0:00

This is a podcast from Rover. This

0:04

is f**king painful. Jay and Dunk.

0:06

The Rock Drive. Righty-o. This

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weekend, big weekend of Super Rugby

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again. Super Rugby Pacific continues.

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And the voice of Rugby Grant, Nisbo, Nisbit.

0:16

Welcome back to Rock Drive, mate. G'day boys,

0:18

how you doing? Yeah, mate. It does feel

0:20

very official. Now, if Woody's season has started

0:22

and we're having a conversation with you, I

0:24

guess down to brass tacks, do you get

0:26

much of a break? It seems like Rugby

0:29

in general has stretched over 12 months now. Do

0:31

you get any downtime at all? And then what

0:33

are you doing in that downtime? Yeah, good question.

0:36

Look, the World Cup finished, when did it

0:38

finish, towards the end of April. So, had

0:40

sort of November, December, January off and then

0:42

we're into February. So, it's about a

0:45

three month break. A few years ago,

0:47

I used to do cricket as well, so I had

0:49

no break at all. But, you know, I'm pretty pleased

0:51

that it's back on deck. I, in

0:53

the summer months, I play a lot of bowls,

0:55

actually. Yeah. Not

0:57

to a great standard, but, you know, I give it

0:59

a go. I play the Taranaki Open,

1:01

sometimes play in the Nationals, if they're local, and have

1:03

a lot of fun doing it. What's, I mean, this

1:06

is without getting people to stalk you, but what club

1:08

are you playing out of? I play out of Nine

1:10

Eye these days. Yeah. I was, for many years, I

1:12

was at C-Tune, which is a bit closer to where

1:14

I live. But Nine Eye built this

1:17

amazing indoor arena, which means you can play during

1:19

the winter as well. So, a couple

1:21

of guys convinced me that I should maybe make the

1:23

trip. So, I did. So, yeah, playing out of Nine

1:26

Eye. My hell of a bar there, too. To

1:29

the footy, the Crusaders, what a

1:31

cracking season they've had, eh? Oi, oi. This is

1:33

great. Being a Chiefs fan dunks,

1:35

obviously, from Canterbury, and a massive Crusaders'

1:37

Wounder. I don't think that,

1:39

I don't think that, I don't think the punters from

1:41

across the country have ever been happier with a Crusaders'

1:43

start. Well,

1:46

it was always going to be tough for

1:48

them. Losing their coach, obviously, that was always

1:50

going to happen at some point. But losing

1:52

blokes like Richard Moyang and Sam

1:54

Whitelock, and Nesta Fong and Ookoo and these sort

1:56

of blokes, was always going to be difficult for

1:59

them. Many coming in had

2:01

a difficult task anyway and that's been compounded

2:03

by some injury concerns, the latest of which

2:05

of course is Scott Barrett, his captain who

2:07

looks like he's gone for six weeks. Yeah.

2:10

So look, it's going to be tough for

2:12

them. There's no question about that. Starting 0

2:14

and 3 and a tough game coming up

2:17

tonight as well and then two further New

2:19

Zealand davies on top of that. So look,

2:22

they've just got to dig their toes in

2:24

and call on all the reserves that they've

2:26

shown over the years. And look, I

2:28

think they'll be fine in the long run. They're just getting

2:30

over this little hurdle at the start. Can

2:32

you back me up here Nisbo? Because being

2:35

a Crusader supporter, I'm well aware that we

2:37

don't start well in every Super Rugby competition.

2:39

0 and 3. This is what we

2:41

like to do as a Crusader franchise is

2:43

give everyone else a bit of false hope and

2:45

then we crush their dreams at the end. Is

2:48

that not true Nisbo? Yeah, well

2:50

look, that's one theory. There are several.

2:54

There are several

2:56

theories. Look you

2:58

don't want to get too far behind because then

3:01

it becomes a real catch up and you start

3:03

to panic and make mistakes and all the rest

3:05

of it. So look, I think in the ideal

3:07

world, if you're a Crusader supporter, you really want

3:09

to start tonight and get a win over a

3:11

team that hasn't been beaten as yet and

3:14

then just slowly gnaw your way through it and

3:16

just hope that you get some of those key

3:18

players back from injury. It's great to see the

3:20

Kings finding a bit of early form as well.

3:23

With the techno Viking Brad Shields at the

3:25

front there, it's great to have him back

3:27

from overseas. There's been a couple of people

3:29

that have come back and then joined up.

3:32

Moana Pacifica, the big boss, Julian

3:34

Sarvia. Moana Pacifica, Fiji

3:36

and Dura actually having a

3:38

really good account for themselves this season

3:40

so far. Yep, certainly. I

3:42

think Tana Rheemangar has made a big difference

3:45

to Moana. No question about that.

3:48

It was great to see Julian get over the line the

3:50

other day and score that record breaking

3:52

try. So he's got 61 now in

3:54

Super Rugby. The

3:57

problem for the Fiji and Dura is...

4:00

winning away from home, they're very, very effective

4:02

at home, but not as effective as yet

4:04

away from home. And a big test for

4:06

them this weekend, of course, because they've got

4:09

the Chiefs, and the Chiefs

4:11

are pretty damn good, doesn't matter who

4:13

they face in Hamilton. So they've

4:15

got a tough task, there's no doubt about that. But

4:18

yeah, you can see improvement in both of those teams.

4:21

The Reeds are worth a mention because Australian rugby has

4:23

been all but written off. The union

4:25

itself is an absolute turmoil, but the

4:27

Reeds have actually found some form and

4:30

are going into almost early bled as

4:32

low favourites, going, the Australian rugby of

4:34

old is back. Yeah,

4:36

I think you're right. It's been one

4:39

of the most impressive parts about the first

4:41

three weeks, is that the Aussie

4:43

teams have shown vast improvement. In fact, maybe

4:46

I was picking a little bit too early because

4:48

they play the holidays tomorrow night, but you have

4:50

to think at the moment that the Brumbies aren't

4:53

the best Australian team going around, they have been

4:55

consistently over the past 10,

4:58

20, even 20 years, been the best Australian

5:01

team. But the Reeds are right

5:03

up there, the Waratahs are playing well, even though

5:05

they got beaten on the bell by

5:07

the Chiefs, hang on, by

5:09

the Harlanders last week. And

5:12

even the Rebels are starting to show a

5:14

little bit of form, even though they're doomed

5:16

financially. So it's good, it's really good. And

5:18

it means that Joe Schmidt, when he comes

5:21

to select an Australian team, Wallaby team, he's

5:23

going to have a few choices to make rather than

5:26

just the same old, same old. I've got to ask

5:28

the question because it's sort of been bandied around for

5:30

quite some time, or since the Rugby World

5:32

Cup and since the NRL Grand Final, do

5:34

you think that rugby is losing its shine

5:36

and there needs to be a bit of

5:39

a shake-up? JK put his hand up and

5:41

threw down the 11 commandments from the outside

5:43

God himself. Are you in agreeance

5:45

with any or all of those? Yeah,

5:47

look, I am. And I was pretty

5:49

adamant before Super Rugby started that something

5:52

had to happen, and that actually has

5:54

happened. And I defy anyone to say

5:56

that they haven't enjoyed the first three weeks. I think

5:58

the first three weeks have been outstanding. I think the

6:00

players are playing their part and I think

6:02

the referees are playing their part. They're letting

6:04

the game flow. They're making

6:06

sure the game is played at good pace

6:08

and nobody's there to slow it down. And

6:11

I really think they've turned the corner. Sure, there's

6:13

a few things on the game that need to

6:16

change. I've always hated with the passion, the rolling

6:18

more. And one day I'm hoping that

6:20

they will get rid of it altogether, but that's obviously

6:22

not going to happen. I see

6:24

the Northern Hemisphere are seriously contemplating

6:26

using the 20 minute red card,

6:29

which is fantastic progress. And

6:32

look, I think the game is having a look at

6:34

itself and so far so good, I

6:36

reckon, in Super Rugby 2024. Nisbo,

6:39

and for those that have just tuned in, Grant

6:41

Nisbo on the phone with us. Nisbo

6:44

is the top caller when it comes to

6:46

rugby in New Zealand. Do you

6:48

mind pulling back the curtain a little bit? What is

6:50

the lead up to a even a Super Rugby game

6:53

or an All Blacks test look like for you? How

6:55

much homework and prep are

6:57

you putting into it? I still do

6:59

plenty, far more than I probably need.

7:02

But years ago, I spoke to the great Bill McLaren

7:04

and I said to Bill, you know, what sort of

7:06

preparation do you do? I'm going back 20 odd years

7:09

here. And Bill said, Oh,

7:11

look, I do hours and

7:13

hours and hours. He said, I might

7:15

only use, and this is ridiculous, I

7:17

know, I might only use 10% of

7:19

it. And it's

7:21

absolutely true. I've been working

7:23

on that tomorrow nights game between the

7:25

Brumbies and the Harlodys. I've been

7:28

working on it most of the day. I

7:30

like to do it the day before so that my

7:32

mind is kind of clear in

7:35

the build up to the actual game. I

7:37

know it's a 430 kickoff tomorrow, so a

7:39

little earlier than normal. But look,

7:41

I'll be almost prepared if the game was tonight.

7:43

I'll be ready to go. I've got the teams,

7:45

I've got all the information I need. And

7:49

I don't think you can have too much information. Put

7:51

it that way. Do you, with the

7:53

pace of the game picking up, do you feel

7:55

it in the call? Oh, yes, absolutely you do.

7:57

I mean, some of those stretches, some of those.

8:00

sequences of play can go

8:02

on two or three minutes at

8:04

a time, which doesn't sound a lot, but it

8:06

is actually a lot when you're having to name

8:08

so many names and at

8:10

times you almost feel as though you need to stop

8:12

for a cup of tea and a lie down. But

8:17

the pace of the game is phenomenal and

8:19

as I said before, the players are playing

8:21

their part in that and so are the

8:23

officials and so far it's been

8:25

really, really enjoyable. We've got a bloke that's

8:28

working here in the office who's got a

8:30

massive trophy that's been created for him because

8:32

he said probably the two highest listed words that

8:34

you can't ever say in a broadcast, accidentally

8:37

and as a result of that they're rewarded

8:39

him with a trophy. Have you

8:41

got any absolute clang-er moments where you're

8:43

like, jeepers creepers, I'm lucky to have

8:45

a job after this or

8:47

such a bad call that you're like, maybe I

8:49

need to get my forklift license and start looking

8:52

at some warehouse work. I'll stop you there Jay,

8:54

that doesn't happen to Nisbo, he's a professional. I

8:59

find I make a lot of errors particularly

9:02

with identification. Some

9:05

teams you haven't seen before and players you

9:07

don't see and somebody will make a magnificent

9:09

break and you can't identify

9:12

them so you've got to sort of cloud

9:15

the issue somewhat. I mean I've made my share

9:17

of clangers over the years. I

9:19

really hate getting tri-scorers wrong. I

9:22

started a super rugby season. I

9:24

used to work with a legendary

9:27

radio broadcaster called Paddy O'Donnell who

9:29

sadly passed away and

9:31

on the very first broadcast of the

9:33

year I introduced Paddy

9:36

O'Brien as the referee and I introduced the referee

9:38

as Paddy O'Donnell. We

9:42

all make these horrendous errors but that's

9:45

the beauty of ad-libbing boys as you well know.

9:48

The only scripted part I ever have is when

9:50

I start the game and probably

9:53

stripped about the first 90 seconds

9:56

with team lists and all the rest of it

9:58

but the moment they run to

10:00

the referee blows the whistle, it just becomes

10:02

one big ad lib and you're

10:04

always going to make mistakes. Do you love

10:06

that freedom of just being able to just

10:09

go wherever the game's taking? You

10:11

share the excitement. We get excited about

10:14

what's happening on the paddock through you.

