Footy IQ

NRL Grand Final review: the Roosters beat the Knights 19–18, and Footy IQ breaks down what actually happened. Chris Danks and Blake Austin look at how the Knights hung on for dear life with less than half the ball, how Kalyn Ponga delivered a near 80-minute performance, and how the Knights' first try came out of a flat line from Fletcher Sharpe. Blake explains why a front-foot attack that look...

NRL Grand Final preview and prelim finals review. Footy IQ breaks down how the Newcastle Knights beat Penrith with 12 men for 44 minutes, and what they'll need to survive the Sydney Roosters' pack on Sunday night. Chris Danks and Blake Austin unpack why Penrith couldn't break a 12-man line: Dylan Edwards' decisions, Cogger and Cole's ball share, and Blaize Talagi's night ag...

Finals Week 2 is done and the NRL is down to four. Chris Danks and Blake Austin break down a weekend that ended with Ashley Klein withdrawn from preliminary final consideration — and ask why the game reversed its own rule interpretation inside seven days. Blake goes deep on Cronulla: why this isn't a rebuild, why the Sharks are obsessed with the long side of the field, what a fresh set of eyes...

Four finals, four good games, and one question the NRL won't answer: why did Cronulla lose their home final, and why is the crowd conversation being pinned on fans? Howabout...tell us the actual reason, then show us that moving it fixed anything. And if we're going to play finals in big stadiums, work out how to fill them, because $9 for a Cornetto and four kids is $36 before you've sa...

NRL finals 2026 are here, and the Warriors v Dolphins qualifying final at Go Media Stadium might be the closest fixture of the lot. Two meetings this season, both decided by two points, 44-all on aggregate — and Saturday is the first time these two have met at Go Media all year. Chris Danks and Blake Austin unpack Andrew Webster's edge defence argument and whether he's right that it's...

Fitzgibbon said his side is uptight. That's an unusual thing for a coach to say out loud a week out from a final — and it raises a question we spent most of this episode on: what can a coach actually do about it in seven days? Simplify the game plan, shorten the shift, change the kicking pattern — or is "uptight" just the word we reach for after a side gets beaten? Plus Blake on what...

The Warriors are top of the ladder, 8-2 at home, and every pundit in the country is treating a finals trip to Auckland like a death sentence. Blake Austin isn't convinced the players see it that way — he reckons most finals sides will still turn up with an arrogance about it, and that he'd have wanted the trip himself. Plus: Adam Reynolds' career ends on a calf strain, Josh Papali'...

Penrith lost 12-6 on Thursday night and looked more like Penrith than they have in a month. The Roosters needed near-best footy and a very specific plan to beat them — hammering the Panthers' left edge until Daly Cherry-Evans found the space twice in a game that produced three tries all night. Chris and Blake break down what that actually means for both sides come September. Plus: why the Warr...

Penrith say Isaah Yeo won't need surgery — but they still have four weeks to solve a problem they haven't had to solve all year. Chris Danks and Blake Austin on what actually changes without him. Also this week: Ricky Stuart's press conference after Canberra's elimination and the one decision he singled out; how the Warriors' 28-12 win over Penrith became a blueprint; why Cronu...

Penrith have lost just four games all season — to the Bulldogs (Rd 6), Titans (Rd 16), Cowboys (Rd 17) and Broncos (Rd 20). We break down every single one of those losses to see if there's a genuine blueprint hiding in there, or if the Panthers are just occasionally, unpredictably beatable. Plus: Laurie Daley steps down as NSW coach, Sam Walker's night with the ledger, and why Parramatta&#...

Footy IQ breaks down the Adam Doueihi situation at the Wests Tigers — and takes a different angle to most of the coverage. The guys argue that most every current NRL commentator or ex-player in media was a 300-game star, and their idea of what "being a team player" means is shaped by never having to sacrifice their spot — a perspective most guys in Doueihi's position never get. We co...

NRL Round 20 is done and the Top 8 race is officially on. In this Footy IQ episode we dig into the fringe teams – Broncos, Storm, Raiders, Bulldogs and even the steadily impressive Knights – and ask whether the hype matches the ladder when it comes to finals footy If you like tactical NRL breakdowns, systems chat and real talk on decision‑making rather than hot‑take outrage, you’re in the right pl...

What happens when a club in the middle of a reset suddenly has the chance to drop Jarome Luai next to Mitchell Moses for one year? In this Footy IQ Round 19 episode, we unpack whether the Luai‑to‑Eels move is smart list management or a short‑term band‑aid – from cap strategy to what it signals to Parramatta’s junior halves and pathways.smh.com+2 We then widen the lens: Cronulla’s 66‑0 shut‑out of...

We recorded this in Melbourne. On Origin III day. With a former Storm captain who now works at Collingwood — and the NRL had just announced the biggest broadcast deal in Australian sporting history. Christian Welch has seen both codes from the inside. He has a commerce degree, an MBA, three ACLs, and opinions on rugby league's commercial blind spots that the NRL probably doesn't want aired publicl...

Did Laurie Daley just bet the Blues’ entire Origin series on Payne Haas and a chaotic bench rotation? In this episode we break down how NSW are trying to win Game 3 at Suncorp – from the minutes they need out of Haas, Fonua‑Blake and Murray to the way Teddy, Moses and the backfield have to change if the attack is going to work.

Everyone’s blaming “structure” for NSW’s Origin problems – we think that’s lazy. In this episode Blake pulls apart the real issues behind the Blues’ Game 3 headache, from selection calls to combinations and who’s actually built for Suncorp. We also get into the future: who should coach NSW next, and Blake’s own 1–17 for Origin 3 that he believes can win a decider in Brisbane. If you want more than...

Have the Canberra Raiders’ structures finally been found out? In this Footy IQ episode, Chris and Blake dig into why last year’s minor premiers have slumped into the bottom half of the ladder and what’s actually broken in their attack and defence. We look at how the loss of Jamal Fogarty has exposed the spine, why their set shapes aren’t giving young halves clear pictures, and what Blake would be...

The Origin Game 2 team lists have finally dropped, and both coaches have swung some big selection calls. In this episode, we give our honest reactions to the Blues and Maroons squads – who deserved their jersey, who’s been a bit lucky, and what these line‑ups tell us about the game plans for the MCG. We break down the spines, forward packs and benches, and ask whether these combinations actually f...

State of Origin 2026 Game II is coming to the MCG, and the big question for the NSW Blues is simple: where do you actually play Ethan Strange?” In this episode of Footy IQ, we break down all the options – five‑eighth, centre, bench utility – and what each one does to the rest of the Blues spine and attacking structure. We look at how Strange combined with Nathan Cleary in that wild Game I comeback...

State of Origin I week has been flipped on its head, with NSW five‑eighth Mitchell Moses in doubt after pulling up with hamstring tightness at training and Matt Burton called into Blues camp as cover. Laurie Daley has already named Raiders young gun Ethan Strange in jersey 18, and if Moses can’t go on Wednesday night it leaves a massive call for the Blues: do you trust Burton’s experience and left...

The 2026 State of Origin teams are IN – and both the NSW Blues and Queensland Maroons have dropped some huge selection calls for Game I at Accor Stadium. We break down the confirmed Origin 2026 line‑ups, from Laurie Daley building a monster Blues pack around Addin Fonua‑Blake, Mitchell Moses and Nathan Cleary, to Billy Slater handing Sam Walker his Maroons debut alongside Kalyn Ponga and Cameron M...

NRL Round 10 delivered a genuine Knights statement, a steady Roosters machine performance and a few big Queensland Maroons selection questions – so we’re breaking it all down on Footy IQ. Newcastle smashed the Dragons 44–10, with Greg Marzhew crossing for five tries and Kalyn Ponga steering a left edge that looked absolutely untouchable. We dig into how Justin Holbrook has transformed the Knights’...

With Canterbury falling to their third-straight defeat and struggling to score points, Blake Austin questions whether it's time for a rebuild at the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, the Footy Gods come down hard on the Wests Tigers, Penrith and Nathan Cleary are playing possum, the referees are hedging their bets on hip-drop tackles and there are some tough State of Origin calls to be made. All this and more...

The Dragons changed the coach, but the result stayed the same. In the latest episode of Footy IQ, we take a look at where it all went wrong for St George Illawarra in their 46-point Anzac Day loss to the Roosters, which featured a baptism of fire for young halfback Kade Reed. The Tigers chalked up another win, this time against the Raiders, but did the Leichhardt faithful tempt the footy gods? We...

Seven straight losses, another coach gone, another head of football moved on – and a fan base that’s been promised “this is the reset” more times than they can count. This episode we sit with what just happened at the Dragons and ask the honest question: is this club uniquely broken, or are a decade of rule tinkering, set restarts and chaos‑ball seasons starting to cook everyone – fans, players, c...