First things first. Bradman Best. Any other Australians getting around with this as their Christian name? Gotta be a first. It’s quite the title. Can he hold a bat? Doesn’t matter. No 18-year-olds can hold a candle to him as an NRL player. The only people more fearless than him? His parents. They’ve shot for the stars there.
He’s better than average. He botched a try on Sunday like he was facing Eric Hollies, but otherwise his performance against Penrith was a 99.94 out of a hundred. You can see blokes in Origin jumpers before they are given Origin jumpers — they just have that look and that feel about them out, straight out of the cot — and the teenage tank is one of them.
Sooner or later, a few years down the track, Freddy Fittler willing, there will be a Bradman in the blue of NSW for the first time since The Don farewelled his home state at the SCG in 1934. Commentators and writers will be inclined to ignore his surname.
If Best’s name isn’t the best name in Australian sport, it belongs to his Knights teammate, Tex Hoy. Away from footy, Hoy must be tempted to get around town with a pistol and cowboy hat, arriving at training on horseback, sidling up to Bradman and saying, “Howdy, partner”.
I went to school with Hoy’s father, Matt. He won the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. He was on the world surf tour for a good time, not necessarily a long time, and he’s remembered by his era as a champion of a bloke. Big thirst, big love of life, big heart.
His boy was thrown into the fire when the Knights lost player after player after player against Penrith, a big task, and apart from a few wipeouts when it came to field goal attempts, he was fearless and capable. The apple has not fallen far.
Now to matters less entertaining, but more serious. Paul McGregor and Dean Pay. If there’s a coach under more pressure than the 0-3 McGregor at the misfiring Dragons, it’s the 0-3 Pay at the misfiring Bulldogs. If there’s one team the underwhelming Dragons may just be able to beat at the moment, it’s the underwhelming Bulldogs, whom they play at 4.05pm on Monday at Bankwest Stadium.
I have initially thought this was another masterstroke from ARLC boss Peter V’landys, scheduling this bludger of a match when everybody is going to be at work, but no — it’s a long weekend.
The gap between the best and worst teams in the NRL is the distance between east and west, difficult to put into words but if nothing else this will be a clash between two evenly matched sides. The TAB cannot split them, which doesn’t say much for either of them, putting them at $1.90 each.
The loser between McGregor and Pay may as well leave their credentials at the door. It’s a dream draw for them both, until one of them loses and it becomes a nightmare loss. Pay’s saving grace is that he’s only been at the Dogs for two seasons. He’s delivered on his promise of consistency, even if a couple of 12ths hasn’t quite been what everyone had in mind.
McGregor’s performance has been below average. He’s had more than enough time at the crease. He replaced Steve Price in 2014. This was the year that Ricky Stuart took over at Canberra and Paul Green began at North Queensland. It was a year later than Trent Robinson began at Sydney. Those three coaches have either won grand finals or gone damn close in the seasons since. The Dragons have come 11th in Price’s last year. They’ve been 11th, 8th, 11th, 9th, 7th, 15th on McGregor’s watch. Nothing much has changed, middle of the road, and if anything they appear to be getting worse — 15th right now. Here comes another coach sacking before the end of a contract, another payout, another fresh or recycled face … but does it ever change anything?
The Bulldogs have come 11th under Des Hasler in 2017. Under Pay, they’ve come 12th in his first year and to prove that was no fluke, they’ve come 12th again last year. They’re 14th at the moment. It’s the same old same old, probably because they have the same old players. Hasler’s return to Manly has sparked a revival on the northern beaches, however, going from 15th under Trent Barrett to the second week of the finals.
Elsewhere, Ivan Cleary’s first season at Penrith last year has been a flop. The Panthers have come fifth under Anthony Griffin and Cameron Ciraldo in 2018, then 10th under Cleary. They’re fourth now.
Wayne Bennett and Anthony Seibold have swapped jobs and results. Under Bennett in 2018, the Broncos have finished sixth and been flogged in the first week of the finals. Under Seibold last year, they’ve come eighth and been annihilated in week one of the playoffs. Same story!
Souths have been third in 2018 under Seibold, losing the preliminary final. They’ve been third last year under Bennett, losing another preliminary final. Same story! For all the drama and payouts and player confusion, nothing has changed. Wests have come ninth under Cleary in 2018. Under Michael Maguire last year, they’ve come … ninth. The moral to the story? Change doesn’t always improve the situation. But it rarely makes a team worse off.
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