The Unused Subs

BILL TUILOMA: Birkenhead to Marseille & Marcelo Bielsa | EP30 - The Unused Subs

The Unused Subs

Show Notes

This week’s guest is an absolute ripper: it’s All Whites defender Bill Tuiloma, repping Aotearoa and Pasifika all over the footballing world. From humble beginnings on Auckland’s North Shore, the Beach Haven resident helped put Birkenhead on the map… and then wound up in Marseille under the watchful eye of the legendary Marcelo Bielsa as a teenager!

How does a young man with Samoan heritage avoid playing sport with an oval-shaped ball? One fateful day for his father on the rugby field set Bill off on the round-ball path - a journey that has taken him to France, the New Zealand national team, and the USA for the last 8 years.

Bill talks about his recent outings with the All Whites against Ecuador and Colombia, the 'fun' of facing off against Luis Diaz, the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, the disappointment of failing to qualify in 2022, and also the impressive 'El Loco' Bielsa - one of the truly phenomenal minds of world football.

Before Bill takes centre stage, the Subs Bench wraps the weekend for the Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC, we find out if Paul Ifill can reveal the worst trialist in Nix history, and there’s an apology issued to Corban Piper… all of this and so much more in the latest offering from The Unused Subs!

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