The Mahoney-Cherrington Set
A lot of chat about HLE
Welcome to The Maroon Observer, a weekly newsletter about rugby league, Queensland and rugby league in Queensland.
Super Sunday
We were treated to three of the Queensland teams playing line astern on Sunday. Given it is just as after the midpoint of the season, this feels like an appropriate time to take stock.
The Dolphins have turned themselves into a pretty good team. Irrespective of their form going into the game, the Phins are completely incapable of playing well against the Knights, regularly serving up some of the most excruciating football imaginable. Otherwise, Redcliffe have landed on a good enough combination to compete with the best, at least as that is defined in 2025. Scoring 50 points per game is never going to be sustainable but more concerningly, it would be easy to assume the now-annual injury crisis will catch up with the club’s results eventually. Jack Bostock joins several other broken men, snapped on the medieval torture rack that is the Dolphins approach to strength and conditioning. While I think they can still string together enough to finish 12-12, it could just as easily implode when the wrong ligament snaps.
The Broncos remain a distressingly inconsistent team. The return of Walsh and Mam has stabilised things somewhat. The early season began fine enough, thanks to the new coach bump as much as anything, and we’ve seen glimpses of it since (the win over the Bulldogs being the most famous, the win over the Titans more in line with expectation) but that has been diluted with a painful series of losses. The win over the Sharks was the first gutful win of the season, in contrast to the gutless half hour of play from their opponents, to pull back a 16 point deficit with confidence, skill and a ruthlessness for capitalising on the opportunities presented. Surely, that’s not going to work every week, like it did in 2023, but it might work often enough. At 7-7, and somehow that is good enough for fifth best in this competition, the run home was never going to be easy. Even the lesser teams on the schedule - the Eels, Rabbitohs, Knights and Cowboys - will be surely aiming up just to knock the smile off the pretty boys’ faces. The path to another five or six wins is not clear but it is clearer than it was two weeks ago.
The Cowboys are done. Since mid-May, they have lost four of five games. That one win came against the Tigers by four points. Those four losses were by a total of 130 points. That period neatly coincides with the period in which Clifford was dropped for Purdue and Laybutt was moved into his place. In contrast to his form earlier in his career, Laybutt the Younger hasn’t looked comfortable in the NRL. Whatever Purdue offers, it is not replacing the steady, if unspectacular, production of Clifford. I’ve been wrong about the Cowboys at just about every step this season but this feels like the death knell of Todd Payten’s time in Townsville, so look for them to rip off ten straight wins as Clifford gets rotated back in.
The Gold Coast Titans continue to meet their contractual obligations under their licencing agreement with the National Rugby League. Despite running last in the NRL at time of writing, I’d give the Titans the edge in an effort challenge with the Cowboys, even if the scoreboard wouldn’t necessarily reflect the calories expended. Consequently, Des Hasler seems more secure than Todd Payten, and his squad appear less likely to give up on him, even if I think it’s likely both ended up terminated with the loser going after next week’s anxiety bowl.
You’ll note that the best case scenario is that the Broncos and Dolphins make finals, probably around a 13-11 or 12-12 record, which is not likely to grant a top four position and neither team has really looked like being able to string four weeks of wins together against whatever passes for “good” teams in 2025.
Relatedly and more importantly about me, that does make getting through the next eight weeks a bit of a challenge. While I enjoy covering the statewide comps, what puts people in the subscription funnel are the NRL clubs, even if they range from ‘inconsistent’ to ‘hospital ward’ to ‘bunch of losers’. The upcoming NRLW will cause further strain on my availability to watch and write. This may see some games trimmed from the schedule - I watched the second half of the Titans-Eels game and don’t think I learned anything your or I didn’t already know - in an effort to get around the important things happening. I apologise in advance if this offends but unless a lot more people get a paid subscription, I only have so many hours in the week.
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Youth Origin
New South Wales 26 defeated Queensland 10 (W). This was a bit of a weird game, mostly because I was watching on delay and expecting the Maroons to get blown off the park. The talent disparity was apparent in the early stages of the game and, while I think it’s a horrendous cliche that lazy writers use as a crutch, it did seem like the magnitude of the occassion was playing on the Queenslanders’ nerves. To then go full boomer, boy, the Maroons spent a lot of energy over-celebrating their tries. I get that the tension is momentarily released but you got done here, a lot of it your own doing (an error every 6 minutes of game clock, <70% completion rate) and it could have been a lot worse. Perhaps a cause for focus rather than cheering? Something to work on but then the playing group will be different next year.
I didn’t find myself particularly taken with anyone in the shop window on the Maroon side. Takoda Thompson seems pretty handy and signed for the Titans a month ago. We might see more of Nadia Windleborn in the BMD for Burleigh, after a few appearances off the bench last year. Wasn’t as sold on Hippi as the commentators were but Fleur Ginn had a few nice moments and signed for the Eels earlier this year. On the Blues side, Tess McWilliams is obviously going to be a problem moving forward. We didn’t hear a lot of clamouring about Kasey Reh this year, which was a welcome relief. Ekepati is going to be one of those players whose highlights are shit stirring, rather than actually doing anything (see also Reed Mahoney, Kennedy Cherrington for other examples of players with similar, Huge Loser Energy).
Queensland 23 defeated New South Wales 22 (M). This was easily the best game we’ve seen since the reinvigoration of junior Origin, post-covid. I had forgotten that Darius Boyd was the coach. I was frankly surprised when his team didn’t get done in the first 20 minutes (refer 2022 for the archetype of this game) and put up a pretty solid 50 minutes of the game. The Maroons lost their way a bit when Coby Black got HIAed out of the game but settled and ground out a win nonetheless. The team, as a whole, looked good, coherent and settled so that is a credit to Boyd. A few more of these and I might take back all the nasty things I said about the backend of his career.
Coby Black is going to get more attention again for his performance, although unlike when he was the Wide Bay Destroyer, it’s unlikely to generate billboard space. Cooper Bai is really big and will be wasted at the Titans. Phillip Coates has early career Xavier Coates hands, so there’s some hope that might get rectified when the younger Coates inevitably leaves Brisbane for Melbourne. Jordan Uta is a ‘uge dumbass and I’m surprised it took that long to get binned.
Interstate Championship. The best Queensland can hope for is a drawn series, which would revert to the Blues under classic Origin rules. I doubt anyone would mind that much if it included an historic come-from-behind victory in the senior men’s series but that seems optimistic to say the least.
Around the grounds
Raiders 16 defeated Tigers 12. Just a note that Jarome Luai, who has Huge Loser Energy but is differentiated from Mahoney, Cherrington, et al by having played an important role in winning a bunch of shit, had two second half comebacks fall agonisingly short in the space of a week. Also the Tigers never looked like actually winning this game.
Knights 26 defeated Dolphins 20. The Knights are a bad team and have been for several seasons and yet, the Dolphins are 1-5 against them. Redcliffe haven't won since their first meeting in round 3, 2023. Watching these games is the equivalent of having teeth pulled. The Dolphins can never seem to attack properly. Last year they were too slow and sideways. This year they were too shallow against the line. For fuck’s sake stop running Tabuai-Fidow on the right hand sweep. It is the easiest thing in the world to defend: the defender jams in, takes away his time, he bats it on instead of passing it and the whole thing goes to shit. Sort it out.
Storm 25 defeated Rabbitohs 24. Let’s hear from the fans:
Bellamy has now coached 590 Storm NRL matches and two Broncos NRL matches. Of course I am of the view that three of those matches in 2008 possibly shouldn’t count for Bellyache while he was absent from the coaches’ box on Origin duty, but seemingly few agree with my view.
Bennett meanwhile has a bunch of anomalies in his statistical records around matches he’s missed through suspension, Origin and other things; plus his BRL first grade and Queensland State League matches are almost never recognised.
Yes. Ha ha ha… Yes! Is this relevant to anything in particular? No but go read and subscribe to Storm Machine anyway.
Broncos 32 defeated Sharks 28. I have to admit that I gave in to my kids and stopped coming up with excuses to watch this instead of parenting when the Sharks got up by 16. Then, while my back was turned, the Sharks went to absolute pieces. Mulitalo, who almost belongs in the Reed-Cherrington set, drops the ball and the Sharks follow up with a deliberate scrum penalty, which might be the most cowardly thing I've ever seen, and the Broncos score. Trindall kicks out on the full and the Broncos score. Kennedy drops the ball and the Broncos score. Missed tackle on Reece Walsh and the Broncos score. The Sharks are clearly not contenders, and haven't ever really looked like getting over the hump in the Fitzgibbon era, which begs questions about his hiring in the first place and everything that's followed. While Cronulla could cover blemishes with the relentless domination of the Panthers dynasty, that ain't an option this year. It's wide open and you're still kicking own goals.
Roosters 42 defeated Cowboys 8. Oh no! Disaster! What a bad idea!
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Some context if required. Won't be the last time you see this I think. It was more entertaining when the Dolphins did it, less so the Roosters.
Eels 36 defeated Titans 20.
Tigers 36 defeated Hunters 16. Judah Rimbu is back and the Hunters got their ass absolutely beat. In the space of eight minutes, PNG gave up three tries in the second half, two to Ryley Jacks, and it was game over. Despite never looking particularly dominating, I expected better than that. The Tigers look like a coherent team which I think is going to steer them well in the back half of the season. Keagan Russell-Smith kicked a monster 40/20 (closer to 35/15) in the first half, despite playing at hooker. Sylvester Nano had an arvo to forget. Josiah Pahulu looks likely.
Intermission
New logos
The Broncos new logo generated predictable griping, specifically referenced by Dave Donaghy in a letter to Broncos members that was otherwise about contract extensions, but I started thinking about why miserable Facebook brainrot victims reflexively lash out at any branding change.
When it comes to branding, the interests of management and the interests of fans are actually diametrically opposed. What do the fans want? Something with a bit of personality, something interesting, something worth spending $170 on. What does management want? A logo that scales easily across digital platforms, something that can be easily trademarked and defended in court, something that is simple to manufacture onto all manner of future landfill and can be changed colour with a few clicks in Illustrator. You see the discrepancies.
Given the fans aren't giving the brief, sorting through tenders, attending the meetings or paying the bills (directly, at least), it's little surprise that what they want is not taken into consideration. It is more surprising when executives and marketing ghouls go through this process and are shocked at the opprobrium they get in return.
No one would change anything ever if it was up to the loudest, least thinking people. Nothing makes 100% of people happy. In a large enough group of people, someone will complain about having air to breathe. But they also are getting a product that they didn't ask for, that doesn't meet their brief and costs an astronomical amount of money (which is mostly spent in reprinting stationery and updating signage or whatever, rather than the design process per se). Then, in the case of some, the redesign looks ugly, the worst crime of all.
So getting a “good” logo requires several things: a bit of vision, a bit of courage and a bit of skill. Not being intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the graphic design industry, I can't comment on the depth of talent but vision and courage are generally lacking in Australia's managerial class. If you've ever wondered about the sameness of everything, it starts there. The same kind of “sensible” decision makers get sold the same stuff by the same kind of people who know what appeals to previous sensible decision makers. If you wouldn't make that decision in that spot, that's why people like you don't get to those places.
Premier David Crisafulli has flatly refused to reveal how much the state government spent on changing the colour of the Queensland coat of arms from maroon to blue, saying he would not play “silly games”.
The government has quietly changed the colour of Queensland’s coat of arms – from maroon to blue – to align closer with the LNP brand.
Blue! What an absolute dipshit. Never trust a Cowboys fan resident on the Gold Coast.
Hotseat
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Todd Payten
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Anthony Seibold
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Adam O'Brien
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Des Hasler
🔥🔥 Craig Fitzgibbon
🔥 Michael Maguire
🔥 Benji Marshall
Heads must roll! Only BLOOD can satiate the FIRES.
Upcoming Slate
Taking a little break from being wrong about everything all the time to make the following observations:
There is a full dance card this week. The 3pm Saturday and 2pm Sunday windows are absolutely rammed, each with five games kicking on or around that time.
Normally, the Queensland teams would get a half star bonus in the NRL and a derby would get a whole star added. I took a whole star off for Titans-Cowboys. Both teams have ratings under 1400. Pathetic. The loser will almost certainly be fired. A true El Assico.
There are two (2) NSW Cup games kicking off before 6pm on Friday
The Hunters have the bye in QCup’s second rivalry round for the year, which then sees the Sunshine Coast Falcons play their natural rivals, the Western Clydesdales of Toowoomba. The Battle of State Route 85?
Awkwardly, Wynnum are up against the Pride in the women’s equivalent. You would have to work very hard to come up with a basis for that rivalry, although XXXX may not be sponsoring the round in the BMD, so it may not be an official Rivalry Round™ game.
There are two Cutters-Capras games, both rated 1.5 stars. Not a great look for the Friends of Coal Bowl.
(Tips 21 / 46 in 2025; 48 / 92 in 2024)
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Notes
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Inaugural board of Papua New Guinea franchise announced. Cooper Bai signature closing rapidly.
Copper mining and Mount Isa go hand-in-hand. Can one survive without the other?