So what are the Kiwis looking to try and achieve here? Is it just a simple case of giving the wider squad playing time? I mean, can you really put into practice things that they maybe didn't quite execute against Australia and really get a gauge based on, I guess, the Cook Islands and, you know, not one of the stronger oppositions?

Yeah, I think probably combinations is the main thing, and especially with the Spine, first-choice Spine, with Cavan Ponga out giving Keanu Kinney a a chance to slot back into this Kiwis team properly against a weaker opposition.

It gives the halves and the rest of the spine a chance to combine without, I guess, so much pressure.

And, you know, Jerome Hughes hadn't played for some time without playing in our finals footy.

I thought he was, you know, had some good moments, but a bit rusty against Australia.

It would be good to see Tamati Martin get a run at dummy half and obviously give Jerry Marshall-King the only hooker specialist hooker selected in the squad a bit of a break during the game, and Tamati hasn't played any hooker since 2025 with the Warriors.

So, yeah, a bit of a chance to give a few guys a run in different positions.

What have you made of both Samoa and Tonga? And of the two nations, which of the two teams scare you the most?

well i mean the stadium's in its infancy these things are going to pop up and you know it's all very well isn't it i mean it's just that's just part of anything that's new you figure out the strengths and weaknesses in that first year and you go and address them look what's in this game for the kiwis everybody knows they're going to beat the cook islands um so so What are the Kiwis looking to try and achieve here? Is it just a simple case of giving the wider squad playing time? I mean, can you really put into practice things that they maybe didn't quite execute against Australia and really get engaged based on, I guess, the Cook Islands and not one of the stronger oppositions?

Yeah, I think probably combinations is the main thing, and especially with the Spine, first-choice Spine, with Calvin Ponger out giving Keanu Kenney.

a chance to slot back into this Kiwis team properly against a weaker opposition.

It gives the halves and the rest of the spine a chance to combine without, I guess, so much pressure.

And, you know, Jerome Hughes hadn't played for some time without playing in our finals footy.

I thought he was, you know, had some good moments, but a bit rusty against Australia.

It would be good to see Tamati Martin get a run at dummy half and obviously give Jerry Marshall-King the only hooker specialist hooker selected in the squad a bit of a break during the game, and Tamati hasn't played any hooker since 2025 with the Warriors.

What have you made of both Samoa and Tonga? And of the two nations, which of the two teams scare you the most?

And I think what they're going to come up against is the high expectations of the Australian public because the Australian public expects to win when it comes to sport.

Yeah, absolutely, and this Kangaroos team as well, they're just used to winning, and they have.

They've won just about every time they take the field.

Their record against the Kiwis is almost exactly the same as the All Blacks' record against the Wallabies.

They've lost one World Cup game since 1995, so...

Yeah, it's a tough ask, and Kiwis don't traditionally start these sort of tournaments that strongly, but we've had a lot of success in finals against the Kangaroos, of course.

But, yeah, we're looking to get off to a flying start.

the stats.

Anyone we should be looking at beyond New Zealand and Australia?

Yeah, absolutely.

In the pools B and C that have sort of combined Samoa, Tonga and England, all huge chances of of carrying off the trophy particularly samoa and tonga um they've made huge impressions at the last couple of world cups obviously tonga turned international rugby league on its head in 2017 with that win over over new zealand and then uh 2022 samoa the surprise packet going all the way to the final uh historic historic run there um just so much talent and elite talent it's not just you know a couple of blockbusting wingers and powerhouse boards in these uh Pacific Nation lineups that we're quite used to were actually, you know, some of the best halves in the competition, some of the best centres.

You know, their spines look really strong, which probably hasn't been a strength in previous campaigns.

So they look incredibly deep across the board, these squads, and they'll give it a hell of a shake and, yeah, massive challenges ahead for New Zealand and Australia in the semifinals.

Starts Sunday, does it?

Yeah, absolutely.

So two pools of four teams, and New Zealand and Australia are the runaway heavyweights in those pools.

What are you doing that's so bad?

Oh, good morning, Gary.

No, it's certainly...

It's very frustrating.

You know, we engage with CSIRO.

We engage with all of these different regulatory agencies.

We explain the work that we're doing.

You guys are facing this kind of stuff because basically people who don't eat meat have got to beef with your industry.

So I sort of maybe contradict myself a little bit here.

