Speaker 1: Well, go to Football Fever. Another Monday has quickly rolled around,
Speaker 1: which means another episode of Football Fever, where we discuss
Speaker 1: all things a league and football is doing their thing
Speaker 1: around the world with the New Zealand or the flag
Speaker 1: flying for New Zealand. I'm Jason Pine. Bonnie Jensen is here.
Speaker 2: Hello, Bonnie Gilder Piney, how are you?
Speaker 1: Very good? Thank you. Before we go any further, we
Speaker 1: need to congratulate you on what happened on Friday night,
Speaker 1: winner of Best up and Coming Journalist at the country's
Speaker 1: flagship journalism awards, the Voyager Media Awards, which are on
Speaker 1: Friday night. The judges commented on the depth of your work,
Speaker 1: your unique ability to tell wider social stories through the
Speaker 1: lens of sport. You were also a finalist for Sports
Speaker 1: Journalist of the Year. Huge congrats, Bonnie, it's so deserved.
Speaker 1: And look did you have a Did you celebrate appropriately?
Speaker 2: Oh? Thank you, Parney. It's very kind.
Speaker 3: Yes, I definitely celebrated appropriately and I paid for it
Speaker 3: the next day when Auckland f C played at nine
Speaker 3: point thirty at night, it was definitely hard keeping my
Speaker 3: eyes open, but thankfully it was an entertaining game. So yeah,
Speaker 3: got through it gladly. But no, yeah, very very very
Speaker 3: happy about what happened on Friday.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad the voyages were Friday night actually because
Speaker 1: you would have been struck with a scheduling conundrum had
Speaker 1: they been on Saturday night. How would you have managed
Speaker 1: that celebrating those victories of yours and also watching Auckland
Speaker 1: f C against Melbourne victory.
Speaker 3: Well, piney, I would have requested that the matches live
Speaker 3: stream in the background obviously, like I would have requested
Speaker 3: that that was happening, you know, in the backdrop of
Speaker 3: the stage. But nevertheless it worked out, and I mean
Speaker 3: what a weekend Auckland f C one as well?
Speaker 1: Absolutely right, let's get to that then A league means
Speaker 1: semi final leg one Saturday night, Amy Park in the
Speaker 1: pouring rain, Melbourne victory nil. Auckland FC won. I just thought,
Speaker 1: before we unpack parts of this game, it was a
Speaker 1: very very very good performance from Auckland FC.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I completely agree. I think mentally it was probably
Speaker 3: their best performance. You know, they went in and knew
Speaker 3: the conditions weren't going to be great. That pitch just
Speaker 3: looked so soggy and wet, and the ball was kind
Speaker 3: of holding up but also moving very quickly at the
Speaker 3: same time, and I thought they really adjusted it well,
Speaker 3: and we haven't kind of seen you know, their character
Speaker 3: has sometimes been questioned throughout the season, so I thought
Speaker 3: they really stood up to the occasion, and even though
Speaker 3: they didn't hold the most amount of possession, they still
Speaker 3: took their moments and took their opportunities and looked like
Speaker 3: the better team despite that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think early on Melbourne victory came out, didn't
Speaker 1: they They were at home, They knew that, you know,
Speaker 1: they needed to get something out of the First League
Speaker 1: if they were to realistically you get through the second
Speaker 1: leg and into the Grand Final. I think Steve Corker
Speaker 1: said afterwards that they were a bit rusty having not
Speaker 1: played for a week and maybe now you look at
Speaker 1: you know you and I you particularly questioned whether he
Speaker 1: should have played some of the first teams in that
Speaker 1: game against Western United at the back end of the season. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, if he'd left them out, that would have
Speaker 1: been three weeks without a game, So maybe it was
Speaker 1: the right idea to play those players against Western United. Anyway,
Speaker 1: they weathered the storm. Early Melbourne victory certainly came out
Speaker 1: and the likes of Arzani and Volopola, you know, sort
Speaker 1: of made themselves a bit of a threat. But the
Speaker 1: thing that stands out for me across the game, Bonnie,
Speaker 1: is that Alex Paulson did not have to make a
Speaker 1: single save across the ninety minutes. Imagine having the home
Speaker 1: leg of a knockout semi final and not testing the
Speaker 1: opposition keeper with a shot on goal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is crazy, particularly given when you look at
Speaker 3: the you know, the caliber of Melbourne Victory's forwards and
Speaker 3: the amount of pressure they put on Auckland FC that
Speaker 3: we just spoke about a minute ago. So yeah, it
Speaker 3: was very confusing and I'm not certainly not complaining about it.
