Hannah King: Black Fern on being selected for the upcoming Pacific Four Series

Hannah King plans to keep putting her best foot forward. 

She was named for the Black Ferns squad for the upcoming Pacific Four Series, and joined Lesley Murdoch for a chat about her selection. 

King also discussed the challenges she faces in getting a hold of the starting 10 jersey in a new-look squad ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Black Ferns Squad for Pacific four series and our very
own Mutter two First five. Hannah King is part of
that squad and it's a very competitive selection for this
particular group. And Hannah joins us on the program good
Morning Morning, tell us what it's like to get back
together as a group and then await the outcome of

(00:22):
who's going to make the forty nine.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, it's been an awesome week. It's been a tough week.
It's been cool to be able to be back with
the girls, with everyone rather than versing them in Super Ragby.
It's been a pretty cool week for tough trial process
in that sense, and it was a pretty nerve wracking
time waiting to whether you're in the squad or not.
As it's such a competitive group this year.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
You do have to front up right, you have to
do the hard march. He true Old Pikey. The consistency
of performance is really important.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Definitely. We got told that Super Ragby is going to
be an important time for us and we had to
showcase what we were wanting to bring to the table,
which was pretty cool challenge for US players to go through.
Just with the competition within the squad, It's a big
year with the regul the World Cup later on. I
just want to keep putting your best foot forward.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Really, when you look at the first vibes the skipper
rua Haye demand, it's a big hurdle to overcome to
get a starting spot.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Definitely is. But Lou's been so helpful for me just
to be able to learn off as a young player.
She's so welcoming and so kind. Any questions I've had,
She'll answer them. Yeah, it's definitely very cool to be
able to learn from I'd say a player that I've
definitely looked up to for like most of my life.
I just want to continue to learn and grow and

(01:33):
just keep putting my best foot forward for it. Yeah.
Just as long as I'm growing each each day, that's
the most important thing for me.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
And then you're going to have a game here in christ.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, got the following week game in christ Church against Canada. Yeah,
it should be pretty special for you to come back
home and hopefully play for in front of the home family.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
So talking of your family, because I can remember interviewing
your brother on the Coast to Coast finish line, Sam King,
what is it about the King family?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Oh, I'm not too shoe sure. No, that was a
very special special weekend for a fa my family. My
brother did very very well. He worked very hard for that,
so it was pretty cool. Actually had the weekend or
Super Rugby, so I was able there to go and
support and see it. Also. No, I was pretty special Sam.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
He won the longest day in the two day event,
didn't he?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yes? Yeah, he won the two day individual.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, that's massive. That is such a big call. You've
clearly got a great hand eye coordination. You're playing a
team game. He's in the individual area doing amazing endurance racing.
So where does all this come from?

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Our parents were very supportive and let us play a
lot of sports growing up. They were very much any
sports we wanted to play. There was never a no.
They'd always be willing to take us there and just
continue to play different sports growing up, which has been
pretty cool. But also mum and Dad lead a very
hard work ethic, Like they worked very hard in like
the farming sense and in their own sports, which I

(02:59):
feel like trait that they definitely rubbed off onto us,
which is a very very cool trait to have. So
I grew up in wis Meldon. Mom and dadd are
still the dairy end. My brother is on the dairy
farm at the moment. Yeah, grew up on a farm
out and Miss Malden and yeah, just came through the
ranks through the country rugby and then when I couldn't
play boys rugby no more, I played for a country

(03:22):
under seventeen teams, so which was pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Just going back to your brother, Sam, so do you
get much time to chew the fat with him?

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Definitely? When I'm at home, we get to he's still
living on the farm, he's the farm manager, which is
cool that he's still like really close when I'm at home,
so we get to have like dinner quite often together,
always messaging, always catching up on seeing how each other
are going. Yeah, no, we're quite close to the link.
So it's very special to have them.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
But I do have to say I thought in that
all picky final much or two were enormous and while
it was disappointing that you couldn't take the trophy home,
the match that you played, the intensity that you brought
to that final was tremendous. In your own performance was
really superb.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Oh, thank you so so much, and I really appreciate that. Yeah,
that that final was probably one of the best games
rugby I've ever been a part of. It was so
switching ways, the momentum shifts and all that, and I
was just so it was tough to be able to
not get the wind bow. I was just so proud
of how our team showed showcase much or too rugby
out there. It was a very special game to be
a part of, and it makes me very excited for

(04:26):
the future.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Well, I don't en the Alan Bunting having to pick
a game day twenty three, or in fact to playing fifteen,
because I think the amazing part about where women's rugbies
come from is how quickly they have grown that depth.
What gets you in the mental groove for the match.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
Let's love to listen to a bit of country music.
I don't like to get too excited just before the game.
I feel like once I get out there and stand
on the field, it's just the atmosphere that gets me
really excited to be playing rugby as it's a game
I love for.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
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