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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Fine

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Speaker 1: from News Talks b.

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Speaker 2: B twenty six NRL season is upon us two games

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Speaker 2: in Vegas tomorrow. The Warriors open their campaign with a

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Speaker 2: home game against the Roosters on Friday night at go

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Speaker 2: Media Stadium. Great pleasure to welcome into the show for

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Speaker 2: the first time in twenty twenty six head coach of

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Speaker 2: the Warriors, Andrew Webster. Andrew, thanks for joining us to

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Speaker 2: give us well a feel of how the team's feeling

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Speaker 2: just over all week out from your first game, or

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Speaker 2: how are you feeling about where the team is at?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, I think every coach will always loves

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Speaker 3: more time, but I'm over preseason, you know, and I

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Speaker 3: want to get on with it for the boys and

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Speaker 3: for all the fans.

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Speaker 4: I think where everyone's ready for footy, but you know,

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Speaker 4: the boys that fit a good attitude at the moment.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, looking forward to it now. I think. I mean,

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Speaker 5: everyone's got a plan to your punch in the face.

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Speaker 5: Had to find out in a couple of weeks. Hopefully

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Speaker 5: we're the ones doing the punching.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's hope, So let's hope. So how much

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Speaker 2: do you use twenty twenty five as preparation for twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty six.

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Speaker 4: Well, definitely like the trends in the game that we

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Speaker 4: saw and identified, which you're trying to adjust as the

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Speaker 4: year goes.

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Speaker 5: Ahead or get ahead of it, So you you think.

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Speaker 4: About that, you also think about what do we want

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Speaker 4: to try and manipulate and do ourselves and get better at.

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Speaker 4: And then if you're not considering where our improvements are

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Speaker 4: from the year before, then.

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Speaker 5: You won't get better. So we certainly do.

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Speaker 4: But I think good teams can kind of predict the

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Speaker 4: way the game's heading, and I.

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Speaker 5: Think we're certainly trying to tweak a few things in

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Speaker 5: our game.

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Speaker 2: That's you should is there a particular area of the

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Speaker 2: game that you've targeted for the biggest improvement or the

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Speaker 2: most significant tweaks in that regard.

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Speaker 4: Concentration, But that's no reference to where the game's going

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Speaker 4: or anything like that. That's just like I think we're

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Speaker 4: dominating big periods of the game. We're looking to better

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Speaker 4: side and we just don't kind of last that moment.

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Speaker 5: And now I probably sound greedy because.

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Speaker 4: We're certainly better at it the most as well, Like

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Speaker 4: we're successful in a lot of those areas.

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Speaker 5: But we're trying to be a number one, aren't we.

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Speaker 5: So we've identified that we feel like we.

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Speaker 4: If we concentrate it for longer and we're in the

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Speaker 4: game and we don't have those big momentum swings and

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Speaker 4: we could put a score on a team or we could.

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Speaker 5: Win more tight games.

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Speaker 2: How coachable is that sort of thing? I feel like

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Speaker 2: most sports teams strive for consistency, and sometimes it's elusive

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Speaker 2: and sometimes it's hard to define. Can you coach consistency?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, you can definitely, definitely. I mean it could.

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Speaker 4: It could sometimes come to the point where it's you know,

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Speaker 4: will go name up to it and then the person

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Speaker 4: is to move on or you to change your roster.

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Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, you definitely can

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Speaker 4: impact it, that's sure, and you can coach it, and

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Speaker 4: that's something we've tried to do this preseason. I think

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Speaker 4: you just can't say to a play mate you need

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Speaker 4: to concentrate longer.

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Speaker 5: You actually need to put them in situations where they have.

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Speaker 4: To and they learn from that time and where did

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Speaker 4: their mind go and all that sort of stuff.

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Speaker 5: But you can you can contribute to it as a coach.

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Speaker 4: But you've got to go make sure that they're taking

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Speaker 4: ownership around it as well.

