On today’s episode, It’s Only Sport host Martin Devlin sets the table and tucks into a scrumptious plate full of sports preview, for a handful of matches and competitions taking place this coming weekend. A very special guest is first up in the form of former Warriors, Penrith Panthers and Canberra Raiders coach Matt Elliott, who goes in depth on what it’s like being a coach in the NRL.
Following that, independent cricket writer Bernie Coen provides an Aussie perspective on the second New Zealand-Australia cricket test starting Friday in Christchurch. Blues hooker Kurt Eklund will start for his side in their Super Rugby Pacific match-up with the Hurricanes on Saturday – he joins the show to look ahead to that clash.
As well as that, Wellington Phoenix defender Finn Surman talks their incredible form in the A-League which sees the ‘Nix sit top of the table, and Jason ‘Costo’ Costigan goes through the six NRL matches this weekend and provides his predictions.
Plus, Martin Devlin offers his opinion on Sydney Roosters prop Spencer Leniu who’s admitted to the racial slur directed at Brisbane Broncos playmaker Ezra Mam, and Devlin provides details on a new rugby league podcast starting Monday March 11 that he will co-host with ex-Warriors coach Tony Kemp. All that and much more!
Want to hear all the best bits from It’s Only Sport? Click here to catch highlights from every show hosted by Martin Devlin, Monday to Friday. Available on all major podcasting websites. https://www.spreaker.com/show/its-only-sport
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Diin unamed five 4 3 2 1 the platform welcome to the podcast people highlights package of our show which is aired every day live on the platform between 1 and four my name is Martin develin alongside me is Lan War iOS its only sport today we’re talking League rugby league and a big
Announcement about a brand new show that we’ve got for you every Monday live on the platform between 3:00 and 4 myself and Tony km you’ll hear more about that in this podcast Matt Elliott former Warriors coach Raiders coach penth coach his expert eye on what he thinks is
Going to happen this year in the NRL as well as at Jason Costo costan Costo corner he joins us every Thursday stick the big chin out he picks who is going to win every match round by round Kurt Eckland from the blues joined us on the program today also introducing Finn
Surman young man 20 years old left Christ Church at 15 to go to the Phoenix Academy played for the all whites last year and his team sitting top of the a league table all of that on the podcast we start the show the same way every
Single day tablets in hand I say gather my flock it’s time for a sermon oh God we got to play Australia on another Cricket test let’s go to the Mountaintop we live in an amazing amazing world and it’s wasted on the crappiest generation of just spoiled idiots Cricket this time last week I
Said I was feeling glum about the first test versus Aussie at the Basin I said I was deflated pessimistic in what would happen both at the Basin and in Christ Church I talked about how they are just better than us at Cricket they always have been player for player they kick
Our butt I drew the parallel with the wab playing the All Blacks and that we are the equivalent of their rugby team versus ours when we play them at Cricket once every 10 games or so we might win one and what happened we got shellacked we got embarrassed we lost on so many
Levels we couldn’t Bowl them out in the first Innings we dropped more catches in that one test than we normally would in a whole summer we couldn’t bat even Kane Williamson ran himself out the first time in his 12 test career we played like we fear Australia and of course the
Players will maintain that no there is no mental block against them they have to say that but the stats say otherwise we bottle it when we’re in winning position we succumb in the pressure moments we get close and that’s mostly always as close as it gets and now for Christ
Church tomorrow so what’s happened since last week to change my mind yes I can grasp that full on thing called hope yes I can change a couple of letters in the spelling and and turn pessimism into optimism on paper yes I can pretend to myself that this time this test will be
Different because why can’t it be it’s sport remember and a week is a long time between games we’ve learned our lessons we’ve taken those learnings we’ve learned the takings but in the end it’s still pretty much the same bowling attack it’s still the same batting lineup and it’s still the same
Australian team and we know how they’re going to play remorseless Relentless foot on the throat doing anything they can to win and that’s why a week later I’m still as pessimistic as I was then I can’t pretend it’s a Bas and Reserve repeat and that means a 2-n series
Defeat different what do you want we want information information you won’t get it the platform sports news headlines yeah uh Fair bit where to start I don’t know where to start actually I’ll start off with some football one um the name of auckland’s new a league franchise is set to be
Announced next Thursday an email was sent out early today about it Tuesday or Thursday Thursday Tuesday Tuesday the 14th of March there’s a week away today I did not I said it was the 14th which is a week today right right okay okay um yeah a release coming out this
Morning from the a league saying that there is a session next week for media invited to where the name of the team will be announced um according to a New Zealand media Outlet called The Herald they understand that the Black Knights is the front runner for the name of the
Club what was that was said there was pedal about 3 months ago was well don’t search up black knights.com not while her or boss is watching any no don’t do your work computer I’ve fallen into that trap a couple of times now especially when I search black caps um
Something else comes up first anyway uh so that’s happening next Thursday the name of the new Oakland A League franchise uh Matilda’s Captain the Australian national football team that is the matildas Sam Kerr the slur or the racist slur or racist phrase that she used towards a cop in London has been
Revealed as a stupid white uh excuse my French bastard yeah that’s the racial SL during a dispute over a TXI fee last year uh this was revealed by new a UK newspaper the sun while they’ve reported it um not as bad as what I thought and I’m actually kind of relieved it’s it’s
Not as you know if it was something Indian related or maybe Pakistani related or something obviously we get it’s okay because it’s a white guy you’re allowed to say I what was saying but I mean fair to say it’s less offensive than if it was towards it’s
Less offensive for us and I’ve said before you can racially abuse I don’t care but for the person at the other end of it obviously they do and the other thing is just like the Hurrican poer there’s a little bit of deviousness attached to this about their actions and
That she’s known about this for a year and didn’t tell soccer Australia about it and now she’s trying to rle off on a technicality well so she’s guilty but um Champions League this morning is there any point reading this out not really we already know man city beating
Copenhagen let me do the Simon bnet and tell me R won yeah well they drew tially today but they win the tie really God the champions league is boring when your own team’s not in them it’s actually gotten worse hasn’t it I was thinking about this last night cuz
They’re talking about this new format which probably includes more sudden death games if that makes sense I actually kind of like the idea of it it does include more teams though it’s not I mean it means you have to win 17 games as opposed to 13 to win the Champions
League which but you can only you can finish fifth in your league and make it yeah that well and if you’re in the fifth team in the Premier League here which is BS to be honest um d d uh yeah a format English rugby International this is a bit of a
Strange one Toby flood played for England for quite a long time actually quite a handy player wasn’t that good in rugby 08 though when I used to play that video game didn’t like Toby flood he was pretty useless but in real life though he was a good player he is is compared
Scottish rugby Winger um danan vanura it’s a very sou afan name to Joon alomo vanura stands for 6’4 he’s 106 kgs he’s 14 kgs lighter than lomu how tall was J lomu 65 something like that but Toby flood says that um we’ve got a sort of a
Modern day version of him which you’re not totally wrong but mean China was a unicorn China is China mate come on um some provincial rugby news uh the 14 provincial rugby unions have landed Global Insurance Company gallaga the sponsors of the English Premier League uh Premiership excuse me English Premiership the rugby competition
They’ve landed gallaga as a partner in a new commercial strategy that will deliver a greater autonomy from New Zealand Rugby so they kind of distancing themselves a little bit from nzr which is interesting Revenue will be split evenly across the 14 provinces ockland boss the Oakland CEO that is very com uh
Confident that more deals are on the way the Oakland rugby Chief Executives name is Jared beer uh he said that the gallaga deal wouldn’t be the last under the new strategy with more Partners in the pipeline well good on you uh provincial Union yeah you’re finding ways to get
Money yourself you’re not sitting there waiting for in arult themselves out listen for the women’s game do the same Yeah well yeah do the same um live sport on tonight Australian NBL has made a reference just before uh we’ve got Melbourne United up against the aawara Hawks in the semi-final Series game one
There that’s on at 9:30 today tomorrow the Perth W cats and the Tasmania Jack Jumers play in their opening game of their semifinal series the two winners of these series play in the Grand Final series and the NRL I love Thursday night footy I love it so much it’s just such a
Lovely little taste teaser for the weekend I love it maybe not the most headline of match that people would have wanted to see on a Thursday the first Thursday of the year but it’s still got to be probably a good game the Newcastle kns up against the camber Raiders that’s
In Newcastle kickoff at 10 p.m. now this is a repeat of the qualifying final last year between these two that went to Golden point was actually a half decent game um yeah okay for the time being Martin that’s what’s making you dein yes yes can they do it the platform Mad
Elliot Big Friend of the show he joined us today coached the Warriors coached penth coached the Raiders over 400 first class Gam James as coach and provided a really interesting Insight he turned 60 this year Matt you ever listened to him here where he talks about what he
Believes is the most important thing about coaching these days and how to embrace the young people how to get inside their heads how to impart the wisdom that he’s got but also to listen to what it is that is being said when you look at coaching these days and your
Experience right now with what you’re doing as well how dramatically has it changed even from the time a decade ago when you were coaching the Warriors how much more work do you have to do how much of more of a science is it no I think it’s awareness it more than a
Science so these are and I can I put my hand up this is probably what I got wrong at the Warriors the most important thing as a coach is to understand the young people that you’re working with now you know because you’re further away from your birth certificate when we used
To hang out that’s right is is that young people are changing and that’s a good thing people see it oh you know back in my day I don’t see it it’ be as B B is you know what if everyone stayed the same all the time so understanding
How to communicate how to engage you know how how to make sure that these young people are learning from you with the amount of distractions that exist know in the modern world is the key thing to coaching because if you can be the smartest coach in the world right
Know know all the best strategy but if you can’t communicate with your players and make them understand and make them feel engaged and feel like they belong somewhere it’s you you might as well be speaking you know whatever language you want to come up with but it’s just not
Not good for them and I think that was really evident to me for all the top teams you can see that right with naan c yeah yeah yeah for sure and you can see that lster as well defin you can see it after games they’re sitting in dressing rooms he’s not going
Up to players players going up to him you know those little indicators that’s why Wayne Bennett is the best coach of all time you know and people can argue that about what Wayne knows about footy but Wayne has really close relationships with his players they listen to it and
You know that’s I think that’s the key thing about coaching so you need to adapt you know and it’s it’s not you need to become smarter and that was you know what I I lost my way there a little bit with that it’s not about becoming smarter it’s about learning how to adapt
And and how to communicate in the way that you need to so it’s not the players adapting to you you got to adapt to the young people that exist in the world today and that’s not just confined to footage that’s every industry that has young people working in I love hearing
You saying that because we’ve got such a proliferation these days there are so many people attached to a team your sports scientists nutritionist diet you got drones in the sky you got buffins on keyboards but it’s still a people business that’s what you’re saying isn’t it well all those people don’t run out
In the field so and now we’re human as well right and we’ve met that smart person I they’re really smart but I’d rather get poked the eye with a burnt stick than hang out with them it’s it’s the people that have wisdom to share with you that
You really like being in their company they’re the people learn off they’re the people that inspire you to do to do things and to be a certain way and I I think that that that will always remain the foundation of coaching yes how you use that new information how you make
That applicable to young people you know and players that’s really important because that information now is so valuable but it’s not valuable if you know if they’re not listening Matt how do we improve this game does it and and and does this comp in fact need
Improving well I tell you what one of the things we’ve already discussed is just get get those young people better I know have people talk about oh footy in my day we were oh my goodness that’s just the biggest lie of all time what some of these guys do on the padic guys
And girls joing the padic now blows me away the speed at which they play skill in which they play I think our you know there’s one thing our game we can I can criticize them administratively for a lot of things that they’ve done and you
