One of the things that really stood out for me this round was how far many of the young players have improved this season.

I will cover as as we start to go through the side, but made the locomotive Penrith still powering along.

So the moment they got I think fourth spot incredible.

Two eighty Melbourne favorites.

Penrith are into four bucks, raided six bucks, Dogs at six bucks and after that the next line is the Sharks at twenty three dollars.

So it really starts.

I think the Broncas are gone from nine to one twenty six to one.

Talk about that in a second.

But on the weekend, out of those top four contenders, the big you know, the big four, who was the best?

Who you think was the best performing too?

Other dogs were.

I lought the dogs because there was a bit of pressure around can they play in wet weather?

Yep, And I thought it was a bit of a mystery the wet weather form because defensively they got their lines speed, they've got smaller bodies move around and if you hold the ball, kick well and the fenwell and wet weather, you should win.

So they've got the game style to do it, but they execute it perfectly.

The King game through Burnt was great.

Defensively, they just outworked the opposition and there was a bit of swagger and arrogance about their performance about how dare you question we can't playing the wet I'll show you exactly what.

Really impressed men coops is given the fact that we're talking that they've been struggling in the wet I half expected this game they'd just pull everything in a little bit, but they actually didn't.

They kept they kept advancing the football take tone with their short ball playing, but it was more controlled.

It was a more disciplined ball movement.

We spoke about anything the Tigers where they're short passing in wet weather didn't suit them against the Tigers, but that didn't dig intok out their execution the short passing right, So what they did, I think they didn't change their game plan.

They just doubled down on executing the past and some of their hands in.

Wet conditions was Jacob krat very very good.

Yeah, Burton and Galvin were both impressive.

Impressive in their kick combination for totally different reasons.

I'm I've never seen a bloke hit a ball like Burton.

Yes, I mean Ricky went I remember Ricky coming in Coops when he came in in the late eighties and he revolutionized like you know, left to right passes and the long torpedoes.

He was something else, this bloke.

I've never seen anyone hit a ball like it.

They've got good balance because you know that Burton can launch from the yardage and have that long kicking dominance, and what Galvin can do with a short form of it.

Like their ability just to play the right play at the right time.

I really, I'm really impressed with what Burn's done this year, his best year by a country.

More like he is knocking on the door of the Rep Jersey with number six every time he keeps playing like this kick here that is one of the best I've ever seen.

Justin Burton Coops.

You're so right.

He's improvement in the last twolve months in that six jersey.

When he went to last year, when he first started there as a full time six, you could see that the number on his jersey waved heavily on him.

He was thinking, you know, do I steer aside?

What do I do?

And he built his game going.

Forward bit by bit.

Look up, if I like what I see I'm going to attack him if I don't going to give it to villiamy early.

But you can see from there he's just built his game and at the moment he's firing.

Yeah.

And he also knows when to use his strengths around him, like you got Bronze and Cherry kickout and the thing that Galvin's bought is he knows when to get the ball to right at.

The right time.

Yeah.

So now he's got Preston Crichton on the right, you got kickout and Cherry on left, and those halves are doing a good job.

And Bailey Hayward starting at number nine read money on the badge.

It almost seems like that's the way it's going to operate for the rest of the season.

We had that feeling all the back end of this year that that was going to be inevitable.

You felt that.

You felt it with Galvin and Toby, and you felt it with Bailey Haywood and read Marney.

Look talking about young players, we said there's going to be a theme a little bit here about how young players are even emerging.

And when we talk about Penrith here, Blast Lungey has he's just improving rapidly out of sight in how he forms combination with Nathan, but also just a few things on the weekend Coop I hadn't seen from him, because when you think of Blaze, you think of him first and foremost a runner.

But there are a few little moments, like it was the first try he does like a just a really nice little pump fake, which is the domain of the experienced playmaker, Like you know, I mean, that's that's a that's a beautiful bit of playmaker.

Where do you reckon he's got that from?

Well, I reckon the blake alongside he might be showing a few tricks an extra.

So at training, when you're running sort of your left edge versus your right edge, you always pick up what your position half does or in your team because you trained against the other side.

And there's no doubt that when Blaze the lung is on the left edge, you know, defending against Nathan on the right, he can see all these tricks coming looking in to play out double pump fake, the old fake, long play short.

There's just a lot of things and creeping into his game that I can categorically say he never had before.

He rides to Penrith, no doubt, and then learning by Osmoses of around Nathan and seeing the art of ballplane.