Yeah, it's all about time.

You want to play your best footy in the big games, and I think the Roosters have played within themselves all season, even when they're piecing together a long winning streak.

I didn't think they were overly impressive, and I haven't been, besides maybe the odd one or two games, thought they were a little bit disappointing throughout the regular season.

And, yeah, obviously came into the finals on a three-match losing streak and looked like they'd run out of puff completely.

But despite losing in week one, that proved a real turning point for them.

Obviously getting Sam Walker back for the prelims, he was exceptional against the Dolphins.

Can you see the Knights beating the Panthers? Do they have any chance?

So I sort of maybe contradict myself a little bit here.

Yeah, it's all about time.

You know, you want to play your best footy in the big games.

And I think the Roosters have played within themselves all season, even when they're piecing together a long winning streak.

I didn't think they were overly impressive.

And I haven't been, you know, besides maybe the odd one or two games, thought they were a little bit disappointing throughout the regular season.

And, yeah, obviously came into the finals on a three-match losing streak and looked like they'd run out of puff completely.

Is that been the general consensus amongst Warriors fans? Was that your consensus or were you could only see it through a lens? And I say this in a friendly way, could only see it through the lens of a hardcore Warriors fan and we were just simply robbed.

i asked the question at the top of the day uh how do you define success or failure without being a tall poppy i didn't throw that one but i'm going i'm playing that card now do you look at the season as from what you've described a failure then

I wouldn't say the season's a failure.

I mean, you know, they made such great progress in so many areas.

But yeah, at the end of the day, it's where you finish up in September and the final series was an abject failure.

I think the season as a whole... certainly successful in many ways.

I think we'll have to wait until next season and a couple of seasons beyond to see how we view this one.

And history is against them.

Their depth chart showed they didn't disappoint, did they? It was okay.

Do you look at the season as from what you've described a failure then?

I wouldn't say the season's a failure.

I mean, you know, they made such great progress in so many areas.

But, yeah, at the end of the day, it's where you finish up in September and the final series was an abject failure.

I think the season as a whole... certainly successful in many ways.

I think we'll have to wait until next season and a couple of seasons beyond to see how we view this one.

And history is against them.

Fisher, Harrison, Barnett, I wonder whether we're missing something here that says these were the rocks and the influence they had on the younger members of the team who were having to play footy for the first time at finals time was immense.

Who am, who am I looking out for?

Oh, look, I think we, uh, saw last weekend with Tomale Martin's, uh, return at halfback, um, after a month out.

He was outstanding.

Three try assists.

Uh, laid on the other three tries essentially as well, and, and he's the key for the Warriors in number seven.

We know what we're gonna get out of our forward pack, but we just need that something extra from, um, from our guys in those key spine positions.

Tomale Martin, uh, Wade Egan and, and Taine Tuutuki, who gets another shot in the fullback role and three tries last week.

And, um, we got s- to see the depth of the squad while he was away, right? It's actually been a pretty neat season for just celebrating how deep we go and, and you know, how many players we can rely on beyond that top thirteen.

Okay, what do we need to do from here? How does it play out?

So get through next week.

Obviously it'd be good to get through without any more injuries, the first thing.

And ideally finish top of the table just for that.

uh, just for the honor of winning the minor premiership.

But yeah, from there, a new season starts really.

And the finals are a different beast.

So after our final game in regulation next week against Manly, we play two games before the grand final or might it just be one?

Do we start wrapping players in cotton wool?

Yeah, it's an interesting one, and obviously, you know, today, if we went in with Tamata and Chanel, their halves would be, you know, probably bigger favourites than we are right now.

To beat Newcastle, who have a bit to play for, if they win again, if they can get back on a winning track, they're back in that sort of home elimination final scenario.

So, you know, there's a fair bit on the line for the Knights.

It's certainly no gimme, particularly with a pair of green halves.

So... yeah getting if we lose this one the manly game becomes more important finishing top two is really crucial top four is wrapped up but uh we need to win one of the last two to guarantee top two which uh you know that that guarantees us two home finals um and i think that that will be the real aim um it would be a great luxury to be able to rest some of these guys uh maybe for the last round heading into week one of the finals yeah andrew webster did that in 2023 when we had a top four spot sewn up.

He rested just half the team virtually.

Well, tell us a little bit about this Warriors Life podcast.

Can you tell us what it's for?

