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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 AB.

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Speaker 2: News TALKSB one thirty. Whitney Hanson has been announced as

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Speaker 2: the new Black Ferns head coach on a two year deal.

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Speaker 2: She succeeds Alan Bunting, who stood down after the third

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Speaker 2: place finish at the Rugby World Cup earlier this year.

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Speaker 2: Whitney Hanson was a Black Ferns assistant coach during the

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty two World Cup triumph, and most recently she

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Speaker 2: was head coach of Opeki's Matatu. She is the thirteenth

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Speaker 2: head coach of the national site and she joins us now.

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Speaker 2: Whitney congratulations on being appointed to the role of Black

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Speaker 2: Fern's head coach. I've had some time, I guess to

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Speaker 2: let this sink in now since the announcement yesterday. Presumably

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Speaker 2: you found it a couple of days before that. How

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Speaker 2: are you feeling about guiding our Black Ferns into next

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Speaker 2: year and beyond?

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Speaker 3: Thank you. I guess a little bit of time to

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Speaker 3: sink in, but I'm probably still seeing a little bit

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Speaker 3: of mixed between the shock and excitement. But yeah, I

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Speaker 3: think just you know, when we think about the job

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Speaker 3: ahead and the team that's going to be around, the

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Speaker 3: team and the girls of that group is super exciting.

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Speaker 2: When you presented your vision for the Black Ferns during

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Speaker 2: the recruitment process, what were the main planks of that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there was obviously a big piece around building on

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Speaker 3: what is already a really special culture in that space.

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Speaker 3: We have amazing talent, but we also have amazing people,

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Speaker 3: so how do we continue to bring that together and

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Speaker 3: for that to be a point of difference to that team?

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Speaker 3: And then talked about the rugby and when we want

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Speaker 3: to go and I've got a really clear idea of

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Speaker 3: what that looks like.

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Speaker 2: What does that look like?

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Speaker 3: The first thing probably is about being multi dimensional. We

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Speaker 3: have to have different ways of playing and we can't

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Speaker 3: be predictable when we play, so that's probably first and foremost.

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Speaker 3: It's a to export. We need to be physically dominant

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Speaker 3: and you know, we want to be able to leverage

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Speaker 3: off the amazing talent that we grow in New Zealand.

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Speaker 2: So you think what you alluded to before, do you

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Speaker 2: think you need to come up with different ways to play,

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Speaker 2: not just you know, a game to game, but within

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Speaker 2: games as well. If plan a isn't working. For example,

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Speaker 2: Plan B and C might be useful.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent. And teams are going to use

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Speaker 3: different styles of attack and defense, and we've got to

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Speaker 3: be ready for anything.

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Speaker 2: How do you assess the team? The talent in the

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Speaker 2: team that you are inheriting from Ellen Bunting.

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Speaker 3: Before you know, there's some amazing athletes who can do

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Speaker 3: some really special things. But if I think about the talent,

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Speaker 3: probably the biggest job is going to be how we

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Speaker 3: build deep with that. So it's not just about having

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Speaker 3: one great athlete or two in the position. How do

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Speaker 3: we have five?

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Speaker 2: How then do you evaluate evaluate the strength of the

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Speaker 2: younger female players coming through our rugby system to allow

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Speaker 2: you to build that depth.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the talent's definitely there. Like we watched over the

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Speaker 3: last couple of years, a lot of age group stuff

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Speaker 3: and a bet around the country and different bits and

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Speaker 3: pieces within the pathway, And often those athletes who are

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Speaker 3: sitting in the under sixteen space and trump the ones

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Speaker 3: are in the eighteens, and it's the same for eighteens

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Speaker 3: and twenty. So what we know is that talent's coming.

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Speaker 3: It's getting better and better. The more opportunities they get,

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Speaker 3: the better they will be, But how we develop that

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Speaker 3: and support it's going to be important.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And professionalism in the women's game is still in

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Speaker 2: its infancy, isn't it. How important is it to build

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Speaker 2: that and how do you build that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, you bang on, And I think how we

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Speaker 3: build that is we can't be we can't just be

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Speaker 3: an island out on our own. We've got to make

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Speaker 3: sure that we take the opakie clubs with us and

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Speaker 3: what we do. We need them to be really a

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Speaker 3: part of the Black fans and who we are going forward.

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Speaker 3: And then we need to work really closely I think

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Speaker 3: with the hubs, the academies across SPC in connect right

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Speaker 3: across the pathway. I know my work with both Joe

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Speaker 3: Pasan and Kindri Cosidge will be hugely Inportal.

