The Tip Sheet is also available on Spotify and iTunes!
The Tip Sheet is back with another installment of NRL news as Sixties, Forty20 and Spiro breakdown Round 24 of the premiership race. It all starts on the Eels as Parra look to time their run into the finals. They built on a dominant win over the Bulldogs with an even more impressive thumping of the Broncos. The boys look at the blazing star of Shaun Lane as Parramatta’s key backrower draws bigger and more impressive plaudits with each passing game.
The spiteful clash between the Roosters and Storm draws ire for a poor showing from the Match Review Committee. Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Cameron Munster escaped bans for downright dastardly behavior and the boys are having none of it.
The Broncos, Sea Eagles, Knights and Titans have all seen the wheels fall off their respective wagons and The Tip Sheet tries to figure out why. From Brisbane’s horrid response to a deserved spray from their coach to Manly’s cultural implosion, who did it best or rather worst?
The show concludes with a discussion around resting players in Round 25 and a potential mammoth deal for young gun Joseph Suaalii from rugby union.
Great podcast guys.
Congratulations on your website traffic record. It’s because you guys provide the best Parra news and information. The thinking persons fan site. I think your rules for comment interactions are also helpfull at weeding out the toxic people that just want to troll. There’s another non fan, non supporters website for them to use.
NAS and JWH are both grubs and both attack the head. Both these guys should be suspended. JWH always raising his elbow/forearm into the throat on contact is never scrutinised. The fine system should not be allowed for contact to the head.
I’d probably say Roosters and Storm are the dirtyist clubs and are protected species. If Parra had a player like that he’d be banned for life by now.
I loved “around the grounds” broadcasts. 3pm Sunday.
We can win this.
Go Eels!!
Cheers Pete. Appreciate your support. Yeah our “rules” are pretty basic. It’s just about respect.
Speaking of respect, it’s about time that the MRC respected players’ rights to be safe when playing against certain players. The sort of contact we’ve seen from NAS appear to target the head. How it passes muster is beyond me.
I just noticed that BA has selected a slow skinny halfback in the 17 and left us one big forward short of a strong forward rotation. Fair enough if we didn’t have two big men in Bruce Cartwright and Ofahiki Ogden in the reserves on the bench but not in the top 17?
It’s not as if we can afford to carry one forward short against Melbourne’s giant pack of forwards.
Good luck to us in the finals if this is an indication of our squads reserves selection.
Finally a bit of food for thought. a) If JA is in the seventeen to cover for the halves? Why can’t Bryce Cartwright fill that role and cover backrow and centre at the same time? b) If JA is there to cover his latest re-incarnation at hooker/dummy-half? Why can’t Mitch Rein, the hooker we recruited this year with over 200 NRL games to his credit do that and do what we all know would be a much better job of it?
Basically you disagree with BA’s bench selection. And that’s fine and you’re not alone in expressing that opinion. If the team continues to win will you continue to disagree?
I think the inclusion of Lodge on the chooks bench has shown what another big forward can bring to your team.Apparently our coach thinks a halfback can carry that role. Probably our most defining game in years.
A few things on the “spray.” One is that they are of very limited motivational use and have diminishing returns. Yes, a coach may need to have a frank and tough talk but does a spray really work? What does Kevvie do after his two sprays and still no result? I suggest another one will not help. And that poses an interesting question for the Broncos.
The second point is, as someone who is works in work health and safety, people do not cop sprays in workplace as implied by Spiro. If they do, then here is a serious issue issue in terms of workplace culture and management training. It doesn’t happen in most workplaces anymore. I do think this is an outdated and dangerous view.
As for the game, those with long memories will need no more motivation to give it to NAS after the game where he taunted the brave Parra fans at Melbourne a few years ago. Obviously with the past week, a massive parochial crowd at Parramatta on Thursday will freely share their love with NAS.
The concern I have for this game is not the results (I think Parra will get the job done) but losing a player due to another instance of foul play from a Melbourne players who have escaped justice.
Go Parra!
Shaun, Forty and I have had some recent discussions around how the rugby league dressing room chats wouldn’t fly in a workplace. I guess that also applies to many professional sports. There was a recording I heard via social media recently that was reported to be Ricky Stuart letting rip in the sheds. It sounded like him and it was removed not long after being posted. Whoever it was, they didn’t hold back!
