May 3, 2025 • 11 mins
There's four rounds left to go in the Super Rugby season - and all 11 teams remain in contention for the playoffs.
The Highlanders are set to face Moana Pasifika this afternoon, capping off a weekend full of high-profile matches.
Super Rugby Pacific chair Kevin Malloy joined Piney to discuss.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk ZEDB SO.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Four rounds to go in Super Rugby Pacific twenty twenty
five and all to play for All eleven teams have
either three or four games to go. All eleven remain
in contention for the playoffs. The Fiji and drew It
kept their top six flame flickering yesterday with a last
gasp thirty six thirty three win over the Reds in Suva.
(00:35):
The table topping Chiefs has mentioned beaten for just the
third time this season, going down thirty five seventeen to
the Hurricanes in the Capitol last night, and the Brumbis
bouncing back from their defeat to the Hurricanes last weekend
to consolidate third place with a forty seventeen victory over
the Waratahs. In camera final match of the weekend this afternoon,
the Highlanders host Mowana Pacifica. A win for Maaana Pacifica
(00:58):
this afternoon would see them leap into the top six.
A hometown win for the Highlanders would keep them very
much alive as well. So there is play of jeopardy
and plenty to play for as we enter the home
strait of the regular season. Great to get the chance
to chat with Super Rugby Pacific chairman Kevin malloy. Kevin,
thanks for joining us on weekend Sport. Can we start
(01:19):
actually with the fact that all eleven teams are still
in finals contention? You know, real Jeopardy. How important is
it that as many teams as possible remain competitive and
remain in the playoff hunt as we enter the final
month of the competition?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Hey, look, is that is a key part of what
we're hoping to achieve at the competition this year. I mean,
Jeopardy is so important to the integrity of any competition.
So the fact that, as you say, we have all
eleven teams in contention at this stage is tremendous in
terms of, you know, going to keep fan interest. I've
actually been having a little glance towards the last round.
(01:57):
I couldn't help it, and Dee with lineups like Blues
versus Orators and Brumbies versus Crusaders, I can see this
thing coming down to the last week and the sixth
places not being sorted out into the final round, which
is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Lots of things I want to discuss with you can.
We start with what's happening on the field, on the grass,
the way that the rugby is being played. How happy
are you with the rugby that we're seeing every weekend?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
But we're delighted, obviously it's been. At the end of
the day, the rugby that's been played is the product
that we've got. Fundamentally, if we're getting great games like
we are, that's why it's going to keep the fans interested,
keep the crowds engaged, keep viewership up for us. And so,
you know, the things that we've tried to work on
(02:43):
link the shot clocks and the pace of the game,
tweaking the off side laws, ensuring that the just moves
along at a faster pace, seem to be working well
for us. And fair play to the teams and the
clubs have come to the party in the style of
the rugby that they're playing.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I guess there's something you can't really influence too much
as you watch on from you know, I guess around
the boardroom table, if we want to use a phrase
like that, you can encourage teams to play a certain way,
but are you really just in their hands as to
how they decide to play their rugby.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, we largely are. But I think in the meetings
and the conversations we've had with all the clubs and
all the teams, everybody buys into a style of rugby
that is super rugby and the way that they want
to break themselves as teams. And I think everybody can
see that that the product and what we're trying to
do with the game. You know, we talk about we
(03:35):
have this purpose statement of like the flame, and it's
sort of getting people back interested in the game and
engaged in it. And that's got to be about the
product and the style of the rugby that we're that
we're putting on. And you know, we've had great conversations
with the officials, for example, who are very keen to
ensure that that they're referring games that are fast, have
(03:57):
a pace to them, and that are engaging people.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Just on that. How happy are you with the way
games are being officiated?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Very happy? Big part of it isn't it. I mean,
the referee has a massive influence in a epy game.
So there's been a lot of dialogue with the officials
and as I say, they've been great in terms of
their mindset and how they want to referee the games
and the type of games that they want to be
involved in themselves.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I guess you can look at a game and say, hey,
that's a great game of rugby, but if you drill
down into some metrics around that, are you seeing stats
around ball and play times things like that that are
backing up what we're seeing on the screens and at
the games.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yes, we are the stats around ball and playing and
everything surrounding that have definitely improved, and we're wondering those
quite closely all the time because that's sort of a
tangible example of improvements that are getting made. So VI
are very happy with those stats.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You and I have also spoken about TMO involvement or
I guess as little really as as practical. Are those
numbers also heading in the right direction?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, it's an ongoing conversation. The involvement in the TMO,
and as you and I have discussed, what we've been
trying to do is limited to the extent that the
TMO gets involved when the referee wants them to be involved,
or if there is significant foul play that hasn't been
spotted by the referee. And we think that's right in
terms of the level of TMO involvement. So we're working
(05:21):
pretty hard to make sure the game is actually officiated
by the official that's on the park, and the TMO
comes in and helps when it's appropriate, but it is
not inserting themselves in the game all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
How are broadcast numbers for the competition this year?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Numbers are great, really healthy. We're up twelve percent here
in New Zealand with Sky and that that's the number
that was up to a round eight. We're at thirty
percent worth nine in Australia and I think that's probably
indicative of how much better the Aussie teams are doing
this year.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
What about crowd numbers spectators turning up to games, Kevin.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Our numbers are up, they're up here on a year,
but it's one area that I think we can we
can work a little harder on and improve. It's hard,
as you know, competitive in these markets. We're in probably
tough economic times as well. There's a number of things
that we're looking at, especially going into thinking about next
(06:17):
year and how we can drive those crowd numbers up
because yep, they're up, but they're not at the levels
we want them to be at.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
We've got an afternoon game this afternoon in Dunedin. Are
you keen in order to try and I guess make
games more palatable for families, for example, to have more
afternoon kickoffs next year.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yes, we ideally are. And one of the things that
we're doing is in previous years we've looked to get
the draw done by the end of the year. This
year the aim is to get the drawer done by
the end of the competition, so by floing a bit
till late June. And one of the reasons we're doing
that is because we want to have early conversations with
our broadcast partners with ground availabilities and understand the need
(07:00):
to try and get those afternoon kickoffs or more of
those afternoon kicks kickoffs if we can, and even talk
about things like taking games to the provinces, things that
I think could be just made the competition that much
more fan friendly.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
And I guess in terms of the match day experience.
Does that lie largely in terms of responsibility with the
franchises themselves.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
You're buying large that's something that the clubs drive themselves.
We work pretty closely with their marketing teams and I
think they have a pretty good understanding that while the
game and the rugby itself is a core product, it's
an entertainment package, and it's important that we're looking at
driving an entertainment package for fans.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Speaking of fan engagement, Fantasy Super Rugby has been a
new innovation to help with that. I know the numbers
that I've seen are very healthy. You might be able
to give us some indication of just how many players
there are. My team isn't doing very well, but as
Fantasy Super Rugby worked in the way that you hoped
it would.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, I can remember you and I talking about this
last year, and it was seen to be low hanging fruit,
and that has proven to be the case. We're delighted
with it. In fact, it's well exceeded where we've thought
it was going to be. To the last numbers I saw,
we're just under seventy thousand in terms of registrations. I
think the six Nations had about thirty thousand in their
(08:15):
first year. So it's succeeded where we wanted it to be,
and we can see it as an area of really
potential growth for us next year. The moment the registrations
are heavily weighted towards New Zealand, so I think what
we can grow them quite significantly in Aussie And there's
a couple of things I think that we've learned that
we can tweak in terms of the nature of the game.
(08:37):
But it's gone really well for us, and really importantly,
I think it's bringing in a sort of younger demographic
for us as well, getting those people re engaged in
the game at a level that we really need them
to be.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
You mentioned crowd numbers as a work on any other
areas that you would like to see improvement in over time.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
One of the things we've talked about quite a bit
is how we keep Super Rugby and the consciousness in
the off season. On Finals Day, it tends to fall
off a cliff a little bit until it re emerges
again the following season. And I think it's important that
we just think we're going to be top of mind
in the off season, but we do need to be
doing things just to keep it bubbling along. And so
(09:20):
for example, we've talked about the fact that there's a
lot of movements and signing and squad signings and setups
in the off season, and we probably need to do
a better job of how we communicate that and just
continue to keep super abious, I say, bubbling along in
people's consciousness in the off season.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
The NRL, of course, in the middle of their very
successful Magic Round right now, sixteen of their seventeen teams
in Brucebane across this weekend. We had super Round in
Melbourne last year. Would you consider revisiting the concept of
super Round in the future.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, absolutely, it's part of what we're talking about now.
In terms of the draw. We'd very much like to
get super Around back in the mix sits. There's a
number of conversations going on now with a couple of locations,
and obviously there's financial considerations and considerations, but we're working
pretty hard to see if we can get a sup
Around back at next season.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Fantastic. I know that would be a popular re edition
and we know that there won't be an eleventh sorry,
our twelfth team added in twenty twenty six. Are you
still keen to look at expansion though, Kevin, I.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Think you never say never on things like expansion. We're
always looking at the nature of the competition and how
it can be improved. I think also it's important that
we have a period of consolidation because a competition has
sort of it's taken all sorts of iterations in recent years.
I think we need a degree of stability what we
(10:46):
are looking at actually twenty twenty eight. We're working quite
hard with our friends from the Northern Hemisphere at the
moment and reviewing the concept of this Will Club Cup
and whether or not we can get that up and running,
because I think in terms of where the competition goes
and the iteration of it for fans, a Will Club
Cup would be pretty excited. You know the Crusaders knock
(11:09):
over Munster, you know Helward List to go against the Islanders.
All of those sort of limitations would be I think
of real interest for our fans in the future.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Absolutely agree. Well, it's an exciting competition up to this point.
As we enter the home straight, good luck picking who's
going to be in the top. So I think our
listeners will probably have a crack at it. But Kevin,
really appreciate your time and your accessibility this afternoon. All
the best for the rest of the Super Rugby season.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Thanks for having me on Tonny.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Now, thank you, Kevin. Kevin malloy, there's Super Rugby Pacific
chair for more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Listen live to news talks edb weekends from midday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk ZEDB SO.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Four rounds to go in Super Rugby Pacific twenty twenty
five and all to play for All eleven teams have
either three or four games to go. All eleven remain
in contention for the playoffs. The Fiji and drew It
kept their top six flame flickering yesterday with a last
gasp thirty six thirty three win over the Reds in Suva.
(00:35):
The table topping Chiefs has mentioned beaten for just the
third time this season, going down thirty five seventeen to
the Hurricanes in the Capitol last night, and the Brumbis
bouncing back from their defeat to the Hurricanes last weekend
to consolidate third place with a forty seventeen victory over
the Waratahs. In camera final match of the weekend this afternoon,
the Highlanders host Mowana Pacifica. A win for Maaana Pacifica
(00:58):
this afternoon would see them leap into the top six.
A hometown win for the Highlanders would keep them very
much alive as well. So there is play of jeopardy
and plenty to play for as we enter the home
strait of the regular season. Great to get the chance
to chat with Super Rugby Pacific chairman Kevin malloy. Kevin,
thanks for joining us on weekend Sport. Can we start
(01:19):
actually with the fact that all eleven teams are still
in finals contention? You know, real Jeopardy. How important is
it that as many teams as possible remain competitive and
remain in the playoff hunt as we enter the final
month of the competition?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Hey, look, is that is a key part of what
we're hoping to achieve at the competition this year. I mean,
Jeopardy is so important to the integrity of any competition.
So the fact that, as you say, we have all
eleven teams in contention at this stage is tremendous in
terms of, you know, going to keep fan interest. I've
actually been having a little glance towards the last round.
(01:57):
I couldn't help it, and Dee with lineups like Blues
versus Orators and Brumbies versus Crusaders, I can see this
thing coming down to the last week and the sixth
places not being sorted out into the final round, which
is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Lots of things I want to discuss with you can.
