2026 Finals

[Liverbird with Phins up]

All in all. Good growth this season. Finshed top 4. Always disappointed not to lift trophies

But for a young club. Done well

 

[Red]

Flegler was very poor. I am unsure of his future. He was one of the best props in the game before that cruel injury. The game is much too quick for him now.

I thought Knowles did OK tonight (by his standards). He didn't miss a tackle and he ran for 67 m. But, he has had a very disappointing debut NRL season. An ultra successful side of the future certainly doesn't include his presence.

I've been saying ever since he came back, Flegler seems too big and too slow now. He needs to lose 5 ~ 10kgs to get back to where he was before the injury.

I had a moment in regard to Flegler similar to my flip out on Knowles against the Warriors . Midway through the second half, the Roosters player ran just to the side of Flegler and Flegler for some reason just couldn't adjust, not even hang an arm out, and the Roosters played brushed right passed him, ran another 10m, got a quick play the ball and Roosters scored a long range try next play.

That summed up Flegler's season for me.

And Knowles, as you say, he was ok and has generally been ok. Runs hard and tackles hard but if we are going to win the premiership next year, he isn't in the 17. On the bench as one of the extra 2 reserves who only come on in the event of foul play at best.

 

[Red]

Really gutted but take a philosophical view. The better team on the night won. We only had that period 10 minutes either side of halftime. Other than that, all Roosters. I thought Herbie had a really good game. Really troubled them. Cobbo and Isaako just behind him then Bostock.

Plath stating in the backrow is a duck out of water and no reason for Lemuelu to start on the bench apart from the coach wanting his best mate to start at lock. Forwards were just well beaten. Next year with Pouniu playing 80 minutes in the backrow and Plath starting at lock, we should be much better.

100% re Plath starting in the backrow. Lemuelu is a really good backrower and Plath is a really good lock. So what is the solution there Mr. Woolf?

 

[midlands hobo]

So just watched on catchup. Bottled it.

Nothing to say other than that. Marky Marks pass was probably from touch but then again Isaako was also probably in touch for his try so it evens out and we can't really complain.

I will say when the intercept try went in we imploded.

 

[midlands hobo]

I thought Knowles did OK tonight (by his standards). He didn't miss a tackle and he ran for 67 m. But, he has had a very disappointing debut NRL season. An ultra successful side of the future certainly doesn't include his presence.

One of the roosters try literally went between Path and Donga on a short ball. If ever you expected 2 people to fucking obliterate a ball carrier that was it and the pair of them basically watched him fall over the line.

 

[mr_c]

wouldnt really take the ratings to much they gave 1.5 points more to kodi and he was a passanger

yup our halfs and forwards werent the same forwards that controlled the game last few weeks , ( kodi i am glas is going when he dont want play he just shuts up shop and it showed last night n few other games ) few them looking for there rep games i am sure


sorry but if you want tom f n morgan and fuis to go, few others need step up week in week out which we dont see it need a mongeral forward like dan was rest far to soft hit hard but not for long

they play where they get told play, end the day when it comes rep level it be same there they get told where to play

 

[Josh]

One of the roosters try literally went between Path and Donga on a short ball. If ever you expected 2 people to fucking obliterate a ball carrier that was it and the pair of them basically watched him fall over the line.

That was Donga's worst game ever.

 

[Red]

My rating, just my opinion and I might be a bit harsh but: (all out of 10) I also only watched the first 57 minutes.

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 4 (If the Warriors kick chase was just a bit better late in the game, Hammer would have gotten a 4 against the Warriors as well. I'm certainly in favour of letting him go in order to keep Herbie and Bostock.)
2. Jamayne Isaako 6 (He's going to be missed no matter how good Naufahu is.)
3. Jack Bostock 6
4. Herbie Farnworth 7.5 (Our best again.)
5. Selwyn Cobbo 7 (Gotten better and better as the season has progressed.)
6. Kodi Nikorima 5 (Had a ripper season. Last couple of games were his worst.)
7. Isaiya Katoa 4 (Didn't create anything. Just catch and pass and his kicking was average.)
8. Thomas Flegler 2
9. Jeremy Marshall-King 5
10. Tom Gilbert 6
11. Max Plath 4.5 (I'm a huge fan but FFS, he's a lock or he's on the bench! He's not a fucking backrower! Stop trying to make him one! Got an extra .5 due to so many tackles.)
12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 6
13. Morgan Knowles 3
    
    
14. Kurt Donoghoe 4 (Was he playing lock? Seemed to be just floating around without any specific role. Made a few mistakes and no impact with the ball.)
15. Ray Stone 6 (I underrated him. Based on this game anyway. He was much better than Plath, Donoghue and certainly Knowles.)
16. Francis Molo 6
17. Connelly Lemuelu 6

What might have been with Kaufusi coming on and Flegler or Knowles on the bench for 80min.

