Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
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Speaker 1: is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks ed B.
Speaker 2: Hi, Welcome on into the sports FX podcast. My name
Speaker 2: is Darcy Waldgrave. It is a Thursday. It is the
Speaker 2: thirteenth of feb twenty twenty five. This is your home
Speaker 2: of all the sports news you need to know in
Speaker 2: a bite sized package. And coming up on today's at
Speaker 2: Fix will be joined by Jeff Brown. He's the bid
Speaker 2: lead for Mana pacifica yet another consortium king to get
Speaker 2: involved in the Narl. No, not from christ Church like
Speaker 2: the other three, but this one based in Aukla. Will
Speaker 2: find out why, where, how who all of that? With
Speaker 2: mister Jeff Brown joining us shortly, I've got some opinion
Speaker 2: around the life and times of boxer Joe Parker. Found
Speaker 2: out today that Alexandra Ussek is going to retire. His
Speaker 2: next big fight is going to be against the winner
Speaker 2: of Dubois versus Parker. A chance to ascend to the
Speaker 2: top of world heavyweight boxing awaits and joining us in
Speaker 2: the chamber is Elliott Smith enzme's voice of rugby. As
Speaker 2: we toss around a couple of the big sports stories
Speaker 2: of the day. That's what we're up to enjoy in
Speaker 2: other news and in sport today. Well FeNiS coach gian
Speaker 2: Carlo Ataliano hopes to have his new import on the
Speaker 2: pitch for next weekend's KIWI Darby and Football's and Men's
Speaker 2: A League. Attacking midfield at Chico Giralda so joins Wellington
Speaker 2: after being loaned out for a second time by his
Speaker 2: Malaysian club. Ataliano, who's optimistic the Portuguese player will feature
Speaker 2: against Auckland FC next weekend, outlines the new acquisition's attributes.
Speaker 3: Technically a very good player if you go through his career,
Speaker 3: was of Sporting Lisbon, I'm Track Frankfurt and played four
Speaker 3: five seasons in total in Portugal.
Speaker 4: So really looking forward for him to get ready and
Speaker 4: contribute to the team.
Speaker 2: Crusader's coach Rob Penny insists his plans for James O'Connor
Speaker 2: are far from set in stone, after naming the former
Speaker 2: Wallaby on the bench for tomorrow night's Super Rugby Pacific opener.
Speaker 2: Twenty one year old Taha Camerada will start at first
Speaker 2: five against the Hurricanes.
Speaker 5: We know what James will bring. We were trying to
Speaker 5: set Tahara up to give him the best opportunity to
Speaker 5: get on in the group and he showed what he
Speaker 5: was capable of and we've continued to do that. But
Speaker 5: James's time will come, there's no doubt.
Speaker 2: And heid on his coach Jamie Joseph has caught him
Speaker 2: a favor from an old friend. Ahead of tomorrow's Super
Speaker 2: Rugby match against the Waratahs in Sydney. Current Spring Box
Speaker 2: assistant Tony Brown has appeared at training ahead of their
Speaker 2: season opener. Joseph says he needed help from a trusted source.
Speaker 5: He's obviously a big part of this club. Played one
Speaker 5: hundred games for the Hondas, very successful coach, continues to
Speaker 5: be a successful coach at the top end of the game.
Speaker 5: Just getting his eyes really and his experience leading.
Speaker 1: We've gone just the ticket. It's Sports Fix News Talks Ivy.
Speaker 2: It's a warm welcome now to Jeff Brown. He's the
Speaker 2: big lead for the consortium set up to get another
Speaker 2: New Zealand based team in the NRL. This time Mana
Speaker 2: Pacifica is going to come out of Auckland.
Speaker 6: Hi, Jeff, hid, I trust you're well and well you
Speaker 6: must have a lot of action around you at the
Speaker 6: moment with this concept of Mana Pacifica a new NRL team,
Speaker 6: I suppose, first and foremost, where did this come from?
Speaker 4: Well, first off, it's long of a jew. It's something
Speaker 4: that stems from probably over I think thirty forty years
Speaker 4: of rugby league PACIFICA. I'm sort of started here predominant
Speaker 4: in Auckland and across New Zealand with a lot of
Speaker 4: migrants coming across from the islands to pursue a life
Speaker 4: to help those back home in the islands. But along
Speaker 4: our journey a lot of these families had kids that
Speaker 4: picked up footballs and started playing playing sport in one
Speaker 4: of particulars, obviously rugby league. And you know a lot
Speaker 4: of these at these Polynesian families, these kids went on
Speaker 4: to play for clubs right across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and
Speaker 4: obviously they've played a bit in the Pacific, but not
Speaker 4: too much. And the ones that were based head did really,
Speaker 4: really well and became a few of them became kiwis
Speaker 4: for I think Fred R. Koy early stages. You know, he
Speaker 4: is born Salmon and all the rest that we're here
Speaker 4: as well, not just sar Warns, there were a number
Speaker 4: of players that have represented New Zealand in the national
Speaker 4: the game of rugby league. How this stender is we're
Speaker 4: thirty forty years down the track now and obviously with
Speaker 4: the Warriors entering the enter our competition and a lot
Speaker 4: of PACIFICA families were part of that. We've sort of
Speaker 4: been working alongside, you know, a number of the governing
Speaker 4: bodies here. I've worked fourteen years in the space of
Speaker 4: international so working alongside Rugby sal More and also working
Speaker 4: alongside the other Pacific nations and we've sort of been
Speaker 4: helping out a number of clubs and obviously working in
Speaker 4: the international space, and it's just the opportunity with expansion
Speaker 4: and then we established this group called Mana Pacifica and
Speaker 4: there's a lot of experience people behind it, but more
Speaker 4: importantly we're passionate about providing Pacifica an ownership model in
Speaker 4: a sense, but more importantly contributing to the game and
Speaker 4: particularly the NRL.
Speaker 2: There's a chance that consortium fatigue might set in. This
Speaker 2: is another one. We know we've got three in the
Speaker 2: South Island. Now we've got one up here in Auckland.
Speaker 2: What makes this any more likely to be introduced to
Speaker 2: the NRL JET.
Speaker 4: I've actually met with a few of the other bids
Speaker 4: in South Island and as I said, I've been involved
Speaker 4: in the international space for a while now and even
Speaker 4: in the community capacity, so we've we've seen what the
Speaker 4: game can provide PACIFICA. But more importantly, having I'm born
Speaker 4: in Auckland, raised here, I've played both both rugby league
Speaker 4: and rugby union, and i played another other sports as
Speaker 4: well for Auckland. But I think the big thing is
Speaker 4: right now that the game's going through growth, and obviously
Speaker 4: pacific is a huge part of that. I think fifty
Speaker 4: percent plus is now within the NRL and that's growing.
Speaker 4: The numbers are growing, particularly in the in the in
Speaker 4: the in the sort of the youth area. So the
Speaker 4: future looks right for Pacifica in the NRL. But more importantly,
Speaker 4: it just comes down to I mean I've traveled a
Speaker 4: lot for work, I've played sport nationally and through my travels,
Speaker 4: you know we're talking about Auckland business. It's it's just
Speaker 4: a bigger city, you know, one point seven million people.
Speaker 4: Wellington's got four hundred thousand plus criture to four hundred
Speaker 4: thousand plus. It just makes sense for us that you know,
Speaker 4: Auckland cancer stained a team and there's questions around the Warriors. Well,
Speaker 4: the Warriors have been around thirty years now, you know
Speaker 4: they're they're established, and they know where they're going, where
Speaker 4: they're heading and under you know, ownership with the one owner. Now,
Speaker 4: I think the Warriors are going to do fantastic. What
Speaker 4: we believe is another team in Auckland is only going
Speaker 4: to lift the game where there is sustainability the numbers.
Speaker 4: I mean, as I said to you that rugby rugby's
Speaker 4: taking a bit of a duty itself and right now
Speaker 4: rugby league thriving. You only have to look at the
Speaker 4: Pacific influence across the international game. As I said on
Speaker 4: part of Armor, we've seen the growth of our nation
Speaker 4: with limited resources to make a Grand final on the
Speaker 4: World Cup. Now that's huge. And you know, in the
Speaker 4: context of the game, and Tom is just flying off
Speaker 4: the seat at the moment, they're sleeping giants that are
Speaker 4: just doing huge things in the game. Cook Islands are
Speaker 4: not far behind that neither was of nation. So we
Speaker 4: believe that at Auckland bid would would lift the game,
Speaker 4: but also provides the sustainability because we've got a lot
Speaker 4: of kids in leaving this country. We've got a lot
Speaker 4: of young people leaving New Zealand to pursue a career
Speaker 4: in Australia. And look there's nine nine clubs in Sydney,
Speaker 4: is four clubs in Queensland, two in Brisbane. I don't
Speaker 4: think it's a I don't think it's a case of
Speaker 4: I can you know to in Auckland. I preally believe
Speaker 4: it's a matter of providing a model that can sustain
Speaker 4: and even hold our talent and stop this ext tous
Speaker 4: of young kids because we've been part of it. I've
Speaker 4: been working with young coaches, young teams, and I'm not
Speaker 4: the only one the other nations and we're losing I
Speaker 4: think it's say one hundred and fifty to two hundred
Speaker 4: kids a year just from the Auckland and probably the
Speaker 4: wider some of the other regions. And that's a lot
Speaker 4: of talent to be losing here in our chedor tiff.
Speaker 2: Is it solely PACIFICA Are you only looking at employing
Speaker 2: pollowand Salmon, Marty new Way and took the loans and
Speaker 2: the like as well.
Speaker 4: Look, we are a pacifica entity we will be PACIFICA
Speaker 4: owned as well, and obviously we're leanning on investments to
Speaker 4: keep us sustainable. We want to employ as many Polynesian
Speaker 4: people as possible indigenous, but at the same time, we
Speaker 4: all agreed that it can pete in this competition like
Speaker 4: we do in the international space as PACIFICA entities, we
Speaker 4: have to get the best people for the job. So
Speaker 4: there's a lot of people involved that we're bringing into
Speaker 4: the PACIFICA and you know we've air marked then we're
Speaker 4: but we're talking to very you know, we're talking to
Speaker 4: top top coaches in the NRM at the moment, and
Speaker 4: we know we're in really good stead at the moment
Speaker 4: with with with with the coaching UH team that we're
Speaker 4: looking at for if when successful for this this bid.
Speaker 4: And so yeah, athletes, but the athletes.
Speaker 2: It's not a purely PACIFICA line, is it.
Speaker 4: Look, we we want to be Pacific only at the moment.
Speaker 4: And I was asked this from the very beginning. But
Speaker 4: what we're what we've you know, and we've been telling
Speaker 4: people this, it's a Pacific Indigenous. So we're talking about
Speaker 4: kids that are of PACIFICA and Indigenous descent. Moldy descent. Now,
Speaker 4: a lot of our kids, as I said to you,
Speaker 4: have mixed breed that We've got a lot of our
Speaker 4: kids that are sort of star on Ossie, you know,
Speaker 4: the tongue and Ossie they're they're tongue and Kiwi. Uh,
Speaker 4: they're they're Cook Island French. Look, my boys play footy,
Speaker 4: so my actually have kids that play regular league. And
Speaker 4: my kids are simone Croatian. So you know, we're certainly
Speaker 4: looking at PACIFICA and Indigenous kids. And obviously a lot
Speaker 4: of our kids these days no longer full blooded. They
Speaker 4: were myths of you know, nationalities and the heritage. But
Speaker 4: our push is towards you PACIFICA and Indigenous. But yes,
Speaker 4: certainly I will look at other nations provided they do
Speaker 4: have you know, heritage of Pacific or and Indigenous descent.
Speaker 2: No pure blooded Scotsman in your side?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well I got as you know, I'm brown brown,
Speaker 4: I have someon heritage, but I also have a bit
Speaker 4: of Scottish heritage and I can't be Yeah, you can't
Speaker 4: be full blood in Scottish if you wanted to play
Speaker 4: for our team. I know. It's We're not prejudice, it's
Speaker 4: just that's how that's that's the whole reason why we're
Speaker 4: doing this is to empower the Pacific and to ensure
Speaker 4: that we're providing you know, more of a cotunities in
Speaker 4: the space. There's a lot of teams that can play
Speaker 4: for as you know, there's the seventeen other teams they're
Speaker 4: providing you know, NRL and and positions our pushes towards
Speaker 4: Indigenous and Pacific. So that's how that's our mentor.
Speaker 2: Now on that note, Jeff, thanks very much for joining us,
Speaker 2: Papa duly Jeff Brown, wishing to the best of like
Speaker 2: for this looking forward with keen interest to see how
Speaker 2: it develops.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you so much.
Speaker 5: Darcy.
Speaker 1: This is Sportsfix, your daily does of sports news. How
Speaker 1: in by news Talks.
Speaker 2: It seems like an age ago, just on a decade
Speaker 2: where Joe Parker picked up the WBO heavyweight world title
Speaker 2: he thought Andy Ruiz Junior at Victor Arena in Auckland.
Speaker 2: It was a points decision through twelve rounds and it
Speaker 2: catapulted young Joe to the top of the world. Things
Speaker 2: are looking reasonably good until eighteen when he lost to
Speaker 2: Anthony Joshua and then the next fight Dilly and White
Speaker 2: touched him up again. He lost in twelve rounds. Most
Speaker 2: people were writing, Joe Parker off, It's the end of
Speaker 2: the line. You're a journeyman. You probably shouldn't have picked
Speaker 2: up that WBO title in the first place. When you're
Speaker 2: gonna call it quits, you're only doing his self damage.
Speaker 2: Joe Parker refused to listen. Strung together a series of wins,
Speaker 2: two of them against Derek Trezaura. Things were looking up,
Speaker 2: and then Joe Joyce stopped him in his tracks. Since then,
Speaker 2: Joseph Parker is a changed fighter. He's a changed man.
Speaker 2: His physique, his attitude, his understanding of how to pace
Speaker 2: a fight has gone through the roof. His last two
Speaker 2: scraps against Deontay Wilder and against Jilie Joan were quite
Speaker 2: something else again over twelve rounds. He now finds himself
Speaker 2: in just over a week fighting Daniel Dubois and the
Speaker 2: reward for victory there. Reigning heavyweight champion of the World,
Speaker 2: Alexander Usek has decided his career ends in two more fights.
Speaker 2: The next time he steps into the squared circle will
Speaker 2: be against the winner of Parker and Dubois. Usk is
Speaker 2: quite the weapon he fought and beat Britain's Tyson Fury
Speaker 2: to win all four of the major heavyweight titles last May,
Speaker 2: first undisputed champion heavyweights in a quarter of a century.
Speaker 2: He gave up the IBF belt, but he retained the
Speaker 2: unified WBC, WBA and WBO championships with another victory over
Speaker 2: Tyson Fury. The upcoming Parker Dubois fight has the IBF
Speaker 2: belt on the line, which means whoever wins against Alexander
Speaker 2: Usek will become the undisputed heavyweight world champion. With the
Speaker 2: help of strength and conditioning, trainer and nutrition George Lockhart
Speaker 2: and coach Andy Lee, I believe that explosive Joseph Jurassic
Speaker 2: Parker has never been in a better position to climb
Speaker 2: to the everest of world heavyweight boxing.
Speaker 1: The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfix.
Speaker 2: That is a warm welcome to the chamber too, Elliott Smith.
Speaker 2: Jason Pine's gone a walk about, but that's okay. We
Speaker 2: have a more than adequate replacement, Elliot, Welcome on.
Speaker 3: And what a please you to be in the chamber,
Speaker 3: does he?
Speaker 2: Let's talk about of rugby. Since you are mister Rugby,
Speaker 2: let's face the voice of rugby here at n Z
Speaker 2: and me Warren Gatlin, the long and continuing saga of
Speaker 2: Warren Gatlan. Finally he's he's chopped at short well he has,
Speaker 2: or Welsh Rugby has. He's no longer going to be coaching.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 2: Sensible decision when you look at the results. But now
Speaker 2: his daughter is having a bit of a thrash at
Speaker 2: the players, at the media and everybody else. I don't
Speaker 2: know if Warren to be over he pleased about there?
Speaker 5: What are you doing?
Speaker 3: I'm not sure he needs his daughter speaking on his behalf.
Speaker 3: I think his he's always been able to advocate for himself.
Speaker 3: I guess this is just family doing what family do.
Speaker 3: And we've seen it before with athletes and various things
Speaker 3: when their family come out to protect them, and it's
Speaker 3: a natural thing to do. You don't want to see
Speaker 3: your family member come under pressure, be it in the
Speaker 3: media or whatever it might be online, social media, et cetera.
Speaker 3: So I think that's just natural. But if you take
Speaker 3: a step away, I think Warren Gatland has made a
Speaker 3: decision that only could be made really, and to be honest,
Speaker 3: credit to him because he could have stuck in there.
Speaker 3: Douggas Hills and got to pay out, but he should
Speaker 3: have left last year.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right if he should have want a chance
Speaker 2: to come back, I want a chance to rebuild. But
Speaker 2: mentioned the editorial yesterday, Welsh Rugby shouldn't go back to
Speaker 2: the well, they've got to pick a Welshman, they've got
Speaker 2: to pick a younger guy because the game has moved on.
Speaker 2: So respect to Warren because he's had an amazing career.
Speaker 3: But you know, well what's that saying? You can't go
Speaker 3: home again? And you look at Eddie Jones who has
Speaker 3: been to the Wallerbs again. He's now in Japan and
Speaker 3: Japan's not really clicking with them. You know, Warren Gatlin
Speaker 3: took Wales to a certain level. A lot of that
Speaker 3: generation of players is now retired and there are bigger
Speaker 3: issues at play in Wales as well. But when you
Speaker 3: come back in after a few years away, you think
Speaker 3: it's going to be an ability to slip in like
Speaker 3: it used to be. That is very rarely the case
Speaker 3: and whatever support it, but be Jose Mourino has done
Speaker 3: it at Chelsea a couple of times and various other things.
Speaker 3: It is very very rare for it to work out
Speaker 3: as success.
Speaker 2: The second time, and I suppose one thing about his
Speaker 2: daughter saying something. It does, even though I disagree as
Speaker 2: you do as well, but it does bring a personal
Speaker 2: touch to what's happening. And sometimes we do forget that
Speaker 2: the people behind these decisions and behind the coaching, they're
Speaker 2: actually human beings, flesh and blood. They've got emotions, they've
Speaker 2: got feeling. We don't get a lot of that from
Speaker 2: the coaches. So to have the daughter go hold on that,
Speaker 2: I understand.
Speaker 3: You totally, and you're right. You see these people on
Speaker 3: the TV screen and they've become avatars and people you
Speaker 3: see in almost TV characters in a way, rather than
Speaker 3: human people. And there is a human side to it,
Speaker 3: as there was, you know that Ian Foster all Black
Speaker 3: Starga a couple of years ago, and various things. These
Speaker 3: are people, they have feelings, and they've got family members
Speaker 3: as well, and it's natural at the top when your
Speaker 3: family members are feeling the pressure a bit, whether that's
Speaker 3: in the media or real life, that you want to
Speaker 3: put an arm around them and protect them.
Speaker 2: You know, Bryn Gatlin, I think Brin will be as
Speaker 2: stoic as this old man and saying nothing, Hey, let's
Speaker 2: move on. To our rugby league. We've got Moana Pacifica.
Speaker 2: Now there's another consortium that want Mana Pacifica and it
Speaker 2: goes on and on this time. Is there any strength
Speaker 2: in this concept or not?
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, drop the oh for awesome or awesome and
Speaker 3: Mata Pacificas come to the party. I don't think they're
Speaker 3: going to get lead into the party, but they're knocking
Speaker 3: on the door and it's a healthy spot for the NR.
Speaker 2: Rold Sorry Flanders, he's locked the door shut, mate, No
Speaker 2: one can get from the.
Speaker 1: Door.
Speaker 3: Never shut with Peter Landi's he says one thing and
Speaker 3: is busy conspiring and doing another. The Perth door was
Speaker 3: shut about three months ago. Then it's come a jar again.
Speaker 3: It looks like Perth might be back in the mix
Speaker 3: as well for the nineteenth team in the NRL. I
Speaker 3: wouldn't rule it out, but I just do not think
Speaker 3: it's probably on the agenda of the NRL, which I
Speaker 3: think is a shame.
Speaker 2: Look.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't go for the Marter Pacifica concept. I think
Speaker 3: the better concept is going to the South Island, going
Speaker 3: to christ Church, going to that new christ Church Stadium
Speaker 3: and setting up a team there. Perhaps it's the twentieth
Speaker 3: team around about twenty thirty. I think that is healthy
Speaker 3: for rugby league. I don't know that a Manta Pacifica
Speaker 3: concept is needed. Look at every NRL team there are
Speaker 3: PACIFICA players right across everywhere.
Speaker 2: I know there's like half of the players Pacific origin.
Speaker 2: So it's stable that. And the thing is ken Auckland
Speaker 2: actually hold and treasure another team playing sport in a
Speaker 2: trans Tasman competition. There's just not enough eyeball, there.
Speaker 3: Aren't in o fie balls and at some point you know,
Speaker 3: it's been hard to sub same one in our roll team.
Speaker 3: When the Warriors aren't playing well, they don't get great crowds.
Speaker 3: Hasn't been the case the last couple of seasons. They've
Speaker 3: had fantastic crowds and will again this season, no doubt
Speaker 3: about it. But I don't think the city can sustain
Speaker 3: to and in ROL teams. Look if they're looking to
Speaker 3: may you put matter PACIFICA somewhere in the Pacific and
Speaker 3: have a Fijian team or something like that, and how's
Speaker 3: it there? Like the drawer and Super Rugby, they're on
Speaker 3: all for it, but I don't think Auclands can have
Speaker 3: a second version of Water PACIFICA essentially with thirteen players.
Speaker 2: Before you beat that out of the chamber. Elliott being
Speaker 2: the voice of rugby here at n z M E.
Speaker 2: Who do you like for Super Rugby Pacific twenty twenty five?
Speaker 3: Hard to go past? The Blues again have retained a
Speaker 3: lot of the squad lost to care that you are
Speaker 3: in a couple of injured players at the moment as well,
Speaker 3: but you had in Boat and Barrett and what he
Speaker 3: can do into a backline that is already successful. I
Speaker 3: think the Blues will be there thereabouts once again. The
Speaker 3: Chiefs as well. And I here's a smoky fore you.
Speaker 3: I reckon the war Tars are going to do really
Speaker 3: well this year. Like Joseph of course I saw will
Speaker 3: let you. He looks very impressive on the end of
Speaker 3: you year tour. Got some other players that have ditched
Speaker 3: the Rebels now there's no rebels to play it and
Speaker 3: come to the Warritars. I think they're going to be
Speaker 3: pretty handy as well. That's my top three.
Speaker 2: I just love the fight between now too Fulcrum's our
Speaker 2: two pivots and Damien McKenzie and Boden Barrett. They're both
Speaker 2: playing at full back in the first Yeah.
Speaker 3: Pleasure, this isn't the one I asked for, but it's
Speaker 3: the one they're going to have to play.
Speaker 2: It on your Elliott catch up a Jean, So may
Speaker 2: you have a fantastic day and thanks for your time.
Speaker 3: Been a pleasure.
Speaker 1: Dissecting the sporting agenda. It's Sportsfix with Jason Vine and
Speaker 1: Darcy Walter Grave.
Speaker 2: And that's it for Sports Fix. Thanks for joining us.
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