NRL/AFL
NRL TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP
LIVE from Thursday August 1 at 7pm on
FOX LEAGUE [502] available in the SPORTS pack
HANNAH HOLLIS
Close calls, finals fever and going
back to the ’70s
Have you enjoyed another dramatic
year of rugby league?
Across all of the FOX LEAGUE shows, we’ve
had so much to talk about. Every week is so
unpredictable and that’s why we all love it
so much. August is such a great time of the
season. As we edge closer to finals, we see
the NRL top eight start to solidify. The elite
rise to the top and cement their place in
the top four, and excitement revs up with
competition for positions five to eight.
Is the premiership race open to
any team in the top eight?
History shows it doesn’t matter
where you finish in the top eight,
as momentum can be very
powerful. However, we are
seeing where the good teams
are at. The Storm, Rabbitohs
and Roosters have pulled
away as competition
favourites. I tipped a Storm-
Roosters grand final, but the
Rabbitohs will also be hard
to stop in September.
Which teams have surprised you?
I tipped the Sea Eagles for the ‘wooden spoon’
but what [coach] Des Hasler has been able to
do is awesome. I thought they were cactus,
but I’m happy to be proven wrong there.
Who have been the stand-out players?
I didn’t have the Raiders in my top eight at
the start of the year, but John Bateman and
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad have come from
nowhere as the buys of the season. Kalyn Ponga
from the Knights owns every big occasion and
we are witnessing history with Cameron Smith
at the Storm. Cody Walker has been incredible
for the Rabbitohs, while Cameron Munster
[Storm] will go close to winning the Dally M.
Are you excited for FOX LEAGUE’s Retro
Round in August?
It’ll be the ’70s, so expect many references to
pop culture and iconic music and movies. It will
be NRL round 21, which begins on August 8
with the Queensland derby between the
Cowboys and Broncos, which leads straight into
The Late Show with Matty Johns, where we’ll
be dressing up in our ’70s gear and having
old-school players as guests. It will be very cool.
SEASON’S
With the NRL and AFL seasons stampeding towards the finals in September,
The Raiders’ Charnze
Nicoll-Klokstad (left)
and John Bateman
(right) in action
LEAGUE LIFE
continues Tuesdays
at 8.30pm on
FOX LEAGUE [502]