The Roar - A Southland sporting podcast

Southern Steel netball coach Reinga Bloxham called time on her tenure with the team she has coached for the last 11 years, for an international opportunity with the Cardiff Dragons in the new UK Super League Netball 2.0. She reflects on her time with Steel, why now was the time to move on and remembers one of the south's most incredible sporting stories, the Steel's "van crash" of 2017. Before the...

As one season finishes another begins. The Stags launched their season this week, naming their squad for 2024 which includes a new captain. Sean Withy spoke with Logan about the role and his excitement at pulling on the Southland jersey. Meanwhile the curtain has come down on an adventurous Southland Sharks' basketball season. Head Coach Guy Molloy also joins The Roar to review an adventurous year...

It is Galbraith Shield Final week. We preview the battle for Southland Club rugby supremacy with the two men who will lead their men into battle on Saturday, Pirates-Old Boys' Jakob Harrex and Star's Jordan Stewart. It's the perfect primer for what should be a great finale to the club season with the defending champions lining up against the form side of the competition. Before then Logan, Nathan...

Southland Sharks big man Callum McRae joins The Roar this week, fresh from his triple double performance in the Sharks' road win in Nelson last weekend. We chat through how the team has navigated a challenging season, what has made the difference over recent weeks and we get some exclusive news on what's next for him on the back of a stand out year. Before that the boys review Nick's State of Orig...

From Otautau to the Kansas City Chiefs and two SuperBowl rings. It's not a well-worn path but that's the journey former Southland athletics star Atipa Mabonga has been on over the last few years. Over the weekend she received her second ring at a glittering ceremony following the Chiefs dramatic overtime win in one of world sport's biggest occasions. We use that as the excuse to talk through her i...

We are back after our bye week. The Roar returns with another great yarn of a Southlander achieving great things on the world rugby stage. Winton lad Jason Price is Head of Athletic Performance for Toyota Verblitz in Japan. How did he end up there? What does a Steve Hansen programme look like and how good is Pricey's Japanese? Before then, Logan, Nathan and Nick chat through the award winners at l...

In Southland rugby circles, there isn't much David Henderson hasn't achieved. In the build-up to Blues' 150th Jubilee over King's Birthday weekend, the man known as Goof brings us some great yarns from his title winning deeds as a player and coach with the Invercargill club. We talk through the success he and good mate Simon Culhane had, how they built team culture and the incredible era he helmed...

All Blacks' physio Karl MacDonald joins Logan, Nathan & Nick in The Roar this week to talk through his appointment to Scott Robertson's management team, what it means to do the job from Invercargill, just how the game has changed over the years and some great yarns from the characters and coaches he has worked with along the way. Before then the fellas unpack the Rugby Park saga, Star's statem...

Pirates Old Boys rugby coach Dayna Cunningham has an incredible story to tell. You can read all about it here: https://southlandtribune.substack.com/p/172kg-to-98kg-its-changed-my-life. He joins The Roar this week to talk through his life-changing decision to undergo weight loss surgery, his motivation and the mental hurdles he had to get through. It's an incredibly honest look "under the hood" an...

On Saturday the Southern Steel netballers broke a 700+ day drought in the ANZ Premiership, with a dramatic overtime win over the Northern Stars. Coach Reinga Bloxham joins The Roar this week (17'21) to talk us through an emotional night at ILT Stadium Southland, the questions she asked herself during the losing streak and the answers she came up with that hold both her and the team in great stead....

This week Southland businessman Reece McDonald joins The Roar. He is one of the driving forces behind the annual Westpac Rescue Helicopter fundraising cycle ride from Frankton to Invercargill which happens on Friday 10 May. We chat through his own personal experiences on the ride and using the service himself, while Nathan & Nick recall their own experiences with an event that is hoping to pus...

Two return guests to The Roar this week. Cormac Buchanan opened his FIM JuniorGP World Championship campaign with a podium finish in the opening round in Italy. We went to Venice to relive a hectic race and just what it meant for the young Southlanders to see the New Zealand flag flying during a podium ceremony(16'39). Meanwhile, half a world away, the Southland Boys High School 1st XV has departe...

Former Southland Stag and Highlanders' hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate joins The Roar this week to talk through his rugby career and the new initiative he and his wife Kate have launched to provide sporting equipment to Southland families in need. To find out more, donate or nominate a worthy recipient, visit 'Have A Go Southland' here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558315371437 Before that...

