James Fisher Harris Moses Leota The Best 1 2 Punch In The Nrl

Hei guys, welcome back to Ebbs and Flows, where we talk about the highs and lows, ins and outs, and fairs and downs on and off the field.

My name is Isaac, but you can call me Ice.

Quick shout out to my branding partners in this Sporting News Australia for helping me put this together.

Today joined by a couple of quiet brothers, in my opinion the best one-two punch in the pop game right now,

back-to-back champions, and most importantly Kiwis.

So boys, thanks for jumping on.

No, thanks for having us.

What's up brother, up to you, up to you.

First question, why are you boys so quiet?

Oh, probably not that quiet.

Like, we're just quiet out in public, but I think just us two, we love to have a bit of banter and a bit of chat.

Yeah, I think just growing up, I don't know, maybe my surroundings talked a bit too much,

so I sort of reserved a little bit, that's all I reckon.

I feel like as a player, when I used to play, I used to always be scared of the quiet ones too,

so glad I'm not playing you boys anymore.

So, Origin was on last night, obviously a big Penrith contingency in there of current players and past players.

What was your thoughts on the game last night?

I'll go first.

Yeah, you go first.

Sort of didn't feel like an Origin type game for me, sort of.

Like, I was waiting for like, those fiery moments where, you know, just rushing out and just feel like it was a bit scrappy, but yeah.

What about you bro?

Yeah, I think...

Just, Queensland just doing winning plays, like, I don't know, something about it, but until Mato came on and he just bring the energy,

he sort of changed the game for Nisa Wells, I reckon, and then they were going good until Flegler did the, whatever, Sinbin,

he got Sinbin and then Queensland grew a leg, I don't know.

With 12 players.

Yeah, I don't know how they do that, but...

It was weird.

Yeah, I don't know, and they just turned it on and then, my God, I can't explain it, bro.

Yeah, it's hard to explain, eh, because I think about it a lot and we sort of said just before that, like, and you hear Billy Slater and stuff talk about it, like, we play for Queenslanders and what they're about,

and I know you guys sort of come from Penrith and you guys can be attached to a certain area or a certain demographic or, and you guys are Penrith juniors,

can you sort of relate that to what Queensland do with what you guys do?

Because when you guys play, it's bigger than what you guys do.

What do you guys do within your 17 and if it's a community and all those sort of guys that come through, is that sort of something that you guys can relate to?

Yeah, I reckon, yeah, I heard Billy talk about, like, what they go through and they're just trying to attach it to Queenslanders and stuff like that, the team, that's us, like, especially in finals.

I think playing not just for yourselves but for the community and, like, your family and stuff, I think that's where they sort of draw their strength from.

Yeah, alright, you guys are pretty good props in your, in your own right, what, what forward pack wouldn't you want to go up against, the ones that were up last night?

Because I look at New South Wales pack and, like, on paper it feels like a little bit better, but I always sort of feel like that Queensland team always, like, play a little bit better,

maybe it's sort of body shapes or there's leg speed under there and I think you guys are in the perfect shape right now where you're quick over your leg speed but you're strong up top.

Like, which pack wouldn't you want to go against? I know you wouldn't care.

Yeah.

We'll take on anyone, brother.

No comment, no.

Yeah, I don't know, eh? I'd happily go up against anyone.

Yeah.

On paper, like, Blues is, I don't know, stacked.

But, I don't know, man, they just get up Queensland.

I don't know what Billy Slater's doing but I think they've done it over how many years?

I think they've just got more dogs, I think.

Yeah, they're willing to do the effort plays and stuff.

Yeah.

It's pretty crazy, eh, what they can do.

All right, you're all full back, obviously, I was looking at the team last night and I watched, they, New South Wales play the same way that you guys play, obviously, with Yowie and Leith controls the middle, he holds the left, do you think someone like Adil in the near woods could easily slide into a situation like that?

I don't want to put words in you guys' mouths, but...

He won't let anyone down.

Yeah, I'm a bit biased, so I'll probably say yeah.

Yeah.

Chuck him in there.

No.

No.

No.

Throw him in?

Right.

He's, like, he can play for anything, that fella.

Yeah.

His mental strength is crazy.

And I reckon he'll thrive, especially with like him knowing the spine pretty much, but...

Because when you looked at the attack last night, did it look clunky to you guys?

Yeah, to be honest it was a bit clunky, yeah.

But what would you change about the clunkiness there, because they play the same way that you guys play?

They just need to get rips in. It's only one game. I think they can just turn around.

Yeah, I think the more they play together and get the rips in their training, it should be sweet, I reckon.

Alright, cool. So we're going to dive back into your past.

What's up, you fish? Whenever I hung around guys from Northland, they always seemed to have this element of toughness about them.

Do you know a guy called Peter Prime?

Peter Prime.

Oh, bro. He's this little dude, bro. One of the toughest guys I've ever played with. But they've always got this element of toughness about them.

Do you want to talk about growing up up North and why you guys seem a little bit tougher than normal?

I don't know, man. We're a mix of country and city at the same time.

And I think especially growing up playing footy, rugby and rugby league, Northland's rated as not that good, to be honest.

Yeah.

Especially rugby league. Yeah, man. I don't know. It was just that, I don't know, blue collar, whatever you want to call it, chip on your shoulder.

Especially when we came up against Auckland teams and stuff like that, rugby league, I always had a point to prove, especially me, a few of the boys.

And when we had Auckland on the list playing next week, they were like, oh, damn, we've got Auckland, like, all this stuff.

Bro, it was the same with you, bro.

And then I was like, man, bro, you can't...

I was like, stop being a pussy, you're like fucking...

Yeah, but I used to hate it when some of my teammates used to say that stuff.

I was like, but I always had a point to prove.

I think they just stuck with me.

So were you a gun coming through or did you kind of develop a little bit later?

Nah, I always had like sort of mongrel, but yeah, I didn't start playing league until under-15s.

Couldn't really find it up North, to be honest.

Yeah.

I think they were just starting back up.

And then, nah, slow, just slow raw.

Like, there wasn't really any structure.

Like, it's so hard up North.

There was only like four teams, four-team comp, the whole of Northland.

Yeah.

I think it's like, it's still like that now.

So it's just hard to develop.

Yeah, for sure.

Mount Roskill.

Yeah, bro.

Bro, that's rough, isn't it?

It's all right.

It's all right.

For people who don't know Mount Roskill, can you give them like an equivalent here in Sydney and what it was sort of like growing up there?

Equivalent here in Sydney?

It's like at rest, isn't it?

It's like central.

It's like near, like, it was probably like 10 minutes, 15 minutes from the city.

So probably say Bondi, maybe?

No.

Similar to probably Mount Druid, I reckon.

Yeah.

A lot of polys.

Yeah.

Yeah, just used to get up to no good when we were young and just...

What did you get up to?

Fights and stuff.

Oh, okay.

Getting up to no good.

We used to love playing footy in the backyard.

All the boys used to come together and start having like, what do you call it?

Freaking run astray challenges and stuff.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah, so we'd start off all good and then there's always that one person, you know, trying to start a bit of beef.

And then, yeah, it goes from there.

Monty Mel's from there, isn't he?

Yeah.

No, yeah, he's a man.

He's got a lot of respect at Mount Ruskell, doesn't he?

Yeah, his brothers and that.

Because he's the same age as me.

So we started training 20s together.

It was the first year of 20s and I was at the Warriors and we were doing pre-season.

And, like, I knew him from the year before.

And then, literally, he'd done one week of pre-season.

And then, like, after that, we were like, oh, where's Monty?

Bro, Duke got put inside for like two years, bro.

Yeah.

It was pretty scary.

Straight back out.

What?

He got signed to Parra?

Got signed to Parra.

Played against the Warriors in his debut game.

Got man of the match.

And he's him now.

Like, he's the guy you kind of don't really fuck around with.

But I used to hang around a few boys around Mount Ruskell.

And I could go for, like, say, 18th and 21st.

But I wasn't meant to be there.

Just sort of sitting there and going, oh, fuck, fuck.

And I remember, like, one thing I really remember, because my friend Francis Ledger, he's from that area.

We went to his birthday.

And, like, these guys knocked on the door.

And all they were doing was just checking around everyone on the block to see if they were, like, Sweden and stuff.

And I was just like.

True.

Yeah.

It was.

Yeah.

I sort of left when I was a bit early.

So I didn't really hear any of that stuff.

But.

Yeah.

Because I was only a kid.

I wasn't into that sort of stuff.

How'd you get over here?

So, funny story.

I was only supposed to come for a holiday when I was 13.

And, yeah, I was supposed to go back.

But I loved it here.

Oh, OK.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I just ended up ringing my mom and just telling her I'm not coming back.

Because the life over here.

What?

You can't be telling your mom that.

But she was off it.

Nah.

I know.

She was sweet.

She was like.

Nah.

She was off it.

She was like.

Yeah.

I spoke to her.

Stuff like that.

But then I sort of just.

Yeah.

Didn't go back.

Yeah.

So you were pretty close to almost playing Origin.

We talked about Origin before.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you thought you'd come over when you were 12.

What were you laughing at?

Bro.

I kid you not.

I actually thought I was 12 when I came over.

Until, like.

So.

2021.

I think it was the last game.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

I got called in as 19th Favre.

And.

Yeah.

Full.

Like.

Oh.

Get ready.

Go get your.

Your like.

COVID tests and stuff.

And then they ring me back.

And they go.

Oh.

Sorry, mate.

Like.

You're not eligible.

Like.

You came over when you were 13.

I was like.

I was like adamant, bro.

I was like.

Nah.

I came over when I was 12.

And then.

They were like.

Oh.

Are you sure?

Like.

I was like.

I'm about to.

I was gonna.

Like.

Try and lie around it.

But.

Yeah.

Because I actually thought that I was 12 when I came in.

Like.

My missus was like.

Bro.

Like.

We both thought I was 12.

Oh.

Really?

Until.

Yeah.

That'll be exciting.

He obviously got to play for the Kiwis and stuff, which is cool.

But.

Yeah.

Came to the dark side.

I was like.

Obviously.

Play for the Kiwis boys.

We'll talk about your penrith journey a little bit.

Because.

I know you guys are known for that.

Yeah.

You guys were in the Kiwis football club.

Heard a bit.

Obviously.

You guys had the team to go.

Probably.

One step further.

What was that experience like?

Oh.

That was mean.

Obviously.

Getting to go with the bro.

After the.

It was pretty crazy though.

After the GF win.

We had to like.

Leave on a Thursday.

After that Sunday.

So it was pretty hectic.

Had to get on the plane.

Say goodbye to family.

Party at the same time.

Like.

Yeah.

You're just.

Flying for like.

Nearly.

24 hours.

And then.

You know.

24 hours.

And then.

Get there.

Well.

Had like.

Four or five days.

To get ready to play.

Oh.

Yeah.

Had to play that week.

Oh.

You had to play straight off the bat.

Off we got the.

Did they play Leeds?

Nah.

Yeah.

There was a trial game.

Yeah.

They played a trial game.

The first day.

Yeah.

And then.

We played Lebanon that week.

Yeah.

And it was probably like.

Too much bro.

I should have.

Had a week off.

I think the bro.

Had a week off.

And then.

Kept in one game.

I was pretty mean too.

Yeah.

Everything just.

Everything just happened.

Too quick eh.

Like.

Yeah.

You just couldn't get your bearings or anything.

Yeah.

Like.

Stop start.

Like.

We had a.

Had a big drink after the game.

After the grand final.

And then.

Went over there.

We had a drink there.

And then.

It was just like.

Bro.

Before you knew it.

We were playing the next week.

Yeah.

And then.

Yeah.

Just sort of.

Trying to slow back into it.

Looking to cheese about it.

Over there.

He's like.

We're on this year.

And apparently.

He's like.

Dropped heaps away.

He goes.

I think we can go all the way.

And stuff.

And I was looking at your team.

And.

Obviously.

Just come up a good side eh.

And just miss those sort of moments.

In that main game.

We had a squad man.

Bro.

Especially our foot back.

Yeah.

Crazy.

I felt.

Felt like we had it.

Sort of.

In the bag.

And then.

Sort of fumble the day.

What.

What's the.

Club.

Club football.

And rep football.

Is like a little bit different.

Where.

Clubs like.

You build over a long long period of time.

And you get that chance.

Yeah.

Did it sort of relate back to that.

Or.

A little bit different.

Nah.

2020.

We got bullied bro.

Actuals.

But we.

We were bullying Aussie on.

The World Cup.

We were bullying them.

But.

Then just.

Little moments.

Like.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Cheese was.

Talking to the coach or something.

He said his ribs or something eh.

Yeah.

So.

It was great.

Just.

Tapping.

School to try and.

Easiest try ever.

And then.

But.

Just little moments like that.

Like.

Yeah.

We.

We had them bro.

We had them all.

We wanted them.

But.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then.

They just.

We just gave them easy tries.

And then.

That was it.

That was Aussie right.

Did you.

So we'll swing that back to Penrith.

Because I don't want to touch on that for too long.

Because I'm PTSD.

But.

I mean.

The.

The.

The.

The.

Please.

Bring it up to.

He.

It's a crazy team.

Crazy.

It's a crazy team.

It's a.

It's a.

It's a.

It's so.

It's a.

A.

It's a.

They're such a.

They're so.

They're so.

They're so go.

They're so good and.

It.

You know.

What.

That was.

That was good.

It was.

They go and make a team, and then they play in like Karamata and Eshibor, so I sort of made it up that way, and then made Eshibor, and then 20s, and then yeah, made it up that way.

I remember Cam Saraudo, because when I was at Penrith, he said he used to be his favourite player.

