Dead In Goal

We break our long offseason, and well, season silence to find out if James has indeed become a Queenslander! Also this week: are Wests the league equivalent of the girl everyone gossips about in high school (8:48)? In our Twitter question: what would most surprise a footy fan about the NRL today if they had been in a coma for 30 years (25:15)? And lastly, a nod to the road Warriors, finally clear to play home games (39:03). 

We begin our 100th episode with a look back at the pod's origins (2:53), which explains why we have a siren open each instalment. Also: we talk Roy Masters' piece on the divergent demographics of the big footy codes (8:41), the chatty resolution to the Brandon Smith signing saga (31:18), and league players you'd most like to have a beer with in our Honesty Session. And with Bathurst looming, we recall James' encounters with motorsport legends (49:31). 

James reports back from Penrith's victory parade (2:36) and says this is the way of the future for all premiership winners, which leads to a question: which club would have the quickest bus route? (9:14) We also talk about fan loyalty and how the NRL's one-year-in-advance contract rules are no help (24:01). The Honesty Session sounds our listeners out on the World Club Challenge (33:11), and we end with Tim Paine, which brings up discussion of James's grave (51:36). 

James descends from the highlands to talk the Panthers' upcoming victory parade (13:33), and why it shouldn't involve mass chaos. Our Honesty Session asks our listeners for their best rugby league gags (29:14), and we end on a discussion of the game's administration, inspired by the Prof (43:31).

To begin this week, James reiterates his disdain for the peculiar theatricality of soccer (1:46). We then get into our main topic: are NRL players properly compensated, which we discuss at length (11:06) before getting to our listeners' thoughts on the subject in the Honesty Session (42:53). Lastly, Andrew Johns, burgeoning legend (55:42).

We start with James' continuing series looking back to 1986 through the pages of Big League (3:05). With the rookie draft hitting the league agenda once again, we get into a highly involved discussion about how talent is distributed across the NRL (19:48), and whether equalisation is really important to the comp. We also recall your most memorable rookies in our Honesty Session (49:47).  

As the offseason takes hold, Dead in Goal begins a new segment which takes us back in time through the pages of James' Big League magazine collection (11:49). Also this week: Jeff declares he will violate his fan neutrality if the Bears make it back into the comp (2:57), and the Honesty Session gets into the rules surrounding wearing your supporter jersey (30:45).

This week, we hail the arrival of the dolphin among the NRL's mascots, and talk why the new Brisbane franchise's symbol is a winner (8:06). As long-time club logo connoisseurs, we also look at image touch-ups at Gold Coast and Wests (27:17). Finally, in our Honesty Session: what would you see in a rugby league theme park? (36:47)

James revels in his Panthers' victory in 2021, and no broken trophy is going to ruin it. Our Honesty Session delves into broken things (19:55), as well as revisit Jeff's proposal for the interlocking trophy. As a premiership-winning fan, James dispenses advice from on high for the Broncos (27:23), and we fondly farewell Benji Marshall (37:44), who could make every league fan feel like a kid.

... but we do love grand final day. Dead in Goal waits nervously with the rest of rugby league fandom to see if the 2021 decider goes off without a hitch, and asks in our Honesty Session for your favourite part of GF day (3:14). We also delve into the match-up and talk why James is not nervous about his Panthers (22:55). And to finish off, we honour another of our favourites, this year's All-Academic team (49:13) – Tommy Turbo winning here too!  

We get right into this weekend's prelim finals (6:56), with James expressing backhanded admiration for Wayne Bennett's longevity and guarded optimism for his Panthers. And like a couple of old men, we reminisce in our Honesty Session (27:43) about how we first became interested in rugby league, which includes references to Amco Cup board games and Paul Hauff. Lastly, a memorable encounter with the retiring Issac Luke (52:16).

Week two of the NRL Finals looms, and James didn't expect his Panthers to have to play this weekend. We talk the postseason format present and past (3:15), James explains why the finals are a certain nondescript colour (17:18), and how a two-point conversion to win a match would be the ultimate act of league bravado (27:33). In our Honesty Session, we ask what you would rename your team, which includes Jeff's memories of Filipino pro basketball teams named after hot dog brands (40:18).

The NRL season reaches its decisive phase, and James is beginning to feel nervous. Dead in Goal goes final by final (8:28), and we ask you in our Honesty Session what the headlines will be after this weekend (39:52). Spoiler alert: an inordinate amount of them relate to the Tigers. Also: the grand final heads to Brisbane (49:03), and with Jordan Mailata on the verge in the NFL, Jeff waxes lyrical about the athleticism of rugby league players.

Jeff's dog sets the tone for this episode, as we woof about what can be done about resting players in the penultimate round (2:38) and restoring esteem to the minor premiership (20:08). In our Honesty Session, we ask about your favourite upsets (29:41). And to finish, we discuss Latrell Mitchell, because everyone else has (45:31).

With the bids for the NRL's 17th team going before League HQ again this week, we're talking about the expansion of the comp (8:27) and how James once found himself viewed suspiciously around the Redcliffe Dolphins (25:25). And in the spirit of the league going places, our Honesty Session asks about your best footy trips (33:09). Also: a rule change for the dead-in-goal crowd (50:41).

After the NRL's average salary figures were made public this week, Jeff gets a step closer to information he's long been dying to know. The pod gets into a way-too-involved discussion of which positions rake in the big bucks, as well as how clubs structure their payrolls (11:22). Also: firing back at ref-blaming (32:18), and our Honesty Session asks about your favourite footy legend from the bush (40:27). And yes, one indeed did tackle sheep. 

In honour of the great national head count this week, we talk stats and whether we should trust them at all in rugby league (4:25). We nominate our most useless stats (23:28), as well as the ones we'd most like to see (32:38). And in our Honesty Session (44:33): what rugby league question should have been asked on the census?

The NRL season is headed down the stretch, but we're still in preseason form. This week, we talk about whether Tom Trbojevic could swing a finals campaign by himself (6:45), share our thoughts about Wild Wests (23:55) – we're not going to bash your club, Tigers fans – and ponder other great rugby league doco subjects in our Honesty Session. Also: James explains the Hallmark movie formula!

Our first regular episode of Dead in Goal arrives just in time for the big Storm-Panthers contest this weekend, and Penrith devotee James tells us why he feels no pressure about it (5:20). We also re-introduce our Twitter question, with a new name for the segment (30:18). And lastly, a lament for the Rugby League World Cup, from two guys who worked on the last one (42:21).

For listeners old and new, we get up to speed since we last cast a pod in mid-2019. So nothing too big has happened in rugby league – and the world – since then, right?