There was not much entertainment on show in the NRL season opener between the Eels and the Broncos. The Broncos methodically ground away at the Eels to come away with a 17-4 win against an Eels team that was desperately missing the influence of a halfback.
The game made headlines for what happened in the post match interviews however.
In a post game interview with Channel 9 James Roberts said he had “More speed than Oxford street”. Not a bad joke if you ask me. I’m not sure how readily available speed is on Oxford street, but still, a solid effort at a joke and one that can bring a few giggles from the audience.
The weirder quote came from Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, who said this when told of the Roberts joke: “As long as he’s not on the NRL’s Mardi Gras float. That’s not going to help his speed.”
Both quotes kind of leave you shaking your head a bit. In a day and age where the media savage players, coaches and officials for not reading from the script, I kind of enjoyed hearing both Roberts and Bennett trying to have a laugh, even if Bennett’s comment was a bit strange.
I’d like to hear what players and coaches really think. Unfortunately, last night shows why they mostly give bland, cliche’ answers, because when something different is said you get a million people interpreting it as something else.
It will be interesting to see what the reaction is from these comments. For me, I don’t really care either way. I was just happy to see some footy again.
