Speaker 1: Football Fever with News Talks nb's voice of Football Jason
Speaker 1: Paine and Bonnie Chanson. Hello and welcome into Football Fever
Speaker 1: with FIFA Plus stream New Zealand football live and free
Speaker 1: on FIFA plus dot com. I'm Jason Pine Bonnie Jensen
Speaker 1: here as well. One week to go, Bonnie until the
Speaker 1: start of the New A League men's season.
Speaker 2: So well, let's done. Next week will be almost there.
Speaker 1: Auckland FC's opening game Brisbane Raw five o'clock Saturday, the nineteenth,
Speaker 1: Mount Smart the following day the Phoenix opening against Western
Speaker 1: United four o'clock Sky Stadium. How are you feeling having
Speaker 1: been in and around these two teams or representatives of
Speaker 1: them earlier this week. I think they had a joint
Speaker 1: media opportunity up in Auckland.
Speaker 3: Yes, Kida Piney just crazy that when nine sleeps away,
Speaker 3: I can't really believe it. So excited for next week
Speaker 3: when we officially get into it and all the pre
Speaker 3: match press.
Speaker 4: Conferences and things like that.
Speaker 3: But yes, as you say, caught up with the at
Speaker 3: the law unch with the two teams. Chief he was there,
Speaker 3: Steve Corker was there, and a couple of players from
Speaker 3: from both Phoenix and Auckland f C.
Speaker 4: And it was good.
Speaker 3: It was you know, you can since the since the
Speaker 3: vibe is starting to really kick off and it's it's
Speaker 3: heating up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's it is getting closer.
Speaker 1: And I quite like the fact that you know, there's
Speaker 1: there's been an effort made to you know, to keep
Speaker 1: it in the headlines. It's hard to get cut through
Speaker 1: although at the moment with the NRL having finished and
Speaker 1: I guess the All Blacks not playing at the moment
Speaker 1: the MPC is on, but you know, trying to get
Speaker 1: a bit of cut through, trying some different things and
Speaker 1: I think a joint you know, a joint meter opportunity
Speaker 1: is a great opportunity for the media to to chat
Speaker 1: to both sides. For Auckland f C, I see there's
Speaker 1: still a hold up with their final import. We all
Speaker 1: know this is the Colombian attack in Neda Modno, have
Speaker 1: you got any idea why this is taking so long.
Speaker 3: Now I'm understanding it's something to do with with his
Speaker 3: visa not being approved yet and he's got to do
Speaker 3: some final medicals and things like that. But you know,
Speaker 3: hearing some strong male that it's all buck confirmed, even
Speaker 3: from players aware of this, this winger coming into the team,
Speaker 3: so I mean, yeah, it could be any day, but
Speaker 3: I mean we're going to get to it. But we've heard,
Speaker 3: you know, just assigning today from the Phoenix, so hopefully, hopefully, yeah,
Speaker 3: we'll hear soon.
Speaker 2: Is he with the team? Has he arrived?
Speaker 3: I believe he has arrived and he was meant to
Speaker 3: be training today, but is injured. I feel like maybe
Speaker 3: Auckland f C don't want to jump the gun with
Speaker 3: this announcement because they did that with Alex Paulson before
Speaker 3: he was actually eligible to play, and they received a
Speaker 3: whole lot of comment from from the Wellington Phoenix and
Speaker 3: other clubs. So I just assume maybe they're they're holding
Speaker 3: off until they've finally got pen to paper.
Speaker 1: Which is fair enough. And look, if he's been here,
Speaker 1: like he may well have been here. I don't know this,
Speaker 1: but he may well. For example, he could have been
Speaker 1: here for the last six weeks and been training with him.
Speaker 1: There's nothing to stop that from happening. But well, the
Speaker 1: reason I asked question is if he's only just just
Speaker 1: arrived and as you've just told us there is injured,
Speaker 1: he's unlikely to be there in the first game, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, And and I don't think if you're Steve
Speaker 3: Coroker you want to bring anyone in this late and
Speaker 3: the piece to start the match, like aut least maybe
Speaker 3: he was training today. That's a good, good week, a
Speaker 3: good probably five or six sessions with the team. But yeah,
Speaker 3: it is certainly a late call to bring someone when
Speaker 3: bring someone in when stuff's already gelling.
Speaker 1: So well, we're going to play a couple of snippets
Speaker 1: of interviews you did with Steve Coricker and also Dan
Speaker 1: halland just a moment. Auckland f C have one final
Speaker 1: warm up game this weekend or final preseason game. They
Speaker 1: play the Malaysian national team, which is a good game
Speaker 1: for them to play. That's of course, before they take
Speaker 1: on the All Whites on Monday at Albany. And I
Speaker 1: see today news through that the port which is the
Speaker 1: you know, like the yellow fever, I guess of Auckland FC.
Speaker 2: The active support.
Speaker 1: Has sold out for the opening game and from the
Speaker 1: sounds of it, not just the p but the whole
Speaker 1: ground is close to being sold out.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Last I heard at the start of the week at
Speaker 3: the launch, Nick Becker was saying over twelve thousand tickets sold.
Speaker 3: They must have had a massive shift put in this
Speaker 3: week since since then, and no doubt as the media
Speaker 3: coverage picks up between now and kickoff, more tickets will sell.
