Premiership winner and one of the sharpest minds in rugby league, Luke Keary, joins the team for the 2026 NRL season and this is his first official podcast alongside James Graham. The boys dive straight in with some classic NRL pre-season horror stories, discuss the latest drama between Zac Lomax & the Eels, Angus Crichton’s defection to rugby union & Kez reveals the teams he believes will 'rise' in season 2026!

The Keary era at The Bye Round starts now!

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0:00 Welcome Luke Keary To The Team!

10:35 Montoyas Podcast + Our New Studio

12:37 Pre Season Horror Stories

23:45 Getting To Know Luke

30:45 Zac Lomax Drama

47:27 Angus Crichton Defects To Rugby Union

53:35 Teams That Will Rise In 2026

57:20 Rule Changes For 2026

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James Graham and Charlie White are back in and this time we rank all 17 NRL teams based on one simple question: how excited are we to actually watch them in 2026? No ladder predictions, no premiership tips. This podcast is based on just pure vibes, eyeballs and brutally honest footy chat. This is the NRL Excitement Index!

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0:00 What’s The Excitement Index?

4:41 Rank 17-13

18:22 Rank 12-9

34:09 Rank 8-5

57:51 Rank 4-1

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Welcome to a special edition and the last (for now) episode of the Jam & Cheese show! Fresh from Jimmy's groundbreaking Mental Health podcast, a raw and honest Brandon Smith shares the story of his own battle. In another eye-opening chat, you'll hear Cheese unlike you've ever heard before as he details in-depth his journey over the past 3 years.

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James Graham and Charlie White are back for The Bye Round's first official episode of 2026 and they boys kick off the year with a proper catch-up after the off-season, unpacking what actually went down on holidays before diving straight into the big footy talking points. Charlie puts Jimmy in the hot seat over a potential England coaching role, they react to Keaon Koloamatangi’s move to the Dragons, debate what’s next for Zac Lomax, plus, we break down the proposed rule changes.

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0:00 When Do You Stop Saying Happy New Year?

3:01 Mental Health Podcast Reflection

6:45 Jimmy’s Vietnam Holiday

12:53 England Coaching Role

20:22 NAS K/O’s Jeremy Latimore

24:30 Crazy End To African Cup Of Nations Final

30:54 Changes To The Show

33:45 Keaon Koloamatangi Signs With Dragons

37:50 Zac Lomax’s NRL Future

45:14 Perth Bears Signings

47:32 NRL Proposed Rules Changes

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Ahead of UFC 325 in Sydney Jimmy goes toe-to-toe with one of the toughest men in the UFC, Dan “The Hangman” Hooker! Dan opens up on the fighter mindset, what it really takes to survive at the elite level and how you prepare when violence is literally your job. Plus, he reflects on his war with Dustin Poirier & breaks down the chaos of the IShowSpeed fight!

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0:00 UFC 325 In Sydney

10:09 The Fighter Mindset

11:24 Fight vs. Dustin Poirier

16:43 ‘Finding MMA’

19:25 Footy Players Turn Into Fighters

22:48 IShowSpeed Fight

26:44 1-Minute Scraps

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On a special edition of The Bye Round, James Graham is joined by Charlie White for a candid and raw chat about Mental Health. In this eye-opening podcast Jimmy gets vulnerable and opens up on the never-before told story about his own battles with mental health.

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The Bye Round’s annual NRL Fantasy Draft is back and this year it's a threesome! This year Jimmy & Charlie are joined by leading NRL journo & friend of the show Michael Chammas for the ultimate fantasy draft showdown!

Who plays it safe? Who reaches way too early? And who realises far too late they’ve completely cooked their team? Welcome to the Bye Round NRL Fantasy Draft, may the best nuffie win!

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0:00 2026 Draft Is Here!

5:38 1st Round Picks

6:46 2nd Round Picks

8:25 3rd Round Picks

10:22 4th Round Picks

11:48 5th Round Picks

14:48 6th Round Picks

17:35 7th Round Picks

19:10 8th Round Picks

23:50 9th Round Picks

27:57 10th Round Picks

30:05 11th Round Picks

33:21 12th Round Picks

34:47 13th Round Picks

37:20 14th Round Picks

44:34 15th Round Picks

47:45 Final Picks

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Welcome to our final podcast of 2025 as Jimmy & Charlie go head-to-head in the end of year NRL quiz!

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