Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has rewarded form in naming his squad of 23 for Saturday's Rugby Championship test against the Springboks in Wellington. He's made six changes to the line-up, including omitting Reiko Ioane and Emoni Naarawa - and Finlay Christie and Fletcher Newell drop to the bench for Noah Hotham and Tyrel Lomax. Meanwhile, Samisoni Taukei’aho slips in at hooker for Codie Taylor, who failed a head injury assessment. Loose forward Wallace Sititi is going to remain on the squad, and he discussed his preparations ahead of the match.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 11 September 2025, US political figure Charlie Kirk has been shot dead and his killer is still on the run. US correspondent Jonathan Kearsley says the shooting comes at a critical time for America. Former Silver Fern centurion Laura Langman tells Heather why she's furious that Netball NZ has stood down coach Dame Noeline Taurua. Are whingy Gen Z players to blame? Education Minister Erica Stanford speaks to Heather about the list of new subjects that Year 11-Year 13 will be able to choose. Ghostbusters! Vicki Pratt is the owner of Whangamōmona Hotel and has invited paranormal researchers to search for the ghosts at her hotel. Plus, the Huddle debates whether Stuart Nash had it coming for him when he used very crass language to describe what a woman is.   Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, I wonder how those netball players who complained about Dame Noeline feel today, because what they've done has probably, let's be honest, ended her career. And also brought out a swell of support that I can't imagine they foresaw. Silver Ferns legend Laura Langman's gone on social media and called this 'the saddest day in New Zealand netball history'. Gordon Tietjens, the Sevens rugby legend, called us at Newstalk ZB to convey his support for Dame Noels, and former coach Yvonne Willering says Noels is not old school at all and she does listen to her players.  Now, the details of what has happened to get to this point are fairly sketchy. Everybody's trying to keep things quiet, but what we know is that two players complained on behalf of a group of players and that sparked a review - and that review has led to her being stood down. And what these players have complained about is her communication style, and that they were 'psychologically unsafe'. Now, you can probably figure out what's going on here, can't you? We've got a generational problem, don't we? This looks to me like a generation of young players who don't like tough feedback and hard words. For whatever reason that is, I don't know - maybe because they are the generation raised through gentle parenting techniques where mum and dad didn't want to have to say no to them, so didn't say no to them, didn't want to tell them they're being bad kids and being naughty. And maybe they're the generation that came through the education system, the current one, where everyone gets a pass and no one experiences failure. They are the ones who've gone and complained because they're 'psychologically unsafe'. To which I think most of us who've experienced a little bit of life and didn't go through this nonsense with parenting and schooling would say - do you know what you need to do? You need to grow up, you need to get hard, life is tough. You're an elite athlete, if your welfare is getting in the way of your excellence, get out of the squad. Unfortunately for us, the person who is out of the squad is someone who understands excellence and has actually achieved a hell of a lot of excellence. And unfortunately, she will probably stay out of the squad, even though she's only been stood down at the moment. I mean, think about it - I can't see her coming back in. If they have to pick between one coach and several players, they're gonna choose the several players, aren't they? And frankly, I don't think that Dame Noels should want to come back - because if her excellence and her skills aren't appreciated by this generation of players, why bother? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senior secondary school students will be able to learn about and use generative artificial intelligence in a range of subjects. The Government's unveiled a new list of subjects as part of a refresh of the national curriculum from 2028. It places greater emphasis on STEM subjects and adds civics, politics and philosophy, and media and journalism. Education Minister Erica Stanford says other countries have offered STEM-based classes to their students, but Kiwi learners aren't at the right level yet. "Now that we've got this whole reform programme going, we can actually look to the future and go - what does that look like?" LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of paranormal investigators are set to look for ghosts at the historic Whangamōmona Hotel. Paranormal Researchers NZ will send team members to spend two nights at the hotel to uncover the building's secrets, as three ghosts are rumoured to be haunting it. Whangamōmona Hotel owner Vicki Pratt is happy to let them investigate - and she's heard former residents share their paranormal experiences.  "I've always suspected something, but I'm not 100 percent sure." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Silver Fern Laura Langman has expressed shock and disappointment over the shock decision to stand down coach Dame Noeline Taurua. Netball New Zealand yesterday announced that Taurua was being stood down for the series against South Africa, starting in 10 days. Langman doesn't approve of this move - and says this isn't a direction we should want sport to be going. "Netball used to be a household-celebrated sport - and at the moment, we're just not doing ourselves any favours at all." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US is on edge after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed today.  The Donald Trump ally died after being shot in the neck at a campus event at Utah Valley University. The shooter remains on the run after reportedly fleeing from a rooftop. US correspondent Jonathan Kearsley says this incident is another watershed moment in the history of American gun violence. "We've seen politically motivated attacks in Washington DC, we've seen the shootings of Minnesota senators, Minnesota politicians earlier this year - and now we're seeing a conservative commentator assassinated in full view of the public." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Labour Cabinet Minister turned NZ First supporter, Stuart Nash, has quit his job after a comment about women. RNZ reports Nash has resigned from recruitment firm Robert Walters, after a remark about womens' bodies on the Platform.  The agency launched a formal review over the comments, which it said were made in a personal capacity, and were deeply inappropriate and didn't reflect the values or standards of the business.  NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says Nash's comments are likely to negatively effect his chances within NZ First, given leader Winston Peters isn't a fan of bad language. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The European Commission is looking into introducing age restrictions for social media use. This follows Australia's example, where teenagers under 16 are set to be banned from social media - with these new rules set to take effect later in the year. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says the EU will be observing the impact of Australia's ban to influence their own changes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warriors winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has issued some advice for for the team's younger cohort who are experiencing NRL finals footy for the first time. The sixth-placed Warriors welcome the Panthers at Mt Smart on Saturday. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.