Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Matty, I'm heading up to Brizzy for a big week of footy soon, you in? Of course. I'm super keen for the Friday matches, but I'll be there all weekend.
Yeah, same, massive games on. The whole week's going to be chaos. Actually, I was thinking, my place is just going to be sitting empty that whole time. And I'm thinking like, why wouldn't I just put it on Airbnb and make a bit of cash while I'm away? And you've been to my place too. Good spot, good location. I know people who do it every time they go away. They call it a cheat code.
A couple of nights while I'm away alone and I would make enough extra income to pay for our next trip to Queensland. That is actually a great shout. I'm telling you, it's a no-brainer. If your place is just sitting there, you may as well make it work for you. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com.au slash host. What is up, ladies and gentlemen?
Welcome to The Yarn. Do not forget, tomorrow night, after The Origin, myself, Blake Austin, and Rene Matua will be reviewing The Origin on YouTube. As soon as the kickoff ends, we'll be live on YouTube, so make sure to tune into that. That's tomorrow night. And also, bloke spray jackets. They are almost gone. There's only like 10 maroon and maybe 30 or 40 blue ones. They are almost gone.
They will definitely go over the next week. So make sure to grab one if you want one. And also do not forget, grab your CodeSports yearly pass at $49 for the entire year. No more paywalls. Just get the good stuff. No other stuff. It's all on sport. Great articles about players, breaking news, all that good stuff. CodeSports.com.au. Okay. Oh, and also do not forget Lontel.
If you need internet, lontel.net.au slash bloke. Just give them a call. Give them a call. They will guide you through everything. They're the best in the business. If you're looking to change internet or you're sick of your current internet, I promise you, you won't be disappointed with Lontel. Okay, let's get into it. Tyson the Terminator, how you going, brother?
Good, man. Good. I'm excited. Origin tomorrow night. It's a bit of a buzz around the air. I think the lead up's been maybe a little bit flatter than normal, but we're a night out and I'm pretty pumped.
You know what? When I ever get this move where it's like, oh, has it been a little bit flat? I just know by the time kickoff comes around, I'm stinging. And also once the fallout from game one happens, whether someone gets pumped or like, you know, it's a close one and there's a bad call, everything just kind of amps up. Okay, huge news. Let's just get straight into it.
Moses ruled out hamstring injury. Now, I actually spoke to someone and look, I don't know if it's true. This could just be nonsense. But that actually hamstring injury might have been lingering now for a few days. I'm not sure if you heard the same thing.
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Chapter 2: Why is Mitch Moses ruled out of Origin 1?
Look, I've got to be honest, I don't buy it. In regards to I reckon that injury was already kind of there and it hasn't healed as quick as they have hoped and they've brought someone else in.
Do you reckon – wouldn't that be stranger though like to bring – to wait so long? Like they've had to bring Matt Burton into camp to have bench coverage.
He's not getting a field burden. He's a 19th man. Stranger's been a part of that squad the whole time.
So you believe that they'd been planning, I guess, this whole time for- If Moses isn't good to go.
Yeah, for Ethan Strange to be there. Strange to be there. Mate, how many injuries? Bro, you're not good in seven days.
I completely agree. But I think the weird part about it for me is, Origen especially, I mean, Matty would know this for a fact, but there's media around every single day at camp.
You cannot escape- the day before as well and then joined the crew.
But yeah, he still got through training though, right? So it's just weird that it's kind of slid under the radar until yesterday. Yesterday was the first we heard of anything and it went from us hearing about it to him being ruled out last night.
Yeah, I don't deny he's got a hamstring injury. I just don't believe it happened on Monday.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of Moses' absence for the NSW team?
I think so. I hope that's the case.
We made calls into Parramatta last night, and Parramatta, from what they said to us, was they were waiting to find out from the Blues what was wrong with Mitchell Moses. So they didn't have any kind of inkling before the Blues gave them their diagnosis from their scans and their doctor reports.
So from Parra's perspective, Parra didn't have the, I guess, the knowledge straight away when the first reports came out about his injury.
Yeah, yeah. Just a correction on Moses. So he's played six Origins. There was two games he missed in 2023. So he came in in 2021. That's when him and Jackie Whiten come in. The Blues lost that. Then he came in game two and the Blues are 1-0 down. He would have replaced Cleary. He would have been injured. Lost that game, won the game three, and then 2024.
So he's played six games, won four, lost two.
Yeah, which is good. Like we were speaking off air before, like, you know, New South Wales are so desperate for just a half to be good in the origin arena. Good's the wrong word. Dominant in the origin arena. Because Cleary has been good in the origin arena. I don't know. I feel like people have gone way too far with this Cleary.
I don't remember a bad origin game Nathan Cleary has played, to be honest.
He wasn't great last game three. He wasn't good then. but I don't agree with the idea that he's never played good in origin. Like he just hasn't had a fucking amazing, he's won three series. He's been, oh, sorry. He's been a part of three series wins. And he's got two men in the matches. Yeah. Like, so he has played, he just hasn't had his Joey moment yet.
