2025 Ashes Tour

[EOL now nesting on the GC]

No Manly player in the Aus squad and no Manly player nominated for a Dally M,bravo

Absolute disgrace and a sad place we find our great club in.Bravo Penn, Seibold and Mestrov.

 

[The Wheel]

I reckon Turbo would have been selected if he hadn’t made himself unavailable

 

[MadMarcus]

No DCE either

 

[The '47ers]

I reckon Turbo would have been selected if he hadn’t made himself unavailable

In front of who? Walsh or Edwards

 

[Nordburg]

In front of who? Walsh or Edwards

Like most of Tom’s rep career,they’d of played him in the centres

 

[The '47ers]

Like most of Tom’s rep career,they’d of played him in the centres

Well an injured TT is better than Shiba

 

[Sheikheagle]

I think Bully was unlucky not to get a start in the Prime Minister’s Team.

 

[Cliffy's Jockstrap]

More stuff I strongly expect I will not bother watching.....I'll check the headlines next day.

 

[HoldenV8]

I think Bully was unlucky not to get a start in the Prime Minister’s Team.

And yet they picked Jason Saab.....

 

[Uk eagle]

Got tickets for the first 2 tests. Can only see a whitewash in Australia's favour even with the unavailable players. I'm going in the hope of seeing a couple of good games of football but realistically England are way behind in every facet of the game

 

[wombatgc]

Taking the young fella to Tonga v Samoa at Suncorp, should be a good matchup. Get stuck into some Loi Hoosi while supporting Tonga.

We went up to that match up years ago. I’m guessing 10 years at least. I could look it up, but couldn’t be arsed. It was awesome. The singing from both supporters was worth the price alone. Then some go all the way with floral decorations around their neck and heads. Woman covered with bouquets of different coloured frangipani assortments. The main Samoan crowd was to the left of me. My mate had to keep nudging me to watch the footy, as I’d missed a cpl tries live, I was so transfixed on the Samoan crowd.
ps. Good therapy for your boy to get over the Paps gf loss.

 

[wombatgc]

I had a look for their itinerary but could only see the 3 tests.
Apparently Walters wanted a warm-up v France but the Players Assoc put the kibosh on it, so they are going to have a couple of training sessions with the French squad instead.

That’s a bummer. I loved watching the Emus play that Wednesday night game, usually in freezing conditions. The crowd singing and chanting for most of the game. And as the no punch rule was a long way off, there was some beauty fights. I remember one game against Hull Fc, can’t remember the second rower for Hull, but he made it his business right from the start to take someone’s head off as a souvenir. He and MG were going at it, after a scrum, and the pommy ref just kept playing on, regardless of how many players had joined the blue. Hull end up scoring. There was probably only half a dozen players actually playing by that point. The crowd were going nuts. Definitely one for the ‘good ol days’ section.

 

[The '47ers]

We went up to that match up years ago. I’m guessing 10 years at least. I could look it up, but couldn’t be arsed. It was awesome. The singing from both supporters was worth the price alone. Then some go all the way with floral decorations around their neck and heads. Woman covered with bouquets of different coloured frangipani assortments. The main Samoan crowd was to the left of me. My mate had to keep nudging me to watch the footy, as I’d missed a cpl tries live, I was so transfixed on the Samoan crowd.
ps. Good therapy for your boy to get over the Paps gf loss.

He loves Haumole, and I have a serious man crush on Eli Katoa's abilities so somehow we've both landed with Tonga. 2 players each from both our sides I think this time around.
But yeah even watching these games on TV you can feel the atmosphere, so live can only be 100x bigger. I'm assuming a massive crowd, a Pacific SOO if you will.

He wasn't looking forward to school today with all the Broncos mate lining up to ridicule him haha.
R360 is the next drama I'll have to face if Papi joins that circus.

 

[Uk eagle]

We went up to that match up years ago. I’m guessing 10 years at least. I could look it up, but couldn’t be arsed. It was awesome. The singing from both supporters was worth the price alone. Then some go all the way with floral decorations around their neck and heads. Woman covered with bouquets of different coloured frangipani assortments. The main Samoan crowd was to the left of me. My mate had to keep nudging me to watch the footy, as I’d missed a cpl tries live, I was so transfixed on the Samoan crowd.
ps. Good therapy for your boy to get over the Paps gf loss.

I went to the world cup quarter final (I think) at Warrington a couple of years ago when Tonga and Samoa played. I've been watching rugby league for 50 years and have never witnessed anything like it. The constant singing of hymns and general good nature was something else. After the game one of the Samoans loaded their massive speaker into a commandeered shopping trolley from the supermarket next door to the ground and continued the party followed by a couple of hundred fans.
A completely unique atmosphere and one I'm so glad to have witnessed especially when you consider how far away from home everyone was.

 

[lsz]

I love international footy - bring it on (also no manly players = no injuries...even better)

 

[Disco]

I love international footy - bring it on (also no manly players = no injuries...even better)

No exactly correct.

Lehi and Tolu for Tonga

Navale for Fiji

Saab for the PMs

Then lesser lights Wakeham, Mafoa playing too.

 

[lsz]

No exactly correct.

Lehi and Tolu for Tonga

Navale for Fiji

Saab for the PMs

Then lesser lights Wakeham, Mafoa playing too.

Fair but I was more worried about Turbo!

 

[EOL now nesting on the GC]

And yet they picked Jason Saab.....

Why so much hate for Saab? He's the fastest player in the comp. Its not his fault we as a side cant release him to do what he does best.score tries with pace. Sure he has some weak spots but he's definitely better than he was in those areas. I feel like he's a momentum player. if he was scoring a heap of tries hed go from strength to strength. We just don't get him the ball in the right places enough.

 

[HoldenV8]

Why so much hate for Saab? He's the fastest player in the comp. Its not his fault we as a side cant release him to do what he does best.score tries with pace. Sure he has some weak spots but he's definitely better than he was in those areas. I feel like he's a momentum player. if he was scoring a heap of tries hed go from strength to strength. We just don't get him the ball in the right places enough.

No hate for Saab at all. I just wondered why they picked him when there were better performed wingers this year??

Honestly, good luck to him and I hope he gets to showcase his speed without getting injured. But it would be interesting to hear the rationale behind his selection.

Edit: For the record, Saab isn't foreign to representative football. He was an Australian Schoolboys winger in 2018.