00:00Hello and welcome to the latest York's Post Rookie League podcast where this week we are
00:13concentrating very much on Wembley. Hall KR versus Warrington Wolves is the main event but
00:18obviously we've got a lot of interest as well in Featherstone versus York in the 1895 cut which
00:23follows but primarily for this week myself and James O'Brien the York's Post Rookie League
00:31correspondent are going to be looking at the main event Hall KR versus Warrington and 40 years since
00:37the Robins last won a major trophy James I think we've sort of touched on it in recent weeks
00:43here and there. I don't think anyone's mentioned that but I'll ask you again are they going to
00:50end that wait on Saturday? Well they've got to aren't they they're just yeah it can't go on much
00:56longer they've been reminded it's been rammed down the throats just for the past few years really
01:01since they re-emerged even under Tony Smith when they were getting to semi-finals they were
01:10the rivals over the river they were reminding them they haven't won anything since 1985 and it's
01:16even though they've improved every year since then they're still in the same situation but
01:21this team just seems built for winning silverware and getting over the line
01:25yeah but once they get out there and it's just one of those they've just got to get over the line
01:32somehow if they lose this one I'd be really worried for them going forward because that's a lot of
01:38baggage to carry not just losing the last it would be three finals in a row just 40 years of baggage
01:46and pain we can get rid of all that this weekend and they've just got to go and do it now if they
01:51perform as they have been this season and don't get a stage fright I think they've won 16 out of 17
01:56and they've probably won that other game with a bit more in the tank they've played all the week
02:00before whereas we're going to have a free week and that showed at the end but yeah if they carry on
02:05playing as they are they'll win but it's it's not as simple as that is it in willie peters the coach
02:11the head coach they seem to have a have a man who he's very calm very unruffled knows how he wants
02:18his team to play he doesn't get too carried away with any of the hype or anything like that like a
02:23lot of coaches I suppose you could argue he just seems to be the man who is he's more likely than
02:29anyone before him to to deliver that silverware that the club so craves yeah it's very much about
02:35process you can't really knock him out of his stride if you we try with the with our lines of
02:41questioning but it's and you have tried several times but he's um he's an australian and he plays
02:47with a plays with a very straight bat um i love the cricket over there and i know he does as well so
02:54um but yeah just in terms of his coaching ability well look at the job he's done there
03:01it seemed like tony smith had done a decent job but the
03:04willie peters has taken on to a whole new level probably should have won in in 2023 but
03:13he'd probably say himself and i think he did yesterday that they probably weren't quite ready
03:17to win at that point um it might not have been him it might have been elliot mincella actually but
03:22obviously he's the captain now um but yeah it does feel like this team's ready he's got them into a
03:27position now where they they've got all the tools and that's probably the the worst part for coaches
03:33no they've got he's given them all the tools and they're he's built a side ready to do it but
03:38yeah you just don't know what's going to happen on the day do you i think back in 2023 there were a lot
03:43of um individual errors brad schneider missed touch in in golden point and as a coach you just can't
03:49legislate for that kind of thing can you so as long as they carry out his game plan and as i say
03:56perform as they have been this season and don't don't get a stage fright they should win but
04:00orrington have got a lot of match winners as well and
04:03okay our fans were only reminding that max need won the lance top trophy has man of the match twice
04:10for all fc uh and he's kicking games unbelievable in in matches like this so okay as forward pack
04:16will have to get on top and stay on top limit his time and space and it's same for george williams who
04:21who is past fit but is he much fit we'll we'll wait and see they met just what 10 11 days ago
04:28um okay are running out comfortable 30 31 12 winners uh something they followed up with a with a with a
04:36massive win against saint helens last friday as well so they are a form team but
04:39does does that have any bearing on on on what happens at wembley does it does it does it give
04:46that does it does it give hulk ar more confidence and that more more confidence than warrington or is
04:52it a case of warrington will be a very different looking team that's it yeah um i think sam burgess
04:57he didn't he didn't throw that game um because because they're not in a great situation in the league
05:02but he's definitely thrown everything into this final and why wouldn't you because it's a
05:06great opportunity one game away from lifting silverware but quite a few players who didn't
05:11play that day or play this weekend um george williams who i mentioned there um paul vaughn as
05:17well tober king more than likely and maybe others as well um so it'll be a very very different looking
05:24more inside and with you got williams and sneed in the halves um that's a fair old half-back pairing
05:30then you've got matt duff views very unpredictable he could go from the sublime to the ridiculous
05:35um in the space of a few minutes but he could he could win warrington the game he's one of those
05:40who could pop up with one or two tries so yeah okay i need to be wary of those guys but with the
05:47pack they've got i'd expect some yeah i'd expect some to to dominate hulk air sorry for hulk air to
05:53dominate warrington um and then they've also got i remember mentioned that much when there's like
