The defence stepped it the whole way up, the midfield brought the mongrel, the attack had their chances... but the Fernies fell 1-0 to Netherlands in their World Cup opener. We talk the reaction to that devastating defeat, the tactics of Tom Sermanni, the prospects moving forward into the next two games, Abby Erceg's brilliance, and a little bit of wisdom at the end.

New Zealand Warriors were defeated ... or had their souls snatched by Melbourne Storm, at Mt Smart 10-32. This is the aftermath, a few days later and it's not fun to record thoughts about a crappy footy club.

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Jimmy Neesham got a bunch of wickets as the Blackcaps beat Afghanistan to stay top of the table. Things are about to get a lot harder now though, so good chat here about the lessons that we've learned that'll be valuable the rest of the way and which things won't be. Plus there's India's performance against Aussie to worry about as we play Kohli's lot next. Also chat about the Caps' aggression (or lack thereof) and the balance of the bowling attack ahead of the tough stuff. Oh yeah and a defence of Rossco and Kane's running between wickets.

It got sketchy there for a second but the Cappies are two from two having beaten Bangladesh by two wickets. We've got thoughts on Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson's performances, the run-scoring trends as the tournament goes on, the Blackcaps' possibly brittle batting line-up, and plenty else.

Whatever it takes, New Zealand Warriors simply need a win over Melbourne Storm this weekend. All the spine players are named to start and based on the last time Lachlan Burr came off the bench, he should offer plenty of impact around half-time. Things are funky in Canterbury Cup and Jersey Flegg for the Warriors as well, plus the usual looksie around the NRL.

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The U20 lads had a brilliant showing at the World Cup but they got undone by a bit of weird refereeing at the end - we'll tell you why there's a silver lining that. Plus some thoughts on the breakout players in that squad as well as a bit of chatter on the Football Ferns after an amazing win over England (and a not so amazing defeat to Wales). Also a little boxing at the start for the giggles.

New Zealand Warriors had a draw in reserve grade and loss in Jersey Flegg, with a few key performances from Ligi Sao bouncing back to Adam Pompey showing his potential. The battle of the tokos in Gold Coast Titans vs North Queensland Cowboys was epic, with Jason Taumalolo grabbing an enticing win over the youngster Moeaki Fotuaika.

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The Cappies had a lovely start to the Cricket World Cup, whupping Sri Lanka by 10 wickets... but we still found 45 minutes of chat about it. From Colin Munro's place in the eleven, to the wider trend of leg spin at this World Cup, to some relatively perfect conditions for NZ in this game... there are plenty of Blackcaps/CWC pods out there but none better than ours

No New Zealand Warriors footy this week, so what trends have emerged from their 2019 season thus far? Plenty of nooks and crannies to explore with Warriors stats to suss out what their footy has been like, plus it's a mini round of footy that is all about Tonga (?).

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Previewing the Blackcaps' Cricket World Cup campaign following a couple strange warm-up games and with a whole lot of questions still unanswered. There's talk of our expectations for the team, the opening batting dilemma, Tim Southee's wisdom teeth (and his starting gig), the spin twins situation, and some wider CWC thoughts ahead of a bloody exciting tournament