Speaker 3: And I was talking to the Wellington Phoenix as well,
Speaker 3: how positive it is, you know, having these derbies now
Speaker 3: and having a lot more interest on the two New
Speaker 3: Zealand A League teams. How great that's going to be
Speaker 3: financially for these two clubs. I mean we talked about
Speaker 3: it last season where the Phoenix couldn't make any money
Speaker 3: off their sellout game because it was in a playoff
Speaker 3: and it goes to the A League. So to sell
Speaker 3: out a game or you know, get close to a
Speaker 3: sellout can really set these teams up for the season.
Speaker 2: So it's going to be exciting, absolutely right.
Speaker 1: And while I get the feeling the Phoenix in particular
Speaker 1: through Gianclo Ataliano are really trying to douse any hype
Speaker 1: around the derby by saying, hey, it's it's just another game,
Speaker 1: I feel like Auckland f C Are embracing it. And
Speaker 1: maybe that's because they're the new boys and and you
Speaker 1: know it's a bit different for them and that it's
Speaker 1: all exciting and all new. I remember Chief last year though,
Speaker 1: even when they had wins against you know, he asked
Speaker 1: him if a game was a six pointer when they
Speaker 1: were playing against a team that was above them or
Speaker 1: around them on the table. He was always at pains
Speaker 1: to say, every game is worth three points. It doesn't
Speaker 1: matter wh're playing the top of the table, bottom of
Speaker 1: the table, or a Derby match. They're all worth the
Speaker 1: same number of points to us. But so so really,
Speaker 1: I feel like the Derby is for the fans, you know.
Speaker 1: And and yes, though I'm sure the players will love
Speaker 1: playing in front of, you know, a Derby crowd as well,
Speaker 1: but I feel like the excitement around the Derby's will
Speaker 1: be among the respective fan bases. And I just love
Speaker 1: the fact that it's that, you know, that the shit
Speaker 1: are starting to get thrown between the two.
Speaker 2: That's what a Derby is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, And it was so interesting at the launch
Speaker 3: on Monday interviewing you know, people out of the AFC
Speaker 3: camp and then people out of the Knicks and the
Speaker 3: complete contrast and mood around that, you know, it was
Speaker 3: excitement and yeah, yeah, looking forward to it. Can't wait
Speaker 3: from AFC and then the Knicks, as you say, Chief
Speaker 3: is just say, oh yeah, it's just another game. Won't
Speaker 3: be too excited until we step out on the pitch.
Speaker 3: And I love that that's Chief's way about him. I've
Speaker 3: always really enjoyed kind of watching that. But at the
Speaker 3: same time, having the players and Chief ee buy into
Speaker 3: it and you know, keep up with that banter wouldn't hurt.
Speaker 3: And I think that would obviously help the likes of
Speaker 3: ticket sales and things like that. So I hope, you know,
Speaker 3: when we get round to that week, we see the
Speaker 3: week of the derby, we see, you know, the attitudes
Speaker 3: pick up towards it.
Speaker 2: I think that will happen. I think that will absolutely happen.
Speaker 2: You're right.
Speaker 1: I think at the moment, Wellington Phoenix have to focus
Speaker 1: on Western United and then a trip away to Perth
Speaker 1: for Auckland FC, couple of home games. Their opening game
Speaker 1: has been raw, and then sit in the FC which
Speaker 1: is a derby of sorts with Steve Corriker his former
Speaker 1: team of course, and then the derby. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: get the feeling you're right that once we get past
Speaker 1: those first two games to derby week, it'll really start
Speaker 1: to ramp up.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: It's all here from Dan Hall, one of Auckland FC's
Speaker 1: central defenders, coming of course from Central Coast Mariners, where
Speaker 1: he's a back to back a league champion. You spoke
Speaker 1: to him during the week on Monday in fact, and
Speaker 1: asked him, first of all, how Auckland compares to Gosford.
Speaker 5: I don't rate the beaches here as much as the
Speaker 5: Central Coast beaches, to be fair. I've only been I've
Speaker 5: only been to Takapuna Beach and it wasn't It wasn't
Speaker 5: on a very good day. But besides that, that's probably
Speaker 5: football wise. You know, it is very similar where I
Speaker 5: came from. You know, we worked hard here, we work hard,
Speaker 5: so there's a lot of similarities.
Speaker 3: What's like the messaging from the team this season is it?
Speaker 3: You know, are we focused on winning? What's like the
Speaker 3: what's the goal of the season for the team?
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure, we want to win. We're not here
Speaker 5: to make up the numbers, I think, and I think
Speaker 5: that's with everyone here. We're a team of winners and
Speaker 5: that's what we want to do. And I guess come
Speaker 5: the nineteenth we'll put that into action.
Speaker 4: What are you feeling this?
Speaker 3: Just rivalry with the Wellington Phoenix start to kick off.
Speaker 3: Obviously it'll be more key for the Kiwi players, but
Speaker 3: are you feeling that as well?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I'm buying into that culture obviously now
Speaker 5: that I'm here in Auckland, I want to represent the community.
Speaker 5: But as I said, we may not have like the
Speaker 5: direct ties to Auckland versus Wellington, but I think it's
Speaker 5: also you have to buy into that culture and that rivalry.
Speaker 5: So I think it's good for New Zealand football.
Speaker 3: And when you go back to play Central Coast is
Speaker 3: that going to be tough?
Speaker 4: Do you find a rivalry within you as well?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I think so. I grew up with a lot
Speaker 5: of a lot of those boys, so playing there for
Speaker 5: six years, I definitely think it's a bit of a
Speaker 5: like a sibling rivalry in a way. So that's definitely
Speaker 5: one game I want to win.
Speaker 1: That is Dan Hall speaking to Bonnie earlier this week,
Speaker 1: and Bonnie also spoke to Steve Coriker hit chob Aukland
Speaker 1: f C ask them if it's settled on are starting
Speaker 1: eleven for the opening game in a week or.
Speaker 6: So, be pretty close to if everyone's fit. I sort
Speaker 6: of have an idea of what we want to do,
Speaker 6: you know, one or two players. Maybe there's you know,
Speaker 6: we'll just see how they go in the next couple
Speaker 6: of weeks. But it's been really surprising as well. I
Speaker 6: think there's a really good blend of players that we've
Speaker 6: got some young, good young boys that are actually going
Speaker 6: to get better as the season goes along. We've got
Speaker 6: some good experienced players as well, and then you've got
Speaker 6: that middle group also, that sort of great age group
Speaker 6: that you know are really good for the squad.
Speaker 3: Do you feel a responsibility that you have to play
Speaker 3: the players?
Speaker 4: Is that challenging, like managing that or things like that.
Speaker 6: No, I, you know, I don't think we have to
Speaker 6: play them. We expect them to be at a higher
Speaker 6: level because they're the you know, the foreign players. I
Speaker 6: think it's important that you get your foreign players right.
Speaker 6: You don't always, you know, it's never easy to bring
Speaker 6: in players and see if they're going to settle. And
Speaker 6: obviously they're going to be at a very good level,
Speaker 6: but there might be times that you know, one or
Speaker 6: two of them might miss out and we go with
Speaker 6: you know, a younger KII boy or something like that.
Speaker 6: So yeah, there's no expectations that they're going to play.
Speaker 6: They have to fight for their spot as well and
Speaker 6: make sure that they're the best player in that position.
Speaker 3: On the contrary, with the New Zealand players as well
Speaker 3: as there, do you feel like you have to play
Speaker 3: them because it's a New Zealand.
Speaker 6: Team, Well, not really. They obviously we want you know,
Speaker 6: we've got a really good blend of k BI boys.
Speaker 6: We've got younger boys and more experienced ones. We've got
Speaker 6: eighteen out of the twenty six, so there's a good
Speaker 6: chance that a lot of them, some of them are
Speaker 6: going to be playing. So but yeah, at the same
Speaker 6: you know, we want them to do well. Obviously we're
Speaker 6: New Zealand club and from Auckland and a lot of
Speaker 6: our players are from Auckland and playing in front of family.
Speaker 6: But they have to be playing well and doing the
Speaker 6: right job for the team. That's the main thing for me.
Speaker 6: All right.
Speaker 1: That's Steve Coraica speaking to you earlier this week. Interesting
Speaker 1: point he made about or the innswering question you asked
Speaker 1: Hi about the imports and the Kiwi's. I guess theoretically, Bonnie,
Speaker 1: he could play. He could play eight outfield players who
Speaker 1: are not Kiwi's. Let's say Alex Paulson's and goal, or
Speaker 1: Michael vaud or Joe Noles, they're they're all Kiwi's, so
Speaker 1: a Kiwi in goal, but he could feasibly if he
Speaker 1: wanted to play eight non Kiwi's outfield. How likely do
Speaker 1: you think it is that he will want to play
Speaker 1: some Kiwi's.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think looking at the roster, some of the
Speaker 3: some of the Kiwi's he's signed, and some of those
Speaker 3: all whites in particular, are all but guaranteed stunning spots.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's good players you look at the likes
Speaker 3: of Nando who's come back, Francis DeVries who's got all whites, caps,
Speaker 3: Logan Rogerson as well. But at the same time, Yeah,
Speaker 3: we've talked about this on the podcast before and how
Speaker 3: you kind of feel like, even though Steve core I
Speaker 3: said somewhat of the opposite just now, you kind of
Speaker 3: feel like you have to play these import players otherwise,
Speaker 3: as you say, why do they have them? So, yeah,
Speaker 3: I was keen to ask that question just to hear
Speaker 3: what goes through a coach's mind in terms of is
Speaker 3: there some sort of responsibility to play these imports versus
Speaker 3: the Kiwi players being a Kii team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you've landed exactly on the players who
Speaker 1: are most likely to play. Nando I think is almost
Speaker 1: a locket on the left side of central defense. I
Speaker 1: think Francis Devrez has probably got the inside running at
Speaker 1: left back. You know, Logan Rogerson has got a bit
Speaker 1: of a competition in the attacking positions.
Speaker 2: Clearly we're going to have a Keiwi goalkeeper.
Speaker 1: But even Cam Howison, you know, we talked about this
Speaker 1: last week, he's not really guaranteed a spot in central midfield.
Speaker 1: If Galagos and Vrastrate end up being you know, pretty
Speaker 1: competent players, of course, it all depends really on how
Speaker 1: they go. We haven't seen these players in the A
Speaker 1: League yet, and as always with imports in the A League,
Speaker 1: you can't make a judgment until you've seen them play.
Speaker 1: Same with the Phoenix imports as well. So yeah, be
Speaker 1: very interesting to see how Steve Corikan negotiates that. But
Speaker 1: the good thing is that he hasn't stacked his squad
Speaker 1: with Australians, which he could have done if he'd wanted to.
Speaker 1: He's only got the three Dan Hall, Scott Galloway, Jake Brimmer.
Speaker 1: I think Brimmer probably plays and Hall probably does as well.
Speaker 1: Think Scott Galloway's maybe less likely with competition the full
Speaker 1: wack spots. But I like the fact that that rather
Speaker 1: than bring in a bunch of Australians who he knows
Speaker 1: from previous clubs and having played against them, I like
Speaker 1: the fact he's got a bunch of Kiwis in there.
Speaker 2: It's a good move.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, just hearing him then eighteen out of
Speaker 3: twenty six are Kiwis. That's pretty cool. I think that
Speaker 3: was the number. The other thing that it will be
Speaker 3: interesting in terms of determining spots and as you say,
Speaker 3: Cam Hallison another potentially fringe player, whether he's going to
Speaker 3: start or come off the bench, but it's who he's
Speaker 3: going to name captain. You know, you immediately look at
Speaker 3: the squad and go, oh, Tommy Smith. But then he's
Speaker 3: also not guaranteed a starting spot at center back. The
Speaker 3: other captain would be someone like Cam Howison. Again he's
Speaker 3: not guaranteed a spot in the midfield. So that's going
Speaker 3: to be another really interesting call. And when we hear
Speaker 3: that news, we're going to know, you know, who's probably
Speaker 3: likely to start.
Speaker 2: You know, who do you reckon it'll be?
Speaker 3: I mean originally I would have seen Cam Howison, but
Speaker 3: then looking at the squad the other day and he
Speaker 3: wasn't in that starting lineup or what I felt was
Speaker 3: the starting lineup, I'm not sure. Probably my next bet
Speaker 3: goes to someone like Nando or maybe Ap, but AP
Speaker 3: might be.
Speaker 4: A bit young.
Speaker 1: I reckon, it's a rocky sukey, you reckon yep, ah, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's got the experience, he'll play every week. Yes, there's
Speaker 1: that language barrier obviously, and that he's you know, an
Speaker 1: important player, but it's not unheard of for an import
Speaker 1: to lead a side less He's Davila was the captain
Speaker 1: of MacArthur when he went across there, so yeah, I
Speaker 1: get the feeling. And even seeing him at that media
Speaker 1: session on Monday where Rufer was there for Wellington and
Speaker 1: Sarkai for Auckland FC, true, I kind of feel like
Speaker 1: he'should captain.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean he's not probably the most experience playing for
Speaker 3: the Japan national team, so yeah, he's a great guy
Speaker 3: as well. The language is definitely a barrier. I mean
Speaker 3: I spoke with him and it's not that that should
Speaker 3: matter if football is a language of its own, but
Speaker 3: that would be my only maybe hesitancy with it in
Speaker 3: terms of how that would go within the team. But yeah,
Speaker 3: he'd be great.
Speaker 2: Did Stevie Korkas say when he's going to name his captain?
Speaker 4: No, he didn't.
Speaker 3: Maybe leave it with me, Parney I or do some
Speaker 3: digging after we finished recording this podcast.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll see if we can find out who's
Speaker 1: going to wear the arm band for Auckland FC and
Speaker 1: lead them out on Saturday, October the nineteenth at Mount
Speaker 1: Smart Football Fever with Jason Vine and Bonnie Jensen. Let's
Speaker 1: go to the Wellington Phoenix, who just a couple of
Speaker 1: hours ago signed their final player for the upcoming season.
Speaker 2: We thought they were done.
Speaker 1: Actually we thought they actually had their their roster complete
Speaker 1: when they signed Jaden Smith on a scholarship deal or
Speaker 1: a three year deal with a couple of years scholarship,
Speaker 1: the towering center back. But it turns out they had
Speaker 1: one more signing up their sleeve.
Speaker 2: Steph M.
Speaker 1: Kolakovski, former championship winner in the A Leagues with Melbourne City,
Speaker 1: spent last year at Perth Glory. Quite good mates with
Speaker 1: Olie Sale by the sounds of things. They headed off
Speaker 1: over there, had the chance to speak to Stephan Kolokovsky
Speaker 1: just a couple of hours ago, asked them how this
Speaker 1: all came about.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it all happened pretty quickly. But Chief was keen
Speaker 7: and Ols keen, so we've got it done as quick
Speaker 7: as possible.
Speaker 1: So it's the situation. There was an offer on the
Speaker 1: table in Europe something like that. Can you tell us
Speaker 1: the background?
Speaker 7: Yeah, not to dwelve into it too much, but maybe
Speaker 7: I was a bit naive to trust trust the wrong person,
Speaker 7: and maybe you know, I've got no shame in saying
Speaker 7: that I wanted to get to Europe. I think any
Speaker 7: footballer that's the level that they want to get to.
Speaker 7: But it couldn't work out this off season, which is
Speaker 7: completely fine, and now I'm just fully focused on achieving
Speaker 7: with the Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Tell us about your conversations with Chief.
Speaker 2: What have they consisted of?
Speaker 7: Yeah, to be fair, we haven't spoken too much about
Speaker 7: tactics or anything. He was just keen to get me here,
Speaker 7: and like I said, it happened quickly, so yeah, just
Speaker 7: get here first and then we'll talk about, you know,
Speaker 7: the football sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: You've obviously played in Wellington in opposition, Colors City in Perth,
Speaker 1: Glory and looking forward to actually being a home player
Speaker 1: in front of the Yellow Fever.
Speaker 7: Yeah. I was actually talking with some of the boys
Speaker 7: and some of the staff before even like watching on
Speaker 7: TV that semi final. The crowd was just was amazing
Speaker 7: and to be fair, all of last season and before
Speaker 7: so and the Yellow Fever fantastic. So I'm looking forward
Speaker 7: to to the eightieth minute then ripping the shirts off
Speaker 7: that that's going to be exciting.
Speaker 2: In position once, what is your favorite position?
Speaker 7: Good question? Now anywhere an attack striker, both a City
Speaker 7: and at Perth. I've played strike, I've played winger, so
Speaker 7: left all right, honestly doesn't FaZe me. I just want
Speaker 7: to get on the pitch, score goals, create chances and
Speaker 7: win games most importantly, so I don't really care what position.
Speaker 1: That's Stefan Kolakovsky good signing. I always liked him at
Speaker 1: Melbourne City and at Perth Glory. Actually just seemed like
Speaker 1: he didn't get a heck of a lot of opportunity
Speaker 1: to really lock down a starting spot. I think of
Speaker 1: his seventy A League games, only twenty two were starts,
Speaker 1: and fifteen of those were last year. So in his
Speaker 1: first four seasons of a league he started seven games,
Speaker 1: so yeah, I'm quite looking forward to seeing what he's got.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, definitely, it's I think it's a great pickup
Speaker 3: for Chief ye, and he sounds from that interview he
Speaker 3: sounds quite hungry for, you know, to come into the
Speaker 3: side with a bit of energy and drive, and he
Speaker 3: knows the history of the club or some of it
Speaker 3: by the sounds of it. So yeah, I think I
Speaker 3: think great signing.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and he's he said that he chatted to Oli
Speaker 1: Sail about it, and Ol he only had good things
Speaker 1: to say about Wellington. And then Chief did some media
Speaker 1: as well, and the sentence that stood out for me
Speaker 1: from Chiefs media talking about Stephan Kohlakovski was that he
Speaker 1: believes he can be one of the best attackers in
Speaker 1: the A League. You know, of course, you're going to
Speaker 1: say that about anyone you bring to your club, but
Speaker 1: he has got a he has got a knack Chief
Speaker 1: of getting the most out of players, and you know,
Speaker 1: obviously having Kolakovski helps initially too, because we learned during
Speaker 1: the week that Marko Rojas will miss the first one,
Speaker 1: possibly two games, hopefully back for the derby. The first
Speaker 1: derby in week three, stress fracture that they're trying to
Speaker 1: manage at the moment. Interesting to re Chief say that
Speaker 1: in the release about Kolakovski that they're very keen to
Speaker 1: build their team around Marco, so he's clearly a massive
Speaker 1: part of their of their strategy this coming season. But
Speaker 1: you know, Kolakofski, I'm not saying it's a similar kind
Speaker 1: of player, but he's an attacking player who might help
Speaker 1: to ease that initially anyway. So yeah, it's exciting times.
Speaker 1: The away strip has been unveiled, Bonnie, you've seen it
Speaker 1: the Chark Hole.
Speaker 2: Do you like it?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I don't mind it because they didn't really have a
Speaker 3: home and away last year, or they kept changing and
Speaker 3: would play in their all black kits, so I think, yeah,
Speaker 3: it's nice that they've gone for the home kit yellow
Speaker 3: and the away kit charcoal black.
Speaker 2: Yep, like it.
Speaker 1: And finally for the Phoenix, they have an intersquad game
Speaker 1: this weekend. They're done with all of their travel across
Speaker 1: to Australia for the preseason games. They will playing into
Speaker 1: squad game this weekend and prepare themselves for their opening
Speaker 1: match against Western United on Sunday, October twenty four o'clock
Speaker 1: at sky Stadium just.
Speaker 2: Before we leave the Alex.
Speaker 1: You did you see the new Alex commercial, the one
Speaker 1: that's been online over the last couple of days.
Speaker 4: I did.
Speaker 3: I saw that you shared it Piney, and I had
Speaker 3: goosebumps watching it. I thought it was so cool. The
Speaker 3: only criticism I had was that they said Australia's League
Speaker 3: and they didn't really have like a mention about New Zealand,
Speaker 3: although there was a lot of Phoenix content in there.
Speaker 4: It was is like Australia's League, But I guess it
Speaker 4: is Australia's League.
Speaker 1: Well it's and you know, I guess, look it's I
Speaker 1: kind of thought that too, But I just thought the
Speaker 1: whole production of it and the fact that they basically
Speaker 1: haven't shied away from the fact that the league is
Speaker 1: not perfect, and that it's that it's imperfections are almost
Speaker 1: what make it so attractive. You know, it doesn't. I
Speaker 1: think for a while the A League has tried to
Speaker 1: be something that it's not. You know, in all its imperfections,
Speaker 1: I think you find something really special, and you know,
Speaker 1: there are good players playing in this league, men's and women's.
Speaker 1: There are there is excitement, there's jeopardy, every week. You
Speaker 1: don't know from week to week who's going to win.
Speaker 1: It's not like you know, the Premier League where Manchester
Speaker 1: City just won it every year, or similar competitions around
Speaker 1: the world where one team just dominates all the time. Scotland,
Speaker 1: it's Celtic or Rangers or nobody. You know, last year,
Speaker 1: everybody thought the Phoenix toil the bottom two. They finished
Speaker 1: top two. And that's just one small example over the
Speaker 1: twenty years. I thought, I thought, you know that that
Speaker 1: the A League really, you know, hit the jackpot with
Speaker 1: this with this piece of advertising. If you haven't seen it,
Speaker 1: just just search up A league's pre season commercial or
Speaker 1: something on socials you'll find it. But yeah, I really
Speaker 1: liked it, and I like the fact that it almost
Speaker 1: played on the fact that it wasn't perfect, it wasn't
Speaker 1: elite Premier League stuff, but it was.
