Brandy Alexander and Andrew Voss are joined by NRL legend Cameron Smith as they discuss the fallout from the Las Vegas games

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0:00 Intro
1:15 Vossy’s Vegas Update
1:56 Why Cam left Queensland
4:34 Vegas Recap

#nrl

How are you mate good morning boys great to be back on air um seems like a long time since we last spoke but uh hey good the footy’s back couple of great games of footy yesterday uh pre-season um competition was great as well good to hear you your voices boys yeah you know

What um it’s good to hear your voice too and it has been it has been a long it’s been a long summer um and uh so what have you been up to like for it’s because it’s been 3 months at least at least yeah no uh a lot of running around

Uh chasing my children they’ve been flat out playing their Sports um a little bit of golf Brandy as well so uh trying to bring that handicap down a little bit it’s not it’s not moving that fast but that comes in handy on the comp days I must admit um to have the higher

Handicap but uh no just trying to relax it was a big year last year with the footy um and and commitments going on but um yeah just uh just trying to relx a little bit it’s been very wet up here in southeast Queensland though so yeah

Okay hot humid hot and humid y um so one of the things that I I did pick up over the summer and you you spoke about it being a big year and uh vosy good morning you you join good good morning good afternoon can I just say I I Pro it should have

Clicked me boys when I went to the T-Mobile shop that the black was dressed as Elvis who sold me the bit of equipment 500 Australian so I I think I I think I’ve been scammed I’m holding this little thing that may as well now be a door stop or a door wig from

T-Mobile thanks a bloody lot guys um yeah fantastic fantastic 500 so so we’ve got you on via the phone now so you’re just you’re just on your phone the gears packed it in uh Cameron just back to what I was saying and about uh it being a busy

2023 uh you’ve decided to step aside from origin uh yes that’s right Brandy yeah so spoke with Billy um about 6 weeks ago now um big decision though you know giving up that opportunity and and you know yourself Brandy you’ve you’ve now um finished up with the blues but

Because that’s a it’s a privileged position right to be to be involved with the caliber of players and at that level of football in state of origin it’s it’s as big as it gets but um it was just a a timing thing I was just sort of I’m a

Bit time poor at the moment um given you know the the commitments with you know my own work but also the children as well um as I said they’re very busy with their own Sport and I’ve taken on a new role I’m I’m I’m coaching the under 15’s Corum

And Eagles footy side so um I’ve I’ve thrown my hat in the ring to be a coach but not at the you know sort of elite level of NRL or state of origin it’s it’s going back to grass fo0 and it’s been great we’ve been um training now

For about five weeks and um it it’s been nice to go back to you know that that junior level and and watch just watch the young young boys and girls run around um you know twice a week you know they they come home from school they get

Their footy gear on they get down to the local footy club and they’re just there having fun you know and it sort of takes you back to you know all those years back where you’re playing your junior football and and sort of a reminder of

How fun it it actually was you know when you’re a teenager playing footing yep I I think one of the great things as a parent is to uh watch your kids play sport and it doesn’t matter what sport it is you know whether it’s basketball whether it’s touch footy whether it’s

You know footy uh anything Cricket but watching your kids play sport is uh very rewarding it can be nerve-wracking too um you know the older they get the the bigger the kids get the harder the hits you know that so you you sort of wear it

Both sides but I I understand cam I I coach my two of my boys two of the four I coached two of them for so I spent uh you know about 10 years in Junior League it was fantastic how did you go how did you go with the nerves like was it more

Nerve-wracking for you coaching your boys than it was when when you played first grade or probably was yes that’s it I feel yeah well I I don’t know how you felt like I I I’m more nervous now as a watcher of footy than I was as a player of footy like absolutely whe

Whether it’s your kids playing or whether it’s your team playing um but uh it’s it’s one of the great things you can do the Vegas reaction now now the buildup was enormous and and I kept thinking wow I hope I hope the games you know we’re talking about round one games

Will they live up to it there was a lot of chat about the narrow field and uh you know possible you know someone hurting get getting hurt by being that close when I saw it I went oh wow that do I hope no one gets hurt um it it

Lived up to everything didn’t it yeah absolutely and I think it it exceeded a a lot of people’s expectations certainly mine I when I found out we were going over there at first I was a little bit skeptic skeptical about the entire um idea and and you know the process of

Getting over there and getting the four teams ready to go and what sort of quality sort of games were going to um showcase that that was I guess what everyone was a little bit nervous about as you mentioned Brandy being you know those early matches sometimes it can be

A little bit clunky a little bit messy but I I’ll tell you what you you got to take your hats off to the the four teams that went over it was fantastic I you know I sat down and watched both games yesterday and I could not take my eyes

Off off the TV it it was so good especially I I really found the first game mainly and the rabbit o very entertaining there was you know we love seeing Tricor right and there’s lots of points scored in that game and lot of open style footy um I think it was a

Huge huge success um and I’m sure I was actually sitting there and I was thinking to myself if I was still playing um and I wasn’t involved in these four sides that went over I’d be sitting back thinking gez I wish we get an invitation in in the next couple of

Years I’d love to get over there and just experience that that oneoff opportunity of of playing somewhere like Las Vegas Andrew you still with us oh yeah the chat you you can fire a question if you want I’m currently boys I’m currently walking out towards the

Desert to see if get a better signal I’m just walking um we’ve lost you can call me Doug for the rest of the show we’ve lost Doug um you know I’m I’m on a mattress now like seriously T-Mobile get your act together pull your socks up we

Got that segment today pull your socks T-Mobile Cameron I’m goingon to put you on the spot right now David ricko came on our program after 7 o’clock this morning yep and said it will be sooner rather than later that the NRL will look to um work work out which teams come

Here next year now one of our Lis has quite rightly pointed out well who the premier is will affect that because the world clup challenge would that be part of here if it’s played somewhere else well that team couldn’t come who do you think what’s the short list for teams

Are they are they all eligible do you think they’re all leading contenders or are there some more than others that should be here next I’m going to put forward the Warriors I think the Warriors should be here next year yeah no I’m I’m with you I think they number

One they’re an entertaining footy side to watch right so it’s it’s all about the product and and what we take over there and and what we want to showcase to the new audience like and and we’re targeting Americans that’s it’s no doubt about that um because of the large TV

Audience that they can bring to our game um so Warriors most definitely throw them in um but I don’t know I don’t think I don’t think it needs to be a certain pool of of clubs um you know certainly you I guess naturally you’re targeting the sides that do well the

Previous season I I’m I’m guessing you know you don’t want to be sort of taking the teams that that don’t do so so well because then you sort of you’re not sure what type of product you’re going to get what type of performance you’re going to

Get in that in that game because you want high quality football matches what we seen yesterday um but you know I think I’m not too sure if you ask all the coaches coaches around the competition how um excited they would be about the prospect of you know taking their sides

Over I think they they most coaches would much prefer to be settled in Australia not have their teams travel so far away play a game travel home have a week off and then get back into the season I think they they’d much prefer to stay in Australia with their

Preparations for the season but as a player yeah it doesn’t it doesn’t get too much better than those scenes that we seen yesterday the pitches were fantastic the games are great um and and as I said I’m I’m a retired player now like I retired three years ago um but I

Would have I would have jumped at the opportunity to go over and play in that game okay so if you looked if you if you thought that you were going to send the teams that did did well the previous year I I guess well the Warriors would

Be one um and if you’re talking about cuz you as David ricko said to us cam he said well you know the league would want to get on the front foot and and N get get the sides out there pretty quickly like yeah not Wai till the end of the

Year so so then you’d be looking at the Warriors the storm the Panthers possibly Newcastle who finished fifth last year you know they’re four teams three out of the top four yeah absolutely I think those those four teams would be great for the game to go over um you know but

In saying that you know we’re talking about that issue with the team winning the competition those those four we just named they’ll be in the hunt again this year you know as as well as you know the the teams that went went across um over the last week um to Vegas including the

Broncos and you know manle look fantastic as well Rabbid o are always thereabout so um I think uh you know I think you you need to take into account the you know what they’ve done in the previous season but I I do agree with um with yourself Brandy and and Dave about

Let’s let’s let’s get some teams locked away now because by doing by doing that it it gives those clubs time to prepare for that that travel um you know organizing all the logistical stuff for overseas but also it gives their fans an opportunity to start to start locking in

You know their travel their itinery they can book some early flights they can book accommodation they can book a whole sort of package to go over there and and and maybe we see like the crowd we got was fantastic like 40,000 over in United States for a doubleheader NRL game was

Great maybe if we give that that bit more time um where teams are locked away we might get 60,000 who knows well I think I think yeah and and we’ I’ve sort of compared it to what people thought of magic round initially well you know it

Was good it was good but then all of a sudden you know you you’re talking about magic round this year where everyone wants to be part of it like it’s just and that I’m sure that will happen with Vegas uh one of the one of the the

Things that well there wasn’t many you know down throughout the the whole preparation the games yesterday but one uh one moment from Spencer lenu allegedly um you know he’s uh what do you think should happen if it’s proven that uh you know Spencer has said what has been reported yeah well look you

Know if it’s proven he’s in a lot of strife I I think it’s simple as that Brandy it’s simple as that you know the the league um the commission I think uh the the league Community as a whole take you know racism very seriously um you know we’ve seen it in

The past with with abuse that players have cop from from fans um across the fence um and they’ve been treated accordingly and I don’t think it it changes whether you’re it’s it’s player to player um you know so it’s it’s unfortunate given given what a great um experience this was for our game

Overseas and now for this to just be hanging over it like a like a like a dark cloud it’s unfortunate and it you if it happened and you know it seemed like Ezra M and and his teammates were were quite strong about the allegation um it’s just ordinary it’s it’s ordinary

On on the part of Spencer lenu you know for him to do that and think that’s okay um so he’ll be if it’s Pro if it’s proven that he that he actually said it he’ll be treated um and dealt with accordingly um but you know there’s a

Lot of opinions flying around the moment you know I’ve seen some saying you know it’s it’s you know it’s bad to get it out of the game others saying look you know they men it happened in the heat of battle just get on with it at the end of

The day the only opinion that matters is Ezra Ms and how it affected him and and and obviously it it affected him deeply so I think that it needs to be dealt with accordingly yeah I think it’s bigger than a a rugby league issue to be honest because it’s it’s Society expectations

It’s not just you know rugby league fans expecting better y from their athletes you know Society now where it’s 2024 we’ve come Way Beyond that even entering the thought that you would say such a thing so I I I can’t on this instance where previously over the years and

We’ve looked at cases and two BLS you know have got their fists up about to punch and things are said that can be he to battle but this expression cannot be in this case um we are far beyond having that logic or that sort of Defense applied so we

Found guilty and I guess they’re going to go through all the audio tapes to to to see what they pick up the referee is miked up I would assume there is a feed of this um I’m probably the more I thought about it I thought well you know

We’re probably not going to deal with it until we go home sorry NRL guys that are over here hoping they have a little bit of time off today before they fly home I think got to deal with it like now agree put it this way the officials are not

Going home until 11:00 tonight most of them so that gives them another let me just check my watch that’s another 10 hours away now I would think sometime in the next two or three hours they they need to examine that audio they need I I think deal with it now yeah it’s

Possible to do it yes I I agree get get it get it over and done with get it get it done before you get on the planes and fly home uh cam we we’ve released our eights and our our uh Grand finalist premieres wooden spoon

Um have you got can you share any light shed any light on what you’re thinking well well I know it’s early days and you sort of take the result out of um what happened yesterday I still feel as though the Broncos are my favorites for the Premiership um just given the way they

Played last year they got so close they were within what was it 15 minutes 16 minutes of uh of taking out the Premiership and it took an extraordinary effort by uh the penth Panthers to come back and win that game so um having been in that position before where you get

You get so close to winning a grand final and you’re beaten I I know exactly what the feeling is like spending that whole offseason thinking about that one match not even that whole match it’s you’d be thinking about the final 15 minutes and and what you could have done

Differently to to change the result of that game so um I think they’ll be there’ll be still be a plenty of hurt um um deep in the soul of the the Broncos players and and I reckon they they’ll come out and for for mine they’re going

To be the favorites um as far as the top Eight’s concerned um do I have any Smokies I think we’ll see I think we’ll see much of the same from um most of the teams that were in there last year um so the sides that weren’t in there so so

That like the sides that might challenge uh the ills didn’t make it last year South Sydney didn’t make it last year do you see either of those jumping into the eight well like the rabbit o are a dead set top eight side they’re a dead set top

Eight top eight side but what we seen from them yesterday was I feel they’re I feel they’re they’re a better football side in general right than than the manly Eagles but their lapses of concentration cost them their lapses of concentration cost them last year like they were they were sitting weren’t they

Leading the comp after 12 RS yeah 11 to 12 rounds Y and then and then they go on this this horrible horrible run where they just could not find they could hardly find a victory their defense went out the window and they just they just

Fell off the cliff at the end of the year so that’s a concerning thing for me for the rabbit o is that is that if they can find some consistency they they’ll be well and truly in the top eight so I’d like to think you they’ve got too

Many good players too many good players to not be a part of the top eight this year okay what what about another one that I I found room for this team uh the Cowboys very disappointing last year after a great 2022 season can they can

They bounce back yeah well I had these I had uh the Cowboys as um I think minor Premier last year and they’ve they well and truly let me down so I’d like to see I’d like to think that they’re going to bounce back and again they’re another side with with

Too many quality individuals not to be there um you know again it’s just a matter of them finding what made them such a good footy side um a couple years back was was their resilience in defense and the way that they were able to you

Know play with a bit of flare but also play with a bit of control and I think that that went by the wayside last year so if they can find that that really good mix where they where they find a sweet spot of their football I think

They should be playing um some finals this year as well

23 Comments

  1. in an apocalypse where do we find our gladiators where do we find entertainment where do we find electricity where do we find our heroes? NRL!!! embrace it

  2. Hey Smithy when you started at the Storm! You copped a few lite on crowds!
    What do You think? Those two very good games.. did not need the fake crowd noise! ??

  3. Arranging flights to get fans across to the games will impact the crowd number.
    At least if a team from New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane more fans can be moved in a shorter period.
    A few extra flights can be added but you’re not talking an extra 20,000 if three sides are flying out of Sydney.

  4. do u think they cld play the world club challenge as a 3rd game? cos if u get picked to go over and then win the comp u cant do club challenge and las vegas

  5. I must have watched different games. The games I saw were pathetic, clunky, full of errors and ineptitude. and I can't imagine any Yanks coming back for more.

  6. You cannot pick the teams this early. You have no idea how the season will pan out and which teams will make the top 4 – 6. Like every year, there will be surprises and disappointments.

  7. when i was playing back in the 70's i was called a c**t in just about every tackle. what would u rather be called – a c**t or a monkey i would have smiled from ear to ear and would have brought the guy a drink after the game talk about woke

  8. Racism from a player to another player especially when the NRL is trying to introduce rugby league to a market where the issue is very very delicate and sensitive towards African Americans.

    This allegation must be dealt with to the utmost to allay fear from black American fans and other sports in the United States and anywhere elsewhere to think racial tone is normal in order for a new product to come clean of this mental illness called “RACISM”.

    The NRL cannot and shouldn’t think or treat this racism allegation to let it go let things happened to rest on the field in Las Vegas.

    Stamp racism out of sports in the world it has no place it’s a mental illness.

    Only very sick peoples with low quotient resor to racism!

  9. Send 16 teams over to open the competition like magic round & have a carnival like atmosphere. Week off and resume the comp back in Australia. Still have magic round at Suncorp too

  10. I would like to see one of the Origin games played in Vegas at some time.The Americans would love our Origin series.

  11. Wow 100%.
    I'll start saving tomorrow, what a vibe, what an add for the game.
    What an experience and something to be apart of, I'm there

  12. Lock away the three sides to go to vegas first…then leave a space for the runner up in the grand final. The hype alone for them getting to the grand final will mean a quick uptake from their fans

    or leave spot 1 and 2 for the winners of NRL and Superleague with 2 locked away early

  13. Interesting that both Cam and Brandy effectively excluded Manly from the teams with a prospect of breaking into the 8.

    With Turbo and Brooks added, could Manly be flying under the radar?

  14. I hope Spencer pulls the the bullying wild card out come on Kevin Walter's I'm happy me boys went to go sort him out lmao you can't go hunting someone one down like the broncos have

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