Who, me?

Yeah, the one who was the coach too.

No, I think because I was just a yes man.

You were captain too though, weren't you, in your 20s?

Oh, you weren't?

No, no, no.

Brett Naden.

Brett Naden.

I'm pretty sure he was captain, yeah.

Where's he now?

Is he still at Doggies?

Nah.

Nah, Tigers?

Tigers, Tigers.

Yeah, still Tigers.

Oh, you boys are always stacked too in those 20s sides, eh?

Oh yeah, stacked team.

Yeah, actuals.

I was more talking about this podcast the other day, and we done a post against you guys.

You guys were 20s, and Nathan, we still had a good side in our cup side, but we got done,

and that's when we had Breno there, and Breno was always trying to like, no, no, let's keep

doing like drills and stuff.

I'm like, bro, we just got toasted, man, who cares?

Yeah.

Get us home on a Wednesday night.

How'd you end up here?

Uh, National Schools Con.

Yeah.

I just got picked up from there in New Zealand.

I was 16.

Manager, or this manager just came up to me, and I don't think he was allowed to at the

time, but then I just shook his hand, and um, because my coach told me to, and I looked

him in the eyes, and I was like, wow, like, bro, I'll do anything like pretty much with

my eyes.

Yeah, yeah.

Was that the old school contract, was it?

Yeah, the old eyes.

He just picked me up since then.

Came up to my house.

That's up north.

And then from there, he just, then he rang up Gus.

Mm.

And he just said, I think they said, actually, ball was full, they were packed, and then

he just said, give him a chance, like, and then I just came over, just ripped in.

Yeah, yeah.

Always, just, ah, just do anything to try.

I think, um, like, one thing I always remember about you is effort was, like, always there,

and I remember we used to train, and then we'd finish training, I'd be walking out the

showers, you know, old gym, we'd walk out the showers, and you're always back on the

way.

Yeah.

And then we'd be on the weights and doing stuff like that.

And arms.

Yeah, arms, arms, shoulders and stuff all the time.

But I think your first game of cup was, I was there, and we played out in Bathurst, and

I think you played prop for us, it was, like, round two.

We had, like, you, Yowie, and I, like, I remember just saying, like, oh, we had a good

side, too, Campbell Goodhart.

Yeah.

We were stacked.

Good stuff.

Yeah, for a cup side.

Yeah.

And, um, I just remember, like, seeing you stand out there, and I was like, oh, this

guy's got it.

Like, you just got the energy for it, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

So it was cool, bro.

It was fast, to be honest.

Yeah.

Actually, ball, then cup the next year, then great the next year after that.

Yeah.

Pretty crazy, yeah.

Pretty crazy, bro.

All right, we'll go to sort of, obviously, boys won a few championships now, and normally

when I talk to guys, they haven't won one, so I have to drag through all their seasons

and stuff, but what was the lessons you learned from the 2020 GF and losing one?

I think just that, um, the dog mentality, like, we sort of got bullied.

You guys were bullying.

We were bullying teams that year, too, eh?

Like, like...

Yeah, but it was different.

The grand final was different.

Like, you, it's, it's not another game.

Like, it's a different game.

It's sort of like Origin.

Like, you show up and...

You got one chance.

Yeah.

And then we sort of got bullied that year, and we sort of met up at a meeting and said,

you know, we need a bit more dog in us, and, yeah.

Who, who, who led that meeting?

Was it player-driven, or...

It was Fish.

Oh, was it you?

We, we done that video, and...

So, I've, I've made you guys watch the final back, eh?

Yep.

Was that a, was that a, what's it, what's it like?

Oh, nah, bro.

It was actually good, man, because we, we seen that we weren't far off.

Mm.

Like, in the game, we were like, fuck, what's happening, bro?

Like, the line speed was crazy.

Like, nothing's pulling off.

And then we actually looked at it.

It was just little things that, um, we didn't...

We didn't do that cost us big time.

And then, like, intercept, stuff like that, that they got.

Yeah, they pretty much played like Queensland.

So, that was just, they just came out and bashed us, like, shout to Jesse and all that.

They've always taught us a lesson, like, we learned from that.

Yeah.

And now, yeah, now we're dishing it out.

Now yous are the guys, eh?

So, yeah, let's roll back into the next year after that.

End up jagging one.

Tell us about that experience, too.

Like, obviously, you've just gone through hardship and they say in, like, football, you need to lose one before you win one.

Yeah.

Um, did you...

You guys, you guys lost in the first round of those finals, too, didn't you?

Yeah.

Yeah, Rabbits got you and you guys sort of come back through.

Everyone was sort of riding you guys off.