Speaker 4: We own it. We own it, Yeah, we do.
Speaker 2: That's a good way of putting it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, looking forward to the A League starting in
Speaker 1: about eight days next weekend on the pod or next
Speaker 1: week on the pod. Rather, we'll do our I think
Speaker 1: we should do our table positions, our finishing table position
Speaker 1: for what they're worth. Just saying it's impossible to predict anyway,
Speaker 1: but we'll have a crack. We'll have a crack on
Speaker 1: the podcast next week.
Speaker 2: Football Fever.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the All Whites. They have a couple
Speaker 1: of games coming up. Their first World Cup qualified tomorrow
Speaker 1: against Tahiti and Vanuatu should win this easily. What are
Speaker 1: you hoping to see? What are you expecting to see
Speaker 1: three o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
Speaker 3: Well, I want to see Alex Paulson and goal firstly,
Speaker 3: because we haven't seen that and I feel like he
Speaker 3: is very much deserving of, you know, wearing the number
Speaker 3: one jersey and I think this is a really good
Speaker 3: opportunity for him to and saying that I would like
Speaker 3: to see the strongest squad available fielded. I don't think we,
Speaker 3: you know, even though we're probably the heavy strong favorites
Speaker 3: going into this game. I want to start our World
Speaker 3: Cup qualifiers with a bang, and you know, no guarantees. Yes,
Speaker 3: as I mentioned, with favorites to secure that ticket to
Speaker 3: the World Cup, but let's start strong.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree.
Speaker 1: I think you put the best possible team out there
Speaker 1: and try and win it, and win it well, flex
Speaker 1: your muscles early on.
Speaker 2: If you're not going to bring.
Speaker 1: If you're going to bring guys like Chris Wood and
Speaker 1: Libby Kihachi and Marco Stamin, it's back. You know, what
Speaker 1: point is it them sitting on the bench, summing, sunning
Speaker 1: themselves in the in the Vanuatu sunshine. They should be
Speaker 1: out there playing. Look, if you're going to mix it up,
Speaker 1: I do that on Monday when they play Malaysia in
Speaker 1: a friendly match. But yeah, flex your muscles. Be the
Speaker 1: big dogs in Oceania. Win and win well, and and
Speaker 1: you know, go charging into the World Cup. Don't go
Speaker 1: sort of you know, stumbling or meekly wandering into World
Speaker 1: Cup qualification.
Speaker 2: Do it, you know, do it with some pinash and
Speaker 2: some style.
Speaker 3: No exactly, And that you know we've New Zealand, both
Speaker 3: the All Whites and the football Ferns have been you know,
Speaker 3: we don't help ourselves being in this this confederation and
Speaker 3: playing these Pacific island nations. You know, all due respect
Speaker 3: to them, it's not ideal for us. And so you know,
Speaker 3: as you say, Pine, inflexing your muscles, starting strong and
Speaker 3: going into a World Cup in two years time, you know,
Speaker 3: in the in the best best form we're in and
Speaker 3: we've got players gelling that's going to be so important.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I hope they go out with the bang.
Speaker 1: I don't think you'll see Alex Pulson and goal tomorrow,
Speaker 1: you know, I reckon no. I just think Max Crokum's
Speaker 1: done nothing to be dropped and Bays has shown a
Speaker 1: loyalty to him, which I like for goalkeepers that if
Speaker 1: you unless you play yourself out, you're in. And I
Speaker 1: think in those games against Mexico in the US, apart
Speaker 1: from the first Mexico goal, I think he had two
Speaker 1: really good games. Max Crokam, he's clearly down Baselely's number one.
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna have to wait till Monday night
Speaker 1: against Malaysia to see Alex Paulson out. The The other
Speaker 1: thing is Crokeam's in season. Alex Paulson is not in
Speaker 1: season at the moment.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, I wonder as well if there'll be some comms
Speaker 3: between the two Auckland of Auckland FC and the Phoenix
Speaker 3: about racing those players on Monday, because I remember chief
Speaker 3: he last year and I kind of got similar feelings
Speaker 3: from him this time that you know, he's not too
Speaker 3: excited by the fact that this window's super close to
Speaker 3: a league kickoff, so maybe, as you say, we won't
Speaker 3: see someone like Alex Paulson and goal who will be
Speaker 3: saving himself for that opener on the following satur.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but what do goalkeepers really do?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 1: They're not running around eleven or twelve k are they?
Speaker 2: They just stand between the sticks.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, I want to see Alex, you know I do Pineys,
Speaker 3: so I'm all for it.
Speaker 4: I don't mind.
Speaker 1: I think I will see one Monday night. I think
Speaker 1: he'll play on Monday night.
Speaker 3: I do. If he doesn't play this window, I'm going
Speaker 3: to be reaching out to Darren Base.
Speaker 2: He're gonna storm the he can to storm.
Speaker 3: The We're getting him on the We're getting him on
Speaker 3: Football for Feet of a podcast.
Speaker 1: We're demanding an explanation, demanding an explanation from him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we both agree that regardless of the lineup
Speaker 1: they put out though, though should comfortably account for Tahiti
Speaker 1: as they should for Vanuatu and some more when they
Speaker 1: come up against them in November. But like I say,
Speaker 1: make a statement, be the big dogs in this, you know,
Speaker 1: in this to mix my metaphors in this pond of Oceania,
Speaker 1: be the big shark that comes in and just devours
Speaker 1: everybody and charges into the World Cup, gets some confidence,
Speaker 1: gets guys some caps and some goals and yeah, and.
Speaker 3: New Zealand football hasn't you know, had a great run
Speaker 3: in the media recently with the football firms, So it'd
Speaker 3: be great to bring some you know, football positivity back
Speaker 3: to New Zealand, especially when they play Malaysia here on
Speaker 3: on Monday night. You know, even I think that game
Speaker 3: is going to be tough for them, as it will
Speaker 3: Auckland nef C and a friendly, but you know, just
Speaker 3: just try and get some goals. We need, we need
Speaker 3: some positive positivity. We need the fans engage. We need
Speaker 3: to love football again.
Speaker 1: And I think also to those outside the main sorry
Speaker 1: that those are the mainstream, outside the football fans who
Speaker 1: will watch the All Whites, you know, regardless, for if
Speaker 1: the All Whites score five or six tomorrow, then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, five or six goals are on the news.
Speaker 1: Same with Malaysia if they're scoring goals. If people wake
Speaker 1: up on Tuesday morning and hear that the All Whites
Speaker 1: have thumped Malaysia for Nilla or whatever it is, it's
Speaker 1: a far better storyline than a scratch you one all
Speaker 1: draw you know. So yeah, so go out there, beat
Speaker 1: your chest, be the big shark in the pond, certainly
Speaker 1: in the World Cup qualifiers and charge through the next
Speaker 1: few months and hopefully on towards the World Cup.
Speaker 2: Football.
Speaker 1: It's of a look at Kee he's playing overseas. I've
Speaker 1: got a bunch of male players who have picked out.
Speaker 1: I think Kate Taylor's doing okay in France though by
Speaker 1: the looks of things.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she played a full ninety for Dejon and a
Speaker 3: Tuner win last weekend. It's their first victory in the
Speaker 3: French Premier League this woman's season and is kind of
Speaker 3: midweek for the woman so not too much action.
Speaker 4: But shout out to C. J.
Speaker 3: Bott and an elite whose clubs Leicester and Aston Villa
Speaker 3: are going head to head this weekend in the Women's
Speaker 3: Super League.
Speaker 4: I think that's early hours Monday morning.
Speaker 1: Good stuff. Look forward to those two going head to head.
Speaker 1: Speaking of head to head, some key weis went head
Speaker 1: to head in the USL, which is the one below
Speaker 1: the mL East in the United States. James Mooser and
Speaker 1: Elliott Collier both played for Indy eleven up against Lodoon.
Speaker 1: Riley bidwoit plays for them and James Muser got the
Speaker 1: winning goal right near the end. He came off the
Speaker 1: bench scored the winning goal, So bragging rights for James
Speaker 1: Moosa and Elliott Collier against Riley Bidwa. Three guys outside
Speaker 1: of the all whites environment at the moment, but still
Speaker 1: playing professionally in the United States. Chris Wood got another goal,
Speaker 1: his fourth of the season for Forrest. Seventy three goals
Speaker 1: now in the Premier League. That's the same number as
Speaker 1: Earling Harland. He's taken a few more games, Chris Wood,
Speaker 1: but he's still level with Harland. Eli just got a
Speaker 1: goal for his new Austrian club, Saint Paulton, his first
Speaker 1: for his new club. He's there on loan. Good goal too,
Speaker 1: in a four to two win. Ben Old is getting
Speaker 1: plenty of minutes for Saint Ettie En ninety minutes in fact,
Speaker 1: when they beat Oxshier three to one in their latest
Speaker 1: League one Again Ryan Thomas. I was so pleased to
Speaker 1: see this Ryan Thomas back on the grass, his first
Speaker 1: minutes since last December he played for Pexwaller in the Netherlands.
Speaker 1: My eternal hope, Bonnie, is that we see Ryan Thomas
Speaker 1: play some part in this All Whites World Cup campaign
Speaker 1: or at the World Cup itself. His has been a
Speaker 1: career that has just been absolutely devastated by injury. For
Speaker 1: a player of his talent to play so seldom for
Speaker 1: Zealand has been just a probably for me, the biggest
Speaker 1: shame of the last four to eight years for the
Speaker 1: All Whites, just such a shame he hasn't been able
Speaker 1: to play more often.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I completely agree Pine, He's such a missed opportunity.
Speaker 3: And I think the thing we forget with the All
Speaker 3: Whites because potentially they don't play in as many pinnacle
Speaker 3: events as the football ferns do. They also have they
Speaker 3: also struggle to score goals and it's been such a
Speaker 3: fault for New Zealand football over the last kind of
Speaker 3: decade and I think Ryan Thomas being a Ford and
Speaker 3: him being in and out has really you know, it's
Speaker 3: made it difficult for the All Whites to gain any
Speaker 3: momentum up there. So yeah, we'd love to see him
Speaker 3: back in the mix soon.
Speaker 1: And Jay Herdman as well is the other one. A
Speaker 1: goal and an assist for Cavalry in Canada, where he
Speaker 1: is currently on loan. Let's finish with our National League
Speaker 1: National League Women. This is already pretty even after two rounds.