We start with what's happening on the field, on the grass,
the way that the rugby is being played. How happy
are you with the rugby that we're seeing every weekend?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
But we're delighted, obviously it's been. At the end of
the day, the rugby that's been played is the product
that we've got. Fundamentally, if we're getting great games like
we are, that's why it's going to keep the fans interested,
keep the crowds engaged, keep viewership up for us. And so,
you know, the things that we've tried to work on
(02:43):
link the shot clocks and the pace of the game,
tweaking the off side laws, ensuring that the just moves
along at a faster pace, seem to be working well
for us. And fair play to the teams and the
clubs have come to the party in the style of
the rugby that they're playing.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I guess there's something you can't really influence too much
as you watch on from you know, I guess around
the boardroom table, if we want to use a phrase
like that, you can encourage teams to play a certain way,
but are you really just in their hands as to
how they decide to play their rugby.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, we largely are. But I think in the meetings
and the conversations we've had with all the clubs and
all the teams, everybody buys into a style of rugby
that is super rugby and the way that they want
to break themselves as teams. And I think everybody can
see that that the product and what we're trying to
do with the game. You know, we talk about we
(03:35):
have this purpose statement of like the flame, and it's
sort of getting people back interested in the game and
engaged in it. And that's got to be about the
product and the style of the rugby that we're that
we're putting on. And you know, we've had great conversations
with the officials, for example, who are very keen to
ensure that that they're referring games that are fast, have
(03:57):
a pace to them, and that are engaging people.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Just on that. How happy are you with the way
games are being officiated?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Very happy? Big part of it isn't it. I mean,
the referee has a massive influence in a epy game.
So there's been a lot of dialogue with the officials
and as I say, they've been great in terms of
their mindset and how they want to referee the games
and the type of games that they want to be
involved in themselves.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I guess you can look at a game and say, hey,
that's a great game of rugby, but if you drill
down into some metrics around that, are you seeing stats
around ball and play times things like that that are
backing up what we're seeing on the screens and at
the games.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yes, we are the stats around ball and playing and
everything surrounding that have definitely improved, and we're wondering those
quite closely all the time because that's sort of a
tangible example of improvements that are getting made. So VI
are very happy with those stats.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You and I have also spoken about TMO involvement or
I guess as little really as as practical. Are those
numbers also heading in the right direction?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, it's an ongoing conversation. The involvement in the TMO,
and as you and I have discussed, what we've been
trying to do is limited to the extent that the
TMO gets involved when the referee wants them to be involved,
or if there is significant foul play that hasn't been
spotted by the referee. And we think that's right in
terms of the level of TMO involvement. So we're working
(05:21):
pretty hard to make sure the game is actually officiated
by the official that's on the park, and the TMO
comes in and helps when it's appropriate, but it is
not inserting themselves in the game all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
How are broadcast numbers for the competition this year?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Numbers are great, really healthy. We're up twelve percent here
in New Zealand with Sky and that that's the number
that was up to a round eight. We're at thirty
percent worth nine in Australia and I think that's probably
indicative of how much better the Aussie teams are doing
this year.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
What about crowd numbers spectators turning up to games, Kevin.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Our numbers are up, they're up here on a year,
but it's one area that I think we can we
can work a little harder on and improve. It's hard,
as you know, competitive in these markets. We're in probably
tough economic times as well. There's a number of things
that we're looking at, especially going into thinking about next
(06:17):
year and how we can drive those crowd numbers up
because yep, they're up, but they're not at the levels
we want them to be at.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
We've got an afternoon game this afternoon in Dunedin. Are
you keen in order to try and I guess make
games more palatable for families, for example, to have more
afternoon kickoffs next year.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yes, we ideally are. And one of the things that
we're doing is in previous years we've looked to get
the draw done by the end of the year. This
year the aim is to get the drawer done by
the end of the competition, so by floing a bit
till late June. And one of the reasons we're doing
that is because we want to have early conversations with
our broadcast partners with ground availabilities and understand the need
(07:00):
to try and get those afternoon kickoffs or more of
those afternoon kicks kickoffs if we can, and even talk
about things like taking games to the provinces, things that
I think could be just made the competition that much
more fan friendly.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
And I guess in terms of the match day experience.
