Late, But Worth It

They might be a week late this month (blame life, adulthood, and poor time management), but Jack and Bec are back behind the mics for another jam-packed episode of Amateur Hour.

With both codes now well past the halfway mark, there’s plenty to unpack. In the NRL, the Panthers still sit atop the ladder despite a rare stumble, while the Warriors and Dolphins are circling and Fozball has officially done enough to earn the top job at Manly. The Storm are building ominously, while a few of last year’s heavyweights are looking a long way off the pace.

Over in the AFL, Fremantle’s remarkable season rolls on, Sydney are looming large, and the race around the top six is tighter than ever. North Melbourne are keeping the fairytale alive, Collingwood have work to do, and Carlton have suddenly remembered how to win footy games since their coaching change.

The duo also reflect on the powerful moments from Fight MND Round, where both codes came together for a cause far bigger than sport. Representative footy enters the chat too, with the makings of a Women’s Origin-style concept emerging in AFLW, while the men’s State of Origin series continues to deliver its usual emotional whiplash. Plus, there’s a brave and refreshingly honest admission from former Rooster Kane Evans.

This month’s Third Person In segment sees a self-confessed Bluebagger (with an unconventional spelling to match) trying to make sense of Carlton’s rollercoaster season. Can Jack and Bec help him process the chaos? Plus, 'Tell Me Something I Haven’t Thought About Lately,' sees Jack taking us back to 2013 moment which left one fan completely exposed.

Credit to the third party audio we used: sitcomespecials0016 (3:46).

Transcript

Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Hello and welcome to Amateur Amor, the sports podcast for sportsnuffy, but a couple of nuffies. I'm Jack Aubrey, and joining me as she always does and in a different location this week, Rebecca Miller Davy. How are you going, man?

SPEAKER_02 0:20

We were discussing if this was the away change rooms or the home change rooms. You've said they're the home.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

They are absolutely the home change rooms, home of the mighty Richmond Tigers.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

I think it's away change rooms because we usually record this at the State Library of Victoria. That's our home base.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Okay, well, de facto home, de facto away. We're in the Richmond Tigers recording studio. It's all very professional and very nice.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Yeah, beautiful views for the city and the MCG. We just watched a lovely sunset, didn't we?

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Yeah, beautiful, mate. Very romantic.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

We're just missing a bowl of pasta in the middle of us, aren't we?

SPEAKER_01 0:54

A bowl of pasta. I have a feeling that it's gonna be a bit fast and loose today, mate, because we're both a bit uh strung out of something.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Yes, and

Life Updates

SPEAKER_02 1:03

it probably leads us on to why we are a week late of our normal timeline as well. We are strung out. Uh preseason has hit me hard, and you have a bit of a life update.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yeah, um, so today FM reached out, and uh, no more Kyle there anymore. They said, mate, you want to come trial? I said, Yeah, I've been waiting for this. Thank God you're here. Yeah, and um they wanted, you know, a new man on the golden mic. So I just went up there, did a bit a few um sound checks with Abby Chatfield, and uh yeah, just mixing it up.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

So I'm glad this podcast has been your launching pad for that, then, Jack.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

But no, mate, not that exciting just moving this week. Um, they say it's one of the most stressful things that you do in life, and you go, no, it can't be that bad. And it's that bad. It's always bad, it's not fun. Um, so yeah, this is one of the more interesting things I've been doing lately because when you move, apparently a month falls out of your pocket and you don't do much but lift things up, put things down.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Please tell me you're bending with your knees and not your back.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

You are you are over 30 now, so I have had to take time off work for a bad back, so yes. Um, but how are you going, mate? You're the professional athlete here, uh, well into pre-season now. Yep, week six.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Have a draw as well since we were working. Yes, yes, yes. No, doing alright. Um, pre-season hasn't gone how I wanted it at the moment, unfortunately. I um week one of pre-season, I did a really small hamstring stream, level 1A, which is the lowest of low, so that's really positive.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Um and I was like, okay, no, it's like just treat it as a two-week deload, essentially. It got back, uh I had my second full session back 40 seconds in and read the same same hamstring. Again, very low level, but uh just it's probably not gonna be as quick because they're gonna be quite quite conservative. So you sort of blink, and now half the pre-season's gone, and I haven't really full trained. So um, yeah, it's been a really good test mentally, uh testing my mental toughness and resilience. There were definitely a few days where I just had to have a cry and have to have a vent to Lisa, but it's all part of the process, and you come through the other end and you just attack it head on, and one session at a time gets closer to the main group. So yeah, yeah, it is what it is. But the girls are looking good on track, so uh yeah, can't complain there. New game style is going well. Really loving watching it live and on the vision, but just want to experience the routes myself, so yeah, yeah, just itching to get in.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah, frustrating times.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Absolutely, but you know, it's footy, shit happens, and there's much worse injuries to have.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Yeah, this is true. Alright, mate,

Monthly Footy Wrap

SPEAKER_01 3:41

let's get into this month in footy, or five weeks technically, because we missed a week.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

I like to get the daily news.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Uh well over the halfway point of the season now. Uh in the NRL, the Panthers sit atop the ladder even after dropping a game over the weekend, but the Warriors and Dolphins making up some ground there. Fosball has made its mark at the Seagulls, enough to earn him the gig full time. The Storm now marching up the ladder two, while a couple of heavyweights from last year struggle.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Yeah, don't they?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Over in the AFL, Frio continuing their remarkable year, uh Sydney their closest rival, just a win off them, with some familiar faces in the mix, Geelong, Hawthorne, and Adelaide around the top six. But the real intriguing aspect of the AFL this year was always going to be the top ten final system. Um Carlton undefeated since appointing an interim coach.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah. In his hoodie.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yep, and similarly, North Melbourne now have strung some games together and they find themselves in 10th position. Um, we also got some touching moments over the fight MND round as the two codes came together. Neil Danaher unfortunately losing his fight with MND there after 12 years, I think it was. Huge battle. Uh huge battle, remarkably long time after diagnosis to Soldieron, but unfortunately Jayaro in the NRL being diagnosed as well lately. Uh, we'll talk a bit more about that later. We have the makings of a team for women's origin in the AFLW, a roller coaster of a time in the men's origin. Uh, and if we get some time, which I think we will also have a brave admission from ex-rooster Kane Evans to round us out. So let's get into it, mate.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Yeah, bit to get going. So strap yourselves in. Fast and loose, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Fast and loose, baby. Um,

NSW Blues Rabble

SPEAKER_01 5:23

so let's get this out of the way first. Yeah. Because I think this will be Yeah, yeah. Um men's origin, state of origin. So the joy last Wednesday, and it is a joy.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

As we look at the venue, that was.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

