Jesse Randall: Auckland FC winger and All White on the Derby win and call up for the national side

It was a whirlwind weekend for Jesse Randall.  

On the Saturday the Auckland FC winger was the star of the Kiwi derby, tormenting the Wellington Phoenix with his pace, as he made one goal for Sam Cosgrove then scored the second himself, which was decisive in the 2-1 win. 

Then, on Sunday morning, he got a phone call from national coach Darren Bazeley, telling him to get ready for a flight to Houston the following day, as a late call-up for the All Whites. 

Randall told Piney it came as a bit of a surprise, but a nice one. 

“I’m always ready to pick up the phone if it’s being rung by [Bazeley].” 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks ed B.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
The All Whites are back in action tomorrow. Here's the
Freeze's free.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Kick and it goes across the gold and this is
gonna go and it's got it and it's friend Sermon
who's given the All Whites the lead in Norway.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, that was the last time the All Whites played
a one old draw with Norway. Last month they played
Columbia tomorrow afternoon in Florida twenty past one kickoff, and
Ecuador Wednesday afternoon in New Jersey. Let's bring in All Whites,
Ad Awkley, the FC attack of Jesse Randall. But if
a whirlwin for you. Jesse, you were called in Lake
to this camp as an injury replacement. You played the

(00:49):
derby in Wellington last weekend and what must have found
out a short time after that? When did you actually
find out that you'd be off to the US with
the All Whites?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeay, funny it was Sunday morning, so yeah, pretty pretty
soon after after the derby, base called and kind of
congratulated me on being called up to the All Whites,
And yeah, it came as a bit of a surprise,
bit a nice a nice one.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, absolutely must have been brilliant. So I'm assuming you
had a you'd had a bit of a celebration after
the win over Wellington, but you are quickly able to
sort of reseat yourself and get ready for All Whites duty.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, of course, of course, I'm always always ready to
pick up the phone if it's yeah being wrong by bays.
So yeah, it was obviously an unbelievable night for us
or can I see players and for the fans, and yeah,
the focus quickly switched to the All Whites on Sunday

(01:52):
and then getting prepared for my fly on Monday.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
How happy are you with the way you're playing right now?

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah? I am happy, Yeah, very happy. It's obviously going well.
It's going well for me right now. I've been caught
in the way I've been playing, and I've got a
lot of confidence from the coaches and stuff, and yeah,
I think consistent game time across the past few months
has give me that confidence. So yeah, I'm happy with

(02:19):
how things a god.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Having last season under your belt, a first fall season
with Auckland FC, has that helped coming into your second season.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
One hundred that experience I've I've got from last year
has definitely helped me understand where I need to work
on particular parts of my game and how I can
kind of impact make an impact in this league and
for Auckland. So yeah, that's that season definitely kind of

(02:54):
set me up for this one.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I think he mentioned the word confidence a couple of
times in your previous answer. What gives you that confidence
from the coaching staff? Is Is it the regular game time?
Is it the words of encouragement? Is it what you're
being asked to do? How do you get confidence from
the coaching staff?

Speaker 3 (03:10):
I think mainly it was from the late preseason, Like
I had a lot of minutes and I got a
lot of fitness from those minutes, and I think I
played quite an intense star football with a lot of
running and a high speed running, So that fitness kind

(03:31):
of gave me that confidence, I guess. But then also
knowing I'm being I pretty much started every game in preseason,
so I knew that was a voted confidence from the coaches.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
To all right, well into Whites mode. Now, So what
have the last few days been like since you arrived
and started preparing for first of all Columbia and then Ecuador,
two pretty highly rated sides. What are the last two
or three days been like, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
It's been kind of just trying to get over debt
leg to start with, especially for the first night that
I just joined into training.

Speaker 4 (04:05):
A couple of training.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Now get on the grass and yeah, just start preparing
for the next few games ahead, and yeah, just get
over the jet.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
If they all watch now, got a way of playing
that even if you miss a window. I mean, you
didn't pay that in the last window. Not many A
League players got caught up for that window. But is
there an all white style now that you're able to
sort of slot straight back into every time you come together?

Speaker 4 (04:33):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
And I think you're you get caught up pretty quick
with the coaching stuff. And I've been in the environment
a few times. I think it's my fourth time the
last maybe fourteen months. So yeah, you kind of just
even though it's not long, you you get used to
it and you get filled in pretty quick when you

(04:56):
do get back.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
How do you prepare for matches against such highly rated opposition,
you know, games where it's highly likely that they're going
to have more of the ball than you.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, I think what you're going to do is just
stick to what well, We've got to stick to what
we do in terms of we can't focus.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
On them too much.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
We have to remember we are good players as well,
and we have to just focus on ourselves really and
continue to play the way we've been playing, as there's
been some very good results over the past few windows.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, so all five of your caps for New Zealand
have been off the bench. That may well be. You
know your role on this tour as well, but how
keen are you to push for a starting spot on
this side? Oh?

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, I mean obviously when you play football you want
to start.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
But I know.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
My role on the team and I'm going to try
do my best with whatever role that is, whether that's
coming off the bench or starting. I'm just, you know,
excited to make the most of whatever opportunity I get.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
And is there an obvious general excitement in the All
Whites camp now with what we've got The World Cup
draw coming up in just two or three weeks time,
so we're going to find out you know, who New
Zealand are up against next year, and then the tournament
itself is only about seven months away, so is there
an obvious excitement in the All White squad now about
the impending World Cup one hundred.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
It's going to come around the corner pretty quick. I
think it's going to be here before we know it.
And obviously it's made more real by the fact that
where we've got the draw and not long and then
there's we're playing Columbia and ecuod Or pretty soon, so
two massive nations which the All Whites will probably come

(06:49):
up against similar likes to them in the World Cup.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
So yeah, buzzing to just be around it.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
And how do you as players balance your own personal
aspirations with the team aspirations? I mean, as you said before,
everybody wants to play, right, not everybody cam but and
everybody wants to be that plane next year. How do
you balance, you know, what you want personally with what
you want to achieve as a team.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
Oh, I mean, I think the team is the priority.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
So you kind of just you know, work your hardest
in training and put yourself in the best opportunity to
put some in the best position, sorry to play in
whatever role that you have is just to help the
team achieve success.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, And do you feel like every time you walk
out there in a training session, in any team situation,
a game is a training session, whatever it might be,
that you have an opportunity to, you know, to pres
your claims to be part of that squad next year.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah. Yeah, well, of course I go out there and
do my best every time, and that's you know, that's
all I can ask of myself, and that's something I've
been doing. So yeah, time will tell.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Did Steve Coracer tell you're not to get injured?

Speaker 4 (08:07):
No, I haven't had any any talks, you know.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
I think kind of just trying to focus on this
for now and then you know that will come around
soon enough.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
A good man, Jesse, Hey all, congrats on the call up.
I hope to see you out there against one or
both of Columbia and Ecuador and back in the A
League soon. Really appreciate you taking the time for a chat.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
Ships pony, thank you, No.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Thank you mate. That is Jesse Randal Loud of the
All Whites. They play Columbia tomorrow one thirty New Zealand
time kick off, and then Ecuador on Wednesday at two thirty.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to news talks at b weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio