Fergo and The Freak NRL & Rugby League Podcast · Fergo and The Freak

Gorden Tallis Is A Dumb

·1 hr 56 min·2 clips

Andrew Johns didn't change how halfbacks played the game; Beetson and Churchill changed the fabric of how teams played.

1. Episode 584 of Fergo and The Freak centres on Alex Johnson's record 213th try and a wider argument over how rugby league history is told, ending in a rant about Gorden Tallis. 2. Andrew Ferguson of Rugby League Project (@AndrewRLP) and co-host League Freak (@LeagueFreak) talk through the week's NRL news, with Ferguson supplying historical record data. 3. The central thread is that media and fans neglect pre-World War II rugby league, from try-scoring records to Immortals selection. 4. Ferguson describes Johnson's 213th try as a "cool" runaway try followed by fans filling the ground, and he says Albanese's presence on the field meant no fines or bans could be applied to anyone else without hypocrisy. 5. The pair reject renaming the Ken Irvine Medal the "Irvine Johnson medal," as floated by Souths boss Blake Solly, and Ferguson notes Horder reached the top in 1923 and held the record until Irvine replaced him in 1969. 6. They criticise media statements that Johnson was only the third all-time top try scorer, citing a Rugby League Project list of six or seven holders including Harry Miller in 1908, Frank Burge and Harold Horder. 7. Ferguson argues the Immortals should be players who changed their position, naming Arthur Beetson, Clive Churchill, Johnny Raper, Frank Burge and Duncan Thompson, and says Andrew Johns "was just exceptionally good" rather than a game-changer. 8. The hosts compare elite players such as Darren Lockyer, Wally Lewis and Andrew Johns to playing "in the Matrix," and say Beetson's ball-playing prop style resembles Andrew Fifita at his peak, but "imagine this but better." 9. A listener email from Andy Margiela prompts discussion of Zac Lomax leaving for rugby union, an NRL minimum salary they put at about $130,000, and whether Luke Brooks would make the Wallabies. 10. Rugby league fans interested in stats, history and Broncos talk will enjoy this.

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