And you guys were probably the team at the time when, because you got a lot of loud people where they're like, ha-ha, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

But, um, what was it like sort of jagging one and getting one against the boys?

That was one of the toughest years, bro.

Like, for the whole team.

Went through the hardest way.

Yep.

Power, what, storm.

Mm.

And then Rabbits, boys were running on E2, all injured and that.

Like, um, yeah, right, it was just crazy.

And we just won two.

Like, that was a tough game.

Rabbits came to play.

Yeah.

But it was just crazy, man.

Yeah.

Can't even explain it.

Go through all that, um, that loss and just felt like everything was against us.

Yeah.

We just found a way.

Mm.

It was a big year, yeah.

Same.

Like, to go, like, sunny coast, we're up in sunny coast.

Yep.

Um, some of the boys didn't have their families there, but it was a bit different.

But we, we got to have our partners and kids up there, which was cool.

It was sort of like a holiday, sort of.

Yeah.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing when you're in the...

What do you mean?

Like...

With all the families up there?

Like, all the, like, it's a bit different, eh?

Yeah.

Because, you know, when you normally go on the footy trip, you've got the boys.

Yeah.

But you're only there for a certain amount of time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, obviously, you guys are family men.

Yeah.

Must be good.

But what was it like?

Wow.

It was different.

Yeah.

Like, bro, it was weird.

It was like, the first week or two, I think, we were by ourselves, you know?

Mm.

And then as soon as the family came, like, hardly seen any of the boys there.

You know, spending time with their families and missus and whatnot.

Mm.

But we, we made it, like, everyone was pretty much family at the end of it.

That's okay, yeah.

Like, it was pretty cool, especially the boys that had kids.

Like...

Yeah.

You know, every kid's as tight as, like, after the first day of school.

They were asking, like, where's, like, the boys' kids and that, like, just pretty close.

Mm.

Mm.

Yeah.

I love that.

Brought a lot of the families together.

Yeah.

And obviously, when, when, obviously, being Kiwi boys and when you go into Kiwi camps,

like, they sort of build it around that family sort of vibe.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it'll be cool to have that at, sort of, club land, too.

Because when you get out there on the field and you sort of look to your left, like,

there's a lot of kids.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because everyone was, it just feels like everyone's just talking shit about us, to be honest, bro.

Because you guys are the best now, you know what I mean?

They want to talk shit about you.

So it just feels that much better.

Especially when they were getting parallels, beating us really, yeah, Rick, this and the other, bro.

But they were beating us for a reason.

And to play them in the grand final was pretty mean.

Like, that over the West.

It's like, what more can you ask for?

I just remember the stadium being packed as, like, the most packed I've ever seen.

Yeah.

Like, for me anyways.

Like, Origin probably packs out, but that was cool, bro.

And we just fucked.

It was.

It was wacky.

I was mad about it.

Yeah.

They were like, a lot of people were writing us off.

Like, because we lost to Parra and that before.

Sort of lit that fire, sort of.

You know what I mean?

Like, we sort of gained.

Like, strength from that.

Yeah.

When you get to the point, well, I was talking to Appy, like, a little while ago.

He goes, you walk out on the field, like, you guys are going to win, like, sort of, at the moment, like, eight to nine times out of ten.

And you have that confidence about you.

But because everyone gets up to play you guys now, so you guys always have to be up.

Do you draw external motivation from, one, people writing you off, or potentially guys like Paul Kent, like, talking shit about you as a team?

Does that sort of shit wind you up?

Or get yous going?

Or are you guys, like, look at yourselves and go, we're such a good team.

Anyway, we just need to play to our potential.

Like, do you need that external validation sometimes?

Or motivation sometimes?

I don't think we need it.

But it just adds.

Yeah.

What about now?

Are you about chasing the three-peat?

Like, our season's starting to drag out, like, a little bit longer.

Everyone's starting to get up.

Boys are rolling into Origin games.

You guys are playing rep football now.

You guys are playing a lot of football in a small period of time.

Like, you talk about the World Cup and stuff.

You're like, I don't even remember.

We just rock up and go.

Like, is it starting to drag out a little bit?

Well, I've been injured a little bit this year, so I've had my little breaks.

I'm just keen to play.

Yeah.

Like, after the World Cup and straight back into pre-season,

oh, well, we had a few weeks off and that.

Came back early.

Yeah, sort of, like, at the start, it sort of felt like a, you know,

starting to come back.

It didn't come a chore because, you know, we just came off the World Cup

and straight back into pre-season.

And then Club Challenge.

And then Club Challenge and then played heaps of games after that

and it was sort of like a chore.

Does that one hurt, the Club Challenge one?

Bro, that hurts, bro.

We didn't treat it, like, oh, for me, my point of view,

I didn't treat it, like, as much as they did.

Yeah.

It was, like, everything to them, like, yeah.

Yeah, but another lesson.

Plenty of lessons, eh?

Plenty of victories.

Sorry, bro, what were you saying?

No, frick, I blanked out, eh?

No, I was like, coming back early and, because we only had, like,

a four or five-week pre-season.

Yeah.

And then straight back into it.

Yeah, fuck, next question, I'm fucking lost.

All right, the after parade, the celebration of the grand final.

Boys, send some comments.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember that.

No, that's because.

That was crazy.

No, I know some of the Parramatta boys, yeah, we're all good.

But I think it was just their media team, bro, pissed me off.

Yeah.

Just doing all their highlights and shit.

Like, I don't know what it was, like, they ticked me off.

And I don't know why they gave me the microphone, bro,

I told them, they give me the mic, they give me the mic.

No, it was funny, they, because they hit me up to, like,

oh, go say something.

I was like, nah, I'm not jumping up there.

And then they asked this guy, he jumped up, and then that happened.

I was like, oh, shit.

Do you, obviously, it's been said now, do you regret anything that you said, or?

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have said that.

Yeah, pretty silly, but I just want to just, and, yeah.

I like rivalry, so.

Yeah.

Yeah, bring it on.

They've got to stop you anyway, eh?

If they don't want you to talk, they've got to stop you.

Yeah, true.

Just keep the humps, keep the humps.

Yeah, yeah, or you know something.

Nah, in his mind, he's going, yeah.

Mrs. told me straight, don't do that stuff in the game.

Oh, okay.

We've got kids in there, like, yeah, just put things in perspective,

like, little kids coming up to me, like, saying stuff like that.

I was like, oh, man, probably shouldn't have said that.

Fuck it, it was good, bro.

Yeah, I think Apri's one was a little bit worse that way.

Yeah, I think it just, bro, it was hard.

They shouldn't have gave us the mice, bro.

Have you guys gone through the whole night?

Were you guys drinking, was it drinking the whole night?

Oh, yeah.

So we sort of came, we were at Panthers,

and then came over to the stadium just for that thing,

and the boys were still pissed.

Still drinking, bro.

Yeah, like, probably could have,

you could tell that the boys were still rattled,

and they were, like, getting the boys up to, like, talk and stuff,

and I was like, nah.

Yeah.

I was, yeah.

Good little lesson anyway.

Yeah, another lesson, another lesson.

Yeah.

Learn from your mistakes.

Yeah.

All right, you boys, like, I always,

I'm lucky I've been coached by Ivan,

and one thing he used to talk about is always having,

like, he encourages you to be yourself,

and you guys got a nice, balanced team.

I listen to you guys talk, low-key, humble,

but go out and do your thing.

You got some other guys in your team that are super skillful,

but don't mind being, like, the voice of you guys

and coaching.

You're creating that around you.

What's that sort of like, having guys like Jerome?

I like it.

I reckon it makes sport more interesting,

but what's it like having those guys in the team?

Bro, they bring that energy, bro.

Yeah, nah, we feed off that.

Yeah.

They always seem excited, eh?

Like, is he excited every day about training, or?

Yeah, that's why his name's the CEO.

Yeah, just brings the energy, bro.

Yeah.

Bizarre, critter, all those boys, like,

it's infectious.

Yeah.

It helps us, bro.

Yeah, I reckon.

It helps us just to compete.

We go hard at training against each other.

Give each other shit, too.

Oh, really?

Mm.

Yeah.

I remember when Jerome was younger,

and him and Nathie used to come train, bro.

Even then, bro, he was, like, talking.

I was like, who is this dude?

And putting up kicks and that.

Just going, whoa.

That's the thing, like, he's, that's genuinely him, like,

you know, he's not faking it or anything.

He's not trying to, he's just being himself.

And a lot of people who don't actually know him,

like, he's a super respectful guy.

He's very, like, very polite, just, like, he's pretty humble.

Like, I know he's confident in what he does,

and he speaks things,

but that's just how he sees the game, though, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's all we do.

Tell us about the Prince.

What's it like playing with him?

Mate, he's the man, bro.

I love having him on my team, man.

He just gives us confidence, like,

you just got to do your job, and he'll handle the rest, like.

What's the parts of the game that you've seen him grow over the,

because you guys have played with him, like, for a long, long time,

and he's not, like, an outgoing, loud type of guy,

but, like, what's the great few you've seen in him?

Probably just his communication skills, really, like.

Yeah.

Yeah, he tells us where he wants us,

and makes our job way easy, bro.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Just, like, pinpoint kicks, like, everything around the field,

even, like, pre-game during the week,

like, he's just got mean chatting.

Yeah.

Just, like, just so rough.

Yeah.

Just so reliable.

We know what we need to do.

Yeah.

Makes us so, like, that much easier for us.

Bro, he does so many extras, too, like, bro.

He's, we leave, and he's still out there kicking, you know,

trying to perfect his craft.

So, yeah, shout out to the bro.

Yeah, he's a man, eh?

It's been cool to sort of watch him grow

and sort of get to the point where he's,

a good thing is, bro, he's not, like, a spot or anything, you know.

Bro, he can.

He can bang, eh?

He can, like, he should.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He can bang, bro.

Tell us about Yowie, obviously.

He's the, he's the, like, if I look at you guys,

I'd say, like, if I was playing you guys,

I'd be probably more so scared of you than you second,

but I feel like Yowie would be the voice of the pack.

Is that a fair statement?

And sort of the leader in attack.

Tell us about him.

What makes him so great?

Bro, I reckon them two, nearly on pie, Yowie and Kles.

In terms of voice, in terms of passing and that sort of stuff?

Reliability, everything, consistency.

Just.

Yeah, you're so smart, too.

Like, fully smart.

I know, but, yeah, bro.

He's the man.

Bro, same thing as Kles.

Like, he makes our job that much easier.

Yeah.

They just run the show and we just keep a narrow focus.

Do what we do.

What is your job?

Run hard, tackle hard.

Is that it?

That's all it is, bro.

Run hard, tackle hard.

Stay off in the system.

Yeah.

I've seen a lot of teams try and copy your guys' system.

They just don't have the troops there, do they?

Like, because.

Because we had Baz as well and he tried to do that sort of the way that you guys play now at Manly.

But we just didn't really have the guys there for it.

And, I don't know, it's hard to replicate, isn't it?

If you don't have the 13, the 7, 9.

And it takes time, bro.

Like, it doesn't happen.

It takes a few years, I reckon.

Yeah.

You need time to build that.

Your coach.

Same again.

I'm lucky enough of being coached by him.

What makes Ives so great?

Like you said before, he, like, he tells the boys to be themselves.

Yeah.

Yeah.

To be themselves and, you know, that's how you, I think that's how you get the best out of your players, you know, when they come in and they're not scared to fail and, yeah, and just, just be themselves.

Yeah.

Comfortable in our own skin.

Like, just be who we are and he's, yeah, just off the field, like, all good, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

You can have a beer in that with him, eh?

He's cool.

He loves a beer.

Yeah.

He loves a beer.

Does he still have those coaches parties at the start of the year?

Pre-party?

Pre-party?

Yeah.

Yeah.

They're funny.

It's mad, like, because, like, you get some new players come in and you sort of don't know, like, their partners or, you know what I mean?

And that sort of brings everyone together.

So I feel like that helps, eh?

What's it been like, obviously, with success, there's a downside of success and everyone's worth more money and I know you guys have been loyal and wanted to stay.

What's it been like to seeing some of those guys leave?

Because imagine if they all stayed, eh?

Right.

Wouldn't even be fair.

Wouldn't even be fair, but what's it like?

Do you guys just understand that's where you are right now and people are going to leave, people are going to come?

Yeah.

Yeah, it's pretty hard to see the bro kicks and upscaling.

Yeah.

Just, like, off the field pretty close, especially with kicks.

But it is what it is, like, yeah, just a better opportunity for the bro.

And, yeah, can't keep everyone, like, a few boys leaving next year, too.

We just got to make the most of it.

Like, this is the time of our lives.

Like, just, yeah, cherish the moments with the boys on the field and stuff because some of the boys are leaving next year, too.

Spencer Linney off coming to the Roosters?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Another one, another one.

What's he like?

He's a humble kid.

Loves to laugh.

Yeah.

He's a man.

He's a man, yeah.

Bro, speaking of energy, when he comes off the bench, eh, it's 1,000 miles an hour.

Yeah, yeah.

He looks like he's got a screw loose, too, man.

You know, sometimes you look at someone's eyes and you're like...

Fuck, I reckon this could stab me.

Bro, actually, he's got that vibe about him, like, you, like, you took him over, bro.

You don't want to see that, so...

Nah, yeah, yeah.

I think he's calmed it down a little bit, but, yeah.

Yeah.

But, yeah.

I'm grateful he's coming, too.

Fuck, he's pumped us, eh, a couple of weeks ago.

Oh, Roosters?

Yeah.

Yeah, nah, that was good.

Yeah.

That was a good game.

Yeah.

All right, boys.

This year, so, can you guys repeat?

And what's going to be different about...

What do you guys have to do?

This year, that's been different from the past couple of years, that...

Do you guys talk about...

Does Ive talk about dynasty, or does he try and leave it behind, or...

Because I think you have to win three in a row to be classed as, like, a dynasty.

What's going to be different about this year?

Different.

It's a whole different season.

Just got to...

Yeah, we know what to do, but it's a different season.

Everyone's playing good.

Yeah.

I think the comp's pretty close, eh, so...

But, yeah.

We just need to put ourselves in the...

In a good position at the end of the season.

Yeah.

We know how to go in the finals, we know what to do.

Who do you see as your biggest threats?

I don't even know.

Everyone.

Anyone can beat anyone, bro.

You reckon?

This year?

Yeah.

Like...

Yeah.

You see the bottom teams beating, like, the top four teams in that, top eight?

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's at the point now where you guys are, like, because you play so much football,

is it about trying to time your run into the finals now?

Like, I remember a couple of years ago, like, you were...

And Melbourne were in this point where...

They used to just almost win every game and pump all the teams and then get to finals

and there's, like, a bit of fatigue about them.

Are you guys sort of speaking about these different things behind the scenes

or is it just rock up every week and just do your best and see you when we see you?

Not as players.

Maybe as coaches and that.

They might speak about it a little bit, especially with the origin boys,

to give them a little bit more of a break.

But we don't see it like that, especially, like...

Yeah, as I said, it's been...

In and out and stuff.

Like, we got a few more buys this week or this year.

No, I think we only got one more.

One more buy?

Oh, one more.

Then you guys got to roll straight through.

Yeah.

Yeah, but I don't know.

I don't think it's up to us.

I think it's up to the coaches.

Yeah.

Don't know what they're doing, eh?

I think we'll just keep it the same, eh?

Just, like...

Any, obviously, the best nursery in the game,

any young dudes coming up that we need to be keeping an eye on?

There's a few, eh?

Like...

Bro.

Larry.

Yeah.

All those boys.

Lindsay, he's going all right for us.

Mm-hmm.

Smith.

Like...

Big boy, too.

Yeah, Liam Henry.

Bro.

Plays cup.

One of the props just goes hard, eh?

Yeah.

Raw.

Raw ass.

Like, yeah.

Or, like, just shoots out or whatever.

Like, like...

A training.

Bro, crazy.

Yeah.

They're coming for us.

Yeah.

It's good, though.

It's a good thing, yeah.

Yeah, we like that.

Like, we want it no other way.

Like, it's good for...

From the younger boys.

All right, bro.

I'm going to ask you one more question, and it's for both of you.

What legacy do you want to leave behind as football players and as men?

I just...

I just want to...

For me, it's probably just to be a better person off the field.

On the field, I just want it to be cast as part of, like, the best team ever.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You guys talk about that stuff, or more so, like, private convos and stuff?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, we do.

Me and this guy do, sometimes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that is the reason why you stayed at Pender for a bit longer?

Yeah, 100%.

That's all I know.

I just want to leave a good legacy behind.

Mm.

What about you, bro?

You could potentially be one of New Zealand's best props.

Both of yous.

Where's your legacy lie?

Yeah.

Probably off the field.

Just want to be a very good leader.

Mm.

For Māori in general, like, I want to step up a bit more off the field, learn a bit

more, and just take, not control, but be the next one in my family to hold it down.

Mm.

And, yeah, on the field, probably, yeah, same as Moss said, just be part of one of the best

teams ever, but also, I just want to be one of those guys that gave it all, pretty much.

Mm.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Before I retire.

Fuck, exciting.

All right, boys, I just want to thank you for jumping on, and obviously, congratulations

on all your success over the past couple years, and hopefully, boys, take a couple more

comps and do what you do.

Appreciate it.

Thanks, bro.

Cheers.

Was that all good?

Yeah, I was, like, nervous as, like, wrecking my heart was pounding.

Nah, it's alright.

Every single person has the same cadence.

It's like the first five minutes.

It's chill.

Yeah, and then I always find it's like, especially with you, as soon as someone has to tell some

type of story.

Where it's like you're talking in a 30 or 40 second gap, it's like your voice goes up

three levels.

Obviously, because you're more comfortable just talking.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Thanks, that voice.

Yeah, nicely.

Make us look good, please.

Yeah.

Thanks, bro.

Thanks for coming in.

Appreciate it.

Mate, don't forget your gum.

You can still chew that.

How many boys got this one?

Try to watch.

No.

Easy.

Easy.

Nah.

Nothing's easy, bro.

Five votes, mate.

Absolutely.

Nice coverage.