Author: MIL OSI Publisher

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NZ speedsters target relays for Commonwealth Games, world championship selection

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tiian Whelpton runs leadout leg in a 4x100m relay at Hastings. Kerry Marshall/Photosport

New Zealand’s fastest sprinters have taken their international ambitions into their own hands – and they’ve found an unlikely source of support for their endeavours.

Less than a month after watching national recordholder Eddie Osei-Nketia change allegiances, many of his former rivals have joined him across the Tasman to participate in an Australian national sprint camp focused on relays.

Under a community-driven initiative known as ‘Black Batons’, the Kiwi speedsters have joined forces to push for Commonwealth Games and world championships selection this year.

Seventeen sprinters paid their own way to attend the week-long camp on the Gold Coast this month, tapping into Athletics Australia resources, as they try to qualify for the world stage.

The scheme has been masterminded by local coaches Nuree Greenhalgh and Sonia Waddell.

Greenhalgh was a junior champion over 400m/800m, but has found her niche as an up-and-coming mentor for sprinters, guiding Lex Revell-Lewis to a men’s national 400 metres record (45.88s) and Kendra Scally Tu’i to a women’s junior 200 metres mark (23.52s) last summer.

Waddell is simply a part of Kiwi sporting folklore. Daughter of All Blacks flanker Alistair Scown, she was a junior 400m hurdles champion on the track, before switching to rowing, where she reached two Olympic single sculls finals and won world championship silver in the quad.

As a cyclist, she won a national time trial title and then piloted partially sighted Jayne Parsons to para-cycling world championship gold.

She’s married to former Olympic rowing champion and America’s Cup winner Rob Waddell. Daughter Madeline is the current national women’s 400 metres champion and junior recordholder (52.62s), and is about to take up a track scholarship at prestigious Duke University in the United States.

“We reached out to David Reid at Athletics Australia, just to find out about his relay programme, because after three years, it’s been really successful,” said Greenhalgh. “We’re just building out knowledge and Athletics Australia invited us over, as coaches, to come into camp with them.

“Then they reached out and said, ‘Why don’t you bring a relay squad and run against us at the end of the week… you’re helping us’.”

The Aussies have recently used their relay programme to catapult their sprinters to new heights. Vindication of that effort came, when their women’s 4x400m team won world indoor bronze at Nanjing, China last March.

Lex Revell-Lewis and Eddie Osei-Neketia found themselves on different teams at the Gold Coast relay camp. Supplied/Casey Simms

In May, their mixed 4x400m – two men and two women – finished second at the world relays championships at Guangzhou, China, as Australia qualified teams in all six events contested.

For qualification, record and ranking purposes, races must feature at least two international teams. The Aussies have previously hosted Papua New Guinea at their camps to fulfil that requirement, but having a competitive Kiwi contingent on board suited them perfectly.

“They went above and beyond helping,” Greenhalgh reflected. “They imparted all their knowledge.”

The NZ athletes trained alongside their trans-Tasman counterparts, attended tactical and video analysis sessions, and at the end of the week, a men’s 4x100m team of Tiaan Whelpton, Hayato Yoneto, Shay Veitch and Revell-Lewis came within one-tenth of a second of a national record, almost running down old mate Osei-Nketia in the process.

A mixed 4x100m combination clocked 43.29s, which would have ranked 28th-fastest nation last year. Twenty-four teams will qualify for the world relays at Gaborone, Botswana, in May.

Homegrown sprinters have long been frustrated at the lack of international opportunities afforded them and Osei-Nketia’s non-selection for the Paris Olympics, despite breaking his father’s NZ 100 metres mark at the world championships, was undoubtedly a factor in his switch of nationality.

While New Zealand has a long and rich record of distance-running success, the last sprinter to make an Olympic final was more than a century ago, when Arthur Porritt took bronze over 100 metres at Antwerp 1924.

Forty-seven men broke 10 seconds over 100 metres last year alone – the first man dipped under that barrier 58 years ago.

New Zealand has never had one. Top Kiwi Whelpton clocked 10.10s – good for second on our all-time list – and ranked only 120th in the world.

Promising sprinter Kendra Scally Tu’i in action at the Gold Coast relay camp. Supplied/Casey Simms

Although New Zealand struggles to turn out top-class sprinters – Zoe Hobbs is the lone exception in recent times – its depth over 100 metres, especially among men, has probably never been better.

Throughout the years, only 25 NZ men have equalled or beaten 10.50s, admittedly a very modest time by world standards. In 2025, NZ had seven – not counting Osei-Nketia – more than the country had ever had.

“In the past, relays have not worked in New Zealand,” Greenhalgh said. “They haven’t taken off.

“Athletes have been more individual based and not committed to the relay.

“After seeing Australia competing their teams on the world stage and creating opportunities, we saw a little gap. We just wanted to create a way to get our athletes out there.

“Realistically, some won’t make it internationally as individuals, so their chance is the relay space. We want to keep athletes in the sport and give them results for all their hard training.”

When Greenhalgh and Scown first floated the proposal, they achieved buy-in from about 30 athletes across men and women, senior and junior.

South African-born Whelpton, 25, admitted he was sceptical about the idea. He had represented New Zealand at world indoor and outdoor, and last weekend came as close as any Kiwi to that 10-second benchmark, clocking 10.02s at Whanganui, with the aid of an excessive tailwind.

“My initial reaction was, ‘Here we go again’,” he said. “This is not the first time someone’s tried to get a relay going – there’s been quite a few failed attempts in the last few years.

“Initially, I didn’t pay as much attention as I probably should have. I thought this would be another one that didn’t get anywhere.

“After talking to Sonia and Nuree, and seeing how many people were getting stuck in and grabbing the bull by the horns, I’ve been 100 percent on board.

“I think we’ve got an unparalleled level of depth in the sprints that we’ve not had in previous years. We could genuinely have quite a competitive team – we might not have the speed some other countries have, but if we nail our changes, there’s no reason we can’t be competitive.”

Lex Revell-Lewis and Shay Veitch transfer the baton during a 4x100m relay on the Gold Coast. Supplied/Casey Simms

New Zealand sport is famous for fielding teams that perhaps lack the raw talent of their opponents, but make up for that by performing above the sum of their parts. In relay running, the great leveller is the requirement to get the baton safely around the track, while transferring it from one runner to the next within designated zones.

Inability to perfect this has derailed many fast teams throughout history, but the Kiwis can improve their standing considerably through mastering the intangible.

“That’s what we’re trying to work towards,” Whelpton said. “It’s going to take a while to get there.

“The Aussies have been doing it for a number of years now and, watching them, they are on another level. They are an Olympic final relay team and our goal is to get to the level they’re at.”

Whelpton insisted the Gold Coast camp was one of the best he’d attended in his career.

“We had access to their physios, their bio-mechs… they were filming us and giving us all our data. They were really holding our hand along the way and you could see they really wanted us to be better.

“If we can get to the point where we’re faster and competitive with them, that will be better for their relays too.”

The most notable absentee so far has been Hobbs, who also missed out on Tokyo Olympic selection, but used that setback as motivation to establish herself among the world’s fastest women.

In 2024, she became the first Oceania female to crack 11 seconds for 100 metres (10.97s) and has lowered her national record twice since. She has reached semifinals three times at world championships and again at the 2024 Paris Olympic, while narrowly missing a world indoor medal over 60 metres.

Zoe Hobbs overcame Tokyo Olympics non-selection to reach the Paris semifinals two years later. AFP/JEWEL SAMAD

Hobbs, 28, has the least to gain and the most to lose from diverting her attention towards a relay programme.

“It’s really important Zoe focus on her individual [goals] at the moment,” Greenhalgh said. “She hasn’t said she’s in or out.

“We’re just letting Zoe do Zoe, because she obviously has a Commonwealth Games campaign and world champs indoors.

“The goal of these relays is to get athletes competing on the world stage and growing in confidence. Zoe’s already there.”

For its part, Athletics NZ has expressed its backing for the initiative, even if its material contribution is limited.

“Athletics NZ is supportive of community-led initiatives that help move our sport forward at all levels and it’s been great to see the work going into the recent independent relay programme,” it told RNZ. “We’re fortunate to have passionate coaches all over the country, who make a huge contribution to athletics at all levels, every day.

“Although we’re not able to allocate funding to these types of development initiatives, we’ll offer support where we can and have worked with our meet promoters this season to make sure there are relay opportunities available at our domestic events.

“Some of the athletes and coaches involved also recently attended an Athletics NZ performance development camp, organised as part of our wider performance-development programme.

“Looking ahead, the Oceania Championships are a significant international competition opportunity for these teams, with qualifying for the 2026 world relay championships and the 2026 Commonwealth Games as aspirational goals for many of our athletes.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/nz-speedsters-target-relays-for-commonwealth-games-world-championship-selection/

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National only a whisker ahead of Labour on the economy – poll

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ

The National Party has narrowly outperformed Labour as the party voters trust the most to manage the economy.

The latest RNZ-Reid Research results would return the coalition government to power with a slim majority of 61 seats, if replicated on polling day.

The results saw New Zealand First climb into third place on party preferences, recording its strongest result in the Reid Research series in more than eight years.

The RNZ-Reid Research poll also asked voters a series of topical questions, including what party they trusted most to manage the economy.

A slim majority of 32.2 percent of voters said they trusted National, with Labour just a whisker behind on 31.4 percent.

The next highest score was those who said they didn’t trust any party to manage the economy (9.7 percent) followed by those who said they didn’t know (7.7 percent).

New Zealand First scored next on (7.6 percent) followed by the Green Party (5.8 percent), the ACT Party (3.2 percent), Te Pāti Māori (1.7 per cent) and those who said other (0.6 percent).

The result will be a worry for the National Party, having battled two years of economic headwinds after promising to get the country back on track.

It will also be a concern that National came in behind Labour when voters were asked what party they trusted the most to assist with the cost of living.

Labour lead on 35.5 percent followed by National (24.6 percent), those who answered none (9.9 percent), the Greens (8.3 percent), New Zealand First (8.2 percent), those who said they didn’t know (7.8 percent), the ACT Party (3.5 percent), Te Pāti Māori (1.4 percent) and other (0.7 percent).

The leaders heading up the two major parties have also returned low results in their performance ratings.

There was a small improvement in the public’s perception of National leader Christopher Luxon’s performance, with a net score of -14, an improvement of 1.2 points over his September 2025 rating of -15.2.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins returned the lowest net score of 0.9 since he has been the Leader of the Labour Party.

This poll of 1000 people was conducted by Reid Research, using quota sampling and weighting to ensure representative cross section by age, gender and geography. The poll was conducted through online interviews between 15-22 January 2026 and has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

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Ōakura locals adjust to new reality as main road blocked for months

Source: Radio New Zealand

Ōakura Bay Reserves Board member Malcolm Devereux, left, and chairman Glenn Ferguson mop out the devastated community hall. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

A nail-biting, mostly single-lane gravel road will remain the key lifeline linking a storm-battered Northland town with the outside world for the next eight to 14 weeks.

That’s how long the Whangārei District Council expects it will take to clear a monster slip at Helena Bay Hill on Russell Road, the main road between Ōakura and Whangārei.

The slip came down on Wednesday at the end of a four-day deluge that soaked the district’s northeast coast.

The tiny settlement of Punaruku, for example, recorded as much rain each hour between 3am and 5am on 18 January as most places in Northland get in the entire month.

A washed-out bridge on the road from Ōakura north to Russell reopened after temporary repairs on Saturday night, but the only direct link to Whangārei – via Pigs Head Road and Kaiikanui Road – is a back route open to local residents, recovery workers and emergency services only.

‘Lifeline road’ remains steep, narrow and unsealed

Nena Rogers, owner of Ōakura Bay Store, said the closure of the main road to Whangārei would hit the business hard.

“It’ll definitely slow us down. People won’t be able to come here for fishing on the weekends and things like that. It’s our busy season, so it will have a huge impact on us further down the track. We have to make money in the summertime to get through the winter, so we can carry on the service we’ve provided for the past 30 years.”

Ōakura Bay Store owner Nena Rogers says the closure of the main road will hit her business hard. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Rogers said the past year had already been tough due to the economic climate and a drop in visitors in the lead-up to Christmas.

However, she said the town, and the store, had survived without the main access road in the past.

In 2007 a huge chunk of road fell away at Helena Bay Hill – not far from the current slip – leaving Ōakura cut off for almost four months.

“So we’ve been there before,” she said.

Since last week’s slip, council contractors had urgently cleared and graded Kaiikanui Road, and installed traffic lights on a particularly nerve-racking 800-metre section.

However, the “lifeline road” remained steep, narrow and unsealed, with sheer drop-offs in many places.

The main road to Ōakura has disappeared under a massive slip at Helena Bay Hill. Supplied / Ngātiwai Trust Board

Rogers said it was fortunate the shop was stocked up for summer when the storm hit, though she was now starting to see serious gaps in her supplies.

Flour, tea, coffee and even chocolate were among the essentials starting to run low.

Her wholesaler had pledged a big delivery this week, using small trucks that could get through Kaiikanui Road.

Rogers said Ōakura had seen huge support from suppliers, the council and tradies, many of whom had baches in the settlement.

She had lost very little stock to the flood, mostly because she had spent the past 30 years preparing.

That included improving drainage, ensuring nothing was stored at ground level, and sandbagging.

Flooded properties at Ōakura Bay as seen from the air. Supplied / Ngātiwai Trust Board

The biggest problem was sewage backing up when the treatment plant failed.

Unclear how isolated Ōakura will fare for medical services

Rogers said it was not yet clear how Ōakura, which was isolated even in normal times, would fare for medical services.

Before the deluge a health clinic operated once a fortnight with a doctor visiting once a month.

“During the storm we had a lady who needed staples removed from an operation, and they were going to fly the staple remover out from Whangārei because there was no road at that time. But they did manage to get her out in an ambulance,” Rogers said.

“We’ve got a couple of nurses living out here, so that makes a difference, and I do minor stuff. I fixed up a man’s hand who’d taken a great lump out of it. We couldn’t get hold of anybody but my mother was a nurse, so I know what I’m doing.”

She said locals were “pretty resilient” and used to looking after themselves, but reality was starting to sink in.

“When something like this happens, you pick yourself up and you go and do things. But I’ve noticed people are looking drawn and tired. It’s pretty sad, really.”

Rogers welcomed the news that Ngaiotonga Bridge had reopened, restoring road access from the north.

However, for people heading to Whangārei, that was a long and costly detour, requiring either a trip on the Russell ferry – a car costs $18.50 each way plus a fee for each passenger – or braving the rugged and flood-prone Waikare Road.

Only essential vehicles, full-time residents can use Kaiikanui Road

Whangārei District Council has said it would only allow essential vehicles and full-time residents to use Kaiikanui Road.

Rogers agreed with keeping sightseers off the lifeline road, but believed bach owners should be allowed.

They needed to check and clean up their properties, and in some cases, salvage what was left.

“But if you’re just coming out here because you want to have a look, turn around, because you just might end up at the bottom of one of those slips.”

Rongoā Māori practitioner Donna Kerridge attempts to rescue raranga (weaving) soaked by floodwaters that swept through the ground floor of her Ōakura home. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Just down the road from the shop, Sunday’s flash flood rose to chest-height in the ground floor of Donna Kerridge’s home.

The flood submerged priceless books and notes the rongoā Māori practitioner had collected over the years, as well as woven kete and cloaks.

Kerridge said the months-long closure of the main road would affect her financially.

“I’ll probably lose quite a bit of contract work, because I won’t be able to go backwards and forwards, but that’s just money. Also, we’ll lose conveniences, things like fresh milk, but conveniences are not important,” she said.

“I guess the challenge will be more for family who can’t come and see us, who are concerned about our welfare. It’s going to be hard for them.”

Kerridge said people had held up well so far but she expected the isolation would take a toll.

“After a while, we might start to get grumpy. Right now we’re very grateful. The mood is one of gratitude that nobody got hurt. I think we’re still very much in stunned mullet, grateful mode, but the shine will wear off shortly. I expect we’re going to have a slump in our emotions.”

A clean-up of the slip-damaged Ōakura Community Hall is on hold until it can be assessed by council engineers. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Self-sufficiency, resilience essential skills for Ōakura residents

Key lessons for Ōakura residents from the storm included the need to be more self-sufficient and able to fend for themselves for extended periods of time.

If a disaster were to hit Whangārei as well, Ōakura would be well down the list of priorities for help – which Kerridge said was understandable, given Whangārei’s much greater population.

“So we need an extra element of resilience,” she said.

Emergency access routes also had to be considered, she said.

Whangaruru had its own Coastguard vessel, but in a storm like last week’s the sea was too rough to put it to use as emergency transport.

As for Kaiikanui Road, Kerridge said she wouldn’t be using it in a hurry.

“The stories I’ve heard are enough to make me say, if I had a baby that was unwell, I might use it. For anybody else, I’m sorry, but don’t ask me to take you out over that road.”

Mark and Victoria Seymour, 13, work to clean up the stinky, stinky silt that has engulfed the long-time family bach. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Around the corner, on the Ōakura waterfront, Tauranga’s Mark Seymour and daughter Victoria, 13, were scraping a sticky, stinky layer of silt from their front lawn.

Seymour said the bach had been in the family for 42 years, in a “magic” spot offering great views, good fishing, and a safe beach for the kids to swim and kayak.

He said the floodwaters had been about half a metre deep through the ground floor, trashing six beds, fridges, a washing machine, and other belongings.

Slips from the hillside behind the bach had blocked stormwater drains, turning waterfront properties into one large brown lake.

“The water itself is a problem, but it’s the silt that has washed down from the slips that’s been a really tricky thing to work with. Very, very sticky,” he said.

