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

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Speaker 1: from NEWSTALKSB Yeah, hello mate.

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Speaker 2: Hello Piney.

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Speaker 3: If you've got pre match nerves because it's such a

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Speaker 3: big day.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, but Jeffery, Yeah, but but Jeffrey Also, although I mean,

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Speaker 4: I guess the players, I'd be interested to know to

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Speaker 4: know what you think about this. How will the players

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Speaker 4: be feeling for Auckland FC because they don't have to

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Speaker 4: do anything today and they still get the plate at

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Speaker 4: the end of it.

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Speaker 3: I know it is strange. I'll have to fire up

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Speaker 3: somehow and play because they won't want to lose and

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Speaker 3: list the plate. No, No, at least that'll be they.

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Speaker 2: Need to put on a show.

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Speaker 3: I think there'll be a festival atmosphere anyway, because you know,

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Speaker 3: even despite the rain, the fans will be out, the

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Speaker 3: port will be packed. There'll be an incredible atmosphere there

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Speaker 3: at Mount Smart. But yeah, it is a strange one

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Speaker 3: that they are the plate, the Premier's Plate winners. And

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Speaker 3: I looked at actually what happened next and it actually

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Speaker 3: it doesn't help them that much really because they have

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Speaker 3: to play a two league semi final. Presumably they get

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Speaker 3: the second league at home. Is that right, Piney, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: that's right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Nick Becker was on the show earlier. He said that

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Speaker 4: will be on Saturday, the twenty fourth of May. So

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Speaker 4: this come So they've got another regular season game next weekend,

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Speaker 4: then they get a week off and then home and

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Speaker 4: away away first. So yeah, they get the second League

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Speaker 4: at home and then I guess the big price for

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Speaker 4: finishing top is that if you make the Grand Final,

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Speaker 4: you host the Grand Final.

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Speaker 3: That's the one. So I mean there's a rub you

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Speaker 3: need to actually get through this minefield of a two

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Speaker 3: league semi final. I think that's really tricky for Auckland City.

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Speaker 3: I mean, Auckland is c but at the same time

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Speaker 3: they've built their whole season on defense, right, so conceided

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Speaker 3: the least amount of goals twenty three goals. Only Melbourne

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Speaker 3: City with twenty four goals conceded, came close. So they

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Speaker 3: are built around this wall. And of course you know

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Speaker 3: Hierarchi Sakai, the heroic captain, as the one who's kind

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Speaker 3: of led them and it's been probably one of the

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Speaker 3: best signings in a leagu's history.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, just absolutely brilliant and just on the two legged thing.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you know, Wellington Phoenix was second last year,

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Speaker 4: so they missed the first the first round of the

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Speaker 4: playoffs and they had the home and away. They couldn't

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Speaker 4: negotiate it. They couldn't make it through to the Grand Final.

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Speaker 4: So not that they would have hosted it because they

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Speaker 4: were second, but the fact remains, it's not a fat

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Speaker 4: to complete that you can get through, you know, two

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Speaker 4: ninety minute games and as it was last year, there

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Speaker 4: was extra time as well, so it's a lot of

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Speaker 4: football before you get to the Grand Final, it.

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Speaker 3: Is, and that's the whole thing. I think, you know,

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Speaker 3: you're going to appreciate this when I think Steve Curriker

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Speaker 3: has said to me a couple of weeks ago, this

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Speaker 3: is how most leagues around the world are measured, first

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Speaker 3: past the posts. Like this, the Grand Final, where you

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Speaker 3: played for the toilet seat is an oddity of the

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Speaker 3: A League and a few other places where they have,

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Speaker 3: you know, sort of they split the league in some

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Speaker 3: European countries for the final series. But look, it's been

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Speaker 3: a massive season for them. And I was just thinking

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Speaker 3: for you, Poney, because you're such a big Liverpool fan,

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Speaker 3: you've got quite quite a weekend on your hands. Haven't you,

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Speaker 3: Because they're pretty much going to win the Premier League

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Speaker 3: and and and actually there are similarities and only both

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Speaker 3: teams have only lost two games each. So I'm looking

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Speaker 3: at the way they stack up statistically. I know there's

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Speaker 3: more games in the EPL, but quite similar seasons.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I want the defense wins championships, as they often say.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, if you're if you're not conceding, you're not losing.

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Speaker 4: And you're right, Liverpool haven't lost many games. You're not

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Speaker 4: as civilized a time. Five o'clock this afternoon, in great

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Speaker 4: time for a game of football. Three point thirty tomorrow morning.

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Speaker 4: Not quite so much.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you'll be up though, poneh.

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Speaker 4: We'll be up. I'll be up having a look at it.

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Speaker 4: I'll be up having a look at it. Hey, can

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Speaker 4: we talk some super rugby? Do you think the Blues

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Speaker 4: are going to make the six?

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Speaker 3: No? I feel bad for the Blues because they're actually

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Speaker 3: better than what their season has shown. And yesterday the

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Speaker 3: Reds were They're pretty German team, the Reds Michael lion

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Speaker 3: has Son Tom Liner having an absolute blinder at first

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Speaker 3: five as well, that didn't help them. And then also

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Speaker 3: the TMO getting involved pretty much every time they crossed

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Speaker 3: the line, the TMO was in there, and of course

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Speaker 3: having that television match official, I guess slow your flow

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Speaker 3: is really tough with me. And of course compounded by

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Speaker 3: a red card to there arguably the biggest attack weapon,

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Speaker 3: Mark Taalre, who got done for a spear tackle. So

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Speaker 3: it's not great for the Blues. But meanwhile for the Hurricanes,

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Speaker 3: let's look on the positives there. Their season looked down

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Speaker 3: and dusted there for a while, but with that when

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Speaker 3: they're against the Brumbies, that was pretty amazing stuff last night. Piney,

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Speaker 3: you would have loved that.

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Speaker 4: I did. I did, And I was just talking about

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Speaker 4: Billy Procter before and how much of a difference he made.

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Speaker 4: It's interesting when you know, you talk about a guy

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Speaker 4: coming back into a team and making a difference, and

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Speaker 4: you often think about a raw boned, loose forward or

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Speaker 4: maybe you know your captain who's a lock, maybe your hooker.

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Speaker 4: You don't often think of your of your center coming

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Speaker 4: back and making such a big difference. But he was

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Speaker 4: terrific last night.

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Speaker 3: Billy Proctor, Yeah, he was exceptional. I really do like

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Speaker 3: the way that the Hurricanes forwards went about their business.

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Speaker 3: As well. I think there was a fifteen or five

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Speaker 3: minute period where they silenced the Aussie commentators, which has

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Speaker 3: no mean feat you know how biased that getting Justin Harrison.

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Speaker 2: Justin Harrison with his very very pro Brumby's commentary. But

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Speaker 2: the thing is when the Hurricanes showed their attack, it

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Speaker 2: was really slow forwards and backs and he said that's

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Speaker 2: the best rugby he's seen played this Super Rugby season,

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Speaker 2: but none, so the Hurricanes have got it in them.

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Speaker 3: Billy Procter, however, we need to talk about that. Yes,

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Speaker 3: as a center, I think he's eclipsing Rico Yowani at

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Speaker 3: the moment. I think, at age twenty five, he's at

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Speaker 3: the peak of his powers. He's showing what he can do.

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Speaker 3: The combo with Riley Higgins is what I guess everybody's

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Speaker 3: wanted to see, all rugby fans, but especially Hurricanes fans.

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Speaker 3: And to be honest, now that Reuben Love is settled

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Speaker 3: into that number ten, would you even move him when

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Speaker 3: Harry Godfrey comes back? I think not.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's it's so interesting and yeah, the bit about

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Speaker 4: Billy Proctor and what he could become. You know, you

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Speaker 4: don't want to pump a guy ties up too much.

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Speaker 4: But he's actually been around for a while, Billy Proctor.

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Speaker 4: They liked him as a as a teenager, and you

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Speaker 4: know he had to sort of live in the shadow

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Speaker 4: of his brother Matt for a while. But he's in

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Speaker 4: there now and yet look, I think he's making them

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Speaker 4: making a great fist of things. So good to have

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Speaker 4: him back from that, from that our killer's injury. Hey,

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Speaker 4: can we finish with the an Zach anthem at the AFL.

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Speaker 4: Did you happen to catch this over the weekend?

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Speaker 3: I did. It was impressive. This is private Heavy Adams

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Speaker 3: from the New Zealand Army Band. Her anthem, her rendition

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Speaker 3: of God Defend New Zealand was so good that that

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Speaker 3: they had all the commentators and raptures saying, pipes of

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Speaker 3: an Angel, the greatest rendition of the national anthem I've

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Speaker 3: ever heard that. Ozzie's were loving it. They were saying

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Speaker 3: that our anthem slaps pony, which is very rare, and

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Speaker 3: results of praise for a national anthem which is much malign.

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Speaker 3: But she made it her own, as they say in

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Speaker 3: American idol. She was not pitching at all, but she

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Speaker 3: was on the pitch and fantastic rendition Maori and English verse.

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Speaker 3: There at the MCG we probably don't have time for

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Speaker 3: both verses, but I think we should go out with

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Speaker 3: Hettie Adams singing God Defend New Zealand. She made the

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Speaker 3: crowd go wild good.

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Speaker 2: Inble Heal Boys, Sweet.

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Speaker 1: Sady Army By. For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine,

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Speaker 1: listen live to News Talks It Be weekends from midday,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio