Speaker 1: Football Fever with newstalksb's voice of Football, Jason Payne and
Speaker 1: Bonny Jansen. Hello there, Back at our regular Monday spot
Speaker 1: we go for Football Fever with FIFA Plus stream New
Speaker 1: Zealand football live and free on FIFA plus dot com.
Speaker 1: I'm Jason Pine. Bonnie Jensen's here too. We couldn't wait
Speaker 1: till Thursday to unpack the action on and off the
Speaker 1: field on Saturday at the Derby, Bonnie, could we How
Speaker 1: are you.
Speaker 2: What a weekend? Piney? You honestly can't beat it. You know, like,
Speaker 2: I've never been to watch a Premier League game in England,
Speaker 2: but I was like, you know, I assume that that
Speaker 2: would be pretty pretty top tier and I just felt
Speaker 2: Saturday was so so impressive and you know, Auckland came
Speaker 2: out on top. But I think regardless, there's plenty to
Speaker 2: be proud of and Kiwi.
Speaker 1: Football indeed, yeah, unprecedented as far as the occasion was concerned,
Speaker 1: from what I could see. Let's start with the off
Speaker 1: field stuff. For Darby two point I Walkland FC Wellington
Speaker 1: Phoenix at go Media Stadium Saturday, the atmosphere pre game.
Speaker 1: That was the first chance I've had to be at
Speaker 1: Lily World, which is the bar basically adjacent to the
Speaker 1: stadium where the port and anybody who supports anybody who's
Speaker 1: playing can gather. It was just incredible. It was like
Speaker 1: being in a South American country or a European country,
Speaker 1: or outside a Premier League ground. Just the energy and
Speaker 1: the noise amazing.
Speaker 2: Just incredible. I completely agree, and I actually have FOMO
Speaker 2: and I'm a bit envious of the fans because I'm
Speaker 2: there having to work, and I'm just I just you know,
Speaker 2: all these fans are sitting there and enjoying a beer
Speaker 2: and you know, just like chanting away and the hype
Speaker 2: is real, and you know, for that to be happening
Speaker 2: well before kickoff, yeah, just incredible. Evens caught up with
Speaker 2: the people tailgating, the tailgating community that are doing it
Speaker 2: out the front of the stadium, and the car park
Speaker 2: that had been there for hours before kickoff. It's yeah,
Speaker 2: it was really awesome. And I think as well caught
Speaker 2: up with Wellington Phoenix fans and yes, obviously the Auckland
Speaker 2: and their rivals, but I think they were equally impressed
Speaker 2: with what a show and what an occasion has put
Speaker 2: on here by Auckland.
Speaker 1: Well, every every Phoenix fan I spoke too, said exactly
Speaker 1: the same thing, because every other time they've come to Auckland,
Speaker 1: they've been part of the home crowd, right because all
Speaker 1: the games up in Auckland have been Wellington Phoenix home games,
Speaker 1: and those who have traveled over to Australia to watch
Speaker 1: the Phoenix play. I don't know that they would have
Speaker 1: got anything like that sort of experience at any of
Speaker 1: those games. But I love seeing, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: little pockets of yellow shirts dotted in and amongst all
Speaker 1: the black and blue, and there was so much black
Speaker 1: and blue man merchandise. Sales must be through the roof.
Speaker 1: But there was. But there was no nastiness about it.
Speaker 1: There was no there was no ad grow There was
Speaker 1: good natured banter, of course there was. I even got
Speaker 1: called out a couple of times. But I loved it.
Speaker 1: I absolutely loved it. You know, there were so many
Speaker 1: parts of it. I loved the key core of the port.
Speaker 1: You know, there was a guy there with the megaphone
Speaker 1: yelling out the chants, and so everybody was at the
Speaker 1: bar basically would have learnt the chance. So when during
Speaker 1: the game those chants began, people knew what to say.
Speaker 1: They knew the words. I just you know, I saw.
Speaker 1: I don't know whether this is a good or bad thing,
Speaker 1: but Wayne Brown, the Mayor of Auckland, bouncing up and
Speaker 1: down in the middle of the bar with his blue
Speaker 1: and back shirt on.
Speaker 2: It was just mental brilliant. It is. It's really cool,
Speaker 2: I think. I think, what's so cool is it? It's
Speaker 2: become a real fad, Like it's a it's a cool
Speaker 2: thing to be following this team, and it's it's such
Speaker 2: a trend. You know, a lot of my mates are
Speaker 2: going down and they're wanting to get the merch and
Speaker 2: you know that they want to be part of it
Speaker 2: all summer long. And I think your hats off to
Speaker 2: this this new team. The marketing has been impeccable and
Speaker 2: I've created that that hype. It's yeah, it's just as
Speaker 2: you say, unprecedented. Yeah, really really impressed. And I can't
Speaker 2: wait till I have a game where I'm not needing
Speaker 2: to work and can go on sit down in Lily
Speaker 2: World before the match.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm sure that will happen. I'm sure that will
Speaker 1: happen at some stage. I think that RB might we
Speaker 1: needed you to be on the tools for such a
Speaker 1: big occasion, but I'm sure we get the opportunity at
Speaker 1: some stage. And in the march down the stairs, it's
Speaker 1: just so cool having that bar so close as a
Speaker 1: gathering point. I mean, you don't have to you don't
Speaker 1: have to go in there and you know, have a
Speaker 1: beer or have a drink or whatever. But that's the
Speaker 1: meeting point, isn't it. And ever one march down the
Speaker 1: stairs it was I just I just thought it was sensational.
Speaker 1: The atmosphere created terrific. So on the field, Hierarchi Sarki
Speaker 1: back for Auckland f C. That was that proved to
Speaker 1: be a huge in for Auckland f C because I
Speaker 1: thought he was the best player out there. Tim Payne,
Speaker 1: Sam Sutton back for Wellington Phoenix. Louis Vus Strata often
Speaker 1: jed in the first half when that happened, How worried
Speaker 1: were you given the fact that he has been so crucial,
Speaker 1: so integral to this team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I found a bit of confidence for
Speaker 2: Auckland f C knowing it was cam Houson coming on
Speaker 2: and he's, you know, a really good solid player and
Speaker 2: a leader to some degree as well. So I wasn't
Speaker 2: too worried in that respect, but I did notice just
Speaker 2: the presence of Louis Vastrata missing after he went off.
Speaker 2: You know, he's he's been standout for this team, as
Speaker 2: you say, and you could definitely notice when he wasn't
Speaker 2: on the field like you could the week before when
Speaker 2: Hiroki Sakai wasn't there.
Speaker 1: How good was Sakai? How good is he? What a player?
Speaker 2: He's so good and that you know that that own
Speaker 2: goal obviously, it's like it was kind of almost a
Speaker 2: carmon copy of what happened in their first game. And
Speaker 2: he's so smart and just yeah, I really rate him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was the architect of the opening goal. Phoenix
Speaker 1: haven't considered a first half goal all season, or I
Speaker 1: hadn't up until then. In fact, before Saturday, the three
Speaker 1: goals that conceded had all been after the seventy fifth minute,
Speaker 1: so they'd been water tight for you know, five sixths
Speaker 1: of every game. But yeah, across it came from from Sakai.
Speaker 1: This one was an aerial delivery, competed to the one
Speaker 1: against Bruceblyne that was along the deck. Either way, the
Speaker 1: result was the same. Isaac Hughes couldn't head it away.
Speaker 1: It was just coming too quickly. There was a man
Speaker 1: behind him, Liam Gillian. I think who would have turned
Speaker 1: the ball and if Hughes hadn't so yeah, one Bill.
Speaker 1: It was funnily enough. It came just as I actually
Speaker 1: thought Wellington was starting to grow into the game with
Speaker 1: for Strata having gone. It felt to me as though
Speaker 1: Cam Howison, yes good as he was, took a little
Speaker 1: bit of time to get into the game when he arrived,
Speaker 1: because you don't expect to arrive in the twentieth minute,
Speaker 1: really do you? And I just thought Wellington were getting
Speaker 1: some ascendancy, but when Auckland scored, it just changed the
Speaker 1: complexion of things almost instantly. Nando Pineke's goal on the
Speaker 1: seventy minute mark, what did you make of that in
Speaker 1: terms of I mean again Sarkuai with a delivery. What
Speaker 1: did you make of Josh olloway Emi coming for that
Speaker 1: and then changing his mind?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it wasn't a good goalkeeping decision at all. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I was worried for Josh holloway Emy. Even his first
Speaker 2: touch of the game was you could tell he was
Speaker 2: nervous after what happened last time. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know if he lacks confidence clearly, maybe a
Speaker 2: bit indecisive, but yeah, I yeah, not a good goalkeeping decision,
Speaker 2: but good on Nando. He was in the right position
Speaker 2: to finish it off.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he didn't get a lot of protection at the
Speaker 1: far post, Josh Elloemi, you know, the players jumping for
Speaker 1: the ball with Nando Pineker. You know, I think could
Speaker 1: have done better. But yeah, no, you've got to give
Speaker 1: it to Nando. You know, he hadn't scored a lot
Speaker 1: of goals before he got to Walkland. Now he's got
Speaker 1: two in six games. He must be absolutely loving it.
Speaker 1: And it gave them the buffer Auckland FC. But then
Speaker 1: in the eighty second minute, Costa Barbarusis with a goal
Speaker 1: for Wellington five one hundred and thirty two minutes Auckland
Speaker 1: without conceding. Then Costa scored the goal. It's set up
Speaker 1: a really exciting finish.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Did they got the momentum And I you know,
Speaker 2: I said on the podcast last week, I wanted the
Speaker 2: Phoenix to win, or I wanted to a draw at
Speaker 2: least just for the narrative. And I was kind of
Speaker 2: hoping towards the end of that game they would get
Speaker 2: another and it would end into all and how fun
Speaker 2: that would have been for the fans, you know, to
Speaker 2: have four goals in that game, but obviously wasn't to be.