But one thing, funny thing about the Joey moment, and we spoke about it before. So Joey's moment was 05, which was his last Origin series. And Joey himself, he's been interviewed a million times about Origin. He said his best series was 2003. And he didn't play 2004. So Joey's two best Origin series were his last two series.
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Chapter 4: Who is Ethan Strange and what role will he play?
I think that was because Joey was so good that they could have put him somewhere else just to get Kamali or someone else in the team. You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm. I don't know. Well, they would defend Joey in the middle. That's what made it crazy when he would come on. He'd defend in the middle and then he'd go and play on the edge. Look, typical, like that is such a fucking blues thing to do. We're going to take the fucking greatest seven of all time, put him in another position so that someone else can play seven.
Such a fucking New South Wales thing to do. Holy shit. Now, granted, they were relatively successful during that period, but fuck me, that's the New South Wales. But anyway, look, yeah, Moses is out. Strange comes in. I don't mind this. I don't mind this. Because the thing with Cleary and Moses, yeah, they would be who I would select for sure.
But if I had a free shot to try something without any negative consequences, I don't mind the simplistic nature of Strange and Cleary. He's got a ball running six that is... Like Mitchell Moses can play second fiddle for sure. But like his strengths, his best asset isn't to be second fiddle. His best asset is to be the dominant guy. But he is the best to partner Cleary.
But I just think like, although he can play second fiddle, you're not leaning into Moses' strengths really. Like he'll still there. He's still got like a massive kicking game. He'll still do some amazing things because he's a seven that can play like a six. Whereas with Strange, like...
you can lean all the way into his strengths, which if I'm Cleary, I'm sitting there going and cheering because this is what I'd be doing if I'm Nathan Cleary. I'll be going obviously, well, not obviously, I'm assuming they'll put Strange on the left. They might put him on the right with his right foot set, but let's say they put him on the left to go at Sam Walker.
Mate, if I'm Nathan Cleary, I'm hitting Ethan Strange on short balls on Sam Walker all day long. And it's not about scoring tries there. Sam Walker can make the tackle. But with the pace of Ethan Strange, the power of him, he will always get a quick play of the ball. Sometimes the bigger boys can get a bit caught up and it's a little bit slower. Strange is boom, in and out.
And then the next play, if I'm Cleary, I'm wrapping it around and just going hard and flat with Hudson Young on my left. Like the amount of joy that they can get with Ethan Strange just going all day peppering like, Honestly, I'd nearly go as far to say to Ethan Strange, like, mate, barely even think about passing for the first 20 to... Maybe even the first half.
Every time you get the ball run as hard and fast as you can, whether it's Kurt Capewell or it's Cotter and Sam Walker. That's what I'd be saying to Ethan Strange. And what I like about that for New South Wales is it's so simple. It's so simple. And when the game is so fast in origin, sometimes simple is better. I actually don't mind this for the Blues. I really don't.
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Chapter 5: How does the injury impact the NSW team's strategy?
If he doesn't kill it, well, Moses was injured. There's nothing you can do about it. I actually think it's like, you're not playing with house money because the Blues should win. But in regards to like selection pressure, you're playing with a bit of house money there because no one's going to be angry at Laurie that he picked Strange there.
That was the option, right? Strange was there as a backup and this is why he was brought to the team in case something happened to either Mitch or Nathan. And I love that you said the simplicity will be a huge advantage because Origen's built on moments. It always has been. We think back to the likes of Andrew Johns and his banana kicks and the performance he put in 2005.
Teddy's try in 2019, all the Darren Lockiers, Cooper Cronk performances that we saw from Queensland over these. That's the type of player that Ethan Strange is. He's a take on the game mentality, which is, I guess, kind of like Sam Walker as well.
And we can see, like we saw last year in those close games when things were getting tough for Canberra, there was one guy that constantly stepped up and had a hand in all of those close games, helping them get all those wins. And it was Ethan Strange. So as a Blues fan, I'm quite excited.
And I love the fact that we now have a genuine ball running 5'8", where, like you said before, Mitchell Mose and Nathan Cleary are quite similar. These guys are not polar opposites, but they're quite different in the way they play footy. And for me, that's the type of style of play that I like because it doesn't, it makes it harder to prepare for.
Yeah, for sure. Like you look at, Like before, you could kind of try to work systems to protect Sam Walker to a degree. You could have a really good defender outside him. You know, Mitchell Moses has a great running game. I'm not suggesting that he doesn't. However, when Ethan Strange has the ball now, you have to worry about him just as much as you have to worry about Hudson Young.
Like, yes, Hudson Young's bigger, but both guys' ball running can just tear you to pieces. Like if you slide off or half go at Ethan Strange, he will gas you or he will step you or he will bump you. Whereas, like Moses, although he has a really good running game, I would say Strange's running game is so good he could be a center.
Now, a lot of people think, I actually got a message, I think, from his former rep coach. And he actually said, I think the last time he got called in, and obviously it's not Opens level at Origin, it was under-19s, I think. When he played center that game, I think he had barely played center before. That was just like getting called in there. He scored three tries, I think.
Yeah, he did. I remember that game because I remember when he got put into 5'8 for Canberra. I was like, oh, I thought this guy was a centre.
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Chapter 6: What are the historical performances of Moses in Origin games?
going to all these meetings and blah, blah, blah. I'd rather Vlandys just be pure visionary, like just pure visionary, looking towards the future of the game. He's part of the broader strokes of the thing rather than the day-to-day minutia of being a CEO. What are your thoughts, man?
Yeah, I guess the communication around the conversation on who takes that role and where Pit of Landies sits, a lot of people see Pit of Landies as the guy who's already doing all these things that you just kind of spoke about. And Andrew Abdo, while a big part of that, more like a figurehead to the whole situation.
But there's a long list of guys that are up for the role and being considered for the role, which we published on Code Sports. You know, Vlandys is obviously top pick. Blake Sully's come out and said that he doesn't have interest in doing it, but he's someone that's on the short list. Dave Donahue at the Broncos, very highly respected. Operator, who's another one, Cameron George.
The list goes on and on.
I'm pretty filthy that Code Sports didn't add my name, to be honest.
I don't think there's a podcast department.
Excuse me. Literally name me the 50th most influential person in the game. I put my name forward for the CEO of the NRL. Thank you. What would you do if you were the CEO of the NRL? Dominate.
No.
Dominate. AFL, dead within 10 years. As a matter of fact, no other sport played in this country other than rugby league in 10 years.
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Chapter 7: How does the team plan to adapt without Moses?
I get that, but, like, I just –
Like, I get why people are a little bit frustrated with where the game's at, but like, let's just say that's one part of it. Like, look where the game is right now. Like, as a whole, like, I was just surprised. Obviously, there's always going to be negativity, and I get why there was, because the six against, it's gone too far. But, like, the numbers don't lie.
The game has improved dramatically over the last few years. I was a little bit surprised.
Yeah, I agree. And I've been a huge supporter of PVL and Andrew Abdo. I think the way the game's viewed, the way, like I said yesterday, the amount of, you know, independent media that now covers the game. We do sport better than anyone else, I think, in the country. Yeah. I think that's a huge credit because if you think back to before Andrew Abdo started, it was not like this.
The game was good. We all still love the game, but we're probably the only ones that love the game. Now there's people that had never watched the game prior to 2020 who are deeply invested into our sport.
Yeah, so I'm super interested to see who they get on board. I will say one thing I will hope for is if the new CEO knows footy a little bit. I think that's really important for the direction of the game that they have a...
look obviously them being a business guy a suit is important you need to have administrational skills you need to have you know history of running companies all that stuff but if we can find a ceo that has that plus also knows league a little bit i think that'll be a big a big boon to the game because like it's just it's such a unique ceo role it's not just like a normal business where you know it's sport is just a totally different beast and so i'm hoping they have a little at the very least are a fan of rugby league growing up or something like that i
I agree. Because if you look back at the CEOs, David Gallup was, I think he was a lawyer, maybe in the Super League. So he did his trade and he was a good CEO. But then they brought in Dave Smith, who was a banker and couldn't name some of the teams. And I'm not saying it was a disaster, but I don't think he's looked at favorably compared to other CEOs.
Then they brought in Todd Greenberg, who was the CEO of the Doggies and, you know, a lifelong fan of the game.
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Chapter 8: What are the potential future scenarios for the NSW team?
No hype, just smart moves over time. Life builds, your future should too. CBUS Super, build your something. Visit cbussuper.com.au to read the PDS and TMD before deciding if it's right for you. Tigers rolling the dice on Talon May.
Talon obviously dislocated his shoulder in round two, their first game. I think it was like seven minutes into the game. Come back, been one of their best players, and then against Manly at Magic Ground also did the same thing.
Relatively innocuous too, just a fin.
Yeah, he's put his arm out and the shoulder's dislocated straight away. Now, I've been chasing this since that game. What's been going on? What's the deal with Talon? And the Tigers from the start were very – I don't think coy is the right word, but they were very like, oh, you know, we don't know. I said, oh, well, Benji said after the game, you know, it's probably his season.
I said, well, Benji's not a doctor. So over the last couple of weeks, they've gone and they've- Doctor of the goose step.
Got a fucking master's in that shit.
But they've gone and they've done the, I guess the right procedure has gotten a lot of different voices on the opinion and they plan to have Talon back in the next three to five weeks.
Yeah.
This is why I don't agree with it. And look, I don't know if you know this, I'm not a doctor either. You sure? I just got a degree in the goosey. Not a master's like Benji, but I got a degree. Because like, and I say this with the most respect and all love, you start winning the comp this year. And why risk your outside back that could be your outside back for the next decade?
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