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This is an ABC podcast.
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Standby. Roy and HG.
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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, jet ski loons looking for a picnic to splash and fat tyre e-bike rodeo clowns creating untold mayhem on footpaths across the nation.
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Our great code stands on the precipice of international sporting greatness.
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So, with soul in the shorts, feeling in the feet, and joy in the jumper, it's time to bump, it's time to thump, it's time to sink the slipper. Ugh! Let's pull the cord on the Evan Roode two-stroke and set off for the far horizon. It's another blast of bludgeoning on the blind side with the master of midfield mayhem, rampaging Roy Slavin, and the man with a fistful of bait and burly, Captain Flathead, HG Nelson.
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Yes, two of much, Cedric, Espen Sump, AO, a.k.a.
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The Drain. He's the Cedric there, the Sumster, torching the blindside blue paper for another week. And sure, it's a familiar sound. I agree. It's a very familiar sound of the Sumster. Unmistakable sound of the Sumster camped in the ABC spot. Soundproof booth or ABC local radio, if you will. And, you know...
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The hours tick down now to the 2027, January 2027, and the first night of Dog Night on the ABC. More details during the show. Hello, Australia. Hey, Sheen Orson lifting the lid on another magnificent week of consenting concussion magic. And the magic, just a little bit bigger now because we're into the finals and the finals hit harder than the normal home and away matches. Now, a week, well, an incredible week. An incredible week and so many great things to talk about this week. A week when too much sport is barely enough.
02:12
And again, Super Saturday. People say, you know, make that up. It's not. It's a Super Saturday. Have a look at what's on today. I mean, apart from the AFL, which you'll get to as this show goes on. Today, we've got the Warriors and the Dolphins at 4.05 Eastern.
02:27
A great game there from, might be 1v4. And the elimination, that's the qualification round, and the elimination final is Sharks v Cowboys at 7.50. The night game, which is just going to be magnificent. And that's being played, and we'll discuss this in depth, no doubt, not at Shark Park.
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not at Ocean Project Stadium, not at, you know, obviously, House of Mould. It's been relocated to Allianz Stadium, you know, much to the chagrin of the people who live in the Shire and support their team through thick and thin. Remember, they've only won the Premiership once, so there's a lot of thin there, but thick and thin. And now they have to get in buses and trains and make their way up to Allianz Stadium for the match tonight.
03:11
You know, I believe there should be a case of the United Nations about this. Anyway, before we get stuck into the Festival of the Booty Shoes, the NFL at the G on yesterday. I was going to say last week. Yesterday. Have you seen anything like it? I mean, the helmets. The helmets. I had no idea the helmets would be that good. The helmets are just incredible. And the padding, the shoulder padding. I mean, I thought people would just come out and run around, kick a ball, run in some tries. They don't call them tries. But, you know, kick the ball through the big sticks.
03:41
I think they might be called touchdowns, a great term. And I'm just wondering if that's something that American football could give to the rugby league.
03:48
You know, obviously you might have Dom Young going over for a touchdown. It'd be a great addition to ours.
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But their helmets and their shoulder padding, it's just incredible.
03:57
And, you know...
03:59
I believe the match was the start America needed to take over Australian football. I mean, that's obviously their main game here. And the tune when the brass band stopped playing for you, if you're just catching up with it, San Fran 27, Ram 7. Many stateside observers rated this the greatest NFL game in 50 years.
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They're seasoned observers, not me. That's not the blood talking there. That's our friends in America who know about these things.
04:24
The greatest game ever in 50 years. And the good news is that the NFL are adopting many features of Australian football. This is something I hadn't anticipated at all. When they said this NFL is coming, I thought, oh, yeah, okay, we might be calling our goals touchdowns and so on, all that sort of stuff, or our tries in rugby league touchdowns. That'd be great. But no, it's going to go a lot further than that. From the AFL, they've already adopted the two-finger salute for the goal.
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You know, when the goal goes through, the two fingers come down. Have a look. It's there. It's all there. They learn very quickly, Americans. And now they're even adopting the idea of points.
05:03
So this is the first time ever they're going to – to enable this revolution in scoring, they'll be erecting at all grounds the four posts set up familiar to AFL fans. It's a great innovation for American football to imagine it'll be obviously a number, which will be the try-slash – conversions and points. It's just going to revolutionise people's understanding. And from the NRL, they're not leaving the NRL out of it, even though it sounds AFL-centric. The NRL, they're introducing, wait for it, the six again concept.
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I'm not sure how it's going to work, but it's going to change the pace of the game completely. If you think it's a bit slow at the moment, a bit, oh, you know, there's a bit of a... And then you have to stop for half an hour while they sort out what happened. No, the six again is going to change all that completely. Off field, everyone from the 49ers and the Rams who lobbed here fell in love with Melbourne. That was just the thing that came through over and over again about how much they loved being here in Melbourne in terms of playing, you know, NFL in Melbourne. And they rated the Sports Mad Capital as the best place in the world for, wait for it, kebabs.
06:06
I know they had no idea that they had kebabs in Australia that good, but it's an enormous rap.
06:12
Now, I thought it was a terrific, incidentally, a terrific contribution to the Festival of the Boot.
06:18
Obviously, you know, the AFL Grand Final, the NRL Grand Final will build up the finals, weeks, qualifications, eliminations, et cetera. That's all great. But now we have this, what I'm describing as icing on the cake of the NFL. I understand the Melbourne government has paid approximately $100 million each year for the next few years to get the teams out here. I don't know if it's San Francisco and the Rams will be coming again. There may be teams from other parts of America, which would be tops.
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But, look, I'm all for it. Anything that gets people, you know, exposed to football, no matter what sort of football, because I see this as a gateway drug, the NFL.
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Once you get into it, then you think, well, what's better than this? Well, it's June to discover rugby league and then the AFL and so on.
06:58
Anyway, the official of the boot is reaching its climax here on the Bludge. And in last night's Eliminator, it was a terrific match. Obviously, the Rabbits...
07:09
Came with big hopes, but sadly the Knights, with the week off, really powered it up to them and, you know, left them – well, I was going to say wanting isn't quite the right word because it was mainly all – I haven't seen a possession chart yet. I will get those numbers to you. But it seemed to me that the Rabbits had most of the defence to do.
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This afternoon, the Warriors and the Dolphins pack down for a qualifier at Go Media at 4.05pm, followed by another tantalising eliminator tonight, as mentioned, 7.50 at Allianz featuring the Sharks and the Cows. And then tomorrow it's off to Combank for the big one, Chooks v Big Cats at 4.05pm. That gives you an idea. And last night in the AFL, Frio returned to form and put away... Geelong, not by a lot. I think it was about 14 points in the end at Optus in Perth.
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And tonight, the Lions host the Crows, the Adelaide Crows at the Gabba, getting the ball up at 7.35pm in that one. But for now, let's, you know...
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have a look at some of the scores from last week's round of NRL. The season remained to the very end of tipsters' nightmare, and let's dang good those damaged and blistered feet into the crock-infested swamp and see if anything has a go at the toes this week. The Rabbits last week knocked over a rooster's what can only be described as a pelican outfit from the roosters, which rested 17 players without raising a bead of sweat. June, Bunny, B-Boys, 50, Foul House Flopperoos, 20.
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At QCB, it was an eight-try romp for the men of horn who brought the instruments up to the nation's capital and chewed from the nation's capital. Tune eighth place cows 30. Hornblowers hit the high C with 50.
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An ideal preparation for mine for the cows in their matches today.
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being clobbered by the men of Horn, 50 to 30. The talking point in the final round unfolded at Go Media Complex, where the feathered Fozballers knocked in 30 against the top of the table wah, who got there by a solitary point. So it's 31 to 30. ConBank for the final match of 2026 home and away season. It was the West Tigers joint venture in against the big catch of the mountain. The purr with fur ran away with a saucer of milk. Can you play that funky tuned Sun King feathers? Panthers 38, joint venture 10.
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This meant that the JJ Gilton shield for 2026 was wheeled onto the ConBank sideline with a couple of minutes to go. And now in fallout...
09:37
This is a bit of a stunning move.
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The Tiger movement has been formed by disgruntled fans dogged by the 2020 season of disappointment.
09:47
Look, it wasn't such a bad season. They did better than the previous year and probably previous year before that, but that's Tiger people for you. They're still disappointed. by what they describe as the underperformers of the code. The team have missed the finals for the past decade and a half. Tiger people, read it and whoop. The disillusioned rebels are sick of the endless thrashings with the green shoots one week snuffed out by a bucket of round-up next week. Their rallying cry of, we're not going to take it anymore, can be heard across the Inner West, wherever you go in the Inner West. You might be going to the Bunnings shop.
10:18
You'll hear it on the PA, in the car park, in homes, barbecues. We're not going to take it anymore. And a demonstration... is planned for out of the front of the heritage listed toilets of interest at Lake Art Oval to ram the point home to a larger public, and it will be a public display in front of the toilets that's going to turn heads. I've been promised that. There's going to be a lot of head turning. At Wollongong, the Big Red V farewell Damien Cook at Helensburg, Jr., who ran out for his wait for it, his 263rd NRL appearance.
10:47
Hell of a lot of matches to play, isn't it? 263. You know, it was glorious afternoon spring weather and the St. George Illawarra joint venture were certain of this year's spoon before the off, but they turned on a spine-tingling, mistake-riddled game that had a two-point field goal slotted by Terrell Sloan, sending the big crowd into raptures and Damian off in style. This highlight, or the Sloan highlight, came in the 78th minute. After the win, in a bit of a surprise presser, or press conference, Cook said that the reinforcements about to lob at the Gong Centre of Excellence, he said, there's no reason with the big names coming in that the Dragons couldn't get a streak going and bag the flag in three years.
11:30
That is some statement. Now, and in news from head office, the House of Mould, a.k.a. Shark Park, a.k.a. Ocean Project Stadium, as mentioned already in the program, was swerved around for the Sharks v. Cows match tonight at 7.50. The hometown advantage was as No interest at all to Verlanders. He was deft to the appeals from the Cronulla side. The league promised to get people there, and they've made an arrangement with Sid Fogg buses who are going to put on, and they've stretched their limits, they're going to put on 175 buses to move the thousands of Shire fans who want to see this one.
12:03
Feathers has promised to get the lot of them there to the swamp in time. Now, the wildcard concept, as mentioned last week, is...
12:12
Coming to the Rugby League Festival of the Boot and the Code apparently is desperate for cash and sees the wildcard as a million-dollar goldmine. Can I point out to those in charge of the Rugby League that the wildcard works in the AFL because they play a lot of matches at MCG and they have a lot of Melbourne-based teams playing in it. The idea that, you know, say the one from the House of Mold, Cowboys v. Sharks, is going to turn out a million, you know, 100,000 people. It's not. We don't have a place to put them all.
