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Scotty’s Word

The NRLW season starts this weekend with a crazy amount of women from Aotearoa involved. The NZ Warriors vs Bulldogs game on Sunday sums this up perfectly as Bulldogs are the most active NRLW team recruiting from New Zealand and their teams below NRLW usually have a majority of players who played junior footy in Aotearoa, specifically Mangere East.

Eight of the top-17 named for Bulldogs are NRLWahine. Of those eight, Kiwi Ferns forward Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa is the only one I can’t find a junior footy connection to Aotearoa for. There are a bunch of NRLWahine named for Bulldogs in NSW Women’s Premiership as well, which shows the investment Bulldogs have made in recruiting talent from New Zealand.

Bulldogs have players like Moana Courtenay, Daynah Nankivell and Monica Tagoai who they recruited at the NRLW level. Courtenay and Tagoai were part of the Bulldogs’ entry to NRLW and Nankivell will make her NRLW debut. They also have players like Shaquaylah Mahakitau-Monschau and Mary-Jane Taito who have worked through the Bulldogs system as Bulldogs have had NRLWahine at all levels (U17, U19, Women’s Premiership) in recent years.

All NRLW teams have wahine from New Zealand. Then there’s the first NZ Warriors team of the season that only has one Aussie in the top-17 in Emmanita Paki, although Jasmin Huriwai is from Aotearoa and played rugby union for Australia before switching to NRLW. Switching from rugby union to rugby league or going from playing both to just rugby league is a common theme here and it’s something to track because mainstream media don’t seem to care ... yet.

Take that Bulldogs trio named above. All three joined NRLW from rugby union with Courtenay moving from the Farah Palmer Cup level, Nankivell played Super Rugby Aupiki and Tagoai has played for Black Ferns. This is the norm and the majority of NRLWahine have played rugby union at some point, while many have snapped up better career pathways in NRLW.

The funkiest selection for NZW is Christabelle Onesemo-Tuilaepa who is named on the bench having not featured in any signing announcements or squad lists prior to the team naming. Along with twin sister Demielle, they are from Samoa and moved to Auckland to chase footy careers which led to them making representative teams in both league and union (peep the theme).

They went to Westlake Girls College along with Ashlee Matapo who popped out of nowhere last season to play NRLW as an 18-year-old. Matapo is named to start at middle forward this week and NZW are battling plenty of injuries for round one which has opened up space for these younger players in a similar fashion to the men’s team.

NZW do have Apii Nicholls at fullback and a halves combo of Patricia Maliepo and Gayle Broughton. That’s as good as it gets and as they also have a big, powerful forward pack, the Kiwi Ferns halves combo should lead the way for NZW. Young Aussie Natalia Hickling is named in the wider squad as the halves depth and she fits the theme of the NZW organisation recruiting young halves from Australia.

I expect Huriwai to cover dummy half behind Capri Paekau. Stacey Waaka is on the extended bench and could be a late inclusion but she will probably be eased into NRLW footy. That’s an example of the depth on offer because Mele Hufanga is also out injured and NZW don’t suffer too much as all the outside backs have done well in NRLW so far.

NZ Warriors team vs Bulldogs

• Fullback: Apii Nicholls

• Wing: Lavinia Tauhalaliku, Payton Takimoana

• Centre: Tysha Ikenasio, Emmanita Paki

• Half: Gayle Broughton, Patricia Maliepo

• Middle: Annetta Nu’uausala, Mya Hill-Moana, Ashlee Matapo

• Edge: Maarire Puketapu, Shakira Baker

• Hooker: Capri Paekau

• Bench: Jasmin Huriwai, Harata Butler, Laishon Albert-Jones, Christabelle Onesemo

• Extendo: Metanoia Fetalaiga, Natalia Hickling, Stacey Waaka, Felila Kia

Here’s my best attempt at listing all NRLWahine named for Australian teams in round one...

Sharks: Annessa Biddle (Otara), Najvada George (Melbourne), Jaydika Tafua (Papanui)

Knights: Shanice Parker (Perth), Tenika Willison (Taharoa), Tiana Davison (Waitara), Fane Finau (Otara), Amelia Pasikala (Wairoa), Cheyelle Robins-Reti (Taranaki)

Titans: Georgia Hale (Richmond), Sarina Masaga (Howick), Te Ngaroahiahi Fanua Awhina Rimoni (Wainuiomata)

Roosters: Otesa Pule (Otara)

Dragons: Nita Maynard (Gisborne), Brooke Anderson (Sydney), Trinity Tauaneai (Wainuiomata), Seriah Palepale (Mangere East)

Raiders: Leianne Tufuga (Otara), Mackenzie Wiki (Manurewa), Grace Kukutai (Lynfield College)

Broncos: Kerri Johnson (Kaikohe), Brianna Clark (Sarina), Shannon Mato (Upper Hutt)

Cowboys: Abigail Roache (Richmond), Rosie Kelly (Hokitika), Hailee-Jay Ormond-Maunsell (Invercargill)

Eels: Martha Mataele (Sydenham), Boss Kapua (Taupo)

Tigers: Raecene McGregor (Sydney), Shaniece Monschau (Mt Albert)

Bulldogs: Moana Courtenay (North Shore), Daynah Nankivell (Moerewa), Monica Tagoai (Marist St Pats), Shaquaylah Mahakitau-Monschau (Waitakere College/St Peter’s Cambridge), Angelina Teakaraanga Katoa (Auckland), Alexis Tauaneai (Wainuiomata), Mary-Jane Taito (Mangere East), Giovanna Suani (Mangere East), Evelyn Roberts (Mangere East), Maatuleio Fotu-Moala (Otahuhu), Simina Lokotui (Mangere East)

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• NZ Warriors men’s signings/departures

• Blackcaps ODI squad for West Indies tour

• Emerging one-day New Zealand team

I did pretty well to debrief the Blackcaps Test series win without mentioning the other team. One thing I’ve been pondering is how coach Rob Walter has settled into his role nicely and how different his role is to that other team’s coach. The other cricket cartel team has more of a celebrity coach in charge so lots of the attention for them is directed towards the coach.

Many folks wouldn’t even know who Walter is, let alone how seamless the transition has been from the Gary Stead era. The cricket cartel nation is constantly having resets and reviews to shake things up, yet Blackcaps have had no such dramas in changing coaches. Stead was an excellent coach for Blackcaps and played his role in the most successful phase of Blackcaps cricket that I can remember, finishing with a Test series win in India and making the Champions Trophy final.

Then Walter took over and he has worked with 20+ players in each format, guiding the top-tier to a T20 World Cup final and another Test series win overseas. Walter has also been instrumental in giving opportunities to emerging talent which has cultivated incredible depth with a bunch of seamers debuting in Zimbabwe, Mitch Hay and Dean Foxcroft scoring runs on Test debuts and players like Kristian Clarke and Jayden Lennox playing key roles during the ODI series win in India.

Coach Walter has continued Stead’s mahi in creating an environment where players do their jobs, regardless of where they sit on the depth chart. Blackcaps went deep into their seam bowling stocks vs West Indies last summer and two players from that series in Jacob Duffy and Michael Rae weren’t even part of the latest series win.

This is a guy who has worked through the Aotearoa pipeline in the domestic circuit and then with NZ-A before taking up a job with South Africa. That reflects well on coach development in New Zealand and there’s plenty more coming through the pipeline such as BJ Watling who has done a lovely job with Northern Districts.

All of which makes these quotes below from Walter even more interesting. He said this stuff while he was coach of South Africa in 2023...

“They’ve gone beyond the time where people couldn’t understand why they achieved the results they have. They’re a very good side now and you don’t see many holes in their make-up. They have a lot of depth in different positions and for the most part, highly experienced cricketers who’ve played a lot and achieved a lot.

That’s probably the strength of this New Zealand side, it’s not easy to get a game, let alone a World Cup squad.

If you look at a guy like Daryl Mitchell, it’s an indication that in the New Zealand system, you have to play a lot of domestic cricket to eventually get a shot at internationals. I was exposed to Daryl from day one when I started coaching in New Zealand and it’s only in the last two years that he’s really become an unbelievable international cricketer.

In New Zealand, when a player steps in [to the national side] there’s pressure from beneath and it inspires the incumbents to raise their game”

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

The Belgian team that absolutely smoked the All Whites 5-1 in the group stage were on the verge of getting knocked out by Senegal this morning, trailing 2-0 after 85 minutes and looking pretty toothless... which in turn reflected terribly on New Zealand for being thrashed by those same jokers. But then Romelu Lukaku (86’) and Youri Tielemans (89’) scored to take it to extra time and Belgium ended up getting a very late penalty awarded after a VAR review, which Tielemans dispatched top bins for the win (120+5’). 3-2 to Belgium. Nice to see a bit of fight from those guys against someone other than the All Whites, we were looking a bit exposed there for a sec.

A key lesson of the World Cup is that it’s never as simple as the rankings or the pedigree of teams... all these nations from all over the globe bring different styles and New Zealand’s (much evolved) style didn’t match up great against Belgium who could move the ball with a much quicker tempo and more precision against the slower kiwis. Senegal’s threat is their athleticism, especially in transition. They’ve got rapid forwards who run direct and made Belgium’s older dudes look exhausted, unable to settle. Kevin de Bruyne was subbed within an hour. We were incapable of doing that to them. Senegal were not... but then they bottled it.

If not for the collateral shame for New Zealand, it would have been brilliant to see Senegal advance at the humiliating expense of Belgium. Humiliating not because Senegal were rank underdogs or anything - they have an awesome squad that’s honestly underachieved in this tournament - but for how little Belgium had accomplished. They were wasteful in draws against Iran and Egypt. Blew out the NZers but then didn’t take any of that momentum into the knockouts. Then were on the brink of going down whilst barely firing a threatening shot until the last five minutes against Senegal. Oh well, that’s the World Cup for ya. Crazy things happen.

Group Stage Eliminations by Confederation:

• Asia (7/9): South Korea, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Uzbekistan

• Europe (3/16): Czechia, Scotland, Turkey

• North & Central America (3/6): Haiti, Curacao, Panama

• Oceania (1/1): New Zealand

• South America (1/6): Uruguay

• Africa (1/10): Tunisia

European and South American teams have dominated the World Cup throughout history – no nation from any other region has ever won it. Four years ago, Morocco became the first African nation to make the semi-finals and it’s been incredible to see the success the African teams are having, with only Tunisia failing to advance to the knockouts. Alas, the knockouts are here now and they appear to have triggered something else from those AFCON sides...

• South Africa lost 1-0 to Canada due to a 90+2nd min goal

• Ivory Coast lost 2-1 to Norway due to an 86th min goal

• DR Congo lost 2-1 to England due to an 86th min goal

• Senegal lost 3-2 to Belgium due to a 120+6th min goal after also conceding an 89th min equaliser to force extra time

The exception is Morocco (with their past pedigree) who beat the Netherlands on pens after equalising in stoppage time. We’ll see how it goes with Egypt vs Australia, Algeria vs Switzerland, Ghana vs Colombia, and Cape Verde vs Argentina still to come. Those other four African sides were good enough to have won those games but came up short in critical moments, unable to handle the pressure against teams outside their confederation. A lot like how the All Whites weren’t able to hold onto leads in their own games. We’ve got more of an excuse since we don’t even get competitive games within our confederation, but then that’s why we went home early and they all made knockouts. By the way, we drew with DR Congo a couple years ago. Drew with Tunisia also.

Not really sure the gap has closed for the other confederations, though. The Central American teams were all eliminated in the first round with only the three North American hosts progressing from that region. Asia did crap with the exception of Aussie and Japan. Oceania wasn’t able to squeeze through - commiserations to our All Whites. Gotta log this context for the next four years as the All Whites try to put themselves in position to go further next time.

All Whites Opponents By Confederation During Bazeley Era (Since March 2023)

• Africa (1-2-2): DR Congo, Egypt (2), Tunisia, Ivory Coast

• Asia (2-2-3): China, Qatar (DNF), Australia (3), Malaysia, Iran

• Europe (0-2-7): Sweden, Greece, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Norway, Finland, England, Belgium

• North & Central America (0-1-2): Mexico, USA, Haiti

• South America (1-0-2): Colombia, Ecuador, Chile

• Oceania (9-0-0): Solomon Islands, Vanuatu (3), Tahiti (2), Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia

Darren Bazeley’s contract runs through until September so he’ll get at least one more window in charge (probably many more on top of that too but we’ll see). Sounds like there will be at least one home game in that slot, probably against an Asian opponent. The match calendar is changing to have a 16-day window in September-October with room for up to four games and therefore less disruption to club seasons. There’s then a normal length window in November. That means up to six more games before the end of the year. Chris Wood could be sitting on 99-caps at Christmas time if we schedule the maximum amount and he plays them all.

Check out the Paywalled section if you’re one of those clever, talented, kindly souls who support TNC financially - there’s a full breakdown of the Men’s U16 football squad that’s just been announced including a few curious selection trends from NZ Football at this level

There’ll be at least one New Zealander partaking in NBA Summer League activities this year: Flynn Cameron’s been invited to play for the Portland Trail Blazers. The reigning NBL Most Improved Player will give it a nudge against Phoenix, Orlando, Minnesota, Denver, and whoever they end up against in their last match which is results-dependent. Portland just traded for Ja Morant so perhaps he’ll put in a good word for another kiwi NBA teammate after his time spent with Steven Adams. NZ Breakers old boy Karim Lopez will play for Morant’s old team Memphis Grizzlies after his draft pick was traded there on the day. Cameron won’t have to compete with any draftees in Portland because they’d traded away all their picks and didn’t select anyone, not even in the second round.

Last year we had Sam Mennenga (LA Lakers), Tyrell Harrison (Denver Nuggets), and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (Toronto Raptors) for our busiest ever Summer League group... but Mennenga and ATW were only used very sparingly while Harrison started off great but then they gave up on him after a couple games. We’ll see how much room Cameron gets to impress but usually these are purely about experience and personal growth rather than a genuine shot of earning an NBA contract. Almost nobody earns one of them based on Summer League but the invitation alone has become something of a badge of honour that only gets dished out to those among NZ’s very best current pros/college grads.

New Zealanders who have been invited to NBA Summer League:

Kirk Penney, Craig Bradshaw, Steven Adams, Tom Abercrombie, Robe Loe, Corey Webster, Tai Webster, Jack Salt, Finn Delany, Sam Waardenburg, Mojave King, Sam Mennenga, Tyrell Harrison, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Flynn Cameron

Highest Individual Score By Batting Position on Blackcaps Test Tour of Ireland/England

• 1 – Tom Latham 151 vs England, Test 3

• 2 – Devon Conway 157 vs England, Test 3

• 3 – Henry Nicholls 121 vs England, Test 2

• 4 – Rachin Ravindra 121 vs Ireland

• 5 – Daryl Mitchell 100* vs England, Test 3

• 6 – Tom Blundell 186 vs Ireland

• 7 – Glenn Phillips 100 vs England, Test 2

• 8 – Glenn Phillips 44* vs England, Test 1

• 9 – Kyle Jamieson 41 vs England, Test 2

• 10 – Ben Sears 19no vs England, Test 3

• 11 – Will O’Rourke 0* vs England, Test 2

So across the last four Test matches played, for three wins and a loss, the Blackcaps have scored seven hundreds by seven different batters in seven different positions. None of them tonned up twice on that tour but none of them needed to, the weight of runs was shared around. Dean Foxcroft did get out for 98 (batting at seven) against Ireland on debut so it could have been eight. Mitchell, Blundell, and Ravindra (x2) are the only ones with additional 50+ scores.

Most Test Runs by NZers vs England

1. John Wright – 1518 runs @ 37.02 avg (4 100s)

2. Martin Crowe – 1421 runs @ 40.60 avg (5 100s)

3. Kane Williamson – 1408 runs @ 40.22 avg (5 100s)

4. Luteru Ross Taylor – 1272 runs @ 41.03 avg (3 100s)

5. Stephen Fleming – 1229 runs @ 35.11 avg (2 100s)

6. Daryl Mitchell – 1191 runs @ 56.71 avg (4 100s)

Most Test Runs by NZers vs England In England

1. Martin Crowe – 845 runs @ 40.23 avg (3 100s)

2. Daryl Mitchell – 779 runs @ 70.81 (4 100s)

3. Bevan Congdon – 726 runs @ 33.00 avg (2 100s)

4. John Wright – 714 runs @ 35.70 avg (1 100)

5. Devon Conway – 681 runs @ 42.56 avg (2 100s)

Devon Conway Test scores in England:

200, 23, 80, 3, 3, 13, 46, 52, 26, 11, 1, 41, 9, 11, 157, 5

Daryl Mitchell Test scores in England:

6, 13, 108, 190, 62*, 109, 56, 12, 0, 44, 68, 11, 100*

Daryl Mitchell in Tests vs England

24 inns | 1191 runs | 56.71 avg | 4 100s | 8 50s

Daryl Mitchell in Tests vs Everyone Else

38 inns | 1220 runs | 34.86 avg | 2 100s | 8 50s

The NZ U17 Men’s Basketball lads continue their efforts at the FIBA U17 World Cup. They got on the board in their third and final group game, beating Slovenia 79-74 in a meeting of two 0-2 teams. The Junior Tall Blacks shot out to a 10-0 lead in the opening minutes and then it was pretty much even the rest of the way with Slovenia making little runs whenever NZ seemed to be finding some breathing room. Liam Keogh was the star in this win, scoring 20 points on/11 shooting with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals.

Aussie-based Keogh was everywhere with his long arms and lanky athleticism (very good defender too), scooping in lay-up after lay-up. Point guard Tawhiri Cate of the Canterbury Rams knocked down four triples for 18 points and 9 assists. Big man Zach Rampton (Nelson Giants) scored 10 points. And the main man Jayden Cecil had an average game by his standards but still delivered 14 points and 3 assists. He looks like an outstanding prospect with his variety of scoring moves.

That was an important win because it meant that the kiwis avoid having to face Australia in the round of sixteen, instead leaving that fate to Slovenia. The JTBs, on the other hand, faced off against Serbia early this morning. Serbia beat us by 48 points at the 2022 U17 World Cup but began this tournament getting whupped 88-66 by the Aussies, before big wins over under-matched Venezuela and Ivory Coast.

This one was tough as Serbia turned up with a team full of rangy, long-armed giants who kept grabbing offensive rebounds, poking away turnovers, disrupting shots at the rim, and generally just messing with the kiwi game plan. They were up 31-16 after the first quarter with only nine points from Jayden Cecil keeping the pulse going for NZ. He and Marco Sula were almost entirely responsible for the scoring in the first half and it wasn’t until Keogh and Rampton settled in and started challenging some shots that the JTBs looked in any way competitive... and Serbian burst out of the gates in the second half ruined any of that progress. It ended in a 121-91 defeat.

There are classification games too so it’s not over until everyone’s played through and got their ranking out of sixteen (it’s a youth tournament so more games against more nations is the whole point). Tomorrow night at 9pm NZT we face Japan to see if we can get into those 9-12 placed classifiers or drop into the 13-16 classifiers. The loss to Serbia saw the JTBs out-rebounded 62 to 39, giving up 74 points in the paint. Couldn’t hang against the long limbs of their opponents… except for Jayden Cecil whose 37 points were hugely impressive and keep up his extensive mahi at this event.

