The Roar - A Southland sporting podcast

Five months ago Scott Eade was in the thick of preparing the Southland Age Group Representative campaign in his role overseeing the Rugby Southland Academy programme. Today he joins us to discuss his meteoric rise to Stags Head Coach and his lessons from the craziness that was the 2025 Stags' season. Before then, Logan, Nathan and Nick look at another outstanding week for Jacob Duffy in the Blackc...

It's 2018 and Emma Cumming (as she was then) has the track cycling world at her feet. She ends the Commowealth Games with a silver and bronze medal and as the fourth-ranked Women's Team Sprint combination in the world! Everything was going to plan. Until it wasn't. Five years later she hangs up her cycling career having battled injury demons that ultimately took away one of the south's most promis...

Southland cyclist Marshall Erwood is fresh off the plane from Chile where he was part of the bronze medal-winning New Zealand Men's Team Pursuit at the World Track Cycling Championships (along with fellow Southlanders Nick Kergozou and Tom Sexton). We chat with Marshall about the incredible start to his elite career and on his accident that was one of the stories of last year's Tour of Southland....

One of the iconic week's on the Southland sporting calendar returns in November with the 69th edition of the SBS Bank Tour of Southland. We chat with new Tour Director Waine Harding on his long association with the event and the new initiatives in place for 2025. Before then Logan, Nathan and Nick talk through the big Southland sporting stories of the week including Nic Souchon pulling on an Otago...

Moto3 GP rider Cormac Buchanan is on a whistle-stop trip home before his bucket-list round at the Australian Grand Prix next weekend. We take the chance to chat through his rookie season, the ups, the downs, the physical and mental toll and a long list of "pinch me" moments. Before then, Logan, Nathan and Nick pick over the 2025 Stags' season, look to what's needed in the off-season, Wendy Frew sp...

Incredibly the international cricket season starts next week and Southland's Jacob Duffy is always up for a chat on The Roar. We preview the upcoming Chappell Hadlee Series against Australia and a packed international schedule to follow and take a look back at Jake's test debut in Zimbabwe in August and his experience in The Hundred in the UK. Before then Logan, Nathan & Nick take a look back...

In a netball off-season of drama and players fleeing New Zealand netball for Australia, the Southern Steel has emerged in relatively good shape with seven returning players and two new Aussie recruits on their books for 2026. Head coach Wendy Frew talks us through the recruitment process and on her learnings from her first year in the job. Before then Logan, Nathan and Nick discuss the week's big...

What a time to be alive. The Ranfurly Shield is Southland's for the first time since 2011. We look back at a Stags' performance for the ages to lift the log of wood in Waikato on Sunday night and hear from Stags' coaches James Wilson and Scott Eade who have both now been involved in Southland Shield victories as players and coaches. We also hear from a man who epitomises what it is to be a Stags F...

Southland Stags' hooker Jack Taylor joins The Roar to look at the Stag's incredible fortnight, registering back-to-back wins in the NPC for the first time since 2014 and set to try and lift the Ranfurly Shield in Hamilton on Sunday.  Plus we take a look at his younger brother Jimmy's chances of captaining his old school, Southland Boys High, to another national secondary schools title in Palmersto...

Former New Zealand Under 19 national golf champion Liam Hewitt joins us to talk through his life as a caddy at St Andrews in Scotland. It's a fascinating insight into a young golfer who gets to walk the most famous fairways in the world for his day job. Before then, Logan Nathan and Nick look back at Southland Boys High School's incredible South Island secondary school rugby title, the Stags' unbe...

This week we hear from Southland Boys High 1st XV captain Jimmy Taylor and coach Jason Dermody after their 28th consecutive Southern Schools rugby win on the weekend in a pulsating final against Kings from Dunedin. Before then Logan, Nathan & Nick look at Corbin Strong's incredible ride to win his second tour in as many weeks in Norway, pick over the Stags' long injury list and celebrate Jacob...

Our special guest this week on The Roar Podcast is Southland Boys’ High School first XV coach Jason Dermody, ahead of Saturday’s Southern Schools final against Kings High School from Dunedin. Logan, Nathan & Nick review Stag Day, the occassion and the Stags' performance and discuss Corbin Strong's first pro cycling GC victory in Belgium. Give us a rate and a review if you're that way inclined...

Our special guest this week on The Roar Podcast is Stags fullback Rory van Vugt, who on Saturday will bring up his 50th game for Southland when they take on Otago in round one of the 2025 NPC season. Logan, Nathan and Nick also preview Stag Day and other Southland sports matters. Give us a rate and a review if you're that way inclined and follow @theroarpodcastnz on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube....

Our special guest this week on The Roar Podcast is the mother of the Southland Sharks, Jill Bolger. Jill has been with the organisation since day one in 2010. She talks us through what it means to be part of another NBL final and just what makes the 2025 Sharks squad so special. We also take you into the Woodlands camp after the club won its 12th Galbraith Shield final with a 40-30 win over Pirate...

The Southland Sharks are through to the 2025 National Basketball League Finals. We preview their chances of a tilt at a third title with captain Alonzo Burton and Head Coach Jonathan Yim. Logan, Nathan and Nick preview the 2025 Galbraith Shield club rugby final and we chat with the winner of our Super Rugby Tipping Competition. Give us a rate and a review if you're that way inclined and follow @th...

This week Logan, Nathan & Nick review the ILT Southland Sports Awards and we hear from Senior SportsPerson of the Year Jacob Duffy and Junior SportsPerson Cormac Buchanan. Give us a rate and a review if you're that way inclined and follow @theroarpodcastnz on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Got a Southland sporting story or just some general banter to share? Email us at theroarpodcastnz@gmail....

Southern Steel netball co-captain Kimiora Poi joins The Roar to look at her tough decision to trek south this season after a seven year stint with the Tactix, the secret to turning around the Steel's fortune over the second half of the season and how teams are managing the two-point shot, introduced to the League this season. Before then, Logan, Nathan and Nick look at the headlines from the last...

Bruce Ross' lifetime of service to the sport of cycling was recognised over King's Birthday weekend with the King's Service Medal. We take the chance to reflect of his time at the helm of the country's longest running and most prestigious cycle race, the Tour of Southland along with some great stories from the racing and the bike riders he has witnessed. Before then, Logan, Nathan and Nick look ba...

Plenty to get into this week on The Roar with two guest visitors. We chat with Southern Steel coach Wendy Frew ahead of her side's Invercargill debut this weekend to talk through a heart-breaking loss to the Mystics in Dunedin and just how she has navigated an injury plagued start to the season. Then, softball administrator Rex Capil talks us through his journey to being named Oceania President of...

This week's guest has gone from an upbringing on Stewart Island and at Southland Boys High School to being potentially the most influential man in New Zealand rugby. Rob Nichol has been the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association since its inception and we trace his journey from his formative years in the south to today and find out where he is finding the time to resurrect th...

This week we welcome World Rugby Sevens Referee and Citing Commissioner Manager Paddy O'Brien. We talk through his 13 year stint on the World Sevens Circuit, becoming one of the world's first professional rugby referees, some incredible stories from his time in the police during the 1981 Springbok Tour and his incredible community work with ILT and Hawthorndale Care Village. Before that, Logan, Na...

After a few weeks' break The Roar is back with a reset episode. Logan, Nathan & Nick sit down to cover off a long list of Southland sporting stories including the start of the Steel netball season, the Sharks climb up the National Basketball League ladder, Highlanders, club rugby and more. Give us a rate and a review if you're that way inclined and follow @theroarpodcastnz on Facebook, Instagr...

Highlanders' Under-20 assistant coach Marty McKenzie joins The Roar to chat through their U20 Tournament campaign, stand-out performances from young Southlanders, Rugby Southland's player development pathway and his golfing battle with host Nathan Burdon. Before then, Logan, Nathan and Nick talk through the big Southland sporting stories of the week including Jacob Duffy's incredible rise to the t...

The hype surrounding the appoint of Wendy Frew as Southern Steel coach went next level when her former Sting and Steel mid-court partner Liana Leota was announced as assistant coach. Liana joins The Roar to talk about the very special reason she returned from the UK to join the Steel, how she and Wendy are instilling so much of the team's history in their pre-season preparations and on what has le...

Rugby Southland Chief Executive Hua Tamariki joins The Roar to give us a very interesting State of the Union, the absolute blinder Stags HQ have pulled in earning a second consecutive Stag Day at Rugby Park in 2025 and the incredible work going on to develop the player depth and pathways in the south. Before then, Logan, Nathan & Nick cover off the big Southland sporting stories of the past we...