What an amazing week we’ve had in rugbaleeg:

The Sydney Roosters becoming the first team since May 1935 to score 80+ points in a First Grade match as they walloped the Cowboys 82-12 in Townsville, Sam Walker scored the equal 3rd-most points in a game by any player (36) as the Cowboys became the first team not named Canterbury to ever concede 80+ points… for 91 years that was one of the greatest stats in First Grade, as an expansion Canterbury lost 91-6 to St George on May 11, 1935, then on May 18 played Eastern Suburbs and lost 87-7, a game that featured Dave Brown’s record haul of 45 points… so yes, 82 points is only the second-most points ever scored by the Roosters.

In fact, the Roosters’ score was bigger than 8 AFL clubs managed on the weekend.

Laurie Daley stepped down as coach of New South Wales, officially going out as a series winning hero, and the NSWRL immediately appointed former Blues and Melbourne Storm winger (And Daley’s assistant) Matt King as coach for 2027, which means the former Melbourne Storm teammates in King and Billy Slater will serve as Origin coaches in 2027, and I do believe this also makes King the first State of Origin head coach to have also scored a State of Origin hat-trick, which he did in Game III of 2005:

And, having taken on AI, Pope Leo XIV is taking on his new greatest challenge… RUGBY LEAGUE.

No kidding, this appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday regarding a potential change to the 2028 Grand Final date and/or venue, because Pope Leo plans to be in Sydney on the October long weekend in 2028, which coincides with the Catholic Church’s International Eucharistic Congress being hosted by the Archdiocese of Sydney, with there being a good chance His Holiness will host a Sunday mass at the sacred site known as Royal Randwick before a crowd of some 400,000, which would follow in the footsteps of previous Pontiffs to hold a mass at Randwick, after Pope Paul VI (1970), John Paul II (1995) and Pope Benedict XVI (2008):

The NRL may be forced to move the grand final in 2028 due to a scheduling clash with Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Sydney.

The head of the Vatican is expected to be in Sydney on the October long weekend in two years’ time and hold a papal Mass on the same day as the NRL grand final.

The Pope’s public address is most likely to take place at Royal Randwick Racecourse and the NRL grand final is played further west at Accor Stadium in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct.

However, the scale of the occasions and the pressure they will place on the city’s transport network, policing and other resources has raised questions about whether it is practical for them to be staged within hours of each other.

The clash of the two major events has been the subject of talks between the NSW government and the NRL, which both declined to comment on Tuesday.

It has left the NRL facing its most significant scheduling shift in decades aside from the pandemic-affected seasons of 2020 and 2021.

Moving the grand final forward by a week is one option, which would return it to September, when it was traditionally played in the pre-NRL era.

That would also require the competition to begin a week ahead of usual, resulting in potentially the earliest start to a season since the year of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

The NRL would also lose its desired Sunday night grand final spot followed by a Monday public holiday as daylight savings kicks off in NSW.

With the NRL yet to agree a deal for the grand final venue beyond this year, another alternative is relocating the decider interstate in 2028.

Chris Barrett, SMH, August 4 2026

I do like how the Pontiffs always choose Randwick to host a papal mass, although I would argue His Holiness should hold the mass on the Saturday of the Epsom Handicap, because if there’s one place several thousand people need a miracle from God on a Saturday, it’s Randwick.

But of course, there is a great celebration in rugbaleeg this weekend…

We have reached INDIGENOUS ROUND.

The annual celebration of life and First Nations culture that is Indigenous Round, and we should remember that it’s not just a celebration of Indigenous Australian culture, but the New Zealand Warriors have also used the round to celebrate Maori culture, which has given us great moments like Ruben Wiki pancaking some poor bastards, Once Were Warriors, Boba & Jango Fett + the Clone Troopers from Star Wars, the Haka, and Taika Waititi.

Of course, every year I post the highlights of an Indigenous great of the game, with the likes of Steve Renouf, Greg Inglis, Preston Campbell, Cliffy Lyons, Johnathan Thurston being recognised in past years, and this year I figured we’ll honour the outgoing coach of New South Wales, the No.6 of the Indigenous Team of the Century, Laurie Daley:

Once again, now and forever, a New South Wales and Australian rugby league legend.

Now, the games for Indigenous Round:

– A Queensland Derby on Thursday night as the Gold Coast Titans host North Queensland at Cbus, and the obvious goal for the Cowboys is to concede under 82 points… seriously, how the hell are they a finals contender when they’re conceding 82 points, even the Wests Tigers have never achieved that.

– The biggest and most important game of the season to date in Aotearoa as the New Zealand Warriors host Penrith at Mt Smart, as the Warriors have a chance to close to within 2 points of the Panthers at the top of the ladder, which would also give the Roosters a chance to go level on points with Penrith, which does seem unlikely given the Panthers have absolutely cleaved the Warriors just about every time they’ve played in the 2020s, and the other one to watch is Thomas Jenkins on his magical tryscoring journey, as he now sits at 28 tries in just 19 games, which is within striking distance of Alex Johnston’s NRL record of 30 tries in 2021 and 2022, Ray Preston’s 34 for Newtown in 1954, and Dave Brown scoring 38 in 1935… and there’s still 5 games until the damn finals start.

– Capping off this Fun Friday we have the Sydney Roosters hosting Canterbury at Allianz with Channel 9 on the TV, as the Roosters keep up the pursuit of the minor premiership and a potential Top 2 spot, which is especially crucial with the Riff and Wahs playing each other in the earlier game, while the Bulldogs have rattled off 6 wins from their last 7 games to climb into 8th spot… basically, it’s the polar opposite of their form at the end of last season.

I would also note the Roosters’ Indigenous guernsey this year pays tribute to one of Easts’ great heroes, one of the few they had during the brutal Transit Lounge era of the 1980s and early 1990s… Craig Salvatori.

– The Melbourne Storm and Manly clash in Perth on the early Saturday kickoff, in what will be the last NRL played in Perth before the Perth Bears enter the competition in 2027, and on that note we’ll also see the unveiling of the Bears’ 2027 guernsey on Saturday morning, and I can also report I WILL BE AT THE GAME ON SATURDAY, and I thought it was going to be getting a decent game between two modern rivals, which you’d expect for a $70 ticket… Alas, Melbourne are capping off their worst season that didn’t involve salary cap punishments, and Manly aren’t far behind.

– The latest edition of the Battle of Brisbane as the Dolphins get hosting rights against the Broncos at Suncorp, as the Broncos’ premiership defence is officially over, making them the first defending premiers to miss the finals since the Wests Tigers in 2006, and statistically this is the worst premiership defence by any team since the 1953 Western Suburbs team, who won the 1952 premiership then finished last… the 2006 Tigers also finished 11th, the current Broncos are 15th… on the other hand, the Dolphins have only defeated the Broncos once since they entered the league in 2023 (Which was in 2024), and in their pursuit of a finals spot and a Top 4 finish, I would say they’re going to make it 2 WINS.

– Souths host Parramatta at Allianz on Saturday night, and this game has seemingly become a tradition between the teams as Souths get their token home game away from Western Sydney against the Eels, as they did in 2023 and 2025… and hopefully this game is slightly better than the Eels’ game against the Wests Tigers last Sunday, which was so bad that Kerry Packer jumped out of his grave and shouted “GET THAT SHIT OFF THE AIR!”… Channel 9 duly obliged and put the news on instead.

– Another crucial game for differing reasons as the Canberra Raiders host Newcastle, as the Raiders’ late push to salvage a finals spot was brutally crushed by the Panthers in Mudgee last Saturday, leaving them 2 games outside of the Top 8 with 5 to play, while the Knights ended Brisbane’s premiership defence last week, which kept their Top 4 hopes alive as they still need to keep winning out just to secure a Top 8 spot…

– And finally it’s the Southern Suburbs Derby as St George-Illawarra host Cronulla at Kogarah, and if the Dragons lose this it will all but confirm them as wooden spooners for 2026 (4 wins behind the Titans and Broncos with 4 games remaining if they lose), and how appropriate that they’d be pulling it off at the home of the old St George team 60 years after they won their 11th consecutive premiership, and they’d be suffering the ignominy of the spoon against their local rivals..

Another one to watch out for in this game – Nico Hynes has landed 32 consecutive shots at goal, which is 3 short of Hazem El Masri’s record of 35 set in 2003.

And now the Round 23 Tips:

Round 22 Tips = 7/8

Round 22 progress score = 109/164 (66.4%)

And now for a random musical interlude… did you know yesterday was 60 years since The Beatles released Revolver…

Of course, in an album noted for being the most innovative and diverse album The Beatles ever produced, the one song they gave to Ringo for that album turned out to be the most successful, so here’s Yellow Submarine!