Speaker 3: But I think Melbourne Victory, Yes, when you look at
Speaker 3: them head to heat, Auckland f sare the better team,
Speaker 3: and Melbourne Victory actually finished fifth in the regular season.
Speaker 3: I still thought they would be a little bit more
Speaker 3: competitive than what they were.
Speaker 1: I guess you do have to talk about the blocked
Speaker 1: shots and the likes of Dan Hall, Nando Pinecker, Hiroki
Speaker 1: Sarki did a terrific job of protecting Alex Paulson, didn't
Speaker 1: they You know, it wasn't as though there weren't opportunities
Speaker 1: for Melbourne Victory as one little stands are in the
Speaker 1: first half when sort of three shots came in quick succession,
Speaker 1: Dan Hall blocked the first one and then Nander got
Speaker 1: his body in the way of the next two. So
Speaker 1: I also saw that Hiroki Sarki crossed this game made
Speaker 1: nine successful tackles and the most in any finals game
Speaker 1: in a league history is ten. So here's a Roki
Speaker 1: Sarky putting his body on the line as well. It
Speaker 1: just seemed as though they were just absolutely hellbents on
Speaker 1: making sure that Melbourne Victory would not score against them.
Speaker 1: And that's now three straight clean sheets against melbourn Victory.
Speaker 1: Melbourne Victory haven't yet scored a goal against Auckland f C.
Speaker 2: That's a crazy stat.
Speaker 3: I mean, we knew, we know how good Auckland f
Speaker 3: C are at defending the pride of themselves on that
Speaker 3: all season. I was worried that, you know, when it
Speaker 3: came to these final series, maybe it would hurt them
Speaker 3: a little bit because they're potentially too focused on that
Speaker 3: more than they are on attacking. But I really liked
Speaker 3: hearing throughout the game and your commentary Piney, which was
Speaker 3: exceptional as per how Auckland FC that had become the
Speaker 3: quickest Day League team.
Speaker 2: To fifty goals.
Speaker 3: And you know, you look at that contrast back on,
Speaker 3: you know, early on in the season where we spoke
Speaker 3: about that they're constant clean sheets and how good they're
Speaker 3: defending was and how they potentially struggled to score goals
Speaker 3: a little bit. But what a turnaround they've had. And
Speaker 3: that's again going back to this game on Saturday. That
Speaker 3: the contrast I liked was how compact they were at
Speaker 3: the back and just how patient they were in their
Speaker 3: attack moving forward. And you know, it took sixty four minutes,
Speaker 3: but they got the job done. So they've nailed that balance.
Speaker 1: So Logan Rogerson was the only goal of the game
Speaker 1: after sixty four minutes, inevitably set up by Francis Devrees,
Speaker 1: who's just become the assist king, not just a Walkland FC,
Speaker 1: but of the entire A League. And I was thinking
Speaker 1: to myself yesterday, you know, here's Francis Direes, who a
Speaker 1: year ago was sort of shopping himself around a little bit,
Speaker 1: trying to find a professional club. A year ago, Logan
Speaker 1: Rogerson was playing in Armenia. I mean, I defy most
Speaker 1: people to know where Armenia even is. And here they were,
Speaker 1: the two key was combining for such a crucial goal.
Speaker 1: Apparently Steve Coriker gave Logan Rogerson a bit of a
Speaker 1: serve at halftime and said, Logan, we need more from you,
Speaker 1: we need we need a bit more. Well, it's a
Speaker 1: good way to respond, isn't it.
Speaker 3: Well, how funny you say that, because I didn't realize
Speaker 3: Steve it said that, but I thought the same thing.
Speaker 2: I kind of.
Speaker 3: I mean, it might have been my hangover, but after
Speaker 3: that first half, I thought, where has Logan been? I
Speaker 3: just hadn't seen much of him in that first half.
