October 28, 2025 • 18 mins
On Sports Fix with Adam Cooper for 28th October 2025, the 2025 NPC season came to an end on Saturday afternoon, with Canterbury winning another title as they took down Otago 36-28. It was a successful day, with sold out signs up around Apollo Projects Stadium paired with an afternoon kick off time setting up a great afternoon of rugby action. Adam caught up with GM of Community Rugby, Steve Lancaster, to discuss what made the game so successful.
Adam shares his thoughts on the resolution of the Dame Noeline coaching saga.
And Adam and Newstalk ZB sport news director Clay Wilson discuss Dame Noeline Taurua being re-instated as Silver Ferns coach, Liam Lawson's future in F1 and the NPC final.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks EDB.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Keld It Welcome along to the Sports Fix podcast thanks
to GJ. Gardner Holmes, New Zealand's most trusted home builder.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Great to have you with us.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Adam Cooper here for this edition on a Tuesday, October
twenty eight. You had a good long weekend and we're
back into it for another week. The big sporting news
over the weekends was, of course, the reinstatement of Dame
Nolen Todoer as Silver Fern's head coach. She'll look back
up with the team after this year's Northern tour. As
part of our Sports Chamber, we will discuss this where
(00:51):
the News talk's 'B sports director Clay Wilson. I've got
a few thoughts on how this whole thing has played
out as well. We're also going to talk about the
NPC final. What great scenes there were in christ Church
on Saturday. Is sold out crowd enjoying a great Southern
tussle between can Andabury and Otago. So how can he's
get a rugby learn from that to make sure going
(01:13):
forward the NPC can get right to the center of
fan engagement. He's going to Rugby's community manager, Steve Lancaster
will join us on the podcast as well. In other news,
time for look at some of the big sports stories
of the Daily and Lawson's Formula one future is set
to idle for another month. Red Bull have reportedly pushed
(01:33):
their driver's selection timeline until after the Qatar Grand Prix
on December first, to focus on Max vers Darfan's race
for the Driver's Championship. Team adviser doctor Helmet Marco had
previously stated that a decision would be made after the
Mexican Grand Prix, which was yesterday. Motors Bord commentator Bob
McMurray says it's likely Lawson, Isaac Hadjar and Yuki Sonoda
(01:55):
will be called upon and Red.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Bull they might need to actually need those three drivers Sunoda.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Haja and Lawson to help Max for staff in his
bid to win the championship.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Cycling's Tour of South has been parked up with no
new date confirmed due to weather enforcing a state of
emergency in the region. The sixty ninth edition was set
to start this Sunday Cycling Southland president Julian Artison has
apologized for the circumstances beyond their control.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Now a lot of people for a lot of time
and even are looking forward to the significant milestone in
the event once again. But I'm sure you can understand
this is an event for which we're going to ensure
the saint of everybody and all our our community bounce
back from what has been quite devastating over this last
few days.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
And Black Cabs bowling coach Jacob Orram has commending Pace
bowler Zach Folks for adapting to change the right armor.
Took the spot of Kyle Jamison, who was ruled out
of the One Day series against England a day before
the opening four wicket win. The twenty three year old
unexpectedly opened the bowling and claimed his first ODI wickets,
including three in the power play. Aoram's welcomed his.
Speaker 6 (02:56):
Injection opened the door for Zac and you know it's
amazing those sort of stories, how they unfold, and it
happens like that sometimes.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
And he grabbed that opportunity.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
You know, he'd bowled quite a few hovers the day
before in training, but.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
He was ready to go and The second match of
this aies is in Hamilton tomorrow leading a X.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
We've gone just the ticket. It's Sports X powered by
News Talks Ivy.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Well, what a thrilling way for the NPC rugby competition
to conclude for twenty twenty five are sold out Apollo
Projects Stadium in christ Church for the big decider, an
old fashioned Southern derby between Canterbury and Otago.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Immense support for both.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Teams allowed passionate crowd and Canterbury underlying its continued rugby
dominance across the country with yet another title. The occasion
looked fantastic on TV. So to look back on the
whole competition collectively and how New Zealand rugby administrators can
learn from such a successful conclusion to the year. We're
(03:55):
joined now by Newzela and Rugby General Manager of Community
Rugby Steve Lancaster. Good day, Steve, Thanks for joining us
on the Sports Fixed podcast. I mean you must have
enjoyed watching that one on Saturday.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
That was fantastic on Saturday. It's been a while since
we saw that sort of atmosphere around a provincial game
of rugby, but you know, sort of fifty to fifty
red and black and blue and gold in the stadium.
There are a lot of flags waving and a lot
of chanting. It was a special day and from our perspective,
it was great to see.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
So you can you just remind our listeners what was
behind the decision to stage the matches an afternoon match.
Speaker 7 (04:31):
Well, we had some we had some conflicts. Obviously, we
had the cricket on Saturday night and so that was
an issue. And we've also have been for some time,
they've been very keen to play as many of these
games as we can in the afternoon under sun sunshine,
and so you know, family friendly time worked really well
(04:51):
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
And it was a match that certainly delivered a high
intensity game between two fiercer Southern rivals.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
What did you make of how it played out on
the field.
Speaker 7 (05:00):
Well, it was an incredible game and it was kind
of the perfect scenario having those two teams and it
been neighbors that certainly helped in terms of the atten
but they both turned it on as well. It's there's
a couple of things with very contrasting styles and they
both played to their strengths and you Tigo State did
it right to the end. So while I'll be disappointed with
(05:20):
the result. I'm sure they won't be disappointed with their performance.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And I guess when you compare it to a year ago,
the final was in Wellington, use the weather didn't play ball,
but a very small section of sky Stadium was open.
Only a few thousand people came and watched the decider.
What can you learn, I guess when you compare those
two occasions about how to best get a good atmosphere,
a good occasion for it for a decider going forward?
Speaker 7 (05:43):
Do you think Yeah, I mean last year was a
bit of a perfect storm, but sooth figuratively and literally.
I mean the weather was atrocious. It was a long weekend,
which doesn't help in Wellington, and public transport was shut
down that weekend as well, so it was really unfortunate
that the You know, just in terms of how that
played out, one thing we don't control is where the
(06:03):
final will be played, because the team that hosts the
Dons that right over the course of the season. But
what we know, what we similar will take from this
weekend was that you were suns out. When you get
teams that are that are playing well with passionate fans
and you make it attractive for them, they turn up,
and they turn up in numbers. I think the other
thing that we've we've worked very hard on for the
(06:25):
last couple of years is really raising the profile of
the competition, celebrating what's special about it in terms of
its unique point of difference with emerging and breakout talent
up against established professionals. And we've seen some really strong
results in terms of how that's translated into viewership, attendance
over the year, and engagement through social media platforms and
(06:46):
the like. So all the metrics are tracking in the
right direction, and we really just need to keep building
on that.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, just back to the final. What is I guess
one thing you've learned from this year's final that you
could take into next year's season, next year's playoffs that
can make a continued success like we saw.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Do you think?
Speaker 7 (07:03):
I think just really picturing picturing the competition and the
entertainment product as reel to its audience. You know, we
thought In fact, I was walking into the ground and
I heard a couple of guys walking in front of
me and said, I wonder what the ratio of men
to women is in the stadium. I wouldn't have seen
this many women at a game five years ago, and
that's certainly one of the things that we've we've learned
(07:25):
and we're continuing to really focus on, is the broad
appeal of the competition and the product and ensuring that
it's pitched at the right market and that you're reaching
a market when you promoted as well.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Because I know about it a few weeks ago and
he's one in Rugby publicized some of the stats around
it. It appears that engagement, viewership is up.
Speaker 7 (07:42):
Is that correct, Yeah, it is, it is. I mean,
we've pleasingly, we've seen really strong year on year growth
across all of the metrics. So broadcast continues to grow
every year. Our broadcast viewership, engagement through highlights packages, social
media and the like is growing exponentially, and in fact
(08:02):
attendances as well. And so I know often there'll be
your negative commentary about challenges with attendant, but actually it
is growing here on here and when you have a
sold out stadium at a final what we do on Saturday,
and that's something to celebrate.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
This is Sportsfex, your daily dose of sports, newswing by
news talksv well.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
In some ways, the Silver Ferns year of twenty twenty
five will end the same way it started with Dame
Nolean Todoer as head coach. It's a shame though that
reputationally netball certainly won't be finishing at the level it
enters the year in. What a disaster this whole coaching
saga has been from start to finish. And isn't it
crazy that here we are a few days out from November,
(08:43):
we're only just talking about a resolution to a situation
that stemmed from an incident, so cool incident anyway, all
the way back in January. And that's if we can
call this a resolution. Well, if you didn't catch up
with this over the long weekend. After some murmurings on Friday,
the confirmation came through on Saturday that after a two
month stand down, Dame Nolean Toda will be back at
(09:04):
the Helm of the Silver Ferns following their upcoming northern tour.
