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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You’re listening to a podcast from news Talks. It be
follow this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
This is Stsfix.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Howard by News Talk said.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Be why hello there and welcome on name to the
Sports Fixed podcast. My name is Darcy Watergrave. Be It
airs Tuesday. It’s the twenty first of July twenty twenty six.
Wind up for you today and the cast we’re going
to almost the top of New Zealand. That golf is
the acting CEO’s name is Greg Thorpe. As we look
(00:40):
at how on Earth New Zealand Golf capitalize on what
that guy Fox managed to achieve over the weekend. I’ve
got some opinion around the winding up of FIFA’s World
Cup with the addition of Trump. And we’ll be joined
in the chamber by good friend, oh mate from the
New Zealand Herald is a sports writer by the name
(01:01):
of Ben Francis. That’s what we’re doing, so let’s do it.
In other news and sport today, Auckland FC’s Belgian midfield
and winner of the MVP for the team during their
title season, Louis vi Strata has farewell the club for
life back in Europe. That made seven players and two
(01:21):
coaching staff who have moved on after securing the toilet
seat this season. He excelled with an emotional post courtesy
of a KFC.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I think I think I can do it. I think
this is this is I’m going to start crying again.
Thank you all and thank you make me feel with you.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
In IndyCar Action, Alex Palo as well on his way
to another IndyCar title, his fourth on the bounce when
he won this morning at the National Speedway. All good
for the Spaniard, not so good for his teammate, though,
Scott Dixon, who crashed into the back of Alex Russy Bugger,
who was terrifying for Scott Dixon. Absolutely what it did
(02:06):
Worldlauff at a rossis car with he decided to pet
at the last second and why not end with the
Fox Monster. Ryan throttled the life out of the Claret
jug over the weekend and we can’t get enough of
it today. He told the HOSK that he turned the
celebration knob up to ten then broke the dial off.
Good lad, I’ve been in better shape to be honest,
(02:29):
but it’s all worth it.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
Finished up about three o’clock and I had to pick
up at four fifteen.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
To go to the airport Manchester.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
I just decided at that point I wasn’t going to bed.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
It was just going to be easier to pull an
all niner.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And that’s Sport Today from the mouths of men.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Use Vidian. It’s Sportsfix with Dancy Valdegreve.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And it’s one.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Welcome now to the podcast to acting CEO of Golf
New Zealand. His name is mister Gregg Thope. Hi, Greg, massive,
massive couple of days for you. I expect that your
phone hasn’t stopped ringing since Ryan Fox does what Ryan
Fox does well, hopefully he carries on doing it. Has
(03:13):
it been overwhelming?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Certainly, it’s been awesome.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
I mean the I think the focus has been how
well he played, but also the way he played, So
it’s been Yeah, it’s been been amazing, amazing couple of days.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
The way he played is something that needs to be
earmarked and looked at. I think of all the sports
in the world, everybody’s lifting a game to make it
faster except golf. And now if they can template what
Ryan did, maybe golf can be as quick because it’s
a devastatingly slow game right now as far as people
sorting out their shots and working out their parts and
(03:48):
so on and so forth. And Ryan’s like that, it
doesn’t actually have to be like that, So you think
it might maybe initiate and push that forward. Maybe a
shot clock, dare I say.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Well, they’ve sort of used that technology already, so the
shot clock’s there, but I think Fox he comes well
under any short clock, and he’s sitting example certainly an
example for young people to, like you said, make a decision,
get up there and get it done.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, that’s what we’re looking at now though within z Golf,
and I think it’s a fair thing to say, Greg
is that currently New Zealand Golf is riding higher, and
it’s been riding high since COVID, hasn’t it. And we’ve
just had the Women’s Open come back again after a
decade away with earlier co being involved. It is on
the up and up. Now you’ve got another plateau to
(04:33):
hat this is huge. So what can New Zealand Golf
do to capitalize on this massive global success? Do you think?
Speaker 5 (04:43):
Well, I think we’re the well positioned to do that.
We’ve got, you know, many programs in place. We’ve got
a strong PGA Professional Golf’s Association. Golf in New Zealand
has a new strategy. I won’t talk about that because
you can imagine how boring that could be for it.
But we’re we’re well positioned to take advantage of this.
I think it’s the work we’re doing with golf clubs
and regionally with our district partners to work on junior
(05:06):
programs and getting young people into golf. Is all set
up and really, I mean, as he said, Covid helped
us along.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
It showed everyone the value of golf as a social sport.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
You know, there’s a competitive aspect to it, and Foxy
shows that he is going to be really aspirational to
the young people already in the sport, but equally to
new people wanting to access golf and come along and
give it a go.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
So it’s yeah, it’s all guns blazing.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I don’t expecak you being on the blower to him.