12:43
We'd have to play the match over several days to get the 100,000. Anyway, that's just a caveat. But the Bludge is now very keen on what's being described as the Sparkles Magor Cup. That's going to be up for grab for the duds in the bottom half of the ladder from next year. It'll be around Robberman matches, and Roy's working on the maths of this at the moment, but the matches will climax on Australia Day. There's that many matches to fit in between the grand final day that it'll take till Australia Day to play them all off or, you know, come to a conclusion in the wildcard round for the Sparkles McGraw Cup.
13:16
The teams will actually complete for a $5 million purse, so it does have some backing. And the wheezes are certainly a bit of poke about it and could become what I hope it doesn't overwhelm is the NRL, the JJ Giltman shield and all that, because you know what people are like. If they see something they like, they'll chase it. And this could be the death of rugby league as we know it. But how many times have we said this, the death of rugby league, and it still kicks on? The Bludgers mentioned done some heavy lifting, and we hope to release the details of the draw for this year, should the wildcard be in place this year later in the show.
13:49
And in passing, I hope none of this wildcard money is going to be spent on Super League in England.
13:56
Um...
13:57
This does concern me. The rugby league's concerned about buying the section. Where's the money coming from is the first thing. And why spend good, hard-earned Australian rugby league money on some clapped-out, busted-ass competition in England? I mean, just don't get me started. And what is wrong with improving Australian facilities here? We've got, as mentioned already a number of times today, the house of mould. Now, sure, you can say, what a funny old game it is when you have players... you know, facing death each week to go to training because of the mould and the spores and what we don't know about the water and all that sort of stuff.
14:31
Fix it up. Make it better. Put some stands in. And so then it was off to the Uber Stadium in Berlin for the Women's Basketball World Cup quarterfinals. Our Opals were bundled out yesterday by Spain. June, when the shooting stopped, Opal 68, Spain 89. But it was a brave attempt by the Aussies. They had lost three of their most valuable players in the course of the tournament and were playing underperson, if I can put it that way. Once that was in the bag, I was off to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix for a race of great drama, the Wunderkind.
15:02
Antonelli won the stink on his home track starting from 19th on the grid. Great drive. Great drive. A flawless drive meant that for the first time in 60 years, the fans had something to cheer about. Russell was second. Maxie, the big V, was third. And our Oscar finished fifth, overtaken by teammate Norris in the final lap under, you know, under instructions. I hate this, under instructions from, you know, race radio. The real highlight came early in lap two when that cool, rockin' hipster dude, Charles Leclerc, drove his Ferrari straight off the grid and into the barriers on lap two.
15:35
Well, people may think it was an intense, you know, they're Italian fans and they wanted to see Ferrari do well, but the explosion that happened when he hit the wall, I mean, you'll remember that forever. Just a huge bomb had gone off. Elsewhere in motorsport, the king of the mountain, Peter Brock, is being celebrated at Bathurst 20 years after his death.
15:56
Look, it's a story of a bloke who just loved going fast in XU1 Tiranas and .05 Commodores. He even invented the energy polariser so he could go faster.
16:04
Now.
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I know it's triggering to mention the energy polariser because people say it don't work. It doesn't matter. It was an idea. Maybe it's time he's ahead of us, not behind us. Rugby Union and our wallabies were in action. In Argentina, the Kiss Revolution goes on. The Buttercup Boys, those wonderful old gold fruit and nut men, flew the green and gold above the pampas in Mendoza. Wait for it. It was a 28-all draw. Sadly, the true blue in yellow had a two-man advantage for the last 10 minutes or so of the game. But a free-for-all, an all-in, and errors and rain prevented the Wallabies from getting a winning score.
16:40
But that can happen.
16:41
Strange conditions. You don't know how wet their wet water will be. Probably the first time you've been in Argentinian rain. And, you know, it has an oily feel when it does hit. Which brings us neatly to the Chute Shield final for 2026. It was Eastern Suburbs v. Raringa at Leichhardt Oval in front of the, as mentioned, heritage titles of interest. Last Saturday was a big win for East, who banished the disappointment of last year to take the title with a classy display. East turned on the power from the kick-off and the scoreline reflected the beast's dominance tuned when the brass band fired up in the eastern suburbs, eastern suburbs 31, Warringah 15.
17:15
The shoot organisers wanted me to pass on their thanks to many who contributed to the 2026 Shoot Shield season, including the Royal House of Hubnam, zigzag cheese, oi tokamanu accessories and rugby league lotto in particular, who did a tremendous job. So blindsided, stand well back and let the hounds of hustle see the lure as we welcome to ABC SPOT and ABC local radio, a man who is very passionate about Australian small businesses. Obviously, this great Aussie contributes today on the condition of complete anonymity, i.e.
17:47
it's rampaging Roy Slavin. Roy, can we get the bludging bunny in motion for another week by asking what highlights caught your SSI 4K HD, large language model machine learning, AI encrypted bubble jammer?
18:01
Yes, thank you very, very much, HG Nelson. Of course, happy rugby league, HG, to you and your...
18:07
Your family and happy rugby league to all Aussies. Yep. Genuine Aussies, that is, who love to celebrate those things genuine Aussies consider being truly iconic.
18:22
Like, I don't know, Surfers Paradise, the Sydney Football Stadium, the new fish markets, Star Casino, the Queen of the Nile.
18:35
The West Tiger Centre of Excellence in Concord.
18:40
Let's see.
18:42
Floriad.
18:43
Floriad in the cameras. Yes, Floriad. They're so iconic, isn't it? I know. You only have to hold a tulip up there and people know where you are. Can I ask about the roses? Are they smelling this year?
18:54
The roses? No. Don't get me started. I know. It's triggering. But mercifully, Floriad is swerving by roses. You won't see any roses in Floriad. No, I don't know. Floriad have gone with the annuals, which I love, and so I'd encourage everyone. It's so iconic. Almost as iconic as, say, oh, I don't know, Lang Park or the Logies. The Logies. How about Lamingtons?
19:14
Oh, Lamingtons.
19:15
Iconic. Yeah.
19:17
So totally iconic. So totally iconic, aren't they?
19:22
NRMA. There we are. They're iconic. NRMA. Yeah.
19:26
Yeah. There's some lovely vision for those who might be tuned to the channel that we're watching of Floriade in Action. They've got a lovely day for it in Canberra today.
19:34
Now, the selectors decide on Steady As She Goes for the upcoming series against South Africa.
19:41
I don't like it. I mean, who's head opening with? We don't know. Who's at number three? Lava Shane, Marnus. God almighty, not again.
19:50
Is he iconic? Well, arguably. I know. Arguably. Well, Australian cricket is certainly iconic.
19:58
The Australian cricket team is certainly iconic. My word. My word they're iconic. Anyway, it's steady as she goes. So it's going to be green at probably four, Smith at five. I don't know. You know what it's like. I just don't like the look of it, and I'm not terribly confident in the way it's going to go.
20:18
And I don't like that. I like having a little bit of certainty when it comes to cricket. I wanted to see a little bit of new blood there. Where's the next generation of our champions? Where are they?
20:30
Listening, I hope.
20:31
Now, the New South Wales Cricket Association, speaking of cricket, they're at war with Cricket Australia. At war over the pressure to sell the BBL teams to private ownership. Now, Todd Greenberg had a press conference this week. It was an embarrassment.
20:49
Standing behind him was the postman, Sophie Molyneux, Elyse Perry and Travis Head. And they all looked like reluctant stooges.
20:59
They didn't want to be there.
21:00
They didn't want to be there. They don't believe in it. They don't believe that the BBL should be sold off. They don't. They don't. They don't. And as New South Wales has pointed out, the profits from the BBL go towards the grassroots. The grassroots. That's where it goes.
21:17
Not the shareholders.
21:18
Not the shareholders. Now, once you sell these things off, all the profits are going to go overseas.
21:25
That's what's going to happen.
21:28
It's an absolute insult to all Australians who enjoy all those things that Australians consider iconic.
21:36
Like Florian.
21:38
Three stumps and a red ball. Yes, Lang Park. Lang Park. The Logies.
21:43
I mean, we could go on. The Holden Commodore. Bert and Don.
21:48
I mean, icons!
21:50
That's why cricketers play, don't they? They do. To get on the Bert and Don show.
21:56
Thank you. Live Golf files for bankruptcy. No surprises there. I mean, we could have said this four years ago when the shark wheeled out with the idea.
22:05
It was a bankruptcy in the making right from the word go. Anyway, they filed for bankruptcy.
22:12
Players, poor old players, they're owed millions. They're not going to get it. I mean, it's gone. So poor old Cam Smith, I don't know what he's going to do. I hope he put a little bit away. I hope he's got some super.
22:26
Speaking of icons, superannuation. You can't get more iconic. That's a naughty icon.
22:32
An Aussie icon we can be proud of.
22:36
Our superannuation system. It's the envy of the world. Of course it is.
22:41
Anyway, now what's going to happen with Liv is I'm hoping, I haven't had much discussion at this stage with the Malinaskis government in South Australia, but I think it's a great opportunity for the South Australian government to step in and take ownership of Liv.
22:56
I mean, the South Australian government has been the only one to make Liv work. I mean, that party hole.
23:01
It says it all. I know. I mean, there's nothing more iconic than that party hole in South Australia doing live. It's just magnificent. It might be par three.
23:09
It might – you know, it's the par – Yeah, path five, I think. No, the path three. That's the party hole. I think it's the fourth hole, and we just love it. I mean, the atmosphere is still there. I mean, you can still go and walk around there and get a sense of the atmosphere.
23:23
You can get a drink there still.
23:24
You can get a drink there still. There's still a sense of party going on there. It is incredible what's happened there. So this is a great opportunity for the Mongolian government to make a little bit of money for the people of South Australia by buying live.
23:37
It's cheap.
23:40
Now, Anya Sebelenka...
23:43
This is a troubling story.
23:46
She's asking people to stop smoking joints at Flushing Meadows during matches.
23:52
Now, look, the match was being played, I think, in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
23:59
I mean, Louis Armstrong.
24:01
I mean, people have got to understand that joints, as they're called at the moment, were once known as the jazz cigarette.
24:15
Now, Louis Armstrong loved a jazz cigarette. He had to often travel to Holland with a lot of his mates to enjoy jazz cigarettes without a sense of opprobrium.
24:27
So it doesn't surprise me at all that Flushing Meadow in the Louis Armstrong is a bit of a magnet for those who like to indulge in the jazz cigarette. And Sabalenka is just going to have to bloody live with it. Although it's a little bit difficult for the players, HG, if they do...
24:44
Get affected by it. I don't know what...
24:46
We see what I understand.
24:48
I don't know if it's a performance enhancing. I don't think it is.
24:52
Well, what they want to do is sit down and listen to Tame Impala.
24:55
Yes.
24:55
You know, that's what, not belt the ball down at 600 mile per hour. She's got a sight, but the blunt. It's become a viral sensation. Yes, really. To get a number of people, you know, obviously signing petitions. Yes. Stubbing out, you know, little videos of them stubbing out cigarettes.
25:11
Right. Jazz or not. Jazz or not. No, no.
25:14
But it's been a – I find it difficult to think – Well, at Fossey Meadow, are you allowed to have ordinary cigarettes?
25:19
Can you go in with a packet of, you know, Caps and Reddy Rubbed or something like that, speaking of things iconic?
25:25
Are you allowed to find Caps and Reddy Rubbed in New York? Yeah, New York.
25:31
You can get anything in New York. I'm sure if you went underground.
25:34
If your collectors would have a bit of Caps and Reddy Rubbed with log cabin as well.
25:37
Word to go out, a bit of log cabin. Thank you. Thank you.
25:40
And a packet of Cravenay.
25:42
Craven A. Icons.
25:44
A tennis cricket. Yes. A tennis cigarette.
25:46
Yes.
25:49
Marlborough. Well. Is that a tennis cigarette? I'm not sure. Not sure.
25:52
Certainly a horse cigarette.
25:54
Lucky strike.
25:55
Lucky strike. Yes, that's right. That's right. Well, you see, the Virginia Slims. Country Life. Well, Virginia Slims. Virginia Slims.
26:01
That was a magnificent tournament.
26:03
Yeah.
26:03
Iconic almost.
26:06
Wasn't it?
26:07
Anyway. Anyway. Now, speaking of icons, and we were, Bernie Eccleston is arrested for carrying a shotgun at an airport.
26:18
Obviously, Bernie was working up some sort of deal, as Bernie does.
26:22
And it wasn't going his way.
26:23
Well, it was going to go his way. Obviously, as soon as you turn it up with the heat. Yeah, yeah. Well, you've got to pack a little bit of heat when you're dealing with the people Bernie deals with. I guess. Anyway, I don't know what the upshot's been. I don't know whether anyone's smuggled some capstan ready-rolled into him or ready-rubbed. Don't know. Don't know. But we'll let you know as soon as we know about the state of Bernie Ilston, whether he's still in handcuffs, whether he's still behind bars, or whether he's out and about doing deals.
26:58
Now, in a terrific story, Aussie Josh Armstrong, he wins the Papua New Guinean Open to claim the PGA Tour of Australasia medal, which is a wonderful achievement for this very, very fine young Aussie.
27:13
That P&G course, HG, I think we walked it a couple of years ago.
27:18
It's a magnificent course. It's a great course. It's got a touch of the shark layout about it. It does. It certainly has got that imprimatur.
27:24
It's certainly shark-influenced, you'd have to say.
27:26
It certainly knows how golf works.
27:27
Yes, yes, yes, yes. You were impressed, I think, by the bunkers.
27:31
The bunkers, I was. Marvellous bunkers. Sand traps.
27:34
A lot of sand traps.
27:35
That's how you judge a course, in my view. Of course it is. It's easy to get up and down in the hole when you're playing for the bunker to seek par.
27:42
Yeah.
27:43
That's where you come into your own.
27:44
Wonderful week, of course, for the greatest game of all.
27:48
Now, just pondering, and I know this has been picked up by others, but it is germane, is East Spencer, the new Jared.
28:02
He's certainly got the hallmarks of Jarrod, hasn't he?
28:05
Yes, Jarrod Wahira Hargrave. He's a great New Zealander who made roosters his own.
28:11
He did, he did. Remember that magnificent send-off he had, HG? You know, there he was, the Crimea War look, and he'd won. Still winning and grinning. Still winning and grinning, and then he went off to England. I think he's been winning there too. He might have retired, subsequently unsure.
28:26
But he certainly was in the early days. We described him as a bit of a powder keg.
28:31
Wasn't he with a very, very short wick and plenty of lighters in his pockets, ready to go off?
28:39
Sort of Liam Martin type. There's another powder keg. I mean, each team has got to have a powder keg.
28:45
I mean, they're what I call the hammer thrower in the team.
28:49
Metaphorically speaking.
28:50
Yes, yes.
28:51
Somebody who packs the hammer in the back pocket, ready to get out and have a swing. Liam Martin, certainly one of those. And I think Spencer Lanier has emerged as a member of that club, yes.
29:05
You can always get an impression about how... really mad they are when they have defence close to the line.
29:12
Yes.
29:13
Because that's when they produce their best.
29:14
They do. They do. They do. They certainly stand up, don't they? They get the hammer out and give it a real swing.
29:20
They can often take two or three out with the hammer throw.
29:22
Easily. Easily. And I tell you what, each team, rugby league, needs characters. They're what I call characters. And they become, in time, like Jared, icons. Make of that what you will.
29:38
The Maguire Society has committed to a breeding program that will keep members busy even if the current feral population of bush junk is tidied away in the next decade. Members have heard the big cat rumors and now the Maguire's big cat subcommittee has sourced some promising gear from the internet dark web. As we speak, the society's bright sparks are turning out the first litter of really big cats due to drop in November.
30:08
This news will excite progressive members and forward-thinking baiters who have been looking for the next-level challengers through bludging on the blind side.
30:24
Now, if you want to get involved with the show, 0467920222 is the text line, 0467920222, or the old-style way, roynhg at abc.net.au. And we should point out that we think that the party hole in the Live Golf Course in Adelaide was the 12th hole. The 12th, quite right.
30:43
So if you're looking for a drink and you – It was a part three, but the 12th hole, yeah.
30:46
Yeah, and look, people would be rushing down there looking for atmosphere and memories and so on. It's there. It's there.
30:53
You've just got to walk the course and the party hole will leap out at you, just the atmosphere. It's still there. Now – The echoes, the echoes of the atmosphere.
31:00
And I'm pretty sure somebody will have done the right thing and maybe set up a bit of a – A table and chairs and so people can linger and, you know, maybe really savour it. Yeah. They'll meet old mates.
31:11
Yeah. That's right. With memories.
31:13
With memories, yeah, of what we did and how silly we were and et cetera.
31:17
Now.
31:19
Someone's suggesting that Alpine cigarettes were an icon. I suppose they were.
31:25
Yes, that wasn't an interesting thing. I connect them with the menthol.
31:29
Oh, menthol, yeah. Alpine and cool.
31:32
Cool were your menthol cigarettes.
31:33
Cool were menthol as well.
31:34
A lot of cigarettes had a green packet, for instance, which indicated it was menthol.
31:39
It was menthol. Yes, that's right. That's right. And, of course, black Sobranis, they were a very – Why, they're incredible. That was your fashion statement.
31:50
And we always thought they were made in Russia. That may be wrong.
31:52
No, I don't know. I thought they were made in Russia. Oh, there you go. Good. Yeah, like sobranis. They might have had a sort of gold edge or something. In different colours. Yeah, they looked fantastic, didn't they?
32:05
Now, look, can I just ask, come to the privatisation of cricket. Yeah.
32:12
What worries me here is, as you point out, cricket's at war, and that's the only way to describe it. Have you got a quick thumbnail sketch of where the war, where the lines have been drawn? Some obviously want the system of, say, state-based committees and people who come and work on the committee and might be an expert on grounds or how to put in the stumps and stuff like that. How many of them, as opposed to those who want to sell it off and have a much more business-like structure, With a CEO and an advertising department, et cetera.
32:42
Yeah, yeah. Any idea how that? Well, let's see. Was it the Renegades, HG? The Renegades might be a Melbourne club? Well, that's been privatised.
32:53
And remember, we think they folded two clubs.
32:55
They folded two clubs into one. I mean, it might have been red and green.
32:58
Yeah, I think that's right.
32:59
And green, we just hated, but now we don't like them because they're now red. It's a joint venture. It's a joint venture, yes. And they always work.
33:10
So that's where that is. But I think New South Wales and Queensland are not so keen.
33:16
I can't speak for the Adelaide – is it the strikers, the ones that are the aqua blue? The teal. Teal, okay.
33:23
Okay.
33:25
I can't help you there. No. And one of the things I wanted to ask is the main – Problem with the renegades and Victorian cricket is it's a busted-arse operation so they have to sink money elsewhere. Yes. And who's going to buy it?
33:40
Good question.
33:41
And remember, of course, we need a market. To bump the price up, we need to have two people or two businesses that want to buy it. Can I suggest there's already a model that's looming, and I've mentioned this on the show before, is the Storm have sold a fraction of, let's say, a third of their operations to a Swedish hedge fund.
33:58
Is that what's going to happen? That's what's going to happen.
33:59
Cricket's going to be owned by these mysterious companies in other parts of the world?
34:03
That's right. That's right. You have your Scandinavian countries looking to park a bit of money.
34:08
I know a lot of Thai, Asian nations involved with the Premier League in England. That's right, yep. Now, is that going to happen to Australia?
34:15
That'll happen. You know, the Sultan of Brunei, for example. Sultan of Brunei. I know he's very, very interested in looking at New South Wales BBL teams.
34:24
So, you know, that could be of interest to him. So you'll have people. But the New South Wales cricket doesn't want to sell them.
34:32
Because they're earning money for the grassroots. Yeah, I know.
34:36
I get that. I get that.
34:37
Yeah.
34:38
And is it going into the grassroots? Like, come to the rugby league, they pretend they haven't got enough money to fix it. I know it's privately owned, et cetera, blah, blah. They haven't got enough money to fix up.
34:48
Well, they don't pretend to put anything into the grassroots. They don't. No, that's true. The clubs do that.
34:53
Yeah, the clubs do that. Like the poker machines. Yeah.
34:55
You know, something like, I don't know, it might be 3% or 4%. Yeah.
34:59
Of profits taken from poker machines. Go to grassroots. Go to grassroots. Rugby league. Rugby league. Yeah.
35:05
Which is an absolute fortune, isn't it?
35:10
Now, one thing that worries me slightly here is... Well, maybe a rugby league could reach out.
35:16
I mean...
35:17
I mean, Feathers is looking for ways of using the billions of dollars that rugby league is now earning.
35:23
Surely it could be of interest for Feathers to reach out and say, buy the Sydney Strikers, if that's the name of the team. It might be the Adelaide Strikers.
35:31
I've floated this idea. Sydney Sixers. Yeah. Now, look, I've floated this idea and I think it's an excellent idea. But further than that, I think the sport that's trying to be taken over is the NFL in America.
35:42
Yes. Yes.
35:43
Look at that show they put on here. I mean, talk about that.
35:46
Wasn't it incredible?
35:47
Yeah. Desperate for help. Yeah. That's what I got from it. This is a team crying for help.
35:51
Well, it's got to be unlocked, hasn't it? Unlocked! Exactly. There's something there, but there's something not working.
35:58
You know, you can't sustain interest in a game that goes in bursts of milliseconds. You know, one millisecond and then 20 minutes away.
36:08
That's where the six again comes in.
36:10
Yeah.
36:10
That they're adopting from the rugby league. But more than that, is owning it would mean that you would have a gravy train of, you know, people who wanted to buy television rights, merchandising rights, put on shows like this. I assume that the Victorian government is subsidising the whole. Please. Yes.
36:27
We don't know how much because it was commercial incompetence.
36:29
And we wouldn't have prayed. We wouldn't ask. No, we wouldn't pray. We wouldn't pray. We wouldn't pray.
36:33
But I think the Victorian government has put in at least 15 million, and I think it's a lot more than that. My whisper's reaching me, and I know I stand, you know, I could be in trouble here, that the Victorian government put in 150 million. That's my understanding. For one year. No, no, no, over three years. Three years. So $50 million a year. $50 million a year.
36:53
Can I come to the other way?
36:54
Which I think the taxpayers in Victoria would understand.
36:58
Of course they would. They've got potholes. Yeah. But look what they get on the weekend. Exactly. They get the NFL one day milk. They get the NFL magic. At their place.
37:05
That's right.
37:06
Where they've got the best kebabs in the world.
37:07
That's right. And public transport, which is apparently impressive. And Victoria has gone 49ers mad, haven't they?
37:15
They have.
37:17
Can I just go the other way, though, here? That's the top end. That's great. As you know, I have an interest in the Tasman Cricket Club in Port Lincoln. You do. Now, if we sold part of the club, what sort of money can we expect to get? Well, you've got to value it. I know. Have you had the accountants in? Have you had the books looked at?
37:36
We certainly have the books.
37:37
Have you done a stock take? Yes. You know, how many sets of stumps have you got? How many pads? Pads.
37:42
Yeah, how many cricket helmets?
37:44
Yeah, how many boxes, et cetera, et cetera.
37:45
All that sort of stuff. Yeah. So people can calculate all of that.
37:48
Oh, yeah.
37:49
And then the future investments, obviously, we'd like to be able to put in a new pitch.
37:55
That's what we'd like to use the money for. Sure. So the pitch part of it's a bit down in the dumps, for want of a better way.
37:59
Is it a concrete pitch, HG? It is. Good. So you're looking for new mats? Yeah.
38:05
Well, we don't want to go grass, really. Oh, okay. Yeah, because the watering bill is out of control. That's why we went to the concrete pitch.
38:11
Yeah.
38:11
Okay.
38:12
But what I'm hoping to do – All right, there are a lot of balls in the air here. Yeah, that's right. But certainly we could put some value on it. At this stage, you're going to – you'd have to think it might be worth, you know, $5,000 or $6,000, wouldn't you? I think you're right because you're nice – So you could go to a bank now and say, look –
38:29
If we sold it, we'd easily get the $5,000 or $6,000. How about lend us the money? That's it. You've got it. People understand this business these days. Ten years ago, this was all scratching the back of the head and the back of the other one.
38:41
Well, I've said it's been too hard. Yeah. But it's not.
38:44
It's not, is it? I mean, you've just got to, you know, get someone in who knows what they're talking about to put a value on everything and, you know, come up with a figure and then go to a bank and say, look, this is what it's worth. What can you give me?
39:01
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39:09
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39:23
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39:28
Now...
39:29
We're talking about the value of things. And one of the big problems with this changing world we're going into, where so many more things are valued, including players, is establishing a value for a player.
39:41
Yes.
39:42
Now, as you know, I always carry that great black book in my hip pocket, which values every used car available in Australia. to buy at any time. Sure, there's a lot of deletions and add-ons as people buy and come and go. What we're looking for is to try and do the same thing for rugby league players.
40:00
The big problem here is we have two systems of payment, one that involves paying tax and one that involves not paying tax. So notionally, those systems players who don't have to pay tax will be on the market at a cheaper price than those players who have to pay tax because of the obviously deductions or lack of deductions in terms of the final bill. So what happens here is, it's described in the paper as the biggest issue for the game is and is trying to agree on a player's notional or market value.
40:33
If you asked how much is a house in Sydney worth, the answer is whatever somebody willing to pay for it. Yet the latest developments from the head office suggest that the player's incumbent club will have the biggest say in setting the bar. That's what the existing clubs wanted, but you need to be careful for what you wish for. The sting is in the tail. That means if, let's say, the Warriors wanted to sell a player, they have to establish a value for that player...
40:58
But then it's got to take in, would the player be going to say, and I use this word advisedly, the Chiefs? Chiefs, yeah. Or to say...
41:06
The Bears.
41:07
Yeah. Well, that would be different again.
41:09
It would.
41:10
Or would the player be going to say the Dolphins?
41:12
Yes.
41:13
And they'd be three different...
41:15
Yeah.
41:15
Guesses at the market value.
41:17
That's right. It becomes very complex, doesn't it?
41:19
It does, complex. And I'm not sure how they're going to resolve this.
41:21
Yeah.
41:22
And I don't think they're really interested.
41:24
Well, somehow we've got to get back to what I'd call an open market, haven't we? Whereas, so if a player like, say, Cam Munster is coming off contract, he wants to move on, so he stands up on the back of a truck and People stand around and you start the bidding.
41:49
What am I giving for Cam Master? 50 bucks.
41:50
Cam Master, 50 bucks. 52, 55. Sold at $650. Something like that. So you know what his worth is then, don't you? You do. And that's really the only way of doing it, allowing the market to decide. All these distortions don't help. And distortion has never helped rugby league.
42:15
That's it.
42:17
You're right, we just never had to encounter this. Well, we've had massive distortions in the past when the Manly Sea Eagles were the richest club in the world and they could buy the best players from anywhere, and they did. Yeah. St George back in the day had more money, you know, more money going through the Taj Mahal than anywhere else they could afford to anyone.
42:39
Yeah.
42:40
You know what I mean? Same with Easts. Yes, same with Easts.
42:42
They didn't have a salary cap, they had a salary sombrero.
42:45
Yes, they did.
42:47
It was the transit lounge, wasn't it?
42:49
They had officers who would go around and notice people driving, you know, .05 Commodores when they were just getting paid wages to turn up to training.
42:58
That's right. That's right. So there have been distortions and it hasn't helped.
43:02
Now, what we need is to somehow get back to...
43:09
What we call rugby league basics. Yeah, I know. So you have an open market where it's equal for everyone. Very hard to organise, but this is what I think Feathers is trying to do. But in trying to do it, he's just generated more distortions. Yeah.
43:26
I mean, that's what, careful what you wish for.
43:28
Yes, careful what you wish for. But I think down the track, actually, we're going to have to look at things like You know, if a player is worth X but the player doesn't perform, should that player be given X minus? Yeah.
43:46
So that at the end of each week you sit down and you look at player X, who we're paying a hell of a lot of money to, and you say, well, your performance this week was five out of ten. You only had to get half the money you were due. Yeah. If it's seven out of ten, da-da-da-da, ten out of ten, four marks, you get your full pay. You know what I mean?
44:08
What would help is if every club was on the same rate of pay. Yes. Or, you know, like a salary allowance. Yes. So they could spend however they wanted to. Yep. With...
44:19
as few interruptions to that as possible. But what happens is you turn around and the Bears, a classic example, they've got two things. If a player wants to leave a club, their first choice is the Bears, as in the Bears have first choice on that player's rugby league skills.
44:36
There's a distortion.
44:37
I know.
44:38
Or their number one player, I'm not sure how you establish the number one player, is played at a wildly increased value to the rest of the team. Yeah, yeah.
44:48
That's two distortions in one club. Exactly.
44:51
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
44:53
And that affects harmony within the club, doesn't it? See, it looks so much easier.
44:57
It's very hard for a player to, you know, think I'm better than he is and he's been paid four times what I'm getting. Do you think I'm going to put in? No.
45:06
No. And especially after last week when he was hopeless.
45:09
Hopeless, yeah. Yeah. Still got his $100,000 for doing nothing.
45:13
You know what I mean? You're going to get a lot of that, aren't you?
45:19
Exactly. I think you're right. Yeah. I think you're right, especially when you get on to the, which we'll come to in the second hour, the Chiefs issue.
45:26
Yes, yes. Yep, yep. And there are all these other deals that players are doing. Your fish tanks and your tyres.
45:33
Well, you were telling me that Luai is now the... Pepsi, the base of Pepsi.
45:37
Well, not only Pepsi, he's the face of tourism now in Papua New Guinea. Yeah, I know.
45:42
Well, how much is he being paid for that?
45:44
And how do the other players feel about that?
45:46
Well, we'll have to ask him and it's a mixed message. Now, look, we're rushing into the news here now. But how did you go with your talkback topic?
45:53
Okay. Now, our talkback topic was do you support the wildcard knockout concept, HG, that we revealed last week? Yeah. So teams 7 to 12 play off over three weeks to generate teams 7 and 8.
46:09
It's a great idea to keep interest going.
46:12
The players love it. 62% yes.
46:16
I was expecting more, but that's not a bad start because you're seeding a new idea, a new concept. And they haven't seen it yet.
46:22
No, they haven't seen it. No, they haven't seen it.
46:25
Now, this week, HG, we're simply asking, is Australian cricket in crisis?
46:30
Wow.
46:31
Have you asked that before? I don't think we have. I mean, it's a question that has been crying out to be asked ever since the average age of the Australian team reached 42.
46:43
Isn't it?
46:46
And we're often with our batters now. Their ages is higher than their average.
46:53
Their batting average.
46:53
I know. That was bizarre. That's scary, isn't it? That was bizarre when they released those numbers.
46:58
I know. I know. There's poor old Blanus. I mean, Blanus Lubberson, you know, people are bagging him. But hang on, the bloke's 45 and he's got a batting average now of 23.
47:07
That's just wrong.
47:09
It's just wrong, isn't it?
47:11
Poor old Smithy. There he is, Smithy, at 53. His batting average is now 52.
47:17
He goes out there desperate to make the run. Desperate, yeah, yeah. So it's very tricky.
47:21
Anyway, people know how to get in touch with us.
47:26
Are you calling for a royal commission? Not yet. No, fair enough.
47:30
Not yet. I just want to gauge what people think.
47:33
If people think Australian cricket is in crisis, then we'll take that information to Cricket Australia and Cricket New South Wales, try to bang heads, get them talking to each other and see if we can come up with a solution.
47:43
And the fuel that's propelling this rocket is the privatisation of Australian cricket.
47:50
It is. I think it's undermining Australian cricket.
47:54
Are you seeing the Sheffield Shield being sold off?
47:56
Yes, I am. The trouble is everyone knows that the Sheffield Shield is not worth a peanut. No.
