<&>Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English Version One <&>Copyright 1998 School of Linguistics & Applied Language Studies <&>Victoria University of Wellington <&>side two <&>6:33 gary's biggest worry is keeping the players from getting too hyped up before the match but he says he's sure they'll be okay on the day his parents anne and ken whetton share his worries and they're all organised a little hyped up and a little nervous as well as they prepare themselves mentally and emotionally for the big game that kicks off at two a m tomorrow morning inhales now anne whetton is a keen sportswoman herself as well as following her two sons gary and alan she's played a lot of sports and er in fact she's playing her very <&>7:00 first game of bowls right at this very moment so i had to talk to her a little earlier in the morning i began by asking her WHERE she's going to be watching the big game we're gonna be actually watching it at home here <,> because it starts at twelve thirty with the build up of the er opening ceremony so it's going to be a long morning isn't it laughs will there be anyone apart from yourself and your husband there to watch the er the boys perform er yes we've um we do have a very dear family friend from australia who will be staying she's coming actually today <,> and a couple of other family friends that've watched all games with us for many many years so they're going to stay the night as well so you planning a bit of a party er oh well we hope so laughs oh <.>we yes it will <,> you know um we're certainly going to have a get together <,> but er we would've liked to have helen our daughter <,> but of course it's er er er um a school day so the children've got to get to school so they'll be staying home for that one oh indeed <{><[><,> so is it quite a a social <&>8:00 occasion or is there a bit of tension there as well as you watch them play <[>mm oh there's always tension you can't help it can you laughs you know even after all these years there's er <,> er <.>y <.>y you try not to but er this is always a a bit of tension there you get a bit hyped up you know not hyped up but <,> you get nervous for them <,> you can't help it i can't help it ken can't help it laughs do you wish that you could be over there at twickenham watching the game live oh yes er we we would've loved to have been there but er we did go on our first tour in eighty nine to wales and ireland and we did actually go to twickenham then so um no we decided well we've done it that time <,> and we'll just be <.>wi <.>i <.>th <.>wi <.>we <.>wi be with them in spirit this time anyway laughs well alan of course lives at home and and so <.>you you're very close to him in the in the preparation he's done in the lead up for these big games um he's had a bit of trouble with the injuries <.>are are you a bit worried <&>9:00 that that might be a problem to him when he's playing no um all i think er you know if you worry about that <.>d you know we might as well not watch it um really um they know when they're fit and um he has had a couple of injuries but er they haven't been serious injuries they've just been jolly silly niggly things that er you know but still has kept him off the field but he's fine any special things that you did for him in the preparation for the game and the lead up er any special things er oh er just feed him properly ha ha ha does he really eat baked beans er well <.>ye yes well actually i do myself you know i swim a lot and er i find that's a very good breakfast for me laughs so you're a family that that like to keep fit together and eat well er is that fair well yes we've always been a sports family um you know i've always loved my sports i played a lot of sport at school and er you know carried it on in <.>my when <.>we when i got married and had the children and um er particularly the <&>10:00 racquet games and you know the ball games but um and er the children <.>with you know've <.>al we've always had a sports environment in the family have alan and gary always been parTIcularly good at the rugby right from the word go no er <.>w well no not really we um you know my husband was a rugby player and a referee and er being in the bank we did shift around a lot around the countryside and er when we in tokoroa they were <.>dy they they wanted to play then so that we they started at a nine or ten year olds i think inhales but then we transferred to auckland two years later and er alan went to hockey at grammar and um gary who was <,> much bigger and of course is a a <.>wei they go by weights in auckland he was going to be far too young playing with the other boys of his weight laughs so he played <.>t <.>t soccer for five years they went to rugby at fifteen <&>11:00 oh <{1><[1>so they were late coming to the game from the time they did were they <{2><[2>keen <[1>mm <[2>well they always followed it <{><[>and you know watched it but er they didn't er really get you know playing it together well playing it till they were in the fifth form <[>yeah <.>a and did they always have an ambition anne to to become all blacks one day wear the silver fern well as i recall you know i don't they might've in themselves but i don't ever recall them <.>s talking about ever going to be all blacks i think you know when you're playing a lot of different sports you just enjoy it and er er i <.>do i don't really recall maybe they did but i don't recall them saying it was there much competition between the two of them when they were getting better and better at the game of rugby and it was you know looking pretty good for both of them i don't i don't think you could call it actually <.>com competition in in the sense of against each other they were always you know tremendously um um helpful to each other and er <&>12:00 there has always been a rivalry in other sports with them but er with rugby they just seem to talk about it together and work together and cos they played in different positions as well though they didn't at school they both locked the scrum at school but er then alan became a flanker when he got further up the grade are they very different temperamentally i i guess you know to the outsider people think oh yes the the whetton brothers you know <.