An Extensive Collection
Warriors vs Broncos, Auckland FC & Wellington Phoenix Women, White Ferns in England, Benji vs Foz in NRL, Rebekah Stott, Charlisse Leger-Walker, and more
Scotty’s Word
Great win for NZ Warriors vs Broncos at Magic Round. The halves situation got even more confusing with Tanah Boyd’s knee injury but NZW scored all of their 42 points after Boyd departed with Te Maire Martin plugging that hole and making the most of his opportunity.
I think too much of the NZW spotlight has been put on the halfbacks. They physically dominated Broncos and everyone from Taine Tuaupiki to Demitric Vaimauga adds something to how the team is firing on attack and defence.
NZW are winning by playing James Fisher-Harris footy and have done so all season. They plow through defenders and then pick at the gaps that open up, starting around the ruck with Wayde Egan and then working out towards the edges.
NZW score tries all across the field. They don’t have complex attacking structures, they just pounce on the space created by their brutal carries.
Same goes for defence. NZW controlled the ruck vs Broncos by driving them back and winning the wrestle. Broncos only scored two tries and that should be their baseline with Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh in the team. Again, that’s not the halfback. That is a team working together to give fans the kinda defence they have always craved.
A bonus popped up in NSW Cup as well with Jye Linnane playing his first game for NZW. He played centre and was super slick, having been the second young half from Newcastle to move to Mt Smart after Jack Thompson.
Both are awesome young players. Thompson is a pure half who looks just as good as Jett Cleary. Linnane is more of a runner and that’s probably why he played centre, which could lead to game time at fullback as well.
The NSW Cup squad had all four young Aussie halves in their 46-4 win vs Storm. Cleary and Luke Hanson were the halves, with Linnane at centre while Thompson was 18th geezer. Linnane and Thompson are both eligible for U21s as well.
This reserve grade team was meant to take a hefty step backwards after losing so many good players from last year - many of whom have played NRL this year. NZW are 5-5 in NSW Cup and eighth on the ladder. A dip but nothing crazy when most weeks their team is full of guys 25yrs or younger.
Three players have debuted as 17-year-olds and two have kept their spots with Jeremiah Lemana (centre) and Bishop Neal (edge) now regular team members.
Most importantly right now, all the halves depth is busy. Martin showed what he is capable of and Linnane is a fresh wrinkle who oozes x-factor, while the other three are tracking supremely well ... to the point where I think Cleary is now underrated and he could play NRL this year if the stars align.
But NZW win by effort, intensity, and aggression. That is the best thing about NZW footy at the moment and we saw it laid out clearly on one of the biggest stages of the regular season.
There’s some amazing stuff happening in New Zealand sport right now - including the World Surf League in Raglan. Something sneaky was the Kieran Foran vs Benjamin Marshall coaching battle. Having two hearty kiwis coaching against each other in the NRL wasn’t something I was thinking about before the season started.
Foran’s Sea Eagles were too slick for Tigers at Magic Round. Marshall has had a tougher task than Foran at Tigers and they were missing a few key players, plus things haven’t been tracking well since Jarome Luai took his trip to Papua New Guinea. Marshall has had an impact at Tigers though and much of the vibe switch there is thanks to him.
There aren’t many Kiwi-NRL juniors in the Sea Eagles system under Foran but Zach Dockar-Clay played his first game of the season against Tigers. Dockar-Clay is a Bell Block junior from New Plymouth who has been around NZ Kiwis squads recently because he’s capable of playing halves and hooker, starting at hooker at Magic Round.
I forgot about Dockar-Clay while putting the spotlight on Taranaki with Jensen Taumoeapeau’s debut for Titans. There’s a funky split between the Bell Block and Western Suburbs juniors. WS have more top-tier talent in Taumoepeau, Mawene Hiroti and Kahu Capper leading the way but Bell Block have two excellent youngsters in Jake White (Sharks) and Charley Lahmert (Knights Women) on the rise.
D’Jazirhae Pua’avase is a Manurewa junior who moved down from Cowboys during the Anthony Seibold era and has settled into a starting middle forward groove in NSW Cup with Foran in charge. Ezekiel Paulo is a Papanui junior from Christchurch who has played U21s and NSW Cup for two seasons now, going from nine U21 games and two NSW Cup game to two U21 games and four NSW Cup games.
