Rugby League podcasts on YouTube

[Cheadle Leyther]

One of the most pleasing developments in Rugby League has been the proliferation of podcasts on YouTube.

There are at least 7 of these weekly podcasts at present. I have placed a list below in the order of my preference:-

1) Rugby League Raw ( my favourite for quantity and quality from the team of David, Greg and Stef).The only criticism is a slight Warrington bias. The In the Sheds summaries on each game are a must!)

 

2) Full 80 minutes (presented entertainingly by Mick Gledhill and Craig Harrison. The fun only stops when the other 2 presenters are used)

3)The Ousiders (this is an unusual one as it is presented in the Midlands for some reason, but is quite entertaining especially The Snipers comments)

4) League Express (presented by the editor of League Express this is  a reliable discussion of the previous and future weekend games and other Rugby league news)

5) Forty Twenty ( a similar podcast to the one above by the editor of Forty Twenty, but is let down by an often shambolic start to the programme)

6)Last Tackle  ( an in House podcast produced by our sponsor Betfred. Bit functional)

7) Kinetic (a bit dull)

[eal]

Save yourself some time with all these podcasts and just listen to Eddie and Stevo instead.

Edited February 26 by eal

[Eddie]

I don’t watch any of these on YouTube but instead listen to them on Podcasts when I’m out running. Different Podcasts serve different people and their interests but as you say it’s great that there’s such a variety of them available, and kudos to all of those making the effort to make them. I wish the Final Hooter would come back though, that was always my favourite RL podcast. 

[RigbyLuger]

12 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

2) Full 80 minutes (presented entertainingly by Mick Gledhill and Craig Harrison. The fun only stops when the other 2 presenters are used)

Does the agent ever criticise his own players or just talk them up incessantly and ignore that his co-host has no credibility?

[LeytherRob]

12 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

One of the most pleasing developments in Rugby League has been the proliferation of podcasts on YouTube.

There are at least 7 of these weekly podcasts at present. I have placed a list below in the order of my preference:-

1) Rugby League Raw ( my favourite for quantity and quality from the team of David, Greg and Stef).The only criticism is a slight Warrington bias. The In the Sheds summaries on each game are a must!)

 

2) Full 80 minutes (presented entertainingly by Mick Gledhill and Craig Harrison. The fun only stops when the other 2 presenters are used)

3)The Ousiders (this is an unusual one as it is presented in the Midlands for some reason, but is quite entertaining especially The Snipers comments)

4) League Express (presented by the editor of League Express this is  a reliable discussion of the previous and future weekend games and other Rugby league news)

5) Forty Twenty ( a similar podcast to the one above by the editor of Forty Twenty, but is let down by an often shambolic start to the programme)

6)Last Tackle  ( an in House podcast produced by our sponsor Betfred. Bit functional)

7) Kinetic (a bit dull)

All Out Rugby League(the REACH PLC group of RL journo's with Matt Shaw) now do a video version of the house of league podcast on youtube with James Smailes, Matt Shaw and Josh McCallister which has been good so far, so you'll probably want to check that out.

All the rest I tend to dip in and out of. I really enjoyed the SL Raw one in 2023 and early 2024 but I've found Dave Cain to be increasingly annoying of late. A holier-than-thou attitude when it comes to other RL journalists who are far more accomplished than him, and a bit too over the top in his delivery now.

RL Outsiders I recently discovered and think it's one of the best out there currently, they manage to maintain a good level of neutrality and the presentation quality is great. Studio based over zoom call also helps in terms of people not talking over each other.

Last tackle is decent but feels like it is recorded on a phone from 2010, no idea why a company like Betfred can afford a fancy studio setting but not a HD camera

 

 

[Eddie]

Outsiders haven’t done a podcast since last August, or not one that’s been put on Apple Podcasts anyway. I used to enjoy that show. 

[LeytherRob]

6 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Outsiders haven’t done a podcast since last August, or not one that’s been put on Apple Podcasts anyway. I used to enjoy that show. 

They’re uploading regularly on YouTube with prediction and review shows for each round along with other bits

[Eddie]

34 minutes ago, LeytherRob said:

They’re uploading regularly on YouTube with prediction and review shows for each round along with other bits

Yes just seen that, shame as I’d never sit down and watch it on YouTube. 

[Chrispmartha]

Obviously this is Rhinos based but if you want to watch and listen to all things Rhinos you can't get better than the Lot Pod

I am heavily biased of course

We do weekly Match Reviews along with Specials and we've done a well received Live event last year

Recent Pod with Barrie McDermott was a good one

 

They're available as normal just sound podcasts aswell on al the usual places.

 

 

[RigbyLuger]

5 hours ago, LeytherRob said:

All the rest I tend to dip in and out of. I really enjoyed the SL Raw one in 2023 and early 2024 but I've found Dave Cain to be increasingly annoying of late. A holier-than-thou attitude when it comes to other RL journalists who are far more accomplished than him, and a bit too over the top in his delivery now.

Does he pay photographers for the images he uses on his programme? That wouldn't be holier-than-thou if he didn't!

