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

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Speaker 1: from Newstalk zb.

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Speaker 2: To kick us off, this our heartbreak for the All

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Speaker 2: Whites in game one of the soccer Ashes in Canberra

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Speaker 2: last night, a late goal from Soccer US sub Max

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Speaker 2: Ballard has given Australia a one yill win in a

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Speaker 2: game New Zealand dominated for long periods. Game twos in

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Speaker 2: Auckland on Tuesday night, All White skip up. Chris Wood

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Speaker 2: is with us as the team prepares to depart Canberra

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Speaker 2: in a few hours.

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Speaker 3: Thanks for your time, Chris.

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Speaker 2: How do you reflect in general terms on last night's

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Speaker 2: performance from the side?

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Speaker 4: Look, yeah, I think it's a very positive outcome that

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Speaker 4: we played well, but not getting away from the illusion

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Speaker 4: that we didn't win the game when we dominated so

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Speaker 4: much of it and we're a better stide for majority

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Speaker 4: of the time. So look, it's a bittersweet, but we've

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Speaker 4: got to focus in and do the business in the

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Speaker 4: second league to win their overall ashes.

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Speaker 2: How do you balance the disappointment of losing the game

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Speaker 2: with being encouraged by the way you played and control

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Speaker 2: the game for long periods.

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Speaker 3: Can you strike that balance?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a tough one to strike because you are

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Speaker 4: disappointed that you can see on a sucker punch with

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Speaker 4: really the only chance of the game, when we had

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Speaker 4: chances to put the game to bed. I mean, there's

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Speaker 4: no illusion getting away from if I stick one of

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Speaker 4: my chances away, that game turns out differently and we

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Speaker 4: win that game in my eyes for sure. But we've

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Speaker 4: got to take positive of we're creating those chances and

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Speaker 4: on another day we'll stick them away and we'll be

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Speaker 4: running away with that game.

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Speaker 2: What are the main things you can take from game

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Speaker 2: one into game two on Tuesday night and awful the

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Speaker 2: things to really build.

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Speaker 4: On, Well, I think that the domination that we showed

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Speaker 4: on the ball, nullifying their strengths and nullifying their going

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Speaker 4: forward and creating chances. And then the best thing for

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Speaker 4: us is we actually created chances, which is something we've

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Speaker 4: planned to try and improve on and do better go

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Speaker 4: into big games like against these top teams in the world.

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Speaker 5: So we've got to tell the positives of that.

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Speaker 2: You were off one on one with Paul Azzo in

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Speaker 2: the first half, just take us through your mindset.

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Speaker 3: Is that passenger play played out?

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Speaker 5: Look?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it was one of those when I

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Speaker 4: went through, I decided to take it early and watching

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Speaker 4: it back, he's actually made a very good say. Of course,

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Speaker 4: I'm more disappointed I should score. I should do better

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Speaker 4: in those situations as the person I am, the striker

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Speaker 4: I am, and as I said before, under no illusions.

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Speaker 4: If I score that, we go on to win the

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Speaker 4: game because we're with that dominant.

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Speaker 2: How good is it having Ryan Thomas back in the

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Speaker 2: national side for the first time in six years?

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Speaker 5: Look here, it's fantastic. We know the quality brings.

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Speaker 4: Obviously, he's been in Europe for a long period of

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Speaker 4: time now and thankfully he's injury free and doing extremely

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Speaker 4: well for his club.

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Speaker 5: So it's brilliant to have him in the setup.

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Speaker 4: I think we could see last night with the quality brought,

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Speaker 4: and hopefully we can back it up again for him

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Speaker 4: and the team come Tuesday.

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Speaker 2: And we saw you Chris come off after an hour

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Speaker 2: or so. Was that always the plan that your minutes

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Speaker 2: would be managed in that way?

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Speaker 5: Look, yeah, it's one of those things.

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Speaker 4: I've got a long season, we've got European campaign, lots

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Speaker 4: of internationals. We're going to be playing over fifty five

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Speaker 4: to sixty games this season. As a club and country.

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Speaker 4: It's one of those things. Minutes have to be managed

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Speaker 4: and they will be managed at club as well level

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Speaker 4: and things like that. So it's just normal in these circumstances.

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Speaker 4: But as we saw back in the qualifiers that we're

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Speaker 4: ready to play full games if needed and things like that.

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Speaker 4: So it's just one of those things.

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Speaker 2: So without really knowing for sure until your touchdown, would

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Speaker 2: you be good for ninety on Tuesday or is it

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Speaker 2: likely to be another hour or so in the second

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Speaker 2: game as well.

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Speaker 5: It's just waiting to see how the body turns around.

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Speaker 4: Two games in quick succession is what we're going to

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Speaker 4: have to look at for the whole team, and we

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Speaker 4: and well the manager will make the judgment calls on those.

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Speaker 4: So it's one of those things where I'm ready to

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Speaker 4: start the game as I feel now, body will tell

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Speaker 4: me in the next forty eight hours how it's feeling

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Speaker 4: and where it's ready to go.

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Speaker 2: Can you sense within the squad now are heightened energy

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Speaker 2: with World Cup qualification, secure players looking to pook their

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Speaker 2: best foot forward to be on that plane next year.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Well, and truly I think it's a very positive and

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Speaker 4: exciting time. As you say, we're all fighting for positions. Now,

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Speaker 4: we're all fighting to be on that plane over there.

