SENZ celebrates three years of bringing full-time sports radio back to New Zealand airwaves

July 19, 2021 marked the beginning of sports talk radio making a full-time return to the New Zealand airwaves with SENZ.

It all began with Israel Dagg and Brendon McCullum anchoring the Breakfast show. Nowadays, Izzy is partnered up with Scotty Stevenson, following on from Tony Kemp, while McCullum is bringing ‘Bazball’ to the world as coach of the England Test cricket team.

The Run Home with Kirst & Beav has been tweaked and re-tooled under executive producer Brad Lewis, who joined the station in 2023 following the surprise shutdown of TodayFM.

Meanwhile, Ian Smith and Mark Stafford anchor the Mornings and Afternoons shows respectively.

From Sam Hewat and Blake Ayshford calling the highs and lows of the One NZ Warriors season, to Daniel McHardy bringing All Blacks fans closer to the action and atmosphere of the Rugby World Cup in France, a bumper summer of international cricket with our world-class commentary team, including Ian Smith, Jeremy Coney and John Bracewell, plus all the weekly moments across our four flagship shows – everyone involved has lived the mantra ‘SENZ, it’s Kiwi for sport’.

We do this because we love sport. We want to see our New Zealand teams and our athletes to strive and succeed, just as much as those listening to us either on their radios, or via the SENZ app, do.

Now under new ownership by Entain, there’s plenty more to look forward to – here are just a few highlights from the first years of SENZ.

QUIZZY DAGG

"I've never seen an IndyCar drive on water!"

Never has Izzy Dagg wanted to giveaway a pair of shoes to a listener more than on this day, but the answer given ended up flooring the entire Breakfast crew.

SMITHY GOES RED

If these highlights were a Sportscenter Top 10, this would have to be number one on the countdown.

SENZ Mornings host Ian Smith made a hilarious gaff on-air while marveling over the prowess of Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs on the track, and last year, Izzy made sure he didn't forget it last year while celebrating the station's second birthday.

SENZ AT RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023

SENZ commentator Daniel McHardy and SENZ Digital executive producer Logan Swinkels made the long journey to France, taking in the sights and sounds of the Rugby World Cup and reporting back home to New Zealand.

Along with calling the All Blacks' first two matches alongside Justin Marshall, McHardy was also getting amongst the fans on the streets of Paris.

THAT FORWARD PASS

"That's a mile forward! Gerard Sutton, what are you doing?"

The call of 'shameful officiating' echoed across both sides of the Tasman during the NZ Warriors' 2023 Preliminary Final clash against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.

The Broncos won 42-12 and punched their ticket into the Grand Final, but this pivotal moment in the match serves as the beginning of Sam Hewat's now long-standing grudge with referee Gerard Sutton.

THE UNDERARM INCIDENT

All these years later, it's safe to say that Smithy might still be haunted by that fateful day on February 1, 1981.

When Australian skipper Greg Chappell told his younger brother Trevor to bowl an underarm delivery to New Zealand's Brian McKechnie, it sparked outraged then and now.