Newstalk ZB’s sports news director Clay Wilson and sports journalist Nicky Styris join the Sports Huddle.
It's been a terrible week for Liam Lawson who was dropped by Red Bull, who are saying part of the reason was due to his mental health. What do the Sports Huddle make of the decision?
Nicky Styris says it depends on whether you think he should've been in the car in the first place.
Four of the top six Super Rugby sides are from Australia, why?
And the Sports Huddle discuss whether New Zealand should fund the Americas Cup.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Of Shoot Shoot Jes Shoot.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Twenty to six News Talks Hill be terrible week for
poor old Liam Lawson, but it's going to be a
great weekend of Super Rugby. Clay Wilson News Talks, ZIB
Sports News Director of US and Nicky Styrus Sports Journalists.
Good evening, guys, evening, right, good evening here for a Friday. Nicky,
Let's start with you and Liam Lawson obviously got the
got the boot demoted, and it's to protect his mental health.
(01:01):
Kristin Horner making this move, and then we're not quite
sure what Max to Stephen thinks about this. He's liked
to post and then he says he stands by the
liking of the post, but we don't know what the
post means. What do you think about it? NICKI?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I have been in debate with my husband all week
about this. So I guess it's whether you believe that
Lawson should have been in that seat in the first place.
He doesn't, and so his argument is now he is
saving his mental health because you know this will actually
for a driver that shouldn't have been there in the
first place. This is actually going to save him any
further embarrassment or any further confidence lost given that he
(01:37):
was last in both the Formula ones that he raced,
and I, on the other hand, set quite differently. I
think that the way he's been treated has been ruthless
and unceremoniously dumped after two races. You could argue that
that's where the confidence was destroyed and his mental health
took a big dive. But you know, it is professional
(01:57):
sport and Formula one is the peak of the peak,
and they don't take any prisoners. They're not kind, and
you know, it will be very interesting to see how
Liam Lawson backs up from this. And interestingly you'll probably
know this too, Ryan, because you're such a sports.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Follower that.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
That's why I invite you on.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Because you like me. Because in the practice that they've
just literally had at the Japanese Grand Prix, he's come
in thirteenth in the first practice, which is is not embarrassing.
It's not great, it's not it's not bad. Yuki sonoda sixth,
So that's a little bit telling.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So we shall see.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, but you've got to wonder, Oh, I know the
pressure is off in terms of the premium category, but
it's still going to be a lot of you know,
come down from that, there's still going to be feeling
a lot of pressure.
Speaker 5 (02:51):
Clay, Yeah, I think the thing is with this, the
logic adds up from Red Bull, Right, he's a young
driver under immense pressure. Let's take him out of that
pressure and bad back in the second team to take
some of that off him. The reality is, in Formula one,
it doesn't actually come off. There's always someone hot on
your heels, whatever team you're in, and Red Bull have
history on more than one occasion of this, and to me,
(03:14):
while the logic may add up, it's kind of a
cop out for Red Bull making perhaps making what they
now see was the wrong decision in the first place.
You have Christian Una on TV just now after that
first practice in Japan saying, well, well, Yuki's got more experience,
he'll be able to deal with the car and accumulate
points for the team. These are all things that Red
Bull knew at the time when they made the decision
(03:35):
between Yuki and Liam. So to me, the mental health
part of it is a bit of a cop out,
and Red Bull have been looking and scrambling for excuses
for their own stuff ups essentially over the past weeks
since this came out and.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
To use the mental health one, Nikki. It sort of
undermines him because Liam has not said anything. How are
we to know that he's not just stoic and getting
on with the job to it almost undermines him a
little bit to come out and say, oh, Wily, you know,
he basically couldn't hack the pace.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, no, look, I completely agree that it's a cop out.
It's red Bull scrambling to save face. Perhaps made a
decision a little bit rash and now they're scramming to
make it. It looked good from their point of view,
but they, as you said, they have a history of this.
And you know, I take my hat off to Liam.
He has acted amazing through this whole process. He's held
(04:26):
his chin high. He said, I'm ready to get on
with it, and you know so I think that's very
admirable for a young man who's twenty three years old
and as you say, under immense pressure.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah. Here, four of the top six super rugby sides
are from Australia. Clay Wilson and Nicky Styrus on this
next Clay Wilson and Nicki Styrus on the Sports Uddle
tonight for your Friday. So four of the top six
Super Rugby sides are from Australia. We're halfway through the season, Clay,
what's going on.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Well, I've done my research on this. I've spoken to
our Voice of Rugby here at news Talks here, b
Elliott Smith, because my suspicion when I saw this topic
was that there's Australian teams wild better this season have
not played a lot of New Zealand teams, and that
is in fact the case. I don't have the exact numbers,
but I think it's that this weekend we're going to
(05:15):
see a few more trans Tasman games and then over
the coming weeks a few more games. But I think
it's clear in saying that that Australia having one less team.
Of course, the demise of the Melbourne Rebels has has
has pulled that talent into less teams, right, So these
teams have clearly to me already shown that I've got
stronger because these less teams in Australia. We were saying
(05:37):
for so long how there were too many teams in Australia.
So perhaps this is a and I think it's a
good sign for the competition. I mean, we never want
to you know, obviously lose to our trans Tasman mates
across there, but the competition has been compelling and part
of that has been that the Australian teams have been
way more competitive. The Reds are leading the competition, so
to me this is only a good thing. Let's see
(05:59):
how they go when they face some more New Zealand sides.
But so far I think it's a great thing for
the competition.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
NICKI, yeah, I have to agree on it being a
good thing for the competition because nobody wants a week
tournament and let's face it, Super rugby and rugby in
general as a product has definitely got its challenges.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
At the moment. The thing that I think of Super
rugby and I am an NRL follower through and through,
so for me to sit down and watch a Super
Rugby game has got less and less, which is a
little bit sad, but it is I see it as
a developmental feeder for the All Blacks. It is a
chance for them, you know, the young people to make
(06:37):
their way through the next wave of All Blacks that
are going to go on and win a World Cup.
At the moment, we are what twenty twenty seven away
from a World Cup, so it's still in its development stages,
so I sort of see that as actually a positive.
It's a chance for people to try their hand, we
can see where we're at, we can develop players for
(06:57):
that next wave. So you know, there is definitely some
positive signs there. And I think for rugby as a product,
you need to have strong competition. So yeah, the diluting
down of those Australian teams is definitely a bad thing.
And now it's been more concentrated, which is definitely a
better thing. But however, I do think rugby itself still
(07:17):
has immense challenges to overcome. And I guess maybe leading
into one of your questions, Ryan, was you know in
the hurricanes is probably a really good example of that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Oh they're financial problems. Yeah. I was actually going to
avoid that one because it's oh, well you yeah, well
I wanted to do I wanted to not avoid it
for any particular reason other than I wanted to talk
about the America's Cup because.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Let's do that.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Then I love the America's Cup, or.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Do you so? Because I think you've only got so
much money to throw around. Seventy five million dollars is
a lot of money. It's it's more than ten. It's
probably about fifteen thousand elective surgeries. And I know, you know,
anyone who's had their hip done, for example, their need done.
Not looking at anyone I'm looking at But you know
(08:05):
it's an important thing and it has benefits too, So
why should we fund the America's Cup, NICKI.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Look, it's an age old debate, isn't it. Because you
want to see tangible returns. You actually want to go
we gained this many people come in, we got this
many jobs out of it, We got all these super
yachts came in, we got all this profiling for our
new zine, you know, New Zealand Marine innovation and technology.
But they're not tangible things. And I think the problem
(08:32):
is when you've got a country that is struggling to
put food on the table, and a health system that's struggling,
in an education system that's struggling and competing for every
government dollar, it's a really bad optic for the government
to turn around and say, look, we're going to give
seventy five million dollars to an America's Cup syndicate. So
I can see why they don't do it. I personally
(08:55):
think it's shortsighted. I think the actual will boast or
boost to the economy is bigger than probably what the
government has realized, and that did show in Barcelona. You know,
they've talked about generations of one point ninety nine billion
dollars in positive impacts on the economy, one point eight
million dollars visitors in fifty nine days, and it goes on.
(09:17):
So it depends how you want to measure it.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Clay, what's your thought on this, because otherwise you end
up with I suppose you know Saudi, I mean, I
don't know who's who's interested in this kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
Well, apparently Greece have come on to the market, and
Italy are the other big player the ore the two
front runners for the next one of Saudi Arabia are involved.
But yeah, it's such a there's so much balance that
comes to this with with both sides. If it isn't there,
Like you say, the spending of money that can be
you know, some would say much better spent on other things,
(09:47):
but then it's money you spend for potential benefit coming
back into the country. You know, if you look at
what Nikki said about what it did in the last
America's Cup over there. That's you know, you've got to say, wow,
that's a lot of money. Could we be benefiting from that?
But to me, it's optics a lot of this in
terms of politics. I look at the ed In Park debate,
not that I want to talk any more about the
(10:08):
whole Auckland stadium situation.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
But it's the same thing, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
But it's the same thing. I feel like with the
Auckland Council. You know, if they really looked at it,
they might see that an investment in a big stadium,
you know, down the track, that could have great, great
benefits for the city. And it's the same with this.
The government, while they probably realized the benefits are there,
to make that decision politically to give money to the
America's Cup won't fall in the favor of a lot
(10:33):
of taxpayers out there. So I think it's the optics
sways into it a lot in terms of the government
just say nap, we're not going to entertain it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, yeah, all right, Hey guys, we've got about thirty seconds.
Chiefs saw reads tonight, Clay.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Oh, it's in Hamilton, so Chiefs all right.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Nikki, Yeah, chiefs because I live with a chief supporter.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Very argumentative household at your place.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Nick, Oh yes, yes, he's got to tread very keefully
around here.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Thank you, Stars and Cray Wilson on the Sports Huddle
for your Friday Night. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Of Shoot Shoot Jes Shoot.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Twenty to six News Talks Hill be terrible week for
poor old Liam Lawson, but it's going to be a
great weekend of Super Rugby. Clay Wilson News Talks, ZIB
Sports News Director of US and Nicky Styrus Sports Journalists.
Good evening, guys, evening, right, good evening here for a Friday. Nicky,
Let's start with you and Liam Lawson obviously got the
got the boot demoted, and it's to protect his mental health.
(01:01):
Kristin Horner making this move, and then we're not quite
sure what Max to Stephen thinks about this. He's liked
to post and then he says he stands by the
liking of the post, but we don't know what the
post means. What do you think about it? NICKI?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I have been in debate with my husband all week
about this. So I guess it's whether you believe that
Lawson should have been in that seat in the first place.
He doesn't, and so his argument is now he is
saving his mental health because you know this will actually
for a driver that shouldn't have been there in the
first place. This is actually going to save him any
further embarrassment or any further confidence lost given that he
(01:37):
was last in both the Formula ones that he raced,
and I, on the other hand, set quite differently. I
think that the way he's been treated has been ruthless
and unceremoniously dumped after two races. You could argue that
that's where the confidence was destroyed and his mental health
took a big dive. But you know, it is professional
(01:57):
sport and Formula one is the peak of the peak,
and they don't take any prisoners. They're not kind, and
you know, it will be very interesting to see how
Liam Lawson backs up from this. And interestingly you'll probably
know this too, Ryan, because you're such a sports.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Follower that.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
That's why I invite you on.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Because you like me. Because in the practice that they've
just literally had at the Japanese Grand Prix, he's come
in thirteenth in the first practice, which is is not embarrassing.
It's not great, it's not it's not bad. Yuki sonoda sixth,
So that's a little bit telling.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So we shall see.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, but you've got to wonder, Oh, I know the
pressure is off in terms of the premium category, but
it's still going to be a lot of you know,
come down from that, there's still going to be feeling
a lot of pressure.
Speaker 5 (02:51):
Clay, Yeah, I think the thing is with this, the
logic adds up from Red Bull, Right, he's a young
driver under immense pressure. Let's take him out of that
pressure and bad back in the second team to take
some of that off him. The reality is, in Formula one,
it doesn't actually come off. There's always someone hot on
your heels, whatever team you're in, and Red Bull have
history on more than one occasion of this, and to me,
(03:14):
while the logic may add up, it's kind of a
cop out for Red Bull making perhaps making what they
now see was the wrong decision in the first place.
You have Christian Una on TV just now after that
first practice in Japan saying, well, well, Yuki's got more experience,
he'll be able to deal with the car and accumulate
points for the team. These are all things that Red
Bull knew at the time when they made the decision
(03:35):
between Yuki and Liam. So to me, the mental health
part of it is a bit of a cop out,
and Red Bull have been looking and scrambling for excuses
for their own stuff ups essentially over the past weeks
since this came out and.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
To use the mental health one, Nikki. It sort of
undermines him because Liam has not said anything. How are
we to know that he's not just stoic and getting
on with the job to it almost undermines him a
little bit to come out and say, oh, Wily, you know,
he basically couldn't hack the pace.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, no, look, I completely agree that it's a cop out.
It's red Bull scrambling to save face. Perhaps made a
decision a little bit rash and now they're scramming to
make it. It looked good from their point of view,
but they, as you said, they have a history of this.
And you know, I take my hat off to Liam.
He has acted amazing through this whole process. He's held
(04:26):
his chin high. He said, I'm ready to get on
with it, and you know so I think that's very
admirable for a young man who's twenty three years old
and as you say, under immense pressure.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah. Here, four of the top six super rugby sides
are from Australia. Clay Wilson and Nicky Styrus on this
next Clay Wilson and Nicki Styrus on the Sports Uddle
tonight for your Friday. So four of the top six
Super Rugby sides are from Australia. We're halfway through the season, Clay,
what's going on.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Well, I've done my research on this. I've spoken to
our Voice of Rugby here at news Talks here, b
Elliott Smith, because my suspicion when I saw this topic
was that there's Australian teams wild better this season have
not played a lot of New Zealand teams, and that
is in fact the case. I don't have the exact numbers,
but I think it's that this weekend we're going to
(05:15):
see a few more trans Tasman games and then over
the coming weeks a few more games. But I think
it's clear in saying that that Australia having one less team.
Of course, the demise of the Melbourne Rebels has has
has pulled that talent into less teams, right, So these
teams have clearly to me already shown that I've got
stronger because these less teams in Australia. We were saying
(05:37):
for so long how there were too many teams in Australia.
So perhaps this is a and I think it's a
good sign for the competition. I mean, we never want
to you know, obviously lose to our trans Tasman mates
across there, but the competition has been compelling and part
of that has been that the Australian teams have been
way more competitive. The Reds are leading the competition, so
to me this is only a good thing. Let's see
(05:59):
how they go when they face some more New Zealand sides.
But so far I think it's a great thing for
the competition.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
NICKI, yeah, I have to agree on it being a
good thing for the competition because nobody wants a week
tournament and let's face it, Super rugby and rugby in
general as a product has definitely got its challenges.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
At the moment. The thing that I think of Super
rugby and I am an NRL follower through and through,
so for me to sit down and watch a Super
Rugby game has got less and less, which is a
little bit sad, but it is I see it as
a developmental feeder for the All Blacks. It is a
chance for them, you know, the young people to make
(06:37):
their way through the next wave of All Blacks that
are going to go on and win a World Cup.
At the moment, we are what twenty twenty seven away
from a World Cup, so it's still in its development stages,
so I sort of see that as actually a positive.
It's a chance for people to try their hand, we
can see where we're at, we can develop players for
(06:57):
that next wave. So you know, there is definitely some
positive signs there. And I think for rugby as a product,
you need to have strong competition. So yeah, the diluting
down of those Australian teams is definitely a bad thing.
And now it's been more concentrated, which is definitely a
better thing. But however, I do think rugby itself still
(07:17):
has immense challenges to overcome. And I guess maybe leading
into one of your questions, Ryan, was you know in
the hurricanes is probably a really good example of that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Oh they're financial problems. Yeah. I was actually going to
avoid that one because it's oh, well you yeah, well
I wanted to do I wanted to not avoid it
for any particular reason other than I wanted to talk
about the America's Cup because.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Let's do that.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Then I love the America's Cup, or.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Do you so? Because I think you've only got so
much money to throw around. Seventy five million dollars is
a lot of money. It's it's more than ten. It's
probably about fifteen thousand elective surgeries. And I know, you know,
anyone who's had their hip done, for example, their need done.
Not looking at anyone I'm looking at But you know
(08:05):
it's an important thing and it has benefits too, So
why should we fund the America's Cup, NICKI.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Look, it's an age old debate, isn't it. Because you
want to see tangible returns. You actually want to go
we gained this many people come in, we got this
many jobs out of it, We got all these super
yachts came in, we got all this profiling for our
new zine, you know, New Zealand Marine innovation and technology.
But they're not tangible things. And I think the problem
(08:32):
is when you've got a country that is struggling to
put food on the table, and a health system that's struggling,
in an education system that's struggling and competing for every
government dollar, it's a really bad optic for the government
to turn around and say, look, we're going to give
seventy five million dollars to an America's Cup syndicate. So
I can see why they don't do it. I personally
(08:55):
think it's shortsighted. I think the actual will boast or
boost to the economy is bigger than probably what the
government has realized, and that did show in Barcelona. You know,
they've talked about generations of one point ninety nine billion
dollars in positive impacts on the economy, one point eight
million dollars visitors in fifty nine days, and it goes on.
(09:17):
So it depends how you want to measure it.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Clay, what's your thought on this, because otherwise you end
up with I suppose you know Saudi, I mean, I
don't know who's who's interested in this kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
Well, apparently Greece have come on to the market, and
Italy are the other big player the ore the two
front runners for the next one of Saudi Arabia are involved.
But yeah, it's such a there's so much balance that
comes to this with with both sides. If it isn't there,
Like you say, the spending of money that can be
you know, some would say much better spent on other things,
(09:47):
but then it's money you spend for potential benefit coming
back into the country. You know, if you look at
what Nikki said about what it did in the last
America's Cup over there. That's you know, you've got to say, wow,
that's a lot of money. Could we be benefiting from that?
But to me, it's optics a lot of this in
terms of politics. I look at the ed In Park debate,
not that I want to talk any more about the
(10:08):
whole Auckland stadium situation.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
But it's the same thing, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
But it's the same thing. I feel like with the
Auckland Council. You know, if they really looked at it,
they might see that an investment in a big stadium,
you know, down the track, that could have great, great
benefits for the city. And it's the same with this.
The government, while they probably realized the benefits are there,
to make that decision politically to give money to the
America's Cup won't fall in the favor of a lot
(10:33):
of taxpayers out there. So I think it's the optics
sways into it a lot in terms of the government
just say nap, we're not going to entertain it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, yeah, all right, Hey guys, we've got about thirty seconds.
Chiefs saw reads tonight, Clay.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Oh, it's in Hamilton, so Chiefs all right.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Nikki, Yeah, chiefs because I live with a chief supporter.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Very argumentative household at your place.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Nick, Oh yes, yes, he's got to tread very keefully
around here.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Thank you, Stars and Cray Wilson on the Sports Huddle
for your Friday Night. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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