RLWC 2026

HarVeeGee13 said:
Well that’s my interest in this tournament plummeting if KP is out lol. Kini is a fair player but multiple tiers below Kalyn. They won’t win without him.

Illuminating game nonetheless. Put Hughes and Ponga in the same team, with good but not absolutely top class players at 9 and 6, and it becomes pretty blindingly clear who’s better, if there was ever doubt. Almost every good Hughes involvement was just getting Kalyn the ball lol.

I think we go into next season with the best spine in the NRL.
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Was a bit surprised that they seemed to be using KP down the right most of the time. He was great obviously, but I was looking forward to him linking up with Nikorima more on the left

Sucks for him if that’s tournament over, thought he was a great chance at the Golden Boot if he played this whole thing
 
Only saw bits of the game as was working.

I’m a little salty it was Walsh that got Ponga over the sideline. And it was Walsh that caused the collision with Hughes and Ponga.

But Ponga definitely got his, that was a dirty dirty step on Walsh. Love to see it. Walsh still doesn’t know which way he went.

Boy, if Walsh or Ponga played for NSW, this would be a hell of a rivalry.
 
And is this injury the catalyst for Phoenix to be added? I’m not sure the logistics on how and if they plan to get Crossland in.

ZeroTackle (sorry) reported that Crossland will have these NZ games count towards his suspension “despite being omitted”. I know he’s underrated, but that’s average he wasn’t included in the squad.

Would you be able to rush Ponga back underdone for a NRL finals series in 4 weeks? Probably.
Would you do it for the RLWC final? I don’t think so.
 
BlackbuttOG said:
Jahrome Hughes will be kicking himself for giving away a 7-tackle set minutes from the end. It was a nothing kick and poorly executed. Take the tackle near the line and the Kiwi's probably get home.
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Absolutely, it was an awful kick and ended up costing them the game.
 
Every year when Origin comes around there's a persistent narrative that Isaah Yeo should either start at Prop or come off the bench to allow Cameron Murray to start at lock. For what it's worth, I could definitely support Yeo starting at Prop and I believe Murray is a phenomenal player but these conversations come with an implied assertion that Murray is somehow significantly better than Yeo and frankly it makes no sense.

That NZ middle rotation is far better than any pack Queensland is capable of turning out. With a ruptured pec, Yeo pumped out 80 minutes at lock, making 53 tackles with no missed and only 2 ineffective, topping the run count and metres gained for the Kangaroos pack. The game is more complex than taking stats at face value but those numbers are significant, applying the eye-test he is literally the glue that prevented Australia's middle from complete evisceration, routinely the only middle forward who was able to control the ruck when Kiwi middles were taking dominant carry after dominant carry. With no disrespect to Cam Murray, he isn't capable of having that defensive performance - can absolutely add a different dimension to a sides attack with his leg speed but Yeo offers his own solidarity of taking the tough carries nobody is interested in and makes them effective.

Generational player and deserves the Australian captaincy.
 
Yeah he was really good. No issue with him starting at 13 after watching the game. The weak link for me out of the starters was Carrigan, I thought the Kiwis really went after him and worked him over and he struggled to make ground with his carries until his second stint. Very much an endurance forward and late set carry guy rather than a play 1 platform setter.

The thing I'll say is that I think an issue Yeo has had in Origin is that coaches try to replicate Penrith's attacking style too much, so they get too pass happy, and the insistence on always getting him into first receiver, and the ball just doesn't move quickly enough. Isaah didn't *not* pass the ball last night, but he wasn't incessantly out in front of shape - possibly due to the torn pec - and I think at rep level he's more effective leaning on his work rate than his skill.
 
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