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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'd be.

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Speaker 2: I don't think that the horses actually live at the stadium.

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Speaker 2: I could be wrong. James mcconi might know. Do the Crusaders'

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Speaker 2: horses live at Addington and they're not not in the

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Speaker 2: raceway but in the in the stadium down there?

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Speaker 1: Do you know, mate?

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Speaker 3: I feel like they'd be brought in, wouldn't they. They'd

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Speaker 3: be brought in for the day. But it's quite handy

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Speaker 3: having stables right there. That's that is a good question,

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Speaker 3: A good question, really what's happening at that stadium? Where

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Speaker 3: are the stables? Because that's quite a built up industrial area.

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Speaker 3: I mean, yes, from what I can tell.

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Speaker 2: Right, well, we'll try and do some more digging into that.

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Speaker 2: I didn't mean to throw that your way. I wanted

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Speaker 2: to talk about Olie Mathis though. Is he a flanker,

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Speaker 2: is he a winger? Is there any need to decide?

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Speaker 3: Well, it's about time we had our first hybrid, true

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Speaker 3: hybrid come through, because I feel like, you know, when

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Speaker 3: Jonah made the switch, that was something that was permanent.

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Speaker 3: When Eric Rush went to the from flank of the

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Speaker 3: wing again, you know, he just became a winger, but

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Speaker 3: right now we've got someone who could do either or

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Speaker 3: there's even murmurings that he should play in midfield for

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Speaker 3: long term. He's not the biggest human dolly, but he

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Speaker 3: is an absolute athlete and as you saw again last

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Speaker 3: night for the Muluse, he's just capable of special things.

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Speaker 3: And you and I have talked about it, Piney Henry Pollock,

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Speaker 3: similar kind of skill set, unbelievable. But they identified it

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Speaker 3: early that he's worthy of playing international footy, and I

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Speaker 3: think they are they are ahead of the curve by

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Speaker 3: making that call early for Henry and when are we

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Speaker 3: going to do it?

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Speaker 1: Finally?

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Speaker 2: I just he was that try he set up or

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Speaker 2: he was the architect of it. I know, went through

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Speaker 2: a couple of sets of hands after him, but he

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Speaker 2: was the one who made the made the break. And yeah,

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Speaker 2: I mean it actually doesn't matter, does it, what number

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Speaker 2: he's got on his back? I know, And perhaps on

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Speaker 2: defense and then the more structured parts of rugby it does,

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Speaker 2: But in the loose it doesn't matter at all, does it.

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Speaker 3: No? Exactly. That's That's the one thing with Oli matthis

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Speaker 3: is that right now, his athleticism his agility really is

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Speaker 3: a so world class. I mean, I would have even

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Speaker 3: thought that he would have been worth taking a punt

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Speaker 3: on last year bringing into the All Blacks camp, because

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Speaker 3: I think sending him to sevens and you know, obviously

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Speaker 3: you have to lose weight and all that sort of

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Speaker 3: stuff isn't really what he was after. He was just

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Speaker 3: after some security and offer. His talent was prodigious enough

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Speaker 3: from what he did in the NPC last year to

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Speaker 3: warrant some kind of acknowledgment. Yeah, I mean, I know

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Speaker 3: it's a big leap frog, but sometimes you're going to

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Speaker 3: make that call when you see a talent that that's

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Speaker 3: this rare.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Indeed, Well he reminds me a bit of Georgia Miller.

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Speaker 2: Actually she's on the show next hour, so but they're

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Speaker 2: kind of some light like she could probably play in

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Speaker 2: a couple of positions too, couldn't she.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. I mean Georgia is a really

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Speaker 3: good example that they've got a similar skill set fun

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Speaker 3: as anyone on that team, especially over the first thirty meters,

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Speaker 3: and that's what you know in fifteen a side that

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Speaker 3: makes such a big difference obviously when you're playing sevens

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Speaker 3: you've got to go for sixty or seventy meters sometimes.

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Speaker 3: But you know, we've seen players come through with this

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Speaker 3: kind of Remember young Victor Vito was a bit like that,

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Speaker 3: but he I don't know if you recall he had

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Speaker 3: a neck injury that slowed him down a bit and

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Speaker 3: then he just definitely became a forward. And I mean

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Speaker 3: we could have seen it from him. But right now

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Speaker 3: for Oli mathis, I mean, I'll be happy for him

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Speaker 3: to play anywhere. But the way that we're looking at rugby,

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Speaker 3: say for number sevens, I'm glad we've taken the turn

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Speaker 3: where then you're not obsessed with how big they are,

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Speaker 3: it's just how good they are. And then I'm talking

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Speaker 3: about dupless kid Fee. I think you need a real

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Speaker 3: turnover expert in playing number seven these days.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't wait to see what the future holds

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Speaker 2: for that talented young man. Other matters around today to

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Speaker 2: chat about terrible news last week that Western United, the

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Speaker 2: A League football club who have teams in both the

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Speaker 2: A League men's and women's competitions, have had their A

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Speaker 2: League licenses revoked. They've got the opportunity to appeal, but

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Speaker 2: everything I'm reading and hearing looks as though it's going

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Speaker 2: to be the folding of Western United. Never great when

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Speaker 2: a sporting club has to fold.

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Speaker 3: It's so weird that you find Poney keeping up with

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Speaker 3: a league news. So on the one hand, they're saying

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Speaker 3: it's it's an expansion league. We're going to say in

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Speaker 3: the second team in Queensland. Canberra is going to get

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Speaker 3: a team, and then meanwhile there's a club just on

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Speaker 3: its knees, and that's a club that won the comp

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Speaker 3: just a couple of years ago. So I think this

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Speaker 3: is a really dangerous sign for clubs that probably can't

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Speaker 3: retain talent and can't get fans through the turnstiles. So unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: I'm sort of looking at the Wellington Phoenix and just

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Speaker 3: saying they need to they need to have a really strong,

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Speaker 3: robust plan to make sure that they can weather I

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Speaker 3: guess losing their best player and cost the barbarusis who's gone.

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Speaker 3: I know there's always going to be players there who

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Speaker 3: leave from time to time because their dream is to

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Speaker 3: play in Europe. But if you're a club that's just

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Speaker 3: got you know, sort of nineteenagers and two older guys,

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Speaker 3: it's not really it doesn't all go well I mean,

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Speaker 3: do you worry about the future of the Phoenix like

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Speaker 3: I do, Pony?

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Speaker 2: Not really, I mean probably I don't worry about them

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Speaker 2: off the field at all because you know a lot

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Speaker 2: of clubs have been through financial trials and tribulations in

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Speaker 2: the last you know, decade and a half in the

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Speaker 2: A League, but the Phoenix never have apart from when

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Speaker 2: Terry was there, but they quickly you know, changed ownership.

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Speaker 2: Since well Nick's have been there, there's never been any

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Speaker 2: suggestion of financially them leaving. There was that, you know,

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Speaker 2: they wanted to get David Gallup wanted to get rid

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Speaker 2: of them for other reasons known mainly to him. That

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Speaker 2: didn't happen. I think they'll be okay, but it's yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's just such a shame for all of the good

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Speaker 2: football people at that club, you know, the players who

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Speaker 2: now have an uncertain future, the fans, and they didn't

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Speaker 2: have a huge fan base, but who do they support now.

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Speaker 2: It's there's no I mean, it's just a sorry situation

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Speaker 2: all around. Really yeah.

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Speaker 3: And I mean, look, I'm not saying that the Phoenix

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Speaker 3: are necessarily in trouble, just I just don't like some

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Speaker 3: of the signs when you lose talented guys sometimes in bunches,

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Speaker 3: like we felt like they haven't in recent years. And

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Speaker 3: I know that everyone's got a different kind of budget

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Speaker 3: to operate under, but you know when there's these guys,

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Speaker 3: I mean, was at a sixteen year old playing last year? Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I think it was maybe seventeen.

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Speaker 2: I think it was now Luke brook Smith he was

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Speaker 2: he was sixteen. I think he was the youngest goal

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Speaker 2: scorer for the team. Anyway, Gabrielle Sloan would riggas as well.

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Speaker 2: They've had a couple of teenagers. Look, they're playing this

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Speaker 2: afternoon actually in the Australia Cup and they beat Perth

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Speaker 2: with a bunch of bunch of kids, So you know,

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Speaker 2: maybe maybe they're onto something at Nick's HQ.

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Speaker 3: It could be. Hey, just one word on the Warriors.

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Speaker 3: I know last night was a bummer, but it was

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Speaker 3: too to be expected. But I do worry about the

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Speaker 3: run home and the game against the Dragons next week

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Speaker 3: is so pivotal because after that the Titans, Eels and Manly.

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Speaker 3: I don't I just don't think we can guarantee too much,

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Speaker 3: to expect too much. The Titans have always had our

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Speaker 3: recently had our number the Eels, Mitchell Moses, Zach Lomas,

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Speaker 3: you know, josh ad Okar, and then we never play

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Speaker 3: well at Brookvale. I just think this is so much

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Speaker 3: riding on this game against the Dragons next week. It's

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Speaker 3: that's going to be a blockbus bust of clash really well.

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Speaker 2: Indeed, hey, just for your comfort, the horses don't stay

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Speaker 2: at the ground text here we know one of the

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Speaker 2: owners of the Crusaders horses. They're taken in for the games.

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Speaker 2: They don't live there. They're saddled on the Addington racecourse

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Speaker 2: side of them at the moment, but only because the

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Speaker 2: race course is there. That's just pure coincidence that that

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Speaker 2: is there. So they go back to their own stables

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Speaker 2: at the mind.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, what about Takaha though. That's the question though, isn't it.

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Speaker 3: That's what we would need to know in the.

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Speaker 2: Middle of ten. Yeah, where are they gonna how are

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Speaker 2: they gonna get there?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a real issue.

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Speaker 2: That's one of the it's one of the key issues. Hi,

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Speaker 2: great to chedis always mate. Enjoy the rest of your

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Speaker 2: weekend and we'll we'll catch up again next Sunday

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

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Speaker 1: to News Talks b weekends from midday, or follow the

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Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio