Born into one of New Zealand rugby’s royal families, Brooke Stanley Pao is a daughter of privilege. Now she’s the face of the fight against poverty in Auckland. Every Tuesday and Thursday just before 10am, a small queue forms on an Onehunga street corner, waiting for the glass doors to slide open on hope. These … Read more
Summer reissue: After last weekend’s Bledisloe Cup match, Justin Latif asks why we’ve fallen out of love with drop kicking. First published October 17, 2020. October 6, 2007 was truly one of the darkest days of my life. To many New Zealand sports fans, just hearing the words “two thousand and seven” elicits cold sweats … Read more
All this week we’re looking back on some of the best videos published on The Spinoff in 2020. Today, when Scratched caught up with Joeli Vidiri, the greatest All Black that never was. Most customers at Mitre 10 Mega in Pukekohe don’t realise they’ve just been greeted by one of the most exciting talents in … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: First poll after election shows Labour surging, Treasury officials sounded alarm about uncapped film rebates, and full scale of Napier flood damage becoming clear Labour has taken a significant winners bonus in the first poll run after the election. The One News Colmar Brunton survey had them on … Read more
Rugby commentator Keith Quinn’s call for rugby players to ‘harden up’ shows how much New Zealand’s macho culture has changed since the days he ruled the airwaves, writes Trevor McKewen, author of the book Real Men Wear Black. I have a confession to make. I am helplessly addicted to the tearjerking TV documentary series Lost … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Decision day for mandatory masking, NZ signs on to major Asian trade deal, and Trump’s Kiwi sits down for extensive interview. A proposal will be taken to cabinet today to increase the scope of mandatory mask-wearing, particularly on public transport. As Justin Giovannetti reported on Saturday, it likely … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tough week looms for National, PM congratulates president-elect Joe Biden, and community case acts as another reminder to use the Covid app. Not an awful lot of attention has been paid to them since the election defeat, but National is about to be back in … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens sign cooperation agreement with Labour, Ardern to make cabinet announcements today, and where to now for drug reform after referendum falls? Green party delegates have ratified a deal with Labour that will give them ministerial portfolios, but mostly outside of cabinet where the big … Read more
Review: In their heyday they were invulnerable, but now the likes of Piri Weepu and Eroni Clarke are all too human. That’s what makes Match Fit so compelling, says Duncan Greive. Match Fit is aimed at the more casual class of rugby fan, but its audience would likely bristle at what lies underneath its code-heavy … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Wildly different caucus meetings loom for National and Labour, new case of community transmission announced, and anger mounts over wage subsidy piss-taking. The mood in the room will be very different when the Labour and National caucuses meet this week. For Labour, it’ll be a crowded … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to a special election edition of The Bulletin, by Alex Braae for The Spinoff. You’ll probably have heard by now, but the country is waking up this morning to a crushing Labour victory in the 2020 election. Labour has the numbers to govern alone, with a provisional count of 49% of the … Read more
When the Wallabies’ Oikoumene ‘Hunter’ Paisami and All Black Ofa Tu’ungafasi face off this weekend they’ll not only be representing their respective nations, but also their former school of Māngere College. A small high school in South Auckland will be cheering for both sides tomorrow at Eden Park – they’ve got old boys in the … Read more
After last weekend’s Bledisloe Cup match, Justin Latif asks why we’ve fallen out of love with drop kicking. October 6, 2007 was truly one of the darkest days of my life. To many New Zealand sports fans, just hearing the words “two thousand and seven” elicits cold sweats and furrowed brows. If you’re unsure what … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Advance voting surges ahead of final week, poll shows John Tamihere in with a chance at Tāmaki Makaurau, and insights into modern drug smuggling revealed. With a week to go before election day, hundreds of thousands of people have already got their vote done and … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Focus on the various farming plans put out this week, concerns raised about contacts of new positive Covid cases, and huge bill coming for Wellington region water. For a lead story today, a look at the various farming policies that will be taken into the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Reckoning comes for wage subsidy, house prices no longer tipped to fall, and second death in the same family from Covid-19. It was a policy conceived in an emergency, was deployed rapidly, and prevented a total economic disaster from crashing over the country. But now serious … Read more
If the government thought warding off a risk of economic catastrophe and unnecessary death was more important than securing the right to host the Rugby Championship, it has another thing coming, writes Hayden Donnell. Like many Kiwis, my biggest fear when Labour won the election in 2017 was that Jacinda Ardern would curse the All … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Competing education plans in focus, Māori Party push for greater prominence for te reo, and hundreds of prominent New Zealanders in Chinese intel database. We’ve now had both major parties come out with the education policies they’ll take into the election. As always, it’s likely to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Rugby world gets fired up at government over tournament loss, cabinet to make new alert level decision today, and police commended for not arresting protesters. The weekend saw an interesting event in the cultural history of this country: The government had a clear opportunity to try … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour unveils deeply conservative tax policy, concerning new information given about the Mt Roskill church cluster, and Electoral Commission investigating use of donations by NZ Public Party. For those wondering if we’d see anything vaguely resembling socialism or transformation in Labour’s new tax policy, the … Read more
All Black fans are desperate to watch them take on Australia. But the arguments for playing in New Zealand are worse than flimsy, writes Scotty Stevenson. On October 10 this year, the All Blacks and the Wallabies will play the first match of a Bledisloe Cup series. If there is any fairness left in the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Many stories told by latest unemployment figures, Bloomfield says return of community transmission almost inevitable, and major tenancy reform package passes. First of all, it’s pretty clear that the top-line unemployment figure going down is a misleading picture of the state of the economy. Yesterday new … Read more
In the Counties-Manukau and Auckland Blues teams of the late 1990s, ‘Big Joe’ was one half of a double act the likes of which we may never see again. Only a handful of players, maybe fewer, could ever claim to have equal billing in a match featuring Jonah Lomu – but Joeli Vidiri was one … Read more
From tennis champions to dance craze inventors, Scratched celebrates New Zealand sporting heroes who never got their due – but whose legacies deserve to be in lights. This month, Joeli Vidiri, the greatest All Black that never was. Most customers at Mitre 10 Mega in Pukekohe don’t realise they’ve just been greeted by one of … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Problems looming for temporary visa holders, state house waiting list balloons again, and US ban could hit NZ seafood exports. There are some real problems looming for temporary visa holders and their employers, with thousands set to expire all once, reports Nona Pelletier for Radio NZ. Automatic … Read more
Listen to all four episodes of the series in which Scotty Stevenson and a panel of rugby insiders discuss the state of the sport in New Zealand, and what needs to be done to ensure it has a strong future. This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you … Read more
In the third part of a full and frank discussion about the state of rugby in New Zealand, Scotty Stevenson and a panel of insiders discuss how best to grow and promote the game. This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you can, please consider donating here. Find … Read more
His toughness is legendary, but how is the man recently voted the world’s best rugby player of the last decade holding up now? Richie McCaw had vowed to quit lifting weights once he hung up his boots. He changed his mind. Instead, he told me, he decided to stick with it, to keep his remarkably … Read more
In the first of a wide-ranging three-part series looking at the state of rugby in New Zealand, Scotty Stevenson asks where the sport is at, where is it going and how will we get there? This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you can, please consider donating here. Find the other … Read more