Latest / Lets Stick Together / **SELECTION SPECIAL**

Transcript

**SELECTION SPECIAL** · Lets Stick Together

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: In this episode it's a special.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking um selections, Olympic stuff.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm out of practice, so I'll come in next.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to um Still Let's Dit Together season six, but just a special episode with uh the three of us choppers.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um we are here, we're talking about all sorts of stuff.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've forgotten how to do introductions, so we'll just get on with it.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: You bren, how are you?
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is actually one of your worst starts to an episode that's first.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm alright.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, ticking on.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: How are you guys?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm good.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um had a uh we had a busy, busy week, and uh I'm now on a on a three-day off holiday kind of feeling.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: So I have we have like three days off now before we start uh in our final um prep towards uh Paris.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: So uh I'm good.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: How are you gonna spend how are you?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: How are you gonna spend your holiday?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Your three-day holiday.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: Wanking on the couch, probably, not a lot.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: You Jesus Christ.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I'm pretty good.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: We got back from from Holland from Pro League.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: We might as well start there.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: We've just been across, I think, uh, it was the last pro league games of of the um of the season.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the Dutch have lost their crown, the men, the men have lost their crown to the Australians, um, and the Netherlands in the women kept kept their crown.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: They won again, which was incredibly shocking to us all.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um how was your last week, you how was it playing some playing some games?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: You played against Belgium and Germany the last four games.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: You scored an absolute worldie.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: If anyone hasn't been tuning in, you need to have a look at that or go onto the hockey nl Instagram.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is it is it a worldie?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: What do you mean is it a worldie?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a worldie?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: He runs really quick, he V drags once, and then he hits one near post.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a worldie, Phil?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a worldie?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Are we throwing around that that word?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong, a good goal, is it a worldie?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's there's bits to it.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's that it's that his starting point is just at right fullback ten yards deep of the halfway line.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if you can start there and score a goal in any sense, I feel like you're doing alright.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think you I I honestly think you went, right, Tibby's marking me, right?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go and have a bit of fun.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I think he's done.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's what we missed out.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_03: I think I expected some backlash, but I didn't expect it from you, Brendan.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like, come on.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, fullback, fullback friends.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, as a as a full-time, as a full-time observer slash commentator now, I am allowed to be as rude as I can be.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yeah, please do.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, no, we had a we it was a weird, uh, weird couple games.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um after uh after we drew again against Germany, we kind of knew the last game was like uh for shits because we didn't, yeah, it wasn't really anything on the line anymore.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: So we were trying a lot of stuff out um towards Paris.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's it was a weird block of games already because I feel like every team was just using it like like genuinely do you uh using it as like practice games, as in we want to see what do we want to show, what don't we want to show.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, obviously we were in there to win it because we still had a good chance to to to win the pro league for the third consecutive time, but we also didn't want to like give away shit.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, when people had uh the smallest of pains, uh they they they didn't play uh because everyone was being extra uh cautious, and you also noticed it with Belgium.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I spoke to Flo van Album, and he I think he could have played if if it was like a like an Olympic game, he could have played.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: Same for Artur van Doro probably, but they were also very cautious.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: So it was a bit of a weird, yeah.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: I felt it was these were weird games, and I feel it was a bit the same with you guys with uh GB.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_03: At a certain point, I saw Ames, Phil Roper, uh Aubrey and Goodfield sitting in the in the stands.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, okay, uh, if I don't think they were all they would all be sitting in the stands if it was an Olympic um Olympic quarter final.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um but yeah, it was good for uh packed stadiums, at least at our games.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um atmosphere was really cool, and uh I was uh very happy with the goal.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um I was also a bit surprised how surprised everyone else was with my goal.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that kind of hurt.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: No, it was good.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: When you only score, you only score them type of goals.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't like that surprised, but I was surprised that you did a V drag.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: That was the biggest thing that I took from that was like how how smooth that drag was.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, it was even better because it was against Tibby, who is Yup's OR teammate, which I was like, that is just extra.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: He Tibby classed himself as very fast and a very good defender, I'm pretty sure.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so you burned him and then you skilled him, and I reckon that's gonna hurt him a little bit.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: He did then go and score a world, uh, he then went and scored a really good goal against you guys yesterday, so maybe that makes up for a little bit.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he got his he got his revenge, and uh, and uh I was very happy I wasn't in the field at the moment.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: But uh during the game, I also or after the game, I I kind of told him like you at least got your payback, I said yeah, and he also said it was a shame I wasn't in the field for it, but um uh it was kind of the the V direct was a bit robar esque, Philip.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Look, I I've gotta say I was I really enjoyed it.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, Brendan is so annoyed.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was a nice goal, it was a really nice goal.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think you did a good job in like they the cameras didn't pick up on how well you struck the ball, so like like it would it wasn't like it you couldn't tell if you just hit it really well or you hadn't hit it that well, and and I think what Brendan is alluding to is maybe you didn't hit it as well as you you could have done, and it went near post with a nice dip on it.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Is that fair?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: Let's say my let's say my uh my six iron goes about 200 yards.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: This one would have gone, I think, about 150.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's how well I struck it.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like not terrible, but I came up well short of degree.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: But it on camera it looked like I hit it pretty decent.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like I actually hit it in a pretty good shot, and it was like too hard for the goalie to stop.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's how it looked on camera, so that's why yeah, the goal actually looked kind of kind of good.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: Like the the yeah, I think that's about as much as we should say.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's good.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think in general, I I've got to say that like every time I'm a bit dis like I it's hard, it's hard to say this with you because you're just gonna jump on the bandwagon, but like me and Ames um were rooming together again, and it's like the first time I think we've been to the Netherlands since uh we left OR.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And um we both were very happy and very sad at the same time because we were like, this place is awesome! Like uh the the cycling vibe, uh Utrecht is lovely, by the way.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: We played our first couple of games in Campong.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Then we went over to Amsterdam.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: We had a we had a uh, you know, it's quite an intense time, but like the way that the Dutch do hockey, the way that like even the games that the Dutch didn't play, we had lovely crowds, the pictures were really nice.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: So uh the coffee culture is excellent, which is obviously very important to a lot of us.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I I I considered I spoke to Nick one night and been like, maybe I could just go back again just for a couple of years, I could beg a team, persuade them that I'm not that old, that I've still got something to give.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, wow, you're more than welcome.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: You just have to give up the big box a little bit, like you can't you can't earn uh 200,000 euros uh a month uh anymore.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's the only thing you have to give up.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: No, Perman's gone.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's there's cash available.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I wish get them on the closet early, don't you?
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, but you you p is right, like the get the games were strange.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like every team wants to get momentum, every team wants to start having them results behind them, but at the same time, you want to make sure that you're hiding stuff away, you're not you're not giving everything you've got.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and obviously, like you say, everyone's being a cautious, cautious, cautious coaching team because they don't want anyone to get injured before Paris.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Brenn, did you and that said, and that said last time we had a like a like a and it wasn't a tournament, but we had games before the before the Olympic Games.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: We we we became European champions and ended up uh uh 76th at the Olympics.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: So uh I was also a little bit like okay, I really would would have liked to win uh the Pro League, but I'm not like completely bothered with not winning the pro league, as in you don't want to have your high too early in the in this in the summer already.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think that's I think that's also what a lot of teams you want to build momentum as you said, but also don't want to have momentum too early in the summer.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: We're pretty happy though as a G V squad.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: We managed to get on the podium again at second and third in the last two years.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: We're pretty pretty um why why is Brendan saying fourth?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: We finished fourth, didn't we?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: No, we came third.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: We came third.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: We uh like you say we've been building quite nicely, had a nice run of games in our last uh in our last one.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um managed to get over the hump with Belgium, which was nice, managed to beat them 3-1, which was a good game.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, um I guess moving on, unless you got anything else.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Brennan have you got any takes from the from the pro league?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I've got I've got a few.