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Speaker 2: And you'll have eleven tests in twenty twenty six. How

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Speaker 2: significant is it to have that many and as such

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Speaker 2: that much time together as a team and as a

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Speaker 2: wide squad.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's been a massive cry out for that as

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Speaker 3: an air of the last little bit, and I think

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Speaker 3: again just in women's ropy in general, it's an amazing

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Speaker 3: thing to be able to celebrate, but particularly for new

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Speaker 3: Zealand in Southern Hemisphere to be able to have those

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Speaker 3: opportunities so that there's going to be a game changer

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Speaker 3: and we're really excited for that.

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Speaker 2: And then beyond that we look ahead to the historic

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Speaker 2: first women's British and Irish Lions series here in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty seven. I know you're taking this year by year probably,

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Speaker 2: but how enticing a prospect is that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely one that's sort of sitting there on the horizon,

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Speaker 3: but not not the today job. But I again, what

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Speaker 3: amazing opportunity for women's rugby and I know a lot

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Speaker 3: for the players and management. That's just such an exciting

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Speaker 3: opportunity to be part of.

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Speaker 2: Have you developed what the general coaching philosophy regardless of

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Speaker 2: the level or the team that you're coaching.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, look, I think probably the main answer to give

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Speaker 3: you to that would be people first and players second.

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Speaker 3: You know, again, we have some really awesome talent across

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Speaker 3: New Zealand, but we also have great people and I

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Speaker 3: think how we care for them holistically is going to

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Speaker 3: be really important.

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Speaker 2: So what's the first major landmark for twenty twenty six?

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Speaker 2: When will you get your hands on your players for

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Speaker 2: the first time?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we've got to camp at the end of jan

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Speaker 3: so we've already sort of started talking about what that

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Speaker 3: looks like, and there'll be a few things to do

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Speaker 3: for Christmas. Normally go away camping with the family, but

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Speaker 3: I had to sort of give them the heads up

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Speaker 3: yesterday that that might be for as long as I

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Speaker 3: normally go. Otherwise I've probably end up driving them. Sort

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Speaker 3: of all my questions in the notebook. So yes, planning, connecting,

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Speaker 3: and then we're bring the whole group and the need

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Speaker 3: to chat.

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Speaker 2: It must be tremendously exciting for you, though you mentioned

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Speaker 2: at the start, you know, still sinking in a bit

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Speaker 2: and a bit of shock there, but also excitement. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: you must be. You must be really optimistic and excited

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Speaker 2: about what the future could hold.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, hand of recent you know, this team is a

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Speaker 3: special It's an incredibly special legacy, and yeah, it is

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Speaker 3: an absolute privilege to be out and be able to

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Speaker 3: be in front of them.

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Speaker 2: Well, congratulations on your appointment to this role. I think

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Speaker 2: that's been met with, from what I can see anyway,

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Speaker 2: universal approval. So we're looking forward to seeing how the

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Speaker 2: team going goes next year. Enjoy your truncated camping holiday

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Speaker 2: and we'll look forward to catching up again next year.

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Speaker 3: Founds a great matte.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, no, thank you, Whitney. Whitney Hanson, that freshly

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Speaker 2: minted brand new Black Ferns head coach announced yesterday on

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Speaker 2: a two year deal. Eleven tests next year for the

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Speaker 2: Black fans. That's what we're talking about, more rugby, more

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Speaker 2: time together, opick. He's got to expand too, doesn't it.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, eleven tests. I can't remember the Black Ferns

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Speaker 2: ever having eleven test matches. I stand to be corrected,

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Speaker 2: but I can't remember that many in a single year.

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Speaker 2: And then beyond that to the British and Irish Lions

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Speaker 2: women's tour here in twenty twenty seven. So tremendously exciting

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Speaker 2: time for the Black Ferns, but they do have to

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Speaker 2: catch up. I think if the Rugby World Cup this

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Speaker 2: year taught us anything it's that it's that we are

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Speaker 2: not at that very top echelon anymore. England have got

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Speaker 2: a jump on the rest. Canada. You'll remember beat us

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Speaker 2: in the semi finals in the Rugby World Cup and

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Speaker 2: we really had no answer and really interesting to hear

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Speaker 2: Whitney say, they're about how you need a different plan,

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Speaker 2: because if one plan wasn't working for the Black Ferns,

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Speaker 2: it felt this year, then there wasn't a second option.

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Speaker 2: There wasn't a plan be or a plan seef. We

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Speaker 2: couldn't get it white to Porsche and to Braxton and

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Speaker 2: to you know, Caitlin Carlow and the others, the the

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Speaker 2: wheels on the wings, and or if we did and

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Speaker 2: they were quickly closed down, it didn't feel like there

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Speaker 2: was another another strategy at play. So there's one for

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Speaker 2: Whitney Hanson to work on, and I'm sure she will.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure she will. Great mindset. She could coach the

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Speaker 2: all Blacks were that mindset's here's the text. I agree, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I shall. I think she. Let's see how she goes

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Speaker 2: with that little black food's first, but I do love

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Speaker 2: her mindset.

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

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