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Speaker 2: It's all about the halves. Tomatow Martin out for at

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Speaker 2: least three months with a broken leg. Luke metcalf is

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Speaker 2: at least two months away from returning from the ruptured

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Speaker 2: ACL he suffered last season. What about Chanel Harris Tavita

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Speaker 2: with me? Has he has he? How he had a

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Speaker 2: carf issue? Will he be available for Round one?

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Speaker 5: Yep, yep, So so far, so good. I'm so training

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Speaker 5: today with the team.

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Speaker 4: He's looking better, My confident, but he'll do a four

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Speaker 4: week training next week into Round one to.

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Speaker 5: Be ready to go.

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Speaker 2: And Tanner Boyd took the seven jumper when Luke Metcalfe

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Speaker 2: was injured last season and played the majority of the

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Speaker 2: games after that in the seven jumper. Will he get

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Speaker 2: first crack again this season?

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Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I mean, I don't like giving way so many secrets,

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Speaker 4: but it's pretty obvious that Tennis is going to be

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Speaker 4: that guy and you know he's going to get the

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Speaker 4: first opportunity and he deserves that.

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Speaker 5: He's had a great preseason. Did he finished really well

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Speaker 5: with us last year?

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Speaker 4: I thought he was dominant when he went back in

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Speaker 4: the final season you solast Cup and yeah, I feel

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Speaker 4: like he's ready to.

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Speaker 5: To probably take control of this team, and yeah, I'm

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Speaker 5: excited for it.

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Speaker 2: Are there any players who have really put their hand

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Speaker 2: up over the preseason period, over the last three or

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Speaker 2: four months since you've been together preparing for twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: six even playoff? Perhaps the fans might not be expecting

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Speaker 2: to be, you know, really important for you in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty sex. Is there anybody like that?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, definitely. Now it's one of those questions I should bring.

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Speaker 4: Ahead and say, don't ask this one because I've answered

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Speaker 4: it exactly the same. I made this so many I

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Speaker 4: don't want to single them out, like honestly, there's I

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Speaker 4: feel like we've got your fifteen to twenty fifteen to

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Speaker 4: thirty game first graders that.

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Speaker 5: We were calling young guys last year.

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Speaker 4: I'm really excited whether they can go from exciting talents

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Speaker 4: to like genuine dominant NRL players, And I'm talking top shelf.

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Speaker 5: And ural players. And then I think you've got your.

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Speaker 4: Rookies coming along that you guys would have all seen

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Speaker 4: in the trolls that had no secret, that had really

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Speaker 4: good moments. I think in the first child against manly,

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Speaker 4: all our young guys were unbelievable when they come on

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Speaker 4: that last twenty minutes, and they probably wouldn't be so

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Speaker 4: proud of the way they did when he gets a Dolphins. So,

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Speaker 4: like to answer your question, I'm really excited to see

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Speaker 4: how this next revolution of our younger players go. Well.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of younger players like a hell of Sema in

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty five an absolute breakout year for him, what

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Speaker 2: are you asking of him this season and how high

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Speaker 2: might his ceiling be?

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Speaker 5: I he's certainly not even close to it.

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Speaker 4: I don't able to say that the best of that

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Speaker 4: for a while, though the men he's an absolute limit.

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Speaker 4: I'm not I'm not putting as much pressure on him

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Speaker 4: as everyone else. From a minute's point of view. I'm

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Speaker 4: not saying, Okay, now you've got to go play eighty

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Speaker 4: minutes each week in week out and do that.

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Speaker 5: I think that's a four or.

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Speaker 4: Five year type of thing, but I think you will

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Speaker 4: have to do it at some stage throughout that you

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Speaker 4: one or two games.

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Speaker 5: Or maybe five or six, but not the full seat them.

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Speaker 5: So I'm still interested.

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Speaker 4: In him coming on and being an impact player, or

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Speaker 4: if he starts, just go them out and give it

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Speaker 4: everything Scott and then having the rest. But he's you know,

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Speaker 4: he's definitely an unbelievable talent and he's he's trained really

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Speaker 4: well in the preseason, so hoping that transfers out to

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Speaker 4: the games.

