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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from News Talks EDB, News Talks AB.

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Speaker 2: It's nineteen away from three. The Wellington Phoenix women's side

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Speaker 2: back at home this afternoon in a League women's action.

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Speaker 2: They take on Perth Glory at Pottidoor Park with the

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Speaker 2: kickoff at four. The Phoenix are currently seventh on the ladder,

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Speaker 2: but just one point outside the top six. Perth Glorious

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Speaker 2: currently sitting in ninth position. Phoenix striker Olivia Ferguson scored

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Speaker 2: her first goal for the club and last weekend's two

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Speaker 2: to one defeat away at league leaders Melbourne City.

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Speaker 3: An Apple's giving away cheaply Jarly fumbles and there it is,

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Speaker 3: Olivia Ferguson gets on the score sheet. As I was

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Speaker 3: mentioning being dangerous at times from City to work their

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Speaker 3: way out and Wellington punished them. Poor pass from me

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Speaker 3: Res out straight to Jarley and ready and waiting was

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Speaker 3: Olivia Ferguson her first goal and the all important first

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Speaker 3: goal of this game.

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Speaker 2: Olivia Ferguson as well us now thanks for taking the time, Blovia,

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Speaker 2: despite the result obviously not going your way a week ago.

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Speaker 2: How satisfying. Was it to score your first goal for

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Speaker 2: your new club?

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Speaker 4: Hello, Yeah, I think the result was obviously disappointing, but

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Speaker 4: the whole team performance, we felt like we deserve to

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Speaker 4: get something out of the game. For me, getting my

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Speaker 4: first goal was really important. For anyone that's seen the goal,

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Speaker 4: it was probably of the easiest ones off score or season,

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Speaker 4: but sometimes you just need one like that to get

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Speaker 4: off the mark. I would have preferred it if it

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Speaker 4: would have counted towards some points at the end of

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Speaker 4: the game. But yeah, we keep moving forward and we're

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Speaker 4: really pleased with Howard performed in the game. Well.

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Speaker 2: One of the old editors about goals is that they

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Speaker 2: all count for one regardless of how they come. Is

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Speaker 2: a striker, how important is it for you to contribute

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Speaker 2: with goals even though your all around performances have been good.

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Speaker 2: How important is it to also chalk up goals for

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Speaker 2: the side?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. I think when you were number nine and

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Speaker 4: you're playing in that position, you do carry that responsibility.

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Speaker 4: It's good for us that we've had goals from across

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Speaker 4: the pitch and I do fill my performances. They're adding

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Speaker 4: a lot of value even without goals. But yeah, I

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Speaker 4: do take that responsibility on my shoulders and I want

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Speaker 4: to be scoring, and yeah, it's really good to be

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Speaker 4: off the mark and hopefully I can find a bit

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Speaker 4: of slow now in front of goal.

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Speaker 2: It was a narrow defeat and a good performance, as

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Speaker 2: you've outlined, and it came off the back of a

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Speaker 2: four game and beaten streak. So over the last four

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Speaker 2: or five games, what particularly do you think has been

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Speaker 2: going really well for the side.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we've found some really good momentum. I

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Speaker 4: think that's everything in football, really positive performances individually but

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Speaker 4: also as a collective. I think we've really been buying

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Speaker 4: into what poor Temple has been asking us to do. Tactically.

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Speaker 4: We've managed to make tweaks dependent on the opposition, which

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Speaker 4: has been really good for us. And yeah, I think

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Speaker 4: momentum is the most important thing, but I also don't

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Speaker 4: think we've lost that with the defeat. I think we'll

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Speaker 4: carry on going. Our performance was really good and we

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Speaker 4: were unlucky not to get something out of the game

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Speaker 4: in the end.

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Speaker 2: Just a nine goal scored in eight games for the side.

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Speaker 2: You've been good defensively, but just nine goals scored. How

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Speaker 2: hard are you working on creating more chances and scoring

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Speaker 2: more goals.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we always are. We're working on that in training

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Speaker 4: and finishing as well. I think ultimately, you know, if

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Speaker 4: we're struck tight at the barket, can only take one

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Speaker 4: goal to win a game. So yeah, tightening up defensively

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Speaker 4: was one of our targets after the first couple of

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Speaker 4: games and then getting that momentum with the wins. You know,

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Speaker 4: we haven't been scoring lots of goals, but we've done

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Speaker 4: enough to get the results, which is the most important thing.

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Speaker 2: In the attacking third. And it maybe lends itself to

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Speaker 2: what you mentioned before about technically tweaking things for different oppositions.

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Speaker 2: You've started the last five games, but the likes of

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Speaker 2: Grace Jarlay in the main, Alissa winnerm and others have

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Speaker 2: been sort of rotated in and out of the side

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Speaker 2: and used and impact roles. Has that been challenging at

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Speaker 2: all for you or are the connections there regardless of

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Speaker 2: who's on the field.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I don't think so. Obviously, we train together

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Speaker 4: full time in the world, so we have those connections,

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Speaker 4: and I think those players that have been used as

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Speaker 4: impact players has been brilliant off the bench and we

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Speaker 4: have a big week coming up where we'll need to

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Speaker 4: use everybody across the three games. But yeah, no, we

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Speaker 4: all connect really well no matter who's on the pitch.

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Speaker 2: You played for a long time in the UK, why

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Speaker 2: did you decide to make the move to the other

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Speaker 2: side of the world and link up with Wellington Phoenix.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess that's the question a lot of people

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Speaker 4: have asked me. I've played in England for quite a while.

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Speaker 4: I just fanted a different challenge. The A League was

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Speaker 4: exciting to me coming across to New Zealand and experience

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Speaker 4: in a different culture, meeting different people was also exciting

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Speaker 4: to me, just a life experience. But yeah, the A

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Speaker 4: League and playing for Phoenix was definitely what pulled me here.

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Speaker 4: Just a different challenge.

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Speaker 2: Really, as a new player to the A League, have

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Speaker 2: you had to do a bit more work in the

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Speaker 2: background to familiarize yourself with the players and the teams

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Speaker 2: that you're coming up against for the first time.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. I think our staff have been really good

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Speaker 4: with that, with the level of information we get given

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Speaker 4: before games anyway, but it can be a positive as well,

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Speaker 4: that little bit of naivety, especially when you play against

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Speaker 4: the bigger teams and bigger name players, just that bit

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Speaker 4: of bravery and freedom without any expectations.

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Speaker 2: Really, and here's the phane. It's been an easy team

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Speaker 2: for you to fit into. Culture wise, the playing group,

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Speaker 2: the coaching staff for the you know, living in Wellington.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm having such an amazing time. It's such a

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Speaker 4: great group. All the girls are lovely, the staff are lovely.

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Speaker 4: It's been one of the easiest places for me to settle,

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Speaker 4: even though it's so far away from home. But yeah,

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Speaker 4: it really does feel like home already. Everyone's been so

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Speaker 4: welcoming and so nice.

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Speaker 2: So can your family and friends back home watch the games,

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Speaker 2: presuming they can pick them up somewhere.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, they are managing to watch them. The biggest issue

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Speaker 4: is the time difference. My dad's having to get up

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Speaker 4: at three am to watch the game. Sometimes you'll send

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Speaker 4: me a myth after the game with what he thought

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Speaker 4: about the game, and it's just spelling mistakes everywhere. He's

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Speaker 4: type a silly hour in the morning. But my dad

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Speaker 4: and my granddad are actually over here now in Wellington

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Speaker 4: and they'll be they'll be at the game today, so

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Speaker 4: that'll be really nice.

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Speaker 2: Fantastic. Oh, that's great. That's typing will be a lot

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Speaker 2: better and they can probably just tell you after the

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Speaker 2: game rather than rather than send you a message. That's

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Speaker 2: terrific stuff. That's parental dedication and wonderful. You mentioned before

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Speaker 2: about the busy week ahead after Perth Glory this afternoon,

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Speaker 2: you've got a game on Thursday away at Western Sydney

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Speaker 2: and then Adelaide on Sunday. So with the slightly busier week,

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Speaker 2: does that change the way that you structure a week

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Speaker 2: with three games in it.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess. So we'll be training most days as

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Speaker 4: we normally have a day off, but we need to

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Speaker 4: use every day that we have to get the tactical

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Speaker 4: information in. I do think the group's in a really

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Speaker 4: good place. I think we've got the balance right between

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Speaker 4: enjoying the new year and Christmas but also being in

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Speaker 4: and we'll obviously be needing to use our depth across

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Speaker 4: our squad, which I think we have really strong squad,

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Speaker 4: and like we spoke about those players before who have

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Speaker 4: kind of been rotated at times, we'll need everybody and

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Speaker 4: they'll all be ready, I'm sure, all right.

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Speaker 2: And then so after these three games, that'll be the

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Speaker 2: halfway point of the twenty two game regular season. This

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Speaker 2: is probably a silly question to ask, but does Wellington

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Speaker 2: feel like a top six side to you?

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Speaker 4: Oh, definitely, I think looking at our performances, particularly in

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Speaker 4: that unbeaten run of those four games. You know we've

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Speaker 4: played Brisbane Raw, we've played Sydney Esty, we've played Melbourne

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Speaker 4: Citty and we've had good performances and we've managed to

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Speaker 4: get results in those games. You know, the table is

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Speaker 4: so sorry, the ladder is so tight at the moment,

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Speaker 4: and you know a result one way or another can

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Speaker 4: leave you in tenth or fourth, so it's really exciting.

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Speaker 4: We just concentrate on ourselves and I think by the

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Speaker 4: end of the season, yeah, we can definitely be finishing

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Speaker 4: in that top six.

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Speaker 2: Fantastic, Olivia, great to chat to you, all the best

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Speaker 2: against Perth Glory. Really appreciate you taking the time.

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Speaker 4: Thank you so much.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Olivia. Olivia Ferguson there, English striker for Wellington

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Speaker 2: Phoenix's women's side. Four o'clockick off this afternoon at Pottydor

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Speaker 2: Park they take on Perth Glory. A busy week ahead,

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Speaker 2: as you heard Olivia outline, there were three games in

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Speaker 2: eight days.

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Speaker 1: For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talk zed B weekends from midday, or follow

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