He's kept that athleticism.

In that running game, but he's adding these lot of little spices of nuance that you can only learn by practicing and seeing someone else do it.

It looks like he looks comfortable in that system now.

And I can understand when he first went in how difficult they would have been, because we stated a few times on this the Penrith attack is very complex one.

There's lots of moving parts and you've got and a lot of it is an exact science, and I can only imagine him going in there firstly, and he's like, honestly, his eyes were roll in the back of his head.

He's trying to learn this system and trying to learn this in a lot of way, a new position at this new level.

But he looks he just looks tremendous.

And even on the weekend Coops, a number of times Nathan got caught in the last and earlier in the season that response that he was given to blaze and he struggled with the other night against new cars.

He took numerous occasions he took the sixth tackle and just put the ball where it needed you go.

And they have bought him in case McLean have brought a point of difference in the Pernit attack because now Nathan, who would have probably leant towards Martin to or Edward's on the right, he's now leaning to the left because he's knows you've got this young excitement, enthusiasm that can add a spark on Nathan.

He set up a try before halftime he his Newcastle which he sunk into the line almost identical light to last week and you just see that there.

People watching go well, what's the difference here?

But to understand the subtlety that half second delay, well, it just creates that space.

Done.

I think it's cogger that turns in on the runner.

And we always talk about get into your target defender and stopping.

The reason why we say it gets your target fender and square up is when you square up, the player will lean in and it almost catapults everyone else to lean in.

When you don't square up, you run across.

It allows the defender slide off and get into that tackle.

Do you think they can go on with it?

Do you think pen.

I have I would have Penrith and Melbourne AZUK will favorites.

Let's say Penrith finished fourth and they play anyone who finishes fourth out Camberrall like, you give them a chance of winning, don't you.

And if they win that first week and go straight to a prelim, it doesn't matter who comes through that door, they're a big chance to make another creand final coops.

Isaiah is a big one.

One thing Penrith is very good at is that the club doesn't leak information, so at the moment, no one is No one really knows how serious Isaiah shoulder is at the moment.

And just the way it landed, it looked awk good.

I just I just have the sense it's a little bit more serious.

Everyone thinks we're not talking.

It doesn't matter who Penrith play first week of the finals.

I'm backing them.

Melbourne the way they've just suddenly adjusted their football with out Jerome and you can see that Harry has become the centerpiece of their football team and Jesus playing good football.

He's playing half back.

Yep, I like two parts to it.

It was a couple of weeks against the Roosters, No Papa naws and no Munster and Hughes goes down in that game.

All he basically said, like everyone just piling on the ruck when it's a blown rock.

He becomes support runners, not ball players.

And he's set up the victory with that performance.

And then it was obvious from word go the other night that he was out and running like he didn't wait for the game to get fatigue.

He got out and he's being crafty about it.

And we've seen the Silver and telling the Silver overplay their hand at Dumby Huff.

Harry Grant is one of the few that doesn't overplay his hand, like sometimes he bounds out left and right.

But what it does it encourages Tyrone, wish Art and Monster to become ball runners as opposed to sitting back and waiting for the long pass.

Once he moves, both those halves go from I'm not worried about the outside, I'm now running into a hole.

And once Stefano King, once there's a little bit.

Of rock Spoon is by far the best to take advantage of Harry Grant.

And Coop talking to Harry Grant, you know, and number nine and how that how that role has evolved and continues to evolve.

It's worth while saying this to give the history of that position, the dummy half, the hooker position.

To give the history was the sole role of the dummy half was to win the scrum, get the food across and win the scrum.

That's what they were just sixties seventies, sixty seventies and into the eighties, right into the eighties.

My first off season at Newcastle Knights, which is nineteen eighty nine, is that the hooker was still competing for the ball.

They practice scrums, competing for the head, get.

In a scrumb and now you competed in a couple.

Well, it's funny coups.

Because what happened was I still remember going into that ninety nine season, eighty nine preseason and Aliment Marn come forward and said, right, we're going to change something.

Right from now on, our dummy halves are going to be moving dummy halves because your role for the hook and the old days and dummy half was just fire us off the ground, don't stand, just straight off the ground and let the ball go.

Bennie a Lies changed anything, and suddenly they started to go rodo, let's get the nine operating as a moving dummy half.

And what we're going to do, We're going to double down.

We're actually going.

To turn our halves, a number of our halves into hookers.