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Speaker 4: We've got a great squad of thirty five forty players

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Speaker 4: to choose from these days, and everybody wants to be

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Speaker 4: on that plane over there. So yeah, the people that

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Speaker 4: are playing in the moment have got the chance to

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Speaker 4: really put their foot forward and stamp their plane ticket

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Speaker 4: over to the.

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Speaker 5: US Mexico in Canada. But it's very exciting.

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Speaker 2: Indeed, there's just a couple of questions on your Premier

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Speaker 2: League season win loss and a draw to start, how

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Speaker 2: do you evaluate Nottingham forestability to match or even better

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Speaker 2: last season's finish.

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Speaker 5: Look, I think we're in a very strong position.

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Speaker 4: We've been able to really go through it in the

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Speaker 4: transfer window, brought in some quality, some depth and to

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Speaker 4: the squad to make it look like a better squad

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Speaker 4: than we have last year, which is fantastic to see.

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Speaker 4: And that's the positives that we've got and who knows,

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Speaker 4: I think, well, the squad we've got, we're more than

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Speaker 4: capable of finishing where we did last year and competing

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Speaker 4: in Europe.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and just on those European nights you'll be playing

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Speaker 2: Europa League. The drawers out for the initial part of that.

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Speaker 2: How special are those home European nights going to be

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Speaker 2: for fans and players at the city Ground this season?

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Speaker 5: Look, will be unbelievable.

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Speaker 4: I mean everybody's talked about the city Ground under the

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Speaker 4: lights in European competitions. It's been away for a long

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Speaker 4: period of time, but there's something special. So now we

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Speaker 4: get to finally feel it and see it what it's

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Speaker 4: going to be like when we play that first home game.

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Speaker 4: But yeah, we've got some great games coming up, winnable

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Speaker 4: games for sure, and hopefully we can go far in

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Speaker 4: the competition.

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Speaker 2: And just to finish, you originally honored with inclusion in

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Speaker 2: the PFA Premier League Team of the Season for your

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Speaker 2: exploits last season. How big a moment was that for you,

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Speaker 2: Chris in terms of your football career.

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Speaker 4: Look here, it was huge and I didn't really realize

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Speaker 4: it until I was actually there and around the people.

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Speaker 4: They were on stage at the same time. So it's

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Speaker 4: something that I'm very honored with and something that's going

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Speaker 4: to live long in my lifetime. And look, it's maybe

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Speaker 4: more hungry and ready to hopefully put my best foot

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Speaker 4: forward to go again next season to be in that

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Speaker 4: Team of the Year again.

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Speaker 3: Good man, Chris, thanks for chatting mate.

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Speaker 2: I hope the background noise here wasn't too distracting for

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Speaker 2: your safe travels made and all the best on Tuesday.

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Speaker 5: Night, problem Chet's pony, take care You take.

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Speaker 3: Care too, mate, Thanks to day Chris Wood joining us

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Speaker 3: out of Canberra. There.

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Speaker 2: They were good last night, the All Whites really really

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Speaker 2: good and as good as I've seen actually from our

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Speaker 2: national men's team again to quality opposition like Australia New Zealand.

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Speaker 2: Boss that game for an hour of it and actually

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Speaker 2: funnily enough. I'm not sure that's the right phrase, but

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Speaker 2: it was when Chris Wood was withdrawn from the game

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Speaker 2: after sixty minutes along with Ryan Thomas, that it felt

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Speaker 2: as though the ascendancy was almost back with Australia. But

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Speaker 2: I was just so encouraged by what I saw from

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Speaker 2: the All Whites last night. Ryan Thomas. Man, how we

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Speaker 2: have missed that player, How we have missed his influence

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Speaker 2: around the team.

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Speaker 3: He's had a horrendous run of injuries, Ryan Thomas.

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Speaker 2: But finally, now, finally we're going to hopefully get the

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Speaker 2: chance to see him in an All White shirt. He

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Speaker 2: was on as I say, for an hour last night

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Speaker 2: and just looked every inst the player that we all

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Speaker 2: hoped he would be off the back of these injuries

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Speaker 2: that he has suffered. So to have Ryan Thomas back

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Speaker 2: in the national set up as brilliant, Chris Wood leading

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Speaker 2: the line, New Zealand relatively untroubled really until the goal

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Speaker 2: went in the eighty seventh minute.

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Speaker 3: There was a situation.

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Speaker 2: Really, it was a real sense of deflation because often

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Speaker 2: in the past New Zealand sides would have been happy

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Speaker 2: just to sort of compete with Australia.

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Speaker 3: They dominated that game by every metric.

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Speaker 2: They had more chances, they had more possession, they had

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Speaker 2: better creativity. Every stat and every metric was in favor

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Speaker 2: of New Zealand, apart from the one that matters the most,

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Speaker 2: and that is the scoreline at the end of the day.

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Speaker 2: So what happens now these two teams. I think they're

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Speaker 2: actually sharing a charted flight.

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Speaker 3: I heard to Auklant they.

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Speaker 2: Land late this evening and then on Tuesday night it

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Speaker 2: is game two and what is the soccer Ashes series?

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Speaker 2: And with the score at one nil to Australia, it

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Speaker 2: is the aggregate score at the end of the two games,

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Speaker 2: So if New Zealand can win by two, they'll get

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Speaker 2: the soccer ashes. If it's a one goal win for

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Speaker 2: New Zealand on Tuesday night, then we'll go to a

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Speaker 2: penalty shootout, so something a bit different there as well,

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Speaker 2: as we take on Australia for a rare two game

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Speaker 2: series in recent times.

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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 Ed b weekends from midday or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio