Sportscafe

Connor Watson has waited 11 years for his first NRL grand final – and on Sunday he'll (hopefully) line up against the Knights and his old housemate Kalyn Ponga.

It's the last Sportscafe of 2026, and Marc Ellis joins the crew for the season finale. Connor talks grand final week and facing Ponga's Knights, while the panel debates the hip-drop that cost Newcastle Phoenix Crossland, and whether the NRL needs an orange card. Lenny relives the Lions' four-minute grand final comeback from the MCG, Wharfie Time and all, along with the Norm Smith debate. Tayla hands out our end-of-season awards, Macca shares his hard-earned advice for a big night out, and two of the year's fan favourites return: the back-fence king and the Talbot Bay Birdwatching Club.

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It's finals season across both codes, and we've got the perfect guests for it.
Brownlow Medallist and three-time Brisbane Lions premiership player Simon Black joins us to gives us insights into AFL Grand Final, where he has the honour of presenting the premiership cup. He talks through what grand final week is really like, what he got wrong in his first one, the Lions' shot at three in a row, and why premierships are built over years, not a single season.

Knights great Kurt Gidley breaks down Newcastle's rise from last year's wooden spoon to a preliminary final, the Justin Holbrook effect, and what finals footy means to the town.

Plus: Connor on the semi-final win and Sam Walker's return, Chur Ma Bro demands an apology for Warriors fans, Joey's legendary 40-nil road graffiti, and the panel picks their AFL Grand Final winners.

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Connor breaks down the Roosters' qualifying final loss to Penrith, what has to change against Cronulla on Saturday night, and where Sam Walker's recovery is at.

Plus the crew debates the Sydney Sweeney betting ad, meets a 17-year-old who kicked the winner two weeks running, and our debate about the greatest sports movie of all time goes off the rails.

Timestamps:

Chapters

00:00:00 Teaser
00:00:59 Connor Watson on the Panthers loss
00:04:54 Do-or-die against the Sharks
00:08:46 That pregame praying video on the NRL account
00:10:28 Joey on the Warriors: "I'm fine"
00:14:38 The Sydney Sweeney betting ad debate
00:20:10 Riley Carter: two clutch kicks, two weeks
00:26:24 Who'd you pick for the grand final pregame?
00:30:18 Greatest sports movie of all time
00:39:11 Chris Lynn on Cricket Australia's privatisation push

Laurie Daley joins us three days out from finals week, with a read on the premiership race, the Blues' Origin decider, and an answer on whether he'd ever take an NRL head coaching job.

Then Joey lays out an officiating theory about Mt Smart and The Warriors that's going to cost him a few friends in Auckland. Fair question or sour grapes?

Connor Watson on captaining the Roosters for the first time, the hospital pass that flattened his own halfback, and the off-season dinner he now owes him. Sharni Layton on Australian Survivor, the Commonwealth Games campaign she gave up to film it, and what happens to an athlete's identity after retirement.

Plus the Aussie squad for South Africa, the NFL landing in Melbourne, and three clips from the depths of the internet.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck joins Marc Ellis and Ric Salizzo on Herbie for Sportscafe Legends.

He's played for the Roosters, the Warriors, the Kiwis, Toa Samoa, the Blues and the All Blacks. This is his last NRL season before a two-year deal at Wakefield Trinity - and with a knee reconstruction behind him, he's watching the Warriors' run from the sideline rather than the field.

Roger talks about growing up in Otara, being coached as a kid by Eric Rush, ringing Rushy to tell him he was leaving rugby for league, and why he picked 12 when he came back to union.

Timestamps:

Chapters

00:00:00 Cold open
00:00:43 Welcome to Herbie
00:02:11 League fitness vs rugby fitness
00:02:53 Why he chose 12
00:04:31 Learning the game at first receiver
00:05:29 Eric Rush the junior coach
00:07:58 The phone call to Rushy
00:08:44 Why league suited him
00:09:53 Community and 40 memberships
00:10:59 The pathway out of school
00:12:05 A premiership in his second year
00:12:40 When he knew he had a gift
00:14:15 Getting knocked back
00:15:06 Blazers, kit and choosing union
00:17:32 Coming home to the Warriors
00:18:11 Saying no to mum and dad
00:21:39 Heroes: Rushy, Carlos, Benji
00:22:11 Eric Rush and the water slide
00:23:37 Watching this Warriors season injured
00:24:45 Two ACLs and the next surgery
00:25:36 All Black 1204
00:27:11 Wakefield, and letting go of the plan
00:30:41 His brother, LeBron and a PlayStation launch
00:34:15 The Herbie project
00:34:52 Otara was a village
00:36:42 What the travel cost him
00:39:15 What's changed at the Warriors
00:41:23 What it takes to win a premiership