/on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/rss ¾ÅÒ»ÐÇ¿ÕÎÞÏÞ Wed, 17 Dec 2025 04:34:10 Z en /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-nrl-should-erase-jarryd-hayne-from-the-record-books/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-nrl-should-erase-jarryd-hayne-from-the-record-books/ Ok NRL it's over to you now, strip Jarryd Hayne of all his medals and erase his name from the record books. You said you'd do it and now you must follow through. He deserves to be treated as a non-person, exactly the same way he treated the woman he assaulted. The only thing more pathetic than his ring-in friends yelling "he's innocent" is the fact the coward still denies his offending. Still pretends what he did was consensual. Now this next bit is graphic, ugly, difficult enough to write let alone read so please be warned. Hayne has been found guilty of a revolting sexual assault where he bit and scratched a woman on her vagina causing serious bleeding and injury. And as confronting as that might be to hear and read it has to be told out loud because only then will everyone unmistakably know of the gravity and sickness of his crime. And the coward still denies it. And his moronic rent-a-crowd 'friends' still post on social media that he is innocent. Try and imagine for even a second what this very brave woman has gone through and how humiliating the ordeal has been for her and how difficult it must've been to stand up in a public court and have to detail what I've just said. Hayne maintains that he's "still the same person". Wrong. Nothing you ever do now is ever the same again. How can it be? Rugby League doesn't need Hayne or anything to do with him, vanishing his records will not blight the game one iota. The goons, thugs and creeps within the game have to learn that playing the game professionally is a privilege and not a right. Your individual behaviour reflects on the sport whether you want it to or not. It's part of the employment deal and if you don't like it then don't play. I fear that Hayne is just the tip of a very ugly iceberg. Hayne who? Over to you NRL, to start that bit right now. Fri, 07 May 2021 00:42:41 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-its-up-to-fans-to-restore-sanity-back-to-sport/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-its-up-to-fans-to-restore-sanity-back-to-sport/ The lunatics have taken over the asylum, and once again it's up to us, the fans, to restore sanity back to the sporting world. On the back of the failed and farcical European Super League comes another  hare-brained idea; this time to start an Arabian Golf Super League.  This is just the tip of the iceberg people. It started with Formula 1, then heavyweight boxing, UFC, FIFA World Cup hosting rights for goodness sake, tried for the ESL and now this. A bunch of brainless and bored billionaires wanting to wreck the world of professional sport. And the limitless petrodollars available in that part of the planet mean the power-brokers involved have one helluva ticket to tempt with. Already, so we're told, they've approached the likes of Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka "guaranteeing them millions of dollars" to jump ship. The plan is to grab the top 20 men's players and start an exclusive tour in competition with the PGA. Once again these bozos miss the point. And that is that sport is about tradition and history as much as it is honest and unpredictable competition. Nothing this new crowd set up will ever carry the kudos of winning a Major Championship. Not now, not ever, not ever forever. It’s just another meaningless load of contrived bollocks, a whole series of exhibition golf tournaments with nothing on them except for the pay checks. Once again all it needs is one or two brave souls to stand up, say "No", and kill the concept a la the ESL. Rory McIlroy has done just, that calling the concept "a blatant money grab" and saying that he, and most of the other top pros, won't be interested and that "legacy and history" mean more to them than money, no matter what is guaranteed. Lord I hope so. Because, just like the failed Super League, it is anti-sport and something no true fan would have the slightest interest in. So come on the rest of you privileged stick swingers, go public and (like Rory) give it the big Bryson de Chambeau, or, as us old-timers used to say, “tell 'em where to go".  Thu, 06 May 2021 02:32:08 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-alice-robinson-shane-van-gisbergen-and-crusaders-sporting-standouts/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-alice-robinson-shane-van-gisbergen-and-crusaders-sporting-standouts/ What did we learn from another fantastic weekend of sport? First up, snow sports! Alice Robinson continuing the recent success of Kiwis just icing it on the slopes with a gold medal at the giant slalom in Switzerland overnight. Alice now the first skier under-20 to win three WC races before she turns 20 since 1988. Roll on the Winter Olympics in Beijing next year! Warriors fans, are we still convinced this IS our year? Hard to agree with coach Nathan Brown that losing to the Knights was a "great performance". Plenty, as they say, Positives to take from the match but also a glaring lack of attacking options coupled with a really poor kicking game that suggests to me the team will need to improve a lot in both areas before we can seriously compete against the comp's elite teams. The standout individual superstar for me this weekend has to be Shane van Gisbergen. With Scott McLaughlin now off racing IndyCars, SVG has already shown he's the new best Supercar driver on the circuit. The man's performance in winning all three races at Sandown was superhuman enough without knowing he was racing that big metal beast with a broken collarbone! Bumping, grinding, elbow to elbow, hard out wrestling that big beast at 270kph around a wickedly difficult and rainy track was Herculean. The legend of van Gisbergen only continues to grow with the man unbeaten now since last year's Bathurst. Finally, rugby and two titanic clashes over the weekend worthy of mention. The first (Six Nations in Paris) with the French inched Wales with a last-gasp injury-time try, then yesterday afternoon in Auckland where the Crusaders turned over the comp's second best side putting on nearly 50 points. So much for the gap closing in SRA. The Cantabrians were, as usual, awesome, capitalising on every Blues mistake and apart from the opening salvo in control for most of the rest of the match. Special mention also for the Chiefs who finally broke that losing record that no team wants to have. As for us Hurricanes fans though the news couldn't be any worse, because right now read-it-and-weep, our Canes are this year's new Chiefs. Mon, 22 Mar 2021 00:12:51 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-boycott-a-can-of-worms-for-nba-to-deal-with/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-boycott-a-can-of-worms-for-nba-to-deal-with/ Yes, I understand the action taken by the Milwaukee Bucks players today. And yes, I also believe they should now lose the game by default. This is a real can of worms for the NBA to deal with, an incredibly sensitive issue that isn't about to go away anytime soon and one that doesn't have a clear cut right or wrong. Whatever I muse about this is going to upset someone. No matter what view taken it's guaranteed to outrage someone somewhere. And also a really difficult subject to deal with given we don't live there,  don't experience the same ongoing brutalities, frustrations and are commenting on situations and circumstances with limited access to all the relevant information and facts concerned. For what it's worth, here's what I think. The players have every right to express themselves about these issues and take whatever action they deem fit. At the same time, the NBA have their own responsibilities to take care of and these include running the finals series on time while also maintaining control of their own sport. If the players are now choosing to go on strike and/or boycott games then who effectively is running the joint? The next few days and weeks will be fascinating to watch from afar as the Association carefully balances the (very valid) concerns and action of the players against their own commercial obligations, time constraints and continued complications involved with managing the Covid bubble while finally finishing this never-ending season. But back to the beginning. Every action has a reaction. And the big question now facing the NBA is where does this all end? What say, e.g., today was a Game 7? Would the players still have boycotted? Would they have boycotted if the consequence was they forfeited the match and therefore lost that series? Maybe today isn't the day though for answers to those questions. Maybe today is a day for reflection of what has happened in Wisconsin and appreciation that this group of men feel so strongly about it they've made a stand in the only way they feel is relevant. There was once a saying, trotted out when countries like ours decided to ignore international conventions and maintain sporting links with apartheid, that "sport and politics don't mix". Today's action from Florida reaffirms again just how irrelevant that statement is, how out-dated, how ridiculous. Thu, 27 Aug 2020 04:05:57 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-there-is-no-excuse-for-what-kevin-proctor-did/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-there-is-no-excuse-for-what-kevin-proctor-did/ Reaching 250 matches is irrelevant - Martin Devlin says there is no denying what Kevin Proctor did.  