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Hello and welcome into a new week and a new week's worth of the Sports Fixed podcast hitting your podcast feed and around about this time Monday through Friday, February twenty fourth, I'm Jason Pine. Welcome in today. Auckland FC hottest ticket in town. They are the team that everybody is talking about right now, but what about on the other side of the Tasman They play of course in the A League BA standing for Australia, so our tongues wagging there as well, and could Auckland FC win the
whole thing? Australian football commentator Simon Hill is with us on the podcast. Today we'll pop inside the chamber, Elijah. You with a couple of issues to discuss, including Joseph Parker's win in Reard and another excellent round of Super Rugby, plus much more besides. So let's get into it. In other news, let's kick things off as always whether look
at some of the big sports stories around today. Key we go for Nick Vogue has secured the WebEx Players Series Sydney title, pocketing fifty thousand dollars for his efforts.
What a day Finnick Voteling in the first victory on the pgactor of Austra Asia had to endure a big late challenge from Jake McLeod, but hell.
Of his nerve.
The highlight of the final ramp Nick Vogue a seventy five foot parts across winding terrain on the thirteenth Green at the Castle Hill Country Club. A fifty first One Day International century from Verrat Kohli has helped India defeat Pakistan by six wickets in their Champions Trophy cricket match at Dubai. My job was pretty clear to control the middle lowers, to try.
And go after the seam bowlers and not take too many wrest again the spinners, but keep redeating straight.
And Liverpool have increased their lead at the top of the Premier League Ladder with a two nil victory away at Manchester City Finals.
For the referee.
And Liverpool move eleven points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Dissecting the sporting agenda, it's Sportsfix with Jason Vine.
This is the Sports Fix podcast. The hottest ticket in town right now is a seat at an Auckland FC home game. You couldn't get one on Saturday twenty seven thousand plus turning up for the derby. We know that they're getting tongues wagging on this side of the ditch. What about over in Australia? Is it the same over there? Let's bring in one of the most recognizable voices in Australian football. He's been a commentator since the start of the A leagues, Simon Hilp. Simon, thanks for joining us
on the Sports Fix podcast. Tell us about it, tongues wagging? Are people taking notice of Auckland FC over your side of the ditch?
Hey, Piney, Yeah, I mean it's got to be the case. The top of the league by quite some margin, probably a bit unexpectedly from this side of the ditch, but I think people have been very impressed by the way they've approached this inaugural campaign and the way that Steve Coricker has built his squad and they keep getting results. So yeah, probably not quite as much hypeers over in New Zealand for obvious reasons, but people have certainly taking notice. There's no doubt about that.
You talked about Steve Carricker and the squad that he's built just before we talk about the way they're playing. Is this a surprise to you that Steve Corocker has tasted success almost immediately at Auckland.
Not really, because you know, although he finished off is simply Sydney FC and it's quite a disappointing manner. The seasons before that, of course, he won back to back championships, so you know he's a good coach and people tend to forget those years of success when things go a bit wrong, but you know, he's always been able to
put together a very competitive side. I think the criticism, certainly in the latter days of SYDNEYFC maybe be for that was that they weren't always that easy on the eye, but they were always very effective. And you know, key to it all is he gets his foreigners right more often than not. And we know in the A League that if you get your imports bang on the money, then you've got half a chance. In this league, they're supposed to raise their standards and I think he's certainly
done that with Auckland, particularly impressed with Gmo Mai. I think he's terrific for Strata. Another terrific sign in Natal Moreno is very potent either off the bench or as a start, and we saw that at the weekend as well against Wellington. So you know, in tandem with Terry mcclinn, they put together a super competitive squad. But I think, you know, one of the things that has really struck me over the course of the journey this season is
they're togetherness. When things have perhaps not been going right, they've managed to dig out results or be it you know, a draw at some venues or wins in other games, and that's the market not only a good side, but potentially a championship went inside.
You just want to draw down too that because or you've watched the A League since the start, so have I. You don't always have to have the best roster, do you. You know, if you look around the league and you look at teams that have gone deep, deep into competitions, I think of the Western United side that won the A League. You know, that's just one example. You don't actually have to have a star studded roster, do you.
No, you don't. I mean, obviously, you know, some quality helps and I certainly don't think Auckland are without quality. There's no doubt that they've got some very good players, but I think if you have a togetherness in the squad, a refusal to accept defeat, and I remember calling a game against Melbourne City when it looked for all money as though they're going to lose their unbeaten record, and they managed to find and equalize it deep in stoppage time.
And it's not the only time they've done that this season. And that's a really good quality to have because you can't be at your best week in week out in a twenty six twenty seven round competition. But if you can grind out results skeet draws or pinch wins when you're not at your best, then you know you're going to be in there with a shout. So they've got most things right this season. It's difficult to find fault with them, to be honest, on or off the pitch.
I think they've been an absolutely terrific addition to the A League.
Now.
The only caveat I'll attached to that is we saw twelve or thirteen years ago Western Sydney Wanderers announced themselves to the competition in very similar fashion. You know, they won the premiership first go got to the Grand Final, although they didn't win it, and we thought they were going to be a powerhouse for years to come and one of the really big clubs in the A League.