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um oh nice, we did.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, decent.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: It was on my app, it showed that we were four, though it confused me.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I one thing I think it's really interesting is I thought Belgium actually started to look like the Belgium of old.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um especially in that last game, it looked like they'd got a bit of flow, uh, which they haven't necessarily played with as much over the past few months, so it looks like they're kind of perfectly approaching the perfect time as always.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um one thing I would actually like to say is like I know there's obviously like teams that have rested people, but like one thing that actually was quite hard to watch was like watching the guys who haven't necessarily been picked playing.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can tell like there's quite a lot of like pain between those, like between the eyes.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um so, like, for example, like Terrence Peters scored a genuinely like really good goal yesterday, and he almost just doesn't want to celebrate.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like you can see like Sources frost for your goal ropes, like the same thing you can see.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: There's just a lot of pain behind it, which I think like genuinely goes, I think, probably underestimated from a point of view of like people watching, like how much the impact of decisions that have gone on impact the person.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think like that's what's I found really interesting actually watching it was you could see kind of they were giving everything, but there was nowhere near as much like joy off the back of it, if that makes sense, um while still giving everything that they would normally for a game, and I thought that was like quite an interesting thing that I'd never really appreciated previously until now.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but other than that, I actually thought again pro league was really good, really exciting.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: I would say that on the women's side, Belgium beating Holland, I think, is actually quite good because it shows that they are beatable, which I think leads in perfectly into this tournament from the women's point of view.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, didn't they need some help with that?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: They needed some dodgy umpiring.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, if you watch the full game, the the Dutch goal shouldn't have been a goal anyway.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, I think it goes but it went both ways basically.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, from that point of view.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one thing I have noticed is the umpiring has got worse, which is fantastic going into the biggest tournament in the calendar.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's been a lot of confusion, video replays were taking longer, they've decided to go for a new process through the video stuff.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like it's actually just uh as a as a spectator watching, it's lost a lot of flow and it's kind of been used for the wrong reasons.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, prime example was what yesterday's game between Holland and uh Belgium, where Belgium scored a goal when nobody touched the ball.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um they even conferred it, they had the discussion, they couldn't see a touch, so therefore they gave a goal, uh, which I think is like utterly ridiculous.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's like where we're at as a sport is we probably need to after this summer revisit video and actually are we using it for the right reasons or wrong reasons, or are we just overusing it for the sake of it?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's there needs to be Are you back?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Are you are you back with me now?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Should we get rid of video referrals?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think we should get away with it, get rid of it.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: I just think it should be used properly, like rugby almost, where you it doesn't take ages for each decision.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's a discussion rather than I have to admit, it's quite funny when Kuhn Van Bunga just looks up at the video person or the screen the whole time whilst the video is going on, but has no dialogue, even though there's video on the screen and like this, that, and the other.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, long story short, there needs to be a clean up for next year for the for the coming tournaments.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm sure you was happy with that decision as well.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah, I really don't want to comment actually.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like I was a bit I think yesterday was a bit uh unfortunate um some decisions.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um but it yeah.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's fair enough.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's it's it's it it was it was a tough scene yesterday, but I think uh yeah, that that's all about I wanted to say about it.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's okay.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: That I think that there's just some frustration there from like a spectator who can see the Netherlands were pushing at the knocking at the door at 4-3, then the Belgian get a break and score a no goal, which wasn't a goal, and then that kind of like took all the um air out of the game.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you if you know you've not touched it and you celebrate, should you get a card?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yes or no?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, no, I don't agree with that.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think the the thing I respected a lot was that Onana.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: I actually doubted myself.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like I wasn't uh again, I wasn't like in the field, but I was looking in the stance, and I even I saw from from from the distance that he didn't touch it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um but he was quite they were quite convincing, and I always think it's a good um I think it's a it's a quality to to cheer like you've scored if you don't if you didn't touch it.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: So if you if you watch it back, Onana doesn't even celebrate, it's the guy who crosses it, celebrates, and then Onana celebrates afterwards.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he doesn't even celebrate at the time, which is why I was like, that should definitely be a that should be some form of like dirty, dirty play.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's not well, it's how OR got it's how our OR finished their playoff spot, isn't it?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Tibby celebrated a no goal, yeah.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, that's why that's why dude.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't Tibbby.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: I I it's still not sure, and I don't think we'll ever get to the completely to the bottom of it, whether he touched it or not.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he probably didn't, but he he cheered so convincingly, and we all cheered so convincingly that the referee didn't have the the opportunity to cancel the goal.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: But I I I do think uh because because that's that's what what Brendan is saying is like very vital.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: Is like if this costs you uh an Olympic final or a semi-final spot, like like yeah, the you'll you'll you'll yeah.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't and I I would completely lose it if that makes sense.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I know it's like uh the video referees there to get uh to to to cancel out human errors a little bit because uh the game goes so quickly now, referees aren't able to see everything, and that's why the the video referee is such a nice tool.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_03: But I think right now there have been there have been so many mistakes on the video end that it's like uh you you don't really know what to refer anymore, and that's what makes it tough.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes sometimes I like I've heard uh at the Belgium uh Netherlands game with the women that they did that they didn't have all the angles that were shown on the on the video at the on the video screen, and then I'm like, okay, but what are we doing?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: Because if if how how is it possible that there that there's more angles available in the stadium than then than that there is at the video referee?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: But this is this is my argument for using TV, like the actual big screen and like getting the umpires on the pitch to also watch it, so then there's a conversation and they can get to the point where they get the right answer, like ultimately that's the bit that I don't really understand.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh equally on your point of like what to refer and what not to refer.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like if an umpire gives a decision now, so let's say it's a corner, the corner gets run down, so it it hits the stick of the defender, and the umpire gives another corner.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: If the defending team refers it, it's still a corner.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like you don't there's no point in referring it now, so there's no benefit in that's the bit that I don't really understand is like the rules now gone to a point where the bosses in play.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's just such a shit rule.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like I don't really understand why they've done it.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like the whole thing, I think it's just like I yeah, I just think I just think some of the rules of just like aerial's pointless, like PCD is now pointless.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, there's so many different things where it's like, what's the what's the point in having the referrals if you can't even use it to defend yourselves anymore?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just pointless.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: I would never refer an aerial anymore.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Just because it's not worth it.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we said this before, you might as well just toss a coin and you can guess and go with that.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but now I think even then, like, even if you think you're right, you're gonna be wrong.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, there is no way of guessing, like, even like remotely if you think there's a chance.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know what's a new one, actually?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Backstick.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is that a thing?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because people just everyone thinks everything's a back stick.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, it it like and even if you hit it a tiny bit wrong and it's not backstick, everyone's like backstick, like the amount of shootouts that get referred, the amount of like goals I've had a couple of goals recently getting referred because of uh they think it's back stick, it's not back stick, like it just seems ridiculous.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's got sh it's got stupid now, isn't it?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um anyway, right, we are going to come back after the break and do some real talk.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Right, and we're back.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um onto some on to some like I guess selection uh main topic stuff that we were we're gonna talk about.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like obviously, if if people haven't um caught the gist yet, is that uh me and you got picked for the uh for the Olympics in Paris and Brendan unfortunately uh missed out.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: We wanted to basically we try and keep stuff as real as possible at let's stick together, so we we didn't want to shy away from this, or Brendan especially didn't want to shy away from this, so we just wanted to open it up.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: I guess Brendan, can you can you go into any detail or do you want to talk about like how your last few weeks have been?
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um you don't have to, but you know that is the reason we're here, so you kind of that that is the reason.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um you don't have to, but you kind of do.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I to be honest, I it sounds really weird, but I don't really have much to say on it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a pretty it's been pretty shit, I'll be honest with you, uh, from the point of view of kind of like everything's been leading towards this.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um ultimately, like I sat down in my non-selection meeting.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um they give it, they gave us like a fairly large window um where you can basically discuss it in this, that, and the other.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: I took 10 minutes.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Brent, can I can I can I just give people a tiny bit of context?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, go on.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't, I don't know how the process is for all the other nations, but we had a process where on the Friday we get a selection, the email at 12 o'clock, so everyone can be wherever they want to be.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the the like a few days later, you get a s a selection meeting opportunity where you can sit down with the coaches face to face and uh they can talk to you and you can talk to them.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, go on.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so like I got a phone call 15 minutes before the email came out, um, which is never a good sign when you're getting a phone call, uh, which is really odd by the way, because I I now have a fear of phone calls because of this.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, so I had the phone call and then email came out, had a few days to stew on it.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but to be honest, like I didn't really need much time to stew on it.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was a bit, I was obviously gutted, but like I kind of the minute I saw the names that were selected, I kind of just knew.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I went into a meeting with uh Revs and the coaches, sat down.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh long story short, I'm not their first choice fullback and I don't play other positions.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: So when it's a squad of 16, it's pretty difficult to find somebody a spot when they don't obviously when they're not top of the list.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: So from that point of view, kind of like I can't argue.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's no point arguing.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I whether or not I agree, I understand.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I like kind of basically came out of the meeting being like, all right.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then like the hardest bit now is like trying to still train, knowing that if someone gets injured, you've got to be ready.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: But knowing that you've basically not been selected, it's one of the weirdest like psychological things I think there is in team sport.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's been pretty and this is the tough thing.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I was just gonna jump in and say like this is the tough thing about selection is it's completely subjective.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Is that obviously everyone can disagree with the coach decision but at the end of the day it's the coach decision isn't it which is why you've probably hit a more healthy is it hell I I don't know if it's healthy to say I you know respecting your decision.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: You don't I don't have to agree but yeah like but the thing is like I think the tough thing for me is the fact that like the more I've thought about it the more I've felt like there's not much I could have done more than I've done.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've basically I got challenged by Revs, our head coach in January to basically like work on stuff.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've gone and worked on stuff I've got better at stuff and then ultimately I've still fallen short.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the hard bit is the fact that like I'm a better player now than when I was when I went to an Olympics which is such a weird concept to have but as you say like ultimately it's subjective and that's the that's the bit like once you get your head around the fact that it's a subjective sport, I think it becomes a lot easier to understand that if you don't get selected doesn't mean you're worse.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just means you you potentially don't fit in what the coach is seeing and that's that's life.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um and do you feel ultimately I think that's the tough I think that's the toughest thing on selections and then we we spoke about it last time with the World Cup as well is like it's not swimming or golf or uh or uh athletics in which you can run a time or swim a time and you're in or you're out uh and there's no criteria to be met it's like a a gut feeling and that's why uh uh re Revs Revs is his name right yeah Revs is uh appointed as coach and Delmay is appointed as coach and Michel Neuve is appointed as coach is they they have to follow their gut and and feel with what team can I have do I have the best chance of winning and uh if Paul Venos was the coach of the GB men squad maybe you would have been in like that's that's the that's the this the the annoying thing about selections and sometimes as you said I don't think it's there's anything more you can do you're the player you are and uh you bring certain qualities other players don't have and other players bring certain qualities you don't have and yeah exactly that's you need to be a little bit lucky if your name is not the Joon Ostergeus or Zach Wallace that uh that your coach uh sees it in you and that's that's that's sometimes a harsh reality and sometimes pretty tough to deal with.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Can I can I ask though Brent like reflecting on my um like when I missed out on Rio I had a lot of like anger at myself because I didn't think I like formed as I could have done what what you've just said is do you do you have like do you have any contempt like a small amount of contentment that you've like you've done everything you can and you've played how like exactly how you wanted to like is is that a better feeling or because it would you be sitting here now saying like I didn't do what I could have done.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I mean?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah it's it's a harder feeling but it's a better feeling is probably the best way to describe it like I've I've done all the running I'm fitter than I've ever been um I was fitter than the other fullbacks in my position which is also like something I got challenged on um ultimately like I I I actually like I've come away going I've done everything I can I think if I hadn't I'd have been in a worse place mentally whereas actually like I've done everything I also like around selection like I think it's quite difficult to obviously like play to the best that you can play around selection but like the thing I'm probably most proudest of is like when we played in Argentina pre-Oman, apart from the game against the Dutch where I played really well, the other games I played terribly because I was so worried about selection for Oman that I like played within myself whereas this is the first time where I've like I've done the opposite and kind of just gone out and just played which again I got challenged on and I've done it and it and again it's like it's a hard thing to deal with coming up short.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately like I don't have any like regrets which is the nice part I can kind of walk away going or I can walk away from the summer going do you know what I've given it everything and it ultimately it wasn't enough but the squad's in a good place like I gen and this is this is the other thing that's like I think so unique to our sport like I genuinely want the boys to do well from like two different sides.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: One side is like it justifies selection like ultimately I think it I'll feel worse if for example you guys don't do well and I feel I could have made a difference.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: That for me makes me feel shitter because it's a sub again it's subjective it's not objective.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then on the other side like I actually just want you guys to do well.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's a fucking great group of guys that ultimately like you kind of want to see all the hard work pay off and that's what I think previously I've probably overlooked whereas this time like similar to the World Cup like I actually just want you guys to do well and actually just to go out and go and dominate and kind of get your just desserts and get your rewards.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: So from that point of view like I don't have any negativity towards the group or anything like that.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have any anger towards the coaches like I think Revs and uh Del May have got the hardest jobs in world hockey like because the squads that both of those have got are actually so good that actually you could pick a squad of 22 and any of the 22 that would play would do a great job.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's just trying to work out what the right balance is of the 16 that you have to pick.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that for me is like it's it's such a shit job because ultimately you you're breaking people's hearts and for some people you're ending their careers like it's such a hard thing to do but ultimately they're doing they're not doing it for the wrong reasons.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're making the decisions for the right reasons and like again once I got my head around that I actually don't have any malice towards any of the staff or anything like that or any of the boys like ultimately it's just elite sport and that's the shit bit that someone's got to do the job.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's another thing that I wish I wish I could have you will your mindset is is way healthier than than um you know having you've been there you've you've you've you've done it you've you've learned all the lessons you've got picked you haven't got picked you've learned the fact that like coaches don't want to do that like shit you yeah um I think also like I've I've also been through the anger stage I've been through the like the depression stage of like oh well that's my summer done um so like it I just don't spend as much time in those spaces now which is quite nice but previously I'd dwell and I'd get stuck where it's actually like it's been nice to not get stuck in that spot and actually just have like yeah there might be a day there might be two days it might be a week but I've definitely not been in there in that spot for anywhere near as long as previously which is quite nice as well what those faces for it's quite hard to follow yeah what is well you're you spoke you spoke very well Brendan you've been you think yeah no it's weird isn't it fairly I'll tell you what if you saw if you saw me like a two or a day or two afterwards I was like I don't think I'd have even been able to speak I didn't really speak much I was just like trying to like process everything.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah it it's it's life I think that's the like the the nicest bit to come away from it like is ultimately like it happens in every like different work.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think just ours is so intense that it's like ultimately like I've I've been on a project for three years that I don't get any credit for is the way I've tried to like view it.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that and that's just that's just the world we're in.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is something that we've tried to also go on you.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah I think it's very uh admirable and I don't think like you you make it sound very normal as in uh um you make it sound very uh uh uh like it like like it makes sense the way you explain it but I don't think it does um like I I and I know for a fact that once you don't get picked like you say I I genuinely hope the boys are doing well and uh I know from experience uh you you wish all the boys well but there's also that little part inside of you that that that that that hates it when they're doing well as in uh because you're missing out on it um uh and I and I and I think you are one of the people and I spoke to with uh with Matt Als about it um you are one of the people who I genuinely believe uh uh hopes the boys of GB will do well and who that you genuinely think like that and I think that that says a lot about you as uh as how you how you approach um hockey but like the way you are i i know i know i was i was a bit different in it in the 2022 or 23 with the world cup i was like fuck i hope i hope the boys are doing well uh uh because i i've I spent so much time with them and a lot of those guys are my best friends but I also don't want to miss out on them becoming a world champion if that makes sense so it's like very double and I feel like you are one of the guys yeah as I said who I genuinely believe the words you're saying so I think that's very uh like for once Brandon you actually made sense and you sounded like the smartest guy in this uh in this podcast so well done to you yeah I reckon don't talk at all for the next 20 minutes okay all right good deal just wait for my question later we'll be fine we we we do I mean we do touch on it a lot but like I think the culture of a of a group does get tested in the last month it's definitely the hardest hardest month of of a four year cycle just because you beforehand you've got all the emotions the what ifs the what who goes the the questions and then afterwards you've got the huge challenge of like you know we all still have to train together we all still have to be together you don't want people going off and being fracked like fractured but there's also a such a natural part of it that you're you know you're sad you're disappointed you're angry you don't know what a position everyone's in um and yeah you just hope that there is that point that Brendan's made that like everyone can see that that you know over the last three years we've all been training towards this and they can see that that this isn't what anyone wants but at the end of the day this is what we play for the 16 people go to uh to the last tournament I think yeah I think like there's there's two things that I've really noticed like one you really un you really get to know somebody when stuff like this happens so like it's really interesting to see like for example for me like who reached out and who didn't like for me that's like it's easy when you're winning stuff and it's easy to message or like an injury I think is quite an easy thing.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think a non-selection is like one of those things that like for me personally you can't get it wrong.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I think you're better off just messaging than not or like the classic I just wanted to give you time or this that and the other like I think that's one that's really interesting.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing is like linked to that Phil is like I find it really interesting people who compare um and it's actually like ultimately no one knows what you're going through because they don't know.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I always find it really interesting when there's like people that have like and I've I've I've thankfully not had that much experience of it but I know there's other guys that have where there's been like oh yeah well I had this in in so and so and this that and the other and it's like yeah but you we don't know like everybody's life context is different.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's like the impact of this decision like impacts people differently.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the bit I found really interesting again is like I've tried not to compare with any of the other guys who haven't been selected.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: I've just tried to find out like how it's impacted them and how best I can help them if there's if there's a space that I can help them.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I found really interesting again with this like but again it comes from perspective of having been in different scenarios but similar non-selections where you're kind of like you're just put in a similar position.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like it is quite interesting to kind of like see the impact it has on others and kind of appreciate sometimes like how differently people do have it and how it impacts people completely differently like Banders for example compared to Sours compared to myself compared to Ansel like there's four very different people that have all had similar um outcomes from these from the meetings or from the selection and it's I yeah I find it really I just find it really interesting.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah yeah for sure and and this is the crazy thing of like we're we're we're speaking specifically on the men's side now um but like some of the emissions over the last that all the selections are being dropped uh like that being revealed who's going and just actually how much talent there is out there that isn't actually going to be on the pitch in in Paris like we wrote some of them down I think together um like all of the selections you can tell like just how much quality there is is uh uh you know hockey maybe is in a nice place at the moment if you want to talk Australians I'm gonna shout out for no apparent reason that the parler vous hockey Simon Orchard does a uh a podcast on the Australian um uh selection so I mean go and check that out if you're Australian or you care about them um but some some of the no Brendan I'm not saying that because I don't care about them don't smirk at me yeah um but yeah some of the list I mean you p on your side you've got um Terrence Peters missed out Ryan um Moritz Vissa all all all unbelievable players I'm sure I'm missing a few you've got the yeah Stein Vine hanging there that's why I stayed with Stein yeah Stein um Indians you've got Akash Deep good R good Good Raj Jug Raj close though yeah close Nilla Canta yeah um Belgians got Cedric Charlier was a who was a huge one that missed out I'm sure you need to say uh Max Van Oost also missed out a very very top player uh Australians Dan Beal Tim Howard Nathan Ephraims uh you know Great Britain you've got we've got a list of them because we've played with 30 men for the last thing but like Brendan Sores Banders Ansel but the list just could could carry on for a long time and then like uh Nico Keenan from Argentina it's it's it's uh I tell you what it's a hell of a team if you put a Balbarians team together eh barbar's team would be elite I actually I actually sat there and I was like I'd actually I I think I'd pick myself that's a lot um the only one you missed out was Kike oh yeah Kike Gonzalez from Spain and Tim Hertzwood from Germany sorry Tim Jesus I've yeah this carries on so yeah this it's obviously been a been a mad few weeks and and yeah I guess you just to bring you in a little bit how's how's how's your camp been yeah it's it's um as you said it's always uh it's always uh a a topic of debate um as we said it's so subjective and I think in our squad we have a we same as you we can we have we have a pretty deep squad and there's like 22 guys 24 I don't know how much how many we had which are all which which which which would all fit at an Olympics I think uh uh the most like I wouldn't say but the most the one that sprung out to me the most was like Terrence Peters that got uh that didn't make it um that said that he he was a bit unlucky with his injury as well as in that he uh got injured uh three months ago on a pre-he worked his uh his butt off to get back uh got back got fit played I think two really good games here in the pro league to prove um to prove you know he he was worthy of being selected but yeah as you said uh a coach has to make choices and that's that's always the toughest thing is you're always gonna disappoint someone and I think uh and I spoke about it with Cherry Bingman I do think it's ridiculous that we only get to go with 16 um the sport is getting more and more physical uh um it's getting tougher and tougher um uh uh to to play to play uh you have to play eight games in 12 days and you only get to go with 16 is the most intense tournament there is and you get to bring a player less and I get there's all there's all sorts of reasons for us to only go with 16 but we actually spoke it's actually ridiculous and Cherry was even saying we should go with 20 why not football goes with 25 why can't we go with 20 and I to be honest I I do agree like it's if you look at how intense our sport is Cherry also said like with the corner defense and everything if someone in game one gets a ball on their knee and can't play for three games are you going to get him out like like uh if someone gets sick during the season you know what I mean it's it's such there's such a thin line uh but it's a whole different discussion but um yeah it it was a we it's it's always a weird vibe you know you know selection is coming up uh you know the coaches already have like a blueprint in their head and it's uh probably only up to like one or two players um uh uh who are who they who are they in doubt of um but it yeah it's always a it's always a like it's always a weird time of year when because it's it's coming it's only once every four years and you know you feel it coming and you feel the tension rising and uh yeah it's it's tough.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah for sure for sure I think you make a really good point also just on the back of that is that I know that the reserves actually well they they they spend time they they're they're with us the whole time in the in the village so I just don't understand why they couldn't just play like yeah yeah with you guys they are with us they aren't they are not in the village I think that's a decision of and we spoke about it last time as well I think yeah it's a decision of every federation itself uh or like every I don't even don't know team but I think every like uh uh organization or country itself can decide whether the the reserves stay in in the inside the village or outside um but yeah yeah I yeah I don't yeah I think it's I think it's weird that the heaviest tournament of the year uh uh in the least amount of days the most games played you get the you get the least amount of players picked but yeah it's again it's a different discussion for sure um I think we'll we'll we'll move on maybe just uh very quickly I think just to say that I think that the the the the build up to Paris especially for the men's hockey side is going to be very very fascinating because I still um I'm uh under I'm under the impression that there are seven teams who could do incredibly well in the tournament and I think there's it's gonna be uh absolutely fascinating but how how it pans out um but uh are you guys happy so we just go on to Brendan's really weird topic like in in true let's stick together fashion that we'll uh we'll go from from from kind of serious to really serious to completely ridiculous are you you guys happy with that yeah I'm easy Brendan do you not want to talk anything like anything Olympics or do you want to just leave it?
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_03: Nah it's okay sure yeah hit us with this is like the equivalent of we don't have a Brendan's cooper but like if he had a cooper maybe it's like full of ducks that's next to you's cooperate I saw basically I saw this the other day and I was like this is actually such a great question if you could have any liquids coming out of your thumb and fingers so you only have five different liquids but it's an endless reservoir for yourself only so for example you can't give to someone else what would you choose as your five options so I'll let you I'll give you some ideas to help it work you could for example have steamed milk if you wanted for coffees for example uh you could have coffee you could have uh you could have sauces and condiments for food that count as liquids is it only one hand only one hand you only get five options you can turn it on and off it's not like it's constantly whenever you need it you can fill up a glass there straight away through the index you can you can you can choose your right hand don't worry when you're having a wank it it doesn't like gone with this was the argument that you choose the less dominant hand yeah yeah yeah so I'll give you an idea so mine was uh thumb water you've got to have water two my second finger cider it's it's it's it's important three was a squash that changes variety every month is that also possible it can also be squash I've chosen squash that's no no no that's surely not no you're gonna have to choose fine fine then summer fruits I'll have summer fruits just only four was uh soy sauce because I have it with everything and then five was um what did I choose for five I think I I think I chose uh just coffee but like a like a good coffee not with milk just straight coffee no because you have to because you can do with your thumb you can add the milk no it's my thumb's water mate oh you with your index finger you can get the milk right no it's index finger you can choose milk as one of your you can choose milk but I'm not putting cider and coffee together mate that's dangerous oh you didn't have milk oh no I didn't choose milk well I think I think to to get real serious with this I think choosing water is kind of stupid because it's like very available uh in my surroundings so why would I choose water specifically your surroundings yeah it's a waste Brent unless you go into the rainforest it's a waste yeah see you never know when you need it although during the game like chugging your your thumb in your mouth yeah exactly why imagine if you get the wrong one you're getting cider in um I would go uh uh I would go uh uh Coca Cola on my thumb I would go beer on my on my uh index um I would go mayonnaise on my throat on my classic chips and
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: mayonnaise.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I would go mayonnaise on my third.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_03: I would go um I would go with two more fingers of beer that I would always have like like three different beers.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Think how quick think how quickly he could fill up a pint glass.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: Are you going for three different beers or are you going for three same beer?
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah three different ones.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'll go I'll go uh uh uh a blonde and a white and normal beer right um tough to follow up I'm going a a a espresso on my thumb I'm obviously going steam milk on my index finger I'm going you you no actually yeah and that Yorkshire tea on my third finger Truffle mayo on my fourth finger so partial and olive oil on my fifth just so I could drizzle it over bread all the time nice that's that's a good you know what I would change one I would change one of my beers for a shampoo oh nice for like for like a for like a for like for like showering I I sometimes forget shampoo when I go showering uh like in in locker rooms and shit I could just I forgot my shampoo just sweet good idea come all over the reason the reason I had to specifically say it's only for yourself is for exactly that reason because imagine you're in the shower right you're trying to wash yourself someone keeps grabbing your hand because they want to get the the fourth finger they want to get or like they want free beer that'd be so annoying.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: You could like you like steamed milk imagine sitting at Bisham ropes when everyone's making coffee and you just have to hold your finger out and just constantly just basically feed people steamed milk it's just not worth it.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: My latte art would be top though wouldn't it it would there you go most ridiculous one to finish who won was it Phil Brennan or you mean let's be honest it was probably uh Phil or Yup like Brennan's was terrible awful but that I just I don't know soy sauce is so good yeah you just go to Chinese restaurants every night and just soy sauce it has to be it has to be the highest of highs like the most ridiculous soy sauce right well this is yeah I mean if you guys are happy I I'm pretty happy this is I'm happy in a a special episode to end off season six of Let's Sit Together thank you Brendan for being so honest and open as always um thank you for turning up it's very kind of you um I'm I'm hoping we'll be back with season seven uh maybe around September time we haven't discussed it we don't know where everyone's gonna be it's it's uh but yeah Brett Brendan's shrugging nonchalant so but yeah this has been let's stick together please let us know thanks for listening as always we're for sure coming back Philip come along have a little faith we're coming back we're coming back one way for another we're coming back right see you guys care