On today’s podcast, It’s Only Sport host Martin Devlin continues the post-mortem into the Black Caps’ horrendous defeat to Afghanistan to open their Twenty20 cricket World Cup campaign, virtually making their clash with the West Indies on Thursday morning (New Zealand time) a must-win to qualify for the Super 8 phase of the tournament. Devlin delivers a sermon firstly, admitting he wouldn’t mind seeing the New Zealand men’s cricketers lose to the Windies, believing they’ve let down their fans and the jersey with poor preparation ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Then, Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox previews the upcoming US Open, Hurricanes CEO Avan Lee discusses the decision to schedule the ‘Canes-Chiefs Super Rugby Pacific semifinal on Saturday afternoon, Mark ‘Watto’ Watson takes aim at the Black Caps, and Matt Gunn is VERY positive about his Canterbury Bulldogs who sit inside the NRL’s top eight after a come-from-behind win over the Parramatta Eels.
Plus, Devlin and producer Lachlan Waugh talk all sorts of sport including the Black Caps at the T20 World Cup, the Bulldogs beating the Eels on Monday night, and Super Rugby semifinals on the Tight 5 and What Has More Chance Of Happening. All that and much more!
Want to hear all the best bits from It’s Only Sport? Check out the IOS podcast on all major podcasting websites. https://www.spreaker.com/show/its-only-sport
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diin Untamed five 4 3 2 1 the platform welcome to the podcast people iOS it’s only sport that’s the name of our daily radio show and it is the only true independent daily sports program in this country live on the platform 1 till 4 every afternoon you can download the app uh you can listen via the website you can go back and catch all of the interviews long form if you like via platform plus or via the YouTube channel but if not this is the next best thing the highlights package today what do we talk about finally some reality Sense and Sensibility and decision-making from New Zealand Rugby my god did I say that out loud the Hurricanes Chiefs Super semi this Saturday night 4:35 so is not to clash with the Warriors same night how long have we been rabbiting on about this why on Earth would you put two games up against each other especially in Oakland knowing that the Warriors are sold out and so many people are on that train and are watching them so aan Lee hurricane CEO man I respect very much he joined us today to explain also Ryan Fox ahead of the US Open third major of the year starting this Friday he’s had a real roller coaster of a ride in the United States so far but he’s made the weekend and both of the two majors so far played really well at the Canadian openen how’s he going because he played nine practice holes on that course today Ryan Fox joined us NBA Finals the Celtics 2 nil up is it done already only five sides have come back from an O2 deficit to win the NBA Finals how many of those can you remember I’ll give you a clue a couple of them in the last 10 years or so Jeff Parks from Australia talked all about Super Rugby from that side of the ditch we went positive with twi’s mat gun and the black caps need to cop it and they need to cop it hard because why they deserve it the arrogance and contempt no practice matches turning up late cuz we got gently but who’s going to call them out the main stream New Zealand Sports media not likely gigglefest farty bum ACC crowd not likely one man who did and who always will though the honesty that comes from Mark Watson ATM podcast number 87 Snippets of most of this on your podcast for you begin the show the same way every day though which is tablets in hand I say gather my flock it is time for a sermon come on down black caps meow 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 I hope the black caps crash out of this T20 World Cup in the West Indies and don’t make the super R there I said it I said it out loud I do I would never normally say this about any New Zealand side competing anywhere in the world and especially one that is competing for a world championship title but this team team its fluffers its coach it’s silly giggly supporters the whole Administration needs to be brought down a pig and hard they need to be humbled badly again just like they were against Afghanistan because they are acting like an overinflated bunch of egoists with scant respect for the positions that they hold I.E that is representing us representing us fans representing our country playing for New Zealand is a privilege it’s not a right and many of these guys need to be reminded of that and the best way to do such is the humiliation of Defeat of an early exit from this tournament everyone connected to this particular black cap side that’s the whole lot need a wakeup call I’m sick of the excuses I’m sick of the disrespect I’m sick of this Bunch ponon around like they’re aside that wins things that think they’re important that think they’re dominant because they aren’t they are not right now the best thing that can happen is they learn a really harsh lesson the best thing that can happen to this team is an early shameful exit from this T20 tournament you’re going to continue to be a bunch of soft underperforming tattooed millionaires you are a soccer generation that has been given everything you are a soccer generation who’s on the verge of squandering everything different what do you want we want information information you won’t get it the platform 114 time lock and we got headlines before we go to a Lee the SE CEO of the hurricanes and I got to say I do like this guy I thought the way that he handled that whole hurricane power debarl and it was one I thought he did very well anyway he he will join us after what we got um I’ve got a lot actually um for a Tuesday what do you call it injury day injury days is Tuesday and Wednesday but mind you I I you know I always Scar the mainstream Media news sites and I see news Hub leading with it right now and stuffer leading with it the naming of the white FS contracted players new lead Sports really to be Fe the hero AR I mean for God’s sake this isn’t even a story when the men get named it’s just these guys have got a job so what to be fair to stuff it’s not even one of their main stories is that the biggest news story in New Zealand at the moment news Hub or is that why you’re going under actually it’s nowhere to be found on stuff’s website yeah good good they’ve ditched it I hope you’re not going to do it so move on well no I am going to read it out because I’ve got a comprehensive headlines package that covers all the sport relevant New Zealand I’m not going to lead with it though cuz it’s not the leading story tell me what is the leading story it is I don’t know is it rumors or reports it’s not confirmed but it’s come from the coach’s mouth so I guess it is confirmed there sha Johnson yes J we’ll return for the Warriors this weekend I’m cuddling my sha Johnson doll as you say this story Lan the Warriors taking on the melbour stor at Mount smart Stadium this weekend Saturday evening is it afternoon evening I think 7:30 7:30 there you go uh so Sean Johnson set to return great news for him great news for the club to an extent they’ve been playing pretty well without him it’s why mtin in particular playing very well over the weekend Warriors coach Andrew Webster saying today that Johnson would make his comeback when they host the storm the team will be confirmed around 600 p.m. I thought it always came out a little earli than 600 but not bang on 5 so I don’t know this is stuff they say it’s at 6 p.m. so I’ll go with that uh rugby news England have been dealt an injury blow for next month’s All Blacks test here in New Zealand after losing key playmaker George Ford he has an Achilles problem uh meanwhile former M all loose forward Ethan Roots has been named