The Rolling Maul

Mike and Elliott look back on a crazy, madcap end to a thrilling win over the Bears which saw Geoff Parling's side take another step towards the holy grail of 'total rugby'. Plus, we talk injuries, returnees, and another instalment of the Slater Cup at Villa Park this Saturday.

Mike and Elliott celebrate the first trophy win of the Parling era, following a 66-14 demolition of the Chiefs in the Prem Cup Final. We talk relentless defence, ruthless attack and the Tom Whitely "b*tch slap". We also jump into an impassioned defence of the Tigers boys away with England following some ludicrous criticism, and look ahead to some Prem action with the Bears coming to town.

Mike and Elliott host a special Prem Cup Final preview podcast with break team news, breaking transfer rumours, and unstable hosts as Mike records on a Friday night after a bottle of wine. Plus, we speak to young Tigers 10 Tom Threlfall about saving the day at the last minute, balancing Champ and Prem Rugby, and making his mark in the Tigers first team.

Elliott is joined by David Cowe for a review of a comprehensive win over old rivals, Bath, who admittedly sent the kids over for some reason. Still, it brings up the first shot at silverware in the Parling era, and Mike will be back to join Elliott for a special Prem Cup Final preview episode later in the week!

Mike and Elliott welcome you to a mammoth pod as we:

Mike dips in and out of a podcast with Elliott doing most of the heavy lifting as we invite Tigers head of comms and marketing, Siobhan Moll, to tell us about the season ticket price freeze, increasing interest in the club and packing Welford Road to the rafters. Plus, David Cowe drops in to review the Quins game which sees the boys qualify as top of the group in the Prem Cup, and we launch an impassioned defence of our boy, Freddie Steward.

Mike and Elliott are joined by new Tigers hot-shot of comms, John Wiffen, in their latest Tigers Family feature to take a peak behind the curtain at the work that goes into keeping journalists and irritating amateur podcasters happy. Plus, Adam Whitty drops by to review a key win at Saracens in the Prem Cup, before we turn our attention to next weekend's double header against Quins.

Mike and Elliott introduce our new feature to run alongside the Prem Cup campaign, Tigers Family, talking to the people behind the scene at the club who make the whole thing tick. To kick things off, we chat with James Neal, Tigers' Head of Medical, about giving players bad news, working with coaches and the Freddie Burns sweepstake. Plus we chat about a very wet win over Newcastle and look ahead to a Prem Cup showdown at Sarries.

Mike and Elliott drop some bonus content, having a chat with emerging Leicester fullback George Pearson. We chat about making his mark in big games, learning from Freddie and chucking flour over your housemates' cars.

Mike and Elliott celebrate a comfortable win over an abject Quins side that had been showing signs of a resurgence, discuss a new signing and some rumours on the horizon, before looking ahead to battling our East Midlands nemesis in the next round of the Prem Cup.

Mike and Elliott look over a week of sub-optimal news - travel chaos to South Africa, a gallant defeat to the Stormers, a trip away to the reigning European champions, an injury to Radders and a Prem fixture against a resurgent Quins side. But don't worry, we find a way to be cheerful, as always.

Mike and Elliott temper joy at a thumping win over an understrength Bayonne side with concern that Radders may be struggling for the next few games, and get very excited about a new signing. Plus, we look ahead to daunting and historic trip to South Africa for the next round of European (lol) competition.

Mike and Elliott look recover from the Christmas overindulgence with a look back at a statement win over Sarries, led by the bashed-up rustler, Billy Searle. We look at a surprise success in the centre partnership, sexy attacking play, the departure of a club legend, some news and rumours and, of course, look forward to the visit of Bayonne at the weekend.

Mike and Elliott are in a festive mood as they relive a convincing thumping of the Cherry and Whites, revelling in a scrooge-like defence, a joyous attack and some Kata-led brilliance in the process. We also look ahead to the dreaded pre-New Year fixture which sees the boys face a daunting task against a revitalised Exeter down at Sandy Park...

Elliott flies solo as he is joined by the current owner of the Tigers 10 shirt, Billy Searle. They chat about recovery after the war against Leinster, what needs to be put right ahead of Gloucester, his move to Leicester and, of course, curries.

Mike and Elliott reminisce over the traditional loss to Leinster, but ponder if this particular one has far more to it than perhaps other efforts, focusing on a heroic effort from a young side missing so many stars. Plus, we wonder what is going on with the latest big departure, and look ahead to the return of Prem Rugby as Gloucester come to town.

Mike is joined by David Cowe to discuss the experience of a matchday in La Rochelle, the logic of sending a young side to the mammoth men of the French giants plus we discuss the departure of Gorgeous George. We also look ahead to the annual defeat against Leinster but ask...could this be the year we finally turn them over?

With Mike unavailable, Iain Morton comes off the bench this week to discuss the latest twists and turns in the George Martin saga, look over a well-fought win over Newcastle and preview a tough voyage to La Rochelle. In amongst this, we ponder if a real life tiger did meet Martin Johnson in the 90's!

Mike and Elliott are back in your ears to talk George Martin rumours, spiders, punch ups, derby wins, Red Bulls and frozen unmentionables.  It's all highbrow stuff as always!

Mike and Elliott are joined by Tigers stalwart and chief maul destroyer Harry Wells to celebrate his testimonial season and look ahead to some of the exciting events planned, raising money for some amazing causes in the process. Plus, the usual sprinkling of international reviews and rumour analysis to top things off.

After an unexpected week-long break, Mike and Elliott return to catch up on accounts, transfer rumours, international call ups, wins over Sale and Newcastle and Emeka Illione's mental carrying mentality. We also look over the first eight games of Geoff's reign and find plenty to be positive about.