>the they're both rugby players they both er you know they're twins they look the same sort of thing but are they very different er yes i <.>th yes they are different in in nature but er very close and very very good friends um you know they <.>ju they're just really great mates as one would say um but they are different in in nature personality well alan of course still lives at home is he er tend to be an active sort of a fellow around the house or does he give his all to the rugby <{><[>and then not have much left for the housework <[>laughs laughs well i think if he had to <&>13:00 do it he WOULD do it <.>w they were very good when they were younger i must admit that they did help around the place you know as all children you know when they <.>g um they're young they have their jobs around the place of course they did a herald run and that sort of thing milk runs <,> made their beds did the dishes you know the usual gen of children but um they got older and got into into a lot of training <,> um probably they could do it but maybe i spoilt them a bit i did a lot of it laughs and i guess alan spends a lot of time with the training and the preparation for the game <.>th they've both been great home boys you know <.>ala gary's married now but <.>they <.>nei neither of them ever flatted and um i guess cos they had each other's company anyway um and um alan's never he will probably one day but i think while he's got his rugby he likes being home and laughs getting the proper food and you've looked <{><[>after him <[>the washing done laughs <&>14:00 oh you do the washing too laughs oh yes oh YES laughs they still come home with the dirty jumpers and things and give them to mum laughs well yes as i say as long <.>th <.>me as long as he soaks them when they're really dirty i i don't mind machines are easy aren't they so that's no hassle and they tell me you're the one who keeps the statistics on the on the lads and and how they've performed over the years er <.>di it give you a lot of pleasure looking back through the scrap books well yes it's quite amazing i <.>n i had a friend here the other day who said oh let's have a look at your scrapbooks and um it's quite amazing when you look over the years the different things and um different journalism and different comments and different games and no it's er i enjoy doing it and it's something for their children to look at in years to come isn't it do they sort of supply you with articles that have been written about them overseas and that kind of thing <{><[>for the scrapbook <[>no they don't they're <.>very they're very low key like that if i get <&>15:00 anything from overseas it's usually from somebody else <,> you know i i'd you know i'd keep <.>f it as far as new zealand goes but um no <.>the they very rarely do that <,> mm the <,> highlights i guess over the years was there a particular moment when you you felt most proud of them you know maybe when gary did his test debut in south africa in eighty one or or alan with australia in his test debut was there a moment that sort of stands out for you as as when you felt REALLY proud of them oh er well cos you're always proud of them but er i think probably er the highlight would've been gary's first test when he was called into the team cos that was his first game even for new zealand and er voc but probably before that we were even thrilled when they made the colts team gary made it first then alan that was a big thrill so um making the auckland team you know they've all been big thrills and of course then <&>16:00 <.>n the um highlight must be of course making the all black team yes yeah it must be great to have BOTH of them in it yes laughs it's very exciting but did you ever think that'd happen no not really laughs um or maybe when they got to new zealand colts thought there might be a chance there um you know and they were <,> really training hard and really keen and um you know they just well they just love putting on that jersey don't they laughs the the journalists over the years <.>i i guess the all blacks have always been the focus of attention and <.>at probably at the time that that buck shelford wasn't captain anymore and and gary was made captain there were some pretty strong words said has any of that ever been hurtful for the family anne um well maybe for mel <.>an mum and pa laughs i mean <.>th the boys attitude is marvellous as <&>17:00 always um maybe it was because as i say it was a great thrill for him and we knew he could do it and um he wasn't replacng him in his position but he all he was doing was was replacing him as the captain wasn't he and um but oh you forget about that you know um it's goes in the past very quickly well the big game is is today they're going to be going through <.>an and i guess there's going to be a world attention focused on them <.>w what's what's your best hope for them i just hope a that er they play well the team plays well and b that they have a good win <,> you know i think er and enjoy the game but er i think that the most important thing is that er and i know they will you know they <.>a they all just play well are you going to be talking to them afterwards anne er sometimes we do and sometimes we don't it <&>17:00 all depends um you know gary will be talking to jane so we usually catch up that way um as i say it it's hard sometimes to <.>get get hold of them it's a matter of them trying to get hold of us <{><[>laughs <[>laughs well good luck i hope er you can keep the nervous tension under control and that you can enjoy the game as well anne well we'll do both and thank you very much indeed thank you very much anne and good luck with the bowls oh thank you indeed all right okay thanks very much for your <{1><[1>time anne bye <{2><[2>bye <[1>right <[2>bye bye <&>18:30