Benny was the original Benny.

He was the original in my opinion.

He was the first one to really sort of be getting out of dummy half and playing because Warren Ryan says he was our half pack.

He and Blocker with their half packs because they had Gary Freeman and McNeil who were more runners and tenacious competitors.

And then off the back of benn Is some halfbacks were being picked at number nine in Repfootble right because they wanted that creativity and crafty.

The creativity, it was never a requirement of dummy half.

And then after Bennie had the Walters brothers, so Steve Walter's right.

So Steve was very different to Bennie.

And the fact that Box said was all about power, get out in his strength and he had a very strong running game.

His brother Carod was different to Steve.

Again, Kroen, if I had to comparing to anyone, I'd say, like he wasn't as expressed as Damian Cook.

But like this isn't.

Telling me that Kared was a beach printerer, ran on really.

Good unbelieve on sand.

But this is what he did.

He would get out and because Alf and his brother keV played flat whenever Kard would get the ball and get up and go, they.

Just turned into ball runners.

Like we was saying before about Harry Rant.

But the speed at which Keren got out was a point of difference, right he was Benny at the time would come out with a little bit of craft and deception.

It'd be like David Cook when he went, he went, he went, and everyone else had to follow.

And then you had Danny Verdiris.

Now when you talk about guys, Danny come to Newcastle at the Australians cool boy as a talented young playmaker who just got weighed down by the responsibility having to push.

He was seven, he was a seven.

As a seven or a six.

They tried, you know what, They tried to play him everywhere.

They tried him in the centers, they tried him at full back, they put him at thirteen for a little bit.

He could never find his spot.

And we went into a semifinal once and we had a lot of injuries and Malcolm really said, let's just throw the young bloke in there, see what he does.

And he found his position because get out of down half of play, but he didn't have to steer the side around around the part.

And then Cameron Smith took it to another level and.

Then you'll meet camera like you know, a view blokes and thinking about it was coops.

I can imagine that when you transitioned into being a halfback, to have a nine alongside you who'll get out and play a little bit half itself.

What a difference it makes.

I think if we're sort of giving advice to any young dummy half coming through and watching clips of Badius and Smith, the one consistent thing they do is they.

Hold the ball in two hands.

Yeah.

Yeah, you hold the ball in two hands and think it's a magic wand and defenders stop.

Like when camera Smith used to cut out and throw a pass or a kick the paws and deception.

He had stop defenders and that was the opportunity.

But he couldn't stop if he had it in one hand.

He stopped because he put it out there and people looked at it and they froze.

And that was the pass that he threw.

All the kick that he did on Harry, you know, talking about how Melbourne have centralized their attack, and it was really interesting watching the other night.

It was their best night performance.

I've had people say to me, he's always to about night performance.

Day night football is very very different.

It's a different style of football you play.

And the adjustment Melbourne made the other night, you know, with not having your own there, the way they went back to really centralizing and the more momentum created, the straighter that they play.

I think this is a really good example where it suddenly gets on the front and you see him just perhaps drill through the middle, all through the middle, back through the middle, everything gets going through the middle.

We're in the speed of the ruck, fast play of the ball.

Don't worry.

The more momentum we've got, the straight we're going to just keep playing.

And it's a good sign if you're a Storm fan because playing the Broncos historically, I know this through Craig Bellamy, it gets.

To this time.

Yeah, he wants to start ironing out the creases and start playing their best football.

And they didn't finish it.

They didn't go round, They just went through the front door and Harry Grant became the best player, So they are sharpening their sword for September because of the way they're starting to fine tune their performances.

There's a little bit of train spot of stuff and it comes off Harry play here will shot in a second.

But at the moment I think that there's We've seen it with Melbourne, but I've seen one or two other teams do it very very like the clever teams that are using a little loophole in the rules that I think has to be adjusted in some way, shape or form.

And that's that's the kick for the man to the corner.

Now, now we tarry the other night right and at first you go, oh, what was he thinking there?

Well, okay, what's happening now?

Is there about they're exploiting this loophole where when you kick it to one of your best loopers like Xavier, no one's going to outjump Xavier Coats.

If that's pinpoint, he goes up, he catches the all above the defender.

The defender can't hitting walls in the air.

For a couple examples on the weekend, right, Wilt you know this is this is just a loophole that the clever players are starting to exploit like they're one on the tig Wilton on the weekend like that.

That cannot be a penalty try.

So the ball goes up here, wildon gets it.

Both team players competing and coaches will say this.

Coaches will say, if you're a winger in that position, you're Tyrrell slant.

I'm pretty certain that flagging and saying if you can't catch it, you do not let the opposition catch it.

Yep.

Right, So what needs to happen here is the game needs to adjust its rules to the point that as long as the player is not in a dangerous position, it's okay.

Because if right now, if you all got the Xavier Coats mark, no woman there to say anyone else who is super athletic in the air, and I'm a half back, I'm kicking it in the end goal.

I put it at the highest point over a Brian or a small winger, and if he cannot physically get his hands up to it, he's got two options.

One knock the ball out or two tackle the person in the air.

That's right, and it's a penalty try.

Because us when you put the ball in the air, it was a fifty to fifty contest.

Now, if you put it in the right spot and they get their timing right, it's seventy five percent the attack way right.

The defender has almost been it's so much of his power to refuse that has been taken away.

And you know Xavier goes up.

Yeah, I mean the timing.

You're waiting for his for his heat feet to hit the ground so he can tackle him again.

Otherwise, yeah, you hit him in the air and a penalty.

Try it.

Just it's an easy fix.

As long as the player is not in a dangerous.

Position, it's okay.

That's his hard.

Broncos, Oh, incredible.

That was That was thirty second two expensive interceptez the Troy intercept.

Scored by the way, and they were up for it.

Many the Broncos were up for the contest in the first twenty odd minutes like they were ready to go, and in the space of a thirty second turnaround, this season just went up.

So what do you think of So they're saying Ezra and so and Colbo at least six weeks they're sensing seuason over.

It's going to think mathematics going to get close.

Renow hoping to be back for the Finals right.

Up, So he's four weeks.

Even then, with his history of hamstring injuries, he's going to be slightly off his extreme best because he would be afraid not to tear it again right out.

Well, okay, we talked about Melbourne have lost Jerome and they adjusted their football.

How do Broncos adjust their football?

Ben Hunt goes to seven.

I wouldn't move Billy Walters.

I think he's doing okay at nine.

He's got a point of difference.

So there can someone come off the bench do a tag team number nine effort there.

I don't know who's on their list in terms of their depth chart, but I feel like if you've got Reyese Walsh and you've got Ben Hunt, you almost need like a.

Young athletic excitement number six.

Even if he hasn't played, even if he's inexperienced.

I feel like with Ben Hunt getting back to that a bit like the Nathan Cleary system.

Let Ben Hunt play both sides of the field and let two athletic guys take advantage of what Ben Hunt does.

I agree Coups, I totally agree with you.

I think if they try to play just a watered down version of how they're playing that we're tempting play now, it's not going to work for.

I wouldn't move Catony Stags.

I wouldn't move any of their outside back.

They need to find it's pretty hard to do.

But I don't know what their depth chart is.

But someone that is fast with footwork maybe an experience, but give them attunity and a lot of responsibility goes on.

Ben and Patrick Carrigan comes the ball playing thirteen more often now.

Like yeah, I agree with the coops.

I think if when it's for a really young, fast athletic six, who it is, I'm not sure what match does.

I think that's the way to go and allow band to look after the bread and butter pushing around the park and recent he just try to open the field up a little bit.

And are they are they done?

The Bronx.

I want to see them this week.

I mean, the temptation is to go.

It's easy to say yeah, but.

I want to see them this week.

Sometimes you just it's so strange, coops.

Sometimes you just you look and there's injuries in a side and you say, my god, that's the worst thing can happen.

But suddenly the change of formula just does something to spark.

I mean a couple of the players who have been playing within themselves might look at that injury and go and be sitting there going, well, unless I elevate myself, we're gone.

It might just put a fire and a feel the feel the blokes I.

Want to I'm really looking forward to seeing how Ress Walsh goes because there's a that says that he needs to tone down his performances.

That's when everyone was in the team and get it right right.

But now it's almost like, Okay, Reese, you've been trying to get your best football and get that right balance.

This team needs you to get it right right now.

Now go for it.

Go out there and play like you're about to be the dominant player.

But I need you to be nine times out of ten getting that pass on the money, because if he starts missing the mark and going completely a well, there's no chance.

But I feel like someone with Reese walshing their team who can get it perfectly.

If he catches five for a month here, you then going Toeah, maybe the Broncos have something.

Yeah, I mean, he's the key in the cony.

What about talking about fullback sketching fight to Desco is this Tedesco's final, So yeah.

I think it is.

I think like his ability to continue improve and he gets two hundred meters a game and he sketch.

Up, sets up two tries, ball playing.

Ye breaks, tackle, support, play prototype, fallback that gets it done at both ends of the field.

I think he's a Dallian favorite and I think he wins it.

And this is off the back of he had a great year last year, missed it by a point to Jerome Hughes, and that was off the back of criticism the year before.

Now he is arguably the dally M winner, but he's still not the best fullback in the competition because you've got Dylan Edwards doing this thing.

Yeah yeah, but he's at a hell of a year.

It's talking about like young players on the improve.

We'll talking about Hugo in a second.

You really impressed me on the weekend, Hugre Sammy Walker coops.

When we young players with great instincts which developed in the backyard, when they go into like an NRL or this sort of level of football and they're giving they're given a football education and taught structure, it can actually feel like a straight jacket at first but eventually he's going to make it them a better player.

And you're seeing that now with Sam.

It's like instinct and education coming together.

I think the number one thing when Sam arrived at the Roosters was that is generational talent for a halfback the chip and chase the long passes.

But he had to fill up some of the foundation stuff that if the game is twelve more with five minutes ago, he had to learn that craft.

But his performance on the weekend said this about Cameron Smith holding the ball in two hands.

Sam Walker buys time with his movements.

He runs across the field and waits for a winger to come up, and he throws a ball over the top.

He looks inside for someone bounces back out the right, and that's created space.

When he does that short kicking game.

What most halves do is they run across the field and kick.

He steps off his foot, lets the defense come up, so then kicks it back through a hole.

He buys an extra second of time for his decisions by doing some cool, funky things.

I've really seen a blake who just will trust himself to get it right eventually, because you'll see him sometimes just look like he's mandering down coulder sacks and he'll turn around and go the other way.

How I'm not much there, Hang on, Oh, that's where the ball's got to get, you know.

Do I throw it or do I kick it?

And he'll just come up with the right option.

And the problem when he runs into a coulder sack, he feels like this is the next development is he feels like he has to come up with a player that coulder sack.

No, you don't just throw it to someone else to take the tackle.

Impressed by Hugo, Yeah, yeah, smart kid.

I'll tell you what the I think it was the mark the Wongan there to us a second try.

Straight ballplane arrow direct created the three on two for Tedesco.

Good.

But there's enough signs of that kid understands footy and he's learning pretty quickly.

And if he can use his strengths and compliment what Sam does and stay in the game when Sam's doing his thing, I think that's a good thing.

I really like the fact you can see he's got really strong fundaments as far as his skill and awareness concerned.

One is the one you said we went up early and he sunk in like Nathan didn't sunk.

Wait there, let it go.

But other times than that first half coups, he's getting the ball and he's going, well, the ball's got to get there quick and just go ping.

And it was getting like twenty meters passes that were hitting guys just perfectly in the right spot.

Right.

I finally to round it off, you young guys on the up and up ethan strange man.

Beautiful, beautiful left sided player.

They tell me, they tell me the other side of the fields is his preference.

But that's left foot right.

I know that's right.

He must light the left foot away.

I don't know, but that's what Ricky has said, that the right side is his preference.

But Ricky said after the game, so you know, this kid should be selected for the ashes to go away.

There's a lot of spots there.

But I would love to see him get a start.

I think he might be the extra half if it makes sense, like the player number twenty three or something.

He's just got a determination and a grit that you're like, you know what, if you've got this type of courage for contact, want to compete on every play.

But you can teach him the tricks like you can just teach half backs that kind of stuff.

I liked that he came up against Cherry Evans and he didn't finess his football.

He went, Okay, Cherry, you're an older half back.

You got some question marks in your defense.

I'm going to run the ball.

I'm going to see if you can take me.

He scored three trials like it was even.

Turbot came off sideways the art of playing straight director as a first receiver got over the advantage line quickly looked up.

Turbo came off sideways, told a lie to the left hand side, and just bounced off that left foot like he had lightning it.

The other thing I like about him being a young half is that when you're come in the game sometimes you can have some deficiency in your defense and coaches go, right, We're going to go straight at young Matthew John's this week.

Get stuck into him and.

Knock him around.

Good luck.

Ethan Straits doesn't take a backward step like he's physical.

But you used to get dom.

You just have a talk to Gordon what used to happ when he used to run into this left Sholder

Runs it through for Troy