05:59michael lewis and even tyrone may who who it feels like he's been building to this game is he was a
06:05bit off in the grand final last year but he has uh improved the areas that willie smith willie smith
06:11willie peter's asked him to improve um and yeah he just i feel like he's going to step up this week
06:18okay hulk air have been pretty uh lucky in the sense that they've been able to be quite consistent
06:25with their lineups this season but he has um willie peter's has been forced into a bit of a
06:30reshuffle himself hasn't he it's not a major change not when you compare to what the different how
06:35different warrington might look to how the team their team did two weeks ago but he has had to make
06:39a small adjustment and he could be forced well not forced but he could uh have the luxury of making a
06:44big decision in terms of michael macaloram who seems to be head spinning in his recovery and could
06:49potentially um be fit to play yeah that is um that is a very interesting one because he's only
06:56he was ruled out three months and he's only halfway through his rehabilitation period so it's a case of
07:01maybe strap him up and send him out there the thing about macaloram is he won't be expected
07:07whereas williams is coming back playing the first his first game in eight weeks you know as a halfback
07:12as the captain will be expected to play the full game whereas macaloram will start play maybe
07:1720-25 minutes tops and then hand it over to jesley and so that's all he needs to get through so i
07:22guess even if he went off after five minutes it backfired then they're not really it doesn't knock
07:29the the um the game plan out too much so you can understand why they're considering it and he's such
07:34an experienced player and he leads all the defensive efforts and if warrenson they're lining up and
07:39seeing michael macaloram so next to jared where i agree so it's not it's not a pleasant sight for
07:45for opposition players um but it could backfire i remember okr um a few years ago in the semi-final
07:52sony smith played cainlin net with the same injury or a similar injury a bicep injury and he went off
07:57after inside the first 10 minutes so that backfired spectacularly you do tend to remember the instances
08:03where players play half fit and go off you don't i can't remember many where where where they throw an
08:10injured player half fit player in then it comes off only people only remember when it backfires so
08:15it's a big call it is a big call and you mentioned the other uh selection poses for for willie peters
08:21he's basically reverting to the lineup he had in the semi-final because arthur morgue's cup tied um so
08:27jack broadbent to fullback uh james batch lose obviously you usually a back rower to center he's
08:34got two tries from center in the semi-final and he's one of those players that could probably play
08:38anywhere he's hard working he gets he just he just does the job basically and it's not that much of a
08:45change from second row to center anyway so yeah i don't think i'll have a problem it's not ideal to
08:50have someone playing out of position on a big stage like that but if anyone can do it he can
08:54and just just plus lastly on macaloram obviously he's got a big part to play
08:58you know there is a big significant risk because if he did sort of suffer a relapse and and sort of
09:04puts him back in his recovery then you know he he has a bigger part to play in terms of in terms of
09:09the super league title itself later down the line doesn't he so he's got a he's got to bear that in
09:14mind as well no that's true um it's one of those how much more damage can he do so i guess that that's
09:21what they thought the other year with can on it because if it comes off the bone or whatever you
09:26will just get it operated on but macaloram might be in a different situation because he's halfway
09:30through already um but yeah it's one of those if you if you can get him through 20 minutes and then
09:36he'll just basically just go back and finish off his rehab which is crazy really so he'll probably be
09:42out for another six weeks after this so it's it's a great story for us we need we need stories like
09:48this in wembley week and they tend to and the teams always tend to deliver so we're very grateful
09:53and fingers crossed he is fit for okr and he gets through the game and obviously okr come on with
09:59that trophy and stop us talking about 40 years and all that because i'm sick of it myself myself
10:07just quick word about um featherstone versus hull in the 1895 cup which follows um paul cook
10:14obviously coming up against the club that he left at the end of last season nice sort of side story
10:18there as well how do you see that one going it's a really interesting game at ffv york um
10:24two two sides are informing the championship as you mentioned there's there's that subplot there with
10:31paul cook and his assistant jed corcoran who were um york last year with mark applegarth now they're
10:38heading up um the revival at featherstone so yeah that's an interesting interesting story and they're
10:46closely matched in terms of form york are in better form they've only lost once in in a couple of months
10:52than that was against featherstone so uh it has the makings of a really close game it's just a shame
10:57i think mark applegarth touched on it yesterday that is the last game so you do tend to find that
11:03most people have gone oh they come for the main event and then go home so that is a shame um and
11:09it's the same for the women as well so i don't think there is a um the perfect scenario for the
11:15finals the chance cup final the men's is always going to be the main event and then the others just
11:21fitting around that but it is great for those players to play at wembley it's the 1895 cup is it
11:26gives lower league uh players a chance to step out at wembley whether whether it's uh full or not
11:33it's a great experience for them yorkshirepost.co.uk
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