Paulo’s an edge forward and he has played 80 minutes in his last three NSW Cup games. NZ Warriors forward Jason Salalilo is another notable Papanui junior and they both came through the tremendous St Thomas of Canterbury College wave.
Sea Eagles also have Mangere East juniors Kalani Peyroux-Donaldson and Francis Tuimauga in their U21s group. Both are forwards who started with NZ Warriors.
For paid subscribers
Blackcaps Test bowler stats
Blackcaps Test bowlers as batters
Spotlights on Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Izzy Gaze, Rosemary Mair
White Ferns ODI stats this year and vs England
White Ferns won the third ODI vs England to give them a series draw and a 6-2 record in ODIs this year. They won all three games vs Zimbabwe and then had a 2-1 series win vs South Africa to finish the summer. Remember that last time they were in England they were swept in the ODIs and T20Is (8-0).
6-2 without Sophie Devine or Lea Tahuhu. Suzie Bates is averaging 9 with the bat and 87 with the ball this year. Plus players like Fran Jonas, Eden Carson and Hannah Rowe have dropped down a tier.
The switch in captains shouldn’t have been such a key moment for White Ferns but there is a clear difference with Melie Kerr as captain. There’s vibey stuff that is picked up watching the group play cricket. White Ferns have also won more games than they were and a bunch of players who have played under multiple captains, are doing their best with A-Kerr as captain.
Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Izzy Gaze and Rosemary Mair are among the best White Ferns this year and are playing at higher levels than they were under previous captains. They were the best players in the win vs England…
Bree Illing: 2w @ 4.1rpo
Rosemary Mair: 2w @ 5.8rpo
Melie Kerr: 1w @ 6.6rpo
Maddy Green: 37 runs @ 86sr
Brooke Halliday: 42* @ 78sr
Izzy Gaze: 22* @ 96sr
Meanwhile the captain has a big improvement in her bowling and a solid jump in her batting...
Captain: 49.8avg/87sr | 15.4avg/4.5rpo
Not captain: 41.9avg/82sr | 30.7avg/4.6rpo
All the younger players have looked comfy under Melie Kerr but the solid bowling mahi of Bree Illing and Nensi Patel vs England deserves a salute. Illing quickly settled into the international arena with her pace, bounce and swing as a lefty giving White Ferns x-factor. She too wickets in both games and five consecutive one-dayers including the warm up game in England and two ODIs vs South Africa.
Illing was the most economical White Ferns bowler vs England and only bowler under 4rpo (3w @ 20ag/3.6rpo). Patel was the only spinner below 5rpo with 2w @ 28.5avg/4.3rpo and she has snapped up her opportunity with Jonas/Carson out, as well as offering good batting and fielding.
Which leads into fascination about Bates moving into T20Is. Patel has been far better than Bates (1w @ 87avg/6.6rpo) in ODIs this year and they are competing for the lower order role in T20Is. Patel’s on 6w @ 9.5avg/3.5rpo this year and Bates is on 2w @ 35.5avg/8.8rpo, while Patel’s only batted once for White Ferns with 12 runs @ 171sr in an ODI.
Bates is on 9.2avg/52sr in ODIs this year and her strike-rate in both formats has been steadily decreasing each year. Lower order batting slots in T20Is are all about strike-rates and Patel has grown into a quick scorer in recent seasons, plus the others in this zone are all good hitters (Jess Kerr, Izzy Sharp, Flora Devonshire, Lea Tahuhu).
Patel is the most notable riser for White Ferns this year. She has overtaken three other spinners in Jonas, Carson and Bates. Patel’s also a better batter than all of them and has been cooking in the development system for a few years, so she is ready to keep building towards a major tournament role.
Big ups Gaze for her crazy mahi in both formats this year…
ODI: 242 runs @ 48.4avg/110sr
T20I: 219 runs @ 43.8avg/166sr
Best players for NZ-A women in one-day series vs Sri Lanka A…
Bella James: 20 runs @ 133sr
Kate Anderson: 19 runs @ 76sr
Bella Armstrong: 13 runs @ 130sr | 2w @ 3rpo
Emma Black: 16ov, 4w @ 5.8rpo
Hannah Rowe: 18ov, 3w @ 4.5rpo
Musical jam...
Nick’s Notebook
It wasn’t entirely unexpected but the A-League grand final away to Melbourne City proved a step beyond the Wellington Phoenix Women. It’s been a brilliant season under Bev Priestman but most of the Bevolution has occurred on the mental and physical side of things, getting these players to believe that they deserve to be winning games and then convincing them to work their arses off to make it happen. Some quality recruitment too. In a tactical sense… they can come across as a bit one-dimensional with their reliance upon pace in behind and set pieces (okay, then: two-dimensional). Usually that’s enough to win them games but Melbourne City are on another plane. They won the minor premiership without ever really reaching full capacity, saving that for the grand final. They’re also trying to win the Asian Champions League (which they were runners-up in last year with a similar squad) so they know how to play these big games.
The other thing Melbourne City have is Holly McNamara, possibly the best player in the competition, who is capable of scoring crazy goals. Both of her goals in this final were preventable but it goes to show how slim the margins often are in a game of that magnitude. Brisbane didn’t punish them but Melbourne City did. The Nix conceding a second time straight after the first break was another example of them not being 100% on top of the occasion – you can’t allow your errors to be compounded like that.
When Leticia McKenna then scored a banger early second half it looked like game over but credit to this Phoenix group because they pulled one back through Makala Woods and from there they barged their way back into the game with a series of crosses and corner kicks that finally, more than fifty minutes into the game, disrupted the previously immaculate defensive shape of Rebekah Stott and her girls. The Nix needed to score again during that spell though. They didn’t and therefore they had to settle for silver medals.
Hard to be too bummed out when the better team obviously won. The Phoenix went further than they’ve ever gone, becoming the first NZ team to contest an A-League grand final (winning that race by one week), and capped out in second place. Fair enough. There were little instances where they sold themselves short: the tracking/marking for the first goal, getting split for the second, conceding twice in a row like that, et cetera... however the overall result was way more about Melbourne City being really good than it was about the Wellington Phoenix underperforming.
Here’s Wellington’s pass map from the grand final...
Very condensed... and you can see there was just nothing there from the two assisters for the Makala Woods goals last week. Pia Vlok (24) was pretty much shut out of the game. Brooke Nunn (23) battled away on the left but didn’t have much joy. Neither of them was able to combine with Woods at all, who found herself dragged from side to side seeking to get her touches. The effort was there but the opportunity was not thanks to the way that Melbourne City set up (Stotty specifically said afterwards that they’d planned to shut down those passes in behind that Woods loves to run onto... and they did).
What this reminded me of was Auckland FC’s blokes falling short in their first finals series last year. They were knocked out in the semis, one step earlier than this Nix side, but what we saw from them on Friday night shrugging off their uneven recent form to convincingly win away in Adelaide is a great example of the old cliche: gotta lose one before you can win one. The Phoenix Women have lost one now... but this is a two-year project with Bev Priestman who will be back to seek revenge next season and so will the spine of her squad (at the very least).
Contracted For Next Season:
Brooke Nunn, CJ Bott, Makala Woods, Sabitra Bhandari, Grace Jale, Ellie Walker, Emma Main, Tiana Jaber, Mackenzie Barry, Marisa van der Meer, Macey Fraser, Pia Vlok
Off-Contract:
Vic Esson, Manaia Elliott, Lucia Leon, Tessel Middag, Emma Pijnenburg, Zoe Benson, Mikaela Bangalan, Mackenzie Anthony, Lara Wall, Daisy Brazendale, Alyssa Whinham, Aimee Danieli, Brooke Neary, Ela Jerez, Ella McMillan, Ella McCann
You’d have to think they can pretty much take their pick of those uncontracted players too. Bangalan and Neary will settle back into Reserve team footy over the winter, most likely, while a few others like Jerez and McMillan never seemed to be in Priestman’s plans for whatever reason so they may try something else. Elliott and Pijnenburg could draw attention from foreign clubs if the Nix aren’t quick about it, though they have an import spot spare to replace either of them if need-be.
But hold up, wait a minute, let’s go no further without acknowledging the A-League’s legend among legends Rebekah Stott who, along with her Footy Ferns teammate Deven Jackson, just added an ALW championship medal to her very extensive collection...
Rebekah Stott’s A-League Career
2011-12: Lost in the semis with Melbourne Victory
2012-13: Lost in the grand final with Melbourne Victory
2015-16: Champions & Premiers with Melbourne City
2016-17: Champions with Melbourne City
2017-18: Champions with Melbourne City
2018-19: Didn’t make the playoffs
2019-20: Champions & Premiers with Melbourne City
2021-22: Lost in preliminary final with Melbourne City
2023-24: Premiers & lost in grand final with Melbourne City
2024-25: Premiers & lost in the semis with Melbourne City
2025-26: Champions & Premiers with Melbourne City
That’s 11 seasons that she’s played in this league, in amongst a bit of time spent overseas including with Brighton in the English WSL, along with overcoming cancer, and in those 11 seasons she has won five championships and five premierships as well as contesting two other grand finals and she’s only once missed the finals. Seven grand finals in 11 attempts is unreal. And that’s not even including when she was a youth player with a championship Brisbane Roar side back in 2011, albeit she never actually played for them.
Bonus yarns for the Paid Subscribers:
Charlisse Leger-Walker’s WNBA journey
Some All Whites stray ideas
As for Auckland FC, they were the Melbourne City in their equation, pulling out a brilliant away leg performance to beat Adelaide United 3-0 and book their own spot in the grand final... which they’ll now host thanks to Sydney FC’s penalty shootout win vs Newcastle Jets in the other semi. Tickets sold out pretty much immediately – if they can expand the capacity as they’ve done in the past for the derbies then they might get more fans to that grand final than to their previous two finals games combined. A bit of momentum and a shot at glory and the punters come roaring back, that’s how it works. Although that does remind me of this statistic...
Auckland FC at Home in 2025-26
5 wins | 6 draws | 4 losses | 22 goals for | 19 goals against | +3 goal difference
Auckland FC Away in 2025-26
7 wins | 5 draws | 2 losses | 25 goals for | 12 goals against | +13 goal difference
They began with two home wins so it’s worse than it looks like too. Haven’t won a game at Mt Smart since the Warriors NRL season kicked off. AFC’s last six home games (most recent first):
Drew 1-1 vs Adelaide (semi-final first leg)
Drew 1-1 vs Melbourne City (elimination final – advanced on penalties)
Lost 0-1 vs Central Coast
Drew 2-2 vs Melbourne Victory
Lost 1-2 vs Macarthur
I’ll get into forecasting the final more in Thursday’s edition though. That stat may be a warning for what’s to follow but it’s also a glowing example of how they got there because you can see how they’ve been notably better defensively in away matches where the game plan is a little more conservative and they don’t feel as much pressure to play up to the crowd. Nobody’s leaving disappointing if the away team sits back a little deeper... and AFC happen to be a more commanding team when they begin from that place of blunting the opposition. Steve Corica has stepped on some banana skins this season – the early back three substitution in the elimination final vs City was one that backfired on him. But he’s an excellent coach and that win in Adelaide ranks up there with his finest ninety minute masterclasses.
They gave the Reds nothing. 62% possession and they could only muster 0.94 xG from 15 shots (almost half of those shots coming from outside the box) with only one of those 15 shots requiring a save from Michael Woud. Auckland had fewer shots, only 12 of them, but their xG was 2.26 thanks to the far greater chances they created (including a Cosgrove penalty and a Rogerson tap-in).
Every game that Adelaide has played against the kiwi teams this season has been scrappy, they’re biters and scratchers that lot... except for this one where Auckland set a physical tone from the start with Sakai getting booked after only four minutes and Pijnaker lucky to avoid the same treatment. The foul count was 14 by AFC and 4 by ADL. It was Auckland doing all the roughing-up. Surprisingly there was very little targeting of Cosgrove that we saw in the first leg where every joker in an Adelaide jersey wanted to give him a serve... ironically Cozza still won himself a penalty, albeit a cheeky one.
Timely goals, flawless defence, aggressive from the outset, playing to their strengths, conservative in the right ways, clinical when they needed to be. The only question is whether they can do it against Sydney FC in front of a huge home crowd.
Musical Jam...