Maybe you have his phone is running abs hot, but
I get the feeling from what I know of him
in the way he carries himself that he’d be all
over helping out New Zealand golf. You don’t want to
lean it all on him, but this is a great ally.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Yeah, he’s I mean, we’re lucky we’ve got this Foxy there,
but we’ve got many others around him. Obviously everyone knows
the strengths of Lydia Coe. But you know, you might
have seen the pictures of Dan Hillyer. He missed the cut,
but he was out there during the final round with
his wife Shvaughn, following Foxy around, supporting him at the
end and getting to celebrate with him. So that just
shows you the strength of character of Ryan pulling in
(06:07):
one of our next next tier players who’s battling away
with Ryan but wants to celebrate with him as well. So, yeah,
he’s a very special player for us to have in
the sport.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
How important are aspirational players for You’ve got a lot
of players coming in, a lot of youth coming in.
How much of a leave it has just expanded that
now now that he’s picked up the Cleric Jag he’s
Open champion.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, well, I think it’s really important for all sport,
all sports.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
New Zealand recognizes that high performance is the face of participation.
It gives your sport a face, It gives people in
the sport, someone to look up to and talk about.
You know, we come to their golf club here at
rimu Era, sit down in the cafe. You can hear
the members talking about, you know, like when Lydia has
done well and Daniel’s done well, but you know they’re
fizzing about Fox He’s wins. So everyone everyone gets to
(06:55):
enjoy it in their own way in golf. And yeah,
it’s great to see.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
As far as bringing more money into the game, I’m
not quite sure how that works golf New Zealand area.
I’m sure the government give you a few shekels as
well well, But the attraction of more sponsors into the game,
not directly through Ryan, but for the fact that’s achieved.
What is achieved is this up that anti somewhat?
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Yeah, I think I think the focus is there and
that will bring commercial partners and funders into the game.
But quite frankly, my area of the game has me
in the talent development space and I spend a lot
of money. Our commercial team are really good at finding it.
But you know, I think there’s a lot of interest
and that’s only a good thing for golf.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Good And nowt’s talk about what’s getting in the way
because plainly, you’ve got to look to your hurdles because
if you don’t know what they are, you’re simply not
going to be able to clear them. And you and
your regular job high performance boss and talent development, what
have you seen that are slowing up people’s engagement at
a younger level and even maybe at a middle aged level.
(08:02):
Dare I say it like myself? What do you have
to work through there?
Speaker 5 (08:06):
I think from a talent development high performance, it’s giving
young people the opportunity to play really quality events within
New Zealand so they get to experience what performance golf
is like, and then equally making sure there’s opportunities from
the travel away. So that’s really a part of our
program at Golf New Zealand is getting our young people
into international environments and you know, we think we give
them a good crack at that.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I think at the older.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Levels participation, it’s really providing opportunities or entry points into
the game. So you know, all sports are getting really
professionalized in their administrative structures and the introduction to game structures,
so it’s important that sports provides entry points and ways
for people to connect. And golf I think is really
because they’re looking at other formats of their game. So
that’s across you know, many different facilities within New Zealand
(08:53):
that you will have seen the driving range just for
many years. But now we’ve got lots of some golf
simulator areas that you can go and you can play,
but you don’t actually have to walk for four hours
or five hours to do it. You can do it
in the dark, and you can do it with your
mates over a beer in an hour. So I think
having those different facilities for golf and for sport and
genera has been really cool.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Dissecting the sporting agenda. It’s Sportsfex with Dancy Waldegrave.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
There it is another day, another billion dollars. At least
FIFA’s at World Cup has finally wrapped up. It’s been
a longer process, an engaging process, and from Spanish eyes,
a very successful process. Been a wonderful occasion. It always
is the Football World Cup and extending the competition to
(09:42):
forty eight teams did no damage to the contest. I
didn’t pitch on it until I had to pay them
forty five dollars to watch the games with genuine jeopardy
when you would actually get knocked out if you’d lost.
I think the energy in those matches was absolutely superb.
That’s what I paid to see. Spain ended up victorious.
(10:03):
Spain ended up victorious over the traditional favorites. This the
defending titleists Argentina. The final match, well, it said enough
about Argentina and it said plenty about Spain. Spain actually
played football. Argentina were more interested in a knife fight
(10:23):
out in the back streets. The defensive colossus that was
Spain actually turned on its heels and started playing attacking football.
Offensive football, if you will, not as offensive as what
the Argentines that served up. They were the worthy winners
in the end. Were Spain ad to the European title.
They’ve got the World Cup now as well. What’s not
(10:45):
to celebrate the fact that Donald Trump could not keep
his tiny little hands out of the fun and games
for anybody to line up when the Spanish was celebrating
their victory, smiling from air to air, proclaiming to be
the best team in the world, the teammates embracing and
(11:06):
smiling and yelling, and who who’s standing on the edge?
Donald Trump? Such an embarrassment, as he has been right
the way through the tournament, and you know the best
thing about that, Spanish football said, I know how we
can solve this, and they cut them out of the
photograph at the end, so that blot, that stain on
(11:28):
the success is no longer part of the action.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Officially, the chamber is now in session on Sportsfix.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
We’ll joined a chamber now by I’ll mate, Ben Francis,
even though I haven’t known you for that long, old
Mate’s quite a nice thing to say, Benny, how are you?
Speaker 6 (11:44):
I’m wonderful Darcy, And yeah, mate, I’m perfectly happy with that.
And as always, it’s a privilege and a pleasure to
be in here with you.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
That’s what I like to hear. I don’t think we’ve
wrung the guts out of the Ryan Fox situation yet.
This may take months, right.
Speaker 6 (11:56):
Oh, definitely, absolutely incredible, just kind of witnessing those scenes
and the kind of aftermath of it all, and just
the aggression on the eighteenth hole where it was kind
of like play it safe or go big and go home.
And really loved that approach to he took it and
it paid off for him. And having dealt with Ryan
Fox a few times in my radio producing days, he’s
such a good, good guy to talk with, and you
(12:18):
just can’t help but be happy for him. And I
think that’s one of these things that is really nice
about the whole situation is you saw it, You saw him,
you know, kissing the claric jargon. You’re just happy, You’re
very happy for him.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Just a super friendly, super nice guy. He’s just wonderful
to deal with, right. I mean, everybody knows that one
of the nicest guys in sports. And you look globally
what’s happening and the explosion of interest in this, and
he’s just waddling along.
Speaker 6 (12:44):
I think the whole fact as well that he was
tied for fifty second at the halfway stage, kind of
seemed out of it and had that record equaling third
round to really kind of catapult himself into contention. And
then just that just that nerves and you know someone
that does or has played a bit of darts, you know,
standing at like an hockey with like twenty people watching
is nervous enough. Imagine just that whole world watching you
on a golf course.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
He thinks really fast. I love hearing that because we
know he plays fast, that’s a given. But he’s when
he’s talking about saying, look, I know what I’m going
to do really quick, so I just want to do it.
And I’m like, mate, you got to touch the ADHD
about you, bro. I completely understand that it’s like, get on,
get on, let’s go, let’s go, which needs to be done,
because golf’s one of the few sports in the world
that hasn’t sped everything up. Right there’s no shot.
Speaker 6 (13:27):
Clock, yeah, exactly, But I wonder if that’s also part
of that, the kind of has method where he thinks,
if I’m standing there taking too long practicing, whether that
actually increases my nerves. But the fact he just gets
on with it might just keep him at a calm
sort of level. But I agree with so many other
sports getting sped up. I think that’s probably why you
see people play speed golf. Now that I’ll say, ah,
just get the skit thrown at about an hour, we’ll
(13:49):
be fine.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
You’re a league man, and I want to talk more
about league shortly. But just taking you back now, I’m
probably wrong. It was the Bulldogs and Wellington and tied
up and Stacy Jones had a conversion to win the game,
and he spent about half an hour over the ball
and missed it. Is that the right one?
Speaker 6 (14:08):
I believe you’re correct.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, And so when you’re talking about how long you
spend over something that was classic, mate, just kick the thing.
And so now we’re all still beaming over this, and
such a wonderful character. Seen him a message. He said,
he didn’t just walk toward pressure, He ran at it,
punched it in the face. Yeah, like yeah, boy, And
(14:31):
all the interviews listening on host this morning was great.
He’s just the most likable character. Rent to his old
man as well today because you’re not going to ask
to be on the radio and said, no, you never
come on the Radio’s good, thanks, But how do we
chat about what he’s up to? And then started talking
about rugby because couldn’t help ourself. But he is immensely proud,
(14:51):
and I said, finally you are father of Ryan. He’s
no longer son of Grant. He goes, Mate, it should
have stopped years ago. I’m sick of hearing about that
this is his time, and I’m not disagreeing.