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Speaker 2: How do you balance long term growth with the pressure

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Speaker 2: to win a game of rugby league every weekend?

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Speaker 5: It is a real balance.

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Speaker 4: Like it is, it is pros and cons and it

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Speaker 4: is light in the backside if you.

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Speaker 5: Go one way too much. I think I think the

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Speaker 5: biggest way, the best way I look at it is naturally.

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Speaker 4: Naturally, the how tough the NRL is, I mean, niggles

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Speaker 4: and the stress on people's bodies naturally give young players

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Speaker 4: an opportunity. And when they balance that by okay, these

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Speaker 4: guys are the next generation, let's give them a crack.

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Speaker 5: And then I think you've also got to realize.

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Speaker 4: That they're going to peak probably after about two or

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Speaker 4: three games, and then you need to get a.

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Speaker 5: Little rest and bring them back.

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Speaker 4: So I look at it this way, what is our

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Speaker 4: best opportunity to win this week? And then, as I

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Speaker 4: said to you, I feel like those opportunities come naturally

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Speaker 4: and it's up to us to make sure they're ready

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Speaker 4: in their right position, it's about to take that opportunity.

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Speaker 2: We've been use this week that co captain Mitch Barnett

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Speaker 2: is departing at the end of this current season. He's

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Speaker 2: been granted a release from the final year of his

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Speaker 2: contract with the Warriors on compassionate grounds. I know part

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Speaker 2: of this is private, but can you talk us through

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Speaker 2: the conversations that played out there?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so I mentioned I have been at many a discussion.

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Speaker 4: This isn't hasn't been the last week or anything like that,

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Speaker 4: or we just decided to turn up on Monday and

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Speaker 4: this is the direction we're going to go. We had

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Speaker 4: lots of conversations around what was becoming a situation for

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Speaker 4: his family and his children, that he was going through

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Speaker 4: some stuff or they were going through some stuff and

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Speaker 4: he needed.

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Speaker 5: In the end, we both decided, we all decided that

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Speaker 5: he needed.

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Speaker 4: To go home and he needed to be around family

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Speaker 4: support to do that and we I give him a

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Speaker 4: lot of credit the way he handled it. I think

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Speaker 4: a lot of people could say that this is just

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Speaker 4: a situation of.

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Speaker 5: An Australian been to go back to Australia.

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Speaker 4: This is a situation of a player who loves to

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Speaker 4: worry so much, wants the winner comp here, wants to

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Speaker 4: finish his career, but he just can't because family comes first.

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Speaker 2: All right, Well, thanks for providing that clarity for us.

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Speaker 2: Just a couple more before you go. How much are

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Speaker 2: you still developing and evolving as a rugby league coach?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I am for sure. I mean I'll be disappointed

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Speaker 5: if I'm not.

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Speaker 4: I think the best way to experience it is like

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Speaker 4: you always come across new scenarios, You're always thrown, You're

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Speaker 4: always throwing different risks or opportunities.

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Speaker 5: Each time. I hope I handled them better through experience.

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Speaker 4: Sometimes you kind of have a bank, a bank of

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Speaker 4: situations that you remember.

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Speaker 5: I remember that in twenty twenty three, and this is

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Speaker 5: how we handled it, and this is the result we

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Speaker 5: got from it. So that certainly helped with me.

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Speaker 4: I've been big on personal development around leadership, learning off

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Speaker 4: other people.

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Speaker 5: I've been really big online.

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Speaker 4: But when we went to the Blues in Auckland now

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Speaker 4: to day to learn off another code in their coaches

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Speaker 4: and so.

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Speaker 5: The way they might do things. Like I'm constantly trying

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Speaker 5: to evolve.

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Speaker 4: I'm not the finishing an article and I'm probably not

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Speaker 4: in my best days, but I'm confident my best.

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Speaker 5: Can still have a high impact intu the.

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Speaker 2: Worries, Yeah, I'm sure I can. And just to finish

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Speaker 2: what we'll tell you early that this group is capable

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Speaker 2: of something special in twenty twenty six. What do you

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Speaker 2: need to see in the first game or two to

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Speaker 2: give you confidence that something special is coming in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty six for this club and its fans.

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Speaker 4: I think I will being physical, working hard. I want

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Speaker 4: to make sure our identity is still there. I think

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Speaker 4: when you practice things so much in previseason and you

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Speaker 4: want to tweet things, do you actually lose the core

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Speaker 4: of your what's most important and what you've created.

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Speaker 5: And I want to.

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Speaker 4: Make sure we've got that regardless of the outcome, because

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Speaker 4: I think we can tweet things or make adjustments as

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Speaker 4: we go.

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Speaker 5: But what it's going to be very hard to say.

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Speaker 4: Boys, I've just noticed in the first three rounds you

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Speaker 4: haven't tried hard.

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Speaker 5: It's gonna be pretty hard to come back from it.

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Speaker 5: So that's the first thing.

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Speaker 4: It's this is the ideentity of that, how we try

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Speaker 4: and are.

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Speaker 5: We trying harder?

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Speaker 4: We're working hard for each other, And then I think

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Speaker 4: we can build off that and have a good season.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's hope. So thanks, Andrew, appreciate your time.

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Speaker 2: That's Andrew Webster, head coach of the Warriors, with us

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Speaker 2: on Weekend Sport. Just a small apology for the slightly

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Speaker 2: less than ideal audio quality there. Could probably hear that

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Speaker 2: web was in his car, but I think we got

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Speaker 2: everything that he was saying, and some really interesting things

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Speaker 2: in there as well. About the season ahead Warriors fans,

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Speaker 2: is twenty twenty six our year? Or is that now

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Speaker 2: just something we say before every season? Do we actually

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Speaker 2: believe it? I'll look back to last season, such a

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Speaker 2: good start, or once they got home from Vegas anyway,

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Speaker 2: where they lost to the Raiders over there by thirty

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Speaker 2: points to eight. After that it was I think seven

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Speaker 2: wins and two defeats, wasn't it the first ten games

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Speaker 2: of the season, In fact, eight wins and one defeat.

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Speaker 2: After ten games they'd lost two and one eight. But

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Speaker 2: they did fall off of it, didn't they after losing

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Speaker 2: Mitch Barnett and in particular Luke Metcalf to season ending injuries.

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Speaker 2: They did finish sixth, but were beaten twenty four to

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Speaker 2: eight by the Panthers in Week one of the finals.

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Speaker 2: It feels to me as though the Warriors need to

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Speaker 2: stay in the mix until Luke Metcalf comes back. You

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Speaker 2: don't want to put too much weight on the shoulders

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Speaker 2: of one player, but he is such a big part

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Speaker 2: of the potential success of this team. He had the

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Speaker 2: Warriors humming last season. He was leading the dally M

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Speaker 2: standings with Luke Metcalf and the team last season, the

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Speaker 2: Warriors had eleven wins and four losses without him just

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Speaker 2: four wins and six defeats. He is huge to this team, massive,

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Speaker 2: and the quicker is back, the better. They're saying round seven.

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Speaker 2: That is the best guess is round seven. This is exacerbated,

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Speaker 2: of course, by the broken leg to Tim Mardi Martin,

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Speaker 2: who played a pretty important interchange role last season, particularly

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Speaker 2: after Luke Metcalf went down. So if something were to

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Speaker 2: happen to Tanner Boyd or Shanelle Harris Tavita, who are

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Speaker 2: the starting halfs combo from what Andrew Webster said there,

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Speaker 2: if something was to happen to one or both God

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Speaker 2: for bid of those two, then the stocks and the

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Speaker 2: halves would be starting to get a little bit thin.

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Speaker 2: How Big is just staying in this until Luke Metcalf

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Speaker 2: is back. Like Tanner Boyd's a very very good rugby

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Speaker 2: league player, but he's not Luke Metcalf, is he and

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Speaker 2: he knows that. You know, when Luke Metcalf is back

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Speaker 2: and fit and firing, he's going to get the seven jersey.

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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 said Be weekends from midday, or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio