Between Two Beers Podcast

New Zealand drew 2-2 with Iran in one of the great All Whites performances - scoring twice, leading twice, and finishing top of Group G on goal difference. Eli Just became the first All White to score twice at a World Cup.Steve and Seamus were inside SoFi Stadium in LA when it happened. This episode, recorded the morning after, is their unfiltered reaction from the ground - what the game felt like in the stadium, what Eli Just's night means for NZ football, and what the rest of the tournament looks like from the top of the group.Watch Between Two Goals, streaming on TVNZ+ daily throughout the All Whites' World Cup campaign. Thank you to Ford for supporting Between Two Goals, and to Stark for supporting Hambassadors!

Steve Braunias sat through every day of the Polkinghorne trial - the society murder that gripped New Zealand - and wrote the bestselling book on it. He liked the accused. He chatted with him every morning. And he more than entertains the possibility that Phil Polkinghorne is an innocent man.In this episode, Steve takes us inside the eight weeks that felt like "a carnival": the forensic evidence that won and lost the case, the missing star witness Madison Ashton, the moment the prosecution's case fell apart, and why the national feeling that "he got away with it" collides with everything the facts say.But this is also the story of one of New Zealand's greatest living writers. The Motley Crüe interview that ended with him thrown against a wall. The letter that got him sacked from the Sunday magazine. Failing out of journalism school, learning to type by copying out Sylvia Plath, and 46 years of skewering phonies and squares - plus the surprisingly tender stuff: his late brother Mark, his daughter Minka, and why his dream is to one day stop writing altogether.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

Di Foster arrived ready to coach. Then she realised the smartest coaching move was to stop coaching.In this episode she explains why: Between Two Beers is in ‘execution season’, and what sport understands about seasons and rhythms is something most businesses never name.We get into why Steve and Seamus are slightly misaligned on what they really want, the delegation trap of "it takes 2 minutes to do but 15 minutes to explain," how to hand things over without interrupting the week, why the team can't keep running through the founders, and the one job Di's given the boys before the World Cup: be present, have fun, and produce a bloody good product.Thanks to our partner Odoo - the all-in-one business management software that keeps you from drowning in admin. Everything you need on one platform, for one subscription. Start your free 15-day trial at http://odoo.com

Futurist Frances Valintine (founder of Academy X and Tech Futures Lab) joins the show to map what New Zealand actually looks like in twenty years, and it's a sobering picture.We're one of the fastest-changing populations on earth: ageing fast, with a birth rate well below replacement and a workforce shrinking from four people per retiree toward just two. Her warning is that we're already late to plan for it.From there the conversation turns to AI and the future of work, where Frances is blunt - every job ahead will have an AI component, and the longer you wait to understand it, the harder it gets.She unpacks how the technology is already changing the way we search, shop and make decisions, why New Zealand's greatest advantage in a chaotic world is trust, and how a small country might carve out a future by being the "slow but really good" partner the rest of the world relies on.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

The boys are back behind the scenes, and the World Cup is almost here.Seamus and Steve break down the wild Tim Payne phenomenon - how an All Whites right-back with 4,000 followers became bigger than the All Blacks in 48 hours after an Argentinian content creator made him the face of the tournament.Seamus has known Tim since he was 16, and with Between Two Goals heading into the exact camp that's now the most talked-about in world football, the dream scenario of exclusive access starts to take shape.Then it's all systems go for the trip: the daily Between Two Goals TV show following the All Whites across America and Canada, the mobile studio, walk-and-talk intros, and the small matter of Steve not knowing which city he's flying to.Plus reflections on two cracking recent episodes - former All Blacks manager Darren Shand on 20 years inside the machine, and futurist Frances Valentine - and a well-earned shout-out to the newly honoured Dame Susan Hassall.

Matthew Ridge is one of New Zealand's most recognisable sporting figures - All Blacks captain, NRL star, television personality. But behind the swagger and the highlights reel is a story most people have never heard.Originally released in 2024 and one of our most popular episodes, we're bringing this one back because it deserves to be heard again.Ridgey sits down with Steve and Seamus to tell it all. At 16, he was wrongfully convicted of aggravated robbery - three High Court trials, a 14-year sentence hanging over his head, and a sports career that nearly never happened.He talks about growing up without his father, finding mental toughness through tennis, and the moment he got a voicemail from Graham Lowe asking if he wanted to play rugby league for Manly.He opens up about the NRL years, the TV relationship with Marc Ellis - and he talks honestly about his meth use, functioning as an addict while the cameras rolled, and the moment he looked at a photo of himself and saw no light in his eyes.This is Matthew Ridge like you've never heard him before.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

It’s been our biggest six months ever - landing on TVNZ+, heading to the World Cup, and sitting down with Steven Adams.Steve and Seamus sit down with business and mindset coach Di Foster to pull back the curtain on how it all actually came together, the chaos behind the scenes, and what it really takes to turn a podcast into a mainstream media brand.They break down the TVNZ deal, how they landed four World Cup sponsors at 100% conversion rate (and why that's actually a red flag), and the Steven Adams episode that had Seamus too nervous to speak for the first five minutes.Plus - the mindset that keeps it all in check. Because the most dangerous thing you can do when things are going this well is start believing your own BS.

For 20 years, Darren Shand was the most powerful person in All Blacks rugby that nobody knew about.As Team Manager across four Rugby World Cups - including the back-to-back title wins of 2011 and 2015 - Shand sat above the coaches, managed the operation, and helped build the cultural architecture of the most successful international rugby team in history.He worked alongside Sir Graham Henry, Sir Steve Hansen, Sir Wayne Smith, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, and some of the greatest players to ever pull on the black jersey.He talks about the 2004 wake-up call that forced the entire culture to change. The private battles with depression. The end of his marriage. The moment a former Crusaders teammate came to his house to tell him he was fired.He shares stories that have never been made public - including a stunning incident before the 2015 Rugby World Cup final that nearly ended his campaign entirely. And he gives his most honest assessment yet of what happened to the All Blacks after he left - and why Ian Foster never really had a chance.Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ's most trusted connection platform.Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.

This week on Hambassadors, Steve and Seamus reveal their biggest project yet: a dedicated All Whites fan show heading to Vancouver for the FIFA World Cup.They're going in camp with the team, bringing the families, and building something that hasn't been done before in New Zealand sports media.Also this week: a behind-the-scenes look at the Joseph Parker x Barkers event (with some Chatham House rules intel that stays in the room), gut health is officially on the agenda, and the guys reflect on the overwhelming response to the Nate Alley episode.