Jayden Cecil so far at the 2026 U17 World Cup:

With all 16 teams having played four games to this point, Jayden Cecil is the second top scorer in the entire tournament with 28.8 ppg. Only Dwight Gaines of Puerto Rico with 29.3 ppg is ahead of him and Gaines is playing about an extra minute per game.

Musical Jam...

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Scotty’s Word

Despite losing lots over the last month, there are positive signs for NZ Warriors and White Ferns. NZW have lost three of their last four and injuries continue to ravage them with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak the latest addition to the casualty ward.

I talked my way through the Adam Pompey performance among a few other wrinkles here. Pompey’s game was so diabolical that it felt as though NZW lost because of him. Unfortunately this crept over both edges as Watene-Zelezniak’s injury meant that Pompey moved from left centre to right wing and that’s where the damage was done in the final minutes.

This captures the optimism though because Eddie Ieremia-Toeava moved from middle forward to right centre and had the final pass for a Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad try. Ieremia-Toeava sums up how impressive the young forwards have been in this month of losing footy. They have been crucial in maintaining high standards while the team battles these injuries.

NZW have only lost these games by a few points and two were in Australia against their peers at the top of the ladder. Tanner Stowers-Smith made a crazy try-saver early in the game. Jacob Laban had his best game this season and is churning through 80 minutes at edge forward. Demitric Vaimauga also stepped up for his best game in a while and Ieremia-Toeava ... well he’s a 21-year-old who has played middle, edge and centre this season.

Others keep making the most of their opportunities too. Te Maire Martin and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad lead the way in recent weeks, while Samuel Healey did well to try shake off the challenge of Makaia Tafua with what should have been the game winning try.

The playing style is another factor. NZW have delivered their usual platter of breaking opposition defences in each channel, tremendous scramble defence and their set for set grind in the second half led directly to Healey’s try. They are missing almost half of their top-17 but NZW are still trucking along and I have more admiration for what’s cooking at Mt Smart after these losses.

Less admiration for White Ferns but plenty of optimism. They have had two underwhelming World Cup campaigns over the last year and have missed the semi-finals in seven of the last eight World Cups.

White Ferns in the last two World Cups (3-7)

• ODI: 1-4

• T20I: 2-3

Coach Ben Sawyer isn’t a reason for optimism either. He has won enough to have job security but Sawyer is Lord of the Bad Vibes and his goofy selection calls are matched by declines in kiwi cricket fundamentals like fielding.

I love the talent coming through the White Ferns pipeline though. White Ferns refreshed their ODI group after the World Cup last year and had a series win vs South Africa earlier this year, followed by a 1-1 series draw with England before this T20I phase. South Africa and England are both in the T20WC semi-finals.

Now the T20I group will have the same refresh and I believe they will get better. Bree Illing and Izzy Sharp have demanded 1st 11 slots. Nensi Patel made her debut this year and is now 1st 11 in both formats. Flora Devonshire was selected in both World Cup squads but didn’t play and she will be a key member of the team moving forward.

Molly Penfold and Kayley Knight will be factors as well, plus there’s the Fran Jonas and Eden Carson duo who will play roles moving forward after dropping out of the top-tier this year. NZC have more NZ-A tours than ever before, the standards of domestic cricket keep rising and cricket has some of the best career pathways for young women in Aotearoa so this will ensure that the most talented athletes pursue cricketing journeys.

I wrote about the Blackcaps’ best emerging Test batters here.

For paid subscribers

• Lots of Blackcaps Test batting stats

• NZ Warriors deep cuts

• Blurbs for funky Kiwi-NRL juniors from Christchurch

Seven funky Kiwi-NRL juniors from the Canterbury region in Australia…

• Sosaia Alatini: Bulldogs | Hornby

• K-Ci Newton-Whare: Storm | Riccarton

• Jackson Stewart: Roosters | Hornby

• Te Kaio Cranwell: Knights | Linwood

• Bronson Reuben: Bulldogs | Kaiapoi

• Victory Isaako: Storm | Eastern

• Chelden Hayward: Bulldogs | Linwood

Add them on top of the best NZ Warriors juniors from Christchurch…

• Tanner Stowers-Smith: Halswell

• Makaia Tafua: Linwood

• Jason Salalilo: Papanui

• Bishop Neal: Hornby

• Amasio Tiatia: Linwood

• Sione Telefoni: Papanui

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

The All Whites have finished up at the FIFA World Cup, outclassed (and then some) by a rampant Belgium team in their final game. Drew 2-2 with Iran, lost 3-1 to Egypt, lost 5-1 to Belgium. It got worse as the games went on but the opponents also got better as the games went on. There were levels and levels between us and Belgium, so it goes, the first two games were when the quest slipped away. Particularly against Iran after holding two leads and having to settle for a point. At the same time, there’s far too much negativity around that outcome. It’s hardly a “failure” for the lowest-ranked team at the tournament to not qualify out of their group. Frustrating, sure, since we showed glimpses of being capable of more. But a little context about the world of football doesn’t go astray here.

Personally, I think we’re in a really exciting space because unlike the previous two appearances, which came generations apart, this time we’re poised to build from this. There were 15 players who got at least 50 minutes for the All Whites at this tournament and ten of them are aged 27 or younger:

Marko Stamenić (24), Finn Surman (22), Joe Bell (27), Libby Cacace (25), Sarpreet Singh (27), Eli Just (26), Callum McCowatt (27), Tyler Bindon (21), Ben Old (23), and Jesse Randall (23)

Chuck in the injured Matt Garbett (24) and that’s a sturdy core of footballers who will all be better players in four years. Several of them will be aiming for upward transfers within the next two months. A few others have already had them.

And that’s without looking at the goalkeeper situation, where Alex Paulsen (23) has had a few wobbles lately but should be in that same pocket as those other guys. Big season incoming for him as he tries to prove his potential to Bournemouth. He’s got two years left on his current deal and they’re going to loan him out again where he’ll need to bring the goods if he’s going to stick around in that fourth and final year. Even then, it’s not impossible Paulsen doesn’t even make the next squad. The likes of Henry Gray (Ipswich), Kees Sims (GAIS), and Joe Wallis (West Brom) are coming up fast.

Lachlan Bayliss and Jesse Randall (both 23yo) were nowhere near this squad a year ago and look how fast they progressed. There’ll be more where they came from. Just to illustrate the point, here are a few names to look out for...

• Stipe Ukich – A striker/winger working his way up the grades at NK Istra in Croatia, previously seen scoring goals with Auckland City as a 17yo before he moved overseas. Strong and quick, skilled on the ball... if he keeps on the way he’s going he could bring a whole different athletic element to our front line.

• Luka Vicelich – AFC coaches have been frothing over what this guy is capable of. Son of Ivan. Already played several A-League games (including one start) before his 18^th birthday in May. Very composed central defender who reads the game well and has excellent technique.

• Luke Brooke-Smith – Wasn’t that far away from the squad this time around as a 17yo... genuinely exciting winger who can dribble and doesn’t get knocked off the ball easily. Didn’t get the minutes he wanted last season but that should be motivation for him to command a starting spot for the Wellington Phoenix next time around.

• Troy Putt – Speedster from Birkenhead United in his second year within the Minnesota United system. Made an MLS debut off the bench at the start of 2026 after training the house down during preseason (he won the club’s beep test as a teenager, outlasting the Major League Soccer dudes... even including Michael Boxall). He’s getting more of a go in his preferred attacking spots with the reserves this year but is versatile enough to cover fullback, wing-back, winger... or even striker or attacking midfield. We need more athletes and here’s one.

• Noah Dupont – Very tall central defender who was born in England but played for NZ at the U20 World Cup and is getting close to making a first team debut for West Bromwich Albion in the English second tier. For that matter, there’s also Alex Leinard at Sunderland. A little younger and just as promising with how he’s working his way up their academy system.

That’s just off the top of the dome... it’s impossible to predict these things when it comes to prospects, there are so many variables at play: injuries, opportunities, managerial changes, attitude, luck, etc. But the point is we’re doing pretty well here – it’s not like we have a golden generation and then nothing. Kiwi football is now set up in a way that good players are coming through all the time.

The key is getting these guys into the best possible club situations for their development, where they can learn to live with the pace and intensity of world class footballers. If we want to win World Cup games then our best players need to be as far up the food chain as possible. Not too far that they don’t play... although if they get there and don’t play then maybe they’re not our best players. Wins or no wins, we showed at this tournament that we’ve got ballers. They didn’t have the experience to go ninety minutes of World Cup intensity but we can get there. Keep an eye on the transfer buzz over the next few weeks.

New Zealand vs Belgium, Starting Eleven Clubs

• GK - Millwall vs Real Madrid

• RB – Club Olimpia vs Fulham

• CB – Portland Timbers vs Eintracht Frankfurt

• CB – Nottingham Forest* vs Club Brugge

• LB – Wrexham vs Brighton & Hove

• CM – Viking FK vs Aston Villa

• CM – Swansea City vs Club Brugge

• RW – TSC Backa Topola vs Arsenal

• CAM – PEC Zwolle vs Napoli

• LW - Motherwell vs Manchester City

• FWD – Nottingham Forest vs Atalanta

*Nottingham Forest but really Sheffield United which is where Tyler Bindon played on loan last season. The alternative was Michael Boxall’s Minnesota United. Club Olimpia (you can guess who that is) is also more like Wellington Phoenix, who also have a claim on TSC for Sarpreet though basically he didn’t play anywhere for the previous six months due to new manager selections and then injuries.

Every single one of those Belgian players has played in the UEFA Champions League. 11 players combining for 446 UCL apps with 51 goals and three championships (between KDB and Courtois). In contrast, Marko Stamenić gives us one UCL rep with seven appearances and one goal. Those are the kinds of massive games that our guys just haven’t been a part of often enough to be able to deliver complete performances at a World Cup. That includes international games where we simply have to find a way to get competitive matches outside of our confederation. The World Cup was the taster to get the appetite going, we need to be ambitious if we want to make it work next time.

Fastest Top Speeds at the World Cup by Players Aged 37+

1. Michael Boxall (NZL) – 32.8 km/h

2. Ivan Perisic (CRO) – 32.2 km/h

3. Shoja Khalilzadeh (IRN) – 31.9 km/h

4. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) – 31.6 km/h

5. Alberto Quintero (PAN) – 31.0 km/h

6. Luka Modric (CRO) – 30.7 km/h

7. Nicolas Otamendi (ARG) – 30.5 km/h

8. Tim Ream (USA) – 30.5 km/h

9. Edin Dzeko (BIH) – 30.1 km/h

10. Marko Arnautovic (AUT) – 30.0 km/h

11. Lionel Messi (ARG) – 29.7 km/h

12. Yuto Nagatomo (JAP) – 28.6 km/h

At the conclusion of the group stage, the World’s Fastest Unc title remains with Michael Boxall, who actually upped his top speed against Belgium coming off the bench and having to keep rushing backwards to deal with the rampant Belgian subs trying (and succeeding) to run up the scoreline. Only Jesse Randall, Tim Payne, and Finn Surman reached quicker top speeds for NZ during this World Cup... which is both super impressive (for Boxy) and also kinda concerning (for everyone else).

For the Paid Subscribers…

• The artistry of Will O’Rourke’s Test batting

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The Men’s U17 Basketball World Cup is going on as we speak, with New Zealand over in Türkiye attempting to match the fourth-placed finish the previous generation achieved two years ago. Unfortunately, that’s not going so well with two defeats from two thus far. Game one was against the hosts, Türkiye, and it was a hugely pesky one as the kiwis led by as many as 25 points (56-31 midway through the 3Q) only to let it slide out of their grasp from there. They actually tied it up with more than four minutes left so lots of crunch time action there... Türkiye missed a three in the final seconds but got the offensive rebound and the NZ defender fouled him under the rim for the and-one that took it to extra time. Türkiye won 112-100 in 2OT as the kiwis eventually ran out of gas.

If you watch the highlights of that game, it’s a whole lot of Jayden Cecil. He’s the bloke mentioned a couple of newsletters ago when he was part of the NBL Next Stars team that won the Adidas Eurocamp invitational event recently. Jackson Ball was there too. Cecil’s currently at Utah Prep where Sparky Dickel is his coach and his dad Tai Cecil is the president and his brother Isaac Cecil also attended. As did AJ Dybantsa who last week was the first overall selection in the NBA Draft following one year at the BYU Cougars. Yeah, two years ago that guy was teammates with Jayden Cecil... who scored 42 points against Türkiye. He shot 17/40 (6/19 from threes) to get those points so it wasn’t super efficient but those are still mad numbers. Liam Keogh also scored 20 points while Tawhiri Cate had 14p/11r/9a.

Following that, the NZ U17s were beaten 85-77 by Puerto Rico. Led 19-8 after the first quarter but again had big troubles with turnovers and fourth-quarter defence – outscored 31-14 in the fourth to lose by eight points overall. 22 points for Jayden Cecil (6/12 FG, 3/7 3PT), while Jackson Couper added 14 points in 15 mins (3/3 from deep), Cate again flirted with a triple-double with his 9p/11r/8a... admittedly he’s also been the main culprit with turnovers. Marco Sula scored 15 points with 5 assists as well.

New Zealand face Slovenia next (Weds at 5.15am NZT), who have also lost both games. The good news is that the group stage is only for classification and nobody gets knocked out. Everybody advances… it’s just that if you finish fourth in your group you’ll be playing a top seed from one of the other ones in the next round. In our case that’d probably mean Australia... so a win against Slovenia would be the difference between having that game in the R16 and facing Serbia or Ivory Coast instead.

Junior Tall Blacks at the 2026 Men’s U17 World Cup

The screenshot there doesn’t have first names so for the record:

Jayden Cecil, Lawson Pryor, Liam Keogh, Noah Duncan, Jackson Couper, Tawhiri Cate, Zach Rampton, Daley Pohio, William Patten, Marco Sula, Malakai Tuimalealiifano, Matayas Thomson

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Scotty’s Word

NZ Warriors play Dolphins on Saturday in a weekend of even match ups across the top three grades...

NRL

• Warriors: 2nd | 10-4 | +170

• Dolphins: 3rd | 9-5 | +129

NSW Cup

• Raiders: 8th | 7-7 | 71

• Warriors: 9th | 7-7 | -32

Jersey Flegg Cup

• Warriors: 8th | 7-6 | +120

• Raiders: 9th | 6-8 | -9

NZW are 4-3 against Dolphins. Both teams have away wins in there and Suncorp Stadium is an Up The Wahs hot-spot in Australia. This serves as a finals footy reminder that NZW have lost many games at Mt Smart and have lots of wins in Australia during the two Andys era. No home ground in Australia is scary for NZW and after seeing lots of NZW fans for a few Broncos games at Suncorp in this period, it should be even more vibrant vs Dolphins.

Dummy half runs per game

• Warriors: 8.8

• Dolphins: 6.6

• Wayde Egan: 4.3 | 47m

• Jeremy Marshall-King: 4 | 51m

NZ Kiwis hooker Marshall-King has won all six games he’s played this year for Dolphins. Along with Phoenix Crossland and Brandon Smith, these three give Aotearoa ample dummy half options for the World Cup. Dolphins also have Jamayne Isaako and Kodi Nikorima in fabulous form.

Isaako is the numero tahi Kiwis winger right now, closely followed by Ronaldo Mulitalo, Will Warbrick and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. Watene-Zelezniak was about to switch to Tonga before getting injured a couple years ago so watch out for that and while he’s worked his way back to the top-tier for Kiwis with good NRL form, Aotearoa can still have three good wingers without him.

Nikorima is part of the best halves depth I’ve ever experienced for Kiwis. Jahrome Hughes and Dylan Brown is the best combo with Brown shining in his move to halfback for Knights. Nikorima and Te Maire Martin are in career-best zones as well. Nikorima is the only pure five-eighth in this group as Martin’s settled as a halfback with NZW but they all have experience doing all the halves stuff.

Egan had 10 runs - 126m @ 12.6m/run and 8 dummy half runs @ 12.5m/DHR vs Cowboys. Not only did Egan tear Cowboys apart around the ruck in the midfield, he also set up a couple of tries with his passing from dummy half. That was his first game with 100+ metres and his second game this season with two try assists. His eight try assists this season is a career high.

NZW won’t have Jackson Ford for a while and probably the rest of the season. Ford joins Tanah Boyd and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck with long-term injuries, while James Fisher-Harris and Leka Halasima have niggly injuries. That’s five of the best players out injured for this game. NZW have been in this space for a few weeks which isn’t ideal but they have held steady with their level of performance.

Mitchell Barnett has returned to offer a Fisher-Harris type of presence and Kurt Capewell’s back from Aussie duty this week. Losing Ford sucks but NZW have gone alright without Boyd or Tuivasa-Sheck and I reckon the young forwards will step up to absorb the loss of Ford.

The most important dudes are Tanner Stowers-Smith and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava. Demitric Vaimauga has a different role in the middle as more of a passer like Erin Clark and the Cowboys game laid this out nicely as Vaimauga had five passes and no other young forward had more than one.

Clark had eight passes which is normal. Barnett had six and this shows the levels of middle forward play as Barnett and Fisher-Harris do all the gritty mahi, as well as consistent involvement in distribution. Clark’s grown into a top-tier Kiwis middle forward by developing that ability and the young forwards lean more towards workers or passers.

Vaimauga loves to run it straight and bounces around to create chaos, as well as doing all the tackling required. Sometimes it looks like he’s not playing well because he shuffles the footy on and doesn’t churn out big stats, but that reflects the role he plays as a middle forward. He’s usually on the field when Clark is off to map this out further.

How did NZW deal with Ford’s absence for 60 minutes vs Cowboys?

• Tanner Stowers-Smith: 46 minutes, 18 runs - 180m @ 10m/run, 19 receipts, 32 tackles @ 89%

• Eddie Ieremia-Toeava: 45mins, 8 runs - 62m @ 7.7m/run, 9 receipts 25 tackles @ 89%

• Demitric Vaimauga: 42mins, 9 runs - 64m @ 7.1m/run, 15 receipts 1 offload, 20 tackles @ 83%

Ieremia-Toeava played a bit of edge forward so he had fewer involvements than Stowers-Smith. Similar game time but Stowers-Smith had 19 receipts and Ieremia-Toeava had nine, along with less tackles. It’s easy not to notice Ieremia-Toeava and that’s a good sign because he’s busy doing the hard mahi like decoy runs, finishing tackles, closing gaps etc.

Stowers-Smith has been awesome this season and he’s usually hitting the 40 minute mark. Ieremia-Toeava has played one less minute than Stowers-Smith in the last two games and this shows how coach Andrew Webster trusts Ieremia-Toeava to do the team-first work.

Keep in mind that Ieremia-Toeava was an awesome 1st 15 player for De La Salle College and after eight games of U19s for NZW, he skipped U21s to move straight into NSW Cup. The 21-year-old has played 52 games of NSW Cup and has already snuck in nine NRL games. Him and Stowers-Smith don’t have the highlights of Leka Halasima, yet the are local juniors who are the exact kinda forwards that winning NRL teams need.

Part of this equation is Jacob Laban who has played 80 minutes in three of his last four games. Marata Niukore has not played 80mins in his seven games this season and has played less than 65mins in every game. Laban has played 65+ minutes in four consecutive games and after starting this season ranked ahead of Niukore as edge forwards, Laban has made that gap bigger throughout the season.

With Capewell back, NZW have two edge forwards who can play 80mins. Laban’s just had a busy phase so he may have a break during the Dolphins game with Niukore or Barnett capable of sliding to the edge. Ford did spend a few minutes at edge forward this season before his injury with the same middle/edge versatility as Barnett and Ieremia-Toeava, but NZW have hungry youngers in both roles who can do the job.

For paid subscribers

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It seems like Blair Tickner will come into the Blackcaps Test team for Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner’s in the mix. Tickner is on the list of 10 Blackcaps Test bowlers with 20+ wickets averaging below 27 that I noted in the last dispatch. He has the fewest wickets and the highest average of that legendary list but Tickner deserves his opportunity and was also awesome in ODIs last summer.

Blackcaps with 20-30 wickets and averages below 27

• Jacob Duffy: 25w @ 16.28avg

• Nathan Smith: 28w @ 25.14avg

• Blair Tickner: 22w @ 26.5avg

Santner in Test bowling while also averaging 26 with the bat

• Before 2023: 45.6avg/2.7rpo

• 2023 onwards: 19.7avg/2.9rpo

White Ferns need a win vs England at the T20 World Cup and they are 2-11 vs England in T20Is since the start of 2024. Tricky spot for a must-win game.

Izzy Sharp’s last two scores...

• vs Ireland: 36 runs @ 128sr

• vs Scotland: 62 runs @ 144sr

Sharp was the leading run-scorer for White Ferns in both wins. She batted seven vs Ireland and three vs Scotland with similar results. Sharp also had a knock of 26* @ 130sr in the T20I series vs England a few weeks ago and she has started her career among Aotearoa’s best T20I batters...

Highest White Ferns T20I batting averages with 100+ runs

• Melie Kerr: 2007 runs @ 30.87avg

• Izzy Sharp: 234 runs @ 29.25avg

• Suzie Bates: 4739 runs @ 28.89avg

• Sophie Devine: 3787 runs @ 28.68avg

Highest White Ferns T20I batting strike-rates with 100+ runs

• Jess Watkin: 118 runs @ 157.33sr

• Izzy Sharp: 234 runs @ 128.57sr

• Sophie Devine: 3787 runs @ 122.79sr

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Nick’s Notebook

The Auckland FC refresh has begun with a signing that we already knew was coming but Lachlan Bayliss is a fantastic addition to that AFC midfield all the same. A perfect fit who’ll bring a bit more mobility and, when the stars align, much more of a goal threat from deep than the group of Cam Howieson (1 goal in 45 games), Felipe Gallegos (2 goals in 49 games), Louis Verstraete (4 goals in 53 games), and Jake Brimmer (3 goals in 43 games) without losing much on the technical side of things. Granted, that perfect fit idea applies to Steve Corica’s version of this team and they might choose to change a few things next term... but Corica’s Version is all we’ve got to go by at this stage. Despite Bayliss having some mad versatility, he’d be best utilised in the midfield duo for Auckland.

The odd thing about Bayliss’ breakthrough season is that he did almost all of his attacking work in the space of a five-game window. It was part of an eight-game winning streak that began with a 3-1 win over Auckland FC at Mt Smart. Wins over Melbourne City (1-0) and Western Sydney (2-1) followed and then Bayliss all of a sudden did this...

• W 4-1 vs Wellington – Goal & Assist

• W 4-1 vs Brisbane – Two Goals

• W 3-2 vs Adelaide – Assist

• W 3-1 vs Perth – Goal

• W 1-0 vs Macarthur - Goal

In that five game window he scored five goals with two assists. He played 27 games overall in that campaign and in the other 22 games he had zero goals and one assist. This is something he’s capable of... but it’s not something he’s ever done consistently and in fact is probably a bit of an overrated aspect within his reputation. But we’ll see if AFC are able to coax a little more consistency out of him with the goal contributions.

The other thing with Bayliss is that he can be a bit dodgy defensively. The Jets were quite an open, attacking team which can leave the midfield exposed at times, plus his numbers are skewed somewhat by alternating between different midfield roles. Nevertheless, he’s certainly not a guy to replace Louis Verstraete... although if they can re-sign LV (or get someone of a similar profile) to put alongside Bayliss then that’s a wicked midfield pairing right there. Because what Bayliss does superbly is he gets his team on the front foot with clever and incisive passing and the ability to claim territory with his dribbling.

Love this signing from AFC. Did wonder if maybe Bayliss might be tempted to move overseas (well, further overseas) but then again he’s really only had one year as a standout A-League player (and only two as a regular starter) so it makes a lot of sense to want to consolidate that.

Despite being born and raised in Darwin, Bayliss does play for the All Whites (and went to the last Olympics with NZ) thanks to the eligibility he inherited from his kiwi father. His dad actually passed away a few years ago, hence his commitment to Aotearoa is a very personal and heartfelt thing. You understand that every time you hear him speak about it. Now he’s taking that commitment further by living and playing in New Zealand at club level too.

Plenty more transfer funkiness going on where that came from. Yesterday there emerged a rumour that Sarpreet Singh has interest in a move to Iraklis in Greece, a club that’s just been promoted to the top flight as second tier champions. Singh was only on loan at the Wellington Phoenix last season and has another year on his contract with TSC Backa Topola in Serbia. Except they got relegated so it’s unlikely he goes back – he joined them because his former Nix boss Darije Kalezic wanted him, then dropped out of the rotation once Kalezic got fired.

That was a pity because he had some good performances in Serbia and it’s not like the Phoenix return did much for him. He got injured straight away and now looks a bit undercooked with his touch at the World Cup. Not with his fitness which has been immense - so much pressing and closing down. But he’s also turning the ball over far too often, not playing in his groove the way that Elijah Just and Callum McCowatt have been. The All Whites need to be at a certain level to get results at a World Cup and the only way they’re getting there is by coaxing the most out of Sarpreet Singh – there’s nobody on the bench with that kinda ceiling (although I am on board with Ryan Thomas starting and Singh being subbed on after an hour or so, to consolidate the midfield vs Belgium and also keep things fresh). Anyway, however the World Cup ends for NZ, Sarpreet Singh is looking for a new gig and it appears he’s already got options.

There was also a rumour linking Elijah Just to Southampton. Bit awkward for his goggle-eyes celebration given how the Saints just got snapped sending a spy with his binoculars to scout Championship opponents. The Singh rumour is weird enough that it’s gotta have some truth to it – nobody would make that up. The Just rumour... not so much.

With Just having been linked to Celtic/Rangers for months already, this one stinks of trying to push up the asking price with a bidding war. Motherwell have qualified for Europe next season. Celtic and Rangers could end up with Champions League. And we’re supposed to want him to join a second tier club whilst in the form of his life because... because it’s in England? There would be Premier League promotion possibilities about it and the Saints probably pay the best of those options. But we’ll see how it goes. Apparently the rumour stems from FootyInsider24/7’s Peter O’Rourke who has a history of saying random stuff. Some of them have been accurate, fair enough, but here are some reasons to be sceptical...

Elijah Just is very likely to be on the move and Southampton is a decent option. Still would rather him at Celtic playing Champions League and winning trophies though.

And then there’s the Wellington Phoenix who have announced five departures from their women’s squad:

• Lucia Leon – Not a surprise given one of the attacking imports has to be squeezed out by having Samba and Makala Woods both returning. Leon was excellent with her pressing, not so good on the ball. Only twice played more than 70 mins. She was alright but they’ll be plotting an upgrade. Also, she almost never played in the wing-back position she was presumably signed for.

• Emma Pijnenburg – Joined as an injury replacement after wriggling an early release from her Feyenoord contract (where she was getting regular but short substitute appearances) and really came into her own as the season progressed, forming a fine partnership with Grace Jale and becoming a Football Ferns regular. Started all three finals games. But the Nix didn’t have a say in this because EP is going back to the Netherlands where she’s agreed a deal with Hera United. Her new club just got relegated from the Eredivisie so EP’s there to help get them promoted back up again.

• Tessel Middag – Another midfielder released, Middag busted her ACL in the first half of the first game but stuck around with the club as an off-field veteran and doing some analyst work as well as chipping in with coaching in the youth spaces. Bit risky sticking with her off the back of that injury in the second year of a championship window under Bev Priestman and you want to at least keep room for one new import.

• Ella McMillan – Never got a look-in under Priestman last season. McMillan already left a couple weeks ago to join Waterside Karori in the Central League but will continue on at the Nix as a physical performance scientist for the academy, as she’d already been doing.

• Ela Jerez – Another one that Priestman didn’t seem to rate, another one who has already joined another club. Jerez signed with Wellington United where she scored four times on debut in a 13-1 win vs Palmerston North Marist and then scored again in her second match. Not sure why Priestman didn’t see it from Jerez but this won’t be the last you hear from her.

I’ll get into what this means for the WahiNix squad and which players are still unsorted for next season in the stuff beyond the paywall... along with a bit about Danny Hay’s Champions League career and some Football Ferns forecasting

Fastest Top Speeds at the World Cup by Players Aged 37+

1. Michael Boxall (NZL) – 32.5 km/h

2. Ivan Perisic (CRO) – 32.2 km/h

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) – 31.6 km/h

4. Shoja Khalilzadeh (IRN) – 31.3 km/h

5. Luka Modric (CRO) – 30.7 km/h

6. Tim Ream (USA) – 30.5 km/h

7. Edin Dzeko (BIH) – 29.9 km/h

8. Lionel Messi (ARG) – 29.7 km/h

9. Nicolas Otamendi (ARG) – 28.8 km/h

10. Marko Arnautovic (AUT) – 28.8 km/h

Since initially sharing that stat yesterday, Edin Dzeko has climbed a couple spots while Ivan Perisic has also bridged the gap between Boxy and all the other uncs but number one hasn’t changed. Boxall would still rank third even if you lowered the bar to include all 36 year olds too – with only Enner Valencia (33.1 km/h for ECU) and Ryan Mendes (33.8 km/h for CPV) nudging him among the 26 such fellas to have gotten minutes this World Cup (18 such fellas if you discount the goalies).

Michael Boxall’s Minnesota United coach (Aotearoa’s Cam Knowles) was marvelling a few weeks back about how the ageless Boxy had just broken his personal best historic max speed – this a guy who has been at that club for basically a decade so there’s plenty of data in the tank that he’s competing with. Now we’ve got even more evidence.

Kiwi Stat Leaders from the NZ NBL…

Total Minutes Played

1. Keanu Rasmussen (Hawke’s Bay) – 480 mins (14gm)

2. Sam Timmins (Southland) – 465 mins (14 gm)

3. Kazlo Evans (Manawatu) – 456 mins (14gm)

4. Kruz Perrott-Hunt (Nelson) – 424 mins (13gm)

5. Ethan Rusbatch (Otago) – 421 mins (13gm)

Points Per Game

1. Reuben Te Rangi (Tauranga) – 22.1 ppg

2. Keanu Rasmussen (Hawke’s Bay) – 20.4 ppg

3. Kruz Perrott-Hunt (Nelson) – 20.4 ppg

4. Taylor Britt (Canterbury) – 201. ppg

5. Taine Murray (Tauranga) – 19.0 ppg

Rebounds Per Game

1. Sam Timmins (Southland) – 10.6 rpg

2. Jack Andrew (Canterbury) – 9.5 rpg

3. Rob Loe (Auckland) – 8.6 rpg

4. Tohi Smith-Milner (Nelson) – 8.3 rpg

5. Walter Brown (Canterbury) – 7.8 rpg

Assists Per Game

1. Taylor Britt (Canterbury) – 7.0 apg

2. Carlin Davison (Wellington) – 6.7 apg

3. Keanu Rasmussen (Hawke’s Bay) – 5.9 apg

4. Rob Loe (Auckland) – 4.9 apg

5. Alex McNaught (Nelson) – 4.6 apg

Three Pointers Made

1. Taine Murray (Tauranga) – 36/101 (35.6%)

2. Brayden Inger (Southland) – 34/76 (44.7%)

3. Ethan Rusbatch (Otago) – 34/94 (36.2%)

4. Kruz Perrott-Hunt (Nelson) – 30/83 (36/1%)

5. Sam Dempster (Nelson) – 27/72 (37.5%)

The per game stats are limited to those who’ve played a minimum of ten games, so Jackson Ball misses out with his 19.8 ppg in eight games for Hawke’s Bay... it didn’t seem right to include him when he hasn’t actually played since going off to do that Eurocamp stuff with the NBL Next Stars team. None of the other stat lists were affected by that limit. Also a reminder that these are only the kiwi players, there are imports ranked higher in all those spots but that’s not what we’re looking at.

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Scotty’s Word

Blackcaps won the second Test vs England to even up the series at 1-1. This takes Aotearoa to a 6-1-1 record in Tests since the start of 2025 and 3-1-1 in the World Test Championship. New Zealand is currently fourth on the WTC ladder but you wouldn’t know the WTC existed based on how everyone in England ignores it.

Matt Henry took 11 wickets in the Test with 5w in the first innings and 6w in the second innings. Henry averaged 37.3 in Test bowling before the start of 2024 and since then he has dropped down to 15.8avg. That’s aligned with his 15.8avg as the first bowler used and while most folks know the well-told story of how Henry’s Test career flipped the right way round, his legendary mahi is still underrated along with how good this group of bowlers are early in their careers.

Sir Richard Hadlee and Henry are New Zealand’s only Test bowlers with 100+ wickets averaging below 27. Kyle Jamieson has the lowest Test bowling average for kiwis with 50+ wickets and he has the second lowest average for 20+ wickets behind Jacob Duffy. Will O’Rourke and Nathan Smith have 20+ wickets with averages below 27 and Blair Tickner is in the mix as well.

New Zealand Test bowlers averaging below 27 with 20+ wickets

• Jacob Duffy: 25w @ 16.28avg

• Kyle Jamieson: 90w @ 20.23avg

• Jack Cowie: 45w @ 21.53avg

• Shane Bond: 87w @ 22.09avg

• Sir Richard Hadlee: 431w @ 22.29avg

• Will O’Rourke: 46w @ 24.65avg

• Nathan Smith: 28w @ 25.14avg

• Matt Henry: 152w @ 26.04avg

• Blair Tickner: 22w @ 26.5avg

• Bruce Taylor: 111w @ 26.6avg

10 blokes on that list and five made debuts after the start of 2020, while Henry was reborn this decade. Five are involved in this series with Tickner yet to play and the quartet who have played the first two Tests in England smells like one of the best bowling units I’ve watched play for Aotearoa.

I’m curious about Glenn Phillips’ role in the team because he hasn’t bowled vs England with Rachin Ravindra doing the spin thing so far. England have used Joe Root and Jacob Bethell, while Shoaib Bashir is in their wider group as well. Bashir averages 39, Root and Ravindra average over 40 and Bethell’s 29avg is slightly lower than Phillips’ 31avg.

I reckon Phillips is the best spinner of them all, so it’s funky to hear him described as a specialist number seven or not mentioned much as a spin bowling option. All of which is a bit wonky when Phillips isn’t bowling but don’t forget about him when pondering the balance of this Blackcaps team.

Phillips is the leading run-scorer in the Blackcaps vs England series. He is third for Blackcaps runs this year and is the only batter in the group of five with 100+ runs who has a strike-rate over 70. Right now, Phillips is in a sizzling battle with Ravindra to be my best Aotearoa batter across all formats.

For all the age angst about Blackcaps, my favourite Blackcaps batters right now the two youngest members of the Test batting department. They also share a 40+ average and 100+ strike-rate combos in ODIs, while Phillips is far better than Ravindra in T20Is which offers a splash of balance for Ravindra’s advantage in Tests.

Folks missed the seamless transition from the previous phase of seam bowling legends to what we have now. I believe Phillips and Ravindra are Aotearoa’s two best batters mid-way through 2026, so don’t let that creep below the radar when moaning about the age of the batting line up.

Glenn Phillips vs Rachin Ravindra…

G-Philly

• Test: 36.6avg/73sr

• ODI: 42avg/103sr

• T20I: 31.7avg/143sr

Rach-Rav

• Test: 46.8avg/64sr

• ODI: 41.8avg/107sr

• T20I: 20.5avg/135sr

Any emerging batter needs to be better than Henry Nicholls. Nicholls made his Test debut in 2016 and didn’t hit a century that year. He has hit a century in all nine years he’s batted in since then (while not playing in 2024). Only eight batters have hit 10+ Test centuries for Blackcaps and Nicholls is on 11 with Nathan Astle, while having the fourth highest average for those eight batters.

Nicholls’ scores in his last 10 games: 1, 115, 96*, 44, 52, 68, 66, 77, 68, 13, 4, 24, 121.

Let’s not forget how Nicholls fought for his return to Blackcaps by dominating the domestic circuit last season...

• Plunket Shield: 870 runs @ 96.6avg/74sr, 3 x 100, 5 x 50

• Ford Trophy: 588 runs @ 73.5avg/96sr, 4 x 100

Best White Ferns at the T20 World Cup…

• Brooke Halliday: 81 runs @ 27avg/105sr

• Melie Kerr: 80 runs @ 26.6avg/121sr | 2w @ 44avg/7.3rpo

• Sophie Devine: 67 runs @ 33.5avg/149sr | 5.3ov @ 8.1rpo

• Jess Kerr: 2w @ 32avg/6.4rpo

• Bree Illing: 2w @ 36avg/7.2rpo

• Nensi Patel: 2w @ 37avg/8.2rpo

For paid subscribers

• Lots of Blackcaps stats and notes

• Spotlight on Nick Kelly

• The Taharoa connection for NZ Warriors (Te Maire Martin & Taine Tuaupiki)

• NZ Warriors stats over last three games

• NZ Warriors deep cuts

NZ Warriors defeated Cowboys in Christchurch in a game that went as expected. NZW battled hard in losses Panthers and Sharks, but Cowboys don’t have anything close to the defensive style of those two teams. NZW won the collisions and the ruck, which was then evident in how they broke the Cowboys defensive line all across the field.

NZ Warriors metres per run in last three games

• vs Panthers: 7.95

• vs Sharks: 7.98

• vs Cowboys: 8.98

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad scored four tries on the left edge, but Wayde Egan ripped the Cowboys apart around the ruck and had 100+ run metres for the first game this season. Add in all the other usual mahi like the Taharoa connection shining this season and NZW have consistently shown that they can score/make breaks in each channel, along with a wide range of players making the most of their opportunities.

Biggest NZ Warriors crowds in NZ this season

• vs Dolphins in Wellington: 34,812

• vs Cowboys in Christchurch: 25,365

• vs Sharks in Auckland: 24,938

• vs Tigers in Auckland: 24,246

I wasn’t fussed about the losses vs Panthers and Sharks because the NZW identity was still evident in how younger players took over the hard mahi. My favourite thing from the win vs Cowboys was how Tanner Stowers-Smith, Demitric Vaimauga, Eddie Ieremia-Toeava and Makaia Tafua (playing hooker) had a stint together as the middle forwards and were better than the Cowboys forwards in those phases.

Jacob Laban played 80 minutes again and was challenged by the vibrant Cowboys attack that centred around Scott Drinkwater. Along with Ali Leiataua, all these local juniors flashed some exciting moments but the best thing about their collective mahi is how they do their jobs and play their roles.

It’s the same for Leka Halasima. Everyone expects his crazy plays so folks think he has dipped away this season, but the fact that Halasima and these other youngsters is doing their job like mature NRL pros is the best indicator of their talent and the development system.

Minutes vs Cowboys

• Tanner Stowers-Smith (22yrs): 46

• Jacob Laban (22yrs): 80

• Edde Ieremia-Toeava (21yrs): 45

• Demitric Vaimauga (22yrs): 42

• Makaia Tafua (22yrs): 17

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

There will be a very different looking Auckland FC team next season. Having signed a lot of their initial squad on two year contracts they’ve got more than half their team coming off contract and the dugout’s undergoing even more change after news on Friday that Steve Corica is leaving. He was unveiled as the new head coach of Yokohama Mariners in the Japanese top division – becoming the sixth Australian to manage that club following on from the success of Ange Postecoglou who was there between 2018-2021. Between now and then, Kevin Muscat, Harry Kewell, John Hutchinson (caretaker), and Patrick Kisnorbo have also had a crack at the gig. Kisnorbo, of course, is the current Sydney FC coach that Corica beat in the A-League grand final a few weeks ago.

So Corica’s gone... and he’s taking Danny Hay with him to be his assistant. The Walsall Boys together again. This after goalkeeping coach and second assistant Jonathan Gould already announced that he was returning to the United Kingdom – he’s been hired by Forest Green Rovers where his official title is “set piece and goalkeeper coach”. Not sure if that extra set piece tag comes with a pay increase or not. FGR are in the fifth tier National League, the same division that Tommy Smith’s Braintree Town just got relegated from... and the same division that Gould’s son Matthew Gould plays/coaches at with Yeovil Town. MG is the back-up goalie and the goalkeeping coach at the club, recently re-signed for another season in that capacity. Father and son as rival GK coaches in the same division, aye?

Forest Green actually had a kiwi goalie a couple seasons ago, Jamie Searle, but they never played him. Gouldy’s been a goalie coach at a much higher level in England before but perhaps he just really wants to work with FGR head coach Robbie Savage. Not sure if JG and Savage have crossed paths before but (keeping up the family connection) his father Bobby Gould coached Savage when he was in charge of the Welsh national team and this anecdote has made it to both of their wikipedia pages...

“A comical incident occurred early in the career of Robbie Savage when Savage jokingly threw a replica of Paolo Maldini’s shirt away on Sky Sports before a match against Italy. Gould initially dropped Savage from the squad for disrespecting Maldini, only to reinstate him the next day.”

Here’s an archived BBC yarn about it.

Back to Auckland FC and that only leaves Luke Casserly from last year’s core four. He’s an assistant for the first team and also head coach of the OFC Pro League squad (having been promoted from the U20s)… but it’s highly unlikely that AFC go for the internal promotion route favoured by their rivals in yellow and black. They’ll scout the world for his replacement (although note that the reason Corica was so good was that he intrinsically understood the A-League and what it takes to win there). Melbourne Victory just hired Gio Savarese, who was Bill Tuiloma’s old Portland Timbers coach in MLS, so this league does have pull. We’ll see who they end up with. Maybe Hiroki Sakai can call in some favours.

One thing I do find a wee bit funny is how the farewell press release made a very specific point of highlighting AFC’s youth development after a season in which just 1.14% of their minutes went to U20s players. They do have some mint prospects there, and a brilliantly organised youth system… but no team in the ALM uses young players less than Auckland. That’s probably why they keep winning, if we’re being honest about it. And also this apparent club ideal about “attacking football” that they always emphasise too...

“The club’s playing style will remain unchanged, with a focus on attacking football along with the ‘Always Advance, Never Retreat’ philosophy typical of all Black Knight Group clubs.”

The same focus on attacking football that saw them find peak form, winning them a championship, after they picked an extra centre-back in their formation for the last two games? The same focus on attacking football that saw them win the grand final 1-0 thanks to a deflected goal while keeping 38% of possession and attempting only six shots? They won that championship on the back of outstanding defence and it’s their defence that has excelled the whole way across both seasons. Sometimes the goals flow, sometimes they don’t... but AFC are always tough to beat. The focus isn’t attacking footy, it’s winning footy. That’s the team’s identity. Embrace it!

As for the player turnover, apologies for previous emails where I forgot that Francis de Vries did sign a three-year extension in January so he’s on the books too. We know for sure that these players are coming back:

Logan Rogerson, Francis de Vries, Jake Brimmer, Nando Pijnaker, Hiroki Sakai, Callan Elliot, Cam Howieson, Michael Woud, Luka Vicelich

I’ve got reservations about Brimmer who was injured for much of last season but didn’t seem to be in favour when he was available either... but the fresh start with a new coach does help his cause. These are the players who have been confirmed to be leaving:

Jesse Randall (Dundee United), Jimmy Hilton (Macarthur), Adama Coulibaly (Auckland United), Finn McKenlay (TBD), Guillermo May (TBD), Dan Hall (TBD)

That leaves the following senior players currently off-contract but not yet released:

Oli Sail, Louis Verstraete, Felipe Gallegos, Marlee Francois, Lachlan Brook, Jake Girdwood-Reich*, Sam Cosgrove, Liam Gillion (schol), Jonty Bidois (schol)

*JGR was on loan from St Louis City where he still has a further year left on his existing contract.

That’s only nine players on the books as we speak, at least as far as has been made public. Only one of them is an import. Another is a teenager. The three blokes in the coaching hierarchy are all departing. The team just won a championship and now it needs a rebuild... but that’ll give the new coach a chance to work with his own squad outside of Corica’s shadow. And the mastermind of the whole show, Terry McFlynn, is still around so nothing changes there. If you’re going to rebuild, might as well do it as champions - it’s like clocking your old Pokemon Red on the Gameboy and starting a new save from scratch for a fresh challenge.

No World Cup stuff in today’s newsletter because I’ve already done an audio dispatch for the Paid Subs with a reaction to the NZ vs Egypt game and will write about it in more depth tomorrow... meanwhile there’s bonus stuff in this edition about the NZ NBL and some domestic football transfers post-Pro League

Henry Nicholls by Batting Position…

• Number 3: 208 runs @ 41.60 avg | 1 100

• Number 4: 721 runs @ 36.05 avg | 3 100s & 1 50

• Number 5: 2227 runs @ 39.76 avg | 6 100s & 11 50s

• Number 6: 150 runs @ 75.00 avg | 1 100

Thanks to his ton upon “return” to the Test team in the second match vs England (he scored 150no against Zimbabwe last August and we only played five Tests between then and now), Henry Nicholls has now scored hundies at four different batting positions. That’s definitely not a world record because Gary Sobers, for one, scored triple figures in six different spot... but it’s a surprisingly rare feat. The guys who score the most hundreds tend to score them predominantly in one or two positions – being the best players, they get to choose where they bat. Tendulkar, Kallis, Root at four; Williamson, Sangakkara at three, etc. Let alone specialist openers.

In the interest of scratching a statistical itch, here are all the Blackcaps who’ve scored at least four Test centuries and how many different spots in the batting order they tonned up in. Their overall century tally is in brackets. I’m counting opening as one position, whether they’re at one or two on the batting order (most of the openers mentioned here predominantly only batting in those two spots anyway so nobody was touching Nicholls regardless).

4 Positions: Henry Nicholls (11), Tom Blundell (6), Scott Styris (5)

3 Positions: Kane Williamson (33), Brendon McCullum (12), Nathan Astle (11), Stephen Fleming (9), BJ Watling (8), Daniel Vettori (6), Daryl Mitchell (5), Mark Burgess (5)

2 Positions: Ross Taylor (19), Martin Crowe (17), Devon Conway (7), Andrew Jones (7), Bevan Congdon (7), John F Reid (6), Geoff Howarth (6), Craig McMillan (6), John R Reid (6), Rachin Ravindra (5), Jacob Oram (5), Bert Sutcliffe (5), Chris Cairns (5), Brian Hastings (4)

1 Position: Tom Latham (16), John Wright (12), Glenn Turner (7), Matt Horne (4), Mark Richardson (4)

Gotta update the England captaincy stat from the other day too...

Blackcaps vs England In Test Cricket

• Ben Stokes as ENG Captain: 2 wins, 0 draws, 7 defeats (2022-2026)

• Joe Root as ENG Captain: 4 wins, 3 draws, 0 defeats (2018-2026)

• Alastair Cook as ENG Captain: 1 win, 3 draws, 3 defeats (2013-15)

Alas, Brendon McCullum must read our newsletter because he’s already said that Ben Stokes will be back as captain for the third Test. Another stat is the rocks and diamonds form of Harry Brook whenever he plays against Aotearoa. These are his scores vs NZ, with balls faces included in brackets because of how nuts some of those strike-rates are...

89 (81), 54 (41), 186 (176), 0 (0), 171 (197), 123 (115), 55 (61), 0 (1), 1 (6), 56 (71), 0 (4), 24 (32), 58 (54)

That’s 817 runs at 62.84 average (97.4 strike-rate). 13 innings during which he’s got five 50s, three 100s... and three ducks (including one where he was run out without facing). His 24 in the first innings at the Oval was the first time he’s been dismissed between 1-50 against New Zealand. Gotta get him early (and tbf we often do).

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Scotty’s Word

After losses against West Indies and Sri Lanka, the White Ferns seem likely to miss the T20 World Cup semi-finals and that’s far more common than most would assume. White Ferns won the 2024 T20WC but that is the only time they have made the semi-finals in the last eight World Cups.

Prior to the championship they missed the semi-finals in three consecutive T20WC and they have missed the semi-finals in three ODIWC in a row. New Zealand can’t be a top-four team in women’s cricket if they rarely make semi-finals and while the ODI team has been refreshed since last year’s ODIWC, offering a completely different vibe to the T20I group, the T20I outfit keeps the gloomy flame alive.

Coach Ben Sawyer and his staff have made some strange decisions for this tournament… as well as watching the fielding standards fall off a cliff. All year I have pondered what will happen with Suzie Bates as she wasn’t offering much with bat or ball. While I didn’t think she should be 1st 11, there seemed to be a plan to roll with Bates in the 1st 11 through the T20WC.

I was preparing for that and was open to Bates holding down a vibe conductor role in the team.

After months of planning and preparation, Bates wasn’t selected vs Windies and then didn’t play against Sri Lanka either.

Lea Tahuhu also hasn’t played those games. Meanwhile, Rosemary Mair is averaging 127 in T20I bowling this year - that’s the same as Glenn Phillips’ Test batting average in 2026.

Mair is in her second year of T20I bowling averaging 100+ and Tahuhu has never averaged 30+ in 15 years of T20I bowling. Tahuhu is averaging 20 this year and has averaged over 25 in just one of her last seven years.

Big ups Brooke Halliday who hit her second 40+ score in 47 T20I innings with 40 runs vs Windies. Halliday could bowl but she doesn’t in T20Is so she is an automatic 1st 11 player with 15.4avg/100sr this year and 14.5avg/98sr in her career.

Halliday has played all 13 T20Is this year and Mair is third for the most overs bowled behind the Kerr sisters. These two are playing big roles for White Ferns in T20Is despite not doing much to warrant those roles and this, along with goofy selection planning, is a recipe for bad juju. Bad juju that flows through the mangroves…

Sophie Devine is the most expensive NZ bowler this year and her 7.8rpo makes her the only bowler over 7rpo with 10+ overs.

Bowlers who haven’t taken a wicket at T20WC: Devine (5.3ov), Mair (8ov), A-Kerr (8ov)

Georgia Plimmer’s recent T20I scores: 1, 4, 29, 27, 0, 0, 8, 18.

Plimmer’s strike-rate has progressed but she is still averaging under 21 in both formats and hasn’t climbed over 20avg in 5 years of T20I batting...

Izzy Sharp has struggled to elevate to the T20WC level after decent scores vs Sri Lanka, South Africa, England. Sharp’s T20I scores: 0, 8*, 17*, 22*, 18*, 4, 29, 7*, 26*, 0, 5, 0.

White Ferns now play Ireland on Saturday morning followed by Scotland on Tuesday night. They should win both games and I’m guessing they would need to do something crazy against England to have a chance at making the semi-finals. The grim vibe isn’t a good sign though and the journey of White Ferns under coach Sawyer continues to be one of the odd high point, with many deep dark lows.

Glenn Phillips is my best Blackcaps batter right now. He is the only Aotearoa batter with 60+ runs in this series vs England and Phillips is well above that mark on 127 runs @ 127avg/77sr after his 49* on the first day. That puts Phillips third for Blackcaps Test runs this year as one of three batters with 100+ runs and he doesn’t even have a 50+ score yet this year.

Phillips is another Blackcap who is better overseas than in Aotearoa and he is currently averaging 30+ in all three formats. The other contender for the best batter is Rachin Ravindra and Phillips matches his 40+ average/100+ strike-rate zone in ODIs, is better in T20Is and climbing up towards Ravindra’s Test mahi.

This could open up space to shake up the Blackcaps top-five. Phillips is the best batter in this series yet he’s chillin’ at number seven in the line up, where he has 37.9avg/76sr. I’m not desperate to change Phillips’ role as he’s awesome down the order. I reckon he should settle in the number five position over the next couple of years which would allow for Phillips and Mitchell Santner to play in the same team.

For paid subscribers

• Spotlights on Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham and Devon Conway

• NZ Warriors per game stat rankings

• NZ Warriors back five running mahi vs Sharks

• Jett Cleary vs Luke Metcalf

• Bulldogs Kiwi-NRL juniors returning to Aotearoa vs NZW

NZ Warriors are in Christchurch to play Cowboys and the two lower grades will play against Bulldogs. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad played 40 minutes on the wing vs Sharks in place of Alofiana Khan-Pereira and I was pretty impressed with how Nicoll-Klokstad took his opportunity as someone who has started all backline positions except for halfback in his career.

Nicoll-Klokstad had twice as many runs as Khan-Pereira, who was probably injured for the last phase of the first half. Nicoll-Klokstad averaged 8.2m/run vs Sharks which was slightly below Khan-Pereira’s 8.3m/run but these two averaged the most metres per run for the back five vs Sharks.

I prefer Taine Tuaupiki at fullback over Nicoll-Klokstad but this is another example of the depth available to NZW. Nicoll-Klokstad isn’t quite at the Roger Tuivasa-Sheck level of 8/10 in all outside back positions, but he is solid regardless of his position and when battling so many injuries, players like Nicoll-Klokstad are valuable.

Another thing to ponder is the perception that Panthers and Sharks forward packs have dominated the NZW forwards. The entire Panthers and Sharks teams won the physicality battles vs NZW which goes beyond the forward packs. Sharks for example monstered NZW when they went to the edges where one, maybe two, forwards are involved in the tackles.

I don’t think that will happen against Cowboys. I have been impressed with how the NZW identity and playing style was shown vs Panthers/Sharks despite missing six top-10 players. This highlights how the roots run deep for NZW as a younger team has been able to roll out the grind against two teams who have such effort and intensity in their footy identity.

Cowboys are different. They are a vibrant attacking team with a lighting fast backline, but gritty footy is not in their identity. Their defence is nothing like Panthers or Sharks, nor is their collective intensity in winning every tackle. Regardless of whether the Aussies back up etc, I reckon NZW can roll out a similar performance to their recent losses and get the win in Christchurch.

Griffin Neame will return to the South Island as part of the Cowboys team. He is from Greymouth but spent a few seasons playing with Halswell in Christchurch. Northland’s Wiremu Greig is also in the wider squad for Cowboys but probably won’t play, having worked his way back into the NRL mix with Cowboys after dipping last year with Eels.

Another thing for Cowboys is that Mason Barber will move to Perth Bears. Barber joins Te Hurinui Twidle in moving to Perth and that means that two of the best young play-makers from Aotearoa will be part of Perth’s squad. Barber is from Kaikohe and his best position is fullback, while Twidle is a Turangawaewae junior who made his NRL debut on the wing but usually plays fullback or halves with Eels.

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

Players Who Scored Multiple Goals in their World Cup Openers...

• Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 3 goals

• Folarin Balogun (USA) – 2 goals

• Yasin Ayari (Sweden) – 2 goals

• Kai Havertz (Germany) – 2 goals

• Elijah Just (New Zealand) – 2 goals

• Erling Haaland (Norway) – 2 goals

• Kylian Mbappe (France) – 2 goals

• Harry Kane (England) – 2 goals

Nice grouping there of some of the world’s most potent attacking footballers. Good company for Eli Just to be keeping. But what stood out about Just’s performance against Iran wasn’t only the two sumptuous goals that he scored or his fantastic combinations with Chris Wood – we’ll call that combo Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) – but also how immense his workrate was. Not only Just but the entirety of the kiwi midfield. Joe Bell covered the most ground of anybody in the game and Just, Singh, Stamenic all weren’t far behind. Neither was Chris Wood for that matter. McCowatt was on track to be alongside them except he was subbed earlier.

We don’t have express pace in our squad. Funnily enough, the fastest recorded speed by a player so far this World Cup was actually Jordy Bos for Australia (36.7 km/h) while Mo Toure is fourth (35.8 km/h). Man City duo Erling Haaland and Abdukodir Khusanov sit in between them... while NZ’s fastest player, Ben Old (32.4 km/h), doesn’t even crack the top 100. In fact, our fastest player is the slowest fastest player of all the teams - 45 other teams have a player who has recorded a faster fastest pace than our fastest recorded pace (if that makes sense). We’re not dynamic like that but we brought the intensity against Iran which is what made it such a spectacle of a game. Can’t single anyone out when it was such a team effort but since Eli Just scored twice we might as well compare his physical workload and the defensive efforts he put into his game to another fella on that list. Two very distinct ways to get the job done here...

Messi covered barely half the distance that Just did (he was subbed with about five mins left so we’ll cut him a liiiiittle bit of slack) and nearly two-thirds of it was spent at walking or light-jog pace. But Messi is Messi so he wanders around doing nothing until the ball comes near and he’s suddenly activated, like flicking a switch, and he’ll do something astonishing.

Just stayed involved as often as possible. New Zealand didn’t really apply a direct press but they kept their guys rushing up to close passing lanes and Just was big into all of that. Same as he was constantly showing an option to the ball carrier, same as he was constantly pushing on when his team tried to advance the ball (especially on the break), same as he made continuous high-speed and full-speed runs throughout the game. Start to finish. Crazy fitness from the bro.

It was even crazier to see Sarpreet Singh doing the same stuff given how short on match fitness he is at the moment. Just is battle-hardened from a long season in Scotland whereas Singh has barely played 200 minutes of competitive football in 2026... but apparently he spent that whole time on the treadmill doing cardio. Also after watching Marko Stamenić be used in a variety of different ways for a variety of different clubs during his career, gotta say I think the best version of him is what we see for the All Whites where he’s got full midfield freedom, with a defensive option like Joe Bell beside him, and really gets to roam from box to box. Swansea City tended to use him more in that Joe Bell role last season so hopefully in his second season they’ll give him more licence/responsibility.

Tim Payne is reportedly going to sign with Club Olimpia in Paraguay after the World Cup. This would be the logically illogical conclusion of his social media superstardom. It also shapes to be a handy money maker for the Wellington Phoenix seeing as he’s still got two years on his contract and would therefore require a decent transfer fee. There were a bunch of dudes in this World Cup squad angling towards transfers after their recent club seasons, hoping to use the World Cup to boost their stocks. Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Matt Garbett, Sarpreet Singh, Finn Surman... didn’t expect Tim Payne to be the first deal done but here we are.

Might as well, right? Payne is 32 years old and he spent time overseas as a youngster – with Blackburn Rovers and Portland Timbers – but never kicked on beyond the academy teams at either. He’d probably have been happy playing out his career at the Welly Nix but then all this madness happened and suddenly opportunities have arisen that he never could have dreamed of beforehand. Initially it was the Argentine clubs supposedly interested in him. Then Uruguay and Paraguay were mentioned as other possible destinations. At no time did any of it feel real but, again, here we are. The news has been reported by Sky Sports UK, Associated Press, and by that Fabrizio Romano bloke (although he’ll report anything if you pay him enough).

To give you even more of an idea of how weird this all is, one of the Argentinian clubs that tried to sign him was Deportivo Riestra. The club even admitted they were interested and it would have fitted their modus operandi because two years ago they club got in trouble when they registered a Twitch streamer and picked him to start a top division game (then subbed him off inside the first minute) all as a publicity stunt. Fortunately, some of the other clubs that turned their heads towards the Payne Phenomena seem to be taking him more seriously as a footballer. T-Payne wouldn’t have upended his career for a gimmick so we can trust Olimpia have some sort of vision for him beyond the social media buzz.

Olimpia are the most successful club in Paraguay. They’ve won 48 Paraguayan league titles in their 123 year history, including the 2026 Apertura phase (this is another of those leagues where the season is split in half with Apertura and Clausura phases). They’ve won three Copa Libertadores titles, most recently in 2002. This year they’ve already topped a Copa Sudamericano (the second tier continental cup) group that included Vasco da Gama (Brazil, Audax Italiano (Chile), and Barracas Central (Argentina).

This is big time footy. Similar to when Marco Rojas joined Colo-Colo. Rojas had a couple of special moments with Colo-Colo though his is also a cautionary tale because even as someone with Chilean heritage he had struggles settling into the culture on and off the pitch. Meanwhile Payne can’t even speak Spanish (although his wife is half-Costa Rican so she does).

Random fact: Club Olimpia have had very few players through the years who weren’t from the Americas but they did sign the Togo legend Emmanuel Adebayor back in 2020. He only played three games for them though. Got red carded in his third appearance for karate kicking a fella in the face and then never went back once covid hit.

Plenty more All Whites x World Cup stuff for the paid whanau, not to mention a wee round-up of some kiwi footballing transfer details

Blackcaps vs England In Test Cricket…

• Ben Stokes as ENG Captain: 2 wins, 0 draws, 7 defeats (2022-2026)

• Joe Root as ENG Captain: 3 wins, 3 draws, 0 defeats (2018-2026)

• Alastair Cook as ENG Captain: 1 win, 3 draws, 3 defeats (2013-15)

Kinda baffling that the last three permanent England captains have had such vastly different fates against New Zealand. Cook led England out here for a three-Test series in 2012-13 where every game ended in a draw. Later in 2013 his England side won 2-0 at home vs NZ, and two years later we returned again for a 1-1 draw across two matches. Only one win from seven matches against Cook’s England but we did okay in the series context, drawing two of the three.

Then Joe Root takes over and the Blackcaps figure it out, never losing in six matches against Root’s England. There was a home series in 2017-18 with a win and a draw. Two years later they came back for the same outcome. Then we went to England in 2021 (ahead of the WTC final) and what do ya know it was the same again. One win and one draw. Three series against Root’s England and three series victories.

But when Ben Stokes got the gig, fates changed and England swept Aotearoa 3-0 in 2022 in the first full series of so-called Bazball. When they came down under in 2022-23, New Zealand lost once and drew once. We did get a win when they returned in late 2024 but only after we’d already lost the first two games and the series. Three series against Ben Stokes and three defeats.

Stokes then led England to a win at Lord’s in the first game of the current series... before playing silly buggers with the team curfew that England Cricket felt they needed to implement after their dudes couldn’t behave themselves like adults during the previous Ashes series (including some shenanigans in New Zealand beforehand involving Harry Brook and a pub bouncer) and now he’s been suspended so England have gone back to Joe Root as captain and based on previous records the benefits of that might outweigh the sadness of Kane Williamson retiring mid-series.

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Scotty’s Word

NZ Warriors have lost two games in a row. Not ideal but a younger group has executed the long grind style of play and these experiences will be crucial later in the season. Seven of the top-20 didn’t play against Sharks and Sam Healey’s the only guy I don’t have as a top-10 player. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Tanah Boyd are out for the season with knee injuries. Kurt Capewell and Mitch Barnett are doing Aussie things. Leka Halasima got injured vs Panthers and James Fisher-Harris was a late withdrawal for the Sharks loss.

The best NZW stuff came in the second half once they had laid the foundations of gritty footy. Wayde Egan was busier around the ruck, Te Maire Martin started bouncing away from the defensive pressure and the outside backs went from running it straight to finding small gaps (DWZ styles). That included Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad making the most of his opportunity on the wing too.

Told you Makaia Tafua loved to whack in tackles. The younger players didn’t shine but they went deep into the set-for-set mangroves and played their roles in excellent defence on their tryline. Seeing this group of emerging players combine organised defence and crazy scramble efforts is a fabulous indicator of how the development pipeline is working.

NZW loss because they failed in the winning moments. Egan’s sloppy pass from dummy half to Martin, who went slow-mo through his droppie attempt. Pushing a pass/dropsies during a linebreak. Pompey didn’t look like he really wanted that kick at goal, so he missed it.

That is an example of everything you don’t want to do when trying to win a game by droppie. There were a couple runs that were barely runs (Demitric Vaimauga bounced on the spot) so the defence hadn’t made repeat efforts. NZW went too close to the tryline and made it very predictable for the defence to pounce.

The funny thing is that Luke Metcalf’s best attribute is his winning plays. Last season Metcalf would miss half the conversions, sometimes playing mediocre, and then make the winning play. Metcalf was good in NSW Cup but everyone in that team played well and it’s tricky to compare him to the NRL team because his NSW Cup team won their physical battle, while the NRL team lost theirs.

Metcalf was playing on the front footy ... in reserve grade. He should have classy touches in that setting. You know what else happened in the NSW Cup win vs Newtown? Jett Cleary had 14 runs - 147m @ 10.5m/run. He had a late shift from hooker to halves but one of his early runs was a dummy half run for 29m. In a team with awesome runners (Luke Hanson, Jye Linnane, Sio Kali, Christian Sikuvea, Jason Salalilo), Cleary was the best runner.

Also big up Jack Thompson for this dummy half run.

Hanson played fullback and played well. He seems most likely to depart NZW with Metcalf in the glut of halves, but if he’s also covering fullback then Hanson could stick around. I reckon Hanson could offer fullback depth behind Taine Tuaupiki and Nicoll-Klokstad, ready to play right now unlike the younger Joseph Ratcliffe.

I don’t believe in a ‘home advantage’ for NZW at Mt Smart. It’s weird because I prefer their crowds in Aussie, plus they go crazy in Christchurch so get ready for that. Wellington went kinda crazy for the Anzac game and they genuinely seem to help NZW. I’ve watched many teams win at Mt Smart during the two Andys era, including finals games and two of the four losses so far this season were at the temple.

So I don’t stress about the Mt Smart factor for finals footy. Regardless of where they play, the Warriors will draw big support in Australia during finals and I believe they are just as good in Aussie as they are on home soil.

I’m lacking juice at the moment so I have some quick yarns about the Blackcaps batting situation including the best emerging options, White Ferns deep cuts and Kristian Clarke’s first game of County Championship cricket. But wait…

Blackcaps have not played at The Oval since 1999. They have played seven Tests at Lord’s since 2000 with five losses and two draws.

Why have Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult had such icky retirements? I don’t think Boult has actually retired, he just drifted into T20 obscurity. Southee hung around during a steep decline and folks were kinda over him by the end. Williamson retired mid series. That’s awkward for Blackcaps in this series but Williamson’s murky commitment made developing emerging talent tricky.

Izzy Gaze is a wicket-keeper who struggles to catch the ball cleanly.

Rosemary Mair is a T20 bowler averaging over 100 in two consecutive years.

That wasn’t a shock win for West Indies because they beat White Ferns in Aotearoa during the 2022 ODI World Cup. Same clumsy cricket, same gloomy looks from the players and staff on the sidelines.

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

The World Cup is underway and it is Matchday-Minus-One for the All Whites who face Iran at 1pm Tuesday NZT. Probably our most winnable game considering how much drama the Iranians are having to deal with simply to partake at all... sounds like Matt Garbett may have picked up a knock though and Ryan Thomas probably isn’t fit enough to start. Fortunately our attacking midfield stocks run pretty deep so we can make that work if need be.

This is a talented squad that’s been playing together for long enough that they don’t really have too many set combinations that we rely upon. We can go between our two goalies, between different centre-back duos, between various attacking support staff for Chris Wood… and it doesn’t make a major difference. Most of our best guys are established enough that they’ve played for multiple clubs in multiple countries and have experienced enough club success that they know what it takes. The worry I have is that we haven’t done much as an international team... and thus it remains to be seen how much mongrel we’ve got when it matters most.

There was a brilliant example of that when Australia beat Türkiye 2-0 on Sunday. Outstanding defensive shift for ninety minutes by the Aussies who have been getting taunted by their opponents (especially the Americans) since the draw was done but channelled that into some fair dinkum motivation. Turkey’s captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu (of Inter Milan) said the day before the match that his squad was more talented and would dominate... and he was right. They are and they did. But what they didn’t do was score any goals within that dominance and the 2010 All Whites could tell you about how that works. Especially at a World Cup where the pressure can do funny things and discipline, aggression, focus, and efficiency can overcome the talent gap. It happens all the time.

The worry is that the All Whites have spent years trying to expand their playing style to become better on the ball but it’s the defence that’ll determine what we’re capable of and we have to hope we haven’t lost those 2010 recipes. It’d be a lot easier to predict this stuff if we’d qualified last time and these guys actually had some tournament experience to fall back upon – every game we’ve played outside our confederation this cycle was a friendly. No intercontinental qualifiers. No Nations League or Euros/AFCON/Asia Cup/etc like other nations are able to indulge in. We basically never get to play against better nations where both teams are going hundies. Bring back the Confederations Cup, that's what I say.

2026 World Cup Nations That New Zealand Has Played During This Cycle

• L 0-1 vs England in June 2026

• L 0-4 vs Haiti in June 2026

• L 0-2 vs Ecuador in November 2025

• L 1-2 vs Colombia in November 2025

• D 1-1 vs Norway in October 2025

• L 1-3 & L 0-1 vs Australia in September 2025

• W 1-0 vs Ivory Coast in June 2025

• D 1-1 vs USA in September 2024

• L 0-3 vs Mexico in September 2024

• D 0-0 vs Tunisia in March 2024

• L 0-1 vs Egypt in March 2024

• L 0-2 vs Australia (again) in October 2023

• D 1-1 vs DR Congo in October 2023

• NR (1-0 at HT) vs Qatar in June 2023

• L 1-4 vs Sweden in June 2023

That’s all during the Darren Bazeley reign. Somehow we managed to tick off 14/47 of the other World Cup qualifiers and it could have been more had Greece, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Chile, or Finland qualified. That’s a decent amount of games giving us a decent idea of where the All Whites are at... with 1 win, 4 draws, and 9 losses (plus a no result which we were winning at the time but abandoned because Qatar got racist to Michael Boxall... and then FIFA did nothing about it).

Again, it’s tough to judge because these were all friendlies and there’s that extra 10% that comes out in the World Cup which we’ll have to wait and see if New Zealand possesses. Only three of those games got away from us though (Sweden, Mexico, Haiti). Keeping in mind that the England game was a training exercise from their perspective, the teams that impressed me most when we played them were Ecuador, Mexico, and... yeah to be honest probably Australia in those games last year where Nestroy Irankunda and Mo Toure made such a big difference.

There were two selections that Tony Popovich made with that Socceroos side yesterday that came out of the blue. One was Patrick Beach getting the start in goal (many thought he was there to be GK3) and Paul Okon-Engstler getting the start in midfield. Both are A-League players... at least for now. And both recently gained some valuable schooling at The Port University:

• Beach plays for Melbourne City so his season ended with a penalty shootout defeat to Auckland FC in the elimination final, with Michael Woud getting to live the goalkeeping shootout heroics instead

• Okon-Engstler plays for Sydney FC so his season ended in a grand final defeat to Auckland FC with Cam Howieson, his opposite man in the midfield, becoming an instant legend by scoring the winner

All you paid subscribers can enjoy some Kane Williamson/Blackcaps/Tom Latham stats in the bonus section… started off looking at how Williamson bossed the number three position and then somehow that turned into Latham’s ducks but you’ll have to subscribe for the explanation

Must be time for a check-in with Charlisse Leger-Walker who has been going about her business more quietly for Connecticut Sun in the WNBA since their starting point guard, Leila Lacan, returned to the team (after wrapping up an MVP/Finals MVP run in the French league). That’s given CLW a more defined bench back-up PG role after moving in and out of the starting five through those initial nine games. That was her audition period and she did well enough to stay on the main roster ahead of Hailey van Lith who was dropped to a development player spot (willingly – as HVL could have signed elsewhere on waivers but wanted to stick around for her development). Nothing wrong with that for CLW’s development either... although a bench role does mean limited action and lesser stats.

After never playing less than 16 minutes in her first nine games (without Lacan), CLW has dropped to an average of 14 min/gm since then. The two games immediately after Lacan’s arrival are the only two games in which she hasn’t made a field goal (held scoreless entirely in the second of those, a loss vs Atlanta). She’s been building back out of that more recently though, finding her footing amongst the bench unit and continuing to provide a calming presence as a ball-handler. She had four assists in 14 mins in the loss vs Indiana on Sunday NZT. Snapped out of her three-pointer drought too. These are all solid development areas for a rookie.

Charlisse Leger-Walker since Laila Lacan returned (6 games)...

14.0 MIN | 2.8 PTS | 0.7 REB | 2.3 AST | 1.0 STL | 1.5 TOV | 1.7 PF

This after she averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 assists up until that point. But that point was always coming so no dramas there. What Leger-Walker needs to do to continue increasing her bench minutes is to knock down a few more threes. She had a wee slump over the last week or two which has spoiled her overall numbers but she began 8/21 which shows she’s equally capable of a hot streak. Overall CLW has shot 9/31 (29.0%) from three-pointers so far... with a curious split across the quarters:

• 1/7 in first quarters

• 0/4 in second quarters

• 5/8 in third quarters

• 3/12 in fourth quarters

There’s a similar trend in her overall shooting/scoring where she’s scored 34 points in 3Qs, shooting 52.2% from the field (out of 90 total points shooting 38.1% overall)... though she hasn’t actually seen much court time in the third since Lacan’s return – usually subbed in with three or four mins to go and then getting a similar stretch in the fourth before the starters return. Having said that, they finished yesterday’s game with Lacan and CLW on the court together. Been wanting to see more of that – CLW played with Kiki Rice at UCLA so there’s no dramas with her adapting with a second PG on the floor.

Lacan and CLW have spent 17 mins on the floor together across those six games (they’ve tried it in 4/6 of those games) so it’s something the Sun seem to be building towards. They’ve been outscored by 17 points in those 17 minutes but they get outscored with most line-ups, that’s what it’s like on a 2-13 team, hence we can’t overreact to that. It’s the 144.1 Defensive Rating that’s the problem. Bit awkward trying to gel alongside a player who didn’t join the team until two weeks deep into the season. Call it a work in progress.

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Scotty’s Word

NZ Warriors vs Cronulla Sharks on Saturday…

NRL

• Warriors: 2nd | 9-3

• Sharks: 6th | 7-5

NSW Cup

• Warriors: 8th | 6-6

• Jets: 5th | 7-4

Jersey Flegg Cup

• Warriors: 7th | 6-5

• Sharks: 5th | 7-4

There could be three NZW debuts vs Sharks. Makaia Tafua is highly likely to debut as a dummy half, Kayliss Fatialofa is likely to debut as an edge forward, and Jason Salalilo has a slim chance to debut as a middle forward. Two of these players are from Christchurch and I’ll swing back around to that throughout this yarn.

Tafua is a Linwood junior and his sister Jaydika is a Papanui junior who has already played NRLW for Sharks. Jaydika is named at edge forward for Sharks in NSW Women’s Premiership round one and younger brother Evander is one of the best Kiwi-NRL juniors rising through the Bulldogs system. Evander is a Sydenham junior so all three siblings have different junior clubs and that’s aligned with the spread of talent coming out of Christchurch.

Wayde Egan hasn’t played 70+ minutes in an NRL game this season so Tafua’s likely get a few minutes off the bench. He doesn’t have a NSWRL profile despite playing 40+ games of reserve grade so I can’t offer any stats. Tafua’s always eager to scoot but watch out for his shoulders because he is one of the biggest hitters at Mt Smart.

Fatialofa is the grandson of the legend Peter Fatialofa. He came through Otara and Manurewa, as well as the tremendous wave of rugby league talent coming out of De La Salle College. If Fatialofa debuts he will join Demitric Vaimauga and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava as youngsters on the rise at Mt Smart who went to DLS, along with notable Kiwi-NRL juniors Kanaan Magele (Roosters) and Haami Loza (Panthers).

Fatialofa is super funky because he sits comfy between Leka Halasima and Bishop Neal as edge forwards with crazy highlights. He doesn’t have the aerial highlights of Halasima or a midfield chip and chase like Neal, but Fatialofa’s running highlights are just as impressive. He will probably give Marata Niukore a break at edge forward and his speed is nicely suited to NRL footy in 2026.

Salalilo is a Papanui junior who sits behind Tafua, Ieremia-Toeava, Vaimauga and Fatialofa on the bench. Aside from Fatialofa, the bench has all done middle forward mahi for NZW so coach Andrew Webster will probably shuffle others into the middle. Salalilo is another excellent middle forward on the rise though and is named to start in the 13 jersey for NSW Cup.

Watch out for Ieremia-Toeava vs Sharks. He hasn’t stacked up consistent games for NZW as a young forward covering edge and middle so many will overlook Ieremia-Toeava when celebrating local juniors. He made Auckland Rugby representative squads while playing 1st 15 for DLS and then entered the NZW system to play U19s in 2023.

Ieremia-Toeava has never played U21s for NZW. He went on to play four games of NSW Cup in 2023 and then played 25 games in 2024, followed by 17 games last year with an NRL debut. All of that happened while he was eligible for U21s so these are strong indicators of Ieremia-Toeava’s talent.

Ieremia-Toeava made the most tackles for NZW in the NSW Cup Grand Final (39 @ 100%) and State Championship (39 @ 91%) last year. He played through the middle in the win vs Eels and then came on for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck vs Dragons to play edge forward with Halasima moving to centre.

I expect Ieremia-Toeava to play as a middle forward vs Sharks along with Vaimauga. He can cover edge forward and centre as well, giving lots of flexibility and that’s why I think he will become a regular bench forward over the next year. Both he and Fatialofa are capable centres but Fatialofa hasn’t started many games at centre in NSW Cup while Ieremia-Toeava has covered centre mid-game in NRL and started games at centre in NSW Cup.

The Aotearoa flavour for Sharks this weekend…

NRL

KL Iro (Mt Albert), Ronaldo Mulitalo (Ellerslie), Mawene Hiroti (Western Suburbs)

NSW Cup

Morgan Harper (Ngaruawahia), Felix Fa’atili (Hornby)

Women’s Premiership

Julliana Kolio (Linwood), Najvada George (Melbourne), Jaydika Tafua (Papanui), Alianna Tonu’u (Otara)

Jersey Flegg Cup

Pharrell Gray (Victoria Hunters), Manako Piutau (St Paul’s College), Jake White (Bell Block)

Add in Fa’atili and Kolio to the Christchurch crew named so far. Also notable is White who is from New Plymouth and has moved up from U19s this season as a middle forward who made Australian Schoolboys last year.

Almost half of the Broncos team this week is from Aotearoa...

• Hayze Perham: Pikiao

• Josiah Karapani: Otahuhu

• Antonio Verhoeven: Cobden-Kohinoor

• Jesse Arthars: East Coast Bays

• Preston Riki: Rawene

• Jordan Riki: Hornby

• Xavier Willison: Whatawhata

• Aublix Tawha: Turangawaewae

J-Riki is another Christchurch junior and, along with Willison and Verhoeven, was recruited by Broncos from New Zealand. All the other Kiwi-NRL juniors joined Broncos from other NRL systems with Perham, Karapani and P-Riki starting out with NZW before moving to Australia.

The Rabbitohs NSW Women’s Premiership team is linked to NZW which will give those not involved in NRLW games the chance to play reserve grade level games for Rabbitohs. This was not the case last season which made the way the youngsters settled in NRLW even more impressive as they did so without any reserve grade experience.

I don’t recognise any NZW names in the Rabbitohs team named for round one. I do recognise Langi Veainu who played NRLW for NZW in 2019 and is named at centre, along with Summer van Gelder who is named at edge forward. Van Gelder played for Mt Albert before moving to the Bulldogs system where she spent the last few years and while she has no links to NZW, maybe her move to Rabbitohs puts her in the wider NZW mixer.

Other NRLWahine from Christchurch named in NSW Women’s Premiership...

• Olive Connolly: Panthers | Linwood | middle forward

• Terongomaianiwaniwa Williams | Bulldogs | Eastern Eagles | middle forward

• Manisha Seebeck: Roosters | Hornby | wing

For paid subscribers

• Two Lukes & a Jett

• Eddie Ieremia-Toeava stats

• NZ Warriors deep cuts

• Matt Henry’s colonial struggles

• Updated Blackcaps vs England stats

• Full lists of Blackcaps strike-rates/economy rates vs England

• Basics for Tests at The Oval

Thankfully Gus Atkinson won’t be playing for England in the second Test vs Blackcaps… oh and Ben Stokes too. Atkinson has been awesome in Tests vs Aotearoa (19w @ 17.7avg/3.1rpo) with wickets in all eight innings, taking 2+ wickets in five of those innings. Atkinson also plays for Surrey so The Oval is his home ground in County Championship and we don’t have to worry how good Atkinson may have been at The Oval vs Blackcaps.

This tour started at Lord’s and will move a few kilometres south to The Oval. That’s like Blackcaps playing one Test at the Basin Reserve and the second Test at the Caketin, or All Blacks playing consecutive Tests in a tour at Eden Park and Mt Smart. Nothing about England cricket makes much sense and yet they love beating the Blackcaps.

The Blackcaps last played a Test at The Oval in August, 1999. They have played five Tests at Lord’s since 2010 and have lost four of them with one draw. Lord’s has the cricketing vibe but Blackcaps only lose there and their pitch sucks, so screw Lord’s.

Matt Henry loved bowling to Zak Crawley. But Crawley isn’t playing and Henry hasn’t been that good vs England outside of his automatic wickets vs Crawley. Henry averages a solid but not dominant 33.61 vs England and 41.17 in England. Despite Henry settling into his world-class groove over the last five years, he still averages 29.4 vs England and 40 in England which are well above his Test bowling average of 22 since the start of 2020.

Batters in current squad who have lower strike-rates vs England than their Test careers: Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Henry Nicholls.

Bowlers in current squad who have higher economy rates vs England than their Test careers: Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will O’Rourke, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Glenn Phillips.

Rosemary Mair is still tracking as a 1st 11 seamer for White Ferns at the T20 World Cup even though she couldn’t change things up during the two warm up games...

• 2025 T20Is: 11.3ov, 1w @ 106avg/9.2rpo

• 2026 T20Is: 30.2ov, 2w @ 100avg/6.5rpo

• Warm up vs Bangladesh: 3ov, 1w @ 7.3rpo

• Warm up vs South Africa: 3ov @ 12.3rpo

Another thing I’ve been tracking is how Suzie Bates isn’t bowling much. Nensi Patel is clearly the second spinner behind Melie Ker and while we got a Flora Devonshire flourish vs Bangladesh, White Ferns went back to their regular combos vs South Africa and Devonshire clearly isn’t in their 1st 11 plans.

This leaves Bates as a lower order batter who may bowl the odd over. It’s still a fascinating role in a World Cup but White Ferns have plenty of all-round balance to carry Bates as a vibes leader.

T20I overs this year

• Melie Kerr: 38

• Nensi Patel: 22

• Suzie Bates: 9

• Flora Devonshire: 3

Overs in T20 World Cup warm ups

• Melie Kerr: 7

• Nensi Patel: 6

• Flora Devonshire: 3

• Suzie Bates: 2

T20Is this year

• Melie Kerr: 11w @ 20.8avg/6rpo

• Nensi Patel: 9w @ 9.8avg/4rpo

• Suzie Bates: 2w @ 37.5avg/8.3rpo

• Flora Devonshire: 1w @ 19avg/6.3rpo

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

Probably won’t be doing a Flying Kiwis roundup this week or next week, club football has pretty much all stopped for the World Cup and the transfer windows aren’t open yet so there’s just not much happening. That allows me to put full focus on the All Whites with a little dash of Football Ferns alongside (once I finish my Auckland FC season review). But of course that doesn’t mean nothing’s happened. There’s always something going on, for example Troy Putt scored his first goal for Minnesota United 2 in the MLS Next Pro league.

Putt was part of the last U20 World Cup squad for NZ, coming through Birkenhead United, and was going to sign for the Auckland FC Reserves until this gig came along. He’s in his second year with MNU2, used mostly out of position as a fullback last year but then he impressed kiwi MLS coach Cam Knowles in preseason and earned an MLS debut off the bench. Since then he’s had a spell out injured but has otherwise settled into a more appropriate attacking role for the reserves and look what he’s done with that. Speedy winger/forward with crazy fitness (part of that impressing in preseason idea was that he won the club beep test), perhaps shades of a younger Matt Garbett if you want a comparison to hang onto.

And Riley Bidois scored too. He plays in the USL Championship which is sort of equivalent to Next Pro but with standalone clubs rather than MLS affiliates/reserves. However his latest goal came in a USL Cup game. Monterey Bay drew 1-1 against Sacramento FC away, going on to lose on penalties. It’s group stage footy not knockouts but it was their second to last group game and they needed to win to keep a realistic chance of progressing. Sacramento had a dude sent off after thirty minutes and they still couldn’t do it. Nevertheless, Bidois’ goal means that since he returned to starting line-up (after an injury and late arrival), he’s scored four goals in three games.

And if you want some transfer updates on the likes of Tyler Bindon, Kate Taylor, Alex Paulsen, Mickey Foster, Marley Leuluai, and others then you’re just going to have to sign up for a paid subscription… also comes with some Tall Blacks chat for the people

There has also been movement on the A-League front. Auckland FC have announced contract extensions for both Cam Howieson and Michael Woud. Two of their championship heroes from the recent finals run. Howieson was coming off contract following an initial two-year deal so that’s good business there, while Michael Woud is a bit more confusing because he already had another year on his reported deal so either they’re announcing a previously existing contract option or he’s added another year on the end of that present deal. Or maybe strewn the previous deal away and given him a pay-rise in which case he hasn’t extended his stay at all.

It’s confusing because Auckland FC never seem to announce the length of these contracts for some reason. Pretty much every other A-League club does except them. But one way or another, Howieson and Woud will be back again. Hiroki Sakai already signed a new one-year deal in April while Luka Vicelich signed on scholarship terms in January. Beyond that it was so full steam ahead for the trophy that they haven’t done much else (at least not that’s been made public) with more than half of their squad slated to come off contract.

The Wellington Phoenix did the ol’ favourite PR move of bad news leading into good news so Ifeanyi Eze, who wasn’t listed on their initial exodus of free agents, has now told the club that he intends to “pursue options outside of the A-League” so he’s gone. They left the door open unless he couldn’t find anything better but that was never a likely outcome. Then a few hours later they announced that James McGarry has wrangled an early release from the Brisbane Roar and will re-join the Nix for his third stint with the club, signing on a two-year contract. McGarry’s been on the fringes of the All Whites over the past twelve months and just had an injury-free season with Brisbane Roar. He won the ALM with Central Coast a few years ago and has played professionally in the top divisions of Netherlands and Scotland.

With Dan Edwards released, McGarry is a direct upgrade in that left-back position. They also have Lukas Kelly-Heald who is placed in an odd spot by this move. Presuming that Chris Greenacre rolls with a back four like he did at the end of last season, that offers a left-back dynamic between LKH who is a very good defensive fullback with large attacking deficiencies and McGarry who is a very good attacking fullback with large defensive deficiencies... though McGarry’s defence did improve a fair bit during his time with Aberdeen. McGarry will be the starter which leaves LKH as a back-up covering both left-back and centre-back. He’ll probably feel like he’s ready to try nail down a starting role... but then he’s only one injury away so it’s not the worst spot to be in.

James McGarry:

4 goals, 8 assists in 84 ALM appearances (1G/3A last season)

Lukas Kelly-Heald:

0 goals, 3 assists in 60 ALM appearances (0G/0A last season)

And for the Wellington Phoenix Women, no fresh announcements there but the latest Domestic Football weekly wrap had a bit about how out-of-contract academy players Ela Jerez (Wellington United), Ella McMillan (Waterside Karori), and Grace Bartlett (Auckland United) have all linked up with other clubs around Aotearoa. Ela Jerez scored a hat-trick on debut for the Diamonds. This doesn’t preclude them from rejoining the Nix next A-League season but you’d imagine that they won’t, given how none of them were factors once the squad got settled.

You recall that thing last week about the two New Zealanders picked in the NBL Next Stars team that went to the Adidas Eurocamp development tournament? Well, the Next Stars won all three games to win that mini-championship. The tournament is designed as a pre-draft workout focusing mostly on international players trying to get into the NBA so it’s not a results driven thing but the games were proper games and the NBL team won.

First game was a 90-63 win over Team World where both Jackson Ball and Jayden Cecil were in the starting line-up. Cecil, who is still only 16yo and presumably the youngest dude in the team, then dropped to the bench for limited minutes in the next two but Jackson Ball became even more prominent in a 94-88 win over Eurocamp 2 (against a team that features Victor Wembanyama’s younger brother) and then a 66-62 win over Eurocamp 1.

Phil Handy coached the Next Stars, a current Dallas Mavericks assistant who has worked with LeBron James in both Cleveland and Los Angeles. His main assistant was... Petteri Koponen! The Breakers head coach for the past two seasons. New Zealand’s Ross McMains (current assistant for the Boston Celtics and regular on Tall Blacks benches throughout the years) was also among the coaches involved, working under Milwaukee Bucks assistant Rex Kalamian with the 3Stripes Select team.

Jackson Ball Box Scores

G1: 19:15 MIN | 11 PTS (5/9 FG, 1/4 3PT) | 1 REB

G2: 27:39 MIN | 14 PTS (5/11 FG, 3/7 3PT) | 6 REB | 3 AST

G3: 27:40 MIN | 6 PTS (3/9 FG, 0/4 3PT) | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL

Jayden Cecil Box Scores

G1: 17:28 MIN | 6 PTS (2/4 FG, 1/3 3PT) | 1 REB | 1 AST

G2: 4:49 MIN | 0 PTS (0/0 FG)

G3: 3:49 MIN | 0 PTS (0/1 FG, 0/1 3PT) | 1 REB | 1 AST

Here’s New Zealand’s World Cup squad as per the official documents...

Top Five All Whites Middle Names:

1. The Zen Brothers – Joe Zen Robert Bell & Nando Zen Pijnaker

2. The President – Thomas Jefferson Smith

3. Cook Islands Represent – Maxime Teremoana Crocombe

4. Samoan-Serbian Connection – Marko Seufatu Nikola Stamenić

5. Italian From Wellington – Liberato Gianpaolo Cacace

And further to a talking point from a few newsletters ago you may notice there that for the third major tournament in a row (the others being the last two Olympics), Alexander Noah Paulsen has been listed as 193cm tall which is so blatantly untrue that it either shows that they don’t put any effort into those details or it shows that someone (maybe AP himself, maybe his coaches/scouts) is conscious enough about his height to want to hide it. NZ Football submits those team lists to FIFA, so that’s where it stems from. Maybe it’s just a typo that keeps getting copy-pasted?

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Scotty’s Word

Well that was a stink start to the Blackcaps tour of England. Nothing new though as it was their fourth consecutive loss vs England in England. All four losses have been by 5+ wickets or 100+ runs and New Zealand is 2-7 in all Tests vs England since start of 2022.

The most disappointing aspect of the loss was the batting. Yes it was a tricky pitch to bat on but England managed to have two 50+ scores in the same game and such an experienced batting unit should be able to offer a wee bit more resistance. Just a splash of kiwi grit would have been useful, just a splash.

Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell are in notable form dips. Pretty big dips considering their usually high standards.

Williamson is averaging below 50 in consecutive years for the first time since 2013. This is the only phase of his career without a century in consecutive years after 13 consecutive years with a century prior to 2025. Williamson has one 50+ score in his last nine innings and through this losing streak in England he has dished up 114 runs @ 19avg.

Since the start of 2025, Williamson has the lowest batting average for Blackcaps with 150+ runs (34avg). Mitchell doesn’t have 150+ runs in this period so he’s excluded from that last stat but he does have the lowest average for Blackcaps with 100+ runs (21.5avg) and he is the only Blackcap with 100+ runs averaging below 30.

Mitchell’s scores since start of 2025: 80, 25, 11, 1, 12, 0.

Williamson’s last century was late in 2024 and Mitchell’s last century was in March 2023. Mitchell had a dominant phase of three years averaging 40+ in Test cricket, Mitchell’s now in his third consecutive year averaging below 40...

• 2021: 58.6avg/74sr

• 2022: 68.3avg/50sr

• 2023: 42.6avg/61sr

• 2024: 30.3avg/50sr

• 2025: 38.6avg/58sr

• 2026: 4.3avg/46sr

Williamson and Mitchell are in the spotlight because their form dips were present before this Test. Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell weren’t so flash in the first Test but they have all done fairly well in the recent wave of Tests for Aotearoa. It wasn’t the strongest run of Test opponents, yet that only amplifies the lack of runs for Williamson and Mitchell because they weren’t dominating Zimbabwe, West Indies or Ireland.

Blackcaps won 3-0 in India without Williamson by the way. He played in both losses during the tour of Sri Lanka before that series in India and while Test cricket results don’t depend on one player, it’s not automatic that Blackcaps are better with Williamson in the team.

This is supposed to be the most reliable pocket for Blackcaps. All five (six including Blundell) have played plenty of Test cricket, experienced a wide range of conditions, and are granted tremendous selection faith ... to the point where I don’t think any will be dropped throughout this series. Perhaps Henry Nicholls is the saviour?

Blackcaps Test bowlers with 20+ wickets and averages below 25…

• Jacob Duffy: 25w @ 16.28avg

• Kyle Jamieson: 86w @ 19.55avg

• Jack Cowie: 45w @ 21.53avg

• Shane Bond: 87w @ 22.09avg

• Nathan Smith: 27w @ 22.18avg

• Sir Richard Hadlee: 431w @ 22.29avg

• Will O’Rourke: 43w @ 23.67avg

Duffy, Smith and O’Rourke have started their Test careers with legendary mahi over the past three years. Jamieson’s been on the scene a bit longer and he is the only bowler in the history of Aotearoa Test cricket who has 50+ wickets averaging below 20. The other names on that list make it extra impressive (Cowie, Bond, Hadlee) along with the names who aren’t on that list because they average over 27 (Boult, Henry, Wagner, Southee etc).

My favourite bowling nugget is Will O’Rourke being better overseas than in Aotearoa and it includes some tricky nations for seam bowling...

• Home: 21w @ 27.5avg

• Away: 22w @ 19.9avg

• In England: 4w @ 17.7avg

• In India: 7w @ 18.4avg

• In Sri Lanka: 8w @ 23.1avg

• In Zimbabwe: 3w @ 18avg

• In Aotearoa: 21w @ 27.5avg

White Ferns in T20 World Cup warm up win vs Bangladesh…

Batting

• Georgia Plimmer: 28 runs @ 147sr

• Suzie Bates: 45 runs @ 115sr

• Izzy Sharp: 46 runs @ 177sr

• Melie Kerr: 51* @ 182sr

• Flora Devonshire: 20* @ 250sr

Bowling

• Rosemary Mair: 3ov, 1w @ 7.3rpo

• Jess Kerr: 3ov @ 9.3rpo

• Lea Tahuhu: 3ov, 1w @ 4rpo

• Nensi Patel: 3ov, 4w @ 6rpo

• Flora Devonshire: 3ov, 1w @ 4.6rpo

• Melie Kerr: 3ov @ 6.6rpo

• Suzie Bates: 2ov @ 5.5rpo

White Ferns top-five in last three T20s…

• vs England: Gaze, Plimmer, Kerr, Devine, Halliday

• vs England: Bates, Gaze, Kerr, Devine, Halliday

• vs Bangladesh: Plimmer, Bates, Sharp, Kerr, Devonshire

Izzy Sharp vs Brooke Halliday in T20Is this year...

• Izzy Sharp: 32.3avg/131sr

• Brooke Halliday: 13.1avg/93sr

Rosemary Mair wickets in T20Is since start of 2025 and T20WC warm up: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1

For paid subscribers

• Blackcaps Test stats

• White Ferns spotlights on Nensi Patel and Flora Devonshire

• Kiwi-NRL spotlights on Jahrome Hughes vs Dylan Brown, Keano Kini

• Best Kiwi-NRL juniors for Panthers: Patrick Moimoi, Toby Crosby, Haami Loza

I’m fizzed for the Warriors NRLW season. Apparently the three Warriors games in Hamilton last year drew the three biggest crowds for standalone NRLW regular season games. Warriors were already attracting the biggest NRLW crowds and that should only increase with a better team featuring more familiar players.

