Matthew Ridge

You know, like in New Zealand, we were, you know, we had the 82 All Whites and that was cool, but there just wasn't really a pathway, you know?

So I was like, I got to, I got to form three and I was like, hmm, I'm just going to bin soccer.

So I kept playing for my, my club, um,

but I sort of stopped playing soccer at 14.

But, you know, I could kick off both feet.

I had good vision, you know, like I was aggressive, like, you know, everything that we, every team that I pretty much played and we won everything, you know, like it was just, that's just how it was, played for Auckland.

And then I don't think they had New Zealand reps in those days, you know, like it was, but yeah, then I just made a decision to play rugby.

I thought if I'm going to do anything, if I'm going to go anywhere, and my mentality was I'll get a really good job if I become an All Black.

So that was my mentality, you know, like it wasn't about, you know, I think I'm going to make a heap of money.

It was like I'll get a good job and I'll be able to make some money.

You know, that's how I, that's how, that was,

my mindset and you know because I can remember my uncle because I used to idolize my uncle the soccer player and he used to work at the dry cleaners and I remember asking him when I was about 12 or 13 I said Bill like how much money do you earn a year and he was like oh oh 26,000 dollars and I was like

I'm earning 35, I'm on fire.

So that was my sort of, you know, like I sort of set goals for myself because we weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination.

We weren't poor, but we, you know, like my grandmother had to, you know, we had to budget and, you know, it was a little notebook every day and, you know, like we didn't overspend and I didn't want for anything, but I knew, you know,

we wouldn't be able to afford it.

No, that's a really, really good point.

But, yeah, like I say, like...

There was no avenue into, like, I just felt like there was no support in tennis.

You know, like, I would have been... I want to look at Brett Stephen.