Now the Wanderers have sort of lost their way over the last decade, partly due to the departure of done Popovich, but there's been other reasons as well, So that's something that Auckland have got to guard against. This is all brand new at the moment and things are flying on and off the field and it's great. But obviously we want Auckland FC to be around in fifty one hundred years time with you know, the crowds just as big, if not bigger. So that's something they've got to guard
against in future years. But you can't really fault what they're doing at the moment.
Yeah, it's a good point you make, but you know, you must look at the crowds. I mean, I've had the very very happy privilege of being at the home games, not down and likes, the act of support up in the sanctuary of the com box, but you must look at those crowds and think, man, that just looks amazing From your side of the Tasman.
Yeah, and you know we're jealous of them in some ways. Obviously we're you know, we have our own derbies that draw big crowds. There was I think twenty two between twenty two and twenty five at the Melbourne Derby on Saturday, which was terrific. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of calling the Sydney Garby when we had thirty two and a half thousand there, which was for me,
the best atmosphere of the season. The one thing that you know, we have a problem with and I've seen sort of little hints of it over there in New Zealand as well. We don't exactly have a friendly media here. We have media that is invested in other sports and they will look to find fault in supported behavior in particular.
And it was very disappointing after the Sydney Darby to pick up the paper the day after and see that the headline was about a couple of flares being led off twenty five kilometers away from the stadium, and you know that unfortunately, that's the stigma that this game has to deal with. On this side of the Tasman. I don't know whether it's quite the same in New Zealand, but you've got to be mindful of it. And you know there's a lot of media outlets here who have
a vested interest in the game not succeeding. Again, I'm not as familiar with the New Zealand media as I am with the Australian media, but you know things can quickly unwrap so that they need to guard against that. Not saying it's going to happen, but over the course of the journey those things can start to become a bit of an issue.
Well, it hasn't happened here yet and hopefully it won't for a long time, if at all. Hey, Simon, thanks so much for your time, Simon Hill, the voice of football in Australia talking about the football on this side of the Tasman and the phenomenon that is Auckland FC sports. In the space of just a couple of games, the Highlanders have become a very, very watchable rugby team again.
Saturday night was quite the occasion under the roof at Forsyth Bar Stadium, with the Highlanders getting the job done against the Blues, which historically, as we know, has not often been the case. A couple of players to pick up on. Timothy Tavatava Nawai. What a performance from him. I thought he was an outside back. He's been playing in midfield and the first couple of performances this season have been the type to turn heads, in particular, perhaps
the head of Robertson. Finn Hurley at fallback. He looks about twelve years old, He's just a tiny little bloke, but scoring two absolutely magnificent tries in an excellent all ramp performance, and even when they went down to fourteen and then down to thirteen men, the Highlanders still did enough to win. You simply cannot ignore the Jamie Joseph
effect on this team. It seems as though moving back into a head coaching role absolutely agrees with him and clearly has had a highly positive effect on the Landers and the advantage they got on Saturday night from playing at home with a whole host of new scarfees in
the city on O week. It's only round two, but for a fan base which has done it pretty tough in recent years, Highlanders fans can be pretty happy at the moment, and if we zoom out the entire round of Super rugby was again compelling viewing it was in week one, it was perhaps even better in week two. High scoring, plenty of tries to enjoy. Margins not quite as close as last weekend, but still quite a bit of jeopardy. The Highland is beating the Blues for starters.
That was an upset. The Force going to Canberra and beating the Brumbies, that was an upset. The Force have won their first two games the Fiji and drew it nearly beat the Hurricanes, last year's winners. The Blues are zero to two and the Chiefs are looking every inch like a team that will go deep, deep into the competition again. Super Rugby alive and kicking in twenty twenty five and it is great to see.
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfix.
On the Sports Fixed podcast, Let's hop inside the Chamber, The People's Chamber being a Monday starring Elijah Few who's joined me. Now quite a bit to talk about over the weekend, Elijah, you and I spent some time together in the zb news room looking at screens all over the place. Let's start with Joseph Parker. I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. It wasn't the opponent he was supposed to fight, but he did what he
had to do. Do you think Joseph Parker will be happy to have to have got this one done and now he can look ahead of.
Bit, Yeah, for sure. I think whenever you take a fight at short notice, it can always be a bit of a challenge either bodes well for yourself or the challenger because it's not much really, not much real study that he can really go off.
But I guess for Parker, he's been.
You know, preparing for this for the last you know, a few months or so, so he's been in ring shape. And I can't say the same about Martin Bacoli, but he credits him for stepping up. I guess the big question now is when does he get his world title shot, Because you would think that Daniel duboile they'll reschedule that
rematch and they'll go Dubir and Parker. But sounds like Duboi wants that world titled unification title bounce against the USAK, so Parker is going to have to wait a little bit longer unfortunately.