10:16

You are driving millions of people's emotions.

10:19

Yeah, well that's the great thing about it isn't

10:21

it really? Because you go along with an open

10:23

mind. You've got no idea what's going to happen.

10:25

Generally speaking you've got a rough idea who's going

10:27

to win depending on the teams involved

10:30

but no, it's a

10:32

lot of fun because the anticipation

10:34

of 80 minutes and I

10:36

guess it's like describing any sporting event really.

10:39

The anticipation of what's going to happen, you

10:41

know that so many people at home have

10:44

picked one team or the other and they

10:46

are riding the emotions as you say. So

10:48

it's a real privilege actually to be there. Do you

10:50

have a favourite team? Well, I

10:52

mean it has to be the All Blacks obviously. I

10:57

mean we're all brought up in New Zealand

10:59

and the All Blacks are just like

11:02

demigods really and I grew

11:04

up wanting to be an All Black. It

11:06

didn't work out unfortunately. So actually being able

11:08

to commentate when they are playing is an

11:10

absolute privilege. So I'd have to say and

11:12

it's pretty corny, I know. My favourite team

11:14

are the All Blacks. Well you are in

11:16

the All Blacks because you are the one

11:18

that broadcasts those games to us as fans. So I guess

11:20

by default you are in the All Blacks. You've got the better

11:22

deal mate, you don't have to live in the gym. Yeah,

11:26

you're right. You did right.

11:28

And it's interesting over the years

11:30

people are saying you must say so and so, you must say

11:32

so and so, you know well known All

11:34

Blacks. And in actual fact I don't

11:36

know them that well because I don't tend to mix

11:39

with All Blacks. It's just the way I am. I

11:42

probably get to know them better when they jump

11:44

into the commentary box at the end of their

11:46

careers. You know the Justin Marshalls and the Christian

11:49

Kellins and the Jeff Woolsons and

11:51

these guys when they were actually playing I didn't

11:53

really get to know them that well other than

11:55

maybe the odd interview here and there and a

11:57

g'day in the foyer of some hotel. I

12:01

tend not to mix with the players and and

12:05

As a result, you know I can I can

12:07

if I have to be I can

12:09

be a little bit critical here and there because I'm

12:11

not actually talking about people Who have personal friends of

12:13

mine? Yeah, that is a great call Winter

12:16

last time you put a beat on a game. Oh Dear

12:19

when I worked at the TAB I used to sports

12:21

better fear bit but I haven't for a while Um

12:25

So you're louder there are some good bets out there

12:27

I know a lot of people like to bet on

12:30

the first try score and that sort of thing But

12:33

I haven't tended to do it for a while to

12:35

be honest with you boys. It doesn't mean I don't

12:37

bet though All right. Yeah. Well, here's the thing though.

12:39

Like if you were you'd really be able to hear

12:41

the extra cheer That's

12:44

probably a good thing. Yeah, it's a good impassal

12:46

the energy levels in the right level It's probably

12:49

very professional once again this boat You'll be able

12:51

to probably pick apart your eight-leg spider that you're

12:53

running throughout the weekend just by hearing how Yeah,

12:58

I think I think you better off if you're commentating

13:00

not to vet a bit in the game because it

13:02

may become a little bit obvious Grinding

13:05

is that mate will be watching all weekend

13:07

and like you say super rugby really has

13:10

stepped up a notch this year So we

13:12

always enjoy you calling the games and we

13:14

hope you don't go anywhere anytime soon because

13:16

you really do add to the magic Of

13:18

watching code here in New Zealand. Yeah, they

13:20

call you the rolls voice Get

13:23

on your boys. It's been a real pleasure. I go.

13:25

Well, enjoy. Yeah, enjoy Dunedin. Yes.

13:27

Hey, nice work, mate. We'll chat again soon. Thank

13:29

you so much for that really good. Okay, take

13:31

it easy We'll be right back

13:33

with who gives a shit Jay and

13:36

dunks drive home