Yeah, thanks, mate, and thanks for having me on.

Look, in the grass-fed cattle industry, there's roughly about 13 million transactions a year.

Each of those transactions collects a $5 fee, and that fee is broken up into sort of four components.

So we put some money into marketing of the product, some money into research and development, to help producers become better producers and produce a better steak.

We put some money into biosecurity preparedness, and then we put some money into residue survey to make sure that the beef is safe for consumption.

So this is sort of the pillars that underpin a lot of the things that we do.

There is no doubt in my mind.

Can you tell us what it's for?

Yeah, thanks, mate, and thanks for having me on.

Look, in the grass-fed cattle industry, there's roughly about 13 million transactions a year.

Each of those transactions collects a $5 fee, and that fee is broken up into sort of four components.

So we put some money into marketing of the product, some money into research and development, to help producers become better producers and produce a better steak.

We put some money into biosecurity preparedness, and then we put some money into residue survey to make sure that the beef is safe for consumption.

So this is sort of the pillars that underpin a lot of the things that we do.

Ready to move your nursing career forward? Apply now at post.edu.

Should they stick with them?

Yeah, look, I'm probably leaning more towards sticking with Tamati and Chanel.

I mean, they were, well, particularly Tamati was excellent.

He's had a couple of subpar weeks, I would say.

Wasn't great against the Dragons either.

Chanel, as I mentioned, is probably not playing at his best, but I'm probably more inclined to stick with who we've got now, given the stage of the season we're at.

And I know a lot of people, particularly after that game, are calling for Luke Metcalf's return.

Well, those sirens would be quite loud, I would think.

Should they stick with them?

Yeah, look, I'm probably leaning more towards sticking with Tamati and Chanel.

I mean, they were, well, particularly Tamati was excellent.

He's had a couple of subpar weeks, I would say.

Wasn't great against the Dragons either.

Chanel, as I mentioned, is probably not playing at his best, but I'm probably more inclined to stick with who we've got now, given the stage of the season we're at and I know a lot of people, particularly after that game, are calling for Luke Metcalf's return.

Two NRL games at 5-8 this year that didn't go well.

Well, those sirens would be quite loud, I would think.

What kind of information are you looking for? What would be helpful to know?

Well, w-we, we've identified, we've got five s- principles that we're, we think these are the areas of, of, of attention for us.

They're quite high-level principles.

We wanna ask the, the views of industry around th- our thinking about those things and, and really try to identify where is the structures servicing industry well and where are they not? I mean, uh, one of the things about the last review that occurred twenty years ago was it was specifically focused on the marketing aspect of the levy.

We've taken a much broader view this time and said, "Look, we haven't reviewed how all of these streams are functioning at the moment, how all of these investments are, are func- are functioning, nor how is the, the architecture and the system around it servicing the performance of these things." So we've taken a very broad view.

We do wanna hear about specific details of, of issues that people may have.

But what we're trying to say is this entire system underpins biosecurity for the cattle industry, an- animal health planning, underpins n- a national residue service testing for m- trade and market access.

And what's your message to cattle producers around their chance to be involved?

So is there much difference between these varieties then that you've spotted?

Yeah, I mean, actually the black lentil is slightly lower yielding, but I think you get a possibly higher yield.

price for those um but then yeah generally these are the best five we found we started with about 20 30 varieties these are kind of the best of each um color so kermit's as you can probably guess is green yeah um marble is again is got the kind of speckled poylental um that's i think that's my favorite if you had to if you were going to ask your favorite in what sense in terms in the sense of um consistency yield and looks okay yeah it all i think it's it kind of ticks all the boxes for me um then you've got the two red lentils which historically are the highest yielding um but this year don't look as good i'm not sure i'm not exactly sure why yet but um maybe the yield will be good it just doesn't look quite sort

And what about chickpeas then? What have you been doing this year on chickpeas? Because that's something you've been trialling for a few years again, isn't it?

Yeah because they were really good last year as I was saying but this year they had a bit of trouble germinating I think because they're a bit bigger seed they didn't have as much moisture as they did last year to germinate and so we've had very sporadic germination as you can tell there's been a lot of weeds action.

So yeah, a lot of field pansy in this area, which stomp doesn't control very well.

So we've had a bit more sporadic.

So I don't think we'll be getting our four or five tonne a year, tonne a hectare yield.

So Will, first and foremost, what did you make of the Warriors side selected to play this game?

Yeah, interesting to see, uh, Kurt Capewell and Mitch Barnett rested, uh, after Origin, but, uh, we've certainly got the cover.

That depth has been outstanding.

We've played, you know, half the season without those two guys just through injuries and that sort of thing already.

So I don't think we lose too much with the guys coming in.

Um, yeah, pretty straightforward that Adam Pompey would replace Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

That's obviously a huge blow for the season going forward, but again, our depth coming to the fore there.

Do you see from an outside point of view looking in that this club has enough about it, enough connection and culture to, to withstand these, these tremors that always sort of come up during a season?

Will, first and foremost, what did you make of the Warriors side selected to play this game?

Yeah, interesting to see, uh, Kurt Capewell and Mitch Barnett rested, uh, after Origin, but, uh, we've certainly got the cover.

That depth has been outstanding.

We've played, you know, half the season without those two guys just through injuries and that sort of thing already, so I don't think we lose too much with the guys coming in.

Um, yeah, pretty straightforward that Adam Pompey would replace Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

That's obviously a huge blow for the season going forward, but again, our depth coming to the fore there.

And, and, yeah, otherwise, uh, pretty happy with that side selected.

Do you see from an outside point of view looking in that this club has enough about it, enough connection and culture to, to withstand these, these tremors that always sort of come up during a season?

Why do you think we've been so successful defensively?

Uh, yeah, I guess it starts from the insides and, you know, we were probably a bit vulnerable on, on that, uh, on that right-hand side last year a lot of the time and, and certainly when we had, uh, lost those couple of games this year with, uh, with a lineup that included, uh, Chance at center, we struggled.

Um, but yeah, it, it just seems like there's, there's a great defensive connection there.

This, you know, Roger at left center has been fantastic as well and, and, uh, yeah, seems, we seem to have shored things up on the right there.

Um, you know, we've got the, only Penrith has a lower, a lower highest score conceded, so it's just great to see that we're not just dropping off for a long period and getting blown out.

Um, there's only-

So for you, where, where do you sit with this current Warriors side?

Yeah, I mean, it's hard to compare teams over years and I, and I don't necessarily think we're, you know, better than, say, the early 2000s or the team that made the 2011 grand final or even 2023.

why do you think we've been so successful defensively?

Uh, yeah, I guess it starts from the insides and, you know, we were probably a bit vulnerable on, on that, uh, on that right-hand side last year a lot of the time.

And, and certainly when we had, uh, lost those couple of games this year with, uh, with a lineup that included, uh, Charns at center, we struggled.

Um, but yeah, it just seems like there's, there's a great defensive connection there.

This, you know, Roger at left center has been fantastic as well.

And, and, uh, yeah, seems, we seem to have shored things up on the right there.

Um, you know, we've got the... only Penrith has a lower, a lower highest score conceded, so it's just great to see that we're not just dropping off for a long period and getting blown out.

So for you, where, where do you sit with this current Warriors side?

Mm

... against the Storm.

That's what won us the game.

I thought we were actually pretty sloppy with the ball.

Uh, all our tries were fairly nondescript from inside the 20, couple of jammy ones.

But, uh, yeah, it was really without the ball that we won that game and, and it will be the, that way again tomorrow I, I feel.

Um, the Titans very dangerous with the ball in hand as we saw them score, uh, four tries from 70 meters out or more against the Eels.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm

... against the Storm.

That's what won us the game.

I thought we were actually pretty sloppy with the ball.

Uh, all our tries were fairly nondescript from inside the 20, couple of jammy ones.

But, uh, yeah, it was really without the ball that we won that game and, and it will be the, that way again tomorrow.

I, I feel, um, the Titans very dangerous with the ball in hand, as we saw them score, uh, four tries from 70 meters out or more against the Eels.

Mm-hmm.

For the squad announcement, any surprises for you in there? Anyone you'd want in there or not selected?

Yeah, I guess not really.

It's more a question of availability.

The likes of Jaron Hughes obviously had a few injury problems leading into that grand final for the Storm.

He's not there.

Jordan Rickey also won the grand final but is out.

So a few of those sort of guys obviously would be very handy in saying that a very solid Kiwis squad.

Who would be one or two names that you'd like brought in? And is there anyone from those teams who have won those junior tournaments that you should think would maybe step up into the seniors?