00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hi everyone, and welcome to Off the Record, the sports podcast of breaking news, hard opinion and a little bit of gibber. I'm Andrew Websterit from The Australia. I'm joined by my partner in crime, journalistic crime, Phil Rothfield from the Daily Telegraph.
00:00:15
Speaker 2: Webby, how are you great to be here? Weather's crap but you surviving the big wet? Yes, I am good. I'm glad. So coming up on that a little bit of gibber. We need a gibber made it because I think there's a lot more gibber than you're prepared to concede in your little ape and it needs a fresher what do you mean? Probably forty GiB a little bit. Anyway, we'll work on that for the next roek.
00:00:42
Speaker 1: Coming up on the show today, we've got some news on who's going to coach Australia now the brad fieldler has pulled the plug. We're going to talk about the big state of origin decided next week, and Buzz talks about his spectacular fallout with an iconic rugby league figure, Warren the wok rhyme.
00:01:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, that'll be good. I'm looking forward to that. But it was a long feud that I'm sure it was.
00:01:06
Speaker 1: He can find a feud, yes.
00:01:10
Speaker 2: So can you. Anyway, anyway, let's let's get in.
00:01:14
Speaker 1: Before we do, let's talk about the big subscription you can get with Code Sport. You get an annual subscription to Australia's best sports website for just forty nine dollars that features Australia's best sports journalism the Code Sports app. You can go to Code sports dot com dot Au, Forward, slash o tr to get the special discount. Now, before we get into this week's potty, I got a request from one of our loyal listeners, Joel By Instagram and I'm going to read out his message and this is.
00:01:49
Speaker 2: Word for words, So go ahead. Hold on Webby.
00:01:54
Speaker 1: Love all the work that you do as a journal every week on on Morning Glory, which I do with Matt John's on on s E and every Friday. It's become our favorite thing of the week. I also love the Off the Record podcast with that old so and so Buzz, who I author also think hang on and Finished, who I also think is an absolute champion. You go dot dot dot But for the love of us listeners, can you please tell Buzz to push that microphone away from his mouth and stop either chewing on cob stoppers or his false teeth. I had to turn off last week's episode.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Must be the gum must be. It must be the Nicorettes perennial. We need Nicorette to sponsor this show. We should, we should. I'll do my best. I'll do my best.
00:02:42
Speaker 1: Give him a call.
00:02:43
Speaker 2: How much?
00:02:43
Speaker 1: How much Nicorettes? How many Nicorettes would you have a board over the years.
00:02:46
Speaker 2: Oh, it's nearly his dearest buddy cigarette, is it? Yes, I'll get him cheap at chemists. Do you buy the sponsor? Do you buy him in bulk? I do? Oh?
00:03:02
Speaker 1: All right, Oh good, you're right anyway, Joel, thank you so much for that that message that you've sent via Instagram. I'll try and get buzz to it's not your false teeth.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: Is No, it's definitely not. I do have false teeth? How many I should take them out for one episode?
00:03:21
Speaker 1: It sounds like Joel and his wife would like you to do it, all right, let's have Let's get to champs and chumps. Who's your champus?
00:03:28
Speaker 2: Made? My champ is Women's Rugby League the NRLWS starts this week it's now a twelve team competition and it started in two thy eighteen, so this is the seventh season with just four teams. It is the fastest growing area of rugby league. I rang Dave Trodden this morning to get some figures on participation in twenty twenty one, four years ago, twenty three thousand participants. Twenty twenty five thirty three thousand and five hundred. That's up forty five. Now. What you can't measure is the increasing skill level and that is why I've fallen in love with that game and we've just had a great origin series. Those girls are such special athletes, but they're skillful too, Wibby and they throw the footy round beautifully. They're very well coached and those games we're getting a million viewers on Channel nine and that's more than a Thursday Friday night club game. They're off the charts, they're figures, and that they've gone to twelve teams, that the competition's longer now. These petition participation numbers are going to grow and grow and grow, and I think at some stage they'll be nearly Australia up there with Australia's best female athletes and sport. I think it's a far superior game to AFL with women.
00:05:04
Speaker 1: I think they're definitely winning the battle NRL against AFL and rugby union. Really who've got the lure of the Olympics. But the way that they the way the NRLW has kicked on in the last few years, You're right at the skill level, they're just their their physicality like they rip in.
00:05:20
Speaker 2: Well, you think all that long ago and a lot of little girls wanted to play rugby league, but when they got to twelve or third and they weren't allowed to, it just stopped and they could go and play os, tag or touch. Now they actually have a pathway junior reps, you know, from Tasha Goal through to the Harvey Normal Women's camp and then the NRLW. I'll tell you in ten years he is going to be just monstrous.
00:05:45
Speaker 1: It's a juggernaut like yourself. Okay, my champ. Now look, this name isn't synonymous with the sports fan. It's it's my old mate, Ian Fooj, the executive sports that are of the Sydney Morning Herald.
00:06:02
Speaker 2: Great Man.
00:06:02
Speaker 1: He is a great man, Fuji and he finishes up on Friday. After twenty six years of the Herald and fifteen as the sports editor. He's not just a sports editor. He's probably one of my best mates and like a big brother in many ways. He got me back to the Herald in twenty thirteen to work under him, and that was after the death of our great mate Rod Allen, who was a sports editor of The Herald at the time, and he just sorry, he just moved on as sports editor. But Rod's death sort of convinced me I wanted to go and work for Ian again. You'd moved on as sports editor at the at the Telegraph, so that was also a factor. But he's an incredible man. He rebuilt that section so many times after redundancy, after redundancy, he identified talent like Tom Deson, like Michael Chamis, like Michael Carrianas. And he also backed me. So it's his last it's his last day on Friday.
00:07:03
Speaker 2: This is funny.
00:07:04
Speaker 1: So you know where he We hatched the idea of me going back to the Herald in twenty thirteen a lady boy bar in Coast Smooi in Thailand. We both happen to be in Coasta on holidays at the same time.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: I was on the choir, were that.
00:07:23
Speaker 1: I was at the Telegraph and i'd left. I was on holidays in Coasta Movie on my own on the quiet side of the island. He said come over to me, and I'd said, he goes, have you ever been to a Lady boy bar? And I said, no, I haven't been there before telling this story. He's partnered up with you, a beautiful, beautiful woman called Demand. But so so we went there. It's my first time there and we didn't talk about shop. I was like, just who would have thought the best looking women in the world would time in.
00:08:00
Speaker 2: Anyway?
00:08:00
Speaker 1: On that note, well done, Foods. You've been an absolute legend of Australian sports journalism.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: Never been particularly close to him, but have admired him from a distance and the quality of his journalism and the fact, you said, the talent of the people he hires and then he sees stories through to the end of publication. And I bumped into it. Functions very pleasant dude, and yeah, great career. He likes you too. Oh that's good. He respects you enormously. Who's your chump? My chump is your mate? One of your mates? Who's my mate? Shane Richardson, Chief Executive Officer, West Tigers.
00:08:37
Speaker 1: Well we're not on at the moment. We've had a bit of a blues so have you.
00:08:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's so good. For the life of me, I cannot work out why he has left. Let Talent de Silver leave that club eight months out from his contract, same as they did with Lochlann Galvin. There was a legal matter there so they had to let Galvin go. Ti Kaman who went. Sean Blull went really good kid on the Tony large half back, outstanding rugby league rugby union half has gone to Manly. So I this club has lost their last six games, the one win off the bottom of the ladder and this is the second gun kid they've let go prematurely because this kid didn't want to play behind Appy Corus out but he was under contract. And as I've been trying to exit the blue with Brent rudabad on three six the other night, I tried to explain him what happens if happy falls, what if he does in a cl what if he's out for eight weeks with another injury. You don't let them walk out. There's a lot of kids playing second grade.
00:09:47
Speaker 1: It's like Cobbo.
00:09:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, but the Broncos won't let Cobbo go. I know, you know, because you know why the Broncos won't let them go, because they think they're going to go deep into the finals and injuries they'll use it. I wanted to alloy a wooden spoon and Rich has let their two best young players go. It's outrageous. I think it's buzz.
00:10:06
Speaker 1: It's systematic of like you know, Rich has a great hand and been in the business for a long time. But it's not whether it's his fold or the club's fault or Benji Marshall's fault. But you know that's two big, big name.
00:10:19
Speaker 2: Two of the best kids in rugby league.
00:10:20
Speaker 1: Young kids coming through. That's right.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: And you know what the successful clubs like the Roosters and the Canterbury Bulldogs are doing. They're stop piling juniors. They've opened academies. Gus is great at it. You signed the best kids from every week. He's pinched a couple out of the Woollongong's George's Nursery. Look at the Rooster's academy opposite and you know what. These kids aren't guaranteed to play first grade. They've got a lot of but they've got an atmosphere there. They've got great coaching there. They've got legends the roosters like Cordon of friand Orbison. You got to learn from Maris and what's doing with the West Tigers.
00:10:57
Speaker 1: They're at the door.
00:10:59
Speaker 2: It's not good, rich O, you're my chump. Fire up, rich Oh you know who my chump is? Gay for it?
00:11:06
Speaker 1: Your great mates at Venues New South Wales? Did they certainly they built? Did they build more park on a swamp? So?
00:11:14
Speaker 2: So the SDG finished. No, But I want to say you'll never ever I will never spend the New Year's Test with you ever again? Why because they are you?
00:11:26
Speaker 1: Well, I can't be bought Phil, That's the difference between you and I.
00:11:30
Speaker 2: It's the best ticket.
00:11:31
Speaker 1: As long as I can get some Oasis tickets, that's.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: Go on.
00:11:36
Speaker 1: So the Segs come under fire for the playing surface after that match between the Swans and the Western Bulldogs. Swan's chairman Andrew Priddam called it unacceptable. Other said it's the worst they've played on. Others they've said it's dangerous. Venues to South Wales say it's never recovered from the Andre Bicelli concert earlier this year. That's not good enough if you're going to those events and you still need to make sure the playing surface is up to it. That's both well SCG and Aliant Stadium. They've got some real questions that need to be answered about their drainage systems or whatever the hell is going on there. But David Gallup needs to take control, and I'm calling him out here on our podcast.
00:12:16
Speaker 2: DG Man, I'm sure he will carry Matha's in charge of it, isn't she She's the CEO. Yes, she's the CEO. What I have learned will be as soon as the league finals are over, they're going to dig up the Football Stadium or Alliance and they're going to go down and look at the drainage and have engineers there. Yeah, it's what it's going to do. It's going to affect Sydney FC with the soccer. They're going to be off the ground there for probably six weeks. Well, I don't want to say it, but I wrote it two weeks ago I did. Yeah, Sydney FC, it might be twelve weeks.
00:12:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've been told the might be two sets of six weeks.
00:12:55
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:12:56
Speaker 1: Wow, yeah, but that's a big impact on this season. Well, thank you so much for reading my copy.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, well now you're you're behind the pay well it's very expensive the Australian. They've got an end of your financial sale and I just missed it too, So there you go.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: Hey, but I buy I buy a Telegraph subscription to read you Yeah, yeah, good on and Brent Reid and Michael Carriana's at the risk of putting my cred.
00:13:21
Speaker 2: Team of cad. I buy her to read her good bulldog Bulldog of course read Thomas Racing Ray. Yeah, Chris, risk of putting my cricket ticket at risk. It's just not good enough. Stadium that costs the best part of a billion dollars. Can't cope with You know this.
00:13:44
Speaker 1: Do you? You know what I'm saying, Like if you if you're going to a concert in April, shouldn't be affecting your AFL fictions in late June. That's just not good enough.
00:13:53
Speaker 2: And and you know what the Victorians look at and it for anything all the time to spashydn't they do. They don't like us. And even if there's a tiny pot of turf missing, they'll turn it into a scanned or massive story. Yeah, and that's what's happened here. What are you jibbering about? You know, they don't cop us.
00:14:17
Speaker 1: There, No, they don't copy you though.
00:14:19
Speaker 2: They don't like your journalists love me. They love me.
00:14:22
Speaker 1: I'm I'm, I'm. You know it is funny though, like Melbourne sports journals do not like Sydney sports journals do they No?
00:14:30
Speaker 2: No, they're very rude towards us. Yes they are.
00:14:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they get preoccupied by us and we don't actually give a ship what they do because they're very soft. Okay, you heard it here first, unless, of course it doesn't happen. So Brad Fidler, we all thought he was going to get the job.
00:14:49
Speaker 2: I blame you for this. Well, exclusive on this podcast three weeks ago. He was the man they wanted.
00:14:58
Speaker 1: And see, I reckon this is the problem because not just you writing it, but there was so much. Everyone just assumed that Freddy was going to have the job. I don't think they talked to Freddy enough about him having the job, so I don't think that was.
00:15:11
Speaker 2: I doubled down on it and I wrote it again on Sunday and watched the bars that he was going to coach Australia, and I'll tell you why I did. Last Thursday, Tristan Hay, who as you know, was malmon Inger's tour manager for anything Australia did christ and Hay looked after it and did all the logistics manage everything. He's been meeting with Freddy. He went to Freddy's house, Yeah, and they had a meeting and they were planning the tour. So I thought, well, that's enough for me to run with it. That's a good sign. So over the weekend Freddy had a change of heart and said I actually heard him last night. Was really interesting that he's put his commentary before anything. And I like the fact that he said he has to have some sharp opinions on some of these players he might have to pick, yeah, and he didn't want to offend anyone. But the story now is that I'm told that Wayne Bennett is back in the picture. Reason being there's a rule in place that a club coach, a state coach cannot take on the Kangaroos job. Whereby, however, as a one off, I think Peter Velandi's Andrew Abdoll and the key people on the commission will make an exception and a point Wayne as a sort of an emergency solution for this kangaroo tour, then offer the job in a malmon Inger type role for three or four years next year for what will be a World Cup. But we need to make a decision quick. Camera. Smith's really funny. He was one hundred percent forty last night. He sat back and said, you, I mean, but they've got my phone number. Why doesn't he pick the phone up? See too big to do that? And wring themselves and say I'll have a way.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: Why can't he might have restrictions on his phone?
00:17:07
Speaker 2: People, NL know as well you can't.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: He can take calls, he just can't send.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: Call you know as well as I do. He is the hardest man on this planet to Contactry.
00:17:18
Speaker 1: Writing his book, Craig on his book.
00:17:21
Speaker 2: Craig Bell used to say, I can't find him.
00:17:25
Speaker 1: I couldn't get him. I couldn't get him for half a book. But then I got him, and then we finally got I used.
00:17:30
Speaker 2: To get the ships that he never rang back. And don't take it personally, buzz. It's all they told me. So if the NRL want to go to the trouble of sending out a search party or throw it, I.
00:17:43
Speaker 1: Said all along that I think Bennett. Bennett in that for this series against England, it's a big it's hard. It's like people will roll their eyes. It's hard to take away a touring team. You've got to know what you're doing.
00:17:56
Speaker 2: We didn't say this three weeks ago when I revealed Freddie was the job. I was saying before that. I was saying, Bennett, you said the Sydney Football Stadium or I did. Mate. This is a rapper throm for you this podcast today.
00:18:11
Speaker 1: I'm not wrapping myself. I'm spitting facts. You should try it sometimes, I said Bennett. And take Cameron Smith as an assistant coach and then he could take over as Australian coach for the World Cup next year.
00:18:25
Speaker 2: The NRL for solving all their problems, Well I do you know that idea? Yeah? I do. And look Wayne, it's a short tour. I know it's three tests about a month and Wayne could afford the time off at South be perfect for it. Do it on his head. Yeah, And I think a Kangaroo tour, the reinvention of the Kangaroo tours is such a prestige job. Like there was some at the NRL saying, oh look brat Arthur's already over there. We could get Brad no, thank you. You know it's going to be tough though.
00:18:54
Speaker 1: It's a tough job because Australia, because of because players like Tino and pay They're all going to start going back to the other countries that they're eligible for. I think it's a it's a tricky one, big, big, big game at Wembley, big crowd, like the pressure is going to be on.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: So so the first Whinney Bennett you heard, unless it doesn't happen. Yeah, you two are back.
00:19:19
Speaker 1: We're talking.
00:19:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, good good.
00:19:22
Speaker 1: I'm not like you. I can Bury Hatchets.
00:19:24
Speaker 2: I was fine but Wayne for a long time when he was in Sydney and he got the ships, so I covered his exit from Newcastle. He left him with three wooden spoons and I was writing that and he bowled out on them with a year ago on his contract where he did loves positive media. He does meet him too. Did some good, some of it not so good. It's funny that one that was your best book.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: That was one of my longest books. News of the Week, State of Origin, Decider a Core Stadium next Wednesday, Their Voice.
00:20:01
Speaker 2: Yes, that very good, sell out crowd.
00:20:04
Speaker 1: So Queensland have made you wouldn't have thought. You thought it was the other way around. About who one game too. Queensland made all the changes, some of them Force obviously Hammer in for Ponger at fullback, Shabaski into the centers and Papa Ley for Fodor Waker. What are you and New Southwester unchanged? Should Billy Slater have picked at Recee Walsh?
00:20:26
Speaker 2: I think absolutely should have, and as a New South Wales fan, I'm so happy he hasn't because if you add Walsh at fullback and then you had the Hammer and the Sanders, it's two X factor players. Very hard to plan any defense about it. You've really got to get your numbers and have that straight line. But they've both got so much speed, they've both got so much unpredictability about them. They're both just class attacking weapons. And I think Billy Slade has led us off here. He's now got two center's playing the two games experienced between them. They're against Latrelle, they're against Stephen Crighton who both won premierships, and I expect New South Wales to win because but I would fear them a lot more Queensland if Walsh was playing.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: I don't like it when we agree, but I'm with you, you know, I know he's well. Billy said it's got nothing to do with his knee. But of them the same opinion, I'm Stundard's. Of Reese Welsh, I just think he's more you know, he's more dangerous when he's when he's uh, when he's in that Queensland team. I mean sorry, Queensland are more dangerous when he's in that team. Well, to get infinitely more, well, you've got to get danderous.
00:21:38
Speaker 2: Try as close as you can to get your best seven name footballers in. You look at Reese Walsh's form and the Broncos resurgence in this competition coincides with Walsh coming back for the Titans game and then again to buy, then again last weekend, and even though he's heavily strapped, he's playing fantastic, isn't he.
00:22:00
Speaker 1: When he doesn't run at the back, when he just sweeps around, he sweeps around beautiful past to do you know, but he does like if you if you didn't anybody, he would have thought it was Billy jump Billy Billy Slater in the Broncos jumps. He's he's very similar what I.
00:22:21
Speaker 2: Like Papa back. Papa Look, I said this on three sixty. You've got Mo, Fight Awaker and Tino in the forwards, as you that's the Titans front Titans, as you know, at the bottom of the ladder, so that they can't be in that flash. So I love Papa bean back.
00:22:39
Speaker 1: Should should Lorrie Dally have make changes to the Blues team?
00:22:43
Speaker 2: Probably not. I would have picked Calum a Tangy originally, but he was poor for Souse on the weekend and Steffano played strong so up until the weekend. Yes, No, I'm happy with the side.
00:22:56
Speaker 1: For mine, the most important player on the field is not actually climbed the three. It is Nathan Cleary. I think that's the storyline for me. I thought Cleary's performance for Penrith against the Bulldogs is exactly what you expect from a champion player, not just a champion player, an immortal in waiting player. Well, he had a look in his eye when he came down that tunnel and was just so dominant and so strong, and I just think he's had all this talk about whether he can take control of.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: An Origin series.
00:23:27
Speaker 1: I don't think he's got anything to prove it for New South Wales is one matches for New South Wales. He's one series for New South Wales. But I can just see it set up for Nathan Clear to make a real statement in that deciding Origin.
00:23:38
Speaker 2: You've taken my fearless forecast. It was about clearing. But I'll stick with it. I'll have my say about what I expect him to do.
00:23:46
Speaker 1: I look forward to that in fifteen minutes time. So that that's a hook and tease, yeah is it?
00:23:50
Speaker 2: Yeah?
00:23:51
Speaker 1: Now, speaking of being really good today with the air coon, what's about two degrees outside?
00:23:56
Speaker 2: Yeah? All right, this is the first podcast done with you. You haven't wanted sixteen degree temperatures. Don't worry about me. Got the Tory Hill figure on? You look at a million bucks? Whatever? You look at a million bucks.
00:24:09
Speaker 1: I wish I could say the same about you and your funny little head over there. Ryan Hoffman's had a bit of a crack at the Rugby League media. Yeah, he says that media around Origin needs to be better. His all stems back to what Aaron Woods had to say about Billy Slater after Game one. I reckon Ryan Hoffman probably needs to read a little bit more if he's going to just sum up State of Origin coverage based on what Aaron Woods to throw away line on Triple M was, what do you think?
00:24:42
Speaker 2: I think Ryan Hoffman was a very very good rugby league player, but I'm not sure what journalists and school he's ever been to. You once said that about Mark believe you when you're having a blue with him on White Ball of Sports. Yeah, Sunday, that was a knockout. Look. Ryan Hoffman is guilty of the worst trash I've heard in a long period of time when he referred to Aaron Woods as a coward, and for him then to come out and try to lecture the media on what's right to print and talk about and published on Mate, it's just bullshit. He needs to pull his head in Ryan Hoffman, A lot of ex players made really got the shits with him. I know, I can't wait for the next Blues Old Boys or Freddie Fittler Metal Dinner and he'll romp in there and he's called one of their own Queensland love it knowing we're fighting. He was so out of order and he needs to pull his head And.
00:25:36
Speaker 1: He also dogged it because he tried to tell Aaron Woods in a phone call. I know this for a fact that what he's been saying publicly. I never called him a coward. I just said what he said was cowardly. No, you didn't, Mate, you called him a coward.
00:25:47
Speaker 2: He used the word coward.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: He used the word coward. He also said this comment. In the end, all you're doing is allowing other people to say those comments in the name of banter. But where do you draw the line? Is it calling someone a grub is a word? Isn't making sexist racist comments about people?
00:26:03
Speaker 2: Is that allowed? Ryan?
00:26:05
Speaker 1: There's the line, Mate, grub is in said in banter? Is one thing calling someone a sexist or racist name? That's not allowed. There's your line. You like that?
00:26:17
Speaker 2: Now? Look, I one hundred percent agree that. I'm really disappointed with him. I interviewed Block a roach about it. He is filthy, Blocker us all and he wants to get him together. But if he gets together, he wants top one to apologize. If they don't just plunk their heads together. You've seen the size of Block. You're still capable of it.
00:26:36
Speaker 1: He still scares me.
00:26:37
Speaker 2: He will either do that or head back.
00:26:41
Speaker 1: But then they'll have a schooner together and tell each other. In most they love each other. Yes, okay. Finally the cricket Australia won the First Test against the West Indies by one hundred and fifty nine runs within three days, but there's huge questions over their top order. In an ashes year, Sam Constance filed to double digits. I can make excuse. That's okay. He's a young nineteen year old opening bat give him time. Cameron Green at three yuck. I don't like it at all, even though they said they're going to persist with it and Usmond Kowaja looks cooked. There are issues with the top order in Australian cricket.
00:27:19
Speaker 2: I reckon.
00:27:20
Speaker 1: A big part of it, buzz and I've written about this many times in the last few years, is that there's no there's no clear line of progression. It used to be the Sheffield Shield because there's so many players ducking off to play in Tea twenty tournaments all around the world. It's it doesn't produce, it doesn't produce that conveyor belt of particularly of opening batsman or top top order batsman.
00:27:41
Speaker 2: Used to do. When you say there's no progression, We had Sam Constance play the best sixty we've ever seen in a boxing day Test against against the champion India. Then he had one more Test and they dropped him. Confidence goes and they go back to the old blacks. Yeah, and so Pathway is said, surely deserve more than one chance. That's what I think. It's harder to get out of the Australian teams is in and I'll tell you something. I'll bring you talk about the batsmen. I'll talk about the bowlers now. They've been getting us out of trouble year after years, series after series, test after tests. You know what, I've worked out The combined age of far of our bowling attack is about one hundred and seventy it is. That's almost as old as you. Yeah, yeah, I'll go sure. Mitchell Starks thirty five, Hazelwood's thirty four, Lions thirty seven, Bolin's thirty six, and Cummins is thirty two. What I'm trying to say here is I'm not saying any of these guys are cooked yet, but at some stage that our failing batsmen aren't going to be able to rely on this really special bowling attack. You're hey, what about at the ages.
00:29:00
Speaker 1: Though I know, I know well Scott Boland's thirty six.
00:29:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, the line thirty seven, Hazel With thirty, Start, thirty.
00:29:10
Speaker 1: Crazy Web thirty across the board. There are a lot of the players that are in their thirties and look.
00:29:16
Speaker 2: We've been so remarkably successful under pat comments, which would make it difficult to make changes. However, we do need a succession plan. It's like when we lost Warn, when we lost Gil Chris, when we lost McGrath for that after that Ashes series in but when they six, when they retire in a group of upshite.
00:29:44
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well, as long as they fire. When you're sitting there in the trust suite of the cricket.
00:29:50
Speaker 2: That's all that matters. You will not be there. Your only hope is if I take you as my guest, which I particularly Mark.
00:29:59
Speaker 1: Can you just remark this comment from Buzz in time so we can play it back while while I'm drinking out of a frosted blast scoffing King Ports. Hey, So the second testing Grenada starts on midnight midnight on Friday. Stop telling me to move Ryan, stop telling me to prove to move on. I'm going to move you on all right, war Stories time the segment, everyone the segment. Everyone loves you love a feud. Warren Ryan can find a feud. He's a bit of a little prickly pear.
00:30:34
Speaker 2: Back then, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Didn't he have a fall out with Chippy. He had a massive fall out with Chippy and Chippy was so shitty. One year Warren Ryan won the Calm. Yeah, and everyone on the Daily Mirror back then came back to the office after the game and had to produce an eight page lift out on the game. And Chippy announced to the staff, I'm going to write him out of history. No one is to mention his name in this grand final lift out. And what got that shit?
00:31:03
Speaker 1: You know, wine Wright has said to me, those blokes, Yeah, those blakes had the telly.
00:31:08
Speaker 2: They wrote me out of history. So it hurts.
00:31:12
Speaker 1: So tell me about your fall out with one wrong my ship fights.
00:31:16
Speaker 2: You know. It started way back in nineteen seventy eight, wherebe I was probably nineteen twenty. I was three. Yeah, well mate, this is true. And I covered a new Town game at Henson Park and I walked into the sheds and made it was quite confronting for a kid to you getting a semicircle around the coach and Medonicas was sitting there and Kenny Wilson and the Dorson. You know, it was almost frightening. Pretty young reporter. So anyway, I walk in, introduced myself to Warrener and he said, mate, you're too young to be writing. Fully, you grab a notebook and hoiked it. I had that transit. Everyone just taking transistor that fell on the ground. The batteries went everywhere players were. He snatched out of your hand. There he did, promised too. He was just trying to put me on shot. It wasn't. He was just showing off. You're too young to be Anyway, we got off.
00:32:12
Speaker 1: Book, we got get up and whack him with it.
00:32:15
Speaker 2: We got off. You know, he was an Empire game shot put. I'm aware. So he was a lot bigger and stronger than me. Okay, so I wasn't going to pide him.
00:32:24
Speaker 1: I've also seen that C. C. Seafootage where he whacked that old bloke at the Patriot Hotels. Definitely he can definitely go.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: He put the slipper into that old break. It was a blue old composed myself. I'll tell you the best year, Hans that day nine and eighty six South Canterbury at the Sydney Cricket Ground. I rang George Piggins night before the game and he said, we're confident, but I know what's going to happen. Peter Kelly and the Cannbury will try and bash us. He will dead set bash us. So the back page and the telegraph was George's fear Kelly will bash us. You know an old tableauid head. Yeah. So anyway they kick off and the ball goes to Ross Harrington, the South swinger in the showground corner. Harrington runs it up and Kelly goes bash and knocked him out dead set first tackle. He got sent off after ten seconds. The story goes that he was in the sheds before the bugler got off the field with the anzac. That's how quick it was. So anyway, after the game we get into the sheds and Warren Ryan grabs me and starts poking me in the chest and said this is your fault. I said, how's it my fault? What he said, well, your story on the back page today, you know the he's read it, were waiting for it and did it. I said, it's got nothing to do with me. George Piggins said it and I printed it. He pushed me and poked me, and I pushed and Peter Moore had to jump in between us to you know, to make sure it didn't get out of hand. Yeah, so that wasn't a real pleasant way to be covering rugby league back in those days. Yeah, the press conferences. Look but the guy used to egg him up a bit too. We used to call him Shackles a lot because he used to shackle Steve Mortimer. He Steve more than Banny Elias, the two examples, and they were just so gifted, so brilliant that you couldn't gain plan them, you couldn't structure them. They were just natural chip over the tie, you know, Yeah, just off the cuff rugby league players. And they used to complain to me privately about him trying to, you know, game plan them. As I said, he's a complex character. He is, I still say, And I'm going to have another little whack at him. Here here we go the nineteen eighty nine Grand Final when he replays blocker Roach and Paul Sarah and I believe was the greatest coaching blunder I've seen, and a decider Camber came home over the top of them, beat them an extra time. W's argument is that they were leading at the time beal Main, so he bought defenders on for you do not replace the two best forwards in the world there on a Grand Final.
00:35:35
Speaker 1: It's very funny should bring this up. So my personal trainer, the man responsible for this amazing reason, did you see no no no, no no no no. Guy called Ben Seymour, who's married to James Grant's daughter, Zoey. James Grant scored in the first half of our Main on the wing in that Grand Final, and Benny asked me, he said, he said, what happened in that game? Why what should Bowmain have won it? And I went through all the or you know, the knock ons with the trot line open, the ankle tap on Junior, the Benny hitting the crossbar, and I said, but the one that everyone talks about is.
00:36:13
Speaker 2: That image that we will never get out of our head.
00:36:15
Speaker 1: Of zero and Blocker on the sideline in the second half. As camera come over the top of them just chewing nails, they look that unhappy. Can I tell you my warrant? I got all right with block My first interaction with him newcast two thousand and five. I was at the Sun Herald and Tony mcgay lined up an interview with him. It was about a beer that had had with Nathan Brown, who was a coach of the Dragons at the time, and he identified early in the season, or a third of the way through the season, that the problem for the Dragons attack was a Trent Barrett. The five eighths was moving too much, too laterally, and that was cramping the outside backs. And he just sort of basically sat there with the fifty cent pieces over a beer and showed him how their attack should look. Saint George went on that great run, remember that year, and should that was a year the Dragon should have won it, I reckon. Anyway, So mcgae had lined up this interview on the Saturday morning. We're going to make it the back page, and you know it was. It was a lot writing on the piece. And I called Warren Ryan at home and I said, yeah again, I Warren Andrew Webster, Sun Herald Newspaper, Yes, I said, look, tourna Gay said to give your call. I said yes, I said so mate, and I see you're fucked up already.
00:37:30
Speaker 2: I'm not your mate.
00:37:31
Speaker 1: Is he and I just went here we go, and then he proceeded to give me twenty minutes of the best quotes you could ever imagine. It was perfect, and I think that in many ways sums up Warren Ryan.
00:37:46
Speaker 2: Very good. But mate, you get these situations in the game and you know, I've never had a relationship as bad as and you know we talk about he's your worst really Oh yeah, yeah, I spoke about before. Mate. We've had some great relationships. And if someone poked me in the chest, I tell you, yeah, well, I didn't know what to do. I would have swung. The interesting thing is I would Jack Gibson never copped him, didn't like him at all. You know who's really tired with him?
00:38:17
Speaker 1: Joey John's Yeah, yeah.
00:38:20
Speaker 2: Joey took him along too, Origin training. A couple of Joey gazing as a Chinese fee with him and Lang Mak and Joey Thomas that crowd. Yeah, but that's okay, that's okay.
00:38:29
Speaker 1: I can't all get on in this crazy old world. We scored in rugby League.
00:38:33
Speaker 2: I remember you gave me. I think you're suspended me for six months, didn't you? Long ago? A couple of years ago, and I had to buy your bottle of Anski to sweep that up. That's the true story. We didn't talk for six months and I organized the lunch at Grappa. I thought it was a peace offering. I'll stop and it cost me hans to the bottle of Nski and I love but to the restaurant, present it to you? And you were you known to the restaurant? You know what? Because I drove there and they got the drink and then left my car there and left the car and the and the Charlie up who runs the restaurant to get him to put the side.
00:39:09
Speaker 1: Don't worry, I went and got it when I got the car, all right, fearless forecast buzz, what do you got?
00:39:15
Speaker 2: Yeah?
00:39:16
Speaker 1: Look, I was trying to be trying to beat that beautiful pros.
00:39:18
Speaker 2: That I just produced on Nathan Nathan Cleary. Look that Penrith game the other night, said it? You know? Then he found another way to win a game, didn't he with the charge down? But he read it. He read the fullback wasn't in the line as but he read the space charged it down. And you know what, I think in this mood that he is going to own Origin next week. I think, and I've been saying for a long period of time, or for the last year or so, that I've already got him with his full titles alongside Joey in Thurston. I do. And it's a big thing to say, but I genuinely believe it. That he's played in five straight Grand finals one four of them and this I can see him now getting the Player of the Series award on Wednesday night as well. Yes I can. I like it. I like it.
00:40:11
Speaker 1: The British and Irish Lions are on our shores. I know you're a massive rugby union days.
00:40:17
Speaker 2: Go you good thing? Whereby what do you have for a free ticket? I know I'm not wearing Alex Brown. Say Alex, I gave you a wrap on my show off the record, shut up, get a free ticket? Shut up.
00:40:30
Speaker 1: So I was talking about Rara types and they reckon a two to one series victory to the Lions.
00:40:34
Speaker 2: Is the bet really?
00:40:36
Speaker 1: Because the lines will take time to work into their combinations and the Wallabies will probably snatch the first one and it's at some Corps Stadium buzz. So I'm going to take the lines to win the series two to one four dollars fifty fifty. It's pretty good price.
00:40:55
Speaker 2: It's interesting with so much interest, how the betting interest be on this series, because obviously rugby league and AFL are the main sports. Interesting to see what sort of you know? Right over? What a show terrific went? All right, you've actually famed up for a change. Yeah, it was good. It was crude. You're right, first episode you've done without the aircon. No, it's we've had one without. How we have it? Because I'm done well, I'm in the hottest part of the nowhere, but still plenty of.
00:41:33
Speaker 1: Can we just before we go? Where's this butter menthold stuff come from?
00:41:37
Speaker 2: You were chewing them? I wasn't chewing one. One of my listeners said, you were. Oh there's one of your listeners. Now you're right.
00:41:47
Speaker 1: Who is it?
00:41:48
Speaker 2: It's a player agent. Oh what a surprise, Stephen Charm.
00:41:51
Speaker 1: You're doing the bidding for one of those player agents.
00:41:55
Speaker 2: Steven Gellis has got his own, the good ones. I'll see you next week before we go back.
00:42:01
Speaker 1: If you're out there listening to us or four of you, you can follow, subscribe and engage with us on socials at Off the Record Podcast on Insta or you can subscribe on YouTube at Off the Record Podcast.
00:42:12
Speaker 2: Thank you Phil, Thanksbank Free Champion. See you guys. Bye,
Speaker 1: Hi everyone, and welcome to Off the Record, the sports podcast of breaking news, hard opinion and a little bit of gibber. I'm Andrew Websterit from The Australia. I'm joined by my partner in crime, journalistic crime, Phil Rothfield from the Daily Telegraph.
00:00:15
Speaker 2: Webby, how are you great to be here? Weather's crap but you surviving the big wet? Yes, I am good. I'm glad. So coming up on that a little bit of gibber. We need a gibber made it because I think there's a lot more gibber than you're prepared to concede in your little ape and it needs a fresher what do you mean? Probably forty GiB a little bit. Anyway, we'll work on that for the next roek.
00:00:42
Speaker 1: Coming up on the show today, we've got some news on who's going to coach Australia now the brad fieldler has pulled the plug. We're going to talk about the big state of origin decided next week, and Buzz talks about his spectacular fallout with an iconic rugby league figure, Warren the wok rhyme.
00:01:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, that'll be good. I'm looking forward to that. But it was a long feud that I'm sure it was.
00:01:06
Speaker 1: He can find a feud, yes.
00:01:10
Speaker 2: So can you. Anyway, anyway, let's let's get in.
00:01:14
Speaker 1: Before we do, let's talk about the big subscription you can get with Code Sport. You get an annual subscription to Australia's best sports website for just forty nine dollars that features Australia's best sports journalism the Code Sports app. You can go to Code sports dot com dot Au, Forward, slash o tr to get the special discount. Now, before we get into this week's potty, I got a request from one of our loyal listeners, Joel By Instagram and I'm going to read out his message and this is.
00:01:49
Speaker 2: Word for words, So go ahead. Hold on Webby.
00:01:54
Speaker 1: Love all the work that you do as a journal every week on on Morning Glory, which I do with Matt John's on on s E and every Friday. It's become our favorite thing of the week. I also love the Off the Record podcast with that old so and so Buzz, who I author also think hang on and Finished, who I also think is an absolute champion. You go dot dot dot But for the love of us listeners, can you please tell Buzz to push that microphone away from his mouth and stop either chewing on cob stoppers or his false teeth. I had to turn off last week's episode.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Must be the gum must be. It must be the Nicorettes perennial. We need Nicorette to sponsor this show. We should, we should. I'll do my best. I'll do my best.
00:02:42
Speaker 1: Give him a call.
00:02:43
Speaker 2: How much?
00:02:43
Speaker 1: How much Nicorettes? How many Nicorettes would you have a board over the years.
00:02:46
Speaker 2: Oh, it's nearly his dearest buddy cigarette, is it? Yes, I'll get him cheap at chemists. Do you buy the sponsor? Do you buy him in bulk? I do? Oh?
00:03:02
Speaker 1: All right, Oh good, you're right anyway, Joel, thank you so much for that that message that you've sent via Instagram. I'll try and get buzz to it's not your false teeth.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: Is No, it's definitely not. I do have false teeth? How many I should take them out for one episode?
00:03:21
Speaker 1: It sounds like Joel and his wife would like you to do it, all right, let's have Let's get to champs and chumps. Who's your champus?
00:03:28
Speaker 2: Made? My champ is Women's Rugby League the NRLWS starts this week it's now a twelve team competition and it started in two thy eighteen, so this is the seventh season with just four teams. It is the fastest growing area of rugby league. I rang Dave Trodden this morning to get some figures on participation in twenty twenty one, four years ago, twenty three thousand participants. Twenty twenty five thirty three thousand and five hundred. That's up forty five. Now. What you can't measure is the increasing skill level and that is why I've fallen in love with that game and we've just had a great origin series. Those girls are such special athletes, but they're skillful too, Wibby and they throw the footy round beautifully. They're very well coached and those games we're getting a million viewers on Channel nine and that's more than a Thursday Friday night club game. They're off the charts, they're figures, and that they've gone to twelve teams, that the competition's longer now. These petition participation numbers are going to grow and grow and grow, and I think at some stage they'll be nearly Australia up there with Australia's best female athletes and sport. I think it's a far superior game to AFL with women.
00:05:04
Speaker 1: I think they're definitely winning the battle NRL against AFL and rugby union. Really who've got the lure of the Olympics. But the way that they the way the NRLW has kicked on in the last few years, You're right at the skill level, they're just their their physicality like they rip in.
00:05:20
Speaker 2: Well, you think all that long ago and a lot of little girls wanted to play rugby league, but when they got to twelve or third and they weren't allowed to, it just stopped and they could go and play os, tag or touch. Now they actually have a pathway junior reps, you know, from Tasha Goal through to the Harvey Normal Women's camp and then the NRLW. I'll tell you in ten years he is going to be just monstrous.
00:05:45
Speaker 1: It's a juggernaut like yourself. Okay, my champ. Now look, this name isn't synonymous with the sports fan. It's it's my old mate, Ian Fooj, the executive sports that are of the Sydney Morning Herald.
00:06:02
Speaker 2: Great Man.
00:06:02
Speaker 1: He is a great man, Fuji and he finishes up on Friday. After twenty six years of the Herald and fifteen as the sports editor. He's not just a sports editor. He's probably one of my best mates and like a big brother in many ways. He got me back to the Herald in twenty thirteen to work under him, and that was after the death of our great mate Rod Allen, who was a sports editor of The Herald at the time, and he just sorry, he just moved on as sports editor. But Rod's death sort of convinced me I wanted to go and work for Ian again. You'd moved on as sports editor at the at the Telegraph, so that was also a factor. But he's an incredible man. He rebuilt that section so many times after redundancy, after redundancy, he identified talent like Tom Deson, like Michael Chamis, like Michael Carrianas. And he also backed me. So it's his last it's his last day on Friday.
00:07:03
Speaker 2: This is funny.
00:07:04
Speaker 1: So you know where he We hatched the idea of me going back to the Herald in twenty thirteen a lady boy bar in Coast Smooi in Thailand. We both happen to be in Coasta on holidays at the same time.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: I was on the choir, were that.
00:07:23
Speaker 1: I was at the Telegraph and i'd left. I was on holidays in Coasta Movie on my own on the quiet side of the island. He said come over to me, and I'd said, he goes, have you ever been to a Lady boy bar? And I said, no, I haven't been there before telling this story. He's partnered up with you, a beautiful, beautiful woman called Demand. But so so we went there. It's my first time there and we didn't talk about shop. I was like, just who would have thought the best looking women in the world would time in.
00:08:00
Speaker 2: Anyway?
00:08:00
Speaker 1: On that note, well done, Foods. You've been an absolute legend of Australian sports journalism.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: Never been particularly close to him, but have admired him from a distance and the quality of his journalism and the fact, you said, the talent of the people he hires and then he sees stories through to the end of publication. And I bumped into it. Functions very pleasant dude, and yeah, great career. He likes you too. Oh that's good. He respects you enormously. Who's your chump? My chump is your mate? One of your mates? Who's my mate? Shane Richardson, Chief Executive Officer, West Tigers.
00:08:37
Speaker 1: Well we're not on at the moment. We've had a bit of a blues so have you.
00:08:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's so good. For the life of me, I cannot work out why he has left. Let Talent de Silver leave that club eight months out from his contract, same as they did with Lochlann Galvin. There was a legal matter there so they had to let Galvin go. Ti Kaman who went. Sean Blull went really good kid on the Tony large half back, outstanding rugby league rugby union half has gone to Manly. So I this club has lost their last six games, the one win off the bottom of the ladder and this is the second gun kid they've let go prematurely because this kid didn't want to play behind Appy Corus out but he was under contract. And as I've been trying to exit the blue with Brent rudabad on three six the other night, I tried to explain him what happens if happy falls, what if he does in a cl what if he's out for eight weeks with another injury. You don't let them walk out. There's a lot of kids playing second grade.
00:09:47
Speaker 1: It's like Cobbo.
00:09:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, but the Broncos won't let Cobbo go. I know, you know, because you know why the Broncos won't let them go, because they think they're going to go deep into the finals and injuries they'll use it. I wanted to alloy a wooden spoon and Rich has let their two best young players go. It's outrageous. I think it's buzz.
00:10:06
Speaker 1: It's systematic of like you know, Rich has a great hand and been in the business for a long time. But it's not whether it's his fold or the club's fault or Benji Marshall's fault. But you know that's two big, big name.
00:10:19
Speaker 2: Two of the best kids in rugby league.
00:10:20
Speaker 1: Young kids coming through. That's right.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: And you know what the successful clubs like the Roosters and the Canterbury Bulldogs are doing. They're stop piling juniors. They've opened academies. Gus is great at it. You signed the best kids from every week. He's pinched a couple out of the Woollongong's George's Nursery. Look at the Rooster's academy opposite and you know what. These kids aren't guaranteed to play first grade. They've got a lot of but they've got an atmosphere there. They've got great coaching there. They've got legends the roosters like Cordon of friand Orbison. You got to learn from Maris and what's doing with the West Tigers.
00:10:57
Speaker 1: They're at the door.
