PHOENIX NOW HAS CLAWS
Both men's and women's senior Phoenix professional football teams from Wellington whose training base is at the Heretaunga sports institute, won their matches today at Auckland's Mt Smart. And both defeated teams at or near the top of their A-League competitions prior to today.
This would have been unheard of in the last two seasons when our women's team was formed and the men had been struggling prior to that of the 2022-23 season.
It is as if the imminent formation of Auckland-based teams to rival the Phoenix club as NZ's representatives in the Australian leagues, is a spur to go so much better this season than ever before. I think the women Phoenix had not won as many games in the league in both past seasons combined as this season which is only in its sixth round.
Meanwhile Phoenix men have never done as well as early as in this season's comp since it was formed 15 years or so ago.
No longer are these teams regarded as walk-overs and they have gained the respect of the Australians including their referees who largely though not completely now treat Phoenix evenhandedly.
The coaching has a lot to do with the new found success of both Phoenix teams - as well as the world class facilities in Upper Hutt. Something by the way that the Auckland Black Knights football teams will lack.
I was at the Tuki Cafe at the sports institute last Friday and this little gem of a cafe is just another reason for the plaudits given to this amenity.
Funny enough, a few weeks ago I had a brief conversation with former economist whizz Gareth Morgan. One of the owners of the Phoenix club, Morgan has some excellent ideas about cats in restricting their opportunities to kill birds. Morgan also wanted Phoenix to loosen its defensive shackles and play an entertaining, attacking style all those years ago. Happy to say that Morgan's ambitions for Phoenix and its supporters came to fruition and these days they play crowd pleasing, goal scoring football.
Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄
From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.
What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?
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4.6% Second half of November
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43.5% 1st December
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17.5% A week before Christmas
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33.3% Whenever you wish
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1.1% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite tomato recipe?
Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.
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