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

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Speaker 1: from Newstalks.

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Speaker 2: Edb All Blacks play tomorrow morning. The Bunnings MPC continues

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Speaker 2: this afternoon and tomorrow, but Rugby's Heartland Championship True grassroots

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Speaker 2: Rugby is underway this afternoon. Games in Greymouth, Gisbone, Levin, Masterton,

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Speaker 2: Fang and Uei and in Picturesque why He with a

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Speaker 2: home site defending Meads Cup champions Thames Valley, the Swamp

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Speaker 2: Foxes take on Mid Canterbury and in a repeat of

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Speaker 2: last year's Meets Cup final.

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Speaker 1: Thames Valley when they've needed to have been this.

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Speaker 3: Afternoon superb and there's an example and they win the

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Speaker 3: penal a two to finish up.

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Speaker 2: And that is what it means.

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Speaker 1: To the Swamp Foxes here in.

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Speaker 3: Towdah and quite appropriately Quinn Colin seventeen fights in the final.

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Speaker 3: It's us for the second time Thames Valley champions.

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Speaker 2: Amazing scenes last year, so as I say, repeat of

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Speaker 2: last year's final this afternoon to open the Heartland Championship

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Speaker 2: campaign for these sites, Tams Valley against Mid Canterbury in

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Speaker 2: why He Teams Valley Rugby CEO Scott Penny is with

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Speaker 2: us quick check on conditions and why he to start Scott.

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Speaker 4: Great conditions here, slightly overcast, but definitely good for running rugby.

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Speaker 2: Before we look ahead, what did it mean to the

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Speaker 2: union and the rugby community to win silverware last season?

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Speaker 4: I mean a lot to us. We've done a lot

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Speaker 4: in our community to boost numbers and grow rugby within

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Speaker 4: the valley. But tear the icen on the cake and

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Speaker 4: bring the Meads Cup home was fantastic for everybody involved.

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Speaker 4: We've come close over the last few years, so to

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Speaker 4: actually get the cherry on the top was great.

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Speaker 2: You obviously have a wide brief in terms of the

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Speaker 2: community game in your region. The leak part of it

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Speaker 2: is only part of it, but as you say, is

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Speaker 2: it like a cherry on top?

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Speaker 3: It is?

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Speaker 2: It also a I guess an aspirational pathway for some

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Speaker 2: of the younger players in the region, as.

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Speaker 4: We're trying to make a pathway right through and we

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Speaker 4: still run under fourteen's all the way up to the

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Speaker 4: Swamp Foxes, including on the girls side as well, so

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Speaker 4: we do see it as a pathway. It's not by

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Speaker 4: any means perfect yet, but we're making good strides towards it.

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Speaker 4: Our growth over the last couple of years has has

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Speaker 4: allowed us to have some really good results. We've taken

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Speaker 4: our winter ratio from twenty six to fifty cent and

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Speaker 4: over our other REP teams, So as say, they're all

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Speaker 4: trying to strive to what the Swamp Foxes are making.

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Speaker 2: At the moment, You're reappointed your coaches David Harrison and

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Speaker 2: Joe Murray after last year's success, I guess that wasn't

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Speaker 2: a tough decision to make. Have you retained most of

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Speaker 2: your players as well?

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Speaker 4: No, so the coaches, and I say just a quick

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Speaker 4: mentioned for Harry who's also the New Zealand Heartland coach

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Speaker 4: this year and nixt which is great for him. But yeah,

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Speaker 4: those two guys, they sort of don't get the accolades

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Speaker 4: that that I think they should get because they do

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Speaker 4: have achieved a lot over several years. But we haven't

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Speaker 4: held a lot of players from last year. Really. I

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Speaker 4: think there's eleven new people into our squad. But I

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Speaker 4: mean a challenge is like you think everybody's in the

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Speaker 4: same boat right through the whole whole Heartland. A good

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Speaker 4: thing for us is this five Swamp fox has played

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Speaker 4: in the NPC over the last two years. So again,

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Speaker 4: it's got to be a good time for pathways, isn't it,

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Speaker 4: you know, And.

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Speaker 2: I guess that's a really good way of looking at it.

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Speaker 2: Do you take pride in the fact that that players,

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Speaker 2: if they are to leave teams Valley for an NPC side,

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Speaker 2: for example, that's a feather in your cap rather than

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Speaker 2: a blow to you.

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Speaker 4: Definitely, We're all about giving players opportunities and if an

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Speaker 4: opportunity comes along at the higher level, then it's got

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Speaker 4: to be it. I take that approach right through from

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Speaker 4: our schools as well. If we've got a school kid

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Speaker 4: that's going to get a better opportunity in one of

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Speaker 4: the biggest cities, then that's got to be a win

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Speaker 4: for us, And if we can keep the pipeline going,

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Speaker 4: then it's got to be good for the valley.

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Speaker 2: I guess for the coaches as well. That must be

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Speaker 2: quite the challenge, Scott, because you know, if you've got

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Speaker 2: the same bunch of players coming back, you can I guess,

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Speaker 2: in some regards lock and load what works so well

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Speaker 2: last season. So so your coaches, I guess have their

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Speaker 2: own challenge of reintegrating or integrating. Would you say eleven

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Speaker 2: new faces into the team.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely, and I think we showed that. And then we

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Speaker 4: checked another couple of curveballs. Everybody saw the difference between

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Speaker 4: professional rugby and amateur rugby with our ninety seven nil

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Speaker 4: against the Nake and the Shield challenge. Great experience, but

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Speaker 4: it just shows the gap between the two levels. And

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Speaker 4: then we played a very strong Harlequin's team and why

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Speaker 4: kat To have taken their development strong as well. So yeah,

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Speaker 4: I hated a lot of challenges out but again, like

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Speaker 4: I said earlier, challenges are good for any squads.

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Speaker 2: You're in why Heat today, You've also got home games

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Speaker 2: in Tattaha, Corimandel and paid or is it always your

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Speaker 2: intent to share the home games around It is.

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Speaker 4: We don't have an actual home and we don't have

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Speaker 4: a stadium in the valley. So I challenged my staff

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Speaker 4: and we only run it with four staff to take

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Speaker 4: our game to the community. As long as we get

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Speaker 4: the buy in from the clubs, it is great. Like

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Speaker 4: we're in Wayhi today and we've got multiple volunteers all

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Speaker 4: helping us make this day come alive. So it is.

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Speaker 4: We've got Tiatraha and they've had a few games and

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Speaker 4: obviously the Meads Cup Final was a success for them.

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Speaker 4: But we're also going up to Coromandel, which is going

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Speaker 4: to be great. Haven't taken a game up there, but

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Speaker 4: we're taking the East Coast up there in a few

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Speaker 4: weeks time, so between that and then coming back to

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Speaker 4: Pyrol for our last home game this season. So yeah,

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Speaker 4: it is a challenge for us, but again we like

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Speaker 4: these sort of things and coming out and getting amongst

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Speaker 4: it as great for us.

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Speaker 2: And how would you describe the overall health of the

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Speaker 2: grassroots game of rugby in your region.

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Speaker 4: We're doing really well. There is a lot of negative

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Speaker 4: talk and if you only listen to the to the

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Speaker 4: media and things going on, rugby is in a bad way.

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Speaker 5: But if you look at.

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Speaker 4: Our stats, we're actually going the other way. We don't

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Speaker 4: have any statistics where we're going backwards. A couple of

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Speaker 4: platawed off in the juniors, but everything else is rising

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Speaker 4: and including a massive increase in our women's rugby, so

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Speaker 4: we are going well. We're trying to coach our coaches,

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Speaker 4: which obviously is going to take a lot of pressure

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Speaker 4: off a lot of the staff and stuff like that

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Speaker 4: because we have more and more helpers. But now We're

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Speaker 4: really happy with the growth in the valley.

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Speaker 2: I remember you were coaching for a while. Do you

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Speaker 2: miss it?

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Speaker 5: Hey, yeah, I do, as long as my board aren't

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Speaker 5: listening here. They challenged me to get off the grass

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Speaker 5: all the time and just stay in the office. I

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Speaker 5: do really struggle with that, but no, if you can

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Speaker 5: get the balance. I do really miss it.

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Speaker 4: I miss the camaraderie of the boys, and because you're

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Speaker 4: not this day and age, especially in grassroots, you're not

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Speaker 4: just a coach. You're even your mentor some to your

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Speaker 4: dad figure. There's a lot more to it than just

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Speaker 4: coaching rugby these days.

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Speaker 2: Good man Scott, Well, it sounds like Thames Valley are

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Speaker 2: in very safe hands. Exciting season ahead for you. Thanks

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Speaker 2: for joining us this afternoon.

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Speaker 4: Mate, appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: Take care you take care too, Scott Scott Penny, Thames

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Speaker 2: Valley CEO. They played Mid Canterbury one o'clock, so that

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Speaker 2: game's underway soon. Farm going to we North Otago, wind

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Speaker 2: it up a bush, South Canterbury hot off into a

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Speaker 2: carpany buller poverty by against East Coast and West Coast

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Speaker 2: against King Country. May Heartland Championship Rugby continue forever. I

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Speaker 2: never want to stop saying those unions' names when we're

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Speaker 2: talking rugby.

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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 sed B weekends from midday, or follow

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