Speaker 6 (15:03):
I think part of his journey as well kind of
shows you about kind of just sticking to it. Because
he touched on in the press conference yesterday how he
sort of was around like twenty five and he nearly
gave it up and he’s like, I don’t know if
I can actually do this, but he’s kind of stuck
to it. He’s kind of burst onto the scene a
bit later than other people in terms of being someone
on the PGA tour and being a regular, but I
think it just all adds to the story and how
(15:25):
amazing it is and just touching on the whole nice
guy thing. There was a post online today of him
checking in at Manchester Airport flying to London and he’s
got the case of the Cleric jug and he’s just
putting it in the check baggage and he said that
it was a bit of a struggle getting it in
the overhead locker, but he got to still managed to
fit it in there. But it was just quite funny.
Just those just seeing those little things on social media
is very nice.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I talked to him last year two years ago when
he said PGA. It’s like, do you actually feel like
you belong yet? And he goes, yeah, finally I think
it was what was the second major. He’s like, yeah,
I actually do, and that’s really helping me in my golf.
Now I’m not standing here going oh, well, look at
his great players. What am I doing here? Apparently, but
at that level it takes quite a while to feel
(16:07):
like you belong. Once you belong, Okay, this is not
so scary. I’m going to get in and then you
run at the pressure and.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
The story is going to go on for so long. Hey,
after the All Blacks did what the All Blacks did?
I watched the All Blacks first and started first right
then I watched the Warriors after that. You’re a Warriors.
Man team comes out tonight. Yeah, what’s going to change?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
If anything? What happened?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
It was Saint George.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
I think I think this is I don’t I can’t
remember I touched on this with you last week or
we definitely spoke about it. It’s I think the Dragons
have improved significantly in the last few weeks, and I
think that was one a sign of that because I
believe they’ve got one one of the best young Ford
packs in the NRL, and I think they really stood
up to the mark. I think in terms of changes,
(16:54):
we could might see the Warriors. Look, I literally don’t
think there’s going to be really any changes. I still
think Center remains the hot the biggest issue with the
Warriors at the moment in terms of the inconsistencies of
Pompey and Layer Tauer. But unless you’re going to put
charms there, there’s not really any other options. Because rock
o’berry has been out injured. You’ve got Jay Lenaane who
(17:15):
as a five eighth for playing centers and reserves, but
because he’s been treated as a bit of a you know,
we want to ease him back, and after two ACL
injuries that I don’t see him getting in there, So
I expect that everything is going to remain status quo.
You’ve got to remember as well that this was the
best available Warriors team that could pick from, but it
was the first time and god yonk since they played together,
(17:37):
so I think there is going to be a bit
of an adjustment. But at the same time, we’ve criticized
the Warriors in the past for not winning these games,
and now they’re winning them.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
That’s it regardless. So what are the Bulldogs bring to
the party because they’re away on Saturday night, aren’t they?
I expect we’ve just threshing them with a stick and
all the other managing sagon what are you doing.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
Look, this is the interesting thing. So the Bulldogs have
not been that good this year. They played the Tigers
on the weekend and won convincingly. That was probably the
best they looked all year. They had former Warrior Shauna
Sutherlan Sullivant at half back and he really made the
team jell a lot better. I don’t think he’s going
to be there this weekend. But the issue you have
with that as the bull Dogs are probably coming off
(18:16):
the best game of the season, but they just plaided
the West Tigers, who at the moment are probably the
exactly So it’s like, well, how much do you read
into it? You have to look, you have to look
into some of the past games at a core that
the Warriors are played against dogs and they have tend
to have gone the Dog’s way. But we just touched
on the whole thing. If the Warriors can just do
(18:36):
what they’ve done all year at works and.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
In late Mail, no one’s broken, They’re they’re ok.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
Everyone seemed pretty good. No, no, I know Wade Egan
went off with their head, not briefly, but he came
back out on was fine. But everyone else seemed to
pull up fine from the weekend or Andrew Wibson didn’t
say anything postgames, so I would suspect the same team
gets snamed again, I would not. I’m not expecting any changes.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
And on that note, we’ll open the chamber doors and
we’ll like you’re away, being Francis. Thanks so much for
your time. As always, real pleasure.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Cherio does leading of vis We’ve got what’s the ticket
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Speaker 3 (19:12):
Thanks very much for listening to the Sports Flex podcast.
My name’s Darcy Waldgrave. The pleasure has been mine. If
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(19:33):
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