The New Zealand international yesterday became the first player in the NRL's 112-year history to be sent off for biting, after the bunker ruled the Gold Coast captain sunk his teeth into Shaun Johnson's arm in the Titans' loss to Cronulla. With the base penalty for grade three dangerous contact being 500 demerit points, which equates to a five-match suspension, Proctor's facing a longer ban as the match review committee considers the incident to be of a higher grading than detailed in the NRL judiciary code. Many believe he'll be marched for the season. While Johnson is trying to brush it aside, Devlin says there is no excuses for what happened. LISTEN ABOVE Sun, 16 Aug 2020 05:21:38 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-parents-need-to-know-whats-going-on-with-their-kids-sports/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-parents-need-to-know-whats-going-on-with-their-kids-sports/ Martin Devlin has outlined his own experiences dealing with difficult coaches in children's sport, and has urged other parents to find out what is happening. Over the past week, the Herald has outlined multiple allegations of abuse of athletes in the country's elite gymnastics programmes, including girls as young as 8 being fat-shamed, forced to train through injuries and verbally abused by coaches. Amongst the complaints, multiple parents of children enrolled in competitive gymnastics at Auckland's North Harbour club have told of their concerns at the behaviour of coaches in the nationally acclaimed programme, prompting club management to investigate and promise action. Meanwhile, the sport's national governing body, Gymnastics New Zealand, emailed members this week encouraging potential victims to come forward. Speaking on his radio show, Devlin revealed that he and his ex-wife had difficulties confronting one of their son's football coaches, after being shocked by the way the man was yelling at children.  He encouraged other parents to do the same, get involved and not treat their children's after schools sport as a babysitting service. LISTEN ABOVE Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:40:02 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-player-exodus-another-kick-in-the-guts-for-warriors/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-player-exodus-another-kick-in-the-guts-for-warriors/ It's easy to criticise the four Warriors players returning home in two rounds time. And I'm guessing when they do they'll cop plenty from the many who believe they're letting the team and all its fans down by doing so. Of course, like most, I wish they'd stick it out.  Only eleven more games 'til season's end, having played seven already since lockdown, it feels like the finish line's in sight. And anyone with even half an interest in the team's fortunes knows that this disruption, on top of every other disaster they've faced, could well kill whatever sporadic morale still exists. And this is just the off the field stuff. What the Roosters might do to the Warriors in two Saturday's time could send all the players scurrying for cover! Yes, I jest, but what's the alternative - confronting the truth? The club won nine games last year, and so far three out of nine for this. Problem is beating any of the top teams. Last time that happened was Canberra in the final round robin game last year.  And with seven of the last 11 this year vs current top eight sides the next couple of months  could get very grim indeed. I'm not saying the four returnees are the difference between winning or losing those games, but their exit from an already bewildered squad is a real kick in the guts. As if all the uncertainty and disrupted plans caused by the Covid virus caused wasn't enough. Throw in the mandatory quarantine and self-isolation bubble they had to commit to. Then the leaving of families behind not knowing when they'd next be reunited. Unceremoniously and suddenly sack the coach. Get the owner to go public and name several senior players that won't be getting their contracts renewed - without first privately talking to those same players. Now go back into enforced bubble isolation. And top it all off with four of your form players jumping ship and returning home. If the Queen owned the club I'd imagine Her Majesty calling 2020 another annus horribilis. None of us know the individual personal circumstances behind why all these players are returning home. And to be honest, I don't want to know. What difference would it really make? Other than to provide even more ammunition for those who already think the players reasons aren't worthy enough anyway. As for their ongoing futures with the club, who even knows? Personally I hope they're all retained and kept on contract. But then again, I also hope they might still all change their minds. Thu, 16 Jul 2020 02:38:52 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-warriors-have-earned-the-right-to-let-retired-players-back-in/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-warriors-have-earned-the-right-to-let-retired-players-back-in/ Yes, yes and yes. If there is a chance that Paul Gallen, Sam Thaiday and Billy Slater could play for the Warriors this season, I say why not and when can it happen? The possibility of "retired" players joining the club's injury depleted squad was raised this week, interestingly enough by  those very players themselves. Immediately the story engendered the sort of headlines you'd expect with much discussion in and around league circles about the feasibility and/or possibility of turning these offers into some sort of reality. Fact is the Warriors are going to struggle this season, they always were. Covid or no Covid, the squad was threadbare at best. The first two games played against Newcastle then Canberra exposed a raft of problems that the pandemic was never going to paper over. Fundamentally, the game of rugby league never really changes. You need a forward pack that makes consistent go-forward metres, you need a couple of tackling machines including at least one monster who seriously intimidates the opposition, you need a great halves combination capable of closing out games and a good kicking game. No-one in their right mind can accuse the Warriors of having all those bases covered. Pre-season, I gloomily predicted that the club would have a worse season than even last year when they won seven games and finished 13th. Recruitment hasn't brought in anyone you'd consider world class or above average and now losing key players like Afoa, Ah Mau, Tevaga and Frei for the season has left the squad looking disastrously light. And unless the NRL does a complete 180 and reverses it's "no loan players" policy, the prospects for a successful season (and by that I only mean performing better than last year) look grim. This year will always be an asterisk year for the NRL. An unusual year, an abnormal year, a year where the unexpected almost became the intended. Gallen, Thaiday, Slater and whoever else might want to un-retire aren't the long-term answer to the Warriors injury woes. But in a season where nothing is as it should be, and being the only club asked to relocate like they have been, surely some slack can be cut & rules relaxed to ensure the club can be as competitive as possible? Given all the concessions made so far to enable the resumption of the competition, anything else from the NRL would be nothing but  a complete contradiction. Tue, 16 Jun 2020 05:23:19 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-politics-has-no-place-on-the-sports-field/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-politics-has-no-place-on-the-sports-field/ Sports has returned to New Zealand, but leave the politics at home, asks Martin Devlin.  Yesterday marked the launch of the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition, with the first match played between the Chiefs and the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Sports Minister Grant Robertson delivered a speech before the game began highlighting the country's efforts against Covid-19 that have allowed live sport to return. Robertson also used the speech to thank essential workers for their efforts over lockdown.  The speech was met with cheers - but Martin Devlin says that New Zealand should not adopt the US practice of merging sports and politics together.  LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 16 Jun 2020 05:23:19 Z /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-i-was-wrong-about-silver-ferns-and-deserve-every-thwack-i-get/ /on-air/weekend-sport-with-jason-pine/opinion/martin-devlin-i-was-wrong-about-silver-ferns-and-deserve-every-thwack-i-get/ I was wrong. Yes, wrong. This is not the first "W" word I have been accused of being and I have nothing to say but guilty on both counts your honour. Full credit to the Silver Ferns firstly for winning netball's world championship and, more importantly, remembering that piece I wrote pre-tournament and now reminding me that at some stage I'll need to remove my big foot from my even bigger mouth and breathe! Yes I was wrong. And yes, more importantly, I am delighted to admit I was. Oh me of little faith alright. This has not aged well ... 🤣🤣🤣https://t.co/ouK8dyT0tO — Silver Ferns (@SilverFernsNZ) July 22, 2019 "This team has a been there and not done that look about it" I did write. So much for Mr Martin "Oracle" Devlin then. Whatever the opposite of someone who can see into the future and know's what they're talking about is, then pin that tail on this donkey please. Look. I could harp on forever about how I wrote them off. And I thoroughly deserve every thwack of a Silver Ferns told-you-so thunderstick I get. But enough of all that. What's really important is them. This team and Noeline Taurua. A tournament in Liverpool in July 2019 where New Zealand produced one of our country's most committed, clever, determined and deserved world triumph's ever. Congratulations to all of you, your family's and friends who've been with you every step of the way. Because I haven't been. That's abundantly clear. So rather than even attempt to bask in your glory, I'll be quietly sitting in the corner over here quite happily nibbling away at my slice of self-served humble pie.   Mon, 22 Jul 2019 04:56:12 Z