Seymour said even a high-pressure water blaster had little impact on the silt, so he was now scraping and shovelling by hand.

“I’ve probably dumped about 30 wheelbarrow loads now, and it’s just a sticky, goopy mess of silt.”

The town’s sewer network had been overwhelmed by floodwaters and septic tanks had overflowed, causing other problems.

“Now the sun’s out and the wind’s blowing, things are starting to heat up and dry out, and the stench is pretty hard to bear.”

On the surface normality appears to be returning to Ōakura, but it’s a different story for home owners cleaning up flood-hit properties or trying to get in and out of the isolated settlement. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

However, he counted himself lucky – at least three nearby homes had been badly damaged by slips.

“These are families that have been here 60 years. That’s a long, long tenure, and it’s pretty hard to see people you’ve grown up with go through that.”

Seymour was not fazed by Kaiikanui Road, saying it was “definitely” a challenging, narrow, winding, metal road, but it was similar to the access road used in his grandparents’ day.

However, he urged people thinking about taking a tiki tour to Ōakura to leave the road to those who needed it most, such as recovery workers or locals trying to get to their jobs in Whangārei.

Like Rogers and Kerridge, Seymour said he’d been struck by Ōakura’s resilience.

“We’ll carry on and get stronger. We’ll learn from it, and next time, we’ll be even stronger. But I think it’s a good wake up call, to look at what’s happened and what could be done in future to avoid it, like maintenance on drains and roads, that kind of thing. It’s only going to get worse as time goes by with the storm intensities we’re seeing.”

Kerridge said continuing to live in a place like Ōakura, where access was fragile and beset by so many pinch points, would mean making compromises.

“And I think the people here are resigned to that. We don’t get to live the life that we did a week ago. It requires adjustment, and I think we’re adjusting really well.”

State of Emergency for Hikurangi-Coastal Ward extended

On Tuesday afternoon Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper extended the State of Emergency in the Hikurangi-Coastal Ward for another seven days – but lifted it for the rest of the Whangārei District.

Couper said a localised State of Emergency would allow the council to deploy extra support quickly, if needed.

The Hikurangi-Coastal Ward includes Ōakura and Whangaruru, the worst affected areas in Northland during last week’s storm.

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Council’s Mount Maunganui landslide review to consider ‘all relevant matters’ – Drysdale

Source: Radio New Zealand

The slip at Mauao, Mount Maunganui as seen from the air. Screengrab / Amy Till

Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale says all relevant matters relating to the lead-up to the fatal Mount Maunganui landslide will be considered as part of an independent review.

It comes after a camper who contacted emergency services on the morning of the landslide told RNZ she saw a local council representative drove through the Mount Maunganui campground and directly past three slips about two hours before the deadly landslide.

The victims of the landslide have been named as Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50, Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20, Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler, 71, Susan Doreen Knowles, 71, Sharon Maccanico, 15, and Max Furse-Kee, 15.

A woman, who was woken by Maclennan, spoke with RNZ on Monday about efforts to raise emergency services earlier that morning, including her own call to police three hours before the landslide.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

She told RNZ that about 7.45am she saw what she described as a ute that was sign-written with Tauranga City Council. The ute stopped and the woman says she called out, “Look, I don’t know if you can see them from where you are, but there’s these slips up here, I think, you know, someone should look at them.”

The woman was unsure the man heard her. The woman said the ute then drove through the Pilot Bay side of the campground slowly past the slips that she had filmed directly in front of several campsites.

“I figured, well, everything will be fine. Someone from the council’s come, they’ve seen the slips, he’s driven past them, he’s driven through the water that was coming down from that corner that collapsed. So I had no worries after that.”

RNZ asked Drysdale for comment on the woman’s account.

In a statement sent via the council’s media team, Drysdale said “all relevant matters relating to the lead-up to this tragic event will be considered as part of the independent review we are currently initiating”.

“This will be reported back to the community as quickly as possible.

Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale says details of the review are being worked through. Calvin Samuel / RNZ

“The detailed scope, timeframes and personnel involved in this independent review process are currently being worked through and will be communicated publicly as soon as finalised.”

It comes after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said there was a “strong case” for a government inquiry into the landslide.

He announced the possibility during a media conference on Tuesday afternoon, and said many questions about last Thursday’s slip were being asked, including whether there was a missed opportunity to evacuate people sooner.

“Six families are grieving the unimaginable loss of their loved ones, and they deserve answers. I acknowledge that the Tauranga City Council has ordered its own inquiry into the events leading up to the landslide at the campground.

“However, I do believe there is a strong case for an independent government inquiry, and we’ll be talking to Tauranga City Council about that.”

Luxon said it would be important not only for the grieving families but for helping to ensure lessons were learned to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

While an independent inquiry had already been announced by local council, Luxon said there were concerns it would not be impartial if it was conducted by the council.

“There’s a potentially an inherent conflict between the ownership of the campground and the council, but it’s also coming from conversations directly with the families that Mark and I had in the last 48 hours with people in Tauranga at the Mount, and their big desires to actually understand what did happen here.

“I think doing that dispassionately, being able to do that very objectively, through an independent government inquiry would be the way forward.”

RNZ approached the Tauranga City Council and police for comment on Monday evening on the woman’s account.

“Once the recovery efforts are completed, we have secured the site and have geotechnical assessments that the landslide area is stable, there will be a process undertaken to examine the events that took place before and during this tragic event,” the council’s controller Tom McEntyre said.

“It would not be appropriate to make any comment now that could affect that process or pre-empt the outcome.”

In response to earlier questions from RNZ, deputy national commander Megan Stiffler confirmed FENZ received a 111 call at 5.48am on Thursday, 22 January, from a person reporting a slip near the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park.

“Our call takers made contact with the Tauranga City Council, the landowners of the camping ground, and notified them of this information at 5.51am.

“The landslip that was referenced in the 111 call received at 5.48am did not impact life or property and therefore Fire and Emergency did not respond firefighters to attend, instead we notified Tauranga City Council as the landowner responsible.”

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell said there was no record of a 111 call being referred to the council.

However, a council statement released only hours later backtracked on this version of events.

“After further enquiries, we can confirm that the Tauranga City Council’s main Contact Centre received a call from Fire and Emergency New Zealand at around 5.50am on Thursday, 22 January.”

The council said the chief executive’s earlier comments referred specifically to information logged in the council’s Emergency Operations Centre, which did not receive a call.

At about 9.30am a slip came down at the Beachside Holiday Park at Mount Maunganui, smashing into campervans, tents, vehicles and an ablution block near the Mount Hot Pools.

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Rotorua’s live firefighting training containers to be replaced after reports of toxic smoke leaks

Source: Radio New Zealand

NZ army firefighters in live fire exercises at FENZ’s national training centre. Supplied / NZDF

Shipping containers in Rotorua that provide some of the only live firefighting training for new recruits are being replaced, after they were boycotted and shut on safety grounds months ago.

This week Fire and Emergency evaluated responses to a tender to replace the containers, saying this was better than trying to fix them, and until it had chosen a contractor it could not give a cost and timeframe.

Recruits have been shuttled to Auckland Airport’s live training site since trainers slapped a safety notice on the containers last September.

At the time, the acting manager who is also the union president, said the containers had warped over the years so were leaking toxic smoke during exercises that was a threat to recruits not kitted up outside.

FENZ said recruits had still been able to use two other live-fire facilities (compartments, and one to do with gas).

Live fire training at FENZ’s national training centre in Rotorua. Supplied / FENZ

The Professional Firefighters’ Union said not having the container facilities “is currently hindering these safe systems of work for firefighters” and fixing them must be a priority.

“The fact that FENZ has allowed the current live fire training facilities to deteriorate so much, to the state that they are not working is yet another sign of the organisation failure to spend money on frontline services,” said national vice-president Martin Campbell.

The containers had been expected to last 15 years and were 13 years old “and are now approaching the end of their practical asset life”, said FENZ.

Design had been done to get new ones that balanced “functionality, safety, and durability”.

The union has regularly criticised the state of FENZ’s fire trucks, stations, pay and conditions in an industrial dispute stretching on for months.

The Rotorua national training centre set up almost 20 years ago, houses the containers in a bigger building meant to contain the smoke and make it cleaner in a ‘reburner’, though the acting manager in November said the reburner had never worked well.

Live fire training at FENZ’s Woolston training centre, Christchurch. Supplied / FENZ

The tender said other parts of the training centre, which includes classrooms, must be able to keep operating while the work went on.

FENZ had struggled not just with Rotorua but with trying to fix leaking smoke at its South Island live-fire training centre at Woolston in Christchurch.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/rotoruas-live-firefighting-training-containers-to-be-replaced-after-reports-of-toxic-smoke-leaks/

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View from The Hill: Dysfunctional federal opposition is in gridlock

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

A week out from the resumption of parliament, the federal opposition is in a state of paralysis.

The Liberals have a full-blown leadership crisis. A majority of the party believe Sussan Ley can’t survive for long.

But leadership contenders Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie, both from the right of the party, don’t want to run against each other, dividing their factional support. They’re in a wrestle, each wanting the other to pull back.

Taylor trails his coat while keeping formally within the rules. He won’t confirm he is after Ley’s job, pleading shadow cabinet discipline when pressed. But he won’t rule anything out either.

The Hastie camp had a story in The Australian saying he had discussed with his wife the implications of becoming leader, and she was “fully supportive”. This was to clear away Hastie’s position of some time ago that he was not pitching for leadership for a while because of having a young family.

Hastie seems raring to go, Taylor is preferring to delay. Moderates argue the Nationals should not be rewarded for last week’s behaviour by the Liberals rushing into a change.

The stand-off lessens the chance of a vote next week, though the situation is febrile and so it is not impossible it comes to a head then. The Liberal Party will have its regular meeting on Tuesday morning.

Many in the Liberals and some in the Nationals think the most urgent issue is to have the split in the former Coalition repaired.

But Nationals leader David Littleproud says this won’t happen unless the three Nationals frontbenchers whom Ley forced to resign last week (after they broke shadow cabinet solidity over the government’s anti-hate legislation) are reinstated. Ley has refused to contemplate meeting that condition.

Liberals continue to lash out at Littleproud’s behaviour last week, leading to the fracture. Victorian Liberal Tim Wilson told Sky on Tuesday the Nationals leader “basically replicated the political consequences of Barnaby Joyce on a Braddon pavement [when an intoxicated Joyce was pictured lying flat out talking on the phone]. They’ve hit a flat. It hasn’t worked. What we need is leadership. We need responsible people standing up for the national interest and doing what’s right by Australia and Australians.”

Meanwhile Ley needs to reshuffle her frontbench by the time parliament resumes next week, to fill the positions vacated by the Nationals. She has stayed her hand to give some time for a possible rethink by the Nationals about re-forming the Coalition. But it would be odd to go into the sitting with multiple vacancies, and especially difficult when Senate estimates hearings loom the following week.

Littleproud has yet to nominate spokespeople for a “shadow” shadow ministry. Once he does that, it becomes harder to get the Coalition back together, even under a new Liberal leader.

On Thursday many Liberals will gather in Melbourne for a memorial service for Katie Allen, who was Liberal MP for Higgins in 2019–22. It’s a sad reality that during leadership crises, such gatherings can provide the opportunity for very political conversations. This occasion is likely to be no exception.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. View from The Hill: Dysfunctional federal opposition is in gridlock – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-dysfunctional-federal-opposition-is-in-gridlock-274028

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/view-from-the-hill-dysfunctional-federal-opposition-is-in-gridlock-274028/

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Family mourn ‘treasured son’ and ‘beloved Nai Nai’ killed in Welcome Bay landslide

Source: Radio New Zealand

Austen Keith Richardson and his grandmother Yao Fang. Supplied / Police

The family of a child and grandmother killed when a landslide hit a house in Pāpāmoa say they’re “absolutely devastated” by the loss of a “treasured son” and his “beloved Nai Nai”.

Two bodies were recovered by police at the home on Welcome Bay Rd on Thursday.

On Tuesday, police named the pair as 10-year-old Austen Keith Richardson and his grandmother, 71-year-old Yao Fang.

Their deaths have been referred to the Coroner.

In a statement Austen’s parents, Keith and Angel, said he was the “much-loved” only child of the couple, and Fang’s only grandchild. Angel was Fang’s only child.

“Austen and his grandmother had an incredibly close relationship – with Austen affectionately calling her Nai Nai.”

Austen was born in Shanghai, China, and the family moved back to New Zealand with him when he was about eight months old.

Since Austen was born Fang had spent “extended periods” of time with the family in New Zealand.

“Austen had just finished at Arataki School where he thrived in the Montessori class. It perfectly suited his personality.”

Austen had been accepted to Bethlehem College and was due to start as a Year 7.

“A gifted musician, Austen loved piano, was extremely mechanically minded, loved building Lego, riding motorbikes, Pokémon and solving math equations.

“The weekend before the tragedy, we visited the Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival before surprising him with his dream motocross bike from a mate on the way home.

“This will forever be a treasured memory.”

The family recently attended the Annual Honda Kids Camp at Lake Rotoiti.

“Austen spoke Mandarin fluently, was proud of his Chinese heritage and loved visiting China on our trips back.”

The family said they were “lucky” to have Fang spend so much time with them.

Ten-year-old Austen Keith Richardson and his grandmother, 71-year-old Yao Fang. Supplied / Police

“She was a beautiful mother and grandmother, deeply caring, so generous and always prioritising looking after others ahead of herself.

“Fang worked as an architect in China while raising Angel as a solo parent.

“She loved the nature in New Zealand, helped us grow an incredible vegetable garden, looked after our chickens, and joined us at Chinese Methodist Church in Greerton.”

The family was grateful for the “amazing support” they had received.

“We are absolutely devastated by the loss of our treasured son and his beloved Nai Nai.

“Our thoughts are also with the other families impacted by the Mount Maunganui tragedy and what they are going through.”

‘Bright’, talented musician

St Peter’s Anglican Church director of music Chalium Poppy earlier told RNZ the boy was due to come to a piano lesson at the Mt Maunganui church on Thursday.

Poppy said he was contacted by a friend of the family to say the boy was missing in one of the slips.

“I’d been teaching all morning, so I hadn’t heard the news about the slips yet, and so I was a little bit caught off guard and on the back foot, but it became obvious during the day that it was a lot more serious,” he said.

“Then I found out again from a friend of the family, whose son also takes piano from me, that it was confirmed today that he was one of the two victims.”

Poppy said the boy had recently started taking piano lessons with him.

“He had only sort of just started, so he had a few lessons… but like with all my students, I always sort of do a meet and greet first and make sure that it’s going to be a right fit for the student and the parents and everything and so I got to know him through sort of the meet and greet more than his lessons, but he was just really bright and incredibly talkative… asked lots of really great questions, like a really cool, sort of inquisitive mind, and obviously talented

musically.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/family-mourn-treasured-son-and-beloved-nai-nai-killed-in-welcome-bay-landslide/

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Where did southern Australia’s record-breaking heatwave come from?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia

Kevin Chen/Pexels, CC BY-NC-ND

Millions of people in southeastern Australia are sweating through a record-breaking heatwave. The heat this week is likely to be one for the history books. The heat began on Saturday January 24th. On Australia Day, three sites in South Australia and two in New South Wales broke their all-time temperature records. Ceduna reached a whopping 49.5°C in the shade – just 1.2°C off the highest temperature ever recorded in Australia.

Today, temperatures have topped 49°C in northwest Victoria and South Australia for the first time on record, and many towns face days of heat over 40°C. Regions such as the Otway Ranges in Victoria are facing extreme fire danger. Renmark in South Australia has reached 49.3°C and Walpeup in Victoria has reached 48.7°C.

This is shaping up as the worst heatwave since the Black Summer of 2019-20. The intense heat that summer contributed to catastrophic bushfires which burnt 21% of the continent, an area still considered globally unprecedented.

Independent analysis found the last heatwave between January 5 to 10 was made over five times more likely by global heating. This current heatwave is substantially worse, but we’ll have to wait for attribution studies to understand how much global heating has contributed to its overall severity.

The sustained heat hitting the southeast will be widespread and prolonged. It’s likely more all-time temperature records will be broken this week, as the body of hot air stagnates over the south and southeast. People in exposed areas should heed warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology and advice from health and emergency response authorities.

What’s driving this heatwave?

The Pilbara region in northwest Western Australia is sometimes called the nation’s “heat engine”. This large, sparsely populated area is very dry. When heat hits Pilbara rocks and sands, it can quickly build up. Weather conditions are very stable, and Pilbara heatwaves can last weeks.

But that doesn’t explain how the heat gets to population centres in Australia’s south and southeast.

Over summer, there are often active monsoonal troughs (areas of low atmospheric pressure) over northern Australia. As the monsoon brings heavy rain and low pressure systems to parts of northern Australia, it pushes high pressure systems, known as heat domes, further south. This directs intense heat thousands of kilometres towards the southern, central and eastern parts of the continent.

Tropical monsoonal low-pressure systems in the north often work in tandem with slow-moving high pressure systems in the Tasman Sea or Great Australian Bight. The result is a weather pattern able to shift hot air masses thousands of kilometres to reach the southern states.

Predicted temperature around 5pm at 2m above sea level from January 27 to January 31, 2026.
NOAA Visualisation Lab

Blocking highs are strong high pressure systems which can sit in place for days or even weeks, blocking other weather systems from moving in. The blocking high pressure system responsible for the current heatwave is staying put in the atmosphere a few kilometres above New South Wales.

As winds blow from areas of high pressure to low pressure in the atmosphere, air is forced to flow down towards the surface. As the air descends, it compresses due to rising atmospheric pressure. Compression heats the air further, which can make heatwaves hotter and longer-lasting.

