just enjoy these lofty periods. I mean, can we keep it up? This is probably a question, Samuel. We're going to get into that in the preview later on Newman against Manly. And that's why I'm of the opinion. This game is so important, but I do believe we can keep it up.

[01:05:52] And I think that we will lose some classy players during origin, but finally we have the depth all around the cover that and maybe not completely cover it, but the guys coming in are going to do a great job. And the guys who are already there know their role. So I'm not hugely worried about the origin impact. The only thing as we've discussed is injury. That's going to stop them. And I believe that I think if, if these 17 guys run out there every week for the next 15 weeks or whatever it is,

[01:06:19] I think we're going to create a lot of fuss and even a little bit of history. The only thing that really can stop them at the moment, and I'm touching wood when I say this is injury. I don't, I don't think they're going to stop playing good footy. They might get tired a little bit here and there, but they look a pretty fit team this year. I mean, Sam, it's speculation. So you can't really say all you can look at is what, what we've done so far. And that's excellent. Premierships are not one in may. No. They're one in October. Can we maintain the rage? I mean, I don't want to go off early and talk about a premiership,

[01:06:48] but the fact is if you're a good club and you're in the top four and you do the best attack and you're blowing teams away and you're winning close games and you're beating other top four teams, then you've got to be looking at, all right, this is our year. You've got, you just got to do it. There's no, there's no shame in that. There's no problem in that. The only problem we have is because we're all so nervous because of, you know, 50 years of bad luck and. That's correct. You know, superstition or whatever, but there's, I have no problem with talking about premierships this year because they actually look like they're going to give it a shake.

[01:07:18] I mean, 2008, we, we talked about it because we were in that position, but we didn't really have the team to do it. But this year, strike power everywhere. And that, that nervousness and hysteria around, Oh, don't mention the premiership. Don't jinx us. Don't jinx us. That's to our detriment. Good clubs do not do that. Yeah. The good clubs are like the Melbournes over the years, Manly over the years, Brisbane Cowboys. They say, okay, this is the goal. Regular season. We finished top four.

[01:07:46] We make sure we end up with no injuries. And then moving into the back end of the season, we finished strong with a lot of petrol in the tank in order to take it out. They're not going, Oh, don't jinx us. Don't jinx us. There's no point thinking that they can't win it. And to win it, that's what you've got to do. And you've got, you've got to beat teams by 60 points. Sometimes, sometimes you've got to beat, you know, the grand finalists by two points. That's, and we'd be doing that. So that's right. We can't, we can't be going any better to be honest. No. And, and look,

[01:08:13] if you had told me at the start of the year that we, that we'd be in this, position and we would be eight and two, or we would have beaten just about every, every other team in the top four. We would have beaten the bottom teams by hefty margins. And we'd won seven in a row. I would have said, well, she's your pretty positive. I wouldn't have believed you. That will wrap us for this segment, Sam. I mean, we could talk all day about how good it was, but we don't want to put the knife into the poor old night supporters too much.

[01:08:42] And we'll cut to a break and come back with the news. Hey Newman, buddy, I was on the internet and I bought this amazing product, but there was no shipping involved. I don't know how to get my product from America to Australia. Don't give one of those big corporate logistics companies a call. Get in touch with our mates, Dyson Logistics. They can ship anything from an envelope to a 40 foot container, air freight, sea freight, rail, road.

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[01:09:43] And now it's coming to the time of the show where we see what news has washed in across Botany Bay towards the mangrove shores of SCGS, Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sam, and obviously there's a few lower grade results, both New South Wales Cup and under 20s lost, which is getting, getting almost to the concerning stage. It is for the under 20s. They've lost two in a row. They're hovering around the top four still,

[01:10:12] but they want to win this week against Manly. I would think Johnny Morris will have them primed for that. The shark jets lost to the Mounties who are coming first. Yeah. Close game. I think it was 1812, but yeah, shame they couldn't get the job done at home in front of what would have been a very healthy crowd. A few people have actually written into us and asked how, who we should look out for in the lower grades. And Jacob Gagan is continuing to impress without being,

[01:10:42] phenomenal. Yep. New Brown is also turning a few heads. And I believe that Capel is also impressing a great deal. Yeah. It wouldn't surprise me to see Kurt Capel come in on the bench, perhaps during origin period. He's at the top of the list, I think. Yeah. And he can play sort of center slash back row. And he looks the goods. We saw him in the trial, in the trial pretty close and he looked good. And he would probably sort of get 10,

[01:11:10] 15 minutes off the bench to get some experience. I'm led to believe New Brown is doing well, but probably get more involved, which I know is strange as a half hooker, but he's not as dominant as what he was in the Samoa match, for example. That's probably hard to match, you know, a test match versus a game at Henson Park, but you still have to do that to get back into first grade. So hopefully New can keep on improving. I'd love to see him on the bench. I don't get the love for New Brown on the bench. Like,

[01:11:37] I have not really seen anything from him that tells me he should either be one of our halves, our hooker, or our third eight. He's, he's tiny and his defense is suspect at best. And I don't think this attack comes for it. I think we're going to have a little argument here, Neiman. He bulked up in the off season. His defense is not sass. His defense is pretty good for a half. The game you missed, we played for Samoa versus Tonga,

[01:12:06] which I know is a one-off. He was man of the match. Really, really dominant and great. But has he been really, really dominant and great in New South Wales Cup? I believe he's been solid. I believe he's been solid from everything I've heard. I think he's a good bench player because he can cover so many positions, unlike carrying a three quarter on the bench, which is what we do. He can play any number of positions from the backs, the halves, the forwards. And in 2014, he proved he was up to that standard in a very, very poor team.

[01:12:36] And I just think he deserves the opportunity. So I'm happy for him to be next cab off the rank. And if he doesn't, if he doesn't impress in first grade, well, that's a different story. But I don't think he's done anything wrong. I don't think... Well, the only way I can see him coming in is if there's an injury to Ennis. And even then, he's up against McIlrick. Yeah. And then if we lose one of our halves and Jack Bird. Yeah, I'm just saying he can cover... I've seen him play many, many positions and do it pretty well. He can play center. He can play fullback.

[01:13:05] He can play either of the halves. He can play lock. He can play hooker. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. When has he played fullback? Samuel. I've seen him play fullback at NYC. Fullback? Yes, fullback. Go back and look at your history records. Come on. I'm telling you, dude. All right, I'm making it up. I wasn't there watching him play fullback. Well, I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree on the new brown issue. I don't see in him what other people see. Okay, you need to go back and watch the test match when you're at the bunker in Zurich.

[01:13:35] Instead of dancing up on the dance floor, you should have been watching the Samoa Tonga match. Every time I've watched him play for the Sharks, I just don't get the hype. Well, the last time you watched him play for the Sharks was in 2014. He was one of our better players, no? No, the last time I watched him play for the Sharks was in the trials and he did nothing. Ah. Yeah, you were there. You were standing next to me. A lot of guys did nothing. And in Newtown Jets, I think he's, I think he's,

[01:14:04] I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying. I respect your opinion. And mine's a bit different at the moment, but I would like to see him have a crack. I just get the feeling that a lot of people get a name in their head and they're like, oh, it's the same to Jake Gagan, you know, the reserve grade level player. And they go, oh, I'd love to see him get a go. They deserve the shot. And you're like, well, what if they don't deserve a shot other than play reasonable in reserve grade? In Gagan's defense, you know, he was probably our best player for half a year in 2014,

[01:14:32] which I know isn't that big a thing as we suck that year. But this kid came out of nowhere and was really, really great. From all reports in every chance he's had, minus all the injuries in lower grades, he's done really well. So I think guys like him and new would get a first grade spot at lesser teams right now. And that's not a bad thing, right? Look, let me, I've probably been a bit harsh and widened you up for the sake of an argument with the 17 or eight with the 18 feet. Yeah.

[01:15:02] Including David Fita and Joseph Paulo. I don't see any room for either Jacob Gagan or new Brown, but our depth will be tested at some point. And hopefully those guys are up for the job. Yeah. But, uh, I'd love to hear some more dominant reports coming out of the jets that those guys are, you know, scoring three and four tries a game and a class above. When I see the team list every Tuesday, five o'clock Newman, I'm not blowing up cause they're not in the team. You can't change that team. So no, of course not.

[01:15:30] That's my difference there where I'm saying, oh, they should get a go. Well, they should get a go when the time's right. Yeah. I don't want to change a team. We've found some middle ground. Now, the other news coming out of the club was that we hit, record number of members, which is tremendous news. 13,000 members for the first time in history. That's good to know because we're going so well that people are buying into the club. I think we're already up to 13 and a half thousand and it's fantastic.

[01:15:59] And other clubs will look at that and scoff and go, oh, we've got 30,000. We've got a hundred thousand, but we don't give a rats about other clubs. We are the sharks and we're traveling really well. And people are buying into the loyal dream. And it's fantastic. Well, Gorman, you know, pretty much created the Wanderers in the A-League and they, you've seen how impressive their membership is. They have a membership culture. They have a waiting list to be, to be members, which is just unbelievable. Yeah. And, and it's, you know, crowds improve this year.

[01:16:29] And of course it all goes back to the fact we're winning. If we're not winning, well, this probably isn't happening, but at the same time, we are winning and people are getting on board. So it's wonderful. If you're not a member, please become one. You can become one for a very reasonable price. You can still get a membership for the remainder of the year for three, five or six games. And it's incredible value. The last bit of news was we signed up a new sponsor. We had some sponsors, blank sponsorship for real estate on the top of the Jersey, infinity group. I don't know what they do,

[01:16:59] but they jumped off Parramatta and straight into bed with us. So welcome aboard to those guys. Great news. We now have a full deck of sponsorship in terms of player apparel. Also been a very long time since that was the case. So the club is kicking goals on and off the field. And isn't it great, Samuel? That's fantastic. I believe they are some sort of financial institution. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. We've been there when there's been no, no sponsorship at all.

[01:17:27] I think it was 2014 and we just ran out and blank. Blank jumpers. And I can tell you, aside from losing all those games and all that kind of stuff that happened in 2014, the drug scandal, one of the main things I was ribbed about by my mates and people who, you know, I barely know was the fact that we didn't have a sponsor and our jumper was bare. Yeah. We're a professional club playing a professional sport. And now we have all these sponsors and it's a wonderful thing. And it is through the hard work of the club. And we're not sucking up the club right now.

[01:17:56] That's just the bare bone fact that people have been out there hitting the streets, getting sponsors for us. And then lately the sponsors have been coming to us, which has been a real, real change of fortune. Unbelievable. It's just the way our fortunes have turned around in two years is, it's just unbelievable. And without putting the hoodoo on us, we need to put that cherry on the top and keep climbing the mountain. So that wraps us up for the news for another week. It is always something to talk about when it comes to news with this great

[01:18:26] club. We're going to go to a break. And when we come back, we will open up the mailbag. Newman, I'm heading down to the bottle. What do you want, buddy? Yeah, man, I don't go to the bottle. You know, we only drink shark Island brewing company beer. Shark Island brew. What's that man in Sutherland Shire. We've got our own dedicated craft brewing company. They brew a range of different delicious beers. They're all local shark supporters and they're just local business having a go.

[01:18:55] Sounds too good to be true. You can go down to unit eight, 29 to 33, Warwick, our street, Kiriwi. They have cellar doors on Thursday, three to seven o'clock Friday, two to seven o'clock and Saturday, 12 to seven o'clock. You can buy takeaways or they'll fill up your growlers. Once a month, they have cellar door where they have a food truck in and they pump the tune. Sam, you've got to get down there. I can't wait, buddy. Try and stop me.

[01:19:20] And now it's come to the time to show where we go at the front of shark cast headquarters and see what that little sharky who rips around the neighborhood on a high-vis motorbike has dropped into the box that is built into the front fence.

[01:20:08] You can get us at shark cast pod at gmail.com or on Twitter at shark cast pod or at Facebook. We are built on your content. We want to talk about what you want to talk about. So, uh, what's the first cab off the rank this week, Samuel? Nice letter from Michael. And thanks for getting in touch, Michael. He discusses the Newcastle game. He points out how bad they are quite respectfully. And then he moves on to the game ahead. We have Manly coming up. We have to beat them.

[01:20:36] It'd be unacceptable to lose to them, but it's Manly and we have to break the hoodoo. Hoping the big crowd gets very vocal and we grind them into the dirt. The fact is, despite all the hoodoos and despite the book of our feuds against Manly and whatever, we're a lot in a lot better position than they are. And it's a home game. So we just have to win. That's, that's the equation. Two points on the line at home is all we really need to think. Think about despite what myself and others may want to go on about. You know,

[01:21:06] it's coming up to a buy, which is a natural punctuation in the season. And you want to go into those buyers with, with a win under your belt because they're seen as four point rounds. There's a million reasons why we, we should win and breaking the hoodoo is one of them. But the fact is it's a home game against inferior opposition. We should be winning it. There's no doubt. Michael also says, well done Sam on your solo show. Last week. And he's not referring to my rock and roll life. So thanks for that, Michael. I was a bit hesitant,

[01:21:36] but we got it done. Sam here with the, the solo shark cast radio. It was a good effort. How'd you find it? It was fun. You're always very conscious about these things because the only voice I'm hearing is my own, but with a little bit of magic and computer work, we got there. So, you know, it's good to have you back. Newman, good to have you back. We got an email from Zach and Zach is from, he's from Yowie Bay, but he wrote in to say, say that, um,

[01:22:04] he's been traveling around Japan and Taiwan since December. And he loves the shark cast radio. It's kept him company on many flights and train rides as he's been. And, uh, lonely old nights in hotel rooms. So, um, thanks for getting in touch, Zach. He says that he's managed to stream every game and he's stoked at how everyone's going. Now I've got to say, what a world we live in. I mean, you can be anywhere around the, around the world now and you can pretty much watch every game. Last week when I was away,

[01:22:32] I was walking to a meeting in Helsinki, Finland, down like the main street of Helsinki with my Finnish contact. And he's like, Oh, look over here. It's down under bar, down under bar. Let's go in for a drink. And I said to him, mate, I'm not, I don't come all this way to sit in the, in a bar with kangaroo road signs and drink VP. And he's like, Oh, please, please, please. So I said, all right, walked in and then like footy's on. It was the dragons Raiders game.

[01:23:00] And we sat there and watched the footy. So you're telling me there was a straight, an Australian bar in Finland. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Helsinki, Finland. And the guy who worked behind the bar was like one of your Byron Bay types. And he was a massive Raiders supporter. So like the three of us, because it was midday, watched the, the dragons Raiders game. And I'm just thinking, wow, you know, was that live? It was live. And I'll tell you what, it wasn't a good advertisement for, for rugby league. Not a,

[01:23:30] the, the standing of the game and be, you know, the lights being out. There've been about 5,000 people at Coggera. What a stink hole that place is. Oh, mate. But you know, the, just the fact that you can travel and, and watch every game. Like I watched eight games of rugby league over the weekend when I was in Singapore. And I was like, I remember last time I went traveling was in, in earnest for any major length of time was in the early two thousands.

[01:24:00] And you just couldn't, people had to send you, you could watch highlights online and that, but in terms of streaming every match, you didn't have a chance. So I remember Newman, I was in the first time I went to America was 2005. It was right around the trial period that season. So I guess February. And I was online on all the forums just following the, the scores and who did well, who got injured. And I was lying on my friend's lounge in New York city. It was snowing. It was beautiful.

[01:24:28] And I was just online on these forums all night, keeping up to date with the trial matches. So it is a wonderful world we're living in. It's great. It's great. And we've got another message here, another letter here from regular emailer, Troy from Maitland. And he has just said, he's still been listening to the podcast in the truck. He loves it. And he said, and again, well done to Sam on the solo effort. He enjoyed it. However,

[01:24:58] he said it's much better when Newman's involved. I don't know if that's what he actually said. Absolutely. That's exactly what he said. Okay. Fair enough. Troy. I agree. Yep. And he's not making it down this week for the game. So we'll have to catch up later on. Troy, we'll make sure that when you're down for the Warriors game, that we'll have a schooner together. Yeah, for sure. So make sure you get in touch with the sharkcastpod at gmail.com. And we are built on your input. Without it, we are nothing.

[01:25:29] So we're going to go to a break. And when we come back, we will preview the big clash against Manly. This is Shark Cast Radio. They move it down the field. Through Kingston, who runs inside the 30. Here's Peachy, giving it to Kamali. A flat pass. Oh, he's outside. Clifford Manu, a ball back on the inside for Paul Mellor. Manly haven't touched the ball in what seems like a quarter of an hour. All right, Sam, Saturday night,

[01:25:59] 7.30 p.m. at the SCGS. It's a big game. If you open the Sharkies, book a few. Manly are probably the number one top of the pops. And we will be taking them on. So do you have a team for us there, Samuel? Newman, your Cronolite Sharks for round 11 against Manly. Ben Barber, Sasaya Fecky, and the future of Alvon Holmes are on the wings. Jack Bird and Gerard Beal are in the centres.

[01:26:25] The halves are the very talented and informed James Maloney and Chad Townsend. Starting props, named Andrew Fafita and Sam Tagatisi with Michael Ennis in the hooking role. The very, very, very strong and awesome backer of Luke Lewis, Wade Graham, and Paul Gallen, who's our captain. The bench, named five-man bench in this order. Ricky Letelli, Chris Hineson, Jason Bakuya returns. Captain America, Joseph Paulo, and David Fafita is the fifth man on the bench.

[01:26:54] You wonder what's going to happen with Sam Tangatisi, if he'll start this week or not. Yeah, one thing I noticed about the tagger, the tagger conundrum was that he looks so good running wide against the Knights. With a bit of space, I just think he's better out on the edge than he is in the middle. Completely agree. Got to give our clicks to Shane Flanagan. The team is where we want it. I mean, we can argue till we're blue in the face about the use of the bench, but look at the record.

[01:27:24] It's working. Bailey is in front of Letelli. It's a very well-balanced team, and there's no, you know, real head-scratching selection. So, hats off to the coach. Yeah, absolutely. And the bench is looking a bit better. Paulo, Hines, and Dekia are all great forwards. Paulo is probably the biggest one out of the three of them. If you add David Defeita somewhere in there, then you've got good size and good skills. So, we know how we all feel about the center on the bench, but it's been working, as you said. So,

[01:27:54] we cannot criticize too much there at the moment. Manly, their team, they have some issues. They have form issues, and they have injury issues. They're missing Martin Tapao, which is a real, he's a real asset to their team. He brings a lot of toughness. He brings a lot of go forward. Obviously, Brett Stewart is a class player. He won't be playing, and Daly Cherry Evans, massively out of form, and the other guy that partners them in the halves is not a half.

[01:28:22] I look at Manly as a team of individuals at the moment who are not gelling as a team. So, there is some skill in that team for sure, but they're not playing as a whole, and I'm hoping it won't click this week. Newman, you know I've got to give you a few stats here, all right? just bear with me. Since 2008, we've won two of 15 matches against Manly, two of 15, including one of the past 14 matches. Just hang on here.

[01:28:52] We've failed to score over 18 points in the past five matches against Manly, so we haven't scored more than 18 points. At home, after a pretty good record of winning 10 straight, which you might remember, from 87 through to 2006, we've now lost seven of the past eight matches at home, the only win being in 2012, a 17-14 victory. this bit kind of gets me a bit nervous.

