00:00West Tigers on the weekend there, Lee.
00:04I'm not sure if you enjoyed this because it probably was the best example of,
00:09as you and Darren have said on this podcast already,
00:11the National Ping-Pong Rugby League.
00:14But what did you make of that game there and the Tigers' performance?
00:17I think they're going to miss the Leica Oval for however long it's getting redeveloped.
00:22I mean, I don't know how much time you need to redevelop something
00:24that's going to end up with some grass on still.
00:26I said 18 months, but yeah.
00:28Yeah, I don't know if they're just planting some seeds on the hill or something,
00:32but they're going to miss Leica Oval for sure because there is an aura there, if you like.
00:41Again, I'm going to throw in another team that's probably just starting to disappoint us
00:45and that's the Titans.
00:46And I think we have a tendency, Darren, to look at immediacy at the moment
00:53because if a team wins one weekend, we go, oh, they're back on track.
00:57At Parramatta, I've had a disappointing season too.
00:59Don't forget, Jason Riles was meant to be the messiah who was going to change everything.
01:06So all these teams are suffering from injuries.
01:09That goes back to and is a legacy of the National Ping-Pong Rugby League
01:14and how teams are preparing for this competition.
01:17So again, I keep going back, Darren, to that unprecedented nature
01:21and it keeps coming out in your numbers each week.
01:25Yeah, well, I mean, the Tigers, how many teams would concede 24 consecutive points and win?
01:29It wouldn't happen that often.
01:32Yeah.
01:33I have to say, though, I'm a little bit sick of these rules.
01:36I mean, I know the rules have changed the game,
01:37but I don't care what rules they're playing under.
01:39The Tigers conceded, what, four tries in about 12 minutes yesterday.
01:43Yeah.
01:44That doesn't matter what rules they're playing under.
01:46It does, Scott, because the problem is, for many years, for about at least,
01:52well, I've been in this country 20 years, right?
01:54And I've been around NRO recruitment for a lot of that time.
01:58And a lot of recruitment was based on size.
02:00So basically, there was a thought amongst some of the more talented juniors in this country
02:06that if you weren't a certain height and you didn't look like you're going to get to a certain weight,
02:12you would not get picked up.
02:14Some teams have been quicker to adapt to that than others
02:17in the National Ping-Pong Rugby League in terms of pre-season, in terms of recruitment.
02:24But I think the biggest thing that changed this year was they moved the threshold for the six-agains
02:33back down the field a little bit more.
02:36But secondly, they're policing of the rook speed,
02:38and they've got a little bit more consistent with that.
02:41So the game is infinitely faster.
02:43And I remember when we were talking about Origin the other week when you were last on,
02:48it's sometimes hard for us to understand when we're on the sidelines
02:53how tiring this game is to play.
02:56And if you are under the cosh because of the speed of the opposition constantly,
03:03it is just so hard to get your body there somewhere sometimes.
03:07And I really do think that because these things were brought in very late,
03:15just before the season started,
03:17some of the worst clubs in our competition,
03:20I'm sorry to mention your team, Scott,
03:22but the Dragons clearly haven't recruited a side for years
03:29based on smaller players.
03:31Instead, they've tried to get bigger players
03:33who are better when the game is a bit more north-south,
03:37a bit more attritional, where we can be a bit more muscular.
03:41They've tried to slim them right down.
03:43And it's just not worked for them.
03:45So it really is a game-changer.
03:49I don't disagree, Lee,
03:51but ultimately you don't see the Panthers conceding four tries in 12 minutes.
03:54The good teams figure it out.
03:56And the Tigers, yes, they won yesterday.
03:58And that's what I'm saying.
03:59But in the last couple of weeks, they've been pretty awful.
04:01The better teams have been ahead of the curve for the last few years.
04:07You know, it's only 20 metres different, the threshold for the six against, for example.
04:14But also, Penrith Panthers, etc.
04:20Their system and their success has only been in the last five, six, seven years.
04:25Somebody like Craig Bellamy, for example, has had a big legacy in the NRL.
04:33I'm going to call it the NRL before it became the National Ping-Pong Rugby League.
04:36By doing a lot of wrestling, by doing a certain defensive system.
04:41And it's very hard sometimes to imagine that changing so significantly.
04:46And I think Melbourne Storm are a perfect example of how these new versions of the game
04:53and these new interpretations in the game have really changed how teams can play.
04:59And so I don't think we can completely take it off the table.
05:03Yeah, I think it comes mostly to just the speed of which it's changed.
05:07So it just, it just, it seemed like it changed pretty much overnight.
05:10I know, I know it sort of, it wasn't that, but that's sort of how it felt like.
05:14But before we move away from the West Tigers game, Scott,
05:17I know you wanted to touch on Jerome Luai's game in that West Tigers game.
05:22Yeah, I mean, he was awesome yesterday.
05:24Probably the best game I've seen him playing Tigers colours.
05:26And it was overdue.
05:28I have to say, like, you know, ever since he's signed with PNG,
05:30there's been a real narrative in the media and in, you know,
05:33with fans around just exactly his performances
05:36and the way the Tigers have fallen off.
05:38It has to be noted the Tigers have had a lot of injuries
05:39since he signed that contract with PNG.
05:41But for him to come out and do what he did yesterday, score a hat-trick,
05:44I think the, it was an interesting decision to shush his own fans.
05:48But, you know, yeah, he deserves his flowers for his performance yesterday.
05:52It was a good game.
05:58You know, it was a good game.
05:59It was a good game.
06:01You know, it was a great game.
06:01You know, it was a good game.
06:01You
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