Speaker 3: I thought Marley. Marley looked a lot better.
Speaker 2: Again.
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, they're starting him, you come on.
Speaker 3: But I thought he looked probably more of an attacking
Speaker 3: force than Logan did in that first half. So I mean,
Speaker 3: it's it's well done from stev O because he obviously
Speaker 3: got it out of out of Logan.
Speaker 1: Indeed he did. And then very late on NATEA. Modono,
Speaker 1: who came off the bench actually even before Auckland had
Speaker 1: scored their first goal, right right right at the end,
Speaker 1: he was put through on goal. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if I've seen it. I haven't seen that very often,
Speaker 1: the shot against the post, bouncing across the line, hits
Speaker 1: the other post and then bounces into the arms of
Speaker 1: the goalkeeper. You don't see that very.
Speaker 2: Often, No, you don't.
Speaker 3: And I wrote a column about this yesterday on the
Speaker 3: Herald about whether will that you know, that moment come
Speaker 3: back to haunt Auckland FC in the next match. You know,
Speaker 3: one mill up is a great is a great outcome,
Speaker 3: and they'll come in very confident into this home game
Speaker 3: and it should should be a walk walk in the park.
Speaker 3: But you know, equally to Neil would have been much nicer.
Speaker 3: And I just wonder if maybe that moment was the
Speaker 3: decisive moment of the semi finals series.
Speaker 1: I yes, we got to wait and see on Saturday night,
Speaker 1: just before we moved to that game. Good traveling support,
Speaker 1: a little throng of supporters up in the right hand
Speaker 1: corner of the TV screen so they had a good
Speaker 1: view of Logan Rogerson's goal. It was great to see
Speaker 1: Logan and Francis and all of them actually go over
Speaker 1: and celebrate and then after the game, you know, go
Speaker 1: and thank them. I even saw a tweet that before
Speaker 1: the game started, after the warm up they went over
Speaker 1: all the players went over to that corner of the
Speaker 1: ground to thank the traveling support back here down at Britomart.
Speaker 1: The watch parties going on at Tyler Street, Sport Tuckle
Speaker 1: Ty Square, the brit So, Yeah, there were a lot
Speaker 1: of people out and about watching it. Second League this
Speaker 1: coming Saturday, six o'clock. Go Media. Extra seats added thirty
Speaker 1: thousand or so will be there. I saw earlier today Monday,
Speaker 1: only around one thousand tickets are left as of today,
Speaker 1: so they'll go soon. I'm just trying to imagine what
Speaker 1: it's going to be like there on Saturday when that
Speaker 1: game gets underway.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited.
Speaker 3: Penny and Yeah, I don't know how this extra seating
Speaker 3: is going to look. I believe it's on that north
Speaker 3: sand side. Yeah, it's kind of confusing how it's looking
Speaker 3: on Ticketmasters. So it will be interesting. And what's also
Speaker 3: exciting is the following day, Mount Smart again is also
Speaker 3: sold out for the Warriors match, so they're going to
Speaker 3: have sixty thousand people through the gates on over the weekend.
Speaker 2: Good on Go Media.
Speaker 3: It's a great stadium to watch sports at but super excited.
Speaker 2: For Auckland f C.
Speaker 3: I want to ask you Piney though, does Nada Moreno start? Like,
Speaker 3: do you change the lineup?
Speaker 1: That's I was. I was hoping that I would get
Speaker 1: the chance to ask you that question. But okay, here's
Speaker 1: what I think. I Steve Corika is huge on not
Speaker 1: changing a winning side. He's done that earlier in the season.
Speaker 1: I remember louisvas Strata was suspended and when he came
Speaker 1: back into contention, you think it was louiver Strada. He'll
Speaker 1: just start he's he's Louis ver Strata, but Steve Couric said, no, no,
Speaker 1: you got to you know, you got to buy your time.
Speaker 1: So I just wonder whether he goes with the same
Speaker 1: side Max Marta. We don't know whether he's going to
Speaker 1: be fit. He didn't travel to Melbourne for this one
Speaker 1: and Jesse Randall took his place. That might be an exception,
Speaker 1: if you know, because that really does change the way
Speaker 1: that Auckland f C play. But no, the answer I
Speaker 1: think is no. Do you think he'll go Moreno over Francois.