When conditions like this are in place, hot northerly winds often persist for days, funnelling more and more desert heat towards the coasts. This can cause temperatures to exceed 40°C in states such as South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and southern Queensland.

During this extreme heatwave, maximum temperatures in some southern towns are approaching 50°C – the sort of temperature once restricted to famously hot towns such as Marble Bar in Western Australia.

The official Australian record for the maximum temperature in the shade is 50.7°C, recorded at Oodnadatta (South Australia) in 1960 and Onslow (Western Australia) in 2022. This shared all-time record may be broken at several southeast inland locations this week as atmospheric conditions are amplified by the steady drumbeat of global heating.

During severe, prolonged heatwaves, intense daytime heat is accompanied by hot nights. The humidity can sometimes also increase due to tropical moisture being transported south. The combination of heat and humidity (measured as heat indices) is particularly dangerous to humans, livestock and wildlife.

Should this heatwave be named?

For decades, tropical cyclones hitting Australia have been given names. Should heatwaves similarly be given names to encourage people to take them seriously? Names can make weather hazards more memorable, helping people recall warnings, share information with neighbours and prepare more effectively.

This week’s heatwave would be an excellent candidate for naming. It is severe, breaking all-time records, long-lasting and widespread. It is also threatening major metropolitan centres with high populations, as well as major regional centres and nationally important agricultural districts. To date, there’s no sign authorities plan to name it.

Responding to future heatwaves

Climate scientists now widely agree average global temperatures will permanently rise 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels by the early 2030s. They may reach 2.7°C by the 2090s if global carbon emissions do not fall sharply.

This means future heatwaves are likely to strike more often and hit harder when they arrive.

We need to adapt to the increasing threats posed by more and worse heatwaves even as we work to cut emissions. Extreme heat is a public health issue, to say nothing of the threats it poses to our wildlife and livestock who have no escape.


Steve Turton has previously received funding from the Australian and Queensland governments.

– ref. Where did southern Australia’s record-breaking heatwave come from? – https://theconversation.com/where-did-southern-australias-record-breaking-heatwave-come-from-274417

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/where-did-southern-australias-record-breaking-heatwave-come-from-274417/

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Coromandel’s ongoing recovery as state of emergency comes to an end

Source: Radio New Zealand

An upturned car and water tank were amongst the debris from the large slip on Motuhoa Road last week. RNZ/Calvin Samuel

Thames Coromandel’s local State of Emergency ends at noon tomorrow, and the mayor told RNZ at this point it is unlikely to be extended.

However, as the district tried to dry out it had challenges ahead, including two major slips on its main state highway and 63 storm-damaged homes.

Claire Steer, chair of Pāuanui Neighbourhood Support said the sun was shining today and things were getting back to normal after the recent storm.

“During the weather event last week we had a tremendous amount of rain, in fact probably more rain than we had at Gabrielle, but we were very very lucky we didn’t have the wind that accompanied Gabrielle, so the amount of damage wasn’t as bad initially,” she said.

Pāuanui was flooded in for a time, and three houses had been red stickered.

Steer said being a sandspit the water had drained away easily, roads were now open, and locals had shown up for each other.

“The community’s been amazing in that we’ve had just huge amounts of offers for temporary accommodation to help the local people,” she said.

Across the river mouth from Pāuanui, Mt Paku faced a bigger clean up with a major landslip taking out a home and cutting the main water pipe into the community.

One of many slips on Tairua Whitianga Road. RNZ/Calvin Samuel

Resident John Drummond lived two houses away and had been keeping a close eye on the slip.

“Over the last few days, the slip has pretty much remained where it was – although a few smaller bits of trees and land have slipped down the face,” he said.

Drummond said the council was very quick to get the water back on, clear a way through the road and make sure the community was ok.

“The road down below has been cleared, the neighbouring properties are busily tidying up their properties and with the sun coming out it’s all starting to look a whole lot better,” he said.

Higher up the Peninsula at Cooks Beach, water was still ponding and smaller slips were being cleared.

Mercury Bay South Residents and Ratepayers Association chair, Paul Hopkins, said he would like to see small communities given more authority and agency to clean up after events.

“I think every small centre should have a designated group that actually gets in and can help out, it should be communities that fix problems not necessarily relying on your local council,” he said.

Hopkins said what might seem like a small low-priority slip to council can really affect locals who currently were discouraged from clearing these themselves.

Thames Coromandel District mayor Peter Revell said all local roads were open and no community was still cut off.

But two major slips on the main road, Highway 25, remain and one was particularly challenging.

“The one south of Whangamata blocking the road between Whangamata and Waihi is massive and is going to take longer and at this stage I’m not sure NZTA is even putting an estimated date on when that might be cleared,” he said.

SH25 between Hikuai and Tairua was severely damaged in some parts. RNZ/Calvin Samuel

These slips would be causing problems for local residents who were no longer trapped but were inconvenienced.

“If you live in Whangamata and you were wanting to go for instance to Tauranga you can’t just drop down and go through Waihi you need to come up and go across State Highway 25A and then head your way back down,” he said.

Revell said it could take the rest of the week to complete rapid building inspections, checking in on storm-damaged homes.

As of today, nine homes had been red stickered (no one should enter), 24 yellow stickered (residents have limited supervised access only), and 30 white (safe to occupy).

He said everyone was out of those homes and were safe.

“The places which are being placarded are a mix of permanent residences and holiday homes, the impact would not be the same as if they were all residential properties,” said Revell.

Today, Prime Minister Chris Luxon announced the government was adding $1.2 million to the five mayoral relief funds in affected regions.

Revell encouraged people affected by the storm to look into applying.

“That fund is for people to be able to apply and just get a little bit of financial help that they might need at this stage,” he said.

As people take stock and the clean up continues, local MP Scott Simpson said everyone is hoping for a few dry weeks ahead.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/coromandels-ongoing-recovery-as-state-of-emergency-comes-to-an-end/

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Luxon’s invite to Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza needs ‘measured look’ – Winston Peters

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Mark Papalii

The Foreign Affairs Minister says the US President’s invitation for Christopher Luxon to join the Board of Peace for Gaza is a “multi-faceted” issue and requires a “measured look”.

No decision has been made yet regarding the invite, but Winston Peters says advice from his ministry is being prepared “as we speak”.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said last week he welcomed the beginning of the next phase of the peace plan for Gaza and would give the invite “due consideration”.

Speaking to reporters on the first day of Parliament, Peters said there hadn’t been a chance yet for him to discuss the invite with Luxon.

But he said the government was going to sit down and “dispassionately discuss” the issue in its entirety and what it might mean.

“Because it’s not just a small issue, it’s a multi-faceted issue, and we need to take a quite measured look at it.”

Asked whether he’d requested advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peters said “of course, they’re busy working on it as we speak”.

“I’ve asked them for a comprehensive paper covering all issues they can imagine.”

A draft charter for the organisation, which will be chaired by Trump, has been sent to a number of world leaders – including Canada’s Mark Carney, Australia’s Anthony Albanese, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Opposition leaders have condemned the invite, with Labour leader Chris Hipkins labelling the government’s so-far refusal to rule out joining the Board an “absolute disgrace”.

He said the fact Luxon was leaving the possibility open was “embarrassing for New Zealand”.

Greens-co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick had written to the Prime Minister on Monday, urging Luxon to “publicly and unequivocally reject this invitation”.

“It is critical that New Zealand joins like-minded nations, such as France, in rejecting the Board and defending the United Nations framework,” the letter read.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/luxons-invite-to-trumps-board-of-peace-for-gaza-needs-measured-look-winston-peters/

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Name release and family statement, Welcome Bay deaths

Source: New Zealand Police

Police can now confirm the names of the two people who died during a landslide on Welcome Bay Rd, Papamoa on Thursday.

Ten-year-old Austen Keith Richardson and his grandmother, 71-year-old Yao Fang (pronounced Fung), died after the house they were in was extensively damaged by a landslide.

Police continue to support the family through this extremely difficult time.

Their deaths have been referred to the Coroner.

The following is a statement released on behalf of Keith and Angel:

Austen was the much-loved only child of Keith and Angel, and Fang’s only grandchild. Angel is also the only child of Fang.

Austen and his grandmother had an incredibly close relationship – with Austen affectionately calling her Nai Nai.

Austen was born in Shanghai, China, and we moved back to New Zealand with him when he was about eight months old. Since Austen was born, Fang has spent extended periods of time with us in New Zealand.

Austen had just finished at Arataki School where he thrived in the Montessori class. It perfectly suited his personality. He had been accepted to Bethlehem College and was due to start as a Year 7 at the school shortly.

A gifted musician, Austen loved piano, was extremely mechanically minded, loved building Lego, riding motorbikes, Pokémon and solving math equations.

The weekend before the tragedy, we visited the Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival before surprising him with his dream motocross bike from a mate on the way home. This will forever be a treasured memory.

We also recently attended the Annual Honda Kids Camp at Lake Rotoiti where he always loved meeting his mates from previous years and making new friendships.