So it's a privilege to get to watch live rugby league on that scale in this state.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Yeah, and it was what only two years ago was here, which was Yes.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Yeah, lovely. The most watched game on television in State of Origin history and the most attended game in State of Origin history in Melbourne.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Over 91,000.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Yes. Um, and the atmosphere I've got to say, again, was pretty electric on the night. Yep. Can't really tell just how little Victorian seemingly know about the NRL, so there must have been a lot of people come down for the game.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Also, shout out to you for getting us $19 tickets.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Yeah, how good. Yeah, cost a little what mind you, I did pay $60 for two siders and two beers. So they catch you there. One way being a professional athlete who doesn't drink saves you. It's drinking at the footy. $14.50 for a mid-strength. Good lord. Um welcome to 2026, baby. Yeah. Um where how do you want to go about this, mate? How do you want to sum up where we where we find ourselves as New South Wales fans before should mention before the last podcast, game one hadn't even taken place, a miracle there in Sydney, a last gasp win, playing with an extra player for 20 minutes in New South Wales. Yep. And then to come down to Melbourne and be pretty comprehens comprehensively beaten in the second half there.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Yeah. One word, shit show. Is that two words or one word? Shit show? Shit show. I'm gonna say one word. Anyway, that's what it was. Uh I know there's a lot of talk about the men's team, New Swales team that is, not missing the start. Yeah. And they they were they were reasonable with the start in this game too.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Reasonable, they got points on the board, they got the first two tries.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Yeah, yeah. And Queensland were gas by the end of the first half. You had Tino go off with the HIA, uh, Ken Munster went off, and they looked out on their feet. Yeah. And then half time happens.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Half time happens. I knew something was up when Queensland were defending their second set against us in the second half, and we were pinned in our own ten, like on the fourth tackle, and I thought, oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Here we go. I actually looked at you about five minutes later. I said, Can you go in the change rooms and tell the blues boys to come out? Because the second half started and they are not here.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

They were just not there. So, Stag should never play for News of Bars ever again. Ever.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Hudson Young needs to have a good hard look at himself in the mirror this week.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Victor Radley, well, he did what he did for the Roosters, just ill discipline and cost us momentum. And then, like, why do we drop Alakadu for Dylan Lucas? Like, in in game one, he ran Cam Monster all day long, and Camster handed him pretty well, but he wouldn't have enjoyed that experience.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

No, and you expect Cameron Munster with as many games as he has, particularly at that level two, handle it well enough. He's not going to run over him every time. But look, then there were some baffling selections heading into it. And this is always a thing with New South Wales is that you know sometimes hindsight's wonderful thing. It's like you all the things that you could have predicted happening happened.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

We they um Ethan Strange is one of the best players on the field in game one.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

He was the best player. Nathan Cleary got player of the match because he won us the game, but Ethan Strange was the best player in game one.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Um and you're picking a guy who hasn't played in five weeks with through injury to have his first game back in a state of origin arena.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

It's not like Queensland would not have done that, have a player play so well and win a game in a position in game one and then make changes. The only changes you should be making to that team are force changes, and then obviously on the night, like it's been roundly criticised. The the use of a six-man bench, um, just appalling.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Why do you bring on Vanur Blake? Like, we need speed and agility. We had Appy Carasas in there, and he brings on um Vanur Blake. Like, he has rocks in his head, Lurie Daly.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

But they went through a period where there were uh 15 minutes where there were no front rowers on the field because they're seemingly just they had the rotation wrong. Like the bench was wrong anyway, and then in game one, what really changed the tempo was Brayle coming right off the bench, and they didn't even use Happy Coruscore.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

That it's and they put Aiden Stranger on with like what 15 minutes to go, and the game was gone. Like, what's the one?

SPEAKER_01 9:56

But they're putting on a putting a 5'8 on. What's he supposed to do? And yeah, I mean they've they've conceded seven tries in the second half, and this is the thing, like in in less than 40 minutes, it's like half an hour. Yeah, in a in a game of this standard, like there are just no excuses to be that poor in 30 minutes of football, 40 minutes of football. Yeah, obviously they're not working as a team because the d defence is an attitude and a team-based thing.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

The whole thing is just baffling. That that New South Wales seemingly just kind of put themselves in positions that they don't have to be in. And you run your eye over the team like man for man, if you read out the team lists, yeah, you'd pick half the New South Wales and half the Queensland players. This is not like it was ten years ago where Queensland had six genuine immortals running out, and you kind of cop your medicine and go, we're just in a period here where we can't do anything.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

This is now a team where man for man, you really have to think about who you'd have in every position from a club perspective, from but they're still falling to pieces in a second half like that. And then and then the the the narrative is just the same. Like, no, no one can agree. All the criticism comes Queensland just sit back.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

I I don't even like the fact that they reinstated Laurie in the first place, and like I'm sure I'm sure. Is it about to go one in five?

SPEAKER_02 11:24

One in five series.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

I think it's one in six. If you lose five, the first didn't you have four or five series of first?

SPEAKER_02 11:30

It's currently one in five, so it's gonna be one in six.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Yeah. So he's one from six already. Yeah. It'll be one from seven series.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

I think it'll be one from six, but that's why we call it that much hour, but anyway.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Uh, ten pounds, mate. I'll bring you the ten pounds.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

What?

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Um yeah, so look, if what are the what do they need to do for game three?

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Latrell Mitchell in for stags, Latrell Mitchell's injured, Tommy Turbo in for To, Jackson Ford in for Mitch Barnett, Ola Kawadu back in, Ethan Strange to start, Ken Murray to start in front of yo, okay. Teddy question mark.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

So this is this is a thing, yeah. Like you and ever we all do it, like you everyone blows the team up. Yeah. And it's like if after the game one they had of pretty much kept the team with the exceptions of you know bringing Hass back in, like they might needed to make maybe one change after game one. Now it's a mess. Everyone's gonna be a good one.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Well, Casey McLean was meant yeah, he was great. Yeah, freaking what is what are just soft tissues in injuries in Utah's camp as well? Mitch Mosterd is Hammy in game one and then yeah, Casey McGuire, aka McLean, did it in get in camp in game two. Also, what is with the fathers of Queensland players passing away during State of Origin? What is with that?

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Yeah, that's a bit of a curse there, actually.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

I seriously, like, it's sad, very sad, don't get me wrong. But uh it just gives them fuel and it just Yeah. It's really really poor timing for News of Owls.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Yeah. Um look, they just need to pick a f uh a fit in form team. They've they've got plenty of good options there. They can put a 17 year 17 out that can win the game. If they do, it'll be Do you genuinely believe that? That they can win?

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

I I believe that yeah, yeah, I do believe that they can win.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

You're called.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

I don't think they I don't think they will. Yeah. But if you're fair dinkam, these are these this can be the best 17 in New South Wales. They they can pick and they can put a team out there, and th there has to be some omissions and some changes, but like I say, man for man, and it will have to be a defensive discipline-based game. And it would be them probably their most famous series win ever to get out of this one yet again.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Well, all I can say about game two was there were three good things happening on that night. One, Kathy Freeman delivered the match ball. What a queen. What an absolute queen to see Kathy out there. Two, Mr. Bright's eye played when the Nisbell's Blues scored their last try as I was walking out of the stadium. And three, I gotta spend quality time with my wife. So there were positives in such a dull moment.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

I mean look very stressful looking time with your wife.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

While we're at it, also, because you organised six tickets, right? And you so it was myself and Lisa, and then there's four others which you you were doing the makeup, the configuration for. Yeah. Curtis, your friend from uh what's that cafe called?

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Kissiton.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Kissington, thank you very much. And his sister Kat.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

Sister-in-law, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Yeah. Kat was the only Queensland supporter out of that six group of six. Yeah. And I had to sit next to her.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

You didn't have to sit next to her.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

You made me sit next to a Queensland supporter, and I was like, you owe me, Jack. You owe me.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

I didn't make anyone sit anywhere that mate. It's up to you guys. You had to work it out.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Kat was lovely, but I didn't really appreciate sitting next to a Queenslander.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Yeah, that was probably a bit of a stitch up on my A bid?

SPEAKER_02 15:01

You owe me. Anyway. It was lovely to meet Curtis as well, because you've spoken a lot about him. So who I believe listens to the show. So shout out to Curtis.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Shout out to Curtis.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Um, let's move on.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

So how much of Queens are they gonna win by in game three then, mate? You miserable pessimists.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Uh I'm gonna say they're gonna win by 14.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

I'm gonna turn off at the 72nd minute mark, I reckon.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

70 seconds? Okay. Yeah. We'll go Lisa's. Lisa can be the on the clock for that one. All right, well

Australia vs Ireland AFLW Nears

SPEAKER_01 15:34

let's move over to the women's origin AFLW.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Because the women seemingly have a lot better luck over both codes in this space. But the Australian team named?

SPEAKER_02 15:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

That the whole team, or is there still bits and pieces. So 16 players currently?

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Yeah, yeah. I think they must be doing it in batches of three, I guess, then.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

Okay. Yeah. Well, it's good that you know as little as I do. Uh but Mod Monconti named for Richmond. Yes. As well as Ellie McKenzie.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They got told a few days before the actual announcer went out, and they didn't know. They got told in team meeting. Um and it was Ellie McKenzie's reaction was so wholesome, she actually started to cry.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Lovely.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

I was like, oh.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

We love that.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Oh, it was adorable. She was like, I didn't think I was a chance. I'm like, really? I knew you were in girl, like But it was beautiful and yeah, Mon was was pretty chuff too. Uh we gave them all a big hug and as we're doing it, Avine Cleary, one of the Irish players, like was going up and going, boo, which is quite funny. Um but she did give them both a hug as well. So yeah, I think that'll be great. Crossing my fingers and toes that they don't get injured. Just get up there, play a great game, and get back to Punt Road, please.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

So then you're not doing a team trip up to support or anything?

SPEAKER_02 16:51

No, we'll have Mat Shim, I think, on that weekend, I reckon.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

But get together and watch, probably.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

Yeah, I'd say so. Yep. Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Uh Guernsey's out too. What do you what do you think, mate?

SPEAKER_02 17:04

Yeah. Queen and gold. It's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Bring this roast down to a simmer. Temper your excitement, mate. Farkies.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

You're asking me about fashion?

SPEAKER_01 17:15

No. You can still um just adjacent to this is um Bella.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

She now cracks that if I'm watching a game, she can't tell what team's playing because she just thinks it's really bad branding. Like the amount of time she'll be like, who is that? Like the Gold Coast on the weekend were playing in there. They're playing in like the Chargers jersey that was like, I don't even know how to just there was just a lot going on. Like obvious that it was a throwback because of just it was sort of a 90s fashion nightmare, but far out, especially in the NRL between the sponsors and the colours, sometimes you're like, How is this working? Yeah, or it's the opposite where the white teams not St. George, it's somewhat yeah, on a yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Well, we're watching a Newcastle game, I think when they were in the high bids for the tradies. The mum's like, is that West Tigers? And I said, I can see how you think that, but no, it's not West Tigers.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah, they they roll out some awful jerseys every year in the NRL. They have some fantastic ones as well. Like I like that they do different collabs and changes and stuff. AFL's only got the um home away and indigenous pretty much.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

And AFN really have pride as well.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

So for a season when we have 12 games, we have four different jerseys.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

I don't mind that. I'm sure, yeah, I'm sure Penrith had about eight jerseys one year for 24 games. Do you think they should have the the pride in the in the men's?

SPEAKER_02 18:38

There is a pride game between uh Sydney and St Kilda.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

A pride match.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Um that has that happened yet or no?

SPEAKER_02 18:46

I don't think it has this season, no. I don't think so. Um but I reckon Sydney just they took it off, they took it off St Kilda this year because of one of their players uh going for a homophobic slur for the second time. Oh awesome. Yeah, yep, yep. So uh I think that should be one for the for the men's round, uh men's competition. Like just visibility. I know every year it happens in the women's like, why do you even need a pride round? Like, where's a straight round? But the conversations and stories it brings to life is really important.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

This I will talk about

Kane Evans' Brave Admission

SPEAKER_01 19:18

it early, but um Kane Evans coming out as gay um in the last couple of weeks, going through some hard times anyway, uh, and sitting down with James Bracie of Channel 9 um to talk about it openly for the first time.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Hadn't told his parents yet.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

He said when it goes to air, my parents will know. I'm like, wow.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Yeah. Um but just alluding to how keeping that secret had also kind of taken its toll on every other aspect of his life.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Yeah. I'm not surprised. Of course it is. Yeah, I think. If you can't be a full self, then it's it weighs down on you day after day. Like yeah, that's tough. Tough mentally, tough emotionally, tough spiritually. Like that's and he talks about, you know, taking his own life and thinking about those sort of thoughts. It's just yeah, really happy for him that he's down in the open and yeah, he can be free and be who he is meant to be.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

But all and and just like a reflection on where the game is at in that, in that Trent Robinson kind of came out and said, It's great that he's come out, but it makes me question why our organisation wasn't good enough for him that he could be his you know, be himself and come out earlier, which is great of Trent. And then also that reflection of this is why manly trying to have a pride jersey that a couple of seasons ago and having a pride jersey was so important, yeah, is because we're not there yet. We've made some big strides, but it's just it's a reminder that that's it's not easy for some people.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

And at at a time where there's not a lot of reflection on on men, men aren't necessarily painted in the best light in a lot of scenarios and rightly or wrongly so, that is somewhere that they lack that support and those resources to be like that, and that a pride round is for would be for that, a pride jersey is for that. Yeah and if you can cop having all the gambling and alcohol sponsorship on your jerseys, which do untold harm to everyone else, I think you can have something that promotes equality and a a good way of life. So well said Yeah, it'd be nice, and I think the AFL, you know, it's more likely that they'll do it first kind of thing, but I think the NRL has a something to consider there, especially off the back of what Kane said, because there's undoubtedly other you know do dozens of players who don't feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

And yeah, we need to put them in a position where they can feel like they can be their authentic selves.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

But it's also the fans of the game, too. Like if you don't see yourself represented on the field, then how are you gonna go to a game and feel safe, accepted, and welcomed? That's why AFLW and women's sports in general are such leaders in this industry. Like they you know, the LGBTIQI plus community, they can come to any game and feel really welcome, accepted and safe. Most important, they feel safe. Like it's a really great atmosphere at women's sports games. Whereas if you look at the men's sports games, like I don't know if people in the queer community feel as safe going to those sort of games.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

