Newsable: All Blacks legend weighs in on World Cup squad

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Kia ora team and some big non-football sports news: the All Blacks squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup has been announced!

A big congratulations to the 33 gentlemen tasked with bringing home the Webb Ellis trophy – and we get the verdict of All Blacks legend Jeff Wilson on who’s in, who’s out, and how the squad’s position in the leadup to the tournament, which kicks off in just over a month.

While waiting for the announcement yesterday I was reminded of my favourite ever selection story, which involves a Senegalese footballer by the name of Ali Dia.

In 1996, Dia was battling away in England, playing for the non-league side Blyth Spartans, who aren’t very good.

One fine day the manager of Premier League side Southampton, Graeme Souness, got a phone call: the person on the other end of the phone identified themselves as “George Weah”, one of the best players in the world at the time.

“Weah” told Souness he had spotted a diamond in the rough: his cousin, this guy called Ali Dia. He was a top, top player, and Souness would do well to sign him. Souness took the caller on his word, and signed Dia to a one-month contact.

Spoiler alert: the man on the other end of the phone was not George Weah.

Now, normally a player would have to prove their ability on the training pitch before playing in a proper match, but Southampton at that exact moment found themselves in a serious injury crisis.

In November, just a few days into his contract, Ali Dia – who, remember, is the English equivalent of a Sunday League warrior footballer – was called up off the bench in the 33rd minute of a proper, professional, Premier League football match between Southampton and Leeds United.

He ran around, in the words of one observer, like “Bambi on Ice”, was eventually subbed off in the 85th minute, and his contract was terminated shortly after. Southampton had been conned, hugely embarrassingly. But the legend of Ali Dia lives on, and long may it continue.

Anyway! After that, the cost of living crisis has hit pretty much every product you could think of – except, it seems, illicit drugs! According to a Massey University survey, the cost of cannabis and meth has actually decreased over the past five years. We check in with Massey’s professor Chris Wilkins on the ins and outs of the survey.

Then we’re chatting about the most important election of October 2023 – Forest and Bird’s Bird of the Century competition – and why some of the candidates might not be all that familiar to a lot of people.

And finally, Imogen tells us about the least useful listicle in the history of listicles.

That’s your lot – have a goodie, and we’ll catch you tomorrow.

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