Austen spoke Mandarin fluently, was proud of his Chinese heritage and loved visiting China on our trips back.

We were lucky to have Fang spend so much time with us as a family. She was a beautiful mother and grandmother, deeply caring, so generous and always prioritising looking after others ahead of herself.

Fang worked as an architect in China while raising Angel as a solo parent. She loved the nature in New Zealand, helped us grow an incredible vegetable garden, looked after our chickens, and joined us at Chinese Methodist Church in Greerton.

We are grateful for the amazing support we have received from family and friends, the wider community as well as the emergency services and support agencies who have wrapped around us as we come to terms with this.

We are absolutely devastated by the loss of our treasured son and his beloved Nai Nai.

Our thoughts are also with the other families impacted by the Mount Maunganui tragedy and what they are going through.

Note to media: The family will not be providing further comment and ask that their privacy be respected as they grieve.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/name-release-and-family-statement-welcome-bay-deaths/

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NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster lays down simple recipe for NRL title quest

Source: Radio New Zealand

Coach Andrew Webster calls the shots at Warriors training. Andrew Cornaga/Photosport

If this is to finally be the NZ Warriors’ year, the recipe for success seems simple enough.

“If you’re asking me what needs to happen, we need to do what we do better for longer,” coach Andrew Webster teased, as he addressed media for the first time in 2026.

“That’s a pretty similar response from me for a long time now. When we do it well, we do it really well – that’s why we’ve made the playoffs twice in the last three years – but we’re not here to do that.

“We’re here to win the whole thing.”

Last sighted, Webster painted a forlorn picture, reflecting on his team’s one-and-done exit from the NRL playoffs against four-time defending champions Penrith Panthers.

“I just feel we’ve built some great stuff, but that last piece is missing.” he lamented last September. “I feel like we’ve handled adversity and stayed really tight, but there’s a piece missing.

“We could launch, if we take those lessons and go to the next step, or we could stay exactly where we are, which is just a top-six team. I just think we can be better.”

With the benefit of four months to review last year’s effort, Webster isn’t making any bold predictions about the upcoming campaign, which begins with a pre-season trial against Manly Sea Eagles at Napier on 14 February.

Warriors co-captain Mitch Barnett in pre-season training. Andrew Cornaga/Photosport

His response to the ‘how’ question acknowledges that his Warriors were one of the form teams early in the 2025 competition, when they came out of the blocks 8-2 and sat second on the table after Round 11.

Injuries and fatigue inevitably eroded their performance, as they lost co-captain Mitch Barnett and star half Luke Metcalf in quick succession mid-season, and never really recovered.

“We’ve got to improve what we do and do it for longer,” emphasises Webster. “We can’t have those periods where there are big momentum shifts and we give teams those opportunities.”

Barnett and Metcalf still aren’t up to full speed, as they continue to nurse their respective knee injuries, although they are back out on the training field. Both seem likely to miss the pre-season.

“Barney is expected around Rounds 0-4, anywhere in that range,” estimated Webster. “Luke would be Rounds 7-10.

“In the last month, they can start doing a lot, but they can’t give everything, so you have to see how they progress in that period. It looks like they’re flying up to this point, but this is the point where you actually see how they go.

Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf in pre-season training. Andrew Cornaga/Photosport

“Luke definitely won’t be in pre-season trials or early rounds, that’s for sure.”

Centre Rocco Berry was another who could not stay on the field through a series of niggly injuries and he will again miss early rounds, after more off-season shoulder surgery.

Back-up fullback Taine Tuaupiki, whom many expect to press hard for the starting jersey this season, also suffered a leg injury during “an incident on his farm” and made a later start to training. He’ll be touch and go for the opening round.

Bolstering the squad are the additions of newcomers Morgan Gannon (second row/lock), Jye Linnane (half), Haizyn Mellars and Alofiano Khan-Pereira (wings), whom Webster expects to push for first-grade spots this season.

Meanwhile, the Warriors coach is not a fan of proposed rule changes designed to enhance the competitiveness of games.

One would give teams the option of either kicking off or receiving the ball, after conceding a try. The current format sees the conceding team kicking the ball back to their opponents.

“Whatever they give us, we’ll take it,” Webster said. “I thought it’s pretty good how it is, really.

“I think they’re trying to stop that big momentum, where someone can score three tries in a row, but if you’re conceding those, you’re probably not good enough.

“One of the most frustrating things, as a coach and player, is to be conceding off a kickoff, but if you’re getting scored against, the good teams make sure they stop the bleeding right there and then.

“I’m happy with the current rule, but if they change it, we’ll come up with ways to use it tactically to our advantage.”

Another change could see the interchange bench expand from four to six players, although the number of substitutions would stay at eight each game. Most coaches wrestle with the composition of their four-man benches, either carrying a utility player or relocating forwards out of position to cover injuries among the backs.

This amendment would allow them to cater for all contingencies.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Kurt Capewell lead the Warriors onto the training field. Andrew Cornaga/Photosport

“Any of the 19 could play and that would give clarity to the fans early in the week,” said Webster, who is renowned for making late changes to his gameday squad. “You guys are laughing at me, I can tell.

“I’m frustrated by this rule – I think it’s going to be hard to give guys gametime in reserve grade, because you’re carrying an extra two players.

“The beauty of our game is resilience and the ability to adapt, so if you’ve got particular players on the bench and someone goes down, that changes quick.

“I think now you’re always going to carry two hookers and a half, and a fullback/outside back on the bench, plus your forward rotation, which won’t change.

“If you lose the halfback and put him on, someone else doesn’t get a game. Come 10-12-16 games into the season, you could find these guys aren’t getting gametime in reserve grade and aren’t getting any better.”

Webster argues, if the rule change is designed to cater for concussions, this could be covered by activating the ’18th man’ quicker.

Current rules require three players failing head injury assessments or a match-ending injury caused by foul play, before the extra reserve can take the field.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/nz-warriors-coach-andrew-webster-lays-down-simple-recipe-for-nrl-title-quest/

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More yellow-legged hornet queens found in Auckland

Source: Radio New Zealand

Yellow-legged hornets are an invasive species, and a danger to local honey and wild bees. Biosecurity NZ

The number of yellow-legged hornet queens found in Auckland has risen to 45 – 32 of them with nests.

Biosecurity New Zealand said it had an excellent response from the public, with 10,270 notifications of suspected sightings.

Even though only a small number of them were actually hornets, the organisation urged Aucklanders to stay on the lookout.

It expected to find more this summer and there were dozens of traps around the city, mostly on the North Shore.

Biosecurity teams were also attaching tiny trackers onto worker hornets to try to lead them to nests.

The hornets had only been found in Auckland.

Biosecurity NZ believed it was unlikely they were outside of the city.

The hornets were a risk to bee populations – they eat them but could also compete with them food if they became established.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/more-yellow-legged-hornet-queens-found-in-auckland/

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SH25 between Kūaotunu and Kūaotunu West/Matarangi expected to reopen on Thursday 29 January

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

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NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) is aiming to re-open SH25 between Kūaotunu and Kūaotunu West/Matarangi on Thursday 29 January.

Contractors have made excellent progress clearing the slip over the past several days, allowing geotechnical specialists to safely access and inspect the site tomorrow (Wednesday 28 January).

In order to ensure the safety of road users, a thorough geotechnical assessment of the site will be undertaken from above and below the carriageway. Once the stability and safety of the site has been confirmed, it will be cleared to reopen.

If you are planning to travel, please delay your journey until SH25 has reopened.

While the road remains closed, we ask that people avoid the Kūaotunu area where possible to allow crews to safely continue their essential work.

We will update our Journey Planner website as soon as the road is open:

Journey Planner – highway conditions(external link)

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/sh25-between-kuaotunu-and-kuaotunu-west-matarangi-expected-to-reopen-on-thursday-29-january/

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Woolworths Te Awamutu supermarket closed briefly due to diesel fumes

Source: Radio New Zealand

Woolworths in Te Awamutu was briefly closed on Tuesday afternoon. Google maps

Woolworths says its supermarket in Te Awamutu closed briefly on Tuesday afternoon after diesel fumes entered the rear storeroom while the sprinkler system and generator were being tested.

A spokesperson said staff working in the affected area were assessed by ambulance staff and no further treatment was required.

They said no customers were impacted and the store is now trading as usual.

“A full investigation will be conducted to prevent a recurrence of this type of incident. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and any alarm caused,” the spokesperson said.

Fire and Emergency said two trucks attended the callout to the supermarket shortly after 2.30pm and cleared the store for re-opening by 3pm.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/woolworths-te-awamutu-supermarket-closed-briefly-due-to-diesel-fumes/

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Woman dies after Christchurch Hospital staff missed signs of sepsis, HDC report says

Source: Radio New Zealand

Christchurch hospital. RNZ / Nate McKinnon

A woman who arrived at Christchurch Hospital’s emergency department in acute pain died the next day after staff missed signs she had sepsis.