Gayle Broughton and Mele Hufanga are major additions as talent as well as ‘star power’ and that’s only going to increase when Stacey Waaka pops back on the scene.

This presents Warriors wahine with a chance to take over the women’s sporting landscape in Aotearoa. Based on Warriors fandom and the buzz around the wahine team, players could rise above other women from other sports to become fan favourites. Take Broughton for example as she already has NRLW championship experience, has a vibrant personality and can connect with sports fans from all corners of New Zealand.

Patricia Maliepo, Ivana Lauitiiti and Payton Takimoana are all players to watch out for in this regard. Most notably, the Warriors wahine are already cultural leaders and while some in Aotearoa try to divide folks by culture, this group will be far louder than other women’s teams in driving unity and equality. I also suspect we will see similar support in Australia that the men’s team are attracting.

Here’s my attempt at the best Warriors wahine team - it’s awesome...

• Fullback: Apii Nicholls

• Wings: Stacey Waaka, Payton Takimoana

• Centres: Mele Hufanga, Tysha Ikenasio

• Halves: Patricia Maliepo, Gayle Broughton

• Middle: Annetta Nu’uausala, Harata Butler, Laishon Albert-Jones

• Edge: Shakira Baker, Kaiyah Atai

• Hooker: Capri Paekau

• Bench: Jasmin Huriwai, Ivana Lauitiiti, Matekino Gray, Maarire Puketapu

Squad

• Backs: Emmanita Paki, Lavinia Tauhalaliku, Natalia Hickling

• Forwards: Mya Hill-Moana, Ashlee Matapo, Felila Kia, Metanoia Fotu-Moala

Salute Penrith Panthers...

• NRL: 12-1 | 1st

• NSW Cup: 10-1-1 | 1st

• Jersey Flegg Cup: 9-2 | 2nd (same record as Dragons in 1st)

Kiwi-NRL Panthers this weekend…

• NRL: Casey McLean (Sydney), Moses Leota (Mt Albert), Isaiah Papali’i (Te Atatu), Scott Sorenson (Sydney)

• NSW Cup: Tom Ale (Mt Albert), Kalani Going (Mid-Northern), Toby Crosby (Greytown)

• Jersey Flegg Cup: Haami Loza (Mangere East)

I’ve enjoyed how Papali’i has settled into the Panthers system. He was shuffled around a bit in his first year with Panthers and this season he has started all 13 games at edge forward. Papali’i has played 60+ minutes in every game and 70+ minutes in eight games. Here’s Papali’i’s per game mahi since moving to Australia and while he’s not quite as his Eels levels, he isn’t far away...

• Eels: 64% wins, 0.32 tries, 0.37 linebreaks, 1.26 offloads, 145m, 93.5% tackling

• Tigers: 21% wins, 0.17 tries, 0.17 linebreaks, 0.17 offloads, 109m, 92.8% tackling

• Panthers: 72% wins, 0.25 tries, 0.27 linebreaks, 1.16 offloads, 121m, 92.4% tackling

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

The Blackcaps lost to England in a Test match where less than a thousand balls were bowled despite all 40 wickets being taken. The All Whites lost to England at a stadium that usually has an artificial turf but they laid down strips of grass over top for the game and it looked pretty shoddy, you could see the seams where the strips met. Two games between New Zealand and England. Two different sports. Two different continents. Two crap pitches.

Not sure there’s any deeper relevance but it was an odd coincidence. At least the footy pitch held up alright and couldn’t be blamed for the result... unlike what was served up at Lords (but fair play to England who batted better and bowled just as well as the Blackcaps on that surface to deservedly take the win in the first Test of this three-match series).

Alright, down to brass tax then, this is what I’m predicting the starting line-up to be when the All Whites face Iran in eight days in their first World Cup group game...

Max Crocombe in goal having looked solid against England and having had the superior club season (on the whole) compared to Alex Paulsen. He’s more experienced and Baze tends to lean on experience... which is as it should be at a World Cup. Look back on the dudes who were most crucial in the 2010 campaign and it was mostly the veterans (Nelson/Elliott/Vicelich/Smeltz with a splattering of Reid/Smith).

Finn Surman’s already locked in so it’s between Michael Boxall and Tyler Bindon and again this is where I think Baze will defer to experience. No wrong answers here (at least not among these three CBs… if you say Tommy Smith then that’s a wrong answer) but Boxall getting the nod against England could be a tip of the hand.

Libby Cacace has played 45 minutes vs Haiti and 60 mins vs England. Got picked on a tad by those speedy English wingers, brutal assignment after all his injuries of late, but he got through that unscathed and should be ready for full capacity vs Iran. Note that Ben Old played LB ahead of Francis de Vries off the bench in this game... I’ve been telling ya that might happen. We also saw some Tyler Bindon RB minutes though I can’t see that being Plan A ahead of Tim Payne who is far more of a specialist in that role and actually offers something going forward. But that is a way they might choose to use Bindon off the bench to avoid changing up the formation too much.

Joe Bell and Marko Stamenić in midfield needs no explanation. Ryan Thomas has always been likely to edge Sarpreet Singh in the CAM role, making it more of a midfield three and thus offering a little more ball retention and a little more defensive coverage, skills that are probably worth leaning into given the underdog nature of these next three games. Just a matter of whether Thomas is fit to start by then or if he has to do this off the bench... in which case Singh probably holds that spot. He’s got brownie points with Bazeley having started all ten games last year. Didn’t have a very good game vs England but he’ll be better for the run.

Elijah Just is going to start in one of the wing spots and the good thing about him is that he’s perfectly versatile. He played RW vs Haiti and LW vs England. Doesn’t matter. Even did some false nine stuff for Motherwell during the club season. Put him on one side and then on the other I’d prefer Callum McCowatt whose club form better warrants the start, plus I think he’s a much superior finisher to anyone else in the hunt.

But Bazeley loves Matty Garbett and to be honest I really liked how he used him against England. I’d been imagining him in an impact role off the bench but now I’m wondering if that impact wouldn’t be of more use running rampant for 55 mins before subbing on someone like McCowatt/Singh/Old/Randall to take it from there. Get the engine going with his work-rate. I don’t think he’s quite first eleven in terms of raw ability but he’s got intangibles, he makes things happen. I’d still prefer McCowatt but I see the vision with Garbs.

And while Old and Randall are certainly in the mix... as much as their straight-line pace would come in handy I think you lose a bit too much in other aspects with either of them. Compared to Just, McCowatt, Garbett, Singh at least.

And in a hugely controversial move I’m backing Chris Wood to start up front.

All Whites WC Squad – Year of Debut

• 2008 – Kosta Barbarouses

• 2009 – Chris Wood

• 2010 – Tommy Smith

• 2011 – Michael Boxall

• 2012 – Tim Payne

• 2014 – Ryan Thomas

• 2015 – Alex Rufer

• 2018 – Max Crocombe, Sarpreet Singh, Liberato Cacace, Michael Woud

• 2019 – Joe Bell, Callum McCowatt, Elijah Just, Nando Pijnaker

• 2021 – Marko Stamenić, Matthew Garbett, Francis de Vries

• 2022 – Ben Old, Ben Waine

• 2023 – Callan Elliot, Tyler Bindon, Finn Surman

• 2024 – Alex Paulsen, Jesse Randall

• 2026 – Lachlan Bayliss

For the paid subscribers, there’s an audio reaction pod about the All Whites vs England game that’s already been sent out separately and beyond the paywall in this email are ten ideas from the Football Ferns defeat against Haiti on Saturday morning

NZ NBL Season Form…

1. Auckland Tuatara (10-2): WWWLWWLWWWWW

2. Southland Sharks (10-2): LWLWWWWWWWWW

3. Wellington Saints (8-3): WLLWWWWLWW

4. Canterbury Rams (8-3): WWWLWWLWWWL

5. Otago Nuggets (5-6): WWWWLLLWLLL

6. Franklin Bulls (5-7): LLWLWWLLWLWL

7. Tauranga Whai (4-6): WWLLLLLLWW

8. Manawatu Jets (4-8): LLWLLLLWWLWL

9. Taranaki Airs (3-8): WWLWLLLLLLL

10. Nelson Giants (3-8): LLWWLLLLLWL

11. Hawke’s Bay Hawks (2-9): LLLLLWWLLLL

The Tuatara have gone top of the ladder after cashing in their game in hand, though their last defeat (before this five-game winning streak) was against the Southland Sharks.

The Sharks began 1-2 but have won nine on the trot since their best players began to arrive/find fitness... also their next four games are all against bottom half teams so there’s no reason to think that win streak is ending this month. Southland vs Canterbury on July 1 could be a banger if that’s the case.

The Saints also started 1-2 and have gone 7-1 since then with that lone defeat coming against... you guessed it: Southland (on 21 May in Invercargill).

The Rams were building a nice streak of their own until getting dropped by Auckland last week. Note that they and Wellington both have a game in hand on the top two so they’re only one notch worse in the loss column. Canterbury have also lost to Southland within the past month.

The Nuggets began with a hiss and a roar in those murky early stages of the season when players are still arriving from overseas. They were 4-0... they’ve gone 1-6 ever since. Yikes.

The Bulls are the streakless wonders of the NBL. They have not won more than two games in a row, they have not lost more than two games in a row. They simply cruise between states.

The Whai won two games, then lost six games, but have won their most recent two with Reuben Te Rangi having big scoring nights in both. Those were against Nelson and HB... but then Tauranga were in no place to be wobbling about their opposition in the midst of their previous form.

The Jets struggled initially with a 1-6 start as the likes of Corey Webster (he’s back now) and Dontae Russo-Nance (still absent) worked back from injuries. They’ve been better since, with Tai Webster joining the whanau to help matters. Their last five have included wins against Franklin, Tauranga & Taranaki while losing to Canterbury & Wellington.

The Airs were 3-1 to start, cashing in when the opportunity was there, but have lost seven in a row since then for the longest losing run of the season – which they’ll put on the line against Hawke’s Bay next up.

The Giants were 2-2 before going on a five-game skid which they only halted by beating last-placed Hawke’s Bay last week (which was followed by only scoring 58 points in defeat to Tauranga two days later). They face Southland next.

The Hawks have wins against Otago and Nelson but on either side of that was a five-game and four-game losing streak. They’ll need to beat Franklin to avoid making that multiple five-game droughts in the same season.

Musical Jam(s)...

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Scotty’s Word

Blackcaps start their tour of England tonight. I reckon this is the best Blackcaps group to play against England in the three series they’ve played over the last few years and I also think that this is the weakest England group. That smells lovely but I’ve had similar feelings in the last two series so I don’t want to go too hard on Blackcaps optimism just yet.

England don’t care about the World Test Championship. It’s barely mentioned by Team England or their media.

Aside from doing our duty to grow Test cricket with games against Zimbabwe and Ireland, Blackcaps Test cricket follows the WTC context flow. This is why the series vs West Indies was crucial as Blackcaps had to get positive results while their depth was under pressure. Now we enter the series vs England sitting second on the ladder (usually top-four just like World Cups) and England are ... wherever they are.

World Test Championship rankings before Blackcaps vs England

1. Australia: 87.5% | 7-1

2. New Zealand: 77.78% | 2-0-1

3. South Africa: 75% | 3-1

4. Sri Lanka: 66.67% | 1-0-1

5. Bangladesh: 58.33% | 2-1-1

6. India: 48.15% | 4-4-1

7. England: 31.67% | 3-6-1

8. Pakistan: 8.33% | 1-3

9. West Indies: 4.17% | 0-7-1

Quick check in with runs and wickets per Test innings (the runs list includes England’s best batters and helps frame the Kane Williamson vs Joe Root battle)...

Runs per Test innings (40+)

• Harry Brook: 52.9

• Kane Williamson: 49.2

• Joe Root: 46.78

• Rachin Ravindra: 43.3

• Devon Conway: 41.59

Wickets per Test innings (2+)

• Blair Tickner: 2.44

• Nathan Smith: 2.25

• Kyle Jamieson: 2.22

• Matt Henry: 2.15

There is lots of the noise about the Blackcaps bowling trio of Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke. Blair Tickner and Nathan Smith are slightly more efficient with wickets as an example of depth and Smith’s brewing as my most interesting Blackcap; Smith could be a better all-rounder than Ben Stokes in this series.

For paid subscribers

• Blackcaps spotlight on Daryl Mitchell & spinner comparisons

• Full list of Blackcaps runs/wickets per Test innings

• NZ Warriors depth after Leka Halasima and Samuel Healey injuries

• Five sneaky NZ Warriors juniors

NZ Warriors per game stat rankings…

• Set completion: 1st - 83.7%

• Points: 2nd - 30.7

• Tries: 2nd - 5.3

• Try assists: 4th - 4.3

• Linebreaks: 6th - 5.8

• Tackle breaks: 8th - 33.4

• Post contact metres: 7th - 563.2

• Run metres: 9th - 1,699.7

• Kick return metres: 10th - 160.3

• Dummy half runs: 7th - 8.5

• Offloads: 15th - 8.1

• Tackles: 15th - 326.5

• Missed tackles: 8th - 32.9

• Kick metres: 1st - 649.6

• Errors: 17th - 9.9

• Penalties conceded: 16th - 4.2

There are four halves leading the way for NZ Kiwis in this role ahead of a World Cup and none are from Auckland. Jahrome Hughes and Dylan Brown is the best combination, with Kodi Nikorima and Te Maire Martin offering hearty depth. Hughes is from Wellington, Brown’s from Whangarei, Martin’s from Waikato and Nikorima spent time in Palmerston North and Christchurch before moving to Australia.

Brown and Martin are playing halfback, meaning that three of these halves are halfbacks in the NRL right now. This has seen Brown and Martin average 200+ kick metres for the first season of their careers. Hughes is ticking along as usual and Nikorima is doing a nice job as a pure five-eighth alongside Isaiya Katoa for Dolphins.

Here’s some per game stats for this season...

• Jahrome Hughes: 348.21 km | 94m | 1.3 try assists | 83.5% tackling

• Dylan Brown: 278.1 km | 117m | 0.5 try assists | 91.6% tackling

• Te Maire Martin: 253.93 km | 80m | 1.3 try assists | 90.4% tackling

• Kodi Nikorima: 40.38 km | 50m | 0.62 try assists | 89.2% tackling

This is amplified by the cluster of halves from Aotearoa on the rise below NRL. Te Hurinui Twidle (Turangawaewae) is playing halfback for Eels in NSW Cup having made his NRL debut on the wing and playing all backline positions in the Eels system. Haami Loza (Mangere East) has played NSW Cup and U21s for Panthers this season in both halves roles, named in U21s this week along with Bronson Reuben (Kaiapoi) who is usually in the halves for Bulldogs U21s.

Tokoaitua Owen (Ngongotaha) is getting game time for Broncos in NRLQ U21s after starting this year in U19s for Souths Logan. Ryder Crosswell (Dannevirke) has also played a few games of U21s for Knights after starting the year in U19s, both are usually playing in the numer six jersey for their respective teams.

Harry Inch (Nelson College) is settling into his rugby league groove for Warriors U21s and they have Maui Winitana-Patelesio (Te Aroha) who covers hooker and halves. While Warriors have a tremendous group of young Aussie halves, all the halves ranked below Jack Thompson (Inch onwards) are from Aotearoa and sometimes they have a Inch/Winitana-Patelesio combo in U21s.

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

Alas, Kane Williamson missed out on his chance to score a hundred against Ireland. We also had a Test cancelled against Afghanistan a couple years ago and it’s unlikely he gets another crack to reach triple figures against a tenth separate nation in Test cricket. Mentioned before this tour that there are 15 men who’ve scored Test tons against nine nations but nobody who has done it against a tenth... it was a record that Williamson could have held all alone but nope that’s not what the tea leaves had in store for him.

Okay, alright, we won’t dwell on that... because what’s if that record was meant for a different Blackcaps top order batter? Just look what Rachin Ravindra has already done in the space of 21 Test matches...

Rachin Ravindra in Test Cricket

Five tons against five different teams. That includes Ireland and Zimbabwe who, sure, those are two of the weaker sides... but he’s also scored a Test hundy away against India in the toughest of circumstances. And what matters for this purpose is that Ireland and Zimbabwe are relatively rare opponents that he’s already ticked off.

He hasn’t played a Test against Pakistan yet and didn’t reach triple figures against Sri Lanka or Bangladesh in his first opportunities. But that’s cool because we play those teams all the time... in fact Sri Lanka are coming to Aotearoa for two Test matches next February. In between now and then, Ravindra will also get three Tests against England starting tonight and four Tests against Australia in December-January (both series are away tours). By this time next year, he could have eight scalps and he’d only be 27 years old. Of course, he’s gotta do the business before we can give him credit for it. But that’s something to track over a very busy eight months of Test cricket coming up for the Blackcaps.

The other thing about Ravindra is that his first three Test matches saw him picked as a spinning all-rounder for subcontinent tours where he batted seven or eight and only scored 73 runs at an average of 14.60. That was before the 2023 ODI World Cup. After he made his (global) name at that tournament, he broke into the Test match top order and promptly scored 240 against South Africa. Take those initial six innings out of his record and this is what he’s done while batting in the top five:

32 INNS | 1574 RUNS | 56.21 AVG | 68.07 SR | 5 100s | 5 50s

There was a little slump in there as he struggled against England when they toured here in late-2024… but these are his last seven Test innings: 165no (ZIM), 3, 176, 5, 72no, 46no (WI), 121 (IRL).

Elijah Pepper’s going a wee bit crazy for the Wellington Saints, currently seven points clear of the next top scorer across the NBL...

Pepper was born in Australia, raised in America, and after finishing college he moved back to Australia to sign with the Perth Wildcats where he’s been steadily raising his profile over the last few years. He debuted for the Aussie national team against the Tall Blacks in 2025. Now the bloke is on an absolute tear in the NZ league. In his ten games, he has points totals of: 28, 23, 20, 30, 36, 23, 29, 43, 26, 45.

In other words, there are only 12 players in the league averaging 20 points per game or better at the moment... and Elijah Pepper’s worst scoring game was 20 points. He’s got 51.9/36.5/82.7 shooting splits and is also averaging 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. 3.2 steals as well. Multiple 40-point games, something nobody else has done this year (Keanu Rasmussen and Kaden Sand have had 39-pointers while Reuben Te Rangi scored 37 the other day). Bro’s been pretty insane.

Alright, that’s enough praise for an Aussie-American. Time to turn the lens towards Jackson Ball who has just been selected for an NBL Next Stars showcase team to play at the Adidas Eurocamp – which coincidentally is the youth tournament where Petteri Koponen got most of his head coaching experience prior to getting hired at the NZ Breakers.

The NBL sent a team last year and that seems to have been a successful mission, making it to the final, so they’re doing it again. Karim Lopez was in the 2025 crew but no New Zealanders. This time Jackson Ball is correcting that oversight... along with Jayden Cecil who is dual-eligible for AUS/NZ but despite growing up in Brisbane he’s committed to play for New Zealand at the U17 World Cup later this year.

