Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
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Just a bloke in a bar.
what is up ladies and gentlemen welcome to another episode of bloke in a bar and do not forget tonight six o'clock bloke spray jackets are going live we've got the maroon we've got the blue you don't want to miss out a very limited number and they're 99.95 uh so that is a bloke.shop set your alarms do not miss it 6 p.m tonight we've got maroon and blue once they're gone they're gone we won't be doing this design and unless something crazy happens but we won't be doing this design again um so make sure to be there uh
Alrighty, now it's time now for Code Sports. Use code BLOKE for a Code Sports subscription for $49 for the year. Head to codesports.com.au slash BLOKE. Tyson, how you going, brother? What's the big story today?
Yeah, good. Look, huge story this morning as like we were coming into studio. Andrew Abdo has resigned from his role.
with the nrl as a ceo of the nrl to uh what we believe is take up a role with uh tennis tennis australia so he um they're in the middle of tv negotiations at the moment a whole lot's going on around the game we're two days out from state of origin and this bombshell has dropped andrew abdo uh
going to be leaving the NRL for a different opportunity, which also means that Peter Vlandys will step in as an interim CEO for the meantime, which makes the most powerful man in rugby league even more powerful now. It's pretty crazy. It's all happened so quickly. Reasons and kind of, I guess... Yeah, reasons why this has happened isn't too clear just yet as it's only broken in the last hour.
But look, Abdo, he's been in charge for about six years now. I think he came in just after Todd Greenberg and has done a terrific job. And it's a huge loss for the NRL, I believe, because I think he's done a great job over the last few years.
Yeah, timing's definitely interesting. You'd have to sit there and say the timing's interesting, but at the same time, it's kind of like when would be a good time? Like NRL is such a big beast. Something big is always just around the corner. I'd love to know, like, obviously he says he's resigned, but as we know with these certain situations, maybe he did just resign.
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Chapter 2: What is the significance of Andrew Abdo's resignation?
I understand people's current frustration with how far the six agains have gone. That seems to be a lot of the people's, I guess, on the Instagram post we put up, a lot of people's frustrations with Abdo. But I think if you take a bird's eye view of what he's achieved, him and Vlandys in the last six years, it's nothing but a success.
Like, yes, okay, have they, in my opinion, you guys know, I think they've gone a little bit too far with six agains. But outside of that, we're talking Vegas. We're talking expansion. We're talking the most revenue we've ever got. We're talking we're about to head into the biggest rights deal we ever got.
We're talking a lot of people feel like last year was one of the best years we've had in a very long time. The product is flying. So how can you not say that's a success? It's not perfect, but I think it's a success.
Yeah, it's not perfect. You know, you hear, oh, yeah, I'm getting people all the time. The game's dead. I'm never watching it again. I want to be back. It's like, okay, well ā Everything's being watched more. Our podcast numbers are going up. Magic Round gets better every year. Vegas is sensational. For all the things you want to complain about, something's fucking working.
Something is working.
Absolutely. And their numbers would suggest that. Record-breaking news, essentially. Crowds are up as well.
Yeah, even have it look like... Last week you had the women's origin game one. It's the first game of women's rugby league we've seen in a year and it got more views than the AFL game that night.
Unreal. And don't conflate this with, I guess, any of us saying that it was a perfect tenure. As I said, I think their implementation of new rules has been really poor. I think they need to test it in New South Wales Cup and Queensland Cup before they do it.
um the fact the amount of change that has happened like you've got to remember we had these crazy changes in 2001 21 and then they brought it all back to a uh to you know six against inside the 40 and they've tried to go back closer to the 2021 and i think that's gone too far so it's not that perfect at all like there's a lot to there's plenty to critique but i think if you're looking at a bird's eye view i think i would give it a tick and i'd be i'm happy with that does done for
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Chapter 3: How do the speakers evaluate the performance of the NRL under Abdo?
Kempe, you had them 1-12 for $3.10.
Oh, that's rugby league tipping.
That's getting you just straight in, baby. Don't see too many 1-12s these days with the new rules and stuff, but there you go. Kempe's picked a good one there. On to Saturday. The poor old Dargons, 12 defeated by the Waz, 30. For some reason, all you guys like the Dragons. Kempe in particular, Dragons 13+. It was an interesting call. I took the wise to cover the 13.5. Get around me.
$1.90 in the bank for me. Boring. Only person to get points from that one. Then we go to Foz Bowl on Saturday night. Jeez, this was a bit of a slinger, this one, to be polite. Manly 12, defeat the Titans 10. This is a slinger for the ages. Slinger for the ages. Tell the grandkids about it one day. Decent effort from the Titans, fair to say. Not decent enough for Kempe. The Titans 13 plus.
Seeing him like grains of sand here at the moment, Kempe. Manly certainly didn't cover the 12 and a half, which most of us had.
Am I still ahead?
Yeah, you are. Yeah, but you don't stay there. Last game of the round. Cowboys 30.
I thought I had Manly head to head.
You had a manly 13 plus. Cowboys 30 defeat South's 18. A lot of wild swings here, particularly Kemp. You had the Rabbitohs 13 plus. Good stuff, mate. Going really well. Really well. Good stuff. Roo, you had the Cowboys 13 plus. I had the Cowboys minus two and a half. I only want to get points from this one. So for round 12, short and round, as I mentioned, myself, $3.80. Get around me.
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Chapter 4: What key player performances are highlighted in this segment?
