The League Scene

AJ and Rhys are back to have a look at the shortened Round 12 of the NRL season. It’s been a crazy week; the boys look at all the carnage at Belmore with Lachlan Galvin arriving as Reed Mahoney and Toby Sexton look set to go out the door. We decide what the go is at the Bulldogs moving forward amid the off field signing chaos. The Dogs, albeit depleted struggled on Thursday night against the Dolph...

AJ and Rhys have reunited to go through the Origin teams, we go through the controversial Terrell May omission and the big bolters picked by the QLD Maroons and NSW Blues. We then change tact to the Women’s Origin and debate Ali Brigginshaw’s future as a QLD Maroon. Plus, we make a mockery of Brad Donald’s decision to omit Olivia Kernick after she singlehandedly destroyed the QLD pack. Onto the NR...

AJ and Rhys return to recap a crazy week of rugby league which saw the Bears return to the competition and comebacks galore in our great code of the NRL. We also saw a ruthless side put up the highest total of the regular season so far AND an onslaught of trainers spraying water on footys become big news. On the show today we look at Isaiya Katoa’s rapid rise, theEels blowing a golden chance to mo...

AJ is joined for the first time in two weeks by his trusty sidekick Rhys Sullivan to review the NRL Magic Round. On the show this week we recap the first Women’s State of Origin as well as all the festivities of the NRL’s version of the Met Gala. We analyse the Sharks fade outs, the Roosters strong return to form, Newcastle’s renewed attacking form and the Warriors revival led by their cheeky half...

AJ is again joined by Johnny Lew to recap Round 8 of the NRL season. A round that will be remembered for 18 sin-bins and a ‘crackdown’ on high contact. We also have a fun take on all the games this week including the Bulldogs first loss of the season over the Broncos. Some ANZAC Day fun for the Roosters as they tear apart the Dragons once again. We also rip the Newcastle attack apart for a second...

AJ is joined by a new co-host this week. No we haven’t had acoup, Rhys is on assignment with his work so AJ is joined by Ramblings of a Saint podcast host Johnny Lew to recap the week that was in the NRL and in Super League. We look at every game closely with our eyes firmly set tothe State of Origin series as well as the Ashes tour at the end of the season. There is a lot of good natured banter w...

AJ and Rhys return to a firestorm surrounding the contract future of Lachlan Galvin. We have a fierce debate about the role of controversial player-manager Isaac Moses in this and several other contract sagas. Away from that, we look at the Dolphins big win over Penrith as the Panthers have a serious fault in them. We also look at the win from the Dragons over the Titans as Fifita and Egan shine o...

AJ and Rhys are back once again to review a chaotic Round 5 of the NRL season. We had everything from crackdowns appearing to come and go, some great football, some indifferent football and some great laughs to be had along the way. AJ also has come up with a way to fix the short dropout! We analyse Canberra's great escape over the Sharks as we criticise how the Sharks are playing at the momen...

AJ and Rhys are back to review Round 4 of the NRL Telstra Premiership and we have a crazy week to review. We also have some major breaking news on the future of NRL referees and their current contract status'. On the show - South Sydney dominance as Penrith's premiership defence looks on shaky ground. Jye Gray - will he be the fullback or does Trell claim his 1 jumper back. - Gold Coast wi...

AJ and Rhys review a crazy round of rugby league which saw the high-scoring theme of the first two rounds completely disappear with attack seemingly going out the window. We also have a live reaction to Daly Cherry-Evans' explosive decision to leave Manly at the end of the 2025 season. On the show - Costly GF rematch for both sides with key men injured. Penrith's young halves deliver while...

AJ and Rhys return to recap Round 2 of the NRL season. There was lots of upsets this week, so if you won last week but lost unexpectedly, take our learnings from Round 1 and don't panic. Unless you are a Cowboy or Eels fan, then you scream silently. On the show! - Newcastle prove they can be a force despite the Brown news, we analyse what that means for Sharpe and KP as well as what is going w...

AJ and Rhys recap the opening week on Australian soil! We live react to the Dylan Brown to Newcastle news, we wish we had his manager after earning $1.3 million a year for 10 years as well as the Taylan May return news, we have been consistent in our view on this and the verdict this week hasn't changed. Also this week: - Brisbane put on a masterclass in the middle as the Roosters search despe...

AJ and Rhys are back (albeit a little late) to preview the 2025 season. We have some wildly controversial takes and also some normal takes to look ahead to our amazing game returning this season! A massive thanks to our guest contributors once again this season for joining us and giving their thoughts ahead of the season! It's going to be a year like never before on The League Scene and we hop...

AJ and Rhys review the NRL's second adventure into Las Vegas. A crowd improvement of 5,000 has shown that there are green shoots a plenty but there are still many areas of improvement if the game is to grow internationally beyond Australasia and Europe. AJ and Rhys debate whether the Vegas program (should they keep four games) be spread across the Friday and Saturday night OR if they cut games. On...

AJ and Rhys are back on the eve of Las Vegas to look at the third week of the NRL’s Pre-Season Challenge and how they are tracking on the eve of the NRL season which kicks off in the Sin City. There is so many selection talking points and takeaways from the trials that see each club on the brink. We also live react to the Raiders Las Vegas bust-up as an inflatable baseball bat sends us into hyster...

AJ Lucantonio is joined for the first time in 2025 by co-host Rhys Sullivan to review the first full round of Pre Season Challenge matches. On the show - Stonestreet v Katoa while Raiders have some future dilemmas with the rise of future prodigies. - Iongi v Papalii gets interesting for the fullback jersey as the Knights halves crisis leaves more questions than answers. - What did we learn from th...

AJ and guest host Aidan Edgecomb review the opening week of the NRL's third pre-season challenge. They look at the Warriors run-on side and the performance of Luke Metcalf as well as Sam Healey's rise to potentially become the 14 for the trip to Vegas. Also the boys praise Demitric Vaimauga's performance off the bench as the Warriors look for impact off the bench. The Sharks discussion...

After the success of last year's episode, AJ and Rhys are back to analyse each club's train-and-trial prospects and those on supplementary deals (formerly development deals). We do warn it will be a lengthy episode. To make it easier, here are the best attached timestamps so you can fast-forward to a club of your choice to listen to our assessment on junior talent. 2:39 - Brisbane Broncos 21:28 -...

AJ and Rhys return to make their assessment on the recent round of international rugby league. On the show today - We assess all the chaos of the NRL off-season! - We analyse how the Cook Islands and Fiji can improve their rosters ahead of the World Cup qualifiers and World Cup respectively. - The boys analyse PNG's rise as they assess whether they are ready to be accepted into the NRL - How can N...

AJ and Rhys cap off a successful but strangely predictable NRL season with a recap of a spectacular Grand Final Day. The boys celebrate the success of the Penrith Panthers as they celebrate four successive premierships, a feat that hasn’t been achieved since the greatest Dragons side that won 11 on the bounce. We look at the stars of the night including Clive Churchill Medallist Liam Martin. AJ ag...

AJ and Rhys review what was a chaotic preliminary final week in the NRL. On the program this week - NAS, will he or won't he play - we give our views before the judiciary handed down their sentence - Melbourne's spine going to work as Jack Howarth has his coming out party. - Roosters post mortem's - why there is hope in 25' - Penrith grind out a prelim win - how much does that take it out of them...

AJ and Rhys are back to review the major talking points of the second week of the finals. We look at all the big moments that dictated the course of the season and saw the Cowboys and Manly eliminated. On the show - Braydon Trindall's coming out party - Nicho Hynes game management taking positive steps in the right direction - Cowboys first half struggles - Reflecting on Val Holmes' time a...

AJ and Rhys are back to review a chaotic opening week of the NRL finals. On the show this week - Roosters sticking loyal to Sandon Smith amid calls to bring in Joey Manu - Penrith put together their best first half all year as they blitz the Roosters and AJ criticises Trent Robinson's bench rotation and praises Naufahu Whyte - Melbourne blitz Cronulla as Hughes, Munster and Grant run riot - Th...

AJ and Rhys break-down the final round of this minor premiership year. Off the top, the boys quickly analyse the biggest issue in the game after the drama surrounding Josh Addo-Carr's road-side drug test, we look it all angles. Also on the program - Brisbane post-mortems, what is needed as the Storm blow the Broncos off the park - SPOON BOWL! Parramatta play for their lives as the Tigers wave...

AJ and Rhys review a chaotic round of football as the playoff picture becomes clearer. On the program - Cowboys defensive concerns amid Melbourne's B Grade putting on a show. - Manly showing they are a force to be reckon with - Jarome Luai's emergence as a controlling half - Dragons' finals chances coming to an end - Brisbane's home implosion as the PHINS go rising - Cronulla's...