So I guess what that might open up then is whoever wins that Duboir v Osik. Parker would have to be near the front of the queue to have the next crack, wouldn't he? Or are we just being too naive about the politics of boxing. I don't know, well, I would assume.
So he's done everything possible to put himself in that position. He's He's faced three of the most feared fighters in his division in Deon Say Wilder, je Le Jang and now Martin Bercoli. So I mean, he's done everything he could ask of him, and now he's going to be real patients. Otherwise he might get asked to do another fight before he gets the actual will title fights. So, I mean, the dynamics of boxing and boxing politics is it's weird. You can't really predict what promoters want these days.
So unfortunately, yeah, JP's going to have to might have to be a little bit patience this time.
Yeah, but look at he's only doing what he can do. And I admire him, you know, because often in boxing you lose a fight or two and they, you know, you sort of fade into obliving. He's lost three fights, hasn't he, Joseph Parker, But he's proven that, you know, you can bounce back from these things. He's one of his last six and yeah, it'd be great to see him get get another crack. Look at the Super Rugby table, it looks like it's upside down. The Blues are at
the bottom and the Force a second. What's going on? No clue, I couldn't tell you.
I will say funny stat is that the Blues, for all the points that have been put up and all the tries that have been scored the season, the Blues have scored the least number of points this season and the team above them is the Boratars, who've only played one game. So I guess that says something sort of missing from the Blues, and I'm not really sure what it is. They'll need to find a solution fast because the Chiefs look like the team's be it right now.
The Force are right up there with them, which I don't think anyone would have predicted. But I'm just yeah, I'm loving two rounds in. I'm loving how the Super Rugby season has been played out so far, So.
Am I And I just said that on the podcast, but it's worth repeating. Just on the Force as well. At the stat I saw was that that they're the first side in Super Rugby history to win back to back games while conceding forty points in both of them. They're clearly not defending. But it doesn't matter if you get forty four, well, get forty five.
I mean they're the they're the proof or I guess their proof of what the Super Rugby, the new Super Rugby identity is in terms of scoring all these points, and I guess defense doesn't really matter out there in Perth. So yeah, it's amazing what the Force are doing. So hopefully we'll see how long this goes for.
I like the Chiefs, I have to say. I like the Chiefs. I thought they were very, very workmanlike in round one beating the Blues up at Eden Park, and then when the Crusaders came to Hamilton on Friday night, the biggest ever margin of victory by the Chiefs over the Crusaders. Look, Clayton McMillan is never a bloke to get too excited, but I think Chiefs fans can I know it's only two games and it feels like the Chiefs are favorites.
Yeah, that was a huge statement against the Crusaders, especially in the last half an hour. I think the score is about. It was seventeen Noll and then the Chiefs just piled on the points and piled on the tries. And that is a scary thought when you've got a Chiefs team who were firing on all and they can produce an outcome like that. So definitely a warning shots to the rest of the competition.
Speaking of warning shots, the fire them all rarely. Auckland FC. If we look at the A League finally in the chamber today, just another absolutely magnificent occasion at go Media Stadium on Saturday afternoon, over twenty seven thousand turning up. Look. I talked a lot about this game and the lead up to it, and there's no way I saw this coming. Did you see a six to one thumping coming?
Definitely not. I think you'd think with a derby game that the Knicks would be, you know, fired up and find looking to find a way to I guess turn their season around them, especially for a couple of senior players back in the fold. But yeah, Auckland have just proven that they're right now. They're the team to beat and six y one. No, I did not see that coming.
I wonder has Logan Rogerson claimed that hat trick or was that still Nat a Morenos Because I know there was one of those Moreno goals was a deflection off Rogerson. So I'm not sure if they did like rock peper scissors to figure out who scored that hatrick there.
Well, I don't even if they did. I don't even think that's official. It goes to the official goals panel. But I can tell you I spoke to Steve Corecker on the radio yesterday and he said, right, Logan Rogerson is animant the hat trick as us, whether he's whether he's whether it's just a bit of an in changing room banter or not. It definitely hit him on the way in, you know, and like any striker, like any
good striker, he'll claim it. I think at the moment it's Moreno's goal, and Logan Rogerson was probably only only half serious. But and to be fair, it actually doesn't matter, does it. You know, you win six one, you take it any day of the week, and you look at a guy like Kzuma Maai and you think before the game, okay, if you said them you're going to get you know, team's going to get six today, he'd be like, oh gee, I wonder how many I'm going to get. He didn't
get any. Max Marta the same, didn't get any, so I Moreno and Rogerson fighting over the goals. But yeah, what a statement. Again, it's it's the hottest ticket in town, isn't it? You know? Do you know they've sold twenty two thousand of those replica shirts? Twenty two thousand.
That explains why I'm waiting a while for my for my shirt. I've been waiting quite a while. Everyone seems to be, yeah, snapping them up before I even click, you know, before even able to pay. So oh, come to me eventually, Poney, could I send you one of my Phoenix shirts. In the meantime, I'll politely decline, piney.
Right, well, let us go our separate ways out of the people's chamber. In that case, great to jet has always mate. Well again next Monday, we'll do Thanks Pony.
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