NRL 2021 Grand Final

[Foordy]

Is there a single quote or is it just dribbling Pete

there is plenty of dribble, but he's an expert at getting the quotes he wants, we have no idea the question he asked to get these but here they are:

Jaydn Su'A says:

“I was heartbroken, I was pretty distraught,” Su’A said of his Broncos axing.

“All my family are here and I was at the club since I was 14. No one likes hearing they’re not wanted.

“It might have had something to do with the salary cap and they needed the money for someone else.

“Everyone knows Wayne and I have a good relationship. He gave me a call one night. I was driving home from training and he asked what was going on. Next thing I knew I was putting on a South Sydney jersey.

“I was upset but I’m very grateful and thankful it happened. If it didn’t happen, I might not have been able to play Origin or heading to an NRL grand final.

“It’s funny how it works. I’ve moved past that, it’s in the past. I’m looking at the positives.”


Dane Gagai says:

“I was playing for Redcliffe Dolphins and playing good footy but struggling to make weight,” Gagai said.

“That was the problem. Anthony Griffin wanted me to be heavier and I just struggled to put on the weight. I was struggling to perform under that type of pressure.

“Once they let me go, I went back to Queensland Cup and I thought I knew I could play NRL again and then I had a meeting with Wayne.

“The first time I met him I felt comfortable and I said ‘if I sign with Newcastle, do I have to worry about how heavy I am? He looked at me and said ‘Gags, I don’t give a shit what you weigh, as long as you turn up to training on time, put in the effort and play well, I couldn’t care what you weigh’.

“He shows you so much respect as a coach and you don’t want to break that respect that he gives to you. You don’t want to break his trust. He lets you be your own man and be an adult.

“I guess it was a blessing in the end.”


Jai Arrow says:

“I remember the meeting pretty vividly,” Arrow said.

“It was pretty daunting going in as a 22-year-old kid telling Wayne you are going to leave the club.

“The Broncos had offered me another two years and there was no guarantee I was going to be playing week in, week out. The Titans offered me three years and pretty much told me they wanted me in the team week in, week out, so for myself it was a no-brainer and I remember telling Wayne that.

“He said ‘there’s a better opportunity for you down there and I understand you taking it’. But he said ‘one day I want to get you back’ and it’s funny how things work out.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to come to such a proud club. It has panned out pretty well.”

 

[Sproj]

there is plenty of dribble, but he's an expert at getting the quotes he wants, we have no idea the question he asked to get these but here they are:

Jaydn Su'A says:

“I was heartbroken, I was pretty distraught,” Su’A said of his Broncos axing.

“All my family are here and I was at the club since I was 14. No one likes hearing they’re not wanted.

“It might have had something to do with the salary cap and they needed the money for someone else.

“Everyone knows Wayne and I have a good relationship. He gave me a call one night. I was driving home from training and he asked what was going on. Next thing I knew I was putting on a South Sydney jersey.

“I was upset but I’m very grateful and thankful it happened. If it didn’t happen, I might not have been able to play Origin or heading to an NRL grand final.

“It’s funny how it works. I’ve moved past that, it’s in the past. I’m looking at the positives.”


Dane Gagai says:

“I was playing for Redcliffe Dolphins and playing good footy but struggling to make weight,” Gagai said.

“That was the problem. Anthony Griffin wanted me to be heavier and I just struggled to put on the weight. I was struggling to perform under that type of pressure.

“Once they let me go, I went back to Queensland Cup and I thought I knew I could play NRL again and then I had a meeting with Wayne.

“The first time I met him I felt comfortable and I said ‘if I sign with Newcastle, do I have to worry about how heavy I am? He looked at me and said ‘Gags, I don’t give a shit what you weigh, as long as you turn up to training on time, put in the effort and play well, I couldn’t care what you weigh’.

“He shows you so much respect as a coach and you don’t want to break that respect that he gives to you. You don’t want to break his trust. He lets you be your own man and be an adult.

“I guess it was a blessing in the end.”


Jai Arrow says:

“I remember the meeting pretty vividly,” Arrow said.

“It was pretty daunting going in as a 22-year-old kid telling Wayne you are going to leave the club.

“The Broncos had offered me another two years and there was no guarantee I was going to be playing week in, week out. The Titans offered me three years and pretty much told me they wanted me in the team week in, week out, so for myself it was a no-brainer and I remember telling Wayne that.

“He said ‘there’s a better opportunity for you down there and I understand you taking it’. But he said ‘one day I want to get you back’ and it’s funny how things work out.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to come to such a proud club. It has panned out pretty well.”

It is pretty funny though that Gagai talks about having to put on weight, that was Hook's MO for sure. He probably looked at this guy:

And thought, my gosh - the ideal fullback!

 

[The Strapper]

Got told by a newsagent today that they didn’t get any grand final programs delivered and don’t think there will be any published.
If true that’s a poor effort by the nrl.
I’ll see if there are any at the ground on Sunday but it looks unlikely.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Got told by a newsagent today that they didn’t get any grand final programs delivered and don’t think there will be any published.
If true that’s a poor effort by the nrl.
I’ll see if there are any at the ground on Sunday but it looks unlikely.

Try this one.

 

[Foordy]

this could be a ploy from the NRL to put pressure on Palachook to ensure the GF goes ahead as scheduled in Brisbane on Sunday, but:

it is now being reported that should the game be forced to shift or postponed due to a potential lockdown in Brisbane, the NRL is considering moving it back to Sydney rather than play it in Townsville. the game in Sydney would be played on October 17 with a 50% capacity.

the NSW deputy Premier and NSW Stadiums boss have been lobbying behind the scenes to make it happen.


Tony Shepherd (NSW Stadiums boss) says:

“We’d be very happy to help the NRL out if the game can’t go ahead in Brisbane,” Shepherd said.

“We’ll have people out and about in NSW by then and we’d have the best Covid safety measures and protocols in place. It would only be for 100 percent vaccinated fans.”


Peter Vlandys says:

“We’re still quietly confident the Queensland Government is containing it (spread). They’ve done a wonderful job to date and we’re hoping the numbers stay low and we can go on Sunday (at Suncorp Stadium),” V’landys told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

“But all options are on the table.

“We won’t take any action without consulting the coaches of the two teams.

“But we want a crowd and if it means postponing the event to get a crowd to do so.

“When we negotiated with the government we always had a Plan-B and that was to go to Townsville.

“Logistically that may be hard. We’re going to make a decision on that today because you’ve got to get TV crews and OB (outside broadcast) vans up to Townsville from Brisbane.

“Today will be crucial as well tomorrow.”

Fordham said to V’landys it sounded like postponement of the grand final was more likely than a shift to Townsville with the ARLC boss replying: “At this stage, yes.

“Because logistically it’s hard to go to Townsville. We’re going to have to make a decision today on Townsville.

“We wouldn’t make it tomorrow because that’s not going to give us enough time.

“As I said, we’re leaving everything on the table.

“We’re probably going to have an emergency commission meeting and have our road map planned out to what we do.’’

 

[Sproj]

Who cares, Sydney is probably the only city that wants it or cares about it.

 

[Super Freak]

They just had the 2020 GF review on Fox League with Storm players and Bellamy reviewing their GF win.

I forgot just how rubbish of a call the Hughes sin-binning was. He doesn't actually change his line.. He just plants his right foot to block Kikau which he is entitled to do. That, along with the Panthers first try, the Panthers were getting a real leg up by the officials.

Munster wanting to kick short in that last kick off of the game.. Not sure how that's a bad call. He was right, Panthers wouldn't have had the chance to spread the ball. Smith didn't need to kick a pinpoint accurate kick that landed 1mm over the 10m line. He just needed to kick it short enough for there to be a contest.

In the end, it didn't matter. I can just see the Panthers getting another leg up this year, as well.

 

[Big Pete]

They just had the 2020 GF review on Fox League with Storm players and Bellamy reviewing their GF win.

I forgot just how rubbish of a call the Hughes sin-binning was. He doesn't actually change his line.. He just plants his right foot to block Kikau which he is entitled to do. That, along with the Panthers first try, the Panthers were getting a real leg up by the officials.

Munster wanting to kick short in that last kick off of the game.. Not sure how that's a bad call. He was right, Panthers wouldn't have had the chance to spread the ball. Smith didn't need to kick a pinpoint accurate kick that landed 1mm over the 10m line. He just needed to kick it short enough for there to be a contest.

In the end, it didn't matter. I can just see the Panthers getting another leg up this year, as well.

I'm going to have track this down, I'm a sucker for these commentaries. I love the cricket related ones as well like the controversial India test match.

Way too many variables with the short distance kick off. What if you mess the kick up? What if the chaser goes too early (this nearly cost Melbourne the 2009 premiership) etc. The long kick was far less risky.

I remember thinking the Hughes sin-bin was harsh and was surprised at how many fans were OK with it. In light of Munster in Game 3 2021, I'd be interested to revisit it.

 

[Super Freak]

I'm going to have track this down, I'm a sucker for these commentaries. I love the cricket related ones as well like the controversial India test match.

Way too many variables with the short distance kick off. What if you mess the kick up? What if the chaser goes too early (this nearly cost Melbourne the 2009 premiership) etc. The long kick was far less risky.

I remember thinking the Hughes sin-bin was harsh and was surprised at how many fans were OK with it. In light of Munster in Game 3 2021, I'd be interested to revisit it.

If you have Kayo, it's on there in the Fox Theatre section. They also have previous years as well such as 2019 and 2017.

That's what Bellamy said when Munster told him why he wanted the short kick off. What if it didn't go the 10 was his question. The long kick is less risky. I can understand Munster's thinking, though.

I think a lot of fans were okay with it because it's Melbourne and it would have been seen as a grubby tactic. Plus, it does look like he changes his line, but he doesn't actually change it.

What's weird was that Bellamy was fine with it.

 

[Kimlo]

Did lol at that.

 

[theshed]

View attachment 15425

Did lol at that.

Sounds pretty unsettled tbh

 

[Broncapz]

C'mon Bennett.

Win it for Paul White and the 2019 Broncos board.

 

[Santa]

Pumped up for grand final day! Let's go Souths! I'll be cheering for Bennett, Reynolds, Benji and Gagai! Also hating Penrith and their arrogant players/coach/club/media support helps.

 

[Morkel]

This is soooo going to be Penrith's fairytale and I feel disgusted already.

 

[Sproj]

I couldn't care less about the game but happy with the two guys we have in this game for next year.

 

[Fozz]

 

[Alec]

Nah, screw Wayne Bennett tbh.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Can't help but get on the Bunny wagon. The dislike for the Panthers is greater.....