Avant-Gardey
Canterbury Rams: NBL champions (again), NZ Warriors victory, Wellington Phoenix/Auckland FC signings, NRLW, domestic cricket contracts & more
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Exploring The Blackcaps Test Mixer For The Great Asia Adventure Of 2024 (Cricket)
Five Funky Movers In The 2024/25 Domestic Cricket Contracts (Cricket)
Exploring Another New Low For The New Zealand Women's Cricket Team In T20 Series Sweep vs England (Cricket)
Exploring Another New Low For The New Zealand Women's Cricket Team In ODI Series Sweep vs England (Cricket)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Grateful For A Win vs Tigers (Rugby League)
Why Aren't The New Zealand Breakers Signing New Zealand Players? (Basketball)
How Have Those NZ Breakers Next Star Lads Been Tracking Since Their NBA Drafts? (Basketball)
The Breakers Are No Longer Coached By Mody Maor (Basketball)
Aotearoa at the 2024 Oceania U19 Men’s Championship (Football)
Catching Up On How The Wellington Phoenix Offseason’s Been Going (Football)
OlyWhites at the 2024 Paris Olympics: Getting The W vs Guinea (Football)
Football Ferns at the 2024 Paris Olympics: DroneGate vs Canada (Football)
OlyWhites & Football Ferns at the 2024 Paris Olympics: The Game Two Blues (Football)
Scotty’s Word
Tucked away in a busy sporting weekend was a funky basketball vs netball match up in Christchurch. This isn't a perfect comparison because the Tactix were playing an elimination final on Saturday and Rams were playing the NBL grand final on Sunday. I can't big up basketball for taking over netball yet as that will need a fizzing Tauihi competition vs the netball Premiership, but I did observe a heaving NBL crowd compared to the tame netball crowd.
The Rams played at Cowles Stadium which is smaller than the Wolfbrook Arena where Tactix played their game on Saturday. The crowds were probably a similar size, with Cowles jam-packed while the upper tier was empty at Wolfbrook. The nugget here is that Rams had a more exciting crowd: more diverse, more young folks, and I really wanted to be there. Tactix had the opposite and now Rams are back-to-back NBL champions, so I'm curious about basketball's growth in Canterbury.
I have more faith in NBL/Tauihi than any netball stuff in Aotearoa. These basketball competitions are a credit to those who run them and most NBL teams had decent crowds every game, aside from Southland who were losing. Many of the NBL/Tauihi initiatives catch headlines but I'm solely interested in my viewing experience and every time I tuned into NBL games over the past few months, I had fun watching the game let alone admiring the crowds around Aotearoa.
Who knows what my comrade will write about the Rams championship below, but here is a team of five youngsters who played in the final: Max Darling, Walter Brown, Kaia Isaac (Rams), Charlie Dalton, Braydon Iuli (Tuatara).
No genuine big man in that team, but Darling and Dalton can play bigger than they are. As an example of Aotearoa's basketballin' depth: if we really needed a big bopper, I'd call upon 18-year-old Julius Halaifonua from outside the NBL bubble.
Most NZ Warriors stuff was covered on Saturday morning, including more observations about the focus on Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. If you want to learn more about NZW or figure some things out, always look beyond what storylines the media are driving, specifically in NZ. Tuivasa-Sheck was good against Tigers but he didn't do anything that Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad hasn't done consistently, even Taine Tuaupiki has offered winning fullback mahi this season.
As I pondered that, I found that Tuivasa-Sheck offered the same mahi as Nicoll-Klokstad to the point where Tuivasa-Sheck found himself in the same cul-de-sacs on the right edge. Regardless of who has played fullback this season, NZW haven't been as effective shifting right as they were last year. When NZW went right with shape vs Tigers, Tuivasa-Sheck got the footy with no overlaps or space to work with…
NZW had three different looks for tries on their left edge vs Tigers. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored his try on the right after two big passes and no shape. Offering more effective attacking shapes on the right will be crucial for NZW to crack finals.
Weirdly, my favourite player in that win vs Tigers was Moala Graham-Taufa who played right centre. This may be more avant-gardey than the opening ceremony in Paris but the addition of Graham-Taufa and the speed he offers, was one of the most important tweaks in the Tigers win.
With that in mind, I've got Graham-Taufa as the best youngster for NZW right now. Jacob Laban is next best with his size/mobility on an edge. Ali Leiataua has good instincts and power, not as quick as Graham-Taufa. Leka Halasima is still a bit volatile with errors/penalties/weird decisions, but I've still got him ahead of Demitric Sifakula and Zyon Maiu'u.
Best NZ Warriors Youngsters
Moala Graham-Taufa: Marist, Mt Albert Grammar, Auckland
Jacob Laban: Te Aroha, Wellington
Ali Leiataua: Papatoetoe, Kings College, Auckland
Leka Halasima: Mangere East, Southern Cross Campus, Auckland
Demitric Sifakula: Otahuhu, De La Salle College, Auckland
Zyon Maiu'u: Te Atatu, Kelston Boys, Auckland
All those lads have played NRL while the group below are yet to play NRL. I've made a change here with Makaia Tafua moving to the top of my prospect rankings. Tafua is playing big minutes in NSW Cup, he loves to defend and is crafty around the ruck. I reckon Tafua could make his debut next season and he will soon overtake Paul Roache (who has moved to the halves to open space for Tafua) in the NZW dummy half depth chart.
I have also moved Motu Pasikala and Sio Kali ahead of Kayliss Fatialofa as the two outside backs have had more NSW Cup game time recently than Fatialofa. Caleb Laiman didn't have his best game in the NSW Cup loss vs Magpies but he has been playing halves/hooker, so he creeps into the top-10 from the last rankings.
Top-10 NZ Warriors Prospects
Makaia Tafua: Linwood, Christchurch
Eddie Ieremia: Otara, De La Salle College, Auckland
Tanner Stowers-Smith: Halswell, Christchurch
Luke Hanson: Panthers, Sydney
Motu Pasikala: Tonga, Liston College, Auckland
Sio Kali: Pt Chevailer, St Paul's College, Auckland
Kayliss Fatialofa: Otara, De La Salle College, Auckland
Jacob Auloa: Pt Chevalier, St Paul's College, Auckland
Caleb Laiman: Marist, Auckland
Harry Durbin: Pikiao, Rotorua
Three of my favourite NRLWahine for round tahi were Annessa Biddle (Otara), Alexis Tauaneai (Wainuiomata) and Mackenzie Wiki (Manurewa). Biddle and Wiki were part of Aotearoa's dominant centre crew who all impressed in the first round (after highlighting Abigail Roache and Shanice Parker on Friday)...
Annessa Biddle: 19 runs - 192m @ 10.1m/run, 2 tb, 5 tackles @ 83%
Mele Hufanga: 10 runs - 108m @ 10.8m/run, 1 linebreak, 5 tb, 2 offloads, 11 tackles @ 84.6%
Rosie Kelly: 13 runs - 93m @ 7.1m/run, 1 try assist, 12 tackles @ 80%
Niall Williams-Guthrie: 8 runs - 64m @ 8m/run, 1 tb, 11 tackles @ 84%
Leianne Tufuga: 11 runs - 136m @ 12.3m/run, 4 tb, 11 tackles @ 78.5%
Mackenzie Wiki: 1 try, 14 runs - 156m @ 11.1m/run, 1 try assist, 3 tb, 8 tackles @ 80%
Cheyelle Robins-Reti: 13 runs - 117m @ 9m/run, 9 tackles @ 90%
19-year-old Tauaneai couldn't get the win with Dragons but she matched up well against Georgia Hale who was straight back into her mahi with Titans...
Alexis Tauaneai: 14 runs - 142m @ 10.1m/run, 39 tackles @ 97.5%
Georgia Hale: 16 runs - 102m @ 6.3m/run, 46 tackles @ 95.8%
Domestic cricket contracts were updated this morning....