The 65-year-old patient died of urosepsis, a life-threatening complication of a urinary tract infection, in January 2022.

In a report released on Tuesday, deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Carolyn Cooper said the hospital failed to provide reasonable care, making “severe departures from standard practice”.

“I concur that there was a failure to recognise urosepsis in a timely way, which subsequently led to a lack of appropriate treatment being provided to [the woman],” she said.

Health NZ completed an adverse event review (AER) into the woman’s care and also found delays in the recognition and treatment of urosepsis.

The report said the woman had a history of high blood pressure and Crohn’s disease, with a previous bowel resection, small bowel obstructions and a kidney stone.

The woman was diagnosed with renal colic after being assessed in the ED and given pain relief.

She was then transferred to the hospital’s urology unit.

The report said the woman was experiencing prolonged hypotension by the next morning.

“Throughout the day, [the woman] received intravenous fluid boluses as the primary intervention for her hypotension. However, her [blood pressure] did not respond to this adequately,” the report said.

“The AER found that a lack of response or improvement from the fluid should have triggered a challenge of the diagnosis and consideration of other possible differential diagnoses or causes. However, this did not occur.”

Medical reviews at the time suggested the woman’s hypotension may have been due to the effects of the pain relief.

Clinicians noted the woman was “chirpy and chatty” throughout the day and that she did not have a fever but clinical notes also recorded instances of the woman shivering, a symptom of sepsis, the report said.

“The AER found that clinical staff exhibited anchoring bias – that is, there was an over-reliance on the absence of a fever, which normally is present in urosepsis, despite the lack of improvement over the day,” the report said.

“While the nurse in charge, the house officer, and the registrar were informed of [the woman’s] deterioration, there is no evidence of a senior medical officer consultation (after the initial ward round at 8am), consideration of involvement of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) team, or a rapid response call being made when [the woman’s] observations were in the red and blue zone, as required by the mandatory escalation pathway.”

The deputy commissioner found an “early warning score” chart had several incomplete observations throughout the day, with the total score also not recorded, which was not in line with Health NZ policy.

Cooper criticised Health NZ’s failure to follow its mandatory escalation and urosepsis policies and the renal colic protocol.

“Had these policies been adhered to, the delay in the diagnosis of urosepsis may have been avoided,” she said.

Cooper recommended Health NZ Waitaha Canterbury apologise to the woman’s family.

She also recommended developing an education and training plan for staff around diagnosing urosepsis and the importance of medical documentation.

Health NZ told the commissioner it had changed its renal colic protocols to highlight the need to consider an alternative diagnosis, run an education refresher on sepsis and run an education session for urology nurses.

In a statement, Health New Zealand chief medical officer Te Waipounamu Alan Pithie said patient safety and quality of care was a top priority.

“On behalf of Health New Zealand, we would like to say how sorry we are for what happened and extend our sincerest condolences to the patient’s family and friends for the loss of their loved one. We are deeply sorry for the distress caused and recognise that the patient’s death in 2022 has had, and continues to have, a profound and long-lasting impact,” he said.

“We acknowledge the deputy commissioner’s findings and have provided the family with a written apology. We have also implemented changes to improve our services including amending the renal colic clinical pathway for care, rolling out a national sepsis action plan, and updating processes for recording clinical information on deteriorating patients.

“Work is also underway to implement refresher education for urology nursing staff on early warning scores (EWS) and adding more functionality to the digital adult EWS pathway.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/woman-dies-after-christchurch-hospital-staff-missed-signs-of-sepsis-hdc-report-says/

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Red flowers have a ‘magic trait’ to attract birds and keep bees away

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Monash University

Joshua J. Cotten

For flowering plants, reproduction is a question of the birds and the bees. Attracting the right pollinator can be a matter of survival – and new research shows how flowers do it is more intriguing than anyone realised, and might even involve a little bit of magic.

In our new paper, published in Current Biology, we discuss how a single “magic” trait of some flowering plants simultaneously camouflages them from bees and makes them stand out brightly to birds.

How animals see

We humans typically have three types of light receptors in our eyes, which enable our rich sense of colours.

These are cells sensitive to blue, green or red light. From the input from these cells, the brain generates many colours including yellow via what is called colour opponent processing.

The way colour opponent processing works is that different sensed colours are processed by the brain in opposition. For example, we see some signals as red and some as green – but never a colour in between.

Many other animals also see colour and show evidence of also using opponent processing.

Bees see their world using cells that sense ultraviolet, blue and green light, while birds have a fourth type sensitive to red light as well.

Our colour perception illustrated with the spectral bar is different to bees that are sensitive to UV, blue and green, or birds with four colour photoreceptors including red sensitivity.
Adrian Dyer & Klaus Lunau, CC BY

The problem flowering plants face

So what do these differences in colour vision have to do with plants, genetics and magic?

Flowers need to attract pollinators of the right size, so their pollen ends up on the correct part of an animal’s body so it’s efficiently flown to another flower to enable pollination.

Accordingly, birds tend to visit larger flowers. These flowers in turn need to provide large volumes of nectar for the hungry foragers.

But when large amounts of sweet-tasting nectar are on offer, there’s a risk bees will come along to feast on it – and in the process, collect valuable pollen. And this is a problem because bees are not the right size to efficiently transfer pollen between larger flowers.

Flowers “signal” to pollinators with bright colours and patterns – but these plants need a signal that will attract birds without drawing the attention of bees.

We know bee pollination and flower signalling evolved before bird pollination. So how could plants efficiently make the change to being pollinated by birds, which enables the transfer of pollen over long distances?

Avoiding bees or attracting birds?

A walk through nature lets us see with our own eyes that most red flowers are visited by birds, rather than bees. So bird-pollinated flowers have successfully made the transition. Two different theories have been developed that may explain what we observe.

One theory is the bee avoidance hypotheses where bird pollinated flowers just use a colour that is hard for bees to see.

A second theory is that birds might prefer red.

But neither of these theories seemed complete, as inexperienced birds don’t demonstrate a preference for a stronger red hue. However, bird-pollinated flowers do have a very distinct red hue, which suggests avoiding bees can’t solely explain why consistently salient red flower colours evolved.

Most red flowers are visited by birds, rather than bees.
Jim Moore/iNaturalist, CC BY

A magical solution

In evolutionary science, the term magic trait refers to an evolved solution where one genetic modification may yield fitness benefits in multiple ways.

Earlier this month, a team working on how this might apply to flowering plants showed that a gene that modulates UV-absorbing pigments in flower petals can indeed have multiple benefits. This is because of how bees and birds view colour signals differently.

Bee-pollinated flowers come in a diverse range of colours. Bees even pollinate some plants with red flowers. But these flowers tend to also reflect a lot of UV, which helps bees find them.

The magic gene has the effect of reducing the amount of UV light reflected from the petal, making flowers harder for bees to see. But (and this is where the magic comes in) reducing UV reflection from a petal of a red flower simultaneously makes it look redder for animals – such as birds – which are believed to have a colour opponent system.

Red flowers look similar for humans, but as flowers evolved for bird vision a genetic change down-regulates UV reflection, making flowers more colourful for birds and less visible to bees.
Adrian Dyer & Klaus Lunau, CC BY

Birds that visit these bright red flowers gain rewards – and with experience, they learn to go repeatedly to the red flowers.

One small gene change for colour signalling in the UV yields multiple beneficial outcomes by avoiding bees and displaying enhanced colours to entice multiple visits from birds.

We lucky humans are fortunate that our red perception can also see the result of this clever little trick of nature to produce beautiful red flower colours. So on your next walk on a nice day, take a minute to view one of nature’s great experiments on finding a clever solution to a complex problem.

Adrian Dyer previously received funding from The Australian Research Council.

Klaus Lunau previously received funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

– ref. Red flowers have a ‘magic trait’ to attract birds and keep bees away – https://theconversation.com/red-flowers-have-a-magic-trait-to-attract-birds-and-keep-bees-away-274033

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/red-flowers-have-a-magic-trait-to-attract-birds-and-keep-bees-away-274033/

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5 years on from the junta’s coup, Myanmar’s flawed elections can’t unite a country at risk of breaking apart

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer in International Studies in the School of Society and Culture, Adelaide University

Five years ago, on February 1 2021, Myanmar’s top generals decapitated the elected government. Democratic leaders were arrested, pushed underground or forced into exile.

Since then, the economy has spluttered and foreign investors have headed for the exit. The only growth industries – mostly scam centres, drugs and other criminal activities – enrich those already well-fed.

The military junta has kept its stranglehold via draconian curbs on civil and political liberties. It has bolstered its fighting forces through ruthless conscription, including of child soldiers. They now face rebellions in almost every corner of the ethnically diverse country.

It helps that the military brass can still depend on international support from Russia. China, meanwhile, is playing a careful game to ensure its interests – including prized access to the Indian Ocean for oil and gas – are secured.

And US President Donald Trump’s second term in office has introduced newly unpredictable and detrimental elements to great power politics.

