Speaker 1: Football Fever with News Talks MB's voice of Football Jason
Speaker 1: Paine and Bonny Jansen.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Hi, then welcome into a fresh episode of the Football
Speaker 1: Fever podcast. A day late. We took yesterday off big
Speaker 1: a public holiday and all that, and also to collect
Speaker 1: our thoughts about what happened over the weekend. I'm Jason
Speaker 1: Pine Bonnie Jensen is here also hello, Bonnie.
Speaker 2: Derby Week, Phoney Derby Week.
Speaker 1: Really, I mean something we never really thought would happen
Speaker 1: a few years ago, right, you know, I know we've
Speaker 1: talked about this a lot, but the fact that there's
Speaker 1: going to even be a Keiw Derby at all when
Speaker 1: a few years ago a lot of people wanted the
Speaker 1: Knicks kicked out, They didn't want the Phoenix and the
Speaker 1: competition at all. Now not only are they well established there,
Speaker 1: but there's a second New Zealand team. And can I
Speaker 1: just say, right at the start, how good have the
Speaker 1: first couple of home games for Auckland FC been. You
Speaker 1: just have to hand it to the club and particular
Speaker 1: to the fans for the way that they have turned
Speaker 1: out from day one. Another terrific occasion over the weekend.
Speaker 3: Oh absolutely right, Piney and other than the anticipation I
Speaker 3: guess from the fans in terms of how their season's
Speaker 3: going to go. It's hard to actually tell this as
Speaker 3: a new club by the sheer number of people turning
Speaker 3: up for these games. You know, the amount of blue
Speaker 3: and black Auckland, theF C shirts they're wearing, and just
Speaker 3: the vibes that in game entertainment, the food trucks and
Speaker 3: everything like, the match share is pumping, and you know
Speaker 3: they've been lucky with two stunning days of weather that
Speaker 3: they've hosted teams. But yeah, it's hard to tell this
Speaker 3: is a new club.
Speaker 1: That's a great That is a great way of putting it.
Speaker 1: You're right, it's as if they've been here for a
Speaker 1: long long time. And yes, I know there's a lot
Speaker 1: of hype around them being new, but then you know,
Speaker 1: we still had what fourteen fifteen thousand turn up there
Speaker 1: on the weekend, the big twenty five thousand for opening day.
Speaker 1: But it's a long weekend. Half of Auckland leave Auckland
Speaker 1: on a long weekend, aren't they?
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, And just everyone that I speak to that
Speaker 3: been out there or went the first game or or
Speaker 3: just a second game recently, you know, they're so excited
Speaker 3: for the next one. And now they don't have another
Speaker 3: home game till end of November. Before then they host
Speaker 3: the Wellington Phoenix again. But yeah, everyone's just loving it going.
Speaker 3: I'm going to be here all summer parking up. It's yeah,
Speaker 3: it's it's definitely like a fad in trans tasm football,
Speaker 3: and I hope it stays that way, because yeah, it's
Speaker 3: it's fun.
Speaker 1: All right, we've got the Darby to look forward to.
Speaker 1: Let's let's do things in a in a more logical
Speaker 1: order though a chronological order perhaps, And let's start with
Speaker 1: Wellington Phoenix, who picked up their first win of the
Speaker 1: season on Saturday evening, late late on Saturday evening over
Speaker 1: in Western Australia, a very good two nil win over
Speaker 1: Perth functional They I thought played very very well against
Speaker 1: and admittedly fairly poor Perth side. But yeah, a couple
Speaker 1: of goals from defenders. This is a this is a
Speaker 1: box ticked. This is a job well done, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I think it's it's great. You know, they dropped points
Speaker 3: in the first round at home, so they've gone and
Speaker 3: redeemed themselves picking up all three points away, which is
Speaker 3: a good result. They needed the result, particularly heading into
Speaker 3: this week, and as you say, you know Perth Glory
Speaker 3: had all the reason to come out and fight, and
Speaker 3: off the back of their first first round loss six
Speaker 3: to one or whatever it was, they had all the
Speaker 3: reason to come out hungry. And the Phoenix to said today,
Speaker 3: so yeah, really really stoked for them that they got
Speaker 3: three points in an hour second on the table.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I feel sorry for Olie Sale, I must say
Speaker 1: not because he's in goal for a team that's that
Speaker 1: has led eight goals in the first two games, but
Speaker 1: he's getting no help from his defense. I mean Tim
Speaker 1: Paine's goal that crossed to the far post. Off watched
Speaker 1: that three or four times and I've got no idea
Speaker 1: what the left back for Perth is doing. Tim Pain's
Speaker 1: making his late run from right back basically to be
Speaker 1: completely untracked. It's as though the left back for Perth
Speaker 1: doesn't even realize that Tim Payne is there. It's Sunday
Speaker 1: League defending from a professional team. And even the first
Speaker 1: goal that Scott Wotton scored, and take nothing away from
Speaker 1: these two goals. They're good finishers. But you know, in
Speaker 1: a free kick situation like that, when there are so
Speaker 1: many Perth defenders in the box, you know. For Scott
Speaker 1: Wooton to get pretty much an uncontested heater on goal,
Speaker 1: it says a lot about what Perth am not doing
Speaker 1: defensively right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you make a key point defensively because up
Speaker 3: the other end Perth actually had some really solid chances
Speaker 3: and our defense and our goalkeeper did you know well
Speaker 3: to stop those goals from Perth coming in. As you say,
Speaker 3: let's not take anything away from Tim Payne's goal here, Pintey.