 

[Mt Smart]

Didn't go the way we all hoped.

Great season but guys. And you didn't go out in straight sets, quite the opposite, slayed one of the big boys at their home ground (sort of Eden Park yadda yadda).

Wot was Klein smoking awarding a try on the touch line?

Swings and roundabouts, I thought the reffing was a disgrace, especially the whistle in the pocket nonsense, the Roosters got away with murder, offside, extras in the tackle, knock ons, high shots.

Gee and Klein are crooks.

The pain wears off after a week. Gonna get behind Newy tomorrow, I doubt the officials will let them compete, But hey, they had a great year themselves so if this is it for them, at least they played their best footy in years and years.

Enjoy the offseason, next year is always 'our year'.

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

Didn't go the way we all hoped.

Great season but guys. And you didn't go out in straight sets, quite the opposite, slayed one of the big boys at their home ground (sort of Eden Park yadda yadda).

Wot was Klein smoking awarding a try on the touch line?

Swings and roundabouts, I thought the reffing was a disgrace, especially the whistle in the pocket nonsense, the Roosters got away with murder, offside, extras in the tackle, knock ons, high shots.

Gee and Klein are crooks.

The pain wears off after a week. Gonna get behind Newy tomorrow, I doubt the officials will let them compete, But hey, they had a great year themselves so if this is it for them, at least they played their best footy in years and years.

Enjoy the offseason, next year is always 'our year'.

Ill be honest with you, with the Warriors injury toll, you shouldn't be unhappy with their effort.

 

[Red]

Ill be honest with you, with the Warriors injury toll, you shouldn't be unhappy with their effort.

Judging from this year, what they were able to do without their first and second choice halfbacks and RTS, Warriors are going to be extremely hard to beat. I think next year might be similar to this year. Top 4 of us, Roosters, Warriors, Panthers.

 

[SwoopAE]

Warriors are losing Barnett which is one of their big 4 forwards and Tanah Boyd is not coming to save them in the halves, they fucked up badly not securing Metcalf long term if he could stay healthy he's vastly better than all of their other halves options - Tanah Boyd having 3 games behind incredible forward pack performances early this season does not erase an entire career of him 100% not being the guy and being as unclutch as possible. He is not the man who wins a comp wearing the 7 and never will be not even behind the Wahs pack. RTS gone now too.

I think the Wahs make the 8 again next year but their window to actually win the comp was this year and is closed unless they can get a marquee half before Fish retires, they had that energy this year but choked it away in the finals even harder than we did in the Prelim. Our window is way more open than theirs is imo

Panthers get mildly worse losing Henry and Sorensen, with Henry being the main loss.

Their issue is the same as it is now - they don't have a true 6 anymore since Talagi can't defend and their other five-eighths offer nothing in attack and they will need to keep developing new talent to replace who they lose. Their other issue is Isaah Yeo has lost a step over the course of this season and at his age will start to age out of his prime sooner rather than later if it hasn't started already - having also lost Luai, that leaves Cleary out there running the attack with very little help. They will still have the best defence in the comp next year but points aren't going to be getting any easier to come by.

The Roosters get clearly worse losing DCE and Nawa, Garrick isn't bad but he's no Nawaqanitawase and Tupou is right on the brink of being washed, beyond being amazing under the high ball he is slow and gradually losing all of the other aspects of his game. They're going to need Savala to step up hard next year. Tedesco's recovered well from his awful year two seasons ago, but age will come for the other aspects of his game over the next year or two (the first one to go was breaking the line off his own set up as opposed to someone else's a few years ago). They're obviously still in a window next year, but like Penrith, they get slightly worse not better.

The Broncos gain Barnett but lose Haas for a net downgrade, plus Hunt and Renny are now fully aged out so they'll need Pezet to deliver at NRL level which seemed like a lock two years ago but doesn't seem like so much of a lock anymore, they really need Mam to improve or their window is closed for the time being, although reopens once they sort their halves situation and Coates/Verhoevern get NRL ready. If Walsh can recapture his 2025 form they can beat anyone and be a top 4 side again, their issue is clearly Madge has lost something with the dressing room and until that is addressed they're not going to win another comp. They're only a couple players away from being a side that can though.

Souths gain Payne Haas, so they actually have great forwards and backs now, their issue is their spine isn't good enough to win a comp and they've done nothing to address that, they have three not great halfbacks and Cody Walker is well past his best and the wheels will fall off very soon completely, likely in the next year due to age and playstyle. If they were to somehow get the cap space to sign Dearden though... even if it's at the cost of Latrell... anything becomes possible. But that's not a problem for 2027, their spine just won't be good enough even if the rest of the side is.

Knights are sort of entering a window if they can sort their middles and stay healthy, having fixed their second row up this year if their middles can step up they can for sure contend next year.

Sharks and Cowboys have a lot of talent but not a side capable of winning a comp. Raiders regressed heavily in defence this year, if Coby Black turns out to be the guy they could re-enter a window, but not until they fix their outside backs situation other than Savage and Sasagi it's a disaster and they're losing Horsbrough/Papalii/Smithies

Dogs could get it together if Woods is the guy, but they have a few areas to fix in their side before they're ready to win the comp and guys like Kikau and a couple others are in serious decline plus they're not going to win a comp with Connor Tracey at fullback

It feels like we're probably the number 2/3 seed going into 2027 which is a great position to be in, if we win the comp its' going to be because we have some good young middles step up and if we can have that happen the rest of the team is ready and we've got the experience of 'get to a prelim and lose one' to make it all the way next time

Hopefully next year is the year

We only lost one game at full strength since the 2-5 start this season, unfortunately it was the prelim, but we've got the experience now and the core of the side is ready to go again in 2027, if Williams and Katoa gel and we can sort a good middle forward rotation to complement Plath and Donoghoe we can absolutely win the comp next season.

 

[257Matt]

Roosters showed the blueprint in how to beat the Dolphins and they exposed a soft underbelly in the Dolphins forward pack something that needs to be addressed. Teams will now be coming through the front door next year and unless Woolf addresses the issues especially with poor starts it'll come to bite Dolphins.

Dolphins still have 3 roster spots left they will need to find a prop forward amongst them.

What has made Penrith, Roosters and barring this year Melbourne so successful over a period of time is that someone from within their system makes the step up to NRL level. Dolphins next year in the forwards badly need at least two of Su'a, Symonds, Rasmussen or Garton to make the step up to be Top 17 players to help replenish the forward pack, fill the spot vacated by Stone and pressure the likes of Flegler, Gilbert and Knowles who didn't aim up. Flegler regressed after Origin, Gilbert may have some fire not much else unfortunately and I outlined previously that Knowles was attempting to buck a lot of history to be successful at the NRL.

I managed to watch all of Redcliffe's Cup games live or via QPlus/Kayo Freebies and I saw every NRL game live at the venue or watched without distraction at home or in a motel room bar Cowboys game in Townsville where I was at Toowoomba Sports Club so I've seen every game Pouniu has played this year to suggest to me that he's ready for week to week NRL Top 17 and no more holding him back.

 

[Red]

Roosters showed the blueprint in how to beat the Dolphins and they exposed a soft underbelly in the Dolphins forward pack something that needs to be addressed. Teams will now be coming through the front door next year and unless Woolf addresses the issues especially with poor starts it'll come to bite Dolphins.

Dolphins still have 3 roster spots left they will need to find a prop forward amongst them.

What has made Penrith, Roosters and barring this year Melbourne so successful over a period of time is that someone from within their system makes the step up to NRL level. Dolphins next year in the forwards badly need at least two of Su'a, Symonds, Rasmussen or Garton to make the step up to be Top 17 players to help replenish the forward pack, fill the spot vacated by Stone and pressure the likes of Flegler, Gilbert and Knowles who didn't aim up. Flegler regressed after Origin, Gilbert may have some fire not much else unfortunately and I outlined previously that Knowles was attempting to buck a lot of history to be successful at the NRL.

I managed to watch all of Redcliffe's Cup games live or via QPlus/Kayo Freebies and I saw every NRL game live at the venue or watched without distraction at home or in a motel room bar Cowboys game in Townsville where I was at Toowoomba Sports Club so I've seen every game Pouniu has played this year to suggest to me that he's ready for week to week NRL Top 17 and no more holding him back.

I remember after Roosters scored their first try, even though it was a 12 point turn-around, I wasn't even that disappointed because I thought we were lucky to be down by only 6 at that stage of the game due to the Roosters forwards dominating. Their prop White made more metres in PCM than Flegler and Knowles combined made metres.

Ok, maybe that's exaggerating but he was way better than our highly paid prop.

 

[By the Bay]

My rating, just my opinion and I might be a bit harsh but: (all out of 10) I also only watched the first 57 minutes.

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 4 (If the Warriors kick chase was just a bit better late in the game, Hammer would have gotten a 4 against the Warriors as well. I'm certainly in favour of letting him go in order to keep Herbie and Bostock.)
2. Jamayne Isaako 6 (He's going to be missed no matter how good Naufahu is.)
3. Jack Bostock 6
4. Herbie Farnworth 7.5 (Our best again.)
5. Selwyn Cobbo 7 (Gotten better and better as the season has progressed.)
6. Kodi Nikorima 5 (Had a ripper season. Last couple of games were his worst.)
7. Isaiya Katoa 4 (Didn't create anything. Just catch and pass and his kicking was average.)
8. Thomas Flegler 2
9. Jeremy Marshall-King 5
10. Tom Gilbert 6
11. Max Plath 4.5 (I'm a huge fan but FFS, he's a lock or he's on the bench! He's not a fucking backrower! Stop trying to make him one! Got an extra .5 due to so many tackles.)
12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 6
13. Morgan Knowles 3
    
    
14. Kurt Donoghoe 4 (Was he playing lock? Seemed to be just floating around without any specific role. Made a few mistakes and no impact with the ball.)
15. Ray Stone 6 (I underrated him. Based on this game anyway. He was much better than Plath, Donoghue and certainly Knowles.)
16. Francis Molo 6
17. Connelly Lemuelu 6

What might have been with Kaufusi coming on and Flegler or Knowles on the bench for 80min.

A good assessment.

 

[Blockade]

Their prop White made more metres in PCM than Flegler and Knowles combined made metres.

It was close. Whyte PCM= 99 m, Flegs and Knowles total running metres= 100. We need an athletic big bopper like him. Flegs and Saifiti were to fill those roles. Unfortunately, serious injury has possibly ruined both careers.

 

[SwoopAE]

Wow, I thought the send off that should have clearly been a sin bin and would have been if it was anyone other than Cleary injured ruined the game

Instead it gave us one of the best 2h performances ever, coming back from 8 down with 12 men for 45 minutes is absolute insanity even with Cleary injured it's easy to forget the Knights did this without their own starting halfback in Brown and their #1 and #2 props in Safiti and Mooney

All aboard the Knights bandwagon for a week as they go up against Uncle Nick's evil empire, it'll be a tough ask but who knows

 

[Blockade]

- The first Roosters/Newcastle GF in RL history.

- Newcastle aiming to be the first wooden spooners to win the comp the following year since Wests in 1934.

- Newcastle aiming to be the first team in the NRL era to win the GF from outside the top 4.

- Roosters aiming to be the first team in history to win the GF despite having 50 put on them. (50 v Souths, Rd 27).

 

[Josh]

Wow, I thought the send off that should have clearly been a sin bin and would have been if it was anyone other than Cleary injured ruined the game

Instead it gave us one of the best 2h performances ever, coming back from 8 down with 12 men for 45 minutes is absolute insanity even with Cleary injured it's easy to forget the Knights did this without their own starting halfback in Brown and their #1 and #2 props in Safiti and Mooney

All aboard the Knights bandwagon for a week as they go up against Uncle Nick's evil empire, it'll be a tough ask but who knows

I feel sorry for Cleary. Who was that Broncos winger who had a compound fracture of the ankle? He has a limp for the rest of his life. Let's hope Cleary's isn't as bad as that.

 

[Blockade]

I feel sorry for Cleary. Who was that Broncos winger who had a compound fracture of the ankle?

Jharal Yow Yeh. Horrible injury.