Tiger Town Podcast Episode 91 - Spoonbowl Is HERE! Final Round Preview

him put him on his back thirston right foot kick down the ground into the end goal almost Hodson cuts it off Hodson taken by Norton he took in late Marshall skips away Marshall skips away Marshall's still going Marshall's got Richards coming up outside now inside Richards pursued he pushes jent away [Music] good evening everybody Tuesday the 3rd of September 2024 you're back for another episode of The Tiger Town podcast with your host Zack and Toby brought to you as always by best onr digital best onr digital.com digital marketing agency that looks after the little guy thank you very much to best on ground for their support how are you this evening bud fantastic Champion I am fantastic um look we are still two wins on the trot six points ahead let's go six points ahead ahead of what they're not where we were then yeah yeah that's true six points ahead of where we were a couple of weeks ago yeah you know and you know why is that not something to cheer about it is I mean 18 points 150% win percentage up on our last two years absolutely zero to complain to complain about yep nothing to complain about I was talking to um talking to bloke at work today and um he's going oh spoon Ball's coming spoonball and I'm like mate I kid you not if we win that to us Tigers fans that would be like winning the Grand Final it's funny because yeah you need to you need to clarify what you mean by win though we wna we want to win the match want to win the match not yeah true I think I think a lot of people get what I was getting at there but yeah oh it's important to seek clarification in this world manate it's 2024 there's all kinds of crazy innuendo and what do they call it misinformation out there disinformation yeah look at the end of the day the uh the game coming up on Friday night is in my most recent memory cuz I'm getting old and my long-term memor is going nuts I remember a bigger game of the Tigers in the last five years and it's for us not getting The Wooden Spoon oh that's depress I said it in in all seriousness a couple of weeks ago that it's a credit to the side and the squad and Benji and everybody at the club that they haven't just packed it in because a lot of us were resigned to it being almost a fa comple what four six weeks ago and they've managed to pull a couple of wins against the odds missing key players too might I add um and put us in a position where we can challenge to to not run dead last and a lot of people talk about the fact there zero difference between 16 and 17 there's not zero difference there's there's a a world of difference and very little all at the same time but you can choose to what you you can choose to focus on what you want to focus on it's all perspective right so you know if we look at who is in that side coming this week and we will later in the show and we look at what the club's doing and where it's going the trajectory it's on being able to find some form at the back end of a season to move away from something that many people had accepted was Our Fate for now it's almost like it's a somewhat of an early little bump of improvement in some ways at the very least it's something to get a little bit excited about the back end because this could have very easily been us looking for maybe our fourth win and we could be 6 eight points Dead last on the bottom of the table but we're not no exactly and like you said it's it's full credit you know credit to the boys credit to the boys is because not only you know they've they've rallied and they've found something to play for but you think about the age of that team to have that mentality right now yeah you know that just shows the competitiveness in the guys coming through like we talk we've talked at length about a lot of of the I guess the track record a lot of our Juniors coming through in the fact that they never really experienced consistent losing and so that mentality is still there that enthusiasm and you know I guarantee you that push while you know was Benji most likely getting them up for the game on the field the push as I've said copious amounts of times is coming from the youth yeah and how that doesn't excite a Tigers fan you know given everything that we've gone through over the last well three years especially but also the last 12 years oh tough uh tough personal impress so the boy last week we got a bit of a taste at what a West tiger side with a 16 next to it would look like and that was good or be it brief and then thank you to the dragons for absolutely bottling both their own finals chances and our chance to sit in 16th at least for a week so yeah good work dragons on that one but what it did highlight to me is that Paramount are no easy beats the fact that our side and their side are coming 16th and 17th uh is interesting because you know there a fair argument that we're probably the worst side in the comp this year but there is a bunch of others that I think are fortunate to be a couple of wins ahead of both of their sides yeah Titans um even the way the Warriors have played at times this year they've been awful the way camber have played at certain times this year they've been pretty bad as well souths obviously within a whisker in fact I think it's oh it's no no sorry it's no longer possible but at one stage South within a chance of the spoon too a decent chance and there a chance I think a chance mind you um of finishing 16th themselves with one of either P or us lead frogging them if they get a shellacking against the roosters and whoever wins our game um puts a bit of a score on so yeah it it it what it is in that regard but what I was trying to say originally is that um e have been playing pretty good footy I mentioned last week I think they beat the Warriors unexpectedly at home about a month ago and then they've been in the last couple of games that they've played and then they got the dragons on the weekend I don't know that their defense is exactly something you want to model your game up on 44 to 40 on the weekend but they don't lack for points paramet no they don't and that's definitely seems to be their model at the moment is will just try to score more points than you because watching that game against the eels against the the dragons it looked like neither side knew how to defend you know I was watching the dragons going this is pathetic like this was that was horrible defense in that first half and then it was almost the reverse in the second the eels was horrible like I think the eels were very lucky to get away with that if I'm being honest it did look like the E put the Que in the rack though when they when they're 44 points to whatever they were 20 or whatever it was and then you know everyone's every team's been a victim of that at some point the other except maybe the storm but still if they've got that in them you know there's I think that for how for how poor this season has been in a lot of the one thing we have said time and time again is they never they've never really looked out of the fight apart for maybe two games yeah they've always looked like trying to yeah it's been far less than more um and it's going to be interesting this weekend because it's going to be a Harlem Globe trots game I find it hard to think that either side either the coach knowing that param have got an inter room there with Barrett at the moment and knowing Benji being Benji from what we can tell so far aren't going to say something along along the lines of go and play footy I can't imagine that they're going to want to get into the grind in what is going to be you know a bit of a jovial sort of pseudo celebration of a last game in a way they're going to make a bit of a thing of it which is which is cool because it the concept in being playoff for last spot is a bit embarrassing but you know if they're going to make it into something I can see a lot of attacking football coming on Friday evening and depending on what the weather's doing haven't had a look there yet yeah actually that's not a bad idea what is the weather doing on that day so there it's projected as fine in good conditions I don't know how accurate the NRL site is but yeah so you know the 44 to 40 could be a could quite possibly be something we see repeated especially given again how bad our edges have been over the course of the year and once again we've got more changes and more underdone players on the edge just out of pure necessity yeah yeah it's uh you know obviously we're going to talk about the lineup coming up but it's um it's definitely been something of concern this year it has been now Edge defense and you've said it you know numerous times it's probably it's not more than it's not for a lack of structure it's for a oneoff sort of individual lapses in concentration structurally would look better if not great um but yeah luy just said I think more so the edges have have fallen apart from one-on ones or from just individual bad decisions rather than getting structurally stri over and over and over I think we looked our best earlier in the year when olum was playing and he was jamming in really well and really perfectly and it was really shutting down a lot um but then he started to get his timing off and and all went to hell in a hand basket after that but that's right we're not going to dwell on things that happen earlier this year no we got we got the season WRA coming up to to do that so we'll probably do that next week yeah so for everyone list thing the plan at this stage is we're going to today in this show we're just going to talk about what we've got coming up with spoonball which is exciting we'll get into where we think that game's going to go and um all the sort of premonitions around that Bowl predictions and whatnot first and foremost though before that we're probably gonna have a brief little chat about a couple things maybe the board stuff um and we'll talk about um the signings and possible signings coming up as well but yeah so next week I think the plan is to do our our full season wrap up which will be interesting as well and so keep an eye out on socials as well because I think we're going to pose a couple of questions uh to our listeners so if you want to uh make a comment or whatnot look out for our posts on on Facebook in particular maybe on Instagram as well shoot us a message and we'll see what you guys thought of 2024 where would you rank it what grade would you give it um and sort of where are we heading moving into the offseason which at a which is at a time when we're probably feeling as a fan base if not optimistic probably more optimistic than we have been in the past possibly yeah look I think every Tigers fan for the better part of 12 years have uh been lured into a false sense of optimism and security but I think anyone that has a fair knowledge of the game or even a you know passing knowledge of the game can see that the green shoots are happening the you know we we'll talk about the board stuff later on but there was if you guys haven't seen the interview with richo about a lot of that stuff that came out it's on YouTube it's on the S it's all that have a listen it'll put everything at ease it's he's basically got ahead of the narrative as he does all the time but what he's said in there is um our our path is not going to change our path is not going to Dev in anyway no matter what outside noise is trying to do and you can see that we've put a lot of stock into our Pathways quite heavily this year and if that doesn't get you excited like it's a it's a different feeling again and I say I think I said this the last like we've been doing this show now for three years I think I've said this every year so far it's just feels like a different thing I definitely I know I definitely said at the start of this year um but we we were talking more about onfield changes there and the thing that's very very evident in terms of what where the where the potential I guess up uising or not Uprising but the the potential trajectory of let's say up uh is from the board from the internal All That Jazz and that's [ __ ] I can't remember the time that I've had faith in our CEO like there was Marina go who I definitely didn't have faith in there was good old Lee who threw his toys out of the Court can't even remember who was in between that if I'm being honest that's how much that's how useless well I know that Lee wasn't a CEO I don't even think Marina was a CEO she might have just been the chair Marina go was Marina go was chairman chairman and and that's yeah and that's what Lee had tell took over and then bario Farrell's taken over from that yeah yeah so it was it was Bloody Pasco who was before Pasco I don't even know that uh the CEO I go I'd have to go back and have a look um noise was in there way before uh I'm going to miss a couple every now and again there's a question that you do know but whatever reason it's not front and center in your mind yeah you got to go looking through the uh the vault at the back to try to have a look but but yeah like and there's a there was another article I'm not sure if you read it but I have a feeling it was a Daily Telegraph and they were talking about why things are it's actually a positive article which is really weird maybe it was a Sydney Morning Herald it was Michael chamers because he seems to be the only one that really writes positive articles about us this the pathways yeah yeah fat kadoo she writes a bit of stuff on the Tigers uh she's a rugby league reporter and it was talking about our um our Pathways processes and basically laying out the fact that there's over 200 young kids at the moment and they to be transient that number but they the way that they've set it up it seems to be talking through Betsy Matt Betsy and um Shannon Gant sh Gant Mighty Mouse how they have actually mapped out Futures and spoken to each of these kids individually that's kind of I think they was trying to allude to the fact that's the way they're looking to manage the Juniors um and you can tell that's got Rich's fingerprints all over it as much as this has been somewhat in place prior because that speaks to me I'd heard bits and pieces about the pathways was up and running and it was looking good but then there was certain families and things that felt as though there was no communication so it's clear as day that right in front of our face um that's something that they're all over and G that sounds promising absolutely like like you said it's it's got Rich's fingerprint all over it because you know a perfect example was and maybe this was something that evolved during the year to what it is now well I'm assuming that's what it is because if you look at the Loy galin situation you know apparently you know when he was not feeling he had the right path they weren't going to nurture him exact or whatever richo went to his house had a huge conversation with him and his parents and then from that if you read this article it's kind of the very similar situation for every Junior whereas it's not um you know just talking to the junior or talking to the young kid about where we envision you XYZ it's about this is how you're going to get there and this is how we're going to help you get there and we're going to take your parents along the journey too so it's really cool it's very good and that and you're just talking about the optimism and stuff there in general aren't you yeah I have no idea how I got to that point if I'm being honest I went on a huge tangent I came back to going how the [ __ ] did I get here that's right mate for the 400th time it's the tangent Town podcast we know yeah we just jump down rabbit holes and see where they go sometimes they go to really good places that was a good conversation yeah so so speaking rabbit holes though so talking about that optimism heading into the offseason I'd love to hear we would love to hear what you guys think um what are you most excited about next year we'll probably throw the question for next week's show I recommend so yeah I'm interested to hear because you spoke about on field stuff and bits and pieces as well look we're about to start to talk about some signings in a moment but off field actually before I talk about that we we briefly mentioned the board stuff I'm not going to go into it because I'm not all the way across it in detail so I'm gonna defer to I've got my ear to the ground so I can go all the way into it I'm gonna defer to what Toby said um in regards to um The Shane Richardson interview if you haven't watched the short eight or nine minute BTR behind the raw um interview earlier in the week he basically as Toby said he gets ahead of the narrative which thanks for pinching that that was verbatim for what I said ear I knew I knew you gonna say this but I don't I know know I choose my words carefully and he does a brilliant job he basically just outlines exactly what was going on he he lets us know what Scuttle button [ __ ] was just Scuttle button [ __ ] he says this is what's happening they're in the process of setting up the three independent directors but there is a process involved and it just takes longer than what sometimes people anticipate but that that process is in motion uh and to your point uh there won't be um anything deferring us from where we're going so that's the board stuff out of the way the other thing I will say as well is West Tigers podcast um so uh Steve Joel Eddie Gary the likes those guys over there um they did a really good job covering it last week and credit to them because they they came out um with the full artillery and let fly like musini from the balcony at some of the board members and some of the [ __ ] that theyve been carrying on within this process so well done to the boys over there they did a great job at covering it I recommend you go and listen to that episode in particular I think that came out maybe late last week um Gary might correct me on that I have to wait to see uh but yeah so I'm not going to cover it we're not going to cover it in detail because you probably heard it's bit old news uh suffice to say that as mad balain Tigers fans you when I growing up in fact um my whole primary school life was supporting Balmain um the year that we were West Tigers we were in high school so um yeah the vast majority of my childhood prior to teenagehood was supporting balain I've got no interest in balain Tigers anymore I love them for what they were but I'm a West Tigers fan I've been a West Tigers fan for 25 years and um I'm a West Tigers fan through and through and I speak for you but you're probably the same I love the har in the B side that's where we're at that's where we're going and and Rich nailed on the head nothing diverts us from the track and then nothing will be happening there so that's all been put again it's uh we won't go into it but there was like if you listen to the West Tigers podcast they they talk about there's few dinosaurs still around yeah um like you said it's 25 years as the West Tigers yeah I grew up in uh Rosel I grew up Bain area all that area I'm you know before a l game it used to be tradition we'd walk down the main street of balain Rosel and it was just flocked with tigers jerseys so I'm a balain kid through and through but for 25 years uh we've been the West tigers and for at least 25 more we will continue to be the West Tigers so yeah hopefully longer than that mate I said at least I said at least yeah I know I'm just doubling down trying to say 2525 it sounded better yeah right yeah good [ __ ] sake um but yeah it's just unfortunately there's people that hold a bit too tightly onto uh Heritage and onto the past more than anything and yeah I will be the straight I'll be straight up and say that if we didn't have the West juniors we would be up [ __ ] creek without a padle not only that we got bugger all Juniors Bal M sorry as bugger all Juniors buger all money buger all footprint buger all growth in the area in terms of population compared to the other areas in in the um mathur region so it's it's null and void it's stupid so we're gonna move on yeah uh back to what I was talking about before so positivity I'll mention if you got something we'll put up something next week in regards to it what are you excited about heading into the offseason there's a lot of stuff to talk about you'd mentioned there some onfield editions last year which was exciting um or there there is of every year but there's also off field and there's a lot of stuff that's happening across the full gamut of the club heading into the offseason then the preseason in 2025 that is exciting and what is off in front and center is going to be the player Acquisitions that we made that we're going to make and have made we know we got Loui Tera Skelton and now Royce hunt which we'll talk about in a moment is very exciting with a few more up in the air which may get over the line as well and some more speculation there's also coaching changes that have been slated to happen so it's going to be interesting to see who comes in who goes around Benji to try to help set him up bit for Success that seems inevitable at this stage which is a great decision in my absolutely opinion uh so um before we do that I just want to mention something which was let's throw it back briefly to round 26 last year no know why I chose round 26 but round 26 last year so basically a year ago even though it's 27 um let's go that's just the one that popped up for whatever reason I had trouble finding around 27 this is their lineup for the West Tigers a year ago almost to the day a year and six days ago or thereabouts fullback jerine Buller not playing this weekend play for several weeks on the wings David noala Junior tupo the tupo is back on a wing hasn't played all year won't be here next year centers Christen Riley and asuk kapoa oh God 58 was Dane Lorry oh God half Will Smith oh God yes uh the forwards were similar so Stefano appy um clema papal was with bit in in the second row and po was the lock the bench was then mam mua sha blor SE far and aari James with kit L Le in reserves um the Ryan 27 last year was obviously the main leash sh lacking uh but I just wanted to go through that list to just give people a reminder that in 12 months things can change absolutely phenomenally so we'll go through the lineup uh for param matter a little bit later when we actually go through and previous that game which is coming up pretty soon but that's already changed and it's going to change again um you know as we head into the start of next year obviously as well with many of the Acquisitions that we've made so a lot can happen really quick and if you recall as well late November we were still waiting for all the details to come out following the review that happened uh by the H and Barnes group off the back of the the petition that was started that was late November a month after that P go hadman tell us the board gone Rich so things things happen and change all the time so bear in mind the changes that we already know are happening which are positive in regards to the incoming signings in regards to speculation of more hopefully some possible Improvement in the coaching experience area and also some of the other Juniors that the next wave that we're going to see start to sort of push their way into having a bit of a taste as well there's more things that can change and happen as well over the offseason and uh between now and what first trials in February what do we have we got ourselves four months four and a half months so a lot can happen between now and then yep oh absolutely like didn't think there was anything for me to add to that at all left it open for a positive for you all right let's go through signings y uh sign in sign potential signning and then run through some others that are floating around as well Royce hunt mate now we spoke we spoke about Royce hunt for a little while you're a big fan I'm a pretty decent fan of his um I raised concerns a show or two ago about his minutes I've since had a big think about it and now that he is officially signed on a three-year deal which is encouraging I I really like the signing whether or not he takes up that starting spot I tend to think he might be the first prop picked on the bench and he comes on and plays more of a 30 to 35 minute role which is not unheard of a bench prop and I think poly pushes in and takes Stefano's starting position next year and I think that's how we work it so we've got a PO or a hunt on at all times that's the way in in my first impressions I would do it what do you think you're obviously pretty happy with the signing you've been calling this for months I have been very happy with it um Ben Benji called me uh on Sunday and asked for my opinion because apparently the it was all done on Tuesday morning so um I told him my opin op I said I've been I've been talking about on the show for months uh he said that I do listen to the show consistently I just really needed to get your final word on that I was like Benji all good all good I'm glad you did more correction the problem was he he dialed Toby in his phone but he actually dialed Toby Rudolph and he was calling him to apologize for not signing him instead and he just said look I want to get aead of the curve mate to and just let you know that we're going with royy sorry brother but that wasn't the conversation I had he talked about the podcast and how I should be the host and not you I don't know who you were talking to then mate oh maybe it was a dream all right back on track um but no very very happy about it um I think personally I think Clen is going to go to the bench I think the starting because he's become a plotter who do you start with with okay that's that's a lot of punch to start which is awesome um it might work my only concern with something like that would be our bench rotation then looks like likely that cart's going to have to stay in the second row rotation I think next year given that we're losing a bit of second row depth and we haven't replaced it yet but we're going to have oh I'm sure they'll find a spot for C and resign him in some capacity I'm I bet on that happening fingers crossed so C TW and clema then is who we' basically got uh Miller's probably not ready yet and barring anybody else that we sign it's it to me that looks a little bit flat I guess Joe Hanson is another one as well yeah see I think yeah I I just when it comes to the likes of TW he's I think he's going to become a surplus unfortunately um he hasn't been as reliable as he usually is this year and that's been his biggest calling card for however long he's played for us now I think he's in his fifth season with us maybe maybe longer more I reckon he's been here for six or seven years oh there you go remember pa pa still has three years after the year on his contract because he got extended to the end of 2027 did he yeah I didn't know that yeah which it sounded like yeah he's been with us since 2017 so by the end of that contract he would have been here for 11 Seas yeah in of 27 yeah well a TW and a CLA um they're very very similar players they both have really high tackle efficiencies they both got pretty decent Motors they both can turn out the meters is 12 almost a better option than CL knowing that Clem's you need a CL in your side because uh you know he is tapering off the back end if is it too much like for like as in do you have too many do you have too much uh impact and I know PO is not a short minute player but he's uh he's an impactful Runner of the football um you have two of them starting and then you've got two quote unquote plotters Workhorse s on the bench do you think that that Dynamic shift in the middle of the game is a bit much or do you think it can work I think it can work I think that you get those Dynamic you get those bash Brothers to take a lot of that energy out of the game and then you get those you know the thing about CL and we've said this about CL he is a bit of a plotter but the one thing he has done for a very long time is he finds his front very quickly and he gets up having that quick play the balls um you know it was especially last season remember we were singing his Praises last season for how much he was getting us into that attacking Zone it was just we had [ __ ] harves that didn't know how to create a play um having that when the middle is fatigued would actually benefit the I guess the run a play well I just read out air haves from round 26 last year in Dan Lorry and Will Smith so there there is one example throw W in there as well yeah W was wely good footballers in terms of rugby league in general but in terms of first grade yeah they could play well they could definitely run rings around me but I'm not a first grade football and 18 months later you know all things being equal and and everything going well touch wood we're going to line up with uh Lan Galvin and Jerome Lei as our halves with likely L Fu coming off the bench yeah um quite incredible yeah interesting one mate I it remains to be seen how they're going to use hunt um I I see what you're saying and that certainly can work I think the benefit that we do have is that we do have some versatility in the pack now so if we go through the likely props um and I'll put likely because I think seone will be retained in some capacity I think we will free up space and I think that one of those spots will be C I've really like what he's done he and poly are uh off loaders and good footw work at the line po a bit more impactful maybe Hunt is all Impact F and cl are more are your Workhorse props that you're that we're talking about Johansson is a bit of an unknown quantity but he's a post contact meter beast and he he works his ass off um he's a a massive 1% player as well and then if we fill out the second row then you've got sear in there as an option as well so what we do have heading in next year um knowing we're probably still going to have to add to the pack and we'll talk about who that might be in a moment but we've got versatility in that pack which is a positive in my eyes and the way I would play it is I'd probably split that versatility up throughout the game so we can constantly get punch I wouldn't want to burn a PO or a hunt in the first 10 minutes and lose that oomph I like to see that sort of kick come on and kick on you could just imagine Hunt let's say that we start with a Workhorse starting front rowers to take the uh the energy out of the game first 20 we play a a 12 and a clar strategically for 25 minutes at the start of the match we then bring on um hunt fua and c fenu and we bring say tdsl l one through the middle so you imagine the role we could get on and the 25th to 30th minute Mark when fatigue starting to set in the game when those BLS come onto the field that's the way probably go about it uh but yeah there's a a lot to sort of play out there isn't there in that rotation absolutely absolutely but here's another reason why I think what I think what what I said is probably going to come to fruition is I'm going to share my screen really quick so for those are on um YouTube You're Going to get a bit of a presentation for those that aren't um you're just going to have to listen to us talk so I will share my screen so this is an article from The Daily Telegraph that was released tonight uh and it's Royce hunt kind of talking about Cory hbra so that's one of the people you're saying is a potential signing um you know that's someone who our name has been linked with a fair bit and there's quite a few for us there sure do that that's be better yeah um so you know don't need to go into of there's some funny little quotes in here but one of the big things was this part here so anyone that can read that it says in the article he spoke and when he says he's talking about Benji he spoke about me wanting to play more minutes and I told him I'd earn every minute you give I love that quote by the way I think that's awesome but if bendy's asking him to play more minutes there is a high probability he's thinking of using him as a starting front RW y so option doesn't it it does very good uh yeah so that's an article off the Sydney Morning Herald yeah they released as well now there was a little bit uh a little bit else uh in that article that was mentioned as well that I was a big fan of he said something he said verbatim sorry a little bit higher spoke to the recruitment guy and they're keen on big red and he's referring to horbor as you mentioned he's a good guy would be a great buy obviously Royce hunt and um hor BR had their run in last year but they were former teammates at mounties and at camber so they actually knew each other so I was a bit of tongue and cheek I think but he say he says that here he says I was actually at cber with him for a while we're two guys who won't back down if they get him so that's hunt talking about us Tigers uh we can both go there and ramp up their forward pack so um that's pretty exciting to to see in here and read the fact that uh he knows he's already going because he's signed and he's talking openly about someone who he knows doesn't take a backward step and how both of them can go and add to the pack so that's an exciting proposition as well absolutely absolutely and you know that's another good article to read it does it's another one that's kind of fueling that optimism it's another article where you're like you know there's when when Royce hunt was it was announced today today yep was announced today um you know it went to the Members First in terms of an email and then it went to the website apparently word leaked like literally five minutes prior to the members email going out but it's even though like we've had senses of optimism from signing in the past you know when we signed Packer and madalina were like oh this is going to hurt so much aggression ra it's still it again it feels different it feels like it's more strategic it's not like someone's on the open market let's get them it's more like okay well we need more oomph and right now this is a perfect addition to add that you talk about mentioned I mentioned sorry the phrase earlier about Rich's fingerprints it's exactly what you're talking about he's very strategic it appears in everything he's done and the way he talks he's very open clear concise to the point no [ __ ] he's saying this is what we need to do these are the things we need to do this is what we're going to address these are the areas we're going to improve the squad and that's what he's doing you know he can see clear areas where the squad needs to be balanced the cap needs to be balanced in the areas where we need to improve we've added depth and quality through the backs and out of the back field in the likes of Skelton and TOA we've added class in the halves in Lui and a leader there and now we're looking to fill out the forward pack as well so they're getting done what needs to get done I'm going to pull another quote made out of that same article because he speaks so well and this has actually surprised me how the quotes are what's that you want me to share the screen again no it's okay I'll just I'll pull it up I've got it here now so it says this is hunt speaking once again he said um sorry he said I met with Benji uh last week he said Benji had said uh that there's a lot of kids and he wanted someone with experience to get to that next level now uh H has responded with this he said I told him I can help you with that he said at the Sharks we had to build a good culture where the young boys weren't afraid to ask for help and they know that steel sharpens steel if they come for our spots every week it makes the older boys better the younger boys better and it raises the overall standards at the club this is this is a prop forward who I don't know from a bar soap I've never really heard Bruce hunt be interviewed the way he's so articulate articulate about exactly the types of things that we need he's telling me a bunch of things about him is telling me a bunch of things about the way that Benji is communicating his vision and the vision of the Tigers towards where we need to go so he's up front with hunt about exactly why he would wants him at the club exactly what his role would be at the club and Hunt clearly understands it which again you know if if everyone knows their role within a football club they' got a better chance of going out and executing on that in my opinion per perfect example Panthers yeah they talk about how um the next one in line knows exactly the job they need to do and it's it's happened time and time again uh you think about you know they've had a bit of a bit of a run with injuries this year and they haven't been at their best they're still second on the ladder so that they just know their job and that's that was something that I was really hoping a lot of the old boys that we've signed this year we're going to bring or even last year we're going to bring was that culture you know the steel sharpen steel the great quote there we haven't got it at all and whether it's because we've signed players who are just looking for a paycheck whether it's because um we've signed players who are past their use by date I don't know but this signing and like I said I've been calling for this signing for a while now I think I've been calling it for at least four months ever since shark said that he's free to negotiate because I love what Royce hunt brings I've watched him on the field he's just an aggressive Runner of the ball one thing for that and you know if you can watch the Sharks game in the weekend because he's coming off the bench but the one thing that you always talk about especially from a front rower is their lateral movement you know how quickly they can actually go from side to side to get where they need to you know when we talk about someone with poor lateral movement unfortunately at times it is Po has poor lateral movement at times can't close that Gap Roy hunt great lateral movement he's really tightens up that hole really really quickly so I think he is you know I want I'd love him to bring that the culture or part like start to help build that culture you know app's trying to build it from what from his penth days he's only going to get help from Loui but now he's going to get help from another guy that comes from a good culture as well so yeah this is going to be uh I I I feel that I think again like I said this just feels so much more strategic than oh there's a player on the market let's go after them you know like a Brent niden oh yeah exactly right and it speaks to a lot of stuff it speaks to you know the way that certain bosses or recruitment teams are recruiting in the past versus how they're recruiting now I spoke about strategic plans earlier and how that's in place it and it speaks about the communication as well I think sometimes when players had come to our club in the past maybe they didn't understand what their role was there it's it's clear as day to me that they're not just looking to offer the world and a big bumper increase and that's the selling point to Har they're telling him that they they want him there for a specific reason you know this is the deal that we want to offer you we can give you three years where the sharks are saying we we don't have much space left for you so we can give you a job three years and this is the job that we want you get to decide if you want to do it not here is an extra hundred grand if you come and play for us please which is what it seems to be in the past and I hope I hope and and everything that I have read about both Richardson and Benji in terms of the way they conduct themselves tells me that this is the case that there is this really open level of communication and they're selling Visions instead of just paychecks um and that is a positive and I think that is one of thecurrencyman right intent from incoming players from the get-go absolutely absolutely cool all right you mentioned in that article Cory horra I've been AR and Aron AR and iron about Cory horbor I've settled on the fact that if we can get Cory horra I think that he brings a bit to the club if he's part of a small package of incoming forwards of which Hunt is one Hunt's already speaking about wanting to play with the likes of someone like him if ht's mentioning that and I don't know that he was given permission to mention that was talking recruitment guy because that's about the most inside knowledge we've got from anybody and I think that might be a he might have blurted it out so if he's being told that that might suggest to me that we're in the in the mix for a Cory horra um look if we can make the spaces available in the actual roster not the cap we've got the cap space we can make the spaces available we have to replace mate Stefano aamanu Pap and likely John baitman like we have to buy forwards so I can settle on a horb for for two or three years um provided we can get the best of him as always comes with the territory yeah so correct me if I'm wrong but because those three are essentially leaving that's three spaces now we have available next to you that we haven't filled those spaces yet no because um the papal E1 is a new open one because that was early uh baitman if he leaves that will be a new open one because that is early but Stefano was always off contract true there was a space left available for him but since he's chosen go elsewhere we signed Skelton we've now signed hunt so Richardson and I'm sure he's already done it um has has had to Make spaces available and this is where some of the Juniors that maybe were offered top 30s early might have had to have a sit down and say look we want year round uh but we don't know that you're going to see much first grade the next few years welcome to explore your options or uh do we want to alter bits and pieces maybe we can pay you out you can go on a different maybe a train and trial or something or I don't know the processes behind that but they need to make spaces available um because there's only two people that are essentially off contract and that's alalo and Fu and is one that we I would say we definitely want to keep um Alam Malo probably not at this stage unless it's a train and trial and it could it could be a train and trial there's no reason Alam alalo can't stick around he's moved to Sydney um he's gone to the effort of learning and he's been serviceable like if if we lose two or three Wingers next year and we've got to have maybe a Luke Le or an Alam Malo come in it's not the end of the world they were at different points in the year our starting Wingers so if we can have that happen then we can have that happen so we'll have to wait and see how that goes um any other thoughts on horb mate I wouldn't say I've been a fan but that might be because I'm not a fan of camra I don't know and I think my bias does am I painting him with a brush of a team that I don't like because he's also a queenslander I don't know I think so yeah and I I don't watch a lot of camber games I've seen plenty of hor in the past but I don't watch a lot of camber games by default they're not team I flocked to watching games of so I probably don't know his game enough to know exactly what he brings he's played state of origin um so yeah we'll see um I've watched enough to know that he's young enough and if he's got the right intent to come to the club and as a way of maybe a second chance after a big falling out at CRA then uh and a point to proof then it might be a good signing another one being mentioned headquarters and whatnot as well I've heard Whispers this evening of a 2-year deal actually being done uh and there's another there's more Whispers as well but uh Greg Greg say Greg bir Greg Bird's back hiring a 43 year old Greg bird um I don't know how old bird he could be but uh yeah Jack bird so me on the surface this seems like a West tiger signing a v paint me a picture as to why it might not be well I I mentioned it two pods three pods ago that there was rumors that you know when he was given the option to explore his options um I wanted to jump on it I thought that he could be that ball playe lock that we need uh in this especially in this day and age and the thing that solidified it for me was I mentioned it last week was his comp comptitive nature um in a badly beaten team the week prior can't remember who they played prior to that um he just never gave up always was on the ball tried to create something tried to do XY Z and then they were if you watch the game against the eels last week the one team that um I mean the one side of the field that they kept attacking was Ben Hunt and that's where they scored and ravala ravala was so bad there was a reason why he was dropped to New South Wes cup he was so bad Jack bird actually defended very well so I wouldn't say this is a signning of old I feel like it does have a sniff of it but again I feel it's very strategic again because it is something that we are missing where right now our our lock position and for the better part of two or three years now you know we tried to use mam mua his Fitness is just not there his concentration is just not there whether it get there I'm actually not sure anymore um but we've been using a middle a middle forward that's what we've been doing for two years now three years and having that link man in the middle like you see some of the best like Isaiah he is an incredible link man and he creates that space and I think bird can do the same yeah I agree and I think by having him in the squad if if the deal is right and we've got and we've got enough spaces where when he's not taking up valuable Squad spots is if we free up another three or four or five spots then no drumers two years 300 350 if he's versatile and I know he's passed his prime but he's won a comp he play he's played origin um you know but yeah I agree I think Lo probably works uh as a stop Gap and I think it is a stop Gap and what but what he does is he provides back up for the hards he provides back up for the centers uh he can play on an edge if he has to and he can do all that within a game and so the the advantage to having run on versatile players is that you can move your chest pieces around around in the event of injuries um and it allows you to pick others on the bench rather than simply carry your utility now we don't know what the plan is moving forward but I would like to think that latu can play 14 not necessarily as a utility even though he is versatile but more so is a threat and we've seen teams use the 14 jersey differently I'd rather carry a threat an uptempo threat like latu who we've been the small um examples we've seen we've seen what that kid can do he's a freak oh then you can play a bird in in the 13 or at least starting 13 as part of the rotation he can then have breaks he can maybe only play maybe play 40 50 minutes a game maybe in a couple of stints or something but if we have an injury in the centers he can cover know we don't we don't have to push sew out if if we have an injury uh in the halves he can cover um 58 or something as well and you've got Lou there for cover for that too if we have an injury in second row we've got bird there as well so I think fact that the versatility is there and he's still a competitive ass bastard which I like yep is he's probably you know he's not he's not going to be my favorite signing in the world but we've said a few times now for the most part we've got the big kills lii was the big kill we need to we need to fill up the squad with with bitp part players with other pieces and the pieces don't sound as brilliant on paper Royce hunt isn't in the top five props in the league but there's positives and they can all bring something and I think that's the secret source that builds a strong Squad because the key pieces are there now it's how we fill the rest of the gaps and perhaps Jack bird for a couple of years is a good option there to fill one of those gaps 100% agree yeah cool I I I'm goingon to go back because I don't know about the listeners but you've got my tongue wagging about other rumors yeah what rumors are you referring to you just they're rumors that's all they are yeah there's a few but there's a good one which one tell me uh the Brian Toto stuff isn't dead oh might hear a little bit more about it at the end of the season possibly we'll have to Stew on that one that's a good one I like that I think it I think from what I'm hearing I think it's I think it's a fair real option I think it's a fair chance never never reveal your Source mate never reveal your Source I'll be like these little nuggets nothing is done nothing is done nothing's certain um and it's probably less likely than but it's not dead from what I'm hearing and I might be wrong but anyway that was there is something I wanted to mention as well now uh rich mentioned not not too long ago that he used the expression shake the tree he said we don't need to be in a hurry and we shake teams shake the tree over the offseason and and people players fall out now finals haven't even started yet and here who has here is who has come on the market who is contracted to other clubs already it's not even the offseason yet we' seen Royce hunt come onto the market Kobe heatherington come onto the market Cory horber come onto the market Daniel safti Jack bird and now even today Adam Elliott has come on the market as well it's it's round 27 hasn't even finished yet so we've got to be careful as well I guess as to not rush out and spend the money that we've got but I'd say if bitman doesn't come back that two million that we're spoken about that blows out because he's on because that as far as I'm aware That's not including him because he's currently contracted and so if if the Fallout that seems to be the case ends up parting ways that 2 million and I know we spend a bit of it now but not much we didn't spend much on Skelton and you can't imagine we spent a great deal on H it' be a moderate contract that's going to blow out to 2.7 that's a that's a shitload of money so between now and excuse me you want to get in preseason but between now and January February um how many other players who are notable first graders all those names are mentioned many of them have played origin um how many or Internationals how many more players are going to fall out that might fit the bill I would argue probably quite a few because teams aren't necessarily massaging their cap and their squads just yet particularly if they are still in um still in contention well I can like we know now that the knights cap is shot [ __ ] so there's probably going to be a few more from there as well but I don't want anyone else from the kns no I'll tell you someone who I've I've been a fan of this year and I didn't want to was uh Adam Elliot he's been outstanding for them he's huh he's been very tough yeah yeah he he's been tough he he's been playing well at lock he goes a million miles an hour um I reckon you know Josh Curran's been getting a lot of ploted from the Bulldogs and I don't rate just Karan I never have and I think he's playing well I think it's over exaggerating I think Adam ell has been playing as well might be the hot take of the century playing as well as if not better than Cen this year what he's doing for the kns if you could get ad Adam Elliot on a reasonable contract to play lock for you I reckon that along with a couple of others I'm talking about a new little pack a new little packet of forwards we're bringing in I reckon he adds a tremendous amount to the tempo of the side but you probably don't run with an Elliott and a bird for that so if you're saying that the twoyear deal is done that might not be an option oh I'm not saying it's done I'm saying I've heard that there is a two-year deal there um so wait and see but yeah I'm just saying that Elliot is someone who I didn't want to like as a footballer I don't know why I I guess maybe because he comes from the Bulldogs don't like the Bulldogs yeah he played camber as well yeah but camber days are yeah you actually really don't like camber I don't like cber franchise in the league um anyway so there's a few names there's a few bits and pieces as well who knows what the squad is going to look like in February I think we can speculate but um yeah what we can say is it's going to be worlds apart isn't it absolutely absolutely it's going to be chalk and cheese 57 minutes in mate we probably should talk about this spoon ball yeah so what I'm going to do is I'm going to share the screen again for those very nice people watching us on YouTube because I'll bring the team list up you start us off with I guess game times maybe yeah I can start you off with game time so Campbell Town Stadium will be sold out on Friday Friday will of course be the 6th of September 6 PM that glorious time slot we're going to be playing for versus the param res and Toby's now going to go and run through the team list oh 26 pay1 64 that is okay sure I reckon it should be a $190 least I think it'd be I thought it'd be a lot more close than that but y uh cool so at fullback we've got Heath Mason up against gotho [ __ ] goth uh on the wings we got tupo and Charlie stains was Alam Malo injured is that why he's dropped out uh H I think uh oh yeah because of that shot of course yeah uh then you got up against sio and Russell um don't rate Russell so hopefully we can see tupo get a few leaps over top of him Russell is going to score double now You' said that you said that against every person I've said has is not a great player and it only happens 60% of the time um 60% of the time it works every time time uh Solona F fape and Josh F gets his first start of first start of the year or has he played already he's going to play in round 27 two years consecutive as his only starts two round 27 games uh up against penini and tagi tagi is actually he's checked out so that's my area to focus on he's checked out he's he's already in penth so haves are Galvin and Caesar very surprised Caesar was named uh I thought I swear I read he was out for the season uh he was done up against Dylan Brown and dejan aie our forward pack stock s it's how it's been for better part of the last all since Pap came back Steph ABY CLM safe uh Sam and Papal rounded out against rcg Brandon H sha Lane uh tulagi is back into the starting side with cartright and offer interchange uh latu start is number 14 I would be surprised if he is not the starting halfback because I I swear I read some of that caes I think that maybe just giv Caesar the last ditch effort had said that so he might be giving him an opportunity to see if he can get fit yeah uh C Po and TW ran out the bench against Joey lassik makor Moretti and Ogden and then for the reserves we got Tim Johanson your mate Alex lob Ruben Porter kit L and Tony suer with jle uh Matt durri Ethan Sanders Hayes duner and Greek I'm not even I don't know how to say his first name weu Greg ready go weu interesting on our extended benches or extended bench um our reserves list we've only got one Winger and we've got no halves or hookers so I would have expected to see talend to Sila maybe in the seven in the 18 or 19 uh if there was a possibility of Caesar being elect scratching with L moving in and Talon going into the 14 I can't see them running personally with four forwards on the bench so if Caesar is a late scratching uh I don't know what the plan is there so he must be right is my suspicion maybe kit kit comes in again another round seven round 27 game yeah maybe but kit uh kid hasn't been playing particularly well in my opinion of late he's just a bit out of form um but he's still a kid so he's got plenty of time to find that in the offseason and head into have a better year next year but um interesting mate um spoonball spoonball Team two pretty evenly evenly matched teams I would say so yes I would say we're pretty evenly matched you can see we' both won six games out of 23 so we go beating sorry how do we go about beating them um I think I said it just before um focus a lot on tagi side I think he's checked out I think he's already got his head in penth um his defense uh especially in that second half against the dragon was awful Beyond awful um I don't he didn't it was the that first 40 was basically a Dylan Brown show he didn't really add anything from out in the centers so that's my goal is to go to his side every time um get locky on one-onone with him again uh and I think that'll cause a lot of headaches yeah he's um delong's defense has has been awful for a while he's he's an electric attacking player like when he gets the ball in his hands he does stuff but yeah his defense has been pretty wful to be perfectly honest um I wouldn't have mind seeing Fetti up against him only in attack though because Fetti can get burnt on the outside and tagi is good skipping to the outside which concerns me about a bit about fape I do worry with Fetti matching penini penini being a really strong ball Runner and fet still working on his defense so that's going to be going to be interesting there but that's okay um very inexperienced in the backs we are no doubt you know Heath Mason 19 at the back uh single digit first grade games Far typ a played a decent amount of games this year 22 years of age 23 years of age but in his first rookie season Fetti 19 20 years of age this is his second first grade game with um Junior tup only having played a couple of Seasons himself and probably Charlie stains being the most experienced in the backline to be honest uh excluding the halfback so interesting there um where you you mentioned go to Tangi side where do you think that param are dangerous you spoke about Dylan Brown yeah how do you shut down params points oh you get in Dylan Brown's face absolutely like they he can offload it to even gotho hasn't been um fantastic this year he's been a bit off uh he his work rate is always very similar to Dylan Edwards and he's just everywhere when he wants to be but he hasn't been as Dynamic um it's been very evident that you you know especially considering Panthers have gone I mean Paramount have gone out and bought that young um Iago from Panthers is that how I say his name uh yongi yongi there you go um you always seem to get these names uh to a t well I hope it's right H and he's moving into the centers apparently that's word on the streets so I thinki from penth is a good very good player ran for 255 me on the yeah he's he's unreal um interesting because they because obviously they got Blaze tongi over to penth butong is a pretty good get back yeah pretty Square to be honest my old man had no idea he goes we're signing nobody's from penth to replace our gun Superstars I said no no no I said watch this kid he's he's awesome so he is a good signing for them yeah so I think um getting in Dylan Brown's face giving him you know djan ass is a serviceable half but he's no Mitchell Moses and no you know I think if we can just he does have some good touches on him dejan he's got a good pass and a de little kick at times like he he can pull off some pretty handy little the issue the issue is the consistency he'll do something really good and then he'll kick the ball dead so he's just his consistency is a problem and I it's it's been a problem for his career like when he was at the Warriors as well so but um the Cowboys at one stage too wouldn't he for a season I think he yeah maybe I don't know um but yeah yeah that's that that's how it is in my eyes is um obviously we attack uh Blazer's left Blazer side sorry and then pressure Dylan Brown and which is which is far tap side far tap and I think Loy as well on that side so yeah well I mean you'd be having s Leu run that side constantly wouldn't you absolutely absolutely for me uh I agree with everything you said 100% you have to go Blaze Tong in you go there all night um You probably bomb SEO as well outside I think you just shred him up the middle I think um with Campbell gillard's been playing pretty good but he can get sloppy playing long minutes around the middle sha Lane is traditionally on an edge so he's not as familiar through the center then you've got the likes of Maka and Ogden who were big big bodies but not known as far as I'm aware of playing a big minutes or B handy laterally so if you can get a l or even um a an appy or whatnot digging and probing and playing a lot of just oneoff stuff back between a and b and really work them over through the center early you're going to have one or two things happen either they're going to collapse Inward and you all to longy Edge is just going to be a walkthrough free pass or they're going to fall they're going to hold hold out wide and they're going to fall apart through the middle and we'll just go through the center so easier said than done and they probably got an easier play sheet versus us but coming up against the struggling team I guess knowing that we are ourselves you do have options in terms of the way you can go about it and I think that there's a couple of ways that we could attack this paramat asde I think we should be trying them all to be honest absolutely absolutely all right mate Bowl prediction time I'm going to wrap the show up what do you think happens in spoon Bowl 2024 do we avoid it do we get it we do we do and we win by a field goal who kicks it Galvin gvin wow that'd be good wouldn't that be good Galvin kicks it so um and a Bowl prediction for that is actually that's pretty good I'm going I'm keeping that as a prediction and a bowl pred yeah you'll keep that well done uh or and ah you got to be bold in the last round don't you absolutely the Tigers thump them 40 to 12 oh I like your one better than mine and the whole just from the get-go they dominate from A to B uh they play a really complete game they walk off the field at the end of the season with smiles on their faces and uh we really set the tone for a lot of positivity around the club heading into the offseason knowing that we're continuing to [ __ ] off we're building into 2025 absolutely they need to start stealing that motto H and bold prediction one of the centers is going to get a double I don't know if it's Fetti or F ta I'm G to say I'm GNA say it's Fetti he's got a a knack of finding the tri line so I'm going to say Fetti gets double look I'm happy with that as well very good anything else you want to add Ma on spoon ball for our last preview show for the year more shows coming a couple more episodes coming but last preview we will uh we've still got a few more before we take a break for before the offseason yep um but yeah nothing for this game and we'll keep everybody apprize as well if you're looking out for an episode or what night we will have one next week uh barring any unforeseen circumstances but beyond that we'll let everyone know what the plan is in terms of when we're going to release our offseason and our season reviews and all that sort of other bits and pieces uh because we tend to mate we tend to do shows maybe once a month or something through November December and then end of January y before we ramp things up and get all excited about trials and preseason all that sort of stuff as well in the new year which is which will be here before we know it mate absolutely long show getting a bit longer than two so I'm going to jump into the PSAs now Instagram Facebook Apple Spotify and YouTube is where you can find us look at me go I've had enough practice by now rattling it off like a going out of fashion uh like subscribe follow all that good stuff means you don't miss an episode means you can jump on interact don't forget Facebook this week we're going to throw a couple of things out there in terms of next week and next week's show uh so be sure to look out on that and we'll give you a shout out on the show read out your comment all that sort of stuff as well that's often been popular little segments in the past no lift and syn this week speaking of segments because we didn't have a game nope uh West Tigers media we mentioned West Tigers podcast they do a great job get over and support them as well any West Tigers media go and watch that behind the raw podcast with Rich earlier in the week he goes through the board stuff and and uh puts a nail in it which is good uh outside of that thank you to our sponsors once again best on Grand digital best onr digital.com they're great supporters of the show and we love having them hopefully they're around next year we'll have to have a chat to them and see what they think other than that mate that's about it we've got one more game to go this season we've run probably our longest podcast all year yeah talking we're uh we're excited there's some positivity in the air hopefully the boys can get it done on Friday a bit a bit a bit of an anti-climax if it doesn't but um hopefully they can get it done and either way the offseason is upon us and we've got a lot to be looking forward to regardless don't we absolutely absolutely I didn't think I'd say that six months oh three months ago three months ago on that not nothing more to say than go the mighty West Tigers up the Tigers