I guess the line that shouldn’t be crossed is one that is personally abusive in a way that isn’t about the footy. Still, can you imagine speaking to anyone in your workplace in the manner that coaches or captains speak to the players! You’d be in court very quickly.
These days coaches have to be man-managers, they have to be aware of different personalities, and players seem to want out of contracts when they get a stint in Reggies or don’t play a preferred position. I don’t envy the balancing act they have to perfect.
I do get what you say about repeated sprays. If it becomes frequent, it is completely ineffective. What we don’t know is what Kevin said or whether it was a sequence of repeated sprays. But after their last couple of weeks, it’s hard to blame him. And if a couple of players are upset, if I was Kevvie, I’d want them out.
It is an interesting discussion and when the NRL is promoting mental health and psychological wellbeing creates an interesting tension between that and what is accepted as part of the game.
Person management is a very difficult thing to do as you need to adjust yourself to how each person responds. It is a balancing act and it seems some coaches haven’t got this. But you also have people playing the game that have different values than those who are influence by their experiences from their playing days (and this is not a judgement on either). Goes back to motivation and how it is not what a lot of people think it is. It is a fascinating part of the game that does not often get discussed in depth.
I agree that spraying players after poor performance has diminishing returns. It means that the coaching team has to come up with a variety of strategies.
However some of these players are up around $500,000 to a $mil. If they can’t handle a few home truths then they are in the wrong profession.
With Shaun Lane getting passes away for try assists, it is forcing teams to take him high.
They are all trying now to tie up his right arm and stop the offload. This is helping him get those big post contact metres.
He has more try assists than any player in the NRL not playing in the spine.
Sixties I don’t want to promote myself as a Nostradamus but!
About a month ago I forecast that the Eels and Storm would be playing off for fourth place on Thursday night. I can’t find the post or prove it but it is there somewhere.
Spiro stop talking about the referees coming down hard on violent play. Every time this happens the Eels are the ones being penalised.
The three teams you mention having the biggest fail this year all have a similar issue and that is cap mismanagement.
The Titans have Fifita on a ridiculous salary and there is no idea how to use him.
Knights have over played their hand giving overs to many players not the least of which is Ponga.
Manly is an interesting one. Is Des having a Dogs moment here. Again he has cap issues with so much of the cap tied to the Turbos. He also has change room issues.
Buying NRL players for the Wallabies and the next World Cup will give them a sugar hit but as Sixties says it will do nothing for their long term future.
I’ll call you Nostradamus!
Interesting observation about those clubs and their mismanagement of the cap. It’s a very good call.
Good pod guys, has been a good listen all year.
Agree NRL/MRC needs to sort out their imbalance in charges. Accidents coping worse penalties than dog acts is just ridiculous.
I have to disagree on the sentiment about Rugby stuff. As a supporter of both codes (I can’t stand AFL or soccer) I want to see both games thrive and the other 2 traditional winter codes dwindle. Rugby has been mismanaged for 2-3 decades, and that’s why it is where it is in Australia. Outside of Australia it is a far more dominant sport. There have been plenty of examples of players switching between codes, and let’s be honest, what you grow up playing and ultimately supporting is 9 times out of 10 a factor of your environment and parents. Rugby has been suffocated out of mainstream Australian sport (much of which self inflicted by the way it is managed), and that’s why it is where it is both in popularity and talent coming through the ranks. Popularity and talent are completely correlated. That said, Rugby would be nuts to give Sualii $2m a year. He’s too junior and not in a key play making role.
I thought the Eels were on death row a few weeks ago. They’ve re-kindled my hopes though. That being said I don’t know which is the better outcome;
– playing Penrith, winning and then getting a week off – we’ve typically not done well in the next match after the team gets an extended break!
– playing Souths or Chooks in week 1 of the finals – they’re probably the teams I’d be least confident about beating.
Either way, at least we have a blockbuster to look forward to in Thurs.
Mick, I used to support both codes. The junior club I played for, and a number I played against in western Sydney no longer exist. Back in the 70s, 80s and 90s I could name the players in the Wallabies. I could even name the players in the Two Blues team. Did it start to go wrong when the ARU signed up the likes of Sailor, Rogers et al?