😃 The good: Luke Keary showing he belongs on TV
It’s rare in NRL circles for fans to be on the same page when it to comes to media figures. Supporters are split over who they consider the best and worst match callers, analysts, experts and journalists in print and on radio and television.
Just check any social media page – especially if it involves a Fox League personality – and fans will turn themselves inside out attacking or defending their favourites. But in Luke Keary, the punters are in consensus he’s the best media talent to emerge in a long time.
Luke Keary has made a seamless transition from player to media pundit. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
Articulate, considered and well informed, the former Roosters playmaker has made an easy transition from player to analyst. It’s not only Keary’s ability to dissect a match or strongly debate an issue that makes him so listenable, it’s also his willingness to put the boot in despite only just finishing his career.
“That usually takes 10 to 12 years,” Gorden Tallis – no stranger to a strong opinion himself – pointed out. “For a guy fresh out of the game to give a raw, honest assessment of what he sees….that’s so refreshing.
“He’s a super talent. When you get older people say you don’t know the players, well, this guy was a player (up until last year). People say he’s outspoken. No, it’s not – it’s just spoken.”
It’s a little wonder Keary is in high demand across a number of media outlets.
😔 The bad: Billy Slater rules out coaching Melbourne
This is probably not the news Melbourne Storm want to hear but it doesn’t appear Billy Slater will automatically replace Craig Bellamy once the master coach steps down. Plenty in the game have been connecting the dots and making the understandable assumption Slater will take over from Bellamy in 2028 after exiting the Queensland job, but the former champion fullback continues to hose down that expectation.
Billy Slater (L) says he has no aspirations to coach Melbourne, while Cameron Smith (centre) could be the next Queensland Origin coach. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Asked on the Sunday Footy Show whether he still had aspirations to coach, Slater took a long pause before replying: “Umm…that’s a really good question. Not right now, no. There’s no ulterior motive to this decision (quitting as Queensland coach). I’m really comfortable with where I sit.
“I’ve always said – and I’ve been pretty consistent with it – that I don’t see myself as an NRL coach. I love the position I hold here at Channel 9 and (to be able to) talk about the game and get the chance to push our opinions to the people at home and educate (them).
“You never say never and the Melbourne Storm have been a big part of my life for half of my life, but right now I don’t see myself coaching in the NRL.”
Things can chance in a blink of an eye in rugby league but this sounds like a firm No to us.
😡 The ugly: Broncos a chance to get wooden spoon
You could mount a solid argument that the fact Brisbane still remain a chance of going from premiers to wooden spooners inside 12 months confirms this as the worst year in the club’s 38-year history. True, the Broncos did run last in 2020 after racking up just three wins.
They were miserable times but the club wasn’t exactly coming off a high base after finishing mid-table in 2019 before completely collapsing a year later under Anthony Seibold. This year is a whole lot worse – in fact the worst by a defending premier in 118 years of top-level rugby league.
It will still take some doing but last-placed St George Illawarra is now just two wins away from catching Brisbane and handing them the spoon. The Broncos face Canberra, Melbourne and Canterbury in their last three games and you wouldn’t back them to win any of them.
The Broncos are still in danger of getting the wooden spoon. (Photo by Mackenzie Sweetnam/Getty Images)
The in-form Dragons have the Bulldogs, Sea Eagles and Eels and are capable of winning at least two from three. Michael Maguire’s angry reaction to Saturday night’s disgraceful loss to the Warriors showed a club at breaking point.
Madge has been backed in to continue in the job next year but you can see the joint fragmenting by the week. Fans expecting a dynasty on the back of last year’s triumph have been short-changed. The coach has a big rebuilding job on his hands.
“That showed they don’t care. They couldn’t care less. They don’t care if they win or lose at the moment,” Immortal Andrew Johns said after the Warriors loss. Is there a bigger crime in football?