[01:29:18] Five of the past eight matches between the Sharks and Manly at Cronulla have been decided by seven points or less. Yeah, I know, but we say it every time we talk about the hoodoos. If this Cronulla side had played against Manly for the last 10 years, those records would look a lot different. Yeah. I know Manly probably gives Manly a bit more belief that they can turn up and win. You know, the likes of Lion probably like playing at Shark Park.

[01:29:48] You've just got to go out there and win. And the best way to change the hoodoo, as we've said 50 times, is when you've got a stronger team, go out there and win by hook or by crook. Now, I don't think we're going to win easily. I think this will be close. I'm thinking the Penrith game again. Manly, they're not a dud side. No. Plenty of good players. I think they'll, you know, their season is starting to flounder. So they'll, they'll be keen to come out and send a message to the rest of the competition.

[01:30:15] So I'm expecting an absolute cracker of a game. And I can't wait, to be honest. You know, who's going good for him, Newman is Sasaya Vave, a former Shark. Absolutely. He's, he lost, I think he lost maybe 15, 20 kilograms over summer at Trent Barrett's request. And he's in amazing form. He's not only doing the big meters, but he's actually a bit creative running at the line. And he set up a few line breaks and tries. And I've been really, really impressed.

[01:30:45] And I'll say even a little bit proud of him. I've got a very soft spot for Vave. He's a really, really great young man. He's done a lot for our club at the community level. And he's just a great player. And the fact that he did have that determination to lose that weight, it's great to see him go going so well. It's a bummer he's in that awful jumper now, but he's been going great. And I just wanted to point out to him, and which I'm sure you know, somewhere in the recess of your fantastic brain, Trent Barrett, their coach, Vave the prop. They used to be teammates.

[01:31:15] I used to love Trent Barrett when he was at the Sharks. Now I don't like him at all. He played 36 matches for us. He did. He did. Uncle Trent, I used to call him. Now, Sam, have you got a prediction for us? Despite all those stats, which I just had to give you, I know the players don't believe in it, and the coaches, to a lesser degree, don't believe in it. I don't think it'll be a problem this week. I think on the back of amazing form, and on the back of a very big vocal crowd, because no one likes Manly,

[01:31:45] I think that we're going to get the job done. I think it won't be as close as what you're suggesting it might be, but I don't think it'll be a blowout either. I'm thinking we'll win between 10 and 16 points. Wow. Yeah. I'm going much closer than that. I'm going to say we're going to win between 1 and 4. Okay. So, we'll be down there at the ground, Samuel and I. Samuel will be in the Ivory Tower, Upper ET, sipping on champagne, having caviar, and where I will be, over with the rest of the common people,

[01:32:15] near Hogs Breath Hill. Come over and say, G'day. I believe the Radiators are playing in the club afterwards. The club is going to be going off. I am hopeful to be in the club after the game. Please come over and say hello. Have a beer. And Sam, will you venture out of the Ivory Tower and maybe come down with a couple of people after the game? Or are you going to put your tail between your legs and go back to Newtown like you do every week? That's not quite what I do, Newman, every week.

[01:32:45] This week, I'm hopeful of being there before and after because I've got a bit of time on my sleeve this Saturday. So, if you see us out and about, come say G'day. Tell us what you think of the show as long as it's nice words. If it's not nice words, just hold them in. That reminds me, Newman, I'd love everyone to go to iTunes and review us. Give us a five-star review. Tell us what you think. It all helps. Everything helps. Tell your mates about the podcast. We want this baby to keep growing like it is. And, yes, definitely come say G'day on Saturday because we're going to be there representing. All right, Sam,

[01:33:15] I hear you reaching into the folder there and getting out the seven-inch track. It's almost worn down to the nub. Play that song loud and proud, brother. And as we say every week, up the sharks. Let's go, you sharkies. Make some history. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do.

[01:35:15] Shark Cast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. He's an expert in the Caring Bar region and has his eye all across the Shire. Lifelong Sharks fan and supporter of this podcast, if you're looking to buy or sell in the region, the person you need to be talking to is Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450.

[01:35:45] Jason Hawes, Crips & Crips Real Estate.