Blues Teamlist REACTION + The $5 Billion Deal That Changes Everything
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What was the immediate reaction to the New South Wales Blues team announcement?
Welcome back, Back Fences. Look, we've just waited to do this podcast to see what the New South Wales team is. We're going to do a bit of a reaction to the announcement of the Blues. Obviously, Queensland are going to be tomorrow when recording this, their team announcement. We also got some mail on some transfer whispers before June 30 at different clubs, some big injury news over the weekend and some of the results. as well as a little bit of an update on where we think the competition's at at the moment and some big news out of the TV rights deal, Matthew. But the New South Wales Blues side, we're about to read through it, but initial reaction, what do you think?
Look, there's some surprises. There's no doubt about it. I think Laurie will play – I'll explain it a little bit later when we get into it. I think he'll play Ducks and Drakes a little bit here. In game two, we thought he'd do a little bit of shifting around at the last minute. He didn't. I think he will here. Do you think? Yep, I think he will. There's some surprise selections, but... There's a method there. Let's get into it.
Let's talk about it. Let's read. Number one, James Tedesco.
Just on Tedesco, I thought that Dylan Edwards, I probably would have brought him in. However, it was bad timing. Dylan... and Panthers lost to the Cowboys, and it was underwhelming. Not one of his better games, and I probably thought that was enough. And Tedesco was really strong.
He was.
He was on Fox Sports, our high flyer of the round. Got the most points for plays under pressure. Yeah. And so I suppose that for me is undeniable.
Yeah, the wingers. This is the biggest talking point. Mark Nwongani-Tawase, he played us in game two. Jackie Bostock coming in to make his debut. Look, he's undeniably been playing really good for the Dolphins, but the biggest talking point, Brian Toto, a man who has done a lot for the Blues, has played really good any time he's in that arena, dropped.
That's a big surprise.
Can I ask you, because everyone's speculating, oh, this player needs to do that. Was there ever a part of you that thought Biza was in doubt to be dropped potentially?
Look, Coop, he hasn't played anywhere near his best, but I didn't think he'd be dropped. I just thought his yardage is invaluable. So that's why I thought he'd remain. But you know what, Coops? I'll say this, I wrote an article on Friday about Loz and I said, the biggest challenge for Loz is going to be to remove his natural self from selections. What I mean by that, he's such a champion bloke and he's so loyal. Loyal, yeah. But if you look at coaches like Wayne Bennett, who's like a father to his players. However, he'll kick someone out of the family if they stand between he and success. And for Laurie, he's got two big challenges. One is going out to Suncorp Stadium and winning, obviously. But the other big challenge was this challenge, picking the team and being able to make some really ruthless, tough decisions.
Toto's one of them. Interesting with Bostock, these two players could not be more different. So To'o is just pure yardage. Just probably the greatest yardage winger in the history of the game. Bostock. is a high-kick target. Yeah, big arrow throw. Yeah, as far as diffusing high kicks and as far as scoring high kicks. He will be a huge – him and Mark Nguyen and his wife say they will be big targets for Nathan Cleary and Moses.
I did think that initially when I saw it. It was like, obviously, Toto, he's performed when he's in that jersey. Probably not the last few games there, but – We saw how isolated they probably tried to go after Toto, putting Jojo Fafida on him in game two. So I've no doubt that may have played into hand of, look, maybe we want to have more kick targets for this game three. And there's no doubt that two of the best kick targets in the NRL right now is Jack Bostock and Mark Nwaganditawase. Like, they are extremely good kick targets. Yep. So, look, and what I'll say about Laurie, like, people giving it to Laurie and, like, some decisions have been big and I understand that that brings a lot of criticism.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What was the immediate reaction to the New South Wales Blues team announcement?
0:00–5:13
2
Why were the Blues wingers Jack Bostock and Mark Nwaganditawase controversial selections?
5:13–6:53
3
How did the hosts evaluate Laurie Daley’s selection strategy and leadership?
6:53–35:58
4
Which Blues forward and bench decisions could change the game's momentum?
35:58–44:43
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns
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