This is an interesting pocket because Jayden Cecil moved to America two years ago to link up with Utah Prep Academy, where his dad Tai Cecil (proud kiwi) is the president and Tall Blacks legend Mark Dickel is the head coach. Jayden’s older brother Isaac also attends that school and there was an awesome instance last month where the brothers competed against each other as Jayden joined the NZ U17s in an invitational tournament that included a 90-80 win against Utah Prep. The NZers did a haka before the game and Isaac, on the other side with Utah Prep, stepped up to meet the challenge.

Utah Prep is also where AJ Dybantsa went (playing alongside the Cecil bros) before his year at BYU. That bloke is now one of the favourites to go first overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. All of which puts Jayden Cecil in some glorious territory as a kiwi basketball prospect... look forward to that U17 WC in a few weeks.

Also look forward to everything that Jackson Ball does because he’s off to college soon and with this Next Star invitational thingamajig it’s unclear how much more NZ NBL he’ll play this year... but how about these numbers for an 18yo?

Jackson Ball in 2026 NZ NBL (Hawke’s Bay Hawks)

• 19 points on 8/18 shooting with 7 rebounds & 4 assists vs MAN

• 16 points on 4/14 shooting with 4 rebounds & 5 assists vs CAN

• 19 points on 7/14 shooting with 2 rebounds & 4 assists vs AKL

• 14 points on 4/11 shooting with 2 rebounds & 6 assists vs OTA

• 21 points on 7/13 shooting with 7 rebounds & 4 assists vs NEL

• 18 points on 6/9 shooting with 1 rebounds & 5 assists vs FRA

• 29 points on 10/20 shooting with 4 rebounds & 1 assist vs WEL

• 22 points on 8/15 shooting with 3 rebounds & 2 assists vs TAU

He’s shooting 47.4 FG%, 38.8 3P%, 81.6 FT% as an 18 year old... and given what he’s already done in his career, this is him during a quiet run without many headlines.

For the Paid Subscribers, you’ll get some insight into the next generation of Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix Reserves players as well as reaction to the news of Finn McKenlay, Adama Coulibaly, and James Hilton being released by AFC

Notable 4-0 Defeats Of All Whites Yore…

Brazil 4-0 New Zealand – 1982 World Cup

Our first World Cup and we were pitted against probably the most fondly remembered Brazilian team not to win a World Cup. Usually when you watch old football matches, they feel like old football matches given how much the game has naturally evolved. But watch that game and see those Brazilians playing fast and free and it’s surprisingly modern stuff. Better than modern because they’re actually taking risks... which might also be why they didn’t win in ‘82 but never mind that.

Portugal 4-0 New Zealand – Confederations Cup in 2017

Anthony Hudson’s New Zealand up against prime Cristiano Ronaldo and friends. Mr CR7 scored a penalty alongside a Bernardo Silva goal... though the other two goals didn’t arrive until the final ten minutes. Not a bad showing, all things considered. Hudson being Hudson, he had Dane Ingham and Tom Doyle as his wing-backs against that team so it could have been far worse.

Australia 4-0 New Zealand – Soccer Ashes in 1948

Don’t know anything about this one other than that we got thrashed but it was actually the smallest thrashing of a three-game series having earlier been beaten 6-0 and 7-0. This game, like the first one, was played at the Basin Reserve back when it was still often used for football as well as cricket.

Brazil 4-0 New Zealand – Friendly before the 2006 World Cup

A completely random friendly played in Switzerland against the defending World Champs who absolutely coasted with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, and Kaka involved... and then one of the things they blamed their eventual quarter-final flameout upon was their weak preparation, with this unchallenging game at the top of the pile. So we made a bit of history with that one.

Haiti 4-0 New Zealand – Friendly before the 2026 World Cup

Yesterday’s game was a stinker of a result... but in its way also an irrelevant one. You make six half-time subs and it’s going to get messy. This was only a warm-up designed to find match fitness ahead of the games that actually matter at the World Cup. Bit embarrassing how it ended up though. Here’s a write-up on the matter.

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Scotty’s Word

NZ Warriors vs Panthers...

• NRL: 18-20

• NSW Cup: 20-30

• Jersey Flegg Cup: 40-30

My favourite thing in recent weeks has been the thriving Taharoa connection with Te Maire Martin joining Taine Tuaupiki in the team. I was reminded of the crazy rugby league hub of Ngaruawahia earlier this year when Te Hurinui Twidle made his NRL debut for Eels as he is a Turangawaewae junior same as Martin.

Tuaupiki is a Ngaruawahia junior and both clubs sit within a kilometre or so of each other in Ngaruawahia. Two cousins coming from rival clubs in Ngaruawahia is pretty cool and their performances vs Panthers helped NZW score 18 points against an excellent defensive unit. NZW scored three tries vs Panthers and these two were involved in all three with Tuaupiki scoring a try, while Martin had two try assists.

Tuaupiki had 10 tackle breaks in his 24 runs - 228m @ 9.5m/run and Martin had a linebreak, as well as being the only NZW player with two offloads. Martin also did his share of the kicking and while kicking has been a minor weak spot since arriving at Mt Smart, his kicking along with Chanel Harris-Tavita helped NZW find some territory after being beaten up deep in their own end of the field.

Neither were locked in starters to begin the season. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was still viewed as the best fullback and Tuaupiki has thrived with more opportunities to the point where he’s now the best fullback, with a chance he sneaks into the NZ Kiwis World Cup squad. Martin was the fourth half in the depth chart to start the year and now he’s in one of the best patches of his career.

Martin is keeping Metcalf out of the NRL team. NZW lost vs Panthers but Martin’s level of performance didn’t dip from his two wins and I reckon that only injury/suspension will open up a spot for Metcalf. The NSW Cup Warriors lost vs Panthers and that was expected with Panthers leading NSW Cup as well as NRL, while NZW are mid-table.

Metcalf has now lost five games in a row. He lost four NRL games before returning to NSW Cup with a loss. It’s not like his presence made NZW lose because they are 6-6 having rolled through a wide range of players, but the trend of Metcalf losing does seem connected to the bad vibes around how his decision to depart NZW played out.

The NSW Cup Warriors is super funky right because below the Metcalf intrigue is an amazing group of emerging talent. This is evident in the Sio Kali/Bishop Neal/Jett Cleary/Jye Linnane combo for Linnane’s try as all four of those players are freakish talents who are 21-years-old or younger.

Palmerston North’s Joseph Ratcliffe also made his debut at fullback and he joined Neal, Connor Bowden, Jeremiah Lemana and Tyson Hansen as Under 19s who played NSW Cup vs Panthers. All but Lemana played U19s earlier this season before progressing through U21s to reserve grade and Lemana skipped U19s while still 17-years-old to start his year in U21s.

Two Kiwi-NRL juniors I learned about this weekend...

Jeshua Maa-Nelson and Lauti Lauvao both went to De La Salle College (which continues to produce lots of rugby league talent). Maa-Nelson is a Manurewa junior who has been playing on the wing for Eels U21s and Lauvao had a year with Panthers after leaving school where he played U19/U21s, before returning to Auckland and playing on the wing for NZW U21s vs Panthers.

A few NRLWahine of note...

Kerri Johnson and Azalleyah Maaka are still with Broncos after watching all other NRLWahine depart over the summer. Both moved from rugby union and had their first season with Broncos last year, now they are primed for bigger roles.

Daynah Nankivell has switched from rugby union to NRLW with Bulldogs. Nankivell is from Northland (like Johnson) and has been playing Super Rugby Aupiki with Blues and most recently in Japan. I’m not sure about the status of Moana Courtenay and Monica Tagoai with Bulldogs but they also moved from rugby union in Aotearoa to Bulldogs NRLW, so Bulldogs are making a habit of this.

Wainuiomata junior Te Ngaroahiahi Fanua Awhina Rimoni is in the Titans squad after working her way through Queensland’s Women’s Premiership. She is a middle forward and joins a growing group of NRLWahine juniors from Wellington.

Another is Jessica Patea who like the three Tauaneai sisters are also Wainuiomata juniors. Patea isn’t in NRLW but she was named in the Panthers NSW Women’s Premiership squad along with Kahu Cassiday (Kaikohe), Olive Connolly (Linwood), Harmony Covacich (Northern Wairoa), Malena Lavea (Richmond) and Dejah Tuliau (Linwood). That’s lots of wahine from Aotearoa for an organisation that doesn’t have an NRLW team yet.

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The news of Mitchell Santner’s return for Blackcaps came just before I started typing my debrief of the Test vs Ireland. One of my favourite Blackcaps meditations is trying to have Santner and Glenn Phillips in the same team, while also trying to build teams with Nathan Smith and Zak Foulkes together. Perhaps all four in the same team together.

The top-six is settled. The best way to have all four in the same team would be to shake up the top-six but that’s unrealistic as I think they will play throughout the series vs England unless there is an injury. Even then, I believe Henry Nicholls would step into the batting unit as next man up, and given how he has fought for his Blackcaps spot, as well as how the others sit in various spots of the legendary Test batting spectrum for Aotearoa, these blokes deserve to be given time and space as a settled batting unit.

Here’s the easiest way to select the four all-rounders: Phillips, Santner, Smith, Foulkes, Henry.

I have Smith ahead of Foulkes though, leaving Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke as more likely options in that Foulkes spot. Santner is also on the comeback from injury and may not play the first Test. Add in how Foulkes has been steady but not dominant in Test bowling and the most realistic combo is Phillips, Smith, Jamieson, Henry, O’Rourke.

That would leave Santner, Foulkes and Tickner as surplus in the squad along with Nicholls. However this cookie crumbles, Blackcaps will have Smith batting eight or nine. Smith averages 21.2 at eight and 36 at nine in Test batting, as well as having a First-Class batting average of 27.3.

Runs from the bowlers will be crucial throughout the series vs England. Since the start of 2024, Phillips and Santner have both hit at least two 50+ scores in Test cricket while averaging 28. Smith has a top-score of 42 in this period averaging 23.6 and Foulkes has a 23* averaging 19.5.

Most importantly, none of this batting stuff takes away from the potency of the bowling. Phillips and Santner are both averaging early-30s as Test spinners, while the seam bowling skills are tremendous throughout that group.

Musical jam...

Nick’s Notebook

There are many critical questions on people’s minds as we pass the two-week warning for the All Whites at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Will Joe Bell and Ryan Thomas be fit to start? Which two centre-backs get first choice status out of Surman, Bindon & Boxall? Will Tim Payne with the Golden Ball? But the biggest question of them all... how tall is Alex Paulsen?

The reason that’s a question is because he’s come under some pretty heavy critique after his loan season at Lechia Gdańsk in Poland, largely due to his perceived lack of height. At first it wasn’t a major deal because his team was doing alright but as they sunk deeper and deeper towards relegation, and their kiwi goalkeeper proved unable to do anything to halt the slide, the chat got louder.

That might be a surprise to folks who haven’t really tracked him since he left the A-League but that’s how it happened. Not very many egregious errors from AP, just a whole lot of accumulated goals conceded where it looked like he could have done better. We can’t expect the Polish folks to care about what Paulsen did in the A-League beforehand but even if they did, there wasn’t much comparison between that version of AP and this version of AP...

Alex Paulsen’s last three seasons:

• Wellington Phoenix - 80.9% Save Percentage & 12.94 Goals Prevented

• Auckland FC - 73.0% Save Percentage & 2.07 Goals Prevented

• Lechia Gdansk - 61.0% Save Percentage & -8.26 Goals Prevented

One of the local shows even voted him the Worst Goalkeeper of the Ekstraklasa season. Jeepers. It wasn’t all bad because his team definitely improved when he first arrived, however if you’re allowing too many goals past you and hardly saving anything while your team loses over and over again on the way to relegation then that’s going to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. AP ended up being dropped for the last game of the season but it was too late by then: the reputation had already stuck that he’s too small and can’t make the saves that other keepers can. And in fairness what else are they supposed to think after a season like this...

AP actually did an interview a few months ago where he addressed his feelings on the matter in the confidently defiant manner you’d hope. He was asked about what he thinks is his biggest weakness and he said not being loud enough with his communication, to which the interviewer straight-up said: “I thought you’d say not being the tallest keeper”. That sparked a friendly debate about the merits of goalkeeper size. Paulsen used David Raya (Arsenal goalie, same height as Paulsen) as an example of a shorter dude who still gets the job done.

Alex Paulsen: “I don’t really think about heights. For me personally, if you can navigate and become an aerial threat with claiming crosses or coming for punches or demanding and being a presence within the box, then you shouldn’t really look at the player being not as tall as like a 6’3 goalkeeper or 6’4 goalkeeper. If he’s doing better statistics compared to somebody who’s 6’4 then like what’s what’s the difference? I don’t try to have that mindset because I know that like within myself, I obviously wouldn’t say that I’m the tallest of players, but at the same time, I can say that I can still make a difference within the box. And even if players are taller than me, my starting position can affect the cross to claim balls or being physical in the air or being dominant within the air would help me navigate the fact that people try to think, oh, he’s a short goalkeeper, if that makes sense.”

This is going to be an albatross around Paulsen’s neck his whole career. People are going to look at his profile and doubt him straight away because they see 6’0. It also leaves me more confident than ever that Darren Bazeley will pick Max Crocombe as his no1 for the World Cup – not only because AP’s low on form but also because it fits with his general modus operandi of leaning towards experience, as we saw with Michael Woud getting the GK3 nod ahead of Kees Sims or Henry Gray (Woud also had good form to back it up, granted).

Note that these fellas are all really tall. Tracking proper heights can be a hassle since different sources claim different numbers but major tournaments squad lists include heights so we’ll go with those as a baseline (with one asterisk).

Listed Heights of Various NZ Goalkeepers

• Oli Sail – 197cm

• Alby Kelly-Heald – 196cm (2023 U20 World Cup)

• Michael Woud – 196cm (2021 Olympics)

• Nik Tzanev - 195cm

• Max Crocombe - 194cm

• Kees Sims – 194cm (2024 Olympics)

• Henry Gray – 193cm (2025 U20 World Cup)

• Jamie Searle – 191cm (2021 Olympics)

• Joe Wallis – 190cm (2025 U20 World Cup)

• Josey Casa-Grande – 187cm (2025 U20 World Cup)

• Alex Paulsen - 183cm

Don’t have verified heights for Crocombe or Sail or Tzanev who weren’t at any of those tournaments but frankly I don’t fully trust any of these numbers anyway. For example, the U20 WC squad had Lukas Kelly-Heald being two centimetres taller than twin bro Alby which doesn’t actually look to be true. For what it’s worth, re-signed Phoenix youngster Eamonn McCarron is apparently 199cm so keep an eye out if AKH and EM are ever standing side by side. Josh Oluwayemi is 185cm, if you were wondering. Using Chiefy as a barometer you can see that McCarron clearly towers above Olu.

The specifices of a few centimetres aren’t important, this is merely a general idea to show how Paulsen is considerably shorter than the goalkeepers we usually produce and which are in vogue around the world – if you’re a Premier League club with the resources to go after any goalie you want, and you’re picking between two transfer targets of a similar ability but one is four inches taller than the other... you’re going to pick the taller guy every time.

The asterisk is that Alex Paulsen has been listed at 193cm at both the 2021 Olympics and the 2024 Olympics and he’s for damn sure not that. Can’t be a typo if they did it twice, three years apart. Maybe they factored in the ‘fro? If he was legitimately 193cm then he’d be 6’4 and nobody would be whinging about his height. Here he is standing next to 198cm tall Alby Kelly-Heald, tell me that’s only a five centimetre difference lol...

And again next to 188cm Michael Boxall...

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Speaking of tall people, there was a brilliant bit of news yesterday with kiwi big man Ben Gold being signed to a two-year development contract by the Tasmania JackJumpers. Gold is a 23yo centre who stands at 6’11 and has already played several times for the Tall Blacks including at last year’s Asia Cup. He’s just finished up at Marquette University where he spent four years and was a regular starter in the last two of them, averaging 8.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in his senior season.

Gold maybe didn’t kick on quite as much as was hoped when he was a highly touted prospect coming out of the NBA’s Global Academy in Canberra (he joined that programme before Oscar Goodman or Julius Halaifonua went there, helping pave the way). Part of that was his three-point percentage taking a huge dip in his last year, going from 37.1% in 2024-25 down to 26.4% in 2025-26. But that still shows that he’s got the capability to knock down threes as he steps into what’ll be a more defined role in the pros, having alternated between bench and starter and power forward and centre throughout his time at Marquette.

Gold joins a very reliable procession of the best kiwi graduates from American colleges being able to land Aussie NBL deals straight away... and most of them not with the Breakers, curiously, even though Gold is exactly the type of guy that NZB might have wanted to try mould into a next generation Rob Loe. Unlike previous Tazzy signings, like Tom Vodanovich or Walter Brown, we can’t hype up JackJumpers general manager Mika Vukona for this one because he’s moved back to Brisbane and resigned his post there. Tasmania didn’t actually have any kiwis in their squad last season.

Notable Kiwi NCAA Graduates Going Straight Into NBL

• NBL27 – Ben Gold to Tasmania JackJumpers

• NBL26 – Taine Murray to Brisbane Bullets

• NBL24 – Flynn Cameron to Melbourne United

• NBL24 – Sam Mennenga to Cairns Taipans

• NBL23 – Sam Waardenburg to Cairns Taipans

• NBL22 – Jack Salt to Brisbane Bullets

• NBL21 – Yanni Wetzell to South-East Melbourne Phoenix

The Breakers did end up signing a couple of those guys afterwards but they didn’t take the punt on them as rookies which is curious. Granted, there was a different ownership (with different ideas about kiwi players) for most of that time. And admittedly there is some logic in knowing that you’ll always have pull with attracting New Zealanders so you can wait to see how they settle in the NBL before going after them.

NZers Currently Contracted for NBL27

• Adelaide 36ers – Flynn Cameron, Keanu Rasmussen

• Brisbane Bullets – Tyrell Harrison, Taine Murray

• Illawarra Hawks – N/A

• Cairns Taipans – N/A

• Melbourne United – Sam Waardenburg, Shea Ili

• NZ Breakers – Sam Mennenga, Carlin Davison, Reuben Te Rangi, Izayah Le’Afa

• Perth Wildcats – N/A

• South-East Melbourne Phoenix – N/A

• Sydney Kings – N/A

• Tasmania JackJumpers – Ben Gold (DP)

The Breakers haven’t announced their DPs yet or whether any are under contract, that remains to be seen but they’ll be adding a few more kiwis to the ranks. Mojave King is the main free agent, last heard he was trying to see if they’d let him play a year of college basketball (after he’s already been drafted) – though it seems they’re going to tighten the rules back up to prevent that. Keanu Rasmussen has signed a 1yr deal to return to Adelaide which sees him move onto the main roster. Preston Le Gassick with the Breakers is eligible for the Tall Blacks but dunno whether that’s something he’ll pursue or not. Everybody’s got room in their squads for adding further players so we’re definitely not done yet.

Musical Jam...

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