Auckland: Jordan Sussex
Central Districts: Angus Schaw, Ewald Schreuder, Mason Hughes
Wellington: Sam Mycock
Canterbury: Cameron Paul
Otago: Zac Cumming
The funkiest updates are Ewald Schreuder moving from ND to CD as a lefty seamer and Cameron Paul getting a contract with Canterbury. Schreuder adds to the CD seam unit and along with Ray Toole, two emerging lefty seamers are with CD. Paul commanded my attention in a couple Ford Trophy appearances last summer, now he joins Darfied homies Zak Foulkes and Henry Shipley in the contract list as well as an exceptional seam department for Canterbury:
Matt Henry, Will O'Rourke, Zak Foulkes, Henry Shipley, Sean Davey, Ed Nuttall, Michael Rae, Fraser Sheat, Angus McKenzie, Matt Rowe, Cameron Paul
Another loss for Birmingham Phoenix in the Women's Hundred means another loss for White Ferns coach Ben Sawyer ... Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates are making losing a habit too. 12 losses in a row for coach Sawyer in the Hundred, 0-9 across the last two seasons and you already know all about the White Ferns losing record.
As you may understand, not much space in my brain for Olympic insights right now. Black Sticks Men have lost their first two games and that's the vibe for most kiwi performances at the Olympics so far. I love watching the Olympics though and like the heaving crowd at Cowles Stadium in Christchurch, it's cool to see so many people attending Olympic events in France.
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Canterbury Rams are the 2024 NBL champions, after defeating the Auckland Tuatara 102-87 in the grand final in Christchurch. They got out to a great start, leading by nine points after the first quarter, but things swung back and forth throughout. However, the Tuatara didn’t really have a solution after Rob Loe fouled out with 8:43 to go in the fourth. The Rams led by five at that stage and would outscore the Aucklanders by ten points the rest of the way. Canterbury goes back to back with NBL championships. Judd Flavell wins the fourth title of his NBL coaching career. Auckland Tuatara lose in the final for the third year in a row. Lachlan Olbrich, the 20yo Aussie big who won league MVP, added the grand final MVP award to his mantelpiece with 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 6 assists in the decider.
Taylor Britt had 13 points with 8 assists in the final, logging a +18 in his court time. The two American imports were excellent for Canterbury too... though don’t overlook Walter Brown’s two-way influence or Max Darling and Kaia Isaac chipping in towards a winning performance. Especially Isaac who logged 30 minutes as a starter. The Tuatara were worthy finalists and they kept it close through 20 points for Tom Vodanovich, 19p/8a for Corey Webster, and 17p/7r/4a from Rob Loe. Charlie Dalton hit a couple of threes. But all of their shooting numbers sulked after Loe fouled out and took his floor spacing with him. Perhaps Auckland can finally go one better next year... yet nobody can deny that the Canterbury Rams were the best team and triumphant champions.
NBL 2024 Awards Winners
Most Valuable Player - Lachlan Olbrich (Canterbury Rams)
Defensive Player of the Year - Rob Loe (Auckland Tuatara)
Youth Player of the Year - Lachlan Olbrich (Canterbury Rams)
Most Improved Player - Taylor Britt (Canterbury Rams)
All Star Five - Taylor Britt (Canterbury Rams), Isaiah Moore (Hawke’s Bay Hawks), Luther Muhammad (Franklin Bulls), Rob Loe (Auckland Tuatara), Lachlan Olbrich (Canterbury Rams)
Coach of the Year – Judd Flavell (Canterbury Rams)
Me, personally, I’d have snuck Corey Webster into the All Star Five at the expense of one of the two imports (probably Isaiah Moore). The bro scored 20+ basically two out of every three games and led the league in assists. Come on now. But other than that it’s hard to argue with anything. Especially love to see Taylor Britt as the Most Improved. Sometimes that award just goes to a bloke who gets more minutes but with Britt, he was a solid starter for a championship team who became an influential star for a championship team. Gave his scoring a big boost despite taking trickier shots, especially those drives and the mid-range stuff. Took over with games on the line. Get this man back in the Aussie NBL, surely.
On that note, Reuben Te Rangi has been tapped to replace Jack McVeigh at the defending champion Tasmania JackJumpers. RTR is a super leader, a highly intelligent player, and someone whose jump shot is now kinda awful which I was worried would cost him another gig after he left SEM Phoenix. Luckily, Tassie GM Mika Vukona knows a positive team influence when he sees one. If he can get his shots to drop like they used to then he’ll be spectacular for them. Another kiwi player under contract in the Aussie NBL.