[Josef K]

19 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

One of the most pleasing developments in Rugby League has been the proliferation of podcasts on YouTube.

There are at least 7 of these weekly podcasts at present. I have placed a list below in the order of my preference:-

1) Rugby League Raw ( my favourite for quantity and quality from the team of David, Greg and Stef).The only criticism is a slight Warrington bias. The In the Sheds summaries on each game are a must!)

 

2) Full 80 minutes (presented entertainingly by Mick Gledhill and Craig Harrison. The fun only stops when the other 2 presenters are used)

3)The Ousiders (this is an unusual one as it is presented in the Midlands for some reason, but is quite entertaining especially The Snipers comments)

4) League Express (presented by the editor of League Express this is  a reliable discussion of the previous and future weekend games and other Rugby league news)

5) Forty Twenty ( a similar podcast to the one above by the editor of Forty Twenty, but is let down by an often shambolic start to the programme)

6)Last Tackle  ( an in House podcast produced by our sponsor Betfred. Bit functional)

7) Kinetic (a bit dull)

My favourite RL Podcasts out of the seven you mentioned Leyther are 3,4,5,6. I haven’t really listened to the Full Eighty I’ll have to give it a go. 
Rugby League Raw although the fella who presents the show is really enthusiastic, he sounds like the type of fella who works on a fairground ride. “Do you wanna go faster”. 
 

[LeytherRob]

53 minutes ago, Josef K said:

My favourite RL Podcasts out of the seven you mentioned Leyther are 3,4,5,6. I haven’t really listened to the Full Eighty I’ll have to give it a go. 
Rugby League Raw although the fella who presents the show is really enthusiastic, he sounds like the type of fella who works on a fairground ride. “Do you wanna go faster”. 
 

Yeah, it's become very 'cabaret night at the con club' and production levels don't match the level of ambition. Which is a shame because it was a lot better in the earlier days, at the time it was quite refreshing seeing a podcast that really dug into the game stats of the weekly rounds but I feel like as they've got a bit of traction with the Facebook crowd it's just gone to their heads and they've lost sight of what worked. 

I think the best podcasts are just relaxed conversations with clear points and respectful debate, not some ADHD fever dream of in-your-face content.

[phiggins]

20 hours ago, LeytherRob said:

All Out Rugby League(the REACH PLC group of RL journo's with Matt Shaw) now do a video version of the house of league podcast on youtube with James Smailes, Matt Shaw and Josh McCallister which has been good so far, so you'll probably want to check that out.

All the rest I tend to dip in and out of. I really enjoyed the SL Raw one in 2023 and early 2024 but I've found Dave Cain to be increasingly annoying of late. A holier-than-thou attitude when it comes to other RL journalists who are far more accomplished than him, and a bit too over the top in his delivery now.

RL Outsiders I recently discovered and think it's one of the best out there currently, they manage to maintain a good level of neutrality and the presentation quality is great. Studio based over zoom call also helps in terms of people not talking over each other.

Last tackle is decent but feels like it is recorded on a phone from 2010, no idea why a company like Betfred can afford a fancy studio setting but not a HD camera

 

 

I think the new All Out RL is a big improvment on what they had before, when it would just be Matt Shaw and Dan Tomlinson having a discussion. Josh McCallister is a good edition, and gives them a bit more coverage west of the pennines.

Agree a bit on the SL Raw program. It seems to have lost a bit of it's balance, now that it has a growing member base. A lot of the substance in terms of content now appears to be behind a paywall, which is fair enough given the time and money they will be putting into it, but the main weekly show now seems to drift into too much of a sales pitch at times. But they keep trying new things, some will work, some won't. The free show will likely have it's ups and downs from now on. (Still puzzled by Dave's comment that Hudds pack did a number on Leigh though!)

Whenever I listen to the 40/20 podcast, I do sometimes wonder whether they actually like rugby league at all

[LeytherRob]

43 minutes ago, phiggins said:

I think the new All Out RL is a big improvment on what they had before, when it would just be Matt Shaw and Dan Tomlinson having a discussion. Josh McCallister is a good edition, and gives them a bit more coverage west of the pennines.

Agree a bit on the SL Raw program. It seems to have lost a bit of it's balance, now that it has a growing member base. A lot of the substance in terms of content now appears to be behind a paywall, which is fair enough given the time and money they will be putting into it, but the main weekly show now seems to drift into too much of a sales pitch at times. But they keep trying new things, some will work, some won't. The free show will likely have it's ups and downs from now on. (Still puzzled by Dave's comment that Hudds pack did a number on Leigh though!)

Whenever I listen to the 40/20 podcast, I do sometimes wonder whether they actually like rugby league at all

Got a bit depressing last year listening to Dan Tomlinson have an existential crisis each week as Hull FC sank to ever deeper lows. Josh and James big improvements but the draw was always Matt Shaw for me as I think he's the most effective journalist RL currently has in the UK, certainly in print.

 

Yes it did raise a smile from me that they could acknowledge the game suffered from poor wind conditions, that each team looked stronger when attacking the North stand but fail to join the very clear dots. They even made a comment about how Leighs kicking game improved in the second half - yeah, no ****. That tends to happen with 40mph gusts at your back.

[RigbyLuger]

58 minutes ago, phiggins said:

Agree a bit on the SL Raw program. It seems to have lost a bit of it's balance, now that it has a growing member base. A lot of the substance in terms of content now appears to be behind a paywall, which is fair enough given the time and money they will be putting into it, but the main weekly show now seems to drift into too much of a sales pitch at times. 

Happens is all forms of modern media where people try to make money from a limited audience base. 

[Bull Mania]

40/20 use to be excellent with Mark, Schoey etc I still listen, probably through habit more than anything. The guy that use to do the technical stuff is now the presenter and the show has become his personality and view of the world. Being churlish about every point starts to get boring quickly. I remember last year after Nu Brown's red card, and he started with "everyone's angry bevause it like Hull would have beaten Warrington anyway" it's that attitude of trying to be different to prove that you're cleverer than us thick fans. When they discuss it properly it's decent enough. 

I enjoy full 80. I can't stand Mick, but if you can ignore him prattiling on about Bradford getting a grade A license, it's an enjoyable listen. 

I enjoy the guests on league express as well. 

[Snowys Backside]

Rugby League Outsiders probably the best to be fair. We’ll set up and a good discussion set up between the presenters. 
 

Rugby League Raw also good but can get very long winded at times. 

[wroteforluck87]

Theres some cracking stuff on YouTube, in fact I've made an new YouTube account so I don't have to siv through all the ###### my kids watch on there to keep up to date with it all.

Outsiders & All Out are probably the best.

In The Sheds is straight to point big fan of that.

TRL is good but I prefer to listen to that on my headphones whilst am doing a few odd jobs rather than on my TV as I do with the others.

Roughyeds TV is a staple aswell

[hunsletgreenandgold]

For any fellow NRL fans, there's some really good ones (they do cover SL to an extent as well) 

Bloke in a Bar 

The Bye Round 

Levels Network 

Rugby League Guru

[Cheadle Leyther]

On 26/02/2025 at 00:04, Cheadle Leyther said:

One of the most pleasing developments in Rugby League has been the proliferation of podcasts on YouTube.

There are at least 7 of these weekly podcasts at present. I have placed a list below in the order of my preference:-

1) Rugby League Raw ( my favourite for quantity and quality from the team of David, Greg and Stef).The only criticism is a slight Warrington bias. The In the Sheds summaries on each game are a must!)

 

2) Full 80 minutes (presented entertainingly by Mick Gledhill and Craig Harrison. The fun only stops when the other 2 presenters are used)

3)The Ousiders (this is an unusual one as it is presented in the Midlands for some reason, but is quite entertaining especially The Snipers comments)

4) League Express (presented by the editor of League Express this is  a reliable discussion of the previous and future weekend games and other Rugby league news)

5) Forty Twenty ( a similar podcast to the one above by the editor of Forty Twenty, but is let down by an often shambolic start to the programme)

6)Last Tackle  ( an in House podcast produced by our sponsor Betfred. Bit functional)

7) Kinetic (a bit dull)

These people who make these podcasts do take notice of this forum- the bearded wonder on this week’s Forty Twenty actually said the word shambolic   on his introduction!!

[phiggins]

On 07/03/2025 at 18:01, Cheadle Leyther said:

These people who make these podcasts do take notice of this forum- the bearded wonder on this week’s Forty Twenty actually said the word shambolic   on his introduction!!

I do find it ironic that they regularly talk on that podcast about the impression of the sport that we want to give, while at the same time they look like they will finish the show rolling down a hill in a bathtub (doubt anyone under 40 will get that reference)

[phiggins]

On 27/02/2025 at 10:13, LeytherRob said:

Got a bit depressing last year listening to Dan Tomlinson have an existential crisis each week as Hull FC sank to ever deeper lows. Josh and James big improvements but the draw was always Matt Shaw for me as I think he's the most effective journalist RL currently has in the UK, certainly in print.

 

Yes it did raise a smile from me that they could acknowledge the game suffered from poor wind conditions, that each team looked stronger when attacking the North stand but fail to join the very clear dots. They even made a comment about how Leighs kicking game improved in the second half - yeah, no ****. That tends to happen with 40mph gusts at your back.

Gave their latest show a watch last night. Dan still sounds more like a Hull fan than a journalist 

[LeytherRob]

2 hours ago, phiggins said:

Gave their latest show a watch last night. Dan still sounds more like a Hull fan than a journalist 

Yes I was sad to see him back in favour over Josh. I really don't think Dan offers anything to the podcast, often just rehashing whatever Matt has just said in a slightly more dour way. Granted he's cheered up slightly now that FC aren't a complete basket case anymore but not enough to overcome his general demeanour. Needs to stick to the print stuff.

[Lucy_1873]

On a semi related note I like the trinity heritage podcast that's on Spotify (but then my opinion is my own)

[RigbyLuger]

Do we know how Super League Raw claim to be the "number one" RL show?