So yes it's about players being who they are but it's also about the wider perspective of fans and and members and and making them feel like they're a part of that game as well, no matter what code it is.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

So yeah, there's a bit of work still to be done.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

Just on uh the AFRW origin after the tangent.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

I am actually really excited for this one. I'm actually getting more and more excited the closer it gets. So I think North Sydney Oval will actually disadvantage the Irish players because they've got a lot of speed, right? They've got speed to burn these girls. So I think it's gonna uh give Australian advantage because it's gonna contain them.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

If it was like you know an Icon Park or even MCG like there'd be acres of space for these Irish girls to get out the back and put the ball into space and stuff. But North Sydney Oval is so tiny as you've seen when we play up there last year. Yeah. I actually think it's gonna help the Aussie girls. I think if I was an Irish girl be pushing for a venue change but um it's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

So just take it out to our core stadium.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

It also interesting to see the battle the coaches too you've got Darren Crocker for Australia who's a dual premiership coach and then you've got uh Connor O'Reidan who's debuting this year as an AFW head coach for Sydney Swans. So he has yet to coach an AFFW game and now he's gonna coach a representative match so yeah super super interesting. He's got Craig Starsovich the Brisbane Lions uh women's head coach he's the assistant for I for Ireland so I think Craig will be doing a fair bit of heavy heavy lifting there but Daisy Pierce is the assistant for Croc with the Australian team so uh there's some a couple of tactical geniuses there I reckon you had it here first mate so yeah look I'm really excited for it really excited for this game yeah it should be good and hopefully long live the concept and it gets moved around a bit yeah we'll see okay yeah let's jump over the AFL mate yep uh let's start with

How Do Freo Play Top of the Table Situation?

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Frio which is kind of how we closed the last podcast your friend Poppy Penny's oh yes question which I kind of waffled about and didn't answer when I listened to that back.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

So sorry Poppy but you never get comfortable like the big heavy hitters do like Freo can be at the moment they're chasing their first ever premiership after 31 years I believe. Yep they were in one grand final in 2013 losing it to Hawthorne not by much but yes 15 points I think so how do they manage the rest this season now mate? They've only lost a game so far like what what do you have to do to temper your expectations and just keep half of the course at this point just you know you're gonna play finals now it's really important for them obviously that they finish top two.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Yep what's the messaging around that at the moment what do they need to do from here on out I thought about this and stay in the obvious it's uncharted territory for that group very obvious I know but whatever they do or whichever way they go they've got to be all on the same page. So whether they just want to roll out the one week at a time cliche and be like it's business as usual blah blah blah or if they want to embrace it and be like yep we're playing finals we're going for top two they have to be on the same page I think. You can't have some people going oh yep we're just business as usual oh no no we're top two like whatever way they want to do it do it together. Otherwise I think it's gonna be hard to try and keep the ship going the same direction so um or the plane the same direction which is quite interesting because they've been doing chartered flights I read uh private flights back from Melbourne back to Perth late at night.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

That's unusual for them.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Yes. Yes well usually you're on a commercial flight right? Yeah and you probably fly out because we with the curfew you wouldn't you wouldn't fly out on a late flight. You'd fly out early morning next morning which delays your recovery and you're also cramped because you're on the same seat like whereas at tried to flight you get a whole road of yourself you get up and walk around the plane stuff like that. So and that I think it's cost them to date half a million dollars this season and that's outside the cap which I think is fair.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

I think that's a fair exclusion for the club of course you can spend whatever you want colling will get to play 17 games across the road yeah yeah there's that would that would be ridiculous if there was a penalty for that because yeah that's they're losing losing days and days yeah with this.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Yeah so super interesting that they've gone to that length and it's paying off by the by the looks of it.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Are they your premiership favourite at the moment?

SPEAKER_02 26:51

Uh I I don't I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Who is probably Sydney Yeah I would say I reckon Sydney because they've got the sort of runs at the pointy end of the season on the board.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Yes yes whereas Freo just have not been here before but you know it could be an advantage ignorance is bliss don't they say yeah so it could it could work for them but I just yeah I think Sydney at this stage.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

And with Sydney do you think the biggest test for them is the grand final itself rather than getting there?

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Yeah so I looked up the draw last night and between now and final starting Sydney Swans only have one match at the MCG.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Right.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

That is round twenty three against the bombers so you expect them.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Kicking practice and a bit of fluffing and fartars around a Saturday night.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yeah a little bit of that but I think I think the team around the team should be thinking of what what can they do in that weekend or that match to prepare them for September? Because I don't know what it is with them in grand final days but they just haven't turned up in the last decade.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

So what can they do when they get to this MCG match in round 23 to to prepare for September essentially is uh again dabbling in the amateur thing here there is then no pre-finals by anymore with the invention of wildcard round does that become the free pre-finals by I think it might so the top six get a week off while the bottom yeah checking guides. I reckon that's how it works. Anyway no real um yeah and I think we'll do Sydney have to address it as well at some point like there's a lot of players who are going to be going through this for the second or third time smashed by Brisbane and smashed by Geelong. Yep Deancox at the helm though so new coach yeah and he'll have his own ideas and and reasons why he thinks that that happen what that has happened. And but yeah Sydney in the same position as Freo like the the top two for them is massive Frio I guess the comparisons can be drawn to Adelaide last year had a really great season finished as minor premiers and just did not handle and the Canberra Raiders and the NRL just did not handle that as well. So it's imperative for the two of them that they get into the top two and win in week one. Yep we're a long way from that and a lot of water under the bridge. Oh yeah

AFL Contenders vs Pretenders

SPEAKER_01 29:22

is anyone else standing out to you there's a few teams like I said kind of hovering around that six Hawthorne Geelong always there I haven't gone with anyone who's standing out for me.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

I have looked at this from a different lens and I think the AFL will be quite concerned that their big four are all towards the south end of the ladder. You've got uh Collingwood at 11th, Carlton in fourteenth Richmond in seventeenth and Essad in 18th which is not great for the AFL and their uh back pockets so that's what's pro stood out to me is like our big four for this code are struggling at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

I think you could crowbar Hawthorne in as a the fifth or are we officially just calling it a big four there's only four five doesn't fit into four Jack. Quick math so what does Hawthorne have to do to be part of the club? Yeah I mean look it's yeah you you want some Melbourne based finals and some Melbourne based interest. Well Melbourne are a dark horse currently yeah no they've yeah I don't think many people saw them going as well this year.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

But their away games are there Achilles heel at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Yes um but changes are good as as good as a holiday for them as well just getting some of the some of not the Deadwood necessarily but some of those players out of there that obviously you heard it here first he called them Deadwood that guy with his cooking channel Deadwood he's coming for you actually uh we had some of his meal on Sunday cook one of his recipes very nice what did you have uh slow cooked beef in like in a ragu in pasta with rigatoni.

SPEAKER_02 30:59

Have pasta? Yep no no no no uh I'm going home to have leftovers tonight.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

What happened to O'Neill Paso?

SPEAKER_02 31:06

Standard stuff uh that was just an offer for me well by the time I get home I can't be bothered to cut that all up. Yeah fair enough yeah so if you were coming home I would I would make it but you're not so I'm just gonna do the leftovers in the microwave. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Yeah yeah it is I'm very excited anyway let's wrap this up I've got to go home and

The AFL Wildcard Race Heats Up

SPEAKER_01 31:30

then moving towards I think the intrigue now is yeah this top ten final series means two teams that either you look at it as a glass half full or a glass half empty. You're the pessimist of the group not always in one particular subject I am um but you're gonna either have some teams that are trending at the right time who sneak on in or some teams that didn't even deserve to be in the in the first place heading on out. Like last year we saw the Bulldogs miss out and they seemed every bit a sort of finals team. Yeah and at the moment it might not stay this way but with North Melbourne and Carlton kind of stringing together a bit of form um yeah they they can make the the series interesting and and ruin some ambitions um psychologically does sort of making it ninth and tenth place if you just bow out week one does that do much for you do you call a season a success then uh the club will yes yeah yep and you'll probably get extra uh prize money from the PA your playing group will if you make certain levels of the finals you get extra prize money as a player. So just by making it in tenth if you win or lose yep yep yep yep you sure do should an adjacent question should the state of origin and players get paid the same amount for a series win versus a series loss or should it be based on that?

SPEAKER_02 32:49

State of origin NRL?

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Yeah no that should get the same okay should you get paid the same if you cook a bad bacon egg roll or a bad or a good bacon egg roll that's that's that's apples and oranges like tennis it's if you win a tournament or lose a tournament. So why can't it be the same in team sport?

SPEAKER_02 33:08

Nah that's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Why? It's performance based there's a lot of jobs that are performance based.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

Okay. Well maybe you get an extra bonus if you win or something.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Well it's no different to if you make the finals you get paid what the club gets paid no the players no the players the players pocket it.

SPEAKER_02 33:24

There's like a there's like a prize money pool. Yeah and the pay depending on where you finish in the final series you get a bonus. It goes up the further you go the deeper you go into finals. Well okay just agreed it is a great anyway the wildcard round does a lot for the fans yes gives them hope definitely and does a lot for the back pockets of the AFL by keeping people coming to the games and the TV viewers which is mainly why I was brought in. Yeah I know I think we discussed this maybe last year on our potty and we're like oh wildcard round that sounds ridiculous but now you're like oh actually it does add a lot of intrigue and interest and yeah you're sort of following along saying who's gonna get those last two spots.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

It's an in yeah it's we're they're in the entertainment business. Yeah. And it'll be a top ten final series anyway with Tassie coming in it's not gonna be quite look the the ridiculousness of is it of it is that none of none of those teams are going to win a premiership they're not gonna win five finals games in a row. That's just too much to ask already without a break and that it just makes it really important that you don't finish in sixth now like sixth? Seventh from seventh down ten, nine eight seven yeah so it's really important you do finish top six if you have an ambition of winning the premiership yes

Carlton 2.0

SPEAKER_01 34:47

um and just quickly cut with Carlton does their winning streak and it's five in a row without Vosse now and against some pretty handy opposition as well does that prove that he was the problem similarly to uh Ant Anthony Seabold at the Seagulls or is sometimes just a change as good as a holiday and how have you experienced this at the Tigers now?

SPEAKER_02 35:09

Because it hasn't happened in season for you but it has happened after a a a period of difficulty yes yes change is good as good as a holiday I do wonder what Vossi's thinking sitting back on the lounge watching his team go on this absolute run. Yeah he would genuinely be happy for the club and the players. Of course yeah he would he wouldn't he wouldn't wish them any ill will like he'd be genuinely happy for them which is yeah which is what you want but I just think it's a it's a you can see the pressure valve is is off some of these players like they're just playing with freedom that they didn't have before. They're not weighed down by any expectations or media hate or whatever. It's just it's just football. They're going out playing football the new interim coaches even flip some people around playing in different positions like it's just a new set of eyes to look at it sort of thing and and even those new set of eyes are relatable at Richmond like the way Shared some players and put them in different positions like you know I haven't seen that that person the back line but that now they're in the back line like well that person's never been the forward line but they're playing the forward line it's just yeah a new set of eyes and a new way of thinking brings so much energy and a renewed freshness as well which yeah changes as good as a holiday.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

I do disagree with that saying in general but yes in a football sense if you're a Carlton fan or a Seagulls fan yeah I think just and this year there's that there's proof across both codes um and a couple of teams.

SPEAKER_02 36:38

Yeah has been fascinating hasn't it watching the interim coaches also like Fosbor he's got a full-time contract now where's the Carlton interim coach I can't recall his name hasn't he's he's openly said he's not not uh not wanting the job he has he's not gonna put his hand up apparently so but the best way to get the job is to show that you can do the job which he's doing pretty damn well at the moment with five winds in a row.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

It's a bit like having a fun uncle or auntie isn't it like they don't want the job full time they're childless by choice but they're fun you know it must be like yeah we'll just you know play around what have we got to lose sort of thing or just have a bit of a kick around and then you know all of a sudden you're winning games and yeah I think the the freedom when you don't have that lack of expectation on yourself or on the group must be tremendously freeing as well because and Carlton but down in the dumps you got not you got nothing to lose so it's good to see what they can do now with the pressure off and potentially save their season and save a bit of face and actually build towards something.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Yeah I and I like I know we say pressure off and now we're going through a change at Tiger Land in the W program I I feel like there's more pressure at the moment. Oh there's pressure on you mate yeah yeah God must be awful well you've got a whole set of new coaches to prove yourself to again which is a great place to be to be in the outside that comfort zone so yeah I don't know if that changes if you have a coach change in season like Carlton have right now but it seems that the pressure's off for them but I feel like in my situation I feel like the pressure's on yes slight slight uh difference I guess yeah uh

NRL Contenders and Pretenders

SPEAKER_02 38:19

all right let's jump over the NRL and have a look at some of the contenders and pretenders over there.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Yependers and pretenders the poet don't even know it Penrith I I don't really want to talk about them do you they are cruising it's theirs to lose ground control to me Jum um fast and loose baby yeah I mean routing the Tigers 68 nil wasn't enough for you I don't know what we'll be a team that you thought was maybe turning the corner a little bit back in the dungeon watching 17 men being um I can't think of the word violated I don't know um but Warriors and Dolphins um the top four from last year in the NRL the Raiders the Bulldogs the Storm and the Broncos Broncos were like 11th 12th 13th and 14th a couple of weeks ago and the storm picking themselves up yeah but the rest of the top four it ain't happening for them this year so it's seen the Dolphins and the Warriors now look like they're the closest competition that the Panthers have.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

Aren't Newcastle Knights fourth they might be yeah and I almost fell off my chair when I saw that let's bring up actually let's bring up the ladder right now I think the roosters the roosters mighty roosters one Sunday evening the NRL ladder is so confusing though. What do you mean confusing?

SPEAKER_01 39:48

Because it's like because there's a buy every round it's like you have to look at the wins yeah right oh so yeah that the games played a pretty even so the the top six is a good reflection.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Penrith Warriors uh two in separate them and then yeah the Dolphins the roosters and Newcastle all nine from fourteen yeah manly eight from fourteen and then yeah South's seven from thirteen and the sharks round us out with eight from fourteen but honestly I don't think we're gonna talk about the sharks ever again on this podcast we're not gonna talk about a shark and the park in the dark are we sharks are so boring I just I don't know I don't know they're pretenders they always have been they're just yeah you see the contenders pretenders they are they are the captain of pretenders yeah it's just um maybe they'll make the eight maybe they won't no one really care they'll get they'll get bundled out and we'll just yeah see you next year they'll keep playing out of their construction pit in the Shire sorry sharks fans uh but warriors and dolphins I think to me that they're the clearest rivals to the Panthers at present would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_02 41:00

Yes yes and I I actually feel like Warriors are going about their business so quietly but maybe it's because we live in Melbourne and hardly any rugby league news. Also that was another thing about Origin like you didn't hear it absolute boo hoo about it like there was nothing on the news nothing no signage nothing. Yep there was about you know some uh news of like the men's AFL training teams that day like like this is Wednesday midweek you know teams have been announced the next day for AFL but nothing about Origin like incredible anyway sorry sidetrack I think Warriors are going about their business quietly as I said yeah top two is in important for both those teams Warriors and Dolphins only one can fit into it yeah more so important for Warriors I think the mental the mental barrier it offers opposition teams to go over there and try and beat them is really really tough.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

Yeah that's a that's tough going there conditions could be anything there wet cold whatever no matter the fact of September won't matter. Yeah um so I think it's more important for Warriors to be top two than dolphins to be top two yeah and sort of a a random thing of if I was the Warriors or the Dolphins and I missed out on second I would prefer to play Penrith in week one.

SPEAKER_02 42:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

I don't I don't think there's any like I don't think Penrith will be worried about many other teams so then if they finish first they're not gonna be too worried about who finishes fourth. But I think the Warriors and the Dolphins could really worry them. If I was the Dolphins I'd love to play Penrith week one. Okay. I think they've got the points in them to beat Penrith. Yep and the Warriors yeah I mean they're similar to Freo 30 odd years now without a premiership it'll have to be addressed at some stage and the difference in the Warriors when they're having a good season is they win the games that they're supposed to win. Yeah when they just that they played the Cowboys on the weekend big occasion in Christchurch I think it was Wellington Christchurch I think Amateur but yeah they just handled the occasion really well and they got the result that everyone expected. That's when you know the Warriors are on most seasons they'll you know they have a few upsets and a few you know but then they'll struggle to c to account for someone at home where they really should whereas this year they're just getting through their work. The two games they've lost this season in New Zealand are against your mob the Quinella Sharks and West Tigers yeah right yeah those are the two games they've lost at home this season uh and the Dolphins are on a a seven game tear now they had a few dusty games to start the year but seven in a row is pretty big for them and where they're at is a club only their fourth season now three four five six yeah six seven nah it's definitely not six seven it's definitely not that much but yeah look it always good when there's new teams in the mix. Uh are we thinking of anyone else how are you feeling about the roosters mate your club absolutely not their football does not stack up in

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Finals. They have one of the worst completion rates in the competition.

SPEAKER_01 44:03

And you just feel like you're used to the roosters starting slow in campaigns, but we're kind of getting that stage now where you'd like to see a little bit more consistency from them.

SPEAKER_02 44:12

And Sammy Walker's making his debut in Origin and done well in the first two games. Like it's gonna it's gonna come back to get him as well. Like it's his first first year experiencing the week in, week out rigmarole of NRL added on to the origin load, I guess. Yeah, that's gonna be a big test for Sammy Walker as well. And DCE, he is well past his use by date. Well past his use by date. And we got him for another year.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

So Oh really? I didn't realise he was.

SPEAKER_02 44:41

I think I think so.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

So anyway, um yeah, if if Osborne wants to take him back, that'd be great. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

Retender sender. Yes. Um The Storm attempting to do a Panthers of last season, back from the dead. I think they're on four or five in a row.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

Yeah, it's pretty hard to ask. Like they're gonna have to come from the bottom half of the bottom, uh bottom half of the top eight, which would be a tough ask, I think.

SPEAKER_01 45:03

I'll forget premiership, but are they gonna make the finals?

SPEAKER_02 45:07

Begr begrudgingly, I'll say yes.

SPEAKER_01 45:09

Yeah, unfortunately, yeah they're just too good the storm.

SPEAKER_02 45:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

Um, and yeah, they're starting to get a roller now. Too many good players.

SPEAKER_02 45:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:18

They seem to have figured out what's gone wrong.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

So damn it.

SPEAKER_01 45:22

Yeah. Bloody hell. But yeah, I don't see that.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

It's nice watching them lose seven in a row.

SPEAKER_01 45:27

Uh no, look, that's uh yeah, very parallel to the Panthers of last year. No one's gonna want to play them in the finals if they get there. So challenges on them is making it. Um, but yeah, I wouldn't want to can't see them get the premiership. Anyone else? You want to talk about the NRL or no. Uh

Fight MND Transcends Footy

SPEAKER_01 45:47

so as we mentioned at the top, the fight MD round a couple of weeks ago, the traditional fixture at the MCG, Collingwood versus Melbourne. Yep. Um, off the back of some pretty sad news for the club with the figurehead of that movement, Neil Danaher, losing his battle.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:04

Um, and in a similar timeline, I think just before Jai Arrow um diagnosed from the NRL announcing his immediate retirement, obviously, from the South Sydney Rabbidos, and a lot of initiatives around that. Um, a jersey worn by the Rabbid's to raise some money, a white out with just his name on the back of the jersey. Um, but also in a big moment invited down by the Collingwood Football Club, they were hosting the the Fight M M D, the big freeze um just gone, and having him toss the coin before the game and having him as their special guest for the day.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

Um can we see more collaboration like that between the codes? Now I think there's been some sort of talk about having a completely having a fight MND round f in both games. Uh Beanies for Brain Cancer is a similar thing that we do in the NRL every year.

SPEAKER_02 46:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:57

But could you see that happening now?

SPEAKER_02 46:59

Maybe. Maybe, but I don't think they're going to give up Bennies for Brain Cancer.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

Well, they could do both, but yeah, I mean it's a stran it would be slightly strange to have two beanie themed rounds.

SPEAKER_02 47:10

Yes. Um, in terms of any other collaboration opportunities between NRL and AFL, I think that will not happen over Peter Bellandi's dead body, I reckon. He hates the AFL, he hates it.

SPEAKER_01 47:22

But why do you think that just because they're two domestic football codes played in winter, there's this sort of appetite for them to tear each other down? Like it's acceptable that you can follow multiple sports in this country, most people do. Yeah. But when it comes to that, for some reason It's all about the money. But but is that is that really it's this you know, sense on the dollar. Like you've got the traditional Rustadon fans of both codes. Like, are you are we I how often do you hear about someone genuinely from one walk of life transitioning, if you will, completely to the other? It's like you've quite on, it's not a transition, it's an add-on.

SPEAKER_02 48:01

Yeah, it's a bundle.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

Yeah, I I just I just find the whole thing kind of tiresome tiresome as an argument. Like, yeah, get real. Yeah, and it's a product of where you grow up and and that thing. And there's some strongholds of both codes that will never be breached. You're never gonna get into Western Sydney the same way that the NRL does, and then you're never gonna get into Melbourne. I mean, it's one of the most criminally underdeveloped parts of the NRL is Melbourne because there's so many people live here and they're so sport crazy, but none of them I mean that's kind of the proof, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 48:33

Melbourne, but I think by 20, I don't know if it's 2030 or before 2030, but Melbourne's gonna be the biggest city in Australia.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

Yeah. And we'll overtake Sydney. No talk of a second team here in the NRL. Oh, no. And like likewise in the markets of there'll never be a third team in Sydney in the AFL.

SPEAKER_02 48:51

Nah, you couldn't think.

SPEAKER_01 48:52

There'll never be a third team. Oh well, maybe there will be a third team in Queensland. I know Queensland's a big place, but similarly, there's not gonna be a third team in Adelaide, there's not gonna be a third team in Western Australia. So I just yeah, anyway, I find the whole entire the whole argument quite tiresome.

SPEAKER_02 49:06

Could be another episode.

SPEAKER_01 49:07

Could be another episode. So we're not gonna see more collaboration between the codes, but this was really nice, and it's good to see that when it's important.

SPEAKER_02 49:14

Yeah, absolutely. And it was just so sad for Jai Arrow. He's 30 years of age, that is so young, and it seems to have advanced quite a quite a fair way with his speech. So you just yeah, you feel for him and his family.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

Yeah, young family, and yeah, it just yeah, it's something that deserves the coverage that it's gotten. Yeah. Um, and yeah, it'd be nice to think that maybe the NRL can yeah, think about how that they can collaborate with the AFL having done so much work already to to capitalise on that. Because that's more important at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_02 49:46

Absolutely. And the uh Fire M and D socks this year were ace.

SPEAKER_01 49:51

Pure Fire?

SPEAKER_02 49:52

Yeah. I don't really get beanies because I already have four beanies at home, I don't need any more. But the socks, you always need new socks, so yeah, they were pure fire.

SPEAKER_01 50:02

Yeah, uh socks, socks are great.

SPEAKER_02 50:05

Can't go wrong.

SPEAKER_01 50:06

You're always gonna need new ones.

SPEAKER_02 50:07

Yeah, absolutely.

Third Person In

SPEAKER_01 50:09

Well, mate, let's get into this third man in, I reckon.

SPEAKER_02 50:13

Okay, so again, we're notorious for dropping this last minute on our family, friends, friends of the show, all that jazz. I was walking a training this morning and literally voice memo this guy. Um never voice memoed him ever before, so and he said it was an interesting choice, but I only had a limited time, so I had to get the message across quite quickly. Anyway, so it is Callum Smith, and Callum smells sm smells. Callum smells.

SPEAKER_01 50:41

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

Callum spells his name with one L and Smith with a Y, which is a very unique spelling.

SPEAKER_01 50:49

So Callum spells his name with one L. Yep. And sorry? And Smith with a Y. Yes. Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_02 50:58

Yes. I know Callum because he's good mates with Lisa through high school, right? Yes. So he goes way back with Lisa.

SPEAKER_01 51:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:04

And they went to Bali just after high school, their whole friendship gang, so eight or ten of them.

SPEAKER_01 51:09

Dangerous.

SPEAKER_02 51:10

Yeah, in Bali. And they had a cocktail hour at the uh resort they stayed at, and Lisa and Callum still tell the story to this day, and they were always down there bang on four or four p. Of course, mate. And they went through the whole cocktail list. One's at the top went to the bottom, the other per person's at the bottom went to the top, and they would order or always order two at a time so when they finished one, they had the next one ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 51:31

Yep, of course. Yep. So these are professionals, professional drinkers.

SPEAKER_02 51:37

So this is Callum Smythe, third person in.

SPEAKER_00 51:42

So my question is more around the Carlton vibe. So as you know, we're on a bit of a tear at the moment, five in a row, we're up and about. But as a long-suffering Carlton supporter, there is always a looming feeling that we're just gonna throw this all away. And at the I feel both optimistic and pessimistic all at once, and I don't know how to feel ever. And I want to know what I should be feeling. Is this a normal feeling? Um, and as a side, what do you think Lance Whitnall is up to nowadays?

SPEAKER_02 52:21

Who?

SPEAKER_00 52:21

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

Okay, I don't know who Lance is. Okay, we're gonna have to come back to you on that Lance one. Thanks, Callum.

SPEAKER_01 52:29

Okay, homework for next time.

SPEAKER_02 52:30

Um, but yes, Callum is a long-suffering Carlton supporter. So I thought it might be something along those lines. And thank you very much for for doing that the day of, mate. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 52:41

Would you like to take it away, Jack Aubrey?

SPEAKER_01 52:44

What was the question? Because this is the thing. Then we then we talk a little bit and then I kind of forget it, and then I answer the question that I think that I want to answer.

SPEAKER_02 52:51

How should he be feeling? He's a long-suffering blue bluebagger fan.

SPEAKER_01 52:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 52:55

Right now he's feeling both pessimistic and optimistic after they've gone on a five-match winning streak.

SPEAKER_03 53:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:01

And as we've discussed earlier, the wildcard round is insight for Carlton.

SPEAKER_03 53:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:06

So how should this die hard bluebagger feel right now?

SPEAKER_01 53:12

Feel optimistic. Always feel optimistic. I think that's I think that's wrong.

SPEAKER_02 53:17

Bow wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:18

But that's yeah, that's Beck's style of supporting.

SPEAKER_02 53:22

Yes, correct.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

Because Beck's not isn't long suffering. There's only been so much suffering for you as a as a fan, like we t talked about last time. Yeah, like it's be optimistic, because that what's the worst that can happen? You'd be let down, but are you just that can happen?

SPEAKER_02 53:40

Just have your heart broken.

SPEAKER_01 53:41

You don't want to look back and you don't want to look back and you didn't enjoy the ride. So if they if these wing wins keep stacking up, you want to say that you you enjoyed and you had belief, like, yeah, realistically, probably, you know, not gonna do much, but leave that for everyone else. Enjoy the ride. I think some of the most enjoyable seasons I've had as a fan is you just want your you just want your expectations to be exceeded. So they're pretty low, and they've been pretty low for Carlton up to five weeks ago. So now it's going, well, enjoy it. Enjoy the ride.

SPEAKER_02 54:13

But the risk you do to enjoy the ride and say give it to a fan who you've just been on the weekend, like it's gonna come back twofold when they get to the end of the season and don't make the finals.

SPEAKER_01 54:22

That's the beauty of sport, mate.

SPEAKER_02 54:24

Well, also, Callum is a loving father to Chloe, who's a young, young girl, who's number one, I don't think, Chloe, but uh Chloe's mum is a D's fan as well. So it's very interesting. I would be gone for that, I'd be bringing her up at a as a D's fan, I reckon.

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Yeah, but look, and that's I think just well, five weeks ago, if you say to a Carlton fan, what what would you be happy if you finished in ninth or tenth and just got to go to a finals game, they'd be happy with that. Yes. So just be optimistic about that happening. You you put yourself in that position now, just enjoy that part of it.

SPEAKER_02 54:58

So glass half full, keep filling it up, you reckon.

SPEAKER_01 55:01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 55:02

Yep, go to the fridge, fill it, fill her up.

SPEAKER_01 55:05

I mean, some of the greatest stories in sports are that it's it's the exceeding of the expectations, right? Those are the things that you want to be around. And the hardest emotions are thinking about this today, the hardest emotions or the best emotion is relief, the relief of doing well or pulling off, and then the hardest one is disappointment. So yeah, you kind of gotta manage those. You don't want to build yourself up too much.

SPEAKER_02 55:31

Okay, well, when Callum's crying, I'll offer your shoulder to cry on then.

SPEAKER_01 55:35

Well like that. Because you said be optimistic. Let's do a quick deep dive, right?

SPEAKER_02 55:38

So a quick deep dive. That's a very oxy that's an oxymoron. A quick deep dive.

SPEAKER_01 55:43

Carlton R coming. 14th.

SPEAKER_02 55:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 55:48

So six from fourteen, but five of their last five. So what they have to win probably This is such a male thing, calculating all the points. I don't do it. Ten more games, is that right? 24 games in a season?

SPEAKER_02 56:03

You're the you're the male here.

SPEAKER_01 56:05

Quick deep dive. Let's say they have to win eight of their last ten. No, six of their last ten.

SPEAKER_02 56:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 56:16

That's doable.

SPEAKER_02 56:17

That is doable.

SPEAKER_01 56:18

And then we'll we'll let's have a look at their draw. If they play Essendon twice still, they play West Coast on the weekend, then they play Richmond. Then they play Hawthorne, then they play Collingwood. Gold Coast, Brisbane, Saints, Bulldogs, and they finish with the Dockers.

SPEAKER_02 56:37

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 56:38

So you're probably seeing.

SPEAKER_02 56:40

Callum, book your tickets, mate. Book your tickets right now. There you are.

SPEAKER_01 56:44

So you're saying West Coast and Richmond, well, that's two. Collingwood, Saints. Yeah, look, it's gonna be hard. And there's a quick deep dive right there. But five or six from ten, Callum, it's doable, mate. It's doable. Believe, believe. But if you have to beat Freo in the last round, they could rest players. They can already have it signed. They probably won't, but they could. Hey, Denadre, this is the exciting thing about it, is doing autistic maths on late at night on a weekday.

SPEAKER_02 57:16

Okay, that's your third person in for uh your fifth episode.

SPEAKER_01 57:20

Wonderful. All right, mate.

Predictions

SPEAKER_01 57:22

Well, let's get into our predictions for the next month ahead.

SPEAKER_02 57:25

Okay, or three weeks, really.

SPEAKER_01 57:26

Or three weeks, because this is a tight turnaround this one.

SPEAKER_02 57:29

Yes. So people will be disappointed with the five-week wait for this episode, but the good news is they get a three-week wait for the next one. So it all balances out. Anyway, my predictions. For NRL, I'm gonna say Roosters NRLW because NRLW starts uh first weekend of July. They're gonna be undefeated in the first three rounds of the Home and Oasis season.

SPEAKER_01 57:49

Okay, I believe that. They run us up last year. Premiers. Premiers, premiers, premiers.

SPEAKER_02 57:54

No Broncos, they lost to Broncos.

SPEAKER_01 57:55

That's what I thought.

SPEAKER_02 57:56

Yeah. Anyway, tried to erase that. AFL. I'm gonna say Jeremy Cameron to overtake Ben King on the 2026 Coleman Medal leaderboard at our next podcast. Currently, Ben King is on 42 and Jeremy Cameron is on 39 goals after 15 rounds.

SPEAKER_00 58:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 58:15

So I think Jeremy Cameron's gonna make up the gap and go past Ben King, even though the Cats have a bye.

SPEAKER_01 58:23

Okay, my two are in the AFL. For the top of the table clash in a few weeks between the Sydney Swans and the Free Mantle Dockers. Yeah. Uh Freo will win that by four goals. Wow. And New South Wales to win game three, state of origin by two.

SPEAKER_02 58:42

That will do me. I'm done. Good night.

Something You Haven't Thought About Lately... Jack's Roman Empire

SPEAKER_01 58:48

And to play nicely into that, the uh the final segment for the potty as always is something you haven't thought about lately. And Beck, this is my Roman Empire. A state of origin. Do you know what that means?

SPEAKER_02 59:00

No.

SPEAKER_01 59:00

It's like the thing that you think about. There's some like this is I'm not the right age anymore, but like everyone's got something. Apparently, men think a lot about the Roman Empire. I personally I don't, but most people have something that they think about a weird amount amount that means sort of nothing.

SPEAKER_02 59:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 59:18

So maybe go home and do some research and we can talk about your Roman Empire next time. And I've got a few. But mine was 2013 State of Origin Decider, where I'm with a minute to go, and New South Wales about to lose their eighth series in a row and trailing by two. Uh Streaker made his way into the play wearing nothing but a pair of trainers. Uh, not the the best looking Streaker you've seen. Well tanned, wasn't he? Well tanned. Um, with a minute to go. It also highlighted an inconsistency in the rule where then Queensland got a new set of six because there was a pitch invader, even though there was last tackle, there was just no replay of the and he'd run 80 meters from the wrong side of the field.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:03

He's quite agile and had some speed.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:05

Yeah, and all of a sudden there's six dudes and hivers in the play as well trying to wrap him up and get him off. But the little no fact is that he'd done the same thing at a semi-final two years beforehand at the Sydney football stadium with the Warriors versus the West Tigers. So I'll just never understand how a bloke of that stature could get all his kid off, no one notices, and race 80 metres downfield to get into the play of the biggest football game of that year.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:33

Maybe we'll have to get him on third person in.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:36

I'll see if I can find Waddy Hollandwood. That's the thing. I know his name. I can remember his name. How cooked is that?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:43

If you get him on third person in, that would he might be on that, like um That would do me.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:50

That you know those celebrity things where you can pay them to do a video.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:54

Oh yeah, swish or something. Swish, I think it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:57

Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:59

I was gonna get um uh the the guy who plays um Brett in Kath and Kim to do one to Bella for her birthday. It's like 80 bucks, that's good value.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:11

Oh, that's that's cheap as chips. Yeah. Easy, that's almost three stars at the MCG.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:17

The other thing that was annoying about that too, and it's always annoyed me, is like you can only get certain combinations of things as well. Like you can you can't get four spirits at a time for reasons known only to the MCG.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:29

I'm sure there's some T's and C's in some document somewhere you can find.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Just the nanny state of you can get drunk, but only so quickly. We'll just make you line up more.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:41

Well, it's uh one of my mum's favorite lines. You have you tried six beers in a zinger box to get to sleep?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:47

I think that's one of my mum's favourite lines as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:50

I reckon she says it's probably her Roman Empire, I reckon.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:53

And I don't reckon General Carolyn have had a zinger box this decade. Last couple of decades.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:00

Oh, well, it's apt that we actually finished on that because KFC is a major sponsor of Richmond. So that's a great, great way to round it out.