The US government last year cited “notable progress in governance and stability [and] plans for free and fair elections” as justification for removing the Temporary Protected Status designation for immigrants from Myanmar. Although a federal judge blocked this decision a few days ago, this may eventually force previously protected Myanmar citizens to return home.

However, far from being free and fair, the month-long elections that just concluded in Myanmar have been devoid of meaningful democratic practice.

They will entrench the junta and provide little more than a patina of legitimacy that anti-democratic major powers will use to further normalise relations with Myanmar’s military leaders.

Myanmar’s deeply flawed election

The multi-stage elections were being held in only a fraction of the country currently under the military’s authority. Elections were not held in opposition-held territory, so many otherwise eligible voters were disenfranchised.

As such, there is no serious opposition to the military’s proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Civil and political space is also heavily restricted, with criticism of the election itself being a criminal offence.

The main opposition would be the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which has won by a landslide in every national election it has participated in since 1990. But it has been banned, along with dozens of other opposition political parties. Its senior leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, have been imprisoned.

Citizens have been coerced into taking part in an election with only electronic-voting machines. This is against a background of expanded surveillance and pervasive fear.

Break up of Myanmar?

Despite recent military gains by the junta, supported by Russian military technology and Chinese government pressure, the lines of control may be starting to solidify into an eventual Balkanisation, or break up, of Myanmar into hostile statelets.

The prospects for a future federalised democratic Myanmar seem increasingly remote.

Since, the coup there are many areas now under full opposition control. Take, for instance, a recent declaration of independence by a breakaway ethnic Karen armed group. While they represent only one part of the Karen community in eastern Myanmar, this could well precipitate a flood of similar announcements by other ethnic minorities.

Other groups might declare themselves autonomous and seek backing from governments and commercial and security interests in neighbouring countries such as China, Thailand, India and Bangladesh.

Most neighbouring countries will be uneasy about any further fracturing of Myanmar’s territorial integrity. Some, however, see potential benefits. China, for example, supports some ethnic armed groups to protect its strategic economic assets and maintain stability and influence along its borders.

Will international rulings have any impact?

While the conflict continues at home, Myanmar’s military leadership is defending itself at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. It faces claims it committed genocide against the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, particularly during the massacres of 2017.

During the three-week hearings, the junta has argued its “clearance operations” were merely counterterrorism activities, despite the 700,000 refugees it created.

Given the disdain for international law shown by Russia, China and the Trump administration in the US, any finding against the junta will have limited practical impact anyway.

What next?

Meanwhile, some countries in the the ASEAN bloc appear to be softening their opposition to the junta.

Recently, the Philippines foreign secretary met with Myanmar’s senior military leadership in the country’s first month chairing the bloc. This highlights the conundrum faced by regional leaders.

In the years immediately after the coup, ASEAN sought to keep Myanmar’s junta at arm’s length. But a number of key ASEAN players, particularly the more authoritarian regimes in Southeast Asia, would prefer to find a way to normalise engagement with the generals.

From that perspective, the flawed elections are a chance to embrace superficial democratisation and renewal.

This leaves the Myanmar people – millions of whom have fought hard against the coup and its negative consequences – with invidious choices about how to best pursue their independence and freedom.

There is little positive economic news on the horizon. The IMF projects inflation in Myanmar will stay above 30% in 2026 with a real GDP fall of 2.7%. This would compound an almost 20% contraction since the coup. The currency is worth around one quarter of what it was five years ago at the time of the coup.

In practice, this means many Myanmar families have gone backwards dramatically. An untold number are now entangled in illicit and often highly exploitative businesses.

The military’s proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), will undoubtedly form government after the elections. But unlike the USDP-led government that formed after the similarly flawed 2010 election, this new administration is unlikely to pursue political and economic liberalisation sufficient to entice opposition forces to play along.

The people of Myanmar have now been betrayed and brutalised by the military far too often to believe their easy promises.

As a pro vice-chancellor at the University of Tasmania, Nicholas Farrelly engages with a wide range of organisations and stakeholders on educational, cultural and political issues, including at the ASEAN-Australia interface. He has previously received funding from the Australian government for Southeast Asia-related projects and from the Australian Research Council. Nicholas is on the advisory board of the ASEAN-Australia Centre, which is an Australian government body established in 2024, and also Deputy Chair of the board of NAATI, Australia’s government-owned accreditation authority for translators and interpreters. He writes in his personal capacity.

Adam Simpson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. 5 years on from the junta’s coup, Myanmar’s flawed elections can’t unite a country at risk of breaking apart – https://theconversation.com/5-years-on-from-the-juntas-coup-myanmars-flawed-elections-cant-unite-a-country-at-risk-of-breaking-apart-272894

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/5-years-on-from-the-juntas-coup-myanmars-flawed-elections-cant-unite-a-country-at-risk-of-breaking-apart-272894/

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Mount Maunganui tragedy: support available for young people after last week’s storms

Source: I Am Hope

Last week’s storms have caused immense damage and heartbreak for many families, including the loss of life. The death of a local school teacher has deeply affected her students, colleagues, and the wider community. Many children and parents have visited the site, and for some, the reality of what has happened is only just beginning to sink in.

Alongside the physical clean up, there is also the emotional weight that follows events like this.

For many children and teenagers, distress does not always show up straight away. It can surface days or weeks later as anxiety, withdrawal, anger, numbness, trouble sleeping, or a heavy feeling they cannot explain.

Support is available for young people who are struggling.

Through the Gumboot Friday programme, free counselling is available for ages 5 to 25. There is no cost, no GP referral required, and young people can choose their own registered counsellor.

Bookings can be made at www.gumbootfriday.org.nz

“The loss of a teacher is something that cuts right through a community. For kids especially, it can shake their sense of safety in ways they do not always have the words for. It is important they know they do not have to carry that on their own. Getting support early can help stop those feelings from turning into something heavier later on.

And for parents and whānau, you do not need to have perfect answers. Being present, listening, and taking their worries seriously is more than enough to start with,” says I Am Hope founder Mike King.

Schools, clubs and community groups are encouraged to share the Gumboot Friday link so families know help is available.

In the weeks ahead, simple check ins, steady routines, and looking out for one another will matter more than ever.

LiveNews: https://enz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/mount-maunganui-tragedy-support-available-for-young-people-after-last-weeks-storms/

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Blues coach Vern Cotter ‘blindsided’ by Scott Robertson’s All Blacks sacking

Source: Radio New Zealand

Outgoing Blues coach Vern Cotter revealed today that his deal with the Queensland Reds was too far advanced for him to consider the now vacant All Blacks head coaching role. Cotter will leave the Blues for Brisbane at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season and said he was as surprised as anyone when he heard the news of Scott Robertson’s sacking earlier this month.

“I was a bit blindsided by the Razor thing,” said Cotter.

“Probably nobody thought that was coming. There was a review, and after two years and two years before the World Cup, that’s what happens.”

Cotter, who originally agreed to a two-year contract with the Blues and extended for this season, said that he had committed to the move to the Reds to replace Les Kiss by the time NZ Rugby (NZR) had made their decision regarding Robertson.

“We were so far down the track with the Reds, it would have been hard to make myself available for the All Blacks. It’s timing and it didn’t work out.”

The 64-year-old, who has had an extensive coaching career at both test and domestic level, admitted that things could’ve been different had they lined up better.

“I’d love to coach All Blacks – I applied in 2011. That’s a long time ago, but, but once again, I had given my word and I don’t want to go back on it. I’m not letting people down.”

Cotter said he hadn’t discussed the end of season player review, that proved so critical in Robertson’s fate, with any of his All Blacks squad members.

“What we can gather from it is that there’s a very clear idea of what they want to happen next. The (NZR) board, David Kirk and whatever. So we’re not privy to it the players aren’t really either… we certainly don’t like asking and that belongs to them and that (All Blacks) environment.

Cotter ruling himself out of contention seemingly narrows the field to Jamie Joseph and Dave Rennie as likely leading candidates for the All Blacks role.

New Blues CEO Karl Budge said the process to find a replacement for Cotter was already underway.

“This has been part of planning for quite some time,” said Budge.

“So we’ve had loads of chats with Vern. He’ll tell you that timing is always pretty important, and this is a club that’s well planned out. We wanted to look out to the future and I think the work with Vern has allowed us to do that.”

Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu holds up the trophy as the Blues team celebrate winning the Super Rugby Pacific final. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

Budge praised Cotter for “teaching us how to win” after guiding the Blues to the 2024 title, their first in a full Super Rugby format in 21 years.

Meanwhile, Cotter remains focused on the upcoming Super Rugby Pacific campaign, as they try and repeat that 2024 championship run. He confirmed today that All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu will be missing from the first few rounds, with Barrett on mandatory rest and scheduled to return in round four against the Crusaders.

Tuipulotu is still recovering from a shoulder injury and is expected back by round six.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/27/blues-coach-vern-cotter-blindsided-by-scott-robertsons-all-blacks-sacking/