Also might as well mention that Kaia Isaac was named MVP of the Rapid League, while the All Star Five read: Kaia Isaac (Canterbury Rams), Hayden Jones (Nelson Giants), Nick Davidson (Nelson Giants), Josh Aitcheson (Otago Nuggets), Kazlo Evans (Wellington Saints).
Most 20+ Scoring Games By NZers in NBL 2024
11 - Corey Webster (Auckland), Tohi Smith-Milner (Wellington)
10 – Rob Loe (Auckland), Carlin Davison (Taranaki)
9 – Keanu Rasmussen (Hawke’s Bay), Dan Fotu (Nelson)
8 – Izayah Le’Afa (Wellington)
7 – Tom Vodanovich (Auckland), Taylor Britt (Canterbury)
6 – Sam Timmins (Franklin), Jordan Ngatai (Hawke’s Bay)
5 – Hyrum Harris (Wellington)
4 – Flynn Cameron (Taranaki), Ethan Rusbatch (Franklin), Callum McRae (Southland)
3 – Kruz Perrott-Hunt (Tauranga), Tai Webster (Otago), Alonzo Burton (Southland), Taane Samuel (Wellington)
2 – Campbell Scott (Manawatu), Liam Judd (Manawatu), Isaac Davidson (Franklin), Tobias Cameron (Taranaki), Braydon Iuli (Auckland), Max Darling (Canterbury)
1 – Reuben Te Rangi (Auckland), Jayden Bezzant (Tauranga), Brayden Inger (Southland), Te Tuhi Lewis (Tauranga), James Moors (Manawatu), Tukaha Cooper (Auckland), Taki Fahrensohn (Canterbury), Charlie Dalton (Auckland), Kaia Isaac (Canterbury), Denhym Brooke (Tauranga)
Highest Scoring Games by NZers in NBL
Tai Webster – 40 (OTAGO vs Canterbury)
Keanu Rasmussen – 35 (HAWKE’S BAY vs Southland)
Izayah Le’Afa – 35 (WELLINGTON vs Auckland)
Izayah Le’Afa – 35 (WELLINGTON vs Franklin)
Rob Loe – 33 (AUCKLAND vs Canterbury)
Tom Vodanovich – 31 (AUCKLAND vs Canterbury)
Tom Vodanovich – 31 (AUCKLAND vs Hawke’s Bay)
Rob Loe – 31 (AUCKLAND vs Hawke’s Bay)
Tom Vodanovich – 30 (AUCKLAND vs Nelson)
Liam Judd – 30 (MANAWATU vs Wellington)
Isaac Davidson – 30 (FRANKLIN vs Hawke’s Bay)
Tohi Smith-Milner – 30 (WELLINGTON vs Manawatu)
James Moors – 30 (MANAWATU vs Wellington)
Sam Timmins – 30 (FRANKLIN vs Auckland)
The Wellington Phoenix got busy again over the weekend with Paolo Retre signed on a two-year deal. A two-time champion with Sydney FC, who worked with Giancarlo Italiano a bit back in those days, and has most recently been playing in India. 31 years old. Australian. The Chiefy factor was surely part of the recruitment pitch but Retre also made a note of highlighting the success the team had last season and the atmosphere of the crowds.
Chief talked about him playing a versatile player capable of being a fullback or anywhere in the midfield, making for another exciting experienced option who’ll evolve the way that they play and help the young dudes around him continue to grow. That’s seventeen players on the books for the Nix now. Still got a few more to go. Probably going to see an import goalkeeper and they could add up to two more foreigners too. Italiano has mentioned the possibilities of a forward who can play between the lines and a defender, though this’ll also depend on what locals they can muster up.
And while we’re at it, Auckland FC have finally made it official with Hiroki Sakai. 34-year-old Japanese fullback who becomes AFC’s first visa player. He’s a fullback who has been to three World Cups and two Olympics and played several seasons at both Hannover 96 (German Bundesliga) and Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1). Hugely experienced for both club and country. He has 75 caps for his nation. A right-back by trade, though they already have Callan Elliot and Scott Galloway in that position so Steve Corica made a point of talking up his ability to play anywhere across the backline.
Sakai took AFC up to 18 players including scholarships, then they went and added Joseph Knowles (a goalie from Eastern Suburbs) and Logan Rogerson (back from Armenia) to make it an even twenty. That’s a lot of speedy kiwi wingers that the Black Knights are collecting. Plenty of National League talent too.