Speaker 3: I mean if I was, if I was Steve, I
Speaker 3: would I feel like Modano speaks for himself with what
Speaker 3: he's done this season. But I wonder if maybe he'd
Speaker 3: start over someone like Gesse Randall. We don't know what
Speaker 3: where Max mutters at maybe he'll be fine come this weekend.
Speaker 3: But yeah, it is a very interesting one. I agree
Speaker 3: with you, Parney. I don't think Steve Corica will. I
Speaker 3: wonder if he's a bit superstitious Steve, and obviously you
Speaker 3: know he doesn't want to change, you know, fix what
Speaker 3: ain't broke, But I wonder if it's a superstition thing
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 1: Could well be. I mean, he's been very consistent with
Speaker 1: the selections this year. I had a look yesterday. I
Speaker 1: think there are eleven players in the squad who have
Speaker 1: played twenty three or more of the twenty seven games.
Speaker 1: So it's such a solid cores. And you and I've spoken,
Speaker 1: and you've talked about what lies beneath the say fourteen
Speaker 1: or fifteen and whether you know, if there was an
Speaker 1: injury crisis that struck the side, what you know, would
Speaker 1: they be able to cope? Do they have the depth?
Speaker 1: Because you know the other side of this is Steve
Speaker 1: Coraker hasn't really exposed too many of his his widest
Speaker 1: squad to football this year, has there you know, a
Speaker 1: bunch of guys have only had you know, one or
Speaker 1: two appearances. Some haven't had any at all, so you know,
Speaker 1: but that won't matter this weekend because everybody's pretty much fit.
Speaker 1: The other interesting part will be the tactics and if
Speaker 1: you know, you don't have to concede, if you know, okay,
Speaker 1: if we don't, can see we're out of the Grand Final.
Speaker 1: I'm sure there's a temptation to be defensive, but it
Speaker 1: just doesn't seem, as I said to you last week,
Speaker 1: to be any part of what Steve Corker does.
Speaker 3: In saying that, I do wonder if they will go
Speaker 3: back to three at the back because it works that
Speaker 3: second time against Melbourne when they beat them too nil.
Speaker 3: That was one of their best ever games this season
Speaker 3: when they went to three at the back. Hiroki Saka
Speaker 3: and Nando Pinek and Dan Hall was Dan Hall back,
Speaker 3: Yes it was Dan Hall. And I remember Steve saying
Speaker 3: that he read liked the way his team played in
Speaker 3: that formation. However, they kind of lacked that, you know,
Speaker 3: going forward, and they weren't as attacking as he would
Speaker 3: have liked to be. They don't need that, I guess
Speaker 3: this weekend or not from the start anyway, So I
Speaker 3: wonder if maybe he'll look at that just to change
Speaker 3: things up, see what they can do again.
Speaker 2: It is It is very hard to say.
Speaker 3: I think even though Steve Coriker has kept it pretty
Speaker 3: straight with his lineups and things like that this season,
Speaker 3: he has still got a few tricks up his sleeve,
Speaker 3: which I don't think we've seen them all yet.
Speaker 1: Can you see Melbourne victory spoiling the party? There are
Speaker 1: only one nil down?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I absolutely can and it again wrote this yesterday,
Speaker 3: but it scares me.
Speaker 2: This one nil leads. It's gonna be hard.
Speaker 3: For Auckland def C to find that perfect line, that
Speaker 3: balance between going in with confidence knowing they are one
Speaker 3: nil up and they don't need to rush things, but
Speaker 3: not becoming too complacent because that can happen. You know,
Speaker 3: this is more than what they would have wanted out
Speaker 3: of this first leag so that they have to get
Speaker 3: that balance right, and you know it takes the pressure
Speaker 3: off Melbourne. They can come to Auckland now. They're not
Speaker 3: expected to beat Auckland in this fortress that they've built,
Speaker 3: but they can come here now and just go at it.
Speaker 3: They'll have to be careful that they don't isolate themselves
Speaker 3: at the back and leave gaps because Auckland FC will pounce.
Speaker 3: But they can go for it in the first half anyway.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens.
Speaker 1: If Auckland FC score a goal in the first half,
Speaker 1: or score a goal at any time really, but particularly early,
Speaker 1: then Melbourne Victory really have to chase the game, don't they.
Speaker 1: At two Niel down they have to go for it,
Speaker 1: which leaves them open perhaps at the back. If Melbourne
Speaker 1: Victory were to open the scoring and it's one all,
Speaker 1: then it's basically game on, isn't it. It is absolutely
Speaker 1: game on. The way goals don't count for any more
Speaker 1: than home goals, it's just the aggregate. So it's possible
Speaker 1: we could go to to extra time and to a
Speaker 1: penalty shootout on Saturday night at go meter. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure the hearts of the thirty thousand, well some of
Speaker 1: them could stand it, but that's all ahead of us.
Speaker 1: We must have a winner on Saturday night to go
Speaker 1: through to the Grand Final. Just a quick word on
Speaker 1: the other Semi Western United nil Melbourne City three. The
Speaker 1: Fraser Heir a lot is that you can't win a
Speaker 1: two legged final in the first leg, but you can
Speaker 1: certainly go a long way to losing it. Melbourne City
Speaker 1: at one foot in the final, haven't they? Oh?
Speaker 3: Absolutely? And this is why I've said in recent weeks Piney,
Speaker 3: I'm not that fuss to play Western United in a
Speaker 3: semi or final. I think they've been too inconsistent all season.
Speaker 3: And yes, that kind of Auckland's bogie team beating them
Speaker 3: twice quite significantly, but they've also they've also lost some
Speaker 3: big games, so hence this one in the weekend, and
Speaker 3: I think Melbourne City looks scary about what we'll cross
Speaker 3: city when we get there.
Speaker 2: I'm confident we will.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll think about that when the Grand Final arrives.
Speaker 1: But yeah, now Melbourne City will be enjoying their week.
Speaker 1: Hermann Ferrada, Jonatan Cohen and Matt Lecky with the goals
Speaker 1: that gave them a three nil won the second League
Speaker 1: of That game follows the Auckland game actually on Saturday night.
Speaker 1: It's nine thirty five on Saturday night. That one also
Speaker 1: at Amy Park.
Speaker 2: This is what.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the A League Women's final yesterday at
Speaker 1: Amy Park. So Saint Patrick Grass that Auckland FC beat
Speaker 1: Melbourne Victory on twenty four hours or so earlier. Full time.
Speaker 1: It was Melbourne Victory. One the Central Coast Mariners won
Speaker 1: Isabelle Gomes, of course, who played for the Phoenix in
Speaker 1: their first year. Player of the match. She scored the
Speaker 1: Mariner's goal in the forty sixth and then Claudia Bunge
Speaker 1: with melbourn Victory's equalizer extra time penalties. The Mariners are champions, Bonnie.
Speaker 3: And I definitely didn't expect the safe Melbourne Victory were
Speaker 3: suddenly going to go and get the job done. Shout
Speaker 3: out to Claudia who scored that goal of as football
Speaker 3: Ferns center back, so well done to her. But it's nice,
Speaker 3: you know. Obviously it was kind of rooting for Melbourne
Speaker 3: Victory with Claudia in there, and also Gareth Turnbull, who's
Speaker 3: there another KEYWI assistant coach of Melbourne Victory. But it
Speaker 3: was kind of nice to see a new team win it,
Speaker 3: I suppose.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and I don't think anybody picked this right.
Speaker 1: Pretty much from halfway through the season, when Melbourne City
Speaker 1: and Melbourne Victory were clearing out from the rest, it
Speaker 1: just seemed like we were destined for a Melbourne victory
Speaker 1: Melbourne City Final, didn't it. And we talked last week
Speaker 1: on the podcast about the off side goal that got
Speaker 1: the Mariners through, but you know that's football, and through
Speaker 1: they went, and well, they were ten minutes away from
Speaker 1: winning it in ninety minutes, weren't they until Claudia's header.
Speaker 1: They still got to get through extra time and hold
Speaker 1: their nerve on penalties, which they did their first ever
Speaker 1: A League women's championship. Emily Husband I thought this was odd,
Speaker 1: just the fourth female coach in A League women's history
Speaker 1: to win the championship. So maybe there's still a wee
Speaker 1: way to go before we get true equalization around coaching
Speaker 1: at a league women's level. Do you have any thoughts
Speaker 1: on that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do, Piney, and it's something Emma Hayes, who's
Speaker 3: obviously the FIFA best coach in the world and coaches
Speaker 3: the US women's national team. She's been promoting a lot
Speaker 3: and being a big advocate of getting more women into
Speaker 3: coaching roles. We don't see a lot of it, obviously.
Speaker 3: I think the women's game is so far behind. We
Speaker 3: spoke about VR last week in the A League and
Speaker 3: things like that. So yes, there's definitely a long way
Speaker 3: to go, and coaching coaching is one of them. I
Speaker 3: think a shout out though to Isabel Gomez, who obviously
Speaker 3: scored that goal for Central christ mariadis she scored that
Speaker 3: goal the week before as well, which was definitely offside.
Speaker 3: She probably knew it as much as we all did,
Speaker 3: but she's come such a long way since her time
Speaker 3: at the Wellington Phoenix and she's just had a call
Speaker 3: up to the Matilda's squad under Tom Somani, interim coach.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Great to know that if you play well in
Speaker 1: the A League you catch the eye of the national coach.
Speaker 1: I saw Isabel Gomez's name there and I don't think
Speaker 1: there's any dispute that she's been absolutely terrific and obviously pivotal,
Speaker 1: not just with goals but with the performances as well.
Speaker 1: And now she's the owner of a A League Women's
Speaker 1: Championship medal, So yeah, well done to Isabelle Gomez. A
Speaker 1: couple of bits of Phoenix news. They won their Australia
Speaker 1: Cup match in Darwin one NELT against Brisbane a goal
Speaker 1: to cost of Barbarusis so it means that they make
Speaker 1: their way into the round of thirty two. The most
Speaker 1: important part of this, of course, is that it gives
Speaker 1: them games in the middle part of the calendar year
Speaker 1: as part of their preseason. They get meaningful matches as
Speaker 1: part of their preseason, rather than trying to organize them
Speaker 1: against local club teams or perhaps another A League team.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Costa, still no word as of today today's
Speaker 1: May the nineteenth on his future. As I understand it,
Speaker 1: his contract runs out on the thirty first of May,
Speaker 1: so at some point in the next couple of weeks
Speaker 1: they're going to have to make an announcement whether the
Speaker 1: decisions being made and they're working through it. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I have a theory, Piney go on, I think cost
Speaker 3: is staying and hear me out on this one, just
Speaker 3: based on the postmatch interview he had over in that
Speaker 3: Australia Cup match against Brisbane that the young reporter asked
Speaker 3: him about you know what it's like going to be
Speaker 3: like to play Wrexham and just his the tents in
Speaker 3: which you know, he was phrasing things and he was saying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're really looking forward.
Speaker 3: To that match, and you know, I think it'll be
Speaker 3: good for the team to grow. And I just thought
Speaker 3: the way he was wording his words was interesting and
Speaker 3: it kind of you kind of got the sense that
Speaker 3: he was going to be there at that Wrecksham game.
Speaker 1: I like that. Look, I hope your intuition's right. Look, yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't pay up on that, So that's great intuition
Speaker 1: from you, because I said to you last week. Remember
Speaker 1: at the Phoenix Awards, the speeches that he did there
Speaker 1: didn't allude to us or we at all. So that's
Speaker 1: what sort of got me a bit worried. But look,
Speaker 1: I mean, let's just wait until we find out for
Speaker 1: sure whether Costa is starring. I certainly hope that you're
Speaker 1: right and Wrexham play the Wellington Phoenix in Wellington on
Speaker 1: Saturday July nineteenth. Is that it'll be a bit of
Speaker 1: glitz and glamour. I'm not sure whether the Hollywood owners
Speaker 1: Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny are making the trip down
Speaker 1: to Wellington. I'm sure they would welcomed with open arms
Speaker 1: if they did. But yeah, something a bit special for
Speaker 1: Wellington Phoenix fans to enjoy on Saturday the nineteenth. Just
Speaker 1: wanted to finish today on the Football Ferns squad. Of course,
Speaker 1: the last time they got together for a tour it
Speaker 1: got well, it was wrecked, wasn't it. Let him play
Speaker 1: the game against Taiwan. They played Venezuela early next month
Speaker 1: in Spain. The games are on the first of June
Speaker 1: and the fourth of June zell in time, both in
Speaker 1: the early hours of the morning. Michael Mayne is still
Speaker 1: in temporary charge. Do we know when there's going to
Speaker 1: be a permanent coach announcement for the Football Funds or
Speaker 1: are we still waiting for that as well?
Speaker 3: I feel like it was coming the end of this
Speaker 3: month or early next month. But yeah, I know that
Speaker 3: they're down to a short list of names and final interviews.
Speaker 3: I have a feeling it to be Michael Mayne, though,
Speaker 3: So I just feel like the way he's kind of
Speaker 3: been given a lot of freedom to, you know, see
Speaker 3: lots of different players and leave some senior players out
Speaker 3: of squads since you know, the start of this year
Speaker 3: kind of suggests that he's looking at how he wants
Speaker 3: his team going forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I tend to agree. Do you think that would
Speaker 1: be a popular decision with the players?
Speaker 3: I think some of them will, you know, rarely get
Speaker 3: on board with it. I don't mind the guy. I
Speaker 3: need to see more. I think he's a great, great person,
Speaker 3: a great coach. I think he's doing well seeing a
Speaker 3: whole bunch of different players. I think it is interesting
Speaker 3: him leaving out players like Katie Bowen and Rebecca Stott
Speaker 3: and CJ.
Speaker 2: Bott like he did earlier this year.
Speaker 3: Which was kind of interesting, a bit bold, but maybe
Speaker 3: you know, we've got to give it to him that
Speaker 3: he did that. So yeah, I can't speak for the players,
Speaker 3: but I feel like some of them do probably really.
Speaker 2: Like where he's going with the team.
Speaker 1: I think the other part of this is that while
Speaker 1: he's in charge of the team, it's almost like possessions
Speaker 1: nine tenths of the law. You know, he's got the job,
Speaker 1: he's got the opportunity every time he takes them out there.
Speaker 1: You know, he's almost on trial in a way. That's
Speaker 1: the wrong word, I know, but that's why I think
Speaker 1: it was such a shame that they didn't get the
Speaker 1: chance to play against Taiwan because for Michael Maine, he
Speaker 1: would have been very, very keen to show the decision
Speaker 1: makers at New Zealand Football another good performance from his
Speaker 1: team wouldn't he.
Speaker 3: Yes, Yeah, and that's that's why exactly was a shame
Speaker 3: for him and probably a shame for the other contenders
Speaker 3: on the short list because they'll be looking at Michael
Speaker 3: Maine now off on another tour and seeing him get
Speaker 3: a shot. But I think I guess he deserves that
Speaker 3: opportunity to show what he's got, you know, being under
Speaker 3: Yika for a few years. Yeah, I think they've got it.
Speaker 3: They've got to beat Venezuela. That needs to happen. I
Speaker 3: wonder if this is his last trial to show, to
Speaker 3: show what he's got before he makes before they make
Speaker 3: a decision.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that could be it. Venezuela are fifty first in
Speaker 1: the world, currently New Zealander thirty second, so by that
Speaker 1: metric it should be a well, I was going to say,
Speaker 1: a comfortable two nil win in this series. I'm sure
Speaker 1: that's what Michael Main's hoping. Looking at some of the
Speaker 1: players who have been recalled, Ali Green is in there,
Speaker 1: Devin Jackson, You'll be delighted with Devin Jackson's recall into
Speaker 1: the national side. Grace Jarlay as well, Rebecca starts back
Speaker 1: to be He hasn't a new mum in the squad
Speaker 1: for the first time since she gave birth last year.