Know we have the AFL here who are really well administered and we’re starting to catch up to them now what we’ve always done well as a sport is we’ve adapted the rules adapted the rules to make sure that it remains respected I I can and I’ll say it with
EAS Rugby Union hasn’t done that no that’s true particularly in Australia you know I don’t need sleeping tablets just put Rugby Union on I’m asleep you know and I’ve seen Rugby Union played in New Zealand at the club level and God that is so entertaining but that’s
Nothing like what I see at the elite level now our our our Administration has done a really good job with adapting rules to make sure that the speed of the game is something that entertains our fans and tests our players and that’s the key to it you know and Rugby Union
And it’s it’s easy to criticize and we sit on the side of the microphone and I criticize cuz I love the game they talk about fan Centric and fan engagement and everything else and then you look at what the up thew movement has done which
Has just been grown by the fans for the fans because of the fans and to me it doesn’t get better than that in any sport isn’t it you give the game back to the people and guess what happens yeah and you again how good was that not just
For rugby league in New Zealand that was so call your audence to know this that was good for rugby league right through our whole region for everyone that watches from you I’ve just been up in PNG you know from from people that played the game up there right through Australia right
Through the South pacifi know that that everyone was talking about it everyone was engaged in it so that’s the power you know that that fan engagement can do it’s not just about that one club to hear the full interview download the platform at the App Store via platform
Plus you can go back and listen to the whole show and all of the interviews in full got a brand new rugby league show details of which I’ll tell you about in just a couple of minutes quick comment on Spencer lenu just before we go to the
Break and we’ll talk some Cricket with Bernie Cen still no word from MOS so we’ll try and squeeze him in tomorrow for you love having them on the show it’s normally live every Thursday this is the platform by the way Spencer lenu now the communications staff the pr Consultants that department
At the roosters there’s a myriad of people that have those jobs they are highly experienced they are paid to exercise good judgment I’m sitting here wondering because if it was me in those jobs this is what I would be doing first and foremost after that game I would never
Have allowed Spencer lenu to do an afterm match interview I would have had him out of bounds straight away because he just poured petrol all over himself and the in by saying oh it’s just fun and games on the field bro and all that kind of stuff no it’s not fun in games
Mate you called somebody a monkey this day and age that is a racist insult the other thing is is why haven’t they in the last 48 hours cuz this is ongoing and going on and the easiest way to put a full stop after the event before it
Goes to the Judiciary would have been and they could have filmed this in house is to have Spencer l in front of a camera and all the guy’s got to say is listen I’m sorry for what I said In the Heat of the Moment out there on the
Field a word came out of my mouth and I don’t know where it came from I don’t think like that sometimes all of us do this in life sometimes you have an argument with your partner and you might say F off or F you or something and you
Feel like stink afterwards right we all do it and we’ve all done it and afterwards you feel like such an a-hole because you think I don’t mean that love I didn’t mean to say that I’m I said terrible things and I don’t mean to say
That and you kind of feel a bit of empathy for it and you kind of feel a bit of forgiveness because we you know we’ve all crossed that line when we haven’t wanted to we’re talking about men in physical combat we’re talking about big men where we promote
Aggression in the game and we want confrontation now Marcel Montoya did something similar a couple of years back and I heard him on the news yesterday saying hey look I owned that that’s all I want to say about it that wasn’t me I you know and and I’ve met Marcelo and
I’ve spoken to him a couple times and I actually believe that guy I totally believe that guy I think that okay whatever happened in the Heat of the Moment to provoke him into it or because his blood rushed through his head or he just lost his Co or whatever it is we
Are all allowed to make a mistake and Sticks and Stones my may break my bones but words can never hurt me well in this case it does hurt because it’s a racial insult but if Spencer had just got up front of the public and said Hey listen
Look I’m a proud some on man and I I got a lot of love for Ezra and I I said something really stupid I’m not trying to get out of it here I’m I’m I’m not trying to paper over it here I’m happy to go to the Judiciary I’m not even
Going to contest this I’m just look they’ll give me a punishment all I just want to say is I’m sorry and it’s not actually me that’s not the person I am and if he had done that it would diffuse it it would it would lower the the temperature level and it would probably
Actually work in his favor in terms of the punishment instead he’s been bullish he’s been aggressive he’s been arrogant about it not a single bit of apology and this story has continued to have legs it just stuns me why no one at the roosters has a brain and can engage that
Brain and the most simple piece of PR a humble apology and some honesty C here microbios Solutions limited we got a brand new league Show starting Monday my name is Martin Devin and I’m Tony Kim and we’re talking rugby league mate mate it’s back and it’s back and
Better than it’s ever been before cuz the old team’s back Marty people don’t know that me and you that’s how it got started you’re an apologist for the Warriors you’ve always been an apologist for the Warriors all you do is make excuses for the Warriors is that going
To continue this year serious cut it out are you serious I’m the only bloke I think that calls it as I see it there won’t be no apologies this year they’ve got a big year ahead of them they got to make the top four every year does this
Thing get better and bigger and faster and stronger best condition I’ve seen the players in in 2024 I don’t know how big and how fast they can get from here if you have a look at that young Brisbane Broncos side I think they’re the team to beat in terms of the
Warriors who do you look at does big Aden put the foot down and does he go as hard as he did last year oh that’s the million-dollar question is it does he take the crala money and run in round two round three or does he stay here for
26 rounds to get the job done win a grand final with the Warriors part of me says he hasn’t going to have the year that he had last year part of he’s hoping that he does but let’s forget about Adam for no Blake because the real
Man we’re all looking at here is RTS we need to see if Roger T vet can be a Jo Manu especially after the way Jo Manu hit the ground in Vegas Vegas baby last Vegas look it’s a big shiny gimmicky thing I loved it I I don’t know whether
Or not it’s the future of rugby league but I love the fact that it was on the big stage in the Big Town that’s right Vegas is probably where they’ve been trying to get to remember in ‘ 87 they took the origin game up there and it was
A big flop I think this time Vegas everyone wants to go up there do they take it to the Americas do they get it into the ASAS that’s Val’s Big Hope and I’m looking forward to that space it’s going to be great to talk about as well
Rugby league every single Monday 3 to four and we look at theend it’s one of the greatest competitions in the world this time of year does not get any better I’ll tell you what and many of you have been waiting for us to get back
Devin and Kemp call it as it is no holds B you’re going to get it right between the eyes stuff that’s right if you want to hear it live tune in Mondays 3 till 4: because Marty Devin’s back with Tony km every Monday ladies and gentlemen
We’ll look back at the NRL round we got a special up the W segment he’s a Edge and one of the greatest ever to play the NL joining us on Monday we want you on board to fan forum corner where you’ll be free to call up and start talking
League a whole hour of it and that is every Monday 3 till 4: div oh my goodness me the platform all right Martin I’ve got breaking news big breaking news go on and this is actually big breaking news this isn’t me just saying that I think the Broncos is
Going to win the Premiership um Spencer lenu and the Sydney roosters have entered a guilty plea to the charge against the prop relating to a racist comment made towards Brisbane Bronco isra M lenu expressed remorse for his comments towards ma made during the nrl’s opening round the first two coup the second game
Excuse me in Vegas last weekend here is a direct quote I want to apologize to Ezra and his family for using the word I did and I am sincerely sorry to cause him such distress I’ve put my hand up and want to take ownership of this I
Said the word but I didn’t mean it in a racist way anyone who knows me knows that that’s not who I am uh lenu will face the NRL Judiciary to learn his punishment on Tuesday you said this at the start of the show this at the start
Of the show you said this is what he should do did I not say that if I was working for PR for the roosters I’d get him in front of a camera and I’d say exactly that I’m not this guy I something came out of my mouth I’m sorry
For saying it I ain’t that person I’ll accept my punishment yeah yeah oh I I I applaud that I applaud that I applaud it um but I would say say if I’m allowed to be critical it is a few days too late yeah maybe yeah maybe but at the same
Time he’s done it now he’s done it now he ended up doing the right and I hope you still get a couple of weeks because you deserve a couple of weeks but anyway well done Bernie Cohen freelance Cricket Rider out of Australia makes a hell of a
Lot of Doos as well great docos look them up all over YouTube It’s Cohen Coen do we have a chance do we have a do we I mean it’s Australia look what happened to the Bas Reserve is this going to be a repeat of that is it Bernie give me hope
How is tomorrow’s test going to be any different from the Basin Reserve well I think it might depend on who New Zealand pick um for one thing and how they Bowl I mean I looked at that that first test and there’s look I’ve said for a long time I think when
You’re bowling to Steve Smith early on is obviously he works out his own problems very very quickly but I think there’s a couple of things with the way they bowled to certain batsman the first Innings they showed how you bow the Travis head early on he played six deliveries looked absolutely horrible in
All of them you get and your bold just outside he off up kaag you can’t do that kaag like Mark Tyler used to play I’d watch A Match and he’d let a ball go and i’ missed the stumps by three cmers and I’d go right Mark Taylor sing the ball
Like a watermelon tonight and Kazi will do that he’ll he’ll just let he’s happy to let the ball go and it doesn’t frustrate him Travis head likes to play Shots kaazi you actually have to make him play it they have to put the ball probably on middle and off so it forces
Him to play it and Smith I just I’ve always been the advocate of when he gets in early you got a bowling bouncers not a lot of them not bombarding but I think early on in his Innings he does have a problem with a bouncer so so did David
Warner and the only blacks that seem to do B Bowl the right way to them were the englishment they the only guys that seem to bowl and have the right tactics again bowling to the tail there’s this thing around the world now with teams wanting to bounce tailenders all the time and I
I know it doesn’t seem to work very often we saw it when Australian playing one and the ashes and the Aussies did it and it just did not work um so there’s a few things that I think Santa obviously will probably come in depending what the
Pitch is looking like over there um I was surprised he didn’t play the first test um but they said the Wicket was very different to how it normally plays but when you’ve got a Frontline spinner who’s as experienced as that um and gives you some variation because they
Ended up obviously having the about Phillips it was a bit of a revelation with his off Spin and obviously hasn’t played a lot of test Cricket so I wasn’t familiar with his bowling with a red ball but he was very impressive for a BL that’s regarded as a part-time
Offspinner so look I think it depends on you know the way they bowl and and who they pick I think certainly Santa has to come in I think they’re going to miss the young black overall look quite good I think that’s going to be a bit of a
Blow but um yeah I I was I think everyone was saying this before the summer started when we looked at all the test matches we G that test series against New Zealand’s going to be the best one and and the first test was I to very disappointing uh because I thought
It’d be a lot more competitive than it was but let’s hope this second one is a little bit more competitive yeah we all thought that too um and look we you know we the media over here we hype up this team so much uh we exaggerate you know
How how um good the two victories were against the South African e or F or or you know or G side read the pitch wrong I got to tell you that a year ago Jack leech for England went to the base and got eight wickets in that test so even
Though it what traditionally it’s meant to be a Seamus Wicket you know Nathan l enough out of it as you say Phillips got enough out of it do you know if you’re if you’re in New Zealand is the only way to beat Australia that we actually have
To bowl at them first or is or or is it maybe even time to actually rethink that I I don’t think look if the Wicket looks like it’s going to do something on the first morning and do a lot and the weather suits it and you really think
This is going to be a horribly bad Wicket to battle um early on I think you know your bow but I’ve always been an advocate of btic first I just it leaves that it leaves that little question mark at the end of the Test match if you’ve
Got a bat last on the Wicket how it’s going to play and we always go when sides have a lot to chase if they’re chasing more than 250 or 300 and the wickets turning a bit you’re going to struggle against Australia with Nathan M poing so I I’m not a great advocate of
Bowling first unless unless you’re not confident your batsman can perform um you know I just think I mean and look it could have turned out differently you know had they been able to get rid of Cam green who obviously was ridiculously good in that first test match uh because