48:05
The International Panel on Climate Change has released startling evidence that suggests rugby league is the best sport for the environment.
48:16
The panel believes all nations should establish a rugby league competition.
48:22
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48:35
Yes, welcome back to Bludging on the Blind Side on ABC Local Radio and ABC Spark. If you want to get involved with the show, 0467 920 222, 0467 920 222, or the Old Style way, roynhg at abc.net.au. And the following people have Roy.
48:53
Yeah, just on the text here, HG, Nick from Cairns is a very cynical view. He's saying, is the proposed BBL privatisation just cricket Australia pumping up prices ahead of a big money deal to sell off the Sheffield Shield of private equity?
49:09
Well, that's possible.
49:10
Yeah. Now, would the Sheffield Shield have iconic value?
49:15
No, it would. And can I ask – In fact, I'd say all of its value is in its iconic status.
49:21
Yeah. But let's say we had a company like ZigZag Cheese, which we do, and we bought the Sheffield Shield with cheese money.
49:29
Cheese money, yeah.
49:29
We could use the Shield in the way that because we own the Shield, we own the iconic value. We do. Yeah. Australians over centuries have eaten zigzag cheese, even though zigzag cheese hadn't been available. No, that's right. And look, we got the Sheffield Shield for it.
49:44
That's right. You could. Arguably, you could.
49:47
So you would own the intellectual property in the Sheffield Shield?
49:49
Yeah, we could call it the zigzag cheese Sheffield Shield.
49:53
Couldn't we?
49:55
Couldn't we? And people would love that. They would. They'd suddenly think, oh, two icons together at last.
50:01
That's right. We must get involved.
50:03
And if we wanted to, say, spin it off into a betting platform.
50:08
Easy.
50:08
Yeah. Easy. Well, just use that as an example or a soft drink or get Luai to promote it. For sure. Obviously.
50:17
Yeah. Well, we'd have the readies. You know, he doesn't come cheap. Yeah.
50:20
And we could borrow it against the bank. The bank would lend us money. They would. Because we had the iconic Sheffield Shield. Yeah. And we could take it.
50:28
And it'd be after the bank to put a value on that. It would. You know. You just say, listen, bank, we've got the Sheffield Shield. It's an icon.
50:35
Oh. Well, I have to put an iconic value on that. Yes, you will.
50:40
Now, what was I going to say here, HG?
50:47
Someone was wondering, this might be Shagger from Casino. He wants to know, do you think they'd have jazz cigarettes at the party hall in Adelaide? I don't know.
51:00
They might. Well, we should send a mission.
51:02
Yeah.
51:03
And I'm not sure how you'd make your – I think I'd be bold about it.
51:08
Just go there with a sign. Any jazz cigarettes for sale?
51:11
Yep.
51:11
Don't be hiding your light under a bushel. Nope.
51:14
Nope. Someone will put their hand up. Yeah, mate, over here.
51:19
Now, Glitz from Kilcare on the Central Coast. She's been in touch. He says, happy rock. Oh, good. Good.
51:24
Good start.
51:25
He says, my son and I recently enjoyed a few days travelling through rural and regional New South Wales. You can just picture it, can't you?
51:32
visiting country towns where the locals are the quintessence of Aussie values.
51:38
Isn't that great?
51:38
He means iconic. Yeah, he does. Iconic country towns. Quintessence isn't bad. Quintessence is good. Yeah, and we might be able to find a better use for quintessence. We could.
51:47
Arriving in Coonabarabran, oh, there's an iconic town for you, isn't there?
51:52
in need of refreshment, we wanted to avoid the usual fast food Americanised offerings. So I was delighted to stumble across a low-key establishment, a quiet street, and the cafe was called Feathers.
52:07
Isn't that lovely? Isn't that great? That's fantastic. Any acknowledgement of the great... I don't think so.
52:13
...the son king of rugby league? I don't think so, and I hope we're not going to get them into trouble by talking about this on air. If Heathers is listening to this program, he may well think, oh, they're trading off my name, and they could be in a little bit of trouble, but I don't think so.
52:27
As long as it's been there longer than Feathers has been in charge of the rugby league, I think they'll be okay.
52:32
Yeah, I'm sure that's what their lawyers would argue. Yeah, they would. Should it go to court.
52:36
And I know you were prepared to give evidence.
52:38
I will give evidence. Yes.
52:39
Yes, for sure.
52:43
Now, this comes from Tony HG from Boondall. He says, I refer to recent social and mainstream media reporting of KPIs for NRL referees.
52:54
Ah, yeah.
52:55
Below is AI opens understanding of the matter. This is what AI is saying. Yeah, good, good. In the NRL, the official benchmark KPI expectation for ruck speed is 3.5 seconds per play the ball. I didn't know that.
53:13
Who set that number?
53:15
Well, this is what... That's based on the average of all the play the balls that the AI's looked at.
53:21
Well, this is what AI is suggesting. Every match is meticulously tracked by an NRL algorithm to evaluate how effectively a referee polices the ruck area and prevents defensive wrestling. Referees are scored weekly based on the following specific ruck metrics.
53:38
The 3.5-second threshold. Referees are expected to manage the game flows so that the average play-the-ball speed sits at or below 3.5 seconds.
53:48
The 4-second cap. Game authorities aim for both teams' play-the-ball speeds to strictly stay under 4 seconds. Ruck equity and consistency. A major focus of the KPI is ensuring that the ruck speed is balanced between both teams.
54:02
A referee will be penalised if one team is allowed a fast ruck, i.e. 3.5 seconds, while their opponent is consistently slowed down. Four seconds.
54:13
What do you think of that?
54:14
Well, I don't know. Well, if you said to me... Well, I would invite all followers of Rugby League, say, over the final season that is before us, let's say the game this evening. Get your stopwatch out.
54:28
And measure the ruck speed of each ruck. Well, okay, if I do this here with a clock, one, two, three, I would find that... Release!
54:39
Yeah, well... Release!
54:41
Yeah, but what I'm trying to get to is that if I look at it with the naked eye and I think about last night, it very rarely happens that it's in three seconds.
54:49
Well, I don't know. We'd have to look at that.
54:51
I know, sorry. We'd have to look at that. We would. We would. I went off half cold there.
54:54
That's enough. That's enough. Let him go, Jarrod.
54:59
Anyway, this comes from Dave. Dave says, I'm currently visiting Papua New Guinea. Oh, good. And have bought tickets to the NFS, the Papua New Guinea Rugby League finals, on Sunday. That's tomorrow, HG.
55:14
My friend and I are shouting a ticket for a local friend from the Western province and my friend is down in...
55:22
Papua New Guinea from the Eastern Highlands province. We thought it an opportunity to gauge the facilities and the calibre of players ahead of the Chiefs' entry into the NRL competition in 2028.
55:33
Now, tomorrow, he's going to be watching the PRK Mendy Marrakes versus the ENB Ogmark Gurias.
55:41
Now, how many teams in the comp? Not sure.
55:43
Let's say there are 10.
55:45
Yeah. So this is quite a prestigious day for people in PNG. Oh, yeah.
55:51
And we'd have a big crowd. This would be huge.
55:54
And I'm just wondering if we could apply the three-second rule to the referee.
55:57
Well. That would be interesting. I don't know whether it would be a local referee.
56:01
Well, I was just thinking the PNG Referee Association.
56:03
Wasn't Graham Anuai who came from Papua New Guinea to do a state? He used to paddle the canoe down. Yeah, he did. He came down the outrigger.
56:10
And I think he did a couple of state of origins. And was a terrific referee.
56:15
Terrible. Sorry.
56:18
I should say not a terrible job, but in fact a commanding presence.
56:22
Commanding presence. He certainly was.
56:24
Mm-hmm.
56:24
So if he is still blowing the whistle, I'd say Graeme Inouye would have this match tomorrow.
56:30
So I think you're going to have quick ruck speed. He doesn't take any nonsense, Graeme Inouye. He doesn't. You know, it's one, two. Release!
56:38
You know what it's like.
56:40
Anyway. That's great news and I'd love to hear a report. Give us a report. Thank you, Dave, if you could, if you've got time.
56:48
Just a few notes.
56:50
Nothing too extravagant? No. Is it an iconic set of teams?
56:54
Yes. Well, of course they're iconic.
56:56
Yeah.
56:57
And that Moresby Ground is iconic. Yeah. And Graeme Inouye is iconic. Well, hang on. It's all icon from buddy start to finish, isn't it?
57:04
From this distance.
57:06
This comes from Pedro from Putney.
57:10
It's that time of year where the sports lunch invitations start coming at you faster than a hammer at the Commonwealth Games.
57:17
Oh, lovely.
57:18
He's thought about that, hasn't he?
57:20
I was mightily pleased to see two NRL icons.
57:24
Good, again. Again. Hammer and icons, very good.
57:27
Kerry Hemsley. Well, there's an icon.
57:30
Just standing alone, isn't it?
57:32
I know. The hair, the motorbike.
57:34
The motorbike, all of that. And Dave Cement Gillespie.
57:36
Yep.
57:37
They'll be joined by sports broadcasting star Tim Gilbert in West Ride next Friday. Now, that was yesterday, HG. You can see there's the- Wow.
57:45
That's great.
57:46
It is great, isn't it?
57:47
And any idea what the RPGC is? No.
57:51
No idea. No idea. I thought that was either the place or the... Yeah, with my beloved Tigers failing at finals footy for the 15th season in a row, I look forward to hearing some pearls of wisdom coming out of that dynamic duo over a schooner of stout and a plate of crumbed chicken. So Pedro was going, well, Pedro, let us know what it was like.
58:10
Oddly enough, I bumped into Cement Gillespie. In China? In Chengdu. Yeah, I know. He was there having a holiday.
58:17
Well, that's a great place for a holiday.
58:19
Wonderful place for a holiday. Get away from rugby league there. Certainly. And he could walk around with absolute anonymity, up until he bumped into us, of course.
58:28
Yeah, no, I mean.
58:28
And then it was, hey, Cement, how you doing, bud? What are you doing here? And then you gathered a crowd pretty quickly. That's right, very, very quickly.
58:35
They wanted to know all about him, about his career, et cetera, et cetera. They looked him up on the internet and then suddenly there was nowhere he could go.
58:42
He was... Ruffed off his feet.
58:46
Now... Now, actually, this comes from Clive.
58:52
He says, with regard to your heritage toilets of interest segment.
58:55
Segment? Did we have a toilets of interest segment? Let's say we did. A word of caution for all large enthusiasts.
59:02
Inspired by your concern and mindful that historical toilets simultaneously piqued three of my personal interests, rugby league, history and architecture. I thought I might contribute by documenting a pictorial collage of said suburban gems.
59:18
You can see where the problem is here, can't you? Yeah, no, no.
59:22
Starting with everyone's favourite, Leichhardt, and armed with my Nikon, it took as little as 20 minutes to compile a compelling folder of exterior sunset shots worthy of any coffee table.
59:35
That's good. Pleased with my efforts, I proceeded to complete the task with some interior shots. This was where things went awry. Mm-hm.
59:45
Evidently some passers-by, perhaps unfamiliar with the bludge, misconstrued my intentions and, upon observing my entry to the toilets with accompanying wide-angle lens, promptly called the local constabularist.
59:58
Yeah, no, well, you would. You would. You've got to get permission.
60:01
Transpires calls of this nature to the police are not at all unusual.
60:04
No, especially in the Leichhardt area.
60:07
Yeah. Though in this instance I was commended for the originality of my explanation.
60:12
Unfortunately, it was deemed as just implausible.
60:16
What?
60:17
The police would not accept that he was taking photographs for a proposed coffee table examination of toilets of interest around the world. Furnished with my customary phone call from Balmain Nick, I opted rationally to call the bludge line, certain that it would be manned 24 hours a day and fully expecting immediate vindication and release. Suffice to say, I'm currently on bail pending charges for public nuisance.
60:45
Well, there's a lesson there, isn't there? You've got to go to Leichhardt Council. If you want to take photographs of the Leichhardt Toilet of Interest while it's still there, before it's demolished, go to Leichhardt Council, fill out the form.
60:59
Get it stamped. Get it stamped. For the day that you want to do it. Yes.
61:04
And then when the police approach, you can show that form and they'll... And can I point out that those toilets of interest have probably had a lot of people going in there with cameras. Oh, yeah. Without permission.
61:15
Exactly.
61:15
Who knows what they're doing? Exactly.
61:16
Who knows what... What they're setting up, what sickness they're getting up to. Exactly. Exactly.
61:21
Exactly. Exactly.
61:23
Well, the police can only do their best, you know. If you see a bloke with a big nick on, you know, fiddling about inside the Leichhardt toilet, they're going to stop and make inquiries. They are. They are. They're not mad. What are you doing? Oh, it's a toilet of interest. I'm telling you, get in here. That's right.
61:39
The blood sent me. Well, who? Yeah, exactly. We don't, you know, let's face it, we have some sway.
61:46
Yeah.
61:47
But certainly not with the police. We don't. We don't. We have no sway with the police. We advise you to go through the proper channels.
61:53
Proper channels every time. Every time.
61:56
And the officers who made that arrest, we can't criticise them.
61:59
No.
62:00
It's not our job to criticise them.
62:01
They were following the rules of the land.
62:03
They were following the rules. Yeah.
62:04
Yeah.
62:06
This comes from James.
62:09
For 3.5 years, I've been trying hard to get a statue of Ken Irvine erected on the footpath of Miller Street outside North Sydney Oval. Hit a brick wall at every turn. Ken's record broken? So be it. Good on, Alec. But still deserves one. Held the record for 52 years. No other league player has held such a record. Fact. Ken is the only league player to hold a world record 110-yard sprint.
62:40
Wow, that's interesting. That is interesting. That's one I didn't know.
62:42
No, no, I didn't know that, yes. No, he was very quick, Kenny Irvine. Yes, he hit the world record for the 110-yard sprint at one stage while a winger for North Sydney. He wants us to put pressure on Lane Cove Council to get this... No, it wouldn't be Lane Cove. It would be North Sydney Council to get this built. Well, we don't have any influence on North Sydney Council.
63:05
No. I mean, have they got a fighting fund to get the... Or the statue fund to get the wherewithal to buy the statue or get it done? And have they got a medium that they, as in, you know, will it be corrugated iron, recycled coffee cups or something like that? You know, there's so many great things, so many great possibilities.
63:25
Maybe they're going to approach the people that did Rab's statue.
63:29
What a perfect idea.
63:30
Perfect idea. I mean, probably the statue would look just like Rab's, you know. I'm not against that. No, I'm not against that.
63:36
Or Glenn McGrath's statue.
63:38
Oh, I haven't seen that.
63:39
No, neither have I.
63:41
Does it look like Glenn or does it look like Rab's as well?
63:46
From a distance.
63:48
Now, this comes from Aaron. Aaron.
63:56
Now, he says, while listening to your show, your show, Cooking Serving Preschoolers, their standard sausage hanger for lunch, my interest was particularly pricked, and one of your correspondents suggested the idea of regulation to use those teams finishing last in the NRL. This is the wild card. Oh, yeah, yeah. He approached AI for a solution. Oh, good. This is the AI solution.
64:24
Recent public commentary has dismissed the concept of relegation for the National Rugby League on the basis that demotion to reserve grade would be structurally unworkable. I think that's what we decided.
64:36
This paper outlines a potential transnational relegation and promotional framework between the NRL and Super League.
64:43
Oh, no.
64:44
Activated annually for the team finishing last in the NRL competition. Under this model, the lowest-ranked NRL club would be temporarily reassigned to compete in the Super League for the subsequent season. Conversely, the Super League Premier would be granted elevation into the NRL as the 20th team.
65:05
Oh, no. It's getting bizarre, isn't it?
65:08
That is bizarre. Is that AI's solution to it?
65:10
Yes.
65:12
Yes. So you can see how rubbish AI is, can't you?
65:16
Well, they don't AI and rugby.
65:18
And we're going to build all these resources to get AI up and going to bloody run everything.
65:24
God almighty, if things are rubbish at the moment, imagine what they're going to be like if AI takes over.
65:29
And AI, I was going to say standards. Standards. You take standards into account. Yeah. You say the worst. See, the bottom team at the moment is St George in the rugby league. That's right. But their final few matches, they won.
65:44
Yeah, they did.
65:45
Now, is AI going to factor that in and then say, well... Well, probably not.
65:49
As it is, AI would just send St George over to bloody... Where are they going to live? St Helens, somewhere like that. Bradfield. Where are they going to live?
65:57
Are they going to be billeted?
66:00
Well, they've not... And then what if they never win the competition over there and can never come back? They're stuck over there forever. AI hasn't thought this through. Hasn't.
66:10
It's typical, typical rubbish from AI.
66:14
This comes from Luke in Toowoomba. Gee, there's an iconic town, isn't it?
66:20
Toowoomba, yeah. Well, they're making a big play to be part of the NRL.
66:24
They are.
66:25
I stumbled across the webpage of the PNG Pirates, he says. Yes, sirree, Bob. And was dumbfounded to discover no mention of Bunnings Island.
66:36
There was also no mention of the BYD Hospital or the Chemist Warehouse Ferry.
66:41
They didn't even mention the super cheap auto centre of excellence. What are these sponsors getting for their money?
66:50
Look, there are teething problems. It's early days. Teething problems. And let's face it, I mean, we start now, and we'll probably get onto this in the next segment, with a dispute going to the courts to work out whether the pirates have to be the only name given to the chiefs.
67:08
I know, because as we pointed out, as you pointed out, as soon as that was announced, that there already is a Chiefs in the Southern Hemisphere living very successfully in New Zealand.
67:21
And, you know, a lot of players, Chiefs players, have already been asked, you know, what's it going to be like when you go to Papua New Guinea?
67:27
I know.
67:28
What's Banning's Island like? That's what they're being asked. How often will you be able to get home? Yeah. Yeah.
67:34
I mean, it's just ludicrous.
67:35
It is ludicrous.
67:36
And talk about mixed messages. I mean, what is a youngster anywhere in Australia or anywhere in New Zealand, for that matter, meant to make of the two chiefs concept? Yes. Is that going to be taught in schools?
67:48
Oh, man.
67:49
There's two chiefs, one of which lives in public.
67:51
Look, there's a chiefs rugby union team in New Zealand and there's the chief. It's too hard. Too hard. Makes it too hard for teachers, makes it too hard for everyone. Imagine the exam. Yeah.
68:04
Right, you know, is the, I don't know. Two chiefs walk into a supermarket and you're thinking, well, what chiefs are they?
68:12
Are they pirates or are they trippy unions?
68:16
Yeah.
68:18
And I thank all correspondents.
68:23
Caring Aussies. This is a time when many of our loved ones are sadly saying goodbye.
68:32
Many dying loved ones may wish to leave in a heritage-listed toilet of interest.
68:40
The Sid Fogg Heritage Listed Toilet of Interest Tour Team will provide transport, a cushion and enough rope to secure your loved one as comfortably as possible for the passing. Depending on time considerations, a wake will follow within 15 minutes of the terminal moment being noticed. Terms and conditions apply. This is Bludgeoning on the Blind Side.
69:03
Someone's suggesting Tony Archer may well be blowing the whistle at the Papua New Guinea final tomorrow.
69:11
Would that possibly be a bit long in the tooth now, Tony Archer, wouldn't he?
69:15
Look, I couldn't possibly comment on that. No.
69:19
I know Tony went to Papua New Guinea to raise the standards of refereeing.
69:24
Yeah, and how did he go with the time of taking the ruck?
69:27
Yeah, pretty well, I think. I don't know what his ruck speed average is, but last I did it was about 4.1 seconds, which is not bad. It's only 0.6 of a second above what it should be.
69:38
Now, can I ask, is that the only KPI that the AIs come up with?
69:42
Yep, that's it. It's all about ruck speed.
69:45
Now, how about, you know, loudness of blow?
69:50
Sure. Clearness of six again signs.
69:55
How about gestures, you know, like, you know, on report.
69:58
Yeah, on report.
70:00
You know, well, try.
70:01
Yep, yep. Go to the bunker.
70:03
Yeah, go.
70:05
Off. Off. Ten minutes, you know, et cetera.
70:08
Well, Archer was always great. Well, he was very clear. Very clear. Very clear with the hand signals. Yeah, yep. You could read his signals from at least 250 yards away.
70:20
Wow, is that an AI proof?
70:21
Whereas with Graeme Minoui, I think it was only about 112 metres. You could read his signals. Anyway, that must be another KPI, I guess.
70:32
It would be. It would be. But you're just wondering, are they inventing things to measure?
70:36
Well, they would be.
70:38
How about give us the score? Now, we come to the court case that's going to, I think, determine life on this planet for the next 20 years.
70:47
The NRL has been warned it will be dragged into court if an escalating dispute with New Zealand rugby, unless it changes the name of the new Albanese government-backed team, PNG, from the Chiefs. That's the problem there. So just fleshing it out. Formed with $600 million, obviously. The Australian taxpayer package devised to counter influence of China in the Pacific. The Chiefs are due to enter the competition in 2028 as the competition's 19th club. However, mounting trademark feud with New Zealand Rugby, which owns Chiefs franchise in Super Rugby, Pacific.
71:24
I didn't realise that was the comp. threatens to blow up the unveiling of the PNG site's logo in Jersey, which is scheduled to take place at an event in Moresby next month.
71:35
Okay.
71:36
Now, I'm not sure that the PNG Chief Executive Officer, McPherson, Chief Executive Officer, my first, and said their logo represents where we come from as a nation, the values we will stand for as a club, and the future we want to build for all Papua New Guineans. Hell of a lot just crammed into a set of colours, isn't it? It is, isn't it? Where we've come from as a nation, where we are, and where we want to go.
72:04
And that's summed up in the word Chiefs.
72:08
And the colours and the logo.
72:09
And the colours. So, right, the whole thing is a package, isn't it?
72:13
That's right.
72:13
And that's what they'll be arguing in court.
72:15
I may be wrong about this, but as I understand it, the colours are going to be red, yellow and black.
72:20
Good.
72:20
Which is the same colours. Past, present, future.
72:23
Exactly. I hadn't thought of that, but you're absolutely right.
72:27
That'd be right.
72:27
So now you've got a complex series of intellectual property disputes.
72:33
Yes.
72:34
And really, as we said all those months ago, why aren't they called the Pirates?
72:40
Because it sums up exactly what's going on.
72:42
There's a bit of clear delineation because then you look at the Pirates and you're not thinking of the New Zealand Chiefs.
72:49
You're not.
72:51
Whereas whenever the Chiefs are mentioned, people are thinking, oh, the Chiefs are now playing – Rugby league, are they?
72:59
That's your big problem. That's your big problem. It's a confusing message. It is.
73:02
And come back to things that the Pirates would have. Walking the plank. You see, they wouldn't, the Chiefs may not have that or they might have that, but certainly the only walking the plank that's connected with, you know, sea-going activity is the Pirates. Yeah.
73:16
Or, you know. Or keel-hauling. Keel-hauling.
73:21
I'm very popular.
73:22
Yeah, the chiefs don't do any keelhauling, do they? They don't. But the pirates do.
73:26
They do.
73:26
And that separates them in a way, doesn't it?
73:28
It does. And, you know, a chest, a treasure chest with gold in it. Yes. Or buried treasure.
73:34
That's right. Maps. Maps. Thank you, with X marks the spot.
73:39
That's very pirates.
73:40
Parrots. Parrots. On the shoulder. Eye patch. Yes. Peg leg. Peg leg. And shorts, some sort of short sort of thing, you know. That's right. Knickerbocker style trousers. Sure.
73:51
Yes. See, these are all things that you associate with pirates. You don't say any of that with jeeps. Clear air.
73:57
Totally clear air. Confusing. Yes. There'd be no confusion whatsoever if they're pirates. So why don't... Is it too late for the Moravi government to step in and say, all right.
74:12
Pirates it is.
74:14
Forget the chiefs.
74:15
We can still keep the, you know, black, red, yellow, whatever.
74:19
Keep the colours. Past, present, future, still there. See, can I come back to the whole reason we got into this mess? China.
74:29
Yeah. Well, China must be sitting back laughing.
74:31
Yeah, I know. China. They're sending boats around Australia. We've got to do something about it. What we came up with, it wasn't much of an idea, but it was an Australian idea. Rugby league. Rugby league is a bulwark against the encroachment of the PLA, the People's Liberation Army. That's right. Never mind how they get in boats.
74:49
Outriggers or anything, they're going to come against the hard, you know, wall of rugby league defence. And that's why we built this whole thing. Irin Jaya border, P&G border, that's where he stopped them.
75:00
That's right.
75:01
When we suggested that Brad Arthur would be the coach, I was all for it because I thought if anybody's going to stop them, Brad Arthur will. Mm-hmm. Then it goes on further to that and we pushed out further the Kafusi line where they couldn't cross. So we had the Biak pythons and then the – do I have to explain it all again? I'm a bit sick and tired of explaining it all. We had the Taiwanese oysters.
75:23
That's further out.
75:24
But the fly now in the ointment is the confusion between – Between the New Zealand Chiefs. I've got nothing against the New Zealand Chiefs. I'm sure it's a fine club and I'm sure they've got excellent values and great KPIs, all of that. Iconic. And quite iconic, especially in the area.
75:45
Aren't they?
75:45
That's right.
75:46
Very iconic. That's right. To New Zealanders, you've got to mention Chiefs and they know exactly what you're talking about.
75:51
Yeah, exactly. It's something to do with Cross Church. Yeah, exactly. And Rugby Union.
75:55
Yeah. But suddenly you get the Chiefs appearing, you know, at Auckland playing against the Waas.
76:04
Yeah, you don't know. New Zealand is scratching their heads. That's a very mixed message. Very mixed message. And what would be good is to use this court case to somehow get foreign affairs, people from foreign affairs, to say, look how seriously we take this. These are the pirates. Now, you're up against pirates. Now, forget all that cheap bullshit. Yeah.
76:24
Yeah, right.
76:26
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, if that's the way it's going to be argued, but I bet they're going to be stupid about it and try to dig their heels in and take the losing argument into court saying, oh, no, we're chiefs as well. Or the other way round is... And then the judge is going to say, well, hang on. You can't have two lots. You can't have two chiefs. Do you think the judge... Which is the first chiefs? Stand up, those who are the first chiefs. We were the first chiefs. Were they the first chiefs? Yeah, they were the first chiefs.
76:52
But we're the bigger chiefs because we're here in Papua New Guinea. No. Look, I've got to say two things about this. I'm not opposed to the NRL spending another $400 million buying the chief's name. No. I think that would be the simplest thing out of this and say, look, okay, fair cost.
77:08
Buy the New Zealand Chiefs' name, get the New Zealand Chiefs to change their name to something else.
77:11
They're not going to do it. They won't. We don't know mediation. All these things are solved through mediation and money.
77:18
Well, it's up to, I suppose, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong to go down and speak to whoever it might be. Is it Willie Peters? Who's their foreign minister these days? Who knows? Used to be Winston. Winston Peters. Okay. Sit down with him and say, listen, your Chiefs, forget it.
77:37
There you go. Change the name.
77:41
You can call it anything you like. Now, come back to your China question.
77:45
Yeah.
77:45
Imagine going to China, Penny Wong going to China and saying, listen, we're thinking about changing the name of our chiefs to pirates. How do you get on with that? They'd freak out in horror.
77:54
They probably would.
77:55
And that's the time to pounce. Okay, that's the one we'd have, the pirates, because they're shit scared of the pirates.
78:00
Yeah, they would be. Chiefs. They would be. Chiefs, they think they can negotiate with. Yeah, exactly.
78:05
Pirates, no negotiation. Yeah.
78:09
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79:02
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79:23
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79:32
Yes, Roy, look, this is a story we had.
79:35
Before you get there, HG, someone is suggesting that there could well be confusion between the Auckland Blues and the New South Wales Blues, yet we were able to live with those two sitting together without causing too much confusion.
79:51
Isn't there a team in the Chute Shield, the eastern suburbs? There's an Eastern Suburbs Rugby League team. Now, we don't confuse the two. Maybe this is the way the argument will run when the lawyers get into court.
80:03
So one will be called the Rugby League Chiefs and the other will be called the Rugby Union Chiefs.
80:09
Yes, and there'll be pressure upon...
80:13
the media to make that clear whenever they're discussing.
80:17
You know, the thing that sort of the nub of all this is why do we get the first, you know, the Australian chiefs? The Australian chiefs were seen as a forward-leaning defence mechanism. That's right. So I think that that concept has to take precedence. I mean, no-one's suggesting the New South Wales Blues is a front line in Australia's defence.
80:39
It's not.
80:40
And it's only there three days a year. I can understand the Carlton Blues might take offence, but they don't. They invent all sorts of other names to, you know.
80:50
describe themselves, which is what most football teams do anyway. What I suspect is happening here is that this is a publicity wheeze.
80:57
Of course it is. This is smart lawyers. You can see a dollar in it for themselves.
81:05
Making trouble for no reason. You know, if we didn't have this show, there would be no one interested in this idea except the newspaper. Who reads newspapers anymore?
81:16
No one.
81:17
So we could get away, easily get it up and underway. But now that they've raised it, I still like the term The Pirates because I think it's more powerful. It's a better name.
81:26
Thanks. A better name. It does the job. See, the first thing you want with a name of any club, any team, is it's got to do the job. Yeah.
81:35
It's got to draw people.
81:36
It's got to draw people in. People are going to say, I love it. I want to be loyal. I want to talk like a pirate.
81:41
Yeah.
81:42
Thanks. Beautiful.
81:45
Now, this was to do with cricket sponsorship, this story. And so this is hard to imagine, but an Indian Premier League game could soon be played in Australia. And this year's planned big league, big bash league opener in Chennai may become an annual affair as cricket becomes a formal platform for deepening ties between Australia and India.
82:08
A formal platform.
82:11
I thought we'd been deepening tyres, you know, ever since we started playing test cricket. With India. With India, which is a hell of a long time ago.
82:19
And so the game will take place.
82:21
Suni Gavaskar.
82:23
Well before the time of Suni Gavaskar.
82:26
Well, Azuruddin.
82:28
Yeah. Yeah, what a great player he was. Great ambassador for cricket, Indian cricket.
82:33
Wonderful ambassador. Kapil Dev. Kapil Dev. Yeah. Great all-rounder. And these people exchanged ideas about defence. Mm-hmm. In the field, you know, they might have a drinks break, so they'd all gather around and talk about, say, the Nepalese border in China, encroachment of communist China.
82:49
That's right. Do you think it was before? That's right, the influence of Pakistan. And they discussed, you know, South Wales and reverse swing. That was a mystery for so long, held by only one man, South Wales and South Wales.
83:01
And then suddenly the word got out, spread through the subcontinent.
83:04
Wasim Akram. Wasim Akram.
83:07
Yeah. And he's a very good bowler. Now, and then one thing I was going to say was that international affairs, cricket international affairs, there's a book to be written in that. Probably has been written about that. Probably. I'm just wondering if the – wasn't the – there was a famous royalty, Indian royalty, was the – The Nawab of Pataudi. Thanks. That's the one I'm looking for.
83:32
Now, he – He famously played in the Bodyline series. Yes. He was a batsman for England, an Indian, the Nawab of Pataldi.
83:40
So that's in the 30s, isn't it?
83:41
That's in the 30s, yeah.
83:42
So you assume that cricket in India was being played at an international level in the 30s?
83:48
Yeah, I assume so. Yeah, for the Nawab to get a call up. Hell of a long time ago.
83:52
Hell of a long time ago. So it's a rich history.
83:57
It doesn't need any confection.
83:59
Exactly. And look how successful it's been. As nearly as I remember, there's never been a war between Australia and India. Never. Never.
84:06
Never. All the problems are solved on the cricket pitch. They are. They are. And it can get very heated. There's Tewit Virat Kohli and Travis Head just recently.
84:16
You know? But they sawed it out in the middle. I think that was a line of control issue. It was. In Kashmir, under people's... Now, in one raft of announcements expected today, the Indian who was visiting at the time, that's Prime Minister Modi, his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and the Cricket Australia, Melbourne Renegades, are set to host the Perth Scorchers, wait for it, to a capacity 38,000 in...
84:45
Chidambrarum Stadium. That's right. I think that's in Chennai.
84:49
Yeah, and that's going to be the first match of the BBLC. It's going to be the season opener. Now, we broke that story on this program three weeks ago.
84:57
Now, that game's going to take place on December the 12th.
85:00
Yes.
85:00
Immediately after the conclusion of the play on day four of the first test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth and promises to break records as the most watched domestic sporting fisher in Australian history.
85:13
Really?
85:13
That's hard to imagine, isn't it? Very hard to imagine. So they think in India they'll have a bigger crowd than it's ever stood before. But hang on, when the World Cup was here, didn't India play Pakistan get a full house to the MCG? Certainly did. I'm pretty sure it did.
85:28
And it might have been close to a world record.
85:32
Albanese and Modi will also meet with AFL executive Anthony Dillon and Cricket Australia's head of BBBL Alistair Dobson at the MCG today. That was some time ago. And they're going to talk about sending AFL sides up there to play on the cricket grounds.
85:50
To what end? Yeah, to what end? Why? Why?
85:54
Why would you do it? Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.
85:58
No, exactly. Or just because the ground's there doesn't mean they will come.
86:02
So at the same time, there's been a strong desire within the Australian government and diplomatic cause for a regular festival to showcase relations between the two countries akin to the wait for it, the Say G'day program in America.
86:16
That's, well, that's a program. Well, hang on.
86:20
Hasn't the Border Gavaska Trophy been doing this for the best part of 30 years?
86:26
Eh? Yeah, well, they talk about issues.
86:30
It's a real gathering of minds, the Border Gavaska.
86:32
It is.
86:33
It is. I mean, Aussies look forward to it. I mean, it's iconic. Iconic, yeah. Isn't it? It is. I mean, you can't get anything more iconic in cricket. Oh, yes. Oh, OK. Yes, the Ashes. That's iconic. Yeah.
86:44
Second, Boracabasca. Well, wait for Sheffield Shield. That's got to get it.
86:48
Oh, OK. Sheffield Shield.
86:49
But then Boracabasca. Yeah.
86:51
Isn't it? It is. It is.
86:54
I don't know quite what they're striving for here. I mean, did they see somehow Australian-Indian relationships foundering or headed for the rocks because they don't have a cricket competition?
87:05
I don't know. I don't know. I understand they want to milk me. Well, always in these issues, I always say follow the money.
87:13
Six Again is a collection of Rugby League's jazz classics. 24 great tunes that capture the magic of the greatest game of all. From the Katoni Stags Trio, featuring Matt Dufty on flute. Out now on Monster Music, The Blindside Label.
87:33
Fire up, Australia. The Knights and Loomers are not asking for money. No, they want your pants.
87:42
Register your trousers for the billion pants burn off for world peace.
87:48
This year's Burn Off is sponsored by Zig Zag Cheese, Lomax Aid, Hasty Automotive and Dish Head Burgers. Why not drop what you're wearing into the Burn for World Peace Project care of bludging on the blind side.
88:11
Yes, you're listening to The Bludge, bludging on the blind side on ABC Sport and ABC Local Radio. Roy.
88:16
Yes, Gerry from the Sunshine Coast, she's saying there's also the Kansas City Chiefs, an NFL club, the Exeter Chiefs, an English rugby union club.
88:29
Well, these would be points to be made in a court case.
88:32
They will.
88:33
They're not Southern Hemisphere clubs. No, no, no.
88:35
But I'm wondering if those two clubs will be...
88:39
joining the Auckland or Waikato chiefs.
88:42
Saying we've been here a long time.
88:44
Yeah.
88:44
And we don't like it.
88:45
Yep, yep.
88:46
We'd be more than happy for them to adopt the term pirates for their name. Now, and of course you were pointing out, you know, obviously the chief.
88:56
Oh, Paul Harrigan. Paul Harrigan.
88:57
Well, what's his position?
88:59
And wait for it, there's Chief Little Wolf, who used to be a wrestler. That's right. In the World Wrestling Federation.
89:04
But he may not be with us anymore. No, that's true. That was a fair while ago. Okay. But the family might join the class action.
89:10
Is that what you're suggesting? Yes. You know, having a lend of my relative. Yes. Fair enough.
89:17
Well, it's a can of worms, isn't it? It is.
89:19
But a lawyer's picnic. It is a lawyer's picnic. Lawyer's picnic. I hate it when rugby league becomes a royal lawyer's picnic.
89:27
I think it's time for Volander to stand up and, you know, declare something. I mean, they call him the sun king of rugby league. Well, it's time for him to put his foot down.
89:38
I noticed you had a meeting with him this week.
89:40
I did.
89:41
Was it successful? And one thing that occurred to me, and I know I said to you this, I thought it was a brave statement, he won't talk to people unless they've got a tie on, and you went in there without a shirt, and I thought that was a lovely touch.
89:52
Well...
89:54
The story got screwed around a little bit. I did wear a tie.
89:59
I didn't wear trousers. Fair enough. And he had a big smirk on his face.
90:07
And, well, I was amazed. He actually entered the spirit. He took his trousers off as well. And then we sat down.
90:14
You know what I mean?
90:15
Did you clear the air? Yeah.
90:17
We smoked the peace pipe because we've been at loggerheads for quite a while. He brought out a little bit of Capstan Fine Cup.
90:25
I had a bit of drum. You rolled them up together?
90:30
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we decided in the end we'd both go with Peter Stuyvesant, the international passport to smoking pleasure.
90:37
Didn't we?
90:38
A lovely touch. Is there vision of that on YouTube? Oh, no.
90:42
Oh, God, no. Good. Oh, no, we don't do social media.
90:46
I did notice that one of the topics you were talking about was that – Now I hope it's defunct because I just hope it's fallen over due to its own stupidity, was the $20 million bid that Perth put up for the Grand Prix – sorry, for the – Grand final. Grand final, should there be compromises in grounds availability when the Pope comes in 2028.
91:07
Yep, yep, yep, which is a very real possibility. I mean, I don't know what the Vatican plans are for where the Pope is going to perform. I don't know. Traditionally, it's been Royal Randwick.
91:18
It has.
91:19
And Royal Randwick has been very, very successful. It's a great venue for that sort of activity. I mean, the great Billy Graham spoke there as well, and that was an overwhelming success as well.
91:29
And, of course, he spoke at the MCG. I think the crowds this week there have been... only topped by Billy Graham, but then you can put seats out on the ground itself. That's right. So you would add like maybe a couple of hundred thousand more that way. Yep, yep, yep.
91:45
But they might want a more what we'd call boutique event. Boutique, yeah. In which case they might want the Sydney Cricket Ground or the Australian Football Stadium or something like that. Now, if that happens, it's then up to, I suppose, the state government in association with the federal government to come down and make a decision here as to which is more important.
92:04
Do you think $20 million is right for the grand final?
92:08
$20 million. Well, it's a start. It's a starting. It's an opening bit. It starts the conversation.
92:12
It starts the conversation.
92:14
And, you know, as I said, two feathers. I said, you know, let's get down to tin tacks. What would a grand final be worth to somebody?
92:27
And we batted this up and down for a little while. And we came eventually, we settled on a figure of $102 million.
92:34
Me too.
92:35
And I think that's about right.
92:36
Right. Now, in that same meeting, there was a discussion, and this was the thing that lured you in there in the first place, that the players had said that they don't understand six again and think they've gone too far. Yeah. And Feathers bit back hard on that and said, no, that's what it's going to be because we've got these KPIs and, you know, that they can help speed up the play the ball so quick and all that sort of stuff. And then he backtracked on that a bit, didn't he?
92:59
Well, a little bit. A little bit, HG, but...
93:04
He's of the view that players who are paid for by the code should be loyal to the code and not to undermine the code.
93:19
Now, when players come out and say, oh, yeah, six again was against this, you know, I don't know, I don't understand it, you know, six again, nobody knows what the six again is given for. Well, when that happens, now that may indeed might be true.
93:33
Yeah.
93:34
But Feathers wants them to keep that to themselves, just stay shtum, shut up, and put the product first. And the product is Rugby League. And it's in their interest to keep up this firewall of fiction.
93:55
That everything is tickety and boo in the world of rugby league. And we know it's not. Feathers knows it's not. But you've got to somehow treat reality as something that is malleable and ductile, movable, shapeable, adaptable, successful.
94:20
You know what I mean?
94:20
Yeah. Now, one final thing is what I call the Gould...
94:25
our law didn't come up by any chance.
94:28
No, this is a tricky one, isn't it? This is a conflict of interest. Yeah, people can't have two jobs.
94:32
Yeah, Brayton Astor did the right thing. He got his off-sider to take over the agency, and he's just going to concentrate on media.
94:38
That's right.
94:38
But there's obviously other names that will come up in time.
94:41
Yep, yep. Well, I think Gus has just got to – and Gus will be forced in time to do this. I'd suggest next time the footy show or whatever it's going to be comes back next year, 360 or whatever it's going to be.
94:56
Gus is going to have to say, ladies and gentlemen, I'm speaking as president of the Canterbury Bankstown Rugby League Club. Therefore – I'm not to make any comment about the Canterbury-Bankstown Rugby League or anything that might affect it or rugby league that affects or comes into contact in any way, shape or form with the Canterbury-Bankstown Rugby League's club. Oh, great, Gus. Who are you picking this week?
95:21
You know what I mean? It's going to be tricky because Gus is going to have to say, oh, no, I can't comment on that.
95:25
Well, I can comment on all the other teams, but I can't comment on rugby.
95:28
That's right. Sorry, I'm the Canterbury Bank Sample Dogs.
95:30
Yeah.
95:30
Look, a tantalising point to leave the show this week with the finals unfolding. Of course, the Warriors playing the Dolphins. That's going to be a great match. And tomorrow, the Panthers and the Roosters. I still think there's a bit of sting in the Roosters.
95:43
Yes.
95:44
Well, but they haven't got Sam, have they? Yeah. No. So it'll be up to Cherry Evans, I suppose, to steer him around the park. He'll be playing at halfback, I have no doubt. But tremendous experience there, you'd have to say.
95:57
And the winner is going to be Rugby League, no matter what happens.
96:00
And on that totalising note, we leave you from bludging on the blind side, heard on ABC Local Radio and ABC Sport. Bye now. See you next week for more finals action in the Festival of the Booth 2026.
96:26
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