Does that lie largely in terms of responsibility with the
franchises themselves.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
You're buying large that's something that the clubs drive themselves.
We work pretty closely with their marketing teams and I
think they have a pretty good understanding that while the
game and the rugby itself is a core product, it's
an entertainment package, and it's important that we're looking at
driving an entertainment package for fans.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Speaking of fan engagement, Fantasy Super Rugby has been a
new innovation to help with that. I know the numbers
that I've seen are very healthy. You might be able
to give us some indication of just how many players
there are. My team isn't doing very well, but as
Fantasy Super Rugby worked in the way that you hoped
it would.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, I can remember you and I talking about this
last year, and it was seen to be low hanging fruit,
and that has proven to be the case. We're delighted
with it. In fact, it's well exceeded where we've thought
it was going to be. To the last numbers I saw,
we're just under seventy thousand in terms of registrations. I
think the six Nations had about thirty thousand in their
(08:15):
first year. So it's succeeded where we wanted it to be,
and we can see it as an area of really
potential growth for us next year. The moment the registrations
are heavily weighted towards New Zealand, so I think what
we can grow them quite significantly in Aussie And there's
a couple of things I think that we've learned that
we can tweak in terms of the nature of the game.
(08:37):
But it's gone really well for us, and really importantly,
I think it's bringing in a sort of younger demographic
for us as well, getting those people re engaged in
the game at a level that we really need them
to be.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
You mentioned crowd numbers as a work on any other
areas that you would like to see improvement in over time.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
One of the things we've talked about quite a bit
is how we keep Super Rugby and the consciousness in
the off season. On Finals Day, it tends to fall
off a cliff a little bit until it re emerges
again the following season. And I think it's important that
we just think we're going to be top of mind
in the off season, but we do need to be
doing things just to keep it bubbling along. And so
(09:20):
for example, we've talked about the fact that there's a
lot of movements and signing and squad signings and setups
in the off season, and we probably need to do
a better job of how we communicate that and just
continue to keep super abious, I say, bubbling along in
people's consciousness in the off season.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
The NRL, of course, in the middle of their very
successful Magic Round right now, sixteen of their seventeen teams
in Brucebane across this weekend. We had super Round in
Melbourne last year. Would you consider revisiting the concept of
super Round in the future.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, absolutely, it's part of what we're talking about now.
In terms of the draw. We'd very much like to
get super Around back in the mix sits. There's a
number of conversations going on now with a couple of locations,
and obviously there's financial considerations and considerations, but we're working
pretty hard to see if we can get a sup
Around back at next season.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Fantastic. I know that would be a popular re edition
and we know that there won't be an eleventh sorry,
our twelfth team added in twenty twenty six. Are you
still keen to look at expansion though, Kevin, I.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Think you never say never on things like expansion. We're
always looking at the nature of the competition and how
it can be improved. I think also it's important that
we have a period of consolidation because a competition has
sort of it's taken all sorts of iterations in recent years.
I think we need a degree of stability what we
(10:46):
are looking at actually twenty twenty eight. We're working quite
hard with our friends from the Northern Hemisphere at the
moment and reviewing the concept of this Will Club Cup
and whether or not we can get that up and running,
because I think in terms of where the competition goes
and the iteration of it for fans, a Will Club
Cup would be pretty excited. You know the Crusaders knock
(11:09):
over Munster, you know Helward List to go against the Islanders.
All of those sort of limitations would be I think
of real interest for our fans in the future.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Absolutely agree. Well, it's an exciting competition up to this point.
As we enter the home straight, good luck picking who's
going to be in the top. So I think our
listeners will probably have a crack at it. But Kevin,
really appreciate your time and your accessibility this afternoon. All
the best for the rest of the Super Rugby season.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Thanks for having me on Tonny.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Now, thank you, Kevin. Kevin malloy, there's Super Rugby Pacific
chair for more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Listen live to news talks edb weekends from midday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!