Speaker 1: Nobody has two wins. There are five teams who have
Speaker 1: got a win and a draw to sit there on
Speaker 1: four points, so pretty ingested early on. Canterbury United Pride
Speaker 1: and West Coast Rangers are two of those sides who
Speaker 1: have four points from two games. They play midday Saturday
Speaker 1: at English Park. Are they I mean, are they two
Speaker 1: of the sides? Clearly they are early on. But could
Speaker 1: Canterbury United or West Coast Rangers, if they get a
Speaker 1: good win this weekend, be the one who starts to
Speaker 1: make a bit of a break on the field.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so. I think.
Speaker 3: I think it's great firstly that no teams have had
Speaker 3: two wins yet it keeps the competition, you know, up
Speaker 3: for grabs. I would say West Coast Rangers will pull ahead.
Speaker 3: They you know, are pretty strong, pretty strong Auckland side,
Speaker 3: but who knows. Canterbury have been so great historically, so
Speaker 3: maybe it's another good good season for them.
Speaker 1: She'll mentioned Waterside Corori as well. In round one they
Speaker 1: had that one all draw with Auckland United and we
Speaker 1: know how strong Auckland United Are and then last weekend
Speaker 1: in their second game they put five past the Wellington
Speaker 1: Phoenix reserves. So Waterside Corori off to a very very
Speaker 1: good start. This weekend they travel up to take on
Speaker 1: your club, Eastern Suburbs on Sunday.
Speaker 2: So I mean, are Eastern Suburbs any chance?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I back Corori in this one. Yeah, sorry, Eastern Suburbs.
Speaker 3: I think the squad of Carori is really strong this year.
Speaker 3: They've been great in the Central League. As you just mentioned.
Speaker 3: The results they got against Auckland United was pretty pretty incredible.
Speaker 3: Eastern Suburbs just haven't looked as strong as they have
Speaker 3: in the past.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I back Coror.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, look out for that with interest and to
Speaker 1: see what your reception is at the Eastern Suburbs clubrooms
Speaker 1: next time you pop in there. And the Men's National League,
Speaker 1: Auckland City two from two they're the only side with
Speaker 1: two wins from two matches. Last weekend Western Springs beat
Speaker 1: Coastal Spirit six ' to two. This is a Coastal
Speaker 1: Spirit side that drew nilall with Wellington Olympic in the
Speaker 1: first game and looked really good defensively. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Western Springs have put six past them, and the Wellington
Speaker 1: Phoenix went down to Crows Up against Kashmir Tech who
Speaker 1: are you know, always there or thereabouts and National League
Speaker 1: conversations and beat them four nil. So plenty of goals
Speaker 1: and unexpected score lines. Wellington Olympic they kind of need
Speaker 1: to get a bit of a move on actually having
Speaker 1: lost in round two. They've only got the one point
Speaker 1: from two games. And they've got Eastern Suburbs men coming
Speaker 1: to Wellington on Saturday for a game at Martin Lucky Park.
Speaker 1: So what about your Eastern Suburbs men? Are they any good?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, I actually called the game on the weekend
Speaker 3: between the Eastern Suburbs and APR City Rovers, and again
Speaker 3: Eastern Suburbs have quite a young men, so they aren't
Speaker 3: as strong as what they've looked in the past. They've
Speaker 3: also just lost their coach, Kane Winters girl to overseas
Speaker 3: opportunity I think in Qatar, so they lost him midweek
Speaker 3: last week, so they'll go the remainder of the season
Speaker 3: without him, who's had a major influence. Yeah, it'll be
Speaker 3: interesting though. I wouldn't released in Suburbs out against Wellington
Speaker 3: and they've clearly had a bird of a shaky start,
Speaker 3: but yeah, knowing them, I expect they'll come out very strong.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they will.
Speaker 1: Yeah, losing to Auckland City, which is you know, obviously
Speaker 1: no disgrace repeat of the Chatham Cup final, but one
Speaker 1: nil to Auckland City on this occasion. I see Stipe
Speaker 1: Ukitch got the goal. I'm so interested to see where
Speaker 1: he goes a such an I.
Speaker 3: Know why he isn't signed for Auckland f C. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: are they fall Maybe?
Speaker 1: Well, I don't think they're full, but I'm just I'll
Speaker 1: just check. I think they've got ano. They've cost space.
Speaker 1: They've got twenty six players, seven of them scholarship, so
Speaker 1: they've got space. If they want them. It may well
Speaker 1: be they bring them in at some stage. Maybe they
Speaker 1: bring them in the January window or something like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, definitely, maybe I do some digging after this podcast.
Speaker 1: It sounds like going to be doing quite a bit
Speaker 1: of that digging for digging for all sorts of like
Speaker 1: the captain of Auckland f C, why Stipe Ukitch isn't
Speaker 1: isn't signed by them, and also some digging of a
Speaker 1: whole outside Eastern suburbs clubrooms that you can want to
Speaker 1: because you don't rate your chances.
Speaker 4: Ah, I don't relay that. I don't relay that.
Speaker 1: All right, that's us on the Football Fever Podcast for
Speaker 1: another week. This time next week we'll be back. We'll
Speaker 1: do a we'll do a Thursday edition next week so
Speaker 1: that we can take in the All Whites two matches
Speaker 1: and then give our latter predictions. And then from the
Speaker 1: start of the A League season we'll go back to
Speaker 1: our regular Monday podcast where we can review the weekend's
Speaker 1: action of both Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix. And then
Speaker 1: in a month or so when the women start playing
Speaker 1: as well. It's a jam packed summer ahead. Enjoy your week, Bonnie.
Speaker 4: Not long to go now, so excited Parney.
Speaker 2: We'll see you then the FFF with Penny and Bonnie