The line from Netburn, New Zealand is there'll be some
revised operations and changes worked through with Dame Nolean will
lift the environment. So some questions for me that linger
here as a result of this, could these so called
revised operations have been deployed to the high performance environment
(09:25):
and Dame Nolen without the need to take her away
from the environment and trigger the embarrassment and controversy that's
ensued these past few weeks. Secondly, how severe were the
player complaints about Todoo's leadership and how unsafe did Netburn
New Zealand actually think the high performance environment was. We
heard the words psychologically unsafe, but have never been given
(09:46):
any further information than that. Thirdly, will those players who
stood by their own concerns be a part of the
silver Ferns set up going forward? And finally, has anyone
come out of this whole shambles better off? I don't
think so now for me, we're at the point now
where the sport is at a major crossroads and the
governing body urgently needs to win the trust back of
(10:07):
those who engage with the sport. That's the fans who
pay for tickets by their team merchandise, but also pay
their subs as club netball players. Even though I think
it's fair to say the wider netball public have always
wanted Dame Nolen told her to get a job back
through this, They've been severely let down by the disruptions
by mismanagement and being left in the dark through all
(10:27):
this time. Whatever these revised operations talked about and the
new high performance set up are, I hope there's a
clear message delivered to the Silver Ferns players. Dame Nolean
is your coach. If you're selected into the squad, you
make a choice. It's her environment or no environment.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfix.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
And joining us on the Sports Fix Chamber this Tuesday.
It's our sports news director here at Newstalk z B,
Clay Wilson.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Can I Clay, good to be here, Curbs, thanks for
having me.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Well, a busy weekend of sports news really wasn't It's
on both on and off the field or court or
whatever discipline we're talking about the racetrack. Of course, obviously,
the leading story, as it has been for the past
couple of months, has been the Silver Fans coaching saga
Clay Dame Nolean totaler reinstated by Knitball New Zealand. We
started to get some memories of this late last week.
(11:19):
You've had the weekend to kind of see how it's
all played out from your perspective, Yeah, what's your feeling
around the way this is sort of, I guess in
some ways been sorted out.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
Are we is anyone any otherwise there as to what
has actually gone on here? That's my question at this point,
because this still seems to be a lot of unanswered questions,
and you know, the primary ones being what's actually happened
here that triggered all this in the first place, because
the details have been so general. We've done what I
had two months stand down for Dame no Lean. There's
(11:49):
been you know, multiple people go into this, there's been
so much talk about it from the outside, and yet
we've ended up back pretty much at the start. She's
going to get her job back.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Now.
Speaker 6 (11:59):
They're going to make supposed changes to the high performance environment,
but won't say exactly what those are, or don't appear
to know exactly what those are. And in terms of
what Dame Nolean's done wrong or what the players have
had concerns about, we don't know anything about that either,
So I don't know it just it kind of leaves
you a bit cold the whole thing, doesn't it, because
(12:20):
you still don't really know what's happened here, And from
the face of it anyway, from the outside looking in,
you kind of feel like the players have gone through
this horrible time. Dan Nolean's gone through this time with
a big cloud hanging over Now it's all finished. Was
it really necessary that we went through all this? And
that's kind of how I feel at this point.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yeah, you're right, They're back to square one up there,
and I guess the question now will be how much
reputational damage does the npball New Zealand have to pick
up here and try and get back on you know,
get back on side with the fans with a nippauling public.
Because I don't know about UK, but I felt that, you know,
from the moment this all happened, there was pretty strong
(13:02):
opinion one way from sort of the netball community the
netball public that nipball New Zealand's with a one and
the wrong here.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
Yeah, And I think that's the biggest takeaway for me
from all of this is just not necessarily what the players,
the players that had concerns, or what their concerns were,
or what Dame Nolan has or hasn't done. It's just
how this process has been managed. I mean, this is
high performance sport. Every now and then these kind of
tensions crop up. It just feels like it hasn't been
that well managed and from a pr perspective, hasn't been
(13:32):
done that well either.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:35):
Nipble, like you say, reputationally, is not in a good
place right now and has a fair bit of appearing
to do to get back in favor with a lot
of Knipble fans in this country.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
I think, yeah, indeed, right, let's talk Formula one. There's
a lot of discussion around at the moment, especially you know,
in this part of the world, regarding Liam Lawson's future.
Obviously a dramatic day yesterday for him at the Mexican
Grand Prix, almost running over a couple of stuff on track.
But also we're hearing today Clay that it's not going
to be October when we find out his future for
(14:04):
next year. It's about four weeks from now December first,
as the sea and gets closer to drawing to a close.
What's your feeling around where things sit for him at
the moment.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
Well, I think, you know, based on what happened in
the Mexican Grand Prix for Liam, you know, out on
what the second lap of the race, after a collision
on the first lap on the first corner, there this
is probably pretty good news for him to, you know,
to get a couple more races to prove himself, because
it does still feel kind of up up in the air,
because the word is three of the seats are obviously
(14:35):
Max for Stepping is officially locked in, a couple of
the other seats are supposedly confirmed, and he's in a
battle with Yuki Sonoda for that for that seat that
he's currently got. Liam so to have a couple more
races to prove himself after what was really just bad
luck in the Mexican Grand Prix. You know, first corner
had nowhere to go and just got clipped and lost
(14:55):
his front wing. I think this is a good thing
for Liam, and you know, in a way has Max
for Stepping to think because Red Bulls say that the
reason they're not making the decision right now is because
the Stappan's back in the title fight. They want to
put all their focus into that and you know, not
detract in terms of this driver lineup decision that they've
also got to make. So I think it's still very
(15:17):
much a toss up which way it goes, and any
good performances Lim can put in between now and like
you say that Cutter Grand Prix are gonna are going
to be worth its weight as gold in terms of
him getting a seat next year?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Yeah? Great.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Do you think Kiwi's can put their you know, parochialism
to one side and look at it, you know, with
a with an independent kind of thoughts, like, you know,
obviously we all want him to get that seat. There's
going to be a lot of fury with red Bull
if he's demoted further than he has been already this year.
What's the sentiment around it, do you think from from
Kiwi Motorsport fans or Kiwi's in general.
Speaker 6 (15:49):
Well, I think you know, we always back our own,
don't we. So there's no doubt that you know that
a lot of us, the fans in this country that
follow formulae and you view it from a lens that
perhaps looks at what favors Limb and what, you know
what what doesn't favor him in terms of what's happening
out there on the track. But it really does seemed
to be still a toss up. They don't they haven't
(16:11):
given any indication to me that they've really got a
strong preference one way or the other. So yeah, I
mean look, I think he's still in with a chance.
But like you say, you know, sometimes we're viewing it
from that New Zealand centric kind of lens. We want
him to be there again next year, and you know,
the reality is is a good chance he might not be.
This is formula one. It's cutthroat, it's brutal when they
might just say his time's up and he's out of
(16:33):
that seat.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah, indeed, all right, and will wrap up with the
NPC final.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I think the results on that Saturday afternoon at has
sold out stadium and christ which maybe not what the
majority of people around New Zealand wanted and certainly the
result that Cantabrians wanted Clay, But what a spectacle that was.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
Ah oh, wasn't it brilliant? You know, afternoon rugby an
afternoon final two very proud South Island provinces, such big rivals.
You can't ask for much more in terms of a
provincial final, can you. It was just it was magic
to see the sun bathing down there in christ Church.
You know, jam Pack stand and a great game to boot,
(17:10):
you know what, seventy old points in that game. Just
brilliant that our provincial and to me the provincial competition
this year, the NPC has been great. It's been one
of the most unpredictable for a few years now in
terms of results. Yes, Canabury and Otigo have been the
two outstanding teams, but I think throughout the season we
saw a lot of unpredictable kind of results and to
(17:30):
top it off for the final like that was brilliant,
even though, like you say, for a lot of us
non Cantabrians, it wasn't necessarily the team that a lot
of people wanted to see when but you can't deny
that they were, you know, one of the top performers
all year and and you know kind of blew a
tiger away away there in the second half to lift
the title. So just just great to see a great
(17:52):
competition finish in that way.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Yeah, great moment to end the domestic rugby year.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Thanks for joining us in the chamber today, Clay, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
No worries leading of VIX.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
We've got just the ticket. It's sports vixw By News Talks.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
IVY and that brings to it.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
In the Sports Fix Podcast Tuesday, October twenty eight, thanks
to our guests Clay Wilson in the Chamber and Steve
Blancaster out of New Zealand Rugby, talking the.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Success of the NPC Final over the weekend.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Well after the long weekend, it's great to be back
into things, so we'll be back with a fresh episode
of the Sports Fixed podcast for you tomorrow. Look out
for that and we'll catch you soon.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
For more from News Talks B listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks EDB.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Keld It Welcome along to the Sports Fix podcast thanks
to GJ. Gardner Holmes, New Zealand's most trusted home builder.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Great to have you with us.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Adam Cooper here for this edition on a Tuesday, October
twenty eight. You had a good long weekend and we're
back into it for another week. The big sporting news
over the weekends was, of course, the reinstatement of Dame
Nolen Todoer as Silver Fern's head coach. She'll look back
up with the team after this year's Northern tour. As
part of our Sports Chamber, we will discuss this where
(00:51):
the News talk's 'B sports director Clay Wilson. I've got
a few thoughts on how this whole thing has played
out as well. We're also going to talk about the
NPC final. What great scenes there were in christ Church
on Saturday. Is sold out crowd enjoying a great Southern
tussle between can Andabury and Otago. So how can he's
get a rugby learn from that to make sure going
(01:13):
forward the NPC can get right to the center of
fan engagement. He's going to Rugby's community manager, Steve Lancaster
will join us on the podcast as well. In other news,
time for look at some of the big sports stories
of the Daily and Lawson's Formula one future is set
to idle for another month. Red Bull have reportedly pushed
(01:33):
their driver's selection timeline until after the Qatar Grand Prix
on December first, to focus on Max vers Darfan's race
for the Driver's Championship. Team adviser doctor Helmet Marco had
previously stated that a decision would be made after the
Mexican Grand Prix, which was yesterday. Motors Bord commentator Bob
McMurray says it's likely Lawson, Isaac Hadjar and Yuki Sonoda
(01:55):
will be called upon and Red.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Bull they might need to actually need those three drivers Sunoda.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Haja and Lawson to help Max for staff in his
bid to win the championship.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Cycling's Tour of South has been parked up with no
new date confirmed due to weather enforcing a state of
emergency in the region. The sixty ninth edition was set
to start this Sunday Cycling Southland president Julian Artison has
apologized for the circumstances beyond their control.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Now a lot of people for a lot of time
and even are looking forward to the significant milestone in
the event once again. But I'm sure you can understand
this is an event for which we're going to ensure
the saint of everybody and all our our community bounce
back from what has been quite devastating over this last
few days.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
And Black Cabs bowling coach Jacob Orram has commending Pace
bowler Zach Folks for adapting to change the right armor.
Took the spot of Kyle Jamison, who was ruled out
of the One Day series against England a day before
the opening four wicket win. The twenty three year old
unexpectedly opened the bowling and claimed his first ODI wickets,
including three in the power play. Aoram's welcomed his.
Speaker 6 (02:56):
Injection opened the door for Zac and you know it's
amazing those sort of stories, how they unfold, and it
happens like that sometimes.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
And he grabbed that opportunity.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
You know, he'd bowled quite a few hovers the day
before in training, but.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
He was ready to go and The second match of
this aies is in Hamilton tomorrow leading a X.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
We've gone just the ticket. It's Sports X powered by
News Talks Ivy.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Well, what a thrilling way for the NPC rugby competition
to conclude for twenty twenty five are sold out Apollo
Projects Stadium in christ Church for the big decider, an
old fashioned Southern derby between Canterbury and Otago.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Immense support for both.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Teams allowed passionate crowd and Canterbury underlying its continued rugby
dominance across the country with yet another title. The occasion
looked fantastic on TV. So to look back on the
whole competition collectively and how New Zealand rugby administrators can
learn from such a successful conclusion to the year. We're
(03:55):
joined now by Newzela and Rugby General Manager of Community
Rugby Steve Lancaster. Good day, Steve, Thanks for joining us
on the Sports Fixed podcast. I mean you must have
enjoyed watching that one on Saturday.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
That was fantastic on Saturday. It's been a while since
we saw that sort of atmosphere around a provincial game
of rugby, but you know, sort of fifty to fifty
red and black and blue and gold in the stadium.
There are a lot of flags waving and a lot
of chanting. It was a special day and from our perspective,
it was great to see.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
So you can you just remind our listeners what was
behind the decision to stage the matches an afternoon match.
Speaker 7 (04:31):
Well, we had some we had some conflicts. Obviously, we
had the cricket on Saturday night and so that was
an issue. And we've also have been for some time,
they've been very keen to play as many of these
games as we can in the afternoon under sun sunshine,
and so you know, family friendly time worked really well
(04:51):
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
And it was a match that certainly delivered a high
intensity game between two fiercer Southern rivals.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
What did you make of how it played out on
the field.
Speaker 7 (05:00):
Well, it was an incredible game and it was kind
of the perfect scenario having those two teams and it
been neighbors that certainly helped in terms of the atten
but they both turned it on as well. It's there's
a couple of things with very contrasting styles and they
both played to their strengths and you Tigo State did
it right to the end. So while I'll be disappointed with
(05:20):
the result. I'm sure they won't be disappointed with their performance.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And I guess when you compare it to a year ago,
the final was in Wellington, use the weather didn't play ball,
but a very small section of sky Stadium was open.
Only a few thousand people came and watched the decider.
What can you learn, I guess when you compare those
two occasions about how to best get a good atmosphere,
a good occasion for it for a decider going forward?
Speaker 7 (05:43):
Do you think Yeah, I mean last year was a
bit of a perfect storm, but sooth figuratively and literally.
I mean the weather was atrocious. It was a long weekend,
which doesn't help in Wellington, and public transport was shut
down that weekend as well, so it was really unfortunate
that the You know, just in terms of how that
played out, one thing we don't control is where the
(06:03):
final will be played, because the team that hosts the
Dons that right over the course of the season. But
what we know, what we similar will take from this
weekend was that you were suns out. When you get
teams that are that are playing well with passionate fans
and you make it attractive for them, they turn up,
and they turn up in numbers. I think the other
thing that we've we've worked very hard on for the
(06:25):
last couple of years is really raising the profile of
the competition, celebrating what's special about it in terms of
its unique point of difference with emerging and breakout talent
up against established professionals. And we've seen some really strong
results in terms of how that's translated into viewership, attendance
over the year, and engagement through social media platforms and
(06:46):
the like. So all the metrics are tracking in the
right direction, and we really just need to keep building
on that.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, just back to the final. What is I guess
one thing you've learned from this year's final that you
could take into next year's season, next year's playoffs that
can make a continued success like we saw.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Do you think?
Speaker 7 (07:03):
I think just really picturing picturing the competition and the
entertainment product as reel to its audience. You know, we
thought In fact, I was walking into the ground and
I heard a couple of guys walking in front of
me and said, I wonder what the ratio of men
to women is in the stadium. I wouldn't have seen
this many women at a game five years ago, and
that's certainly one of the things that we've we've learned
(07:25):
and we're continuing to really focus on, is the broad
appeal of the competition and the product and ensuring that
it's pitched at the right market and that you're reaching
a market when you promoted as well.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Because I know about it a few weeks ago and
he's one in Rugby publicized some of the stats around
it. It appears that engagement, viewership is up.
Speaker 7 (07:42):
Is that correct, Yeah, it is, it is. I mean,
we've pleasingly, we've seen really strong year on year growth
across all of the metrics. So broadcast continues to grow
every year. Our broadcast viewership, engagement through highlights packages, social
media and the like is growing exponentially, and in fact
(08:02):
attendances as well. And so I know often there'll be
your negative commentary about challenges with attendant, but actually it
is growing here on here and when you have a
sold out stadium at a final what we do on Saturday,
and that's something to celebrate.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
This is Sportsfex, your daily dose of sports, newswing by
news talksv well.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
In some ways, the Silver Ferns year of twenty twenty
five will end the same way it started with Dame
Nolean Todoer as head coach. It's a shame though that
reputationally netball certainly won't be finishing at the level it
enters the year in. What a disaster this whole coaching
saga has been from start to finish. And isn't it
crazy that here we are a few days out from November,
(08:43):
we're only just talking about a resolution to a situation
that stemmed from an incident, so cool incident anyway, all
the way back in January. And that's if we can
call this a resolution. Well, if you didn't catch up
with this over the long weekend. After some murmurings on Friday,
the confirmation came through on Saturday that after a two
month stand down, Dame Nolean Toda will be back at
(09:04):
the Helm of the Silver Ferns following their upcoming northern tour.