Speaker 2: I think the Phoenix can, you know, kind of hold
Speaker 2: their heads high though with the performance. I think they, Yeah,
Speaker 2: they don't go for it as much. I don't think
Speaker 2: they take as many risks as Auckland too. As Auckland
Speaker 2: f C do. You can kind of see that as
Speaker 2: given on the stat sheet. You know, Auckland had far
Speaker 2: more shots on goal. But yeah, they're not a bad side,
Speaker 2: the Phoenix, and I don't think anyone will be ruling
Speaker 2: them out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the stats show that chief ye is
Speaker 1: all about efficiency when it comes to the attacking third. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the shots stat Auckland had twenty shots, Wellington had six,
Speaker 1: so then itself shows you that, you know, Auckland fired
Speaker 1: off over three times as many. But in terms of
Speaker 1: shots on target, Wellington had three on target and Auckland
Speaker 1: had four on targets, so four out of twenty compared
Speaker 1: to three out of six. The efficiency of getting shots
Speaker 1: on target is much much high for Wellington. So but
Speaker 1: then you think to yourself, well, imagine if they had
Speaker 1: twice as many shots at goal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, and they shared the position. The position was
Speaker 2: fifty fifty percent each across the match. So you know,
Speaker 2: Wellington have the ball, they just need to be creating
Speaker 2: more opportunities. And you know, obviously cost is clinical when
Speaker 2: he needs to be like, let's get him on the
Speaker 2: ball war and let's create more opportunities. So I'm not
Speaker 2: the coach, but I do wonder if maybe that's what
Speaker 2: they'll be looking to do, looking to work on, you know,
Speaker 2: going forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought Marco rohas made an impact when he
Speaker 1: came on. It was great to see him. As I
Speaker 1: understand it, he's getting closer and closer to being able
Speaker 1: to start matches. So I think once Marco Rohass is
Speaker 1: in the starting eleven, you'll see a bit more in
Speaker 1: terms of the creativity in the front third. I really
Speaker 1: want to see Wellington go back to a back four
Speaker 1: as well from here. I you know, the way they
Speaker 1: played it on the weekend with with Sheridan and pain
Speaker 1: Hughes wooton I'm forgetting somebody here but Sutton. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: So the way they played it with the back five
Speaker 1: and then for some inexplicable reason, Tim Payne became a
Speaker 1: striker in the second half just I guess to match
Speaker 1: the physicality up top with Pineker and Dan Hall. But
Speaker 1: I just really want to see them go back to
Speaker 1: a back four of Pain Wooton, Hughes, Sutton with Rufa
Speaker 1: and Retroy sitting in front and then four attacking players
Speaker 1: the way that they did it last year. I know
Speaker 1: the personnel's different, but they could, for argument's sake, go
Speaker 1: with a front four of Aeshiga Barbarusis Nagasawa and Rojas
Speaker 1: or Stefan Kolakowski. I would just like them to, like
Speaker 1: to see them be a bit more bold and play
Speaker 1: with four. You know, it's really a four to three
Speaker 1: to three depending on which way you want to look
Speaker 1: at it. But one of the midfield three has an
Speaker 1: attacking brief, like in Nagasawa for example.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like it, and that'll, you know, only help
Speaker 2: them create more opportunities up the top and yet use
Speaker 2: that position to actually get something from it. So I
Speaker 2: don't mind it. Piney look at you.
Speaker 1: Go, well, I mean I just I think, do.
Speaker 2: You watch do you watch football or something? Well, it's
Speaker 2: luck you. It's like, yeah, so you're a football commentator.
Speaker 1: Well, I've watched the odd match most but a lot
Speaker 1: of some people some people think that doesn't qualify me
Speaker 1: any more than anybody else to have an opinion, which
Speaker 1: I think is right. We all watch the game, we
Speaker 1: all see it in different ways. You know, Chief sees
Speaker 1: it in a different way than I see it. Then
Speaker 1: you see it than Steve Coriker sees it. That's the
Speaker 1: beauty of it. It'll be a bit boring if we
Speaker 1: all had the same view and the same sort of
Speaker 1: global outlook as far as football is concerned. And you're
Speaker 1: right they are a good team. They'll be there or
Speaker 1: thereabouts in the six. But the fact is after six
Speaker 1: games they've lost two, both of them though to Auckland.
Speaker 1: You know, on their travels they've been good. Apart from
Speaker 1: the weekend they've they've won all three of their games
Speaker 1: in Australia. I think they'll still be there or thereabouts
Speaker 1: when the playoff positions are decided. This was quite a
Speaker 1: spicy match at times, wasn't it.
Speaker 2: It was a spicy match. And just going back to
Speaker 2: your last point, Peney, I think the Phoenix are good
Speaker 2: and how good it is that both teams are competitive,
Speaker 2: you know, it would have sucked if if you know,
Speaker 2: the Phoenix came up to Auckland this weekend and you know,
Speaker 2: got thrashed three or four nil, and it just wasn't
Speaker 2: like that. And I don't think it's either going to
Speaker 2: be between these two teams just given the rivalry. But
Speaker 2: you're really really glad they're competitive in terms of the
Speaker 2: spice of the match. So Alex Paulson three times in
Speaker 2: the first half, Oh, that was so stressing me out
Speaker 2: right in front of the port as well. At first
Speaker 2: I was like, okay, guys, come on like that. They
Speaker 2: were terrible tackles on Ap and yeah, I was just like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh. But then by the third one, I
Speaker 2: was like, okay, it's Ap milking this now, like it's
Speaker 2: becoming a bit of a joke.
Speaker 1: I thought the one I thought cost As one was
Speaker 1: actually and I said this in commentary because Jacob Spoonley,
Speaker 1: being the goalkeeper that he is, was trying to say
Speaker 1: it was a bad challenge by Costa, But I sort
Speaker 1: of wonder where cost is supposed to go in a
Speaker 1: situation like that, you know, he was the balls plut
Speaker 1: was sort of headed on, lobbed through Paulson comes out
Speaker 1: to get it. Cost Us sort of looking at the
Speaker 1: ball and then all of a sudden he's right there
Speaker 1: and he's he kind of runs into Pauls and I
Speaker 1: guess you could look at it in a different way.
Speaker 2: Nobody left his league there.
Speaker 1: Oh, that was in the second half. That was in
Speaker 1: the second half. Which one are you talking about when.
Speaker 2: It was down in front of the in front of
Speaker 2: the port.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no, well they jumped, they jumped together.
Speaker 2: They jumped together, but then his leg was kind of
Speaker 2: like left out sideways. I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, yeah, maybe you saw it again, maybe we
Speaker 1: saw it differently, but yeah, like it was it just
Speaker 1: it created the storyline that may or may not have
Speaker 1: even been a storyline that you know, Wellington Phoenix's former
Speaker 1: keeper was being targeted by his former teammates. There was
Speaker 1: one in the second half we cost the left a
Speaker 1: foot and when when Paulson cleared it and he was
Speaker 1: given a yellow car for that, rightly, so I thought.
Speaker 1: The other one, obviously, was the Alex Rufe for Louis
Speaker 1: Toomey coming together, where you know, Louis kind of fell
Speaker 1: on the ball and and Rufer just started to try
Speaker 1: and kick it. Out from under him over vigorously. Steve
Speaker 1: Coricle was having absolute kittens on the sideline, you know,
Speaker 1: and Rufin knew exactly what he was doing. I thought,
Speaker 1: though I heard Louis too, you interviewed afterwards and he said,
Speaker 1: I think Rufa left went on me, but I probably
Speaker 1: deserved it. I thought that was quite good from him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's good. Louis would have been up for
Speaker 2: for the banter knowing him, but yeah, it was. It was,
Speaker 2: I reckon, a real shame from from Alex Rufer. It's
Speaker 2: just yeah, too hot headed and you know, probably not
Speaker 2: leading by example as the skipper when there's a lot
Speaker 2: of young fans out there watching. But yeah, it was
Speaker 2: certainly again created this narrative. What I also liked, going
Speaker 2: back to ap was that early in the game or
Speaker 2: every time he touched the ball, all the Auckland FC
Speaker 2: fans cheered really loudly, and I thought that was Yeah,
Speaker 2: that was a nice note as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I was trying to drown out the
Speaker 1: booze that were coming from the yellow fever. Oh, by
Speaker 1: the way, I must say, great traveling support. Yes, they
Speaker 1: you know much as the result went against them. You know,
Speaker 1: they chanted and cheered and did everything that in away
Speaker 1: team supporters should do. Uh and it was good to
Speaker 1: see such huge numbers there. I thought they were They
Speaker 1: were good too, and as I say, the banter was
Speaker 1: was really good between the between the two there was
Speaker 1: a bit of spice off the field as well in
Speaker 1: the In the postmatch, both coaches were asked about the
Speaker 1: you know, the relationship between the two sides, the rivalry
Speaker 1: which is quickly built. During the week, John calo Ataliano
Speaker 1: had done a media conference. This was either on the
Speaker 1: Thursday or the Friday, where he had said that he
Speaker 1: thought that Auckland f C had been lucky in the
Speaker 1: first five games of the season and he thought that
Speaker 1: they were vulnerable there for the taking words to that effect.
Speaker 1: He was asked about those comments afterwards and whether he
Speaker 1: regretted saying those words to add some fuel to this fire.
Speaker 3: You told me, in what league in the world a
Speaker 3: team gets five out of six home games? For me,
Speaker 3: I don't know. If you want to call it luck,
Speaker 3: you want to call Paul planning, you want to call
Speaker 3: a gift, you can call it whatever you want. I
Speaker 3: think that was the point I was shoting to make,
Speaker 3: and I stick to it. I mean, I asked you,
Speaker 3: do you think it's fair that a team has five
Speaker 3: out of six games at home as the start of
Speaker 3: the season, or if you can count to me, what
Speaker 3: team has had that opportunity. That was the point I
Speaker 3: was shoying to make and I.
Speaker 4: Stick by that.
Speaker 3: Again. They beat us on the park. There's no luck
Speaker 3: about that. They deserve to win. That's I'd never ever
Speaker 3: say that. But there is an advantage when you play
Speaker 3: five out of six games you don't travel. We went
Speaker 3: to Perth, played Central Coast, which is an extra day.
Speaker 3: We played in Sydney. They've had one trip, which in
Speaker 3: fairness they did win. But again, when you start going
Speaker 3: through you know the rigmarole of going home in a
Speaker 3: way it does you know, it can be quite taxing.
Speaker 1: So that's gian Callo a Taliano. Here is Steve Coriker.
Speaker 1: This is the order in which the priest conferences were done.
Speaker 1: Gian Callo Italiana was first, so we heard say that first.
Speaker 1: It was put back to Steve Kriker about the comments
Speaker 1: and whether they had an impact on the team and
Speaker 1: what he made of the comments by jian Callotelliano.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm a little bit disappointed, to be honest with you.
Speaker 4: With Chief, you mentioned a couple of things in the
Speaker 4: media which you know, a little bit disrespectful to our team.
Speaker 4: You know that they were there for the taking. We've
Speaker 4: been lucky. We haven't been lucky. You know, you need
Speaker 4: a little bit of luck obviously to win games. But
Speaker 4: we won all six, so you know, you don't get
Speaker 4: lucky by by doing that. There's you know, the process
Speaker 4: you have to go through. Obviously we've had a few
Speaker 4: home games early on, but at the back end of
Speaker 4: the season we still have to play the same amount
Speaker 4: of games away from homes. And I don't make the rules,
Speaker 4: don't I don't do the draws. So obviously you know
Speaker 4: we were the better team. And you know I use
Speaker 4: that in motivation for the boys as well, because it helps. Helps.
Speaker 4: Every little inch helps in derby games. Pinned up on
Speaker 4: the wall to make sure all the players saw it,
Speaker 4: because you know, we haven't been lucky. We've we've been
Speaker 4: working hard for for these wins. We've been playing good football.
Speaker 4: You know, it's probably a little bit out of it
Speaker 4: wasn't necessary needed. You know, I think they're they're a
Speaker 4: good football team. We respect them, you know, I think
Speaker 4: he needs to sharre little bit more respect for us.
Speaker 1: What do you make of all of that?