Mike is joined by good friend of the pod, Iain Morton, who steps in for Elliott as he's away on his jollies, as they marvel at a gutsy, last minute win over the champions, Bath, thanks to a dominant scrum and some serious plums from Billy Searle. Plus, we look ahead to the always-brutal fixture against Sale, and ask if this is actually a pretty good time to play them...

Mike and Elliott review an hair-tearingly frustrating performance against East Midlands rivals, Northampton, as the boys go down to a narrow defeat which leaves us asking why Tigers seem to be struggling to take that final step to scoring at the moment. Things don't get easier as the Prem champions come to town and we preview our home fixture against Bath.

With Mike unavailable for selection, David Cowe is summoned from the subs bench to fill in to help review a topsy turvy win over Harlequins. We also process the sad news about Tigers hero Lewis Moody, as well as look ahead to the usual blood and thunder encounter with local rivals Northampton this weekend. 

Mike and Elliott are forced to relive some painful memories from two years back as the Tigers stutter to defeat against Bristol at Ashton Gate, but find plenty more encouragement in this display as compared to that one. We chat about what went wrong and right, laud the Big Red Machine (Ches) as the new skipper and look ahead to a shot at getting back on track at home against Harlequins.

PS Apologies for some iffy sound quality from Mike - undetected microphone issue, apparently.

Mike and Elliott enjoy a gritty and encouraging win by a young Tigers side against a much more experienced Quins outfit and ask what they can take from this preseason. Plus, we preview the PREM kick-off against the Bears, and laude James O'Connor's air-mile game.

Mike and Elliott look at a conversion-less performance for the Tigers in a stuttering but ultimately confident win for the boys as they get their competitive fixture list off the mark with a W. We take a nose around the rest of the league ahead of the new, sparkly (but the same) PREM season, and look ahead to a Prem Cup fixture against Quins at the stoop.

Mike and Elliott chat about the new stash before taking a deep dive into the Tigers squad for the season and give their assessment of where Leicester will finish, naturally convincing themselves that the league title is in the bag in the process.

Mike and Elliott dust off their gobs and clean out their ears as they run through some off-season signings, backroom additions and losses and an intriguing bit of rumour surrounding a Tigers legends. Plus we ponder the quiet comms from the club and ask...where's our kit?!

Mike and Elliott round off another season of Tigers action and podcasting nonsense with a review of the season, the strides that have been taken and what there is to look forward to in the coming 12 months. Plus, Bondi joins us for possibly the least glamorous awards ceremony in sport as we pick our champagne moments from the campaign just gone.

Mike and Elliott stump up the courage to run the rule over a brave display which ultimately just fell short against the new Prem Champions, Bath. We gush with pride about the ticker of the boys, and try to piece together where the final was won and lost - through excellent play by Bath, through some errors from our lads, and - of course - some questionable decisions from sir....

Elliott and Mike hop on board the Freddie Burns roadshow to spend some time with the King of Leicester talking about how to approach a season-defining match and giving Polly some drop goal tips. We also do a deep dive into how the boys might spring an upset against a Bath side which is - fairly - fancied by pretty much every pundit, and finally get the respect that they have so far - unfairly - been denied.

Mike and Elliott celebrate one of the great semi final wins at Welford Road after the boys run out 21-16 winners in a pant-shreddingly tense win over a tough Sale Sharks outfit. We ask if the boys will finally get the respect they deserve, herald some legends who left the hallowed turf for the final time and give the seal of approval for a new song for Adam Radwan.

Bath Preview later this week!

Mike and Elliott are joined by Hanro Liebenberg AKA The Chairman of the 8/10 Club AKA Captain South Africa.  He chats about his form this season, scoring tries (and nicking them off others) and the preparation for the brutal upcoming semi-final against Sale Sharks.  If this doesn't get you excited and grabbing a ticket for Saturday, we don't know what will!

Mike and Elliott discuss the legendary Dan Cole's retirement and dissect what has made him such a loveable hard b*stard in Leicester colours, before running the rule over a win against Newcastle which sees us secure a home semi-final against Sale. 

With Elliott off on wedding duties, Mike is joined by Tigers fan Darrin Bouch as they pore through the latest news and rumours before looking ahead to the last home game of the regular season - and the chance to secure a home semi final - against Newcastle.  Plus, we're joined by Tigers attack guru, Peter Hewat, to discuss what makes a good attack and what WERE the coaching team up to in Monaco.

PS We recorded this literally minutes before Coley announced his retirement, so ignore the segment where we refer to him playing on next season!!

With Mike on a plane back to Oz, Jacob Bassford of Sister Podcast The LTW Fancast comes in as supersub. We review a disappointing afternoon at The Rec, and wonder if there was any coaching mind games at play. We also reflect on last week's coaching announcement in more detail, as well as review last week's new signings and leavers. We also get an update on all things Leicester Tigers Women and how they are looking for next season.

Mike and Elliott host a somewhat chaotic episode which has an edited news section shoehorned in to cover the announcement of Geoff Parling as head coach for next season, with Bondi joining us for the news. Plus, we revel in a brilliant atmosphere and even better result after a crucial win over Sale, before looking forward to a challenging (and expensive) trip to table-topping Bath.

Mike and Elliott look ahead to what promises to be a brutal battle at Mattioli Woods Welford Road as Tigers host an in form Sale side with playoff places - and maybe even second place - on the line. Plus, we are joined by the turbo charged Adam Radwan, who jets in to tell us about how he's found his feet at Tigers and where *that* celebration comes from.

Mike is flying solo this week as Elliott sails the North Sea, but the bat signal went up and Bondi responds! The Tigers Comms guru sits down to reveal the key points from the "Meet the Board" event, put some rumours to bed and chat through a convincing bonus point win over beleaguered Harlequins which saw Adam Radwan pop his jet shoes on.