On Sports Fix with D'Arcy Waldegrave and Jason Pine for 30th October 2025, earlier today, a piece around a toxic work environment at Netball New Zealand was released - written by NZ Herald sports journalist Nathan Limm. It detailed reports from as many as six current and former staff members who have discussed a challenging and secretive workplace culture. Nathan caught up with D'Arcy to discuss.
D'Arcy shares his thoughts on the importance of the Grand Slam on Scott Robertson's tenure as the All Blacks head coach.
And D'Arcy and Piney discuss what they expect from the All Blacks team naming tomorrow and whether Blair Tickner is a genuine bowling option for the Black Caps following a standout 34/4 bowling performance in the second ODI against England.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News talks Ed. B
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks Ed BE.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hello there and welcome into the Sports Fix podcast. Welk
you in association with our great mates of GJ. Gardner Holmes,
New Zealand's most trusted home builder. I'm Jason Pine. It
seems an age since I've seen you, my friends.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Have you really missed me?
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Though?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Really I didn't say that, I just seen it was
a long time since I saw you. I chose my
words carefully. Your note you did.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm very very pleased to be bare and pleased to
be doing something. I tell you what. Two weeks on
the couch watching Telly sounds like heaven, but for someone
like me, after a couple of days, it's like I
got to do something something. So we're back, and I'm
very happy that.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I am very happy to see you. Let let's not
pretend that I'm not. It is great to have you
with me again, and great to be with you on
Sports Fix. I got to get for a day. I
want to talk about the All Blacks team being named
tomorrow morning. Five thirty. I'm keen to know who you
think is going to be in that team. Have we
found a revitalized member of our pace attack and Blair
Tickner after his heroics last night In terms of a
(01:18):
guest who we're hearing from.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
On sportsbooks today we'll be joined by Nathan Lum, former
newtorp ZB sports journalist. He now works for zidhell dot
co dot NZ discussing his story and the latest from
the trouble at Miller with New Zealand Netbull.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Looking forward to that and the latest transport news too,
So let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Good idea of Piney, your.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Full of the mate. Let's go in other news.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Let's get young with a look at some of the
exports stories around today and to the finish of Netbors,
Constellation Cup and christ Church last night gave.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
Over and Australia has regained the Constellation Cup. They have
won in extra time Series Decider by twelve goals to eleven.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
The Silver Ferns had had some joy earlier though.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
You see that when the fourth and final Constellation Jump
Test sixty two fifty.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Seven here, That was before the scores were reset for
the teams to play the extra fourteen minute period to
find the series winner, which was Australia. South Africa through
to the final of the Women's Cricket World Cup beating
England by one hundred and twenty five runs in their
semi final.
Speaker 6 (02:26):
Says God breaks Jabs and the Frontiers to find their
past two semi final heartbreaks against their old bows. England
are now behind South Africa.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
England all that for one ninety four in the thirty
fourth over chasing three hundred and twenty and former All
Blacks captain Tanner Umanga intrigued to see Scott Robertson's selection
decisions for the upcoming Grand Slam Tour.
Speaker 7 (02:52):
Does he have the trustemers planers to rowpate them or
is he going to go with the trial and through
test rugby is such a high intensity that is hard
for our test plans. I believe to back up three
or four times.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
It's Sportsfix with Jason Pine and Dusty Walter Grave.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
We'll joined now in the Sports Vex podcast by New
Zealand Herald describe at Nathan Limb, a man that's been
all over the tumultuous times that New Zealand netball have
been experiencing. Nathan, Welcome to The Fix Evening, Darcy, Fizzy
to be on and great to.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Have you on.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
This just keeps getting legs. I did an editorial piece
yesterday on the podcast saying don't put your popcorn down.
There is no way this has finished. They've basically paused
proceedings have Netball New Zealand. That was until your story
came out today around the breakdown in culture within Netball
(03:50):
New Zealand. This is sensational reading. It's scary reading for
netball and Zed. Did it surprise you with the amount
of people you've managed to actually contact and talk to
them and get their stories.
Speaker 8 (04:02):
Out of Well, what the content of what they actually
told me about the workplace culture and about the decision
making processes and about the leadership. To be honest, that
what they said to me didn't surprise me. Based off
what we've seen from the outside in the way they
handle different issues such as the broadcast deal drama and
such as the standing down of Dame no Lean Totor.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
That all made sense.
Speaker 8 (04:24):
What surprised me, I suppose, was the willingness and the
almost urgency that came with the staff members. They really
wanted this story out there and they've been you know,
I've been in contact with them since talking to them,
and as the story sort of getting developed, has taken
a while to get the story out into the public.
And all of the people I talked to really want
the story out there. They want this story told. They
(04:46):
want the public to know the kind of culture that
is going on at Netburne, New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
And they have called for leadership changes.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
All of your insiders, no one wants to be identified.
Where does that come from? What kind of hole does
Netbun New Zealand have on these people? What's the fair here?
Why won't they say, Hey, it's Mexx and I'm telling
you my story.
Speaker 8 (05:11):
Well, what they talked about and they talked about what
it's like to work in Netborne, New Zealand. They talked about, quote,
a culture of fear where people are afraid to speak
up and stand out and make problems known because they
are feared that they will be therefore mistreated and in
a way sort of pushed out of the environment and
maybe suffer ways in the way that they're treated. So
(05:33):
one hundred percent there is this fear among staff, current
and former of Netball New Zealander. It has taken me
a while to get to this point where I've got
this many people who are willing to talk to me, even.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Off the record with their names out of it.
Speaker 8 (05:47):
But they definitely want the story out there, but there
is a lot of fear about being attached to it
and what that could mean for their relationships and the
way things work within Netball New Zealand. One of the
things they sort of a few of them talked about
was this sort of culture of secrets. A lot of
them were getting their news through the media, so when
(06:07):
people like me were princes stories in the New Zealand Herald,
that's how they'd learned what was going on with Neckball
New Zealand because within the organization they weren't getting that
information passed down from senior leadership, and in regards to
the broadcast deal, they didn't actually know what was going on. Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
And I think one of the big takeouts from the
story in zidherld dot co dot nz herold understands twenty
two of inian Z's forty three staff members have left
over the past two years, including eleven in the past
twelve months. Now that screams it's more on a red flag.
That's a red flag and a red pole. Something's not
(06:43):
something's a mess.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yeah, I mean, we do have a factor.
Speaker 8 (06:45):
And they did go through a restructure, so some people's
jobs were lost through that, but only a small percentage,
Only a small number of people actually were made redundant.
But people were sort of I guess the words that
were used were sort of pushed out right. But as
some of these people they got better opportunities elsewhere and
they're genuinely happy. But what was clear is that there
was definitely an effect on the mental and pysical health
(07:08):
of the staff given the workplace culture. One of the
sources talked about having to work sort of seventy hour
weeks and not getting any help, and eventually they left
the organization.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Because it was just bad for their health.
Speaker 8 (07:22):
And the quote was this is rather dramatic, but the
quote was, I'd rather not die, so I'll depart the job.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Ironic, isn't it that Dame Noline Toduo came under the
spotlight because some athletes said they didn't feel safe in
the environ And here we go again, But it's not
just the players, it's the entire staff. Now, if you
take one look at that, you go, well, hold on,
there's something rotten in the state of Denmark. Where does
this stop? And how does this stop? How do they
(07:51):
couterize this? They tornic this bleeding because it's awful for
the sport.
Speaker 8 (07:57):
It is awful, and it's embarrassing to be honest, for
people who are really involved in the sport and have
put a lot of their lives into netball and are
so passionate about the sport Because there are so many
people who just love it New Zealand. We've seen that
in the support for the Silver fans over the last
couple of tests that they've played. But in terms of
how does it stop, I mean, the people that I
talked to throughout this process, they almost all of them
(08:20):
said that they needed to be leadership changed. That the
culture is set by the people at the top and
it filters down. So they're calling for leadership changes and
they've spoken about, you know, the board and the senior
leadership team. Interestingly, the Neper Newson have removed the Senior
Leadership Team page on the NMZ website, so if you
(08:41):
go and click on the leadership page, it'll just redirect
you to the homepage. They've actually taken that down, so
that their names are not up there, and they did
that about six weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
News and it's Force Vex with Dancy Waldegrave.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And it's midyear report time for Scott Raiser Robertson, coach
of the All Blacks. Earlier enough on Sunday Morning Stuffter nine.
As it happens, you All Blacks are taking on at
the Graveyard. It will always be known as the Graveyard.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
To me.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I'm sulking Soldier Field in Chicago after what happened back
in twenty sixteen. He's halfway through his four year contract
and that's odd enough as it is that Scott Robinson
has been given plenty of rope to develop a team
that we'd like to think will have success at the
World Cup in two years time. So he needs to
(09:35):
win this series, him and his men, and he needs
to win it four nil. Otherwise I'd suggest faith in
Robertson and what he's trying to do over the last
couple of years will dissipate rapidly. Yeah, it's a very
difficult prospect taking on the four home nations, even though
one of the game is in the United States of America.
(09:57):
But he has to prove that all of the work
that he's done, all of the selections he's made over
the last couple of years, the tweaking, the honing, the
understanding the gravity of loss and how to avoid that.
He has to understand that this has to come right
in this tour. Four on the bounce for in a row,
threats from England, threats from Scotland, probably no threat from Wales,
(10:22):
and obviously clear and present danger from the underplayed Irish.
So that might give the All Blacks a looking So
it's half year, half contract time for Scott Robinson. He's
had some pass marks, he's had some fail marks. He's
had coaching staff that have walked away. But in the
wash up, if he can walk away with a Grand
(10:43):
Slam from the end of season tour, that will bring
great confidence, not only to himself and as men on
New Zealand Rugby, but to us as a fan base.
Get in there, get stuck in, go well Son and
you know what, I'd almost accept a break dance if
he does go four and zero.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfax.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
The Chamber we go the All Blacks team to face
Ireland this coming Sunday morning. New Zealand time in Chicago
is named Tomorrow Morning Bright nearly five thirty. It seems
an age since we talked about the All Blacks. I
guess it's been a month or so since they beat
Australia in Perth. We know that Boden Barrett is back.
Do you expect him to go straight back into the
ten jersey for this one?
Speaker 7 (11:29):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I know that's a short, sharp answer, but I talked
about this for the last couple of days. This is
like a half term report, and the term I'm talking
about is the four year term that Scott Robertson has
and I'd suggest that four and oh is the only
acceptable result here. And he's got to hit the ground
running with the flames at his feet. He started to
(11:53):
show he knows what he's doing with selection. He's smoothed
out some of the rough areas because it's been a
bit of a he's been Juddabars right the way through it.
But I think he wants to put his best team
on the field. And if Boden Barrett isn't the best
first five eighth, say he okay?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Then in that case, then what about this one? In
the eleven Jersey we saw Caleb Clark make his first
test appearance of the year at eden Park and that
went over Australia. He limped off and was unavailable for
the Perth game, but I thought he looked very good
at eden Park, provided he's fit. Does he get the
eleven jersey back or does Lester fighting Anuku retain it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
I'd say that Lester comes in off the bench to
cover a couple of pozzies because he can slip into
that midfield role with what Caleb is offered up in
the air is something that this team has missed, so
I'd plump for him if he's around. Of course, that
team comes out what early tomorrow morning, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
It does? And the only thing that's furrowing my brow
over so slightly is the locking department because there's no
Patrick Tupul or two and there is no Toop or Vity.
That's Scott, Barrett and Fabi and Holland in the starting site.
I'm okay with that. Sam Dowry on the bench or
do they go summer Penny fee now covering lockloose forward?
What would you be doing?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I think I'd go with a specialist in that role because,
as you said, where we're weakened as far as the
ability and length of time on the park, so you
need to go with specialists in that role. I don't
think you want to roll dice.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Is that a fair thing to say?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
It?
Speaker 2 (13:23):
It is, I'd be doing exactly the same thing, unless,
of course, they feel as though they want a bit
of extra loose forward grunt on the bench and then
they so they can have one and a half loose
forward to be like a female. Also covers lock because
you could basically say, Okay, Scott Barrett Fabian Holland, you're
playing the whole game. You're playing the ninety minutes and
both of them, I mean Scott Barret's the captain and
(13:44):
Holland I think played in the first three Test matches
of the year against France. He played the entire game
and all three of them didn't he. So yeah, look,
I guess we'll wait and see what.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
You just ask him for.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Trouble if you go, you know these two guys are
going to play them full eighty minutes. They're gone on
the first five.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
You can't do that.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I'm I'm concerned around that. But that's an area of
say weakness, maybe an area that the iris the underdone
Irish team might target although they're rolling back some pretty
heavy hitters for this side, so US media going, wow,
they've not really played for a while and I don't
know so much. I think there'll be some real snorting
(14:24):
going on on this Iris team. They're going to want
to make sure that Soldier Field is THEIRS.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Indeed, we can talk more about the All Blacks test
tomorrow once the team is out on sports Fix. Last night,
the black Caps are winning the series against England with
a game to spare which comes up on Saturday in Wellington,
and Blared Tickner, the one of the top men of
New Zealand cricket, hasn't played for the national team since
May of twenty twenty three, back into the side because
(14:50):
Matt Henry's got a wee niggle. Eight overs one made
in four for thirty four for Blair tick Now, he
could hardly have done more dust.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
So it's because he got rid of that horrible slug
and give himself a haircut.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah, maybe that's maybe that's the secret, much easier.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
This is testament to what the black Cats have been
doing over the many many years, are building strength in
a number of different areas and if you look across
the landscape of quicks it looks very, very good. There
is a bit of saneness about some of those positions,
but there are guys all absolutely fighting for their roles.
They're given half the chance. They're not going to let
(15:27):
that chance go because they know. Also, injury reads its
ugly head quite a lot. So I don't think there's
a person out there in cricket that doesn't think Blairs
a GC. We're all really happy to see him come back.
And then, of course the backup of that is Darryl Mitchell,
who refuses to be dismissed in this series so far
out good.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Oh, he's just such a valuable cricketer, isn't he. Seventy
eight not out in the first game, fifty two, unbeaten
in the second, and just continues to justify his place
whenever New Zealand play game of cricket in any format.
Darcy is an all purpose cricketer for us.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, in any format, extraordinarily valuable. I don't even know
where the track listers at the moment. He's not right
up near the top of that. Again, I'm saying all
the time. But not an underrated player. Such a delightful
character to deal with. But he shows. You know, we
call Mitchell sant a flat line because he just appears
near to panic. I think there's a bit of flat
(16:24):
line going on with the Dazzer as well. He just
not appears to overall by anything.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
It doesn't get emotional, does he doesn't get it doesn't
get you know, they say, if you don't ride the
highs too high of the thows too low, you just
keep things nice and level, regardless of whether you are
successful or perhaps you're going through a bit of a
rough patch, then you know you should be okay, particularly
in cricket, where I'm sure if you know, there are
some guys so if they go through a bit of
a trot and don't get runs, start to wonder where
(16:50):
the next one's coming from, and then they get all
introverted and tied up a knots. I can't ever imagine
Darryl Mitchell being tied up in any knots, And if
he was, he would get out of them like Harry Houdini.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Indeed he would, and those knots they could be changed.
He could be in a safe at the bottom of
the river and he's still through and worth mentioning the
sant Nicholaus flatliner that innings at the end was astonishing.
So okay, are we going home? I've had enough of
this and he just started bounding him to all parts.
That was quite a shock.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Another valuable cricket ray twenty seven of twenty five in
the first game, and then thirty four unbeaten off seventeen.
As you say, it's all like most like he arrived
a thought, right, enough of this sort of pushing and
prodding around at three and over, Let's get the job
done and let's get off and have an early dinner,
which they did so well under Mitchell Sander and Darryl Mitchell,
the two stars sofar of this ODI series against England,
Game three, Wellington on Saturday. That is us in the
(17:45):
Chamber for today.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Dissecting the sporting agenda. It's Sportsfix with Jason Vain and
Darcy Waldgrave.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And that's us on Sports Fix for another day. Thank
you so much. For those of you, or to those
of you who subscribe to Sports Fix, you'll know, of
course that a fresh episode will drop into your podcast
feed around about the same time tomorrow and every weekday.
And if you are a subscriber, maybe you could take
it upon yourself, just on our behalf to tell your.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Friends, make them jealous, tell them all the good times
you had, and they need to be on this tip
as well. Something to discuss around the water cooler at work,
right am I making myself perfectly clear?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
You are you are?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
And if you can't subscribe to Sports Fixed, or if
that's not convenient, they can always listen on the radio
dusk well they.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Can sports Talk between seven and eight. The content is
all on the name, plainly, Jason Pine, it's you. You've
got Mondays, I've got Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Keen to
take your calls, your grief because we do sometime, your text,
your emails. Sports talkers all the fun of a circus
and talking about circuses. You get a three ring one
(18:50):
going on on Saturday and Sunday, haven't you?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Indeed? Three ring three hour circus with lots of interaction
with our listeners midday till three Saturday and Sunday weekend.
Sport on News Talk said b We will check it
again tomorrow dusk.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Good on your GJ.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Gardner Homes. Thanks for your continued support of the Sports
Fixed podcast.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Look after Yourself for more from Newstalk set B listen
live on air or online, and keep our shows with
you wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
You're listening to a podcast from News talks Ed. B
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks Ed BE.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hello there and welcome into the Sports Fix podcast. Welk
you in association with our great mates of GJ. Gardner Holmes,
New Zealand's most trusted home builder. I'm Jason Pine. It
seems an age since I've seen you, my friends.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Have you really missed me?
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Though?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Really I didn't say that, I just seen it was
a long time since I saw you. I chose my
words carefully. Your note you did.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm very very pleased to be bare and pleased to
be doing something. I tell you what. Two weeks on
the couch watching Telly sounds like heaven, but for someone
like me, after a couple of days, it's like I
got to do something something. So we're back, and I'm
very happy that.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I am very happy to see you. Let let's not
pretend that I'm not. It is great to have you
with me again, and great to be with you on
Sports Fix. I got to get for a day. I
want to talk about the All Blacks team being named
tomorrow morning. Five thirty. I'm keen to know who you
think is going to be in that team. Have we
found a revitalized member of our pace attack and Blair
Tickner after his heroics last night In terms of a
(01:18):
guest who we're hearing from.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
On sportsbooks today we'll be joined by Nathan Lum, former
newtorp ZB sports journalist. He now works for zidhell dot
co dot NZ discussing his story and the latest from
the trouble at Miller with New Zealand Netbull.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Looking forward to that and the latest transport news too,
So let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Good idea of Piney, your.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Full of the mate. Let's go in other news.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Let's get young with a look at some of the
exports stories around today and to the finish of Netbors,
Constellation Cup and christ Church last night gave.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
Over and Australia has regained the Constellation Cup. They have
won in extra time Series Decider by twelve goals to eleven.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
The Silver Ferns had had some joy earlier though.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
You see that when the fourth and final Constellation Jump
Test sixty two fifty.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Seven here, That was before the scores were reset for
the teams to play the extra fourteen minute period to
find the series winner, which was Australia. South Africa through
to the final of the Women's Cricket World Cup beating
England by one hundred and twenty five runs in their
semi final.
Speaker 6 (02:26):
Says God breaks Jabs and the Frontiers to find their
past two semi final heartbreaks against their old bows. England
are now behind South Africa.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
England all that for one ninety four in the thirty
fourth over chasing three hundred and twenty and former All
Blacks captain Tanner Umanga intrigued to see Scott Robertson's selection
decisions for the upcoming Grand Slam Tour.
Speaker 7 (02:52):
Does he have the trustemers planers to rowpate them or
is he going to go with the trial and through
test rugby is such a high intensity that is hard
for our test plans. I believe to back up three
or four times.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
It's Sportsfix with Jason Pine and Dusty Walter Grave.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
We'll joined now in the Sports Vex podcast by New
Zealand Herald describe at Nathan Limb, a man that's been
all over the tumultuous times that New Zealand netball have
been experiencing. Nathan, Welcome to The Fix Evening, Darcy, Fizzy
to be on and great to.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Have you on.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
This just keeps getting legs. I did an editorial piece
yesterday on the podcast saying don't put your popcorn down.
There is no way this has finished. They've basically paused
proceedings have Netball New Zealand. That was until your story
came out today around the breakdown in culture within Netball
(03:50):
New Zealand. This is sensational reading. It's scary reading for
netball and Zed. Did it surprise you with the amount
of people you've managed to actually contact and talk to
them and get their stories.
Speaker 8 (04:02):
Out of Well, what the content of what they actually
told me about the workplace culture and about the decision
making processes and about the leadership. To be honest, that
what they said to me didn't surprise me. Based off
what we've seen from the outside in the way they
handle different issues such as the broadcast deal drama and
such as the standing down of Dame no Lean Totor.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
That all made sense.
Speaker 8 (04:24):
What surprised me, I suppose, was the willingness and the
almost urgency that came with the staff members. They really
wanted this story out there and they've been you know,
I've been in contact with them since talking to them,
and as the story sort of getting developed, has taken
a while to get the story out into the public.
And all of the people I talked to really want
the story out there. They want this story told. They
(04:46):
want the public to know the kind of culture that
is going on at Netburne, New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
And they have called for leadership changes.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
All of your insiders, no one wants to be identified.
Where does that come from? What kind of hole does
Netbun New Zealand have on these people? What's the fair here?
Why won't they say, Hey, it's Mexx and I'm telling
you my story.
Speaker 8 (05:11):
Well, what they talked about and they talked about what
it's like to work in Netborne, New Zealand. They talked about, quote,
a culture of fear where people are afraid to speak
up and stand out and make problems known because they
are feared that they will be therefore mistreated and in
a way sort of pushed out of the environment and
maybe suffer ways in the way that they're treated. So
(05:33):
one hundred percent there is this fear among staff, current
and former of Netball New Zealander. It has taken me
a while to get to this point where I've got
this many people who are willing to talk to me, even.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Off the record with their names out of it.
Speaker 8 (05:47):
But they definitely want the story out there, but there
is a lot of fear about being attached to it
and what that could mean for their relationships and the
way things work within Netball New Zealand. One of the
things they sort of a few of them talked about
was this sort of culture of secrets. A lot of
them were getting their news through the media, so when
(06:07):
people like me were princes stories in the New Zealand Herald,
that's how they'd learned what was going on with Neckball
New Zealand because within the organization they weren't getting that
information passed down from senior leadership, and in regards to
the broadcast deal, they didn't actually know what was going on. Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
And I think one of the big takeouts from the
story in zidherld dot co dot nz herold understands twenty
two of inian Z's forty three staff members have left
over the past two years, including eleven in the past
twelve months. Now that screams it's more on a red flag.
That's a red flag and a red pole. Something's not
(06:43):
something's a mess.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yeah, I mean, we do have a factor.
Speaker 8 (06:45):
And they did go through a restructure, so some people's
jobs were lost through that, but only a small percentage,
Only a small number of people actually were made redundant.
But people were sort of I guess the words that
were used were sort of pushed out right. But as
some of these people they got better opportunities elsewhere and
they're genuinely happy. But what was clear is that there
was definitely an effect on the mental and pysical health
(07:08):
of the staff given the workplace culture. One of the
sources talked about having to work sort of seventy hour
weeks and not getting any help, and eventually they left
the organization.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Because it was just bad for their health.
Speaker 8 (07:22):
And the quote was this is rather dramatic, but the
quote was, I'd rather not die, so I'll depart the job.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Ironic, isn't it that Dame Noline Toduo came under the
spotlight because some athletes said they didn't feel safe in
the environ And here we go again, But it's not
just the players, it's the entire staff. Now, if you
take one look at that, you go, well, hold on,
there's something rotten in the state of Denmark. Where does
this stop? And how does this stop? How do they
(07:51):
couterize this? They tornic this bleeding because it's awful for
the sport.
Speaker 8 (07:57):
It is awful, and it's embarrassing to be honest, for
people who are really involved in the sport and have
put a lot of their lives into netball and are
so passionate about the sport Because there are so many
people who just love it New Zealand. We've seen that
in the support for the Silver fans over the last
couple of tests that they've played. But in terms of
how does it stop, I mean, the people that I
talked to throughout this process, they almost all of them
(08:20):
said that they needed to be leadership changed. That the
culture is set by the people at the top and
it filters down. So they're calling for leadership changes and
they've spoken about, you know, the board and the senior
leadership team. Interestingly, the Neper Newson have removed the Senior
Leadership Team page on the NMZ website, so if you
(08:41):
go and click on the leadership page, it'll just redirect
you to the homepage. They've actually taken that down, so
that their names are not up there, and they did
that about six weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
News and it's Force Vex with Dancy Waldegrave.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And it's midyear report time for Scott Raiser Robertson, coach
of the All Blacks. Earlier enough on Sunday Morning Stuffter nine.
As it happens, you All Blacks are taking on at
the Graveyard. It will always be known as the Graveyard.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
To me.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I'm sulking Soldier Field in Chicago after what happened back
in twenty sixteen. He's halfway through his four year contract
and that's odd enough as it is that Scott Robinson
has been given plenty of rope to develop a team
that we'd like to think will have success at the
World Cup in two years time. So he needs to
(09:35):
win this series, him and his men, and he needs
to win it four nil. Otherwise I'd suggest faith in
Robertson and what he's trying to do over the last
couple of years will dissipate rapidly. Yeah, it's a very
difficult prospect taking on the four home nations, even though
one of the game is in the United States of America.
(09:57):
But he has to prove that all of the work
that he's done, all of the selections he's made over
the last couple of years, the tweaking, the honing, the
understanding the gravity of loss and how to avoid that.
He has to understand that this has to come right
in this tour. Four on the bounce for in a row,
threats from England, threats from Scotland, probably no threat from Wales,
(10:22):
and obviously clear and present danger from the underplayed Irish.
So that might give the All Blacks a looking So
it's half year, half contract time for Scott Robinson. He's
had some pass marks, he's had some fail marks. He's
had coaching staff that have walked away. But in the
wash up, if he can walk away with a Grand
(10:43):
Slam from the end of season tour, that will bring
great confidence, not only to himself and as men on
New Zealand Rugby, but to us as a fan base.
Get in there, get stuck in, go well Son and
you know what, I'd almost accept a break dance if
he does go four and zero.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfax.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
The Chamber we go the All Blacks team to face
Ireland this coming Sunday morning. New Zealand time in Chicago
is named Tomorrow Morning Bright nearly five thirty. It seems
an age since we talked about the All Blacks. I
guess it's been a month or so since they beat
Australia in Perth. We know that Boden Barrett is back.
Do you expect him to go straight back into the
ten jersey for this one?
Speaker 7 (11:29):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I know that's a short, sharp answer, but I talked
about this for the last couple of days. This is
like a half term report, and the term I'm talking
about is the four year term that Scott Robertson has
and I'd suggest that four and oh is the only
acceptable result here. And he's got to hit the ground
running with the flames at his feet. He started to
(11:53):
show he knows what he's doing with selection. He's smoothed
out some of the rough areas because it's been a
bit of a he's been Juddabars right the way through it.
But I think he wants to put his best team
on the field. And if Boden Barrett isn't the best
first five eighth, say he okay?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Then in that case, then what about this one? In
the eleven Jersey we saw Caleb Clark make his first
test appearance of the year at eden Park and that
went over Australia. He limped off and was unavailable for
the Perth game, but I thought he looked very good
at eden Park, provided he's fit. Does he get the
eleven jersey back or does Lester fighting Anuku retain it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
I'd say that Lester comes in off the bench to
cover a couple of pozzies because he can slip into
that midfield role with what Caleb is offered up in
the air is something that this team has missed, so
I'd plump for him if he's around. Of course, that
team comes out what early tomorrow morning, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
It does? And the only thing that's furrowing my brow
over so slightly is the locking department because there's no
Patrick Tupul or two and there is no Toop or Vity.
That's Scott, Barrett and Fabi and Holland in the starting site.
I'm okay with that. Sam Dowry on the bench or
do they go summer Penny fee now covering lockloose forward?
What would you be doing?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I think I'd go with a specialist in that role because,
as you said, where we're weakened as far as the
ability and length of time on the park, so you
need to go with specialists in that role. I don't
think you want to roll dice.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Is that a fair thing to say?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
It?
Speaker 2 (13:23):
It is, I'd be doing exactly the same thing, unless,
of course, they feel as though they want a bit
of extra loose forward grunt on the bench and then
they so they can have one and a half loose
forward to be like a female. Also covers lock because
you could basically say, Okay, Scott Barrett Fabian Holland, you're
playing the whole game. You're playing the ninety minutes and
both of them, I mean Scott Barret's the captain and
(13:44):
Holland I think played in the first three Test matches
of the year against France. He played the entire game
and all three of them didn't he. So yeah, look,
I guess we'll wait and see what.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
You just ask him for.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Trouble if you go, you know these two guys are
going to play them full eighty minutes. They're gone on
the first five.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
You can't do that.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I'm I'm concerned around that. But that's an area of
say weakness, maybe an area that the iris the underdone
Irish team might target although they're rolling back some pretty
heavy hitters for this side, so US media going, wow,
they've not really played for a while and I don't
know so much. I think there'll be some real snorting
(14:24):
going on on this Iris team. They're going to want
to make sure that Soldier Field is THEIRS.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Indeed, we can talk more about the All Blacks test
tomorrow once the team is out on sports Fix. Last night,
the black Caps are winning the series against England with
a game to spare which comes up on Saturday in Wellington,
and Blared Tickner, the one of the top men of
New Zealand cricket, hasn't played for the national team since
May of twenty twenty three, back into the side because
(14:50):
Matt Henry's got a wee niggle. Eight overs one made
in four for thirty four for Blair tick Now, he
could hardly have done more dust.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
So it's because he got rid of that horrible slug
and give himself a haircut.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah, maybe that's maybe that's the secret, much easier.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
This is testament to what the black Cats have been
doing over the many many years, are building strength in
a number of different areas and if you look across
the landscape of quicks it looks very, very good. There
is a bit of saneness about some of those positions,
but there are guys all absolutely fighting for their roles.
They're given half the chance. They're not going to let
(15:27):
that chance go because they know. Also, injury reads its
ugly head quite a lot. So I don't think there's
a person out there in cricket that doesn't think Blairs
a GC. We're all really happy to see him come back.
And then, of course the backup of that is Darryl Mitchell,
who refuses to be dismissed in this series so far
out good.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Oh, he's just such a valuable cricketer, isn't he. Seventy
eight not out in the first game, fifty two, unbeaten
in the second, and just continues to justify his place
whenever New Zealand play game of cricket in any format.
Darcy is an all purpose cricketer for us.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, in any format, extraordinarily valuable. I don't even know
where the track listers at the moment. He's not right
up near the top of that. Again, I'm saying all
the time. But not an underrated player. Such a delightful
character to deal with. But he shows. You know, we
call Mitchell sant a flat line because he just appears
near to panic. I think there's a bit of flat
(16:24):
line going on with the Dazzer as well. He just
not appears to overall by anything.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
It doesn't get emotional, does he doesn't get it doesn't
get you know, they say, if you don't ride the
highs too high of the thows too low, you just
keep things nice and level, regardless of whether you are
successful or perhaps you're going through a bit of a
rough patch, then you know you should be okay, particularly
in cricket, where I'm sure if you know, there are
some guys so if they go through a bit of
a trot and don't get runs, start to wonder where
(16:50):
the next one's coming from, and then they get all
introverted and tied up a knots. I can't ever imagine
Darryl Mitchell being tied up in any knots, And if
he was, he would get out of them like Harry Houdini.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Indeed he would, and those knots they could be changed.
He could be in a safe at the bottom of
the river and he's still through and worth mentioning the
sant Nicholaus flatliner that innings at the end was astonishing.
So okay, are we going home? I've had enough of
this and he just started bounding him to all parts.
That was quite a shock.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Another valuable cricket ray twenty seven of twenty five in
the first game, and then thirty four unbeaten off seventeen.
As you say, it's all like most like he arrived
a thought, right, enough of this sort of pushing and
prodding around at three and over, Let's get the job
done and let's get off and have an early dinner,
which they did so well under Mitchell Sander and Darryl Mitchell,
the two stars sofar of this ODI series against England,
Game three, Wellington on Saturday. That is us in the
(17:45):
Chamber for today.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Dissecting the sporting agenda. It's Sportsfix with Jason Vain and
Darcy Waldgrave.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And that's us on Sports Fix for another day. Thank
you so much. For those of you, or to those
of you who subscribe to Sports Fix, you'll know, of
course that a fresh episode will drop into your podcast
feed around about the same time tomorrow and every weekday.
And if you are a subscriber, maybe you could take
it upon yourself, just on our behalf to tell your.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Friends, make them jealous, tell them all the good times
you had, and they need to be on this tip
as well. Something to discuss around the water cooler at work,
right am I making myself perfectly clear?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
You are you are?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
And if you can't subscribe to Sports Fixed, or if
that's not convenient, they can always listen on the radio
dusk well they.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Can sports Talk between seven and eight. The content is
all on the name, plainly, Jason Pine, it's you. You've
got Mondays, I've got Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Keen to
take your calls, your grief because we do sometime, your text,
your emails. Sports talkers all the fun of a circus
and talking about circuses. You get a three ring one
(18:50):
going on on Saturday and Sunday, haven't you?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Indeed? Three ring three hour circus with lots of interaction
with our listeners midday till three Saturday and Sunday weekend.
Sport on News Talk said b We will check it
again tomorrow dusk.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Good on your GJ.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Gardner Homes. Thanks for your continued support of the Sports
Fixed podcast.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Look after Yourself for more from Newstalk set B listen
live on air or online, and keep our shows with
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