Welly Nix
GK: Alby Kelly-Heald
FB: Tim Payne, Sam Sutton, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Matt Sheridan
CB: Scott Wootton, Isaac Hughes
CM: Alex Rufer, Paolo Retre, Mohamed Al-Taay, Fin Conchie
FW: Kosta Barbarouses, Marco Rojas, David Ball, Oskar van Hattum, Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, Luke Supyk
Auckland FC
GK: Michael Woud, Joe Knowles
FB: Hiroki Sakai, Scott Gallaway, Callan Elliot, Francis De Vries
CB: Dan Hall, Tommy Smith
CM: Jake Brimmer, Cameron Howieson, Finn McKenlay, Adama Coulibaly, Oliver Middleton
FW: Max Mata, Joe Champness, Logan Rogerson, Jesse Randall, Liam Gillion, Luis Toomey, Jonty Bidois
Back at the start of June, I wrote a Flying Kiwis transfer window preview, which ended with a ranked list of the fifteen players I was most intrigued about at that time. The Olympics have gotten in the way for a few of the free agents but plenty of others have made huge moves... including a couple Welly Nix players that I didn’t even have on the list (Paulsen’s move had already happened, the Old/Surman deals had not). Not all of the prophecies have come to pass. Elijah Just is back with Horsens who have begun their new season, though he’s not had a big role so far. Kinda think Tyler Bindon, Nando Pijnaker, and Bill Tuiloma won’t go anywhere until at least the end of the year. Also, since writing this I’ve grown into the theory that Liberato Cacace could quite possibly be sold, while others like Daisy Cleverley and Meikayla Moore have been released, so they’d make the list if I was doing it now. Anyway, here’s that seven-week old list with the players whose situations have been resolved in bold...
Marko Stamenic – Crzena zvezda -> Nottingham Forest, on loan at Olympiakos
Sarpreet Singh – Free Agent (Hansa Rostock)
Anna Leat – Free Agent (Aston Villa) -> Re-signed with Aston Villa
Kate Taylor – Free Agent (Wellington Phoenix) -> Dijon FCO
Elijah Just – AC Horsens
Jacqui Hand – Free Agent (Lewes)
Grace Jale – Free Agent (Perth Glory)
Grace Wisnewski – Free Agent (Wellington Phoenix) -> Lexington SC
Alex Greive – Free Agent (Dundee United) -> Bohemians
Ria Percival – Free Agent (Spurs/Crystal Palace)
Tyler Bindon – Reading
Nik Tzanev – Free Agent (AFC Wimbledon) -> Northampton Town
Hannah Blake – Free Agent (Adelaide United) -> Durham FC
Bill Tuiloma – Charlotte FC
Nando Pijnaker – Sligo Rovers
Domestic Football Roundup
Auckland City have been doing some clutch stuff lately. The two-goal comeback to beat Birkenhead. The late winner against East Coast Bays. Then during the week they played a catch-up match against West Coast Rangers in which goalie Conor Tracey was sent off after half an hour. For some reason they didn’t have a reserve goalie – usually that’d be Joe Wallis, who has been away with the NZ U19s – which meant that striker Angus Kilkolly had to don the gloves for over an hour. They won 2-1 with Regont Murati scoring the winner right at the death. As opposed to Alec Death, who scored WCR’s goal and also won the foul that got Tracey marched. Derek Tieku missed a penalty that could have gotten the job done sooner for ACFC, while it sounds like Kilkolly actually did make a few big saves along the way.
That’s huge for the Northern League title race. Also big context for the Chatham Cup tie that followed, in which ACFC went all the way down south to face Otago University and lined up with 17yo Areya Prasad in goal. This was another cup draw against a lower tiered opponent and ACFC made no fumbles on their way to a 5-1 victory with Angus Kilkolly, back in his rightful position, scoring a hat-trick. Apparently there was a 45-minute delay early in the game when the floodlights faltered.
These are the quarter-finals that we’re talking about. Wellington Olympic also had no dramas in getting past Manurewa AFC by a 4-0 scoreline. Two of those goals for Hamish Watson, while Rewa’s Eber Ramirez was sent off midway through the second half (it was already 3-0 by then). Napier City Rovers did have access to their Welly Nix trialists Oscar Faulds and William Tonning but a poor start at home against Birkenhead United saw them end up losing 2-1. Corban Piper (23’) and Monty Patterson (33’) scored for Birko while Jack Albertini (46’) got NCR’s effort. This is a fixture we’ll likely see again come National League time.
Then we had the game of the round as Hibiscus Coast attempted to keep their run going against Coastal Spirit. The Coastal Derby, you could say. Spirit scored first but were down 2-1 early in the second half. They levelled immediately and eventually went to extra time where Hibiscus took an 108’ lead only for Coastal to tie things up again within four minutes. So, two HC leads that lasted less than four minutes on each occasion. Off to penalties... and that was a marathon slog too until Coastal Spirit finally came through with the 9-8 shootout victory following a 3-3 draw. Joe Hoole scored two of their goals. Coastal Spirit had never even made the quarters before so this is massive from them. The other three semi-finalists have all won the Chatham Cup within the past 15 years: ACFC in 2022, Birko in 2016 and 2018, W.Olympic in 2009.
This wasn’t a standalone weekend, we’re too deep in the comp for that, nor was there any Kate Shepp since they were already a round ahead. Both cup competitions are now prepping for the semi-final stage. That means there was heaps of league action still going on. For example, in the Women’s Southern League there was a 6-1 win for Coastal Spirit against Roslyn Wakari, highlighted by a hat-trick for Whitney Hepburn – best known as a defensive midfielder. RKAFC did actually drag it back to 2-1 with half an hour to go but the Spirit was too strong in Coastal as they scored four times in the last thirty mins. Otago Uni went up to Nelson Suburbs and returned with a 2-0 victory, their first since the leagues combined. And there was a huge game between Cashmere Technical and Dunedin City Royals. DCR took the lead on 69’ and were right on the brink of claiming a crucial three points when Tech tied things up in the seventh minute of added time. Both goals looked like deflections but they haven’t got the scorers up on the website yet. Anyway, after five games each it’s DCR on 13 points, Coastal on 12 points, and Cashmere on 10 points.
In the Women’s Central League, a Jemma Robertson goal (50’) won it 1-0 for Wellington United against Petone. Nikki Furukawa scored twice in Waterside Karori’s 5-1 win away against Victoria University. No dramas for the two leaders but a brutal blow for Petone’s hopes of National League qualification. Also had Taradale winning 2-0 against Palmerston North Marist. And there were goals galore as Moturoa won 5-3 against Seatoun.
Women’s NRFL Premier Division next and Western Springs are back in the top four hunt after winning 2-1 away to Eastern Suburbs. Megan Lee’s 68th minute penalty was what split them. Curious to see Ella Findlay listed for Springs since she was still an Eastern Suburbs player a few weeks ago when she played for the NZ U20s in that series against Aussie. Suburbs are still fourth but there’s only one point separating these two teams now. Auckland United keep winning. They beat Ellerslie 2-0 with Ruby Nathan (62’) and Alexis Cook (76’) getting the goals – both also part of that recent U20s group. Marissa Porteous produced a captain’s knock for West Coast Rangers by scoring twice in a 3-0 win away to Hibiscus Coast. And also Fencibles were took good for Hamilton Wanderers, bringing a 2-0 victory back up the motorway with them. All four away teams won this round.
Nothing in the Men’s Southern League or Men’s Central League this week. They respected the sanctity of cup quarters with a week’s rest. The busier Men’s Northern League did not have such a luxury so after that midweek Auckland City win, which sent them three points clear of Birkenhead again – though Birko have a game in hand – Western Springs were able to keep pace by beating Tauranga City 4-1 despite conceding inside of four minutes. Dawson Straffon scored a hat-trick. Hamilton Wanderers added another point to the tally with a 2-2 draw against East Coast Bays, albeit they very clearly need wins now. Draws aren’t enough... although this one did at least lift them out of last place at their city rivals’ expense. Aston Hurd and Malcolm Young traded doubles in this match. Also, Auckland United beat Melville 1-0 courtesy of Oliver Fay in the 82nd minute. Good from him.
Musical Jam...