in England’s 36 player Squad great news for him and I guess pretty good news for M all fans as well they get see them man run out uh Sam white loock r career will finish on a personal high with the All Blacks Legends scoring a try with his final touch before leaving the game for good taking the field in his final match for Section pise I thought he was playing for po or Pal I thought that’s who he playing with for in France yeah P you was it is this another name for them or is this a different team go uh this says in the French top 14 competition white loock crossed the chalk with time up on the clock and signed off his career and style uh tanaki police are investigating after a rugby player was flawed by a punch as opposing players were shaking hands after a premier grade match at y Stadium over the weekend uh Mike sandal the CEO of tanaki pleas say Mike sand yeah yeah he used to be the New Zealand Cricket manager too y did you just say e New Zealand Cricket manager New Zealand cricket manager uh he confirms that this man or this player rather was punched well after the final whistle uh former all black Wing Ralph Ralph Colton excuse me has died at the age of 87 made good ining though Goods man yeah made 50 appearances for the All Blacks between 1959 and 64 AZ Premiership the thing I do like about the AZ Premiership I mean it wasn’t so relevant last night because we did have an NL game on to enjoy which I’ll get to on a sec uh they have Monday games they always have Monday games which is really great uh last it was oh no they didn’t oh they did did they yeah they have a Mand game oh hold up no they the the website hasn’t updated I had to go into the score card uh the mystics taken on the pulse pulse winning 5438 pretty dominant win yes they are pretty dominant win in the end and my defense the website hasn’t updated that’s why I got confused the ladder the mainland tactics no they’re not I’m B they’ve lost game the main Lane tactics are 8 and one the top of the table played one more than the pulse who are 7 to1 uh the mystics are third four and four and by the way the northern Stars over the weekend actually won their first game wonderful to there off the bottom of the table and based on bonus points cuz they had six the northern Stars they’re actually head of the steel who have won two games but they have no bonus points uh B Lauren down has returned to the white fins contract list for the 2024 25 season I know you don’t want me to read the out but I will down declined the contract offer last season to take maternity break but she’s opted back in the loan youcom in the list as Wicket keeper I don’t mind it big news but I just don’t think it’s it’s it’s that relevant or important enough to most people to actually read the sports news but talk about the doggies cuz there was a hell of a game last night there was a brilliant game I didn’t watch it but I love my doggies uh so ha my doggies actually I don’t know why I said that a slender win over Bangladesh four runs both teams betting through their 20 overs South Africa posting 113 for six Bangladesh 109 for7 that was the only game won overnight couple of good games on tomorrow Pakistan Canada Sri Lanka Nepal Australia Namibia any upsets there m probably not um yeah the Bulldogs really good one last night 228 over the pyramid it was come back when they had a man and the bin the penalty count was heavily favored to param matter you’d wonder what the referees are doing there uh but good win for the doggies the S and six they move up to seventh on the ladder ahead of mik Broncos uh in Stanley Cup game two of the Stanley Cup finals Edmonton Oilers Florida Panthers One n to the Oilers the Panthers won game one 3-0 but the Oilers have the lead after the first period in game two that’s what’s making news Madam divin that is a disgusting act the platform Us open this Friday Pinehurst number two North Carolina Ryan fox has made the weekend both the Mages so far and he’s carrying some pretty good form into this particular tournament it’s been a real roller coaster for the guy this year played a practice night today and walks us through Pinehurst number two grga has said that he loves it he it’s one of the most beautiful best course ever yeah I can see that it is spectacular it’s um it’s got a cool feel about it I mean it’s through the Pines it’s got you know all the sort of uh Native grasses around as runoffs it’s uh just off the fairways it’s very penal if you miss it and then you know it’s got some great visuals around the greens you know basically all the greens have big runoffs and deep bunkers and um yeah test every part of your game and it’s yeah it’s definitely one of the best golf courses in the world so once again it’s going to be a Precision player tournament isn’t it you got to hit every shot perfect yeah yeah the one thing for a US Open it’s probably relatively wide off the team comparison to some other courses so um it does give you a little bit of room off the tea but it takes it away very quickly um around the greens you know the greens are quite big but they play very very small because if you miss your targets it runs off and it runs a long way off the greens and um yeah you can end up in some pretty horrible spots after hitting a relatively good shot and you know just off the fairways even though they are wide um you know the native grasses I’ve got there uh there’s a lot of luck involved you could hit it in there and get extremely lucky and have a shot or you could hit it in there and be literally struggle to chip it out sideways and um you know it’s as I said it tests every part of your game and um it’s going to get firm and fast by the end of this week and I expect most of us to get beaten up amate golfers Revenge M they they can make you look really like a real clown kind of the best golfers in the world and all of a sudden you can shoot three over triple Bogies and quadruple Bogies yeah look I remember watching in 2014 here and um you when Martin kimer won and that’s all it was I think guys were struggling to make birdies um it was just a grind the whole week and um we had a lot of rain last night which softened the golf course so we might get away with it for the first couple of days but I expect come Saturday Sunday this place is going to be really fiery and um you know a good score is going to be even par what kind of temperature you know weatherwise are you are you are you playing in short sleeves obviously yeah yeah it’s um it’s in the 30 between 25 and 35 for the rest of the week I think so week yeah the weekend’s going to be quite hot I think I heard it’s going to get to sort of 95 is Fahrenheit which I think is close enough to 35° um which is you know that’s a little that’s a little nasty today was great today was sort of mid 20s and sunny and not a lot of breeze so um yeah I think it’s just going to get hotter and hotter throughout the week and which makes the golf course get firmer and firmer throughout the week Ryan Fox we’re headed the US Open kicking off on Friday New Zealand time of course okay you played nine today was that 1 through nine or was it 10 through 18 I played the back n today so um it’s sort of practice rounds take a while out there I think I played the back n in three hours you just got to hit so many shots around the greens just to kind of figure out where the best place to miss it is and you’re going to miss a lot of greens this week so it’s going to be one of those weeks where I’m just going to play sort of 999 and try to stay relatively fresh if you play 18 out there um you know being out on the golf course for six hours and grinding is is a pretty long time with all the other stuff you have to do so it’s kind of nice just to play nine a day and keep energy levels up so dumb question for you sorry but when you get to practice like that um do you actually have to play a around or are you allowed to go okay I’m going to take seven different shots at this particular shot uh no it’s more it’s definitely the latter um okay and you I’ve probably become more guilty of it over here because practice rounds are so slow and that’s what guys do so inste so instead of having to wait all the time in a practice round you just go well I’m going to hit a few more chips and a few more putts around the greens and see how it all goes um in Europe I was generally a more if I play with someone let play a match and actually you know play properly to an extent but that’s also having played a lot of a lot of the courses multiple times and you know not really having to figure anything out about how to play them um so yeah over here it’s definitely a little bit different in that respect it’s a hit a lot of shots around the greens and hit a few shots into the greens and stuff it’s yeah taking a little bit more to figure out new golf courses Ryan what have you learned about yourself this year just in terms of the emotional the mental side of it because you know you’ve had Big Ups big ups and downs uh you’ve actually got to play the weekend at both Majors which was excellent your forming and at the Canadian open was superb and and then the real lows in that so trying to balance all of that out without even adding in you know obviously the family the travel and when we spoke last time just the different environment that the states is in what are you learning um I mean it’s probably nothing new in that respect I’ve been through a bunch of it before but you know the probably learned that the golf game’s never as far away as you think it is at times this year I thought it was Miles away um and it’s turned around really quickly um and you as I said I’ve been through that stuff before but you kind of you know I’ve had such a good couple of years it’s really easy to forget about the tough times and you know I’ve had a few of those tough times this year and you know I probably didn’t handle them as well as I could have and you you again going forward I’ve just got to remember that it’s you know it’s not as far away as you think it is it’s not all as grim and as Bleak and you know yeah there’s there’s no you don’t need to sweat the small stuff as much that you know I am a good golfer it’s in there somewhere and it’s not going to disappear for a whole year it I will find it eventually and thankfully I found it sooner rather than later in the last you know those last sort of six to eight weeks I’ve started to play a lot better which is nice and and so just how how you are as a person when you come home at night how much does how much does that alter things or are you able to completely divorce what goes on on the course from when you get home like I because I’m just asking this question from a normal human perspective if we ever a bad day at work all of us arrive home a little grumpy no yeah look it’s definitely been hard to do that um look I’ve got the kids on the road so in one respect it’s easy but in another respect it’s I feel like I don’t get any downtime you trying to get them to bed and um you know do all the packing and traveling and stuff like that so you know if you’re a little bit down on the golf course and a bit stressed out about things you know the off course stuff was quite stressful as well um so in that respect it kind of added to it a little bit but I definitely prefer it that way than the other way where you know if you’re in a hotel room by yourself you’ve kind of got nothing else to think about but Golf and that you know that can definitely do your head in pretty quickly 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 Hurrican Chiefs second Super Rugby semi-final this satday 4:35 afternoon rugby in New Zealand what why it it only worked really well last week why would you do it again whose decision is it to schedule these games is it New Zealand Rugby I know got you got to talk to sansar about that well we tried sansar no one ever answers the phone and finally we get hold of someone and they refer us back to New Zealand Rugby so we talk to New Zealand oh no you have to talk to Sky TV about that well Sky tv nobody will answer the phone and if you get an say oh it’s not us it’s New Zealand Rugby and round and round it goes Hurrican CEO aan Lee on to explain what a good good decision this is and why they concluded it was the right thing to do rather than put the match up against the Warriors which kicks off 25 minutes later on Saturday night whose decision ultimately is it or was it is it yours as the CEO of the hurricanes or is there a process and and also other people involved no there was it was for the quarterfinals so we got the option qualifying first uh to choose what time out kickoff would be for that fixture but for the semi-finals they were locked in uh Friday 7:05 and Saturday 4:35 so the again the top qualifier got the 435 slot on the Saturday um which isn’t normal I thought it would be 7:05 on Saturday but uh I assumed it was a Warriors game and that’s that’s what it was so um I guess from Sky’s perspective you know big part of the whole programming uh they would want people to watch both games you know and they they’re very keen to get people inside the ground uh for any of their fixtures so their ideal situation would be um you know watching one at the ground and watching One on um TV somewhere so uh yeah that’s that’s how it’s worked for a long time that’s just that’s just how fixtures are are scheduled really it comes as quite a surprise to hear you say that that’s what Sky’s preferred thing I mean they have never actually done this ever they’ve never actually looked or certainly publicly actually acknowledged ever that there is a clash between the two codes um and that people you know do want to watch watch both yeah I mean obviously the Warriors have been performing well over the last couple of seasons and you know the last couple of weeks they’ve got back on the back on track so you know there are a lot of people that watch both and I I don’t really subscribe to the um rugby versus League thing I think you know it’s there’s there’s plenty of place for both Sports and I think it’s a really sensible decision so that people are are friends of rugby uh can watch can watch both games and same with league so I think it makes sense to be honest well it makes absolutely perfect sense doesn’t it what does a what does an afternoon match mean for you though as the CEO of the Hurricanes do you expect a much bigger crowd because it’s afternoon absolutely yeah we had um we had n nearly 10,000 tickets sold yesterday which is nine or 10 times more than you would normally have for a for a game on a Monday so uh you know part of that’s because it’s a semi-final and part of that’s because we’re playing the Chiefs who are obviously a big New Zealand team and playing well uh but you know there is a factor that is uh down to the afternoon kickoff and uh I’m not surprised by that but it’s it’s it’s great to see people getting out and supporting the team when is when has Club rugby played on the on well what ‘s on a satday is it is it is it normal is it 2:30 2:45 kind of 3:00 kickoffs normally yeah so there’s 190 fixtures on Saturday so we’ve met with Wellington rugby and they’re working the way through it but their their absolute goal is to bring as many of those games forward as they can uh in order for those people to enjoy their Club um experience either playing or or watching and then you know be able to to watch the game either at the ground or on TV so yeah it’s it’s great to have that support naturally enough a lot of those people want to come and watch the game so it’ be a shame if they couldn’t aan how much of of of of your business model your income everything is actually dependent on the gate and so therefore you know what do these fixtures do for your balance sheet yeah I mean if I’m honest too much of our um financial success hinges on the gate uh we none of the New Zealand teams budget for finals so we all uh you know we all aim for Break Even budgets without any games at the back end of the season so to be to be in a semi-final at home um you know even with a Chance of making the final is is is fantastic for us it’s a game changer in terms of the financial side of it but um you know just I guess for the team and the staff who put all the hard work in uh you know it’s just it’s a bonus to be at home this weekend U but also from a financial perspective it’s it’s fantastic and um you know if if you had a choice you’d have them every year but that doesn’t necessarily happen are you tell me what the percentage split is the Chiefs get something don’t they does SanSai get something or do you get to keep the whole God damn lot no no there’s uh obviously you know uh Stadium charges and security and Rental and all that kind of thing and then we do pay we we pay a fee to the opposition which increases as you move through the playoffs but uh yeah I’m not going to go into the details but you know it’s potentially potentially lucrative if you can get more than 25 people on the ground it’s a um it’s a good payday been a bit of a roller coaster year hasn’t it so as far as the as far as the whole po thing how did that all end up and is that going to happen again next year or are you confident it won’t no I’m confident it won’t we we uh it was it was a big shock but uh we had some great dialogue with um with the ladies that were I guess leading the the hucker um that week and you know we had dialogue every week for the rest of the season um yeah I mean as I say it was unexpected but it you know it’s just something different to deal with and as I said with the players we’ve got a good relationship with the players and we’ve worked our way through it um you know we’ll still we’ll still look to do that at the start of next year to make sure that we’re all aligned uh and we’re connected but yeah I feel like it’s behind us now which is good the tight five five separate sporting topics roughly a minute or so on each and when the bell reminds us yeah we go on to the next topic I love this headline in the BBC today India versus Pakistan helping Cricket American Dream gather Pace what did they hire somebody from one of the New Zealand mainstream media sites to write that [Music] rot last night’s Monday Night Football doggies versus eels absolutely magnificent Barton’s bomb kryon I think the you know Burton’s bomb kryon the I think the best player right now in the NRL is him Steven kryon unfor I saw last night Conor Tracy what a game he had 45,000 crowd it was just magnificent Burton’s bomb I’m sorry super rug rugby scheduling with the Hurrican lock and you know brilliant isn’t it that finally somebody sees sense and plays an afternoon game and it doesn’t clash with the warriors on Saturday night how Bloody hard is that is I hope the black caps lose and bottle and get kicked out of this tournament on their backsides because that’s what they deserve uh doggies go seventh which means your Broncos are I haven’t seen the table I don’t [Music] know um and the NHL today we’ll keep you updated with that score too do you concur with me I’ll ask what about this in a second do you hope the black caps get rolled I think this team needs a punch in the gut is what it needs and it needs the humiliation of get of of getting sent home before the Super Eight stage uh yes or no uh actually no no no yes yes I take that bet yes yes I was going to put forward an argument but I completely debunked myself in my head right away um you don’t deserve to be playing for New Zealand we’re in the silver F some of you guys you really see that’s that’s what it is so for me my immediate reaction is no no they’re a New Zealand team you got to back to New Zealand teams uh no I think you got to earn that I think you got to earn the support from your fan base back home and that’s not a hard thing to do all you need to do is at least publicly and on the surface decent enough human beings you need to actually connect with your fans you need to guard there you need to give your rule and you need to and isolating the black caps case you need to actually prepare try hard and show St taking just a bit more interest in the black Jersey obviously in this case they’re wearing a te Jersey for this tournament but the black jersey in the silver FM when it’s on your chest now there’s only one team that I think can get away with not doing that entirely and that’s the All Blacks because for decades they have been the Pinnacle of New Zealand Sports F and they win and they won look at the end of the day we we gave it to them for 4 years but when it came down to the world World Cup they got to the final and had it been 15 on 15 for the whole game they may well have won said after that final I wasn’t I was gutted of course that we lost but I wasn’t really miserable that we lost because what they did is they gave me the All Blacks back after the last three or four years where they’ve been thoroughly unconvincing as an all black side and setting all the records that we don’t want and losing and then getting given Rolex watches after they all of that kind of stuff they played like a one of them too with tenacity heart courage they played like a New Zealand sports team now I’ll quickly say this now the All Blacks of course we went on about this lot especially when we were in France that if they lose that irand quarterfinal they go home as the worst team you know they would Central World Cup and then they they won back I think the support and the sense of New Zealand in many ways they already they still had it but the the elated support but also the trust in the jersey that they can go out there and win big games with that win of the quarterfinal now the black caps could well win the rest of their pool games and then knock off one of the big teams on the way to the final if they do that then we’ll swallow we’ll swallow our words and we’ll say we some kind of I want to hear some acknowledgement or some apology or something rather than just the pap crap clap trap that comes out of Kane Williamson’s mouth every time that we lose look I love the guy as a player and everything else but you know you need some serious PR advice and the administrators of New Zealand Cricket you need to actually seize control back of these players both the men and the women yeah let’s just I I don’t expect them to go and do much damage in this tournament so I think we’re we’re pretty safe but let’s wait to see what happens in the Super Eight stage if they get there let’s talk about the doggies last night versus the ills Monday Night Football I only saw the second half live I watched the highlights of the first half uh this morning when I got to work 45,000 crowds so it was King’s birthday weekend and Oz a couple of weeks later than New Zealand so it’s a Monday night so that’s a brilliant crowd I think that’s the biggest crowd for a nonf Finals game maybe the Brisbane Broncos have had actually 45,000 plus yeah yeah it’s not the biggest okay well it’s certainly one of the biggest isn’t it and at least in the last you know 5 10 15 years something something like that that they said last night um couple of things from it um Burton’s bomb this guy kicks the ball in a way that I’ve only seen NL kickers been able to do and most of the NFL kickers are now trained by Aussie rules players but he smacks it so high with so much nasty Spin and whip on the bloody thing the the param guy I can’t remember who it was dived full length was on his gut and His Hands didn’t touch the ball so as it’s coming down to him it’s obviously swirling and moving and he’s gone this way he’s gone that way he’s gone this way and he ends up on his gut well he was so helpless it was like watching like a kid throw a stuffed toy across the room he was just falling anding at it yeah you know I look at I just it’s it’s such a brilliant tactic why aren’t there more players in the NL capable of doing it and why doesn’t somebody in rugby learn how to do this go out there and just practice until you get it right you cuz most of the rugby kicking is pretty bloody aimless isn’t it but put a bomb up like that put a bomb up where a guy’s actually underneath it and got and you contesting for it the thing with those bombs and I know the bomb you’re talking about he was on the halfway line maybe slightly in front you you don’t need to be tactical you just need to be able to smack the hell out of up high so up high so got to land between the goal line and the 10 met line but there there’s skill in that but I mean if you’re going to compare it to you know sort of tactical kicking in rugby you’re even League to an extend they’re different kind of things that you do but no he’s been doing ever since he joined the dogs his first season I think it was 2022 when he played in the halves he’s been doing this and it’s plus he un absolutely brilliant 4020 when they were down to 12 players and that was you know 50 yard kick as well uh Steven kryon look I mean I’ve got a love f with this guy at the moment I you know I watched his postmatch speech he’s such a humble dude I think he’s New South Wales Blue’s best player at the moment I’ve I think on form he’s you know I called him earlier perhaps it’s a bit exaggerative that’s not like me uh the best player in N at the moment he’s certainly probably the best back lck and I mean the best players are always your front rowers to me because they make you know the most damage in a game but this guy’s well the best players you half packs surely well I think this guy’s if everyone’s healthy the best player is probably Nathan clear right he’s not healthy I’m saying right now okay right now and based on form this year yeah he probably is I mean off the top of my head who else has had such an outstanding season I tell you I’d love him in an all black Jersey I was watching them last night going we don’t have a center that good I mean jordy’s bloody good but I don’t know if he’s good a second F okay so we don’t have a center that good 13 yeah man he’s he’s a good player um and also Conor Tracy it just as Ernie used to say he’s got gas there’s something about a guy with that pace right and that first well this might have been the second their first try in the second half when they came back he comes from so deep that when they hit him and he hits the line so fast he just leaves that Center floundering for param left him floundering twice something very exciting about watching a guy just with electric speed I remember Martino fire was like that when he got the ball that nobody would lay a finger on him just so quick brilliant just it was just a brilliant game of Rugby League last night what am I saying there’s a jeez you’re in love I was mate I watched I watched it last I got to say Monday Night Football the visuals and the sounds of it I mean it’s a oneoff because it was a holiday weekend they kicked it off at 4:00 Sydney time and the sun was sort of starting to to drop down in the sky look the the the visuals of it was lovely like as sports fans I don’t know if I guess everyone else is like this I don’t know but I get drawn to the visuals like that’s why I love watching golf I love seeing a well manured lawn I love seeing Augusta cuz it’s just such a gorgeous setting and even the TV Graphics I love seeing it when you watch games like that and youve got the sun sort of setting you got this lovely day so many fans it’s loud it’s hard not to like right I mean you’ll enjoy the same thing in the corporate box on Saturday when you’re watching the warriors with the with the boss Wen you and a few drinks yeah oh actually know cuz I’ll be with the boss boss I’ll be my behavior of course with some intelligent chatter uh doggies go seventh Broncos go I don’t know and the the doggies making the eight now yeah I think they are you think they are well they’re in good form last night too they were um I they didn’t have too many wins across their first four or five games but they you look at their last sort of block of about what are they 7 six so 30 the last block of about eight I think they’re five and three something like that yeah they’re actually they they’ve really turned it up but look it’s such a close comp there’s but they get Kiko back and that left so cuz we remember we talking about the left side edge earlier in the season with them yeah them and Josh had I thought they left well it right side they exactly right you see but one the one thing I’ll say and and with the doggies um I’ll pump the brakes on really going nuts over anyone making the eight and missing out on the eight because it’s so close and so many teams are dealing with injuries geez everyone’s got a hamstring inury it seems I’ll wait till the origin period’s done no the black CS deserve it big time who’s going to call this bunch of Pretenders this bunch of posers out because that’s what they are disrespecting that Jersey disrespecting the silver Fern disrespecting the fact and I’m not saying all the players are like this but there’s a large chunk of them and the administration as well well hey I got to write to [ __ ] and moan about this because I’ve been following supporting this team long before most of these guys who are currently wearing that Jersey were even born but who’s actually going to be honest in their assessment of the patheticness that was that defeat against AF against and see what it does to me see what it does to me that’s why I got Mark Watson I to talk about it ATM apologize to me let’s start with you on Sunday on another radio network where you do your show on S and I think we’re probably the only two that have these jobs where we commentate and comment on sport uh during the week that have actually told the truth about this arrogant disrespectful black cap side and its Administration and you gave it to them hard on Sunday yeah look I did M I’ve just had a guts full of um the power that our players have across rugby and crcket and it’s just a case now of the tail wagging the dog and how these what I call Trade unions have been able to manage to get themselves into this position as well you know congratulations to those running those two organizations but it’s just a blight on um both organizations and it’s just so disrespectful to us the New Zealand Public I mean you represent our country you’re representing all of us and we expect people who represent this country to basically die for this country in a sporting sense to want to give everything and you know and then we’ve got we’ve got the black caps who have no preparation for a World Cup so they go in here believing that this Mantra of oh we’re a tiny island nation at the bottom of the world who boxes above our weight and it’s almost like they think that that’s still going to get them across the line that they don’t actually need to do any training you got a coach Gary Ste coming out and saying oh you know they’ve had this arduous eight weeks at the IPL and we got to get the balance right between them going and seeing their family and the performance side of it I mean the uous eight weeks what minimum players earning $300,000 in that eight week so I think the maximum is around about $3 million in that 8we period all staying in five star hotels living with their families mark That’s the other thing their families are with them okay so you know this holiday with the families is just a Croc is what it is it’s it’s what it’s a charm offensive from New Zealand Cricket to say they went on holiday and they couldn’t be asked turning up on time yeah and the other thing is too mate I’m surprised that you know we not we haven’t had the default setting of mental health coming as well which is always that sort of get out of jail statement that seems to be made these days to sort of keep the the the media at Bay um one of the worst performances we’ve ever seen from a black caps team against Minos Afghanistan now they’re not a bad side T20 crickets quite fickle we’ve seen that with some of the other results and look you know look black caps could still pull this out they could still because of the nature of T20 cricket they you know we could have people funing Us in 4 weeks AG you don’t know what you’re talking about your doom and gloom Merchants but the the bigger issue here is that this is not the first time I mean you go back to the three test Series in England a couple of years ago where Kane Williamson turns up two days before the first test after having playing IPL and a number of our fast Bowlers and then we get beaten in a series 3-0 you know we don’t give many opportunities to play England on three tis we don’t give many opportunities to play the big countries in three tests we keep asking for it but we actually haven’t done enough to prove ourselves to actually say you know we’re worthy opponents and we do it because we’re just not hungry enough Martin you would have heard me say a lot of times that the greatest ingredient any athlete can have is passion and desire I mean you got to have some talent but the only way you test that’s adversity there’s no adversity for there’s not no there’s not I mean look okay they get paid and and let’s add Sophie Divine to this as well because you the newal New Zealand woman’s kept and couldn’t be asked training with her teammates she was in Perth when they were training for that England Series in New Zealand both of these teams are seriously underperforming they have all the resources available to them they get pampered they get loved they get uh smoke blown up their backsides Gary Steed said last week they were having Center Pitch preparation not not a day night match not a warm-up match because some of them had jet lag I agree with you totally mate it is disrespectful and as as as anti as it is I’m hoping that they get their their A’s booted out of this tournament I think that they need the humiliation of losing another couple of games and come back with the tail between the legs it won’t actually do anything it won’t do anything because these players os are so bloody big Martin Martin if I if I’m running the game your choice you make a choice because I’ve said this the only reason you get an IPL contract is because of what you’ve done for playing for New Zealand so it’s ironically isn’t it you know you get this wonderful audition playing for New Zealand and then once you get sort of the money you suddenly turn your back on the very thing that actually provided the opportunity in the first okay well let’s point the finger at the guy that it should be pointed at here Mark okay let’s get and there’s a new CEO of New Zealand cricket Scott Weck where is he he’s done a mark Robinson mate he’s invisible where is he apart from swanning around corporate boxers in the West Indies where is he and why why won’t anyone from this Administration actually stand up to these guys and actually do the right thing which is listen if you don’t want to play for your country that’s fine we would rather that you did because you’re the most talented players but as a fan as an administrator what I want to show to the rest of the country is that it is Meaningful you made a point to me the other day mate sorry to interrupt but you made a point to me the other day that we’ve got an Olympic Games coming up in Paris we’ve got rowers we’ve got swimmers we’ve got track and field athletes and you listen to them talk they bust a gut every day for our country to wear that black Signet to put that silver F on most of them get stuff all money most of the administrators at sport New Zealand earn five times what these guys get paid and yet the desire that you’re talking about that has long gone from this black cap side mate you listen to Kane Williamson after Afghanistan reminded me of when we got [ __ ] in that Chapel Hadley one day Series in Australia a couple of years ago when it was played up north remember it was shameful and we and and and that’s the same oh we’ll take the learnings oh they played better than us no Kane they didn’t you guys were pathetic because you never actually prepared properly for the tournament look mtin yeah you know me I mean I I I know those other sports very well I mean I do a lot of work for New Zealand row I work with a lot of former Olympic guys and you know I’m often asked for my experience and I’ve covered a lot of sports internationally um a lot and I’ll always say the two hardest Sports in my opinion are swimming and Rowing uh rowing I put swimming as the number one cuz you got a train basically look give you an example and I’m very mindful of it and it’s been driven by here my daughter’s 12 yesterday morning she swam from 5:30 till 7 with the norshore swim Squad then she went back yesterday afternoon and swam from 4:00 to 6:00 she did a 10K basically 10K in the pool and she’s 12 okay she woke up this morning and wind at 5:30 again she’s got water polo tonight now we all grew up we’ve all played Cricket when I was in swim squads chasing the Trion dream I had Nationals for naal swim coach is coaching us and they say look if you guys want to MK around go and play cricket because that’s how it’s very much perceived and as you mentioned I mean our rowers you know there’s no money in it and what I think that does it actually just wings those out that are serious from not serious when there’s no money you play because you want to play for your country you want to go and represent your country at the highest level you want to go to the Olympic Games and it can be heartbreaking I I know swimmer’s missing out by one1 of a second on qualifying and have spent their entire life chasing it and then we got a bunch of these Prat Hors mate who who you know honestly have been told how arduous their life can be but it’s the same across rugby as well you know and then you take the women’s versions of the game oh we can’t do this unless we’re getting paid the same as men unless we’re fulltime and everybody everybody sort of buys into this mentality and this political environment in which we live and you know at the end of the day if I’m running Cricket it’s a simple choice you play for us the priority is for us we do everything we can to try and win everything El the secondary if you don’t like that don’t play we’ll pick the next group of players 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 we need to talk favorite game L we need to talk what is your favorite game Lin uh what has more chance of happening what has more chance of happening I present a couple of scenarios to you and you tell me out of the two what is more chance of happening and this is all based on what we have done today on the show so in no particular order what is more chance of happening the black caps make the super eight the T20 World Championships or Ryan fox makes the cut at the US fox makes the cut much more chance or more chance look not that I have a mortgage but let’s just imagine that I did and I had to put it on something I’d absolutely be putting it on that I’d be putting it on a lot of things over the black caps a lot of things that involved my personal life and personal relationships that may not be going to BL in many ways I’ll be putting it on that succeeding more so than the black caps making the Super Eight phase of the World Cup say it again out loud and I’ve for the I’ve worked in sport for 25 years and I’ve never wanted a New Zealand team to lose ever and I want this black cap side to lose not not because I I I don’t like all the players it’s just the attitude the arrogance the lack of preparation they need a slap and they should get but it it won’t happen anyway because the Administration has got their tongue so far up these players backsides but at the same time they need to come down a Peg and that’s the only thing that’s going to do it overpaid Prat Hors that’s from W this from can’t remember who the United States soccer player is that said this about the men’s team you’re going to continue to be a bunch of soft underperforming tattooed millionaires you are a soccer generation that has been given everything generation who’s on the verge of squandering everything exactly right what is more CH happening Ryan makes the cut at the US Open or the doggies on the evidence of what you saw last night and in recent weeks make the eight in the NRL what is more chance of happening oh I reckon the doggies make the I see I Reon Ryan makes it makes the cut I think he does as well but I think the dogs are in a wow I’m going against my own logic then that I don’t think I should be predicting anything about that actually yeah I take it back no I’ll say Ryan fox makes the cat if the doggies get all their players back but you see these this is this is where we we drive down silly street because that’s what saying if the Broncos get all your players back if everyone’s roster is fit full and healthy if the Panthers get Nathan Clary back for the rest of the season well then on paper what changes from last year apart from nothing because this is how you know you get upsets in the table you get freak results and you get teams going on runs because it is an attritional League yeah look there’s there’s two years that really actually three but two since the final system became what it is now where one plays Four 2 plays three 5 Plays 8 6 Play Seven where it was unbelievably tight between first and eth on the table uh 2014 and 2018 and as much as the table that the one where the Warriors um finished eth and could have got f with another win or something silly like that yeah 2018 that was exactly it the roosters who were minor Premier with 16 wins eight losses and then in eighth with the warriors with 15 wins and nine loss crazy unbelievable um yeah look that was uh that year in 2014 2010 to an extent but the finals format then was different than it is now where um as much as there was it was so tight really so many teams outside the top four had a had a case to potentially win the Premiership at the end of the day the team that win it won it uh and I think most of the teams that made the preliminary finals we’re top four side so look it is going to be Incredibly Close right up until the end and someone like Brisbane my Broncos for example good get all our players back cuz they don’t could play last sort of three four games of the year we could go on a run and all of a sudden we go from eighth or ninth up to third for goodness sake so that’s if the table still crunched is this I think it will be another question then on that is this the first time that we’re going to see a side outside the top four well it depends when see I mean K’s talking about this to okay you got to play an extra game and that you know that’s the thing if if you’re 5 to8 you got to play an extra game I don’t think that’s prohibitive because we see it in the NFL don’t we we’re wild card teams and he and can win them all away from home I mean we saw the Tampa Bay back we’ve seen the New York Giants do it go to places like Green Bay and yeah that’s a well and fine but we don’t see it in the NRL no we don’t but is this the year that we might uh the only way it would happen is if one of the Panthers the Broncos the storm The Roosters finish outside the top four and finish in that 5 to eight range maybe even the Warriors um as you know I won’t put the Warriors here sorry I won’t put the Warriors there if one of those four teams finish 5 to eight particularly penth for Melbourne or even brisban maybe I’m rating my side too too good but um if they finish 5 to8 they’re absolutely good ab what is more chance of happening them the doggies on the evidence of last night and also results over recent weeks and you know this is what happens with teams they get on a bit of a tear bit of a roll but the the Bulldog what impressed me most and we’ve been talking about this is up until now it’s been the left Edge but they didn’t have a left Edge last night it was the right Edge if they can get all their players back they were an attacking Force last night admittedly against an e side that you know were 4 and8 but flattered to see but you always kind of think they got more in the tank ear but their season’s gone now at 4 and9 anyway what is more chance that the doggies make the eight or the Chiefs beat the canes this weekend in Wellington 435 Chiefs beat the cans the only reason I’m saying that is it’s one game the is always they’ve got to win so many more games that go through the season in a one-off match between these two teams and we’re going to speak to Roger Randall about it tomorrow we’re going to be talking to hurricans of course as we build up to this game you said earlier that the odds were $180 or something on the canes and 22065 and20 OR7 and 220 on the Chiefs so there was a definitive Gap I I would have thought that they would be a lot closer than that why only because why yeah why only because what we saw look all season the Chiefs finished 9 and five All Season we’ve been thinking they’re a better team they’re a better team what are we basing that off last year last year yeah so we probably thought that about the blues maybe last year they oh no but they’re better than this cuz the previous year they were thir in one on top of the table you remember the Crusaders W that flash last year until they got to the finals and then same thing two years prior okay so can the Chiefs do that they’ve got all the experience on paper their squad you would have thought would have been the strongest in the competition they certainly much stronger than the hurricans who this year have had well this is the really enthused young team come through I think the Chiefs are a danger man I think out of the four teams that are left look at your top seats hurricans and blues right I mean ordinarily you think okay those two are going to go through to the final the team I think that is a possibility of upsetting is not the brumbies it’s the Chiefs it’s the fourth place team here well there’s a couple of things there’s a lot of great stats you can kind of look at for starters if 2022 and 2023 aren’t um outliers and are something to go by but it’s only really of this those two years of this new competition format then the teams you can you can go thir because both the blues and the Chiefs over the last couple years Blues two years ago Chiefs last year went thir and one top of the table hosted the final and lost to the Crusaders and in the final were heavily outplayed by B okay but that there was one key word in that theory right that is the Crusaders Scott Robert CR but then I would buy into this if the chiefs were at home we can’t talk about the Chiefs like their a tial winning side with all this experience and all this class cuz they’ve only done it for as many years as the blues have done it do you think though in Super Rugby that the Home Advantage really does mean for the Kiwi teams I I don’t think it means anything I think it does in CRA and I it does in Christ Church it does in laa yeah I think it does to an extent in Christ Church Strangely I would have thought that Eden Park has that hold over most teams but then the Crusaders smash them up in the final a couple of years ago I I well yeah because they were just so much B yeah that was like watching a test side really good test side down to one thing who has got the best forwards the hurri who the this is the thing this is the thing as much as we’re going to say the Chiefs have all this class of the best team on paper and oh you know we’re waiting for them to kick on maybe the against the Reds that was the that was the sign the hurricanes have been superb this year yeah they have they have been absolutely one game and that was against the bromes away that’s the only bad game that they had but it’s the pace they play it the the efficiency of their forwards they keep the ball alive they run really well their backs are just explosive I there’s no one on the team that I would look at and said oh yeah but he’s been pretty ordinary this year they all L the hurries they L lost to the Blu been a win could have been a win LBP with TMG that’s SB positive TS was Matt Gun there’s only one big topic conversation from that guy today was about his doggies who jumped ahead of the Broncos to go seventh in the table they got a buy this weekend and they were magnificent last night down to 12 men kept the param eels scoreless in that second half most of that second half they did considered a one try but bounced back just a brilliant game of Monday Night Football it was rugby league here’s Matt that game last night Cracker Jack you’re in the you got a buy coming this weekend which means you stay in the eight there was so many excellent things about that game last night but let’s start with the crowd 45,000 on a Monday night I know it’s King’s birthday weekend brilliant 45,000 what a tremendous turnout Mark I think when you consider the um the warriors uh with all their sold out games here and a 45,000 crowd on a Monday night in Sydney rugby log is doing pretty well at the moment isn’t it and the game that was delivered to that 45,000 people last night will bring them back you know regardless of who you are support that kind of football was uh was mind blowing look let’s just talk about the dog he’s number seven with a bullet with a B which means we stay where we are and we start to say we are a top four side oh I mean we I know we’re being positive in this but that’s that’s ridiculous look we’ll be on a points this weekend if the Dolphins get beat by the Sharks that’ll moan where in or around eighth camra who are also on 18 points uh they got the Cowboys say they more possibly win and go to 20 points look we’re sniffing around the eight the way we played last night I think we had four or five disad tries we had a player sent off we lost Josh Karen we lost Preston and we lost Haywood to serious injuries twice the medic cab had to be taken out onto the field to uh remove the Bulldogs param couldn’t score on us when we were down to uh when we had a man off down to 12 and then here we came and every time we had the ball we looked like we were going to score I don’t think that um I don’t think that there were penalties given away or any of those tries should have been given but what it did show is that from any situation on the field we were attacking throwing the ball trying what we needed to and we got the job done I am absolutely buzzing I canot believe here we go I cannot believe where we were last year where we were last year and the year before and the year before I won keep gone and the year before and now this year it is all coming together how many games did you win last year in total how many games did you win well as many as this year that’s it so you’ve already you’ve already won as many you won seven last year you’ve already got that you had no Kiko you had no Josh ad car who’s your fullback who absolutely skinned their Center couldn’t even get a hand on it Conor Tracy yeah very good very quick the bur and bomb I don’t know if you got to have a bit cuz look I only turned over the second half so I went back after you text me and said look at that bomb there is not a player in the NRL capable of catching those kicks I don’t know why he doesn’t do them every single time I don’t know why somebody in rugby doesn’t learn how to do it oh and he hasn’t been dropping them like that for quite a quite a number of weeks but the height of some of those bombs um the heart of a fullback just goes into uh flut and they just do not want to have to that guy was lying horizontal on the ground and it’s reaching up with his hands he lost complete track of it the other thing is I came into the office this morning and I said to L I said Steven kryon is the best player in the NRL right now and he just G for tell me somebody that’s playing better than that guy he owns every single aspect of his own performance but better than that he’s actually making those around him better oh he has been one of the best bus we we have had in years and they throw him in year um which which which really um has taken the pressure off Burton Reed uh our hooker and uh they’re playing better Kon um looking at him communicating with the players around him uh they’re making plans on the field during it they knew how to beat par matter and uh kryon absolutely led the way he’s ferocious I tell you what when you look at this guy he just looked tremendous he in his physical shape um his demeanor on the field the way that he interacts with his uh with his teammates um really humble off post yeah he’s look honestly everything about him he’s so bloody impressive now look dogs on a roll uh I picked that last night as well as you did mate you’re in the eight and you’re there to stay for now here’s a question for you this time last year after 14 rounds what was the Warriors record can you remember oh oh no I don’t remember what war record was last year you tell me seven and six seven and six Matt they ended up top four so now they 61 and six see where I’m going with this yeah I do see where you’re going with it and honestly uh they went through a period where they had that draw um then they lost four which was then they lost and uh everyone was just looking around saying what’s happened and then the next three weeks have AB absolutely burn tremendous performances by The Warriors including last weekend’s win and you’d have to say they are back as well I mean how you turn it around that quickly I don’t know but they have they always you know they always possess the players to do it but they looked lost they said they were lost but they ain’t lost after that 4212 win over the Cowboys they never gave up they just wanted to score more and more points and honestly uh this is this is the life of a football fan isn’t it you are up at the start of the Season feeling good about the way the team’s performing then they go into a slump a hole and then they almost seem unbeatable um I I’m excited about this next uh few weeks because it’ll set up really the teams that are going to compete and jostle for the positions in the top four listen to yourself I mean just listen to yourself for 5 minutes I mean what are Tracy McKenzie saying one of them is saying Matt the other one is saying dad you know track Back 2 or 3 years where you’d sulk and slammed doors in the [ __ ] and now you’re acting like they’ve won something well listen I still go down to the shed to watch the football I can’t watch it in front of a crowd it’s just too much and the ridicule from the two of them with their are no surprises another loss kind of attitude has meant that I just remove myself from the house I don’t want interruptions I don’t want anyone singing I don’t want anyone asking me questions I just go down there I sit there I watch the game often I’ll have a drink or two and then I’ll go back to the house when it’s all over and last night I went into the house I cooked soup I toasted up the bogles I doubled up on the butter and I even had a bit of ched cheese and I tell you what I couldn’t feel much better at the moment mate that’s our podcast for today thank you so much for listening if you want to listen to the entire show 1 to 4 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 leisure at your listening pleasure platform plus first thing to do though is download the platform app Devin unbelievable incredible the platform