Speaker 2: I thought it was a great run.
Speaker 3: I'm all for a fullback getting on that back post run.
Speaker 3: One of my favorite attributes of a fullback, and I
Speaker 3: think it was almost a Carmon copy goal from what
Speaker 3: he scored last season.
Speaker 1: Yep, No, I remember the one you're talking about when
Speaker 1: Ben Old put it to the far post and he
Speaker 1: just arrives at a rate of nots to isn't he?
Speaker 1: Tim Payne heads at home and you're right, it's very similar,
Speaker 1: a slightly loopy across perhaps from Nagasawa this time around,
Speaker 1: but the finish is equally emphatic, and you forget a
Speaker 1: it took Tim Payne ninety three games to get a goal.
Speaker 1: He's now got four in about the last twenty five games,
Speaker 1: so he's all of a sudden he's worked out how
Speaker 1: to score goals. But yeah, good for him. Scott Wooton,
Speaker 1: I thought, had another really good game in the heart
Speaker 1: of Wellington's defense. He is just going to be so
Speaker 1: integral to this team this season as he kind of
Speaker 1: marshals the younger players around him. Alex Rufe are very
Speaker 1: good again and I quite like the way heidecki Ishiga,
Speaker 1: the Japanese attacker, has now been involved in a couple
Speaker 1: of goals, hasn't he The golf of cost of Barbarusis
Speaker 1: against Western United. He was the free kicktaker in that
Speaker 1: one again for Scott Wooton. So already, you know, starting
Speaker 1: to show out the imports both involved and assists over
Speaker 1: and with Western Australia.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, And that's exactly what Chief he would have
Speaker 3: wanted by signing these players to just be absolutely clinical
Speaker 3: and classy on their delivery. They're such smart players Japanese footballers.
Speaker 3: I mean we could say the same about heroic Sakai
Speaker 3: up in Auckland. So yeah, very very clinical players.
Speaker 2: I like to see it.
Speaker 3: And just back to Oli Sale obviously him and Nicholas
Speaker 3: Pennington playing for Perth now against their former club. I
Speaker 3: just say, come back to Wellington or have you happily.
Speaker 3: We'll welcome you back happily.
Speaker 1: No worries, well, I mean all joking aside. I wonder
Speaker 1: what Oli Sale will do. You know, he's gone over there.
Speaker 1: He's Whenever you go to a club, I think you
Speaker 1: go with aspirations, right, you go to a place thinking, right,
Speaker 1: I'm here to play well in a team that is
Speaker 1: contesting for you know, for trophies, you know, let alone
Speaker 1: the top six. They're nowhere near it at the moment
Speaker 1: they in their first two games through. I don't think
Speaker 1: any fold of Oli Sales. I don't think he could
Speaker 1: have done anything really more with any of the eight
Speaker 1: goals that have gone in. But he is just getting
Speaker 1: absolutely no protection from the Perth Glory defense in front
Speaker 1: of him. He must wonder what he's done, you know.
Speaker 3: And the other sad thing for Olie is that you
Speaker 3: don't want it hurting his chances for the national team.
Speaker 3: You know, he's still in the All Whites mix for now,
Speaker 3: but there's certainly a lot of other goalkeepers on the
Speaker 3: cusp and less than two years out from a World
Speaker 3: Cup up. There's you know, no doubt he's not targeting that.
Speaker 3: So yeah, you don't want these results, which aren't necessarily
Speaker 3: as fault, to affect his selection in that team.
Speaker 1: Sure right there, because he's number three keeper right now,
Speaker 1: Okay he is. He's number three behind Paulson and Crokham.
Speaker 1: That's I think, you know, generally accepted, and there are
Speaker 1: others knocking on that door. So yeah, I hope for
Speaker 1: Olie Sail that he can rise above the mediocrity of
Speaker 1: the Perth Glory defense because it really is quite abject
Speaker 1: at the moment. But take nothing away from Wellington another
Speaker 1: or a clean sheet for them. They've only let one
Speaker 1: goal in two games, which is a bit of a
Speaker 1: trademark of Chief. He likes to set asides up well defensively,
Speaker 1: and you're just a very functional performance. You know. It's
Speaker 1: always tough to go all the way over there and play,
Speaker 1: you know, play it what your body still must feels
Speaker 1: quite late at night. But they got the job done,
Speaker 1: two points and unbeaten, heading into a pretty big game
Speaker 1: this coming weekend football Fever against Auckland FC. Of course,
Speaker 1: let's have a look at their game against Sydney FC.
Speaker 1: Plenty of talking points in this one, not too short.
Speaker 1: Where to start really, I think, well, as you let's
Speaker 1: start with the two major talking points in this game.
Speaker 1: The first one was the Sydney goal that was overturned
Speaker 1: by VR Hayden Matthews stabbing home from inside a really
Speaker 1: crowded penalty area. It seemed to take ages for VAR
Speaker 1: to have a look at this one and to work
Speaker 1: out what, you know, what he was actually looking at,
Speaker 1: let alone then dislowm the goal. What was your view
Speaker 1: of it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, obviously, as you mentioned, it took a long
Speaker 3: time for VAR to overturn this, and I had my
Speaker 3: two younger cousins standing next to me, asking what are
Speaker 3: they doing?
Speaker 2: When are they deciding?
Speaker 3: And my theory with Var is the longer it takes,
Speaker 3: the better it's going to be for the opposing team
Speaker 3: and the decision. I guess, yep, you know that as
Speaker 3: long as they draw it out, it's going to be overturned.
Speaker 3: And that was obviously the case on Sunday, and just
Speaker 3: I couldn't believe I didn't really see the goal because
Speaker 3: I was up the other end with the port obviously
Speaker 3: was watching the replays on the screen.
Speaker 2: I think it was.
Speaker 3: It was certainly offside, but I just couldn't believe how
Speaker 3: the crowd erupted when when that decision was overturned, and
Speaker 3: then Auckland f c let off the big smoke fleears
Speaker 3: going up the other end like they've actually won the game,
Speaker 3: And Yeah, I just thought it was brilliant and another
Speaker 3: way to add to the atmosphere.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I look at the goal and look, I must
Speaker 1: have bet and I didn't see the offside in real time.
Speaker 1: Neither did the assistant referee, so I don't think anybody did.
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody once the goal had gone in
Speaker 1: was thinking about var at all were because it's a
Speaker 1: goal mouth scramble and Hayden Matthews has diverted the ball
Speaker 1: beyond a couple of defenders, passed Alex Paulsen and off
Speaker 1: the post for a goal. I think we all think
Speaker 1: it's a goal. And often they say, hey, VAA is
Speaker 1: just checking and you think, what are they checking for?
Speaker 1: The off side in the move is actually a couple
Speaker 1: of phases back. It's a corner and then there's a
Speaker 1: heck of a lot of goal scrambling and what is
Speaker 1: Patrick Klemala the Polish strike of a Sydney has gotten
Speaker 1: himself into an off side position, has played at the
Speaker 1: ball from that position, and therefore it's offside. But it
Speaker 1: seemed to take a huge amount of forensic analysis for
Speaker 1: them to come up with that decision. Just want to
Speaker 1: get onto the vaar's role in the winning goal in
Speaker 1: a moment. But I got a great message here exactly
Speaker 1: what you talked about from someone who was in the
Speaker 1: port and he said the thing that sparked the crowd
Speaker 1: was the delay and then seeing or Fook Talay going
Speaker 1: mental on the big screen, they got the sense that
Speaker 1: it was going to be overturned. The raw got louder
Speaker 1: when Sean Evans signaled the review and when the VR
Speaker 1: decision came and the powder keg erupted intuitively and simultaneously,
Speaker 1: the port and the south stand realized the momentum had
Speaker 1: flipped and Auckland was the only team that was going
Speaker 1: to score. It was just a matter of time after that.
Speaker 1: So that describes what you were talking about.
Speaker 2: Oh exactly, I got goosebumps. You're reading it. That was
Speaker 2: exactly it.
Speaker 3: When when they had over on the screen, I just yeah,
Speaker 3: it was it was hilarious. It was, It was brilliant. Yeah,
Speaker 3: couldn't have scripted it any better. I guess for the fans,
Speaker 3: it just is another game to you know, keep them,
Speaker 3: keep them coming back.
Speaker 1: So Neil milt into added time, of which there were
Speaker 1: seven minutes, and in the seventh minute of added time
Speaker 1: Nando Pineker's goal right in front of the port.
Speaker 3: What was it like up there, Well, it was obviously
Speaker 3: as as you just mentioned, the momentum shift and you
Speaker 3: felt that it was coming, something was coming from this game,
Speaker 3: and just yeah, I remember Nando getting that little back
Speaker 3: heel and I saw the net ripple in front of me.
Speaker 3: Just everyone is jumping off their seats, that the whole
Speaker 3: South stand feels like it's going to collapse, and it's just, yeah, hysterics,
Speaker 3: what a what a way, you know. I don't think
Speaker 3: it was the prettiest goal. I was surprised it was
Speaker 3: nominated for Goal of the week. Yes, it was a
Speaker 3: back heel, but I think it was probably maybe a
Speaker 3: little bit fluky. Hope Nando doesn't mind me saying that,
Speaker 3: but yeah, you know, a win's a win, a goal
Speaker 3: is a goal.
Speaker 1: Well, I said in the sky coverage afterwards, nobody had
Speaker 1: a back heel from a center back in the ninety
Speaker 1: seventh minute on their Bingo card as the key moment
Speaker 1: in this game. Just on the var looking at this one,
Speaker 1: or I guess you'd probably say not really looking at
Speaker 1: this one. When you compare it to the as I
Speaker 1: said before, forensic analysis that was given to the Sydney
Speaker 1: goal that was overturned, there was more than a suggestion
Speaker 1: of handball from Nando Pinneker. I have to say when
Speaker 1: and I've had a look at it, I think twenty
Speaker 1: times in the time since I didn't see a handball
Speaker 1: in real time. I don't think anybody did. But when
Speaker 1: you look at it and when it slowed down and
Speaker 1: when you freeze frame, the ball appears to come close
Speaker 1: to his hands, which is kind of resting against his thigh.
Speaker 1: It's a rather unnatural position. Now VR have said it
Speaker 1: hit him on the thigh, it's not handball. We carry
Speaker 1: on now, I can tell you. Uffok Talay afterwards was
Speaker 1: absolutely furious at the at the at the goal being
Speaker 1: awarded and not being more closely looked at by the
Speaker 1: var because by comparison, it didn't take that long for
Speaker 1: var Over to not overturn that one to ratify the goal,
Speaker 1: if you know what I mean. I saw Oofi in
Speaker 1: the tunnel afterwards before he went to his press conference one.
Speaker 1: He was apoplectic, absolutely furious, just steaming.
Speaker 3: Oh no, I feel bad for him, but I don't
Speaker 3: really I didn't even know that was I've clearly missed
Speaker 3: that again, it must be must have been hard to
Speaker 3: look at, but yeah, I didn't even know that was
Speaker 3: being potentially contested a handball from Nando.
Speaker 1: The other one was that there was a suggestion of
Speaker 1: a push on the back of a Sydney defender in
Speaker 1: the move as well, But there's a lot of push
Speaker 1: and shove on the penalty area in those situation as
Speaker 1: it happened though, Nando Pinecot with the back heel. I
Speaker 1: can't believe that's been nominated for goal of the week either, honestly,
Speaker 1: but I guess for what it means. And you know,
Speaker 1: I guess if your back heel a goal, and I
Speaker 1: mean it's Nutmegdandra Redmaine as well, he'll be looking back
Speaker 1: at the I mean it's only just gone over the line,
Speaker 1: hasn't it the net at all? You know, the rippling
Speaker 1: of the net. You talked about was the defenders in
Speaker 1: the back of the net trying to get it out,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's it's it's some you know, he
Speaker 1: hasn't blasted at top corner from twenty five yards, but
Speaker 1: they all count for one, you know, and it's the
Speaker 1: it's the key moment in the game. It's got them,
Speaker 1: you know, a second straight win. Only the second side
Speaker 1: in a league history to win their first two games
Speaker 1: gold Coaster the other one they won their first three
Speaker 1: when they joined the league in two thousand and nine ten.
Speaker 1: But again you look at the occasion that was created
Speaker 1: and just the energy in that ground for about half
Speaker 1: an hour beyond the final whistle. I mean, something is
Speaker 1: something has happened here, you know.
Speaker 3: No appssolutely and I think there would have been a
Speaker 3: lot of people on the grab a seat in New
Speaker 3: Zealand at booking flights down to Wellington after that match,
Speaker 3: just you know, like these wins are so important to
Speaker 3: keeping fans engaged, and you know, yes, we hope that
Speaker 3: we're not you know, those those type of fans that
Speaker 3: don't you know, pack it in and tall poppy syndrome
Speaker 3: and you know, once they lose, we're not getting behind them.
Speaker 3: We hope we can be like what the Yellow Fever
Speaker 3: are to the Phoenix or what the Warriors fans are
Speaker 3: like to that side, and they just keep coming back
Speaker 3: and I hope that's the same for the Port. But
Speaker 3: right now, you know, if they just keep winning, it's
Speaker 3: going to be epic.
Speaker 1: Speaking of planes, what did you think of the flyover?
Speaker 3: I thought it was brilliant. I just thought, you know,
Speaker 3: we'd talked about it on the podcast. You know, where
Speaker 3: of the Phoenix marketing bean? You know, why are they
Speaker 3: playing it down? Yes we know that they're seasoned in
Speaker 3: this league, but they seem to be playing this whole
Speaker 3: thing down. And then you know, they finished there, they
Speaker 3: finished their round two match. Now they're looking at the
Speaker 3: Darby and right on queue, here comes the big their
Speaker 3: big flyover plane, their big marketing plan, and here they are.
Speaker 3: They've turned up, They've marked their territory and New Zealanders
Speaker 3: yellow apparently.
Speaker 1: Do you think it was the Phoenix behind it? Oh?
Speaker 2: I don't know. They've got to have something to do
Speaker 2: with it.
Speaker 3: It's kind of like kind of like last last year
Speaker 3: when someone's so that the player ran on the fan,
Speaker 3: ran on streaking on the pitch, with the Auckland f
Speaker 3: C Jersey.
Speaker 2: I'm sure Auckland said something to do with that.
Speaker 1: I think you probably need to look at the in
Speaker 1: the direction of Ali Williams for that and probably no further.
Speaker 1: But I look at whether they were involved or not,
Speaker 1: or whether it was some Phoenix fans or whether it was
Speaker 1: somebody who you know, I don't know, I really, I've
Speaker 1: got no intel as the who that I was on
Speaker 1: the same as you. I think it was absolutely tremendous,
Speaker 1: just brilliant because it's hit every every news website, it's
Speaker 1: hit music, radio's social media. It's basically, you know, one
Speaker 1: plane flying over with a banner on the back has
Speaker 1: has you know, opened up this derby to so many
Speaker 1: more people, you know, shots fired early, and it's got
Speaker 1: people talking about it.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I just just tremendous, just quite awesome.
Speaker 3: My only critique was the New Zealand is yellow. I
Speaker 3: know the Phoenix are yellow and the yellow fever, but
Speaker 3: like that's Australian color colors.
Speaker 2: Firstly, like maybe they could have.
Speaker 3: Gone like football, like Football's and Wellington or you know,
Speaker 3: like something along those lines. But other than that, it
Speaker 3: was brilliant. I want to know Piney. Did you ask
Speaker 3: the players at the press conference? Did they did they
Speaker 3: see it? Well, then they look up and see it.
Speaker 1: Well, the only they only set the coaches out. Steve Courka,
Speaker 1: I didn't see it at the time, he said, he's
Speaker 1: seen footage afterwards, but.
Speaker 2: Not mid Gay. Well, it was annoying. It keep going
Speaker 2: round and round.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it wasn't just once right, it was pre game,
Speaker 1: during the game it was it was.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was like a good twenty minute so it
Speaker 2: was hanging around.
Speaker 1: What were the port doing?
Speaker 2: Everyone was just laughing and booing. It was yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: It was like, no, I love it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so good. It's great, an awesome lead into derby week.
Speaker 1: So this coming Saturday five o'clock Sky Stadium for the
Speaker 1: first time ever a professional football derby in New Zealand,
Speaker 1: the first of many to come as Wellington Phoenix host
Speaker 1: Auckland FC. What the results have done basically give us
Speaker 1: the top of the table clash as well, albeit only
Speaker 1: in week three, but Auckland f C are top Wellington
Speaker 1: at tucked into second place, both teams unbeaten. You've got
Speaker 1: in the notes that you sent me. No one is
Speaker 1: calling it the Kiwi Classico why do you think that is?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I just feel like the Derby rolls
Speaker 2: off the tongue a bit better.
Speaker 1: I think it's because it's such a shit name for it. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I owe that. Who in New Zealand calls anything a classico.
Speaker 1: It's a European, it's a Spanish. That is a terrible
Speaker 1: name for the Derby. And I don't know who's come
Speaker 1: up with it, but I can tell you right now
Speaker 1: nobody is calling it that, and nobody on the day
Speaker 1: will call it that. And I can tell you right
Speaker 1: now on the broadcast, we're not going to be calling it.
Speaker 1: We're not going to be calling it there.
Speaker 3: It's the same kind of as the Black Knights. No
Speaker 3: one's really calling them the Black Knights. I'm not sure
Speaker 3: if you are on the commentary, Pinty, but I'm definitely
Speaker 3: as I refer to them, I'm always saying AFC.
Speaker 1: Yeah, AFC seems to be the one that, as you say,
Speaker 1: it's got to be something that rolls off the tongue
Speaker 1: a little bit.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 1: I think people a lot of people are calling them.
Speaker 1: It's like a lot of people call the Phoenix the Knicks. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: who's favorite.
Speaker 2: I think Auckland Sadly.
Speaker 1: They don't have to be emotional about it.
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm neglecting my roots.
Speaker 1: You don't have to emotional about it, will take aside.
Speaker 1: You just have to explain yourself.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I think on paper, I think the Auckland
Speaker 3: team is better. I think they're riding off this momentum
Speaker 3: of them being a new team, and I think the
Speaker 3: Phoenix will be, you know, a little bit nervous hosting them.
Speaker 3: It's there's more at stake for them. There's a lot
Speaker 3: more pressure on their shoulders. So yeah, I'm going probably
Speaker 3: two NL Auckland f C.
Speaker 1: See. I I think that the Phoenix are narrow favorites
Speaker 1: for a couple of reasons. One is that they are
Speaker 1: at home. I think that makes a huge difference. First
Speaker 1: time Auckland have had to travel they have they have
Speaker 1: fed hugely off the energy of the crowd in both
Speaker 1: of those games. The opening game and I'm almost certain
Speaker 1: like that, you know, I think the port have basically
Speaker 1: sucked that ball into the back of the net. You know,
Speaker 1: from that that that that goal right at the end,
Speaker 1: you know, you do get an energy from the crowd.
Speaker 1: They're not going to have that in Wellington. The other
Speaker 1: thing is also is that Auckland f C have scored
Speaker 1: three goals. One's an own goal, one's a back he'll
Speaker 1: buy a center back and the other ones Logan Rogerson's
Speaker 1: nice finish. So it's not as though their attacking players
Speaker 1: have really set the world on fire in the first
Speaker 1: two games. Meantime, Wellington Phoenix have let one goal in
Speaker 1: in two entire games of football. They're a good defensive side.
Speaker 1: So you know, for for Auckland to score one goal,
Speaker 1: let alone two, I think it's gonna going to take
Speaker 1: quite a bit of a you know, an uptick in
Speaker 1: their attacking momentum. Because I much as I admire Gauzuremo May,
Speaker 1: I think he's going to be a terrific addition to
Speaker 1: the A League. Logan Rogerson, Liam Gillian, you know Jake
Speaker 1: Brimin when he's on Cam Howison. There hasn't really been
Speaker 1: a heck of a lot of end product from them.
Speaker 3: You know, that's fair enough, Pinney, I completely agree. I
Speaker 3: think they have been riding off the crowd a lot,
Speaker 3: and yeah, I think they're going to need a big
Speaker 3: contingent of Black Knight the Port fans turning up for
Speaker 3: them this weekend, and yes the pressure is on the Phoenix,
Speaker 3: but they're at home and they've been in this league
Speaker 3: a long time.
Speaker 1: So key players for each side, who do you land
Speaker 1: on when you when you start thinking about who's going
Speaker 1: to be particularly integral to their sides?
Speaker 3: Well, I think Alex Ruthe for one hundred percent. This
Speaker 3: is a big game for them. They will be nervous
Speaker 3: a lot of the younger players as well. You know
Speaker 3: they're playing it's all whites v all whites, and you
Speaker 3: know a lot of a lot of rivalry and friendships
Speaker 3: between those two teams. So I think Alex Ruth is
Speaker 3: going to be huge and stepping up for his team,
Speaker 3: and he was obviously huge for them last year as
Speaker 3: a leader, so I think him there and then probably
Speaker 3: probably Alex Paulson And that's for Auckland f C. And
Speaker 3: it's going to be hard for him as well mentally.
Speaker 3: It's stepping on and playing particularly down that end in
Speaker 3: front of the Yellow Fever. But for Auckland f C.
Speaker 3: He's going to need to be on. He's going to
Speaker 3: need to block that noise out.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have to make a lot of saves in
Speaker 1: the first two goes he's been and I think that
Speaker 1: speaks a lot to Auckland f C's defense. But I
Speaker 1: can't remember Alex Paulson having to make too many saves.
Speaker 3: No, I was thinking this as well, how he hasn't
Speaker 3: been put under too much pressure. If I'm really critiquing
Speaker 3: his performance, I think is kicking has been you know,
Speaker 3: a little bit questionable. Again, it might be the lack
Speaker 3: of kind of you know balls down that end of
Speaker 3: the park, but yeah, and he might be nervous as
Speaker 3: while playing for this club.
Speaker 1: He found he found touch a couple of times, didn't
Speaker 1: he With a couple of clearances on the weekend, a
Speaker 1: couple of you know balls that he was I guess
Speaker 1: presuming was trying to play out to white areas went
Speaker 1: into went into touch. So yeah, I think I think
Speaker 1: it's a massive test for Alex Paulson on Saturday. We
Speaker 1: all know he's an absolutely stupendous goalkeeper. We know this,
Speaker 1: but he has to go into a place, through no
Speaker 1: fault of his own, where the fans who used to
Speaker 1: adore him will now be doing everything in their power
Speaker 1: to get to him. That's what football fandom is. You know,
Speaker 1: and like I say, it's no fault of Alex Paulson's
Speaker 1: He he signed for AFC Bournemouth not expecting to be
Speaker 1: at AFC, you know, he expected to get to be
Speaker 1: at Bournemouth and if he was going to be playing
Speaker 1: in the A League this season. When he signed for Bournemouth,
Speaker 1: he fully expected that if he was going to be
Speaker 1: playing in the A League it would be back at
Speaker 1: Wellington Phoenix. Hasn't worked out that way, No fault of
Speaker 1: his own. However, the circumstance now presents itself where he
Speaker 1: has to go out into an absolute call there on Saturday.
Speaker 1: It'll be a huge test for him mentally one I
Speaker 1: think that he is up to but I just think
Speaker 1: it's an extremely interesting layer to this game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, one hundred percent, and he's got to own
Speaker 3: it and he can. He's Yes, he's young, but he's
Speaker 3: got a good hit on his shoulders and we saw
Speaker 3: that through his performances last season and yeah, I just
Speaker 3: want him to own it and I want him to
Speaker 3: have a good game for his sake.
Speaker 1: The other player I think is going to be extremely
Speaker 1: important for Auckland is Louis Vastrata. He has just been
Speaker 1: terrific in the first two games. The best player I
Speaker 1: think in both games, just sitting in front of that
Speaker 1: back four. We talked about Alex Paulson not having a
Speaker 1: lot to do, and I think Louis as Strata is
Speaker 1: a massive part of that. You know, attacks aren't even
Speaker 1: getting to the Auckland back four, let alone anywhere near
Speaker 1: Alex Paulson because Louis us Strata is just this wall
Speaker 1: in front of Auckland's back four. What a player. I'm
Speaker 1: so so impressed by him. So in many ways, the
Speaker 1: two anchors of the midfields, Alex Rufer and Louisistrata, could
Speaker 1: have a big part to play in their side's fortunes
Speaker 1: on the weekend.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll be It'll be a really good watch.
Speaker 3: And I you know, I just hope for the neutral
Speaker 3: fans or you know that. I know there's a lot
Speaker 3: of people torn. I'm taught myself, you know, I know
Speaker 3: we're meant to be unbiased, and we just you know,
Speaker 3: aren't meant to pick a team. But I just hope
Speaker 3: both teams go out and play a good game for
Speaker 3: the fans. That's going to be the best thing for
Speaker 3: football in this country and for the for the rest
Speaker 3: of the season that you know, it's a good it's
Speaker 3: a good show, and that will start in the midfield
Speaker 3: with the two names that you've mentioned, Piney and hopefully
Speaker 3: a couple of goals from each side. Yeah, I just
Speaker 3: hope it's hope it's a really entertaining watch.
Speaker 1: See, I reckon it'll be quite cagy early in particular.
Speaker 1: You know, there'll be nerves, there'll be a lot of hype.
Speaker 1: It's already building and it's only Tuesday. By the time
Speaker 1: of Saturday rolls around, there'll be a lot of hype,
Speaker 1: big crowd. I think there'll be a bit of nervous
Speaker 1: energy on both sides actually, so there might be some caution.
Speaker 1: There might be just a little bit of of over
Speaker 1: adrenalizing of the muscles early in the game. I'm like
Speaker 1: you because a lot of people will be tuning into it,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe for the first time to watch a
Speaker 1: football game. So I hope they go away after a
Speaker 1: second mount. I'm going to get a bit more of
Speaker 1: that in them my veins. You know. I love that
Speaker 1: you land on an interesting point though, What is your
Speaker 1: advice for Phoenix fans who or for fans who have
Speaker 1: supported the Phoenix because they were the only team around
Speaker 1: for the last seventeen years or whatever it's been, who
Speaker 1: now have Auckland FC as well. Do you think there
Speaker 1: are fans, particularly ones based in Auckland, who are a
Speaker 1: bit torn.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I've spoken to a few. Even I'll mention them again.
Speaker 3: My young cousins, so I went to Auckland with they
Speaker 3: were born in Wellington, moved to Auckland at a young age,
Speaker 3: wouldn't even really remember, you know, going to their first
Speaker 3: Phoenix games. Yet they are Wellington Phoenix through and through.
Speaker 3: It's like they're living in England and if they support Auckland,
Speaker 3: you know they've just been they'll be banished. So they
Speaker 3: even at the weekend they were like, they're living in Auckland,
Speaker 3: but they couldn't support Auckland. But I was trying to
Speaker 3: say to them, and I say this to the other
Speaker 3: fans torn, that it's okay to support two teams. We're
Speaker 3: not living in England. Where're you die on that you
Speaker 3: die for that one team?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: How great is it that we've got two Kiwi based
Speaker 3: teams in this league? Every other week? Go for go
Speaker 3: for both teams and it will just be tough this week,
Speaker 3: and I guess you've just got to hope for a
Speaker 3: hope for a good game and no one gets injured.
Speaker 1: Well, I've got bad news for your cousins. Unfortunately, I've
Speaker 1: got bad news on You must now decide. You've had
Speaker 1: two weeks, Grace. That's fine, you've had You've had two
Speaker 1: weeks of sampling Auckland FC and deciding whether they are
Speaker 1: for you. But when the first derby arrives, and it
Speaker 1: has arrived, you must now know, you know your colors
Speaker 1: to the mast. You must now decide football fans cannot
Speaker 1: support two teams playing in the same league. I'm sorry, Bonnie,
Speaker 1: but it's just it's just not what football fandom is about.
Speaker 1: And I know that you know your young cousin and
Speaker 1: others will be torn about this, but now is the
Speaker 1: time to decide. They have to choose.
Speaker 3: Are we going to get any like streakers or anything
Speaker 3: like that? Are we going to get you know, port
Speaker 3: fans trying to walk into the yellow fever? Are we
Speaker 3: going to get any disruptors like that?
Speaker 2: Do you think?
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know. I mean what I
Speaker 1: hope is that a huge number of Auckland f C
Speaker 1: fans turn up. There's a there's an away bay at
Speaker 1: sky Stadium for away fans whoever the Phoenix are playing.
Speaker 1: And usually, you know, if you're lucky, you might get
Speaker 1: half a dozen who come across from Australia. Sometimes certain
Speaker 1: clubs make a bit of a thing of it and
Speaker 1: you might get thirty or forty. That bay holds a
Speaker 1: thousand people, and I want it chockers. I want it
Speaker 1: absolutely packed because you know that when the Phoenix go
Speaker 1: to Auckland, They're away section will be absolutely packed. But
Speaker 1: they've got a head start, of course they have. They've
Speaker 1: got fans in Auckland. And I'm talking to you, Auckland fans.
Speaker 1: You need to decide. And if you decide Auckland f C,
Speaker 1: that's totally cool. It's a team in your city. That
Speaker 1: totally cool. But if you choose Phoenix, you must on
Speaker 1: the day of a derby at Mount Smart sit with
Speaker 1: the Phoenix fans and I know you will. Honestly, Bonnie,
Speaker 1: I cannot stress this enough. This is what football fandom is.
Speaker 1: You now must decide.
Speaker 2: Okay, I like it, Parney, I like it.
Speaker 1: So I hope, I hope there are a lot of
Speaker 1: fans I've heard there are several hundred coming and wouldn't
Speaker 1: that be amazing? Imagine that and imagine because when you
Speaker 1: go away to support your team, that's when you have
Speaker 1: to be the loudest. That is when you have to
Speaker 1: be the noisiest. You have to make it sound as
Speaker 1: though you're the home team. So I hope those who
Speaker 1: are coming, and I know a lot of people are
Speaker 1: make noise from the first whistle to the last.
Speaker 3: Well, the port fans have done two weeks in a
Speaker 3: row there, they're march down into B twenty two, so
Speaker 3: I wonder if they'll try and implement something similar along
Speaker 3: along the concourse. It might be a bit longer, a
Speaker 3: of a walk at where at sky Stadium?
Speaker 2: Do it? Yeah, do it? It'd be great, Yeah, brilliant,
Speaker 2: do it.
Speaker 1: You know again, this isn't going to get ug You're right,
Speaker 1: the really ugly underbelly side of football fandom and other
Speaker 1: places where you know, it can really go into bad
Speaker 1: places around violence and things like that. That ain't going
Speaker 1: to happen here. It's not going to happen. The most
Speaker 1: that's going to happen is a bit of good natured banter.
Speaker 1: As long as people are sensible about it. Look at
Speaker 1: a couple of Auckland the FC fans think it's a
Speaker 1: bright idea to turn up in yellow fever and blue shirts.
Speaker 1: They'll quickly get jostled out of there, of course they will.
Speaker 1: But that's not football fandom. Football fandom is standing with
Speaker 1: those who support the same team as you do, whether
Speaker 1: it's home or away, and yelling your lungs out for
Speaker 1: that team.
Speaker 2: No, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're right that it will all be
Speaker 3: friendly banter and you know positive on the day it'll
Speaker 3: be loud and everyone will be vibing, but hopefully, you know,
Speaker 3: nothing silly that makes no one not want to come back.
Speaker 1: Simply can't wait. I think it's going to be terrific.
Speaker 1: They're tracking I think to twenty thousand plus in terms
Speaker 1: of the crowd, and you've made the point a couple
Speaker 1: of times, the very good point that are regulous season
Speaker 1: crowd of that size is a huge help financially to
Speaker 1: the home team. You know, the Phoenix didn't get anywhere
Speaker 1: near that for our home game last year until the
Speaker 1: semi final or to the finals, and by that stage
Speaker 1: you don't get the money. It goes to apl so
Speaker 1: to have a regular season crowd of that size, particularly
Speaker 1: early on in the season outstanding.
Speaker 3: You know, let me just check, Let me just check
Speaker 3: the weather, because that's obviously go as well.
Speaker 1: Do that.
Speaker 3: Currently sunny at five o'clock for kickoff, windy in the afternoon,
Speaker 3: but sun comes out at five.
Speaker 1: O'clock, well wind and Wellington is not new as well.
Speaker 2: The Phoenix will surely want one.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't know, I think, yeah, I wonder. I mean,
Speaker 1: even though the players know how to play in it
Speaker 1: a bit better because they have to often want now
Speaker 1: I don't even want to Yeah, I think no, I
Speaker 1: think you know. I think if you gave the players
Speaker 1: the choice between rain and wind, they choose rain every time.
Speaker 1: The wind just tends to really spoil the game of
Speaker 1: football anyway. We can't control that, or we can control
Speaker 1: is the as the hype and that we continue to
Speaker 1: build around it because I think it is worth hyping.
Speaker 1: I think Saturday afternoon, a lot of eyes are going
Speaker 1: to be on sky Stadium, and rightly so. I think
Speaker 1: it's just a terrific occasion in coming football fever. We've
Speaker 1: better transfer over to a couple of other things to
Speaker 1: talk about. Keep's overseas the women. There's an international window
Speaker 1: on at the moment, isn't there, So no games for
Speaker 1: the football Ferns as they try and sort out her
Speaker 1: the next coach is going to be. But I don't
Speaker 1: think we've mentioned a couple of football Ferns who have
Speaker 1: recently announced their retirement.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I don't think we have.
Speaker 3: But Daisy Cleverly and Hannah Wilkinson have both announced their
Speaker 3: retirement in the past month after the Olympics, and neither
Speaker 3: of which was selected for the Olympics. Daisy Cleverly had
Speaker 3: thirty nine caps for New Zealand, playing in Europe and
Speaker 3: the States, and she went to three World Cups. And then,
Speaker 3: of course we can't forget Hannah Wilkinson, who was our
Speaker 3: World Cup hero last year scoring that goal that got
Speaker 3: us our first win against Norway and had a World Cup.
Speaker 3: She had one hundred and twenty five caps for the
Speaker 3: country in a career that spanned over for fourteen years,
Speaker 3: featuring four World Cups and three Olympics. So yeah, two
Speaker 3: massive players have been in and around the team for
Speaker 3: a long time that I'm sure a lot of football
Speaker 3: Ferns fans will miss.
Speaker 1: And the congratulations to Daisy and Hannah on your professional
Speaker 1: and international football careers. For the men, Chris Wood just
Speaker 1: can't stop scoring goal seven and nine matches, now third
Speaker 1: in the EPL Golden Boot List at the moment. A
Speaker 1: couple more in the three to one win over Lester
Speaker 1: getting all sorts of plaud It's all over the place.
Speaker 1: Chris Wood just doing a magnificent job for Forrest against
Speaker 1: all expectations are sort of you know, sort of hanging
Speaker 1: around at the top of the table, certainly in the
Speaker 1: top half. So he's doing wonderful work. Eli just scored
Speaker 1: an absolute banger from outside the box and Saint Polton's
Speaker 1: four to two win in the latest Austrian game. I
Speaker 1: see Sarprech Singh was on the bench for his Portuguese
Speaker 1: club today as well. I don't know whether he got
Speaker 1: minutes or not, but we haven't seen Sarpret in a
Speaker 1: match day squad since about May, so good to have
Speaker 1: him back. However, Ben Old has officially been sidelined for
Speaker 1: what we believe to be between four and six months
Speaker 1: with his knee injury. I think it is or ankle,
Speaker 1: but yeah, he'll be out for a bit, which is
Speaker 1: a big shame. For him, for New Zealand and for
Speaker 1: Saint Ettieen. And this is the beauty of pre recording,
Speaker 1: because just as I was going through the last bit
Speaker 1: of last bit of action there, Bonnie's had to evacuate
Speaker 1: the Auckland Football Fever studio due to a fire alarm,
Speaker 1: so she's no longer with us. I do though, want
Speaker 1: to mention right at the end the start of the
Speaker 1: Wellington Phoenix women's season. The Liberty A League, or rather
Speaker 1: the Ninja A League as it's called now, is getting
Speaker 1: underway this coming weekend and that means for the Wellington
Speaker 1: Phoenix Women a first game of the season away at
Speaker 1: Western United nine o'clock on Friday night, So they get
Speaker 1: the season underway and we're looking forward to seeing how
Speaker 1: they go with a clutch of new players, a couple
Speaker 1: of new members of the coaching staff and some new
Speaker 1: imports to enjoy. So the Wellington Phoenix Women underway Friday
Speaker 1: night at nine o'clock away at Western United Ironbark Fields,
Speaker 1: the new home of the Western United Football Club is
Speaker 1: where they will be playing. That is us on Football Fever.
Speaker 1: Bonnie is no doubt assembling outside with the rest of
Speaker 1: the team in the Auckland Studios, So for now I'll
Speaker 1: say goodbye. We're back with another episode of Football Fever
Speaker 1: next Monday, as we wrap the Derby, the first game
Speaker 1: for the Wellington Phoenix Women, and everything else to do
Speaker 1: with Kiwis playing around the world. Have a good one
Speaker 1: with Piny and Bonnie.