Rugby League Hour with Tony Kemp: Warriors wallop Cowboys, strengthening NRL top eight hopes

It's time for episode 13 of the Rugby League Hour, hosted by Martin Devlin and Tony Kemp and brought to you by MicroBio Solutions. Every Monday during the 2024 NRL season on The Platform, Devlin - host of It's Only Sport - is joined by one of the best rugby league analysts going around in Kemp, the ex-Warriors coach and Kiwis representative.To kick off proceedings, Marty and Kempy recap action from round 14 of the 2024 NRL season. The weekend began with the Dragons crushing the Wests Tigers 56-14, and included the Warriors scoring a massive away win over the North Queensland Cowboys 42-12, the South Sydney Rabbitohs making it two in a row by pelting the Titans on the Gold Coast 46-12, and the Cronulla Sharks returning to winning ways with a 22-12 road victory over the Brisbane Broncos. As it stands, the Melbourne Storm are top of the table with the Sharks, Penrith Panthers and Dolphins making up the top four. The Canberra Raiders may not have played but they still jumped up to fifth on the ladder, with the Sydney Roosters, Broncos and Dragons rounding out the top eight.Then, it's Up The Wahs - a segment that Marty and Kempy dedicate solely to chatting about the Warriors. The Auckland-based club enjoyed one of their best wins of the Andrew Webster era, dismantling the Cowboys 42-12 and moving to within one point of the top eight. That makes it three wins in a row for the Warriors, who well and back on track for a top eight finish - all going to plan - after sitting as low as 14th on the ladder earlier in the year. Marty and Kempy discuss whether that was the club's best win of 2024, Te Maire Martin's outstanding performance at halfback and whether or not coach Webster may select Martin instead of Shaun Johnson for this weekend's Storm clash, and more.Next, it's He's A Ledge, and this week it's one of New Zealand's greatest ever players - Stacey Jones. The Little General currently serves as Warriors assistant coach and Kiwis head coach, having made his name as a classy playmaker between 1994 and 2009, playing 306 first-grade games including 251 in a Warriors jumper. He talks to Marty and Kempy about his side's win on the road on the weekend and the uptick in performances of late, how much better they can get, looming selection headaches, and more.After that, Marty and Kempy go head-to-head debating a selection of rugby league topics, including whether the Wests Tigers are the worst NRL side of this century, and if the Storm and Panthers are still the two best teams in the competition. Kempy hands out the Effluex clean-up award for the player, coach or team who did their job better than anyone else on the weekend - someone who rolled up their sleeves and turned gunk into gold. And to finish things off, Kempy lists his five best teams in the NRL right now on TK's Top 5.The Rugby League Hour is sponsored by MicroBio Solutions Limited, solving environmental issues using green technologies. Visit microbio.co.nz.