Two special guests this week. Our feature interview is with returning Southern Steel netball shooter Jen O'Connell. She thought the netball door was firmly shut before an injury replacement call-up has seen her return to the premier domestic netball competition this season. As we build up to the Steel's season opener we find out about THAT phone call from Coach Reinga & just how hard her team...

Rugby Southland's Academy Manager Scott Eade is fresh back from helping the Highlanders Under 20s at their recent tournament. We talk through how he and his programme have helped build an unprecedented amount of young development talent, what a new-found relationship with the Highlanders means for Southland's rugby future, recruiting and retaining good young talent in the modern rugby world and bu...

This week, on the eve of the Southland Sharks' 2024 Sal's National Basketball League campaign, we chat with Sharks' veteran Andrew Wheeler. Wheels is the epitome of what it is to be a Shark and as a 2010 original he talks us through the evolution of the organisation and the NBL. Before then the boys talk thought the news every Southland sporting fan didn't want to hear - George Fisher will take no...

We get ourselves set for the ILT Southland club cricket final this weekend with a chat with Appleby stalwart Jamie Clark who is closing in on an incredible milestone for the club, one that will probably get his back for another season.  Before then, Logan, Nathan & Nick talk through the incredible scenes at the Southland Rugby League Final, the brilliant win by Fiji Bati, the Sharks' pre-seaso...

Logan, Nathan & Nick launch the Southland sporting podcast noone was asking for with Southland motorcycling talent Cormac Buchanan. We find out this super-talented 17 year old from Invercargill has his eyes fixed on MotoGP and won't just be satisfied by getting a start! It's a great yarn on the glamourous and not so glamourous side of life on the bike along with a run-through the latest on the...

STAGS WIN! We review the Stags' first (and only) win the the 2023 season. How good? And if that wasn't enought, it's the pod you've been waiting for it. Welcome to the 2nd Annual Golden Antlers as we announce our Rookie, Big Mover, Forward and Back of the Year, together with a split decision for the prestigious Golden Antler, the supreme award of the season. To contact the Roaring Pen podcast emai...

What a rollercoaster! The Stags threw out the coaching rule book in their Storm Week clash with Bay of Plenty, clearing their bench and rolling all eight Stagstitutes on in the first half of their 25-23 loss at Rugby Park. With Nathan Burdon resting due to three games in eight days (or the mental toll the final five minutes of the game took on the man), hosts Logan Savory and Nick Jeffrey discuss...

Stags' five eighth and cult hero Marty Banks steps into The Roaring Pen to come clean on just what he has been playing through the last two seasons, his admiration for the passion of Stags' fans and just how much that support means for the team. This is sixty minutes of quality chat about footy and life and a lot of lessons learnt. To contact the Roaring Pen podcast email us at roaringpenpodcast@g...

Southland Stags winger, fresh from becoming only the third Southlander to score a hat-trick of tries in an NPC fixture enters The Roaring Pen to discuss the three tries, his rugby story and why the move that led to his first try on Saturday was named "Cheeseburger." (SPOLIER: He doesn't know) Hosts Logan Savory, Nathan Burdon and Nick Jeffrey reflect on another one that got away from the Stags and...

Southland Boys High School's 1st XV created history on Sunday, winning the New Zealand National Secondary School title for the first time in its history in captivating fashion. Head Coach Jason Dermody enters the Roaring Pen to unpack a special group and its incredible achievement that has put their school on the national map. Hosts Logan Savory, Nathan Burdon and Nick Jeffrey reflect on their vic...

Stags loose forward Blair Ryall joins us to talk through how ended up in Southland, his progress from last season and the noise Stags fans made on Stag Day. Logan Savory, Nathan Burdon and Nick Jeffrey unpack another one that got away in Dunedin last weekend before turning their attention to the Stags' mounting injury concerns. To contact the Roaring Pen podcast email us at roaringpenpodcast@gmail...

Rugby Southland's Director of Rugby Matt Saunders joins us to talk through the first three weeks of the season, balancing short terms win with a long term strategy and previews the most important date on the Southland rugby calendar, Stag Day. Logan Savory, Nathan Burdon and Nick Jeffrey unpack the effort against Wellington before turning their attention to an under-pressure Otago side ahead of Sa...