Richard Turner | Former All Black & NPC Rugby Commentator

0:00Find hot savings for cold days at Chemist Warehouse like Go Healthy Magnesium Glacenate, 120 veggie capsules now 29.99, save 10, and save 25% on a last-a-plus protective wrist stabilizer only 44.99. Chemist Warehouse, great savings every day. Auckland Take-On Mono, a two-in-the-next game of the NPC tonight. But we'll have a few other games to chat about with friend of the show, great man, pod tuner who's with us now. Thanks for your time. Thank you, mate, good to chat to you. I know your sideline Northland taking on counties and that'll be a rollicking day if they can keep the shield for this summer. How are you? Yeah, good boys. How are you? Yeah, no, certainly we'll be. I'm looking forward to getting up there. Been fortunate enough to do every one of their home games of season. And it certainly had been a heck of a season. Great to see the crowd turning up at Stemman North Stadium. Great to see Northland sitting top of the table and obviously looking, they'll be working really hard to lock that shield up for the summer.

1:00Hey, pod, what's your take on? Obviously Northland has been brilliant this year. Players on the park. But more Ryan Martin's influence. Like his rotated his boys really well over the past four to six weeks. What's your take been on what he has achieved up in Northland? Yeah, he's obviously been in that environment for two or three seasons now. And I've always been impressed every time you talk to him. He's obviously a student of the game. He's an intelligent bloke and obviously takes what he does pretty seriously. But in terms of, you know, he's over those two or three seasons. You know, he's he's filled the holes that they've had. He's he's strengthened the weaknesses and this season he's he's put it all together. You know, Northland obviously the tiny father, they never lack desire. They never lack tucker. You know, they've just been a bit lighter in their couple of key positions. And they've filled those holes and recruited nicely. And then yeah, Ryan just stared the Japanese. You say, you know, I think he's managed the squads appropriately throughout throughout the year.

2:02And obviously once that once they won that shield, it became a real priority for them. And again, I think it changes way of thinking for the last few games. And so they, you know, they rolled out, they rolled out squads on off-shield weeks. So for one of a bit of description to just get through those weeks and and they, so they had their number one side fresh and ready to go to defend the shield. And you know, again, they've named a pretty strong side for, for said day for tomorrow's challenge. Well, on paper, it looks probably one way traffic. Do they have anything to worry about? Oh, look, yeah, I mean, the season, you know, you, Hawks, Bay fans were saying they had nothing to worry about two weeks ago. And they've got the speed wobbles. So it's been, but that's been the, it's been the great thing about this NPC, right? You know, we were at the, we're at the playoff, the business thing of the season. And, and you know, I think it's simply a case of you can get into the, into the top eight. Then everyone's a chance has been, it's been that sort of competition. No one's, no one's unbeaten.

3:04In fact, no, no, no one's, well, lost two games as a, as a worse, I've been saying, sitting at the top of the table. So look, that'll be conscious of that. But, but, yeah, I mean, counties will, will bring a challenge, a, you know, big opportunity for them. I think it's the first time, if I've read my, read my notes, right, boys, the first time that these two have, have challenged, will have played for the shield. So, so that, you know, that adds to it. So look, they'll, they'll be all guns blazing because it's, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a great, it's a great trade for the, have everyone wants it. So you know, if we'll take the county's challenge, deadly serious. Pod, two form teams of the comp this year, North Harbour and Otago. Geez, that's reminiscent of the day when you were planning when you had some Titanic battles with the boys from down south, but Gigi must be impressed with this North Harbour team this year. Oh, certainly. It's not too dissimilar to Northland, actually. By that, that, you know, that, that's, you know, that's, that's gone.

4:05I look, that's recruited well, that gone, gone to the clubs and they've, they've just picked up some, some great young talent. And, and, you know, they've decided this is the way we want to play the game. You know, they, they, they, and they, they talk about it. They talk about the old, the old Harbour and that's what they wanted to do. And that's what they wanted to be in. And, and, you know, but, but it's all very well to want to play an exciting open running rugby type of game, but, but you still got to do as we all know. Okay. So you've got to do the hard yard. So they've, they've got some good young forward up front that, that, ensuring that, that they're getting their fish here at Pell. They've been led to, pervably by, by Jed Melbourne and, and, yeah, just, just playing with a, a, a freedom and a, and a confidence that, yeah, as an old Harbour boy, it's, it's so good to see who's been the key around their culture. Because I feel like that, that is thriving as well, looking from the outside. Anyway, yeah, look, I think it, I mean, I'm, I'm on the outside of, I'm, looking in as well, but, you know, of, of, of, you know, a couple of there,

5:08being tied line for a couple of their games and, and, you know, obviously get to, to get to, to get, and I've mentioned how, you know, has influenced as a skipper, Jed Melbourne's been, been strong. But I think, you know, I think it's a collective thing. I think they all got together. I mean, to be fair to them last year was, was the shambles in terms of their preparation, you know, they lost their, they lost their coaches two weeks before, before the season. So they, they, you know, they, I think they had one. If, if any, preseason games, they didn't name a squad till three days before the, the NPC started. So it was, it was, last year was always going to be tough. And so they've had time together this season, preseason. And, and yeah, they just, they got together as a squad. So it was certainly a, it's certainly a collective thing that's, that's creating that culture is something that they, you know, they have, they've looked back at the history of Harbour and said, this is, you know, this is what we enjoy. This is what we want to, want to be in, and, and collectives have gone about getting the job done. Another big game in the round is Hawks Bay taking on Teranaki. And I think everyone in the, in the country, it, it warms the cockles to see

6:09Scotty Barrett back out there on the green grass. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's great for, for, yeah, for all Black fans, for, for Rugby fans, the great to see Scotty Barrett back out there. And, you know, I hope to, I hope you get some, some good game time. But there, as a, as a Hawks Bay boy, I hope he's not too influential. So, as he, as he, the one you're most looking forward to seeing in terms of the all Blacks returning to the continent, we can. Yeah, look, I, I think so because I, I think he was a, you know, again, you know, we're all very able to reflect, but I think we, if we've had Scotty Barrett, as, as best in South Africa, you know, the closeness of those competition of those games over there, we, we might have seen different results if he was over there. So, yeah, so looking forward to seeing him go around, looking forward to seeing him get through however many minutes they, they roll him out for unscathed and then, and then obviously with a view to him staying fit and getting on the thing, the

7:10year tour. All right, mate, much appreciated your time and you enjoy that day up and fun at eight tomorrow. That'll be a cracker. Good man. Thanks for jumping on. Please, you're always any time. Outstanding Richard Podturner there, of course, former all Black and commentator. Well, now for TVNZ, formerly Sky as well. It does a lot of great work around rugby, so good to have him on a head of another weekend in PC.