The Agenda | Can Warriors Success be Replicated? Does Baltimore Test Count as Greatest Rivalry? Is Rassie Taking Last Test Seriously

0:00Spoiled at this Father's Day at Chemist Warehouse, with Gillette Fusion One-style easy-faced embody-trumming our 64-99s, Save 1150. And Save 20% on S.U.P. gummies assorted variants now 1999 each. Chemist Warehouse, great savings, every day. The Agenda. Agenda 1. Only the hardest hitting journalism, getting the CEOs from both teams on your drive show with Guy and Mitch. Serious stuff. Let's continue on talking a bit of worries as well, team. Like you boys have spoken about, it's a sell-out game against the dolphins. Despite the scalping and everything going on, it will be a sell-out crowd. Let's be honest here. And I just haven't a thing about how loyal and dedicated this worry is fan base has been forever really. But most importantly, probably since 2023 with that up-to-wise movement that's just absolutely grasped onto the New Zealand sporting public. I just want to get your thoughts on how successful the worries have been in terms of growing

1:01such a loyal and dedicated fan base and how other New Zealand sporting franchises can one either replicate it and build such a loyal fan base or even just take a few notes from what the worries have been able to produce in the last three seasons. I think the worries is a very interesting story because a lot of it comes from losing for so long. But what made me feel so close to the worries growing up was, I can say it now because we good, but we were shit. And there was this loyalty to showing up to Mount Smart every other weekend with your old man or whoever was your season ticket member friend and showing up and getting through those hard days. And when you won it was special. And I think the worries are quite alone in the sense of obviously they represent an entire country and only the entire country. But the fact that they just couldn't get it done despite having the talent everywhere throughout union and league codes all throughout the grades in New Zealand, we saw how many

2:06players go overseas and succeed and we couldn't do it at home. I think what made it special was something to do with Sean Johnson coming back, getting it right, Andrew Webs to got this team right, changed the culture and it was like, this is what it feels like to win. And I think what I'm trying to say as shortening it up is it's about the journey. And I think you can't really replicate it in terms of it's not exactly what you want to do as a club. You don't want to suck just so you can bring people in later on. But I think that's what makes this worry is journey special. It's been 32 years. It's been mostly down on this roller coaster and now that it's up it's all about this journey and that's what makes it so special. But to answer the question, I'm not sure how you could replicate it. I think you've summed that part of it up really well. It's been pain and suffering for so long that when you finally get some goodness around you, you just get up and about it a lot more than you normally would. Like the Crusaders, if I can just talk about that side of things for a while. No, but they've won so much that their fans get a bit feral.

3:11But they're not as, what am I trying to say? The Warriors fans are more vocal about it whereas I think the Crusaders fans kind of expect it. They're used to it. Yeah. Now in terms of how do you go about replicating it if you're another franchise from another sport? I don't know if you can. If you try and force it, I don't think it's ever going to work. This Warriors, up the wires thing, I think someone just held it on a banner and then it just became this kind of meme and it went from there. It was organic. If you try and force it, I don't think it works as well. What I do think they're doing well in some other sports and I come back to the Hurricanes with this and we've talked about it before on the show, but they're a team song. Like fans see that on social media. They learn the words. They sing it at games. It's been the same at the Warriors. The Warriors team song, if you've ever been lucky enough to go to a game at Mount Smart after the Warriors of one, that team song reverberates around Mount Smart Stadium. And after they won against Manley on Friday night and it was kind of a crikey.

4:12This is it. This is all go. We said I know what it was. We are heading for the finals and we are steamrolling towards the finals and you couldn't, I wasn't there, but even through the TV, you could feel it. And I just don't think you can, you have to let that organically grow. I think you can just make that happen. I agree. I agree. I probably fail in doing that. And I think for the Warriors it was a badge of honor. Like it was almost a joke. Like I would, every single show that I've ever played, I would come off the stage saying go the Warriors as my last words. Bar, note bar, every single show I would do it, right? And it was almost as badge of honor to be like, hey, I go through the shit supporting this team. I'm a loyal guy. That's who I am. And I don't think you can replicate that. But to your up the wires point, I believe it was Sean Johnson after that famous comeback when against Crenulla on the road. It was just a poignant moment in his interview.

5:13He just said, yeah, baby, up the wires. And then here we are three years later. And it's an absolute, it's an avalanche of seeing everyone from all corners of this country get around a team. And I mean, as a lifelong era, it's a special, special scene. But the OGs, we don't see up the wires. We say go the Warriors. And I'm sure there's plenty of people in their cars around their radios nodding their heads right now because they weren't all there. Shout out to people as well like the Moutsmart Joker. Good man. The boy holds the signs. Don't know his name. Don't know if he's got a moniker or whatever. But just kind of characters like that, who the club is also brought into a little bit and raised them. Yeah, they have embraced them. I think that's quite a crucial element. I'm not just saying this because we've got them on. I think you've got to give a lot of credit to someone like Cameron George as well, who has just helped lift that culture. Yeah, the cut. Well, it's an interesting one with Cam because he's been here since 2017.