Jeremy Marshall King just starting to get back and playing footy. A little warning shot there. I thought Isaiah Cartel, this is probably his best game he's played this season. Getting better each week. This was without Herbie Farmworth. Jack Bostock has come back and killed it. I would also argue in this game, it's probably the worst NRL game I've seen. Trey Fuller play. They still won 30 to 22.
Yep. I love what the Dolphins are doing at the moment and I think they are going to be a team come September. You're not going to want anything.
No way, no way. Especially in this new game where you need to be able to attack and attack well to put points on. When you get that momentum swing, you need to be able to score quickly so that you actually take advantage of that momentum swing.
Chapter 5: How do injuries impact team dynamics and performance?
The Dolphins are almost the best at that.
Yes.
Mate, I love what I'm seeing in the Dolphins. And I think when you actually sit down and go, okay, because the Dolphins are new in the competition, I don't think people are, obviously there are, you know, the core audience of Rugby League that get it.
But I think there's a more casual audience of Rugby League that when you actually look at their team, okay, so JMK at nine, that's the New Zealand number nine or at the very least has played New Zealand. You've got Max Plath, Flegler, and Gilbert as your 13, 8, and 10. Then you've got Finifu Aki, who is now an origin player, essentially.
And then you've also got Lemuelu, who, you know, he's playing outstanding. He's the only player where you could question as to whether they're origin level is probably Lemuelu, and he's outstanding. Then you go to their back line and you've got Selwyn Copper, Origin player, Asako, New Zealand player.
Then you've got Herbie Farnworth, the best center in the game, and Jack Bostock, who if he played four weeks earlier would probably be playing Origin right now or at the very least be in the conversation for it. You're looking at essentially a 1-13 Origin or Rep side. Yep, 100%.
And if you look back over the last seven weeks or so with context now, round five they get beat 52-18 by the Manly Seagulls, their first game under Kieran Foran, which... At the time, it was like, oh, my God, the Dolphins, what the fuck's going on? In hindsight, mainly that was their first game when they had all this change, all this sort of stuff.
Since then, they've lost to Penrith by one point in Darwin. They then had to fly to New Zealand that they lost by two points over there. I would argue Penrith and New Zealand are two of the probably five sides I genuinely think can win a competition this year. Gone toe-to-toe with them.
I don't know if Tamati Martin killed it, but it's still a loss.
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Chapter 6: What future potential do the Dolphins and Dragons have?
New guys are coming back every week. New guys are getting more experience under their belt. They beat Melbourne. They've smashed Canterbury. They beat South Sydney. They just beat the Raiders down there. going into a bye this week. They play the Cowboys the week after the bye. I think that'll be an absolute fucking cracker game. That'll be really good.
But, mate, I just... I think the Dolphins are the real deal this year. I think they're going to give it a real shake. It's... It's been far from the perfect season so far for them. They're in eighth place. They'll get players back from origin. If Katoa can start to cook, if Cody Nicorima can get back into this side, I'm loving what I'm seeing from them.
And all these young guys they keep bringing in, they all just keep stepping up. Like the other guys, well, I'd argue their best player last year, not named Herbie Farnworth, was probably Kurt Donahoe. He's almost been unsighted so far. He can barely make the site. Once he's back playing and, you know, Flegler gets better each week, I just ā
I think they're going to be really hard to handle the back end.
Yeah, I'm with you. They're one of the few rosters that them at their peak could go toe-to-toe with Panthers at their peak on paper. Now, there's two different things. It's actually putting it together, which Panthers have done so well for the last five years. But on paper, I have no fear that that forward pack is just going to be physically dominated by the Panthers.
I think if you have a look at the top eight teams, so I think at the moment, do we all have sort of Panthers, Warriors as our top two sides?
Well, I've got Panthers out and out favorites. Yep. I had Warriors. Tanner Boyd injury has made Dolphins go to two for me and Warriors go to three just because of the Tanner Boyd. With Tanner Boyd back in the side, I put Warriors at two. And I know Tamate Martin's been great, but when you get into finals with that long kicking game, Tanner Boyd can bring, there's a difference.
I still have the Warriors as a premiership threat, but I just think the Dolphins have just pipped them without Tanner.
I think if you get to a September night and you're playing the Penrith Panthers, I think there's only two teams that probably aren't scared to go up against them. And I think it's the Warriors and the Dolphins.
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Chapter 7: What are the key defensive issues faced by the Dragons?
I thought the Dragons, some of their defensive efforts on him were abysmal. But I do think it was very evident they're lacking that kicking game. Yeah, for sure. The Dragons didn't put them in enough bad spots for it to become super evident. But I think against the top teams, and it wouldn't shock me if we're sitting here next Monday going to a Metcalf or someone they need that long kickback.
Well, there's a reason why Jackson Ford ran for 171 meters, Fish 176, Lekker 104, Laban 151, Aaron Clark 155, and then Stowers Smith 134.
Chapter 8: How does the kicking game impact the Dragons' performance?
because they had to run themselves out of trouble. They weren't able ā like sometimes metres can be deceptive because you look at a front row and he goes 80 metres. Yeah, no, shit, he was camped down in the opposing 20 metres. He didn't need to have all those tough carries out of his own end because they dominated field position. So, yeah, it's a fair point. I agree with you, mate.
Even though Tamati Martin's been great, that long kicking game that's been so crucial to a system-style footy side, it's going to be interesting how he fiddles with that.
Yeah, and come September, you're going to need it.
Yeah, absolutely.
If you're going to win a comp this year, you're going to need a long kicking game on this side.
Karl Pereira with another two tries. Jeez, that try where he stepped back inside and just kind of like.
Yeah.
Frustrating. That was close. Was that like more to the start of the game too?
I think that was the second try of the game.
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