You know the rest of the batting lineup I mean they had a reasonable start but they you know put on 60 for the first Wicket so it wasn’t as though the Aussies had a horrible start either but um new zillan went in and it could the horrible when they bed second so you
Could wait up and look at the scorecard and go well maybe we should just bat first but no I would be I would be batting first particularly if it looks like it’s going to going to take some spin there is absolutely no way I wanting to bat last against Australia
With na line and a blo who’s highly underrated as a spinner as Travis head um he’s not the greatest spinner in the world but he’s a lot better than an average spinner and I’d say that now looking at Phillips the the Test match I’ve seen from him I think he’ll be
Become a very very important player in in New Zealand Cricket because I quite staggered when you look like he didn’t Bowl in the first Innings and comes out the second takes five for and he actually looked very good so I think yeah but to to answer that question I
Would I wouldn’t be balling first unless this we looks like it’s going to be a nightmare battle the tight five five separate sporting topics roughly a minute or so on each we get reminded to move on to the next topic when that goes Knights Raiders who wins
Tonight we’ve talked about that a little briefly I’ll keep asking you Lin second test starting tomorrow as far as the black caps are concerned we have got much to celebrate with Sai and Kane Williamson two superb storeo of New Zealand Cricket what a wonderful way to celebrate their ton-up
It would be if we could the Aussie women’s domestic rugby competition trophy has been unveiled Lan best described I think as an anatomical look it up it’s on our Twitter uh that’s Martin dlin inz Champions League these the two finalists from this morning man city Royale Joseph Parker fights on Saturday morning
11:00 that’s kind of slipped a little bias that one bias that one um I hope Joseph wins it but I know nothing about the guy he’s fighting X Lee xang nothing at all uh no ranking points for live golf players either so what does this mean now these two opposing factions the pga2
And Li golf seem just still miles apart what does it mean for the majors is what I mean by that let’s start with the second test starting tomorrow mate sou the K 100 tests each notching their places in New Zealand cricket history only four players have played
100 tests for new can you name them four yeah clue we spoke to one the other day Ros Taylor yes jeez 100 test theying yes they’re all modern players mate oh so like played in the 21st century yeah had to yeah they’ve all they’ve all played in
The points or 15 years don’t tell me are they all retired yep yes that’s through that’s two so there’s two others Taylor Fleming and mullum you got you got got three one one more bould or better oh vtor yeah Dan vtori so of
Course it is a hell of a list to it your name onto isn’t it um you know we have had some wonderful cricketers over the years you know the Hadley the crows uh you go back to the dony you go back to um well I mean I grew up with those
80s guys I mean I I loved all of those guys but you know you go back further than that and you think none of them were ever in a position to play 100 T because you know it’s it’s only now modern day Cricket where we don’t
Actually play that many we only play 7 eight n a year despite what the CEO David White told us that they’re playing 14 a year it’s untrue we play on average about seven or eight so you’re going to have to play for the best part of 13 or 14 years
Right so to do that it’s an it’s it’s such a testament to longevity and to consistency Kane has got 38 32 test entries Sal’s got 378 wickets uh there’s only 17 Bowlers who’ve got 400 workers so I wonder whether he’s hanging on to see whether we can actually itch out
Another 22 be bloody good if he grabbed a five starting tomorrow so congratulations to both of them I just wanted to separate that from talking about the test now we’ve already discussed this what chance we got percentage chance oh shall I get out the Google Live win probability I would
Say at a guess we’re 18 or lower 18% or lower before it all kicks off let me check take the forecast as well no we’re not that bad we’re 25% okay Australia 63 12% of a draw excuse me um the percentage chance I give us uh I give us a a nice cool
177% okay 5day forecast this is your god your site is useless met service it really is why don’t you just put up something clear that says this is what it’s looking like in Christ CH for the next 5 days there is a tab that says 7-day
Forecast is there where show me where it is now okay well for starters you’re a six-year-old man on a computer so you obviously are struggling where’s the tab next seven days there it is okay God make it easy okay we we’ve actually got fine weather all the way through till
Tuesday so that’s the first five days of the Test match so it doesn’t look as though that is going to save us percentage chance of winning Google says 25 I’d say that’s generous it’s generous for the abely I do Champions League Man City Cru at 6 on aggregate today rail
Battle they got a one all draw at home we’ll talk to Miles about this in half an hour so 21 aggregate win for them are these the two finalists providing they can avoid each other obviously I me that’s goes without question are these the two finalists do you think are these
The two best teams uh yeah probably uh the next the third best I mean I I’m not putting Bayern Munich in there because they’ve been um by their own standards a train wreck in all competitions this season uh I wonder if they’re absolutely punting the Bundesliga now though
Because they’re 10 points off by lus and who haven’t lost a game in that comp so maybe all their energy just because Thomas Tule is out at the end of this year so he’s probably going to want to get as much silverware as he can which is only one competition that they’re in
Because they’re not winning Bundesliga which is the Champions League so maybe B Munich will go hard to the Champions League uh but apart from them Inter Milan because they’re running away with Seri so they’re a half decent team at the moment Arsenal I don’t think they will because this is the first time
They’re in the Champions League in like five years isn’t it they’ll be concentrating on the title manate yeah yeah I think they will be concentrating on the title um and they’re not going to beat man city across two leagues um or even if there’s a one-off final so no ra
Are the second best team now assuming that they don’t get Dr drawn against City I think I think apart from the semis or the quarters one of the two it’s not randomized but assuming they don’t get drawn against man city um that should be the fin yeah I think couple of
Text messages we’ve had so many uh people saying hey look bloody brilliant Lads uh awesome news on the new league league cement looking forward to it all thank you so much three to four it is on Mondays uh Matt says on another radio station this morning as he dag reckon
Stead as Dead Man Walking Matt I’ll tell you what I’d be surprised at that only because you know I think Gary stead’s track record is better than everyone else that has coached the team yeah I think he’s going to be given the grace to to decide when
He wants to go and remember he’s cut back on his his commitment as well so he’s he’s actually got other guys in place yeah I mean I’m not saying that Israel’s wrong I mean he might have Bloody good oil but um and thank you for listening to us in the afternoon in
Changing radio stations my friend I’m very I’m delighted with that um Jr re St of B suck Turner tals uh great players and have all missed out on a ton you thank you for Mike for that as well yeah I I was I was struggling
With J that was the guy that I was trying to remember but thank you for reminding me Joseph Parker 11:00 Saturday X Ling Jang I’m not even going to try and pretend I know who this guy is I’ve I’ve read a bit about it and he’s a tricky opponent they saying he’s
This and that but I also think that Joseph has selected this he’s the undercard for Joshua versus Francis yeah isn’t he the MMA guy the yeah but he’s actually had a pretty good transition into boxing he fought he and fury not long ago and I think Fury W I think it
Was Split Decision you are yeah this one and it was very a very contentious result many people didn’t think it it should have gone that way I think that this opponent’s been handpicked for Joseph because of his brilliant win His Brilliant win against Deontay Wilder and I don’t think that his management would
Want anyone in that ring with him that has a potential chance of beating him because Joseph has got that little pot simmering over here hasn’t he I beat Wilder therefore I can actually get a really big fight next yeah I’m not going to get knocked out by the next opponent
Or beaten on points by the next opponent so without even knowing anything about his opponent I think Joseph wins this fight yeah I think this the dumb sporting argument we’ve yeah I think well I think this is essentially it’s a training run for his next bigest belt
Which is what who’s it going to be against cuz he cuz usyk and fury are set to fight become that fight’s been postponed isn’t it but that’s set to be that’s the best of the best so the so who’s Joseph up against knck would he be
The guy next off the ranks to face Joshua M sure if he Joshua wins do they fight each other he might be he might be one behind that person but he’s pretty bloody close now uh kurtland is going to join us in a minute mhm the Australian women’s rugby travia has been unveiled
Look it’s a beautiful shiny trophy it’s all done in AB original style what does it look like it looks like a vagina is what it looks like Lan and I don’t know how else you can describe it I said anatomical I was just being polite look at it it’s on our Twitter Mar
Z it is what it is it’s it’s it’s that you tell me it’s not okay have a look at that Trophy and tell me it’s not tell me that’s not the first thing that you thought of when you saw that my God that’s a that’s a the platform the blues are top of
Super Rugby two out of two they beat the Andre and F day they beat the Highlanders in the Melbourne round Kurt eckan hooker for the team this weekend away the Hurricanes he joined us today well how’s it all going for you Lot 2 and0 is a good way to start the season
Isn’t it you’ll be pleased with that yeah you can’t complain um you know obviously wanted to get off to a good start and two wins on the well one of them was a home game but it didn’t really feel like it right um and the other one in Melbourne so no um we’re
Happy with where we’re at yeah that’s an away game probably didn’t feel either because yeah a bit different from plane was like 28 degrees up in F and I swear more there were more Fijian supporters there than they were Blues but um they for a pretty cool spectacle made and was
A good way to kick the season off you’ve played you know pretty good razzled dazel rugby at the moment but what is the coach saying to you what’s Vern saying to you he wouldn’t have been happy conceding 29 points against the Highlanders right no exactly man that’s something
That we need clean up a little bit you know we’ve un leaked a few tries in both games so it’s quite a big Focus for us um well this week especially because we know what the canes can bring but um you know on the other side of that the boys
Are scoring some pretty nice tries and um you know we just got to keep going in within the tech mindset and not really try and um play with the defending what do you call it we don’t want to go out there and defend the game we want to go
Out there and win it we want to play a good brand rugby so that’s what we aim to do traditional Blues rugby I’d call that yeah yeah exactly mate get the ball up I think we got a big um emphasis on collisions this year he wants us to be a
Lot more physical than what we have been previously and um you know I think if we can win that aspect of the game then we’ll be a way laughing I was going to say I one of the things I’d written down and it’s great you mentioned that because I’ve actually noticed that and
I’ve also thought that set piecewise you’ve been pretty consistent as well and that’s really important for somebody like you playing where you play yeah the boys um you know they I think they hit 100% lineups last week mate so that’s something that we hope to
Take on moving into the um rest of the season and our scrums going right too you know we’ve put a bit of work into that over the pre-season and I think you know we’ve we’ve come Leaps and Bounds and hopefully you know things just keep moving in the right direction
Kur when you when you start the season you have a couple of warm-up games and you know a lot of guys get sort of a few minutes here and a few minutes there what kind of Step Up is it really then when you play your first competition
Games do you really notice it in the first couple of weeks I think like the intensity is definitely a lot more you know you play your preseason games and everybody’s getting a run from both sides of the team and all that sort of stuff and you
Know the the score line isn’t like it doesn’t really matter that much but you know once you’re in the competition M that there’s a bit more pressure we go to win um I think it’s that aspect of the games that definitely brings the intensity um obviously you know there’s
Points up for grabs and things like that so um once you you know once the season really kicks off properly M you definitely notice a difference but is all the training that does it prepare for the lung burn do you really notice that like the first couple of games you
Go God I tell you right she’s a little bit faster than I thought it would be oh bro honestly you can’t I don’t think there’s anything that can replace match Fitness you know you can do as much running as you want you can hit as many
Tackle bags but once you’re out on that field made it something different you know repeated efforts and having a hit a rock then to make a tackle and be on side all the time man she’s she’s a bit of a tough one look that I don’t know
When you’re in the Melbourne round do you actually get to sit and watch even a few minutes of some of the other games or you’re just sort of cocooned in what you’re doing yourselves um I think well last week I was running Waters mate so you know the
The pressure wasn’t on me as much so yeah I got to have a little bit of a look to see what the other boys were doing but Mo most of the guys you know you go away on these trips and things like that and everyone thinks it’s
Pretty nice because you get to do a bit of travel but the reality is you know you get there you got your captains one day and you’re back in a hotel and you play your game and you leave well we’re um left the hotel at 6:00 the next
Morning so there’s not too much like downtime around it and you’re pretty focus when you’re there and I think you know as professional athletes that’s our job mate we go over there we want to get the job done and then just get home to
Move on to the next one so um for the boys who are playing it’s definitely it’s not it’s not a holiday at all you know we’re in there and we want to get get something out of it um in terms of the suspensions and that with jordy’s
One especially I don’t know whether you saw that if you’re watching the game you would have seen it No Malice you know no no no no malicious intent or anything like that and it it’s just the rules it obviously is still taken even for the very best players who play at the
Highest levels and that some adjustment how much work do you actually do do on that during the week is it a real Focus that your coach is saying you just got to come down the slow got to come down yeah it’s tough and um you know obviously they’re um they’re getting a
Lot stricter with these rulings and things like that so it is something that we do focus on obviously tackle hype is very important and that goes for both players not just the person getting tackle but the tackler as well you’ve seen like head on heads and um some bad
Concussions like that so it definitely something that we focus focus on and I think like you know play a welfare um is definitely front of mine when we’re doing it are you wearing that mouth guard um yeah yeah yeah all the boys are wearing the mouth guard and again you
Know it’s um play Play of welfare I suppose um you know I think they take a little bit of getting used to but you know at the end of the day they’re all just out there to protect us I suppose um I hear there’s some pretty mixed
Reviews about them but made our job just to go out there and play rugby and if that’s what we got to do to do it and so it kland is with us yeah hurricanes away mate never an easy game good local Derby this one too um in terms of the physical
Stuff they’re going to bring it they always do yeah yeah 100% you know they got some big boys and some big ball carriers there so you know like you said it’s a local Derby and um you know one that we always look forward to playing and I’m
Sure um they do as well so it makes for a pretty good spectacle and um you know so hopefully well they have two wins as well so you know one of us are going to come away with a loss and I hope it’s not us to hear the full interview
Download the platform at the App Store via platform plus you can go back and listen to the whole show and all of the interviews in full introducing Finn Surman Central Defender for the Wellington Phoenix he’s been playing out of his brain over the last few games absolutely Rock Solid in defense he’s
Got a great pedigree great history 15-year-old left Christ Church to go to the academy uh he played for the New Zealand under 20s at the FIFA World Cup and from there got selected for the all whites his team sits in the number one spot in the a league with six games to
Go he joined us today 11 wins and only Central Coast Mariners can match that how do you approach the next six games being in the position you are and you know whenever we’ve had anyone on from the Phoenix I’ve said look the table doesn’t lie you deserve to be top
Because you’ve won the most games and accumulated the most points yeah I I agree with what they those boys have said and and is true we deserve to be deserve to be where we are because of the performances that we’ve that we’ve put out um in terms of the
Next the next six seven games it’s it’s literally what we’ve been doing from the start to be honest like we’re just taking it game by game you know Focus this week on Melbourne City away in Melbourne which would be a really tough fixture and then hopefully um get the
Get the three points there and get a good result and then and then we’ll focus on the next week but it’s been pretty similar throughout the entire season we’re just we’re just taking it each week at a time one game at a time and it seems to be working so far and is
That the message that chiefy gives you as well when it’s done and dusted that’s the result from last week we just look at this game I mean it’s look I know that a lot of people say hey it’s a cliche it’s a cliche for a reason because if you keep your mind just
Focused on one task does it make it a lot easier yeah you’re 100% right it does it does sound like a cliche and and and that’s because it it’s bought up all the time but there literally what we’re doing is we take it game by game we’ll always we’ll always review the the
Previous game and see what we had done well and see what we could do better but then as soon as that’s as soon as that’s done the focus switches completely to just our next game and how can we get the best result for us how do you walk
Off the field mate when it’s 3-2 you’ve got a win You’ got three points you sit there and your Defenders go bugger we considered two goals how does that work yeah I think it it would depend on it would depend on how we how we conceded the goals you know we weren’t
We weren’t very happy with how we we conceded you know if you concede two bombs then sometimes you think are we sit back and think there’s not much we could do about it but couple of those goals that that we reviewed we thought we should have done a bit better I mean
At the end of the day the most important thing is the win and and the team got us over the line there and of course as the defense we’d love to see keep more clean sheets which we we’ve been doing well at the season but look we look at the goals
And and think how can we do it better and then just maintain the focus for the game really and try to fluff out those errors the breakers had a great away record last year and they coined a phrase called Road Warriors they loved going away from home I know you guys
Enjoy such great support at home you could hear the rowdiness in the back of that commentary there from Jay um going on the road do is there is there anything different and special that you do as a team when you go on the road um I think there there probably is
A little bit it is a little bit different you know when we’re at home we we have the fans behind us and we we we don’t have to have to travel which is which is quite a big factor in the in the a league you know traveling over to
Australia does it does take its toll it’s not something that you can really get used to um you can feel you can feel as wi as possible but your body’s not going to be 100% used to it um flying the day before the game so it’s it’s
Really up to the coach how he sets us up right but we definitely take the approach that we want to win the game and but then at the same time like any result is a good result away from home Finn Surman is with us you got called up
To the AIT after a fantastic under 20 World Cup last year congratulations again what an honor for that and I and you know I hope you’ve got a massive future for our national team in front of you how how godamn exciting is it thinking about that uh it’s pretty it’s pretty exciting
You know it’s it’s one of those things that the national team’s always in the in the back of my mind like I want to uh having represented New Zealand before the under 20s and then getting my always call up it was there were major moments with the my life um and it’s something
That I want to have I want to have more of um and I know the best way to do that is by performing at my club and continuing to do well with the Phoenix and then hopefully I get the call call up in the future back with Jason costan
We are Costo Corner we’re our man runs through game by game sticks the big chin out tonight it all kicks off mate Knights versus Raiders who you got well a lot of people are basically death ring the camber Raiders I’ll build on what i’ said on what what I alluded
To last week in in our discussion cber Raiders are friendless in betting Newcastle I I would have thought starting at home uh first game I’m tipping Newcastle comfortably uh and if it’s a blowout in round one in as they deal with life after after whiton don’t
Forget he’s their gun player he left the club and Jamal fogy or fogy has the respon responsibility now to steer the ship it could be a long season for CRA and I think Newcastle will win this handsomely 13 plus W at home sharks uh I can’t see the Warriors losing this game
I just think that man for man they better um and and you know obviously you can’t gauge anything Jason on on preseason former anything but I just get the feeling they’re going to hit the ground running mate I I I think this is a win for the Warriors I’m not probably
Unders because the sharks are a battling side well the sharks are better than a b side I’ll beg to differ there that they can get into a scrap and and and and will’ll accommodate you or anyone who who’ll take them on and and if they need to play an expansive game then Nicko
Hines and others uh he’s got a reasonable support cast if they click they can they can turn it on I think this game will be closer than what people would like if you’re a warrior supporter I think it could be in the balance for a long time this game but
I’m confident that the Warriors can start at home on a winning note and I’m tipping the host 1 to 12 we agree on that and then what a blockbuster of a game to have afterwards Friday night NRL they get it right WS versus Sharks is going to have a huge crowd they know
That and then you back it up with the storm versus the Panthers which is 10:00 05 kickoff in New Zealand but the it’s it’s the money game in Australia it’s the 8:00 game and it’s two of the teams that over the last few years everyone
Looks to and thinks if you can get above them on the points table jaay will you’re going to be in the money aren’t you well that’s exactly right and and I’ve been tossing and turning on this game because read what you’re like into that world club challenge the trip to
England going over there dusting off cobwebs look Melbourne will probably think this is not a bad time to get them early in the season so you know you’re going to put me on the spot here I’m not going to get splinters by sitting on the
Fence uh I changed my mind on this a couple of times look I’d like to see the teams right now tip before kickoff because that’s how close this game I think it’ll be an amazing game of football and to to summon up I’m probably going to tip the storm one to
12 Panther’s lost their opener last year I think they lost two out of the first three to Jason but it didn’t stop them did it pulling no it didn’t and they don’t they don’t hand out the trophy in March no everyone’s you know I mean aside putting last week in Vegas into
Perspective you know going into round one everyone’s undefeated so I know it’s a not your traditional round one because of it’s it’s being spread out over two weekends but you know as I said penth look penrith always come prepared when did you last time when was the last time
You saw penrith get flogged no you know they’re always well they’re always well presented uh clearly uh is is a is a is one of the you know he’s been compared to Bellamy that’s not lost on Bellamy I’m sure bellam like to beat him don’t forget Bellamy is going to finish up at
The end of the season and there’s a lot of people out there who who are very romantic in the game and that would include me who would say there’s a possible Cinderella Story there come come October eels versus Bulldogs Jason costan with us at Costo Jason the man’s
Twitter handle and we love having them on every single Thursday picking it from Thursday night match through I’m going dogs here and I don’t know whether this is an an upset maybe my mat my mate uh let’s be positive Matt gun’s got him air to much about this but at some stage
This Bulldog site has got to correct itself I’m going for the away one well the dogs in recent years have been more like Che hours you know let’s let’s not get let’s not K ourselves I’m talking about and and and if you lost your dog and you went to Belmore to pick
It up you wouldn’t find it because they keep going through dogs like unless you’ve got him registered with the local Council you’re going to have you’re have more issues than your local every Thursday ladies and gentlemen I mean this is just the opening set can I I’ll sum up I’ll sum up by
Saying param were Underachievers last year they were big time Big Time they missed the finals and you talk about a correction for canbury I’m expecting a correction for param matter because if they don’t start well I think the knives may be out for Brad Arthur at some point
You mean he’s been there for a long time now and and I’m expecting bigger things from Paramount this year so they need to start well they missed the finals just all bit last year and it’s a massive game these clubs absolutely despise one another forget about the the merry go
Round of players changing jerseys like we change our Underpants it’s not like the old days where you played out your career at the one Club asked Terry lamb and Steve Mortimer what I’m talking about but you know Cello’s team looks nothing like the team from two years ago
I’m tipping param 1 to2 and I would expect it’ll be a physical tough battle you’re going home home home home home so far and I don’t think you’re changing your mind Titans over dragons no I’m not you know who’s tipping s georgea if you’re tipping the
Dragons you should you should go and get your head red uh like they they are deserved favorites for The Wooden Spoon in my eyes you mean Flanigan’s got an an unenviable task to try and rebuild St George El laara so they their opposition this week uh with the change in coaching
So it’s it’s a new start for what goal Coast is it not Titans dragons pal so yeah so goal Coast for mine I think Dez Hasler will be uh off to a winning start I think they’ll win very well 13 plus and it’s a local Derby yes because it’s coens land Dolphins just
Down the coast from Brisbane of course or not they actually outside the coast I got to say in redcliff there cowboys who again are looking for a season two match the one they had the previous season two last if you know what I mean they were a bit disappointing last year weren’t they
They came very close how do you see this one well the Dolphins have a better roster by virtue of the fact that they picked up players like flegler and thorth but I I’m going to be leaning towards the Cowboys here uh I’m going to tip Cowboys 1 to
12 uh there’s there’s every expectation that North Queensland uh will bounce back from what was a disappointing 2023 campaign and I said on your program what last week if memory serves me right that wouldn’t surprise me to see talolo come out and almost eat players this season
He’s hungry he’s really hungry and he’ll be fired up because he’s had the captaincy taken away imagine you and I as little boys having our Tonka trucks taken away that’s talolo that’s our podcast for today thank you so much for listening if you want to listen to the
Entire show one till four Monday to Friday download the platform app and Via platform plus you can go back and listen to whatever shows over however many weeks at your leure at your listening pleasure platform plus first thing to do though is download the platform app def you it the platform