The line from Netburn, New Zealand is there'll be some
revised operations and changes worked through with Dame Nolean will
lift the environment. So some questions for me that linger
here as a result of this, could these so called
revised operations have been deployed to the high performance environment
(09:25):
and Dame Nolen without the need to take her away
from the environment and trigger the embarrassment and controversy that's
ensued these past few weeks. Secondly, how severe were the
player complaints about Todoo's leadership and how unsafe did Netburn
New Zealand actually think the high performance environment was. We
heard the words psychologically unsafe, but have never been given
(09:46):
any further information than that. Thirdly, will those players who
stood by their own concerns be a part of the
silver Ferns set up going forward? And finally, has anyone
come out of this whole shambles better off? I don't
think so now for me, we're at the point now
where the sport is at a major crossroads and the
governing body urgently needs to win the trust back of
(10:07):
those who engage with the sport. That's the fans who
pay for tickets by their team merchandise, but also pay
their subs as club netball players. Even though I think
it's fair to say the wider netball public have always
wanted Dame Nolen told her to get a job back
through this, They've been severely let down by the disruptions
by mismanagement and being left in the dark through all
(10:27):
this time. Whatever these revised operations talked about and the
new high performance set up are, I hope there's a
clear message delivered to the Silver Ferns players. Dame Nolean
is your coach. If you're selected into the squad, you
make a choice. It's her environment or no environment.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfix.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
And joining us on the Sports Fix Chamber this Tuesday.
It's our sports news director here at Newstalk z B,
Clay Wilson.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Can I Clay, good to be here, Curbs, thanks for
having me.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Well, a busy weekend of sports news really wasn't It's
on both on and off the field or court or
whatever discipline we're talking about the racetrack. Of course, obviously,
the leading story, as it has been for the past
couple of months, has been the Silver Fans coaching saga
Clay Dame Nolean totaler reinstated by Knitball New Zealand. We
started to get some memories of this late last week.
(11:19):
You've had the weekend to kind of see how it's
all played out from your perspective, Yeah, what's your feeling
around the way this is sort of, I guess in
some ways been sorted out.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
Are we is anyone any otherwise there as to what
has actually gone on here? That's my question at this point,
because this still seems to be a lot of unanswered questions,
and you know, the primary ones being what's actually happened
here that triggered all this in the first place, because
the details have been so general. We've done what I
had two months stand down for Dame no Lean. There's
(11:49):
been you know, multiple people go into this, there's been
so much talk about it from the outside, and yet
we've ended up back pretty much at the start. She's
going to get her job back.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Now.
Speaker 6 (11:59):
They're going to make supposed changes to the high performance environment,
but won't say exactly what those are, or don't appear
to know exactly what those are. And in terms of
what Dame Nolean's done wrong or what the players have
had concerns about, we don't know anything about that either,
So I don't know it just it kind of leaves
you a bit cold the whole thing, doesn't it, because
(12:20):
you still don't really know what's happened here, And from
the face of it anyway, from the outside looking in,
you kind of feel like the players have gone through
this horrible time. Dan Nolean's gone through this time with
a big cloud hanging over Now it's all finished. Was
it really necessary that we went through all this? And
that's kind of how I feel at this point.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yeah, you're right, They're back to square one up there,
and I guess the question now will be how much
reputational damage does the npball New Zealand have to pick
up here and try and get back on you know,
get back on side with the fans with a nippauling public.
Because I don't know about UK, but I felt that, you know,
from the moment this all happened, there was pretty strong
(13:02):
opinion one way from sort of the netball community the
netball public that nipball New Zealand's with a one and
the wrong here.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
Yeah, And I think that's the biggest takeaway for me
from all of this is just not necessarily what the players,
the players that had concerns, or what their concerns were,
or what Dame Nolan has or hasn't done. It's just
how this process has been managed. I mean, this is
high performance sport. Every now and then these kind of
tensions crop up. It just feels like it hasn't been
that well managed and from a pr perspective, hasn't been
(13:32):
done that well either.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:35):
Nipble, like you say, reputationally, is not in a good
place right now and has a fair bit of appearing
to do to get back in favor with a lot
of Knipble fans in this country.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
I think, yeah, indeed, right, let's talk Formula one. There's
a lot of discussion around at the moment, especially you know,
in this part of the world, regarding Liam Lawson's future.
Obviously a dramatic day yesterday for him at the Mexican
Grand Prix, almost running over a couple of stuff on track.
But also we're hearing today Clay that it's not going
to be October when we find out his future for
(14:04):
next year. It's about four weeks from now December first,
as the sea and gets closer to drawing to a close.
What's your feeling around where things sit for him at
the moment.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
Well, I think, you know, based on what happened in
the Mexican Grand Prix for Liam, you know, out on
what the second lap of the race, after a collision
on the first lap on the first corner, there this
is probably pretty good news for him to, you know,
to get a couple more races to prove himself, because
it does still feel kind of up up in the air,
because the word is three of the seats are obviously
(14:35):
Max for Stepping is officially locked in, a couple of
the other seats are supposedly confirmed, and he's in a
battle with Yuki Sonoda for that for that seat that
he's currently got. Liam so to have a couple more
races to prove himself after what was really just bad
luck in the Mexican Grand Prix. You know, first corner
had nowhere to go and just got clipped and lost
(14:55):
his front wing. I think this is a good thing
for Liam, and you know, in a way has Max
for Stepping to think because Red Bulls say that the
reason they're not making the decision right now is because
the Stappan's back in the title fight. They want to
put all their focus into that and you know, not
detract in terms of this driver lineup decision that they've
also got to make. So I think it's still very
(15:17):
much a toss up which way it goes, and any
good performances Lim can put in between now and like
you say that Cutter Grand Prix are gonna are going
to be worth its weight as gold in terms of
him getting a seat next year?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Yeah? Great.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Do you think Kiwi's can put their you know, parochialism
to one side and look at it, you know, with
a with an independent kind of thoughts, like, you know,
obviously we all want him to get that seat. There's
going to be a lot of fury with red Bull
if he's demoted further than he has been already this year.
What's the sentiment around it, do you think from from
Kiwi Motorsport fans or Kiwi's in general.
Speaker 6 (15:49):
Well, I think you know, we always back our own,
don't we. So there's no doubt that you know that
a lot of us, the fans in this country that
follow formulae and you view it from a lens that
perhaps looks at what favors Limb and what, you know
what what doesn't favor him in terms of what's happening
out there on the track. But it really does seemed
to be still a toss up. They don't they haven't
(16:11):
given any indication to me that they've really got a
strong preference one way or the other. So yeah, I
mean look, I think he's still in with a chance.
But like you say, you know, sometimes we're viewing it
from that New Zealand centric kind of lens. We want
him to be there again next year, and you know,
the reality is is a good chance he might not be.
This is formula one. It's cutthroat, it's brutal when they
might just say his time's up and he's out of
(16:33):
that seat.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah, indeed, all right, and will wrap up with the
NPC final.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I think the results on that Saturday afternoon at has
sold out stadium and christ which maybe not what the
majority of people around New Zealand wanted and certainly the
result that Cantabrians wanted Clay, But what a spectacle that was.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
Ah oh, wasn't it brilliant? You know, afternoon rugby an
afternoon final two very proud South Island provinces, such big rivals.
You can't ask for much more in terms of a
provincial final, can you. It was just it was magic
to see the sun bathing down there in christ Church.
You know, jam Pack stand and a great game to boot,
(17:10):
you know what, seventy old points in that game. Just
brilliant that our provincial and to me the provincial competition
this year, the NPC has been great. It's been one
of the most unpredictable for a few years now in
terms of results. Yes, Canabury and Otigo have been the
two outstanding teams, but I think throughout the season we
saw a lot of unpredictable kind of results and to
(17:30):
top it off for the final like that was brilliant,
even though, like you say, for a lot of us
non Cantabrians, it wasn't necessarily the team that a lot
of people wanted to see when but you can't deny
that they were, you know, one of the top performers
all year and and you know kind of blew a
tiger away away there in the second half to lift
the title. So just just great to see a great
(17:52):
competition finish in that way.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Yeah, great moment to end the domestic rugby year.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Thanks for joining us in the chamber today, Clay, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
No worries leading of VIX.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
We've got just the ticket. It's sports vixw By News Talks.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
IVY and that brings to it.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
In the Sports Fix Podcast Tuesday, October twenty eight, thanks
to our guests Clay Wilson in the Chamber and Steve
Blancaster out of New Zealand Rugby, talking the.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Success of the NPC Final over the weekend.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Well after the long weekend, it's great to be back
into things, so we'll be back with a fresh episode
of the Sports Fixed podcast for you tomorrow. Look out
for that and we'll catch you soon.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
For more from News Talks B listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
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