Speaker 1: So great to see her, you know, proving yet again
Speaker 1: that the childbirth and becoming a mum is no impediment
Speaker 1: to being an international footballer. I think that's that's terrific.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: I understand as well, Betsy's going to be traveling with
Speaker 3: her baby, so her baby will come onto her and
Speaker 3: you know, be with the team and things like that.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's a really positive set forward that New
Speaker 3: Zealand Football have kind of included her in that.
Speaker 1: The release also talked about some players who were not
Speaker 1: available for selection due to and I'll read from the
Speaker 1: release injury concerns or return to play considerations. Those players
Speaker 1: c J Bott, Katie Bow and Macy Fraser, an elite,
Speaker 1: Milia steinmetz Alie Riley and India Page. Riley is an
Speaker 1: elite playing in gold for anybody at the moment or not.
Speaker 3: No, she's playing as a striker for Hibiscus Coast in
Speaker 3: the Lotto NRFL, the woman's premier competition here in Auckland.
Speaker 3: I understand an elite was wanting to play for Auckland
Speaker 3: IFC and the women's team. So now that that is
Speaker 3: unlikely to happen. She might be a little bit stuck.
Speaker 3: I'm not sure what's going to happen there, but it
Speaker 3: is a real shame because she is a bloody good
Speaker 3: goalkeeper excuse my French, and yeah, I want to see
Speaker 3: her back in the Ferns mix asap.
Speaker 1: So do I, so do I Allie Riley. I thought
Speaker 1: she may have quietly retired, but if her name's still
Speaker 1: being talked about as someone who's unavailable for selection, you'd
Speaker 1: have to think she hasn't pulled the pin. She still
Speaker 1: might represent New Zealand again. Would we see Allie Riley
Speaker 1: in a Fern shirt again?
Speaker 2: I think yeah.
Speaker 3: I think she is still recovering from injury, obviously trying
Speaker 3: to get back to play for Angel City, her.
Speaker 2: Club in LA.
Speaker 3: I don't think we'll probably see her in a Football
Speaker 3: Firms jersey again. Yeah, whether we'll even see her in
Speaker 3: an Angel City jersey. It's been sometime since she's been
Speaker 3: on the park now since before the Olympics, so yeah,
Speaker 3: I think that one is pushing pushing the luck a
Speaker 3: little bit. But I mean it is a shame because
Speaker 3: she's had so many caps for New Zealand. I'd like
Speaker 3: to see her get a final run out like Annalie
Speaker 3: Longo is going to get this upcoming to her.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the other one, isn't it. Annelie Longo retired
Speaker 1: from from club football, supposedly in the football firm squad.
Speaker 1: I can't remember I mentioned this last week or not
Speaker 1: when we were talking about Bev Priestman being the obvious
Speaker 1: contender to take over at Wellington Phoenix. I wonder if
Speaker 1: that does happen, whether Anally Longo might quickly unretire.
Speaker 3: Oh, I thought you were going to say Annali Longo
Speaker 3: could coach because she is she has done like her
Speaker 3: coaching licenses, hasn't she?
Speaker 1: I think so you could see that. Yeah, well I
Speaker 1: think I think so. But I know, I think I
Speaker 1: think she might quite like the idea of being in
Speaker 1: a team that Bev Priestman is coaching. I don't know.
Speaker 1: It might be one of the one of the artist
Speaker 1: retirements in history, Bonnie.
Speaker 3: Well, maybe even shorter than Porscha Woodman, as we saw
Speaker 3: retired from rugby and now she's back and will cut
Speaker 3: bound later this year.
Speaker 1: Everybody is allowed to change their mind, Bonnie. Everybody is
Speaker 1: allowed to change their mind. Apart from the judges at
Speaker 1: the Voyager Awards. They've already made their decision. They will
Speaker 1: not be changing that. Yes, all right, Bonnie, that's us
Speaker 1: for today. Big big weekend coming Saturday night at GO
Speaker 1: Media is going to go mad. I get the feeling. Look,
Speaker 1: it's hard to predict what will happen, but what we
Speaker 1: can say is will be some occasion there for the
Speaker 1: first ever home finals match for Auckland FC. We will
Speaker 1: break it all down for you a week from now
Speaker 1: when football Fever returns. Have a great week, Bonnie, See
Speaker 1: at Lada