00:10:59
Speaker 2: It's not good, rich O, you're my chump. Fire up, rich Oh you know who my chump is? Gay for it?
00:11:06
Speaker 1: Your great mates at Venues New South Wales? Did they certainly they built? Did they build more park on a swamp? So?
00:11:14
Speaker 2: So the SDG finished. No, But I want to say you'll never ever I will never spend the New Year's Test with you ever again? Why because they are you?
00:11:26
Speaker 1: Well, I can't be bought Phil, That's the difference between you and I.
00:11:30
Speaker 2: It's the best ticket.
00:11:31
Speaker 1: As long as I can get some Oasis tickets, that's.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: Go on.
00:11:36
Speaker 1: So the Segs come under fire for the playing surface after that match between the Swans and the Western Bulldogs. Swan's chairman Andrew Priddam called it unacceptable. Other said it's the worst they've played on. Others they've said it's dangerous. Venues to South Wales say it's never recovered from the Andre Bicelli concert earlier this year. That's not good enough if you're going to those events and you still need to make sure the playing surface is up to it. That's both well SCG and Aliant Stadium. They've got some real questions that need to be answered about their drainage systems or whatever the hell is going on there. But David Gallup needs to take control, and I'm calling him out here on our podcast.
00:12:16
Speaker 2: DG Man, I'm sure he will carry Matha's in charge of it, isn't she She's the CEO. Yes, she's the CEO. What I have learned will be as soon as the league finals are over, they're going to dig up the Football Stadium or Alliance and they're going to go down and look at the drainage and have engineers there. Yeah, it's what it's going to do. It's going to affect Sydney FC with the soccer. They're going to be off the ground there for probably six weeks. Well, I don't want to say it, but I wrote it two weeks ago I did. Yeah, Sydney FC, it might be twelve weeks.
00:12:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've been told the might be two sets of six weeks.
00:12:55
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:12:56
Speaker 1: Wow, yeah, but that's a big impact on this season. Well, thank you so much for reading my copy.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, well now you're you're behind the pay well it's very expensive the Australian. They've got an end of your financial sale and I just missed it too, So there you go.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: Hey, but I buy I buy a Telegraph subscription to read you Yeah, yeah, good on and Brent Reid and Michael Carriana's at the risk of putting my cred.
00:13:21
Speaker 2: Team of cad. I buy her to read her good bulldog Bulldog of course read Thomas Racing Ray. Yeah, Chris, risk of putting my cricket ticket at risk. It's just not good enough. Stadium that costs the best part of a billion dollars. Can't cope with You know this.
00:13:44
Speaker 1: Do you? You know what I'm saying, Like if you if you're going to a concert in April, shouldn't be affecting your AFL fictions in late June. That's just not good enough.
00:13:53
Speaker 2: And and you know what the Victorians look at and it for anything all the time to spashydn't they do. They don't like us. And even if there's a tiny pot of turf missing, they'll turn it into a scanned or massive story. Yeah, and that's what's happened here. What are you jibbering about? You know, they don't cop us.
00:14:17
Speaker 1: There, No, they don't copy you though.
00:14:19
Speaker 2: They don't like your journalists love me. They love me.
00:14:22
Speaker 1: I'm I'm, I'm. You know it is funny though, like Melbourne sports journals do not like Sydney sports journals do they No?
00:14:30
Speaker 2: No, they're very rude towards us. Yes they are.
00:14:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they get preoccupied by us and we don't actually give a ship what they do because they're very soft. Okay, you heard it here first, unless, of course it doesn't happen. So Brad Fidler, we all thought he was going to get the job.
00:14:49
Speaker 2: I blame you for this. Well, exclusive on this podcast three weeks ago. He was the man they wanted.
00:14:58
Speaker 1: And see, I reckon this is the problem because not just you writing it, but there was so much. Everyone just assumed that Freddy was going to have the job. I don't think they talked to Freddy enough about him having the job, so I don't think that was.
00:15:11
Speaker 2: I doubled down on it and I wrote it again on Sunday and watched the bars that he was going to coach Australia, and I'll tell you why I did. Last Thursday, Tristan Hay, who as you know, was malmon Inger's tour manager for anything Australia did christ and Hay looked after it and did all the logistics manage everything. He's been meeting with Freddy. He went to Freddy's house, Yeah, and they had a meeting and they were planning the tour. So I thought, well, that's enough for me to run with it. That's a good sign. So over the weekend Freddy had a change of heart and said I actually heard him last night. Was really interesting that he's put his commentary before anything. And I like the fact that he said he has to have some sharp opinions on some of these players he might have to pick, yeah, and he didn't want to offend anyone. But the story now is that I'm told that Wayne Bennett is back in the picture. Reason being there's a rule in place that a club coach, a state coach cannot take on the Kangaroos job. Whereby, however, as a one off, I think Peter Velandi's Andrew Abdoll and the key people on the commission will make an exception and a point Wayne as a sort of an emergency solution for this kangaroo tour, then offer the job in a malmon Inger type role for three or four years next year for what will be a World Cup. But we need to make a decision quick. Camera. Smith's really funny. He was one hundred percent forty last night. He sat back and said, you, I mean, but they've got my phone number. Why doesn't he pick the phone up? See too big to do that? And wring themselves and say I'll have a way.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: Why can't he might have restrictions on his phone?
00:17:07
Speaker 2: People, NL know as well you can't.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: He can take calls, he just can't send.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: Call you know as well as I do. He is the hardest man on this planet to Contactry.
00:17:18
Speaker 1: Writing his book, Craig on his book.
00:17:21
Speaker 2: Craig Bell used to say, I can't find him.
00:17:25
Speaker 1: I couldn't get him. I couldn't get him for half a book. But then I got him, and then we finally got I used.
00:17:30
Speaker 2: To get the ships that he never rang back. And don't take it personally, buzz. It's all they told me. So if the NRL want to go to the trouble of sending out a search party or throw it, I.
00:17:43
Speaker 1: Said all along that I think Bennett. Bennett in that for this series against England, it's a big it's hard. It's like people will roll their eyes. It's hard to take away a touring team. You've got to know what you're doing.
00:17:56
Speaker 2: We didn't say this three weeks ago when I revealed Freddie was the job. I was saying before that. I was saying, Bennett, you said the Sydney Football Stadium or I did. Mate. This is a rapper throm for you this podcast today.
00:18:11
Speaker 1: I'm not wrapping myself. I'm spitting facts. You should try it sometimes, I said Bennett. And take Cameron Smith as an assistant coach and then he could take over as Australian coach for the World Cup next year.
00:18:25
Speaker 2: The NRL for solving all their problems, Well I do you know that idea? Yeah? I do. And look Wayne, it's a short tour. I know it's three tests about a month and Wayne could afford the time off at South be perfect for it. Do it on his head. Yeah, And I think a Kangaroo tour, the reinvention of the Kangaroo tours is such a prestige job. Like there was some at the NRL saying, oh look brat Arthur's already over there. We could get Brad no, thank you. You know it's going to be tough though.
00:18:54
Speaker 1: It's a tough job because Australia, because of because players like Tino and pay They're all going to start going back to the other countries that they're eligible for. I think it's a it's a tricky one, big, big, big game at Wembley, big crowd, like the pressure is going to be on.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: So so the first Whinney Bennett you heard, unless it doesn't happen. Yeah, you two are back.
00:19:19
Speaker 1: We're talking.
00:19:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, good good.
00:19:22
Speaker 1: I'm not like you. I can Bury Hatchets.
00:19:24
Speaker 2: I was fine but Wayne for a long time when he was in Sydney and he got the ships, so I covered his exit from Newcastle. He left him with three wooden spoons and I was writing that and he bowled out on them with a year ago on his contract where he did loves positive media. He does meet him too. Did some good, some of it not so good. It's funny that one that was your best book.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: That was one of my longest books. News of the Week, State of Origin, Decider a Core Stadium next Wednesday, Their Voice.
00:20:01
Speaker 2: Yes, that very good, sell out crowd.
00:20:04
Speaker 1: So Queensland have made you wouldn't have thought. You thought it was the other way around. About who one game too. Queensland made all the changes, some of them Force obviously Hammer in for Ponger at fullback, Shabaski into the centers and Papa Ley for Fodor Waker. What are you and New Southwester unchanged? Should Billy Slater have picked at Recee Walsh?
00:20:26
Speaker 2: I think absolutely should have, and as a New South Wales fan, I'm so happy he hasn't because if you add Walsh at fullback and then you had the Hammer and the Sanders, it's two X factor players. Very hard to plan any defense about it. You've really got to get your numbers and have that straight line. But they've both got so much speed, they've both got so much unpredictability about them. They're both just class attacking weapons. And I think Billy Slade has led us off here. He's now got two center's playing the two games experienced between them. They're against Latrelle, they're against Stephen Crighton who both won premierships, and I expect New South Wales to win because but I would fear them a lot more Queensland if Walsh was playing.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: I don't like it when we agree, but I'm with you, you know, I know he's well. Billy said it's got nothing to do with his knee. But of them the same opinion, I'm Stundard's. Of Reese Welsh, I just think he's more you know, he's more dangerous when he's when he's uh, when he's in that Queensland team. I mean sorry, Queensland are more dangerous when he's in that team. Well, to get infinitely more, well, you've got to get danderous.
00:21:38
Speaker 2: Try as close as you can to get your best seven name footballers in. You look at Reese Walsh's form and the Broncos resurgence in this competition coincides with Walsh coming back for the Titans game and then again to buy, then again last weekend, and even though he's heavily strapped, he's playing fantastic, isn't he.
00:22:00
Speaker 1: When he doesn't run at the back, when he just sweeps around, he sweeps around beautiful past to do you know, but he does like if you if you didn't anybody, he would have thought it was Billy jump Billy Billy Slater in the Broncos jumps. He's he's very similar what I.
00:22:21
Speaker 2: Like Papa back. Papa Look, I said this on three sixty. You've got Mo, Fight Awaker and Tino in the forwards, as you that's the Titans front Titans, as you know, at the bottom of the ladder, so that they can't be in that flash. So I love Papa bean back.
00:22:39
Speaker 1: Should should Lorrie Dally have make changes to the Blues team?
00:22:43
Speaker 2: Probably not. I would have picked Calum a Tangy originally, but he was poor for Souse on the weekend and Steffano played strong so up until the weekend. Yes, No, I'm happy with the side.
00:22:56
Speaker 1: For mine, the most important player on the field is not actually climbed the three. It is Nathan Cleary. I think that's the storyline for me. I thought Cleary's performance for Penrith against the Bulldogs is exactly what you expect from a champion player, not just a champion player, an immortal in waiting player. Well, he had a look in his eye when he came down that tunnel and was just so dominant and so strong, and I just think he's had all this talk about whether he can take control of.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: An Origin series.
00:23:27
Speaker 1: I don't think he's got anything to prove it for New South Wales is one matches for New South Wales. He's one series for New South Wales. But I can just see it set up for Nathan Clear to make a real statement in that deciding Origin.
00:23:38
Speaker 2: You've taken my fearless forecast. It was about clearing. But I'll stick with it. I'll have my say about what I expect him to do.
00:23:46
Speaker 1: I look forward to that in fifteen minutes time. So that that's a hook and tease, yeah is it?
00:23:50
Speaker 2: Yeah?
00:23:51
Speaker 1: Now, speaking of being really good today with the air coon, what's about two degrees outside?
00:23:56
Speaker 2: Yeah? All right, this is the first podcast done with you. You haven't wanted sixteen degree temperatures. Don't worry about me. Got the Tory Hill figure on? You look at a million bucks? Whatever? You look at a million bucks.
00:24:09
Speaker 1: I wish I could say the same about you and your funny little head over there. Ryan Hoffman's had a bit of a crack at the Rugby League media. Yeah, he says that media around Origin needs to be better. His all stems back to what Aaron Woods had to say about Billy Slater after Game one. I reckon Ryan Hoffman probably needs to read a little bit more if he's going to just sum up State of Origin coverage based on what Aaron Woods to throw away line on Triple M was, what do you think?
00:24:42
Speaker 2: I think Ryan Hoffman was a very very good rugby league player, but I'm not sure what journalists and school he's ever been to. You once said that about Mark believe you when you're having a blue with him on White Ball of Sports. Yeah, Sunday, that was a knockout. Look. Ryan Hoffman is guilty of the worst trash I've heard in a long period of time when he referred to Aaron Woods as a coward, and for him then to come out and try to lecture the media on what's right to print and talk about and published on Mate, it's just bullshit. He needs to pull his head in Ryan Hoffman, A lot of ex players made really got the shits with him. I know, I can't wait for the next Blues Old Boys or Freddie Fittler Metal Dinner and he'll romp in there and he's called one of their own Queensland love it knowing we're fighting. He was so out of order and he needs to pull his head And.
00:25:36
Speaker 1: He also dogged it because he tried to tell Aaron Woods in a phone call. I know this for a fact that what he's been saying publicly. I never called him a coward. I just said what he said was cowardly. No, you didn't, Mate, you called him a coward.
00:25:47
Speaker 2: He used the word coward.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: He used the word coward. He also said this comment. In the end, all you're doing is allowing other people to say those comments in the name of banter. But where do you draw the line? Is it calling someone a grub is a word? Isn't making sexist racist comments about people?
00:26:03
Speaker 2: Is that allowed? Ryan?
00:26:05
Speaker 1: There's the line, Mate, grub is in said in banter? Is one thing calling someone a sexist or racist name? That's not allowed. There's your line. You like that?
00:26:17
Speaker 2: Now? Look, I one hundred percent agree that. I'm really disappointed with him. I interviewed Block a roach about it. He is filthy, Blocker us all and he wants to get him together. But if he gets together, he wants top one to apologize. If they don't just plunk their heads together. You've seen the size of Block. You're still capable of it.
00:26:36
Speaker 1: He still scares me.
00:26:37
Speaker 2: He will either do that or head back.
00:26:41
Speaker 1: But then they'll have a schooner together and tell each other. In most they love each other. Yes, okay. Finally the cricket Australia won the First Test against the West Indies by one hundred and fifty nine runs within three days, but there's huge questions over their top order. In an ashes year, Sam Constance filed to double digits. I can make excuse. That's okay. He's a young nineteen year old opening bat give him time. Cameron Green at three yuck. I don't like it at all, even though they said they're going to persist with it and Usmond Kowaja looks cooked. There are issues with the top order in Australian cricket.
00:27:19
Speaker 2: I reckon.
00:27:20
Speaker 1: A big part of it, buzz and I've written about this many times in the last few years, is that there's no there's no clear line of progression. It used to be the Sheffield Shield because there's so many players ducking off to play in Tea twenty tournaments all around the world. It's it doesn't produce, it doesn't produce that conveyor belt of particularly of opening batsman or top top order batsman.
00:27:41
Speaker 2: Used to do. When you say there's no progression, We had Sam Constance play the best sixty we've ever seen in a boxing day Test against against the champion India. Then he had one more Test and they dropped him. Confidence goes and they go back to the old blacks. Yeah, and so Pathway is said, surely deserve more than one chance. That's what I think. It's harder to get out of the Australian teams is in and I'll tell you something. I'll bring you talk about the batsmen. I'll talk about the bowlers now. They've been getting us out of trouble year after years, series after series, test after tests. You know what, I've worked out The combined age of far of our bowling attack is about one hundred and seventy it is. That's almost as old as you. Yeah, yeah, I'll go sure. Mitchell Starks thirty five, Hazelwood's thirty four, Lions thirty seven, Bolin's thirty six, and Cummins is thirty two. What I'm trying to say here is I'm not saying any of these guys are cooked yet, but at some stage that our failing batsmen aren't going to be able to rely on this really special bowling attack. You're hey, what about at the ages.
00:29:00
Speaker 1: Though I know, I know well Scott Boland's thirty six.
00:29:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, the line thirty seven, Hazel With thirty, Start, thirty.
00:29:10
Speaker 1: Crazy Web thirty across the board. There are a lot of the players that are in their thirties and look.
00:29:16
Speaker 2: We've been so remarkably successful under pat comments, which would make it difficult to make changes. However, we do need a succession plan. It's like when we lost Warn, when we lost Gil Chris, when we lost McGrath for that after that Ashes series in but when they six, when they retire in a group of upshite.
00:29:44
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well, as long as they fire. When you're sitting there in the trust suite of the cricket.
00:29:50
Speaker 2: That's all that matters. You will not be there. Your only hope is if I take you as my guest, which I particularly Mark.
00:29:59
Speaker 1: Can you just remark this comment from Buzz in time so we can play it back while while I'm drinking out of a frosted blast scoffing King Ports. Hey, So the second testing Grenada starts on midnight midnight on Friday. Stop telling me to move Ryan, stop telling me to prove to move on. I'm going to move you on all right, war Stories time the segment, everyone the segment. Everyone loves you love a feud. Warren Ryan can find a feud. He's a bit of a little prickly pear.
00:30:34
Speaker 2: Back then, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Didn't he have a fall out with Chippy. He had a massive fall out with Chippy and Chippy was so shitty. One year Warren Ryan won the Calm. Yeah, and everyone on the Daily Mirror back then came back to the office after the game and had to produce an eight page lift out on the game. And Chippy announced to the staff, I'm going to write him out of history. No one is to mention his name in this grand final lift out. And what got that shit?
00:31:03
Speaker 1: You know, wine Wright has said to me, those blokes, Yeah, those blakes had the telly.
00:31:08
Speaker 2: They wrote me out of history. So it hurts.
00:31:12
Speaker 1: So tell me about your fall out with one wrong my ship fights.
00:31:16
Speaker 2: You know. It started way back in nineteen seventy eight, wherebe I was probably nineteen twenty. I was three. Yeah, well mate, this is true. And I covered a new Town game at Henson Park and I walked into the sheds and made it was quite confronting for a kid to you getting a semicircle around the coach and Medonicas was sitting there and Kenny Wilson and the Dorson. You know, it was almost frightening. Pretty young reporter. So anyway, I walk in, introduced myself to Warrener and he said, mate, you're too young to be writing. Fully, you grab a notebook and hoiked it. I had that transit. Everyone just taking transistor that fell on the ground. The batteries went everywhere players were. He snatched out of your hand. There he did, promised too. He was just trying to put me on shot. It wasn't. He was just showing off. You're too young to be Anyway, we got off.
00:32:12
Speaker 1: Book, we got get up and whack him with it.
00:32:15
Speaker 2: We got off. You know, he was an Empire game shot put. I'm aware. So he was a lot bigger and stronger than me. Okay, so I wasn't going to pide him.
00:32:24
Speaker 1: I've also seen that C. C. Seafootage where he whacked that old bloke at the Patriot Hotels. Definitely he can definitely go.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: He put the slipper into that old break. It was a blue old composed myself. I'll tell you the best year, Hans that day nine and eighty six South Canterbury at the Sydney Cricket Ground. I rang George Piggins night before the game and he said, we're confident, but I know what's going to happen. Peter Kelly and the Cannbury will try and bash us. He will dead set bash us. So the back page and the telegraph was George's fear Kelly will bash us. You know an old tableauid head. Yeah. So anyway they kick off and the ball goes to Ross Harrington, the South swinger in the showground corner. Harrington runs it up and Kelly goes bash and knocked him out dead set first tackle. He got sent off after ten seconds. The story goes that he was in the sheds before the bugler got off the field with the anzac. That's how quick it was. So anyway, after the game we get into the sheds and Warren Ryan grabs me and starts poking me in the chest and said this is your fault. I said, how's it my fault? What he said, well, your story on the back page today, you know the he's read it, were waiting for it and did it. I said, it's got nothing to do with me. George Piggins said it and I printed it. He pushed me and poked me, and I pushed and Peter Moore had to jump in between us to you know, to make sure it didn't get out of hand. Yeah, so that wasn't a real pleasant way to be covering rugby league back in those days. Yeah, the press conferences. Look but the guy used to egg him up a bit too. We used to call him Shackles a lot because he used to shackle Steve Mortimer. He Steve more than Banny Elias, the two examples, and they were just so gifted, so brilliant that you couldn't gain plan them, you couldn't structure them. They were just natural chip over the tie, you know, Yeah, just off the cuff rugby league players. And they used to complain to me privately about him trying to, you know, game plan them. As I said, he's a complex character. He is, I still say, And I'm going to have another little whack at him. Here here we go the nineteen eighty nine Grand Final when he replays blocker Roach and Paul Sarah and I believe was the greatest coaching blunder I've seen, and a decider Camber came home over the top of them, beat them an extra time. W's argument is that they were leading at the time beal Main, so he bought defenders on for you do not replace the two best forwards in the world there on a Grand Final.
00:35:35
Speaker 1: It's very funny should bring this up. So my personal trainer, the man responsible for this amazing reason, did you see no no no, no no no no. Guy called Ben Seymour, who's married to James Grant's daughter, Zoey. James Grant scored in the first half of our Main on the wing in that Grand Final, and Benny asked me, he said, he said, what happened in that game? Why what should Bowmain have won it? And I went through all the or you know, the knock ons with the trot line open, the ankle tap on Junior, the Benny hitting the crossbar, and I said, but the one that everyone talks about is.
00:36:13
Speaker 2: That image that we will never get out of our head.
00:36:15
Speaker 1: Of zero and Blocker on the sideline in the second half. As camera come over the top of them just chewing nails, they look that unhappy. Can I tell you my warrant? I got all right with block My first interaction with him newcast two thousand and five. I was at the Sun Herald and Tony mcgay lined up an interview with him. It was about a beer that had had with Nathan Brown, who was a coach of the Dragons at the time, and he identified early in the season, or a third of the way through the season, that the problem for the Dragons attack was a Trent Barrett. The five eighths was moving too much, too laterally, and that was cramping the outside backs. And he just sort of basically sat there with the fifty cent pieces over a beer and showed him how their attack should look. Saint George went on that great run, remember that year, and should that was a year the Dragon should have won it, I reckon. Anyway, So mcgae had lined up this interview on the Saturday morning. We're going to make it the back page, and you know it was. It was a lot writing on the piece. And I called Warren Ryan at home and I said, yeah again, I Warren Andrew Webster, Sun Herald Newspaper, Yes, I said, look, tourna Gay said to give your call. I said yes, I said so mate, and I see you're fucked up already.
00:37:30
Speaker 2: I'm not your mate.
00:37:31
Speaker 1: Is he and I just went here we go, and then he proceeded to give me twenty minutes of the best quotes you could ever imagine. It was perfect, and I think that in many ways sums up Warren Ryan.
00:37:46
Speaker 2: Very good. But mate, you get these situations in the game and you know, I've never had a relationship as bad as and you know we talk about he's your worst really Oh yeah, yeah, I spoke about before. Mate. We've had some great relationships. And if someone poked me in the chest, I tell you, yeah, well, I didn't know what to do. I would have swung. The interesting thing is I would Jack Gibson never copped him, didn't like him at all. You know who's really tired with him?
00:38:17
Speaker 1: Joey John's Yeah, yeah.
00:38:20
Speaker 2: Joey took him along too, Origin training. A couple of Joey gazing as a Chinese fee with him and Lang Mak and Joey Thomas that crowd. Yeah, but that's okay, that's okay.
00:38:29
Speaker 1: I can't all get on in this crazy old world. We scored in rugby League.
00:38:33
Speaker 2: I remember you gave me. I think you're suspended me for six months, didn't you? Long ago? A couple of years ago, and I had to buy your bottle of Anski to sweep that up. That's the true story. We didn't talk for six months and I organized the lunch at Grappa. I thought it was a peace offering. I'll stop and it cost me hans to the bottle of Nski and I love but to the restaurant, present it to you? And you were you known to the restaurant? You know what? Because I drove there and they got the drink and then left my car there and left the car and the and the Charlie up who runs the restaurant to get him to put the side.
00:39:09
Speaker 1: Don't worry, I went and got it when I got the car, all right, fearless forecast buzz, what do you got?
00:39:15
Speaker 2: Yeah?
00:39:16
Speaker 1: Look, I was trying to be trying to beat that beautiful pros.
00:39:18
Speaker 2: That I just produced on Nathan Nathan Cleary. Look that Penrith game the other night, said it? You know? Then he found another way to win a game, didn't he with the charge down? But he read it. He read the fullback wasn't in the line as but he read the space charged it down. And you know what, I think in this mood that he is going to own Origin next week. I think, and I've been saying for a long period of time, or for the last year or so, that I've already got him with his full titles alongside Joey in Thurston. I do. And it's a big thing to say, but I genuinely believe it. That he's played in five straight Grand finals one four of them and this I can see him now getting the Player of the Series award on Wednesday night as well. Yes I can. I like it. I like it.
00:40:11
Speaker 1: The British and Irish Lions are on our shores. I know you're a massive rugby union days.
00:40:17
Speaker 2: Go you good thing? Whereby what do you have for a free ticket? I know I'm not wearing Alex Brown. Say Alex, I gave you a wrap on my show off the record, shut up, get a free ticket? Shut up.
00:40:30
Speaker 1: So I was talking about Rara types and they reckon a two to one series victory to the Lions.
00:40:34
Speaker 2: Is the bet really?
00:40:36
Speaker 1: Because the lines will take time to work into their combinations and the Wallabies will probably snatch the first one and it's at some Corps Stadium buzz. So I'm going to take the lines to win the series two to one four dollars fifty fifty. It's pretty good price.
00:40:55
Speaker 2: It's interesting with so much interest, how the betting interest be on this series, because obviously rugby league and AFL are the main sports. Interesting to see what sort of you know? Right over? What a show terrific went? All right, you've actually famed up for a change. Yeah, it was good. It was crude. You're right, first episode you've done without the aircon. No, it's we've had one without. How we have it? Because I'm done well, I'm in the hottest part of the nowhere, but still plenty of.
00:41:33
Speaker 1: Can we just before we go? Where's this butter menthold stuff come from?
00:41:37
Speaker 2: You were chewing them? I wasn't chewing one. One of my listeners said, you were. Oh there's one of your listeners. Now you're right.
00:41:47
Speaker 1: Who is it?
00:41:48
Speaker 2: It's a player agent. Oh what a surprise, Stephen Charm.
00:41:51
Speaker 1: You're doing the bidding for one of those player agents.
00:41:55
Speaker 2: Steven Gellis has got his own, the good ones. I'll see you next week before we go back.
00:42:01
Speaker 1: If you're out there listening to us or four of you, you can follow, subscribe and engage with us on socials at Off the Record Podcast on Insta or you can subscribe on YouTube at Off the Record Podcast.
00:42:12
Speaker 2: Thank you Phil, Thanksbank Free Champion. See you guys. Bye,