6:18So he's seen iterations of this club that were nowhere near what it is now. So I think a lot of people maybe put him in the boat of the after-covid thing, but in reality, that's not the truth. And I couldn't agree with you more. As someone who's been along that journey, Cam George and Mark Robinson have gone through absolute hell with this club to get them on the other side. It must be so satisfying for those two men because they were right upshits creek before COVID, let alone during COVID. And here we are, the most sought after sporting franchise and Australasier are, it goes far to say. Let's just hope they don't go out and straight sets. Agenda too. Little Maseray can't believe you just ended on that. That is absolute blasphemy. I'm dumbfounded. Yeah, I've seen them because I wanted to see his reaction. And I just had to go to my body. I couldn't believe you got it. Oh my God. They were better about the crusaders. I won. Jeez. There's no way that did. Okay. Let's talk about another overball code with obviously got the all blacks still going on

7:22in the background. Despite the worries being the hottest ticket in town, we still have to talk about our national team. Despite the three games in South Africa all done and dusted technicalities say the greatest rivalry is still going on with this test and Baltimore at what 9am New Zealand time Sunday morning. I just want to give you your thoughts. How much weight does this test actually hold for you guys in terms of the greatest rivalry and whether you're black stand like, yeah, does it? Do you guys really care? Well, I think I went on the record last week and I said, this is the series ender right here. This is for the series, but that is not to say that this game doesn't mean anything because any all blacks test versus South Africa means something. In fact, it means a hell of a lot. But I think rugby's greatest rivalry series is over. It was one by South Africa, fair play to them. I'm still tuning in. I still have a huge vested interest in this game because this is, I mean, I wish it was

8:22a preview of the World Cup final. I'm sure it was the preview of the World Cup qualifying. I'm sure it was. But these are the two best teams in the world and any time they get on a footy field, I'm watching and I care. Yeah, fair. Well said. Yes, I care. It's an all blacks test against the spring box. Probably as the series says, rugby's greatest rivalry and I think it's definitely showing that over the last month or so. It won't feel like a drawn series if they win the game. The series for me, I said it similarly to much last week, the series for me was South Africa. And after the first test, I thought the all blacks were going to go on, wouldn't they didn't? But it's still an, it's absolutely an important game. I hate the fact it's in Baltimore. I absolutely hate the fact it's over there. I'm a huge fan. I just, these cash grabs annoy the hell out of me. Obviously building up towards the 2031 World Cup in the States, I can understand why they want to try and grow the all blacks brand and that sort of thing, but a spring box test

9:25over the air against, I say, one of our greatest rivals, our greatest rival, shouldn't be in Baltimore. So that annoys me. It'll be a good time to watch it. I can give that a tick. Yeah, thank you. And I'll certainly be a bit more alive than I was on other Sundays that we've had so far in this series. But yeah, it matters. Do I want half the trophy if the all blacks win this game? No, neither. I'm neither. Yeah, it feels wrong. It's a nice, tough thing, but to answer your question, the game matters how much weight does it hold? It doesn't hold as much as the three tests in South Africa, but it still matters. Well said. Well said. A gender story. We'll stick on it, Razzie, as he always does in classic Razzie fashion, other than a week one when he was absolutely rattled and lost test one. But his name is team pretty early. Only two really key changes for the spring box 23. So obviously he thinks this test holds quite a bit of weight still in Baltimore. And I just want to get your thoughts as Dave Rene take the same approach, or does he kind of rest some of his players, obviously, are, are you savvy or Luke Jacobson?

10:27And I've completely, oh, Quintu-Py, obviously out severely injured coming back home along with a few of the other boys from the, from the all black squad. But how do you think he approaches it in terms of his match day 23? Well Dave said overnight that there will definitely be changes and probably a few of them. And that was always going to happen no matter how the rest of the series penned out. So he's made that pretty clear that there are going to be, there's going to be a difference in personnel for this fourth test. In terms of Razzie naming it on Monday, and I know I wound up a few South Africans in the last couple of weeks, but what I've said about Razzie, I rate Razzie highly. I think he's a very clever intelligent coach. I think he uses the rules to his advantage. I don't think he breaks the rules. I think he just uses them to his advantage to some of the way, to some of the things that he does annoy me. Yes, but he doesn't break any rules. And until World Rugby goes and changes those rules, fair play to him. So point being around that is his name, just team on Monday again, he can change it a few

11:29months. So I kind of look at a spring box team naming and I go, well, good, like, yep, okay, the majority of that team is probably going to play on Sunday, but is all of it going to play on Sunday? What? We'll see on Saturday nights, New Zeven time probably, if that is indeed the spring box team that runs out. But fair play to him, it's not against the rules, he can do it. That's what he likes to do and that's what he likes to do and it works for them. Good on. Yeah, well said, I think, we all know Razzie loves a bit of games when the ship. This is what it's all about, you know, this is, I love headlines, I love stories around this. And quite frankly, Rugby Union needs some headlines and a bit of spunk about it. I think it's going to be really interesting just to side note, who wears the armband for the all blacks this weekend? Is it going to be Jordy Barrett? Obviously we've seen Dave Rene likes Jacobson as a backup option. He's not going to be there. I think it's going to be really interesting. I think Josh Lord will get a bit of a run coming back from injury, Ethan DeGroote as well.

12:30Yeah, it's, but speaking of the spring box, I just, I guess I agree with you there, but I think you're going to see the general makeup of this team. Are you going to see that team? Who bloody knows? Who bloody cares? So fair. Yeah. No, along the, yeah. Sean Tessello team, what's the points differential over the three tests in that decide to win the series or should it have just been played over the three games in South Africa? I think it should have just been played over the three games in South Africa. I agree. But points differential, I don't think comes into it. I think it is to all then they've made this trophy to split it and they just split the trophy. In terms of points differential, if you do want to know, the all blacks are a head by five. They won the first test by 17, lost the second test by seven, lost the third by five. So they are on points differential, a head by five. We're not going to claim it out of it. No way. No way. Absolutely zero chance. Absolutely not. But I was just answering the question. No, no, fair, fair, fair, fair, fair, fair.