Speaker 2: I completely agree with with Chief. Ye, I think they
Speaker 2: have had a very very lucky draw to start off
Speaker 2: their their campaign. You know, going back to the Wellington
Speaker 2: Phoenix women last season, they had heaps of away games
Speaker 2: to begin with and that absolutely screwed them. But yeah,
Speaker 2: just I like how Steve Kroker responded in terms of
Speaker 2: putting it up on the wall, using it as ammunition
Speaker 2: and yeah, kind of letting the letting the football talk.
Speaker 2: But I think Chief he you know, had a place
Speaker 2: to say and I'm kind of glad he got a
Speaker 2: bit fired up because I felt like we would get it.
Speaker 2: It was a bit lackluster, you know, out of the
Speaker 2: Phoenix camp and them hyping up this rivalry. I feel
Speaker 2: like it's more come from the Auckland fans, the Auckland
Speaker 2: team and supporters.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's absolutely got a point as well.
Speaker 1: You know, the maths would say that in the first
Speaker 1: six games of the season, for Auckland f C. To
Speaker 1: only have to go to Australia once and not even
Speaker 1: have to go to an away game as such, because
Speaker 1: it was unite round when everybody was in Sydney. They
Speaker 1: haven't had to go to the away ground of any
Speaker 1: team apart from not in Australia anyway. Wellington, yes, of course,
Speaker 1: and they negotiated that they won that, but they haven't
Speaker 1: had to go to an away Australian ground yet. But
Speaker 1: like Steve Corik has said, he doesn't make the drawer,
Speaker 1: he doesn't make the rules. They're presented with the draw
Speaker 1: and he's dead right back into the season, Bonnie. Five
Speaker 1: of their last eight games are away from March mid
Speaker 1: March to the end of the season in early May.
Speaker 1: They've got to go to Newcastle, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne Victory
Speaker 1: and Western United and they only have three games at
Speaker 1: home in that time. So it's all swings and roundabouts things. Yeah,
Speaker 1: things even themselves out across the season in a twenty
Speaker 1: six game season. Yeah, thirteen games at home and thirteen
Speaker 1: games away and you know, but what it has done
Speaker 1: is given them a very comfortable launching pad. But they've
Speaker 1: still had to take advantage of that launching pad.
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. No, you're absolutely right, and yeah, times
Speaker 2: are going to be tested when they go and play
Speaker 2: over in Melbourne. You know, from this weekend, So yeah,
Speaker 2: looking forward, I am intrigued as well. You know, it's
Speaker 2: obviously helped with the hype and the momentum, and I'm
Speaker 2: just intrigued to see if they'll be able to continue this.
Speaker 2: You know, so far, so good six games in, but yeah,
Speaker 2: who knows what's going to happen.
Speaker 1: Well, let's have a look at their next few fixtures.
Speaker 1: They've got Melbourne City away on Sunday, which is going
Speaker 1: to be a difficult game. Melbourne City are playing really
Speaker 1: really well. They dealt to Brisbane on the weekend, not
Speaker 1: that that is much of a high bar because Brisbane
Speaker 1: have been pretty poor the season. But then they have
Speaker 1: Western United at home just before Christmas, and then the
Speaker 1: Mariner is away between Christmas and New Year, so that's
Speaker 1: not on the on a three game swing, that's not,
Speaker 1: I guess, really really hard. But then you come to January.
Speaker 1: Here is January schedule for Auckland FC. Melbourne victory at home.
Speaker 1: That's Auckland's home game on New Year's Day. Then they've
Speaker 1: got to go to Perth, the longest away trip they'll have,
Speaker 1: back home for a game against Melbourne City and then
Speaker 1: a way to Adelaide and Western Sydney Wanderers. That is
Speaker 1: a tough January. I think by the end of January
Speaker 1: we'll have an idea on what you're talking about, whether
Speaker 1: they can continue it on or not, whether they are
Speaker 1: the real deal.
Speaker 2: No, one hundred percent, And I hope I hope they
Speaker 2: are because I want this to continue. I want, you know,
Speaker 2: Auckland f Seed and the Wellington Phoenix to stay up
Speaker 2: near the top of the table. It's just making this
Speaker 2: whole narrative so much better. But I am, you know,
Speaker 2: a little bit worried that is it too good to
Speaker 2: be true? We'll soon find out.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess they can only plage game, aren't they?
Speaker 1: Six from six? Here they are top of the table
Speaker 1: eighteen points, Wellington Phoenix a fifth on ten points, just
Speaker 1: on the crowd twenty five two hundred and fifty three
Speaker 1: clearly a made up number because because well, I mean
Speaker 1: they said during the week, they said during the week
Speaker 1: that at full capacity we can get to twenty five. Sorry,
Speaker 1: twenty six was twenty six, wasn't it? Twenty six two
Speaker 1: five three, which is exactly one more person than the
Speaker 1: twenty six two five two who were there in Wellington
Speaker 1: for the first Derby. Right, that's what turned up for
Speaker 1: the first Derby twenty six two five two. They said,
Speaker 1: during the week we've opened up extra seats and if
Speaker 1: everybody comes twenty six two five three, Bonnie, come on.
Speaker 1: There were empty seats there.
Speaker 2: Well, there were empty seats pinting, but there were a
Speaker 2: lot of full seats. And I took a photo of
Speaker 2: the other of the stand which you would have been in,
Speaker 2: so you wouldn't have really been able to see it, right,
Speaker 2: but you would have been able to see the stand
Speaker 2: that I was in. But there were so many people
Speaker 2: on the on the bank, on both sides, on the
Speaker 2: south and north stands.
Speaker 1: But if it only sold, if they've only sold twenty six,
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty three tickets and there are empty seats,
Speaker 1: then how can there have been two thousand.
Speaker 2: Of people move from their seats to the banks, is
Speaker 2: what I'm trying to say. Think about the think about
Speaker 2: like that all the all the game entertainment they had
Speaker 2: going on in and around the stadium, Like I don't
Speaker 2: think people were seated in their seats the whole game.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess we'll have to disagree on this, but again,
Speaker 1: it's a nice little piece of banter. What it's done
Speaker 1: as well is boosted Auckland's first four home games attendance
Speaker 1: to seventy eight one and thirty six. That's their first
Speaker 1: four games. Do you know that is more than the
Speaker 1: New Zealand Knights got across their entire two seasons of
Speaker 1: existence in just four games.
Speaker 2: That's crazy. But yeah, I just can't believe you've found
Speaker 2: that yet another just fantastic stat Piny wasn't mine.
Speaker 1: I can't claim it was. I was handed that one,
Speaker 1: but it is. It does show just the night and
Speaker 1: day between Auckland f C and the New Zealand Knights
Speaker 1: of two thousand and five, six seven, just you know,
Speaker 1: just night and day. A couple of other things. Hamoush
Speaker 1: curded the coin toss our Olympic high jump champion, adding
Speaker 1: a bit of glitz and glamour. You sent me a
Speaker 1: message unless it was a TYPEO. Was there a barber
Speaker 1: in the corporate area?
Speaker 2: Yes, there was a barber in the corporate area. I
Speaker 2: was honestly like, this is so Auckland f C. Like
Speaker 2: they've just honestly just gone above and beyond it so America.
Speaker 2: You know, it was in the Black Night Lounge and
Speaker 2: they had a full I think it was sponsored by Heineken,
Speaker 2: and they had a barber, people lining up to have
Speaker 2: a little fresh, fresh trim before kickoff, and yeah, just
Speaker 2: like it was a whole spectacle. And then in the year,
Speaker 2: this big bang and these fireworks are going off, and
Speaker 2: then year, you know, you hear the crowd cheering as
Speaker 2: three skydivers are coming in with the ball, Like I
Speaker 2: was just like, oh my gosh, this is so excessive.
Speaker 2: But yeah, brilliant, you know, brilliant in game entertainment for sure.
Speaker 1: Yep, they've nailed that for sure. And even a barber
Speaker 1: in the corporate area, you know that's a talking point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well people getting their hair cut.
Speaker 2: Yeah, people were. They were sitting on there and I
Speaker 2: was like, I could have done with a little trim.
Speaker 2: But I'm not sure if that barbers do girls here.
Speaker 2: Maybe they do. But to guess who I was sitting
Speaker 2: next to Piney in the corporate.
Speaker 1: Area, I won't be able to guess. Was it someone famous?
Speaker 2: It was someone famous?
Speaker 1: Was it has no?
Speaker 2: Okay, I got I got very nervous. It was Dan Carter,
Speaker 2: Dan Carter, he was he I was sitting there by
Speaker 2: myself in the kind of corporate area seats where it's
Speaker 2: people just can kind of sit wherever. And then I
Speaker 2: was sitting on a solo chair and there were about
Speaker 2: four seats next to me, and he comes up behind
Speaker 2: me and goes, hey, are these seats taken? And I
Speaker 2: just like froze. I was like, sorry, pardon. I was like, no,
Speaker 2: you sit there. So he sat like literally right next
Speaker 2: to me in the seat for the whole first half.
Speaker 2: And as I've said, I've controversially said I was going
Speaker 2: for the Phoenix on Saturday, so I was like cheering
Speaker 2: for them, and then I had to but I was
Speaker 2: like trying to contain myself because I didn't want him
Speaker 2: to hate me because he was going for Auckland. O
Speaker 2: spoiler alert, So Dan Carter, if you're listening to this podcast, sorry,
Speaker 2: I was really shy and didn't say hi.
Speaker 1: I'm sure it wouldn't have been the first time that
Speaker 1: somebody was starstrike sitting next to next to Dan Carter.
Speaker 1: But again, yeah, the celebrities are out in force to
Speaker 1: watch this team play. So Auckland f c away at
Speaker 1: Melbourne City on Sunday. Melbourne City a fourth that'll be
Speaker 1: a good game actually, and the Wellington Phoenix about it.
Speaker 1: Back home, they'll lick their wounds, pick themselves up, dust
Speaker 1: themselves off and host eighth place to MacArthur. That is
Speaker 1: on Saturday afternoon at five o'clock at Sky Stadium Football
Speaker 1: Fever with Jason Vine and Bonnie Jess And following that,
Speaker 1: the Wellington Phoenix women had a game yesterday Sunday at
Speaker 1: Pottdoor Park in the Ninja A league came to town
Speaker 1: and Brisbane were going really well. They lost their first
Speaker 1: game to Canberra, but then won their next three without
Speaker 1: conceding a goal. Second on the table. The Phoenix beat
Speaker 1: them to one. This is a very very very good result.
Speaker 2: Oh, stoked for Stoked for the Phoenix, really solid result
Speaker 2: particularly you know they went up one now then they
Speaker 2: can conceded another and they you know, stayed in the game.
Speaker 2: And Annalie Longo to you know, just take charge steady
Speaker 2: of the ship as a skipper. Very very impressed. And yes,
Speaker 2: you know Brisbane Raw were missing their two best players
Speaker 2: to make Yellock Yellop and Sean Fryer who were offered
Speaker 2: the Matildas. But yes, so bloody brilliant to get the
Speaker 2: job done.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, andally Longo back. She had that really nasty bang
Speaker 1: on the face against Newcastle which saw her miss the
Speaker 1: game against Adelaide last weekend. Came back a couple of goals,
Speaker 1: maybe a touch of fortune with the second one with
Speaker 1: the Brisbane goalkeeper kind of misjudging the shot, which I'm
Speaker 1: sure if Anale Longo was honest, she'd say she didn't
Speaker 1: hit as perfectly as she would have liked, but it
Speaker 1: went in, as did her goal in the first half.
Speaker 1: She said afterwards it was nice to be in the
Speaker 1: headlines for the right reasons rather than try to get
Speaker 1: her dog off the field.
Speaker 2: Yes, seriously, she's been in the headlines for a few
Speaker 2: different things, obviously with that injury in the dog. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it was. It was awesome and I think that's you know,
Speaker 2: that's kind of like Heroki is like with AFC. She
Speaker 2: shows leadership through football and yeah, very.
Speaker 1: Very good indeed. Yeh. So Phoenix scored first, but has
Speaker 1: been leveled up just before halftime. Then anally Longo scored
Speaker 1: the winning goal in the second half. We've got our
Speaker 1: first look at new US center back Olivia Kelly. She
Speaker 1: came on at halftime. Looks to be a good acquisition
Speaker 1: Grace Jarley. Only the last fifteen minutes she hasn't quite
Speaker 1: found her feet and fired her best shots on her
Speaker 1: return to Phoenix, she'd has she Grace.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is interesting and I am intrigued to hear
Speaker 2: if maybe she's carrying a little niggle or an injury.
Speaker 2: But clearly Paul Temp's Temple just wanted to try something new,
Speaker 2: and yeah, I don't think you know this is going
Speaker 2: to be a long term thing, Grace Jarlie on the bench,
Speaker 2: even saying with Emma Maine, I think once they find
Speaker 2: how to unlock those two forwards, you know they'll be
Speaker 2: really lethal. But for now it's obviously not working. And
Speaker 2: I don't mind Paul Temple making a big call at that.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, Grace Jarlie is not a bad play
Speaker 1: aff coming off the bench either to change your game
Speaker 1: if that's what they see her best uses at the moment.
Speaker 1: So she came on at the end. Wellington Phoenix up
Speaker 1: to seventh. So after three straight losses, two straight wins,
Speaker 1: they've got second placed Melbourne victory away on Friday night.
Speaker 1: That's tough short turn around two from Sunday to Friday.
Speaker 1: Claudia bunge. Of course back at Melbourne victory. How do
Speaker 1: you assess their chances of getting something out of that game?
Speaker 2: It will be tough, it will be really tough. I
Speaker 2: just hope it's a close, competitive game and I think
Speaker 2: they can you know, even if they don't get the result,
Speaker 2: they can come away happy. Yeah. I just like it's
Speaker 2: great to see, you know, as you just said, seventh
Speaker 2: on the table. I hope you know, they can keep
Speaker 2: going now with this momentum finally after a couple of
Speaker 2: alright results. Yeah, things should maybe play in their play
Speaker 2: in their favor a little bit more.
Speaker 1: And there was a celebrity at that game as well,
Speaker 1: not Dan Carter, but I think Macy Fraser was there.
Speaker 2: Macy Fraser. Yeah, they saw that that photo of her.
Speaker 2: That is very intriguing. I mean it is the off
Speaker 2: season in the nws L. We know that she didn't
Speaker 2: play basically since the Olympics, so I don't think she
Speaker 2: did play at all for Utah Royals. Maybe she you know,
Speaker 2: wasn't wasn't for her over there, and I mean she
Speaker 2: obviously played great for the Wellington Phoenix and that's where
Speaker 2: she you know, enjoyed her football. So maybe it's not
Speaker 2: a bad thing for her to come back.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm with wait and see on that, whether in
Speaker 1: fact you know it would be a good move for
Speaker 1: the player or for the club. Who knows. You know,
Speaker 1: it's there's, there's, there's never a perfect fit anywhere. I
Speaker 1: don't and I'd love to see her go back to
Speaker 1: Utah really make a good, good go at it. You know,
Speaker 1: she's such a talented player, and when she got that move,
Speaker 1: there was such high excitement. And even when she played
Speaker 1: a couple of games, she didn't really look out of place,
Speaker 1: did she. She looked okay at that level, Oh, she looked.
Speaker 2: Great, and she was so good on and off the ball,
Speaker 2: and even you know, with a few opportunities with the
Speaker 2: football ferns, she again looks really good. I just think
Speaker 2: she needs to to find what works for her. Obviously,
Speaker 2: you know, she's carrying some injuries and for whatever reason,
Speaker 2: she didn't play the second half of the season in
Speaker 2: Utah Royals. But I just hope she can find it,
Speaker 2: because she would be. She's too good of a player
Speaker 2: not to be playing football.
Speaker 1: Really, hang on, that's it on a nutshell. She's far
Speaker 1: too good to be watching games of football. Rather than
Speaker 1: be playing in games of football. It's hope for some
Speaker 1: positive news on the Macy Fraser front in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: This is football fever. It's finished with keep's overseas. Would
Speaker 1: another goal a significant goal? This one on his thirty
Speaker 1: third birthday for Nottingham Forest in a three to two
Speaker 1: victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Now the last
Speaker 1: time that Nottingham Forest won at Old Trafford. Chris Wood
Speaker 1: had just turned three years old, so it was thirty
Speaker 1: years since they'd last done it. He is now Nottingham
Speaker 1: Forest's all time leading Premier League goal scorer. You kind
Speaker 1: of run out of ways to explain just how significant
Speaker 1: this is and how well Chris Wood is going, and
Speaker 1: how much he has loved in that club and helping
Speaker 1: them to stay up in the top half of the table.
Speaker 1: I think their fifth or sixth after the latest round
Speaker 1: of matches. He's just doing amazing. Libby Cacaci got his
Speaker 1: first goal for Empeli this morning in a four one
Speaker 1: away when at Verona. That's his first goal since twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two when he scored for the All Whites, his
Speaker 1: first club goal since he scored for the Phoenix against
Speaker 1: the Mariners back in March of twenty twenty. He's had
Speaker 1: a number of goals ruled out for offside or a
Speaker 1: foul or whatever for em police, so to see him
Speaker 1: finally get his first one was really call. There's some
Speaker 1: great pictures of him celebrating with his teammates this morning,
Speaker 1: and he like just is playing really well for Saint
Speaker 1: Poulton in Austria. He scored the winner in their latest
Speaker 1: game and has been a big part of them winning
Speaker 1: four games in a row. What about our women around
Speaker 1: the place?
Speaker 2: Yeah, vick Erson, you're not going to believe this, Piney,
Speaker 2: because I suddenly didn't played in goal for Rangers against
Speaker 2: West Dyke in the Scottish Cup. They won twenty four.
Speaker 1: One, twenty four one.
Speaker 2: I just don't like, I don't believe it. But how
Speaker 2: does she concede?
Speaker 1: Well, I just that's exactly what I was thinking.
Speaker 2: I'm going to go back and watch the highlights.
Speaker 1: Twenty four one. Maybe she just lost concentration for a
Speaker 1: milli second. I wonder what the score was when West
Speaker 1: Dyke got their goal. Was it would it have been
Speaker 1: like one all or two to one or maybe it
Speaker 1: was they scored first well, who knows, maybe Rangers had
Speaker 1: to come from one nil down to win twenty four
Speaker 1: to one.
Speaker 2: Goodness was crazy. And Hannah Blake and Mickey Foster that
Speaker 2: both started for Durham FC in the Women's FA Cup
Speaker 2: and had a big one well one there went over
Speaker 2: Birmingham who are won ahead of them in the Women's Championship,
Speaker 2: so I think those two teams are going to be
Speaker 2: rivals all season.
Speaker 1: Good stuff. Great to see Mickey Foster in particular kicking
Speaker 1: on from her time at Wellington Phoenix. So just finally
Speaker 1: this week the news that Auckland City FC, who are
Speaker 1: playing in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup next year,
Speaker 1: had the draw during the week. It was made in Miami,
Speaker 1: I think, and Byern Munich. Boker Juniors and ben Fica
Speaker 1: are in their group, which is I think a tremendous
Speaker 1: draw for Auckland City to get to play against Bayern Munich,
Speaker 1: you know, one of the best sides on the planet,
Speaker 1: Boca Juniors out of Argentina, Benficer from Portugal Locke, I
Speaker 1: think it would be drawing a very long bow to
Speaker 1: expect them to advance from that group. But the experience
Speaker 1: of playing sides like that. That's got to be cooled,
Speaker 1: isn't it.
Speaker 2: I think if you're Auckland's city, you know, and you
Speaker 2: wait for these draws to come out, you actually want
Speaker 2: to play a good team because all of the teams
Speaker 2: are going to be good, so why not play it,
Speaker 2: you know, a top team like Bayern Munich, just just
Speaker 2: for the experience to have that on your football CV,
Speaker 2: to say you played against that team. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: even though it is a tough draw for them, a
Speaker 2: lot of the players and staff will be, you know,
Speaker 2: excited for that opportunity.
Speaker 1: Absolutely right. When else are you going to get the
Speaker 1: chance to rub shoulders with teams like that? You're absolutely right?
Speaker 2: Is that Harry Kane's team?
Speaker 1: Harry Kane in the unit that is Harry Kane's team.
Speaker 1: Whether he plays or not, I guess remains to be seen.
Speaker 1: It's in the off season. It's kind of June next year,
Speaker 1: so it might be that some players elect not to go.
Speaker 1: But imagine that imagined Auckland City up against Harry Kane.
Speaker 2: Pretty cool. I'm also interested to see whether Cam Howison
Speaker 2: and Liam Gillion get released from Auckland f C, which
Speaker 2: I understand is potentially in talks to go and play
Speaker 2: obviously because they helped helped Auckland City get to get
Speaker 2: to that World Cup.
Speaker 1: So it was such a It's such a long off
Speaker 1: season for the A League. Isn't it all over by
Speaker 1: the end of May? You know, as long as they can,
Speaker 1: you know, once they even get back from the club
Speaker 1: world couple of stonny B July seasons to start till October. Yeah,
Speaker 1: be good if they were, be good. If they were. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've been. Howison in particular has been a real servant,
Speaker 1: hasn't he for Auckland City FC? So yeah, I feel
Speaker 1: like that that's a yeah, that's a yeah, surely a
Speaker 1: likely scenario, you'd think, all right, Bonnie, that wraps us
Speaker 1: for a bumper edition. Again, they all seem to be
Speaker 1: these days of football fever, so we all. I think
Speaker 1: it's probably just to finish. It's probably quite a good idea,
Speaker 1: I think for Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix to get
Speaker 1: a bit of breathing space from one another now, you know,
Speaker 1: twice in six weeks or whatever it was. I think
Speaker 1: they can go about their business now, accumulate points so
Speaker 1: to get into the regular season and then back together
Speaker 1: on the twenty second of February, by which time we'll
Speaker 1: have a very good idea of how the respective campaigns go.
Speaker 1: So I think I think some breathing space from one
Speaker 1: another's probably not a bad thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, bring it on. We'll see you back then in February.
Speaker 1: Look forward to it, and we'll see you back next
Speaker 1: Monday for a new edition of Football Fever. This is
Speaker 1: Football Fever. Fever