On the show:
- Blake Ayshford in-studio for an hour
- Tony Johnson
- Thad Taylor from the TAB
- The Midday Mixer
- Through The Years
- Lost in the Wash
- Back in the Day
- & your calls and texts.
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Afternoons with Staffy
Afternoons with Staffy - Full Show (10/10/24)
(upbeat music) - Good afternoon folks, everyone, it's Tuesday. We've hit the 10th of October. It just keeps rolling along this 2024 year. I feel like it's the fastest ever and I feel like I'll say that next year as well. Good to have you, company team. Tony Johnson at two o'clock. Normally at one o'clock, but we're gonna go two o'clock with Tony Johnson a lot to talk to him about. Selections, non-selections, all blacks, all blacks 15. And a ripper. The more I look at these quarter final match ups in the NPC. It's a, I know Dean calls the guy that makes the draw Nostradamus, but this is just on how they finish it. It's accidental brilliance that you can't thank anyone for the Wellington counties, the Battle of the Bayes. Thank goodness. Defending champions Taranaki against Chiefs neighbors, Waikato, Crusaders' neighbors, Tasman and Canterbury. Little brother, this hosting big brother, or has that changed now? Are Tasman big brother? Or are they twins? And counties going to Wellington, having just destroyed them a few weeks ago. There's just so many things to talk about in that and we'll talk to TJ about that after two. After one, Blake H. Finn, our regular Thursday NRL correspondent. He's in Auckland. So he's going to come into the studio. And I'm even going to open the lines. If you've got any questions for Blake, or you can text them in on double eight, double three. We can have a slightly longer chat with Blake being that he's been very kindly agreed to come into studio. He's running a schoolboy, I think a schoolboy, rugby league tournament up here. He was in Rotorua last week, in the first week of school holidays, running one down there as well. So I want to get his experience of what's happening at that teenage level young men at school playing rugby league. And if he's seen any change, he's part of Bay of Plenty. But he's in fact, he's still playing. He's playing Lock for Bay of Plenty. So he's got a game coming up by playing an All-Stars team or something. Anyway, Blake H. Finn after one. Your calls, your texts, the mid-day mix is not far away, potentially a thought bubble. If it doesn't pop by the time we get to it. And yeah, double eight, double three, you know, text line. If you're brand new, listen to Welcome in. Double eight, double three is the Tampa Bay Post text line. And 0800 1508 11 is our phone number to call. So before the mid-day mix, even though it's mid-day, we always give calls, precedents, particularly in the first day. So you can call now first cab off the rank. Dean from Dunedin. G'day Dean. G'day Dean, I love her. Watch her. The big game's illegal. I guess I don't know how to handle a lot of better but he's watched it for a long time. I listened to that fall pack. I didn't really hear who the hooker was but I just off the top of my head. I rode down the back line. I don't really have two wingers. That's how sad I am. But I've got Jones, Johnson, McCracken, Iro, Bell, and Rich. So something can happen with another winger. And I don't know. We're a little more than one that you've met. Maybe that a lot the way that Dylan, the little neck, sorry about the plenty-ish but the way he finishes. I think I'll be into that back line. He'll be kind of handy. And all the rest of my old buggers, you know, which is a bit sad but that's really how I see it. Those names are all super stars mate. Where that was for some of the worries I guess. Maybe definitely Auckland, Wigan, all those England teams. And a couple in the NRL with Kenabria where they did play for it, they even really know that. Yeah, that's, I'd go but I probably will put Dylan in there 'cause he just does stuff that the old guys didn't do. So why not? Why not, he'd be my winger? So interesting to see who they picked. But obviously if they don't have Rich, Heligan's gonna go there 'cause you have a goalkeeper. And you've gotta get six points every try. So to beat Australia. So we want to- I think they put in a guy called Phil Orchard who I don't remember who is obviously one from yesterday. I would have planned for someone like Sean Hoppy. I thought he was a pretty good winger back in the day. And I'm just trying to- There was a name I couldn't think. I was trying to think of him and I couldn't think of who it was. But if it was Sean Hoppy and Dylan, I think they're almost exactly the same in that finishing ability of Dylan. I'll go ahead of it. Just on that new dive thing that's great for the TV. You know, we've got to get kids watching. So on that alone, I'm both. As sportsman, as ambassadors of rugby league, I think they're great human Kiwis, as simple as that. And I would go, Dylan ahead of them 'cause of that finishing prowess. But I didn't really bring about there to- What's going on? Who are the four team? They're showing news they named eight, four for Wellington. 'Cause if you're in a rugby picking competition, these teams are named too late, if you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. They need to get it out there. They know who the players are on bloody Tuesday. Why do they wait till Thursday? And if it's an injury, they can change it on game day 'cause that can still happen. But why the wait? Look, people are flying all over the country. They know who the teams are. Why does it take so long for us to know? We're spoon-feed everything in rugby union. I reckon it's really getting detrimental. It's starting to annoy a lot of people. And as the, all the other administrator you talked about, they're trying to get things better, get things better. And I tried to take some of the time and they just didn't have time to read everything out now. I'm trying to save money as opposed to 20 cents every time I send the bugas in, but I just can't help myself. Sometimes you look at rugby and Auckland, mate, and you look at the NRL, like, we're going to high schools. When the high school kids all apparently had all leave after a game of current race, they leave. So thank them very much for leaving. We've seen an NPC game too at high school. Well, that's rewarding bad behavior. I've ever heard of it. And what'll the NRL do? They're going to Vegas. So rugby union's going to high schools and clubs. And the NRL are going to Vegas, and they wonder why bums are on seats at the Warriors. Like, Jesus. Mm. I'll tell you what I'll do for you. I'll tell you what I'll do for you. I'll tell you who the 14 all Blacks are that are being released. Wellington get Billy Proctor, Ruben Love, TJ Purinara, Asaf al Muah. Counties get Camroy Guard. And we think Doltan papalini. Bayapani Passolietosi, Taranaki get Perafeta. Waikato get Jacobson and Samapini Fino. Tazmin get Ethan Black out of David Avili. Canterbury get George Bell, looking forward to watching him play. Haven't seen him play. George Bell, Fletchignol, Sam Derry. That's the all Blacks. Well, that makes a big difference to who you're picking, doesn't it, really? 10, just to me, after Stormwick looked absolutely exhausted. I felt a bit sorry for them, but they don't make the format. They deserve the shield. And to be fair, Taranaki deserves to take it off them. But I would love to have seen that if it was at least seven days between that game, because they just look-- they look spent to me, which is what you would be. They didn't-- to be fair, when they played their Stormwick, the development side came down here to play a tag. So that was none of their starting team. And then they played their starting team against Auckland, where they could have taken that to Nelson Boy's High School and played your B side, and it would have been 17, 15 to Tasman. And then had their starting team fresh to take on Taranaki, and they might have still had a locked up. You can't think like that, can you? But that's the way the season went down. But they're still great. Like, I mean, they are the top four teams on. I'm going to a do-in Wellington on the weekend of the 26. So I had no idea that was going to be the finest looked at the bin. Thought, boy, Christ, you almost get to a game of rugby, to go and want a good game of rugby, too. But who's going to be left? Oh, who knows? I might take me boots. I might take me bloody boots. Always wanted to play in PC rugby. I still kept goals at 57. I'm pretty sure. No, no, this won't be a kill. The kill is a shot step. I can pick me nose. That's about it. But, yeah, I'm going to be there. Hopefully, how in advantage is huge? You come fine or so. And we've seen it in the past. There's bloody hard, like Hawkes Bay. We've got enough to go and upset a few. But it doesn't happen that often. So, this week, I think Wellington will be right. Although Roy Gabb will definitely help. Can I be interested to see if they start them? And a wonderful lot of those names. Wonderful lot of those names of names, Steph. If they will start for the All Blacks against Japan, so they want them to have a run. Potentially, eh? Well, I think so. And it wouldn't do cam in your arm to have a game there and shoot over and be on the bench for Holland Ratimer for England. I don't know. I think that's what I would do, personally. Give him more. As much as he looks, he looks superb. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's NPC rugby. Then it's in Japan, good. But we're almost just respecting them a wee bit, which I don't really like. But that's just the way it all goes now. We should be able to send a sort of like a B side and dust them up to be brutally honest. But if it'll be close, they'll be all right. Yeah, Japan are a challenge now. Remember, they beat the Maori All Blacks. I'm worried about Japan, but George is scamming. George forwards, and their backs have just improved so much. So it was the most improved 2023 team in the world. They had to get it like the World Cup. They were bloody close to qualifying. Yeah. So that's scary good. They're going to challenge a lot of teams, Georgie. The only thing that they're lacking is meaningful games, which is why they've probably said yes to this New Zealand 15 one. If they've got some more meaningful games, that pass Italy. I'm not a freaking Ricky Tellegos there. Good idea, Dino. We'll leave it at that. Not a freaking Ricky Tellegos to Italy. There we go. Ian has said, take this multi. Wellington minus nine and a half. So Wellington's win by 10 or more against counties. Bay planning one to 12 against Hawkes Bay. Tarunaki the win by seven or more against Waikato. And Canterbury won to 12 against Tasman. Multi that up, says Ian. And Finsap Paul says, high staff Canterbury are our annoying little sister. Love from Tasman. See, I was thinking a little brother, big brother, but the Canterbury is the annoying little sister behind Tasman. Ah, let's mix it up. The midday mixer. The first midday mixer staff is on the MPC. Well, all blacks joining their MPC sides this weekend for the quarterfinals. You named them before. Does this weigh the favourites for you in any way? I think it gives some team a bit of a leg up. So Hawkes Bay get no one, although I don't know if there was any one available. And Bay plenty get pussly or tossy. So I don't know that that makes much difference. But Wellington getting Billy Proctor Ruben love TJ Pierre and I are suffering a moolah. I think that swings it their way. Even though Roy guard, um, he will be a point of difference. I don't know how much Tarunaki getting Pertifeta. I'd be very surprised if he went to 10. He's probably going to be your 15. And Waikato getting Jacobson and Fennell. The fact that they're both in the loose four trio really strengthens that unit. And at MPC level, those two guys are great and they're very proud Waikato men as well. So I think in that game it swings it to Waikato. Not making them favourite or anything, but I think it gives them a bit more chance. Ted's been with Ethan Blackhead at David Haverley, Canterbury with Bell, Newell and Derry. I probably think that that... I don't know. I think that's a no dice one for me. Both favoured a little bit. So two getting a bit better sort of blanks them both out. But then there's the... Then there's the whole thing about the guys that they're taking the place off that have earned the quarter finals. It always sits me a little bit of discomfort. If I'm that guy who's rolled my sleeves up, week in, week out in the loose four trio for Waikato and back cubs Jacobson and Fennell. So I have to go and sit down and... And I've made a meaningful contribution to get to the quarter finals. It's the only little bit that works me. Does it hurt me enough to say no, Jacobson and Fennell, you're on the bench? If it's a round robin game, yes. It's playoff game, you've got to win. So I sort of understand it. That's the only thing that... has a modicum of discomfort. Like a frozen pee in your bed. It's just a little bit uncomfortable. That's the vegetable. Oh yeah, no, I know. I know you're talking about... I mean, there's that story, right? That fairy tale story. I forget the, you know, a queen or a princess with a pet. Anyway. No, I don't know. You must know. You must. I don't know. Really? Are all the mattresses stacked up and she can still feel the... No, heaven, heaven, heaven. Ah, I wish I could breathe. I don't know. Yeah, anyway, it doesn't matter. Um, Wimbledon, scrap, uh, lined judges after 147 years, Steph. And to me, it kind of brings up the conversation around, um, officiating being too perfect. So the debate's been raging in football, um, over the past couple of years with the VAR system. And League as well, um, in the past couple of years. And Shane Flanagan, uh, was on the By-Round podcast, Steph. And I've clipped out a bit of a audio of him talking about the negatives of having an officiated game being too perfect. We don't need a perfect game. Like, it's played by imperfect people. And when, if it's perfect, who cares? We want to see, you know, some different stuff in our game. Play is taking control and being different. And, um, you know, referees aren't going to be perfect. The players aren't going to be perfect. So we've just got to accept it if, as I said, I think if it was a perfect game, no one would be interested. What do you think? I think you could go back and find a press conference that Shane Flanagan did when they were dudded by a referees call. And that's the thing. We say get rid of the bunker, get rid of VAR, get rid of, um, slow motion replays. And, and the referee's going to make mistakes and we've just got to carry on. If that happened, and the referee missed the howler, and there was no technological intervention, people to be up in arms. He's blind, how could he not see that? And wait, we just go back to that tri, no tri, in the NRL grand final. And they had all of the technology there, and people are still up in arms. If you have no technology there, and it's no tri or a tri, people are going to be up in arms. I think technology is a comfortable victim of vitriol. And if you take it away, that vitriol will switch to the decision, non-decision maker, which is the man in the white with the whistle. I don't know where the solution is. I really don't. Technology was bought in to prevent the howlers. And by and large it does. There's been a number of, um, a number of tries that a referee gives, and then they go back and have a look and see they fumbled it, or it was short, or his foot was out, and so it's overtude. No one's, no one applauds that, because that's what it's there for. So I think technology's fine. And one thing about Wimbledon not having line judges and using, is it Hawkeye? What's their thing called? It's, uh, it's called, you know, the line decision system. I've got a level. Yeah, and it goes big when it goes out. Here's the thing. I'm very surprised that Wimbledon's the first tournament to do it. No, they're not. U.S. Open are. They're following the lead from all the other majors. Oh, so do they not have line judges anymore? None of them. None of them do. U.S. Open was the first in 2020. I never knew. And they all followed subsequently. Oh, so I thought it was groundbreaking use, because Wimbledon were the first. No, no, it's groundbreaking because they're scrapping them. Yeah, because of the traditional aspect of Wimbledon. Yeah, okay. So that makes more sense to me. So I'm not surprised at that last. Because I thought that if they were first, that would surprise me. Just going back to your point about, um, the, uh, you know, technology and sport, we've opened Pandora's box staff, and you can't really, you know, put it back in. You can't go back. So it's unfortunate. But I also do agree with Shane Flanagan's, um, opinion on that. It creates talking points around the game. And also, I think fans accepted it for so many years, right? Before technology was such an important factor in, um, top level sport, that, you know, this is going to go either way. And you get, you know, and it, and it, and it, ebbs and flows of the season. You usually get one negative, one positive. It evens out eventually, right? Not the Warriors. Yeah, not the Warriors. Princess and the P. Princess and the P. That's right. Thank you, Mikey. Mikey, this is a fountain of knowledge. But also societal change. True. Society is so much more opinionated and insistent on accuracy. I encourage you, Jacob, to go back in just on YouTube, not for entertainment value, but just watch an all-blex test from the 70s, right? So the referee will call a forward pass or a knock-on or an offside. The commentators don't mention it. They just take it, it must, it's been a knock-on. Four picks come together, fold together, ball goes in, away we go again. It was a lot more kicking. It was a lot slower game. It was a lot less attractive game. But there wasn't the microscopic, because as soon as you see something on the field, you're like, oh, want to watch this replay? Did he get it right? It's did he get it right? And the commentators talk you through. Oh, he can't give that. Society demands 100% accuracy in every single thing, not only in sport, in life. We are so, we've sort of been encouraged to make an opinion, but we have an opinion on absolutely everything. And I think technology has added that. Yeah, that's an interesting, it's like a, it's a 1980s movie, right? A blockbuster movie where it's like humanity against artificial intelligence. That's against the machine? Yeah, it's interesting. Three. And three, Steph. I just wanted to ask you about Bathurst Weekends, coming up this weekend. And what makes it so special for you? And I suppose people listening to it would be better equipped to answer it as well. I think there's a lot of people like me. It's the one motorsport event I absolutely love. It's the one motorsport event I always watch. And I watch it in its entirety, which is six hours. Yeah. And I absolutely love it. And I think the reason is the history of it. I got into it when Peter Brock and Dick Johnson and Denny Holm and Tony Long, those guys were in there. And I just bought into the Ford versus Holden. And they go to the same track. It's the same corners. I've never been there. My parents have. They drove around the Bathurst track in the camper van. Oh, wow. Yeah, it took them about seven minutes or 10 minutes or something. And they said they'd never realized how steep it was. Because it's just a public road. And they drove around it there. But I reckon I could drive around it blindfolded almost. Because I know the cutting. I know Conrad straight. And I just intimately know the track. Because they go back there every single year. The track's exactly the same. It's fast cars. You know where the pits are. You've got the crew up on. You know the importance of yellow flags. It's just, I just love it. I just love it. And I like a few other motorsport events. But I love Bathurst. They've got me. Yeah, it's awesome. The whole, the whole, yeah, hoopla around it. The top team studio. The top team studio. It's like a little mini series. It's like a teaser. It's the trailer for the Sunday. It's awesome. Yeah. It just gets your fizz up. It's the pinnacle of the supercar season, right? Absolutely. You know, everything seems to be building towards it. Marky event and, yeah, people in Australia. I don't know if people, do people get around it another hemisphere or the hemisphere? I don't know. I don't know. But I'd also imagine if you said to a driver, would you rather win the supercars series, the season-long thing? Or would you rather win Bathurst? You can only have one. I think they might take Bathurst. I think. Maybe. I'm, yeah. It's like asking a jockey, would you rather win the premiership? Or would you rather win the Everest? Or the Melbourne Cup? They might take that. It's just got... We spoke to Dave Deal, who's got a fantastic company called Boy Strip. And if you ever want to go on a sports trip, go and look at Boy Strip. And they take a big crew to Bathurst every year. And we phoned him from the hill last year. And you could hear, I think they were Porsche Vientro. Something was on when we spoke to him on the Friday. And he's quite a measured demure. Hell of a good bloke, Dave. But the excitement in his voice, it happens once a year, and it's Bathurst. There's something special about it. I want to go one year. And the old stories about the guys would sneak up on the hill. And they'd dig holes, and they'd bury beer. A week before Bathurst started, then they're going to set up their tents and have a cursory glance around and then dig their beer up, because you're limited to how much you can take it. Just those stories. I think it's lost a little bit of gloss since Ford versus Holden was gone. Because that was awesome. Commodore versus Falcon, year after year after year. Peter Perfect in the O5 Commodore. Dick Johnson in the Bright Green Falcon. The crashy head when he drove off the side at the top of the mountain. And God knows how he missed the trees. The very sad sight of Denny Holm, even a heart attack on Conrad Straight and pulling over. And they just thought his car had failed. But he had the way with all. In his last moments of life, to pull off to the left and park up next to the. I mean, there's just so many memories, good and bad. It's just quite unbelievable. Yeah, good stuff. Bathurst this weekend. We shall take a break. Oh, 800, 150, A11. Give us a call. I've had a text here saying, before we get to Mikey, hold on there, Mikey. Dave and Queenstown is a great text there. Staffy's for the MPC quarter finals. I'm picking Wellington, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, and Canterbury. But who would play in the semi-finals? So the semi-finals. Goes the top-seeded winner will host one semi-final. The highest seed. And the second highest seed would host the other one. So if you're going, Wellington and Taranaki will both win their quarters. They will both host semis, because they finished one and two. If one of them dropped a game, if Wellington or Taranaki lost, Tasman would get a home semi. If they won. And so on. So the top four seedlings are Wellington, then Taranaki, then Tasman, then Bay of Plenty. So they are in the front row seats to host a semi. But if Wellington and Taranaki, Dave, as you predict, if they win, they will host a semi-finals next week. And I think Wellington get the Friday one, if they win. Let's go to Mikey and Crosshoot. G'day, Mikey. G'day, Staffy. You have kind of replay like they did in the first half against County. And then the whole game, that's why Kato will beat them. But if we play like the rest of the season, no, we won't. So you're hoping on one hours of rugby, rather than 15 hours of rugby is the true representation. 100% mate. And you can scrap my text because I'll just say, George Bellsport, the first try last week in. So he has played. Oh, I didn't watch the last week. Yeah, he looked really, really good. Except he gave away some penalty as well. So, you know, unfinished product, but there you go. And also, just can someone please take Dino by their hand? Get him a phone plan where he doesn't have to spend money on text. Because he said once how much you spend on text, that's ridiculous. Yeah. Unlimited text, Dino. Get him eight to take you down there. And also show you how to use an app, so you don't have to listen to the farm show. Yes. And then we'll have a lot happier Dino. Someone needs to take him in hand, I think. It'll just be like an investment of half an hour, and his life will be less stressful. Would it be like, remember when CaliTV came in? It'll be just like that. I know. We had a thorn. We had a thorn precision 20 was our first one. And everyone else had Phillips canines, but we went the thorn precision 20 inch color TV was the best thing ever. You would have been the talk of the neighborhood. Yeah. Well, it saved me going down to leader brothers and watching TV off the footpath through the windows, just marveling at it. Oh, it's amazing how technology has moved on. And I think for the better in a lot of a lot of ways, especially if you watch sport and just on sport. Like, interesting what you're saying about Bathurst, because I'm not a motor sport fan by any stretch of imagination. But every year, probably for the last six or seven years, I host an event in my sort of man cake bar. And we have a few motor heads there. And a few who's not. But it's such a great time to, I was just saying to Jacob before to, you know, seven hours of chat and a few beers and what ever. The thing they do so well is that they explain motor racing and about the pit stops and how much fuel they put in their tanks so incredibly well that for the person, the lay person, like myself, you just, you're learning and it's quite exciting. I was never into the Ford Holden thing. It's always about the Kiwis for me. Who are the Kiwis? And, you know, that's, I don't care what car they drive. I just want a Kiwi to win. Matthew Payne, Matt Payne this week. At Bathurst, he's probably our best chance for the Kiwis. The other thing I've always had this week, we've had this dream, because you know when they drive, I think it's close to the start finish line. And there's that hotel, that six or seven stories. We've like, imagine getting a room there for the weekend, go out in the balcony, have it on the TV. Would that just be sort of like sport heaven? Oh, it's just bloke heaven or person heaven. Yeah. And you've got a toilet there. Yeah. Yeah. And a fruit tree or whatever these other guys do. Exactly. Oh, it'll be just a luxe. Oh, got to do it, won't you? Here's the toilet. Yeah, save the penis. All right, go, can I reckon that's all? Good on you, mate. Cheers, buddy. Jimmy said, "Come and watch Bathurst at my joint, Stephie. I've got a Gran Turismo on PS5 racing on Bathurst with Camaro's versus Mustangs. So we're going to be watching it on one TV and trying to break their lap records on the other TV." Oh, full racing set up with seat, wheel, petals, stick shift, and virtual reality. Oh, my God. Bathurst is the grand final of the supercars. That's Kerry and Christchurch. It is. It's so good. Let's get through some more texts. Oh, that's Mikey's round. George Bell played last week. Looks good in the Dino phone plan. Yes, Steph, why has Noah Hotham not been released to Tasman? He was a sub in both Tasman Shield defenses and played about 15 minutes in San Diego. Fins up Paul. Noah Hotham's the big mystery to me. I've got no wish him with him making squads and all that, he should be one of the guys that should be playing. Well, he and Dalton weren't on the release that was sent through in this morning. So I presume he was already part of the Tasman. But also, why was George Bell an Ethan Blackadder they were already playing for Tasman and Canterbury last week? So I'm not sure. Maybe this is just one of those comms teams oversights that they didn't put Noah and Dalton in that press release. But it makes us all wonder. And then I think the teams will come out during the show today. So I'd be surprised if Noah's not playing. I'd be surprised if they haven't released them. No Sam Cain. No Sam Cain, actually, for Bay of Plenty. Has he got an injury? I don't know. I do want to give a thoughts out to Jacob right away to Vicky Neatkins, who has broken a bone in his neck. He was rushed to Taranaki Base Hospital, which isn't the full facility hospital. But they did some scans or some imaging and saw it. And he's having an operation today. So he'll be out for an extended length of time, which I'm sure is secondary to getting his mobility and everything back up and running. But he had a really bright future. He's a big out for Taranaki. I don't want to decry the seriousness of his injury and the good thoughts were sending their way. But I think he was leading the whole NPC in meters run, or something like that. So he is a real attacking threat that Taranaki have lost. Noah isn't in the Allblex, that's a good point too. So they've announced the Allblex that have been released. Then Noah's not an Allblex. He was in the 15, because Cameron Oegard took his place in the Allblex. That's why he wasn't on the press release. Astute listeners, deluxe. When are the odds for the 2025 NRL coming out? I'm putting a hundred bucks on the Warriors to win the grand final. Mark H. Rugby Park. Oh, that was yesterday's when I saved it. They are out now. They are out. And if memory serves, the Warriors here it is. They're paying 40 bucks. So you want to win 40 grand? Put your handi on. Is that 40 grand? Oh, four grand. Four grand with your hundred bucks. That's a big price for the Warriors. That's a big... I think they're a top eight bet, along with Ken's Dragons. Ken? Dragons? Top eight? No, no, you said top four yesterday. There's some wonky, wonky. For me, some wonky prices in that NRL. I think there's a lot of teams paying, not enough. And I think there's one team paying too much. That sticks out to me. Yeah, but the great man Black Ashford has arrived in the building. And I've said we're going to get him in studio from one o'clock. And he doesn't know this. I think he's in the producers' booth with Jackie at the moment. We're going to open the line so you can ask him questions. Richie, get your question lined up, mate. He was the phantom. The phantom word guy. I saved a couple of other text messages from yesterday. After we spoke to the young golfer, the 16 year old, that broke power when he was eight, finished eighth in the Asian Pacific Championship. Cooper more, it was. This text is no names, but they said that's two young students from St Beds College, dominating global sports. Cooper in the golf, obviously, and Louis Sharpe. Now has a seat in F3. I didn't know that. And is Louis Sharpe still at school? He must be an old boy. Must be an old boy. No, no, he's only like 16 or 17. Oh, he's still at school. But he's been traveling to Britain because he's competing in the Great British. I forget what it's called. But yeah, the feed is serious. And on the golf, Deep South Mark with the seat. Jacob, he says, Jacob, I'm 38 and my best score is 91. And I can only dream of getting as good as that young man. And a really good text from Brett from yesterday on the golf as well, which I saved saying it's consistency in golf. I would have parred every hole in Huntley. And I've birdied the majority of them. But that's in a lifetime, not over four days. You'll be having the worst round ever. And you've told yourself that's it. I'm never playing again. And then you crush your tee shot on 18. And back you go next week. It's a prick of a game. At my old golf club in Palmerston North, we used to have a thing called. What was it called? I think it was called Ringers. And just in your normal club play on a Saturday, you let's say you had an eagle, you'd ring it. And that would be stored up. And so you could only choose a hole once. So if you're birdied a par five and you're rung it, and then a few weeks later, you're eagled it. You couldn't ring it again. Your birdie's locked in. And so at some stage during the year, all 18 holes would have to be rung. And then the person with the lowest score won the ringer prize at the end of the year. And you'd get to the stroke one hole, the stroke two hole and you'd birdie it. You just ring it because you'll never, in birdie parfours, just ring it because you don't eagle parfours. But the par fives, you'd make a birdie. You think, oh, it's October. And it's the first time I've birdied it. I've got two months to go to eagle at will I? No. Next week, eagle. Just grind your gears. Golf's such a good game. It is such a good game. Hi guys, sorry. If someone already suggested this, use the video ref to roll on foul play and give the captain's two challenges that the ref refers to video ref. All other decisions are with the referee. I like captain's challenges because a captain can go up to me and say, staff, did you ground that? Yes, are you sure? Yes, captain's challenge. I think they do it quite well in the NRL with captain's challenges. Who's the legend at it? Clint Getherson is a legend at captain's challenges. Staff, remember, Dalton picked up a niggle last week so probably won't be rescued from Ken. Thank you, Ken. Future all-black captain, Dalton Pupoli. Hey, Ken. My place is in George, actually, as well. Dalton. Remember, pie TVs of the 70s and 80s. And beta video plays. Yes. Pie TVs. But yeah, I had the thorn precision 20. No remote. If you want to turn it up, you had to go up to the TV and lift the slider. It had a volume control, a colour control and a contrast control. And that was it. And before that, our big black and white TV had a dial on the side and in the middle, it had a little blue button and you pushed it and that was the fine tuner. You had to tune it yourself. Couldn't find them. You had to find it yourself. Staff up to mighty seagulls. Cheers, Ken Christchurch. Mighty seagulls. Price. Seveneen dollars. One, two, three, four. Favourites. The return of the seagulls. Hi, wait a waste of 100. They should be 100 to one glen. Oh, wasting 100, putting 100 on the worries to win the final from glen. I'd say take them top eight. I've got the wares at 41 and I love rugby park. I have very fond memories of Wayne Smooch, the Wayne Smith coaching clinics there. Oh, you love rugby park. Why is his name hates rugby park? We have a room for people's names. We have Ken from Christchurch. Ken, we have Brett, people's names. But in your name, this number, I've got hates rugby park. Is your name Mark? Hakes rugby park? I don't know. So is your name Mark? Can you text me? I got the wares at 41 and I love rugby park. I have fond memories of Wayne Smith coaching clinics there. Can you just text me back and say, is your name Mark? Because I'll change it from hates rugby park. Because now I know that you like it. We'll take a break. Back to the phones we go. The great man, the carpet man. Joey, g'day Joey. Yeah, g'day. Dad, look, I was just saying to you producer, um, you know, that, that, um, Jake, I said, he's got to hang on to you and he said, yeah, he said, I said, it's like Batman and Robin. And you know, he said, he said, what about Steph, Man and Robin? Oh, how about that? Steph, Man and Robin. Well done. Hey Steph, I just want, we're about, I'm just saying to Jake, where would you play Aaron Clark? Because he's like a roaming, um, uh, Billham Walker, isn't he? He played well, you know, I noticed when he got the ball, uh, when he came on for the Titans, he straightened the play up a lot. That's what I like about him. Yeah, he's a player like, is it Ruben Cotta? Small tank plays way above himself. He can play, he could play like a prop role without playing prop, but he's just a tough bugger. I just, I think I'm potentially the biggest fan of Aaron Clark, even before he's got to worry his jersey on. I can't wait to see him go. Well, you know what happened? No, he, he went, um, cause he, he, he, obviously, uh, here at Farmer George's son. Yep. He went over, uh, he went over, he went over to Aussie and he came back and, uh, we saw him at a TAB and, uh, we were talking to him a couple of years ago and he said that he was going to, to play it, um, for Canberra. And Ricky Stewart said that he, he needed to, to lose some, lose some, uh, uh, put on some weight. And then he, he, something happened there and then he went, that's when he went to the Titans. And I'm quite, quite glad for the worries that, um, uh, he's, um, he's back for, um, uh, a back, a back earphone for the maintenance. He would be, he would have been handy for my Bronco site. Believe it or not? Yeah, he wouldn't be able to talk. Roger and Seth, did you know, just quickly, did you know that when the, the, um, uh, when the, Peel of Panthers lost the grand final. Two days later, Fisher Harris was in the, um, uh, back training. And then apparently most of the team came back training after about three or four days. And then they went on in one four in a row. So what does that tell you? So he was that, he was that pistol that they lost. Apparently he was back in the gym two days later. Training. Wow. And then, and then now they've won four in a row. So fitness is a massive part of it. And if you watch those, I know I go on about it on the station, but if you watch the, the teams that get up, the advantage line is where the guy plays the ball. You're not going to get there for five tackles, but for the first three tackles, the teams like Penrith in the storm, always hit them around about there. And that's why they're so good. And fitness is massive. I don't care what anyone says. Those players, they've got all the skills they've got. The fitness man, the fitter they are, the better team they will be without a doubt. Yeah. I don't care what anyone says. Yeah, but the fitter they worry fitter. Yeah, well, yeah. Yeah, I mean, yeah. So that's amazing. You know, you know, he apparently, yeah, apparently he was the lady was interviewing them after the grandfather. And they mentioned it. They said that the first grandfather they lost to Melbourne, two days later, he was back training in the gym. And then a lot of the team followed. And well, if that's the case, look what they've done. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. We've got a scoop. We've got a scoop. End of the day. Go on. Oh, that's why I didn't do it by the day. That's too close. Get up there. They're green and whites. Last break before the news, after the news, Black Eastford. Live in studio. Get your questions ready. You can text them on double eight, double three. But give them a call. Oh, 800 1 5 0 8 11. After one, Black Eastford. Texts from Ken saying, Dalton might be going straight to Europe. Most of the guys released will play Japan with a few of the museum 15 boys. Also, that's my take on it. And I can't see Dalton playing for the dragons. That was just a job. That was just a job. Ken and Christchurch. Just further on the seagull, Stephie. I've followed them since the early 90s. I get a bit of a hard time not being a Warriors fan, but I chose to stay with the seagulls through the good end of the bad. Holiday of my year was going over back in July to watch them play at Brookie. Also, experience them when I hopefully will get to repeat next year. No grudge from me, Ken. People that had teams before the Warriors came around, if you stuck with them, through second thing, I'm with you. I'm bloody with you. Questions for Black Aschford coming in? Excellent. I'll save those. G'day. Oh, I haven't got time to read these. I'll do some more after the news. Thank you for all your text messages. Double eight, double three. Any questions for Black? Text them through double eight, double three. Oh, you're welcome to call in about five minutes. Oh, 800-150-811. [APPLAUSE] Move! [MUSIC PLAYING] This man is a beautiful man. It's got this sense of devotion. One look, one touch of a hand, cassette the spiral and motion. Welcome back in team. We're just going one o'clock, if you're just tuning in. If you're a one to two, lunch it, you get hungry when you're lunch house one o'clock and you've got to go through that 12 to one while the early years go away. I remember that. We're not a youngster at state insurance first job. Sort of last then, you get last choice. So I was a one to two, luncher. Yeah. Joining us now, no lunch here. Blake Ashford, good to have you in studio. Actually, normally phone you on a Thursday. It's good to have you in studio. Yeah, it is good, Steph. I think I've only been any once this year, maybe. But look, my boy's up here for a basketball tournament until Saturday. So I thought while I'm over here, they don't play till tonight. So I'd come in and see your beautiful face mate. I'm usually just talking to you over the phone. So sorry to disappoint with the beauty side mate. I have a face, but it sure ain't beautiful. I wanted to talk to you about, before we review the NIRL season and do all that sort of stuff, like you're involvement with New Zealand rugby league and you look after the Bay of Plenty Ridge and just talk about what your remit is in the game of rugby league. So obviously I'm a development officer, so there's plenty of us around all over New Zealand. We don't have as many as rugby. We do cover huge areas. But myself and another lady who's in my role, we share Bay of Plenty in the coastline area. So that's all down there. It's a portraquille all the way up to Kati-Kati and all the way down across to Tudangi, Mungakino and everywhere in between. So it's a big area. But as we've seen over the last couple of years, especially with the Warriors going so good, we've been tasked to, I suppose, capitalize on that and just sort of grow and develop the game in those areas. And I've just come off two weeks at a National Youth Tournament and saw all the young talent from the girls and the boys in the 16s and 18s and they've both been selected in teams for the New Zealand schools. That was from the secondaries and the New Zealand clubs team. So they'll do battle this weekend, the 18s and label weekend is the 16s. So they both get to represent New Zealand at 16s and 18s level. So they're first jersey and it's definitely a sight to see, especially when some of the kids have been selected from your district or your area. But look, there's definite growth there. And now it's, I guess, my task, my job as long as many others across New Zealand to sort of keep that growth going and just teach the game of rugby league. So growth in numbers, I don't even have to ask you. I just know there'll be growth in numbers. But what about quality of the game being played by our teenagers? Oh, the quality is exceptional now. I suppose the pathway is given is something now that was never there for a lot of people maybe 10 years ago even. You know, you've got, even with the Warriors this year, the Harold Matthews, the SG Ball, everyone's getting to trial there and just be seen on a bigger stage. These youth tournaments that New Zealand rugby league hold are a good stepping stone as well. But look, the level's gone up every year. And I'll go back to, I commentated a girls' competition, that youth competition made five years ago. And to see where they are now, back then it used to be, who was the fastest, who was the biggest? Now the skill level, who's the smartest. Oh, it is unmatched, mate. They're kicking game, they're passing ability. It's just evolved so much at a younger age. And you can see why now clubs come over and scout kids at 14, 15. Because they're doing things that some of us weren't doing until we were 18, 19. I'm talking 10 years ago. You know, their ability now. I suppose as well, social media and things helps. Because you can see a lot of other training techniques, a lot of social media from clubs that you'll get to see and learn from. So they are definitely a lot better than we ever were at that age. So these tournaments that you're helping administer, like you and Rottarua last week, right? We're in Todanga and then we transferred to Rottarua, yes. Are there scouts there from Aussie clubs? So the girls, not as many at the moment. Just because NRL is just starting, I predict in about five to six years. The girls' scouts will be through the roof. As the NRLW season, you'll probably see, will take on a full season. Maybe in five to 10 years. At the moment, not as many, but in the boys. Like there was Parramatta, South Sydney, Gold Coast Roosters, Bulldogs, a couple of others that have just left my mind now. But they're all there. And if they're not there, they've got people there watching for them. So do they just approach the kid? No, they're not allowed to approach the kid. You can't approach a kid, I believe, until they're 18. But they would go to the team management. This is how it's supposed to be done. Yeah, yeah. Go to the team management and obviously get details for their manager or a parent, guardian. And that's how they go through that process. But there's a lot of managers also at the tournament looking for kids to sign up and, you know, take them wherever they do. But yeah, they all have to wear appropriate identifications. Which is only something that's come in over the last couple of years. Text from Jimmy saying, "Well, great pronunciation of the Maori town names, Blake, best I've ever heard from an Aussie." Sure, bro. Honorable Kiwi. I'll take that. It's been 10 years here now. So also my wife being from here, if I didn't pronounce them properly, I still get in trouble from the kids when I don't pronounce words properly. Obviously my kids are in bilingual class. So, you know, when I try and learn, I get a scolding if they're not pronounced right. Yeah. Please, this is another one from Jimmy, earlier one. "Please ask Blake, how does he find playing for Bay of Pune in the NZRL comp? And can you actually see any of those players stepping up to the Warriors?" I like that second rower from Acarana with the big here. He looks tough. Yeah, well, a lot of those kids are already, might be in the Warriors system. You know, I remember playing against Auckland team this year. And I know a couple of those kids who just hadn't cracked that Warriors side yet or that New South Wales Cup, but they were a lot younger, 18-19. Obviously myself being closer to 40 now. I do love playing because it's a bit of fun, you know, and giving back. And just being around a team via beginner, team culture has been really good and to help Bay of Pune. You know, I loved playing with those players this year. But a lot of them I can see going on. I know one of the Bay of Pune centers, I think, has just signed possibly with the Warriors in the juniors. He was only 19-20. So look, there's a lot of kids there that still get looked at and scouted. In the women's side of the game, you know, they're probably closer to NROW contract than the boys playing in that competition are. But there are still opportunities through whether it be New South Wales Cup or going elsewhere. So there's definitely opportunities I see. I can see, we've talked about the Polynesian influence in the NRL. Um, and that's undoubted. I think you talked about the growth of the NRLW, which it's bloody good already. In that five to 10 year time, I can see half the players being Kiwis. Yep, I can too. And look, there's a girl who just been named for the Australian school girls team, Saraya Pully, and I remember watching at the youth tournament last year. Her team won the 18s or 16s, and she dominated. She's from Auckland, but she's obviously in schooling now over in Australia and just got picked for the Australian school girls. So she's like a being named to watch. There was a girl down at the tournament just gone who, I believe, is Simon the Bulldogs next year. She got MVP for the under 16s, and she could possibly be in NRLW next year. She's that good. And, you know, speaking to its staff, in about five years, six years time, I think they're going to have to make a choice. At the moment, they can play rugby all over the world in different competitions that last six or seven weeks. They can play in this NRLW, which lasts for two or three months, maybe four months with training, five months with training. But two new teams next year brings the comp out another month. In maybe two years after that, another two teams will bring it out another two months. So it's going to be as long as the NRL season soon. And it's exciting. I think the talent that's coming through is only going to get better and better. And I think because they haven't been saturated with coaching for so long, like the NRL always trying to find systems to outdo others, the NRLW is still quite young to it. So a lot of the free-flowing footy we like to see is definitely in that game. Any questions for Blake? You're welcome to text them through double eight, double three, or you can call in on 0800 150811. And Paul, the great league man from Northland. He's phoned up. G'day, Paul. Hey, I'm just wondering, like, just quickly on the Akarana team, the center, Graham Talfo, is he the same guy from the Warriors, played to the Warriors? No, I believe I don't, I know that he's not the same person. And I believe they are brothers. And this is just from what I've heard. But I don't know whether he's older or younger. But definitely watching his game so far this season, he's been pretty exciting out there in the center. Yeah, man, he's a talent. Hey, I've just got a couple of quick questions. The first one is the Warriors Spine next year. I know we're just fine at young Canola guy, but who's your Warriors Spine for next year? I think to mighty Martin will be the seven. I think Legg Meckar will be at six. I think Wade Egan at nine. I think they start the season with Charms at Fallback. How that plays out is anyone's guess. But I think Charms will start at Fallback next year. And that will be probably the starting spine, in my opinion. And, you know, there's always that Roger chat around there. But also Aaron Clark, who I know staff just mentioned before, I can see him being on the bench as a potential backup dummy half, but also someone who can fill in as a proper authority. Yeah, yeah, what a luxury there. And the other one is, I was listening to a podcast, and Ozzy, and I can't remember the place name, but he was talking about training as a storm player. And Bellamy likes to train harder, put the goal to train harder, then they would during a game. So when they come to a game, they already, it's kind of like a walk in the park and fitness wise. And is it something that you've experienced before? Do you train harder than you would? Yep, yep, yep. Most clubs do that. All the clubs I've been at have done that, even though it doesn't result in wins on the field all the time. I can tell you that, you know, you're running more kilometers of training. You're under a lot of pressure. What they do like to do is obviously a lot of fitness drills into a scenario where you have to think, and you have to sort of attach a skill-based game. To it. So they aren't the only team I do think that Bellamy and the storm do possibly do it a lot harder than others, but it is definitely a common thing amongst all in our world clubs. Yeah. Hey, Stephanie, just quickly, mate. You've got to talk to the bosses and get them and our great, great man over there over in Vegas. Mate, you've got to be there. Yeah. Thanks, mate. I appreciate it. We'll clip that one up. Good on you, mate. We're making progress. Cheers, Paul. We actually had an interesting text through before Andy called as well, was saying, "I don't know whether you're new, but Auckland rugby played their last round robin game at Auckland Grammar." And he said, "So, rugby union is taking games to schools, rugby league is taking games to Vegas." It's in a good place at the moment, rugby league. And I talked about Peter Villandes yesterday. He looks like he could have a leading role in the Sopranos. He looks gangster, but man, he gets stuff done. He does. And you know, like, I even look back. I don't know how many people know about his history in racing. But for me, growing up, like always been around racing, not saying I know too much where you said that word about it before, but like I've always had a punt or been around uncles and they do like the punt. And it's always been a Melbourne-based game. Over the last, I don't know, maybe 10 years or so, it slowly started to turn to Sydney's, the big fish. And the people are going to Sydney to ride. And that's where the big races are. Melbourne couple always be there. But the bigger races, the sprinters and other races, they're always in Sydney. And that's for Landy's doing. Well, I think it is. And you know, he's touched that. It turned to gold as the big fish now. And you look at rugby league. I know there's the war in Australia about rugby league and AFL, but rugby league, I think, is just somewhere where you've got England. You're over here in New Zealand. You've got Australia. I just think he's done an outstanding job and it is in an actual safe place. And it wouldn't surprise me. I know the bears have not been given the bid. But I dare say they would go ahead with PNG and possibly another New Zealand team. Yeah, we talked about the bears combining with West Australia. And reading between the lines, I think for Landy's is disappointed in the West Australian rugby league side of things. And he says, "I'll just talk to the West Australian government." He's happy with the bears to be involved. So the line's not through a West Australia team. But he just needs, and he'll go over, he'll walk in. You want rugby league? This is what you do. And this is what you do. And if you don't do it, you don't get it. I'll talk to you later. Well, I just think South Ireland's very close. Do you? I think that with that new stadium that's getting built. I believe that this next test match, Australia and New Zealand in a couple of weeks for the Pacific Championships, I think would be close to sold out already. I think it's a thirst for rugby league down there. I know in the districts level, they've just split from Canterbury and South Ireland. So you've got more representation at these national youth tournaments. It's exciting times for Canterbury league. You've got the Warriors Academy down there. You've got the Bulldogs down there. It's a place where I think can really thrive if they're given an NRO system. And an amazing stadium, breaking news, developing story. Delhi in middle-winning half-pack Jerome Hughes has just been ruled out of the Kiwis campaign this month. He was named in the squad on Tuesday. He's been troubled by neck injury, but hoped he would recover in time. But after further assessment, a devastated Hughes has been told he will not be fit to play. He said, "Outstanding, you know, word of a replacement in that squad yet, Jacob, by the looks." I think that's a blow for the Kiwis, Blake. Boy, oh boy. It is. And I think it's going to be a fairytale ending for Sean Johnson. Do you? I don't know. I know he said on his podcast, which is highly rated at the moment, that if the only way he would come back and play is if Jerome Hughes gets ruled out. Because Kieran Foren's not there. Dylan Brown's not there. You've got Cody Nicarima in there. I think Sean Johnson, it's the time for, you know, it's one last hurrah. It's only been a month since his last game. He knows how to get through a game. He's been there for so many years. I think this could be the one. Imagine coming back in just when he was in New Zealand. Back-to-back Pacific champions. That would be a fairytale ending like no other. You obviously didn't get it this year with the Warriors in the NRL. But I don't know. I mean, there's not too many other halves running around for New Zealand that I think wrecking my brain for halves in the NRL. Could they go to Super League like they've done with Peter Hiku? But still even in that, I don't think there's one that is ready for what I think Sean can deliver. So I think Stacy would put the feelers out to Sean. Let's just say I think there's a high possibility Sean might be in this squad. Because of Sean's he says, "No, Stacy might have to play." I'm only on an only Kiwi now, aren't I? Yeah, I'll put the hand up. It's those match payments. And you're playing. Yeah, you're playing as well. Yeah, OK, nicely. Nicely six or seven. Those match payments. From Mikey, Stephanie, hearing that from Blake about the future of the women's game in NRL. New Zealand rugby for women is in real trouble. Do you think the NRLU will do anything about it? Mikey says they won't. Steph says they have to for the sake of rugby. I think they do what it looks like. I don't know what it looks like. Well, they've just signed Sarah Hittany for two years. I think last year they signed Superstar of the World 7s and she's only 21. Georgia Miller, she signed for four years. And I think that was an indication that New Zealand rugby understand the threat of NRLU. But in my eyes, what are they signed to, just New Zealand? I think so. I think exclusivity. I think it's got to come down to in my eyes. It's the same as why people say internationals aren't as important anymore. Or they don't feel like it's as important in rugby league. It's because we don't see it every week. We get invested into the Warriors because we're there every week. For me, the NRLU, no young girls and they're watching this. They're invested into these teams because they see them for two, three months. They see these players play origin. In that, how often are they playing test matches? I know they're playing some now for New Zealand. I just think it's got to start at that level, maybe the NPC level, whether you get a big competition like they do for the men, like a wider one. Or they have, I don't really know. I don't know what the system actually looks like now. But I think it's got to start lower where you're seeing them every week, or at least five months of the year. You're seeing these girls, but are these women played? Because I think with that, then you get more attention. Not just a one-off test or a couple of tests here and there. Yeah. The black fans lost to England comfortably. They're highest ever score they've conceded. And I say it's because England, France, they have meaningful, fully professional women, rugby players playing meaningful competitions of which the final was played in front of 25, 30,000 people in England. They went fully professional five or six years ago. Our girls have got an incredibly truncated, super rugby-opicky. And then they go and play tests and they're not ready. And how many, what, there's four teams in that? Five teams in the? Yeah, five. Yeah. So like a four. Sorry for that. Even opening it up, or I don't know. I believe it has to go back to a NPC level. I love those games because it means more to the communities than all of Wellington getting behind the hurricanes, or I don't know, you know, Manawa II, yourself. How vicious you are in them compared to you would someone else. Yeah, I'm massive on the Manawa II cyclones. And I support Hurricane Poah, but I'm all about the cyclones. And that's what I mean. It's just more, it means more to you when it's where you're from. You're growing up in that region, that's your district, and you see them. It's achievable. I just think that'd be the way to go. Texas is, whoa, whoa, whoa, rewind Blake. The Bulldogs are set up on Christchurch. Is that how good got the young Warrior Soccer? Can't remember his name, but he was an under 17 top player. I didn't know they were in Christchurch either. No, it's been around for a couple of years. I don't think they have a station like the Warrior's Academy. So the Warrior's got their Academy, but there's a lot of teams all over. Like the Storm will have bases. I know the Roosters have like a Academy in Auckland. All these, all these in their all teams have academies all over. Explain to me what a Roosters Academy in Auckland looks like. Well, that would be players that they sign or have spoken to. It might be development contract that they're happy to keep them over here if they're family while they're younger. But they want to keep up to date and where they're at. So it might be, you know, they have a training session at, wherever it's say, Elisley. And they go along there and they fill them with all the Roosters skills. They give them programs to stay on top of things. This is common. This is all over New Zealand. A lot of NRL clubs would be all over New Zealand, I believe. Wow. I don't know to what extent, but that's where I think a lot of NRL clubs are all over. Nice. We've just got a phone. I was going to take a break, but we've got a phone call. Doesn't want to talk. Okay. Marcus, you should have talked to us out of Roosterua. Should have talked to us about it. So just quickly, I mean, we haven't even talked about the NRL Grand Final, but I found it much more fascinating about the develop under the growth, which is the area you're in. So I guess lastly for me was we've talked about the growth in numbers. We've talked about the increase in skill set, particularly in the women's game as well, which is just awesome. I guess it's we're too next because it's a path to the Warriors. We know that, but man, there's like 500 cars in only 10 parking spaces. You know? So we're going to keep losing players overseas. For New Zealand, Christchurch sounds like hopefully inevitable, but he does want to talk now, Jacob. Oh, he does want to talk. Sorry. So instead of my question, listen, it's more important than me. Marcus Roosterua, can I, Marcus? How's it going, brother? Beautiful day here in Topo. That's the story, boy. Beautiful day here. Just just a, just a blake on first of the, uh, of our ladies, young, especially the young lady, getting signs. I had no guess, uh, you know, the every club over the, you know, our club's got a quite a strong ladies competition there. So we ain't going to see a lot of those girls for. So maybe if they're really good to the 1890s, because he's a lot of ladies playing league every year in Australia, not necessarily for New Zealand, it's a better competition. Yep. And I, that's how I was going to answer staff's question about what's next for New Zealand. I think that, um, in New Zealand, I think we need a competition that will rival, let's say, an S.G. Ball or a, even a New South Wales Cup level, where you can play at, you know, an elite level for, and you have that district. I know there's the premiership in those levels now, but I think it needs to be a bit wider, a bit broader, maybe go for a bit longer just to keep some talent here. And then once what you'll see is you'll then see those clubs go, okay, this competition's valid. This is actually good competition. We will put these young girls, these ladies in this competition, we'll put our boys that we've signed in this competition. I think that's, that's what happened, has to happen in New Zealand. Next is a, just a wider competition. How it happens, um, oh, that's for people who earn a lot more money than me, but I believe that's what's got to happen. I'm with you on that. Yeah, one other thing, um, do you think, uh, with Sean not being, do you make sure you don't worry that we'll see up our place though? We won't be such, so, uh, one dimension on the left, in the middle of the field on the left, um, tackle that, just check to the corner. Yeah, look, I, I think with tomato Martin, he showed this year that, um, he's got what it takes. You know, he took us to a couple of good wins this year to my tomato Martin. I thought he was outstanding. Luke Metcalf looked good and he, he adds that sort of running game as well that you want, even on the last. He just looks like someone like a little boy, he'll take an option. Um, that, you know, you're not expecting. So I think with those two in the halves, if that, if that's the way Andrew Webster goes, I think we'll be in good stead, uh, to finish the year. Plus like, you know, we already spoke about Aaron Clark, Dylan Walker, still there, Tohu Harris to come back. I think that they're in a good position and, um, I think we'll see a lot more from the Warriors next year. Uh, brilliant. One last thing, whether we'll see you at Texas for the hands this year. Oh, yeah. I believe I, I, I, I may be at Texas for this year. I'll see if I get invited back. I've shot over a hundred a couple of times there and, uh, I never a chance of winning a hand. So maybe a glove or something might draw me back to Texas. Well, if you come up to the bar, we'll shut your free beer. Oh, beauty, I'll take that. See you there. Cheers, Michael. Cheers, mate. Uh, Blake, we're out of, uh, very quickly. Isn't there a no poaching rule in Sydney for the NRL clubs? Why can't we have that rule? I don't know about the no poaching, Ronald. There's the one about you can't talk to a club for a signed NRL play. Yes, uh, or even for youngers, if they're on contract, I believe you can't talk to them until they're at a certain time with their contract. So over there, I suppose a lot of kids over here are just, they're not signed to anyone. Or if they are, it's, um, it's something that no one really notices. So look, I, yeah, to answer the question, I don't know how you stop it. Unless they're definitely signed to NRL club. Gotta get a break away. I'll keep Blake in here just for a little bit longer. We'll take a break. Come actually, um, a text from earlier from Brian saying, G'day, guys, the Kiwi league talk brought back that memory of Richie Blackmore and Jared McCracken setting up that brilliant try in the corner to beat Aussie. Took us an hour to calm down from Brian. It's amazing how some tries just stick with you. A text, sort of a question. If League is so strong in New South Wales and Queensland, why are they over here poaching rugby boys and our young league boys? New Zealand rugby aren't over an Aussie poaching young league players. Well, they could if they wanted to. James O'Connor just signed, didn't he? Yeah, that's a funny one. No, but look, it happens everywhere. You know, Brad Fittler's son just signed for the Warrittars. He was a Sydney Rooster's junior. Really? Yep. You know, I've got perfect examples, Steph, from when I was growing up, we had a lot of rugby league boys that, you know, rugby league's always seen as over in Aussie as the tough, well, blue collar sport. And, you know, you get given, you can go to a public school and you can play rugby league or we can pay for all your schooling. Here's $50,000, the scholarship, and you can come to Joey's. Perfect examples, curtly bill. He's a rugby league player. Really? Then, yep, then got went to Joey's, went to one of the rugby schools. So I don't like using the word poached because, you know, I believe it's opportunities. That's what I see for all of it. And this is why I don't like, you know, I'm in a position at the moment where I try to put on rugby league tournaments and with the schools. And a lot of the schools can't participate because of rugby union. I try and put these tournaments on separate to rugby union because I see that it's an opportunity for both codes to grow, but this kid, you know, they're the ones that are important. It's not about what sport is better or what sport's going to grow more. It's more opportunities for these kids. So if they can play both sports, why not let them do so? And then at the end of the day, they choose. It's not about poaching. They make the choice. I'm not about rugby versus league. I love both games. And I think they can both exist with really good athletes from New Zealand or Australia, whatever the makeup is. And I don't, I think some of the animosity between rugby versus league and our stealing players, I think, or you stole them off me. The player has two shops instead of one shop, you know, and we heard there was a report came out in the paper and I talked to Jimmy Smith about it a couple of weeks ago. And they are finding in this, a general statement, not every single player, but a good first 15 rugby player. In my day, or even more recent than that, their goal is to become an all black. Cool goal. A lot of the kids now in first 15, they want to be a professional footy player. Yes. And whether that's the blues in the all blacks or whether that's the warriors in the Kiwis, it's changed a bit. And I'm actually okay with that. I'm not threatened by it. I think a lot of kids these days, which we never had, and I put it onto the social media as well, is that you understand a bit more about what it is to be in one of those environments, because, you know, you go to a training three phone, but you go and see all these top athletes or these clubs put up videos of them training and videos of what they get up to. Whereas back in the day, we could only dream. We could only guess, oh, I want to be in here because, you know, this is what I've heard. This is what I want to get. It's the first time you go into an in-hour environment. You're like, holy heck, it's all completely new to you. It is. But, you know, a lot of the, like I said these days, you view a lot of those things before you get there, because we're privy to that on our phones these days. We're back then. You didn't know what to expect. I remember walking in my first sheds and Ben Galea said, oh, there was a big sign above his, he, it wasn't even a lock. I was just a seat and just said, put your bag here and all S-H-I-T in your bag and throw it out the door. So straight away, I was like, okay, well, I won't be sitting there, you know, like just little things that, the change, I think, that you don't know about. Thinking about, do you have these young school-age boys and girls coming up to you, asking you about your experiences in the N-R-L? Personally, no, because at the moment, a lot of kids, this is going to be funny for you, Steph. A lot of kids have been asking me if I'm Richie McCall. So yeah, I get more, I'll go to all these rugby league and I feel like I was doing a refereeing at a year five and six primary schools rugby league event. And the kids can't ask me, are you Richie McCall? And I just feel like saying to them, do you think Richie McCall would be refereeing at a year five and six primary school event in total? I mean, it's funny, and I get everywhere. And it's more common now than it was when I was playing and things, but to be honest, about my journey, people think I'm Richie McCall, not Blake Asford. No one knows who Blake Asford is, so not too many come up and want to talk about the experiences. You know, you might get one or two that, so what was it like here? What was it like there? But you know, as the kids get older now, you just get pushed away and it's these young stars. Now it's about them, you know. Have you ever dropped in a... Yep. Oh, yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent. I've had photos as sorry, Richie, but I've had photos of Richie McCall for... I hope my dress sense was up to it or my look, you know. Well, he's regarded as a very good looking man. Yeah, well, I'll take that too. I'll take that too, Steph. If I had the pedigree and some of the, you know, the helicopter and some of the things he can do, old... If I had that too, my resume too, I'd be very happy. A text just... Now, Kalen Ponger is the perfect example. Doesn't want to be a kangaroo because he's a Kiwi, but was given the hard word. How come Lui and Nai don't make themselves available for Australia, but don't get the hard word like Kalen to double standards as the issue? Well, that, in that case is... What do they call it? It's... There's first and second tiers. So, the same as rugby, isn't it? First and second tiers, I believe? Yeah, because I think Hoskins, the two of you could go and play for Fiji straight away, but he has to wait another year to come back. Yeah, so that's the same in rugby league. So, he wouldn't be allowed to play... Oh, he can't go and then play for... But when you sign up, so when you sign up, as a kid, you get a blank... I shouldn't blank. It's a normal piece of paper. It's got all these questions on it. How far back say like, "I could have played for Ireland if my grandmother was from Ireland, but it was my great-grandmother, so I could only ever play for Australia." So, you could have all these allegiances and you get to choose who do you want to play for. So, look, even Jack Howarth from the Kiwis has chosen Queensland. He doesn't want to play for New Zealand, so that's just how it is. I don't know how long he was in New Zealand or where that's from. The same as Kalen Ponga, I suppose he... To say that, he doesn't want to play for Australia, and the rest of that, he must know him quite well, whoever said that, because, you know, that's only his say. Well, he said he wanted to rest his body. Yeah, exactly. And then Mal makes himself failable and Mal doesn't pick him. Well, that's because Mal came out and had a word to him and spoke to him. I think the whole scenario about him having to make himself available, if you want to rest your body, you want to rest your body. I mean, he's... I think... He doesn't owe it to Newcastle, but I think that Newcastle have stood by him and they want him healthy, and he wants to do the right thing by Newcastle, which is, rest his body, not have any more injuries and be primed for next year to really come into an NRL season, because it's grueling like that. They won't do a pre-season, some of these players, because they'll come back in mid-January and then have two weeks of training into a season. So he might want three months with the team to train. There's a lot of scenarios about it that only Caitlyn Ponger really knows the story. He's played for Australia. He has played for... He played in the '9s, I believe, which was a while ago now, but... So he couldn't play for New Zealand even if he wanted to? I don't know, to be honest, I don't know whether that counts. So he might be able to play for New Zealand. Unless Caitlyn Ponger has come out and said, "I want to play for New Zealand," that's the reason why I turned down Australia. From his own words on camera, I don't really listen to too much of that other stuff, mate, or click bait. That's fair. We'll take a break, come back with Blake surely. Off the back of our chats, we're getting some good tech specieges. Paul says officially the '9s representation' has ruled Ponger out of Kiwi contention. And Brendan's text through saying there's a clip from a few years ago of Caitlyn saying he wants to be in all black. Yes, I remember that clip doing the rounds. And Dave says, "Hey, Blake and Stephie, great chat. By playing state of origin, don't you automatically qualify for Aussie and you can't play for your country?" That's only New Zealand, only Tier 1 nations. So obviously how Jack Howarth wants to play for Queensland, that would say he wouldn't be allowed to play for New Zealand. But I believe Tonger, or I don't even know if Tonger, Tonger might be a Tier 1 nation now. But I think England are a Tier 1 nation, but Samoa still aren't. So that allows Stephen Creighton, Jerome Luai, all those players to play. And then play for Samoa. So yeah, the Tier nation stuff, like I said, it's above my paygreed. And when you see the Tongan squad and the Samoa squad, oh boy. It's scary, aren't they? Yes, someone here saying, "Jack Howarth's born and bred in Australia, but comes from the same Wai Rea Fano as Jared Wai Rea Hargreps." Caitlyn played for the '9s and 2019, surely the standout period is over. I didn't really, I thought Jack Howarth was born here, but no. Must be born breed Australia to Kiwi parents. I didn't even know he was Kiwi until maybe about two months ago, mate. He's that tall guy that had truck loads of injuries, eh? And got a four year deal a while ago. Jack Howarth, he was the one that got held up with the controversial trial on the weekend. Yeah, I wasn't too sure about the preview. I know it did take him a while to get to the NRL, but when he was there, he's definitely made his mark anyway over the past double this year, yeah. So just looking back before we go, we've got three minutes left. The NRL season as a whole, there's probably four teams that had really disappointing years, four teams that had really good years and the rest of somewhere in the middle. Who were the movers up next year? The movers up next year, look, I did a show with Sami and girls yesterday and they both had tigers. My team would definitely be South Sydney. Yeah, definitely up. I mean, they've only got one place to go down to get the spoon. So I think they'll definitely be up, you know, Bennett, I think they finally moved Jack Whiting into six, which helped him and Cody Walker. Littrell Mitchell will be back. I think with Cam Murray and Keon kill on my tonguey on the edges, I think would allow Josh Schuster to play 13. And I think Wayne Bennett's the top of person to get the best out of Josh Schuster. I haven't been the, you know, all on Josh Schuster, like the 800K, I didn't think that was deserved after, you know, half a season. But I do think there's a lot of talent there. And if there's one person that can make you believe in yourself, that's Wayne Bennett. So I think you have a big year and I think the bunnies will be on the up. Who's on the down? Cowboys. Yeah, didn't even have to think. No, look, mate, I, and I feel sorry at Tottie Payton. I know Tottie Payton. I love Tottie Payton, one of the best blokes, one of the best teammates I've ever had. But I just think with, if this, I don't think they've signed anyone and their losses are quite large, you know, Finifuiyaki, Vowhomes, you lost Chad Towns and Kyle Felt. They do have a good core base. Origin's going to hurt them once again. You're going to lose a Rob Sincotta and then I, um, Dearden. It's not going to be, yeah. I think unless they do have some extra young talent coming through, which they may do, you know, we saw some young talent this year from them, but I just don't think they're in that eight again and I think they could have a big slide. And what happens to Penrith? I still think they'll be there there, bouts. Do you really? I think, mate, I've been thinking they've played too much footy the last couple of years, that it's going to be too much for them, but that performance the other night, it's just phenomenal just to think what they've done. And, um, I don't think that grand final, I don't think any team over the past five, six years could have played that grand final and matched it with Penrith the way the storm did. And that just shows how good Penrith are. I think Blaze Telangi comes in, could play six. The young kid from Penrith, which would be a process. And I don't think they finish high as top two, top three. But I think as the season comes along, Blaze Telangi will be groomed. He did used to play juniors in the six, but I just think he'll be that player that they're looking for to work with Nathan Cleary. Plus you get Isaiah, a public E in there to do some groundwork in the back row. You've still got Ghana, you've still got Isaiah, yo. Mitch Kenny's still there another year. Yes, the Fisher Harris loss will be huge, but I just think, look, they've got enough now. They've got enough cattle that they'll be there next year. Awesome, Blake Ashford. Big thanks for joining us every Thursday as you have all season. We'll touch base again when the internationals are cracking on, but thanks for coming in today. Cheers. Thanks, Steph. It's been good. Blake Ashford joining us in studio for the last hour. Absolutely brilliant. Take our last break before the news. Just a reminder that it is the final day of the Everest competition on the station. It's your chance to win. You can get a trip to the Everest and Sydney, the richest race in the world to see. I wish I win. Secret redemption. You need to answer for every show. So Monday with Scotty and Izzy Tuesday was morning's with Ian Smith. This show yesterday and today will be the run home with Kirsten Beeth. If you missed the first three, every show's podcast, the questions. When you're here tonight's one with Kirsten Beeth, you'll get the fourth and final clue. When you hear it, you'll get a cue to text all four answers, not just that one, all four. So go and get the other three, they're not that tough. If you correct, you're in the draw to win a trip to the Everest for you and a friend in Sydney. Terms and conditions apply. Very best of luck. So listen out to the run home, get all four answers and get yourself to the Everest. It's redemption time for I wish I win. Tony Johnson after the news. I think I was skinny. My comfort black and my bed and cream. You're too sweet for me. You're too sweet for me. Just gone to a clock. Ketchup with Tony Johnson very shortly. A couple of text messages come in. Harry Gough is playing number 10 for the Keynes. Yeah, Brett Cameron is out for a wee while, very sorry for Brett. He had some concussion issues this year and sort of photo from his hospital bed with a lot of strapping around the knee operation time. Chris is over photo of Jaden Campbell and my son wearing all black jumpers. They used to play Leaguer's Juniors together. Cheers from Chris, interesting. I was trying to, I was frantically searching up Jaden Campbell's dad, Preston Campbell, if he had any Kiwi lineage, I don't think he did, but maybe he married. Maybe, I don't know, I'm not sure. Preston Campbell is one of my favourites. Reese Wesser, another one of my favourites. That trie wasn't held up, it was 100% a trie. I had him as any time trie score. Dave, I love a man that talks through his wallet, but I think it was a trie as well. Monty Python always looked on the bright side of life. For funeral would be the one for me, Cheers Sean. What's that? Not sure. Wrong station. Not sure. You bought back some tears with the Denny Holman's incident staff. I remember it like it was yesterday. Yes, so do I, Matt. They thought he'd broken his neck and replayed his death on TV. He looked like an old fella, but Denny was only 56. And that iconic Benson and Hedges M3 BMW managed to have a view on top of the hill for Scotty Mac's new lap of the God's qualifying run a few years back at Bathurst. Lifelong memories visiting that place. Amazing, amazing, bugen watching. Yes. And further to Deep Southmark, this is a while ago, but he said further to Dean's new phone plan. Can someone correct him when he mispronounces people's names? I think it took him close to two years to realise it wasn't Ian Foster, but Ian Foster. And his life won't be happier until Ricow is on the wing again. Yeah, Dean did a great impression of Blocko Roach to start off the show if you missed it. Yeah, a lot of dalons or dillons or what do you think it was? Dillon were an easily ex. Yeah, funny. Yeah, it was fantastic. So we've still got a fair time to come and we've got a wonderful through the years content piece for you that Jacobs put together. But it is our weekly appointment. It has arrived. Tony Johnson out of Sky Sport. Oh, TJ, lots to talk about this week, my friend. Yes, Daffy. It's, you know, these two team announcements. Certainly got everyone talking. Plus this rather delicious line-up of who got for the quarterfinals of the NPC. Yeah, for sure. Let's do the Oblax and the Oblax 15 first. And I'll tell you where all the talking points from our listeners has come from. The Oblax, first of all, a bit of a head scratch, sort of one change. And that's Cam Roygard. And you'd think if he wasn't available from injury, it could potentially have been no changes. I guess no changes was the biggest surprise to me. Yeah, me, I have to say, when I saw the team, I didn't see any new faces at all. I was a bit surprised. But, you know, again, it's a conservative selection. I suppose what they're saying is, look, these are the guys we've been working with. We're trying to grow something here. I think for two or three players, it'll be either you, on this tour, or it's, you know, it's lights out for next year. Plus, I guess, as you well know, there's been a lot of discussion about TJ Pettinara and Sam came to veterans, you know, and whether it was time to move on from those guys. But I do think they have some reasons for it for taking those guys on the tour. What roles do you think they'll play? Look, I have no doubt that they offer a lot of experience and wisdom off the field. People would say that's what the coaching staffs for. How many leaders do you need? How many voices do you need? So what do you think is their best utilisation on this Northern tour? And how do you think they'll be used? Well, first and foremost, they are there for their experience and their leadership. You know, to me, Kane is still a very good player. You know, he still hits very hard in the tackle, still carries very hard. And he's at a calm experience, presents on the field. You know, after a season in which I just felt there was perhaps, you know, that the leadership group is still developing and the times you thought, you know, maybe all the leaders in the team, not necessarily on the same page. So I think that's a very important factor. Oh, they're going to be as important to that team on and off the field. You know, from what I can understand came, for example, probably won't play, if you're going to call it that, the major test in the middle, that he'll probably be, you know, more likely to be seen in the games against Japan and Italy. But he will have an important function in that team. Because as I say, he's still a very hard-nosed player and tough. That's the word people keep using. You know, people who've coached and people who've played with him say how tough he is. And I think that toughness, they'll be hoping that rubs off. Pet it out, likewise, I know he has his critics. And he was, you know, I guess I was quite surprised to see him there, given that he's going to be leaving. Also, you know, this will be his last hurrah. But I think, again, it's just what he brings off the field at a time when they're really trying to grow the culture of this team, etc. So, I mean, you think about it that way. That is the reason for taking them. I know some people will think differently, but when you sit back and you remove yourself from the white hot heat of debate, you can sort of understand what they're going for. I think there are other players in the team who, frankly, are probably just as lucky as those two, you know, to be in the side. And it's up to them now to prove that, you know, they're worthy of continued selection. And some of it's just a case of form. I mean, Mark Cleo, he was brilliant last year. Unbelievable, phenomenal, you know, 2023. This year hasn't been able to reproduce that form. They've gone for him in faith. I think Sebi Reese is another one who's been given a lot of chances this year. And with this tendency to bounce back in field and, you know, perhaps just go off script a little bit, it's kind of, you know, he's been given a, you know, fair bit of rope. And a head of a guy like a Morni Nadawa, who has just been quite outstanding in the NPC. Sami Penney, female, probably the other one who hasn't produced at just level yet, the form that, you know, we've seen from him in super rugby. And so what they're saying is you guys, you want to be part of the future. You've got to start performing on this tour. In the All Blacks 15 TJ, three names, one that made it and two that didn't. The one that made it, he's been, gosh, I feel like I've been talking about him since this time last year's Hoskins to two too. Finally gets to wear a black jersey again, not the All Black one, but the All Blacks 15. What's behind that selection? What does he need to do? Well, I mean, it's Sankin that we still very much see you as, you know, part of the picture going forward. You know, I had some tough calls to make. The guy that I feel probably sorry for more than any or two that I feel sorry for more than anyone else once, Ricky, Ricky Telly, who has been really rock solid all year and would be just as worthy a place on this part of their hook of group as any of the ones that they've selected. I find that one a little bit hard to get me hit around. And of course, I feel sorry for Braden, you'll say as well, who, you know, playing in a beaten team still managed to show his qualities, you know, both in terms of his performance, but also his leadership week in, week out for the two of those. So, you know, probably, you know, he's a bit unlucky in terms of the two too. Well, I hope this is a message to him that, you know, you're still very much part of the frame, you know, that, you know, a long term prospect and a very good one as well. I think probably a player who's fairly dispirited when he got left out of the all blacks, but he has a chance just to remind them of the incredible qualities that he possesses. Just on Ricky Ricky Telly, like he was, the two I had written down was Braden, you're saying Ricky Ricky Telly, so I'm pleased we're in the same sort of camp there, but I find it hard to believe, but I have to believe that he is not seen as one of the top six hookers in the country. And so then taking the emotion out of it, I think why? And the only thing I can think is maybe he's not big enough, but Arty Sarvey is not big enough to be a number eight internationally. And I'm clutching at straws as to how or why Ricky Riccatelli doesn't get a hooking spot in either squad. Well, mate, I actually ran into him. I was in the quarterly on Chip Nelson Airport on Sunday when the Taranaki boys were making their way back with the Ramfurley shield. In fact, they let our crew pose with the shield very nice, but to see it being put to good use in the aftermath. But anyway, yeah, he's big enough. Don't worry about that. You know, I feel for the guy because he is one of the best six hookers in the country, in my opinion, that's all the rest to it. So I don't know. I don't know. All right, MPC quarter finals. I mean, this is a drawmaker's dream, TJ. We've got the battle of the base. We've got the Chiefs neighbouring, MPC teams in Taranaki and Waikare. We've got the Crusaders, feeder teams in Taizwin, Canterbury, and we've got a Wellington team hosting a county's team who put 60 odd points on them less than a month ago. What a set of matchups. Yeah, it's funny, isn't it? Because all along, there's been so much criticism of the MPC, and I mean, it starts with the CEO saying it's not fit for purpose, which creates a bit of a negative vibe around it right from the get-go. But I think it's been outstanding this year, what we've seen, and people who say, well, you know, too many teams make it through. But, you know, what which of these quarter final games wouldn't you want to see? I mean, the way it's worked out it, you're right. It's a promoter's dream when you've got one V8, eight having cleaned one's clock just a few weeks ago, as you said. And I remember thinking at the time, boy, if I was coaching an MPC team, I don't think I'd want to be facing these blokes because they've got a real head of steam up the Steelers now. They're just playing absolutely, you know, direct go ahead plenty of flair and Roy guard coming back into it. I mean, we know what a match winner he is, and it's just fantastic the way you can see the amount of work that he has put in, just to make sure that he hit the ground running as soon as he came back in, which is an incredibly positive sign. Then you've got the Battle of the Bays, and I mean, I don't know who did the draw, but it's inconceivable to think that we were going to go through an MPC season and not have Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty, because it is one of the more talked about match ups in this competition. Fortunately, as things worked out, they get to play this weekend at the toe dong at the main and Hawkes Bay, they can salvage their season here because obviously they lost the shield, fell off the clip a bit afterwards. They've still got plenty of quality, but I just really like what I'm seeing from Bay of Plenty. I know they would have loved to have had Sam came back, apparently wasn't cleared to play in this game, but even so, it's a really tight unit, really well led by Kurt Eckland, so that's a heck of a game. Taisman, I think, have probably got the toughest job because they have to bounce back now from the disappointment of losing the shield. It's a bit of a mounting injury toll, and they take on a Canterbury team that has been very much bolstered by the return of a bunch of all blacks, which gives them a bit more like the star quality look that we expect from a Canterbury team. And then, of course, Katarunaki, who take on Waikato, I have to say, the last time those teams played, Waikato were robbed a bit, but I'll go all respect for Taismanaki, but Waikato had conceded a match winning try to a really blatant forward pass that wasn't picked up, so I think there'll be plenty at stake in that game as well. And Taismanaki, of course, now I'm the chance of doing the double Rem Village Shield and NPC, and being the defending champion. So, boy, what more could you ask for? Is there a better matchup that they could have been when you look at the history between the unions involved recent and past? It's just an outstanding lineup and a weekend that would really create a big buzz of excitement, I'm sure. The home teams are all the favourites. They're all favoured by about the same amount, and I won't make you pick blind. I'm trying to think which runs the most likely for an away team to win. I've landed on Waikato to beat Taismanaki. I just think when they get it together, they could even push for a title. Yeah, I've got to admit, as much as you know what part of the world I come from, I just think I think that Taisman, this is going to be another test of their metal here, because you see the walking wound at the weekend, and look, they never use that as an excuse. You know, Hohani McDonald spoke to him after the game, and he said, storm weak, no excuse, injuries, no excuse. But maybe they've bitten them, but we'll say a team like Bay of Fendi at the moment, relatively injury free, which is a good sign. I know Taismanaki, they had a few walking wound at the game as well, but I just think, again, a combination of falling, the post ran fairly shielding, but also we're seeing a bit of a phenomenon called the post storm weak phenomenon. You think back to the beginning of the season when Bay of Fendi went through their storm weak exceptionally well, won all three games, and then the next week came out and gave a fairly lacklustre performance in the wet against Taisman and lost the game. So to me, I think that the team with the best chance of winning away from home, it probably is Canterbury, much as though it just creates a little knot in my stomach saying it. Tava Tava Naawai, any medical update on him, because boy, I miss watching him play when he doesn't. Yeah, well, of course, that was the other thing, Levi Almore, having to be away for a family-related issue, Tava Tava Naawai, who'd done such a great job moving into centre. Mind you, if you're stuck a six or a seven on his back, he'd play that as well. He'd probably played hooker if you wanted him to, and it probably wouldn't change his game very much, but he turned up in his number once with a brace on his knee, which is not a great sign. So hopefully he'll be right further down the track, but certainly Taisman missed him. But they've got good deep inputs being well and truly tested. Sure has. All right, TJ, which games do you get to channel through to our TVs in the weekend? I think I've got one more trip down south. I've got head of the quarterfinals. I'm doing a game in Blenham, and I can tell you, obviously, this time of year, our very hard-working production staff are all looking at all the possibilities for what happens in semi-final weekend, and I can tell you nothing. Apart from, I probably know that the winner of the Counties Monoco Wellington game will play their semi-final on Friday night, and the other one will be played on Saturday. But who and where? I can tell you, there's not a lot of ink at the moment on the paper. It's all pencils. And that's probably the first season for a number, TJ. You can sort of say, "Oh, I like Wellington's going to host you, but you can't say it about any of them." And that's the beauty of MPC 2024. It's been a sparkling rendition, I feel. I don't think we've missed anything. No, no, we have the only thing I'd say, and it's really interesting. Neil Barnes, who's a guy who, you know, we all have a great regard for simply because, hey, he's a very good coach, but B, he tells it as he sees it, and he doesn't worry about, you know, ruffling any feathers in high places, and he made the comment. It's one of the first things he said after the game on Sunday about how tough it was for Tasman at the end of their storm week to defend the shield. But he's also, you know, I think joined the chorus of, you know, why do we need a storm week? Why do we have to have it when it causes so much difficulty for the teams? You know, they talk about, you know, windows and stuff, and it's all about the all blacks and things like that. But, you know, why do we have, you know, can we not start at a week early and avoid the situation where every team has to play this, you know, this situation where, you know, fatigue, injuries, travel, all that sort of thing can impact on their ability to perform at their best. So that's one thing that's come out of it, all the rest of the discussion about the future of the MPC seems to have just appeared. I'm not quite sure where we're at with that, but, you know, I agree. Well, I think it's been a really good competition and the great thing is, we've still got another three weeks of it. We have, we have, I'd just like a little bit more of a a pre-season for the teams that don't have the players that are stacked with super rugby, because a lot of these lower down teams, and you can know which ones I'm talking about, they're having players coming out of club rugby, two weeks pre-season, into playing team stack with super rugby, and they don't find their feet for a while, TJ. No, no, but the problem is too, there's also a need to show, you know, give club rugby its opportunity as well to, you know, to have the best club players that they can play for that. So look, it's a tricky one, but, you know, I agree with that, some teams came into this competition with not much by way of a pre-season at all, others did, so, yeah, look, it's a constant balancing act, isn't it, finding the right amount of time and space for all these teams, but, yeah, there's just one talking point that's come out of it, and, you know, again, as I say, it was just quite refreshing to hear Neil Barnes offering up his views on it. Awesome, well, and given all of that though, we've got a fantastic quarters, we'll have great Sammies and a wonderful final, and then the All Blacks in and New Zealand 15 as well. We're a long way done for the rugby season, TJ. Travel safe, mate, have a brilliant weekend. Okay, two-seven, so yeah. So, TJ, Wellington teams through, County's teams through. Peter Lacko will play number eight, DuploC Carefi at seven. Interestingly, Harry Plummer's playing Lock for the Lions. Different Plummer. Alama Iramir the other Lock. Iramir and Plummer at the Locks. I suffer when we're starts in the two-juzzi and save you in New Meer. We'll be starting a prop. Have a listen to the back, the back replacements for Wellington. TJ Purinara, Reuben Love, Peter Umonger-Genson. That is a powerful bench in the backs, and for County's Monaco starting in the nine-juzzi camera regard. Hoskins is there. No Dalton Pupoli in the start, or on the bench, and Ken's let us know that he's listed as a hamstring injury, and he is a week-to-week proposition, just in the line side for Friday. Hell, bit of a bomb squad feeling to that bench too. Yeah, this forwards bench. Not as impressive as the back line bench. Okay. And what else have I got here? What else have I got here? Deep South Mark. This year's MPC hands down has been a thousand times better than Super Rugby this year, and Super Rugby was actually pretty good. Preston Campbell and his wife are both of Aboriginal descent. No Kiwi Link. He just loved the all-blacks. Well, he did when he stayed at our place, or you'll have some stories, Chris. And Stephie, I love Bathurst too, and have watched it every year for about 35 years. For me, it's up there with the ND500, the Formula One at Monaco, and the motorbikes at Laguna Seeker, all-must-watchers from Dave and Queenstown. You know where I like watching motorbikes? Race, Phillip Island in Australia. I used to follow the superbikes a lot, and when they raced at Phillip Island, I love that track. Really, lots of passing places, and virtually every time they hit that corner at the end of the home straight, always a pass. Yeah, that's good stuff. Rodio, we'll take a break on the other side, Fed Taylor. These, they pump some markets out. Oh my God, Fed Taylor. I'm just looking at Bathurst, mate. It's like lap of the last safety car first retirement fastest. It's just abacusism, pencils and pencil sharpeners and pencils all over the place. They've gone a little bit further than the abacusism and pencils and pencil sharpeners we used to use, Steph. But yeah, they've got a tremendous amount of markets, and Bathurst is about to kick off this afternoon, practice one, getting underway around three PM this afternoon. And you know, I love the first retirement one, because particularly if you're a Bathurst fan, you've probably got a car you support, whether it be Chevrolet or Ford. You've probably got a driver you dislike as well. You might be able to buy that spike bit on first retirement and hope you're a man that you dislike the most and you're super good. You know, it goes out first. But yeah, as I say, there's plenty of markets, rates, markets, practice, one market is up. So you can even fit into the practice. Winning car markets, top Chevrolet, top Ford, winning car in general. And I see Chevrolet, pretty warm favourites ahead of Ford who have some reliability concerns. I'm told over the thousand kilometers over Mount Panorama. So yeah, it's a great weekend. It starts this afternoon at around three PM Bathurst. Who's backed in the overall winner race market then, or are people sort of waiting for practice to get underway? And I sort of waiting for practice to get on. It's actually a really popular event, Bathurst for the TAB, particularly in terms of motorsport. You know, we have a lot of customers and a lot of customers, it's like Melbourne Cup Day for a lot of our customers, so they don't necessarily have many bits throughout the year, but they always turn up to have a bit on Bathurst. Look, well, Brown's the championship leader, he's the favourite at $4.50. Chads Moss that's been challenging though, he sort of fell away last day, but he needs a big weekend, he's attracting some attention at $5.50 if you want to get him behind the Kiwis. There Ryan Wood and Fabian Kultart are $41 in that overall book, but yeah, we'll learn a little bit more after practice one gets underway this afternoon, but if anyone can win it, Steph, that's the thing about Bathurst and you can be well out of it early on and then think you're out of it, I'm sure they will be live bit this event as well on Sunday afternoon, so you want to be following along because plenty can be happening in the Bathurst 1,000 and betting live adds another dimension again. MPC, there's been a big mover in Wellington. Boy, that's a big move. You guys, you love you a sapphire moor and TJ Peronaris don't you? Yeah, yeah, they're going to do it for Peteejay. No doubt, Steph, he's been released, so yeah, on the back of that news and way to money, it was when I mentioned it on Tuesday, they were a favourite that had been heavily backed. So way to money, you know, a bit of team news and a bit of TJ Peronara and doing it for TJ all thrown on means, $1.20, obviously, Counties, Monocale, so they're short, Counties have been going well, and they've got a trick down here to the stadium, which I can see at my window here, Steph, and do the business. So, it's going to be a tough ask there at $1.20. That's really been the only significant move. There's been money for Hawkes Bay as the outsiders against Bay. I was saying that, I'd just see Canterbury have trimmed up. Hey, I'd looked at the market for about an hour or so. I'm sure they were around $1.33, Tasman. They're out to $1.30, 42, and Canterbury, we're out north with $3.00. They're into $2.70, so it's all a lie. There has been another move, and it's been towards Canterbury against Tasman on the Sunday game. Liverpool Day at Terrapa, which potentially brings more horses into it with the wider strait, the longer strait. Frontrunners will get a crack, sweepers will get a crack. It brings all the horses into it, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. I mean, Terrapa are just in terms of pure racing, the surface there, right up there in terms of New Zealand track. So, they do give everyone gets their chance, and it can play tremendously well, Terrapa. So, they'll all get their opportunity. It's a wide-open market, a $4.50 favourite in Campia Nessa, one bullcat who won the lead-up race, the arrowfield, at Mutter Mutter on a Wednesday. Strangely enough, it's been well-backed as well. A $6.00 to $5.00, but chances don't end there. I see the Aussies made the field roles be an interesting pace influence in the race. Just knocked off last time, having a good run, it made a matter of the other day. So, $11.00 around rolls, he said, it's a interest, but snazzy-tavy. A good field actually, snazzy-tavy. No compromise. It'd be some sort of a chance, and the best L-Vinceidor would be, it would be right in commission as well. So, a very good race, an excellent card at C-Rapper on Saturday's death, all ten races. Have you found one in that race, or were you looking at a different race? Oh, look, I haven't found one in that race. I was pretty keen on snazzy-tavy until it ended up throwing the outside barrier, basically, out of 18. That's the timing around snazzy-tavy, look right. So, if Warren Kennedy can do something from the draw, I think he is a chance. I want to look towards a horse called SORT-AFTER in race number one of the day there. Oh, that's what we like. The kick-off race. Pick exactly. Yes, exactly. And, you know, check your account for bonus-back races. I believe this will probably be a bonus-back race on Saturday as well. So, that's another decent way to have a better end SORT-AFTER. He's one-start, one-one, the three-year-old Philly, Sullivan Scott team, $8.50. So, we've got a nice price around SORT-AFTER. It's on track for a thousand guineas all going well down at Rickonin in a sort of a month's time and want to be winning that race SORT-AFTER race number one at a price. I've just quickly got two for you. Toe-paw tomorrow. Step to the field, the bank. Good boy! Weeking, 50. Yes, extending yourself with gratitude. Cool, if I answer. For your show, I'd do that step. No one else, of course. Prosegger, race number four on the card. Another, oh, Sullivan, Scott runner. It's a first-starter. Boy, they've pumped it on here around Prosegger. It's race number four, horse 12. First-starter for a Sullivan and Scott. And then, in race number six, it's a horse called "Filly Gizzard Go." And it's not race six, of course. It is race number seven. Filly Gizzard Look. Interesting name. They certainly know how to back it, though. They have climbed out of trees to back this one for Stephen March, Courtney Barnes. I'll be respecting that money as well. So, race number seven, a horse number 11. Filly Gizzard Look. It's a couple there just to build a bank towards our weekend of sporting and racing action. You're a great man. And long may you be the president of the Manoa II Mafia. You're too kind, Steph. If I'm president, you're a vice. There's no doubt about that. That's it. I don't want the pressure of being the big seat. Good on you, Steph. Cheers, baby. Thanks for having me. See you later. Cheers, buddy. Liverpool Day is Saturday. Lots of sporting options. And yeah, most of both Wellington and Canterbury on the release of those all Blacks ticks from... Where's it gone? Craig, did you sneak off to the pub at lunch time, Steph? What have you been drinking? Did I hear you say, "Wikero will beat Taranaki? How many whiskies did you have, Craig, from Taranaki?" No. I said I give Wikero a chance to beat Taranaki. And their teams just come out. Here's Wikero. And they've got Aaron Manoa II Cruden starting at first five. And they've got Jacobson. And they've got Samipini. And I double down. And I say they're a chance. I'm not saying they will. I think they're a good chance against Taranaki who don't have Jacob Wright-Amorty Vookie Neapkins. Finney and one cup, $2.20 podium. Easy money. According to this guy, Steph, I heard you yesterday read the golf and not knowing who Seamus Power is. I didn't know either until I listened to Dave Belsky deep dive golf with Smitty. He was his tip to win, but suggested top 10 or 20. He said throw in Vince Whaley, top 20. FedEx. He said Yannick Paul, top 10. And Boont Visburger, top 20. Multi them. It's huge face. Thanks, face for doing that listening for me. Last one from now from Josh on the West Coast. I'm hearing a potential debut for local legend for a local legend for West Coast this weekend. We'll know more when the team comes out in the morning. We'll have that plus more as we head towards the semis of the Heartland Championship. Heartland correspondent Josh from the West Coast. We'll hear him tomorrow. We'll take a break. You don't want to go anywhere. We've got a great back through the years next. Let's go back through the years. And it is only right at this time of year that I look through the years that Jacob Scott has found one of the great moments of Bathurst. It happened on the 11th of October 2003, 21 years ago at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, New South Wales. It was the 2003 Bob Jane Teamarts 1000, also known as the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy, fast car commentator Neil Crompton. Skafe Ambrose, the other guys, haven't managed to do it. Now Greg Murphy. In his words, there's never been a better feeling what he did on the mountain in the qualifying when he posted a 20795 two-time winner here in 1996 with Craig Lounds. In 1999 with Stephen Richards, it's a mammoth job ahead of him because that time of John Bowers will look as big as the mountain. He's about to try and tame around Hell Corner. You see the wheelwork and rig on the way through one there and the car is very settled. It turns it in once. There's only a little bit of a trim of the steering wheel angle across the face of the corner and then nails the throttle on the way out. It's a very stable motor car 51 and it has been all weekend. First in the first two practice sessions, first in the qualifying session, as I mentioned, an 0795. Through the cutting. Reset the throttle and you heard a little dab, tried to pick it up, had to come back out, got back on it again, squeezing, looking very last thousand. Third to fourth. This is the run the rig. Parkies up and look at the split. It's awesome. Four tenths of a second for Greg Murphy. The readout on the dash won't show in that, that it's showing that the Kmart Commodore is top of the game right now. Four tenths inside John Bowers' time. The car looks good and Murphy's really ringing this thing. He is getting 11 tenths out mistake free so far. Every millimetre of road on the run to Forest Elbow. Second split is critical. He's an online at the elbow a little bit wider than he would have liked but he stays with it and I don't think it's hurting. He's up nearly 0.7. An awesome time so far from Murphy and the wholesome fans in the background are roaring. His time yesterday was at 27.95. Can he improve on it? JB. Well all you can do is laugh. And all you can do is laugh because this is just quite simply an awesome laugh. He holds it together through the chase and Greg Murphy listened to the crowd roar. The Holden supporters love it. He has released the shackles on car 51 and he is going straight to pole position for the above JT Mudds 1000 Murphy, a blissful life. That is insane. I'm charged a territory for anybody on the mountain. Nobody's ever gone under the sevens. Take a bow Greg Murphy. That was something very special in the history of Bathurst. Wow. The Kiwi celebrates like there's no other party in the world. We're being it right now than this pit lane party. The door is open. He doesn't care about regulations. The belts are off. I tell you what, there'll be very few people in that pit lane that don't call this. That is an outstanding good driving and a beautiful motor car, a credit to K9 racing. And that, look at them, they've come out of the bunkers to applaud extraordinary work. Look at that. You will never see that at any other time in Australian motorsport. Standing ovation for Greg Murphy. Quite simply the most incredible lap you're ever going to see. Yes, the number 51 Commodore took on and conquered Mount Panorama. It was dubbed the lap of the gods. 21 years ago, Murphy went round in 206.8594 seconds. And that, even in today's standards, is rapid. The duo of Murphy and Kelly, they won the 2003-2004 races. And it took seven years for Murphy's lap to be beaten. He himself recorded a better time in 2022. It was part of the Kmart racing team. And it was the seventh time of the running of the 1,000. Of course, prior to that, it was the 500. And it was the 10th round of the V8 Supercars Championship Series of that year. Greg Murphy, one of the absolute great iconic moments of the Batheus 1,000, way back in 2003. What's been lost in the wash today? That was breathtaking to just really live there again. Jack, it was so good. Yeah, spine tingling. One of the all-time moments in New Zealand's motorsports, Greg Murphy, what a champion. Lost in the wash, Steph. Wellington Phoenix have signed a 24-year-old forward by the name of Stefan Kolokoski for the 2024-2025 campaign. The forward has won the Premiership and the championship with Melbourne City previously. So he's got winning pedigree. And he's young, which is great. Yeah, precisely. Precisely. He bolsters their squad for next year. And second on A-League news, MacArthur will be banned from recruiting players until 2026 Steph, unless the club pays former coach Dwight York around 300,000 Australian dollars. He was sacked on what he's arguing unlawfully and seems to be, he's got a point to be made and a reason to be aggrieved. Yeah, aggrieved. It's pretty interesting. And then sad news, Steph, out of English football, or former English footballer, George Balduk, he formally played for Sheffield United for seven years. And he was found dead this morning, or UK, or European time, at 31. He moved to Greek club Panifian Eikos in the summer, having spent seven years with the blades. That is it. Yeah, it's pretty awful. Found dead in the swimming pool. So much what the situation is there. But on second on English news, Joe Root becomes England's all-time leading test run scorer on day three of the first test against Pakistan, Steph. That's the drawn one that hasn't been drawn yet. Well, England are after day three, 492 for three. So could be a draw on the cards. There are only 64 runs behind though. Are they playing on a table tennis table pitch? Must be. Must be. heavy roller must have been used. And India, Steph, in the Women's T20 World Cup, knock Sri Lanka out of contention of the semi-final with an 82 run win. Must be good for our white ferns because they play Sri Lanka next Saturday night. Yeah, well, we need to beat them by 82 as well, probably. Yeah, so perhaps they're beatable. Something similar. Yep. And that's what's been lost and washed. Lost in the wash. Coming up to the top of the hour. Don't forget the Everest competition. The final clue will be given out in Kirsten Beaves' run home. This afternoon, every show this week, Monday, breakies, Tuesday, mornings, yesterday, afternoons. We all asked not to difficult questions. And in today's show of the run home, they'll give you the fourth and final clue. And it's stories of redemption, which I wish I win is going to do in the Everest next Saturday as I wish I win six redemption from not winning last year, but we want it to win this year. So have a listen out. You'll get a cue to text in the answer. And if you get all four right, you're in the draw, take a trip across the Everest next Saturday. Why wouldn't you take a break back in the day next? Here's what happened back in the day. 10th of October 1964, the first summer Olympic Games to be contacted in an Asian country when the Tokyo Olympics were opened. And the final torch barrel was a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack. In 1987, Dave Houghton of Zimbabwe scored 142 of 137, but Zimbabwe was still dismissed four rounds short of New Zealand's total of two 43. Birthdays today, Murray Walker. Go, go, go. The Formula One commentator, he sadly passed away 2021, but it would have been his birthday. And Mr. Arsenal, Tony Adams, turns 58 today, four Premier Leagues, three FA Cups, two League Cups and a statue outside Emirates Stadium for Tony Adams. Brett Favre turns 55 today. The number one movie in 2001 was Training Day. And the number one song was by one of the greats. Alicia. Alicia Keys. Thank you for your help today, Jacob, putting it all together. Great, great lap of the gods that you've cut together for that. And a big thanks to Black Ash for joining us in Studio the Run Home Snakes with that final clue for for the universe.